Saturday Miscellany

First, just when you thought that they could get any dumber, we have Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo-- formerly governor of Rhode Island.

An interviewer asked Raimondo to comment on the simple fact, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that it had been overstating jobs-- by some 818,000. 

Incapable of anything that resembles serious thought, dumb Gina replied that she had heard Donald Trump mention the number, so she had to assume that it’s a lie, because Trump never does anything but lie.

So, failing to keep abreast of the job market, dumb Gina blames it on Trump. Doesn’t this show us the brain freeze of Democratic Party politicians? And doesn’t this show the true face of demonization and hatred-- and bigotry. 

It’s identity politics, in reverse.

Second, you probably thought that queer theory was basically harmless. Surely, no one would apply it to nuclear weapons policy.

Well, think again. The Biden administration has just hired a queer theorist to work on nuclear weapons in the Department of Energy.

Like yours truly, you imagine that this must be a joke. Apparently not. The New York Post has the story:

A fresh hire within President Biden’s Department of Energy previously wrote an op-ed about “queering nuclear weapons” — in which she argued that “queer theory” was crucial to US nuclear policy.

Sneha Nair co-authored the article just months before she was hired in February as a special assistant at the DOE’s nuclear security wing, the National Nuclear Security Administration, noted Fox News, which first reported on it.

In the wide-ranging piece, Nair argued that queer theory could “help change how nuclear practitioners, experts, and the public think about nuclear weapons” as she touched on the sprawling diversity, equity and inclusion ideology.

The article — titled “Queering nuclear weapons: How LGBTQ+ inclusion strengthens security and reshapes disarmament” — also laid bare her belief that discrimination against queer people could “undermine nuclear security and increase nuclear threat.”

“It’s about people. Equity and inclusion for queer people is not just a box-ticking exercise in ethics and social justice; it is also essential for creating effective nuclear policy,” she wrote in the piece published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

You are thinking that it cannot be true. But, apparently it is. 

Third, speaking of hate, Glenn Beck suggests that the Democratic campaign was all about hating on Donald Trump. 

He wrote this on Twitter:

They need you to hate Donald Trump more than inflation.

They need you to hate Donald Trump more than open borders.

They need you to hate Donald Trump more than fentanyl and drugs on our streets.

They need you to hate Donald Trump more than our children being killed by illegals.

They need you to hate Donald Trump more than the homelessness epidemic.

They need you to hate Donald Trump more than the abortion cult of death.

They need you to hate Donald Trump more than the possibility of nuclear war.

That’s what a vote for Kamala Harris is actually about.

Fourth, nothing like a little disinformation, aka lying, from PBS. So-called journalist Judy Woodruff announced that Donald Trump had called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to ask him to hold off any peace deal with Hamas, until after the election. Presumably, such a deal would have been helpful to the Harris candidacy.

As it happened, the story was untrue. It did appear in certain news outlets, but the phone call never happened.

So, Woodruff apologized, via Twitter:

I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing cease fire talks in the Middle East.As I said, this was not based on my original reporting; I was referring to reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters, about former President Trump having spoken to the Israeli Prime Minister. In the live TV moment, I repeated the story because I hadn't seen later reporting that both sides denied it.  This was a mistake and I apologize for it.

Now, the Village Crazy Lady-- if you do not believe her, who will you believe-- offered her own correction:

1. Neither Reuters nor Axios ever alleged the purpose of the phone call. You made that up 100% on your own. 

2. Both news agencies updated their stories within 24 hours of publishing to acknowledge that both sides denied it ever occurring. 

You made those remarks 4 DAYS after this clarification.

Better yet, Megan Kelly offered this commentary:

PBS should be completely defunded. If you are incapable of doing research before opening your mouth, then you're not a journalist, you're a nasty mouthpiece. The only thing you're sorry about is being called out.

Fifth, over at the Independent Women’s Forum, Ginny Gentles brings us up to date on America’s educational deficiencies. The news is not good.

According to the Nation’s Report Card, 13-year-old students scored significantly worse on their 2023 National Assessment for Educational Program (NAEP) reading and math assessments than three years before. In fact, scores have been declining since 2012.

As parents became aware of curricula concentrated on racial victimhood and gender identity, their alarm led many to boldly expose inappropriate and activist-driven material. When teachers unions and education bureaucrats indoctrinate students with opinions instead of instructing them in matters of reading, writing, and mathematics, parents have the right to review curricula and voice their concerns. However, schools have levied outrageously high fees on parents interested in assessing classroom materials.

Sixth, the epidemic of retail theft has caused the expected reaction. Stores are shutting down in certain neighborhoods. After all, businesses are smart enough to leave places where they are not wanted. 

Soft-on-crime prosecuting attorneys are ignoring it all. And they imagine that if they ignore it, it does not exist. Apparently, the companies have had another idea. 

The New York Post reports on the latest from Target:

Target’s sales and customer traffic bounced back this week after it closed crime-afflicted stores – suggesting more retailers may begin shuttering locations over shoplifting, sources told The Post.

The “cheap chic” discounter posted earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street’s forecasts on Wednesday as markdowns lured inflation-weary shoppers. But Target COO Michael Fiddelke also cited a decrease in “inventory shrink” – or losses from shoplifting – for the company’s rebound. 

Target said it was making “progress” addressing its shrinkage. The retailer closed nine crime-prone stores last year, in cities like NYC and Seattle.

If such retail retreats become a wider trend — and experts warn that they will if cities fail to crack down on crime — shoppers could get trapped in “retail deserts” with nowhere to turn for affordable clothing, food and prescription medicines, according to experts.

Seventh, as you have no doubt heard, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has suspended his presidential campaign and thrown his support behind President Donald Trump. 

You might have heard, from the Democratic convention, that Trump is an egomaniac who refuses to deal with anyone. And you might have also heard that Democrats are the fearless defenders of liberal democracy.

In truth, when Kennedy reached out to the Harris team, they blew him off. When he reached out to Trump, the latter met with him and treated him with respect. Harris tried to shut him down. Trump negotiated with him. 

If you heard the Democrats you would not have predicted this outcome.

As for Kennedy himself, his statement speaks for itself:

How did the Democratic party choose a candidate that has never done an interview or debate during the entire election cycle? We know the answer. They did it by weaponizing the government agencies. They did it by abandoning democracy. They did it by suing the opposition and by disenfranchising American voters.

Eighth, yesterday the enlightened Germans had a festival to celebrate diversity in the city of Solingen. As you have doubtless heard, a knifeman murdered three festival goers and injured several more.

He got away.

No one knows his motives, but authorities suspect that he was an Arab.

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