Black Panther was a fairly good Marvel comic book movie (not as good as the critics would have you think, but good for a comic book movie), but it’s pretty pathetic if you have to rely on a made-up country to feel better about your racial identity.

Very interesting article, Ron. I continue to like much (not all) of what TAC is doing, but I’m glad that UnzReview has freed you to publish some more controversial material. I’m particularly glad for the American Pravda series – I’ve shown some of the articles to intelligent people I know who wouldn’t reject them out of hand immediately, and the articles have made a big impression on them. The sustained, intelligent media critiques that UnzReview runs are vitally important in this day of weaponized news.

Derb, re: the religion of SCOTUS justices, here’s my thoughts.

1. When the Democrats are picking, their most politically-connected credible choices have usually been Jews. Jews disproportionately dominate the field of law, and are very influential at the top of the Democratic Party. Sonia “affirmative action choice” Sotomayor is the outlier here.

2. Committed Republicans nowadays are, by and large, either evangelicals or Catholics. Catholics, with their older tradition and sophisticated knowledge of Latin and natural law theory, have provided much of the intellectual pedigree of the modern conservative movement, while evangelicals act as the activists and foot soldiers. Furthermore, American Catholics are more of a distinct voting bloc than your old-line-American Episcopalians and Presbyterians*, and so nominating a Catholic historically has gotten a president more political capital.

*sorry Baptists and Methodists, y’all don’t produce many lawyers with the legal resumes to make it to consideration

The biggest mystery of this whole presidency is why the guy who went to battle against the GOP foreign policy establishment turned over those policy positions to them, instead of putting people into office who actually looked favorably on him and shared areas of agreement with him (paleocons, realists, non-interventionists, etc.). The only foreign policy promise he’s kept is the one that happened to align with the neocon preferences: backing out of the Iran deal.

I guess it must come down to Jared Kushner and his close ties with Israel and the Gulf Arabs, but still find it bizarre that Trump never reached out to Pat Buchanan, Rand Paul, Steve Bannon, etc., in selecting foreign policy officials.

Having grown up in Florida, no, you are correct that Florida does not have rocky soil. UF is a very liberal college as well. Kumar’s story is sheer nonsense.

Blaming Sessions — who was absolutely essential to Trump winning the nominations — for Russiagate is idiotic. Trump didn’t have to appoint Robert Mueller. He chose to. If Trump wanted to fire Mueller, he could do it tomorrow. None of this Sessions’ fault.

I was speaking in shorthand – Trump ALLOWED his subordinate Rosenstein to appoint Mueller as n special prosecutor. Rosenstein acts only at Trump’s sufferance.

Sessions was calling possible GOP Alabama rivals today. Trump agreed to support him for the seat before he resigned.

From Bhamwiki’s summary of 2018 killings:

88 deaths resulted from shootings, six from stabbing, five from reckless driving, one by intentionally running someone over, 1 from an intentional fire, and 10 from unspecified causes. 39 incidents occurred on the streets, two at public parks, 38 at private homes, one at a school, 18 at businesses, and 10 at apartment complexes. 54 were reported in the West Precinct, 18 in the East Precinct, 15 in the South Precinct and 22 in the North Precinct [NOTE- West and North Bham are almost entirely black]. Three deaths resulted from self-defense, 9 from robbery, 7 from domestic incidents, 8 from sudden arguments, 21 over ongoing disputes, two from stray bullets, five from reckless driving, and the motive is unknown in 54 other deaths. One death is believed to have been the result of gang-related violence.

89 victims were male, 18 were female, and one was an unborn fetus. The Birmingham Police Department released the following statistics in early October, at which time they counted 79 criminal homicides: 70 were African American, 8 were white, and 1 was Latin American. 52 victims had criminal records and only seven were employed. Fifty-six victims were believed to be acquainted with their killers, including six who were romantically involved. Six victims were considered innocent bystanders.

The Jan 2, 1939, Time article explaining the choice of Hitler as Man of the Year is pretty darn negative. Yes, it mentions his success at reviving the economy, but it describes the Third Reich as a “world tragedy”, and Hitler as the “greatest threatening force that the democratic, freedom-loving world faces today.”

This is what at least one major publication thought *at the time*, not an after-the-fact description.

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760539-1,00.html

Wittgenstein did say that there was no definition for “game”, but as smart he was, he was wrong there. In Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman gave this definition:

“A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.”

It stands up under scrutiny.

My wife’s German (as in German, not German-American) has similar coloring to Alicia Vikander. Her family lore is that they have dark eyes/ hair/ and skin because of Roman ancestry. Seems odd to me, but who knows.

It is a shame that instead of following Steve Sailer’s lead and seizing on an issue to (1) revive American manufacturing, (2) protect American health, and (3) embarrass the mainstream media, the ostensibly nationalist popular outlets are acting as if mask-wearing requirements are the Stasi hauling them off to the gulag.

Considering how Pompeo, Trump & Co. do Israel’s bidding all the time, it makes little sense to think that they’re suddenly willing to assassinate a major country’s ambassador IN ISRAEL to intimidate Israel. If you want to intimidate Israel (and since when have we ever stood up to Israeli demands, let alone tried to intimidate them?), killing a Chinese guy doesn’t accomplish that.

“Anti-Black racism (as well as anti-Arab racism) as practiced by Jewish institutions and individuals ought to be critiqued where observed, but on the basis of white assimilation and imperialism, not on the basis of Jewish identity.”

Breathtaking. The author couldn’t be any more clear – when Jews are racist oppressors, they’re doing it because “whiteness” made them do it; when they’re the victims of racism, they’re suffering it because they’re Jewish.

QAnon is an idiotic fantasy by people who hero-worship every Republican president. I would guarantee that an overwhelming majority of QAnon-ers were still vociferously defending the Iraq War out of fealty to Dubya before Trump came along (and denounced the war).

Bannon’s always struck me as a grifter. His most recent gig has been some effort to unify European nationalists. Sounds to me like an excuse to wine and dine on a neverending European vacation. Who was paying the bills for that, exactly?

In any event, the accusations are fairly easy to prove or disprove. It’s all in the bank records.

Elle Jones is what we have to look forward to from all the “equity in STEM” initiatives.

I laughed at the clueless editorial aside that this story “seemed like something that might happen in the South but not here.” With the exception of super-blue Atlanta, very few shots have been fired in the South over Trump or BLM. The West Coast and upper Midwest, on the other hand…

The expectation seems to be that every level of every employer of America must have a percentage of blacks that’s equal to or above the general population. This would be mathematically impossible to achieve unless we force some blacks out of overly-represented professions. Perhaps the Marines can lure some NBA players to be 4-star generals.

They forgot Harambe!

Amazing stuff. It is now forbidden on the center-right to even name the largest funder of progressive causes … because he’s Jewish. I’m not holding my breath for MSNBC to forbid its guests from uttering the name “Sheldon Adelson.”

The more the merrier. Bring on the Asians and Native Americans too. Heck, I’m part Irish-American, and it’s accepted as conventional wisdom that “the Irish didn’t used to be regarded as white.” We can all pay reparations to each other for everything that ever happened, and it’ll all cancel out.

The Rays are, for all purposes, only about 15 years old as a franchise. I grew up in Tampa in the 90s and more of my classmates were Yankees fans than Rays fans, because the Rays were a historically awful franchise until Joe Maddon came along in ’06. Despite having some good teams since then, the franchise has still had a hard time growing its fan base because they stupidly put the stadium in St. Pete, a city full of retirees, gays, and artsy types, and it’s extremely time-consuming for people from Tampa to reach during rush hour. Other difficulties:

1. Like most of Central and South Florida, Tampa is full of 1st and 2nd generation transplants from up north, who tend to raise their kids to have the same sports loyalties.

2. The Rays have such a low payroll that the roster is constantly turning over. It’s easier to build fans when you have a star player sticking around for a decade, but with the sole exception of Evan Longoria, the Rays haven’t pulled that off.

3. During the end of the season and postseason, the Rays have to compete with another major sports team for attention (Bucs), as well as with the Gators, Seminoles, and other college football teams. (In football-crazed states, MLB would benefit by having the playoffs starting around the same time as the football season).

None of these difficulties on their own are insurmountable, but as a whole, they’ve suppressed the growth of the fan base. It’s a shame, because the Rays are a very well-run franchise and quite remarkable for frequently outperforming the huge corporate machines in Boston and the Bronx.

We can’t blame NPR, they’ve got to keep space for stories about gay Lebanese musicians being banned by Christian bishops or black Mormons leading critical race theory training sessions at their local temple (both of these are actual news stories I’ve heard over the past year).

“This is a huge accomplishment for us,”

That says it all, folks. These people think they’re doing incredible things by having a rock that was once commonly called “nigger” removed.

Obviously they should be renamed after George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, or other Founding Fathers of Anti-Racist America.

The pineal gland produces melatonin, not melanin. This is really some Nation of Islam-level crackpottery.

Race-based bullying = protecting the bullies’ “sense of safety”. Orwell couldn’t have outdone this guy.

Today I ran into a friend who’s a CEO of a food distribution company. I asked him how work was. He said “we’ve got a ton of demand but can’t get people to show up to to work.” I asked what he meant, and he explained that the “economic assistance payments” plus frequently extended unemployment benefits were disincentivizing people from working in their warehouses.

They pay between $15-20 per hour, which is more than you’ll make on unemployment, but the margin’s not so much greater as to motivate people to come and work. He explained that this is the case throughout the whole food distribution and grocery store supply chain, so companies are having to raise wages or just be unable to fulfill orders, leading to the rising food prices that we’re all seeing at the stores.

Another fun consequence of “generous benefits” from the Democrats.

This laughable piece should have been rejected immediately. “X is not a trend because it happened previously on a handful of occasions” surely must have raised eyebrows even among squishy centrist NYT subscribers.

I’m skeptical that knife fights like this are actually normal in this neighborhood – otherwise, why would the cops get called? – but if that’s the best that the defenders of Knife Girl have… Do they actually think it would be preferable for cops to just avoid coming to this neighborhood in response to calls about a large teenager trying to stab others?

In a year or two we’ll be deluged with articles about RACISM AT THE IVY LEAGUES because this wave of black admittees will be struggling with the academics. Of course, the recommendations will be the usual platter of: hiring more DIE staffers, suspicion of professors who grade impartially, ending penalties for turning work in late, and “decolonizing the curriculum” to spend less time on old white authors and more time on tacos, black hair, and Emmett Till.

Ron, the reports that US defense intelligence knew of the outbreak back in October or November is one of your strongest supports. However, I think this is entirely consistent with a lab leak in Wuhan origin for the outbreak.

We’ve learned more and more recently (see Sen. Paul’s grilling of Fauci) that the US was heavily involved in funding gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan. Indeed, it seems that much of this research was only relocated to Wuhan because the Obama administration put a moratorium on GOF research. Thus, wouldn’t it stand to reason that a lab leak could get reported to the US funding sources (which ultimately go back to Fauci and company) early on, and sources on the ground in Wuhan would notice the outbreak?

Yes, that’s a great point. I’ve never understood why Unz et al think it’s unlikely for a virus outbreak in China to spread to Iran. China and Iran have very deep trade links, and all it would take is one Iranian returning from Wuhan or one Chinese visiting Iran to start the spread.

Additionally, US sanctions on Iran have prevented Iran from importing medical supplies. See

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49051782
https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/10/29/iran-sanctions-threatening-health
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/u-s-sanctions-and-iran-s-coronavirus-22352/

So not only is there an easy explanation for how COVID could have spread to the Iranian leadership from China, there’s a good explanation for why their elderly clerics would have died at a high rate from it.

Thanks for demonstrating your lack of credibility with the stupid statement that Jesus Christ is “probably fictional.” Even if you refuse to accept Christian sources, Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius – all non-Christians writing within a few decades of Jesus’s death – record that he was a real historical person.

No serious contemporary historian, regardless of their personal religiosity, believes that Jesus Christ was not a real historical figure.

Imagine being a backup player averaging 2 tackles a game and asking for a special day off if you weren’t part of a favored class.

Kyle Rittenhouse was defending property against rioters and arsonists and was chased down and attacked by a deranged mentally ill child molester.

The Georgia 3 were irate that Arbery was walking into a house under construction (not theirs) and decided to LARP as sheriffs. Then they decided to stop a truck in front of him with a gun and tell him to stop, initiating the fatal encounter. You don’t have to think Arbery was a saint to think the Georgia 3 were rightly convicted.

Women go wild for expensive gourmet cookies. They’re the new cupcakes.

The 14th Amendment doesn’t have a restriction on the presidency, though:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State

It only applies to congress, electors, and lower offices.

That was a tediously long display of cognitive dissonance.