OLD AND BUSTED: “The Male Gaze.”
The new hotness? Skynet’s gaze! World’s first beauty pageant for AI women is announced: ‘Miss AI’ contest will see computer-generated ladies face off in tests of beauty, technology and social-media clout — with a $20,000 prize at stake.
PARTY OF YOUTH UPDATE: John Cougar Mellencamp, 72, angry that fans don’t want a lecture on the wonders of Joe Biden, age 81:
If I were in the audience I would demand a refund. Or reverse the charges on the credit card used to buy the tickets.
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) April 16, 2024
UNEXPECTEDLY! ABC, NBC, CBS Fail To Tell Viewers Trump Prosecutors Are ‘Democrats’ 90% Of Time.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, barring any unforeseen delays, will begin his criminal trial of former President Donald Trump on Monday on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to cover up “hush money” allegations.
The trial is unprecedented. Political implications loom large. The Republican nominee for president and favorite to win the general election faces a full team of Democratic prosecutors.
Yet Americans who rely on evening newscasts from legacy broadcast networks for information are likely unaware of the latter fact.
Rich Noyes is a contributing editor for MRC NewsBusters, the most reliable media watchdog in the industry today. Noyes led a team of analysts who reviewed “NBC Nightly News,” “CBS Evening News” and ABC’s “World News Tonight” from January 1, 2023, through April 10, 2024.
MRC found that the three networks failed to inform viewers during “at least 90 percent” of the coverage that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, and New York Attorney General Letitia James are Democrats.
“The network coverage of the Trump prosecutions routinely and fraudulently implies that they are nonpartisan public officials. It’s Trump versus the New York Attorney General, or the Manhattan District Attorney,” NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham told Fox News Digital.
“They’re not just Democrats, they’re elected Democrats, building a career on taking down Trump. Leaving that out of the story is irresponsible.”
Just think of the media as Democratic Party operatives with bylines, and the bias-by-omission makes perfect sense.
Evergreen:
DISPATCHES FROM WEIMAR AMERICA: Mother Moves Son to CA for Chemical Castration.
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: U.S. pharmacy database shows record-high shortages of medical drugs.
DEAL OF THE DAY: Glocusent LED Neck Reading Light, Book Light for Reading in Bed. #CommissionEarned (Bumped)
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS:
Shot: Another Boeing whistleblower says he faced retaliation for reporting ‘shortcuts.’
—NPR, Friday.
Chaser: NPR suspends veteran editor Uri Berliner who called out left-wing bias.
NPR has suspended Uri Berliner, the senior editor who published a bombshell essay a week ago that claimed that the publicly funded outlet has “lost America’s trust” by approaching news stories with a left-wing bias.
NPR media writer David Folkenflik revealed on Tuesday that Berliner beginning on Friday was suspended for five days without pay. Folkenflik, who reviewed a copy of the letter from NPR brass, said that the company told the editor he had failed to secure its approval for outside work for other news outlets — a requirement of NPR journalists.
NPR called the letter a “final warning,” saying Berliner would be fired if he violated NPR’s policy again.
Neither NPR nor Berliner immediately responded to requests for comment.
Curiously, beleaguered NPR CEO Katherine Maher hasn’t locked down her Twitter account or deleted her tweets yet: Christopher Rufo Goes Through New NPR CEO’s Amazingly Woke Twitter Timeline, which could well be driving Berliner’s suspension:
Gentlemen, start your screenshots; there’s a pretty good chance the treasure trove of hot takes from Maher that Rufo uncovered won’t be online much longer:
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Perhaps red-state legislators and governors should require their public universities to disassociate themselves from NPR, given its commitment to racism and hate. NPR is all over red states, supported financially and otherwise by public universities.
INDUSTRIAL POLICY: Samsung Snags $6.4 Billion For Texas Fabs. “As I’ve written before, semiconductor subsidies are the wrong solution for the wrong problem (especially if the Biden Administration demands Samsung pledge fealty to social justice before sucking the taxpayers teat). But if you are going to subsidize someone, and your goal is more cutting edge American fabs, then Samsung isn’t the worst recipient.”
You have to wonder if Samsung is hoping the social justice regs buried in the CHIPS act will get 86’d by the next administration.
For decades, the attitude toward the documentary “Let It Be” in the Beatles‘ camp seemed to be: Let it it rest in peace. But the film is finally going to be seen again. A restored version of the 1970 movie is coming soon to Disney+, the same service that brought fans “The Beatles: Get Back,” the 2021 Peter Jackson docuseries that used outtakes from director Michael Lindsay-Hogg‘s original film.
The documentary will re-premiere on Disney+ May 8, certain to be a red-letter day for Beatles fans who have spent most of their lives wondering if it would ever be let out of the vault again. Not only has the 1970 film been dusted off, but it’s been restored by Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production using the same technology employed to make the vintage footage in “The Beatles: Get Back” look and sound as revitalized as it did.
