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Conrad Black:
“…The controversy over acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is the inane death rattle of the Democratic addiction to the idea, pushed by the 90 percent-hostile press, that President Trump must remain handcuffed to an endless special counsel inquiry. This conviction persists, despite Robert Mueller’s failure—and the failure of his Justice Department predecessors—to turn up any reason for their investigations in two years’ worth of frenzied efforts to find something damaging about Trump.
Astounding fatuities abound at the U.S. Capitol. Departing senator Jeff Flake, as he finally takes his permanent imitation of a righteous chipmunk back to Arizona, portentously announced he would not support administration judicial nominees or a new attorney general without legislated guarantees of the safety of the Mueller inquiry. Such guarantees have no validity, as even Flake must realize, as the president can fire any employee of the executive branch, or otherwise condense his jurisdiction.
Flake, who snatched Barry Goldwater’s title Conscience of a Conservative for his own book, and was harangued by interlopers in a Capitol elevator to request the Judiciary Committee hear Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s scarcely plausible accuser, seems to be trying for a NeverTrump Indian summer. It won’t happen.
In fact, there is no reason to believe the president now pays any attention to Mueller. Trump is about to send written responses to his questions and there is no visible likelihood that Mueller is going to say or do anything that discommodes Trump at all. The sun is finally rising over the fact that there was never any excuse for this absurd investigation.
Trump-Russian collusion was the most gigantic canard in American political history. The Steele dossier on which the claim was largely based is the dirtiest trick in American political history. Now it is time to put what has recently been called “compartmentalization” into high gear. This is the ability to have a high level of investigative activity contemporaneous with a productive legislative schedule in the Congress…”
https://amgreatness.com/2018/11/20/get-ready-for-high-gear-compartmentalization/
ABE GREENWALD:
“…A hard problem. The CEO of Google thinks that the question of whether or not to permit minority opinions on social media is a hard problem. Let’s hope Big Tech works that one out wisely because if the thumbs-down side of the debate wins, the likes of Nicholas Lewis and Climate Etc. would be lumped in with anti-vaxxers and banished from the digital public square. So when faulty, tendentious science appears in places like Nature, it will go uncorrected—by design. Pinchai’s understanding of climate-change skepticism as propaganda and misinformation is itself an example of the propaganda and misinformation that dominates public discourse.
Many in the liberal mainstream have determined that their convictions rest on a priori knowledge. That is, knowledge that doesn’t rely on evidence or experience. They know things because these things are true. They sometimes apply this to claims of sexual assault, and they usually apply it to climate change. Keeting, for example, says that he’s certain of the Nature study’s findings even though those findings are uncertain. In actual fact, such matters belong to the realm of a posteriori knowledge. We need evidence to determine whether they are true or false. But if mainstream institutions can pathologize dissent, they’ll never need to provide evidence for the convictions they peddle.
It’s true that the U.S. Constitution protects citizens against totalitarian government. But for all the Founders’ stunning foresight, they couldn’t have envisioned a world in which non-government parties would close in on a cultural monopoly of public debate. The forces of obscurantism are making an end-run around our brilliantly conceived checks and balances and appealing to Big Tech to shut down dissent. Constitutional guardrails constrain demagogic presidents. But CEOs, social-media behemoths, and academic institutions are free to dictate the terms of reality as they see fit. Against them, we have people like Nicholas Lewis. That’s about it…”
Michael Barone:
“…Family elders fret about getting through Thanksgiving and the holidays without violent arguments, and more parents than ever say they’d be upset if their children marry across political lines.
But are things really so bad? Last week’s ceremonies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I — or, rather, the Armistice that stopped the fighting on the Western Front but not farther east — suggest that they could be a lot worse, and they have been within the memory of some people only recently departed.
In many ways, today’s troubles look like miniature versions of the woes of the 20th century…
But the threats to legitimacy of established governance were much greater and more destructive 100 years ago. As strange as it may seem to 21st century readers, before World War I European hereditary monarchs, who to varying degrees made government policy, were a widely respected legitimizing force. Allegiance to a ruling family mostly overrode ethnic loyalties.
