August 24, 2024

OPEN THREAD: You know those good ole boys blog commenters are ready to fight, ’cause it’s almost Saturday night.

Posted at 9:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds

TRYING TO WORK THEIR WAY UP TO ELON: Telegram messaging app CEO Durov arrested in France. “Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation. TF1 and BFM both said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.”

What’s criminal is arresting people for not censoring people governments want censored.

Posted at 9:01 pm by Glenn Reynolds

BYE, CHEVRON: Supreme Court case could affect orbital debris mitigation rules.

There is no federal law that explicitly authorizes the FCC, or other agencies, to establish and enforce debris mitigation rules. The FCC has argued since it first adopted such rules two decades ago that its authority stems from the Communications Act of 1934, which directs the FCC to encourage “the larger and more effective use of radio in the public interest.” Orbital debris, the commission explained, can negatively affect that effective use of radio in the public interest, thus giving it the authority to enact rules to mitigate it.

Some, though, believe that might not be explicit enough now that Chevron deference is no longer in place. “That’s a pretty broad statement, and some would say it’s a leap to apply that to orbital debris for an agency that is supposed to be regulating communications,” said Jason Kim, chief of staff in the Office of Space Commerce, during a session at the recent AIAA ASCEND conference.

Yeah, I agree.

Posted at 9:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

NOT IMPRESSED BY THEIR LOGISTICS BUT I AM IMPRESSED BY THE DEPTH OF THEIR STORAGE:

Posted at 7:22 pm by Glenn Reynolds

I THINK THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF PREFERENCE FALSIFICATION:

Related:

Posted at 7:04 pm by Glenn Reynolds

HMM: Fauci Hospitalized With West Nile Virus. “West Nile virus is commonly spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. While most people don’t experience symptoms, about one in five can develop a fever, headache, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea, or rash, according to the CDC. About one out of 150 infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness.”

Posted at 6:41 pm by Glenn Reynolds

IT WORKED FOR GREG ABBOTT: Hungary May Send Migrants To Brussels To Avenge Asylum Fine. “Several years ago, Texas had a brilliant idea: take the millions of illegal immigrant that were flooding its territory as a result of policies adopted in faraway places like DC, and bus them to places like New York and DC, other so-called sanctuary cities and, best of all, Martha’s Vineyard where those who run New York and DC tend to go on vacation. The result was an immediate revulsion by the false virtue-signaling NIMBY crowd, which cried foul at having to suffer the consequences of its actions. . . . Now, one European country has decided it also has had enough: Hungary suggested that it might – like Texas – start transporting migrants who show up at its border straight to Brussels, unless it can resolve a dispute with the European Union on penalties for its asylum policies, Bloomberg reported.”

Posted at 6:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

A FRIEND WRITES: “I forget who it was, but someone made the point that the Democratic ‘weird’ critique is basically a feminized aggression tactic writ large onto political strategy. The argument was that men will argue you’re wrong, and women will argue you’re outside the group. This is amplified by social media and its effects, which reward verbal repartee and social signaling that are present in the novels of Jane Austen, but not in those of Cormac McCarthy. . . . Enthusiasm for Tim Walz as a dad figure is certainly a psychological tell — not on him, but on those doing it.”

I guess if I were going to ride that “weird” angle I wouldn’t have had an abortion-and-sterilization van at my convention.

Related:

Posted at 2:53 pm by Glenn Reynolds

WOEING: Boeing Starliner returning empty as NASA turns to SpaceX to bring astronauts back from ISS. “Starliner crew flight test was supposed to be a final box checked for Boeing and a key asset gained for NASA. The agency was hoping to fulfill its dream of having two competing companies — Boeing and Elon Musk’s SpaceX — flying alternating missions to the ISS. Instead, the flight test is further setting back Boeing’s progress in NASA’s Commercial Crew program and, with over $1.5 billion in losses absorbed already, threatens the company’s future involvement with it.”

Posted at 2:31 pm by Glenn Reynolds

#JOURNALISM:

Posted at 2:12 pm by Glenn Reynolds

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA:

Flashback: “In a famous Soviet joke, then-leader Leonid Brezhnev shows his mother his luxury apartment, his limousine, his fancy country house and his helicopter only to have her object: ‘But what if the communists come back?’”

Posted at 1:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

TOLERANCE FOR DIVERSITY REACHES TERMINATION POINT:

As Glenn noted in the very early days of Instapundit, “As the old saying has it, the left looks for heretics and the right looks for converts, and both find what they’re looking for. The effect is no doubt subliminal, but people who treat you like crap are, over time, less persuasive than people who don’t. If people on the Left are so unhappy about how many former allies are changing their views, perhaps they should examine how those allies are treated.”

Posted at 1:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

ITS ORIGIN AND PURPOSE, STILL A TOTAL MYSTERY: “At least nine people stabbed, several dead, by what appears to be a lone perp, around an hour ago, at a ‘diversity festival’, in…Solingen, Germany. Perp on the run, perp & reasons unknown, massive manhunt underway.”

Posted at 12:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

KIRA DAVIS: The Beyoncé Campaign.

The DNC is well known for their high profile celebrity guest roster. This year the heaviest hitters showed up to take the stage — the Obamas and Oprah Winfrey.

So, it was a bit surprising when rumors of a REALLY BIG guest to close out the convention began swirling. Who could be bigger than Oprah? TMZ appeared to be the main source of this massive “stunning-if-true” surprise. They claimed the surprise guest would be Beyoncé Knowles herself. The mainstream media, never a group to let themselves be distracted by actual journalism, spent the entire day chattering about the rumor and speculating about the impact of such an appearance. Not a single word had been uttered by the Beyoncé camp, the Harris/Walz campaign or any credible news source about her possible appearance but Beyoncé’s celebrity cloud of glitter and awe descended upon the United Center anyway, and its occupants were helpless to resist the gravity.

I felt it had to be Taylor Swift, even though that would be a blow to her fiancé’s fanbase and could possibly cause a negative media storm for his upcoming football season. I felt it could be Beyoncé — she’s certainly a big get — but she has performed at inaugurations and other political events in the past. It wouldn’t be a huge “surprise” to see her on that stage, although it would certainly be exciting for the audience.

As we all know by now, it turns out the big “surprise” was Kamala Harris.

No wonder the DNC-MSM felt the strong urge to goose the ratings: How Much of This Harris Speech Viewership was Fueled by Media Hyping DNC ‘Special Guest’ Rumors?

UPDATE:

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll