I'm Back!

Yesterday, Pete told me he had a seat on a walk-on trip for this morning. Of course I said yes. The trip was out of Buzz's Marina down in Ridge, and the departure time was a reasonable 8 AM, as winter fishing is not quite so dependent on sunrise. The weather was foggy, and about 45 F, and almost calm.

Our first destination was a channel marker buoy on the other side of the Bay, Red 72A, where a bend in the bay creates a reliable current, and fish are often found. Today was no exception. Almost immediately we caught a few fish. But compared to other winter days this was pretty slow. This was the clearest it was all day; the fog came back in shortly, Pete navigated by radar and GPS, and depended on the sonar to find fish.

Here's the kind of thing we were dealing with, a few fish on the bottom (the red and yellow arches and "wormy" things on the bottom), and a jig (mostly blue and green) being jigged up and down hoping to attract a fish. Sometimes it worked (the picture might depict one showing interest, but not biting.

Craig, who instigated the trip. After the Red 72A region, we moved a short distance to a place Pete calls the "Butterbean" because of its appearance on the charts. We had a pretty good run there, with several large Stripers each.

The fish were teeming with hitchhiking isopods, often called fish lice, and they fell off all over the deck. Some think this proves the fish are fresh from the ocean, but Pete and I doubt this; these are mostly likely the Stripers from the Bay further north, following the bait down as it migrates out of tributaries, and down into the main bay where the water tends to be warmer in winter. 

They don't seem to harm the fish, though I suppose they're probably feeding off the fish slime. All the fish we caught were fat a healthy.

The star of the day, Bobby the Kid, who actually sold Pete on a new lure, a giant jigging spoon that seemed to outshine the rest in today's conditions.

Flotsam and Jetsam - End of the Year Detritus

Some end of the year reading while I fish. DIT style

Twitter, Musk and Freedom of Speech

In The Mailbox: 12.30.22 : The Other McCain
Twitter Files: Majority of Americans Want FBI Investigated for Violating Our Free Speech - The Lid
Elon Points a Finger at 'Creepy' Detail About Fauci in NYT Farewell Article – RedState
Hooters enlists Elon Musk to fight fake news - Louder With Crowder
Sen. Ron Johnson Urges Dems to Investigate FBI in Wake of 'Twitter Files'
Meet the leading contenders for Twitter CEO – HotAir
FBI Cointelpro is Back and Worse Than Ever - CounterPunch.org
Another 'master-canine' relationship: NYT runs interference for the FBI - American Thinker
2010 DHS Contract to General Dynamics Information Systems for Domestic "Media Monitoring and Social Media Networking" - The Last Refuge
MIT faculty adopt free expression statement that protects ‘offensive’ speech | The College Fix
Why Free Speech Is Important | Power Line
Glenn Greenwald skewers ‘low-life scumbags’ and calls out Kat Tenbarge of NBC News – twitchy.com

Elections and Politics

Ginni Thomas J6 Transcript Reveals Witch Hunt With No Witch
Bombshell in Newly Released Testimony of Ray Epps Is Going to Raise Even More Questions – RedState
Revealed: Ray Epps Claimed He Believed Capitol Was Open To Public On January 6 | The Daily Wire
Six years of Trump's tax returns RELEASED | Daily Mail Online
House Dems Release Trump's Tax Returns in Final Partisan Stunt Before Losing Majority Power
Voters seek revenge on Democrats who released Trump taxes | Washington Examiner
Poor POTUS! New book sheds light on Joe Biden’s personal suffering in wake of Afghanistan withdrawal – twitchy.com
Ace of Spades HQ Mother of Hunter Biden's Bastard Child Will Change the Baby's Last Name to "Biden," To Capitalize on That "Prestigious" Biden Family Name
The Press Finally Realizes the Bidens Are Pretty Terrible – RedState
Biden White House Plans to Obstruct GOP Investigations › American Greatness
Karl Rove: Democrats Need Narrative 'Based in Reality' | Newsmax.com
Kevin McCarthy floats concession on allowing conservatives to remove House speaker | Fox News
Fishing as a Guide to Election Integrity - American Thinker
Ace of Spades HQ What If We Had Relied on “Renewable Energy” During the Christmas Cold Snap; also, Climate Fraud and Related Data Tampering

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links.

Gone Fishin'

 But definitely not like this.

 

Back later with fresh lies.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Annalisa Greco up at The Other McCain.

Rule 5 Saturday - Cate Blanchette

This week's Rule 5 winner is . . . 

Catherine Elise Blanchett   born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor.  Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

As Galadriel

 

Blanchett was born in Ivanhoe, a suburb in Melbourne, Australia. Her Australian mother, June née Gamble,  was a property developer and teacher; and her American father, Robert DeWitt Blanchett Jr., a Texas native, was a United States Navy Chief Petty Officer who became an advertising executive. They met when Robert's ship broke down in Melbourne. When Blanchett was ten, her father died of a heart attack, leaving her mother to raise the family. Blanchett is the second of three children, with a younger sister and older brother. Her ancestry includes English, some Scottish, and remote French roots. 

Already an acclaimed actor, Blanchett received a host of new fans when she appeared in Peter Jackson's Academy Award-winning blockbuster trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, playing the role of elf leader Galadriel in all three films.  The trilogy was a major critical and financial success, earning $2.981 billion at the box office worldwide and all three films were later ranked within the top 10 greatest fantasy movies of all time in a poll conducted by American magazine Wired in 2012. 

I thought Blanchette as Galadriel was brilliant casting.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy New Year! and FMJRA 2.0: New Year’s Eve Edition ready for your digital pleasure. Linked at The Right Way in the weekly Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama.

Electric Car Fire in North Beach

 Southern Maryland Chronicle, Electric vehicle charging blamed in North Beach Fire

At 7:09 p.m on Thursday, December 29, 2022, Calvert County Communications sounded Area Box 111 for a report of an explosion and fire at the North Beach Public Works Building, 4030 11th Street in North Beach.
. . .
An investigation identified the fire originated in an electric vehicle stored in the garage. Crews checked for extension above the area where the vehicle was parked, but found none, and there was no extension into an attached office. Smoke damage in the garage was substantial.

There were no reported injuries and no one was in the building at the time of the fire.
North Beach VFD was assisted by the Dunkirk VFD, Huntingtown VFD, and Stations 42 and 9 units from the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.

The NBVFD urges all owners of electric vehicles to ensure they are not left unattended while charging and are inspected regularly to ensure they are in good working order.

So now you have to hang around and watch them while they charge, even though it might take hours? How practical!

Hybrid cars twice as likely to have a fire after a collision!  

The insurance site Auto Insurance EZ compiled sales and accident data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the National Transportation Safety Board. The site found that hybrid vehicles had the most fires per 100,000 sales at 3474.5. There were 1529.9 fires per 100k for gas vehicles and just 25.1 fires per 100k sales for electric vehicles.

Makes some sense when you consider hybrids have the double disadvantage of having both a gasoline engine, and a high powered electrical system to drive the car. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - Republicans Pounce on FBI, House Drops Trump Subpoena

The year is winding down, and so is the news; so what have we got today? From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.29.22 Da Tech Guy thinks The latest Twitter Files contains evidence of High Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The Freedom of Speech Clause of the First Amendment specifically prevents the federal government from infringing with the free speech of any American. If a president were to order the censorship of American people that would be a violation of the First Amendment, along with his oath of office. The framers of the Constitution would most definitely consider this an impeachable offense.

I agree, but I doubt it will happen that way. Opening the southern border to an invasions should be, too.  Also via the Wombat, Louder With Crowder,  Elon Musk roasts Anthony ‘the Science’ Fauci while hinting corporate media might be next target of ‘Twitter Files’. Mike LaChance at LI, Elon Musk To Media: Info Coming Out of Twitter Has ‘Only Just Begun’. Matt Taibi at his substack sends a Note From San Francisco "What does it all mean? I haven’t really had time to think it over. Surely, though, it means something. I’ve been amused by the accusation that these stories are “cherry-picked.” As opposed to what, the perfectly representative sample of the human experience you normally read in news? "Herr Professor Jacobsen at LI, #Twitterfiles Vindicate Dr. Andrew Bostom – Wrongly Suspended For Accurate But Politically Inconvenient Science On Covid “My ‘offense’ was not abiding an ‘accepted narrative’ [regarding Covid] regardless of how warped that narrative was.  Twitter’s behavior, certainly before Elon Musk took ownership of the company, epitomizes the triumphal (for now) anti-scientific, ethical, and legal cretinism of today’s major social media platforms.”  At Da Caller, Twitter Suspended A Medical Doctor For Citing COVID Data. He Says There’s More To The Story. But PJ Media's Matt Margolis notes that thanks to Elon You Are Free to Question 'The Science' on Twitter Again. "“New Twitter policy is to follow the science, which necessarily includes reasoned questioning of the science,” Musk tweeted. Like most of Musk’s actions involving Twitter, this policy announcement was controversial." 

Larry Elder at Front Page watches liberals Justifying The Suppression of Conservative Content. The New Neo notes the narrative, Republicans pounce on the poor beleaguered FBI "The GOP is on the warpath, and the victim is the FBI." Scott Johnson at Power Line hits the same theme in A Twitter Files footnote (4), "Today Goldman channels the FBI’s response to the exposure of its role in the Twitter Files. With Alan Feuer, Goldman gives us the “Republicans pounce” variations in “Republicans Step Up Attacks on F.B.I. as It Investigates Trump.”" Ace, Margot Cleveland: The FBI Offices Involved in the Hunter Biden Investigations Began Blitzing Twitter With Censorship Requests Just Before the 2020 Election "As noted dipshit 2nd-rate blogger David French would say: The FBI has a first amendment right to interfere in elections, you know." "Which makes it especially strange that the FBI offices charged with the Hunter Biden crimes suddenly tasked themselves with patrolling Twitter for violations of their rules as well."At CNS News, Sen. Hawley: 'FBI Deliberately Interfered in Not One But Two Separate Presidential Elections'. An interesting thread from Gitabushi@Gitabushi, "The Left has become almost completely lawless. Any Leftist with any power or position at all apparently feels free to set policy according to Leftist agenda, in complete disregard to law, statute, norms, traditions."

Lawrence Person notes that a Twitter Lawsuit Against Ken Paxton Dismissed. Lawsuit was from pre-Musk era. "Musk might want to order his Twitter employees to go ahead and comply with Paxton’s records requests. After releasing so many details of Twitter’s censorship regime, Musk might think about releasing the memos behind Twitter’s lawsuit strategy under the previous regime." Am Think's Robert Merz thinks about Social Media, the Government, and the War on the Bill of Rights. Breitbart reports that, hopefully, Facebook and Google Set to Lose Advertising Duopoly.

Via the Wombat, Don Surber notes FBI investigates George Santos -- but not Hunter Bribened. Santos is the newly minted Republican congresscritter recently found to have been a resume padder on a scale approaching that of Liz Warren or Joe Biden himself. I'm having a hard time getting shocked at the idea a Congress critter would lie. The Peacock, Federal prosecutors open investigation into Rep.-elect George Santos over congressional campaign "The New York Republican has admitted that large parts of his campaign biography were fabricated." Jazz Shaw at Haut Hair piles on George Santos can't seem to explain his wealth. But then, neither can Joe Biden.

Via the Wombat, The Geller Reports DEFEATED: January 6 Panel WITHDRAWS Trump Subpoena. Ben Whedon at JTN, Jan. 6 committee formally withdraws Trump subpoena. Outta time, outta money, after the midterms, and they already wrote the report. Paul Bedard at WaEx cites Trump lawyer: Subpoena was ‘assault’ on Constitution. Dan Chaitin at Da Wire, Lawyer Harmeet Dhillon Claims Victory As January 6 Panel Drops Trump Subpoena and House Committee Picks Date To Release Trump’s Tax Returns. "A spokesperson for the Democrat-led House Ways and Means Committee told multiple news outlets that the disclosure will take place Friday, less than a week before Republicans take control of the lower chamber." 

Via the Wombat, at Twitchy, Catturd™ says if they can’t explain Ray Epps, ‘they were in on it’ "Massie noted that the committee adjourned without fulfilling its year-old promise to release the transcript of its Epps interview. “The one person on film telling people to go into the Capitol (multiple times) disappears from FBI list and is not even mentioned in the 845-page final report,”" At ET, Mark Tapscott cites   McCarthy who Says US Capitol Complex Will Reopen to the People on Jan. 3. 

At Am Think, Frank A. Greco thinks Ensuring Election Integrity is A Par-Baked Idea "My mind is locked in an endless loop.  Our country is going to hell.  We must do something.  The main thing we can do is vote.  Our votes don't count.  Our country is going to hell." AZ Sun Times Arizona Recount Results Narrows Gap in Attorney General’s Race from 511 to 280, Abe Hamadeh Not Conceding Yet. "Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman, Dr. Kelli Ward, tweeted that she hoped Hamadeh would go to the Arizona Supreme Court to get a further inspection of Maricopa and Pima Counties ballots."

At Red State, Brandon Morse points out It Took a Single Tweet to Prove the GOP and Republican Voters Aren't Friends GOP@GOP "Republicans believe in limited government." And Mike Miller, Turns out Former Trump Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Is a 'Liar' and 'Opportunist' — or Does It? "Truth be told, I don’t know who’s lying and who isn’t — and neither does anyone reading this article, despite vehement claims to the contrary by those who confuse opinions with facts, so I’ll leave it at that." 

Ace, Top Virginia Math and Science Magnet School Refused to Tell Students They Were National Merit Finalists, Preventing Them From Putting That on Their College Applications, For the Sake of Racial "Equity," It's Harrison Bergeron all the way down. Mostly Asian.

At Breitbart, Joe Biden Demands China Travelers Provide Negative COVID Test After Calling Trump’s 2020 COVID Response ‘Nakedly Xenophobic’. Word is that the strain of WuFlu coming from China now is plain old Omicron, which we all had and survived.

Fish Pic Friday - Ava Bart

AVA BART@avabartt 𝗝𝗨𝗣𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗥, 𝗙𝗟 AYG⚡️HCB 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗿𝘁@𝗴𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

 Linked at The Right Way in the weekly Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy New Year! ready for your digital pleasure.

"Smart Growth" Wasn't

 A "smart growth" advocate at UM admits it hasn't worked: How Smart Was Smart Growth?

There are a lot of takeaways in the Handbook on Smart Growth, a new compendium of essays from the University of Maryland’s National Center for Smart Growth about the 30-year campaign to create mixed use, compact and walkable communities. But the biggest takeaway might the hardest for ardent supporters to stomach: it has so far had limited impact on the problems it set out to address.
. . .
Below, co-editors Knaap, Rebecca Lewis (M.P.P. ’08, PhD ’11), Dr. Arnab Chakraborty (PhD ’07) and Ph.D. candidate Katy June-Friesen offer a few lessons from the book for growing smarter into the next century:

The main ideas endure. Many of today’s seemingly popular ideas—such as bike sharing and limiting single family zoning--build on smart growth principles and prior innovations while adding appropriate focus on issues of justice and resilience. Still, some of the toughest challenges remain, says Chakraborty, such as limited resonance with the general public. “Lessons from smart growth research documented in this book are worthy of attention,” he said.

Smart growth has yet to slow drivers: Much has been learned about what shapes how people travel; evidence suggests that cities can be designed in ways that foster walking, biking, transit ridership, but there is little evidence that smart growth has gotten people out of their cars.

As much as they would rather make driving unpleasant to encourage the use of public transport, the horrible hoi polloi would still rather use their own autos if at all possible.

State governments no longer lead the way: Some state-adopted smart growth programs, said Lewis, were a “flash in the pan” that faded with the appointment of new governors, with many programs disappearing altogether. Other states rolled back existing smart growth policies during the Tea Party era. “It’s important to note that smart growth has never been a policy adopted at a national level,” said Lewis. “But the challenges it is meant to address remain.”

Stupid voters occasionally replace starry eyed leftist governors and mayors with pragmatists who actually studied math, or, God forbid, elect Republicans opposed to these ideas.

Smart growth can accelerate gentrification: An unintended impact of sustainable, compact development is the squeeze it puts on low-income residents of color, according to co-editor Katy June-Friesen. “Gentrification and displacement tend to occur at higher rates in metro areas that have adopted smart growth policies,” she said. What has been learned is that zoning changes, policy and public-private investment can ensure residents and businesses stay in place.

If, by chance, you do succeed in making small areas of the city pleasant to live in, rich white kids will move in, and drive prices up to a level where the target minorities will be unable to afford to stay.

In short, "smart growth" is an idea of bribing, or coercing people to live in ways that they don't want to, and is ultimately bound for failure. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - Are You Ready for Rolling Blackouts?

So what's washed up on the wrack line today? Real news seems to be slowing down as the nation slowly recovers from its Christmas excesses, and looks forward to its New Years excesses. Elon Musk and Twitter are still hanging in there as topics, though.  Via the Wombat's  In The Mailbox: 12.28.22  Am Power wants you to know How Twitter Rigged the Covid Debate. But then, so did Google, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, YouTube etc, etc. We're nowhere near the bottom yet. Also  In Response to the Twitter Files, Establishment Media Rushes to Defend the FBI. Nick Givas at JTN has Ten major revelations exposing extent of government pressure on Big Tech to censor Americans, "From the FBI to the White House, federal intervention shaped social media narratives from Hunter Biden to pandemic policy," while Brad Palumbo at Based Politics narrows it down to The 3 most disturbing revelations in the latest Twitter Files #1 The Biden administration specifically lobbied to have individual accounts banned, #2 Twitter censored credentialed experts who dissented on COVID-19, #3 Even the Trump administration lobbied Twitter to censor.  At Da Wire, Elon Musk On Big Tech Censorship: ‘Google Frequently Makes Links Disappear’. Yeah, Google is getting less and less useful when a subject is controversial. “Most people don’t appreciate the significance of the point Matt was making: *Every* social media company is engaged in heavy censorship, with significant involvement of and, at times, explicit direction of the government.” From Da Caller, ‘Only Just Begun’: Elon Musk Threatens Reputation Of ‘Legacy Media’ In Cryptic Tweet  “The legacy media should worry about its reputation. We have only just begun,” At I&I, Twitter, America’s Founders And Free Expression. At Transterrestrial Musings, a classic video, Job Hunting For Ex-Twitter Employees. Nick Arama at Red State suggests Elon Shows Pendulum May Be Swinging Back to Reality With Hilarious Babylon Bee Video, What Is a Woman?

Spelling Bee Contestant Asks The Definition of “Woman” pic.twitter.com/gOgDj9Oxsg

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) December 28, 2022

At Da Fed, Margot Cleveland points out that the FBI Office Investigating Hunter Biden Sent Twitter Numerous Censorship Requests Right Before 2020 Election. Investigating or covering up? At Breitbart, Fmr. DNI Ratcliffe: I Confirmed Hunter Laptop Was Legitimate in 2020, But There Was ‘a Disinformation Campaign on Behalf of Joe Biden.’

From Hollywood in Toto, ACLU Silent on McInnes’ Free Speech Lawsuit, Twitter Files "Once mighty organization abandons core mission, focuses on woke causes." David Strom at Haut Hair thinks Economists should have had more influence in COVID mitigations than doctors. Both have a role. People need to listen to both, and make their own decisions. 

At Da Caller, Judge Rejects Incoming Arizona Gov Katie Hobbs’ Request For Sanctions Against Kari Lake. ET, Kari Lake Appeals Judge’s Ruling on Arizona Election Lawsuit. "Lake filed a notice of appeal with the same Arizona Superior Court judge on Tuesday to challenge the dismissal of her case. Lake will also seek a direct review by the Arizona Supreme Court, according to a court filing."  Sundance at CTH sees Fishy Business – Arizona Mandatory Recounts Revealing Significant GOP Gains, Hobbs Sealed Results Until After Her Lawsuit Completed. Significant, but not decisive. Hundreds, not thousands. Constantin Querard@CQuerard, "From reliable source in rural county - sizable # of votes found during recount. Net benefit to GOP candidates in the 100s possibly? Yikes! Maybe why recount results are being slow-walked by Hobbs? I’m not one for conspiracy stuff, but no process is perfect, so keep an eye on it!" Jay Valentine at Am Think thinks it's The End of Free Elections? "This week, leftists and RINOs admitted, under oath, that they changed the print settings, on election morning, so Republican votes would not be tabulated, on the one day most Republicans vote -- and the Maricopa County judge said “…it wasn’t intentional.” Via the Wombat's  In The Mailbox: 12.28.22, Vicky Marshal at Da Fed notes Harvesting Low-Effort Votes Is Working Great For Democrats, So They’re Going For More. Republicans must respond in kind. 

Mike LaChance at LI, Habitual Election Denier Rep. Jamie Raskin Calls Electoral College a ‘Danger’ to Democracy, American People. Time whines For Some in Congress, Proxy Voting Was a Game Changer. It’s About to Go Away, mean Republicans forcing Democrats in Congress to come in to vote. At Blaze, Keith Olbermann says House Democrats should 'get baseball bats' in fight against upcoming GOP majority and 'stop rolling over'. Who?

Jeff Lord at Am Spec explains why The Jan. 6 ‘Criminal Referrals’ Against Trump Are Political Bunk, "The committee should be investigated in the new Congress." Althouse catches Wa Poo, "Criminal prosecution is the wrong idea. Use the 14th Amendment on Trump." "Write Bruce Ackerman and Gerard Magliocca (in The Washington Post). . . Yes, hurry up! Wouldn't want to leave it to the voters to decide. Democracy is at stake. Atop Da Hill, Jan. 6 transcript: Mnuchin briefly discussed 25th Amendment removal of Trump. Althouse notices "We both believed that the best outcome was a normal transition of power, which was working, and neither one of us contemplated in any serious format the 25th Amendment" ""The only research I did out of curiosity was I googled it. I remember my general counsel asking me if we wanted him to do extensive research on it. I said, no, not at this point."

Mary Chastain at LI reports Convicted Ringleader of Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Sentenced to 16 Years

"The government wanted him to get a life sentence." That's what you get for listening to the FBI. at the Via the Wombat's  In The Mailbox: 12.28.22, the Weasel Zippers note how a DOJ Official Admits Targeting Pro-Lifers Is Response to Overturn of Roe. Ed Brodow At Am Think sees Biden’s Unopposed Imposition of Stalinism “The FBI is now an organization solely focused on destroying the domestic enemies of the Democratic Party,” At Am Great, Paul Gottfried wonders How long can the alliance between the surveillance state and what looks like an increasingly lunatic ruling class last?

Dave Catron at Am Spec decries The GOP’s Moronic House Speakership Fight, "A rump caucus of Republican malcontents take their own party hostage." Dan Gelernter at Am Great  worries about The Coming Split "What should we do when a majority of Republicans want Trump, but the Republican Party says we can’t have him?" Linc Brown says Utah’s Most Famous RINO May Fall Off the Fence "It makes perfect sense that Romney leans to the left and votes with the donkeys. He is betting on Democrats retaining power for the foreseeable future. He is also betting that Utah continues to drift blue and that he may be able to ride the fence to victory. And he just might." At Town Hall, Kurt Schlichter examines The Republicans’ Mitch McConnell Problem. Is the Murder Turtle past his use-by date?

At Da Wire, Florida Investigates Alleged ‘Sexually Explicit Performance Marketed To Children’: ‘A Crime In Florida’. Ace, Ron DeSantis, Now Investigating Sexually-Explicit "All Ages" "Christmas Drag Show" Staged in Florida, "Shouldn't have come to Florida. Florida takes a dim view of groomers, Groomers." From Da Caller, Michigan Court’s Shielding Of Teachers From Public Record Requests Raises ‘Transparency’ Concerns, Experts Say. Ben Bartee at PJ Media astonished when LGBTQ+++™ Pinocchios Now Claim Male-to-Female Transgenders Can Get Periods: 'I'm a Real Girl!' 2+2=5 peasants! Breitbart, Libs of TikTok’s Raichik: LGBTQ Community Is a ‘Cult’ – ‘Evil People’ Who ‘Want To Groom Kids’ Via the Wombat's  In The Mailbox: 12.28.22, Twitchy, Taylor Lorenz Handling Shout-Out From @LibsofTikTok’s Chaya Raichik As Well As You’d Expect and Louder With Crowder, Kim Kardashian whines about being ‘canceled’ over Balenciaga sexually exploiting children, and Twitter loves the fact Chaya Raichik bears a striking resemblance to archnemesis Taylor Lorenz. At Spec World, cited at Haut Hair, Rachel Levine demands Rachel Levine must explain ‘misinformation’ over ‘gender-affirming care’ "Is the public being lied to about transgender treatments? If so, how?"

