December 5, 2025

DISPATCHES FROM AIRSTRIP ONE: Clandestine Campaign To Defund ZeroHedge, The Federalist & Breitbart Traced To Kier Starmer Operation.

Very early into the COVID-19 pandemic, ZeroHedge suggested that a little-known Chinese lab in Wuhan might know something about the novel coronavirus sweeping the globe. As a result, and as you know, we were subject to an intense demonetization / deplatforming campaign that included getting kicked off of Twitter, PayPal, Facebook and other platforms, dropped by our advertisers, and targeted by MSM hit pieces which colluded with foreign ‘watchdogs’ to inflict maximum damage.

These same groups also targeted outlets including The Federalist and Breitbart over various reporting, which suffered similar fates.

Now, thanks to a new book by investigative journalist Paul Holden that builds on reporting by Matt Taibbi, Paul Thacker and others, we learn that the origin of these campaigns, launched years before the pandemic, was none other than UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s political machine, which began targeting left-wing outlets speaking critically of Starmer such as The Canary, and then went after conservative outlets in America – just in time for the 2020 US election.

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 3:52 pm by Stephen Green

IT’S FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: He Brought Bear Spray to a Taser Fight. “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news, and this week, we’ll learn what happens when you try to bear spray eight deputies, why the skid steer is not part of the amusement park, and how they do wildlife in Virginia.”

Posted at 3:21 pm by Stephen Green

THE PROGRESSIVE UNIVERSITY IN THE DOCK. Was requiring specialization and Ph.Ds really as good an idea as we seem to assume it was? (It wasn’t always like that.)

Posted at 3:05 pm by Robert Shibley

2026 PREVIEW: Who’s ahead in the Republican vs. Democrat congressional redistricting war?

“As of right now, I’d say there is a modest bias in the overall House map” in favor of the GOP retaining control of the House, said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan organization that analyzes House races.

At the independent Cook Political Report, Erin Covey, U.S. House editor, had the same edge for the GOP.

“The very slight gain for Republicans, one to two seats, is the median scenario,” she said.

All this could change as state after state tries to redraw congressional maps to favor the party in power.

Developing…

Posted at 2:50 pm by Stephen Green

YES, PLEASE:

“This is brilliant,” Peter St. Onge added. “Allow US companies to sue foreign censorship for 3x the fine. If only Congress had a spine.”

But it isn’t just brilliant — it’s necessary.

Posted at 2:34 pm by Stephen Green

JOURNALISM:

It seems like kind of a big deal that NBC News and then MS NOW seem happy to employ a “journalist” with such a bad reputation in-house.

Posted at 1:48 pm by Stephen Green

ALWAYS: The DOJ’s New 2A Rights Section Sounds Like a Good Thing, but Gun Owners Need to Stay Vigilant. “Here’s the truth gun owners need to hear: you don’t stop a runaway bureaucracy with a press release. No one should trust a single bureaucrat inside the DOJ until their actions match their headlines. Because right now, the DOJ is speaking out of both sides of its mouth — promising gun-rights enforcement with one hand while defending gun-control tyranny with the other. And unless gun owners stay loud, organized, and relentless, this new office could turn out to be just another Washington smokescreen.”

The Trump administration’s record is solid, but what happens to the new section once a Democrat is in charge again…

Posted at 12:46 pm by Stephen Green

IT’S COME TO THIS: Tim Walz Says Trump’s Slur Is Inspiring Others To Scream It Outside His House.

Tim Walz called it a slur that should never be repeated. Now, he hears it all day.

The Minnesota governor, on Thursday, Dec. 4, said people have been driving by his home and screaming the r-slur — a word used to malign those with intellectual disabilities — since President Donald Trump called him that in a social media post last week.

“This creates danger,” the embattled governor said, discussing Republican rhetoric. “… I’ve never seen this before: people driving by my house and using the R-word in front of people. This is shameful, and I have yet to see an elected official — a Republican elected official — say you’re right, that’s shameful.”

Walz said he believes it’s a slippery slope from name-calling to something more serious.

“We know how these things go,” he said. “It starts with taunts; they turn to violence.”

Are people burning rubber as they speed away after shouting “Retard?” Mrs. Walz at least would enjoy the piquant scent of well-heated Michelins.

UPDATE: Flashback to last fall, when Walz wasn’t afraid to go full retard on himself: ‘I’m a knucklehead:’ Tim Walz says he ‘misspoke’ about Tiananmen Square visit.

MORE:

Heh, indeed. Like most leftists, Walz can dish out all the slurs, but can’t take it when the right pushes back:

Franklin knows the score:

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

THE DARK SIDE OF THE NARNIA ISN’T GOING TO LIGHT ANYONE’S FIRE: IMAX CEO: Greta Gerwig’s Narnia Is “Not Your Grandmother’s Narnia,” Will Feature Rock-Inspired Music.

IMAX held its first Investors Day presentation in New York, where CEO Rich Gelfond shared new details about Netflix and Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew, scheduled for release next November. His most revealing comments centred on the film’s musical direction.

According to Gelfond, Gerwig’s Narnia will feature a contemporary, rock-influenced sound, with artists like Pink Floyd and The Doors cited as examples of the tone fans can expect. The film’s score is being composed by music producer Mark Ronson, who recently worked on Barbie. Producer Amy Pascal made a similar remark in 2024, when she infamously described the project as “all about rock and roll.”

This is a real blockbuster movie that’s being made for [IMAX and Netflix] and you know, I guess I do have to talk a little about why I’m so excited about it. This is not your mother’s or your grandmother‘s Narnia. The music in it is unbelievably contemporary music, which IMAX fans like. I’m not gonna say specifically, but things like Pink Floyd and The Doors. You know that kind of music which people go to see in IMAX.”

I get what Gelfond is saying, and as someone who enjoyed the Narnia movies from the early 2000s, I’m dreading what Gerwig is going to do to the franchise. But considering that Jim Morrison died in 1971 and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon was released in 1973, for many moviegoers that sounds exactly like their parents or grandparents’ music. And as the leitmotif from another initially beloved franchise goes, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Really, really bad: Netflix gives Narnia to “Barbie,” “Little Women” director, who sees her work as “the opposite of the creation myth in Genesis” and strips away “the pre-Victorian morality” of characters. 🫠

Posted at 12:00 pm by Ed Driscoll

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS: Trump Praises Congo, Rwanda as They Sign US-Mediated Peace Deal.

The AP’s Aamer Madhani, Chinedu Asadu and Ruth Alonga slammed Trump in about every third sentence of their report, but so what? Trump is making peace while they’re doing whatever the hell that was.

Posted at 11:44 am by Stephen Green