This was another week where you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a potential Lexicon entry. Although I’m not sure why you would want to swing a dead cat around, but I’m not here to kink shame. Let your freak flag fly, baby!
Out of all the potential subjects, one really stood out for me. In a move that shocked, well, not that many people, Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta and all the social media sites under it would be moving away from its “fact checking” model (which literally fact-checked obvious jokes, thus making the model itself a joke) and moving more towards a Community Notes standard like what is being used on the Social Media Site Formerly Known As Twitter. This got Leftists all atwitter (or would that be aX) at the notion. Journalists (0r whatever the fuck Brian Stelter is) and Leftist hacks were up in arms at Zuck’s decision.
Which obviously means it was the right decision.
And it makes it perfect for a Leftist Lexicon entry.
fact checking
What the Left thinks it means – a vital service that should only be done by professionals
What it really means – finding out the truth and calling out the lies
One of the hardest things about being informed today is knowing who you can trust. Modern journalism is a hodgepodge of shitty sources sucking up to even shittier people so they can get invited to dinner parties with yet even shittier people. The Fourth Estate has become Leftist stenographers more than the bulldogs that will relentlessly seek the truth. Anymore, any journalists are lucky to stumble into the truth, and even then there’s a better than average chance they’ll completely miss it.
On its face, the idea of fact checking is a good thing, especially given the modern journalism as described above. We want to be informed, or at the very least seem informed to impress others. To that end, we look for sources that break things down for us and teach us things we didn’t know. With the sheer deluge of information sources, it’s hard to find a way to control the output of the fire hose.
Enter the fact checkers, doing the research for you so you don’t have to! It’s so easy and cheap to do, it’s a wonder why people don’t do this more often!
And that’s the problem.
When you pawn off anything you should do yourself, you are subject to the outcomes the other party produce. It’s like when you hire a contractor who farms out the work to a subcontractor. The job may get done, but it may not up to the standards the contractor has. Then it becomes a matter of people pointing fingers at one another trying to figure out who’s responsible for the kitchen sink being put in the attic.
When it comes to information, it’s a lot harder to fix the fuckups, mainly because no one wants to take responsibility for your being misinformed. You don’t want to admit you were a dumbass for believing a fact checker. The fact checker doesn’t want to admit fault because a) it looks reaaaallllly bad when a fact checker can’t figure out the truth, and b) it hurts their widdle fee-fees. The entity that hired the fact checkers doesn’t want to take the hit for the reasons mentioned above and because it erodes the trust the entity has, which ultimately costs them money.
In other words, when you rely on fact checkers to do your research for you, more often than not, you’re their bitch.
Then, there’s the lovely little problem of bias. In the early days of Facebook fact checking, the people doing it leaned so far left they were parallel to the ground while standing up. Once that got called out, Zuck tried to balance out the fact checkers and the checking itself, but only made it worse because some of the fact checkers had bias issues. Not a good look, kids!
Regardless of which side of the political/ideological aisle you’re on, bias fucks up your ability to be truly informed because it limits your scope of information sources. Social media has turned us back into a tribalistic society where anyone who deviates from what you consider to be normal, just, and right is an infidel and, thus, not even worthy of even basic human decency. When you face information from one of those “unclean” sources that contradicts your mindset, you have two choices: adapt, or reject.
I bring this up to underscore the problem with biased fact checking. If you have the opinion information from one side or the other is untrue (regardless of whether it’s factual), you are going to more inclined to reject it. And if you have the power to shape what other people see on a social media website like…oh I don’t know…Facebook, you are going to be tempted to hide the “bad” information and go after those who want it to be known.
There’s an old saying that applies here…something about absolute power and corruption…I’m sure it will come to me.
Anyway, the Facebook fact checkers fell into this trap, which caused a lot of accounts to get warnings, suspensions, and even terminations. And in some cases, actual news stories shared online got slapped with misinformation tags (I’m looking at you, Hunter Biden) and were subsequently suppressed. Oh, and I forgot to mention Zuck said he got pressure from the Brick Tamland Administration to suppress the laptop story.
And who got punished for suppressing this legitimate news story? The entities who shared it. I mean, why would people who actively worked towards misinformation by absence see any punishment for making people misinformed? That’s just crazy talk, man!
But it also exposes the danger of trusting fact checkers without verifying whether what they’re saying is factual. Just because you tell me you’re honest doesn’t mean I’m not gonna test you. And you shouldn’t just trust and believe either. News stories that sound too good to be true should be the first ones that should make your Bullshit Meter light up like the…biological discharges…in an hourly rate hotel room when you scan it with a blacklight flashlight.
Not that I know anything about that, mind you…
This is going to be a bit of an ask, but it’s going to make more sense if you do it. Question all of your sources while reaching out for alternative sources from a wider array of ideologies. Then, let common sense be your guide. If something sounds factual and makes sense, be open to accepting it. If something sounds like more full of bullshit than the world’s largest cattle ranch, then don’t trust it. Consider it mental calisthenics that will make you stronger, faster, better. And without the need for bionics!
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out how the typical Leftist sources are so upset Mark Zuckerberg is going in a new direction with fact checking. The way it was set up initially, the Left had the power over what got considered factual. Now, thanks to the advent and popularity of Community Notes, they no longer control the flow of information and can be called out for pushing misinformation while pretending to guard against it. And if you’re a Leftist media shill, the worst thing you can do is strip them of the power and the prestige of being information brokers and letting the hoi polloi point and laugh when you fuck up.
If I may offer a suggestion, media folks, maybe stop parroting Leftist squawking points and start doing your fucking jobs. There’s a reason used car salesmen are considered more trustworthy than the media and their fact checkers these days, and I can draw a pretty clear conclusion as to why. But I’m sure if you really put your hivemind to it, you’ll figure it out by the end of January.
