“Senate Republicans are being absolutely savaged by Democrats on the so-called ‘bipartisan’ infrastructure bill. Mitch McConnell and his small group of RINOs wants nothing more than to get a deal done at any cost to prove that he can work with the Radical Left Democrats. It is so important to him that he is agreeing to almost anything. Don’t do the infrastructure deal, wait until after we get proper election results in 2022 or otherwise, and regain a strong negotiating stance. Republicans, don’t let the Radical Left play you for weak fools and losers!” – Statement from the reclusive, polymathic virtuoso whose talents gave us Infrastructure Week.

“France’s parliament approved a law early Monday requiring special virus passes for all restaurants and domestic travel and mandating vaccinations for all health workers. Both measures prompted protests and political tensions. President Emmanuel Macron and his government say they are needed to protect vulnerable populations and hospitals as infections rebound and to avoid new lockdowns. The law requires all workers in the health care sector to start getting vaccinated by Sept. 15, or risk suspension. It also requires a ‘health pass’ to enter all restaurants, trains, planes and some other public venues. It initially applies to all adults, but will apply to everyone 12 and older on Sept. 30. To get a pass, people must prove they are fully vaccinated, recently tested negative or recently recovered from the virus. Paper or digital documents will be accepted” NPR reports.

This is a violation of core personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, and clearly targeted at freedom loving, traditional families. Families where the parents are of different genders and the father goes to work and the mother stays home keeping the kitchen clean and the fridge full of quality meat products from companies like Hormel and Perdue. It’s really an attack on that kind of family and on individual liberties. And Christian values, like that the government cannot tell you what to do with your body. It doesn’t matter that France is another country, it’s still unconstitutional and should be challenged in the Supreme Court. Just wait for discovery, France.

Washington Post: “Medical groups representing millions of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health workers on Monday called for mandatory vaccinations of all U.S. health personnel against the coronavirus, framing the move as a moral imperative as new infections mount sharply. ‘We call for all health care and long-term care employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against covid-19,’ the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and 55 other groups wrote in a joint statement shared with The Washington Post. ‘The health and safety of U.S. workers, families, communities, and the nation depends on it.’ The statement – issued by many groups calling for a mandate for the first time – represents an increasingly tough stance by the medical and public health establishment amid the sluggish pace of national vaccinations.”

“It comes as new cases rip through the nation, driven by the hyper-transmissible delta variant. Confirmed coronavirus infections have nearly quadrupled during July, from about 13,000 cases per day at the start of the month to more than 50,000 now, according to The Post’s tracking. Hospital leaders in states such as Alabama, Florida and Missouri have implored holdouts to get vaccinated, citing data that the shots prevent hospitalizations and even death. But many workers in the health field remain unvaccinated, despite having priority access to coronavirus vaccines, which first became available in December. More than 38 percent of nursing home staff were not fully vaccinated as of July 11, despite caring for patients at elevated risk from the coronavirus, according to data collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and analyzed by LeadingAge, which represents nonprofit nursing homes and other providers of elder care. An analysis by WebMD and Medscape Medical News estimated that about 25 percent of hospital workers who had contact with patients had not been vaccinated by the end of May.”

“Charlie Gerow, a Republican who announced his candidacy for governor last month, said Friday that he is cooperating with a police investigation into an accident in which a motorcyclist was killed, and that shut down the Pennsylvania Turnpike for seven hours. Gerow apparently drove for several miles with the motorcycle stuck to the front of his car, according to a witness. In a statement through a spokesperson, Gerow said he did not cause the accident and he was not injured.”

“Pennsylvania State Police have released little information about the accident Wednesday night just before 10 p.m., saying only that it involved a motorcycle and a car that a Gerow spokesperson identified as the one Gerow was driving. The turnpike was closed for seven hours after the accident in the westbound lanes in Chester County, just west of the King of Prussia interchange, police said in a news release. The Chester County coroner’s office identified the victim as Logan Carl Abbott, 30, of Bradford County. The cause of death is multiple blunt impacts and toxicology tests on the victim are pending, Chester County Coroner Christina VandePol said” WPXI reports.

