Apr
9
2024

A Reminder That Chris Pappas is an Airhead

Saying things that literally nobody disagrees with is supposed to be profound commentary?

Of course, he's trying to suck up to Israel-haters, who have maintained (with no evidence whatsoever) that Israel is deliberately targeting civilians. He's neither brave nor foolish enough to say that outright.

Also of note:

  • I did not fly my Learjet to Nova Scotia. But I did drive my Impreza up to Lancaster, NH, to see the total eclipse of the sun yesterday. I was accompanied by Pun Son and loyal pup. (Pup pictured in the righthand column above.)

    It was (and I use this word extremely literally) awesome. Weather was perfect.

    Hey, what did you think about that Big Booming Voice threatening America with imminent destruction, unless… Oh, that didn't happen where you were? … What, that was just me hearing it? Never mind.

    [Sorry, couldn't resist recycling my lame joke from 2017.]

    But traffic was dreadful, in both directions. Northern New Hampshire roads are simply not designed to handle the influx/outflux of that many vehicles in a single day.

    I am not eloquent on this, or anything else. But if eloquence you seek, let me point you to Robert Graboyes: Son, Sun, Kronos, Kairos.

    Across my 70 years, two memories stand out above all others. Both are of mystical, magical, miraculous events that lasted only a few minutes. Each was preceded by long hours of anticipation and followed by a lifetime of contemplation and near-disbelief. The most intense memory is that of watching the birth of my son in 1986. A close second was watching a total eclipse of the sun in 1970. The Universe was kind enough to allow me to witness two of the most unlikely physical occurrences imaginable. Each time, that same Universe whispered in my ear, “Enjoy the sights of this journey, but do not think for a moment that I am within your comprehension.”

    […]

    Throughout my life, my religious views have rested easily on humble ignorance. Perhaps a higher power designed the Universe, or perhaps it’s all just the result of happenstance and insentient physical processes. Perhaps a higher power made the Universe and then stepped away, or perhaps that higher power intervenes in minute, meticulous ways. I just don’t know, and, paradoxically, my ignorance of such matters gives me comfort. But on that afternoon in March 1970, I watched as the moon precisely blotted out the face of the sun and thought with near-certainty, “I don’t think this is accidental.”

    A passing thought at that moment (which amused me even at the time) was the notion that the Universe might be merely an illusion, created specifically for my personal benefit and entertainment. (Or, less solipsistically, created for all humanity’s collective benefit). If one day, my Maker tells me face-to-face that that the world and the Universe were all just a simulation, I expect my response will be, “Yeah, I kind of figured that out on a Saturday afternoon in 1970.”

    Graboyes' article rates a 9.8 on the Pun Salad RTWTometer.

  • Check your Biden Impeachment Bingo Cards for… Biden’s Latest Lawless Student Loan Forgiveness. Take it away WSJ Editorial Board:

    The Supreme Court last year blocked the Biden Administration's $430 billion student loan write-off, but who do the Justices think they are? King Joseph showed them on Monday by waving his royal scepter again and canceling debt for some 30 million borrowers.

    “President Biden will use every tool available to cancel student loan debt for as many borrowers as possible,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declared. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona added: “When the Supreme Court struck down the President’s boldest student debt relief plan, within hours, we said, ‘We won’t be deterred.’” That’s for sure.

    Outraged yet? How about…

  • A bold claim. And it's from Stephen Moore, what he deems the Biggest Corporate Welfare Scam of All Time.

    President Joe Biden keeps lecturing corporate America to "pay your fair share" of taxes. It turns out he's right that some companies really are getting away scot-free from paying taxes.

    But it isn't Big Tech companies in Silicon Valley or the Wall Street financial company "fat cats" or big banks or Walmart. They pay billions in taxes.

    The culprits here are the very companies that Biden is in bed with: green energy firms.

    It turns out that despite all the promises over the past decade about how renewable energy is the future of power production in America, by far the biggest tax dodgers in the country are the wind and solar power industries. Over the past several decades, the green energy lobby -- what I call the climate-change-industrial complex -- isn't paying its fair share. That's because the vast majority of these companies pay nearly ZERO income taxes.

    Moore is billed as a "senior economic advisor" to Donald Trump, but don't hold that against him. He quotes Cato's Adam Michel:

    Biden administration estimates show that the US government could spend more than $1.8 trillion over ten years on energy tax subsidies, if they are made permanent. These costs could increase even further as new regulations, such as the recently finalized tailpipe emissions rule and proposed power plant rule, force greater adoption of tax credit‐​eligible technologies.

    Biden loves giveaways to his faves, while griping about the non-favored who ain't payin' their "fair share".

  • On the LFOD watch. You might know that our state's motto is of French origin ("vivre libre ou mourir"). And if you didn't, well, now you do. And they still use it over there, for example: France's Macron launches season of WWII commemorative events.

    Macron paid tribute to the diversity of the 465 maquisards: "Teachers, farmers, public figures, Jews and Catholics, communists, Socialists and Gaullists, anarchists, French and foreign officers united in the same fight against Nazism", he said.

    Quoting the resistance fighters’ motto: "Live free or die", he alluded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    “This war must end", he insisted.

    Wish we had a president who'd invoke LFOD every now and again. Coulda done without including the commies, but what are you gonna do? It's France.