WELL, GOOD: CDC Panel Backs Routine Hepatitis A Shots for Homeless.
JOHN HINDERAKER: “I am in Washington to attend Turning Point USA’s first-ever Young Black Leadership Summit. Today’s highlight was a visit to the White House, where President Trump addressed the group in the East Room.” “Trump got a rapturous reception from the Turning Point audience, which sometimes bordered on the rowdy, to the president’s evident delight. . . . The crowd at the Turning Point summit is the Left’s worst nightmare–hundreds of young, articulate, thoughtful African-American conservatives. We chatted with some of them, mostly students from colleges across the country–a math major from Stanford, a filmmaker from Columbia, a political science major from DePaul. They sounded like pretty much any group of conservatives at a Trump rally: ‘USA! USA!’ ‘Build that wall!’ ‘Trump! Trump!’ In short, it was fun.”
POSTMODERN FEUDALISM: California Ranks as Poorest State, One of the Worst for Income Inequality. “Want a liberal utopia? This is what it looks like.”
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Self-Defense Against a Knife: Tips & Tactics from an Expert.
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RICK MORAN: Does Violent Rhetoric Beget Violence? Only if the Victims are Democrats. “The notion that rhetoric leads to violence has little basis in science and is not proved by the facts.”
FIVE DEMS WHO DON’T HAVE A CLUE ON THE CARAVAN: I know this will come as a shock to many of you but there are some major Democratic national leaders who really could use some tutoring on the national security aspects of the migrant march headed our way. If you see one of them on the street, please give them a hand.
GIVING FLORIDA MAN A RUN FOR HIS STOLEN MONEY: Wisconsin man “Segway Boy” accused of attempting to buy radioactive material with intent to kill.
Justin Tolomeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Milwaukee Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Jeremy Ryan, 30, of the Town of Madison has been charged with attempted possession of radioactive material with intent to cause death.
Ryan allegedly attempted to buy the lethal dose in March and October of 2018. He was arrested on Tuesday.
Ryan, who was dubbed “Segway Boy” faced multiple felony drug charges in 2016. He got the nickname after he was seen riding a Segway around the state capitol in 2011 taunting Republican lawmakers.
He also attempted a congressional run against Paul Ryan in 2012.
This one is actually a couple of days old, but seems to have gotten lost in the flood of pipe “bomb” stories.
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Primary care doctors ‘not doing enough’ to curb STDs. “Nationally, reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are at an all-time high, CDC data show. In one year, from 2016 to 2017, nationwide rates of chlamydia rose by 7 percent, gonorrhea by 19 percent and syphilis by 11 percent.”
Joseph Shepard’s Sugar Creek Capital, a company he founded, was listed in 2013 as an “Equity Investor (State)” and was the state’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) syndicator for the Salvation Army St. Louis Garrison Residence in Missouri.
The development, designed specifically for homeless veterans and dubbed a “permanent solution” to the problem, received $815,000 in federal LIHTCs and $250,000 in state LIHTCs.
But the residence attempted to evict at least five former homeless veterans between 2015 and 2016 for owing rent, according to documents obtained by Fox News.
In April 2016, the Salvation Army St. Louis Garrison Residence filed an eviction lawsuit against Raymond Black for failing to pay $233.25 in rent.
In the same month, another veteran, Raymond Godfrey was sued for failing to pay $1,065 in rent. In July 2016, Henry Goss was threatened with eviction from the apartment for owing $290 in rent.
That’s not going to play very well with Missouri voters.
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HMM: ACE inhibitors linked to increased risk for lung cancer. “After accounting for factors that might influence the findings, such as age, gender, weight, smoking, drinking and history of lung disease, Azoulay’s team found that ACE inhibitors were tied to a 14 percent increased risk for lung cancer. The risk for lung cancer was seen after five years of taking these drugs. For those who took them for more than 10 years, the risk increased to 31 percent, the researchers found. A specialist not involved with the new study said patients taking ACE inhibitors should not worry because the benefits of these drugs far outweigh any risk for lung cancer.”
