Wednesday Afternoon Space Links

by | May 27, 2020 | Daily Links | 339 comments

As you read this, I will be posting up for a 50/50 chance of seeing the SpaceX launch. I think that stuff is cool, and it will be great for my sons to be able to tell their friends they were there 20 years from now. So please excuse if some links are posted elsewhere, I’m writing this from the past.

EU to members: Sure, we weren’t there when you needed us during the COVID lockdowns, but you should definitely give us the power to arbitrarily abrogate inconvenient budget limits. If I was a citizen of one of the PIIGS, I’d be piissed.

Something in the water here?

I’m really enjoying the judiciary versus executive tension COVID has created.

SwissServitor, what is going on here?

About The Author

Brett L

Brett L

Brett set out to find America, the real America, the America of strip malls and serial killers, of butthole waxing and kelp smoothies, of cocaine and maggots. He sought it in the most American part of America—Florida: swamp gas and fever dreams, where love arrives on a rickety boat and leaves when it doesn't have the money for its fourth abortion. Oh, where has Brett gone? He’s drinking at the neck of America’s wang, chewing its foreskin and working its shaft. Brett is becoming legend. Brett can never die. Brett can never die. Brett is America, facedown in his own patriotic puke: the red his blood, the white his stomach lining, and the cold, cold blue his gas station slushie, spiked with coconut rum and tetracycline.

339 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    “The 23-year-old Uconn student who police say brutally killed two people before fleeing Connecticut grew up on the same street as the Sandy Hook Elementary School gunman Adam Lanza, a report said.”

    And?

    • RBS

      White guys are killers. Everyone knows this.

      • DEG

        Is there anything Lil Rona can’t do?

    • Ted S.

      It’s Connecticut that made them this way.

      • Chafed

        I’m not ruling that out.

    • PBRstreetgang

      Lead in the water supply

      • juris imprudent

        Must’ve been an unfortunate boating accident.

      • C. Anacreon

        Call Sgt Preston of the UConn.

  2. Ownbestenemy

    Looks like it might be a scrub on the launch but hopefully the weather opens…

    • Ownbestenemy

      3 min update on weather. Come on Gaia!

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ah fuck…what a build up. Saturday launch it will be and I will be right back glued to it.

    • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

      A journotwit from the CNN article

      Thick clouds, some lightning and thunder strikes at the launch pad.

      I’m pretty sure there weren’t any “lightning and thunder strikes” at the launchpad, Ms. Science Reporter.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Lol, they cleared the lighting violation about 45 minutes ago. This had nothing to do with pad conditions but I wouldn’t expect CNN to know that. It was downrange that was the issue.

      • Bobarian LMD

        You’ve never been… Thunderstruck?

    • Tonio

      The next launch window is Saturday at 3:22 pm ET

      • C. Anacreon

        Saw the space shuttle launch out of Canaveral while we were on spring break in Daytona in the early 80s. Just spectacular. I watched from our hotel balcony, yelling for my fraternity brothers to come out and see it, but they refused, saying it had to be “too far away to see” and they weren’t going to fall for that old trick. Their loss.

  3. Rebel Scum

    stimulus package to help the European Union recover from a recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

    Because THAT’s what caused it.

      • Count Potato

        He was just defending his meth lab.

      • R C Dean

        “The husband stated he felt he could not physically stop the intruder, so he went upstairs to get his firearm,” the sheriff’s office said. “He shot the firearm multiple times, ending the threat.”

        Righteous.

      • Florida Man

        Even if he could stop it physically it’s a dumb idea. You have no idea how strong or what kind of fighting experience the guy has. He lost his right to a fair fight when he broke in and attacked the renter’s wife.

      • R C Dean

        He lost his right to a fair fight when he broke in and attacked the renter’s wife.

        Kick down my door, and I will honestly state that I felt threatened with violence and shoot you.* Several times. The fact that there are no end of knives in the house that could accidentally be dropped by your corpse if need be is merely a happy coincidence.

        *I think. You never know until the moment is on you.

      • Tonio

        And the husband got a lesser version of the passive voice generally reserved for whe cops shoot people.

