What bothers me the most about this is we have too many, far too many, people in this sovereign nation clamoring for a hostile enemy nation acting as a news feed to our youth and adults, providing commercial and personal shopping experiences, AND collecting info about the vast majority of our population; further, the devices this application is installed on gets carried into nearly every nook&cranny of our nations infrastructure, some of which may be of a sensitive nature.
Have we become so blind or unconcerned? Would this have been allowed when we were trading deadly projectiles with Japan, Germany, In Korea; or in a "Cold War" with the "former" Soviet Union? HOW STUPID, DANGEROUS have we become just to ourselves? My opinion is that any device, any software that has an origin in Chai-Nah should not be allowed in the USofA if it benefits Chai-Nah. Contracting manufacturing to Chai-Nah should be curtailed and eventually ended as well.
Apple, Google and everyone else are spying on us. Spying is no longer difficult, and TikTok has no monopoly on mind and spirit numbing bullshit.
There is a very interesting video out there claiming that the NSA stream, which contains everything, is split and copied into the hands of private corporations. I can find it if anyone has an interest.
I think somebody with connections is pushing this strictly for personal profit. Tiktok will be sold at a steep discount at the point of the gun.
And if this precedent stands why could alternative news sites like Infowars and Gateway Pundit not at some point be declared, with little or no evidence, Russian controlled assets and in effect forced out of business?
I am no fan of China or TikTok but we all nees to learn not to repeat as truth what is being shouted as truth in many places. In fact, I think we should assume when this happens that we are being manipulated for someones private fjnancial or political gain.
1) if it’s on the interwebs it HAS to be true, otherwise why would it be there?
2) paranoid much?
OK, I WAS teasing. Seriously:
TikTok is foreign owned, none of the other platforms are - should not be in USofA;
Any product you use that you do not pay for means YOU are the product and the whole purpose of creating the app you use is to get data about you and your life that is valuable enough to sell to another, hence the concern about TT in that IT’s client is the ChiCom government. It’s One reason I cannot be found, easily, on social media platforms and I have no interest in it ("friends", likes, etc., do not appeal to me) - that said, even sites that you’d think are not playing in that arena still have tendrils installed that notice traffic.
One reason I like Apple, near as I can tell and from others opinions that I trust, Apple’s commitment to "privacy" is not just marketing - it’s not perfect, but better than most without being unusable.
TT has sued to prevent its forced sale, I don’t think TT will be sold as the whole purpose of TT is to scoop up data on USofA people and return that data to chai-nah. TT in chai-nah is an entirely different beast; as such byte dance will keep it rather than lose it [if sold to a us company that might expose secrets in the code that they’d rather keep hidden.
I agree with your final,point and there are people and orgs working to expose those influences (TT code). Google/Alphabet is a huge offender and I believe it ought to be given a deep anal exam to expose its/their manipulations through their search engine if this is something you’re interested in (beyond just paranoid allusions - not saying you’re wrong), look at the substack posts by Berenson and Malone, if you haven’t already - got to dig a bit.
Do you not think Google would be happy to sell data to China? What about private entities with access to NSA data, if that story is true?
It may be best to force a TikTok sale, but it is silly, in my view, to think that would accomplish much.
And Apple cooperates closely with the Chinese Fascists. Their phones are made there—cheaply, by people not far from being enslaved—and the management seems to have a positive view generally of fascist systems of government generally. Why could they not be paid large sums to put in back door code?
As I say, I dont nevessarily disagree with a forced sale, but the conversations atound it seem to me simplistic and narrow.
🤔 simplistic and narrow, 🤔 yup, yup yup. Sometimes the best solution IS the simplest solution. To wit: allowing a hostile entity access to, to influence from, should never be allowed. At the same time our essential infrastructure, our quality of life items, should NEVER be in the hands of a hostile entity (I’m thinking foods, meds, items for health, FUELS).
I stated in my last comment that I don’t believe our manufacturing should be in the hands of a hostile entity and while that does leave open manufacturing in the hands of non-hostiles, manufacturing is an essential technology and should be as much as possible in our hands performed by American hands.
You can roll over, bury your head in the dirt and hope for the best and that our relatively inexpensive and plentiful lifestyle will continue; but some time ago the soviets (or the chicoms) once boasted they’d sell us the rope with which we’d be hung - there’s a lot of folk thinking that day ain’t far off, if it ain’t already here. Between the lack of nationalism in too many of our corporate elite and too many of our elected elite, we’re getting close to a point where naught but a miracle from on high will save us and the world.
Now you’re allowed to dress yourself in petticoats of pacifism, pessimism and paucity, but it’s a horrible way to live.
Pretentious condescension is not going to have much effect in my particular case, not least because you ignored what I said, in a comment that could have been preprepared for a demurral of any sort.
I just cannot "like" a piece that keeps telling me to read or listen to CNN NYT, AP, NPR(!). Everyday we're fed promos for these publications. Bari, are they paying you for this? Or is Oliver taking kickbacks from these trash rags? Problem is we've all gone digital and the NYT isn't even good for being emergency TP or garage shelf liners anymore either.
Beyond Substacks there are tons of specialty news sources with more in-depth reports on every topic under the sun. Why not link to market/finance reports from financial magazines, or tech news from technology magazines, or health-related topics from medical journals, or real estate issues from sources that focus on real estate?
"Kendrick Lamar is the closest thing rap has to a poet laureate—he won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018, for God’s sake."
The Pulitzer Prize is a left wing beauty contest for left wing publications. They gave the prize to the NYT for promoting the Trump, Russian collusion lie for "God's sake".
Yep. Providing links to garbage publications such as WaPo and the NY Times is just annoying. But that pretty much sums up Oily [not]Wiseman. Why he is being inflicted on us remains a mystery. Other than that the FP is devolving into a rather silly "friends and family" business venture.
So we shouldn’t read something outside our sphere? It would be injurious to only read stuff from the right. You should know what kind of bs the left is shoveling. I haven’t seen any discount subscription offers to NYT etc on TFP.
You can't read any news feed these days without being bombarded with leftist articles. So I read some of them (for free) to see what the enemy is up to. For me, there is no problem in reading something outside of 'my sphere'. I just haven't found anything that is above moronic...and it's getting worse.
Do you have a library card from your local public library? Many of them offer free access to local newspapers, either directly or through a service like ProQuest
My library belongs to Libby. I can read hundreds of different newspapers and magazines with the Libby app and my library card. The hundreds includes not just US publications but also those from other countries. There are about 20 different French publications, for example. Also the UK and Germany. A free public library card is the best thing anyone can own.
Bari has slowly but surely injected leftist poison into her website. She may think she's being clever but we all notice it and it is only a matter of time before she loses her subscribers.
Perhaps, Michael Greenberg, TFP was losing some of their Left Wing WOKE subscribers?? Wiesman most definitely appeals to the Left, with Nellie close behind.
Nellie, of course, uses humor, tho not always as humorous as she well knows & intends, but she IS more often than not, fun to read! Plus, she IS Bari’s spouse.
As I’ve posted previously, I truly appreciate TFP providing a platform where we can “bitch & moan” without fear of being censored! 😉
I assumed that the comments section wasn't just another place to discuss any topic in the world. There are all sorts of places on the internet to do that. I assumed it was to discuss the current items in The Free Press. I guess some people just like to go in their own direction...
The TFP comments section is a club for a certain group of people to gather every day and gripe about the Left, the Democrats, Biden, and liberals in general. If you don't already know that, you must be a new subscriber.
I do want to read viewpoints not aligned with me. I just don’t want to read propaganda that intentionally push fake info and lies by omission of facts and truths they don’t want people to know or to promote specific political candidates and narratives. These media are part of the disinformation industrial complex.
Like when are they going to report on Title IX and what the changes really mean for women. Or how about I set the bar even lower and just ask when will they stop pretending men are women and not “all people” have penises and can get pregnant?
I recommended an article on tablet magazine called, The People Setting America on Fire, by Park MacDougald. It’s an investigation into the billionaires, Islamists, and leftists behind the campus protest. He names names, lots of them. Anyone surprised by Obama, Soros and the Tides Foundation? But he also explains the motivations, which are disturbing.
I think Bari et al have realized they tapped into such a groundswell of dissatisfaction with the leftist PRO-crime democRAT party, but their previous brainwashing has led them to still believe that the alternative, the MAGA Republican party is somehow, worse. Thus TFP has gradually turned into the propaganda effort also known as the Democratic Party Rehabilitation Project.
If TFP wants to become an alternative to the corporate press, they shouldn't be linking to them and giving them attention. I come to sites like this because I don't want to visit those sites.
However, I am pleasantly surprised to see Yuri Bezmenov's Substack shared today and I hope we see more Substacks linked in the future. More of that, less mainstream news please!
A new low has been reached yesterday, when the Front Page included a link to a Semafor article by Ben Smith, (“Joe Kahn: ‘The newsroom is not a safe space”). Joe Kahn is one of the top editors of the NYT and the whole point there is that somehow the NYT is still the US “paper of reference”, even after some “mistakes” and “exaggerations” in the last few years; supposedly, the tough editor is instilling some order in the unruly newsroom. This shows the full extent of the delusion affecting anybody who has ever worked for the MSM, even if now they’re toying with being “dissidents”. The NYT has long been the temple of wokeness; I browse it just to see how they misinterpret each and every event in the US. The only section still worth reading is “World”, but with care, as it often is used by the US intelligence to “send messages” - articles based on anonymous sources without any critical comments by the NYT reporters.
“New York governor Kathy Hochul said that black kids in the Bronx don’t know what the word computer means.”
Neither do most people. Want to do an interesting experiment? Ask people why computers are called “computers.” If 1% know, you’re finding an anomalously erudite group.
Here’s the answer: they were invented to do (duh) computations. Charles Babbage’s “difference engine” never really got off the ground, but he pretty much laid the theoretical foundation for them. In the 19th century. Lady Ada Lovelace (Lord Byron’s daughter), so the story goes, was the visionary who foresaw them becoming thinking machines. She and Babbage worked together.
But the big boost for actual computing happened in the first half of the 20th century when the machines were used in code-breaking and calculating, among other things, very detailed logarithm tables. The nascent idea was to use them to control guns with radar data as an input, calculating how to have a cannon round and an aircraft arrive at the same place at the same time. Humans can’t calculate anywhere nearly that fast.
Computers still have large and growing power to do actual computations, but only a relatively few people use them for that. The key that has driven this is the rapid decline in hardware price per computation and memory units. In 1980, RAM (random access memory) ran ~$1.00/ byte. That means that the memory in an average iPhone would have cost roughly a quarter of a BILLION dollars. And it would have occupied a large room with a very large air conditioning bill. Today that much memory costs a few bucks and lives on a single small chip that doesn’t get very hot. I doubt even Ada foresaw that. But it likely would have pleased her greatly.
I’m sure she was implying that black kids often are the victims of societal inequalities that deprive them of things as basic as computers have become. And that taxes must be raised in order to remedy those inequities. But, being me, I prefer to take her literally. Betcha she has no clue herself.
NYC has millions to spend on their public schools giving their students access to computers. And NY does not need to raise taxes. They need to be better stewards of the billions flowing into the state’s bank.
