It’s Friday, May 28th, 2021…but before we begin, in the event you’re unaware of how Google manipulates what content you’re permitted to peruse, courtesy of James Nichols, consider the results of a recent search by a Tom Elliott for the latest on Rand Paul using DuckDuckGo…

…Bing…

…and Google:

You don’t think such censorship has real-world impact?  Watch this Tucker Carlson video, THEN…

…think again.  Any questions?!?

Now, here’s The Gouge!

First up, anyone interested in preserving the Founders’ gift of the 2nd Amendment needs to know the straight skinny on 46*’s nominee to head the ATF (those pressed for time can skip ahead to the 3:25 mark):

For those too young to remember, the ATF is part of the same alphabet soup that brought America the Ruby Ridge and Branch Davidian massacres, where the full weight of the federal government was brought mercilessly down upon completely innocent bystanders in the relentless…and highly suspect…pursuit of just two people: Randy Weaver in the former, David Koresh the latter.

Speaking of guns, David Chipman must certainly be disappointed the Journal‘s reporting the San Jose shooter used handguns rather an AR-15 variant.  The Journal went on to note Cassidy was questioned by U.S. Customs back in 2016 regarding some rather unusual reading materials he brought back from the Philippines, including “books about terrorism and fear and manifestos…as well as a black memo book filled with lots of notes about how he hates the VTA”, sentiments of which his first wife was fully aware…along with the fact he wanted to kill people at work.

“The Journal couldn’t immediately determine whether the border officials’ findings were shared with the VTA or local law enforcement before the shooting. A spokeswoman for the VTA referred questions to the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department. Spokespeople for the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department and San Jose Police Department didn’t immediately respond to comment requests.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection, declined to comment on the specifics of the case, citing the continuing investigation of the shooting. She said the department started an internal review in February which includes ‘efforts to ensure law enforcement personnel have the tools and training to identify behavioral indicators associated with targeted violence and policy to improve information sharing with our partners.’“

Meanwhile, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith told reporters Thursday investigators haven’t yet found any evidence indicating a possible motive.

At least Cassidy saved taxpayers the cost of a trial, endless appeals and the cost of keeping him alive for the next 30 years.  If he escaped justice in this life, he’ll certainly won’t in the next.

Since we’re on the subject of justice…or perhaps more accurately, just desserts, in forward from James Nichols, FOX informs us an…

Atlanta ‘defund the police’ backer has car stolen — by kids in broad daylight

 

Better than Brown’s car being stolen right in front of his eyes is how he represented his interaction with the supposedly pre-teen thieves:

“…The councilman described the kids as being between ages 6 and 12, FOX 5 reported. “One kid was in the driver’s seat. Ben [Community “leader” Ben Norman] attempted to open the door to get him out of the car. He fought with Ben. I then engaged and tried to get him out of the car. The three other kids were trying to figure out how to get in the car or stay out of the car. He started to hit on the gas,” Brown said. 

Brown added that he held on to the car in an attempt to stop them and was dragged about a block down the road before letting go. “As he started to speed up, and I knew that if I had not let go, I knew I probably could have killed myself because he was going so fast, I would have started to tumble. And I would have hurt him,” the councilman said…”

Still, the best is this mayor-wanna-be’s plan to deal with the skyrocketing crime in Atlanta, where the rates of homicide and shootings are up 52% and 40% respectively from this time last year:

“Brown doesn’t plan on filing charges against the kids, who he says acted out of desperation, Atlanta’s WSB-TV reported. “This is a generational poverty issue. These kids, it’s 12:30 in the afternoon. Why aren’t they in school? Why aren’t we enforcing systems to ensure that if they are not in school, they’re in recreational centers?” he said.“

One only wonder at the keen intellect behind such counterproductive positions and mind-numbing questions.

It should also be noted Antonio’s under indictment on several federal fraud charges related to lying about his income on applications to obtain loans and credit cards used for personal purchases.  Which means his car might not have been stolen, but rather repossessed! 

Next, the Washington Examiner relates how… 

Biden’s experience isn’t translating into preparation

 

“When President Joe Biden was elected, supporters argued few candidates were better prepared for the White House: eight years as vice president, 36 years in the Senate, and stints as chairman of the Foreign Relations and Judiciary committees.

Since taking office, Biden has been caught flat-footed by several developments: the surge of migrants at the border, the uptick in inflation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and splits among congressional Democrats on how to deal with the Middle East, with a growing faction in the House increasingly outspoken in its criticism of the Jewish state…”

In a related item, the Editorial Board at the WSJ weighed in on Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko…

Hijacking a Plane to Snatch a Blogger

The Belarus dictator orders his military to divert a civilian flight.

 

“…The implications of this state-sponsored hijacking aren’t pretty. A head of state used his military to order the diversion of a civilian flight between two European Union countries. His government lied about a bomb threat. And then it snatched a political opponent who was working in exile. If this is allowed to be a precedent without consequences, expect more such hijackings for the purpose of making political arrests. Imagine how Vladimir Putin or North Korea might interpret this as a license to intercept civilian planes.

