Link updated.
This is over an hour and a half long. Get comfortable and enjoy.
On this day in 1884, the first portion, or fascicle, of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), considered the most comprehensive and accurate dictionary of the English language, is published. Today, the OED is the definitive authority on the meaning, pronunciation and history of over half a million words, past and present.
FBI Wants to Block Memo Release:
The war between House Republicans and the DOJ/FBI continues as the bureau released a statement today saying they had “grave concerns”about the House Intelligence Committee releasing a damning FISA memo that alleges grave abuses, citing omissions that could impact its accuracy (via the Hill):
Dynasties are part and parcel of the political landscape in many third-world shitholes: the Duvaliers in Haiti, the Kims in North Korea, the Sauds of Saudi Arabia, the Perons in Argentina, the Castro brothers in Cuba, and the Marcos and Aquino families in the Philippines. The list goes on. One tends to associate dynasties with dictatorships, not with democracies. However, we’ve certainly had our share of political dynasties in Canada and the US: Turdeaus, Kennedys, Bushes, Roosevelts, and Adamses.
Back in the day, one of the reasons European folks emigrated to North America was to get away from oppressive political dynasties, which were justified by the divine right of kings. It is strange, then, that we run back to what we ran away from. Perhaps not.
In Canaduh, we have Justin Trudeau. Alas, Junior was endowed with his mother’s looks and brains. Not that his father, Pierre, was any great shakes, as the sheepish Canadian MSM tries to convince us. Pierre was a dilettante at best, a divisive and petty dictator at worst. But that’s another story. Not to insult tubers, but Junior—aka le Dauphin—pretty much has the IQ of a turnip—or perhaps a little potato. He has lisped bizarre statements such as “And the budget will balance itself” and “We have to rethink elements as basic and space and time”. You can’t make this stuff up. Sock boy’s first two years in power have been a disaster nationally and an embarrassment internationally.
Ontari-owe PC leader Patrick Brown was judgemoored last week. He’s kaput. Now Caroline Mulroney, a lawyer [insert lawyer joke here] and daughter of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, is being touted for leader of the party, as though something in her very DNA qualifies her. Why, even her sister-in-law, Jessica, a stylist and designer married to Ben of etalk infamy, has said “I think my sister-in-law Caroline Mulroney would be an amazing Premier”. It’s good that Jessica is a stylist and designer because people are shallow: looks are important in politics. I’m not sure Caroline is prettier than the Hair Lisp, but given that I’m a heterosexual male, I don’t believe I’m qualified to judge.
However, I can say that she is infinitely better-looking than Kathleen Wynne. Then again, so is a horse’s arse.
Politics. The mind boggles.
Like the Romans, we have become an empire, committed to fight for scores of nations, with troops on every continent, and forces in combat operations of which the American people are only vaguely aware.
Good article by VDH on the hubris of the Washington Establishment.
The traditional way of looking at the developing scandals at the FBI and among holdover Obama appointees in the DOJ is that the bizarre atmospherics from candidate and President Trump have simply polarized everyone in Washington, and no one quite knows what is going on.
Another, more helpful, exegesis, however, is to understand that if we’d seen a Hillary Clinton victory in November 2016, which was supposed to be a sure thing, there would now be no scandals at all.
McCabe is the subject of at least one internal DOJ investigation, maybe more than one. DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz has been investigating politically motivated behavior at the bureau during the 2016 election. One source told us that McCabe’s resignation is likely tied to Horowitz’s work.
h/t Dave
One swamp drain plug has been pulled.
[A clearly partisan] Schiff and his fellow Democrats have protested the release of the memo, which they claim is a set of talking points aimed at discrediting Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The Justice Department also expressed concern last week over the release of the report, saying that it could harm national security interests if sensitive information about sources and investigative methods are disclosed.
…
He also said that Republicans revealed during Monday’s meeting that the committee has opened an investigation into the FBI and Justice Department.
We may have another perspective if the memo is released.
Update:
According to FOX News, Mccabe was “removed” from the FBI.
Dr. Peterson gives sound advice on the path to a better life.
Katie Hopkins on the exodus from Western European shitholes.
There is hope still. Many have shared the joy and delight at their exodus from West to East – to Hungary, to Poland, and the Czech Republic. Some say Eastern Europe is the only place they feel truly safe. These people have the same hope that I heard from Steve, recounting his journey to Australia, so many years before.
Plus the state of American journalism, and the abortion industry versus illegal immigration.
Another nail in the EU coffin.
He has benefited from rising Czech hostility to immigration, especially from Muslim countries, although the country received just 116 asylum applications between January and November last year.
The country has a Muslim minority of just several thousand but warnings of security risks and loss of identity feature strongly in public debate.
Scott Moe has big shoes to fill.
Scott Moe has been elected to replace Brad Wall as leader of the Saskatchewan Party — and 15th premier of the province.
He won on the fifth and final ballot at the Saskatchewan Party leadership convention Saturday in Saskatoon. He took 8,075 votes, or 53.87 per cent.