Matt Yglesias: The media really did screw
up the lab leak story
Posted By: Dreadnought, 5/27/2021 1:15:24 AM
Yesterday Jonathan Chait wrote a pretty good summary of how the media messed up the lab leak story early last year. The Washington Post’s fact-checker also published a timeline which attempted to tell the same story. Chait’s piece was good and the Post’s timeline was less so, mostly because it minimized how the Post itself helped launch the crusade against the idea. In any case, today Matt Yglesias wrote his own summary of the media history of this story which I think is the best one I’ve seen so far. Yglesias says it appears it all started with these comments from Sen. Cotton.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "Dreadnought"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Most Recent Articles posted by
Dreadnought"
Republicans in the Senate held together to thwart attempts to form a commission to investigate the trespassing and minor property damage that happened at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. We should all refuse to call it an insurrection or even a riot at this point if for no other reason than to frustrate the left—in particular, leading Democrats like this bitter former presidential candidate who keeps lying to her followers: It is well established that the only person who died that day due to violence at the Capitol was Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed veteran and Trump supporter.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blasted the Biden administration’s budget released Friday, contending the proposal will “drown American families in debt, deficits, and inflation.”
“Now we know why the Administration tried to bury their budget announcement on the Friday before a holiday weekend,” the Kentucky Republican said in a Friday statement following the release of Biden’s budget, explaining it would have a negative impact on American families by drowning them “debt, deficits, and inflation.”
“Even after the massive tax hikes Democrats want to force on the American people, they’d still have the government running trillion-plus-dollar deficits every year,” McConnell stated:
A bill to form a commission tasked with investigating the January 6 Capitol riot will not move forward after the measure failed to reach the 60 votes required to advance.
The legislation failed in a 54–35 vote as Senate Republicans used their filibuster power for the first time since President Biden took office. Just six Republicans voted to advance the bill: Senators Lisa Murkowksi of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Lousiania, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Mitt Romney of Utah and Rob Portman of Ohio.
The filibuster, once deployed, must garner the votes of 60 senators to end debate
Suddenly, out of nowhere, left-wing media outlets are falling all over themselves to report evidence pointing to the COVID lab-leak theory—formerly called the lab-leak “conspiracy.” A few months ago it was the stuff of the tinfoil-hat brigade. The science was settled! The SARS-CoV-2 virus came from bats and definitely not from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Thus saith the fact-checkers, who are never wrong about anything and who have the final say about which information you’re allowed to see on social media! Defy them at your own peril!
Let’s review:
Science Feedback, official fact-checkers for Facebook, announced in a February 2020 headline that “Scientific evidence
Definitive proof, if found, that a laboratory accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) may have caused the Chinese coronavirus pandemic has the potential to break the nearly impenetrable shield of sovereign immunity protecting China from lawsuits by American victims of the virus.
American law protects foreign state powers from litigation on behalf of private persons through the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Mainstream diplomatic thought holds that sovereign immunity is a desirable policy to limit the power that individual citizens have to meddle in foreign policy, concentrating diplomatic powers in the state. The conventional wisdom holds
GOP Wave In 2022?
12 replies
OK, that headline is clickbait, and we all know it is far too early to predict next fall’s elections with any confidence. Still, there are lots of positive indications. To begin with, there are multiple reports that while the Democrats feel comfortable with their position on the economy, with continuing rebound from the covid shutdowns assured and with some polls showing the public on board with the Biden administration’s money-printing scheme, they are deeply concerned about the unpopularity of their BLM/Antifa/CRT/anti-law enforcement agenda.
Then we have poll results from HarrisX suggesting that the Democrats’ spend-a-thon isn’t very popular either. The survey covered 10 swing Congressional districts:
Of those surveyed, just 12% support
Few events have accelerated Western institutional decay as the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s been Dr. Anthony Fauci’s foot on the gas.
As the pandemic sunsets on the United States, the nation stands far weaker, rocked by a public health emergency driving up debt and division amid a polarizing presidential election while political elites capitalized on the virus for ulterior ends. Legacy media got more irresponsible, big tech got more unfair, and half the population comfortably shut down their neighbors’ livelihoods in seeking an impossible life with zero risk, as if the virus had the potential to wipe out the human race.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is urging his Democrat counterparts to refrain from spending time “negotiating” with Republicans on key legislative issues, warning that America will slip into a dark era hallmarked by an intensifying “climate crisis” and conspiracy theories if Republicans regain control of Congress.
