FBI was out to get Flynn

This was, and is reprehensible.  Heads at the FBI should roll.

Democrat operatives abused Project Veritas journalist

Watch how this unfolded and the depositions that resulted.  Project Veritas is assaulted constantly, often in abusive manner, by the left for their efforts to expose malfeasance from organizations on the left. 

Netflix + Michelle Obama = stinks

I saw recently that Netflix is doing a 'documentary' on Michelle Obama.  The timing is to say the least, odd.  Yes, Netflix has a deal with the Obama's (which Newsweek fawned over last year). Michelle Obama has been mentioned in not-so-hushed tones as a possible replacement for the faltering Joe Biden.  So the timing of her documentary release in Biden's season of faltering does not hurt the Michelle-for-Democratic-nominee narrative at all.  Neither doe the Netflix documentary on former president Obama to be released later this year apparently.

If Michelle decides to step into the ring, does Netflix pull the video during teh run-up to the election. I HIGHLY doubt it.

Ben Shapiro has some thoughts on the documentary too.

Media in full on panic over Joe Biden

Joe Biden is looking weaker and weaker as a candidate.

Joe Rogan and Tim Pool discuss China, socialism, Trump

Joe Rogan talked with Tim Pool about several topics recently, all interesting stuff.

On the potential for war with China:



On the the problems with socialism:



On the the chances of Trump's re-election:

Video Game so woke 70% of programmers have quit

A video game in development has gotten so bad as far as it's wokeness, 70% of its programmers quit during the development process.

Not sure how this is gonna work...

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discusses a strong recovery in the summer, something some analysts see as well.  But he also mentions that states that were mismanaged will not be getting a bailout. That's a laudable goal but how will mismanagement be ascertained?

 

Taiwan did warn the WHO about COVID-19

Dave Rubin digs into how Taiwan warned the WHO and everyone else about the dangers of the COVID-19 virus.

The China crisis in entertainment

This is from 5 months ago, and it extends beyond entertainment into COVID-19 reporting, and frankly everything else too. China's government hates free speech:

Is 50 Cent supporting president Trump now?

50 Cent: Possibly trolling, possibly awakening to the dystopia of progressive liberalism.  You decide.

Sunday verse

Democrats now: Trump colluding with...China

As transparent as it is destined to fail, Democrats are going to go after president Trump for collusion with China.  Wow.  Democrats do not know how to be out of power, which shows that they need to be exactly that.

Saturday Learning Series - Philosophy crash course 3 (How to argue, continued)

Continuing the series on philosophy from last weekend, specifically the section on how to argue.

Las Vegas Mayor vs. Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper is so sure he's right, he's obnoxious.  The mayor of Las Vegas handled this about as well as was possible. Well managed.

No, Trump didn't say to drink bleach or Lysol

Fake news yet again (and Tim Pool admits an error on his part):

Unlike the mainstream media, Tim Pool will admit it when he jumps the gun or gets something wrong.  You have to respect that.

Friday Musical Interlude - Miley Cyrus but done well

Postmodern Jukebox does a cover of a song so well, it blows away the original and actually makes it into a good song>  We Can't Stop, originally by Miley Cyrus:



I may have shared this one before but it is the song that turned me into a fan of Postmodern Jukebox.  Last April I was in Las Vegas and missed a chance to see them in concert unfortunately.

Sweden - Herd Immunity is in sight

In Sweden, they are not shutting down.  With a population half of New York City, they have a death toll that is 1/10th of NYC.  Herd immunity is a risk, but it is working for Sweden.

This approach is not a panacea but could easily work in a lot of places in the U.S.

Nancy Pelosi = Marie Antoinette

Thanks to COVID-19, I am very busy at work and unable to blog as often as I would like.  I'm missing out on adding my commentary to the political dialogue, even though there is a lot on which to comment these days.

But sometimes you cannot say it better than the original.  Nancy Pelosi = Marie Antoinette.

Conservatives Against Models - a really bad idea

I work in data and analytics in my daily life.  I've seen the power of models, and while they are not perfect, they are truly powerful tools.  I've also heard on shows like Rush Limbaugh and other conservative pundits (for example on Patriot Radio on SiriusXM),  decrying models.  As a conservative I will state unequivocally, we ignore and discount models at our political peril.

While it is true that statistical models can provide wildly inaccurate results (for example millions of COVID-19 deaths, hurricane paths that make no sense, etc), that is because not the model, but of the assumptions baked into the model by the creator(s) of that model.  Garbage in, garbage out. 

But models have also successfully predicted what vintage of wine and from what region will be a particularly good vintage, or bad.  Models have extremely accurately predicted consumer behaviors to an alarmingly amazing degree.  In the latter case I know personally as I have both used and created models with stunning predictive ability.  Groups like Camebridge Analytica have thrived on the amazing amount of data available in public to predict behaviors.

Models are used for a startling amount of things.  Just because models often lead to incorrect results do not discount them - if a model is set up to predict a specific outcome in a specific way, it will do exactly that.  Garbage in, garbage out.  But to discount and denigrate models as a whole is to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Models can predict election outcomes with razor precision if they are built properly. Now it is especially true since machine learning can lead models to self-improve over time. If we turn conservatives against models holistically, we are dooming ourselves to being out-campaigned by Democrats who understand the power of smart-campaigning leveraging model-driven insights.

This is no I'm-trying-to-keep-my-job warning.  Models are the future of everything; from airline safety to stock price predictions, to pandemics, to human health and genetics, o music popularity to farming and beyond.  I work in the industry and see how over time, people are learning to better set models up for success and the models are teaching themselves to get better over time.  That is not to suggest that they will replace humans, but that they can be leveraged as truly useful tools, if they are properly trained (and yes training models is a real thing).

Here's an example of Artificial Intelligence, leveraging modeling of behavior, learning to play hide and seek, and then, even to break the rules:

Sunday verse

Saturday Learning Series - Philosophy crash course 2 (How to argue)

The proper format for presenting an argument:

Friday Musical Interlude - Unchained Melody

Incredible vocals from the Righteous Brothers, live in 1965.

Leaving China, a brief status primer

Japanese companies are leaving China.  President Trump understands it, but it's time American companies face reality - communist China is toxic for America, and the world at large.

It's not just reliance on China,   the problem is that any economy needs to produce things.  Manufacturing strength is a vital pillar of a strong economy.  It's not the only one, but you can't outsource everything for the sake of cheap products because it just won't work.  It never has, it never will.

Adam Schiff - Hey, let's impeach Trump

Facepalm.

Media panic over COVID-19 narrative

The contra-media narrative is being suppressed by the media.  And the media are panicking as their narrative continues to unravel.

Media keeps censoring anyone who disagrees with them (COVID-19 edition)

Surprising no one, the mainstream media and social media are co-conspirators once again.

Happy Easter

Saturday Learning Series - Philosophy crash course 1

Taking a break from geography to take a look at the fundamental must know parts of philosophy.

Friday Musical Interlude - Easter music

In recognition of Good Friday.

Sky News Australia: Biden's cognitive issues can no longer be ignored

Now that Sander's is out, Biden's the guy for Democrats.  Except..bad brains.  Foreign news agencies have already admitted what liberal mainstream media in America can't.  Biden's not up to the job.

He even got the name of his Make It Work Checklist wrong in his own, controlled virtual town hall:

But the Democratic National Committee seems as blinkered on nominating Joe, as they were in nominating not altogether together Hillary Clinton in 2016, despite obvious physical issues:

This is not going to end well for Democrats.

Bernie Sanders out. Okay, it's a non-event.

Did anyone really think the nominee was going to be Sanders at this point? Only die hard Bernie Bros.

Hannity holds extended talk with president Trump

President Trump sounds rationale when not having to combat a biased media. This is the president Trump the mainstream media do not want you to see:

You also get to see how the president was on top of this while Democrats were busy ignoring it.

Ricky Gervais goes off on celebrities, again.

Ricky Gervais, keeping it real.  I hate that expression too, but he really is keeping it real during the coronavirus pandemic.

National Pharmaceutical Stockpile was depleted by Obama

President Obama allowed the National Stockpile of surgical type personal protective masks, which is a real thing, to be dramatically depleted according to a USA Today investigative report:

During the presidency of Barack Obama, the national stockpile was seriously taxed as the administration addressed multiple crises over eight years. About "75 percent of N95 respirators and 25 percent of face masks contained in the CDC's Strategic National Stockpile (∼100 million products) were deployed for use in health care settings over the course of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic response," according to a 2017 study in the journal Health Security.

Again according to NIH, the stockpile's resources were also used during hurricanes Alex, Irene, Isaac and Sandy. Flooding in 2010 in North Dakota also called for stockpile funds to be deployed. The 2014 outbreaks of the ebola virus and botulism, as well as the 2016 outbreak of the zika virus, continued to significantly tax the stockpile with no serious effort from the Obama administration to replenish the fund.

ProPublica reported on April 3 that congressional budget battles in the early years of the Obama administration contributed to stockpile shortages. But the article notes available funds were used not to replenish masks: "With limited resources, officials in charge of the stockpile tend to focus on buying lifesaving drugs from small biotechnology firms that would, in the absence of a government buyer, have no other market for their products, experts said. Masks and other protective equipment are in normal times widely available and thus may not have been prioritized for purchase, they said."

While USA Today goes on to say that the Trump administration has not take significant steps to replenish the stockpile, they rate the claim about the Obama administration as true.

The real takeaway here is that no nation seems prepared for a pandemic, and at both a national and state level, preparedness for this type of scenario should take priority over things like funding of the arts or even within medical funding for things like abortions. 

Sunday verse

Saturday Learning Series - Geogrpahy (Morocco)

Thanks to the coronavirus panic, I'm busy hunting for toilet paper these days.  As a result, I'm reverting to geography as a standby learning opportunity.  This week - Morocco.

And the flag:

Friday Musical Interlude - Season of the Witch

Donovan from 1966 feels somewhat timely these days.

China bioterrorism not front page news?

Yet more Tim Pool sharing info that the mainstream media are ignoring:

More from Tim Pool: China's nefariousness on the cornoavirus

China's lies on the coronavirus are harming the world, but I would add that it is proof that they are an untrustworthy nation in general.

Tim Pool exposes Democrats' self-own on coronavirus

Tim Pool is a fair guy and an honest guy. Also a left-leaning guy.  But most of the time, he's right about Democrats.