Think about what happens when you give a black kid a computer to take home. (someone had to say the quiet part aloud) They do have computers--to use in a classroom while at school. If they don't, it's b/c some administrator pocketed the money designated to buy them.
They’re not so much magic as having unintended consequences. With something as powerful and complex* as a computer, predicting what they might be used for is pretty much impossible. Their power comes from the combination of hardware—the stuff that lets you do a lot of different processes very fast—and software. You can write huge programs that do amazing things. Used to be that programs had to be relatively small to fit into a computer’s memory. It's hard to fill that much memory now.
* As opposed to merely complicated. “Complex” implies a higher, and less evident level of organization than does merely “complicated.”
It seems to me the power unleashed is now a race whether Musk can start a colony on Mars before we destroy ourselves from the unintended consequences. I follow Eliezer Yudkowski and try to understand what he says.
Have you read Asimov’s novel, i, Robot? It’s quite good, if dated. The book defines the Three Laws of Robotics: 1). A robot may not harm, nor through inaction allow harm to come to a human. 2). A robot must do what it is instructed to do, as long as doing so does not conflict with the first law. 3). A robot must do whatever is necessary to protect itself so long as that doesn’t conflict with the first two laws.
The book is a collection of vignettes illustrating how a device operating under those three laws might give rise to interesting situations. The main robot, R. Daneel Olivaw, acts as the main subject. He works with and under the robopsychologist, Susan Calvin.
First system I worked on, high school, we used streaming punch tape, college the computer science guys (yes, guys!) carried around boxes of punch cards, the first computer I built from scratch had a whopping 8MB of RAM and a grey market 143MB HD; my last main Win-Tel box for the office I built 10 years ago , maxed out at 32GB RAM, several TB of storage (NAS is on top of that), I’m on my 3rd OS and 3rd GPU and assorted other minor improvements. Hardware had improved so much by the mid teens that the 4790K CPU is still more than enough for most uses with the exception of intensive gaming (which I haven’t been keeping up with of late).
The latest Apple M4 processors use 3nm lithography which we didn’t think would be feasible due to electron tunneling;
In my play space I have a several generations of Raspberry Pi SBCs that do more than those first personal systems I built 30 years ago that fit in the palm of my hand 🤩;
And almost all of us walk around with more processing than that, running on a small battery, in our pockets - when we’re not on tik-tok.
As an original geek-of-the-week I am in hog heaven
My first was an original IBM box. It ran an 8088 processor at a whopping 4.88 Mhz. Which was overkill since, while it was a 16 bit machine, ran on an 8 bit data bus. It had an embarrassingly huge 64k [yes, k] of RAM—“who needs more than 64 k?” * Which i quickly upgraded to 512k. As bought, I had to boot it from floppy discs. My 10Mb hard drive had to wait until I had a few bucks to buy it. I knew I’d never, ever be able to fill it, but it booted straight from that HD.
* Extra credit if you know the author of that quote without an external reference.
Well, I’d say that illustrious and most prescient quote was from the esteemed Williams Gates (junior I believe) where I first saw it in print in Forbes as Billie was holding a massive 10MB HD.
My first grey box, Gateway I believe, also had that 8088 CPU with TURBO - 1MB RAM of which the last 360K was used for extended (expanded?) RAM. Oh my, jumpers, IRQs, INTs, separate programs to utilize all of that memory space. And 5 ¼" floppy’s
In nearly 40 years I’ve only bought 2 grey boxes and built a half dozen from parts - until I started buying Apple: a half dozen iPads, iPhones, iPods, 1 Mac Mini (M1), 1 MacBook Air (M1) - a gift for my tech consulting and support and other assorted favors, and a couple Apple TV 4K boxes later I think I’m firmly in the Apple Fan boi camp.
In ‘97 I wanted to buy Apple Computer, Inc when Jobs returned to the company he started - but I was overruled. That decision cost me (us) $20+ Million.
Anyway, I’ve done alright since (tho I do miss that $20M) and am looking forward to what may be my last PC build this winter when Windows 12 comes out: CPU, GPU, and NPU - neural processing unit as an add-in card or socket on the motherboard 🤷♀️. Nope, haven’t reached peak geek yet.
And like yourself, I became an Apple aficionado about 112 minutes after a colleague told me I had to try it, so he put one on my desk out of some unspent funds he had from a grant. It set the hook. Since then, that's all I use. That was ~ 30 years ago.
What do I win? Radeon 409) GPU and a new power supply?
Took up Apple desktop much later than you bt several orders of magnitude if we’re using minutes. I fairly easily move between iOS, PadOS, MacOS, Linux and Windows - although I have some retired wintel boxes downstairs that I’d have to think a moment or two before I’d dig into the OS internals. I maintain a windows10 system because I’m using some software I’m accustomed to using - moving it to MacOS would require some hardware and learning new software (not as easy as it use to be).
The new, and probably last wintel box is for MS Flight Simulator which still doesn’t run well on Mac - who knows, the M4 may change that. On Mac there’s X-Plane which runs natively. But I’m gonna have to wait until winter when outdoor activities slow down.
I've tried X-plane, but not in years. What I did do, though, was get Hellcats Over The Pacific waaaaay back in the day. I made Captain, which was not so easy. The game was entirely intolerant of anything short of a "paint it onto the runway" landing. After using it for a month or two, my (then) flight instructor asked me what kind of simulator I'd been using since my flying had improved dramatically.
It's much easier to fly a real plane than a simulator. Go figure.
Wow. Kind of a scary reality check if it's true that only 1% know what the word 'computer means. What a statement on modern education. Doesn't make me feel at all special to be in the 1%, makes me feel alarmed for the rampant stupidity.
Some years before my husband retired (around 2008, I think), he was discussing centralized government with an 11th grade American History class. He suddenly realized that a strange, clueless expression had swept across the majority of the eager young faces before him. The rest of the period was devoted to defining the term ‘centralized.’ Most couldn’t even define ‘central,’ although they had a pretty good grasp of ‘center.’
I think it’s more about ignorance than stupidity. Most people drive cars with carburetors, but few know what carburetion is. Same general idea. But I’d agree that, while caburetion isn’t a term in general use, computation is. So one might reasonably expect an average guy on the street to know the answer, if only is skimpy detail. Or at least be able to suss it out. When I pointed out to one techie that a certain computer language made it hard to write code to do calculations. The reply was—and I quote from over 25 years ago—“what does a computer have to with calculations?” Left me speechless, which is rare for me.
All I can say again is Wow. It would be interesting to hear a debate on ignorance vs stupidity. I would say ignorance is simply not being informed and can be rectified by being given or finding certain information. Stupidity is not being able to suss things out, ie lack of critical thinking beyond the basics of what one has been already taught. In other words, stupidity is hard to rectify, ignorance not as much.
The American educational system has worked hard to make our students stupid in order to keep them ignorant. It was and is deliberate. I know: I was there and I fought it, though I often stood alone.
I agree. Not to mention all the chemical laden junk food, drugs, etc affecting their brains and of course the electronic dumbing down. It's amazing that kids are managing any critical thinking at all, under the relentless onslaught. And to think I used to be so concerned about the negative effects of video games!
It's pretty much been like that from the start. Even Bari and crew recognize that. I see the function of the blog as twofold: they provide grist for the mills, and they provide a forum for us to communicate honestly and civilly. That's plenty worth the price. A deal.
Re: the useless 10 things we're reading or whatever it is called...today there is actually a link to a great piece by Yuri Bezmenov. We can sense what is going on in our economy and the harm that government intervention has caused in the costs of higher education, health care, etc. Yuri's piece lays that all out in graphics form. There is other information regarding school closings and learning loss that will make your head spin. We, as a nation, are truly in trouble. We need to stop voting for those who believe that solutions to our problems lie in more government intervention.
Why just a "shout out" to "Yuri??" He, Unsaint Finbar and others would be welcome antidotes to the leftist swill of Savodnik, Wiseman, and others whom Bari inflicts on us. Let's get some political balance on the Free Press.
I'm going beyond my "shout out" to wholeheartedly endorsing your idea. Articles by Unsaint and Yuri would be must reads. It would change my behavior of reading the comments first and then skimming most articles.
I would love to see TFP promote a collection of various Substack authors and feature them prominently. It would be a great way to set themselves apart from the legacy, corporate media instead of turning it into another version of the NYT.
I work for a government utility (sewers - the shit has to go somewhere and it's not something easily outsourced) and the old saw about the new mayor walking into city hall and asking "how many people work here" and getting the answer "about 50%" is close to spot on.
That's about my experience - a little under half do work (generally government employees are "B" students), a little under half just fuck off. The remainder though, that's what to watch out for. They're the ones that rise to the level of their own incompetence (the Peter Principle) and 1) believe their own hubris and 2) combined with politicians, who are still only out for money and power, use that to drive their incompetent decisions, programs, projects etc.
1) "The most dangerous person in America is Randi Weingarten. She is the childless head of 3 million union thugs who want to indoctrinate, groom, mask, and jab your children. Never forget she kept schools closed longest in poor minority districts:"
2) "We must go back to basics. Fire 90% of administrators and all of DIE so that we can actually teach and heal properly again. Otherwise the mind virus will continue to metastasize and turn our country into a terminal patient."
Spot on.
Other excellent candidates for "We're reading" could include:
Richard, I certainly hope so! How many people get “filthy rich” when their gangster (estranged from the family!) relative gets killed in a shootout with police??
What these 3 maintenance workers had to endure was criminal, and at the hands of the well funded, rich, anti America organizers, along with the whiny spoiled brat college idiots!
If you haven’t, you must watch the YouTube interview Francesca Block did with maintenance man Mario Torres (yesterday).
He literally was, and still is traumatized, and terrified to speak out, for fear of retaliation! It’s both heartbreaking and infuriating to watch!
How many millions did the thug George Floyd's family get? Siri says $27 million. I hope those hard working Columbia University facilities staff who were left without security do as well.
Yeah, butcha know, the longer Francesca's interview went on, I was smelling a style of reporting used in stories, like the one about the gal who couldn't get an abortion, something not just a little "urging on." Don't get me wrong, I liked it, I praised Francesca Block. But still, this kind of reporting reminds me of in the 1950s, when Dad would take the new car he just bought back to the dealer for some flaw or rattle -- the Service Manager would tell him, "it's okay, nothing to worry about, they all do that." I guess it's "journalism school."
Someone recently sent me a Megyan Kelly podcast on detransitioners. I have never listened to her. But eventhough I completely agreed with her take on the topic, it was hard to listen to her swaying opinionated style of interview. I felt like she was narrating the interviewees answers.
Good to know NPR is so concerned about "creators" losing their livelihoods! I'll just hold my breath for a similar story about coal miners, long-haul truckers who won't be able to afford electric trucks, and autoworkers, shall I?
But dont you know those folks you describe are just the little people keeping the machinery running behind the scenes so that the big people on Tik Tok, doing the really important global things, don't have to be disturbed too much.
Nothing on Jack Smith's documents case being postponed indefinitely? Biden's DOJ going after his political opponent isn't worth mentioning but Russia is a great place to live.
I don't really care about the rapper feud or whatever it is.
