On the Paul Pelosi perp

The New Neo Posted on by

So many people have gone into the Paul Pelosi attack in depth that I don’t feel the need to do so at the moment. So I’ll just link to this as well as this.

I wrote at the outset I thought the perp would turn out to be a crazy person. Indeed, that seems to be the case. I also wrote that my biggest question had to do with why there was no security or no effective security. That’s still my question, and so far there’s been no answer.

It goes without saying that the left would try to make political hay of it by blaming the right. That’s certainly been their attempt. But at this point, I can’t imagine it convinces anyone but the already-convinced.

Lula’s back

The New Neo Posted on by

Brazilian politician “Lula” has won the presidency by a hair, making it his third term but not in a row.

Lula is on the left and his main opponent (and previous president) Bolsonaro is on the right. This seems to be a pattern, and not just in Brazil or the US, either: close whiplash elections leading to whiplash policies. Lula is friendly to Iran, for example, and is into the leftist view of climate change. You can learn more about him here.

In addition, Lula’s return is part of a trend that also occurred recently for the US: an elderly president. Lula is 76 years old. In addition, he’s being elected:

…after a series of corruption allegations lead to his imprisonment for 580 days. The sentences were later annulled by the Supreme Court, clearing his path to run for reelection.

That’s what the left in this country is determined to do to President Trump, of course.

Was Lula guilty? From that same Wiki profile you can see that it’s pretty convoluted:

On 4 March 2016, as part of “Operation Car Wash”, Brazilian authorities raided Lula’s home…A police statement alleged that Lula had collaborated in illegal bribes from the oil company Petrobras to benefit his political party and presidential campaign….

On 16 March 2016, Rousseff appointed Lula as her chief of staff, a position comparable to that of prime minister. This would have shielded him from arrest due to the immunity that went with the position…Supreme Court Judge Gilmar Mendes suspended Lula da Silva’s appointment on the grounds that Rousseff was trying to help Lula circumvent prosecution…

Lula was found guilty by the lower court of accepting R$3.7 million in bribes ($1.2 million US) in the form of improvements to his beachfront house, made by construction company Grupo OAS [pt], which in turn received lucrative contracts from the state-owned oil company Petrobras. Lula also faced other charges, including money laundering, influence peddling and obstruction of justice. On 12 July 2017, Sergio Moro sentenced Lula to nine and a half years in prison. Lula remained free pending his appeal. Lula’s lawyer accused the judge of bias and the judge replied that nobody, not even the former president, should be above the rule of law…

On 23 March 2021, the Supreme Federal Court ruled by a 3–2 decision that Moro, who had overseen Lula’s trial in a case, was biased against him…

On 5 April 2018, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) voted 6–5 to deny Lula’s habeas corpus petition. The court ruled that Lula must begin serving the sentence relating to 12 July 2017 conviction, despite not having exhausted all of his appeals…

On 9 June 2019, The Intercept published leaked Telegram messages between the judge in Lula’s case, Sérgio Moro, and the Operation Car Wash lead prosecutor, Deltan Dallagnol, in which they allegedly conspired to convict Lula to prevent his candidacy for the 2018 presidential election…

On 8 November 2019, Lula was released from prison after 580 days when a Brazilian Supreme Court ended mandatory imprisonment of convicted criminals after their first appeal failed…

Judge Edson Fachin of the Supreme Federal Court annulled all convictions against Lula on 8 March 2021, ruling that the court in Curitiba which convicted him lacked jurisdiction to do so, and ordered a retrial in Brasilia. A full Supreme Court bench later upheld the ruling by an 8–3 decision on 15 April.

The UN also got into the act, as well as Bernie Sanders and the NY Times. At any rate, that’s where it seems to have ended, and now he’s president.

More here on the election:

The former leader’s victory on Sunday was the latest in a political wave across Latin America, with wins by left-leaning politicians in Argentina, Colombia and Chile. But Lula da Silva – a former union leader with a blue-collar background – has sought to reassure moderates throughout his campaign…

Hours after the results were announced, Bolsonaro had yet to concede defeat or make any public statement. Meanwhile, videos on social media showed his supporters had blocked highways in two states to protest against Lula da Silva’s victory.

“We will only leave once the army takes over the country,” one unidentified Bolsonaro supporter said in a video taken in the southern state of Santa Catarina…

[Lula] may find that enacting his agenda is an uphill battle…especially with a hostile Congress. Seats that were from the traditional right are now occupied by the far right…

In the latest elections, Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party increased its representatives in the lower house from 76 to 99, while in the Senate it doubled from seven members to 14. Lula da Silva’s Workers’ Party has also increased its number of deputies from 56 to 68 and senators from seven to eight – but overall, conservative-leaning politicians will dominate the next legislature.

A split-personality result that results in a leftist president and a legislature on the right.

NOTE: The reference in the title of this post is to this song:

It’s that candy corn time of year again

The New Neo Posted on by

Halloween was my favorite holiday as a child. Roaming outside in the dark with your friends (there were no adult escorts back then except for some of the tiniest toddlers), in costume, ringing doorbells and getting loads of candy in response – what’s not to like?

We were well-behaved kids, at least when interacting with adults, and never “tricked” anyone. I got a stash of really fine candy – except for the random Mary Janes and those little tiny sour pellets that came in thin rolls (I can’t remember the name and haven’t been able to locate it in a search, but I hated them). The candy should have lasted me for months, but in my greed I devoured it in less than a week, in reverse order of deliciousness, saving the best for last and keeping those in my top drawer till the moment came to annihilate them.

There was virtually no adult supervision of any sort except the choice of costumes, which were pretty basic. I watched the weather like a hawk, because if it was raining then Halloween was ruined; no do-overs. Sometimes it was bitter cold, and heavy coats were required, which spoiled the costumes but not the evening.

Candy corn is a special type of candy that engenders strong feelings either way. Some people detest it and don’t hesitate to tell you so. I love it, and I always have. I understand that it’s too sweet, but I find it addictive and therefore indulge only on Halloween. I’ve already had my fill of it this go-round, which usually is enough to satiate me for another year.

Open thread 10/31/22

The New Neo Posted on by

Phil Ochs was a singer/songwriter, and a leftist of the old sort. Later in his career, he was plagued by mental illness and had a tragic end. But what a beautiful and distinctive voice he had, instantly recognizable. Some of my favorite songs of Ochs’ are those with lyrics from old warhorse poems – the sort we used to learn in school – put to music. This is his rendition of the poem “The Highwayman,” a poem that had especially touched me as a youngster because the highwayman’s lady love had very dark hair and eyes, like me. The colors black and red keep recurring throughout the poem; and then there’s the great touch of “with a bunch of lace at his throat”:

The poem is featured in a moving passage in the book Angela’s Ashes. You can find the entire poem here – Ochs condensed it somewhat in the song. I wish he had included that last verse, though, to close the circle.

Robbins’ “Other Dances”: four different renditions

The New Neo Posted on by

Compare and contrast. I’ve cued up a very short (less than 2-minute) excerpt from the beginning of each video of the ballet for the purpose of easy comparison, but you can go to YouTube to watch the longer videos if you’re interested.

I find the first three performances pretty but essentially vapid. There are different degrees of connection between the man and the woman, but nothing that especially moves me. I do love Chopin, though:

This one has the wrong “feel” to me, with a lot of self-satisfied posing on the part of Osipova. It also illustrates how difficult it can sometimes be for dancers to simply walk and look natural and unaffected:

This woman keeps it simpler, which is an improvement. But are she and the man even in the same world? I see no connection whatsoever, and this is a pas de deux, after all:

And this is the couple I’ve seen do it live way back when the ballet was new: the great Baryshnikov and Makarova. Despite the blurry quality, I believe the viewer can see that they bring to it an air of connection and deep mystery that is very different from the more recent three videos above. For Makarova, who is featured in this particular portion, every movement conveys some feeling, and every phrase is surprising and special and meaningful. As for Baryshnikov, he stays connected to her and has the same spellbound focus, without hamming it up. What a pair they were!:

Ballot harvesting in Florida

The New Neo Posted on by

Whistleblowing by a Democrat in Florida:

Former Orange County Commissioner candidate Cynthia Harris filed a sworn affidavit in late August with the Secretary of State’s office alleging that illegal operations to collect third-party ballots have been going on for years in the Orlando area where voting activists are paid $10 for each ballot they collect.

She described an intricate system funded by liberal leaning organizations that dispatch ballot brokers into black communities to pressure voters to turn over their ballots. The $10 fee per ballot is divvied up among the parties who help complete the harvesting.

The collection and delivery of ballots by third parties is illegal in Florida…

“Ballot brokers typically work up to a year in advance,” she stated. “Ballot brokers visit individuals in their residences and assists the individual with filling out a request for a mail-in ballot. After the mail-in ballot arrives, the voter is instructed to wait for the ballot broker returns to the individuals residence. They are asked to not seal the certificate envelope.”

“In rare circumstances, if the voter has filled out the ballot and sealed the envelope certificate, the ballot broker will take the ballot and then steam open the sealed envelope,” the affidavit added. “The ballot broker will either correct any votes, if necessary, that were not voted according to their wishes or just throw them out.”

Harris described how, much as in Wisconsin, vulnerable patients in rehabilitation centers and nursing homes in Florida were targeted for ballot trafficking.

Florida, Wisconsin, and Arizona have received similar allegations. Please read the whole thing. The allegations dovetail with the D’Souza documentary “2000 Mules.” Perhaps the only surprising thing is that the Florida whistleblower is a Democrat, but I suppose it would take a Democrat to know about the harvesting – and also, she apparently thinks she was the victim of the system when she ran for office. That would give her some motivation to spill the beans.

Cleanest Elections Ever.

Doing a Google search for “ballot harvesting whistleblower florida” just now, I only got hits for local Florida news, and a few random sites on the right – as well as this article from May critical of the D’Souza film, and other articles about such claims that were denied in Georgia (for example, this, also from May).

Of course, this Florida news should get big national coverage, but that certainly doesn’t appear to be happening at the moment, and I wouldn’t suggest sitting on a hot stove till it does.

My sink woes

The New Neo Posted on by

When I got back from my trip out west, I noticed there was a slight smell in the vicinity of my sink. I did the old baking-soda-vinegar thing, flushed down with hot water. But I noticed over time that the smell was still lingering.

So late last night, I did again again. Whoosh! The pipe under the sink sprung a leak, and the water started oozing out from the undersink cabinet.

Ugh. And even smellier.

The plumber came today and fixed it. I had to throw out a major amount of stuff from under there that had been siting in the gunky water. The smell should resolve over the next few days.

I hadn’t done anything wrong; it just was old and worn. But I absolutely hate stuff like this. Anyone have any ideas about what to do to disinfect the cabinet under the sink?

The campaign ad game

The New Neo Posted on by

Here’s an article about a campaign ad for Fetterman:

It appears Democrat Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s “Trump-voting Republican” parents are not Trump-voting Republicans, but card-carrying Democrats. In what seems to be an attempt to paint himself as an everyman candidate who is more Pennsylvanian than partisan, Fetterman apparently talked his parents into claiming they are Trump voters and Republicans in one of his senate campaign ads.

“We want to tell you something about John Fetterman. He was raised by two Trump-voting Republicans right here in this house in York,” Karl and Susan Fetterman claim in the 30-second video. “Us!”

The problem is that Fetterman’s parents are not Trump supporters or Republicans. According to voting records obtained by The Federalist, Susan and Karl Fetterman have been voting Democrat for at least six years—beginning when the couple registered as Democrats to vote in the 2016 primaries.

The story caught my eye, but as I researched it I discovered that his parents might actually be telling the truth. Not that it really matters; as political lies go, it would have been a relatively minor one, and the Fetterman campaign is dominated by a far more basic lie. But here are my reflections on the ad and its background:

(1) If MAGA Republicans are so evil and so dangerous, why emphasize you were raised by two of them? Why would that be thought to appeal to the centrist voters I assume the Fetterman camp is trying to reach here? And why wouldn’t it repel the leftist MSNBC-type voters who represent his base? It might dampen their enthusiasm to vote for Fetterman.

(2) Fetterman is 53 years old. Whatever “raising” his parents did of him would be assumed to have ended at least 30, perhaps even 35, years ago, back at the end of the Reagan era and then the Bush 1 years. Trump was already famous, but it would have been impossible to vote for him because he wasn’t running for office. The Republican Party during the Reagan years was a different kettle of fish than it is today – as was just about everything.

(3) However, it’s possible Fetterman really was raised by Republicans; for example, this April 2021 article about Fetterman mentions vaguely that, when Fetterman was a teenager, “His family members were all Republicans, so he was a conservative too, though ‘not in an aggressive or angry way.'”

I love that last part – he wasn’t an angry Republican back when he was a supposed conservative.

(4) It occurred to me that Fetterman’s parents may have registered as Democrats for the 2016 primary in order to vote for their son. Sure enough, when I checked, I found this:

Fetterman ran for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat in 2016, finishing third in the Democratic primary. He ran for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in 2018, defeating a field of candidates that included incumbent Mike Stack in the Democratic primary and winning the election with incumbent Governor Tom Wolf.

And of course Fetterman also entered the Democratic primary in 2021. All of this could easily explain his parents’ registration as Democrats, beginning in 2016.

But Trump voters? I suppose it’s possible, and no one can challenge them anyway because, when last I checked, we still have the secret ballot.

All of that aside, I can’t figure out why the Democrats didn’t replace Fetterman early on, when it became apparent to them that he was seriously challenged in the mental arena. They seemed to think that with the enormous help of the MSM they could cover it up, and for a while they did that successfully enough. But why bother – why have to deal with it at all, why not substitute another candidate? That remains a puzzle.

Speaking of Democrat campaign ads that lie, there’s this:

The advertisement, which was paid for by the California Democrat Party, was shared by California (CA) governor Gavin Newsom and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in favor of CA’s Proposition 1, which would codify abortion as a state constitutional right.

In the advertisement, Lee University student Macy Petty is shown falling to her knees outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. and crying after the decision to topple Roe was announced on June 23. The word “sad” is flashed over the clip as a voice narrates “when [the decision] happened we got mad, sad, scared. But now, we can get to work.”

Petty, however, claims the campaign misrepresents her as she was at the Supreme Court alongside Students for Life of America- who’s logo can be seen on a banner directly behind Petty in the featured advertisement…

“It’s embarrassing for their side that they had to stoop this low…they couldn’t find a pro-choice girl who’s crying at the court. They had to manipulate footage of a pro-life girl,” she continued.

That’s a minor lie compared to the major lies that are promulgated every day by ads from the left. But it’s nevertheless interesting that the left feels the need to lie even in such a minor matter.

Then again, campaign ads in general aren’t known for their veracity. I wonder how well they work these days – how many people are actually swayed by them? I bet it’s fewer than it used to be.

The attack on Paul Pelosi

The New Neo Posted on by

Police seem to know who did it, but not why. Or at least, if they know why, they haven’t officially made a statement about it.

Lots of rumors are buzzing – you can read many of them here – but my money is on “a crazy person.”

It seems to be a serious attack. Why wasn’t there security, or at least effective security?

The left needs the black vote

The New Neo Posted on by

Back in 2016, I remember reading there was going to be a shift in the black vote towards Trump. It didn’t really happen. In 2020, it happened to a small degree in black men, but not enough to make a difference in the outcome.

Is it happening now?:

Depressed Black turnout could destroy Democrats’ path to victory in closely-contested gubernatorial and Senate races such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Although Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden won urban areas, President Trump did better in both cycles in cities like Philadelphia.

In 2020, support for the Democratic Party reached a new low, continuing a downward trend from President Obama’s 2008 election. In 2008, Obama received 95 percent of Black men’s vote, but that slid down to 87 percent four years later. Hillary Clinton picked up 82 percent of Black men’s vote in 2016, but Joe Biden only notched 80 percent of their vote. This bleeding of Black men’s support has liberal strategists worried, and candidates are desperate.

Odd to think of 80% support as a low figure, isn’t it? But the trend is down, and any loss of the support of black voters is very threatening to the left because they have a deep dependence on this voting bloc. Patrice Onwuka, the author of that article I just quoted, mentions the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and those are exactly the same states that were discussed in yesterday’s open thread.

First, from my post:

…Democrats also still own the black vote, although there have been some defections there. But the black vote is key to Democrat victories.

Next, from commenter “stan“:

When a sufficient critical mass of blacks realize that Dems choose to keep them on the plantation, the preference cascade will be stunning.

Next, commenter “MBunge’s” response:

Black votes tend to be concentrated in places Democrats would win anyway. Outside of Georgia, I’m not sure there’s another state where black support is that crucial for Democrat victory.