At NRO, How Russia-Backed Environmentalism Is Leading to Blackouts in New England. The powers-that-be expect you to get used to rolling blackouts. Insty, THEY WANT YOU TO FREEZE IN THE DARK, AND ACCEPT IT: The New-Normaling of Blackouts. 

It already seems as if people are being conditioned to expect talk of rolling blackouts whenever the weather outside seems frightful.

To be very clear: rolling blackouts are not now, nor have they been, normal in the US. Therefore, having to expect rolling blackouts going forward would be abnormal. Nevertheless, as utility providers and power grid monitors have recently warned, the more grids are saddled with intermittent, unreliable wind and solar facilities, the more unreliable they are becoming. They’re more prone to capacity shortfalls and blackouts.

Watts Up With That: Gas Power Saves Texas from Blackouts, As Wind Power Collapses Again!, US Grid Needs Fossil Fuels, Not Wind, and The Faux Urgency of The Climate Crisis Is Giving Us No Time or Space To Build A Secure Energy Future. Insty, JOE BIDEN DID THAT: Gird Your Loins, $5/Gallon Gas Could Be Coming Again in 2023.

Hey, remember the baby formula shortage that disappeared from the news? Beege Wellborn at Haut Hair didn't, Get ready for renewed import tariffs on baby formula families still can't find.

Thursday Tanlines

 The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy New Year! ready for your digital pleasure.

Flotsam and Jetsam: Twitter Files Still Going Strong

Nothing much really new and exciting. We're still ruminating on Twitter release #10 (or #11, depending on who's counting) regarding Twitter, and the government's role in  censoring the COVID debate. I expect more on this subject. At Da Wire, Latest Twitter Files Reveal How Biden Admin ‘Rigged’ The COVID Vaccine Debate. Kevin Downey at PJ Media Twitter Files, Part X: Banning Those Who Dared Question the COVID Narrative at the Biden administrations urging. The Rabbit Hole@TheRabbitHole84 "It is hard to understate the levels of dishonesty we witnessed during Covid. No amount of political doublespeak can make this poof away. The game has changed - once the internet has receipts, the evidence is forever." David Strom at Haut Hair VIP, Twitter Files: COVID censorship led to political censorship. Funny how that worked. Herr Professor Jacobsen at LI, #Twitterfiles Vindicate Dr. Andrew Bostom – Wrongly Suspended For Accurate But Politically Inconvenient Science On Covid, “My ‘offense’ was not abiding an ‘accepted narrative’ [regarding Covid] regardless of how warped that narrative was.  Twitter’s behavior, certainly before Elon Musk took ownership of the company, epitomizes the triumphal (for now) anti-scientific, ethical, and legal cretinism of today’s major social media platforms.” From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.27.22   STUMP, Twitter Files Hits COVID Stats: Good Luck with Rebuilding Trust, CDC, also, from Louder With Crowder: Watch: Elon Musk says the obvious part out loud about ‘almost every Twitter conspiracy theory’,  The Geller Reports CATASTROPHIC: Twitter COVID FILES: US Govt Censored Content, Suspended Users, Targeted “Anti-Vaxxers”, Promoted Fear, and Power Line  Notes on the Twitter Files (10), and A Twitter Files footnote. Of course, another aspect of social media censorship surrounding WuFlu was the rejection and banning of any treatments other than vaccination and Paxlovid. Today at Insty, THE META-ANALYSIS: Ivermectin Is Safe and Effective.

Mortality from COVID-19 over all time periods of delay in treatment was 76% improved over controls (69% in randomized controlled trials), whereas mortality was improved 84% in early treatment of COVID-19 (82% in randomized controlled trials). Forty studies were excluded from the meta-analysis for complicating factors or insufficient detail reported, and these also showed 100% positive results.

It is estimated that the likelihood of an ineffective treatment showing such positive results as the above results in the 63 studies in the meta-analysis to date is exceedingly small. That probability is estimated to be one in one trillion.

The narrative: Horse dewormer dangerous for humans, ineffective COVID-19 treatment.

I believe that Ivermectin was rejected almost entirely because it was suggested by Donald Trump. Had Hillary Clinton suggested it, it would have been made mandatory. 

At Da Caller, A Dem-Linked Dark Money Network Is Quietly Funding The ‘Misinformation’ Research Industry, Arabella Advisors, funded largely by George Soros. Insty, They know who they work for, and it isn’t you. Elon Musk@elonmusk, "Why is corporate journalism rushing to defend the state instead of the people?" Quote Tweet Leighton 明 Woodhouse "On my substack: Establishment journalists' response to the Twitter Files is that of a profession committed to protecting the state instead of exposing it. https://leightonwoodhouse.substack.com/p/in-response-" David Strom at Haut Hair on The real misinformation threat. Our own "experts."  Ralph Benko at Am Spec argues Musk Is Using the Free Market, Not Government Censorship, to Fix Twitter, "Putting the government in charge of what can be published online would kick the First Amendment to the curb. Chris Bray at Tell Me How this Ends shows The Twitter Files Are a Business Problem too, "In addition to the free speech problem and the pathologies of gleichschaltung, the Twitter files are about the way government without boundaries consumes resources from every entity it touches. Twitter’s path to bankruptcy runs through the premise that every government official who doesn’t like a tweet deserves a meeting." At Da Wire, Purported Inventor Of Email Tosses Hat In Twitter CEO Ring “Dear Mr. Musk, I am interested in the CEO position @Twitter,” Ayyadurai tweeted. “I have 4 degrees from MIT & have created 7 successful high-tech software companies. Kindly advise of the process to apply. Sincerely, Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, MIT PhD The Inventor of Email.”

