Go DEI and DIE

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PRIORITIES: DOJ Tells Four Police, Fire Departments That It’s Racist To Expect Employees To Know Basic Math.

Most blacks generally pass the tests, and the lawsuits do not explain how the tests can be racist against only some blacks. Blacks who passed the tests are excluded from the financial payouts.

Last week, Durham, North Carolina settled with the DOJ, saying blacks failed the tests required to become a firefighter more often, and “Employers should identify and eliminate practices that have a disparate impact based on race.” It said the Durham Fire Department must pay nearly a million dollars to people who failed the test, and hire up to 16 of them.

While the DOJ said the tests were not relevant to actually being a good firefighter, an online practice test suggests that it is directly relevant, that people could die if such firefighters were hired. One question asks if a building is 350 feet away, how many 60-foot hoses would be needed.

DEI kills.

Reminder:

Almost HALF Of UCLA Medical Students Fail Basic Competency Tests, Professors Say Aggressive DEI Policies Are To Blame

Riverside sale price reported

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7 Wesskum Wood Road has closed at $3.5 million. The asking price was $3.495, so apparently, the buyers were feeling generous (or perhaps there were multiple bidders — who can tell?) Built in 1937, expanded — 3,298 sq. ft. to 3,675 — and renovated in 2015 by these owners, the price is unsurprising in this market. It’s on an excellent street, and just a few houses down from Riverside school — even a modern Riverside parent could let their precious scions walk there on there own (but they won’t).

And Riverside School’s worth walking to, even if the walker must be accompanied by nervous mothers. After the Fountain boys left (I believe it took Gideon 9 years to accomplish that, while the rest of us managed it in just 7) Riverside’s students’ overall performance soared, and it’s now one of the best in the state:

Elon Musk saved Twitter and ruined the party for "the Party"

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JIM TREACHER: Happy Anniversary to Hunter’s Laptop.

Four years ago today, my Twitter account was instantly suspended for posting the following picture:

That’s Hunter Biden. The photo came from the laptop he abandoned at a Delaware repair shop, less than five miles from his father’s house.

Vladimir Putin didn’t take that snapshot. He didn’t plant the laptop. It belonged to Hunter, who then abandoned it and lost legal custody of it because he’s a drug addict.

And yet when I posted that photo in October 2020, just weeks before the election, my Twitter account was instantly locked down.

I don’t mean within minutes, either. The instant I clicked the button to post that, I was locked out of my account.

Here’s the warning I received:

I had been censored. Lil’ ol’ me!

So I removed the tweet, under duress, to restore access to my account.

As it turned out, I was far from the only one. Anybody who shared any part of that news story — and it is a news story — got instantly locked down by Twitter. You couldn’t even share the URL of the original NY Post story. A complete blackout.

The Democrats wanted Trump out of the White House, and they thought this story would interfere with that. So they locked it down.

Musk’s ending of censorship of politically-inconvenient posts, and, just as important, his introduction of a ”community notes” feature has simultaneously expanded the content of Twitter/X, and prevented some of the worst of the “misinformation” that has the Left so worried — ostensibly — they never had a problem when their people engaged in it.

And those community notes are not used just on far-lefters posted nonsense; a Tweet came across my phone yesterday (I can’t find it now, alas), from someone showing a picture of Chinese warships “surrounding” Taiwan, and warning that war was imminent! That sounded a tad bogus to me, so I checked on X and sure enough, someone had added a community note explaining that, “while deliberately provocative, China does this every year”. It’s nice to have instant corrections and debunkings available on the social media that’s currently shaping our world. Elon <usk made that possible, and that’s why the Left hates him.

Go big or stay home

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86 Cutler Road was listed just now for $12.5 million. Comprising 10,894 sq. ft. of over-the-top construction on four acres, who knows? It’s bound to appeal to someone. My only quibble is that it’s on Westchester Airport’s near-neighbor Cutler Road, and Cutler has only seen one $3 million sale, ever; $12.5 will be quite a leap.

this p. diddy model offers showering for 12 or more guests

plenty of room for washing all those towels and bedsheets afterwards, with available video screening of the frolics

Glenn Reynolds has a Substack essay up; good reading

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Elondo Musconi lands on the shores of monterey

Some Columbus Day Thoughts About Elon Musk

Big achievements and the hatred of the petty-minded

…. But the New Left hated Apollo.  There were several reasons.  First, the New Left was largely a revolt against the Old Left – they hated LBJ from early on, and the other old-style Democratic liberals like Hubert Humphrey. They were delighted to cost LBJ reelection, though less so with the results.

Second, Apollo was, as Norman Mailer wrote in A Fire on the Moon, the “triumph of the squares.”  While all the long-haired countercultural types talked about changing the world with music, tie-dye, and psychedelics, a bunch of crew- cutted engineers in their short-sleeve dress shirts, pocket protectors, and skinny ties actually went and did it.  They weren’t “cool,” but they did something that had never been done before, and that had scarcely even been imagined.

This was unforgivable, and NASA had to be neutered, and was.

Worse yet, a space program was expansionary.  If Western Civilization in general, and the United States of America in particular, was evil, then anything that led to the expansion of either must be evil too.  The only acceptable product of the Apollo program was the photo of Earth from the Moon, an inward-looking image used to justify environmental programs that, along the lines of the Club Of Rome, were aimed at shrinking civilizational horizons, not expanding them.

(This is also the reason for all the hate aimed at Columbus.  His sin wasn’t anything that happened to the “indigenous” peoples of the Americas.  It was that his voyages led to the expansion – quite possibly the survival -- of Western Civilization, and the eventual creation of the United States of America.  In traditional United States usage, Columbus was a hero because he made the United States of America possible.  To the left, that made him a villain of the first order.)

So of course they hate Elon Musk, who’s doing the same kind of thing, and who has the poor taste to explain it and boast about it.  Like most immigrants, he doesn’t buy the left’s revisionist picture of America as an awful thing (anyone who did wouldn’t immigrate, after all).  He sees America as something more like Ronald Reagan’s shining city on a hill.  And, even more intolerably, he doesn’t even give lip service, or a modicum of respect, to the left’s complaints.  He mostly ignores them, and occasionally slaps them down with casual contempt.

This is, of course, precisely the correct response.

Also, Musk favors expanding horizons – economically, technologically, and geographically (cosmographically?) as humanity expands through the immense resources of the solar system.  This, too, is anathema to the left, since socialism is always about dividing up poverty, never actually about sharing wealth.  Churchill called it the equal sharing of misery, but that was actually overly kind – misery in socialist countries is never shared equally.  The folks on top always do just fine. 

You couldn’t easily sell socialism in America when people could set off for the frontier, and you won’t be able to sell it when people can set off for Mars, the Moon, or the asteroid belt.  Or even get steadily richer on the product of those who do.

And worse still, socialist politicians and their – to borrow a phrase from the lefty lexicon – “running dogs” of academia, the media, NGOs, etc., are jealous of people who expand horizons, because at heart they’re small people with small minds.  Large horizons make them feel small and inferior.  They thrive in committee meetings where they get to feel big by deciding the fates of lesser beings.  Elon has little to offer them.

And neither did Columbus, and that’s why they’re both hated by the inferior humans who are sniping and carping at them now.  The left wants you to live in a small, poor world where sorry lefty tyrants are on top. Don’t let that happen.

Oh yes you would; in fact, you've been doing it for four years, and you're still at it

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such a thing!

Trust Me, We Would NEVER Do That, Says Mayorkas

Alejandro Mayorkas, the impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary, wants you to know that he's vewy, vewy angwy that people would dare say that the reason he, Border Czar Kamala Harris, and President Joe Biden have opened the borders to a marauding horde of millions of illegal aliens is to import new Democrat voters. 

That's just "disinformation," he said on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday morning, with just a tad too much-feigned disbelief in his voice. 

…..

"The notion that we in law enforcement have sought to intentionally allow individuals to cross the border illegally for the purpose of voting is preposterous, and everyone should condemn that rhetoric," he solemnly told Brennan. "Everyone, regardless of party affiliation."

What is the purpose of bringing in MS-13 gangsters, Venezuelan cartel members, military-age Chinese men, and Haitian cat-cookers, if not voting, then? Somebody should ask him. Brennan didn't.  

That’s the national picture. Here’s a story of illegals voting in Maine, one of the least populated of our 57 states. It concerns a tiny sampling of voter records, and what was found.

Exclusive: Records Show Votes Cast Under Names of Non-Citizens in Multiple Maine Elections Since 2016

An investigation by the Maine Wire has found multiple votes cast in the names of Maine Democrats who are described in Medicaid records as legal or illegal immigrants

[All registered as Democrats — surprise!]

Whistleblower records obtained by the Maine Wire, along with voter registration records from the Maine Secretary of State’s office, show that multiple votes have been cast in Maine under the names of legal and illegal aliens who should be ineligible to vote in U.S. federal, state, and local Maine elections.

….

The records show the legal and illegal aliens billing Medicaid, known in Maine as MaineCare, for hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses. They were provided to the Maine Wire by a whistleblower concerned about potentially fraudulent billing practices at a healthcare provider in Maine.

When the identities of the 18 legal and illegal aliens named in the records were cross-referenced with voting records from the Maine Secretary of State, six of the individuals were registered to vote, five had voted in elections since 2016, and all were registered Democrats.

If their immigration statuses have been correctly recorded in Maine’s MaineCare system, then none of the individuals should be legally allowed to register to vote or vote in U.S. federal, state, or local Maine elections.

….

The individuals range in age from 35 to 74. According to SSN-Check.org, they received their social security numbers at ages ranging from 16 to 58. Four of the individuals received their social security numbers in Maine, while one received their number in Georgia and another received theirs in California.

….

The records offer no indication as to whether the individuals intentionally registered to vote and cast the ballots themselves or were registered to vote by another party and had ballots cast in their name without their knowledge or permission.

Several of the medical records indicate that the registered Democratic voters have severe intellectual or developmental disabilities and cognitive impairment.

One voter, who has not voted but was registered to vote as a Democrat in June, is described in the medical records as having “no cognitive capacity.”

All but one of the individuals has an address that corresponds with taxpayer-subsidized public housing.

….

Green card holders, legal permanent residents, asylum recipients, asylum applicants, aspiring asylum applicants, and illegal immigrants are prohibited from voting in U.S. federal, state, and local Maine elections.

It’s unclear how or why these six individuals — despite not being U.S. citizens — have become registered to vote as Democrats and, in several cases, have had votes cast in their names in U.S. elections.

However, Maine does not affirmatively verify citizenship when an individual attempts to register to vote, and instead relies only on the individual’s attestation that they are, in fact, eligible to vote as proof that they are eligible to vote.

Maine is also not among the states that requires voters to present photo identification in order to obtain an absentee ballot or cast a ballot on Election Day.

For the past four years, Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) and the Democrat-controlled legislature have shot down several attempts at implementing election integrity reforms that would prevent non-citizens from voting, including proposed voter ID laws.

The sample of records obtained by the Maine Wire is a tiny portion of the population of legal and illegal aliens currently residing in Maine.

Immigrant advocacy groups estimate that anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 legal and illegal immigrants currently reside in Maine, but it is unclear how many of them are also registered to vote and voting in U.S. elections — or having votes cast in their names by other parties.

In an interview I heard this morning, the publisher of The Maine Wire emphasized that the state of Maine has both sets of records: medicare and voter registrations, and could, if it wished, x-check the entire data bases “in a few hours or one day”. That it has chosen not to do so says it all.

Prediction: their appeal will be, er, "selective"

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Camouflage: it’s not just for cisgenders anymore

Powerline’s John Hinderaker has thoughts:

Manly Masculine Macho Men for the Wimp

As we have noted more than once, the Democrats are panicking over the fact that male voters, especially minorities, are deserting the Harris-Walz ticket. Thus, they have made absurdly clumsy attempts to associate their far-left, matriarchal ticket with masculinity.

Now we learn that Tim Walz is heading up a last-minute effort to draw hunters and fishermen into the Democratic camp. They placed an article in Outdoor Life magazine:

Later today the Harris-Walz presidential campaign will announce the formation of a coalition of hunters, anglers, and gun owners and tomorrow Democratic vice-presidential candidate and sitting governor of Minnesota Tim Walz will kick off his state’s pheasant opener with a stage-managed event in southern Minnesota.

That event happened yesterday, and it gave rise to peals of laughter as Walz was apparently unable to operate his shotgun. But at least Outdoor Life acknowledged that the “pheasant hunt” was a “stage-managed event,” whereas the Star Tribune, with doglike loyalty to its party, headlined “Walz takes a break from the campaign trail to hunt in Minnesota’s pheasant opener.” Right. From Outdoor Life:

Sources in the Harris-Walz campaign confirmed today that a broad coalition of rural, conservation-minded, and what the campaign calls “responsible gun owners” will hold its first organizing call on Monday. Creation of the coalition is intended to create a “permission structure for those who simply love to hunt, fish, and be outside, to join the Harris-Walz campaign,” said a campaign staffer who spoke on background.

Fortunately, we've got the Drag Team to stop them

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July 12, 2024:

Chinese Graduate Student Pleads Guilty to Drone Photography Espionage Charges

October 12, 2024:

Chinese University of Michigan students charged after allegedly spying on military base

The former students were allegedly taking pictures of military vehicles and other equipment

(Also October 12, 2024)

Mystery Drones Swarmed a U.S. Military Base for 17 Days. The Pentagon Is Stumped. U.S. officials don’t know who is behind the drones that have flown unhindered over sensitive national-security sites—or how to stop them.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly wasn’t sure what to make of reports that a suspicious fleet of unidentified aircraft had been flying over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline.

Kelly, a decorated senior commander at the base, got on a squadron rooftop to see for himself. He joined a handful of other officers responsible for a clutch of the nation’s most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors.

For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the U.S. The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told Kelly.

The first drone arrived shortly. Kelly, a career fighter pilot, estimated it was roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Other drones followed, one by one, sounding in the distance like a parade of lawn mowers.

The drones headed south, across Chesapeake Bay, toward Norfolk, Va., and over an area that includes the home base for the Navy’s SEAL Team Six and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port.

Officials didn’t know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces. Some suspected that Russia or China deployed them to test the response of American forces.

Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases in the U.S. unless they pose an imminent threat. Aerial snooping doesn’t qualify, though some lawmakers hope to give the military greater leeway.

Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit”
The Ukrainians may have thoughts on how to stop unwelcome drones.

Meanwhile, via email, some thoughts from Josh Trevino:

Now, this is not new news to those paying attention. The War Zone has been covering drone-swarm harassment / overflight of U.S. military assets and bases in the United States for years now, to the extent that they have a whole story category on it.

What is happening is that the story is moving into mainstream press as the problem worsens. A few notes on this:

First: the WSJ story amply illuminates the profoundly stupid bureaucratic bumbling in the USG response to this, which is characteristic of states that do not wish to survive. Consider this passage:

“Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall convened the White House brainstorming sessions. One official suggested using electronic signals to jam the drones’ navigation systems. Others cautioned that it might disrupt local 911 emergency systems and Wi-Fi networks. One suggestion was to use directed energy, an emerging technology, to disable or destroy the drones. An FAA official said such a weapon carried too high a risk for commercial aircraft during the December holiday travel season. Others suggested that the U.S. Coast Guard shoot nets into the air to capture the drones. An official pointed out that the Coast Guard might not have the authority to use such a weapon in this instance.”

Second: when the big war kicks off, these swarms will be delivering munitions directly onto the targets they now only surveil, and in fact the practice for that mission is likely why they conduct operations now. This is a solid and cost-effective alternative to developing a strategic-bomber force.

Third: the likely bases for these operations are not exactly hard to discern. You have offshore platforms. You have unused or unmonitored land within the United States. And you have Mexico.

Fourth: it is probably mostly the PRC, which further illuminates the sheer insanity of allowing PRC nationals to work, study, and live in the United States.

Fifth: if you wanted further evidence that the United States Armed Forces is not really in the business of protecting the United States as such, well, here you go.

All this is very bad and a bill will come due.

This is why it's so infuriating to see little tiny, useless bureaucrats attempting to destroy him (UPDATED)

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Stephen Green, writing in Instapundit:

I’d add that SpaceX built the incredible Mechazilla “chopstick” tower in a few months for what was probably in the ballpark of a couple hundred million dollars — and it performed flawlessly on the first-ever catch of a rocket. That the rocket happened to be the biggest and most powerful to ever fly is almost beside the point.

Meanwhile, Bechtel is years late building an ordinary launch tower for NASA’s doomed SLS rocket and is charging taxpayers $2.7 billion for the privilege.

UPDATE: I used the Gulliver’s Travels picture to illustrate Musk being tied down by useless Lilliputians, then later in the day I discovered that Musk himself has used the same metaphor to describe what the bureaucrats are doing to our once-great country, not just him. I’d say it was a case of great minds thinking alike, but it’s really a dull mind coincidentally thinking like a genius.