DIVERSITY IS THEIR STRENGTH: Italy in shock as third African migrant arrested in gang rape and homicide case of teen girl.
STILL SELLING LIKE HOTCAKES ON AMAZON: Militant Normals: How Regular Americans Are Rebelling Against the Elite to Reclaim Our Democracy.
THAT’S A RELIEF: Go Ahead and Dress Up Your Chickens for Halloween, CDC Says.
I WAS WARNING ABOUT THIS AS FAR BACK AS 1988: Oops! Civilian Satellite Data Inadvertently Pinpoints Military Radars.
PRIVACY: Apple Reportedly Blocked Police iPhone Hacking Tool and Nobody Knows How. Say what you will about Apple and Tim Cook — no, really, go ahead — but they’re much better on privacy than Google/Android.
COLD WAR II HAS INTERESTING NEW PARAMETERS: China to U.S.: My Tax Cut Is Bigger Than Yours. “China is turning to its consumers to boost growth this time around— not just buildings and bridges.”
It’s a moral imperative that America doesn’t get left behind in the race to cut taxes.
ROGER KIMBALL: Bombgate and the new species of political theatre.
THAT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE SHUT UP: Liberal Darlings Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel And Sarah Silverman All Wore Blackface.
THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR: How A KGB Double Agent Saved Britain And Won The Cold War For The West.
In his new book The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, veteran espionage historian Ben MacIntyre confirms a troubling decision—or lack thereof—that some had suspected for years. This is the fact that in 1983 the man overseeing both British spy services MI6 and MI5, head of British Civil Service Robert Armstrong, knew that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s main opponent in the upcoming election was a KGB agent and did not tell her.
Labor Party leader, member of Parliament, and former employment secretary Michael Foot had been a paid KGB agent for decades, and was still on the KGB books as an agent of influence when he headed the British Labor Party and ran against Thatcher for leadership of England in 1983. Foot would have become prime minister if Labor had won.
MI6 told MI5, its domestic sister agency, and MI5 told Armstrong, but Armstrong kept Foot’s duplicity to himself. Nobody informed Thatcher.
James Comey, call your office.
CONTINUOUS UPDATES ON THE “PIPE BOMBER” at the PJM Live Blog.
IN THE MAIL: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable.
Stay tuned…
PATRICK POOLE: Toledo Woman Arrested for Directing Financial Support to Al-Qaeda. “Alaa Mohd Abusaad told an undercover agent how to send the money undetected.”
WHAT DO COLLEGE CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICERS ACCOMPLISH? George Leef covers a recent paper that suggests that whatever it is they’re doing, it’s not increasing the number of diverse faculty members. I have met a few of these folks, and they are generally smart, well-intentioned people. Regardless of how you feel about their goals, if this job isn’t working, these folks shouldn’t be wasted on it — and neither should our money.
LIGHTNING ABOVE THE CLOUDS: An F-35B refuels somewhere over the East China Sea.
ITALIAN INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL STUDIES: Confronting an “Axis of Cyber”? The subtitle is “China, Iran, North Korea, Russia in Cyberspace.”
ALWAYS — WHEN IT ADVANCES THE PREFERRED NARRATIVE: Should We Believe Whatever a Man or Woman Says?
CATO: The Tangled Mess of Occupational Licensing.
In the 1950s, 1 in 20 workers needed government permission in the form of a license to work. Today licensing has ballooned to ensnare 1 in 4 workers. Most of that expansion is new license regulations for previously unlicensed occupations and the broadening scope of existing licenses.
Licenses are now required not just for doctors, dentists, and lawyers but also for shampooers, makeup artists, travel agents, auctioneers, and home entertainment installers. According to the Council of State Governments, 1,100 occupations were licensed in 2003.
