Amazon shows its allegiance

It’s just a coincidence, of course, that all these Promethean organizations keep happening to select architectural designs that harken back to Mesopotamia:

Amazon has just unveiled the plans for its new corporate headquarters that will stand in Arlington, Virginia, directly across the Potomac River from Washington DC. The announcement inaccurately describes the design as a “double helix” but scholars of ancient history and the Bible will readily recognize the ancient model for the design: the Tower of Babel.

Construction on their second corporate headquarters is expected to begin next year and when completed in 2025 at a cost of $2.5 billion. It will include 2.8 million square feet of new office space distributed across three 22-story buildings. The location is less than four miles from the Capitol Building. John Schoettler,  head of Amazon’s global corporate real estate portfolio, announced the second half of the project designed by architecture firm NBBJ. 

“The natural beauty of a double helix can be seen throughout our world, from the geometry of our own DNA to the elemental form of galaxies, weather patterns, pinecones, and seashells,” the company said. “The Helix at our Arlington headquarters will offer a variety of alternative work environments for Amazon employees amidst lush gardens and flourishing trees native to the region.”

Though it is true that DNA is arranged in a double-helix, the architectural design is not, in fact, a double helix that appears like a ladder that has been twisted into a corkscrew. The design of the building is, perhaps, a single helix with a spiral walkway ascending the exterior of the building. The architectural design of the Amazon building does, in fact, closely resemble that of a ziggurat, a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia.

Jeff Bezos isn’t exactly hiding it, is he. The EU parliamentary building in Strasbourg is also designed to recall the Tower of Babel, and intentionally so.

Never trust a male feminist

Cordelia, Tara, Spike, and Buffy all come out publicly against Joss Whedon: UPDATE: as have Anja and Dawn.

The lead in Buffy, Sarah M Geller, voiced support for Carpenter in an Instagram post on Wednesday, which read: ‘While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon… I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out.’

Fellow castmate Amber Benson, who played Tara on Buffy, echoed Carpenter’s sentiments, writing: ‘Buffy was a toxic environment and it starts at the top. @AllCharisma is speaking truth and I support her 100{3549d4179a0cbfd35266a886b325f66920645bb4445f165578a9e086cbc22d08}. There was a lot of damage done during that time and many of us are still processing it twenty plus years later.’ 

‘Last summer, when Ray Fisher publicly accused Joss of abusive and unprofessional behavior toward the cast and crew during reshoots on the Justice League set in 2017, it gutted me,’ she continued. ‘Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career. I know because I experienced it first-hand. Repeatedly.’

Whedon has not yet responded to the allegations made by Carpenter. Carpenter claims Whedon would regularly make ‘passive-aggressive’ threats to fire her throughout the filming of the two shows, which she said ‘wreaks havoc on a young actor’s self-esteem.’

The actress further alleged that Whedon would ‘callously’ mock her and call her fat to other members of the cast and crew when she was four months pregnant, despite weighing just 126 lbs, she said.

‘He was mean and biting, disparaging about others openly, and often played favorites, pitting people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval,’ Carpenter continued of Whedon.

She claimed in one instance Whedon called her in for a sit-down meeting to ‘interrogate and berate’ her regarding a tattoo she had gotten during filming to help her cope with ‘a volatile work climate that affected me physically.’

Carpenter has previously accused Whedon of writing her character off Angel during its fourth season back in 2003 because he was ‘upset’ she had gotten pregnant. During Season 4, the character of Cordelia turns ‘evil’ and eventually ends up in a coma, never to reawaken. Once eventually informed, Carpenter said Whedon requested a one-on-one meeting with her, in which he allegedly asked her, ‘[Are you] going to keep it?’

‘He proceeded to attack my character, mock my religious beliefs, accuse me of sabotaging the show, and then unceremoniously fired me the following season once I gave birth,’ she claimed.

The lead in Buffy, Sarah M Geller, voiced support for Carpenter in an Instagram post on Wednesday, which read: ‘While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon… I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out.’

Fellow castmate Amber Benson, who played Tara on Buffy, echoed Carpenter’s sentiments, writing: ‘Buffy was a toxic environment and it starts at the top. @AllCharisma is speaking truth and I support her 100{3549d4179a0cbfd35266a886b325f66920645bb4445f165578a9e086cbc22d08}. There was a lot of damage done during that time and many of us are still processing it twenty plus years later.’ 

Nasty little creatures, gammas. Give them even a modicum of power and it inevitably goes right to their egos. And the creatures that obtain power in the Hellmouth are among the worst.

Devil Mouse plays amenable authority

Don’t ever forget that they’re always just waiting to strike you down, and if you give them an inch they will take the mile. Disney fires Gina Carano from The Mandalorian for violating the SJW Narrative:

Actress and former MMA fighter Gina Carano has been fired from the cast of the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian, following online outrage over a social media post that likened the murder of Jews during the Holocaust to the current U.S. political climate.

A spokesperson for Lucasfilm said in a statement on Wednesday that Carano is not currently employed by the production company with ‘no plans for her to be in the future.’

‘Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable,’ the statement read.

Talent agency UTA has also dropped Carano as a client following the controversy, according to Variety…. Carano, a former mixed martial artist whose Dune character used a mix of heavy weapons and her fists to best opponents, had been criticized online for social media posts. 

In some, she mocked mask wearing during the pandemic and promoted claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. 

On Wednesday- before news of her termination was announced – Carano posted a picture to her Instagram story that included the phrase ‘Jeff Epstein didn’t kill himself’ – a reference to conspiracy theories that the pedophile billionaire was murdered. 

I think it’s more likely that she was fired for the Epstein post than the historical comparison of the SJW mob to Nazis. But don’t make the mistake of thinking for one second that the Devil Mouse was “bowing to the mob” or “giving in to the online outrage”. Corporate SJWs only use the twitterati to justify the actions they already want to take.

In fairness, he’s not an American

The NBA is making it perfectly clear that neither its owners nor its players have any use for America:

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says the national anthem isn’t being played before games at American Airlines Center, and he has no plans to play it going forward. The team owner refused to comment further when reached by The Athletic.

According to the outlet, Cuban and the team didn’t make it known they were going to remove the anthem from the pregame routine, but “a number of team employees only noticed the removal of the anthem on their own.” Those employees also say there was no explanation as to why the anthem was removed.

Cuban, who usually isn’t shy about sharing his opinion on current events, was silent Tuesday night when The Athletic dropped its report. 

Everyone is finally beginning to see the difference between identification papers and national identity, even if they don’t fully understand the significance or the consequences yet.

Two shots and you’re out

Two Italian nurses, a doctor and a pharmacist, all in their 40s, have died of heart attacks after getting the at least one dose of the Pfizer Covid “vaccine”. A translated version can be read here:

Un altro giovane infermiere, Luigi Buttazzo, strumentista di sala operatoria presso il Policlinico Tor Vergata di Roma è morto nel sonno probabilmente stroncato da un infarto, come scrivono alcuni media, tra cui Repubblica.
L’infermiere, 42 anni, è deceduto alcuni giorni fa dopo la somministrazione della seconda dose del vaccino “Comirnaty” della Pfizer-Biontech, il cosiddetto richiamo. Probabilmente si tratta dell’ennesima “coincidenza”, così come “casuali” appaiono i tanti decessi e le gravi reazioni avverse che si stanno registrando in questi giorni sul personale sanitario vaccinato.
La morte dell’infermiere del policlinico romano non è un caso isolato. A metà gennaio è deceduta anche una giovane infermiera in servizio all’ospedale “Fabrizio Spaziani” di Frosinone, Elisabeth Durazzo, morta nel sonno anche lei probabilmente per un infarto. Anche lei aveva ricevuto il vaccino.
Un altro caso è quello della farmacista 49enne Miriam Gabriela Godoy, di Porto Corsini, località balneare sulla riviera romagnola. La farmacista si era sottoposta a vaccinazione il 14 gennaio. Il giorno dopo era andata in farmacia a lavorare e si è sentita male. Trasportata con urgenza all’ospedale Bufalini di Cesena, la signora è deceduta qualche giorno dopo, mercoledì 20 gennaio.
Un medico di 45 anni, Mauro Valeriano D’Auria, specialista gastroenterologo in servizio presso l’ospedale ‘Umberto I’ di Nocera Inferiore, è morto nei giorni scorsi pare anche lui stroncato da un arresto cardiaco dopo una partita a tennis. Il dottore si era da poco vaccinato contro il Covid, tanto che sui social ha postato una sua immagine con la scritta: “#Fatto, vaccinazione anticovid 19”