Of the year 3843.
Category: Technology
Posts on Technology
Project 2025: What They Don’t Want to Tell You!
Although my hetero lifemate Chris did a fantastic job at discussing Project 2025 in a recent post, I wanted to weigh in a bit more on this subject, too. In the land of social media, there was a lot of buzz surrounding what was in this evil plan to take over America and turn it into a dystopian nightmare (even though it didn’t happen the first time Donald Trump was President), but now it’s super-duper-serious! There’s actually…a plan!!!!!!
Over the past several months, I have compiled a number of statements about Project 2025 and what it will totally definitely do once Donald Trump makes it official. What I’m about to list are actual statements made by people who at least resemble adults. Parental discretion is advised.
End No Fault Divorce
Complete ban on abortions without exceptions
Ban contraceptives
Additional tax breaks for the 1% and corporations
Higher taxes for the working class
Elimination of unions and worker protections
Raise the retirement age
Cut Social Security
Cut Medicare
End the Affordable Care Act
Raise prescription drug prices
Eliminate the Department of Education
Use public, taxpayer money for private religious schools
End free and discounted school lunch programs
End civil rights and DEI protections in government
Ban African American and gender studies in all levels of education
Deregulate big business and the oil industry
Promote and expedite capital punishment
End marriage equality
Condemn single mothers while promoting only “traditional families”
Defund the FBI and Homeland Security
Use the military to break up domestic protests
Mass deportation of immigrants and incarceration in “camps”
End birth right citizenship
Ban Muslims from entering the country
Continue to pack the Supreme Court and lower courts with right-wing justices
Connected to Donald Trump
End programs that address climate change
End public education
Persecute LGBTQ+ Americans
Encourage racial discrimination
Mass deportation and reduce immigration
Insert Christian Nationalist ideology into the mainstream
Give unchecked power to the President
Restrict IVF access
Family separation
Muslim ban
Tax cuts for the ultra wealthy
Replace civil servants with MAGA loyalists
Guns in classrooms
Order prosecution of political opponents
Pardon January 6 insurrectionists
Pathway for Trump to become permanent dictator
Put Medicare on the path to privatization
Repeal President Biden’s drug price negotation program
Threaten Medicare coverage
Reverse the Biden Administration’s student debt relief efforts
Withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on climate change and the Paris Climate Agreement
Repeal the Inflation Reduction Act
Shred greenhouse gas regulations and gut clean energy programs
Replace the WH climate advisor with someone focused on boosting fossil fuels
Give Trump the power to reject all climate science research directed by the Biden Administraiton
Gut the federal workforce and install loyalists
Allow Trump to deploy the military against American citizens
Allow ICE to conduct raids at schools, churches, hospitals, playgrounds, and other sensitve areas
Make federal government establish marriage between a man and a woman
Withdraw federal anti-discrimination protections for transgender students
Reimplement Trump’s transgender military ban and expel transgender service members
Reverse the FDA’s approval of abortion medication
Invoke the Comstock Act to ban the shipment of abortion pills
Compel states to report the “reason” for every abortion performed
Allow states to ban employers from providing health benefits that cover abortion care
Eliminate the Department of Education
Use public funds to pay for private religious schools
Encourage Christian indoctrination through public schools
Dismantle Civil Rights and DEI protections at all level of government
Eliminate no fault divorce
Total ban on abortions regardless of viability or health of the mother
Ban all contraceptives
Ban African American and Gender studies at all levels of education
Tax cuts for major corporations and 1% while increasing taxes on the rest
Eliminating unions and all worker protections
Eliminating all climate protections
Encourages arctic drilling
Eliminating regulations of big business and oil
Raise retirement age
Eliminate Social Security for the elderly and disabled
Promotes capital punishment and the speedy “finality” of such sentences
Condemns single mothers while encouraging “traditional families”
Only recognize traditional families by overturning Obergefell v Hodges in attempts to eliminate LBGTQIA community
Dismantling the FBI and Homeland Security
Use of military to break up protests
Eliminating Head Start and the free/discounted school lunch program
Banning books and curriculum regarding slavery
Forcing immigrants to be deported or held in camps and ends birth right citizenship
Banning Muslims from entering the country
Dismantles the FDA, EPA, NOAA, and more
Pack the Supreme Court with extreme far-right judges
Funding decrease for the DOJ
Dismantling the DOC
Dismantling the DHS
Eliminate independence for the FCC and FTC
Terminate DEI programs
Implement “unitary executive theory” expand the power of the President
Restructure and repurpose the DOJ
Replace career federal employees with hand-picked loyalists
Reverse FDA approval of Mifepristone
Rename HHS “Department of Life”
Add work requirements to receive Medicaid
Condemn single motherhood and same-sex marriage
Eliminate the terms “sexual orientation,” “diversity, equality, and Inclusion,” “gender equality,” “abortion” and “reproductive rights” from all laws and federal regulations
Terminates the Constitution
Guts democratic checks and balances on Presidential power
Ban President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law
Cease support for international organizations that promote LBGTQ+ equality
Stopping cybersecurity efforts to combat mis- and disinformation
Deprioritize DACA
Abolish the Gender Policy Council
Cutting ties with China
Reversing protections against discrimination in housing.
Tracking potential employees’ opinions
Employers can cut or eliminate overtime
Pretty extensive list. I will warn you there may be duplicates because a) there are so many ways to phrase the same thing, and b) Leftists aren’t that imaginative.
As I promised in the title, I am going to tell you something they don’t want you to know about Project 2025. Brace yourselves because I’m about to drop a truth bomb on you.
