Meanwhile, In Michigan…

Meanwhile, in Michigan:

Joe Biden Responds to ‘F*ck Joe Biden’ Signs in Michigan: ’81 Million Americans Voted for Me’

No doubt at least half the 81 million voted in Michigan, twice. And Governor Gretchen Whitmer intends to make sure it stays that way: Governor Gretchen Whitmer Vetoed Four Election Bills, saying the bills “suppressed voting rights” and “calculated disinformation to discredit the 2020 election.”

And for ultimate pandering effect, she signed the veto at the annual NAACP dinner in Detroit to a standing ovation from attendees. So brave, our freshly made-over Governor.

“I will always protect our civil rights and stand up for our democracy that countless Americans have fought to preserve. That’s why I vetoed legislation that would have perpetuated the ‘Big Lie’ or made it harder for Michiganders to vote. Right now, Michigan Republicans are participating in a coordinated, national attack on voting rights that is designed to undermine confidence in our election system and systematically disenfranchise Black voters, communities of color, older voters, and college students.”

Actually Gretch, nobody could have done anything to “undermine confidence in our election system and systematically disenfranchise voters” of all ages and colors than the stolen 2020 election. You know, the “Big Lie” that FJB actually won. The “Big Lie” perpetrated by you and yours through a series of newly implemented Democratic rules, laws and mysterious suitcases and boxes appearing at polling places in the middle of the night.

Anyway, here are the four measures that the Governor bravely vetoed, claiming they “suppressed voting rights.” Had they been implemented they would have:

• prohibited third-party access to the QVF (Qualified Voters File),
• prohibited internet connectivity to ePoll books and tabulators when the polls are open,
• expanded what can be used as a polling location,
• and required comprehensive training for poll challengers

These bills would have done nothing that could be interpreted as restricting voting. They would have provided better training for election day workers, protected voting machines from outside influence, and even made it easier to vote by creating more voting locations. But that’s how partisan politics work. Vilify your enemies no matter what they do.

Of course, had the bill been sponsored by four Democrats rather than 4 Republicans, Governor Whitmer would have held a press conference calling it an achievement in voters rights.

Breakfast At (The Newly Woke) Tiffany’s

Continuing yesterday’s discussion of woke companies I offer today’s super-woke corporate candidate: luxury jewelry maker, Tiffany’s. You may recall Tiffany’s launched a new ad campaign a couple months back with a film featuring Jay-Z and Beyoncé (aka “the Carters”) in which the iconic butt

sports the iconic Tiffany yellow diamond.

The Tiffany diamond was found in a Kimberley diamond mine in South Africa (Botswana today) and was cut from 287.42 carats to 128.54 carats with 82 facets

The jewel has been worn by only 3 other women in the world, American socialite Mrs. E. Sheldon Whitehouse, Audrey Hepburn and Lady Gaga, making Beyoncé the first POC to don it! Extra-woke-credit to Tiffany’s on that first!

At the time the company’s Executive Vice-President of Product and Communications explained the new campaign in a press release :

“Beyoncé and Jay-Z are the epitome of the modern love story. As a brand that has always stood for love, strength, and self-expression, we could not think of a more iconic couple that better represents Tiffany’s values. We are honored to have the Carters as a part of the Tiffany family.”

Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!Woke!

So when I ran across this ad, masquerading as a information piece in the WSJ Magazine I was quite interested:

Tiffany & Co. has a long history with locks, dating back to the 1870s, when it sold functional padlocks. The lock shape later appeared as a decorative element on key rings, money clips, brooches and necklaces.

Now the brand is mining this past for a jewelry line,Tiffany Lock, launching next year with four bracelets. “We created a unisex collection that offers a strong message of inclusivity,” says Alexandre Arnault, Tiffany & Co.’s executive vice president of product and communications, who has been charged with re-energizing the jewelry firm since LVMH acquired it earlier this year.

Made in 18-karat yellow and rose gold, and available with or without diamonds, the bracelets will feature a swivel clasp that evokes a padlock in a subtle way.

Not yet priced but a current rose-gold diamond pave bracelet goes for a bit over $30,000

So I have a few observations:

• Apparently Tiffany’s thinks that “the epitome of the modern love story” involves branding, and, if we are to believe the celebrity news mags, (and we are) infidelity.
• Brands once had Vice-Presidents of Marketing, now apparently they have an “executive vice president of product and communications” because the message is more important than the actual product in the land-of-the-woke.
• Beyoncé is wearing a giant blood diamond; where does that fall on the scale of “woke” one wonders.
• “Tiffany & Co. has a long history with locks” – Goodness! Isn’t that offensive? I mean, isn’t it a direct reference to shackles, ankle bracelets and {{shudder}} slavery!? Are they sure they wish to dredge all this up?
• The new bracelets “feature a swivel clasp that evokes a padlock in a subtle way.” Again with the slavery imagery? Mr. Exec VP of product and communications, you might need to brush up on your, um, product…and communication.