Jazz Shaw at Haut Hair reminds us a Significant majority want FBI's social media interactions investigated, but don't get too excited, a majority of the Democrats probably think they're not doing enough. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.27.22 At Am Great, John O'Connor claims Wray’s FBI Is Rotting from the Head Down. Ace wakes up and notices Mark Hemingway: Are FBI and CIA Agents at Twitter and Other Tech Monopolies Just "Sheep-Dipped" Government Wolves? I'm guessing some of each.

I think the term "sheep-dipped" refers to dipping a wolf in sheep-paint to cover up his real nature. Although this term mostly applies to military intelligence officers being "cleaned up" as non-spooks, he applies it here to FBI and CIA agents. Are these guys really just still government operatives, still being paid by the government, but tasked to infiltrate "private" corporations while executing FBI/CIA directives?

At Am Great Adam Mill wonders Should We Boycott the 2024 Election? "Maybe until the FBI stops directing our political process. . . . As I write this, opposition parties around the world have used election boycotts to embarrass repressive regimes that crave the legitimacy of an apparent election victory. For example, Nicaraguan exiles recently called for a boycott of their country’s upcoming election." At Am Great, the great Victor Davis Hanson wonders What Will the FBI Not Do?

The redoubtable Julie Kelly at Am Great seeks to reveal What Did Nancy Pelosi Know and When Did She Know It? "The January 6 select committee never intended to act as a truth-seeking mission but rather perform a cover-up for what actually happened."

Also from Herr Professor Jacobsen, Court Dismisses Kari Lake Election Challenge, Cites Lack Of Evidence As To Intentional Misconduct Affecting The Outcome, "This demonstrates the problem with election challenges that are outside the normal recount process. You are asking a judge to overturn the certified election result – that’s a lot to ask. You need to prove to a high degree of evidentiary proof that a fraud took place and that it affected the outcome. That almost never is provable." At New Neo, The Kari Lake election fraud verdict: Part I

We have to be able to trust our elections. But the only way to foster trust or restore it is to have more safeguards in place at the outset against fraud. In the name of voter inclusion as they define it, Democrats seem determined to jettison even many of the elementary and obvious safeguards such as voter ID, and this effort raises the amount of suspicion that their goal is to enable fraud – which is easiest to perform in the populous blue counties they usually control (Maricopa County is a GOP-controlled anomaly, but the GOP there detests Trump supporters such as Lake). Calling people who see the evidence as strongly indicative that fraud occurred “election deniers” might actually work to demonize them in the eyes of others, but it does absolutely nothing to increase the trust that is so necessary to a functioning democracy or a functioning republic. And we have most definitely lost that trust.

At Da Wire, Incoming Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Files Sanctions Against Kari Lake After Election Lawsuit  Dan Chaitin at Da Wire reported that  Kari Lake Could Be On Hook For Big Payday Benefiting Dem Lawyer From Steele Dossier Debacle (Marc Elias). But then 'Bonchie' at Red State chimes in with Kari Lake Finally Scores a Win Against Katie Hobbs and sundance at CTH explains Arizona Judge Orders Kari Lake to Pay $33,000 in Witness Fees but No Legal Sanctions. 

At Da Caller, Democrats Move To Rewrite State Voting Laws After Midterm Wins, because, of course they do. I&I has a poll, U.S. Voters (Overwhelmingly) Want Their Old Election System Back. Racists and transphobes, of course.

Tom Jackson at Haut Hair VIP thinks he has More evidence of why DeSantis may never peak. Tom Joyce at WaEx claims Mike Pence would be a candidate without a constituency. My feelings exactly. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.27.22 and Louder with Crowder, Potential GOP presidential candidate shows off the flamethrower Santa Claus brought her for Christmas, Kristi Noem.

Also from the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.27.22 at Twitchy, Occasional Cortex Calls For People To Defend Drag Queen Story Hour From The Far Right, also, Oilfield Rando Takes A Deep, Disturbing Dive Into CDC’s “LGBTQ Self-Assessment” For Schools. e-twitter-files

Wednesday Wetness

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy New Year! ready for your digital pleasure.

Oregon, My Oregon

 At Human Events, Portland Dismisses Hundreds of Felony Cases Amid Public Defender Shortage

A lack of public defenders in Portland, Oregon has caused Multnomah County judges to dismiss hundreds of felony cases including cases involving robbery, assault, and harassment.

According to the District Attorney's office, 300 cases have been dismissed in 2022 through December 9 because of the public defender shortage, two-thirds of which were felony cases.

In November, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said in a statement, "Months into this crisis, many are still waiting for their day in court while others have seen their cases dismissed altogether."

Schmidt, an outspoken progressive, was elected in 2020 while Portland was engulfed in Antifa-backed riots and violence. Schmidt has been critical of police and implemented significantly relaxed bail reform policies during his tenure.

Schmidty said the lack of public defenders "sends a message to crime victims in our community that justice is unavailable and their harm will go unaddressed. It also sends a message to individuals who have committed a crime that there is no accountability while burning through scarce police and prosecutor resources."

According to a review from the American Bar Association, Oregon only has 31 percent of the public defense attorneys it would need to properly handle all the cases that come through the courts.

They voted poorly. 

Pilot Rescued After Bay Crash

CBM, Pilot Of Small Plane Rescued From Icy Water Near Annapolis

The remarkable rescue unfolded just before 11 a.m. Dec. 26 on Beards Creek, off the South River in Edgewater. Maryland State Police say Steve Couchman, 71, had just taken off from Lee Airport in Edgewater when his plane’s engine began sputtering. Witnesses tell police they heard the sputtering and, moments later, heard the Piper Cherokee single-engine plane crash into Beards Creek.

Bella Watson, a 20-year-old from Riva, was pet-sitting at a home overlooking Beards Creek and happened to be looking out the window. She saw a small plane fly in very low over the creek, start to skid on the ice, and after about a block she saw it stop and sink—nose down.

Couchman, who is from Frederick, Md., exited his sinking plane and stood on the wing, according to police. Watson didn’t have a phone with her, and ran to nearby homes to ask someone to call 911. As she arrived at Annapolis Landing’s community pier, she saw the attempted rescue.