Almost everything the Left tells us about Project 2025 is complete bullshit.
I’ll give you a moment to catch your breaths.
Ready? Here we go.
One of the most common traits of each of the things said about Project 2025 listed above (and others that I didn’t catch) is the lack of attribution. Out of the claims I posted, only 1 gave a page number. And since I had a handy-dandy copy of the Project 2025 document, I was able to look up the page number and read what the poster claimed was there. And, surprise surprise, it wasn’t. It was a gross misrepresentation of what the document actually said.
That means the vast majority of claims made were made without a page number, just a “trust me, bro” as its attribution. So, when I looked for the verbiage used in the claims and came up emptier than a Kamala Harris victory party, that was a huge red flag that the post was utter bullshit. To borrow a phrase from the late Christopher Hitchens:
What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
That may have worked well for Mr. Hitchens, but I’m more of a research nut, so I took the additional (and, admittedly, unnecessary) effort to look it up myself. Then, I could say what I found, point to what section(s) I read, and give more attribution than the poster could muster.
And, as you might expect, that wasn’t met with respect and an honest appreciation for finding the facts. Let’s just say the people I interacted with were on a really long boat trip in Egypt. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the Left was…lying.
I’m kidding. Of course I know they were lying, but they don’t want to tell you that. Hence the title.
And with that, we’ve come full circle! I love it when a blog post comes together.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
Hollywood loves reboots like they love hookers and blow, and they really love hookers and blow. Sometimes these reboots work out (like the updated version of the Planet of the Apes movies, minus the Tim Buron-directed abomination). Sometimes they don’t (like the flaming shit-show that is the unreleased “Snow White”).
When Elon Musk bought Twitter and turned it into the Social Media Platform Formerly Known as Twitter, Leftists started looking for alternatives because they would no longer be able to count on high-ranking Leftists to censor those icky conservatives opinions that didn’t violate the Terms of Service, but did violate their fee-fees.
Now, they’ve found one, a little thing the kids like to call Bluesky. It’s relatively new, but it’s already boasting over 20 million users with a lot of them being former X users (so ex-X users. Thank you! Tip your waitstaff!) departing the social media site after Donald Trump won the Presidency for a second time with help from Elon Musk.
So, shall we take a trip into the Blue-niverse? (Thank you! Please hold your applause!) Even if you don’t want to, we’re going!
Bluesky
What the Left thinks it means – a social media site where like-minded people can share their opinions without fear of being censored by right wingers
What it really means – the digital version of Air America
After decades of having control over most of the popular media of the time, Leftists have had to adapt to a new environment where their control was no longer as secure as it once was. Talk radio, lead by the late Rush Limbaugh, started becoming the alternative to the squawking heads people once looked to for news. And, yes, there are plenty of examples of talk radio hosts getting shit wrong, but it didn’t matter. The Left no longer controlled the flow of information.
As a result, Leftists tried to ride the wave of talk radio success by creating Air America. Basically, what the brain trust behind it thought was all they had to do was replace Rush Limbaugh with Al Franken and watch the money roll in. Only, it didn’t. Talk radio wasn’t plug-and-play. You actually had to have personalities people want to listen to, and Air America really didn’t. Oh, they had an audience, but it was far smaller than the normal talk radio audience. Say what you will about Limbaugh, he knew how to entertain (which is ironic because Al Franken was on “Saturday Night Live” when it was actually funny).
And then Air America came in with a whimper and went out with a popcorn fart. You’re lucky to find anyone around my age to even remember Air America was something other than a Mel Gibson movie these days, and the only reason I remember it is because I’m just that lame. Nevertheless, the point is Leftists really don’t know how to catch up when someone outside of their ideological bubble races ahead of them.
Which brings us to Bluesky.
What Musk has done for X is so logical, it’s no surprise Leftists hate it. Instead of letting one side of the political aisle run roughshod over anyone who disagreed with their enlightened (and utterly dumb) opinions, Musk brought at least some semblance of neutrality to the platform. Which pissed off Leftists to no end. After all, if there’s one thing Leftists hate more than Donald Trump and Elon Musk, it’s having their positions challenged in any way. So, after spending all this time talking smack about the platform (while still on said platform), they took their balls and went home…to Bluesky.
Now, I’m not going to say it’s a flaming Port-A-Potty over there because, well, that would be unfair to flaming Port-A-Potties. Oh, sure, you’ll still find decent posts about nature and science, but most of the stuff being posted on there is straight-up Beyond Thunderdome shit. Aside from being accused of censoring conservative viewpoints as well as pro-Palestinian posts, they’re driving other Leftists away for…dare I say it…not being Leftist enough.
Great way to build up the world’s most tolerant echo chamber!
In the post-election environment we find ourselves in, this isn’t all that unusual. Leftists always look for people to blame for their election failures because it’s a hell of a lot easier than saying, “Ya know, we really fucked up here.” With Bluesky, the only difference is the venue.
Oh, and the level of batshit insanity.
Fortunately, you don’t have to go on Bluesky to see it. Some brave soul is going into Bluesky and picking out the best of the worst and putting it on X. Whomever you are, my few remaining brain cells and I thank you.
If you don’t want to get an X account (like your humble correspondent), there is still humor to be found out of the batshit insanity when you consider the possibility the Bluesky Leftists are screaming into the void (albeit an intellectual one) of their own creation. Then, it becomes a contest to try to “prove” how Leftist you are, which will lead to more fighting with the freak show.
Cue Thunderdome! Two Leftists enter, one Leftist leaves!
And we’ll have to deal with a potential shortage of popcorn…
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
With less that two weeks away from Election Day (please check local listings for the number of days in your area), it’s crunch time for Donald Trump and Queen Kamala the Appointed. Many votes are still up for grabs, and both tickets are vying for them.