The Great War put an end to that. The Romanoff dynasty in Russia fell before the Armistice, replaced after civil warfare by the murderous Communist regime for 70 long years. The German Kaiser, Queen Victoria’s oldest grandchild, was ousted in November 1918, as was the Habsburg monarch of Austria-Hungary, whose predecessor Franz Josef reigned for 68 years.
Dynasties were not replaced by stable democracies. Hitler maneuvered into power in Weimar Germany, and his Nazis took control of the multiple nations carved out of Austria-Hungary between 1938 and 1941. The defeat of Hitler was followed by America’s Cold War with its wartime ally, the Soviet Union.
These struggles, gigantic in stature, grave with dangers, dwarf the unpleasant but not existential struggles of our own time. As Steven Pinker argues in The Better Angeles of Our Nature, we live — and mostly thrive — in a far less violent world than our ancestors did 100 years ago. Happy Thanksgiving…”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/amid-your-complaints-a-reason-to-give-thanks
Liz Sheld:
“…I don’t know if these sniveling, entitled brats think they are going to scoot in to Congress and take power away from dusty antiques like Nanny Pelosi, but if you come at the queen you better kill zer because you are going to end up on the House Toilet Paper committee. That’s right, those old white people control who gets on the committees and you whippersnappers aren’t going to get squat. You aren’t going to get anything done or get your hyphenated name on any legislation. You will be controlled unless you get in line.
A fight broke out in a closed-door meeting of House Democrats over climate change as a powerful veteran lawmaker fought with freshman star Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members-elect over the creation of a special panel for the issue.
New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, incoming chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee — backed by a number of other committee members — slammed the creation of the new climate panel, according to multiple sources in the room. Pallone argued that his committee and other existing panels within the House could take on the issue aggressively.
But Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rep.-elect Joe Neguse (Colo.) and some of the other progressive incoming lawmakers fought back, saying they ran on the issue and needed to do it. Ocasio-Cortez earlier this week pushed for a “Green New Deal” as she backed more than 200 young protesters at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office.
“…LOL. Yeah, good luck fighting the power structure. It’s so refreshing to watch this happen on the left after seeing it happen so many times on the right. Ten bucks Ocasio-Cortez ends up on the Ag. committee, her constituents would just love that…”
https://pjmedia.com/blog/liveblogevent/live-blog-122/entry-246007/
Jim Treacher:
“…Throughout the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation debacle, anybody who presumed the man was innocent until proven guilty in the court of public opinion was branded a “rape apologist” by angry feminists and other Democrats. We were supposed to take the accusations at face value, even though there was absolutely no evidence to support them. The mere presence of the accusations was enough to decide the matter. Guilty until proven innocent, that was the new standard.
One man who did a lot to promote that point of view was cable-news fixture and purported attorney Michael Avenatti. He trotted out a woman named Julie Swetnick to accuse Kavanaugh of being part of some sort of gang-rape ring. Her accusation was completely unsupported by any evidence whatsoever, but it was good enough for the people who wanted to bring down Kavanaugh by any means necessary. And her attorney insisted we believe the tale, because it was told by a woman. If you’re skeptical of a woman’s accusation, that means you hate women. That’s what we were told
Avenatti is singing a different tune today, isn’t he?…”
“…After last year’s debacle, Vicky Konstantinidis wasn’t about to leave the centerpiece of her Thanksgiving dinner to chance.
In 2017, the Long Island resident had been a little late to place her turkey order to Feisty Acres, a North Fork farm known for its organic, heritage-breed gobblers.
At $9.99 per pound, they’re about 10 times what your average supermarket bird goes for — and they’re so sought-after that customers are asked to put down a $55 deposit to hold their reservation.
“It’s the only turkey I’d eat,” Konstantinidis tells The Post.
While she did ultimately wind up getting her two birds — at 6 to 12 pounds, Feisty’s turkeys run smaller than the average supermarket kind — the stress was real, Konstantinidis says. So this year, “I ordered mine in August.” The 50-year-old expects to spend more than $200 on her order, and says it’s totally worth the money and hassle…”
https://nypost.com/2018/11/14/would-you-pay-200-for-a-designer-thanksgiving-turkey/
“…In spite of substantial public controversy, very little reliable data exists concerning the frequency with which non-citizen immigrants participate in United States elections. Although such participation is a violation of election laws in most parts of the United States, enforcement depends principally on disclosure of citizenship status at the time of voter registration. This study examines participation rates by non-citizens using a nationally representative sample that includes non-citizen immigrants. We find that some non-citizens participate in U.S. elections, and that this participation has been large enough to change meaningful election outcomes including Electoral College votes, and Congressional elections. Non-citizen votes likely gave Senate Democrats the pivotal 60th vote needed to overcome filibusters in order to pass health care reform and other Obama administration priorities in the 111th Congress…”
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/11/how-many-non-citizens-vote-in-u-s-elections.php
James Freeman:
“…This is not an accurate rendering of what happened. A video recording of the event shows that after four reporters took their turns asking questions, the President called on Mr. Acosta, who made it clear that he would not simply be asking questions and seeking information as reporters do but intended to provide a rebuttal to recent comments made by the President. “I wanted to challenge you on one of the statements that you made in the tail end of the campaign—in the midterms,” said the CNN commentator.
Mr. Acosta mentioned Mr. Trump’s characterization of the immigrant caravan making its way through Mexico as an “invasion.” At this point Mr. Acosta did not ask a question but simply issued a declaration. “As you know Mr. President, the caravan was not an invasion. It’s a group of migrants moving up from Central America towards the border with the U.S.,” said the CNN correspondent.
So instead of simply serving as a reporter Mr. Acosta chose to offer commentary—and according to standard dictionaries he was wrong. The large group of immigrants had crossed illegally into Mexico and plainly intended to illegally enter the U.S.
Mr. Acosta may think that an invasion must include a military force but Mr. Trump’s use of the word is common. Merriam-Webster defines invade as “to enter for conquest or plunder,” but also “to encroach upon” or “infringe.” Other dictionaries have similar definitions, such as “to intrude” or “violate.”
Having wrongly asserted that the caravan could not be called an invasion and wrongly asserted that Mr. Trump knew he was saying something untrue, Mr. Acosta then asked why Mr. Trump had done so and if he had “demonized” immigrants. Yes, Mr. Acosta was now asking a question, but doing so while demanding that the President accept a false premise.
Mr. Acosta then interrupted the President as he tried to answer. Then Mr. Acosta editorialized again:
“Your campaign had an ad showing migrants climbing over walls and so on. But they’re not going to be doing that.”
Is Mr. Acosta now a spokesman for the caravan? After another interruption, Mr. Acosta insisted on continuing to talk after the President called on a reporter. Then Mr. Acosta fended off a White House intern as she attempted to retrieve the microphone to allow others to ask questions.
The First Amendment prevents the President or anyone else in the federal government from restricting the ability of citizens to report and publish. Does it also require the President to listen to ill-informed lectures for as long as the lecturers choose to speak? Obviously if everyone had the right to refuse to surrender the microphone at press conferences the result would be fewer members of the press corps having an opportunity to ask questions, not more.
But there’s something special about Mr. Acosta and about CNN, at least according to the lawsuit…”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cnns-acosta-privilege
“…First, financial journalists have stronger incentives to produce original information and analysis than to disseminate information already in the public domain, and they rely heavily on private communication with company management for information. Second, sell-side analysts play an important role in informing financial journalists, many of whom lack financial sophistication. Third, the incentives for sensationalism in the business press assumed in prior research are dominated by incentives for accurate, timely, in-depth, and informative reporting, while the quid pro quo incentives assumed in prior literature (e.g., putting a positive spin on company news to maintain access to inside sources) are substantial.”
Get that? Journalists covering the financial industry don’t know the industry and give favorable coverage to keep access. Sounds like pretty much every other type of journalist…”
https://www.dailywire.com/news/38302/462-financial-journalists-were-asked-their-ashe-schow
“…In its new report, The Nuclear Power Dilemma, the UCS now recognizes that nuclear power plays an important role in addressing the problem of man-made global warming by helping to keep U.S. carbon dioxide emissions considerably lower than they would otherwise be. The UCS notes that there has been a 28 percent reduction in U.S. power-sector emissions of carbon dioxide below 2005 levels. This is largely due to the switch from coal to cheap fracked natural gas, to increased energy efficiency, and to the deployment of some solar and wind generation capacity.
The UCS fears that this trend toward lower carbon dioxide emissions will be derailed because many of the currently operating nuclear power plants will close because they are being outcompeted by generation facilities fueled by cheap natural gas and subsidized renewable power generation. “More than one-third of existing plants, representing 22 percent of total U.S. nuclear capacity, are unprofitable or scheduled to close,” notes the report. “The possibility that the nation will replace existing nuclear plants with natural gas and coal rather than low-carbon sources raises serious concerns about our ability to achieve the deep cuts in carbon emissions needed to limit the worst impacts of climate change.” The UCS has evidently come to realize that closing down nuclear power plants will perversely “lock-in” fossil fuels and thus make it harder and more expensive to “save the climate.”…”
https://reason.com/blog/2018/11/13/union-of-concerned-scientists-for-nukes
“…The tip of the spear when it comes to President Trump’s diplomacy is not the tongue of the diplomat, but the power of the pipeline.
The United States is now the world’s No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas, eating away at Washington’s past dependence on foreign producers and oil cartels. And that means the influence of petrostates like Iran and Russia and autocracies around the world.
Trump calls it “energy dominance,” and the freedom it provides has undergirded many of the president’s decisions, from moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem to re-imposing sanctions on Iran, according to administration sources.
“It allows us to impose these sanctions and not upset the world oil market very much,” said Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. “It’s a fundamentally different posture to be in, in regard to our foreign policy. … It just gives us leverage.”
In negotiations with European, Chinese, and other world leaders, the president has made energy a central theme. Earlier this year, Trump even taunted NATO members at a summit in Brussels, calling them “captives” to Russian energy.
Above all, the comment was aimed at Germany, which is working with the Russian state-run energy firm Gazprom to build the Nord Stream 2 pipeline…”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/trump-wields-his-energy-weapon
“…The Chinese economy expanded rapidly in the years after the global financial crisis thanks to repeated debt binges.
“China’s growth has been highly credit intensive,” said Gerard Burg, Sydney-based senior economist at National Australia Bank. The total amount of debt in the Chinese financial system is now several times the size of the entire economy.
Some of this money has gone into building bridges, road and other infrastructure. But a lot has ended up in less productive parts of the economy, such as big, inefficient state-run companies. The more dynamic private sector hasn’t benefited as much.
Late last year, Beijing stepped up its efforts to rein in the high levels of debt, which is one of the main reasons the economy is now losing momentum.
Some analysts are skeptical about the Chinese government’s commitment to cleaning up its financial system, especially as the slowdown deepens and the trade war intensifies…”
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/09/economy/china-economy-risks/index.html
“…PHOENIX, Ariz.—Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes’s (D.) answers to questions about controversial emergency voting centers opened on the Saturday and Monday before Election Day only inspired more criticism from Republicans, who consider the centers workarounds for voting election deadlines set by law.
The debate over Maricopa County’s logistical decisions comes as ballots continue to slowly be counted in Arizona’s Senate contest.
On the Wednesday following Election Day, Republican congresswoman Martha McSally ledDemocratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema by over 17,000 votes. However, there were also about 650,000 votes still to be counted, with the majority of those in Maricopa County.
As of Monday, Sinema has a lead of about 32,900 votes, and the Arizona Republic estimates 215,000 votes remain to be counted across the state.
By law, early voting is supposed to end on the Friday before Election Day, but the law also provides for the emergency voting centers that may be created after. Ambiguities over the “emergency voting” statute—including questions as to what constitutes an emergency and whether or not a voter should have to prove their emergency—are the points of conflict…”
https://freebeacon.com/politics/emergency-voting-centers-opened-dem-recorder-raise-questions