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  Via Newsweek : The House of Representatives has voted to block an effort by Republican Representative Nancy Mace to make public all congressional sexual misconduct and harassment reports, effectively killing the proposal. In a 357-65 vote on Wednesday, the House moved to refer Mace's resolution to the House Ethics Committee—a procedural step that halted the measure. A spokeswoman for Mace directed Newsweek toward the congresswoman's public statement and posts on X when approached for comment. In her statement, Mace said: "The victims deserved better. The American people deserved better. Every member who voted to keep these records buried voted to protect power over people. We won't let it go and neither should you."

Growing up, I was led to believe that the one thing stopping the entire planet from suffering a nuclear winter was that those in charge (aka the world leaders) cared too much about themselves or those close to them to ever put us all in that situation. Now (especially in light of what's happened over the last few months), I am not too sure. Back in January 2023, the US Navy Commander David Post for the US Naval Institute attempted to address the " value and limits " of deterrence. First he sought out a definition: Two leading deterrence scholars, Alex George and Richard Smoke, define deterrence as “simply the persuasion of one’s opponent that the costs and/or risks of a given course of action he might take outweigh its benefits.” Deterrence, therefore, hinges on a rational process of calculating costs and benefits and will succeed when the opponent concludes that the considered activity will not be worth the effort. Honestly, I like this definition, even though it implies...

If this social media experiment is to be believed, the odds are, sadly,  "No, they wouldn't." A woman in Kentucky has gone viral online after posting a series of videos where she asks churches if they will help to feed a starving baby. The results have shocked social-media users, and the videos have amassed views by the million. Nikalie Monroe, who describes herself on TikTok as a left-wing Army veteran and a lesbian, has been filming the series as a social experiment—the “starving baby” she refers to is not real. Monroe does not have a child; instead, she uses the scenario to test how churches respond to pleas for help. [SNIP] About 35.9 million in Americans were living below the poverty line in 2024, according to data from Statista. Poverty, and in particular food insecurity, has been prominent in the headlines in recent weeks due to significant disruptions in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history...

  Oh SNAP : The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told grocery stores not to give special discounts to around 42 million Americans who use food stamps. An email sent by the department to stores, posted on X by Catherine Rampell, co-host of MSNBC's The Weekend, said: “You cannot treat SNAP-EBT customers differently than any other customer.” The directive comes as benefit payments remain on hold during the ongoing federal government shutdown. Newsweek contacted USDA via its website on Monday, outside of regular working hours for comment. [SNIP] USDA emailed grocery stores around the country telling them not to offer special discounts or deals to SNAP recipients amid the freeze, warning that doing so would violate the program’s “Equal Treatment Rule.” That rule requires stores to sell eligible food items to SNAP-EBT customers at the same prices and under the same conditions as other shoppers.  The email said: “Offering discounts or services only to SNAP-eligible customers...

 Add business like Oberweis Dairy, Cracker Barrel, Boston Market and Applebee's to that list. Also note (and I'm quoting someone else here):  "A hedge fund [Golden Gate Capital] bought the company [for $2.1 billion], sold off all the land Red Lobster restaurants are located on, leased the land back to Red Lobster, and jacked the rent."  Here's the tweet I got the quote from (I found the name of the hedge fund and the price sold elsewhere):

  Interesting : Conservative TV host Tucker Carlson has launched his own show on a Russian state television channel. The former Fox News anchor is presenting the program Tucker on the rolling news channel Russia 24, with the first episode now available online, Russian state newspaper Rossiskya Gazyeta reported. The paper said that the show is part of a joint project with Carlson TV, in which he will interview figures and politicians who have "alternative views to the mainstream." (5/23/24) UPDATE: via the Hill : Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson’s media company says a Russian state television agency that is airing portions of his show is doing so without legal permission. Newsweek initially reported on Tuesday that Carlson was launching his show on Russian state TV. It later updated its story to reflect pushback from Carlson’s team, which denied any involvement in the program, in which segments of his show are dubbed into Russian. Russian state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta i...

 Not good news considering he needed them to win his election: (CNN)Just 41% of young Americans approve of President Joe Biden's job performance, according to a new Harvard Institute of Politics poll of adults ages 18-29 released on Monday. That's down from 46% in fall 2021 and a 59% majority last spring -- a trend also seen in other recent surveys. By comparison, according to past Harvard IOP polling, only 25% of young Americans approved of then-President Donald Trump heading into the 2018 midterm cycle. Twelve years ago, however, 56% approved of then-President Barack Obama ahead of the first midterm cycle of his presidency, when Democrats went on to lose the House in 2010. "Overall, Biden voters who now disapprove of his performance rate him more harshly on the economy," John Della Volpe, Harvard IOP's polling director, writes in the survey's release. "(T)hey see the current political system as ineffectual; they view the President as putting the intere...

 For all the talk about how "evil" Russia is, not enough people are talking about Ukraine's rather disturbing extremism , courtesy (of course) of the CIA . But at least everyone's favorite co-opted progressive Democrat AOC is here to give a bad-take word salad:

 Those who believe that the COVID-19 vaccine will make you immune to the virus need to read this CNN story about someone who has had four shots and is no more protected than someone who had zero , and this Newsweek story about how Florida is experiencing the lowest infection levels in the country .  Reminder: the vaccine is supposed to make sure that you don't die when you catch COVID-19, not prevent you from catching it.  Also: having a universal health care system should have been the solution from the jump. 

Compare the Democrats' strategy for self-described socialist India Walton for the Buffalo mayor's race to their strategy for GOP candidate in the VA Governor's race .   In Buffalo, NY Walton was labeled as an ineffective radical by her opposition (who were ignoring the fact that Walton touted the endorsements of establishment and left-leaning Democrats ). Panicking by her primary victory, supporters of Byron Brown (who has been mayor for 16 years) relied on money and votes from Republicans and Independents. Technically-speaking, Brown is not currently a Democrat, so he can keep doing what he's been doing without having to worry about incurring their wrath. In Virginia, Democrats were desperate to get Democratic Terry McAuliffe any traction. Instead of addressing some really bad takes , they decided to flood the Commonwealth with Democratic Party celebrities and act like the election was Biden vs Trump Part II. The truth is McAuliffe had some things in common with Yo...

 Press Secretary Jen Psaki has COVID-19 . Can we have Universal Health Care now ?

In 2019, this should be a disqualifying move .