Wah Wah Wah

I love reading articles like this one:

The Trump administration is seeking to fast track environmental reviews of dozens of major energy and infrastructure projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, including oil and gas drilling, hazardous fuel pipelines, wind farms and highway projects in multiple states, according to documents provided to The Associated Press.

More than 60 projects targeted for expedited environmental reviews were detailed in an attachment to a July 15 letter from Assistant Interior Secretary Katherine MacGregor to White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow.

That’s actually quite restrained (for the AP), but they soon start squealing butthurt:

Environmentalist Brett Hartl said the move to expedite major projects represents a “giveaway” to industries that curried favor with Trump.
“Building an LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant is not going to solve the problem that’s happening in the country,” said Hartl, government affairs director with the Center for Biological Diversity. “This is where we’re potentially going to see environmental harm down the road, because they are skipping steps in the process.”

…as opposed to all the long-term problems caused by Green policies (e.g. banning controlled burns, eventually causing wildfires), but nemmind.  To continue:

Interior Department officials did not answer questions from the AP on how the environmental reviews are being expedited and whether any rules were being waived. The bid to speed up reviews is in line with the Trump administration’s greater emphasis on reduced regulatory burdens for corporations.

“For far too long, critically important infrastructure, energy and other economic development projects have been needlessly paralyzed by federal red tape,” spokesman Conner Swanson said.

But my favorite part comes towards the end:

The president’s June order directed federal officials to pursue emergency workarounds of bedrock environmental laws, such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, to hasten completion of infrastructure projects to speed economic recovery.

Yeah… those “bedrock environmental laws” have been used for far too long to prevent or otherwise delay much-needed development — but the Trump administration is walking around or else blowing straight through the bullshit to get things done, and the Greens (as well as their lickspittles in, say, the Associated Press) are horrified.

I love the fact that for the Left, laws they don’t agree with (e.g. parts of the U.S. Constitution) can be ignored or overturned, but all their laws (most of which are, of course, un-Constitutional) are “bedrock law” and immune from change or even scrutiny.

Fuck ’em.

No Riots For This One?

I don’t think that anyone would deny that this scumbag needed killing ( to use the old Texas expression) and doesn’t deserve a riot in his honor.  From Alabama:

Thorsby police conducted a traffic stop on Montgomery Avenue for a violation around 12:30 p.m. As officers came up to the vehicle, investigators say the driver pulled out a handgun and fired on the officers without any conversation or warning.
Deputies said Jackson ran through a construction site on Montgomery Avenue and continued to fire at officers.
Two Thorsby officers returned fire. They requested help from the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office, Tactical Response and K-9.
A K-9 located Jackson in a wooded area, hiding behind a fallen tree. Jackson then shot the K-9 in the torso and fired at deputies, according to investigators.

Wait:  he shot a police dog?  That’s a hanging, right there, in at least forty-eight states.  But wait! there’s more:

Two deputies returned fire, hitting Jackson. A paramedic tried to treat him, but Jackson died at the scene. The K-9 was taken to a local veterinary clinic where he was treated and is expected to recover. No other law enforcement officers were hurt.

So… who was this choirboy?

Investigators say Jackson has an extensive criminal history involving multiple violent crimes. He had multiple felony convictions for attempted murder, robbery and possession of methamphetamine. Jackson was out on bond for various charges out of Chilton County including possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine, certain persons forbidden to possess a firearm, resisting arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia.

And for the kicker:

Authorities said the firearm Jackson used in the shooting was stolen in June of 2020.

So, to recap:  career criminal dead, cop dog doing okay, no cops hurt, stolen gun recovered.

Other than the inclusion of “George Soros killed in the cross-fire”, that’s pretty much a perfect outcome.

Not A Murderer

Seems as though the Jackals Of The Press (JOTP©) may have jumped the gun, so to speak, once the charges against Kyle Rittenhouse are examined in detail:

The story of Kyle Rittenhouse is more than a gripping piece of news, it is a telling philosophical Rorschach test.  A lone individual stood up to a mob of violent felons, abusers, and pedophiles, asserting his right to live over their lust for his blood, and won.  While the American public, generous in their deference for human life, and may have paused in horror at the shootings, the tide of public opinion is turning for Kyle as the deluge of exculpatory facts break through the dam of misinformation.  Americans should take note at which institutions were quick to back Kyle, which condemned him, and the cowards in between.
Considering the facts of the case and the state laws governing Wisconsin, it becomes clear that Kyle’s actions were not reckless — the prosecutor’s decisions were.