The original film has been notorious for being the one item in the Beatles’ catalog that Apple seemed to want to suppress rather than exploit. “Let It Be” has not been officially in circulation in any form since the early 1980s, although muddy-looking bootleg copies have been widely available. Those boots were lifted off VHS and laserdisc versions that came out in the early days of the home video revolution; the movie never made it to a release in the DVD era, much less Blu-Ray or streaming.
Jackson used hours of outtakes from Lindsay-Hogg’s footage to assemble “The Beatles: Get Back.” During the publicity campaign for that project, he repeatedly vowed that his fresh treatment of the material was meant to complement the original film, not forever supplant it, and that the original doc would eventually be seen again so that they could stand as companion pieces.
“I’m absolutely thrilled that Michael’s movie, ‘Let It Be,’ has been restored and is finally being re-released after being unavailable for decades,” Jackson said in a statement. “I was so lucky to have access to Michael’s outtakes for ‘Get Back,’ and I’ve always thought that ‘Let It Be’ is needed to complete the ‘Get Back’ story. Over three parts, we showed Michael and the Beatles filming a groundbreaking new documentary, and ‘Let It Be’ is that documentary – the movie they released in 1970. I now think of it all as one epic story, finally completed after five decades. The two projects support and enhance each other: ‘Let It Be’ is the climax of ‘Get Back,’ while ‘Get Back’ provides a vital missing context for ‘Let It Be.’ Michael Lindsay-Hogg was unfailingly helpful and gracious while I made ‘Get Back,’ and it’s only right that his original movie has the last word… looking and sounding far better than it did in 1970.”
For serious Beatles Kremlinologists, Get Back teased that Let It Be would likely be finally coming out in some form. Peter Jackson’s miniseries ends with the Beatles’ legendary final concert atop the Apple office building on Savile Row, but in 1969, the day after the rooftop concert, the Beatles were filmed performing three acoustic numbers indoors that they had deemed unsuitable for playing in the wintry conditions on the roof:
On 31 January, the last day of filming and recording, the Beatles reconvened in the Apple building’s basement studio. They played complete performances of “Two of Us”, “The Long and Winding Road” and “Let It Be”, which were included in the film as the end of the Apple studio segment, before the closing rooftop segment.
Presumably at Christmastime, there will some sort of box set, with either the Let It Be movie on Blu-Ray with an assortment of outtakes and bonus footage, the movie bundled with the Get Back miniseries, or both projects bundled with some or all of the contents from the Let It Be CD box set from 2021.
But will there be a token theatrical release as well? And will audiences respond differently than they did in 1970?
The crowd I first saw the original film with weren’t interested in a happier spin on the Beatles. They were there to render judgment, to be the choric voice of the Beatles’ community declaring their disapproval. In other words, they were there to boo. They were there to boo Yoko Ono. If I remember the film correctly, the opening credits were barely done when we see John Lennon, and there is Yoko, sitting right beside him.
“Boooo.”
Then, there is Yoko, knitting right beside him.
“Boooo.”
For the length of the movie, every time Yoko was on camera, the crowd booed, as if to say, “Take that, Yoko, for breaking up the Beatles.”
There are two things generally remembered about the film now: the euphoric rooftop concert that closes the movie and the horrible, miserable dust-up between bossy-pants Paul and passive-aggressive George. McCartney has been trying to get Harrison to play a less-busy strumming, and does so with cringe-making condescension: “I’m trying to help, but I always hear myself annoying you,” says an exasperated Paul.
“No, you’re not annoying me,” says George in a flat you’re-dead-to-me tone. “You don’t annoy me anymore.” It is the scene that best captures the unhappiness and mutual dislike that was destroying the band.
But Peter Jackson says that such scenes did not accurately represent what was going on between the Beatles, and he has the footage to prove it.
Jackson’s Get Back decisively accomplished that in 2021; finally though we’ll get to see, in pristine form, the last movie release from their run as an active band.
LIMIT THE CASH-COW ENROLLMENT OF FOREIGN STUDENTS VIA LAW OR TAX REGULATION AND YOU’D SOLVE MUCH OF THE CAMPUS ANTI-SEMITISM PROBLEM: Gaza Grilling Felled Two Ivy Presidents. Columbia Hopes to Avoid the Same Fate.
Four months after a congressional hearing prompted the resignations of two Ivy League university presidents, the leader of Columbia University is set to face questions Wednesday from the same committee trying to determine how she has protected students as protesters rage against Israel and the war in Gaza.
Columbia President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik has the advantages of hindsight and months to prepare. . . .
“Some of the worst cases of antisemitic assaults, harassment, and vandalism on campus have occurred at Columbia University,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.) in a March statement. Foxx is the chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, which is holding the hearing.
Jewish students at Columbia have alleged incidents of assault, antisemitic graffiti like swastikas, calls for the destruction of Israel at rallies and speaking invitations from student groups to members of foreign terrorist groups.