One of the voting blocs the Harris/Walz ticket has been really trying to get is women, and with good reason. Women make up a little over half of the American population, so they have the power to make or break an election. But the Left wants women to know they can vote for Queen Kamala the Appointed without their male partners knowing, thanks to a website called VoteWithoutFear.com. Apparently, Leftists think women will be frightened into voting for Trump because of their male counterparts, so they just want to reassure women their voices can be heard without anyone else knowing it.
Or so they say.
VoteWithoutFear.com
What the Left thinks it means – a website that provides necessary information for women to vote for who they want
What it really means – a website that provided information that should already be known and encourages deceit
Voting is a sacred right, one that not everyone uses on a regular basis. In the 2020 election, 66.8% of the population 18 years of age and older voted, and this was a high point this century. That means over a third of the population didn’t vote for one reason or another, and that opens a window of opportunity for outreach.
On the surface, VoteWithoutFear.com offers advice to women who want to vote, which is not a big issue in and of itself. From the website itself:
Now here’s the important part – WHO you actually vote for on the ballot is not public information. You do not need to tell your spouse who you voted for, even if they ask. Your right to vote is part of our civil liberties, and your vote is your own – that being said, do whatever you need to do to remain safe.
Although this information is truthful, it’s also something voting adults should already know, especially if they stayed awake in civics class…or even had civics class for that matter. What we have here is a little thing the kids like to call a secret ballot. Even if we have political bumper stickers all over our vehicles and more yard signs than actual yard, we don’t have to tell anyone how we vote in a public election. Union elections, on the other hand…
The reason for the secret ballot is to add a layer of protection for the voter against coercion/intimidation from outside parties. Apparently, Leftists think MAGA Males are forcing their wives, girlfriends, daughters, etc. to vote for Trump against their better judgments. In the Leftist hivemind, no self-respecting woman would vote for Trump because, well, Orange Man Bad. Of course, this runs afoul of one of the Left’s favorite causes, female autonomy.
From the party that gave us “My Body, My Choice” when it comes to abortion apparently think women can’t be trusted to vote the “right way,” i.e. for an unqualified woman because she has a vajayjay. The existence of a common body part doesn’t equate into a binding agreement to vote a certain way. It would be like a candidate saying you need to vote for him/her because you have a foot. It doesn’t make any sense.
Then again, if it made any sense, it wouldn’t qualify for being a Leftist squawking point.
Even if the Left doesn’t think free-thinking pro-Trump women exist, the way they approached the woman vote in the 2024 election is simplistic and intellectually demeaning to the very people they’re trying to court. If you look more closely at the VoteWithoutFear website (and I did because I have a life that make the Amish look like Hugh Hefner), the way they phrase their points comes off as more condescending than informational. Granted, they may be playing to an audience, but there’s a difference between keeping things simple and making things sound like you’re talking down to them.
Which is pretty much the Leftist MO.
The Left have played a self-contradictory game with women. While claiming to champion women’s rights (i.e. abortion), they treat women like children who need to be lead by the hand into doing the right thing (i.e. voting for abortion). They say women are just as smart, capable, and successful as men, but they just can’t be trusted to vote for who they want. And after years of painting Donald Trump as a sexual predator who wants to strip away women’s rights and turn the country into a Handmaid’s Tale dystopia, the Left thinks they’ve greased the wheels to making a vote against Trump a no-brainer.
The problem? Some women don’t give a fuck.
Just because you bring up plausible concerns about Trump doesn’t make those concerns universal. And when the Left has used women as pawns, as they did with Cindy Sheehan and Christine Blasey Ford, it gets harder for them to make an argument that they actually care about women as women. But they care a lot about men who claim to be women for whatever reason because trans women are women, even if they still have a dick and male chromosomes.
Which goes to show the Left knows as much about women as they do about men. Or men in general, but that’s neither here nor there.
The larger point is men and women process things differently, and that’s okay. If you love someone enough, you can get past any differences and focus on those characteristics that unite us. My wife and I have different political and ideological stands on issues, but we’re smart enough to not let that define our relationship. I trust her to vote for whomever she wants without having to justify it to me, and vice versa. If you have to hide who you’re voting for to “keep the peace,” the relationship is already on shaky ground.
Good thing the VoteWithoutFear website offers advice on divorce. And, yes, that was sarcasm.
It should be pointed out a lie of omission, like lying to a spouse about whether you’re voting for one candidate or another, is still a lie, and it can drastically affect a relationship. But the Left doesn’t care as long as they get the woman vote. It’s almost like the same people who bashed JD Vance for referencing “childless cat ladies” want women to be…childless cat ladies. How weird is that?
Therein lies the real issue with VoteWithoutFear and the Left’s approach towards women: it denies the complexity of women in general. I’m not a woman, but even I get it. Although there was this time in college where I was a woman, but I was in love with this really dreamy guy and…did I type that out loud? Nevermind.
The point is Leftists reduce women to body parts without agency until the Left steps in and try to speak on women’s behalf. Leftists are mystified by the vagina to the point of deifying it. And I thought incels were desperate losers! When you create expectations of anyone on the basis of what they have in their pants, there is going to be a point where the reality doesn’t match up with the expectations.
Hence, the reason Leftists don’t understand pro-Trump women. They expect the Sisterhood of the Traveling Vajayjay, but get women who think outside of their pants to what matters more to them than a mutual body part. And, if I’m being honest here, Leftists haven’t done a good job in standing up for women lately. You know who has?
Donald Fucking Trump.