The risks of an accident are high, especially if a pilot refuses to cooperate with the hijacking government’s orders. Will the government then shoot the plane down? After the Belarus stunt, many pilots may refuse to believe claims of a bomb threat in the future.

Lithuania protested the hijacking and demanded that the EU and NATO respond. Germany demanded an explanation from Belarus, and Poland’s prime minister called it a “reprehensible act of state terrorism.” But Belarus isn’t an EU member, and it isn’t clear what Europe will be able or willing to do. (Barring any commercial flights to and from Minsk would be a start, but that would be too easy.)

Rogue nations and their leaders are getting more brazen, and the world is fast becoming a more dangerous place.“

Particularly rogue nations in close orbit with Vladimir Putin, with who 46* still plans to meet in Geneva next month.  There couldn’t be any correlation between Lukashenko’s brazenness and the utterly corrupt and addled occupant of…

…the Oval Office.  As Jim Geraghty so accurately opined:

“…Why do these authoritarian regimes not fear the consequences of their actions? Because in so many cases, there are no consequences to those actions, or at least not significant ones. The modern “international order” envisioned by the center-left doesn’t really offer any international order.

…The international order envisioned by President Biden and German chancellor Angela Merkel and most other Western leaders is ultimately toothless. It prioritizes the illusion of stability and order — and attempts to sweep outrageous and dangerous actions such as the Belarusian hijacking under the rug — over the short-term difficult actions that might create genuine stability and order in the long term.

…The world is full of bullies, who will continue bullying others until they learn a hard lesson about consequences…”

Something tells us The Groper won’t be their instructor.  BTW, it’s more than curious some four months into his presidency, SNL has yet to do a skit involving 46*.

Since we’re on the subject of incredible coincidences, The Daily Caller reports…

Three Wuhan Institute Of Virology Scientists Were Hospitalized In November 2019

 

“Three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) were reportedly hospitalized with an unknown infection in November 2019. The researchers were hospitalized around the time COVID-19 is believed to have begun circulating in China, according to a United States intelligence report obtained by the Wall Street Journal. The report raises new questions about the origins of the virus, which some researchers, intelligence officials, and politicians believe is likely to have escaped from the WIV.

The Chinese government claims that doctors diagnosed the first COVID-19 infection on Dec. 8, 2019, but reporting from the South China Morning Post suggested that the first infection was really diagnosed on Nov. 17.

A State Department fact sheet sheet released on Jan. 15 claimed that “several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak. The symptoms were reportedly consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses.” The fact sheet did not provide information about the number of sick researchers, or more exact dates of infection.

Dr. Shi Zhengli, a lead researcher on bat-based coronaviruses at WIV, denies that COVID-19 escaped from her lab, although she previously said that she did “not slept a wink for days” over concerns that it originated with her team…”

As Jim Geraghty notes at his Morning Jolt,

“…if this previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report is accurate, the Wuhan Institute of Virology had three hospitalizations either simultaneously or in rapid succession. This means that one of three things happened. Either three employees of the WIV caught a particularly virulent common seasonal illness, bad enough to put healthy adults in the hospital, right before the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, and completely unrelated to that outbreak; their illness was connected to their work at the WIV, but what they caught was not SARS-CoV-2; or they caught SARS-CoV-2 and were the first cluster of COVID-19 cases.

Yes, this is circumstantial evidence, but the circumstantial evidence keeps piling up higher and higher. (As Geraghty notes in a later column, “now a metaphorical Himalayan mountain range of circumstantial evidence“.)

…And as we all know, the Chinese government would never lie about this virus, except for all the times it did…”

Sorry, Xi, we know you’ve got 46* and a significant part of our country’s elite in your pocket, but from where we’re sitting…

In an earlier incarnation, 46* might well have been talking about the truth behind the origins of the Wuhan virus when he observed… 

BTW, this should serve as a reminder to those who waxed righteously indignant over the sometimes coarse and boorish conduct of The Donald, he hardly pioneered such behavior.

Next, we offer up a tentet of items certain to appeal to inquiring Conservative minds: 

(1). Writing at American Greatness, Julie Kelly correctly suggests it’s high time the U.S. Capitol Police were called to account for the lies they spread about the January 6th riot, including, but not limited to, the circumstances of Ashlee Babbitt’s murder and why their official statements about Brian Sicknick’s death included the fire extinguisher fable they knew to be false.

(2). If we ever needed another reason not to watch the NBA, 76ers’ Doc Rivers comment on reported attendance numbers certainly provided it “I can’t believe that was 10,000, 11,000 [people]. There’s no way. I think we’re counting like the Republicans because it felt like 30,000 people in the stands.”  To which we can only respond if Doc thinks the math is off now, wait until those attempting to add up the figures are products of what Progressives propose as the newest math.