In fact, given the the circumstances and the nature of Rittenhouse’s attackers, we might even, and justifiably term this a Righteous Shooting.  Follow the link to the story and the links within, and you’ll see why.

Let’s hope this turns out well for the boy, although when it comes to asshole, thuggish prosecutors I have little faith in the legal system.

Oh, Really?

At first, I thought this was good news:

Given the uncertainties of COVID-19, major airlines stopped charging penalties to change your ticket through the end of 2020. Now, United Airlines says it’s locking in the policy — it’ll be free to change in 2021 as well…

That sounds great, until you finish the sentence:

…as long as you didn’t book the low-price basic economy seats fare.

Which accounts for the vast majority of airline tickets sold.  But wait!  There’s more:

Apparently this wallet-gouging feature will not apply to international travel — which is the type of ticket most likely to be affected by borders closed off by the Chinkvirus for the foreseeable future.

Here’s the best part:

Since 2010, Chicago-based United has scooped up nearly $6.5 billion in change fees. Last year, it took in $625 million, third behind Delta and American, according to Transportation Department figures.

I already have a built-in animus against United Airlines, for reasons too many and varied to tell;  so it will be a cold day in Hell when they drag me kicking and screaming onto one of their foul airliners.


Update:  And right on cue, from American Airlines in my inbox today:

Another Chink In Our Security

Here we go again:

A University of California-Los Angeles researcher has been arrested for allegedly throwing away a damaged hard drive while the FBI was investigating him for transferring sensitive U.S. data to China’s National University of Defense Technology.

As I noted in my post on a previous such incident, it would be a terrible thing if the spying motherfucker’s name was something like Professor Laydback Surferdude — but no, he’s an omelet-complexioned virus-spreader:

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that 29-year-old Guan Lei “falsely den[ied] his association with the Chinese military” during interviews with federal law enforcement officials. Lei has since admitted that he participated in Chinese military training.
According to authorities, one of Lei’s faculty advisors in China also served in the Chinese military.
The Justice Department further alleged that Lei hid digital files from federal law enforcement and lied about having contact with the Chinese consulate during his time in the U.S.

I’m generally not a huge fan of piling on offenses just to add to the sentence, but I’m going to make an exception in this case because the little prick is so young.  So:  destruction of evidence (20 years), lying to a federal agent (5 years) and espionage (25 years), all sentences to run consecutively.

Or we could just shoot him in the back of the head, and make his family pay for the bullet — it’s what the ChiComs do to spies, after all.

I’m getting heartily sick of both this spying nonsense, and the aiding and abetting being given by academia.

We need to clean house, thoroughly, by expelling all Chinese nationals from faculty positions in academia.  And before the profs start squealing about “loss of intellectual capital” or some such bullshit, I would suggest that the only loss of intellectual capital is being caused by having these spies sending our work back to their Commie bosses.  Should our academic wailers wish to continue to work with these assholes, they should be quite free to do so:  in China.

DIY Security

Because we are not subservient Europeans who expect the State to protect them at all times, this development should come as no surprise to anyone:

About a 10-minute drive from Downtown Kenosha, two men stood this week with AR-15 firearms protecting their subdivision.
The armed men were Jason and Gilbert, part of a group of about 10 residents of the subdivision that have been out nights since Tuesday protecting their neighborhood in light of the unrest in Kenosha.

Gilbert, one of the armed residents standing guard, said, “All we’re doing is making sure the community here is able to go asleep, sleep fine and are not worried about anything.”
He noted that the armed residents use flashlights at night to alert approaching vehicles to their presence. If the vehicle pulls into the subdivision, the armed residents stop it and let the driver know he or she will be watched while in the development.

The message here is simple:  if government is unwilling or unable to provide security for the lives and properties of its citizens, the community will then take matters into its own hands.

And for the wailers who kvetch  about “taking the law into their own hands” and similar handwringing, let me remind you of this fact:  the law never left our hands.  We citizens deputize the enforcement of our laws to the police;  but if the police departments are unwilling, unable or ordered not to do so by their superiors (governors, mayors and so on), we reserve the right to enforce our laws ourselves.

I have to tell you, if our community was in a similar predicament, I would be the very first volunteer in line for such civic duty.  Happily, though, our local cops have told me in no uncertain terms to leave everything to them, because their superiors are not liberal asswipe Democrats.  (The actual quote was:  “If it’s at your house, then do what you have to;  but leave the damn streets to us.”)

I admit to sleeping better at night because of that.