By aligning himself with movements to keep women’s sports and spaces for biological women, Trump has a track record of supporting women (and, in some cases, paying them hush money). The best Queen Kamala the Appointed has brought forth is protecting abortion and claiming to be raised middle class. Oh, and hauling out celebrities to help her.
Stunning. Truly stunning and/or brave.
The braintrust behind VoteWithoutFear.com is playing into the Left’s preconceived notion that women are helpless creatures (when they’re not being super awesome Boss Bitches). I would say I’m insulted, but that’s not my place, nor am I going to be insulted on behalf of women. Instead, I’m going to say it’s doing a disservice to women everywhere to treat them like the sum of their body parts. There are plenty of strong women who don’t need a website or a political party to tell them how to vote, and these are the women who should be championed far more than they are.
Even if you’re a woman reading this and still want to vote for Harris/Walz, so be it. Just know the Left doesn’t see you the way you see yourself. They have reduced you to a single body part and a single issue. As bad as Trump has been dealing with various women throughout his life, he is at least listening to them and trying to address their concerns more often than Queen Kamala the Appointed has.
At least he only grabs them by the pussy instead of reducing them to a pussy.
The Litmus Test
Since the internet began back in the days of BBS, then to usenet, then on to message boards, and chat rooms, there has been one litmus test that proved, 100%, that the poster had lost the argument they were making. The argument litmus test was a universal standard. And now here in the age of social media it seems to have vanished.
That litmus test was if a user compared anyone to Adolf Hitler or any event to Nazi Germany the argument was over and that user had lost.
Today we have multiple posts of this nature out on social media. Everyone of them is a foolish post. Everyone of them has lost the argument with their foolishness. And everyone that posts these memes is a fool.
No person is or will be as bad or evil as Adolf Hitler and no government or administration comes even close to the level of Nazi Germany. None.
This is why that litmus test has always existed on the internet since it’s inception. It is true today as it was decades ago.
Why Can’t Johnny…You Know…Do The Thing?
As frequent readers of my posts can attest, I have a lot of criticisms of the current state of public education. Between substandard curricula that emphasize ideological indoctrination over fundamental knowledge and the quality of teachers declining faster than a dip on the tallest roller coaster ever, there is what the military would call a “target-rich environment.”
But for those who put in the work to educate children, they have another problem: children who aren’t ready to learn. Late last year, a 7th grade teacher went viral due to a video where he said many of his students had “4th grade skills” as he put it. The scary thing? This is not unique to this one teacher. After his TikTok video was posted, other teachers began posting similar horror stories about how unprepared public school students are going into higher and higher grade levels.
Part of this is due to politics, surprise surprise. Democrats and Republicans alike have advanced stupid laws with the stated purpose of improving public education, but that have made it harder for students to succeed in meaningful ways. There are two laws in particular within the past 25 years that have made this educational Hellscape possible: No Child Left Behind, and the Every Student Succeeds Act. The two laws are similar in many ways, but they also share the fact they don’t work.
That’s because they’re not intended to work on any significant level. One of my Immutable Truths is “Government is not in the problem-solving business,” mainly because there’s too much money and power to be gained by continuing the chaos. With public education, though, there’s much more damage done by continuing the status quo. Yet, to change things would require both sides to give up on their ultimate goal: to keep children as dumb as humanly possible so they can be better controlled.
Sorry. Got a little dark there.
But if you think about it, both sides of the aisle have a vested interest in keeping generations of people subservient to their side, whether it be through promised funding for pet causes or convincing their followers that non-followers are the scum of the Earth. The current environment in America makes the Hatfields and McCoys look like a water balloon fight, and the battle over public education (and what version of the curricula is being shoved down kids’ throats) isn’t helping matters.
So, this leads to a vital question: where are the parents? Welllllll…that’s a bit more complicated thanks to social media, ego, and general thoughtlessness. Think about the “Karens” and “Kevins” you may run into at the supermarket, restaurants, or well-known stores like WalMart and Target. Now, consider these folks are procreating or have procreated. In that kind of entitled environment, is it any wonder our kids are more screwed up and entitled than ever?
Not that society has done anything to discourage it, mind you. Today you’re more likely to find someone who is still playing Farmville than you are to find someone who isn’t completely obsessed with themselves. Social media and traditional media alike have made it all the rage to be the center of your universe, and anyone who tries to steal your sunshine is just a “hater.” The thing is not everyone can be in the spotlight at the same time, and the more you think you deserve it more than anyone else, the less you stay connected to reality and humanity.
So…what do you think happens when every child is amazing (just ask their parents) and can’t ever fail? You have teachers getting burnt out, frustrated, and having to vent about how unprepared students are these days.
The scary thing? They’re not wrong.
The even scarier thing? It’s been going on for decades.
Even as far back as my public school days, I could tell something was different from when my two older brothers were in school. It was almost as though the standards were starting to get looser and it was taking longer to catch up from the end of the previous school year. And compared to what my brothers had to learn, I got off easy, as they got off easy as compared to what our parents had to learn.
And now we have 7th graders who don’t even know basic math. But don’t you dare hold them back or suggest they need to study more or else their parents will ream you up and down with a rototiller. We’ve gotten to the point we’re passing underperforming students year after year because we’re more concerned with their feelings than we are about whether they’ve learned anything.
And who gets blamed if the students aren’t learning? That’s right. It’s the teachers, and in some cases it’s valid. At some point, even the most passionate teacher reaches the point of don’t give a damn anymore and tries to coast until retirement. But it’s the passionate ones we need to support because they do give a damn.
