Posts on Thursday, November 24, 2022

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is proposing to use robots to kill suspects in 'rare' circumstances - with the force's 12 bots set to assist officers with deadly force and 'ground support'. The new policy proposal is to be debated next week by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee and will define how the SFPD is allowed to use its military-style weapons. One way the machines can cause deadly harm is by attaching a PAN disruptor device - which uses shotgun shells - to the robot. This can then fire bullets at the suspect.  Another method would be strapping explosives to a robot and then using it

Washington, DC, public schools will require that all students and staff test negative for the coronavirus before they are allowed to come back from Thanksgiving break. “To support a safe return from Thanksgiving break, all students and staff are expected to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test,” the district website reads. “Families should test their students and upload test results…on Sunday, November 27.” (Tweet) The district included a link with the testing information and a portal to upload results to prove testing negative. Tests must be taken within 24 hours of the Monday, November 28, return to school.

Elon Musk has promised to fully disclose what led to Twitter's decision to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story, 20 months after DailyMail.com authenticated its contents with top experts.  Billionaire Musk responded to a user who demanded the social media giant get to the bottom of why the laptop was blacklisted from the site - which occurred before he bought Twitter.  In an act of 'politically motivated censorship', Twitter deliberately prevented users from sharing a link to a front-page newspaper article about Hunter Biden's private life and his controversial business ties to Ukraine in the run-up to the 2020 Election

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz claimed on Tuesday that he has enough votes to prevent current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy from becoming House speaker in January. Speaking on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, he said that of the 36 Republicans who voted against McCarthy during the initial vote last week, five of them — which is apparently enough to stop his confirmation as speaker — have vowed to vote “no” again come the final vote in January. Listen: (Video) “To catch everyone up, last week there were 36 votes against Kevin McCarthy

The new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, said the company may release internal discussions related to the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop from hell story, saying it is necessary to restore public trust. Musk made the comment in response to a tweet from Alex Lorusso of the conservative campus organization Turning Point USA, who was recently reinstated on the platform. “Raise your hand if you think @ElonMusk should make public all internal discussions about the decision to censor the @NYPost’s story on Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 Election in the interest of Transparency,” said Lorusso. “This is necessary to restore public trust,” responded Musk. Earlier in the day, Musk hinted that

Americans are ready to move on from the current Republican leadership, choosing to vote out Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. According to a new Rasmussen Reports Poll, just 28 percent of likely voters have a favorable view of McConnell, while 61 percent say the GOP needs a new leader. Following his win, McConnell, who is the longest-serving GOP leader in Senate history, said that he doesn’t plan to give up his position anytime soon. However, several Republicans feel that new, younger leadership is needed in Congress. "Nobody, not Republicans, not independents, not Democrats in my state are happy with the leadership in Washington. I'm not either.

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” “I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here.” ― Arthur C. Clarke I am old enough to remember the Apollo Project. One of the things I recall, besides Saturday morning cartoons being interrupted by shots of the astronauts, was the return of Apollo 11. The astronauts were placed in quarantine because no one was entirely sure that they had not picked up any strange things while being exposed to the moon dust on their suits and tools.

On Thanksgiving Day, families come together around the dinner table to give thanks and repeat the yearly tradition of debating which sides and staples are the best. When families blend together, there is often a clash of traditions and menus that may not reach the level of controversy of politics, but can still be the cause of heated disagreements. So, what are the best staples of Thanksgiving? I’ll compare a few and offer my thoughts. Cranberry sauce vs. cranberry relish Frankly, it was a long time before I even knew there was a question about this. But, eventually I learned that a lot people have an affinity for cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving—

Elon Musk fired several dozen Twitter employees overnight on Wednesday, most of whom were engineers, two people familiar with the company's actions told Insider. The firings came as a surprise inside Twitter, the people said. Musk said in an all-hands meeting earlier this week that there would be no more layoffs at the company. The employees fired overnight on Wednesday were informed they were being laid off for performance reasons, and were given one month of severance, one of the people said. The termination process was similar to that experienced by previously laid-off employees, the two people said:

Elon Musk on Thursday said “a general amnesty” for suspended Twitter users will begin next week after he posted a poll over whether the platform should take action to restore affected accounts. “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?” Musk asked in the poll. As of Thursday afternoon, a little more than 3 million users had participated in the poll, and just under three-quarters had voted in favor of the amnesty. “The people have spoken. Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk said, touting the Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people

Remember Nina Jankowicz, Joe Biden's would-be nominee to lead his now defunct Disinformation Governance Board? Sure you do, she did the Mary Poppins imitation for us. She was all about 'informing' us about the national security threat of MAGA ... from her China-controlled TikTok account. Be hard to forget that one. Remember this? Well, now the wannabe "disinformation czar," whose gig censoring Republicans fell through, has got a new gig. According to Breitbart News's Joel B. Pollak: Nina Jankowicz, the would-be “disinformation czar” who was dropped from the Department of Homeland Security after public scrutiny, has now registered officially as a foreign agent,

Joe Biden sees himself as the only Democrat who can 'slay' Donald Trump in the 2024 election, it has been claimed. The 80 year-old president regularly reminds people he is the only person who has beaten Trump, and he remains confident that he's the man to repeat that feat in 2024, The New York Times reported. Biden previously billed himself as a single term transitional president who'd bridge the gap between the chaos of the Trump years, and the emergence of a younger Democrat successor. But he's since announced a plan to run again in 2024, despite already being the oldest president in US history.  'Why would he get out now?'

Remember when leftists were melting down after Elon Musk took over Twitter? Democrats and media activists were stunned and irate, insisting this would lead to rampant white supremacy on the platform. After there was a notable uptick in the use of the n-word on the site, they cited this as proof that Musk’s focus on free speech was only going to embolden the racist dregs of society. All this despite the fact that this was occurring before the new CEO even made any changes to the algorithms or content moderation policy. But when it became clear that the increase was due to a few hundred accounts – most of them bots

As we noted earlier, Anthony Fauci was deposed yesterday in the First Amendment lawsuit brought by the states of Missouri and Louisiana. There is no transcript of the deposition, but the lawyers have tweeted about what Fauci said, and Legal Insurrection has the news: The deposition of Anthony Fauci took place today in the lawsuit commenced by Louisiana and Missouri, alleging that numerous Biden administration officials colluded with and directed big tech and social media giants to censor dissenting scientific and medical voices with regard to Covid.

Joe Biden is in Nantucket for Thanksgiving, staying at the home of one of his billionaire friends. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain tweeted out a “list of accomplishments” of the Biden administration that’s part comedy part tragedy. The comedy comes from Klain’s purpose in posting the talking points: to use when “that Uncle comes at you about POTUS.” One last item for your Thanksgiving dinner: some talking points when "that Uncle" comes "at you" about @POTUS. pic.twitter.com/P9X0wDRRZK — Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) November 23, 2022 The tragedy comes from what Klain believes to be an “accomplishment.” I think it’s weird that the Whitehouse spends taxpayer’s money to tell people how

The World Economic Forum’s Klaus Schwab proclaimed that Communist China will likely serve as a “role model” for many countries as the global community embarks upon a “systemic transformation of the world”. In an interview with the Chinese state-run television network CGTN, World Economic Forum (WEF) chairman and founder Klaus Schwab heaped praise on the communist government in Beijing for being a leading figure in his vision of a Great Reset of capitalism to usher in the “world of tomorrow”.“I respect China’s achievements, which are tremendous over the last over 40 years, I think it’s a role model for many countries,” the Davos chief

Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has turned his efforts toward boosting Republican Herschel Walker in the contentious U.S. Senate runoff battle in Georgia. The popular governor, fresh off a decisive victory over Democrat Stacey Abrams, is now urging Georgians to turn out for Walker as he seeks to unseat incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) on December 6. Democrats have secured 50 seats for next year, enough to give them majority power given Vice President Kamala Harris would cast tiebreaking votes. However if Walker wins and Republicans gain 50 seats, Democrats would be forced into power-sharing agreements