We all watched the spectacle of the FBI raid on a former president's home. Folders fanned out across the floor as 'proof'. This was headline news for weeks. Nothing short of espionage! Another case falling apart because there is no evidence. This should be appalling to every American! Our own government so overtly using its power, again, to influence a presidential election.
I'm really really perplexed by so much space was devoted to two rappers' feud while TFP still remains completely silent on WPATH files and Biden's Title IX changes dismantling of women's rights
Agree! I don't get the obfuscation. I can say that I'm getting tired of it. I thought TFP are journalists. Maybe I'm still operating under the old definition of 'journalist'.
I think b/c, at their core, TFP is still pro-dem. No matter what they do, to them, they still think the republican party is filled with bogeymen and will always be worse. I thought that with the event's in Israel, that it might open their eyes, but every day is just more evidence that they won't
Yes, so inculcated to the belief that Democrats do no wrong. The events in Israel were nothing more than a personal offense rather than more evidence of the true danger the Democrat party is to democracy. You're right, they won't change.
A higher % than we want to admit. Again, look at the pictures at the end of TGIF. THAT is the core audience. Hip upper/middle class folks who are in positions to read the news on their tablet on a tropical beach...and also feel the need to send that picture in so they can show how cool they are.
A fair chunk of the 'news' here is basically gossip column stuff.
“the pictures at the end of TGIF. THAT is the core audience. Hip upper/middle class folks who are in positions to read the news on their tablet on a tropical beach...and also feel the need to send that picture in so they can show how cool they are.”
Comment of the day. You could also include the rich suburban women (likely all white and well off) who purchase and display TFP “merch”.
I used to listen to Scott Adams' podcast thing. And he always started it by taking a sip of coffee that he encouraged his listeners to do along with him. It always seemed odd to me. Especially since I knew Scott was a big believer in persuasion and techniques to get people to become attached to something. So I suspected it was a way to kinda build loyalty without that loyalty necessarily being based on content. I feel like some of the engagement here is similar. And it is aimed in a certain direction, which tells me that they specifically want a certain kind of reader, and that reader is not me, or in my no so humble opinion, many of the commenters. We are largely just talking to each other, with the main readership either not reading comments or simply posting something glowingly positive.
I am not sure it will get that bad. But it increasingly does not seem to be a place that truly cares about news for all. Instead being more like a site trying to do good Journalism, but largely ignoring any stories that don't fit into their worldview. There are also a few regular writers who I do think seem to actually care about being fair and balanced.
NYT actively promotes a view. I don't yet think TFP is doing that...they just avoid stories that they may not like. Also, I don't count TGIF in that. TGIF is just Nellie being snarky. No journalism being done there.
You might be right - maybe I just need to get out more and forget about this stuff. I have just never seen a time when an American political party uses the. Power of the govt to go after its own people - and that it doesn’t even count as a story anymore. I just don’t understand it
Something I have been struggling with. Ignorance is bliss. Unless putting myself through this would lead to me doing something to make a difference, I am just shouting into the wind and making myself miserable in doing so.
So maybe my subscription will be worth it if I learn that lesson.
Well, bc my usually-taciturn 16 yo son brought up the “diss track” last night, I do confess a wee bit of interest in the rappers, however, it sure seems equally juvenile to much of what passes for “news” these days!
You have been all over the WPath files. Glenn Beck interviewed Shellenberger today about what was found and truly how gross it is. Tuskegee-esque. Where's TFP?
Especially since TFP published the two whistleblowers and the psychiatrist from the Netherlands. This am Dr Hilary Cass gave her first interview here in the USA to WBUR’s On Point Radio( connected to but not NPR)
Also the American Academy of pediatrics and the endocrine society published the first known statements since Cass Report. They did NOT address any of the evidence in Cass Report, they repeat their lies that their GAC is evidence based and arrogantly satiate only they who make money transing minors are qualified to have an opinion ( paraphrase is mine)
These are not scientific groups but rather political activist groups. To belong all that is required is dues payment. The government ( Sec Becceraof HHs) stated they rely onWPATH and these other assocs.
They must be forced to address the Cass Report which is the only evidence that exists.
This evidence is in WPATH's own words! To actually listen to Beck interviewing Shellenberger drove the point home. We have an administration that supports this! What is happening!?
I think the focus of the angry public needs to shift to the demanding that the Government address this scandal, turn off the money flow and shut down these pediatric gender clinics.
Expecting the WOKE captured medical assocs to reverse course in this country is unrealistic .
It’s so dirty and corrupt . The children are being sacrificed to this trans cult.
Insurance companies happily pay for it. How to turn public opinion when most media won't report on it? When the Biden administration continues to doubled down this.
Glenn Beck has been absolutely correct about CRT, DEI, ESG. He has talked about crypto and CBDCs. Talks about Trans. Talks about government efforts to infiltrate our financial business. Everything. Cannot recommend enough.
And the FP torched Tucker Carlson for praising a few things about Russia while also declaring his love for America - saying it’s his home. While there are bad and scary leaders in Russia they appear competent within their cultural context. Contrast that with leadership in America. We have awful, incompetent and very weak leaders in all our major institutions . While I sympathize (a lot) with these ex-pats, I would rather stay and fight for our country.
Anyone laying odds on GoFundMe seizing Mario Torres legal defense funds before he has a chance to use them? No doubt the progressive GoFundMe folx would almost certainly drop Mr. Torres in the same deplorables bucket as the Canadian truckers......right?
I don't think they will dare. Too many upset Latinos would mob them and GoFuckMe ( oh oops sorry, a little fruitian slip there) would open themselves up to racial discrimination suits up the yin yang.
Yuri is a brilliant writer way more insightful than the Liberals pretending not to be on Free Press outside of Bari Herself. I would highly recommend him.
I honestly do not understand this administration's stance towards the whole Israel thing. They're all over the board. One second they're authorizing funding, the net they're withholding it. My guess is there's some internal power struggle over the teleprompter.
Their problem is that a very significant portion of Democrats--the ones who support the protestors--hate Israel. They have very loud voices, and they are threatening to not vote for Biden if he doesn't stab Israel in the back. (Although it seems counterintuitive, they are just as happy to see Trump become POTUS again, since that will give them even more excuses for burning the U.S. to the ground.)
Unfortunately for Biden, most Americans support Israel. So he has to support Israel just enough to keep most voters happy, while simultaneously trying to give hope to the pro-Hamas crowd that he can be persuaded to turn on Israel if he gets reelected.
Once you understand that the driving goal of these people is to destroy Western civilization so they can build their "utopia" on its ashes, everything insane thing the Left does makes perfect sense.
Even their weird bedfellowship with Islam is logical when you realize that Islamists are a powerful and gleefully violent ally in their hatred for Western civilization.
I don't think they so much "hate" Israel as much as they hate Netanyahu and are equally moored to the idiotic mindset of the Wretched of the Earth crowd.
I disagree. I'm not talking about all Democrats. I'm talking about the ones who have been pro-Hamas since Oct7. The ones who have been blocking highways, taking over college campuses, and threatening to dismantle Chicago ala 1968.
It goes without saying that the vast majority of Democrats hate Netanyahu. But those are not the ones making the vote-to-destroy-Israel-or-else demands.
Did you see the poll that was referenced the other day? I believe it showed that almost half or all Democrats support the Palestinians. That's is troubling beyond measure.
I didn't, but I'm not surprised. I'm sure that many of them believe they can "support the Palestinians" without wanting Israel to be destroyed. They never seem to be able to come up with a plan for how that works. But they want to be seen as "good people," so they have to support the unfortunate people who are suffering the negative effects of declaring war on Israel.
Celia & Bruce, did you see the CBS report on Biden/ His Handlers offering to bring GAZA Palestinians to America, providing them with “a permanent safe home?” ??
Of course, that plan must be “discussed” with Egypt first! Why? Because Egypt, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries REFUSE to take ANY Palestinian refugees! Their past experiences found the Palestinians to breed and support terrorist!
I guess Biden thinks MORE immigrants would be perfect for America + future Democrat voters.
A big part of the reason is that Israel is a successful Western-style nation in a sea of backwards Islamic dictatorships. The Israelis took a desolate region and made it bloom. It makes capitalism and Western classical liberalism look good, which is something that Marxists and Marxist-sympathizers can't abide.
Another factor is Intersectionalism. According to this ideology, successful people (like the Israelis) are inherently evil. Leftists see Israelis as "white colonizers" (they get away with this because of the decidedly false perception that most Israelis are Ashkenazis).
And of course, as I explained in my comment to Mark D., the Leftists want to destroy Western civilization and build their "utopia" on its ashes. Islamists share that goal, although the "utopia" the two groups envision is quite different; nevermind, they'll work it out once the West is dead. And the destruction of Israel is very high up on the Islamists' wishlist, so it helps Leftists to prioritize it.
But probably the biggest factor is antisemitism--a fancy, scientific-sounding word a 19th century German came up with to replace Judenhasse (Jew hatred). It seems to be the world's oldest and most consistent hatred, shared by very ideologically diverse people. People have tried to come up with a lot of secular reasons why it has persisted so long across so many cultures, but personally I think the real reason is more spiritual and sinister.
Fantastic and thoughtful comment, Celia. Laid everything out in plain language. I wish we could broadcast your comments over all the noises called expert analysis flooding media space now
I thought they were just trying to pretend to please everybody without really pleasing anyone. A politician in an election year sort of thing. Seems to me they are also kinda afraid of the woke monsters they have created and must keep throwing them some juicy looking bones.
"Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids" - Joe Biden
“Right now, we have young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don't even know what the word computer is. They don't know, they don't know these things,” - Kathy Hochul
It's pretty clear why so many on the left dislike Coleman Hughes. If we look at a kid and just see a kid, the woke crowd has nothing to beat you around the head and shoulders with and the Clinton Democrats have no one to patronize.
Once you start to see how white Democrats never actually stopped being racist, you can't unsee it. They hid it under a mask of being "helpful," but the party that spawned the KKK is still convinced that black people are inferior and need White Saviors to succeed at anything.
I literally grew up in the Democratic Party in the 1970s (my dad was a precinct head), so I was well aware that ordinary Democrats--particularly of the union variety--were still as racist as they could get away with, regardless of what the national leaders were saying. So that gave me some valuable insight to build on when I started realizing what was really going on.
It also helps that I've lived for 17 years in a strongly Democratic county on the northern edge of the South. Back in the late 00s, a very intelligent and personable black woman with a master's degree in city management ran for mayor of our town. On one of her signs on Main Street, "X for Mayor," her name was painted over and "white" was written in its place (i.e., "a white for mayor"). She only got a handful of votes, despite being very obviously the best person for the job.
Well, Celia, the world has gone mad. Schools and social agencies in New York City have been steadily demoting or even firing experienced white administrators and putting in their place black people who are unprepared to take responsibility and make a dog's breakfast of everything and/or arrive with chips on their shoulders.
A friend of ours, the most liberal soul on earth, has been complaining for a couple of years now about the situation in her agency and finally retired. She should have begun complaining half a dozen years ago, when she'd tell spouse and me stuff that was happening and we'd exclaim, "What?!"
Racism works both ways. This is what happens when color instead of competence is the measure of man.