Like the lockdowns, these “vaccines” which are not actually vaccines in the technical sense are almost certainly going to turn out to be worse than the disease for everyone under the age of 70 even in the short term. And it will not be even remotely surprising if the long-term consequences turn out to be catastrophic. 

Meanwhile, the more conventional vaccines don’t appear to work as well as acquiring natural immunity.

Vaccine manufacturer Merck has abandoned development of two coronavirus vaccines, saying that after extensive research it was concluded that the shots offered less protection than just contracting the virus itself and developing antibodies. The company announced that the shots V590 and V591 were ‘well tolerated’ by test patients, however they generated an ‘inferior’ immune system response in comparison with natural infection. 

And the vaccine news just keeps getting better:

At least 36 people may have developed a rare blood disorder, known as immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), after taking either Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, according to a report. 

At this point, you’d have to be crazy to roll the dice with these vaccines rather than the virus if you’re not an obese 68-year old black man with asthma. If you’re old and in a high-risk group with comorbidities, sure, take your chances with the shots. Otherwise, it makes no sense. The complete inability of people to grasp the probabilities involved would be depressing if one wasn’t already aware how retarded they are on average.

Lawyers doing lawyer things

 Anyone with an IQ over 115 is probably better off defending themselves, on average, than relying on a lawyer in most circumstances. It would astonish you to know how few lawyers even bother to read the material that is directly relevant to the situation; some litigators even go so far as to pride themselves on refusing to read anything. They read the judge, you see. Or the jury.

President Donald Trump was set off by the defense mustered by his legal team at the start of his Senate impeachment trial, raging at key admissions and a presentation that appeared to drive away a key Republican vote.

Trump, viewing the proceedings from his new home at Mar-a-Lago, was aghast that one of his lawyers, Bruce Castor, acknowledged the potency of the opening argument put forward by House Democratic impeachment managers, ABC News reported. 

Castor even acknowledged that his team changed course after viewing the Democrats’ presentation, which featured dramatic video of Trump supporters storming the Capitol and taunting police officers with obscenities as they bashed in doors and windows. 

‘I’ll be quite frank with you, we changed what we were going to do on account that we thought that the House managers’ presentation was well done,’ Castor admitted. ‘And I wanted you to know that we have responses to those things.’ 

During three-and-half hours of debate on the Senate floor Tuesday, the defense and prosecution had the chance to argue whether holding an impeachment trial of a former official is in line with the Constitution.

Several Republicans, however, are ridiculing Trump’s defense team for missing the point of their outlined argument against the constitutionality of the timing of the proceedings. 

‘I thought the President’s lawyer – the first lawyer just rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument,’ Texas Senator John Cornyn told reporters outside the chamber following his vote against moving forward. 

It doesn’t surprise me at all that even a very high-priced lawyer would completely miss the point of the actual argument. From what I’ve seen, most of them – not all, but most – have a tendency to do the legal equivalent of “read until offended”. The legal version is “read until you recognize a term of art that might serve your objective”, then focus on relying upon that to the exclusion of all context, relevance, or consequence. The more procedural, as opposed to substantive, the better. And if anyone happens to point out that the application doesn’t make any sense in light of the context, relevance, or consequence, snort derisively that they just don’t understand the term of art or how the law works.

This inability to read correctly, by the way, is how many insane legal concepts are enshrined into law over time. One lawyer with a weak case presents an argument based on an out-of-context sentence, which a clueless judge erroneously accepts at face value. Once an appeals court accepts the same out-of-context argument, the new precedent is established, which gradually metastasizes up throughout the circuit, until the U.S. Supreme Court either cements the new precedent into law or throws it out entirely.