Joe and Jill Biden suffered awkward technical difficulties while calling in to NBC's Today show during its annual Thanksgiving Day parade broadcast in NYC.  Reporter Dylan Dreyer was forced to wait an excruciating 17 seconds for a reply to her excited 'Hello Mr President' while reporting from Manhattan Thursday morning.  Before Biden addressed her, the 80 year-old could be heard talking to First Lady Jill, with the pair apparently expressing confusion over the connection issues.  Whenever they did finally get through, the pair explained how they were on their traditional Thanksgiving break to Nantucket,

Major changes might be coming to the RNC. Mike Lindell told the National File that he is going to challenge Ronna McDaniel as the Chair of the RNC. The National File reported:  National File can exclusively report that MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell will challenge Ronna Romney McDaniel to lead the RNC, after the recent midterm elections once again exposed the apathy and failures of those running the Republican Party.

The Biden administration has quietly approved plans to build a new crude oil terminal in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas, seemingly in contradiction to the president’s climate agenda. The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration approved the application (pdf) for Enterprise’s Sea Port Oil Terminal, one of four proposed offshore oil export terminals, (snip) 4.8 million barrels of storage capacity and add 2 million barrels per day to the U.S. oil export capacity. “(snip) a reliable source of crude oil to U.S. allies in the event of market disruption and have a minimal impact on the availability and cost of crude oil in the U.S. domestic market.”

Republicans appear to have defended every U.S. House seat they won in California in 2020, despite determined Democratic efforts to take them back. The last undecided race in the nation, the contest in the newly-created 13th district in the Central Valley, Republican farmer John Duarte appeared to hold a narrow lead of several hundred votes over Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced), such that some analysts were ready to call the race. In 2018, Democrats succeeded in flipping seven of the seven Republican-held congressional seats in California where Hillary Clinton (D) won more votes than Donald Trump (R) in 2016. They were aided by the fact that Trump’s tax law

The Bidens are in Nantucket, Massachusetts where they will spend Thanksgiving at a luxurious estate owned by billionaire businessman David Rubenstein. The Bidens are taking over Nantucket. There will be barricades, parking restrictions, street closures, and security screening. They’ve been traveling to Nantucket every Thanksgiving for 46 years. Meanwhile, 1 in 4 Americans is skipping Thanksgiving this year due to high food prices thanks to Bidenflation.

A cancer-battling granddad has been left flabbergasted after being told he must wait three years for a hospital appointment. Andrew Jones, 61, won't be allowed to attend the medical facility until it's almost time for the next World Cup in North America. The granddad from Bridgnorth, Shrops, will have to wait until June 2025 before he can go for a check up at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, the Express and Star reports. Mr Jones thought there was a mistake on the letter he received on Saturday but was horrified to discover his appointment is correct, leaving him with nearly 1,000 days to wait.CORRECTION*

On May 14, 1607, headed by a seven-man council that included John Smith, 144 men settled Jamestown. Because of their misguided efforts, it was a disaster from the beginning. These men battled the elements, disease, Indians, starvation, and one another. The lone minister on the adventure, Robert Hunt, did his best to keep the others focused on God. His sermons went mostly unheeded; however, he persevered. By February of 1608 only 38 of the 144 remained alive. The death rate did not abate with time. As Peter Marshall and David Manuel note,

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to live under communism? Well, now you know. The last two years have seen a parade of dumb and dumber policies, the kind you expect in totalitarian dictatorships. The distinguishing traits are as follows: rulers show contempt for their serfs; policy wonks concoct endless stream of counterproductive ideas; and casual cruelty hurts everyone, day after day. Here are a dozen examples.

President Biden turned 80 on Sunday. That’s the oldest any president has ever been. Reuters ran a story noting that a lot of Americans don’t think this is such a good thing, especially not as they look forward to 2024. "Some Americans have concerns about the advanced age of the two most likely 2024 candidates. While 71% of Democrats think Biden is “mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges,” 46% say he may not be up to the challenge of running in 2024, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Nov. 8 and 9. About a quarter of Republicans, 26%, think Trump may not be up to 2024

The Walmart gunman who opened fire in the break room of the Chesapeake store where he worked last night had a list of the names of people he wished to target. Andre Bing, 31, opened fire in the breakroom of the Walmart in Sam’s Circuit, Chesapeake, at 10.12 pm last night, where 14 employees had gathered for a pre-shift meeting. Bing’s rampage killed six people in total, including a 16-year-old boy. In a press release Wednesday evening, the City of Chesapeake identified five of the deceased victims as Lorenzo Gamble, Brian Pendleton, Kellie Pyle, Randall Blevins, and Tyneka Johnson.

