Friday, 2 July 2021

Daily Digest

Daily Digest

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Notes on the Chauvin leaks (5)

Posted: 02 Jul 2021 02:17 PM PDT

(Scott Johnson)

Minnesota federal district court judge Patrick Schiltz has undertaken an investigation into the leak of grand jury information bearing on the civil rights charges against Derek Chauvin and his fellow officers. I first wrote about it in “The Chauvin leaks: Judge Schiltz’s order” and subsequently in the series of which this is part 5.

I have been particularly interested in the leak that formed the basis Star Tribune reporter Andy Mannix’s April 29 story reporting the then forthcoming indictments. The Star Tribune itself has shown no interest in the story since Rochelle Olson’s initial report.

As of June 18, the United States Attorney for Minnesota and the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General had filed responses to Judge Schiltz’s order. They also appeared in court before Judge Schiltz for a status conference on June 30. In that all filings and proceedings have been sealed, it’s a difficult story to cover. I wrote Judge Schiltz’s chambers by email this morning:

Dear Judge Schiltz: I am writing as a member of the media covering this matter for the site Power Line and not as an attorney (retired from practice, but with an active law license). Since your original order in this matter, all proceedings and filings in the case have been under seal. I understand the interests that are to be protected by this arrangement, but there is of course a public interest in the proceedings as well. I write to ask whether the parties' papers might be unsealed in redacted form consistent with the interests to be protected or whether you yourself might summarize the status of this matter in a public memorandum.

Thank you as always for your courtesies and consideration.

Judge Schiltz responded by letter this afternoon. He advised that the filings cannot be meaningfully redacted. The matter is ongoing. He promises to monitor future filings with the right of public access in mind. I thought that readers might find this of interest.

Schiltz Letter by Scott Johnson

Time for Enviros to Take Their Lithium

Posted: 02 Jul 2021 10:52 AM PDT

(Steven Hayward)

Lithium has long been used as a treatment for bipolar mental illness, and perhaps there is a connection to the environmental mania for electric cars that depend on huge lithium-ion batteries. Further to John’s post yesterday about electric cars colliding with reality, I pass along this news item today:

Batteries exploding in burning abandoned Illinois building

CHICAGO (AP) — Lithium batteries exploded loudly overnight inside a burning former paper mill in northern Illinois that officials had believed was long abandoned, and fire officials have decided to let the blaze burn out because they fear trying to extinguish it could trigger more explosions.

The fire that started in Morris Tuesday prompted city officials to order the evacuation of 3,000-4,000 people in some 950 nearby homes, a school, church and small businesses. . .

The fire chief said he’s gathering information from fire departments and other experts on how to fight the fire in a building that — to the surprise of his department and other city agencies — was being used to store nearly 100 tons of lithium batteries ranging in size from cellphone batteries to large car batteries.

Steffes’ firefighters stopped using water on the blaze minutes after they arrived when they discovered the batteries because water and firefighting foam can cause batteries to explode. And he said while he has heard some ideas on how to battle the blaze — road salt has been suggested — he won’t send crews to battle the fire because of the unknowns about what’s inside. . .

The mayor said the city didn’t know the building was being used to store batteries until it caught fire, and that he knows very little about the company that owns them.

What could go wrong with scaling up this technology by 1,000 times? Maybe it is time for environmentalists to double up on their personal lithium dose, since their mania seems unabating at the moment.

Compromise, GOP style, cont’d

Posted: 02 Jul 2021 05:28 AM PDT

(Scott Johnson)

Rich Lowry writes at some length urging Republicans abandon the infrastructure deal. He argues that Republicans “have nothing to gain by blessing a portion of President Joe Biden’s spending plans, when an ungodly amount of money is going to go out the door regardless of whether they vote for a chunk of it or not.”

Yesterday I linked to and wrote about Marc Thiessen’s Washington Post column supporting the deal in “Compromise, GOP style.” AEI has posted Thiessen’s column here. Lowry’s column contrasts usefully with Thiessen’s for those of us trying to figure out what’s going on here.

Thiessen himself describes what sounds like an illusory deal for the GOP. Lowry hammers this point. Thiessen further argues that the deal has thrown the Democrats into disarray.

Substantively, Thiessen argues that the deal offers “Republicans something to vote for, without violating their core principles.” This is probably Thiessen’s most telling point: “Now they can vote for all the popular elements of an infrastructure package without any of Biden's non-infrastructure spending or tax increases.”

However, Lowry argues that the deal eases the path to Democrats’ attaining the whole shebang and therefore undermining Republicans’ core principles (to borrow Thiessen’s frame of reference): “By allowing Democrats to cleave off some of their spending into a bipartisan deal, the overall number for the reconciliation bill gets smaller. In other words, the bipartisan deal could make the partisan reconciliation easier rather than harder to pass. If this is true, the deal is bipartisanship in the service of a partisan end.”

These two columns raise an important question. Together they may help you think you think through the answer for yourself.

The soul of Sowell

Posted: 02 Jul 2021 04:23 AM PDT

(Scott Johnson)

David Mikics salutes Thomas Sowell in the outstanding Tablet column “The ‘noble lies’ of the new race politics.” Mikics ranges over some of the leading themes of Sowell’s books on education, race, and culture over the past 50 years to present a brief overview of Sowell’s thought.

Sowell turned 91 this week on June 30. Mikics takes the publication of Jason Riley’s new biography of Sowell (see “Talking about Thomas Sowell” and tweet below) as the occasion to recap Sowell’s thought by contrast with that of the current crowd of race hustlers led by “America’s most wildly successful Black intellectual, Ibram Kendi[.]”

Sowell’s work has never been more timely or needed than it is now. The theories, errors, misconceptions, myths, and fabulations against which he has contended have become the orthodoxy of the Democratic Party and its multifarious arms in the culture.

Thoughts from the ammo line

Posted: 02 Jul 2021 03:31 AM PDT

(Scott Johnson)

Ammo Grrrll explains RELENTLESS SCHNORRING as a Business Model. She writes:

Schnorring is a Yiddish word for very aggressive begging. Both parties do it. But, at least for now, I am registered as a member of the Republican Party, so that is what I will be discussing. During election "season," I get probably 100 daily texts, calls, and emails from the Party. Even during the merciful two or three weeks before the start of the NEXT campaign, I get somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 emails and 10 texts A DAY.

Some obscenely overpaid consultant has obviously conducted a seminar hitting every major psy-ops persuasion technique known to man in the eternal quest to separate me from my hard-earned money. And believe me, I am very small potatoes, barely a Tater Tot. I can only imagine the pleas and bribes for the major donors. "I think I can get you an ambassadorship to Uganda. I know you wanted to be the US Ambassador to the United Nations, because the restaurants in New York are so much better than the one in Uganda, but I'm afraid the Democrats have promised that to legendary billionaire Conservative Biden supporter, Cindy McCain."

I will quote EXACTLY what they send me on my phone and computer in Bold and put my subsequent thoughts in Italics. The Schnorrers will begin on a positive note, namely, the desire almost all of us have to sit with the cool kids in the lunchroom, in other words, STATUS:

"Picture this, Susan: Trump opens his birthday card and your name is the first one he sees."

That's gonna be one heckuva birthday card with millions of names, and right there at the top of this encyclopedic card, in honor of my $20 contribution, will be Susan Vass. Sure, I believe that. I also believe that I can lose 10 lbs. by next Friday by not changing a thing in my diet, but by simply drinking several cups of green tea a day, as the latest issue of my favorite ladies' magazine promises. Anyhow, I am planning on GAINING 30 more lbs. to get my chance to be a Woke Victoria's Secret model. Short, fat & elderly – equity, Baby, equity!

Okay, that didn't work. Let's move on to the FRIENDLY REMINDER:

"Are you a Trump Supporter, Susan? You're inactive! If 99 patriots chip in $35 & change status to active, GOP flips the House."

WAIT A MINUTE! I thought I was such a famous supporter that I could conceivably merit being the first name on the card. Here's an idea, guys – how 'bout you flip the House FIRST and THEN I will give you $35? I didn't pay my kids BEFORE they mowed the lawn. After the first few times. See also: Football, Lucy.

Then, how quickly they move on to something perilously close to THREATS.

Final Notice: If you still stand with Trump show it! There's only 12 spots left and we won't ask you to sign his birthday card, again, Susan!

Does this work, guys? I can't wait to try it on VWAM. "There are only 5 books left! We won't ask you to buy again! This is your last chance! No, seriously, we really MEAN it. Act before midnight or we won't even LET you buy a book! No more books for YOU. Even if you BEG."

Perhaps others respond better than I do to ultimatums. Next, they give GUILT a shot:

"Ignore this & we know you left Trump, Susan. Chip in $10 w/in next 10 mins to defend Trump's legacy. We need 99 patriots to step up."

Good grief! You JUST told me you won't ask again…can I believe ANYTHING you say?

Moving straight on to SHAME:

"Susan, the media insists Pres. Trump's supporters have abandoned him & you're proving them right! If we don't get 7 more people to sign his birthday card in the next hour, we won't reach our goal! Don't make us ask again."

I PROMISE I'm not the one making you ask again. Nor am I the one who made up some hypothetical "goal." Well, that birthday passed, as all birthdays must. So now they have been HOUNDING me to give them money in case Trump gets a Twitter competitor site up and running. You think "hounding" is too strong? They have kept track:

"This is ridiculous, Susan. Will you join Trump's new site? We've texted you 13x. Fail to respond=Trump knows you've abandoned him."

13x? I think that's called STALKING. I never used Twitter – why would I use a different site to take pictures of my food or harass someone who failed to ask about my pronouns? Hold the phone! I may be a wretched abandoner, but they've given me another chance! There's ANOTHER birthday coming up. Oh, happy day!

“Open immediately. Melania Trump's birthday is almost here! We need 1,000,000 Patriots to sign her card. Add your name here, Susan."

And also: "You were one of 15 Patriots chosen for a 600% match. Fail to use it by 11:59 and it expires and will go to waste."

How stupid does the Republican Party think we are? As columnist Derek Hunter of TownHall noticed last January: "Most of these emails come with the promise of a 350% match, which begs the question: if someone is willing to turn a $100 donation into a $450 donation, why don't they just give the $350 and leave people alone? Why is it conditional on other suckers giving? That's because it's not real, of course…"

And never ONCE have I felt that these boiler room boys were GRATEFUL for my contribution. They just want MORE, MORE, MORE. They never produce a budget or say where the money is going. For example, Ilhan Omar funneled over $3 Million to the company of her latest non-relative husband. So, I'm pretty much done contributing. Show me some results. Gratitude is in even shorter supply than integrity in politics. And that's saying a lot.
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