Shafik, who became Columbia’s president on July 1, 2023, has defended the university’s actions following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
The free speech argument would be more compelling if Columbia had a record of vigorously defending the free speech of students its leadership didn’t agree with. It doesn’t. And with the AAUP and university faculties suddenly interested in defending academic freedom — where have you been? It’s not like higher education hasn’t spent the past decade or two convincing the public it was a toxic industry.
Flashback: Welcome to the party, pal!
FORGET IT, HE’S ROLLING: Projection Much? ‘Morning Joe’ Scarborough’s On-Air Meltdown “If a lefty isn’t projecting, it’s only because zhey haven’t had zheir soy-based coffee yet.”
Despite paying $1,400 a month in payments totaling more than $50,000, she still owes a balance of $74,000 to her lender – GM Financial.
Not only did she not make a down payment, she said she traded in a previous car on which she had fallen into negative equity.
Negative equity occurs when a driver owes more on their car loan than the vehicle is now worth. Sometimes, a dealer or lender can offer to roll the balance of an existing auto loan onto a new one, making it more expensive.
While rolling over debt into a new loan can seem convenient, it can be very dangerous and dealers have been known to not properly inform buyers that they will still be responsible for the remaining balance.
‘Honestly, it blows my mind that I have paid $50,000 into this car and only paid off $10,000,’ Arnold said.
She told DailyMail.com the loan was issued to her on the very day she visited the dealer – and that had an APR of 10.2 percent.
‘I did not go with my husband and as a female I feel they took advantage of me. They knew I really wanted the car and that I was by myself,’ she said.
The $84,000 loan was issued to her by GM Financial, the financial services arm of General Motors and the only lender to approve her on the day.
‘The dealer pretty much told me they can get me out the door with the car within an hour. He didn’t act like it was something I should be concerned about,’ she said.
I’m trying to think of a bad decision she missed but I’m coming up short. The implied supposition that the car dealer has the shopper’s best interest at heart might be the biggest though.
ABOUT THOSE PRO-HAMAS DEMOS MONDAY: They shut down the Golden Gate Bridge for hours and disrupted commerce, people and traffic in Chicago, New York and elsewhere across the country.
Ever wonder how the Democrats and the Left can organize these “protests” so quickly? The Washington Free Beacon’s Jessica Costescu exposes the Soros-backed far-left Dark Money groups behind those disruptions and those very likely to come soon.
NOW OUT: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: The Final Analysis. #CommissionEarned
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: US drug shortages reach record high with 323 meds now in short supply. “There are myriad reasons for the hundreds of drug shortages now facing doctors and patients, many of which remain unclear. But, as Ars has reported before, the root cause of shortages of low-cost, off-patent generic drugs is well established. These drugs have razor-thin to non-existent profit margins, driven by middle managers who have, in recent years, pushed down wholesale prices to rock-bottom levels. In some cases, generic manufacturers lose money on the drugs, disincentivizing other players in the pharmaceutical industry from stepping in to bolster fragile supply chains. Several generic manufacturers have filed for bankruptcy recently.”
Left unsaid in the linked story: The US is relying more on China for pharmaceuticals — and vice versa.
TIME HAS COME TODAY: These two stories were published on the same day a few weeks ago.
I’m so old, I can remember when Oceania at least waited a few days in-between declaring it was always at war/never at war with East Asia.
WHY IS HIGHER EDUCATION SUCH A CESSPIT OF ANTI-SEMITISM? Former Cornell student pleads guilty to threatening to shoot Jewish students.
IT MIGHT NOT TASTE VERY GOOD BUT AT LEAST IT HAS STUPID AMOUNTS OF SODIUM: That’s Impossible! Vegan ‘Meat’ Not So Good for You After All.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: CUNY prof says O.J. Simpson was guilty, but his acquittal was ‘necessary’ in a ‘racist legal system.’
Lol, Marc Lamont Hill.
CHANGE: NASA to look for new options to carry out Mars Sample Return program.
NASA will seek “out of the box” ideas in a bid to reduce the costs and shorten the schedule for returning samples from Mars.
In an April 15 briefing, agency officials announced they would solicit proposals from NASA centers and from industry on “innovative designs” to reshape its Mars Sample Return (MSR) effort after an internal review confirmed the ballooning costs of the overall program.
That review found that the current program would cost between $8 billion and $11 billion, the same range offered by an independent assessment completed last September. To fit that into the overall planetary science budget without affecting other programs would delay the return of samples from the early 2030s to 2040.
“The bottom line is that $11 billion is too expensive and not returning samples until 2040 is unacceptably too long,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at the briefing.
By 2040, some helpful resident of Elon City might mail back a sample via SpaceXpress.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: While Biden’s World Burns, Dems Froth Over Trump’s Kangaroo Trials. “The rogue’s gallery of scofflaw prosecutors and judges they’ve put together have kept the fantasy alive for now. Legal precedent be damned, these commies are just making up the law as they go along.”
THREAD:
(Thread) In reaction to Florida’s DEI ban, FSU is renaming its DEI office the Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance and Engagement. That’s cute, but they gave me an idea. https://t.co/2mn4cDRYgR
— David Mastio (@DavidMastio) April 16, 2024
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