Matt Taibbi–a former Rolling Stone reporter who was red pilled some time ago–is going on a tear about YouTube. It is glorious to behold. A bit of background: Taibbi published a video produced by Matt Orfalea detailing the misinformation campaign used to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop just prior to the 2020 election. Every Mainstream Media outlet pushed the Narrative™ that the New York Post’s reporting on the laptop was simply a repetition of Russian misinformation. The FBI encouraged Facebook to censor the video–that is straight from Mark Zuckerberg–and all social media outlets followed the diktat from the Establishment™ to downplay and debunk the story as false.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is urging Americans to get tested for the Chinese coronavirus prior to attending Thanksgiving gatherings, adding that “everybody” should not only be vaccinated but boosted as well. Fauci spoke on Tuesday for his last White House press briefing before stepping down and ended his stint by declaring that “everybody” should be at least triple jabbed, receiving the regular vaccine series as well as a booster shot. “First of all, everybody should be vaccinated and boosted with flu and with COVID ,” he began. “Whether or not you wear a mask — or another thing we shouldn’t underestimate is testing.”

Musician Kid Rock spoke out about the potential demolition of legendary country music singer Hank Williams’ antebellum home Tuesday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”  Beechwood Hall, located near Franklin, Tennessee, was built in the 1850s and survived the Civil War. It was owned by Hank Williams and country music stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.  Fund manager Larry Keele bought the 268-acre estate in 2021, but Williamson County residents fear for the home, alleging demolition could be in the near future. 

When the best laid plans go astray, accidents can take their place and the outcome can be just as good – if not better. Just ask Jamal Hinton and Wanda Dench, total strangers who met seven years ago after a text message seeking Thanksgiving plans went wrong. On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Hinton shared a photo standing beside Dench outside a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, revealing the two accidental friends are carrying on their viral tradition that began totally by chance. “To answer all your questions, yes Thanksgiving year 7 is planned out! See you guys Thursday!” Hinton captioned the photo with turkey and black heart emojis. [Tweet]

MSNBC’s Joy Reid said Wednesday on her show “The ReidOut” that she believed Republicans want to portray Thanksgiving as a “simplistic fairytale” to cover up for America being founded on “violence” and “genocide.” Reid said, “We begin tonight with Thanksgiving, the day we gather with friends and family to enjoy turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. We throw on the game and catch up on our lives and discuss or quite possibly argue about religion and politics. For millions of Americans, it’s a day of cherished tradition. As Americans, we value those traditions.” She continued, “But it is also to unpack the myth of Thanksgiving.

A national freight rail strike is viewed as increasingly inevitable as four rail worker labor unions have rejected a tentative agreement with rail companies. In September, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh brokered a tentative deal between rail unions and rail carriers while President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were out of town. Union concerns centered around sick time and scheduling, and Walsh’s work appeared to have avoided a strike that had the potential for far-reaching consequences on the American economy. However, the deal has fallen to pieces, and the clock is ticking as a December 9 strike looms. On Monday, members of SMART Transportation Division,

Former President Trump attacked outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the vice chairwoman of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, over a recent Washington Post piece that said committee staff are frustrated with her Trump focus in the panel’s unreleased final report. The committee is set to culminate its long-running Jan. 6 probe with a much-anticipated report on its findings — but The Washington Post’s story said a number of anonymous current and former staff were “angered and disillusioned” by how much of the draft report they said was dedicated to the former president.

I wrote about how Elon Musk discovered “Stay Woke” t-shirts in a Twitter closet as he continues to sort out things at the headquarters. That says so much about the liberal nature of the platform before Musk. Musk also noted that the shirts go back to the time of the shooting of Michael Brown and the protests/riots in Ferguson. He also linked to the report of the Obama DOJ, noting that the shooting was in self-defense. That set off people on the left even more because they had to deal with the reality that their beliefs that they may have held about that shooting for years were fiction.