Dave Barry's 2021 Christmas Gift Guide

Miami Herald  "The holiday season is a time when people all around the world pause from their hectic daily lives to participate in cherished holiday traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation, no matter how stupid they are. 

"Take, for example, the Yule Goat. We are not making the Yule Goat up. It is an actual holiday tradition over in Sweden, a foreign nation that is also known as “Denmark,” or, for short, “The Netherlands.” According to Wikipedia, the Yule Goat — in Swedish it’s the “Gävle Goat” — dates back to ancient pagan festivals, but in 1966, “the tradition got a whole new life after someone came up with the idea to make a giant straw goat.”

" Ha ha! What a fun idea “someone” had! Make a giant goat statue out of a highly flammable material, during a time of year when people are consuming a lot of alcohol! What could possibly go wrong?" . . .

The holiday season is a time when people all around the world pause from their hectic daily lives to participate in cherished holiday traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation, no matter how stupid they are. Take, for example, the Yule Goat. We are not making the Yule Goat up. It is an actual holiday tradition over in Sweden, a foreign nation that is also known as “Denmark,” or, for short, “The Netherlands.” According to Wikipedia, the Yule Goat — in Swedish it’s the “Gävle Goat” — dates back to ancient pagan festivals, but in 1966, “the tradition got a whole new life after someone came up with the idea to make a giant straw goat.” Ha ha! What a fun idea “someone” had! Make a giant goat statue out of a highly flammable material, during a time of year when people are consuming a lot of alcohol! What could possibly go wrong?

YOUR FACE ON A REAL POTATO   "Technology has given humanity many wonderful gifts: space travel, Instagram, the George Foreman Grill ... the list goes on and on. But until recently, there is one gift that technology could not give us, and it is something that we, as humans, have ardently desired for literally thousands of years: The ability to put a photograph of our face on a potato." . . .Read more 

CHICKEN HELMETS $7.49 from amazon.com Suggested by John Lobert of Simpsonville, South Carolina  Read more

Read more

Levin shreds ‘sick’ propaganda by Joy Reid, ‘Constipated News Network’ and ‘gossips’ at ‘The View’

“The greatest threat we face in this country right now is the American media and the Democrat Party who are at war with our culture and our society and constitutional system.”

BPR  "Lawyer, author, and “The Mark Levin Show” host Mark Levin had some strong words for MSNBC and CNN, and in particular MSNBC host Joy Reid.

"Levin’s comments weren’t on his own show, however. On Monday, as a guest of Fox News‘ Sean Hannity on his show, “Hannity,” Levin took the opportunity to thunder against much of the media for the way it has handled the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse was recently acquitted of murder and other charges when his lawyers made a successful case for self-defense.

"Levin’s first targets appeared when Hannity played a clip of ABC’s “The View.” Levin immediately blasted the hosts, saying “First of all, why do we care what they say on The View? They have a collective IQ of negative 17. They’re like a bunch of [gossips].”

"Levin went on to say that we are experiencing a breakdown of law and order and that this breakdown has “been institutionalized by the Democrat Party and their media. It’s been institutionalized by them. And the media is so racist now. We don’t have a free press. We have a tyrannical press.”

"As he worked himself up in his denouncements, Levin also had some strong names to hurl at MSNBC and CNN, calling them “MSLSD [presumably a take on the hallucinogenic drug LSD] or CNN, what I call the Constipated News Network.' ”. . .

Report: ‘Serious Talk’ Joy Reid Could Be Gone From MSNBC

Jon Nicosia

@NewsPolitics

SOURCE: There is serious talk all the way up the chain at Comcast about Joy Reid's future at MSNBC.

On the Oxford High shooter

 The Oxford High School tragedy and the free fall of morality

After all, isn’t “equity” the new buzz word? Equal outcomes!  But what good is equality if we are all equally rotten?  It is simply immoral groupthink on steroids that we are being prodded into accepting as the norm.

Typical comment over at WaPo:  "There are violent or depressed kids everywhere in the world. Lots of them play violent video games. Only in America are they allowed to act on their fantasies, because they have such an easy access to guns. Ban the guns, stop the massacres."

Parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley appear 'sullen and show no remorse' as they are held in jail after their son 'killed four students and injured seven others'

'I'm not going to get into specifics, but I think where they were and how they were, seems to support the position they were hiding and they weren't looking for surrendering at that point,' he said. 'Given that they were hiding in a warehouse in Detroit, it certainly raises my eyebrows.' 

. . ."Both Crumbleys pleaded not guilty to all four charges of involuntary manslaughter - one for each Oxford High School student who was killed Tuesday. Each count is punishable by up to 15 years in prison along with a $7,500 fine and mandatory DNA testing. 