Celia, my father was a bigot who, when he came home to find my black best friend was staying the night, made a u-turn out the door and didn’t return for three days. When he did come back, he asked my mother if she had burned the pillow case Kathy had used (she was disgusted, and told him so). He had stereotypes and foul names for every race, creed and color. Life-long Democrat.
Celia, we have a young black Republican mayor (Asian wife) elected in our “nauseatingly VERY Blue with 2 Universities,” Texas town. HOW he inched in is a miracle! He’s been fair minded and handled himself with dignity!
BUT, this pissed off ALL the “WOKE Powers that Be” and attacks directed toward him are brutal! His lovely wife and darling children are also regularly slandered! It’s disgusting! My only hope is he will NOT allow this treatment to discourage him from running for a 2nd term!
Why would anyone care about Drake and Lamar? The last Lamar I found to be entertaining was Heady (it's HEADLEY!) Lamar and I've never paid any attention to someone who identifies as a male duck.
Here's an idea for Eli Lake and TFP to dig into: the HARM that rap has caused to young black men over the last 50 years, convincing them that hitting women and shooting cops is the best life.
Well Drake's security guard was shot outside of Drake's home here in Toronto. I don't care about his music or Lamar's but when people start getting shot, this is serious.
So we have the network that lies the most CNN reporting that the most corrupt government on the planet Ukraine foiled an attempt on their President’s life. So you want us to believe a story from liars told to them by another set of liars. Ya right.
I saw the headline, but I haven't watched it yet. The Bee is a big reason that few of the stories here seem to new to me. By the time they write about it here, the Bee has usually already done a joke about it
Not sure what the hell a Momala is, but pretty sure I don't want Cackles the Mistress or Stormy, both in the same business being it. Just proof Drew's head is empty and useless as her thoughts.
The janitors should absolutely sue the Crap out of the college for putting them at risk. Better than working for Communist leadership.
Joseph, wish you luck and got a few thousand college students in green tents who can join you. 20 men who moved. Ah can you say hot Russian women who probably appreciate a man who will take care of them, treat them well, and not abuse them after a bottle of Vodka. Versus the virtual sensitive purple haired hotties running around screaming like banshees.
Trump will be found guilty, Not for anything real but for being in NYC. NY as a whole run by skeletore is truly becoming a one party legal justice system.
Pandemic savings? You mean free money from tax payers that was put on the credit card for our youth. Yeah, that savings.
Biden is finally turning on Israel. Who ever believed this bag of bones would support them. He will sell or turn on anyone as he is strictly about self. The great unifier is maybe the most phony and self-centered politician, (add Obama in) we have ever had. Yet the press lines up to kiss his wrinkled ass and praise the fool.
Mamala is a Yiddish word for mother. Also spelled mamaleh.i have wondered the extent to which the second gentleman approves of Biden and company withholding weapons to Israel. It is very likely that the mamalas step daughter is delighted with that decision
Mark, I recently saw a cartoon captioned “Pedo Braindead Biden and Heels Up Kamala” 2024. The illustration was hilarious! I wonder WHY comes up with this?!
And I second the recommendation for Rumpole of the Bailey (the books are better than the tv series) but it does explain the Bar. Equally good is the Yes Minister tv series (explains the civil service) or indeed The Thick of It.
Ben Ryann reported that NPR is doing a piece on The Cass Report 10 am today ( eastern time) . It will be interesting to see what angle it takes.
Sec educ Miguel Cardona has been testifying at a House Hearing. He was questioned about his Title XI rule rewrites that allow males to compete in female sports and invade female spaces. Cardona squirmed and said we need to protect ALL students.That males accounting they are females take precedence over female sports and spaces.
The tank is turning. Fingers crossed that NPR have actually bothered to do their homework and understand why the NHS England, the RCGP, the British Government etc are solidly behind Cass.
You protect all students by having female and 'open' categories. A simple karotype test (cheekswab) gives the info on whether or not someone should be competing as a female (aka doesn't have Y chromosomes). No to unfair play and mediocre males taking precedence over superlative females.
The thing with Russia is that it has seemingly largely recovered a very old culture that the Communists tried and failed to destroy. China, it seems to me, will take a very long time to recover from Mao, if it ever does.
The Maoism that marched through China (and it should be said Tibet, where thousands of religious buildings were torn down) only concerms itself with destroying. With turning the populace, particularly the young, into violent ghoulish mobs who want to destroy anything their parents would recognize as good.
What COULD be the value of this activity, which self evidently is well advanced in America in 2024? You can only build on what is. If you destroy what is, you have to first rebuild it, from an inferior and difficult position, and only then make what improvements were possible.
I think any of us—the sane among us at least—would feel little but vague horror looking into the cult glazed and irrationally destructive eyes of what I will call here Columbia Kids. They are gone, or so I guess. Certainly they do not support information gathering and rational debate, which count among the most sacred cultural elements of any genuinely liberal ethos.
All this transgender nonsense and destruction of the Boy Scouts and the like is tearing down. There is no love there, no positive intent.
I said in perhaps 2010 that Putin was a bad man, but a better man than Obama because at least he genuinely seemed to love his own country. Obama—and Biden and the rest—have no homes. They hate America but have no positive suggestions of any sort, other than consigning all of it and all of us to flames, for their own psychotic amusement, and they assume for their personal profit.
Read the 100 Year Marathon by Michael Pilsbury whose thesis is China does not want to recover from Mao. It was Mao's goal in 1950 to displace America as the world's superpower. He argues it would take 100 years due to the head start America had and as backwards as China was. It's a fascinating theory backed up by events that have occured since.
You won't be disappointed in the least. If you're in a book club I highly recommend it.
I understand the aim, but given how completely Mao wrecked the Chinese culture and traumatized multiple generations with famine and irrational violence, their plans must depend mainly on tearing us down. Their kids dont want to work or have kids, in yearly increasing numbers.
Still, we have an abundance of happy and cheap traitors so its hard not to agree they have had a lot of success here, even if they continue to fail to convince Chinese citizens themselves that up is down, war is peace, and that Chairman Xi—who has imprisoned them in their homes repeatedly over the past four years—views them all as other than contemptible and disposable pawns.
America is by far the stronger and better positioned nation. Freedom works. If we did not have so many traitors not just to America but to freedom and basic decency, their plans would have zero hope of being accomplished.
A TikTok ban could be an “extinction-level event” for the creator economy, warns NPR.
Oh no. *sips coffee
What bothers me the most about this is we have too many, far too many, people in this sovereign nation clamoring for a hostile enemy nation acting as a news feed to our youth and adults, providing commercial and personal shopping experiences, AND collecting info about the vast majority of our population; further, the devices this application is installed on gets carried into nearly every nook&cranny of our nations infrastructure, some of which may be of a sensitive nature.
Have we become so blind or unconcerned? Would this have been allowed when we were trading deadly projectiles with Japan, Germany, In Korea; or in a "Cold War" with the "former" Soviet Union? HOW STUPID, DANGEROUS have we become just to ourselves? My opinion is that any device, any software that has an origin in Chai-Nah should not be allowed in the USofA if it benefits Chai-Nah. Contracting manufacturing to Chai-Nah should be curtailed and eventually ended as well.
'How stupid dangerous have we become to ourselves?'
Where does one even begin to answer that?
The global ideaology and pride of country cannot be reconciled.
We are not a serious people, to borrow a phrase.
Succession
Apple, Google and everyone else are spying on us. Spying is no longer difficult, and TikTok has no monopoly on mind and spirit numbing bullshit.
There is a very interesting video out there claiming that the NSA stream, which contains everything, is split and copied into the hands of private corporations. I can find it if anyone has an interest.
I think somebody with connections is pushing this strictly for personal profit. Tiktok will be sold at a steep discount at the point of the gun.
And if this precedent stands why could alternative news sites like Infowars and Gateway Pundit not at some point be declared, with little or no evidence, Russian controlled assets and in effect forced out of business?
I am no fan of China or TikTok but we all nees to learn not to repeat as truth what is being shouted as truth in many places. In fact, I think we should assume when this happens that we are being manipulated for someones private fjnancial or political gain.
🤣
1) if it’s on the interwebs it HAS to be true, otherwise why would it be there?
2) paranoid much?
OK, I WAS teasing. Seriously:
TikTok is foreign owned, none of the other platforms are - should not be in USofA;
Any product you use that you do not pay for means YOU are the product and the whole purpose of creating the app you use is to get data about you and your life that is valuable enough to sell to another, hence the concern about TT in that IT’s client is the ChiCom government. It’s One reason I cannot be found, easily, on social media platforms and I have no interest in it ("friends", likes, etc., do not appeal to me) - that said, even sites that you’d think are not playing in that arena still have tendrils installed that notice traffic.
One reason I like Apple, near as I can tell and from others opinions that I trust, Apple’s commitment to "privacy" is not just marketing - it’s not perfect, but better than most without being unusable.
TT has sued to prevent its forced sale, I don’t think TT will be sold as the whole purpose of TT is to scoop up data on USofA people and return that data to chai-nah. TT in chai-nah is an entirely different beast; as such byte dance will keep it rather than lose it [if sold to a us company that might expose secrets in the code that they’d rather keep hidden.
I agree with your final,point and there are people and orgs working to expose those influences (TT code). Google/Alphabet is a huge offender and I believe it ought to be given a deep anal exam to expose its/their manipulations through their search engine if this is something you’re interested in (beyond just paranoid allusions - not saying you’re wrong), look at the substack posts by Berenson and Malone, if you haven’t already - got to dig a bit.
Do you not think Google would be happy to sell data to China? What about private entities with access to NSA data, if that story is true?
It may be best to force a TikTok sale, but it is silly, in my view, to think that would accomplish much.
And Apple cooperates closely with the Chinese Fascists. Their phones are made there—cheaply, by people not far from being enslaved—and the management seems to have a positive view generally of fascist systems of government generally. Why could they not be paid large sums to put in back door code?
As I say, I dont nevessarily disagree with a forced sale, but the conversations atound it seem to me simplistic and narrow.
🤔 simplistic and narrow, 🤔 yup, yup yup. Sometimes the best solution IS the simplest solution. To wit: allowing a hostile entity access to, to influence from, should never be allowed. At the same time our essential infrastructure, our quality of life items, should NEVER be in the hands of a hostile entity (I’m thinking foods, meds, items for health, FUELS).
I stated in my last comment that I don’t believe our manufacturing should be in the hands of a hostile entity and while that does leave open manufacturing in the hands of non-hostiles, manufacturing is an essential technology and should be as much as possible in our hands performed by American hands.
You can roll over, bury your head in the dirt and hope for the best and that our relatively inexpensive and plentiful lifestyle will continue; but some time ago the soviets (or the chicoms) once boasted they’d sell us the rope with which we’d be hung - there’s a lot of folk thinking that day ain’t far off, if it ain’t already here. Between the lack of nationalism in too many of our corporate elite and too many of our elected elite, we’re getting close to a point where naught but a miracle from on high will save us and the world.
Now you’re allowed to dress yourself in petticoats of pacifism, pessimism and paucity, but it’s a horrible way to live.
Pretentious condescension is not going to have much effect in my particular case, not least because you ignored what I said, in a comment that could have been preprepared for a demurral of any sort.