Fun fact: Charlie Gerow was a regular opinion contributor to the other site until just before the Georgia Senate runoff elections and the Capitol riot. His last column “We can remake the GOP into the majority party of the new century” was published on January 4th.

Politico: “For Hungary’s opposition, next year’s election is literally make-or-break. Polls suggest a disparate alliance of six parties has a real shot at ending the rule of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the champion of ‘illiberal democracy,’ who has been in power since 2010. But the highly diverse nature of the alliance – from liberal millennials to small-town conservatives – is a double-edged sword.”

“When it comes to electoral math, only a broad opposition bloc can appeal to enough voters to take on Orbán. But having such a broad coalition means tensions and rivalries are never far from the surface. The parliamentary election, expected next spring, is high-stakes for Europe as well as Hungary. If Orbán wins another term, the highly strained relationship between Budapest and the EU mainstream will be tested even further. Orbán has already parted ways with the European People’s Party center-right alliance. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte even suggested last month that it might be time for Hungary to leave the EU itself. A defeat for Orbán and his nationalist Fidesz party would present the possibility of a reset in relations with the EU – although how that would unfold is highly uncertain, given the wide range of views within the opposition alliance. ‘The anti-Orbán opposition in Hungary is a product of despair,’ said philosopher Gáspár M. Tamás, a Communist-era dissident who later served as a member of Hungary’s parliament. ‘From ‘woke’ identity politics to sexist, racist, deeply reactionary talk, everything can be found within this opposition,’ Tamás said.”

“At least seven people were killed and several others were injured when a sandstorm that blinded drivers led to a pileup in southwestern Utah on Sunday afternoon, state officials said. The Utah Highway Patrol said it appeared that 20 vehicles were involved in the crash ‘after high winds caused a sand or dust storm and impaired visibility on the roadway.’ ‘No one could see, so people started stopping, and then you just get a chain reaction,’ Trooper Andrew Battenfield, a spokesman for the Highway Patrol, said late Sunday night. ‘Nobody could see, and then all of a sudden, you’re slamming into a car,’ he said. ‘It’s just a horrific situation.’ Several people were taken to local hospitals in critical condition, officials said. The crash, which happened around 5 p.m. local time, prompted the closure of parts of Interstate 15 in Millard County, between Salt Lake City and St. George. The Highway Patrol said the road would be closed in the area for a ‘significant time.'”

“Details about the victims were not immediately available. Trooper Battenfield said officials did not know late Sunday night how many people had been hospitalized. ‘We don’t even know how many for sure were hospitalized, this is how big of a crash it was,’ Trooper Battenfield said. ‘A lot of them are in critical condition.’ Trooper Battenfield said a ‘microburst of wind in an area that didn’t have a lot of vegetation,’ kick-started the crash” – New York Times.

Major storms hit London Sunday evening, causing flash floods around the city and flooding some of London’s famed Underground stations in the latest city that has experienced severe flooding thanks to recent storms, CNN reports.

Multiple stations along London’s Tube rail system were closed due to flooding, and a schedule for reopening them was not available as the city enters a weekday when 3.7 million people on average will take the trains throughout the city.

“With multiple bus routes on diversion and some Tube and rail services affected and stations closed, we strongly advise that customers check for the latest information before they travel to ensure they have a safe and smooth journey,” a Transport for London spokesperson said.

Louisiana Republican Congressman Clay Higgins announced on his Facebook page that he has tested positive for the coronavirus for the second time, and that his wife and son also tested positive, blaming the “CCP biological attack weaponized virus” for the disease.

“I keep my family’s private business very quiet, because of the evil in the world, yet we are uplifted by the love of God’s children, and quiet privacy does not mean secrecy, so, here’s the update,” Higgins posted.  “I have COVID, Becca has COVID, my son has COVID. Becca and I had COVID before, early on, in January 2020, before the world really knew what it was. So, this is our second experience with the CCP biological attack weaponized virus… and this episode is far more challenging. It has required all of my devoted energy.”