My response was that black votes are also crucial for Democrat victory in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and those states in turn have been crucial for Democrats to win presidential elections.

For example, Biden won in Michigan in 2020 by about 54,000 votes statewide. Detroit is 77% black (this site says 79%), and there were approximately 250K votes cast in Detroit. Do the math – the black vote appears to have made the difference, and a shift of about 25% more black people voting Republican, for example, would have changed the result.

The situation is similar for Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, although the proportions are different. Biden won by about 80,500 votes in the entire state. In Philadelphia, Biden got 81% of the total, or 604,175 votes for Biden. Philadelphia is 41% black. So black people accounted for about 248K (or more, if the percentage of blacks voting for Biden was higher than 81%) votes in Philadelphia. Again, a rather modest shift towards the GOP would have put the state in Trump’s camp.

Biden won Wisconsin by about 20,700 votes. Milwaukee is about 39% black. Biden won by 146,000 votes in Milwaukee, about 80% of the total cast there. Again, it seems pretty clear that a rather moderate shift in black voting patterns towards the GOP could easily have flipped Wisconsin into the Trump column.

And then of course there’s the changing Hispanic vote, which has been discussed on this blog in several posts (for example, this one).

For decades, the Democrats have been abandoning their earlier pitch to working-class Americans of all ethnicities and races, and gone for racial identity politics. It worked for them quite well in many districts and many election cycles, as well as many presidential races. But it finally – finally – may be coming back to bite them. Identity politics depends on division as well as actually performing in such a way that the various groups can see an advantage in voting for the Party. More and more black voters seem to be recognizing that this administration in particular has not helped them but has actually harmed them.

I’ve written many times that a mind is a difficult thing to change, and that remains true. People generally are very reluctant to abandon previous political beliefs and affiliations, particularly when those beliefs are bound up with their very identities – which they often are. It can feel like a betrayal and a huge dislocation. But the more people cross that line, the more acceptable it becomes to do so. That could spell big trouble for the left.

The Twitter firings: several Twitter executives are forced to relinquish their extraordinary power

The New Neo Posted on by

Musk has given several Twitter executives the boot:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has fired several top Twitter executives after officially taking control of the company Thursday evening.

A source with knowledge of the matter told FOX Business that Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety were fired. Musk had accused the three of misleading him and investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform.

I guess they were giving him disinformation.

No doubt they’re very upset at his acquisition and their firing, and I don’t think it’s just because they lost their jobs. They will be hired by someone else and continue to make a lot of money, I can almost guarantee.

I think it’s because they lost these jobs. What enormous power they wielded, at such a crucial time!

An article from Politico from last April:

Shortly after billionaire Elon Musk bought the powerful social media platform, top Twitter lawyer Vijaya Gadde called a virtual meeting with the policy and legal teams she oversees to discuss what the new ownership could mean for them.

Gadde cried during the meeting as she expressed concerns about how the company could change, according to three people familiar with the meeting. She acknowledged that there are significant uncertainties about what the company will look like under Musk’s leadership…

Gadde herself has advocated strongly for ensuring that Twitter’s policies protect its most vulnerable users while protecting free expression — a position that is at odds with Musk’s.

Protecting free expression? Excuse me?

The article also mentions Gadde’s decision to throttle the Hunter Biden story, without also noting for the reader that the story was true and would have hurt Biden in the 2020 the election. Instead, it uses a version of the “Republicans pounce” angle.

From Gadde’s Wiki page (she is 48 years old, by the way):

She is known for her involvement in decisions and policies taken by Twitter, such as the approach taken to issues such as harassment and harmful speech, and controversial decisions made by Twitter, such as suspending the New York Post for a story on Hunter Biden before the 2020 election, and preventing users from sharing the story in private messages…

In 2014, she was described by Fortune as the most powerful woman on Twitter’s executive team, though she was later joined by Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland. In October 2020, Politico profiled her as “the most powerful technology executive you’ve never heard of”.

Well, I’ve heard of her now.

2020 must have been a very exciting and rewarding time for her:

She was one of the key officials at Twitter involved in decisions to suspend the account of former American President Donald Trump.

Gadde earned nearly $17 million in 2021 as Twitter’s chief legal officer, and earned roughly $7.3 million in 2020.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens to Twitter now. Some people are tentatively trying out the new regime and the supposedly new rules; for example: