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MAY 25,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

LOOK WHO HAS LEFT US – FROM THE HILL:   William Shakespeare, who was among the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine, died of an unrelated illness at the age of 81.  Shakespeare left behind his wife of 53 years, Joy, along with two sons and grandchildren, after he had a stroke, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said, the BBC reported.  Those in his life spoke about the pride he had in being among the first to get the coronavirus vaccine.  “Bill was so grateful for being offered the opportunity to become one of the first people in the world to be given the vaccine,” his wife said, according to the BBC.  "It was something he was hugely proud of — he loved seeing the media coverage and the positive difference he was able to make to the lives of so many,” she added.   Of course, he's had media coverage before, especially when "Macbeth" opened,   It is reported from another source that he died from extreme stress brought on by indecision.  He couldn't decide whether to be or not to be.  (Okay, you don't have to laugh.) 

GROSSLY OUTRAGEOUS IN THIS DEMOCRACY – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:  Parents in Loudoun County, Virginia, are outraged over the public school district’s decision to start using an anonymous “Bias Reporting” form.  The parents, who are part of a recently formed political action committee called “Fight for Schools,” say the form “asks students to anonymously cancel each other” in an effort to root out racism.   “Another day in Loudoun County, another Orwellian move from Loudoun County Public Schools,” the group said in an email last week. “This time [the district] has created a system where students and parents can anonymously report other students for ‘bias.’ … What could possibly go wrong?!”  The message also includes a screenshot of an email reportedly sent by the school stating that students can “denote if they wish to have the incident followed up at their respective school.”  A spokesperson for Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) told The Washington Times that the form is part of the district’s “Detailed Action Plan to Combat Systemic Racism.”  “The specific reason behind this action step is to utilize it as a means to amplify and elevate student voice,” the spokesperson said in an email last week.  The decision to create the form stems from a 2019 “Systemic Equity Assessment” that “revealed some students who felt marginalized or had experienced bias,” the spokesperson said.  I guess the next move is to ask students to spy on their parents.  All in the name of fighting evil.

May 25, 2021       Permalink

DOWN, DOWN, GOES THE TITANIC OF TV NEWS – OVERNIGHT:  CNN, the worst name in news, keeps sinking, and you begin to wonder who's paying the bills.  From Newsbusters: 

Along with its ongoing ethical problems, a deceptive marketing campaign, and a continued hatred for non-liberal voices, it’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year for the Jeffrey Zucker-led CNN. And as per the latest Nielsen ratings, CNN has continued to hemorrhage viewers with primetime and entire day total viewership down over 70 percent since January.

Nielsen Media Research has the breakdown and it’s not pretty, no matter how the Zucker Borg would spin it. Since a January high of roughly 798,000 primetime viewers and 530,000 total day viewers in the 25-54 demographic, CNN has fallen off a cliff and into the pit of misery with the network fetching only 229,000 in primetime and 152,000 in total day over the past month.

Remember, there are more than 330 million people in this country.   CNN, on a very good boom day, might edge to one third of one percent of that population.  One a bad day...their viewers meet in a closet.

That, dear NewsBusters readers, would represent a cratering of 71 percent for both metrics. Granted, January saw the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the second Trump impeachment, and the Biden inauguration, but to lose anything by such a large metric isn’t anything one should brag about.

If you’re delusional enough to think it was significantly better among all age demographics, think again (and we won’t even get to what fellow liberal network MSNBC has been pulling on weekends).
CNN flaunted their ratings back in January when they fetched nearly two million viewers (1.899 million) in total day and nearly three million (2.713 million) in primetime, but they haven’t had anything to write about since then as the last month yielded only 229,000 primetime viewers and a paltry audience of 152,000 in total day.

As percentages, those would work out to devastating drops of 65 percent and 67 percent, respectively.
Instead of making changes to their lineup to improve ratings and seek to reconcile with the side of the aisle they’ve treated like enemies, individual CNN shows have been paddling the struggleboat.
After a horrid start, the rebooted New Day fetched its worst week of the year last week with only 461,000 total viewers and 108,000 from the 25-54 demo.