State lawmakers once uncritically accepted dubious arguments for licensing rooted in quality assurance and public health or safety. Only in the past decade have they started paying attention to licensing’s substantial effects on wages, consumer prices, and unemployment. Today, state legislators have begun to view licensing for what it often is: naked rent-seeking behavior, compelling would-be entrepreneurs and workers to buy expensive and needless training to secure a license.
Just another way government makes life more difficult for entrepreneurs and innovators, and more expensive for consumers.
WELL, GOOD: NATO Dusts Off a Cold War Skill: Moving Troops.
U.S. Admiral James Foggo has spent months planning for NATO’s largest exercise since the Cold War. His first target: getting all 50,000 troops in place by the time drills start on Thursday.
Moving forces from 30 countries to Norway for the Trident Juncture maneuvers has been almost as big an endeavor as the exercises themselves. Ten thousand vehicles, 250 aircraft and 65 ships were dispatched, with most of the matérial directed to southern Norway.
Getting everything in place “is a serious logistics challenge,” said the U.S. admiral, who is commanding the exercises and usually oversees the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s joint-force operation in Naples, Italy.
In the bad old days, a more serious NATO held the even larger REFORGER exercise every year.
WINNING: U.S. Economy Grew At 3.5% Rate In Third Quarter. Plus: “A measure of overall inflation moderated from the second quarter. The price index for personal-consumption expenditures increased at a 1.6% pace in the third quarter. Core prices—which exclude food and energy–rose at 1.6% rate too.”
LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Somebody Set Us Up the Bomb and Much, Much More. “These pseudo-bombs, coupled with the clumsy “targeting” of lefty political celebrities and washed up politicians makes me think this was done by someone really, really dumb or a leftist who thinks that its an October surprise to turn the narrative to Trump’s ‘violence’.”
ROGER KIMBALL ON SOCIALISM: The Eternal Return Of A Malevolent Charade.
CONRAD BLACK: Trump’s Foreign Policy Is Coming Into Focus.
NOT STORMY DANIELS: Trump-Hating Former Porn Star Engages In Shootout With Cops.
Jonathan Oddi, 42 can be seen in the footage dragging a large American flag with him and holding a gun. He unfurls the flag on the resort’s concierge desk and angrily shoves a cannister off the end of the desk.
The footage then shows him leaning against that desk and putting on socks before spreading out the flag and attempting to reach the security camera. Oddi unfurls the flag some more and smashes the resort’s front desk computers before police arrive outside.
At first, Oddi puts the gun down and puts his arms in the air, but then picks the gun up and begins shooting at the officers, using the desk as cover. After some back-and-forth shooting, Oddi takes off into the hotel, still firing. He briefly slips on the hotel’s floors as officers pursue. He then runs up a flight of stairs and knocks over some furniture before an officer is able to arrest him.
Video at the link, but Ashe Schow’s description of it is somehow more fun.
MICHAEL BARONE: Will ‘burly men’ stop the Democrats’ blue wave?
Do they live in two different worlds? White college graduate women favor Democrats over Republicans in House elections, 62 to 35 percent. White noncollege-graduate men favor Republicans over Democrats in House elections, 58 to 38 percent.
Those results are from a Washington Post poll conducted only in 69 seriously contested congressional districts, 63 of them currently held by Republicans. The numbers in other polls are only slightly different for these two groups.
They all tell the same story. These Americans live in the same relatively small slices of America (average population about 750,000), not many miles away from each other. But they take very different — often angrily different — views of where the nation is headed and on sensitive issues. . . .
It’s not that white college women are diehard Keynesians and white noncollege men supply-siders. People tend to tailor their economic theories to partisan preference, not vice versa. But the economic policies of the last two administrations and concurrent trends have had — and were intended to have — very different effects on white college women and white noncollege men.
President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus package was heavily tilted toward college women. As my American Enterprise Institute colleague Christina Hoff Summers wrote in The Weekly Standard in June 2009, the Obama economic team’s original idea was to finance infrastructure, construction, and manufacturing, sectors which lost 3 million jobs in 2007-09.
But feminist groups objected. Obama economist Christina Romer, Summers wrote, recalled that her first email “was from a women’s group saying, ‘We don’t want this stimulus package to just create jobs for burly men.’” So Obama ditched his “macho” stimulus plan for one stimulating creation of jobs in government and especially in education and healthcare, which had gained 588,000 jobs during the 2007-09 recession. Forget the bridge-building and electric grid modernization; let’s subsidize more administrators, facilitators, liaisons.
The results were disappointing. Sputtering growth nudged up toward 3 percent and down toward zero, which is what it was during the last quarter of the Obama administration. Administrators outnumbered teachers in higher education but added little value; government payrolls were sheltered from cuts, temporarily. There was little recovery in blue-collar jobs, and millions of men lingered on the disability rolls. Life-expectancy fell among downscale groups amid a rise in opioid dependency and deaths.
The trajectory of the economy — and the beneficiaries — seem different in the Trump presidency so far. Growth is more robust, obviously, though some economists thought this was impossible, and the the biggest gains are, in contrast to the last 30 years, in blue-collar jobs and downscale earnings.
Yep. You know, if Obama had stuck with his instincts on infrastructure, he could have cemented Democratic rule for a generation. But when he caved to the feminists, he planted the seeds for the Trump revolution.
THAT WOULD BE NICE BUT I’LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT: In 2 years, renewables will be cheaper than fossil fuels.
HMM: “That rationale has heightened suspicions among congressional investigators that the special counsel is being used to prevent the disclosure of possible FBI abuses and crimes committed during the Russia probe.”
THE 21ST CENTURY ISN’T TURNING OUT AS I’D HOPED: Only university in UK with men’s officer scraps role after its sole candidate ‘suffers harassment.’
PROCUREMENT BLUES: Air Force puts the kibosh on the $1,300 coffee cup.
The Air Force has used the hot cups — which have an internal heating element to warm up liquids such as water, coffee or soup and are specially manufactured to plug into aircraft systems — for decades, since the KC-10 Extender tanker was introduced in 1981.
But their problem lay in a faulty plastic handle that easily broke when dropped. And because replacement handles weren’t available, that meant Air Force units ordered entirely new hot cups. That was expensive enough in 2016, when they cost $693 apiece. But the price tag has now swelled to $1,280 apiece, drawing the ire of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
The Phoenix Spark innovation program at Travis Air Force Base in California earlier this year began looking for a cheaper way to deal with broken handles, and figured out a way to 3-D print replacement parts for 50 cents apiece. Travis posted a release online July 2 about the 3-D printing solution and said it “could save thousands.”
Nice.
BUT OF COUSE: CNN Host Says ‘No One’s Blaming the President’ for Pipe Bombs Before Panelist Blames Trump.
Usually there’s at least a brief turnaround time before the double standard comes into effect.
JEFFREY HARDING: California’s Feminist Corporate Coup.
The law’s goal is gender parity, but it is couched in financial terms suggesting that companies with women on their boards do better than those that don’t. Several studies are cited to back this claim (UC Cal, Credit Suisse, and McKinsey). Catalyst, a nonprofit that promotes women in the workplace, did a widely quoted study that claimed:
• Return on Equity: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 53%.
• Return on Sales: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 42%.
• Return on Invested Capital: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 66%.This claim doesn’t meet the smell test and the overwhelming conclusion of scientific research in the field says that women directors have little or no effect on corporate performance. Much of the data supporting the feminist theory lacks empirical rigor and is coincidental (A happened and then B happened, thus A caused B).
“Party of Science.”
JOHN HAWKINS: So What if the Saudis Killed Jamal Khashoggi? “The Trump administration should be exactly as upset about this as it takes to best represent our interests.”
WE FEW, WE HAPPY FEW, WE BAND OF BROTHERS: This is the Feast of Crispin.
IT’S NOT JUST ON THE BOMBING STORY. IT’S ON EVERYTHING: Why no one trusts the media to get the bombing story right.