The Democrat socialist outlined his position in a Thursday op-ed titled, “We should not waste time on never-ending negotiations with Republicans,” in which he declared, “What happens in Congress in the next few months will determine the future of our country — and our planet.”
Democrats, he argued, have proposed pieces of legislation that he believes will protect the planet and “save American democracy from right-wing extremism,”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has reportedly whipped enough votes to defeat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) partisan January 6 Commission.
“At the moment, no. The House-passed version won’t have 10,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) said when he was asked about the prospects of initiating a commission: Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) was angry with Republicans for not supporting the commission.
“We’ve got to get to the bottom of this
President Joe Biden is set to propose a $6 trillion budget for the coming fiscal year that envisions maintaining federal spending at its highest sustained levels since World War II and would result in a decade of deficits topping $1.3 trillion a year, according to reports.
The budget request, slated to be released on Friday, fleshes out the full picture of Biden’s plans as the president pushes for trillions of dollars in new spending and taxes that the administration says are needed to reverse years of chronic underinvestment and ensure that the United States can compete with China and other nations. The budget blueprint also offers longer-term projections
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday warned naysayers in Congress not to “get in the way” of his big infrastructure plans as the White House panned a counteroffer from Republican senators to tap unused COVID-19 relief for a more modest investment in roads, highways and other traditional public works projects.
After touring a manufacturing technology center at a community college in Cleveland, Biden held up a card with the names of Republicans lawmakers who had rejected his coronavirus aid bill in Washington but later promoted its assistance when they were back home in front of voters. He warned them not to play similar games
Facebook will no longer remove posts claiming the coronavirus is "man-made," it said Wednesday. In February, the tech giant said it would take down "debunked" claims that humans created the virus that causes COVID-19, but it has reversed its policy amid renewed interest in the virus' origins from scientists and politicians.
"In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that COVID-19 is man-made from our apps," a Facebook representative told Insider in an emailed statement.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Acknowledging that "conservatives find ourselves at a crossroads," former House Speaker Paul Ryan sought to map out a vision for the Republican Party in the post-Donald Trump era.
In an address Thursday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, Ryan credited Trump for bringing "many new voters into our party" but said Republicans have to face a reality.
"If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or of second-rate imitations, then we're not going anywhere," Ryan said.
The Miami-Dade Police Department is honoring the LGBTQ community with a rainbow-themed patrol vehicle. The vehicle—which is decorated with the colors of the Pride flag and the words “hope,” “love,” “equality,” “inclusion,” “kindness,” “peace,” and also the phrase “strength through unity”—will be used “to establish a more trusting relationship within our communities,” MDPD Sergeant Orlando Lopez said during the unveiling ceremony on Thursday in Doral. “What better way to assist in educating the public about Pride and in promoting engagement between law enforcement and the community we serve?,” Lopez asked, when introducing the “MDPD Pride Vehicle.”(Snip) An anti-hate symbol
In Times Square, the most densely tourist-populated place in the United States, a mentally disturbed man known as Mr. Kim begs cops to kill him. 'I want to die. You have a gun? Shoot,' he pleads. After the officers demur, he picks up a plank of wood and starts smashing it against the Pele soccer shop.On Sutton Place, one of the most affluent residential areas in the city, a lone man squats on the sidewalk, intently reading a paperback novel next to a shopping cart that contains his worldly goods. He begs for cash with a sign saying he has lost everything. 'Trying to survive,' it adds.
Cynthia Nixon has been slammed for suggesting CVS should let people steal from stores rather than locking up goods like laundry detergent. The former actress and failed New York gubernatorial candidate tweeted on Thursday that she had noticed her local CVS in SoHo had 'started' locking up 'basic items like clothing detergent.' 'As so many families can’t make ends meet right now, I can’t imagine thinking that the way to solve the problem of people stealing basic necessities out of desperation is to prosecute them,' Nixon tweeted. She was slammed by people who said the solution was not to invite theft.