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  I wouldn't want the guys who run CNN to be piloting my airliner.   In fact, the whole cable audience is smaller than people think.  But in that audience are the most politically influential eyes in the country, which gives cable news more power than its viewer numbers warrant. 

May 25, 2021       Permalink

MAY 24,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

DO BLACK LIVES ACTUALLY MATTER? – FROM FOX:   At least eight people have been killed and 34 were injured in shootings across Chicago this weekend, reports said.  The youngest victim, Dajon Gater, 15, was killed on the city's West Side Friday night. Gater was standing on a front porch when two males approached him and fired, striking him in the head, FOX 32 Chicago reported. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, police said.  At least two other people were fatally shot Friday, following an incident at an East Garfield Park convenience store.  Police said a male was in an argument with a woman, 23, when he started shooting at her and an 18-year-old male who was with her. The woman, identified as Destiny Nunez, suffered a gunshot wound to the torso and was pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said. The other victim, Adrian Navarro, was struck multiple times in the torso and leg. Navarro was transported to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.  Another normal weekend in Chicago, with many black lives taken or ruined.  Notice the interest of the political left.  Notice the tough questions being asked of the black leadership.  The mayor is a woke fool who won't take questions from white reporters, and who responded to a "no confidence in her" declaration from a Chicago police organization by calling it a badge of honor.  There is no movement to throw her out. 

A BIT OF BOTHER – FROM EPOCH TIMES:   Auditors who are examining votes in Windham, New Hampshire, may have discovered why initial results showed a discrepancy in the vote count for a Democrat candidate.  Republicans in Windham, New Hampshire won all four seats in the legislative election on Nov. 3, but a Democrat candidate, Kristi St. Lauren, requested a recount, which was granted because she lost by just 24 votes.  However, during a hand recount, it was revealed that she didn’t lose by 24 votes. Instead, the effort revealed that the GOP candidates had actually received 300 additional votes, while St. Laurent lost 99 votes.  An audit was carried out to determine why there was a discrepancy in the initial results and the recount tally. Now, the auditors involved in the process have said that they may have discovered the reason why.  “We now have experimental confirmation that if the contest is undervoted, a fold through a vote target can create a vote. None of the 65 ballots [were] marked for St. Laurent, but the machines interpreted 25 of the folds as votes for her,” wrote the Twitter account, WindhamNHAuditors, which is operated by auditors Harri Hursti, Mark Lindeman, and Phillip Stark. It later clarified that it was 75 votes, not 65 votes.   What a great way to conduct a modern election.  How inspiring!  With developments like these, a good argument can be made to audit the entire 2020 election result nationally.  But it won't happen. 

May 24, 2021       Permalink

RON HITS ANOTHER HOMER – OVERNIGHT:  Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida makes another contribution to good government, taking on high tech.  This could be the start of a serious trend.  We hope so.  From Fox Business: 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a measure that he says will protect state residents from Silicon Valley’s "power grab on speech, thought and content."

The Big Tech Bill, as DeSantis calls it, allows residents to fight back against de-platforming and censorship, allowing them to sue tech companies for up to $100,000 in damages for each proven claim in a bid to ensure companies are more transparent about their content moderation practices.

The law requires companies to detail how they reach conclusions about content moderation and stick to those standards consistently, DeSantis said during a press conference on Monday.

The Florida Attorney General will also be able to bring action against tech companies that violate the law, which prohibits the de-platforming of political candidates as well.

"This session, we took action to ensure that ‘We the People’ — real Floridians across the Sunshine State — are guaranteed protection against the Silicon Valley elites," DeSantis said in a statement. "If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable."

DeSantis noted that Florida would be the first state to implement such a law.

COMMENT:  It's the start of a long battle.  Big tech has big lawyers, and no doubt they will try to bring down the new law in court. 

But I think Ron will have the public on his side.  And he can make this a major issue in his upcoming campaign for re-election.  This and school choice.

DeSantis is considered a frontrunning candidate for president in 2024.  Taking on cancel culture is one of the reasons.

May 24,  2021     Permalink