I contend this started with their going all in to elect an untried, unprepared Barrack Obama, and showing absolutely no curiosity about things like his grades or even what courses he took or of course the fact he was a third generation red diaper baby. It continued with the demonizing of the tea party which many of us were involved in and knew was not how it was being described. Then there was the summer of recovery… eight times reported unironically in all major newspapers, including those that should know better. Why, yes, I am looking at you WSJ. The spectacular all-in for Hillary and it’s more spectacular backfire.
Now? If the media tells me it’s raining, I go outside to verify. And I don’t take an umbrella.
Part of the tension right now is that we’re flying by instruments and the instruments are broken.
AS ALWAYS, THE LEFT’S NOBLE SAVAGES ARE ALWAYS MORE SAVAGE THAN NOBLE. REMEMBER THAT AS WE DEAL WITH THE INVADING FORCE CARAVAN: It’s become more dangerous for gay people in Western Europe.
AND REMEMBER MEXICO’S PRESIDENT COMMIE ELECT HAS PROMISED US A LOT MORE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, INCLUDING AS A CONDUIT FOR OTHER COUNTRIES. DEAL OR DIE: Caravan, or Invasion?
AS I SAID, STINK OF DESPERATION: Get the Information OUT There!
THERE’S A STINK OF DESPERATION TO THIS WHOLE MONTH: Letterbomb Campaign Bombs.
SOUNDS DISTURBINGLY PLAUSIBLE: Urgent Strategy Session at the Democratic Party Dirty Tricks Office.
WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG? Arizona Troopers Association withdraws Sinema endorsement.
IF THEY DIDN’T HAVE DOUBLE STANDARDS THEY WOULDN’T HAVE STANDARDS AT ALL: Of bombs and responsibility.
MAKE THE (SOCIALIST) RABBLE BOUNCE: Dear Americans, You’re Breaking Socialist Hearts!
October 25, 2018
ROGER SIMON: Does It Matter Which Crazy Sent the Bombs?
Even if Brennan was misspelled, Occam’s Razor is beginning to spell “HOAX” correctly. But by and for whom? Here as well we don’t know, but again followers of William of Ockham would tend to point you toward the left wing – a single leftie nutcase or some Antifa types, perhaps. After all, cui bono? With Kavanaugh and the caravan, things were not looking good for the Democrats. The subject had to be changed before it was too late and the blue wave turned red. So far, however, it’s not working.
No wonder the reliably left-leaning Chuck Todd is suddenly pointing toward Russia, not some MAGA-hatted redneck with a Confederate flag tattooed on his chest, as the perpetrator. It’s a dead giveaway. He’s probably hoping for the Russians now. Because if it goes as it’s currently looking, it’s bad news for his team.
Read the whole thing.
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ANOTHER 2020 CANDIDATE EXPLODES ON THE LAUNCH PAD. Creepy Porn Lawyer Michael Avenatti: 2020 Dem. Nominee ‘Better Be a White Male.’
THE U.S.ARMY: Ordered to grow again.
NO ENEMIES TO THE LEFT: MSNBC’s Katy Tur Explodes On Guest Who Points Out Violent Left-Wing Rhetoric.
I WONDER IF TWITTER WILL CALL THIS ‘TARGETED HARASSMENT’:Russian trolls get DM from US Cyber Command: We know who you are. Stop it
SO, LIKE LIFTING WEIGHTS, YOU NEED RECOVERY DAYS? Skin tans the most when spending every other day out of the sun.
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THE TECHIES AND NERDS ARE GOING TO SAVE US FROM THE SJWS: Tech Community Outraged after SQLite Founder Adopts Benedictine Code of Conduct.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Breathing through your nose can boost memory consolidation.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: How much a pint of beer costs around the world.
A NEW EFFORT TO “CHANGE THE TERMS” TO FIGHT ONLINE “HATE”: The Electronic Frontier Foundation has some serious and valid concerns about this effort, saying, “Corporate Speech Police Are Not the Answer to Online Hate.” It’s difficult to think of any question for which “corporate speech police” will be a good answer.