Three people made their way across the ice in kayaks and when they got close enough, the pilot was able to hang onto one of the kayaks to stay afloat.

Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) quickly arrived by boat, an officer cutting through the ice and pulling the pilot safely into the police boat. NRP brought Couchman ashore at Annapolis Landing Marina, where he was able to stand and walk with assistance, according to Watson. An ambulance brought the pilot to Anne Arundel Medical Center. He is being treated for injuries he suffered during the crash, but Couchman is expected to make a recovery.

The kayakers were not injured, but very cold. Anne Arundel County Fire Department helped them with warming on the scene.

Towboat operators will attempt to salvage the plane from the creek in the coming days.

Good on the kayakers, as well as the NRP officers. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - COVID Twitter Files Drop

Working right through the holiday season, Elon Musk's Twitter team filed latest installment yesterday, concerning Twitter's censorship of dissenting views, and the government's role in egging it on. It seemingly first arose under Trump, with the government suggesting coverage slanted against hoarding and panic buying at supermarkets (which did occur) but intensified under Biden as the government went all in against opposition to mask mandates, vaccine hesitancy, school closures and other interventions, including banning and blacklisting a Stanford professor of epidemiology. You can see the full thread in natural order at Twitchy, David Zweig thread is ‘the latest and most disgraceful #TwitterFiles yet’ (on rigged Covid debate).  Jazz Shaw at Haut Hair, The latest Twitter Files focus on COVID "misinformation"

There are so many more examples of people, including acknowledged medical and scientific experts having their tweets flagged or their accounts suspended, simply for offering professional opinions that differed from the CDC narrative. And they were often later proven to be correct. None of this White House “influence” on content moderation at Twitter was subtle. It wasn’t a case (as the FBI has tried to claim) of the government “providing information” to Twitter and leaving it up to the company to decide. They were specifically calling out individual tweets and accounts, expressing the President’s “anger,” and demanding action. It was flat-out participation in and even direction of censorship of citizens participating in the most critical debate of that time. And this was all an obvious violation of the First Amendment on the part of the Biden White House. So who can hold them accountable and how might that happen? Stay tuned.

At NYPo, Biden admin pushed to bar Twitter users for COVID ‘disinformation,’ files show. 'Bonchie' at Red State, The One We've Been Waiting For: Twitter Files on COVID-19 Drops. At the Freep, How Twitter Rigged the Covid Debate. At Da Mail Twitter Files dump shows company SUPPRESSED debate and information from doctors and experts which clashed with White House - and suspended vaccine skeptic Alex Berenson at Biden's request.  Sundance at CTH, Twitter File Release #11 – The Government Censorship Campaign to Control COVID-19 Information (he seems one high in his count). Ace, The Twitter Files: How Twitter Rigged the Covid Debate. At Town Hall Cutie Pavlich wonders Did the Twitter Files Just Reveal an Impeachable Offense for Biden? "Biden's directive to quash free speech critical of his policies is sparking calls for impeachment." Ben Domenech@bdomenech "Taking sides against the First Amendment in such an egregious way is treachery worthy of high crimes and misdemeanors. If Trump had called NBC and told them to fire Rachel Maddow or risk their license, it would be no different." I'd rather impeach him for encouraging an invasion at the southern border, but, hey, whatever works!

I would like to point out that this surely extends far further than Twitter; all the major social media were involved. The only time I have ever been censored by Google is when I mentioned the Great Barrington Declaration posts, twice.

Also from Twitchy, Ted Lieu got fact checked so hard he had to delete his tweet for WuFlu disinformation. Kelley K@KelleyKga Replying to @tedlieu and @davidzweig "@tedlieu The preprint you linked to has actually been re-written as a result of my critique because it is seriously flawed and inaccurate. You linked to the old version."

Sundance reports Elon Musk Tinkering in The Background, by taking multiple servers off line and observing that Twitter still works, leads him to the suspicion that Twitter may be on government servers too. 'Bonchie' again Elon Musk Talks Conspiracy Theories and Absolutely Nails It. "As Musk says, essentially every “conspiracy theory” that the right pushed about Twitter in the last several years turned out to be true. Yet, in some ways, it all feels like too little, too late. Looking at Twitter today is a bit like looking at a crime scene after you know the killer has already fled to Mexico to drink piña coladas on a beach." At Am Think Brian C. Joondeph thinks There Certainly Was an Insurrection, But Not by Trump. At Twitchy, Brit Hume sums up everything we’ve learned from the #TwitterFiles with just 1 PERFECT word and BOOM, "Censorship." Debra Saunders at Am Spec (cited at Haut Hair) wants Elon Musk for House Speaker. It's not like he already doesn't have enough jobs. He may not be eligible though, given that the Speaker is in the line of succession to the Preznit, and he was born in South Africa. Nick Arama at Red State catches how Elon Musk Trolls Dmitry Medvedev After He Posts Wild Predictions, the Left Loses It

At Am Great, the great Victor Davis Hanson asks What Will the FBI Not Do? Do they still draw the line at political assassinations? "The next two years are dangerous times for the FBI—and the country. The House will soon likely begin investigations of the agency’s improper behavior. Yet, simultaneously, the Biden Justice Department will escalate its use of the bureau as a partisan investigative service for political purposes." At Wa Ex, Paul Bedard reports that 63% want FBI ‘censorship’ of social media investigated. Jack Phillips at ET sees the GOP Float Church Committee-Style Investigation of FBI After ‘Twitter Files.’

At HE, Big Tech Collectively Lost $7.4 Trillion in 2022 Really? That's a lot of money! Josiah Lippincott at Am Great thinks Trump Should Get Back on Twitter "He needs unfiltered access to all Americans. He needs to do everything he can to get that access back." It would also be good for Musk's Twitter.

As I reported yesterday Kari Lake Loses Lawsuit Over Defeat In Arizona. Scott Johnson at Power Line is not shocked Jack Clifford: Lake v. Hobbs, the ruling.