Thats fine. I dont feel like arguing anyway.
“Move along. Nothing to see here.”
( spits out coffee )
😂
I just cannot "like" a piece that keeps telling me to read or listen to CNN NYT, AP, NPR(!). Everyday we're fed promos for these publications. Bari, are they paying you for this? Or is Oliver taking kickbacks from these trash rags? Problem is we've all gone digital and the NYT isn't even good for being emergency TP or garage shelf liners anymore either.
Happily, they also called out Yuri Bezmanov's Substack, always worth reading.
Thank you for your kind words! I also encourage TFP team to link to other substacks instead of MSM. We are the media now ;)
Congratulations Yuri. You're on of the best
Beyond Substacks there are tons of specialty news sources with more in-depth reports on every topic under the sun. Why not link to market/finance reports from financial magazines, or tech news from technology magazines, or health-related topics from medical journals, or real estate issues from sources that focus on real estate?
"Beyond Substacks there are tons of specialty news sources"
I suspect that most of TFP''s snarkiest critics do indeed link to them.
Yes; he does great work. His latest video parodies featuring the movie scene about the Cultural Revolution in China are hilarious and pointed.
That was a great clip and was spot on. Genius!
There are a few of them! All funny and scary at the same time.
Indeed.
yup. I'm in on Yuri.
Worth the subscription
"Kendrick Lamar is the closest thing rap has to a poet laureate—he won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018, for God’s sake."
The Pulitzer Prize is a left wing beauty contest for left wing publications. They gave the prize to the NYT for promoting the Trump, Russian collusion lie for "God's sake".
The Times has yet to return the prize.
Yep. Providing links to garbage publications such as WaPo and the NY Times is just annoying. But that pretty much sums up Oily [not]Wiseman. Why he is being inflicted on us remains a mystery. Other than that the FP is devolving into a rather silly "friends and family" business venture.
So we shouldn’t read something outside our sphere? It would be injurious to only read stuff from the right. You should know what kind of bs the left is shoveling. I haven’t seen any discount subscription offers to NYT etc on TFP.
You can't read any news feed these days without being bombarded with leftist articles. So I read some of them (for free) to see what the enemy is up to. For me, there is no problem in reading something outside of 'my sphere'. I just haven't found anything that is above moronic...and it's getting worse.
The new "Front Page" incarnation is dimming my interest in this site.
It's the same morning daily from TFP, except with a new name. Frankly, I don't see any difference, do you?
Nepotism?
how do you even link to them without paying. I skip them
Do you have a library card from your local public library? Many of them offer free access to local newspapers, either directly or through a service like ProQuest
My library belongs to Libby. I can read hundreds of different newspapers and magazines with the Libby app and my library card. The hundreds includes not just US publications but also those from other countries. There are about 20 different French publications, for example. Also the UK and Germany. A free public library card is the best thing anyone can own.
100% agree! my local public library even has items like a metal detector, an outdoor movie screen and projector, and a VR set available to borrow.
Okay, now you have to tell me. Why would anyone borrow a metal detector?
HEY! You stole "Oily"!!! :-D hahaha!
Sincerest form of flattery, ne-c'est pas?
Bari has slowly but surely injected leftist poison into her website. She may think she's being clever but we all notice it and it is only a matter of time before she loses her subscribers.
Perhaps, Michael Greenberg, TFP was losing some of their Left Wing WOKE subscribers?? Wiesman most definitely appeals to the Left, with Nellie close behind.
Nellie, of course, uses humor, tho not always as humorous as she well knows & intends, but she IS more often than not, fun to read! Plus, she IS Bari’s spouse.
As I’ve posted previously, I truly appreciate TFP providing a platform where we can “bitch & moan” without fear of being censored! 😉
Agreed, but don't forget that Nellie is now writing for The Atlantic. You can't get much worse than that (for a well known publication that is).
Not for nothing, but there has been a substantial neutrality in the Atlantic articles. Maybe a possible shift??
Ooof!
Sorry to agree.
What does your comment have to do with the article, which is about American emigres in Russia?
Nothing. Why do you ask?
I assumed that the comments section wasn't just another place to discuss any topic in the world. There are all sorts of places on the internet to do that. I assumed it was to discuss the current items in The Free Press. I guess some people just like to go in their own direction...
The TFP comments section is a club for a certain group of people to gather every day and gripe about the Left, the Democrats, Biden, and liberals in general. If you don't already know that, you must be a new subscriber.
I was slowly getting the hint!
Well, she DID leave the WSJ to shovel shit at the NYT, after all...
"the NYT isn't even good for being emergency TP"
I've replaced that source with more recent copies of Smithsonian and National Geographic.
Don't use the NYT for TP. The ink will rub off and make your butt black.
How do I know this? I won't say. Too embarrassed.
Enquiring minds want to know😂
LOL, thanks for the heads up. My old copies have long since turned yellow and useless, like their "journalism"
💫
It’s not a promo. We need to read what publications that don’t align with our universe are saying. It would be foolish not to know.
I do want to read viewpoints not aligned with me. I just don’t want to read propaganda that intentionally push fake info and lies by omission of facts and truths they don’t want people to know or to promote specific political candidates and narratives. These media are part of the disinformation industrial complex.
Like when are they going to report on Title IX and what the changes really mean for women. Or how about I set the bar even lower and just ask when will they stop pretending men are women and not “all people” have penises and can get pregnant?
I recommended an article on tablet magazine called, The People Setting America on Fire, by Park MacDougald. It’s an investigation into the billionaires, Islamists, and leftists behind the campus protest. He names names, lots of them. Anyone surprised by Obama, Soros and the Tides Foundation? But he also explains the motivations, which are disturbing.
Really interesting article
I think Bari et al have realized they tapped into such a groundswell of dissatisfaction with the leftist PRO-crime democRAT party, but their previous brainwashing has led them to still believe that the alternative, the MAGA Republican party is somehow, worse. Thus TFP has gradually turned into the propaganda effort also known as the Democratic Party Rehabilitation Project.
If TFP wants to become an alternative to the corporate press, they shouldn't be linking to them and giving them attention. I come to sites like this because I don't want to visit those sites.
However, I am pleasantly surprised to see Yuri Bezmenov's Substack shared today and I hope we see more Substacks linked in the future. More of that, less mainstream news please!
A new low has been reached yesterday, when the Front Page included a link to a Semafor article by Ben Smith, (“Joe Kahn: ‘The newsroom is not a safe space”). Joe Kahn is one of the top editors of the NYT and the whole point there is that somehow the NYT is still the US “paper of reference”, even after some “mistakes” and “exaggerations” in the last few years; supposedly, the tough editor is instilling some order in the unruly newsroom. This shows the full extent of the delusion affecting anybody who has ever worked for the MSM, even if now they’re toying with being “dissidents”. The NYT has long been the temple of wokeness; I browse it just to see how they misinterpret each and every event in the US. The only section still worth reading is “World”, but with care, as it often is used by the US intelligence to “send messages” - articles based on anonymous sources without any critical comments by the NYT reporters.
So what do you read instead of the quoted sources? Just curious.
“New York governor Kathy Hochul said that black kids in the Bronx don’t know what the word computer means.”
Neither do most people. Want to do an interesting experiment? Ask people why computers are called “computers.” If 1% know, you’re finding an anomalously erudite group.
Here’s the answer: they were invented to do (duh) computations. Charles Babbage’s “difference engine” never really got off the ground, but he pretty much laid the theoretical foundation for them. In the 19th century. Lady Ada Lovelace (Lord Byron’s daughter), so the story goes, was the visionary who foresaw them becoming thinking machines. She and Babbage worked together.
But the big boost for actual computing happened in the first half of the 20th century when the machines were used in code-breaking and calculating, among other things, very detailed logarithm tables. The nascent idea was to use them to control guns with radar data as an input, calculating how to have a cannon round and an aircraft arrive at the same place at the same time. Humans can’t calculate anywhere nearly that fast.
Computers still have large and growing power to do actual computations, but only a relatively few people use them for that. The key that has driven this is the rapid decline in hardware price per computation and memory units. In 1980, RAM (random access memory) ran ~$1.00/ byte. That means that the memory in an average iPhone would have cost roughly a quarter of a BILLION dollars. And it would have occupied a large room with a very large air conditioning bill. Today that much memory costs a few bucks and lives on a single small chip that doesn’t get very hot. I doubt even Ada foresaw that. But it likely would have pleased her greatly.
Interesting, but not really pertinent to what Kathy Hochul was implying.
I’m sure she was implying that black kids often are the victims of societal inequalities that deprive them of things as basic as computers have become. And that taxes must be raised in order to remedy those inequities. But, being me, I prefer to take her literally. Betcha she has no clue herself.
Actually she was outing herself as a bigot.
🎯The soft bigotry of low expectations.
Exactly what she accuses others of being.
Raise taxes again! Why do you think so many high earners have left NY?
NYC has millions to spend on their public schools giving their students access to computers. And NY does not need to raise taxes. They need to be better stewards of the billions flowing into the state’s bank.
Yes. And they won't be.
Think about what happens when you give a black kid a computer to take home. (someone had to say the quiet part aloud) They do have computers--to use in a classroom while at school. If they don't, it's b/c some administrator pocketed the money designated to buy them.
Joe, “SHE got a clue” immediately after making that asinine statement! As much from the Left as from the Right!
Precisely what Celia M said.
Thank you for all this historical information.
More than welcome.
Computers seem like magic to me rather than science, although I know that it is science.
Unfortunately for all the good they do the bad( phones as electronic leashes, social media he’ll, children living on screens etc) is overwhelming
Arthur C. Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.
They’re not so much magic as having unintended consequences. With something as powerful and complex* as a computer, predicting what they might be used for is pretty much impossible. Their power comes from the combination of hardware—the stuff that lets you do a lot of different processes very fast—and software. You can write huge programs that do amazing things. Used to be that programs had to be relatively small to fit into a computer’s memory. It's hard to fill that much memory now.
* As opposed to merely complicated. “Complex” implies a higher, and less evident level of organization than does merely “complicated.”
It seems to me the power unleashed is now a race whether Musk can start a colony on Mars before we destroy ourselves from the unintended consequences. I follow Eliezer Yudkowski and try to understand what he says.
Have you read Asimov’s novel, i, Robot? It’s quite good, if dated. The book defines the Three Laws of Robotics: 1). A robot may not harm, nor through inaction allow harm to come to a human. 2). A robot must do what it is instructed to do, as long as doing so does not conflict with the first law. 3). A robot must do whatever is necessary to protect itself so long as that doesn’t conflict with the first two laws.
The book is a collection of vignettes illustrating how a device operating under those three laws might give rise to interesting situations. The main robot, R. Daneel Olivaw, acts as the main subject. He works with and under the robopsychologist, Susan Calvin.
Joe, thx for the walk down memory lane.
First system I worked on, high school, we used streaming punch tape, college the computer science guys (yes, guys!) carried around boxes of punch cards, the first computer I built from scratch had a whopping 8MB of RAM and a grey market 143MB HD; my last main Win-Tel box for the office I built 10 years ago , maxed out at 32GB RAM, several TB of storage (NAS is on top of that), I’m on my 3rd OS and 3rd GPU and assorted other minor improvements. Hardware had improved so much by the mid teens that the 4790K CPU is still more than enough for most uses with the exception of intensive gaming (which I haven’t been keeping up with of late).