I remember the good and the bad teachers I’ve had because they’ve had an impact on my life, albeit for different reasons. I may not know a thing about trigonometry, but I wouldn’t be as logically minded without the teachers who took the time to work with me on algebra. I may not have cared about what the Gross National Product of Paraguay was, but I wouldn’t have as deep an appreciation for different cultures without spending time in social studies class. And I wouldn’t be as prolific or as good (relatively speaking) a writer if I hadn’t had teachers encourage me to appreciate the English language like I do.
And, yes, these were all public school teachers whose investment in my life I can never repay.
The key to successful students begins at home. Create an environment where knowledge is encouraged, passions are permitted to grow, and parents are involved and invested in preparing the next generation to be lifelong learners. Your children will inevitably be reflections of you, and if I may be so bold, too many are poor reflections. You gotta get in there and get your hands dirty. Learn alongside your children by taking an interest in what they’re doing. Get inside their heads and find something you can do together. Don’t just shove them out the door and expect teachers to do it for you.
As far as the teachers are concerned, I have the utmost respect for your profession, but you still have some work to do to weed out the bad ones and elevate the good ones. Remember, these are the people who will be running things in a couple of decades, so we might need to make sure they have the tools they need to be successful.
Now, for the political class. Get out of public education, at least on the federal level. You can set all the standards, give students as many tests, and pass them from grade to grade as frequently as you want, but if you’re best efforts don’t make conditions better, it’s time you let the states take up the cause. After all, they are a lot closer to the touch points than any bureaucrat in Washington, DC, could ever be. Let the states handle the practical side of education for a change.
Then maybe, just maybe, the students of tomorrow won’t have to graduate high school without knowing what a circle is.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
With all of the chaos of world events and the holiday season, it’s easy to miss pretty important things, especially if the federal government gets involved. And especially if Puddin’ Head Joe is involved.
After not wanting to take on rising drug prices because we had other things to spend money on, like a war an ocean away where we don’t have a direct interest in either side winning (but only a complete moron would do tha…nevermind), Puddin’ Head Joe is finally addressing it. By trying to exert federal power to address it. More specifically, Puddin’ Head Joe’s clown car…I mean Administration has put together a plan to use something called “march-in rights.”
Well, that doesn’t sound ominous!
Needless to say, I have questions. And statements. Oh, and jokes!
march-in rights
What the Left thinks it means – a measure that will allow the government to control drug prices if federal funds were used to develop the drugs
What it really means – a way for the Left to screw up worse than they already do
The origin of march-in rights was the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. The TL:DR version: this law set up conditions where some entities outside of the public sector could develop inventions they could patent and monetize while receiving federal funds. But there’s a catch, one Leftists have been pushing to use. Under certain circumstances, the government can “march in” and take over, making changes the outside entities may or may not agree with, but have to abide by because…they took federal funding.
Yep. Completely innocuous. Nothing unsavory could happen.
Hell, even someone from Harvard Medical School says there’s nothing to worry about because it’s just the federal government exercising its rights in an agreement. And since it came from Harvard, we know it’s…probably bullshit.
For those of a small government mindset like your humble correspondent, this is the ultimate nose in the tent situation. If you take federal funds to develop a product, that shouldn’t automatically give the government the authority to come in after the fact and screw shit up on a whim. Or as the Puddin’ Head Joe Administration puts it, “extreme, unjustified, and exploitative of a health or safety need.”
Once a government official who may be confused about the number of genders (spoiler alert: still 2) determines this threshold is met, the federal government can swoop in and allow third parties to make the products, in this case drugs, cheaper. On the surface, this doesn’t sound like a bad idea. We all like to save money, especially if we have multiple high-cost prescriptions. So, why do I get the feeling this isn’t going to wind up being as much of a benefit as we’re being told?
Let’s see…Obamacare, the PATRIOT Act, the EPA, the FDA, the USPS, Amtrak, student loans…
For the Leftists out there, these are all things the government has told us would help us, but wind up being really fucking expensive without much actual benefit. But as long as we print the money to keep them rolling, the Left don’t care!
To the Left, money means power, and the most powerful currency in the country is government money. It’s the carrot, the stick, and the whip. It can entice people to act a certain way, as well as to punish wrongthink. And once you take the federal government’s money, you are its bitch until you can find a way out from under its thumb. And, trust me, they won’t make it easy.
Even if the Puddin’ Head Joe Administration figured out how to get its head out of its ass and make march-in rights work with drug costs, there’s going to be a major shift in contract law, especially with federal contracts. If the government decides what you’ve worked on for years runs afoul of what it thinks the fruits of your labor are worth, march-in rights give them the authority to alter whatever agreement you had. And with the criteria as presented being so vague, it could be for any reason it wants, as long as the government can justify it. I don’t know about you, but that’s fucking scary to me.
And it gets worse! Since the government can print money, it doesn’t have to play by the same laws of economics the rest of us do. Government isn’t in the money-making business. If they experience a loss because one of their ideas go tits up, they’ll print more money to cover the loss. And since they’re the only game in town for a lot of things they do, they don’t have an incentive to keep costs low to attract customers. We need what they provide, so they set the prices and the service level and if you don’t like it, fuck you!
There is another aspect to march-in rights that concerns me greatly. If Puddin’ Head Joe is successful here and the courts don’t uphold any challenges to the application, this opens the door for other government-funded projects to be subject to the whims of bureaucrats. You know, like…oh, let me just pull something out of my ass quick…the Internet? A pretty good case could be made that the Internet as we know it came from the Department of Defense, thus it was funded by the government and anyone else who distributes it can expect a knocking at their chamber doors and told what to do going forward or else.
The Corleone family would have killed for this kind of power. Oh, wait…
The point is we can’t let the possibility of lower drug costs blind us to the reality. If you give the government an inch, they’ll take a few thousand miles and then tax you up the ass for it. March-in rights are the governmental equivalent of a Faustian deal: you’ll almost get what you want but not ever get it completely, and you will pay dearly for it.
Like eating Chipotle, only without botulism.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
I’m beginning to think Elon Musk got me in the Secret Santa draw this year because he just gave me one hell of a Christmas present! Musk filed a lawsuit against one of my favorite Leftist “news” sources, Media Matters, alleging the clown show… I mean news organization defamed the Social Media Network Formerly Known as Twitter through manipulating the algorithm to make it appear the network supported Nazis.
As we’ll see in a bit, manipulation is on-brand for Media Matters. While Leftists call them a “media watchdog group” or “a left leaning nonprofit“, the truth is much less squishy and harmless.
Media Matters for America
What the Left thinks it means – a non-profit organization exposing the lies of the Right
What it really means – a tax-exempt propaganda/misinformation arm of the DNC
Media Matters started from somewhat humble beginnings, at least by DC standards. It was the brain child of conservative-turned-Leftist and noted liar David Brock in 2004 and was designed to counter what Brock considered a right wing bias in media.
I’ll wait until you catch your breath from laughing so hard before I continue.
Ready? No, I see you’re still laughing, so I’ll wait a bit.
Now? Nope, still laughing!
Okay, since we’ll never get through this piece if I wait for you to stop laughing at Brock’s stupidity, I’ll go on without you.
Anyway, Brock’s asinine empire was built on a foundation of countering what he considered right wing lies with…left wing lies. Early on (and even to this day in some cases), Media Matters resorted to taking comments out of context to fabricating context for “gotcha” purposes to out and out lying to paint conservatives as liars.
But they’re seen as reliable sources of news. Or not.
Makes you really trust their reporting, doesn’t it?
Regardless, the Left sees Media Matters as a vital tool in the war against misinformation, which is funny considering the Left is generating misinformation on the daily about everything from Bidenomics to the war in Gaza to, well, fighting misinformation. Of course, this hasn’t stopped the Left from talking about the “chilling effect” the lawsuit will have and how it’s done to silence criticism. Of course, it’s all bullshit, but Leftists are gonna Leftist.
Of course, this flies in the face of the Left’s own rhetoric from alllllll the way back to 2020 regarding COVID-19. Back then, the “misinformation” was grounds for Twitter accounts being terminated, jobs being lost, and lives being ruined. In these cases, the Left said these were all fine because bad speech has consequences, which it does. Just ask The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks).
But when it comes to Media Matters, the Left’s commitment to bad speech having consequences is weaker than a mixed drink at a strip club. Not that I know anything about that, mind you…
Anyway, when Media Matters lies, the Left runs with it. Maybe this has something to do with some Leftist media types being in bed with them. Or, it could be the fact they’re all fucking Leftists. Regardless, as long as the Left embraces Media Matters as a reliable and viable source of information, that symbiotic relationship will continue.
But, that doesn’t absolve them of lying for political benefit, nor should it. I have a great disdain for liars regardless of what party they inhabit, so it’s not a political thing with me. Media Matters has not only crossed the line, but did a flamenco dance over it to emphasize just how much they’re willing to draw attention to the fact they’re liars.
Legal experts are split on the merits of Musk’s lawsuit, but there are a few things I have to point out for our Leftist friends.
1) This isn’t a free speech/First Amendment issue. Lying is not necessarily protected by the First Amendment, as can be evidenced by libel, slander, and defamation lawsuits. If someone knowingly lies about another party with the intent of damaging that party, all free speech arguments go out the window because there’s provable malice involved. Wait a minute…doesn’t Musk’s lawsuit involve defamation? Why yes, yes it does!
2) The Left’s reaction to the lawsuit shows a level of desperation. As easy as it is to portray Elon Musk as the big bully in this case, the fact the Left is jumping between “Media Matters told the truth” to “Media Matters is a victim for being targeted” shows me they are trying to play both sides to see what works. If Media Matters is telling the truth, why try to portray them as victims? If they’re being targeted, wouldn’t a court case and possible trial bring that out for the world to see? Although it’s possible the two things can simultaneously be true, I’m betting the Left is shitting themselves because they know Media Matters is going to be exposed, which will also expose other Leftists.
3) The facts may not be in Media Matters’s favor. If what is being reported on the conservative media side is correct, an internal investigation showed how Media Matters gamed the X system to create a false narrative about X and Musk by extention. Given how Leftists reacted after the Social Media Network Formerly Known as Twitter stopped letting Leftists dictate things, it’s not that unlikely Media Matters took it upon themselves to get revenge by “proving” Musk’s “far right leanings.” (For the record, Musk appears to be more libertarian in approach, which to Leftists is far right. Consider the source.) Also, considering The Twitter Files brought plenty of receipts to the chagrin and disdain of the Left, I wouldn’t be surprised Musk has the goods…again.
4) Media Matters is bunch of fucking liars. Even if you agree with them, you can’t ignore the fact they’re not on a name basis with the truth. And you can’t be serious about fighting disinformation without getting your own house in order. But, of course, you will ignore this because Media Matters is on your side. All the better for me, since I can continue to point and laugh at your hypocrisy.
Whether Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Media Matters for America goes anywhere is immaterial at this point and certainly immaterial to my position on them. There’s an old saying about not being able to polish a turd, but Leftists aren’t willing to give up on trying that with Media Matters. The only thing that comes out of that is shit all over their hands, which will go well with the blood they have on their hands for being warmongering assholes.