The “clear and convincing” burden of proof is a much higher burden of proof than the “preponderance of the evidence” used in most civil cases, but much lower than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard normally applied in criminal cases. Most folks consider the preponderance of evidence standard to be 51 percent likely, or simply “more likely than not.” The “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard is closer to 98% or 99% likely, or just plain way, way more likely than not likely. The “clear and convincing” standard is in between. I do not know that saying you must prove something to be 75 percent more likely than not is correct in order to meet that burden, but you get the idea.

What difference does it make? Lots of difference. Here’s how. Much of Lake’s case was hearsay. Ms. Honey relied on what another person said in an affidavit about ballots being added to the stream of ballots by Runbeck employees without a chain of custody for them and in violation of law. She did not see this happen with her own eyes. Defense counsel was unable to cross examine the person who allegedly saw the deed take place.

Freshman law students will tell you those statements were not made in person inside the courtroom, were not subject to cross examination at trial, and are hearsay on their face. In general, hearsay statements are not admissible in a trial. The law of evidence favors testimony limited to what witnesses saw or experienced themselves and not what somebody else told them.

On the other hand, Rachel Alexander at Town Hall thinks The Dismissal of Kari Lake’s Election Lawsuit Shows Voter Disenfranchisement No Longer Matters

In 2019, a judge ordered a new election for a Georgia House seat based on merely finding that four voters were ineligible. Also that year, in North Carolina, Democrats were all too happy to praise a judge ordering a new election where a contractor was accused of illegally collecting hundreds of ballots for the winning Republican candidate. He wasn’t even convicted yet, merely accused.

In 2020, after hundreds of mail-in ballots were discovered in a mailbox in Paterson, New Jersey, a judge ordered a new election in the city council race that was affected. Last year, in Surry County, North Carolina, a judge ordered a new election in the commissioners’ race over the mere action of a poll worker informing voters that one of the candidates was deceased. The courts in these cases did not set high bars for proof unlike Thompson.

How much do you want to bet those cases favored Democrats? Ace, Judge Dismisses Kari Lake's Election Lawsuit, Because Of Course, "Another stolen election."  Sundance, Katie Hobbs and Arizona Officials Now Seek Fines and $25,000+ in Judicial Sanctions as Punishment Against Kari Lake. "I’m a little surprised Mrs. Hobbs did not request 1,000 hrs of indentured servitude against Mrs. Lake, whereby the plaintiff would be forced to cook, clean and do other domestic chores for the wounded Mrs. Hobbs.  Then again, I probably shouldn’t give them any ideas." Natalia Mittelstadt at JTN reports Arizona county was stumped by unregistered voters, old addresses, discrepant tallies, emails reveal ""It is your call how you want to handle the provisional ballots," the Pima County elections director wrote to the county recorder." Breitbart hears CNN’s Jeff Zeleny: Stacey Abrams One of the Biggest Political Losers of the Year.

Dave Kelz at Am Spec thinks 2022 Was a Horrendous Year for Biden, "Another dreadful year has come and gone for the teleprompter president." At WaEx, Year in Review: Biden's top 10 blunders of 2022. Ace, In "Blatant Friday Evening News Dump," Biden Administration Releases Disastrous Border Insecurity Numbers Just Before Christmas. Ben Whedon at JTN  BLS claps back at Philadelphia Fed report suggesting it overstated Q2 job growth "BLS said that other regional Federal Reserve Banks have often conducted their own reports but that the agency had determined their varying methodologies resulted in "lower quality data."  In other words, contradicted the governments position. Matt Palumbo at Bongino does the math and sees Many Democrat-Run Cities Are More Dangerous Than War Zones.

At Da Caller, Trump Says He ‘Specifically Asked’ Jared And Ivanka To Bow Out Of 2024. I call bullshit. At PM, Journey songwriter files cease-and-desist against bandmate who played 'Don’t Stop Believin' at Mar-A-Lago. "Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain performed “Don’t Stop Believin'” for former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November with Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kari Lake." Too bad. You put it out there for public use. Duanne Patterson at Haut Hair VIP tries to make The case for and against Chris Sununu. I'm reflexively against political dynasties, however trivial. 

Matt Margolis at PJ Media sees Another Disturbing Video of 'Rachel' Levine Is Going Viral. 

Rachel Levine calls for big tech to censor “health misinformation” impacting “gender affirming care.” Says “gender affirming care” has a positive value for youth. pic.twitter.com/XdfyZknbuZ

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 26, 2022

Levine clearly acknowledges that transitioning kids pushes them down a path to irreversible infertility. He wouldn’t trade his transitions later in life for his children, yet he’s not only advocating for young people to be mutilated and robbed of the joys of parenthood later in life, he’s also pushing for the censorship of voices who are speaking out against it—include us here a PJ Media.

Ace, Biden's Transgender Surgeon General Pressures Social Media Monopolies to Censor More True Information, Claiming That Transgender Operations Are Good for "Adults and Youth," And Any Claim to the Contrary is Misinformation Which Must Be Censored. "You will be made to submit to the Empire of Lies." Da Caller chronicles  What’s In The ‘Obscene’ Books Being Removed From Schools Across The Country. OK, Groomers. Andrea Widburg at Am Think thinks A federal judge essentially says parents have no rights over their children: 

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit from Massachusetts parents who accused public school officials of hiding their children’s gender transitions from them. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni, an Obama appointee, criticized Ludlow Public Schools officials for allegedly hiding the pair of siblings’ gender transitions from their parents, but he said the officials’ actions do not “shock the conscience.”

Stephen Kruiser at PJ Media accuses  Mitch McConnell of  Wanting to Lose and Stay in the Minority. The graft is just as good either way, and being in the minority is a lot less work. 

Jazz Shaw at Haut Hair Three more substations attacked in Washington... on Christmas morning. Is it left-wing eco-terror or right-wing sabotaging the cities? It would be nice to know.

If the FBI can be bothered to stop censoring people on social media long enough to do some actual work, they should be looking into this. We may just be seeing a series of copycat sickos acting randomly, but if this is some sort of widespread, coordinated domestic terror operation, they need to get to the bottom of it. And assuming the perpetrators can be identified and captured, they need to be charged with a lot more than simple vandalism. The phrase “domestic terrorism” gets abused in the press quite a bit these days, particularly on the left, but these attacks should certainly qualify for the label.