“Worse than Watergate” doesn’t even begin to cover it

The New Neo Posted on by

We can’t really blame it on Biden; certainly not totally, because who knows how much input he had into so many things that occurred during his presidency? But it was indeed his presidency during which the apparatus of the federal government was unleashed on the opposing party. Big time:

More than 160 Republicans, including current Trump administration officials, may have been investigated by the FBI under former President Joe Biden, as part of the bureau’s sweeping Arctic Frost probe, documents show.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, US Pardon Attorney Ed Martin and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro are among the prominent GOP figures named in FBI files released by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, detailing the massive scope of the Biden-era Justice Department’s investigation into allegations of 2020 election interference.

“What we’ve learned is it was much broader, much more expansive, than we ever thought,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The idea on the right that the 2020 election wasn’t valid, as well as the J6 outburst in relation to it, were the gifts that kept on giving for the Democrats. Their surprise at Trump’s victory must have been immense, because I don’t think they thought it possible that any of their investigative shenanigans would ever be revealed.

Previously released Arctic Frost documents showed more than 90 conservative groups, including Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA nonprofit, were targeted in the probe.

Smith also received metadata from the phones of eight Republican senators and a GOP House member that would have allowed the special counsel to see who they called or texted as part of the Arctic Frost investigation.

The idea is to have Jack Smith give closed-door testimony to the House Judiciary Committee. He wants it to be public.

No matter what ends up being revealed, it’s not at all clear what the remedy would be.

In other news, Jonathan Turley opines on Trump’s appeal of the criminal “hush money” case:

President Trump has filed the appeal in his criminal case. Many of us criticized the case as based on a legally unfounded legal theory tried before a highly biased judge. The brief is a devastating litany of errors ignored by a prosecutor and court hellbent on conviction…

That refers to this case, which had most Democrats gleefully intoning that Trump’s a convicted felon.

Left and right: case studies in hating Israel and the Jews

The New Neo Posted on by

Lovely guy, that Mamdani.

Here’s what I’m talking about:

Speaking at a New York University event in September 2023, Democratic socialist state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani made one of his most despicable, antisemitic remarks yet. He said, “We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it is been laced by the IDF.” …

Contemptible as Mamdani’s dubious connection between the NYPD and Israel is, it was not original. He was merely parroting a talking point from the long-running, anti-Israel “Deadly Exchange” campaign, which was created by the anti-Zionist, left-wing advocacy group, Jewish Voice for Peace. …

At the time, LI’s Samantha Mandeles noted that the campaign, which sought “to blame American Jews and Israelis for alleged U.S. domestic police violence against minorities,” played a large role in “bringing the Middle East conflict to the streets of Los Angeles, New York, and elsewhere.”

She explained:

“The conflict provided a new opportunity for ‘intersectional’ anti-Israel agitators to portray Israel as the common denominator in oppressions all over the world, including racism in the United States.”

In other words, the Jews killed George Floyd, according to Mamdani and many on the left. This approach tries to play on resentment of Jews by other minorities, and to build on it. It’s a variation on older themes, and as we know, it’s become a dominant force on the left.

Meanwhile on the right we have over-the-top anti-Jew conspiracy theorist Candace Owens (I’ve written about her in this post) as well as “duh, I’m just asking questions” Tucker Carlson, who aired the idea that COVID was engineered to spare Jews, and states that “Zionist Christians” – that is, pro-Israel Christians – are people whom he “dislikes more than anybody” and accuses of “heresy”:

Carlson has millions of followers, and they act as multipliers spreading poison all around. I don’t think it’s a good idea to discount them. Just to take one tiny little example, on one “X” thread that displayed that same Carlson video, there’s this lovely sentiment in a response, “Most Christians agree. Christian Zionism: the belief that God favors a group that rejects Christ and has given them a land where they’re allowed to kill rape and torture without judgment … .”

I see that sort of thing – and worse – constantly online. Although it may not have made enormous inroads yet, it’s gaining. I think that Carlson wants to be Kirk’s successor – although Kirk was, in his own way, certainly a “Christian Zionist” – and to wrest control of the Christian right from the Israel-sympathizers.

I’m happy to announce that my root canal has been completed

The New Neo Posted on by

I went back to the endodontist yesterday for session number two, which I must admit was a better experience than session number one had been.

It lasted a shorter time; maybe an hour. It didn’t hurt, although it was uncomfortable. That huge rubber boot in the mouth isn’t fun, nor is the constant scrape, pressure, drill, whatever – all without a word from the dentist except laconic and mysterious instructions to the assistant such as, “Number 30, please!”

I was concerned this time because the dentist had said, after the first session, that it had been impossible to find the fourth root. The tooth involved was a large molar which supposedly should have four roots. This time, the conclusion was that it has no fourth root and so the quest was abandoned.

I hope that was correct. I hope this is – as they say in the real estate business – my “forever” restoration. Wouldn’t want to have to upgrade to an implant. As it was, I practically had to take out a mortgage to finance the root canal. And it doesn’t even have a view.

Was Inspector Clouseau in charge of the Louvre theft investigation?

The New Neo Posted on by

First, to refresh your memory on Clouseau:

And this is the sort of incompetence I’m talking about, in the Louvre investigation:

As a manhunt continued on Monday for suspects in the Louvre Museum jewel heist, the Paris Prosecutor said she fears the investigation might be harmed by the “hasty disclosure” over the weekend of the arrests of two other robbery suspects.

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the information made public about the arrests in the Louvre case should not have been disclosed.

“I deeply regret the hasty disclosure of this information by informed individuals, without consideration of the investigation,” Beccuau said in a statement her office released Sunday night.

Beccuau added, “This revelation can only harm the investigative efforts of a hundred or so investigators” searching for the stolen jewelry and the perpetrators still at large.

Under French law, the suspects in custody can be held for 96 hours before prosecutors have to charge or release them.

The article also says the apprehended suspects are “French nationals.” But then it goes on to add this:

One of the suspects has dual citizenship in France and Mali, and the other is a dual citizen of France and Algeria, investigators said, adding that both were already known to police from past burglary cases.

And they were nabbed when about to escape to – you guessed it – Mali and Algeria, respectively.

The article has photos of some of the jewels stolen; they have not been recovered. The men also left DNA at the crime scene.

More:

[Louvre Director Laurence Des Cars] said all of the museum’s alarms worked properly, as did its video cameras, but noted a “weakness” in security that was taken advantage of by the thieves. She said the only camera installed outside the Apollo Gallery was facing west and did not cover the window where the thieves broke in and exited.

“The weakness of the Louvre is its perimeter security, which has been a problem for a long time … certainly due to underinvestment,” des Cars told the lawmakers.

So the Louvre authorities knew about this weakness, but never did anything about it because of – lack of money? The Louvre is very large, but apparently one more camera might have helped. And wouldn’t a museum need an alarm systems that goes off when windows are breached or broken? The Louvre thieves used power tools to cut the window, as well as to cut the glass cases that held the jewels.

Some more background about the theft:

This is a public service announcement

The New Neo Posted on by

I’ve not been taken in by a scam – so far. But never say never. The crooks are getting more and more clever.

And so I’d like to warn you about this con game, in which the scammers manage somehow to phone their potential victims in such a way that caller ID identifies the call as coming from that person’s actual bank. They also seem to already have information about the target’s bank account.

Very sophisticated. Here’s an example of how it works:

[Noel Phillips] was bled dry earlier this year by a group of scammers who used phone number-spoofing technology — software used to misleadingly alter caller ID information — to empty his bank account, taking all of his life savings, totaling nearly $30,000. …

Just seconds before getting a phone call from would-be wrongdoers, he’d received an alert from his Chase app, claiming an unauthorized transaction of $500 had been withdrawn from his account.

“The timing of the call was immaculate,” said Phillips. “After they explained that my account had [been hacked], I immediately asked, ‘Well, how do I know you’re Chase Bank?’ Then I hung up, Googled the number for Chase, and it was the same number that had called me.”

But the thieves had spoofed the bank’s phone number and immediately called back from it. He answered — and that would ultimately change his life for the worse.

“They proceeded to tell me that my account was under attack, and that they suspected employees at my local branch had stolen my personal details,” he recalled. “They said they’d launched an investigation, and that I needed to move my money into a hidden or ‘decoy’ account that already had my name on it.”

Phillips began panicking.

There wasn’t just one voice scaring him into submission — there were at least five, even people posting as law enforcement and federal agents.

“There was the ambient sounds of a call center,” added Phillips, now realizing the background faux noise was likely an AI sound effect tool.

“And everyone had solid American accents,” remembered the Brit. “So I’m thinking, ‘OK, this is not the typical call from abroad. This is legitimate.’”

Don’t count on the banks making good on the money, either.

The lesson to be learned is that banks never call to ask you for information, or to ask you to withdraw money, or anything of the sort. And if anyone does call you with anything suspicious, hang up and call the actual bank to verify even if the call seems to have come from the bank’s phone number.

Two excellent videos about Israel

The New Neo Posted on by

The first one describes the details of Sinwar’s plans and instructions for 10/7, written in his own handwriting a few months before the event, and recently discovered by the IDF. It’s extraordinary. The gist of it is that all the sadism – and the broadcasting of the horrors on social media – was meticulously planned, and why:

Here’s another excellent video. The topic is why people believe anti-Israel propaganda, and what to do about it:

Will the electorate “learn” if Mamdani is elected?

The New Neo Posted on by

It seems inevitable that Mamdani will win in New York City and become its new mayor. However, he’s done so poorly in the debates – against even a lackluster and much-despised Andrew Cuomo – that the polls have supposedly tightened:

The race for New York City mayor has tightened considerably — with ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo cutting front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s lead in half from a month ago, according to a new poll.

Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, now leads Cuomo, running as an independent, just 44% to 34% among the likely Big Apple voters, the Suffolk University survey found.

Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa is in third place with 11% support.

But Mamdani had a 20-point lead over Cuomo in Suffolk University’s prior poll conducted in September.

Mamdani’s hefty lead still remains, despite the shift.

Where did those new votes for Cuomo come from? Apparently, Hispanic voters and Independents:

Cuomo is now running roughly even among Hispanics after trailing Mamdani by 30 points in that demographic in the September poll. …

He leads among independents by 10 points, a dramatic flip from a month ago, when he trailed Mamdani by 18 points among non-party-affiliated voters.

Seven percent of voters are still undecided and the four other candidates whose names are on the ballot garner 2% support combined.

Note that “undecided” 7%. That could put the whole thing in play – perhaps.

Sliwa still gets around 10.6%, but will that many people stick with him when they’re actually in the voting booths, realizing that a vote for Sliwa is effectively a vote for Mamdani? In a little more than a week, I guess we’ll find out.

As I’ve written before, I care what happens in New York, and I deeply hope Mamdani won’t win. Others here disagree with me to a certain extent – for example, “physicsguy”:

I know its sounds bad, but I think its good if Fateh and Mamdani both win. The country needs hard, stark examples of what the current incarnation of the Democratic party brings. I’m afraid the residents of Minneapolis and NYC will never learn, but maybe the rest of the country will as those cities fall into the abyss.

Well, quite a bit of the rest of the country is already red, and knows this. And the rest may be in the “will never learn” category. What Thomas Sowell calls the vision of the anointed is strong in many places and among many demographics. Even with the current 3-way race in NY, Mamdani shouldn’t be getting more than a few percentage points, and de Blasio’s tenure as mayor should have been lesson enough to teach everyone.

The truth is that the US is still split approximately 50/50, despite Trump’s strong victory in 2024. The Democrats have a chance of gaining the House in 2026. The clueless nonentity Kamala Harris came way too close to winning in 2024, despite Biden’s disastrous presidency. Trump’s victory over her should have been far more decisive, but too many Democrat voters would vote for anyone rather than a Republican.

If Mamdani wins in New York, it probably won’t be because a majority of New Yorkers voted for him, and yet the whole city will suffer. I’m not willing to sacrifice the city to create an object lesson that way too many people elsewhere may not be taking to heart (not that I have a say in the matter, but I certainly have an opinion). After all, it’s not as though we lack prior evidence of the failure of the sort of policies Mamdani proposes. And yet so many voters don’t care, or are unaware.

Once the left gets hold of the power structure of a city, it often gets very dug in. The damage that can be done is incalculable. One of the things that happens – and to a certain extent has already happened in New York – is that the more conservative residents flee, and the place becomes even more skewed to the left.

And don’t forget – a mind is a difficult thing to change.

And, as commenter “AesopFan” writes:

Places where the ratcheting [to the left] has been reversed have had some sort of intervention element, where the electorate experienced a shift in voting preferences due to the action of the contesting parties. We can do that because of our political system, so long as it isn’t being monkeyed with too much.

Part of the ratcheting includes monkeying with the electoral system.

Once a particular city gets ratcheted the wrong way* past a certain point, it is not recoverable.

NOTE: Remember this, when New York faced bankruptcy?

Milei’s party scores a decisive victory in Argentina

The New Neo Posted on by

Milei wasn’t running; he’s not up for re-election until 2027. This was a midterm election in which polls said his party wasn’t doing well. But it seems the polls were wrong

Fancy that.

And Trump apparently had a role in all of this:

Basically, no one believed that Millei’s reforms would stick. People did not want to invest in Argentina’s economy because they were pretty sure another leftist would just defeat him at the next elections and return the country to basket-case socialist rule.

The only way to get people to invest would be to convince them that Millei was popular and that he’d be around to make sure the reforms stuck. But people didn’t believe this, and the Argentinian peso continued to decline in value.

This is when Trump intervened. He declared the US dollar would trade at a fixed rate against the Argentinian peso, thus effectively setting a floor for the peso’s value. He also spent billions of America dollars buying up the Argentinian peso, buttressing its value.

But that’s not all he did. Trump declared that America’s support for the Argentinan peso was conditioned absolutely on the Argentines voting in favor of Milei’s party at the mid-terms. If the public turned on Milei, Trump would end all support for the country.

He said that if the Argentines chose basket-case socialism again, America would bail out of bailing out Argentina, as Argentina would just be a “waste of our time.”

Milei’s victory was dramatic, although – this being a parliamentary election – his party didn’t reach 50%:

Milei, a key ideological ally of President Trump, said his party and allied blocs picked up 14 seats in the Senate and 64 in the lower house of Congress on Sunday, three seats short of a congressional majority.

“I am the king of a lost world,” Milei exulted as his supporters cheered in downtown Buenos Aires on Sunday. “Today we have passed the turning point. Today we begin the construction of a great Argentina.”

No kings? Ah, well. Make Argentina Great Again. Argentina has been an economic basket case for long enough that the voters decided to take a chance on Milei. He’s had some successes although it hasn’t been smooth sailing:

Milei had spent his first two years in office with a minority in Argentina’s Congress. With his party’s victory on Sunday, he will have more breathing room to carry out his shock therapy agenda with less fear of legislators overriding his vetoes.

Under the new government’s watch, monthly inflation plunged from 12.8% prior to Milei’s inauguration in December 2023 to 2.1% in September of this year.

One thing that especially interests me is the poor predictive value of the polling. As Trump said:

NOTE: I’ve written previously quite a few times about Milei; see these posts.