FLASHBACK FRIDAY: BRANDON AT THE TAJ
August 1993, Taj Mahal, Agra, India. I took my son Brandon here for his 10th birthday. Here is one supremely happy boy. One of the greatest gifts you can give your children or grandchildren is to take them on a great adventure, to explore the world with them. And it is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. It is a bonding experience that will last all of your life and theirs. Never pass up the opportunity, search for the opportunity instead. This is life-enrichment at its best. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #272 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
DEMS STICK WITH BIDEN AS IT WOULD BE A REAL PAIN TO REPRINT THESE BALLOTS THEY ALREADY FILLED OUT
Washington — Despite a significant majority of the nation now believing President Biden mentally unfit for office, the Democratic Party has decided to stay with Biden as its nominee as it would be a huge pain to reprint the tens of thousands of ballots they already filled out.
"On one hand, the nation now knows Biden is incapable of thinking and is a clear and present danger to himself and the country," said DNC chair Jaime Harrison. "On the other hand, it would be SUCH a pain to have to reprint all those ballots when we already filled them all out. It's so tedious! Aw, screw it... let's just stick with Biden."
The Democrat Party considered replacing Biden after the Presidential debate revealed his inability to walk or speak, but the amount of ballots already prepared for harvesting dissuaded them. "Obviously, Biden can't operate a frialator, much less run a country," said White House chief of staff Jeff Zeints. "To have him continue to be the corpse-like mouthpiece of the Party is nothing short of elder abuse, and everyone knows it. Still, do you know how long it takes to fill out two hundred thousand ballots? Ugh, it is so much work! Forget it."
At publishing time, annoyed Democrats had begun preparing another hundred thousand ballots for harvesting after seeing how bad the post-debate poll numbers looked.
- Babylon Bee reporting.
THEO HOLIDAY WHEELER WISHES ALL TTPERS A HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND!
Happy Fourth Weekend from the Youngest TTPer at 9 months old to all TTPers young and old. Have fun celebrating America’s Birthday! Theo, Jack and Rebel’s grandson.
SKYE’S LINKS 07/04/24
We’ve got a full docket for you today. The Supreme Court has finished the season with more-than-less glory (you can probably hear the wailing of the ‘Crats from your front porch). They covered a LOT of ground, and made the right decision in almost all cases.
There’s lots of good news in this week’s Links, but there’s some worrisome news, too, about a whole swath of children who are struggling after the Covid shutdowns, and concerns about the fragility of our digital lifestyle, as well as some really good insight starting from 1971, and a head’s up about AI fakery. Happy 4th of July... Let’s go!
OUR FOUNDERS
On this July Fourth, it is only appropriate to pay homage to America’s most revered and beloved founders, George Washington, the Father of our country, and Thomas Jefferson, the Author of our Declaration of Independence. It may seem a puzzle to some that Washington’s signature is not on it. That’s because, as Commander of the Continental Army, he was defending New York City from British attack. A copy of the DI was sent to him by express rider on order by John Hancock, which Washington read to his troops on July 9.
It’s best not to think of their reaction to seeing America right now, as that’s too depressing. Instead, we need to summon within ourselves what we can of their courage, genius, and integrity to place America on a path of which they would be proud. May they inspire us all. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #270 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
DO THE PLOTTERS OF THE ’51 INTEL EXPERTS’ COUP DESERVE PRISON?
People of a certain age will remember the name “Donald Segretti.”
In the 1972 re-election campaign of President Richard Nixon, this youthful campaign aide made the phrase “dirty tricks” part of the American political lexicon.
Segretti’s mischief included sending embarrassing letters under the names of Nixon’s political rivals.
Although his dirty tricks had little or no effect on the election’s outcome, Segretti served four and a half months in prison.
With Segretti’s four and a half months as a baseline, the 51-plus dirty tricksters who conspired successfully to get Joe Biden elected president in 2020 would seem to deserve no less.
Confident to a fault about the Democrat control of the media, 51 intel officials signed on to the most flagrant disinformation campaign in anyone’s memory.
HOW DID A SMALL GROUP DO THIS?
A very interesting study appeared last week by two researchers looking into the pandemic policy response around the world. They are Drs. Eran Bendavid and Chirag Patel of Stanford and Harvard, respectively.
Their ambition was quite straightforward. They wanted to examine the effects of government policy on the virus.
In this ambition, after all, researchers have access to an unprecedented amount of information. We have global data on strategies and stringencies. We have global data on infections and mortality.
We can look at it all according to the timeline. We have precise dating of stay-at-home orders, business closures, meeting bans, masking, and every other physical intervention you can imagine.
The researchers merely wanted to track what worked and what did not, as a way of informing future responses to viral outbreaks so that public health can learn lessons and do better next time.
They presumed from the outset they would discover that at least some mitigation tactics achieved the aim.
NO NAKED HOMES IN MADEIRA
Funchal, Madeira. On the Portuguese island of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean, there is a common expression: “A home without flowers is like a naked person without clothes.” Here is an example, one of many thousands. The Portuguese explorers discovered Madeira in 1419. It was uninhabited at the time and always had been, no human being had ever been there before. Over the seven centuries since, an enormous variety of plants from all over the world were brought here and flourished in the eternal spring weather and volcanic soil. Every fruit, vegetable, tree, bush, flower easily grows here, a botanist’s paradise. And a paradise for the people who live here, who love to beautify their homes and towns with gorgeous gardens everywhere. Come with Rebel and me to see for yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #298, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HEAVEN ON HERM
Belvoir Beach, Herm, Channel Islands. Could there be a more idyllic lunch—grilled lobster, fresh garden salad, chilled Chardonnay – here on Herm, the smallest of the five main Channel Islands. There’s Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, Alderney – and tiny Herm. Less than one square mile, but overflowing with charm and hospitality – from the Victorian White House Hotel to the Mermaid Pub to lobsters at Belvoir Beach. Coming here is a true escape from the worries of the world. At Herm they are a long ways away. Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #177 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
CHEVRON DOMINANCE
Technology is about to accelerate because Chevron deference is over and regulators can't just make up laws anymore. So, countless new startups just became feasible. This is often spoken about in the abstract, so let's do three examples and two visuals.
THREE EXAMPLES:
1) Genomics. Did Congress explicitly give FDA authority to regulate genetic tests in a bill like Kefauver-Harris (1962) or PDUFA (1992)? No, it did not.
But in the early 2010s, FDA attacked 23andMe and forced them to take personal genomic tests offline.
Implicitly, this was under Chevron.
2) Nuclear power. Did Congress explicitly give EPA and NRC the authority to implement ALARA? No, it did not.
But these agencies came up with this "as low as reasonably achievable" standard, forcing nuclear energy to become as expensive as other energy sources by spending all the cost-savings on "safety."
Implicitly, this was under Chevron, too.
3) Cryptocurrency. You guessed it. Did Congress explicitly give the SEC authority to regulate crypto? No, it did not.
Cryptocurrencies didn't exist when the 1933 and 1934 acts were written. However, the SEC says it has regulatory authority over crypto, even when Congress is deliberating on bills to the contrary.
Implicitly, that claim of SEC authority too was under Chevron.
In other words: if a regulator can't point to the law that gives them the power, they may not have the power. And you might be able to win in a court of law.