  4. DEG

    Manfredonia is a fugitive in the machete killing of 62-year-old Ted DeMers, of Willington, Conn.

    I didn’t know there was a gun called a machete. That has to be a gun right because murders are never committed with anything else right? Right?!?!

    Meanwhile, the citizens of Illinois are becoming increasingly impatient with their Governor. In fact, rumor has it there’s a recall petition in the works.

    Yep (trigger warning: auto-play video). Unfortunately, the petition to recall Gauleiterin Whitmer got rejected.

    • Bobarian LMD

      It was an assault knife!

    • Tonio

      Machete gun. Duh.

  5. Rebel Scum

    Both ‘doggy style’ and ‘reverse cowgirl’ allow for the woman to face away from her sexual partner, avoiding face-to-face contact.

    Sometimes beneficial anyway.

    It also recommends sex workers to wear a mouth and nose covering at all times.

    Hawt. And I guess oral is not corona-friendly?

    • Bobarian LMD

      Oral is always friendly.

  6. invisible finger

    There’s even a Pritzker recall petition on moveon.org.

    • bacon-magic

      Sign me up.

  7. Drake

    Do we have a Illinois Glib Judge?

  8. grrizzly

    Sounds like no go.

  9. KSuellington

    Looking like a go for launch here…

    • Ownbestenemy

      So close…

    • KSuellington

      Damn! Spoke too soon, it’s not happening today.

  10. J. Frank Parnell

    No go on the launch.

    I blame Trump.

    • Yusef drinks too much

      Damn your nimble fingers!
      Howdy!

    • Ownbestenemy

      His flyby in AF1 caused an increase in greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere that was conducive of thunder strike particles. /CC

    • bacon-magic

      I blamed IM already.

  11. Tundra

    Bummer. See you Saturday!

    • Ownbestenemy

      Absolutely. I want to see that fly, but there is a reason for those rules.

    • leon

      He looks so tall, sitting there next to Gov Wolf.

    • Bobarian LMD

      I doubt Joe’s ass has sounded that tight in 25 years.

      • hayeksplosives

        Things I’ve never wondered about…

    • Mojeaux

      You spelled his name wrong.

      It’s Matthew McConaugheeeeeeyyyyyyyyy

      • juris imprudent

        That’s got to be a Damon Wayans heeeeeeeyyyyyyyy[*], amirite?

        * disappointed I could not find a video link.

  12. Rebel Scum

    Pritzker, of course, dismissed the ruling as borne of a political agenda.

    Yes, yes. The court makes a constitutional argument and it is just an overreaching politically biased judge.

    • leon

      Freedom is a political agenda.

      • Winston

        Can’t tell if sarcasm…

      • leon

        It is.

      • Bobarian LMD

        It’s just another word for nothing left to lose…

  13. Suthenboy

    To get sheep to load into a trailer you have to. crawl into the Shute yourself and they will follow you. They wont go in by themselves. In other words….they will only follow.
    This explains much about the EU….well, here too for that matter.

    Yes, there is something in the water there. It’s called progressivism. My understanding is that that area is overrun with progs. You know…the people that raise their children to buy into their insane narratives. When it gets to the point where they are letting young children become trannies it is no surprise that a few of them go nuts and start shooting random strangers.

    It is about time someone stood up and told these assholes “Hey you don’t actually have the power to do that so, no. ”

    Only doggie style and reverse cowgirl? Oh, the burdens we must bear in this time of crisis.

    • Winston

      It’s called progressivism…the people that raise their children to buy into their insane narratives.

      Nuh huh. Our victory is inevitable. Urban cosmopolitans right now, always have and always will agree with us on everything. Our victory is inevitable like trade with China destroying the Chicoms and the fall of the Shah turning Iran into libertopia. Bad Things Can Not Happen because History and Progress are on our side and Technology solves everything.

      • juris imprudent

        Did your mom smack you upside the head, again?

      • Chafed

        Not hard enough.

    • bacon-magic

      I’m debating a proglet right now on solar energy. He thinks it’s ready to replace fossil fuels now but the capitalists are too greedy to do it.

      • Urthona

        Totally. They have no reason to provide clean energy that people will pay for.

      • Viking1865

        “Man they got a carburetor that gets 60 MPG but the oil companies bought up the patent and are sitting on it!!!”

      • Tundra

        I have a pamphlet for one of those. I’ll see if I can find it and post it. Fucking hilarious!

      • Viking1865

        Like the precursor to an ALL CAPS blog was a pamphlet?

      • Florida Man

        Pharmaceutical companies have the cure for cancer but are just so greedy they won’t sell it to the millions of people that have cancer.

      • C. Anacreon

        That’s why they don’t want you to know about this inexpensive miracle herbal cure.

    • Bobarian LMD

      You just have to train the judas goat to walk them into the woodchipper soylent proccessor.

    • Winston

      For an Ivy League urban cosmopolitan he sure seems to hate city folk.

    • Rebel Scum

      It’s almost like this is just an exercise in control.

      • Winston

        They are doing it for your own good, Yokel.

      • Viking1865

        It’s actually one of the main issues with Northam. Northam is pretty fucking yokel. Hes Old Virginnny. Hes VMI and Klan hoods VA. He voted for fucking W twice, and then switched parties because he understood early on that VA was gonna be a blue state going forward. Hes a craven piece of shit just looking to grab power. I think he has fucking delusions of running for President, which is genuinely hilarious.

      • Winston

        His embrace of cosmopolitanism should make him a libertarian…oh wait…

      • Viking1865

        Look, I get it’s your schtick and all, but Northam is not actually a cosmopolitan urbanite. He’s from VA. He went to VMI which is a very very conservative military academy. Like, the oldest woman to attend VMI isn’t 50 yet. Hes not a city mouse in any way, shape or form. He’s a hack with zero principles other than power.

      • Winston

        I get it’s your schtick

        The reason I did that is because there are people who do actually believe this. Strikes me as rather shallow and superficial.

      • Winston

        And my point is more that Northam is a yokel rejecting his yokel ways to gain the support of the urban cosmopolitans and he is (still?) a statist fuck.

    • Rhywun

      Last week, de Blasio claimed businesses could ‘hang on’ for a few more months.

      Jesus.

      • Lady Z

        Being that out of touch with reality should qualify as a medical condition.

      • Fourscore

        And a disability check. Too bad NY is so upside down fiscally.

  14. Rebel Scum

    The Coonman Cometh

    Being forced to wear Depends would be purposely degrading – the sort of thing a bully does to humiliate his victim. And that is precisely what the Coonman – who at one time seems to have taken delight in humiliating black people – intends by this. His way of saying I am in Charge of Your Life, boy. Do as I say.

    Or else.

    It is also political bullying.

    The Coonman knows that his opponents – lots of them – aren’t wearing Fear Masks and thus are annoying his supporters, who are. The non-masked have visibly separated themselves from his cringing Karen (and Kevin) political supporters .

    They must be brought o heel – or at least, made indistinguishable. If everyone is masked, it appears that everyone agrees – and this manufactured crisis can be maintained. It can also be upped.

    I, for one, aim to misbehave.

    • DEG

      I like Eric Peters Autos.

    • grrizzly

      I engage in an act of civil disobedience every time I step outside of my home without a face mask. About 90-95% pedestrians on sidewalks here wear masks.

      • R C Dean

        Really? I’d guesstimate in my area of Tucson its more like 30%. I’m sure in the downtown/university area its higher, because there’s a higher percentage of beta pussies (of both sexes) there.

        As far as stores, etc. goes, it varies wildly. Nearly everyone at Total Wine had one on last week. Grocery store is probably 50/50. At the quick stop where I get gas and the Sunday paper, its been zero masks for weeks.

      • Urthona

        My area in Texas has increased substantially over the past week on this. Social media shaming is winning. I just went to a fancy Whole Foods where I was literally the only one without a mask.

        ..

        I don’t quite follow the logic of it. I was told that it would eventually spread throughout the population and we were only trying to control hospitalizations. If that’s the case, then whom are we saving?

      • R C Dean

        I don’t quite follow the logic of it.

        Because there isn’t any. Its become a shibboleth for which side you are on.

      • DEG

        We’re saving Joe Biden’s election chances, chances for bail-outs for poorly run states, and the sensitive fears/emotions of disaster LARPers.

      • Winston

        Social media shaming is winning

        Social media shaming was only supposed to be in a libertarian direction!

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        Whole Foods where I was literally the only one without a mask.

        Okay, this is like going into the sewer and saying that you’re the only one there who isn’t a rat. Whole Foods is where Karens are born.

      • Gadfly

        On the radio yesterday they were talking about some study that showed that Texas was the least obedient state when it came to people following the recommended virus rules, so there must be a lot of other areas in the state that are trending in the other direction (or the study was just some BS, also likely).

      • DEG

        I went to Wal-Mart today. A higher percentage of people were wearing masks compared to the last time I was at Wal-Mart. I’d say 80% today.

      • Urthona

        Yup. As the virus declines, they are actually winning with this bullshit.

      • Viking1865

        I think some people have rationalized it as “Mask on means you can go back outside”. It’s a talisman. It’s a tiger repelling rock.

        It lets the I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE crowd save face, because they have NEW BETTER SCIENCE that shows that “well ackshually you can go back to normal if you wear a mask!!!”

      • Urthona

        I actually kind of hope that’s the case.

      • Viking1865

        I’m torn. Sun Tzu says leave the enemy a golden bridge. The Romans salted the fields so nothing would ever grow again.

        The suffering of millions of Americans needs to be addressed, IMO, politically and culturally and economically. They should not be allowed to shrug, say “We did our best, sorry about your businesses, don’t forget to pay your fucking taxes peons”.

        A reckoning needs to happen.

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        A reckoning needs to happen.

        A reckoning requires more than just angry words, and I don’t know about you, but I’m no violent revolutionary.

      • Tundra

        A reckoning needs to happen.

        100%

        No way this can be shrugged off.

      • Tundra

        Trashy, how about firing some motherfuckers? Every state has a recall procedure of some kind. Time to get busy.

      • R C Dean

        I’ve gone the other way. A few weeks ago I would wear one if a decent percentage of the people around were wearing one, because I figured people were experiencing a lot of anxiety and I didn’t want to contribute to it.

        Now, I only wear one if the property owner makes a specific request (signs count).

      • Urthona

        Absolutely ditto for me.

      • DEG

        I only wear one if the property owner asks or the times I’ve been at the Reopen NH rallies (the latter I won’t get into the reason why).

        Now with Nashua’s mask mandate, I’ll wear one when I go into a restaurant in Nashua to pick up some food since I don’t want the restaurants I like getting fucked. I have ceased other business in Nashua and won’t pick up that business while the mask mandate exists.

      • Suthenboy

        We have a lockdown ‘order’ here but as far as I know there is no enforcement. People are doing it voluntarily out of fear or as defying would be bad PR. That is in central Louisiana, I can’t say about other parts of the state.
        Here in Grant parish this has amounted to a long holiday. Traffic seems back to normal. I see Iatt lake is full of fishing parties. Grocery stores seem normal.

        For a short period two weeks ago I did see some people who were obviously panicky but that went away in a few days.

      • Shpip

        Here in Grant parish

        Reconstruction ended a long time ago. I’m a tad surprised that the locals haven’t renamed the parish yet.

      • Winston

        Pretty sure the trend these days is to rename everything Southern after Grant. Until they realize he killed a bunch of Indians then rename them again.

    • The Other Kevin

      Is Kevin the male version of Karen? Fuck that. Maybe I should start calling myself The Other Kind of Kevin.

      • Bobarian LMD

        I thought we’d decided on “The Other Gretchen”?

  15. hayeksplosives

    We need more judges like that one in Illinois. Nicely done!

    • Mojeaux

      I haz confuse. I thought AMBER Rose was your jam.

      • leon

        I thought it was Desert Rose

      • Mojeaux

        That song is in one of my books’ playlist.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Silicon is clearly his jam.

    • leon

      If she’s struggling, maybe she should put something less revealing on.

    • Tonio

      OMG, star vfx are like so seventies.

  16. Urthona

    Shouldn’t President Trump be leaving Twitter just about now?

    Surely there are alternatives.

    • Winston

      What are the alternatives?

      • Urthona

        He could literally just start a blog and about a million people would follow him./

      • Rebel Scum

        Infotainment personalities that purport to be “journalists” would still have to follow him. He’s good for ratings.

      • R C Dean

        Gab is the only one I have heard of with any real potential.

      • Suthenboy

        Well, if he signed on they would take off like a rocket.

        *looks at Space X launch*

        Or maybe like a jet.

    • R C Dean

      I think the only thing keeping him at Twitter is the sky-high exposure he gets there. As soon as he realizes that a lot of his followers will, err, follow him to Gab, I bet he’s gone. I hope so.

    • The Hyperbole

      Meh, he likes playing the victim, and having a foils to rail at.

      • bacon-magic

        He learned it from the Dems well then.

      • The Hyperbole

        He was a Dem until he ran wasn’t he?

      • bacon-magic

        He was and still is a Trumpian. He leaned Dem when it helped his interests and leaned Rep when it in turn helped his interests. I am almost certain he is one of the few non-ideologues in the DC swamp.

      • bacon-magic

        How dare you!

      • R C Dean

        I am almost certain he is one of the few non-ideologues in the DC swamp.

        Interesting. Non-partisans, I would agree with. Non-ideologues, I’m not so sure. I think a lot of swampers are in it for personal/institutional advancement, not to advance an ideology. But I don’t know any swampers personally.

      • BakedPenguin

        Of course you don’t know any swampers, RC.

    • Ted S.

      I hate it when the drugs feel my ass.

      • Spudalicious

        Depends on the drugs.

  17. AlmightyJB

    Nobody needs more than one position – Bernie Sanders

    • Bobarian LMD

      If you can have only one, the one where you don’t have to see Bernie would be preferred.

  18. leon

    I had to renew my license today, and fantastically it only took 20 min.

    • Juvenile Bluster

      My license expired in April and the offices here still haven’t opened. I’ve been told I’ll be getting a card soon that gives me until November, but haven’t seen it as yet.

  19. Juvenile Bluster

    I really fucking wish that mask wearing hadn’t become a political thing. Because one side now thinks you’re murdering grandma if you don’t wear one and the other isn’t wearing them because lul own teh libz.

    I’m wearing one because the evidence says it’s a good idea to. Period.

    • grrizzly

      Can you link the evidence? Some published scientific studies, perhaps.

      • Viking1865

        I saw a sick meme with two petri dishes and a caption, does that count?

      • prolefeed

        You mean the CDC meta study that concluded masks don’t work?

    • leon

      wait…. So i’m not killing grandma by not wearing one?

    • Drake

      Last week I flew from Allentown PA to Myrtle Beach. Of course the Allentown airport was all masked up and the airline was handing out extra masks. As soon as we de-planed, people were taking them off and tossing them in the trash. By the time we got outside there wasn’t a mask in sight. It was pretty funny.

      • RBS

        While you were down here did you take in a shooting or an overdose?

      • Drake

        Nope – I took in some beer and food, then drove home. Are those features I missed out on? (I was really in Conway)

      • RBS

        The first two weekends of being “open” were pretty wild. But yeah, every month or so a bad batch shows up and there are a lot of ODs. It just happened to coincide with some gang violence this time.

    • R C Dean

      I’m wearing one because the evidence says it’s a good idea to. Period.

      My understanding: there are a number of studies that show wearing a surgical/cloth mask reduces droplet spread by the wearer. I am not aware of studies showing a reduction in inhalation of droplets by the wearer, but “it stands to reason”. Of course, science is about seeing whether “it stands to reason” actually pans out.

      There are zero studies that I am aware of showing that wearing a surgical/cloth mask and/or social distancing actually reduces the spread of droplet-transmitted disease. Zero. There is no science (again, that I am aware of) that supports that proposition. Its all “stands to reason”, and it is a plausible hypothesis, but it is not proven, and (again, as far as I know) there isn’t even any evidence to support the hypothesis.