"CNN terminates Chris Cuomo 'effective immediately' "

 

Chris Cuomo Loses Cool After Being Called 'Fredo'

Tucker Carlson is Wrong on Chris Cuomo and Brotherhood  

Christ also said, in Matthew 10:37, “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.”

CNN’s Brian Stelter On Cuomo Firing: He Caused ‘So Many Headaches’ For CNN, Staffers ‘Very Unhappy’   "So why is Stelter only saying that now?"

 ‘Too-da-loo, Fredo’: Chris Cuomo And CNN Slammed After Network Fires Host Following Scandal  . . ."Former CNN host Chris Cuomo, who was fired on Saturday night, was mocked online, and his former employer was slammed for a variety of reasons following the announcement." Among the comments in this post:

Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist: “So whatever Chris Cuomo did, it was worse than peddling Russia collusion lies like @jaketapper does, and worse than @JeffreyToobin’s at-work self-pleasuring. Because they’ve both kept their CNN jobs.”

Chris Cuomo Releases Statement Responding To CNN Firing Him

Cuomo's termination comes after CNN 'retained a respected law firm' to review the case

'This is not how I want my time at CNN to end': Chris Cuomo speaks out after being fired for penning his brother's sexual assault rebuttals - and is forced to deny NEW sexual misconduct allegation from ex-colleague

According to some estimates, Cuomo had an annual salary of $6million.

His 9pm show, Cuomo Prime Time, was CNN's highest rated broadcast. It drew an average of 774,000 viewers during November, when it ranked No. 25 among all cable TV news programs - right behind Anderson Cooper's show.

However, the network saw a 19 percent bump after Cuomo was suspended Tuesday and Cooper filled in. The network has not indicated who will be his permanent replacement.

Cuomo's shocking downfall came less than a week after the New York Attorney General's Office released transcripts and exhibits on Monday, showing that the TV host had played a more intimate role in his older brother's political affairs than initially thought by the network and the public.  

Pete Buttigieg: Families Buying Electric Cars “Never Have to Worry About Gas Prices Again”

South Bend's loss is America's gain!

Legal Insurrection

“The people who stand to benefit most from owning an EV are often rural residents who have the most distances to drive, who burn the most gas, and underserved urban residents in areas where there are higher gas prices and lower income”

Biden Energy Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently offered some very comforting words to American families who are struggling with higher gas prices. Just buy an electric car.

Never mind that electricity isn’t free, or the fact that electric cars are still significantly more expensive than gas-powered vehicles. Talk about being out of touch. . . .

. . ."Never mind that electricity isn’t free, or the fact that electric cars are still significantly more expensive than gas-powered vehicles. Talk about being out of touch.

Maureen Breslin reported at The Hill:

Buttigieg: Families who buy electric vehicles ‘never have to worry about gas prices again’

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stressed in a new interview that families who buy electric vehicles (EVs) “never have to worry about gas prices again.”

While speaking on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show With Jonathan Capehart,” Buttigieg noted that Democrats’ proposed social spending package includes incentives to make it more affordable to buy an electric vehicle.

Buttigieg said that families would essentially have a “$12,500 discount” in transportation costs, adding that “families who own that vehicle will never have to worry about gas prices again.”

“The people who stand to benefit most from owning an EV are often rural residents who have the most distances to drive, who burn the most gas, and underserved urban residents in areas where there are higher gas prices and lower income,” Buttigieg said.

“They would gain the most by having that vehicle. These are the very residents who have not always been connected to electric vehicles that are viewed as kind of a luxury item,” he added.

"This video is cued to start at the 4:33 mark, so just press play:

. . ."If you watched to the end, you saw the ‘journalist’ ask Buttigieg for baby pictures, because that’s what journalists do when they view politicians as friends and allies.

"On the tax credit point made by Buttigieg, Ed Morrissey of Hot Air notices a problem:

Where does one start with this nonsense? Let’s start at the “discount,” given as a point-of-sale tax credit similar to that passed in 2009 in Barack Obama’s stimulus plan. Even with the more robust figure, five thousand dollars higher in Joe Biden’s BBB plan, it still doesn’t bridge the gap for car buyers. In a Quartz analysis one year ago cited at Car and Driver, the difference between an average gas-powered vehicle and an EV is $19,000, even if it’s narrowing recently, and repair costs are still higher…

The Biden gas pump is killing the family budget   When Biden took office, the United States had become a net exporter of petroleum products, a remarkable public policy achievement for a nation that had been dependent on foreign oil production for so long. But Biden quickly gave away that economic and strategic advantage. 

For Biden and his environmental extremist allies, consumers must be made to suffer for their fossil fuel consumption sins.