(3). The Washington Free Beacon tells us a group of Muslim employees at Apple is pushing the tech giant to publicly condemn Israel’s “illegal occupation” of the Gaza Strip following a recent spate of violence caused by the terrorist group Hamas. “These same employees, however, have yet to speak out about the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China, where Apple’s supply chain is largely located. Up to one million Uyghurs are imprisoned in “reeducation camps” in the western province of Xinjiang, and a recent report found photo and documentary evidence that seven Apple suppliers use Uyghur forced labor to make iPhone parts.”

(4). As USA Today recorded, King’s Island amusement park outside Cincinnati issued the following announcement after shutting down early after multiple fights broke out among roving gangs of profane and “unruly guests“:

“The safety of our guests and associates is always our top priority. On Saturday, the decision was made to close the park 30 minutes early due to unruly behavior and altercations involving a number of teenagers. This behavior did not align with our park’s values, and was not the experience we want any guest to have while visiting Kings Island.“

Soooo,…rather than having a single one of these “unruly guests” (of indeterminate ethnicity) arrested when police arrived, the park deprived law-abiding, peaceful paying patrons of the full value of their entrance fees, thus holding no one responsible for their reprehensible behavior.

This is the same problem presented by Lukashenko’s state-sponsored hijacking of the Ryanair flight, or the recent incident on a San Diego-bound Southwest flight: absent some sort of swift and meaningful punishment, what’s to prevent these “guests” from acting any differently when they next visit the park…or another Southwest passenger…or another tin-pot dictator?

(5). Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a law empowering Florida’s election commission to punish tech companies that engage in censorship with financial penalties. As NRO reports, “It imposes a maximum fine of up to $250,000-per-day fine for “deplatforming” any candidate for statewide office and a $25,000-per-day fine for deplatforming candidates for non-statewide offices. It also allows Floridians the right to file lawsuits against companies that violate the policy and earn compensation for damages.”

(6). NRO‘s Kevin Williamson tells us while the denial of tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of the deliberately deceitful 1619 Project, will make some Conservatives feel like they’ve won something, they haven’t:

“As usual, our focus on the personality in question — on the hate object with a face and a name — leads us astray. As an ideological and cultural matter, how much does it really matter who, exactly, sits in the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism? Because the chances are 104 percent that the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism is going to be a semi-maniacal ideologue of approximately the Hannah-Jones kind in any case. The ideology is built into the position, and so is the bias. They aren’t going to hire Charles Murray. The Associated Press is going to go right on being a biased and at times incompetent organization with or without [noted anti-Semite] Emily Wilder.“

(7). In a related item, the Great Geffoir recommends Peter W. Wood’s 1620: A Critical Response to the 1619 Project as a must-read.  You can learn more about Wood’s response to the 1619 Project’s blatant distortions of the historical record at Front Page Magazine. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Though we ordered a copy earlier this week, curiously enough Amazon won’t be delivering it until mid-July.  Just another thing that makes you go, “Hmmmm”.

(8). The great Stilton Jarlsberg noted prison guards Tova Noel and Michael Thuma cut a deal with prosecutors to avoid jail time in which they confessed to falsifying the records of their watch on Jeffrey Epstein.  They failed to to check on him as required, finding it preferable to nap and play on their computers…anything to drown out the screams coming from Epstein’s cell.

No word yet on what all the security cameras were doing while the guards were literally laying down on the job.

(9). The runner-up for our Quote of the Day was this deceitful explanation from Wretched Gretchen posing as an apology:

“Throughout the pandemic, I’ve been committed to following public health protocols. Yesterday, I went with friends to a local restaurant. As more people arrived, the tables were pushed together. Because we were all vaccinated, we didn’t stop to think about it. In retrospect, I should have thought about it. I am human. I made a mistake, and I apologize.”

A whopper we felt deserving of this meme:

(10). Jen Psaki would have us believe 46* is so fit she has trouble keeping up with him, which reminds us of the breakup scene from Stripes:

Thus does a propagandist who’d make Joseph Goebbels blush, who already had a credibility factor close to zero, dive deep…

…into red figures.

Which brings us, appropriately enough, to The Lighter Side:

Then there’s these from Balls Cotton…

…Speed…

…the lovely Shannon…

…and this one we scored ourselves…

…along with these little bon mots from Ed Hickey:

Finally, we’ll call it a wrap with this from the UPI via White House Dossier, as a…

Florida 11-year-old earns world record for mental math

 

“An 11-year-old Florida girl earned a Guinness World Record for mental math when she solved a 12-digit multiplication problem without a calculator, pen or paper. Sanaa Hiremath, who was diagnosed with autism at age 2, started showing an unusual aptitude for math when her parents started to home-school her, mother Priya Hiremath said…”

If only Sanaa could explain to 46* why his spending numbers will never add up.

Magoo

Video of the Day

Ami Horowitz is at it again, this time raising funds for Hamas to perpetrate terror attacks against Israel…and these educated idiots are actually ON BOARD with it!

Tales of The Darkside

If you think thing’s are bad here, they’re even worse in Sweden. Consider this a glimpse of your future if Americans don’t pull their heads out of their keisters.

On the Lighter Side

Enjoy this great bit of satire forwarded by G. Trevor.