The latest Apple M4 processors use 3nm lithography which we didn’t think would be feasible due to electron tunneling;
In my play space I have a several generations of Raspberry Pi SBCs that do more than those first personal systems I built 30 years ago that fit in the palm of my hand 🤩;
And almost all of us walk around with more processing than that, running on a small battery, in our pockets - when we’re not on tik-tok.
As an original geek-of-the-week I am in hog heaven
My first was an original IBM box. It ran an 8088 processor at a whopping 4.88 Mhz. Which was overkill since, while it was a 16 bit machine, ran on an 8 bit data bus. It had an embarrassingly huge 64k [yes, k] of RAM—“who needs more than 64 k?” * Which i quickly upgraded to 512k. As bought, I had to boot it from floppy discs. My 10Mb hard drive had to wait until I had a few bucks to buy it. I knew I’d never, ever be able to fill it, but it booted straight from that HD.
* Extra credit if you know the author of that quote without an external reference.
Well, I’d say that illustrious and most prescient quote was from the esteemed Williams Gates (junior I believe) where I first saw it in print in Forbes as Billie was holding a massive 10MB HD.
My first grey box, Gateway I believe, also had that 8088 CPU with TURBO - 1MB RAM of which the last 360K was used for extended (expanded?) RAM. Oh my, jumpers, IRQs, INTs, separate programs to utilize all of that memory space. And 5 ¼" floppy’s
In nearly 40 years I’ve only bought 2 grey boxes and built a half dozen from parts - until I started buying Apple: a half dozen iPads, iPhones, iPods, 1 Mac Mini (M1), 1 MacBook Air (M1) - a gift for my tech consulting and support and other assorted favors, and a couple Apple TV 4K boxes later I think I’m firmly in the Apple Fan boi camp.
In ‘97 I wanted to buy Apple Computer, Inc when Jobs returned to the company he started - but I was overruled. That decision cost me (us) $20+ Million.
Anyway, I’ve done alright since (tho I do miss that $20M) and am looking forward to what may be my last PC build this winter when Windows 12 comes out: CPU, GPU, and NPU - neural processing unit as an add-in card or socket on the motherboard 🤷♀️. Nope, haven’t reached peak geek yet.
We have a winner!! It was Bill, indeed.
And like yourself, I became an Apple aficionado about 112 minutes after a colleague told me I had to try it, so he put one on my desk out of some unspent funds he had from a grant. It set the hook. Since then, that's all I use. That was ~ 30 years ago.
I’m a winner! Yay
What do I win? Radeon 409) GPU and a new power supply?
Took up Apple desktop much later than you bt several orders of magnitude if we’re using minutes. I fairly easily move between iOS, PadOS, MacOS, Linux and Windows - although I have some retired wintel boxes downstairs that I’d have to think a moment or two before I’d dig into the OS internals. I maintain a windows10 system because I’m using some software I’m accustomed to using - moving it to MacOS would require some hardware and learning new software (not as easy as it use to be).
The new, and probably last wintel box is for MS Flight Simulator which still doesn’t run well on Mac - who knows, the M4 may change that. On Mac there’s X-Plane which runs natively. But I’m gonna have to wait until winter when outdoor activities slow down.
You win undying admiration.
I've tried X-plane, but not in years. What I did do, though, was get Hellcats Over The Pacific waaaaay back in the day. I made Captain, which was not so easy. The game was entirely intolerant of anything short of a "paint it onto the runway" landing. After using it for a month or two, my (then) flight instructor asked me what kind of simulator I'd been using since my flying had improved dramatically.
It's much easier to fly a real plane than a simulator. Go figure.
Wow. Kind of a scary reality check if it's true that only 1% know what the word 'computer means. What a statement on modern education. Doesn't make me feel at all special to be in the 1%, makes me feel alarmed for the rampant stupidity.
Some years before my husband retired (around 2008, I think), he was discussing centralized government with an 11th grade American History class. He suddenly realized that a strange, clueless expression had swept across the majority of the eager young faces before him. The rest of the period was devoted to defining the term ‘centralized.’ Most couldn’t even define ‘central,’ although they had a pretty good grasp of ‘center.’
It has been a long, long, march.
I need to come up with a better word than Wow. I can't think of one right now tho.
I think it’s more about ignorance than stupidity. Most people drive cars with carburetors, but few know what carburetion is. Same general idea. But I’d agree that, while caburetion isn’t a term in general use, computation is. So one might reasonably expect an average guy on the street to know the answer, if only is skimpy detail. Or at least be able to suss it out. When I pointed out to one techie that a certain computer language made it hard to write code to do calculations. The reply was—and I quote from over 25 years ago—“what does a computer have to with calculations?” Left me speechless, which is rare for me.
Sorry to be a pedant, but most people drive cars with fuel injectors, not carburetors. Except, perhaps, in Cuba.
oops - you beat me to it by a day.
You stole my line! 🤪
All I can say again is Wow. It would be interesting to hear a debate on ignorance vs stupidity. I would say ignorance is simply not being informed and can be rectified by being given or finding certain information. Stupidity is not being able to suss things out, ie lack of critical thinking beyond the basics of what one has been already taught. In other words, stupidity is hard to rectify, ignorance not as much.
That’s the distinction I make. Ignorance is about (not) knowing things. Stupidity is about not understanding things. Very different.
The American educational system has worked hard to make our students stupid in order to keep them ignorant. It was and is deliberate. I know: I was there and I fought it, though I often stood alone.
I agree. Not to mention all the chemical laden junk food, drugs, etc affecting their brains and of course the electronic dumbing down. It's amazing that kids are managing any critical thinking at all, under the relentless onslaught. And to think I used to be so concerned about the negative effects of video games!
Good discussion.
But, I think carburetors are a thing of the past. It's all fuel injectors now. :)
Very informative. The FP comments are worth the price of admission even when some of the stories aren't up to par.
It's pretty much been like that from the start. Even Bari and crew recognize that. I see the function of the blog as twofold: they provide grist for the mills, and they provide a forum for us to communicate honestly and civilly. That's plenty worth the price. A deal.
Show off
I started programming on a second generation card operating system.
40yrs ago a new programming language came out. It was called ADA.
Re: the useless 10 things we're reading or whatever it is called...today there is actually a link to a great piece by Yuri Bezmenov. We can sense what is going on in our economy and the harm that government intervention has caused in the costs of higher education, health care, etc. Yuri's piece lays that all out in graphics form. There is other information regarding school closings and learning loss that will make your head spin. We, as a nation, are truly in trouble. We need to stop voting for those who believe that solutions to our problems lie in more government intervention.
Why just a "shout out" to "Yuri??" He, Unsaint Finbar and others would be welcome antidotes to the leftist swill of Savodnik, Wiseman, and others whom Bari inflicts on us. Let's get some political balance on the Free Press.
I'm going beyond my "shout out" to wholeheartedly endorsing your idea. Articles by Unsaint and Yuri would be must reads. It would change my behavior of reading the comments first and then skimming most articles.
You know, you can subscribe to Finbar’s own Substack if that interests you, K from B.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
I would love to see TFP promote a collection of various Substack authors and feature them prominently. It would be a great way to set themselves apart from the legacy, corporate media instead of turning it into another version of the NYT.
"We are reading" could include:
Michael Shellenberger https://public.substack.com/
James Lindsey https://newdiscourses.com/category/articles/
Yes, agree! Was pleased to see Yuri make the “top 10!” Should follow Yuri, if you don’t already. He’s a wealth of information!
And hilarious to boot.
I work for a government utility (sewers - the shit has to go somewhere and it's not something easily outsourced) and the old saw about the new mayor walking into city hall and asking "how many people work here" and getting the answer "about 50%" is close to spot on.
That's about my experience - a little under half do work (generally government employees are "B" students), a little under half just fuck off. The remainder though, that's what to watch out for. They're the ones that rise to the level of their own incompetence (the Peter Principle) and 1) believe their own hubris and 2) combined with politicians, who are still only out for money and power, use that to drive their incompetent decisions, programs, projects etc.
Pournelle’s Law in action.
Thanks for the reference; I had not heard of that before!
Yeah, Pournelle’s Law is crucial to understanding modern bureaucratic organizations both private and governmental. And especially NGOs.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Yes.
And, from Yuri's piece I especially agree with:
1) "The most dangerous person in America is Randi Weingarten. She is the childless head of 3 million union thugs who want to indoctrinate, groom, mask, and jab your children. Never forget she kept schools closed longest in poor minority districts:"
2) "We must go back to basics. Fire 90% of administrators and all of DIE so that we can actually teach and heal properly again. Otherwise the mind virus will continue to metastasize and turn our country into a terminal patient."
Spot on.
Other excellent candidates for "We're reading" could include:
Michael Shellenberger https://public.substack.com/
James Lindsey https://newdiscourses.com/category/articles/
What an interesting charticle it was ... particularly the eighth-grade exam.
Those three janotors are going to be rich, rich, rich beyond their Wildest Dreams. Thank You Columbia!
They deserve it just for cleaning up after the spoiled, entitled rich snobby elitist kids who are so very frigin special.
Finally I can root for trial lawyers making big contingency fees.go get em boys and girls
Richard, I certainly hope so! How many people get “filthy rich” when their gangster (estranged from the family!) relative gets killed in a shootout with police??
What these 3 maintenance workers had to endure was criminal, and at the hands of the well funded, rich, anti America organizers, along with the whiny spoiled brat college idiots!
If you haven’t, you must watch the YouTube interview Francesca Block did with maintenance man Mario Torres (yesterday).
He literally was, and still is traumatized, and terrified to speak out, for fear of retaliation! It’s both heartbreaking and infuriating to watch!
Great coverage, TFP!
How many millions did the thug George Floyd's family get? Siri says $27 million. I hope those hard working Columbia University facilities staff who were left without security do as well.
Yeah, butcha know, the longer Francesca's interview went on, I was smelling a style of reporting used in stories, like the one about the gal who couldn't get an abortion, something not just a little "urging on." Don't get me wrong, I liked it, I praised Francesca Block. But still, this kind of reporting reminds me of in the 1950s, when Dad would take the new car he just bought back to the dealer for some flaw or rattle -- the Service Manager would tell him, "it's okay, nothing to worry about, they all do that." I guess it's "journalism school."
Someone recently sent me a Megyan Kelly podcast on detransitioners. I have never listened to her. But eventhough I completely agreed with her take on the topic, it was hard to listen to her swaying opinionated style of interview. I felt like she was narrating the interviewees answers.
(Light bulb goes on). You helped me. That's it. They want to be the story, or at least part of the story.
Bingo!!!!
Good to know NPR is so concerned about "creators" losing their livelihoods! I'll just hold my breath for a similar story about coal miners, long-haul truckers who won't be able to afford electric trucks, and autoworkers, shall I?
But dont you know those folks you describe are just the little people keeping the machinery running behind the scenes so that the big people on Tik Tok, doing the really important global things, don't have to be disturbed too much.
Bravo
Nothing on Jack Smith's documents case being postponed indefinitely? Biden's DOJ going after his political opponent isn't worth mentioning but Russia is a great place to live.
What percentage of Free Press readers give a hoot about the rappers ?.
The Jack Smith case is something we want details about. Not even a mention
I don't really care about the rapper feud or whatever it is.
We all watched the spectacle of the FBI raid on a former president's home. Folders fanned out across the floor as 'proof'. This was headline news for weeks. Nothing short of espionage! Another case falling apart because there is no evidence. This should be appalling to every American! Our own government so overtly using its power, again, to influence a presidential election.
TFP just can't, why?
I'm really really perplexed by so much space was devoted to two rappers' feud while TFP still remains completely silent on WPATH files and Biden's Title IX changes dismantling of women's rights
Agree! I don't get the obfuscation. I can say that I'm getting tired of it. I thought TFP are journalists. Maybe I'm still operating under the old definition of 'journalist'.
Jen, with Oliver Wiesman now “in charge” don’t expect much in the way of information IF IT DOESN’T MAKE the WOKE Progressive Democrats look good!
Between now and the election we can count on Olly’s (others!) Stage 4 Trump Derangement Syndrome reporting to ratchet up!
If the Baron Trump story is any indication...I expect TDS to be off the charts...like an 11.
I think b/c, at their core, TFP is still pro-dem. No matter what they do, to them, they still think the republican party is filled with bogeymen and will always be worse. I thought that with the event's in Israel, that it might open their eyes, but every day is just more evidence that they won't
Yes, so inculcated to the belief that Democrats do no wrong. The events in Israel were nothing more than a personal offense rather than more evidence of the true danger the Democrat party is to democracy. You're right, they won't change.
Good way of looking/explaining how they are looking at what is occurring in Israel.
A higher % than we want to admit. Again, look at the pictures at the end of TGIF. THAT is the core audience. Hip upper/middle class folks who are in positions to read the news on their tablet on a tropical beach...and also feel the need to send that picture in so they can show how cool they are.
A fair chunk of the 'news' here is basically gossip column stuff.
“the pictures at the end of TGIF. THAT is the core audience. Hip upper/middle class folks who are in positions to read the news on their tablet on a tropical beach...and also feel the need to send that picture in so they can show how cool they are.”
Comment of the day. You could also include the rich suburban women (likely all white and well off) who purchase and display TFP “merch”.
I used to listen to Scott Adams' podcast thing. And he always started it by taking a sip of coffee that he encouraged his listeners to do along with him. It always seemed odd to me. Especially since I knew Scott was a big believer in persuasion and techniques to get people to become attached to something. So I suspected it was a way to kinda build loyalty without that loyalty necessarily being based on content. I feel like some of the engagement here is similar. And it is aimed in a certain direction, which tells me that they specifically want a certain kind of reader, and that reader is not me, or in my no so humble opinion, many of the commenters. We are largely just talking to each other, with the main readership either not reading comments or simply posting something glowingly positive.
I think people here (including me) are really just contributing ten dollars a month to build the new NYT -
I am not sure it will get that bad. But it increasingly does not seem to be a place that truly cares about news for all. Instead being more like a site trying to do good Journalism, but largely ignoring any stories that don't fit into their worldview. There are also a few regular writers who I do think seem to actually care about being fair and balanced.
NYT actively promotes a view. I don't yet think TFP is doing that...they just avoid stories that they may not like. Also, I don't count TGIF in that. TGIF is just Nellie being snarky. No journalism being done there.
You might be right - maybe I just need to get out more and forget about this stuff. I have just never seen a time when an American political party uses the. Power of the govt to go after its own people - and that it doesn’t even count as a story anymore. I just don’t understand it
Something I have been struggling with. Ignorance is bliss. Unless putting myself through this would lead to me doing something to make a difference, I am just shouting into the wind and making myself miserable in doing so.
So maybe my subscription will be worth it if I learn that lesson.
Well said - life is short and people who don’t read any of this stuff are probably having a better time🤣. Hope you have a great summer.
You too, Sir or Madam ;)
and STILL no dive into the Biden Crime Family!
Well, bc my usually-taciturn 16 yo son brought up the “diss track” last night, I do confess a wee bit of interest in the rappers, however, it sure seems equally juvenile to much of what passes for “news” these days!
I find it kind of fun. 🙂
You have been all over the WPath files. Glenn Beck interviewed Shellenberger today about what was found and truly how gross it is. Tuskegee-esque. Where's TFP?
Especially since TFP published the two whistleblowers and the psychiatrist from the Netherlands. This am Dr Hilary Cass gave her first interview here in the USA to WBUR’s On Point Radio( connected to but not NPR)
Also the American Academy of pediatrics and the endocrine society published the first known statements since Cass Report. They did NOT address any of the evidence in Cass Report, they repeat their lies that their GAC is evidence based and arrogantly satiate only they who make money transing minors are qualified to have an opinion ( paraphrase is mine)
These are not scientific groups but rather political activist groups. To belong all that is required is dues payment. The government ( Sec Becceraof HHs) stated they rely onWPATH and these other assocs.
They must be forced to address the Cass Report which is the only evidence that exists.
This evidence is in WPATH's own words! To actually listen to Beck interviewing Shellenberger drove the point home. We have an administration that supports this! What is happening!?
I think the focus of the angry public needs to shift to the demanding that the Government address this scandal, turn off the money flow and shut down these pediatric gender clinics.
Expecting the WOKE captured medical assocs to reverse course in this country is unrealistic .
It’s so dirty and corrupt . The children are being sacrificed to this trans cult.
Insurance companies happily pay for it. How to turn public opinion when most media won't report on it? When the Biden administration continues to doubled down this.
I'm sorry I missed it!
Glenn Beck has been absolutely correct about CRT, DEI, ESG. He has talked about crypto and CBDCs. Talks about Trans. Talks about government efforts to infiltrate our financial business. Everything. Cannot recommend enough.
I sent this in as a TFP tip yesterday. One of the interns acknowledged receipt, we'll see if they do anything with it:
https://texasscorecard.com/investigations/how-one-school-district-disobeyed-a-mother-encouraged-a-trans-delusion/
I can't even imagine being a kid or parent having to battle against the very people trusted to be a positive influence. This is anti-science.
I never heard of either of them so didn't bother reading that
And the FP torched Tucker Carlson for praising a few things about Russia while also declaring his love for America - saying it’s his home. While there are bad and scary leaders in Russia they appear competent within their cultural context. Contrast that with leadership in America. We have awful, incompetent and very weak leaders in all our major institutions . While I sympathize (a lot) with these ex-pats, I would rather stay and fight for our country.
Anyone here who doesn’t subscribe to Public should take a look - his article today about his congressional hearing regarding Brazil is so important
Jen, you noticed that! Yeah, me, too!
Ugh, if I wanted the usual talking points I would watch CNN (etc) which is included in my Spectrum subscription. This is not why I am paying for TFP.
Anyone laying odds on GoFundMe seizing Mario Torres legal defense funds before he has a chance to use them? No doubt the progressive GoFundMe folx would almost certainly drop Mr. Torres in the same deplorables bucket as the Canadian truckers......right?
I don't think they will dare. Too many upset Latinos would mob them and GoFuckMe ( oh oops sorry, a little fruitian slip there) would open themselves up to racial discrimination suits up the yin yang.
I hope you're right, but I don't trust them to do the right thing.
Me neither about doing the right thing, not. But they are also politically savvy and know the Latino opinion/voting block is big.
But they're a privately owned company. They don't have to worry about the opinion of non-Woke types.
They may not have to, but I think their woke masters who call the shots do. Or could just be wishful thinking on my part. Who knows these days?
No one should be using GoFundMe
Yuri is a brilliant writer way more insightful than the Liberals pretending not to be on Free Press outside of Bari Herself. I would highly recommend him.
I honestly do not understand this administration's stance towards the whole Israel thing. They're all over the board. One second they're authorizing funding, the net they're withholding it. My guess is there's some internal power struggle over the teleprompter.
Their problem is that a very significant portion of Democrats--the ones who support the protestors--hate Israel. They have very loud voices, and they are threatening to not vote for Biden if he doesn't stab Israel in the back. (Although it seems counterintuitive, they are just as happy to see Trump become POTUS again, since that will give them even more excuses for burning the U.S. to the ground.)
Unfortunately for Biden, most Americans support Israel. So he has to support Israel just enough to keep most voters happy, while simultaneously trying to give hope to the pro-Hamas crowd that he can be persuaded to turn on Israel if he gets reelected.
Great insight Celia, I have been asking myself “why does Biden need to pander to the Israel-hating left? It’s
not like they’re gonna vote for Trump.” Your explanation made it click: they just want to destroy.
Once you understand that the driving goal of these people is to destroy Western civilization so they can build their "utopia" on its ashes, everything insane thing the Left does makes perfect sense.
Even their weird bedfellowship with Islam is logical when you realize that Islamists are a powerful and gleefully violent ally in their hatred for Western civilization.
I don't think they so much "hate" Israel as much as they hate Netanyahu and are equally moored to the idiotic mindset of the Wretched of the Earth crowd.
I disagree. I'm not talking about all Democrats. I'm talking about the ones who have been pro-Hamas since Oct7. The ones who have been blocking highways, taking over college campuses, and threatening to dismantle Chicago ala 1968.
It goes without saying that the vast majority of Democrats hate Netanyahu. But those are not the ones making the vote-to-destroy-Israel-or-else demands.
Did you see the poll that was referenced the other day? I believe it showed that almost half or all Democrats support the Palestinians. That's is troubling beyond measure.
I didn't, but I'm not surprised. I'm sure that many of them believe they can "support the Palestinians" without wanting Israel to be destroyed. They never seem to be able to come up with a plan for how that works. But they want to be seen as "good people," so they have to support the unfortunate people who are suffering the negative effects of declaring war on Israel.
Celia & Bruce, did you see the CBS report on Biden/ His Handlers offering to bring GAZA Palestinians to America, providing them with “a permanent safe home?” ??
Of course, that plan must be “discussed” with Egypt first! Why? Because Egypt, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries REFUSE to take ANY Palestinian refugees! Their past experiences found the Palestinians to breed and support terrorist!
I guess Biden thinks MORE immigrants would be perfect for America + future Democrat voters.
I’d love a read on exactly why so many hate Israel.
There are a number of factors at work.
A big part of the reason is that Israel is a successful Western-style nation in a sea of backwards Islamic dictatorships. The Israelis took a desolate region and made it bloom. It makes capitalism and Western classical liberalism look good, which is something that Marxists and Marxist-sympathizers can't abide.
Another factor is Intersectionalism. According to this ideology, successful people (like the Israelis) are inherently evil. Leftists see Israelis as "white colonizers" (they get away with this because of the decidedly false perception that most Israelis are Ashkenazis).
And of course, as I explained in my comment to Mark D., the Leftists want to destroy Western civilization and build their "utopia" on its ashes. Islamists share that goal, although the "utopia" the two groups envision is quite different; nevermind, they'll work it out once the West is dead. And the destruction of Israel is very high up on the Islamists' wishlist, so it helps Leftists to prioritize it.
But probably the biggest factor is antisemitism--a fancy, scientific-sounding word a 19th century German came up with to replace Judenhasse (Jew hatred). It seems to be the world's oldest and most consistent hatred, shared by very ideologically diverse people. People have tried to come up with a lot of secular reasons why it has persisted so long across so many cultures, but personally I think the real reason is more spiritual and sinister.
Fantastic and thoughtful comment, Celia. Laid everything out in plain language. I wish we could broadcast your comments over all the noises called expert analysis flooding media space now
Thanks. But the Leftists and their sympathizers wouldn't listen.
I couldn't agree more. It's the only explanation
Celia knows what time it is!
I thought they were just trying to pretend to please everybody without really pleasing anyone. A politician in an election year sort of thing. Seems to me they are also kinda afraid of the woke monsters they have created and must keep throwing them some juicy looking bones.
That is Biden blowing in the wind. He has no principles at all. He would fund Hamas if he thought it would get him re-elected.
I think it’s Biden’s Obama-lead masters driving this purely for political reasons.
"Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids" - Joe Biden
“Right now, we have young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don't even know what the word computer is. They don't know, they don't know these things,” - Kathy Hochul
It's pretty clear why so many on the left dislike Coleman Hughes. If we look at a kid and just see a kid, the woke crowd has nothing to beat you around the head and shoulders with and the Clinton Democrats have no one to patronize.
Once you start to see how white Democrats never actually stopped being racist, you can't unsee it. They hid it under a mask of being "helpful," but the party that spawned the KKK is still convinced that black people are inferior and need White Saviors to succeed at anything.
Celia: Exactly! I’ve been screaming this for years.
I literally grew up in the Democratic Party in the 1970s (my dad was a precinct head), so I was well aware that ordinary Democrats--particularly of the union variety--were still as racist as they could get away with, regardless of what the national leaders were saying. So that gave me some valuable insight to build on when I started realizing what was really going on.
It also helps that I've lived for 17 years in a strongly Democratic county on the northern edge of the South. Back in the late 00s, a very intelligent and personable black woman with a master's degree in city management ran for mayor of our town. On one of her signs on Main Street, "X for Mayor," her name was painted over and "white" was written in its place (i.e., "a white for mayor"). She only got a handful of votes, despite being very obviously the best person for the job.
Well, Celia, the world has gone mad. Schools and social agencies in New York City have been steadily demoting or even firing experienced white administrators and putting in their place black people who are unprepared to take responsibility and make a dog's breakfast of everything and/or arrive with chips on their shoulders.
A friend of ours, the most liberal soul on earth, has been complaining for a couple of years now about the situation in her agency and finally retired. She should have begun complaining half a dozen years ago, when she'd tell spouse and me stuff that was happening and we'd exclaim, "What?!"
Racism works both ways. This is what happens when color instead of competence is the measure of man.
Racism knows no bounds, regardless of the official screed.
Celia, my father was a bigot who, when he came home to find my black best friend was staying the night, made a u-turn out the door and didn’t return for three days. When he did come back, he asked my mother if she had burned the pillow case Kathy had used (she was disgusted, and told him so). He had stereotypes and foul names for every race, creed and color. Life-long Democrat.
Then again, a conservative Black woman was elected LG of Virginia.
And prompted painted by the Leftist media as "the Black face of White Supremacy."
It's so weird how conservatives will vote for people they're supposedly racist against.
Celia, we have a young black Republican mayor (Asian wife) elected in our “nauseatingly VERY Blue with 2 Universities,” Texas town. HOW he inched in is a miracle! He’s been fair minded and handled himself with dignity!
BUT, this pissed off ALL the “WOKE Powers that Be” and attacks directed toward him are brutal! His lovely wife and darling children are also regularly slandered! It’s disgusting! My only hope is he will NOT allow this treatment to discourage him from running for a 2nd term!
Matt, don’t forget Biden’s Basement Campaign Zoom call with a black influencer, “If you don’t vote for me YOU AIN’T BLACK!”
Democrats fully expect to keep the black voters on the Democrat Plantation.
Why would anyone care about Drake and Lamar? The last Lamar I found to be entertaining was Heady (it's HEADLEY!) Lamar and I've never paid any attention to someone who identifies as a male duck.
Here's an idea for Eli Lake and TFP to dig into: the HARM that rap has caused to young black men over the last 50 years, convincing them that hitting women and shooting cops is the best life.
Everyone needs to do a search for the video “Straight outta Compton”to see what kind of content will give someone vast wealth and social influence.
C'mon man. It's culture, don't ya know? Leave them kids alone
Took the words right out of my keyboard!
Or if you must listen to, support or report on rappers, listen to, report on or interview Tom McDonald instead.
100% this!!!
Doesn’t this sound like two spoiled rich guys mouthing off to get publicity for their new recordings? I’m bored.
You get a “Harrumph!” out of this guy for that comment.
Harrumph!
Well Drake's security guard was shot outside of Drake's home here in Toronto. I don't care about his music or Lamar's but when people start getting shot, this is serious.
Drake does happen to be Jewish, I wonder if that somehow plays into KL’s petty feud?
So we have the network that lies the most CNN reporting that the most corrupt government on the planet Ukraine foiled an attempt on their President’s life. So you want us to believe a story from liars told to them by another set of liars. Ya right.
All I could think of upon hearing that was, there’s another beg for billions coming
The Bee has you covered: https://babylonbee.com/news/zelensky-says-he-survived-an-assassination-attempt-and-hell-tell-us-the-thrilling-details-for-only-45-billion-dollars
LOVE the Bee! Have you seen the one “WOKE Jesus” ??
I saw the headline, but I haven't watched it yet. The Bee is a big reason that few of the stories here seem to new to me. By the time they write about it here, the Bee has usually already done a joke about it
Not sure what the hell a Momala is, but pretty sure I don't want Cackles the Mistress or Stormy, both in the same business being it. Just proof Drew's head is empty and useless as her thoughts.
The janitors should absolutely sue the Crap out of the college for putting them at risk. Better than working for Communist leadership.
Joseph, wish you luck and got a few thousand college students in green tents who can join you. 20 men who moved. Ah can you say hot Russian women who probably appreciate a man who will take care of them, treat them well, and not abuse them after a bottle of Vodka. Versus the virtual sensitive purple haired hotties running around screaming like banshees.
Trump will be found guilty, Not for anything real but for being in NYC. NY as a whole run by skeletore is truly becoming a one party legal justice system.
Pandemic savings? You mean free money from tax payers that was put on the credit card for our youth. Yeah, that savings.
Biden is finally turning on Israel. Who ever believed this bag of bones would support them. He will sell or turn on anyone as he is strictly about self. The great unifier is maybe the most phony and self-centered politician, (add Obama in) we have ever had. Yet the press lines up to kiss his wrinkled ass and praise the fool.
Mamala in slang Spanish means "suck my dick"
I am not making this up
Mamala...Spanish for "suck it"! Yep, it's true, people. And I am sure that she HAS!
Didn't she say that was the nickname she was most proud of!?
I think Willie Brown was the first to assign the nickname to Kamala.
Mamala is a Yiddish word for mother. Also spelled mamaleh.i have wondered the extent to which the second gentleman approves of Biden and company withholding weapons to Israel. It is very likely that the mamalas step daughter is delighted with that decision
Trump is guilty of Felony Bad Bookkeeping.
I’d prefer Stormy as the national mom, if nursing is involved. Otherwise yeah, neither. Please give us Melania!
Mark, I recently saw a cartoon captioned “Pedo Braindead Biden and Heels Up Kamala” 2024. The illustration was hilarious! I wonder WHY comes up with this?!
Sorry, “Heels Up Harris”
Good that 3 janitors and their union are now suing Columbia. Columbia has a duty of care towards its employees, all of them.
Just in case people missed it -- this is the Royal College of General Practitioners updated guidance on transgender care. They have fully embraced Cass. https://www.rcgp.org.uk/representing-you/policy-areas/transgender-care
And I second the recommendation for Rumpole of the Bailey (the books are better than the tv series) but it does explain the Bar. Equally good is the Yes Minister tv series (explains the civil service) or indeed The Thick of It.
Ben Ryann reported that NPR is doing a piece on The Cass Report 10 am today ( eastern time) . It will be interesting to see what angle it takes.
Sec educ Miguel Cardona has been testifying at a House Hearing. He was questioned about his Title XI rule rewrites that allow males to compete in female sports and invade female spaces. Cardona squirmed and said we need to protect ALL students.That males accounting they are females take precedence over female sports and spaces.
This fight is heating up
The tank is turning. Fingers crossed that NPR have actually bothered to do their homework and understand why the NHS England, the RCGP, the British Government etc are solidly behind Cass.
You protect all students by having female and 'open' categories. A simple karotype test (cheekswab) gives the info on whether or not someone should be competing as a female (aka doesn't have Y chromosomes). No to unfair play and mediocre males taking precedence over superlative females.
I can predict with high certainty what NPR will say about the Cass report, and so can you.
Good news! thanks for this.
The thing with Russia is that it has seemingly largely recovered a very old culture that the Communists tried and failed to destroy. China, it seems to me, will take a very long time to recover from Mao, if it ever does.
The Maoism that marched through China (and it should be said Tibet, where thousands of religious buildings were torn down) only concerms itself with destroying. With turning the populace, particularly the young, into violent ghoulish mobs who want to destroy anything their parents would recognize as good.
What COULD be the value of this activity, which self evidently is well advanced in America in 2024? You can only build on what is. If you destroy what is, you have to first rebuild it, from an inferior and difficult position, and only then make what improvements were possible.
I think any of us—the sane among us at least—would feel little but vague horror looking into the cult glazed and irrationally destructive eyes of what I will call here Columbia Kids. They are gone, or so I guess. Certainly they do not support information gathering and rational debate, which count among the most sacred cultural elements of any genuinely liberal ethos.
All this transgender nonsense and destruction of the Boy Scouts and the like is tearing down. There is no love there, no positive intent.
I said in perhaps 2010 that Putin was a bad man, but a better man than Obama because at least he genuinely seemed to love his own country. Obama—and Biden and the rest—have no homes. They hate America but have no positive suggestions of any sort, other than consigning all of it and all of us to flames, for their own psychotic amusement, and they assume for their personal profit.
Read the 100 Year Marathon by Michael Pilsbury whose thesis is China does not want to recover from Mao. It was Mao's goal in 1950 to displace America as the world's superpower. He argues it would take 100 years due to the head start America had and as backwards as China was. It's a fascinating theory backed up by events that have occured since.
You won't be disappointed in the least. If you're in a book club I highly recommend it.
I understand the aim, but given how completely Mao wrecked the Chinese culture and traumatized multiple generations with famine and irrational violence, their plans must depend mainly on tearing us down. Their kids dont want to work or have kids, in yearly increasing numbers.
Still, we have an abundance of happy and cheap traitors so its hard not to agree they have had a lot of success here, even if they continue to fail to convince Chinese citizens themselves that up is down, war is peace, and that Chairman Xi—who has imprisoned them in their homes repeatedly over the past four years—views them all as other than contemptible and disposable pawns.
America is by far the stronger and better positioned nation. Freedom works. If we did not have so many traitors not just to America but to freedom and basic decency, their plans would have zero hope of being accomplished.