Impeachment is constitutional

 Of course it is. Assuming that he’s still the President….

A simple majority of US Senators have voted to recognize the impending impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump as constitutional. Trump’s legal team insisted the chamber lacks the jurisdiction to try an ex-president. Six Republicans joined Senate Democrats on Tuesday to give the go-ahead for Trump’s second impeachment trial. Mitt Romney, Bill Cassidy, Ben Sasse, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Pat Toomey broke with the rest of their party to guarantee the trial moves ahead. The task was not daunting, as only a simple majority was needed, with the final vote tally being 56-44.

Trust your dog

Especially when he doesn’t trust someone.

How can dogs recognize bad people?

Dogs use their previous experience to understand if someone is unreliable.

The experiment was conducted with 34 Dogs and was divided into three parts. In the first part, dog owners pointed them towards food with containers and dogs ran towards it. In the second part, the owners pointed towards containers without food and tricked Dogs into running towards it. In the third part, it was discovered that Dogs would not follow the pointing hands. They used their judgment from previous experience to judge if the person was unreliable.

Science behind Dogs sensing bad people.

Dogs have highly evolved sixth sense and are also very receptive to intricacies of human behavior. When a person has bad intentions or is about to do something bad, his heart rate increases and there is a rush of certain chemicals like adrenaline that makes the person sweat more than usual. Since Dogs have a very keen sense of smell and they are hyper-alert every moment, they can pick up on these scents and changes in behavior within seconds and react to them. The Dog’s instincts are very sharp and they are more vigilant as they live totally in the present moment, they can sense danger and bad vibes, they react either by becoming fearful or become hyper-aggressive in their demeanor.

I always trust a dog person more than someone who isn’t. I mean, if you don’t like optimistic creatures who are happy, glad to see you, and won’t even hesitate to throw themselves in between you and potential danger, I have to seriously question what is wrong with you.

Spacebunny is clearly the exact opposite of a bad person. She had THREE dogs on the couch with her this morning, which is one more than will actually fit. But somehow, they made it work. Of course, if a Rhodesian Ridgeback decides that there is totally space for her in the seven square inches of available space, it’s virtually impossible to convince her otherwise.

Death camp for Boomers

I very much look forward to seeing how Boomers will attempt to defend their fellow Boomers from the charge of narcissism and lifelong immaturity given this city literally built to warehouse them and keep them away from any alarming reminders of their age and the evil consequences of their historical legacy:

The sprawling expanse of flat emptiness in central Florida is an unlikely place for America’s fastest growing metro area in the nation. Yet, just 70 miles northwest of Orlando sits ‘The Villages’ – the world’s largest retirement community that surpasses the size of Manhattan and encompasses five zip codes with an ever-growing population.

Spanning 32-square-miles, The Villages is a veritable boom-town for baby boomers aged 55+ who flock to the geriatric paradise in droves for its endless margarita mixers (happy hour starts at 11am), unlimited golf courses (50, to be exact), and notorious for its laissez-fair attitude towards sex, thriving swingers scene, and controversial politics. 

The rambling 33,000 acre property is made up of 78 smaller neighborhoods that range in size from 100 to 1550 houses. According to the US Census Bureau, population ballooned by 37.8{3549d4179a0cbfd35266a886b325f66920645bb4445f165578a9e086cbc22d08} (more than any other American city) between 2010 and 2019. In order to keep up with rapid growth, The Villages is always expanding with an average of 250 new homes and 200 pre-owned homes sold per month.

The self-contained AARPopolis has everything a boomer needs to sustain their twilight years in comfort: dozens upon dozens of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, gift shops, jewelry stores, churches, movie theaters, medical facilities, a Walmart Supercenter and even a ‘fountain of youth.’

From its inception, the gated complex was meticulously engineered to simulate the rose-tinted idea of Main Street, USA– predicated on convenience, leisure and good ol’ American values (even if it’s an illusion). It was tailor made for a demographic that mythologized a wholesome, suburban fantasyland evoked in ‘Father Knows Best’ and ‘Leave it to Beaver.’