  Biden’s Green New Deal = China First

The US Department of Transportation tweeted this out on purpose: (Showing typical teenager conversation)

Biden's Counterterrorism Ignores Jihadi Threats

 The Middle East Forum   "Like his former boss Barack Obama, Joe Biden began his presidency by using the executive branch to treat his critics as "domestic terrorists." When it comes to counterterrorism, the Biden administration is proving to be the third Obama term.

"Within months of his inauguration, Obama directed the Department of Homeland Security away from Islamist terrorism and towards "right-wing terrorism." Biden is doing the same, but even more aggressively and with both the DHS and Department of Justice.

"On April 7, 2009, Obama signaled a shift away from the counterterrorism policies he inherited in an unclassified assessment titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." It was prepared by the DHS's Extremism and Radicalization Branch, which had been focused on al-Qaida under the first DHS Director, Tom Ridge.". . .

                           Attorney General Merrick Garland, above with Biden and Obama in 2016, is                                 helping refocus American counterterrorism policy on right-wing extremism.

Also, appropriately: The Obama administration purged terms like "jihad" and "Islamist" from government lexicon.

That Oxford school shooter's parents captured

 U.S. Marshals Capture 'Missing' Parents of Suspected Michigan School Shooter  "Late Friday, the U.S. Marshals joined the search for James and Jennifer Crumbley after they failed to show up at an arraignment Friday morning. The Michigan couple are the parents of student Ethan Crumbley, who stands accused of the Oxford High School shooting that killed four students and wounded seven others, including one teacher, on November 30.

"As my PJ Media colleague, Megan Fox, reported, the “lawyers for the parents said they had not fled from the order to turn themselves in but left town for their own safety.” The lawyers also claimed that the Crumbleys would return for their arraignment; however, that did not happen. In their absence, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald charged each parent with four counts of involuntary manslaughter—a felony that carries a 15-year sentence, according to Michigan officials. It seems likely that additional charges will be added at a later date since the U.S. Marshals are now involved." . . .

Photos and videos in this article:  Parents of school shooter Ethan Crumbley, 15, WEEP in court as they plead not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges and judge sets bail at $500K   ..."The prosecutor revealed that James, who - like his wife - had a prior criminal history, bought the murder weapon from a retailer with his son there on November 26. He stored the 9mm handgun in an unlocked drawer in his bedroom, McDonald said.

"The next day, Jennifer posted about the Christmas present to Instagram with the caption: 'Mom & son day testing out his new Xmas [sic] present.' Jennifer's Instagram account has since been taken down.  

"Two days later, on November 29, McDonald said a teacher at Oxford High School observed Ethan searching ammunition on his cell during class and reported it to school officials."...

. . ."She also revealed that on the morning of the shooting, a teacher found a chilling note on Ethan's desk, which featured disturbing drawings depicting a semi-automatic gun, a bullet, a shooting victim and a laughing emoji.

"According to the prosecutor, the note included the words 'blood everywhere,' 'thoughts won't stop, help me,' 'my life is useless' and 'the world is dead.'

"Jennifer and James were immediately summoned to the school to discuss their son's worrying behavior. A school counselor was able to obtain the note with the drawings, but McDonald said by then its contents had been 'altered.'   

"The doodles of the gun and the bullet-ridden figure were 'scratched out,' as well as Ethan's writings." . . .

In this article: "Michigan school shooter's parents have criminal histories including charges of DUI and passing bad checks" 

. . ."Under Michigan law, an involuntary manslaughter charge can be pursued if prosecutors believe someone contributed to a situation where the probability of harm or death was high. 

" 'The parents were the only individuals in the position to know the access to weapons,' McDonald said Thursday. The gun, which Ethan's father, James Crumbley, had just purchased four days before the rampage, 'seems to have been just freely available to that individual.' 

" 'These charges are intended to hold the individuals who contributed to this tragedy accountable and also send the message that gun owners have a responsibility. 

"'When they fail to uphold that responsibility, there are serious and criminal consequences.' 

"Ethan has been charged as an adult with two dozen crimes, including murder, attempted murder and terrorism, for the shooting on Tuesday. " . . .

Joe Biden Confronted Over Child Molesting Claims At CSPAN LIVE Event

 Neon Nettle  "Ex-Vice President Joe Biden was confronted at an event in New York being streamed in Live TV over his infamous 'inappropriate behavior' with touching young girls.

"Howard Caplan attended the event at Global Institute of Long Island University, which featured speaker Joe Biden.

"Caplan took the opportunity to call out the former Vice President regarding the viral videos of him groping young girls." . . .

Andrew Schulz Rips ‘The F*****g News Propaganda’ For Dishonest Coverage Of Kyle Rittenhouse, Silence On The Waukesha Massacre

Video available in this story has not been linked to here due to the rough street language. TD

Daily Caller  "Comedian Andrew Schulz unleashed a rant for the ages about the coverage of Kyle Rittenhouse compared to Darrell Brooks.