THE DEFENSE INNOVATION ADVISORY BOARD STRIKES BACK AT LAZY BUREAUCRATS: Detecting Agile BS is the document cleared for publication. Warning: the Defense Innovation Advisory Board’s uses the acronym DIB. Why? Good question. Here’s Breaking Defense’s take on the pamphlet and description of the advisory panel.
CHRIS QUEEN: The 10 Most Bizarre Hits of the ‘70s.
I still have a small soft spot for Sweet’s “Love Is Like Oxygen,” which is either too awful or not quite awful enough to make the list.
ESTABLISHMENT REPUBLICANS REALLY SEEM TO HAVE GROWN A PAIR: Chuck Grassley Asks the Justice Department to Investigate Michael Avenatti and Julie Swetnick for False Statements: “The obvious, subsequent contradictions along with the suspicious timing of the allegations necessitate a criminal investigation.”
In the old days, once the story died down they would have let bygones be bygones. Now they’re out to teach a lesson.
MEH, FEW OF MINE HAVE BEEN: Your Next Car Salesperson Won’t Be a Car Person, and Here’s Why. Many of them barely knew anything about their own merchandise — you’d think they’d at least read the brochures.
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BLUE WAVE? Republican Patrick Morrisey Takes Lead Over Sen. Manchin in West Virginia. “Morrisey, the state attorney general, leads Manchin 44 percent to 42 percent in new poll.”
CONRAD BLACK: About That ‘Blue Wave.’
Those repelled by Trump will not soften until he has retired as president, as with those who hated Franklin D. Roosevelt for spurious ideological or mythic reasons (such as that he gave Eastern Europe to Stalin); or those who disparaged Reagan as “an amiable dunce,” in the words of Clark Clifford, the ageless and elegant Washington fixer and an unsuccessful defense secretary. It would be at least premature, and perhaps wildly optimistic, to compare Trump to FDR and Reagan, the two greatest presidents since Lincoln, but as the voters proceed to the polls in two weeks, they will have to reflect on the indisputable fact of President Trump’s successes. He took a sluggish economy where GDP growth per capita had declined from 4.5 percent under President Reagan to 1 percent under President Obama, under whom federal debt increased by 233 percent in eight years. He has focused attention on the unutterable scandal of the steady influx of millions of illiterate peasants, including many violent criminals, across the southern border, and is the enemy of the permissiveness of “sanctuary” and the prohibition of constitutionally mandated census-takers to ask respondents’ citizenship. Trump has made himself the sole possible agent of enforcement of nuclear nonproliferation by his actions to prevent North Korea and Iran from becoming nuclear military powers, a status that his predecessors effectively conceded to them.
Obama said 2 percent economic growth is the “new normal,” as poverty, food-stamp use, and violence increased. Trump has created a full-employment economy and generated the first increases in purchasing power and job security in this millennium for the lower third of Roosevelt’s “forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.” I don’t believe that most pollsters have adjusted their techniques to allow for a higher voting turnout from what used to be the white working class, or to allow for the reluctance of many Trump voters to identify themselves.
As I was saying earlier, there’s a big gap between the polls and how it feels like this election ought to go.
B-52 OVER THE INDIAN OCEAN: The photo was taken in June by an airman in a USAF KC-135 Stratotanker that’s refueling the bomber.
“THE FEDERAL HATE CRIMES LAW IS BOTH UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND UNWISE”: In today’s Washington Post, George Will urges the Supreme Court to review Metcalf v. United States.
This is the case for which Peter Kirsanow and I filed an amicus brief. Indeed, Will quotes our brief in his column. In a nutshell: Congress claims to be using its power to outlaw slavery in prohibiting hate crimes. And … well … hate crimes are bad things, but they aren’t slavery.
REFUGEE WAVES VERSUS MIGRANT MARCHES: My latest Creators Syndicate column. (bumped)