Higgins went on to say that he and his family were getting excellent medical care and that their prognosis is good.  It is unknown whether Higgins and his family got the coronavirus vaccine.

Pelosi to blame for Capitol security 'breakdown' on Jan. 6, wants to 'stick to her narrative': Rep. Banks https://t.co/4yJXk3PwZg

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 25, 2021

In the last two essays in this series, I introduced the concepts of “sapped economy theory” and “rotation of points of production and consumption. Sapped economy theory refers to how, as wealth becomes more concentrated in the hands of a few extremely wealthy individuals and families, there is less incentive for companies to invest in the creation of innovative products and services, as there is simply less money circulating in the hands of consumers to make that investment available. This leads to a concept known as “rent-seeking”, where companies and individuals focus on “hostage markets” – those goods and services, such as housing, education and health-care, where consumers who choose to forego those goods or services suffer from a variety of harsh consequences.

The Hill should really stop pretending their moderation is politically neutral. It would really have saved us a lot of time if we didn’t have to compare notes and make years’ worth of observations to conclude that it is in fact very much biased against center-left commenters. We’re fools for thinking an ostensibly mainstream, “straight news” site would only delete comments containing profanity, racial slurs, vulgarities, threatening content, et cetera, and just leave the rest alone, but no. They seem to relish in deleting the inertly worded comments designed to annoy the delicate sensibilities of angry right wingers, almost as if the moderators themselves feel insulted by, for example, being associated with disgraced R&B artist and notorious sexual predator R Kelly.

I mean, if it was a dumb joke and it didn’t hit home, one would ignore it, right? Like a mod who leaves their personal politics out of their job, or isn’t even a Republican in the first place would just look at that and say “So it doesn’t say ‘fuck’ or ‘[bundle of sticks]’ or any of the other banned words and doesn’t otherwise offend anyone within reasonable expectations, so I’ll just leave it alone”.

Instead they’re like “That’s mean! You know plenty of Republicans have normal sex lives! It’s not our fault there are a bunch of bad apples in our party! I’m deleting this! I hate that Spartan dickhead – and that Bob Smith jerkoff who also made the same exact joke – for bringing that up on an unrelated article! I’m deleting both of their comments! They’re not funny!”

Anyway, it’d be nice if they would just be straight with us and say “We’re totally cool with blatantly racist shit being posted on our site by right wing trolls. Sure, we’ll delete some of it to keep up with the appearance of consistency, but by and large we welcome them and are unremittingly hostile to any center-left wiseasses who get a laugh mocking MAGAmerica and its voters.”

Ken Starr, the ardent Republican prosecutor who went after Bill Clinton for messing around with Monica Lewinsky, is now bedeviled by allegations that he also had an affair with a former co-worker, an issue that may complicate GOP efforts to use Starr as an attack dog to go after President Biden.

“Speaker Pelosi’s rejection of the Republican nominees to serve on the committee and self-appointment of members who share her pre-conceived narrative will not yield a serious investigation” – House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy via CNN’s Manu Raju.

“As June came to an end, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told his employees about an ambitious new initiative. The future of the company would go far beyond its current project of building a set of connected social apps and some hardware to support them. Instead, he said, Facebook would strive to build a maximalist, interconnected set of experiences straight out of sci-fi — a world known as the metaverse,” reports TheVerge.

“House Republican and fierce Trump critic Adam Kinzinger just now: ‘Today, I was asked to serve on the bipartisan January 6th Select Committee and I humbly accepted. When duty calls, I will always answer’” – Hugo Lowell, The Guardian.

I’ve already written several articles in my “Unified Theory of Fascism” series, and have decided an article index is necessary to offer greater clarity for readers. These articles are rough drafts of material that I intend to compile into a book and many of these topics will receive a far more thorough treatment once they are expanded into book form. That book will have the same title -“The Unified Theory of Fascism”- as the article series, and I hope to have it compiled and ready to release in the Kindle store and Smashwords by the Summer of 2022.

