THIS IS SOME OF THE WORST REPORTING I’VE SEEN DURING DECADES OF BAD REPORTING:

The legacy media deserves nothing but contempt.

UGH: A Horrific Find in Mexico’s Mass Graves. “Given that the number of clandestine graves found in Mexico is also on the rise, it’s entirely possible that the number is much higher. The Mexican government likes to downplay this topic, but a United Nations committee on enforced disappearances has estimated that more than 4,500 graves have been found, containing over 6,200 bodies and 4,600 human remains, in addition to some 72,000 unidentified human remains. Other human rights organizations have cited similar numbers.”

FACT: The math at the pump: Before you blame Trump, follow the damn barrel.

What I reject is the lazy explanation that says, “There’s a war in Iran, therefore gas is expensive.” That is like explaining a hamburger’s price by showing me the cost of a cow while ignoring the slaughterhouse, trucking company, restaurant, taxes, labor, and the gentleman behind the counter who apparently believes adding bacon now requires financing.

Crude is the raw material, not the finished product. EIA breaks gasoline prices into crude-oil costs, refining costs and profits, taxes, and distribution and marketing. Showing only a crude-oil chart is showing one chapter of the book and pretending you’ve read the ending.

Refining is especially important because EIA reported in September that elevated crude prices and elevated crack spreads are contributing to higher pump prices. Crack spreads measure the difference between the value of refined products and the crude used to produce them. When those spreads become unusually large, refining becomes a much bigger part of what motorists pay.

You can’t fill’er up with gas nobody was able to refine.

GOOD TIMES:

Anyone else having flashbacks to when the media helped sell the 1992 economy as the worst since the Great Depression?

VICTORIA TAFT: Want to Kill Christianity in America? Try This One Simple Trick the State of Maine Pulled. “While mom was adjudicated to be a good mother, dad was working behind the scenes to establish that taking their daughter to church was harmful. He hired a cult expert out of California, and the expert began watching Calvary Chapel of Greater Portland’s Sunday sermons as they build a case against Ava attending church.”

I VOTED FOR THIS: Once Recession-Proof, D.C. Feels the Pain From Federal Workforce Reductions. “Downsizing of the federal workforce concentrated in the DMV area—the District of Columbia and parts of Maryland and Virginia—has hit many residents hard, and some are considering leaving or have already done so. While it’s not nice to wish troubles on anybody, there’s nothing wrong with introducing government employees to the same risks and uncertainty that participants in the private sector face every day.”

To say the very least.

GOOD NEWS:

ANACONDA STRATEGY UPDATE:

HENCE THE BLACK-PILL MOBYING ONLINE TO SUPPRESS THE VOTE:

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: AOC May Have Greatly Overestimated Her Political Shelf Life. “Ocasio-Cortez has to be struggling with the knowledge that she might not be the prettiest mean girl in the Dem commie clown car. She’s pretty much just been able to giggle her way through everything since she got to Congress. Now she wants to be a grown-up and there are candidates out there who need more from her than the ability to make unserious Instagram content.”

OUR AWFUL LEADERSHIP CLASS:

CHINA IS ASSHOE: Beijing’s Trojan Yacht.

Ferretti Group, the Italian builder of luxury yachts, is also a defense contractor. Since 2016 it has supplied patrol and fast-attack craft to the Italian Navy, Coast Guard and Carabinieri, and Rome designates it a strategic asset. Its “dual-use” technology can be used for both military and non-military purposes. The hull that lets a Pershing sports yacht exceed 45 knots, the composites that trim radar signatures, the propulsion that quiets the acoustic profile and the integration of sensors and weapons stations are engineered the same for both civilian customers and maritime security services. For example, Ferretti’s FSD195 naval interceptor craft, which is employed by a variety of countries, is derived from a Pershing hull.

Ferretti’s controlling shareholder is Weichai, a Chinese state-owned conglomerate founded after World War II to manufacture arms for Mao’s People’s Liberation Army. Today, Weichai builds diesel engines that power everything from trucks to mobile rocket launchers for the Chinese military. One customer, Norinco, answers to the Chinese Communist Party’s state-asset system. Weichai’s joint-venture partners are spread across countries adversarial to U.S. interests, including Russia, Belarus, and others.

Weichai owns 39.5 percent of Ferretti but was able to capture eight of nine board seats at the company’s May board meeting.

Read the whole thing.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE:

UPDATE:

Punch back twice as hard.

THIS SORT OF BEHAVIOR IS INVITING VIGILANTISM.

I can guarantee you, though, that they will crack down on vigilantes harder than on the criminals who spark vigilantism. The next stage in that process is vigilantes targeting police and prosecutors. It’s much better to prevent such a downward spiral by making the justice system do its job.