BLM founder Patrisse Cullors resigns
30 replies
The woman who sits atop 60 million dollars’ worth of donated funds, after the unexplained departure of her ostensibly charitable organization’s co-founders, failing to file legally required financial disclosures, and buying a multi-million dollar real estate portfolio, surprised everyone yesterday by announcing her resignation. Claiming that it has nothing to do with criticism of her multi-million-dollar real estate buying spree and complaints of financially stiff-arming other BLM groups, Patrisse Cullors:
“announced Thursday that she is stepping down as executive director of the movement’s foundation. She decried what she called a smear campaign from a far-right group
In his controversial new book on the 2020 election, Battle For The Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Donald Trump. Edward-Isaac Dovere repeats a canard that has become something of a staple of Democratic mythology. (snip) Obama, writes Dovere, "would never forgive [Trump] for turning a fringe obsession with his birth certificate into an issue he'd had to address from the White House briefing room in 2011."
Dovere errs on several counts. Trump was not the one who turned the birth certificate into an issue. Obama was.
Patti Smith, Questlove among 600
musicians calling for 'solidarity with
the Palestinian people' 29 replies
musicians calling for 'solidarity with
the Palestinian people' 29 replies
On Thursday, more than 600 musicians from around the world issued a letter addressing the recent violence between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas and calling on musicians "to publicly assert their solidarity with the Palestinian people."
The letter, published by the organization Musicians for Palestine, was signed by artists including Patti Smith, Rage Against the Machine, Run the Jewels, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, the Strokes' Julian Casablancas, System of a Down's Serj Tankian, Noname, the Roots' Questlove and Black Thought, Royce da 5’9" and Cypress Hill.
"As musicians, we cannot be silent. Today it is essential that we stand with Palestine."
This week, the Baltimore City Public Schools, attempting to avoid holding students back who have poor grades, announced a new grading policy that would enable students who failed one class to still proceed to the next grade.The school district said it was taking the new approach because of effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Chief Academic Officer Joan Dabrowski said the new approach is meant to “avoid the punitive approach of failing students,” according to CNN.“This is not about a failure, but it is about unfinished learning and giving multiple opportunities, multiple onramps for young people to complete that … learning,” Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Santelises added.
A bill to form a commission tasked with investigating the January 6 Capitol riot will not move forward after the measure failed to reach the 60 votes required to advance.
The legislation failed in a 54–35 vote as Senate Republicans used their filibuster power for the first time since President Biden took office. Just six Republicans voted to advance the bill: Senators Lisa Murkowksi of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Lousiania, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Mitt Romney of Utah and Rob Portman of Ohio.
The filibuster, once deployed, must garner the votes of 60 senators to end debate
On Thursday, President Joe Biden traveled to Ohio to make the case that the economy is headed in the right direction. “We’ve turned the tide,” he told the crowd in Cleveland. Shortly afterward, during an appearance on Yahoo Finance Live, one of his top economic advisers acknowledged that in areas like inflation and in the labor market, “there's going to be some bumps in the road” as the economy continues to right itself following the pandemic. However, National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti also told Yahoo Finance that the recent inflation jump is actually a positive sign. “The faster
Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said Thursday on CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight” that congressional Democrats wanted to investigate former President Donald Trump’s connection to the Capitol riot because Trump to be considered “an absolute pariah in America.” On the Senate voting on the House Capitol riot commission, Raskin said, “Well, they’ve elevated what they think is in their best political interests over what is clearly in the best interest of the country, which is to determine the truth of those events and the cause of those events.
Apparently, all would be paradise in crime-pit San Francisco if it weren't for all those lazy, racist cops who are persecuting poor, heroic Chesa Boudin, the city's leftist do-nothing district attorney.
That's the word from young Chesa, stepson of Bill Ayers, son of a terrorist convicted of killing a black cop, and former Hugo Chávez adviser, who's suddenly found himself unpopular in the city and facing a voter recall.
According to KPIX5 CBS of San Francisco (hat tip: LegalInsurrection.com):
District Attorney Chesa Boudin claimed Sunday that placing blame on his prosecutors for crime in San Francisco's