"It’s very cut and dry, but the media and Hollywood celebrities didn’t care. They just wanted the attention and woke points, which is what Schulz pointed out.

"Meanwhile, you have a guy in the very same state accused of slaughtering six innocent people and the same people who ripped Rittenhouse are nowhere to be found.

"If that doesn’t upset you or at least make you ask a few questions, you’re not paying attention!" . . .

That Soros-supported smash-and-grab epidemic

The felony murder of Kevin Nishita and all the consequences attached to it now applies to all individuals involved in the smash and grab robbery the KRON-TV crew were covering. Felony murder charges apply regardless of who committed the murder. 

Will O'Toole of O'Toons Cartoons.

Pillaging and Plundering: The prosecution of the $950 theft

These smash-and-grab thefts have escalated, thanks to the uber-liberal left, and their George Soros-sponsored, elected prosecutors failing to perform their duties. These prosecutors hide behind a loophole in California law that makes theft below $950.00 a misdemeanor. They use this law to claim it is not worth their time to prosecute, so they either plea bargain the crime down to a fine only, or outright dismiss the charge.

Pictured, right: Kevin Nishita, Retired Colma Police Sergeant

'Flash Mobs'  ..."The riots and aftermath provided the background for a real-world demonstration of precisely these principles. Young people watched -- in person or on television -- as older “models” looted stores and purloined expensive merchandise, unfettered by police pursuit.  Aggressive behavior was rewarded without adverse consequences."...

14 California Looters Arrested by Police Have Been Released Due to the State's Zero Bail Policy  "Thieves hit 11 Los Angeles area stores that weekend, stealing $338,000 in merchandise. But several of the looters pled poverty and got out, thanks to a California Supreme Court decision that ordered judges in the state to consider a suspect’s ability to pay when setting bail. If you can show you are “indigent” — no visible income or means of support — you get to walk." . . .

What Causes Looting? Covid!  "Covid has become the all-purpose excuse for failure in today’s world. But the execrable Jen Psaki broke new ground, earlier today, when she claimed that covid is responsible for the organized looting of stores across the United States, especially in the Bay Area but spreading across the country, in recent days.". . .More here

Risk Assessment Proved Waukesha Terror Suspect Was a Threat; Progressives Let Him Out Anyway—and That's Always Been the Plan

PJ Media  "Systemic racism strikes again, but not in the way the left wants you to believe.

"Shortly after Waukesha terror suspect Darrell Brooks was arrested for punching and running over his girlfriend in early November, he was given a risk assessment test. The test took many factors into consideration: age, prior convictions and arrests, etc. Brooks is a career criminal and has almost 50 pages of charges against him throughout his life.

"The risk assessment test didn’t reveal any surprises. It showed Brooks scored a “6 out of 6” in regards to his likelihood of committing more crimes, and a “4 out of 6” in his likelihood to fail to appear in court." . . .

. . ."Milwaukee DA Chisholm knew his progressive bail reform policies would cost lives. He admitted it in a 2007 interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“ 'Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into [a] treatment program, who’s going to go out and kill somebody?” Chisholm stated in 2007. “You bet. Guaranteed. It’s guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach.”

"He knew his policies would result in murder. He didn’t care. In fact, it was part of his plan.

BREAKING: New documents show Darrell Brooks was assessed a 6/6 risk to the public but the DA let him out anyway due to bail reform and criminal justice policies pic.twitter.com/1VGm7F7S8d

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 2, 2021

Democrats’ War On Language Is Engulfing Term ‘Illegal Alien’

The Federalist

The left is engaged in a language war. That's because changing language changes people's minds.

"The Associated Press ran an emotional plug for efforts to nix the term “alien” to describe an illegal entrant to the United States last week. It’s no secret what the opinion of the AP is, after the corporate outlet updated its stylebook in 2013 to remove not just “illegal alien” but even “illegal immigrant.”

"But journalists and lawmakers alike would be prudent to brush up on their history. After all, “alien” is a reasonable and just term deeply baked into the founding of this country — contrary to the talking points of demagogues from Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Biden administration.

Under a Biden order last April, U.S. immigration enforcement agencies were instructed to no longer use “alien” or “illegal alien” or “assimilation” in reference to immigrants. Alien was adjusted to “noncitizen or migrant,” illegal to “undocumented,” and assimilation to “integration.”. . .

“Proponents [of changing terms] want to persuade the American public that those here illegally are no different than those who followed the rules to come here lawfully,” Ries also said. “But America, like every other country, has a sovereign right to a lawful and orderly immigration system. And Americans, including lawful immigrants, want immigration laws enforced.”