Happy (belated) New Year! Rather than return next week as I’d planned, I’ve decided to return a little early and ease back in with a look at the news. Since it’s still early in 2024, it’s not too late to look at a few stories that were, in my humble opinion, under covered by the major news outlets. It’s also a good idea to look ahead at some topics that are likely to command the attention of the news organizations if not the world.
Under reported
Fauci’s Lies – I know, COVID is over - unless you’re using it to advocate for more masking and booster shots in which case it’s worse than ever – and you just want to put it all behind you. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what most of us have done resulting in a failure to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci accountable for his numerous
crimesabuses of powerlies. It turns out that Fauci, of “if you’re attacking me you’re attacking science” fame is guilty of:o Lying about the efficacy of masks.
o Providing public health guidance-based polling data instead of science.
o Lying about funding gain of function research.
o Denying that coronavirus could have escaped from a lab (Could it be because he approved the funding the Wuhan lab used to experiment on coronavirus?)
o Promoting the 6-foot Social Distancing guidance while knowing it was just made up.
The House Judiciary Committee hearing on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government” – These hearings, which focused on the “federal government’s involvement in social media censorship” included data from internal Twitter (X) documents shared by Elon Musk and alleged that:
o Department of Homeland Security, government contractors, and social-media platforms conspired to censor ordinary Americans and elected officials for holding disfavored views.
o White House officials demanded that Facebook censor accurate information of vaccine side effects.
o Swift censorship of the COVID lab leak origin theory
o Efforts to restrict users from sharing the New York Post’s story concerning Hunter Biden’s laptop.
o US and UK military contractors worked to “censor and turn sophisticated psychological operations and disinformation tactics developed abroad against the American people.”
The Durham Report – Depending on where you stand, the Durham Report which looked into origins of the Trump-Russian collusion hoax, was either a “failure” (Vox – Left) and “political hype that failed to deliver” (NY Times – Left) or “a damning indictment of the FBI - and the media” (The Washington Post – Leans Left) and proof that the “FBI is as bad as you feared, maybe worse” (The Hill – Center). Given that only left-wing supporters of Hillary Clinton had issue with it I’m inclined to side with The Hill and The Washington Post.
Looking ahead
The 2024 US Election – If polling is to be believed, this election will likely see a repeat of the 2020 election which pits a creepy and corrupt old man against…well another creepy and corrupt old man. Yes, we are headed for Biden vs. Trump Part II leading to the question, aren’t there any other politicians in America? We can throw these stories in as major sideshows:
2024’s Leftist Obsession – will it continue to be the War in Gaza or will something “new and shiny” come along to make them forget their Palestinian flags as fast as they dropped their Ukrainian ones when Hamas’ “freedom” fighters murdered 1400 Israelis?
What I’m reading
You're not going to like what comes after Pax Americana, by Noah Smith, examines Pax Americana, the rise of a multipolar world, and America’s decreasing ability to deter conflict throughout the world.
In Equity vs. Equality: A Political Rorschach Test, Robert Wilkes, Senior Correspondent, Divided We Fall, (politely) eviscerates the pro-equity position of Carlon Howard, Chief Impact Officer, Equity Institute, correctly stating that by “implying that government has the power to do what it cannot or should not do in the name of equity, the cartoon is propaganda created to hand more power to the government” and equates it with “communist-style redistribution of wealth.” Given that several airlines are advocating that hiring decisions factor in more than just ability when recruiting pilots, it’s time for all clear-thinking people to push back on the dangers of DEI.
The Canadian military’s all-in embrace of far-left 'anti-oppression' dogma – How many Trudeaus will it take to destroy the Canadian military? One hopes it’s more than two, but Tristin Hopper over at the National Post raises concerns that two might be enough. It might not be entirely fair to blame Trudeau for the radical left’s critique of the military as being a den of “patriarchy, colonialism, white supremacy, heteronormativity, ableism, and classism,” but if it happens on your watch…
10 of the most mystifying open questions in science – I’m not all politics and social commentary (and hockey), I have other interests as well. So, with that in mind I give you the whole universe…or at least that’s one of the topics covered by Marco Gleiser over at Big Think.
My Podcast Recommendation(s) of the Week
I have two recommendations this week:
The Michael Shermer Show - Multiculturalism and Lessons From the Rwandan Genocide
Shermer interviews Jens Heycke, author of Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire: Multiculturalism in the World’s Past and tries to answer the question “Is it better to minimize ethnic distinctions or to accentuate them with diversity initiatives and ethnic preferences?”
The David McWilliams Podcast - The shifting political landscape - a conversation with Naomi Klein
A revealing yet discouraging illumination of how leftist activists don’t see the world as consisting of good people who differ on important ideas but rather good people (read, progressive anti-capitalist, climate crisis activists) and the far right (everyone else).