Anyway, I’m still awarding Tiffany an “A” for effort in the woke-a-sphere. I would just suggest they take a closer look at their product line in order to cull out any offensive pieces on offer. Because I swear, unless you have perfect eyesight, when perusing their catalogue this piece appears at first glance to say “TACO makers.”

But figuring that is just a bit too pandering for even the wokest of companies I took a closer look. It actually reads T&CO - all I can say is that the power of suggestion in advertising is extremely effective. So kudos again for all the woke effort that went into this campaign. Finally, the rich and famous can purchase their Tiffany keepsakes without suffering their white guilt.

Stay Woke My Friend

Happy Mutt Day. Tell me that this little man, seen here with his best childhood friend, doesn’t look like he was destined to grow up to be a captain of industry.

I don’t know whether he did or not but can’t you picture him behind a solid wood desk, smoking a stogie? He looks as if he’d always be his own man, rolling the dice, calling the shots, running his business. Of course he’d be retired, or dead, by now which is probably just as well as you need to be “woke” in order to run a big business today. This little bloke doesn’t look the sort who would grow up to be “woke.”

Vivek Ramaswamy’s book explains everything you need to know about the new cynicism of business leaders which has led to the kind of crap you see everyday from Big Business: from their ads to their “mission” statements.

WOKE, INC. begins as a critique of “stakeholder capitalism,” it attacks the hypocrisy of corporations and their management teams and provides an informative and insightful analysis of the “woke” ideology.

Specifically, he explains why people like me are having such difficulty wrapping my head around this new woke business climate: it seems antithetical to everything I know about how business should operate. The simple truth is the “free market” economy we knew, believed in, worked under and defended simply doesn’t exist anymore. It has been replaced to a large extent by a government/corporate corruptocracy that we have precious little say in.

I don’t think Ramaswamy directly addresses how this happened but I can tell you. I watched its progression from the front lines during my “productive” years. It is the result of decades of progressive policies that corrupted businesses the same way it corrupted black families: via welfare programs. With business it began with special tax breaks that favored certain businesses. Tax breaks morphed into direct corporate welfare programs such as LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) that paid the utility bills of low income customers. Everyone from the recipients to energy companies CEOs and black activists lauded this taxpayer funded welfare program as a win-win so naturally such programs proliferated. Now we have government subsidies for agriculture, health insurance, solar panels, electric vehicles and everything in between that any large industry/corporation cares to hire enough lobbyists to “promote” to lawmakers. It’s legalized bribery and it’s destroyed the capitalist system. It should have been banned decades ago.

But that’s not really the focus of Vivek’s book. He’s concerned with shedding light on how cultural dogma is being used to fundamentally transform every sector of our lives; how the uneasy relationship between business and politics has been reformulated by “woke” companies who have figured out they can get richer from division than unity. As it turns out “get woke, go broke” is not the actual long-term outcome after all. If it were, companies would not be pursuing it. On the contrary, wokeness has remade American capitalism in its own image.

This new woke-industrial Leviathan gains its power by dividing us as a people. When corporations tell us what social values we’re supposed to adopt, they take America as a whole and divide us into tribes. That makes it easier for them to make a buck, but it also coaxes us into adopting new identities based on skin-deep characteristics and flimsy social causes that supplant our deeper shared identity as Americans.

In the end Ramaswamy’s book is intended to  offer hope for how America can reclaim her soul and identify a path back toward a more free and prosperous society. Of course people will actually have to read it, internalize it and act on it in order for that to happen. And that’s not terribly likely amongst our ruling class. They are too busy creating new welfare programs.

Soup Of The Day

It looks like we’re in for an all day rain.

While it still looks very much like summer it feels and - more importantly - smells of fall.

I would like to leave it at that as it is Sunday but too many other things are also assaulting my sense of smell,  as in “doesn’t pass the smell test.” Starting with the sitting President: his stench of sedition, treachery, criminality and corruption of the soul are becoming quite overwhelming. Not that anyone in the media would notice of course.

Bagram Lights Up – Chinese Military Land At Bagram Airbase Sources have just reported that the Chinese military has landed and occupied Bagram Airforce Base.

But it certainly does smell, and look like Joe Biden is a made-man: China’s made-man, in case that is not yet clear to the imbeciles who portent to tell us what’s going on in the world.

Not that it’s any of our concern; if it’s not concerning enough for the MSM to cover, why should we waste our time worrying? It’s not as if it that would explain why the sitting President appears to want to crash the country’s economy via ongoing labor shortages due to COVID restrictions while other countries – like Japan – are getting rid of all COVID restrictions in order to let their economy recover. It’s not as if overwhelming all social systems with illegal aliens and de-staffing hospitals by firing unvaccinated staff would play into China’s hands. It’s not as though further supply chain breakdown due to lack of dock workers and long-haul truckers due to COVID restrictions and/or handouts could cause civil strife when it reaches the point where food is in short supply. I mean, that’s not going to happen, right?

I don’t honestly know what to do about any of it so I think I’ll just make some soup.

But what kind? Chicken noodle? Mushroom beef barley? Loaded potato?

Nah. I think I’ll go with one of these:

Or maybe both.

Was It the FBI…Or A Sleeper Cell?

Does anyone even remember when the FBI was one of the good guys?

Whitmer Case Exposes Pattern of FBI Misconduct – wait, what? You mean the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Whitmer from her cottage and leaving her adrift in the middle of Lake Michigan wasn’t masterminded by a bunch of backwoods hicks from Michigan? It was actually the brainchild of the FBI Brainiacs?

As the first shoe related to the FBI’s involvement in the breach of the U.S. Capitol dropped—the New York Times last week reported at least two informants tied to the Proud Boys were working with the FBI before, during, and after January 6—another high-profile case continues to expose the bureau’s corrupt role in what the government also considers an act of domestic terrorism: a concocted plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation cottage in October 2020.

In fact, Joe Biden’s Justice Department has tied the two events together in an attempt to convince the public that right-wing militiamen, ostensibly loyal to Donald Trump, pose a looming threat to the country. In a recent sentencing memorandum for one man who pleaded guilty in the Whitmer case, government prosecutors wrote, “as the Capitol riots demonstrated, an inchoate conspiracy can turn into a grave substantive offense on short notice.”

Especially when at least a dozen FBI agents and informants take charge.

All of which makes one wonder: How is Tucker Carlson still alive?

I for one am shocked that Tucker Carlson is still alive. I cannot believe that Tucker Carlson has not "committed suicide" with three bullets to the back of the head.  I'm stunned that a drunk hit-and-run driver (who was never found) did not kill Tucker Carlson in a car crash near Carlson's home.  And I'm a little startled that child porn wasn't "just found" on Carlson's laptop.

In other words, I am very, very surprised that the Deep State has not taken Tucker Carlson out. 

It is indeed surprising that Tucker hasn’t accidentally come in contact with polonium. The very fact that we’re even discussing such a possibility points out how badly America has been tilted off its axis by a deeply criminal and corrupt Deep State, doing the work (real) Americans won’t do. At the rate we’re going, who even knows how much longer I’ll be “allowed” to print such things.

Perhaps I need to set up my own sleeper cell.

Welcome October

And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.  - Oscar Wilde

October runs hot and cold; sometimes as warm as a summer day in technicolor, other times gunmetal gray and stark. But mostly what we remember of October – indeed, what’s etched in perpetuity on our soul – is the glorious luminosity of its clear days, the rustle of crisp leaves on the wind and the musky-sweet smell of leaves piling up.

As sure as it is the end of summer it is the beginning of something new – winter. Whether you love it or hate it is beside the point, it begets a new year as our planet hurtles around the sun. God willing we will all be here to witness another great awakening come spring as miracles never seem to cease on this wondrous planet.

Here’s a minor miracle:

Sen. Bernie Sanders, standing outside Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, told CNN that the infrastructure deal should be “defeated.”

The Vermont senator also railed on tonight's late-night dealmaking effort.

"It is an absurd way to do business, to be negotiating a multi-trillion-dollar bill a few minutes before a major vote with virtually nobody knowing what's going on. That's unacceptable. And I think what has got to happen is that tonight, the bipartisan infrastructure bill must be defeated," Sanders said. - CNN

Imagine that: we no longer have to pass a bill in order to find out what's in it.  

I do declare, that requires a sit-down to contemplate.

Throwback Thursday

A Throwback Thursday challenge:

Fill in the blanks: “If (blank) were a fish, I’d throw (preferred pronoun) back.” Can be either a person or an inanimate object, or both, as in “If Biden were a fish I’d throw it back.” You can also choose a specific site to throw it back, e.g. the swamp, sewer, shark-infested waters, etc.

And to get you in the mood why not start throwback Thursday off right with some coffee and a proper laminated pastry, in this case a croishark.

It looks like somebody had way too much time on their hands during the lockdown.

OK Pepperidge Farm, the ball is in your court. You’ll need to raise the cuteness level a bit to win this round.

Good luck!

Chicken Feathers Wednesday

  

After you’ve enjoyed your chicken, here’s some food for thought from the great Victor Davis Hanson: The Symptoms of Our Insanity.

What explains these insanities that are insults to the people’s intelligence? Did Americans go mad because of the perfect storm of COVID-19, the quarantine, recession, riots, looting and arson of 2020, the wild November election, the post-election hysterias and riot, and the Biden-socialist Faustian bargain?

Or do these symptoms of long-standing illnesses arise from the media and university, where the twins of incompetence and ideology ruined the critical consciousness of an entire generation of young minds?

Or is the culprit the affluent, bicoastal woke professionals, who, as both narcissists and projectionists, feel the consequences of their own ideology should never apply to themselves, while fobbing off their own sins onto others as a way of squaring the circle of their own illiberality?

Squaring the circle? They were told there would be no math! This is so unfair. If it all makes your head hurt you may be in need of even more emotional support. Thankfully there’s an enormous bucket for such days.

Jolliebee: providing giant buckets of emotional support for over 40 years.