Stephen Collinson, CNN: “Ex-President Donald Trump’s big lie came full circle on Saturday as he traveled to Arizona to dangerously seize on the false fruits of a sham election ‘audit’ precipitated by his own discredited claims the 2020 election was stolen. On a late afternoon of delusion and incitement, Trump offered a preview of how he could exploit grievances of millions of supporters who buy his lies about voter fraud to power a possible new presidential run in the future. His speech underscored the nation’s split reality over last November’s election – the real one in which he lost and President Joe Biden was fairly elected and the nonsensical but powerful one that he sells to his supporters. The now self-sustaining myth that Trump was improperly ejected from power is at the center of a belief system that the ex-President is imposing on his party and is making a litmus test for 2022 GOP candidates seeking his endorsement, including in the Arizona Senate race, which is one of the GOP’s top targets as they try to take back the Senate.”

“In his latest return to campaign speeches, Trump showered praise on Arizona state senators who organized the non-scientific audit. He insisted he wasn’t involved, trying to create a false impression of independence and legitimacy in a politicized process inspired by his lies. ‘There is no way they win elections without cheating,’ the former President said of Democrats, at a packed event entitled – with Orwellian overtones – the ‘Rally to Protect Our Elections.’ The one-term, twice-impeached ex-commander-in-chief related prolonged and false stories of election fraud across the country. He also claimed that many more Republican-run states were seeking their own audits of election results, even though multiple judges have ruled that there was no election fraud. Trump’s appearance was full of the usual bluster, boasting, self-pity and too many falsehoods to count, and was in many ways a sideshow compared to the critical current challenges – including a pandemic that is quickly worsening again because millions of Republican voters will not get vaccinated. But his appearance was also a warning of one of the most dangerous problems haunting a divided nation’s deeply polarized politics – the fact that lies and conspiracy theories now represent sincerely held views of a large minority of the electorate thanks to Trump’s mastery of demagoguery and the endless flattery of a compliant right-wing propaganda machine.”

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she is confident in the bipartisan select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, despite House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulling his recommendations. ‘We have to ignore the antics of those who do not want to find the truth’, she told ABC ‘This Week’ anchor George Stephanopoulos. She said she also plans to name more Republicans to the committee. McCarthy, R-Calif., pulled his five GOP recommendations for the committee on Wednesday after Pelosi said she would block Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio – two prominent conservative leaders in the conference and allies of the former president – over comments about the select committee. Pelosi and House Democrats were considering inviting Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to join the committee and asking a former GOP congressman to serve on committee staff amid a standoff with House GOP leaders over their picks for the panel, sources familiar with the deliberations told ABC News” – ABC News.

Newsweek: “Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Fox News Host Sean Hannity yesterday for promoting COVID-19 vaccines. Flynn accused the two of ‘trying to be politically correct’ as he spoke Friday on The Right Side With Doug Billings. ‘Don’t let political correctness get in the way of health choices,’ he warned. Flynn said DeSantis and Hannity ‘know that they have influence,’ noting DeSantis is viewed as a 2024 contender. ‘For guys like DeSantis and Sean Hannity, I mean, they have to make a decision for themself, and if their decision is one that is going to be swayed or influenced by trying to be politically correct, that’s a dangerous place to be for people in this country who do have influence.'”

“Record heat waves and crippling energy shortages across much of the Middle East are plunging homes and businesses from Lebanon to Iran into darkness and stirring unrest as poor families swelter while many of the rich stay cool with backup generators. Power outages have pushed hospitals to a crisis point. Family businesses are struggling to survive.”

“In some cities, the streetlights barely work. Temperatures in several Middle Eastern countries this summer have topped 122 degrees Fahrenheit – 50 degrees Celsius – including in Iran, which hit 123.8, and Iraq, which nearly matched last year’s record of 125.2. Decades of neglect and underinvestment have left power grids unable to cope. Drought has crippled hydroelectric generation. Economic crises roiling several countries mean governments are now even struggling to purchase the fuel needed to generate power” – Washington Post.