‘They were very perceptive about how Baby Boomers actually craved an inorganically organized landscape, an alternate vision of what America used to be, or how they imagine it having been,’ said Oppenheim to InsideHook. ‘A utopia, but a fake utopia based on an America that doesn’t really exist.’

So strong is the gravitational pull of nostalgia – The Villages were imagineered to imitate old town squares like a theme park, complete with phony histories. ‘We needed to create this place not brand new. We wanted to create it old, we decided to bring the Baby Boomers to a home that they were familiar with when they were young,’ said Richard Schwartz.

Draconian rules and restrictions dictate every aspect of ‘life in the bubble.’ Repainting your home requires board approval, (and only then can you select from a bland pallet with 10-shades of beige). No more than two vehicles are allowed per driveway, all vehicles must be regularly used (defined as twice per week) or stored in the garage. Lawn ornaments are strictly prohibited including but not limited to: windmills, religious symbols, gnomes, animal figurines, Christmas decorations and flamingos (bummer!). Even the most tasteful decor can turn into a red button topic.

TV antennas and satellite dishes are forbidden; as are clothing lines, window air conditioners and commercial vehicles. There is a two pet maximum policy, weighing no more than 40 pounds each. Retractable leashes are illegal, and can be no longer than seven feet. Villagers must make sure their lawns are properly edged at all times and hedges can be no greater than four feet (planting new ones will require Home Owner’s Association approval).

The most controversial rule, is also the cardinal rule: no persons under the age of 55 are allowed to live in The Villages. That decree extends to children and grandchildren, who are not permitted to visit for more than 30 days within a calendar year.

It sounds rather like a sterile prelude to the Hell toward which they are hurtling headlong. And if you ever had any doubts about the charge of “radical, lifelong immaturity” applying to Boomers, this picture of the “cheerleading squad”, for which there is a two-year wait to join, should erase them for good.

The end of Instapundit

It’s genuinely tragic to observe the ongoing decline of Instapundit into irrelevance. Glenn is a smart man who made a suboptimal, but understandable decision to get involved with a petty wannabe media tycoon when Roger Simon launched Pajamas Media, mostly on the back of Instapundit’s popularity. The real problem is that Glenn exacerbated that poor decision with the horrendous one to give the execrable Ed Driscoll and the equally ridiculous Stephen Green posting privileges there for reasons that remain an utter mystery.

While I’m grateful to Glenn and Helen for supporting Castalia House in the early years by posting links to our new book releases, I first stopped reading there, and then actually removed my links to their site some time ago due to the incessant judeosatanist propaganda being relentlessly pushed by Driscoll and Green there. And now it’s evident that more than a few of Instapundit’s readers feel the same way.

Sheesh, reading some of these comments I wonder why I even bother with this place. Then again, that’s probably the aim.

No, Glenn, it’s the exact opposite of the aim. Listen to what your fans and supporters are telling you! Your site simply sucks now. Plain and simple. It’s literally unreadable, what with all the non-stop neoconnery and Never-Trumpism, to the point that it’s actually hard to distinguish it from National Review. It isn’t trolls who are hammering you, it is your longtime readers who dislike what you permitted Instapundit to become. They don’t want you to quit. They desperately want you to kick out Driscoll, Green, and Treacher and get back to doing what you once did better than everyone else.

  • “This place?” It’s YOUR place, remember? You built it. It seems like you sold off most of it to Driscoll, but despite some disagreements we may have, you’re an important voice. It’s sad that you only get paid on amazon clicks now. You deserve better.
  • This is beneath a man of your integrity. You associate your site with men of low character (Treacher), your partner (Driscoll) ignores good faith criticism of that, and then you wonder why your rep is taking a hit? Are you intending to treat your audience with disdain and contempt? Because that is how it is coming across to me, and I have read you (and Ace) almost every day for the last 20 years. You are just going to continue to ignore people like me? Loyal readers. Turn sheepdogs into wolves?

Partner? Sold off? Interesting. If it is true that Glenn permitted Driscoll to “invest” in Instapundit, that would certainly explain its ongoing, and inevitable, decline.