And it will be fun to see Media Matters and Leftists enter the Find Out stage of Fuck Around and Find Out.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
As we get older, we tend to reminisce about our younger days and the great times we had. Whether it was sock hops, sit-ins, snorting lots of cocaine, or spending quarters in a Pac Man machine, we look back fondly and even wish we could go back. But there are some things that should be left in the past and buried under all the copies of the Atari 2600 ET game.
Unfortunately for us, one such thing has come back, thanks to the Federal Communications Commission. Yep, I’m talking about net neutrality, the only thing standing between order and chaos online (at least in the Leftist hivemind). And thanks to the Puddin’ Head Joe Administration, it’s trying to make a comeback.
So, what exactly is the New Coke/Crystal Pepsi of online endeavors and why is it coming back? Prepare for a journey into the absurd!
net neutrality
What the Left thinks it means – a necessary tool to hold internet providers accountable
What it really means – a way of making internet service shitty for everybody
Net neutrality on paper is simple. In theory, it makes sure providers aren’t treating customer’s differently because of the amount of internet they use. All content, whether it be a Facebook post or a lengthy documentary on Netflix would be treated the same, even if the former uses 100 times more bandwidth than the Netflix user.
Now, internet providers, being capitalists and, thus, not complete economic dumbasses, see traffic as potential revenue streams and seek to maximize the number of people who are using their service whenever possible. You know, like every other fucking business on the planet? As a result, providers started limiting the usage of some high-level users so others could use their service, a practice called “throttling.” The ethics of throttling can be debated, but what can’t be debated is the effect net neutrality will have on internet providers.
Just like when Leftists talk about economic justice or climate justice, the goal is to create equality by fiat rather than cooperation. Internet providers are in it to make a buck, and thank God or Bill Gates or Al Gore for it. As the technology has spread further into the global consciousness, internet access has gone from a “neat to have” to a “need to have” in people’s minds. Why else do you think teenagers today have emotional breakdowns over losing their phones? After all, they need to let the world know what shoes they wore to school today or what dance they learned off TikTok. You know, really important shit!
To that end, the Left has slowly been working on making internet access a utility or, in some cases, a human right. That’s not because they give two shits about poor people having internet; it’s because it makes the argument for government intervention easier.
The federal government, at least in theory, is charged with protecting its citizens and their freedoms as guaranteed by the Constitution. As we’ve seen with the southern border, though, that’s a theory that doesn’t stand up to current scrutiny. Regardless, elevating the service that brings us Nigerian princes, penis enlargement pills, and hot Ukrainian women who want to date American men to an essential part of life brings in the expectation of the government to rally for and provide for this need. Hence, net neutrality becomes the back door to making that a reality.
Which has been the plan all along. The problem the Left has with the internet as it stands right now is they don’t control it. After all, what good is free speech online if the Left can’t control it, amirite?
Now, if net neutrality were actually effective, we might have an issue on our hands. Fortunately for us and anyone else who thinks government intervention in the internet works about as good as a Crocs diving helmet, we don’t yet. A recent poll by RealClear Opinion Research shows Leftists are still in the minority when it comes to stifling free speech, but only by 6%. As demographics and mortality rates change, that number is most likely going to get tighter.
When that happens, net neutrality will be realized, regardless of how effective it is. And if you thought Twitter under the Leftist hivemind was bad, wait until these same dumbfucks take over the internet as a whole.
Of course, what we on the “fuck net neutrality” side have going for us is the speed at which technology changes versus the lack of speech at which legislation and regulation changes. To put it mildly, even the most tech-savvy Leftists on Capitol Hill are subject to the whims of Representatives and Senators so old they used to exchange phone numbers on cave walls beside drawings of their last mastodon hunt. And these old-timers aren’t necessarily going to push for something they barely understand and the new blood can’t explain well enough to bridge that gap.
In my lifetime, we’ve gone from dial-up internet where 28.8 baud modems were the cutting edge to fiber optic and satellite internet service cropping up like dandelions in a Midwest lawn. Right now, the pro-net neutrality crowd hasn’t caught up to the current tech, which puts any efforts to make net neutrality a thing at a great disadvantage. When technology can be obsolete by the time you put it on a credit card, the glacial pace of government means their solution will be light years behind the technology it’s supposed to regulate.
Fucking brilliant!
Even so, we can’t fall asleep at the switch on net neutrality because the Left will continue to find ways to make it a thing. Whether it’s an appeal to emotions, an overstated sense of urgency to save the internet, or the Left’s favorite method of persuasion (outright lying), the arguments the Left will roll out will appeal to the uninformed. Which, oddly enough, will appeal to other Leftists more than anyone else, but that’s neither here nor there.
Still, it won’t hurt to bring up a fact the Left wants memory-holed: they predicted the death of the internet if net neutrality wasn’t in place.
How’s that working out for you, net neutrality fans?
Paywall X
X, formerly known as Twitter, is looking into the possibility of charging users a small monthly fee to use the service. If this happens it will be the final death blow to the Social Media platform.
Twitter was my favorite Social Media outlet, back when it was young. It had no ads, it no gimmicks, just simple text and some attached images. Plain, simple, useful.
I have written before that I prefer the older forms of Social Media, before it even had a name. Email Groups, Blogs, and Internet Forums.
With these there is control of who sees your posts. Who comments on your posts. And even who is a member of the circle getting the posts. Now, of course, they can be sent on to other places as well.
All of the current Social Media outlets can be replaced. But not with the batch of clones that are out now that are mimicking the current popular platforms. Even now we have multiple Twitter clones out there and all fall short of the original.
Will X survive by charging all members a fee? I don’t think so. Most sites, even news sites, that have paywalls I personally browse away from the moment I hit that wall.
Are Paywalls good to have? It depends. Yes in some cases it is a good measure. In other cases, it is not. And for Social Media. It is a bad idea.