      Why wouldn’t masking/social distancing reduce spread of disease? Well, a lot of people don’t wear them right, they might not reduce droplets enough to matter, you can get infected by getting droplets on your hands and touching your face if you don’t wear a mask, the virus might persist on surfaces enough for them to be a vector, etc.

      And it all begs the question of whether we should even be trying to reduce the spread of the disease in a non-at-risk population. That’s how you get to herd immunity, which is safer for everyone, at-risk and not at-risk.

      So, reasonable minds can differ on this. Which is an excellent reason not to mandate it or throw a shitfit either way.

      • Rhywun

        I find both sides of the political debate around masks tedious, TBH.

        I wear one because everywhere I want to go requires it and I don’t want to stir up shit. If there’s a slight chance it helps (and it’s hard to believe there are no studies about it), even better.

      • bacon-magic

        ^

      • R C Dean

        it’s hard to believe there are no studies about it

        It would be very difficult to study, because viral transmission is jammed with confounding variables. In all the furor over “science this, science that”, I haven’t seen a single one that even attempted to study whether masking/social distancing actually reduces the transmission of droplet-borne diseases.

        Remember, the current masking/social distancing program was adopted as a contingency years ago, basically as a “we must do something, etc.” thing.

      • JaimeRoberto Delecto

        I’m willing to go with “it stands to reason”. I don’t expect them to be perfect, but I expect them to be pretty good at reducing the risk. Pretty good multiplied over millions of interactions daily probably makes a difference.

        I’ll wear one in a store, but it’s silly outdoors.

    • Juvenile Bluster

      I’d vote for him if he actually believed that. If he, for example, were to have vetoed the FISA bill or any of the PATRIOT Act extensions.

      But he doesn’t believe that. He only believes that people he likes shouldn’t be investigated.

      • Viking1865

        Or post a bounty for any whistle-blower in the “Intelligence Community” that can provide proof of it to the Attorney General.

      • Winston

        But he doesn’t believe that. He only believes that people he likes shouldn’t be investigated.

        So he is a normal politician after all…

      • Juvenile Bluster

        Pretty much. Which is why I can’t understand people who think he’s any different. He just says the quiet parts out loud.

      • Winston

        Too vulgar. Not his turn. Also there is something about how the harshest conflicts are sometimes the internecine ones. You know the closer the actual politicians get in ideology the small differences are amplified and the conflicts become much more personal than ideological.

      • Winston

        Also the Deplorables support. That is another key problem.

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        He hates the right people. It’s as simple as that. Many (mostly conservative) people have long been sick of the Bob Doles of the world vying for the leadership of the controlled opposition party. They wanted Reagan 2.0, personalitywise. Somebody to unapologetically take their dick and probe the bowels of the institutional left with it. Trump fills that role perfectly. He’s mediocre to abject shit as a president, but he’s making fools of exactly the right people.

      • creech

        Maybe, but what if the pendulum swings back twice as far in the proggie direction just because of his antics?

      • Heroic Mulatto

        If?

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        Personally:

        *shrugs*

        not my clowns, not my circus

        Standing in for conservatives:

        Progs have won the culture war and have dismantled the America of the past. Establishment Republicans have, at best, been ineffective. Often, they’ve been little better than progs. If we’re doomed to go down the path to socialism, I’d rather go down swinging.

      • Raven Nation

        I think it’s also a product of the narrative of the intelligentsia.

        For example, if a socon politician argues publicly that God created the universe in 6 days and the earth is only 6000 years old, said politician would be mocked mercilessly.

        If a prog politician argues that we should have a national government-run healthcare system in order to provide more high quality healthcare for all Americans, the debate centers around how exactly such a system would work and be funded.

        Both ideas are equally foolish and both have the same likelihood of being true (i.e. 0), but the latter is fervently believed “smart” people.

        (And you and substitute a litany of ideas from either side of the spectrum, e.g. if we bomb the Middle East more aggressively, peace will break out).

      • Winston

        How about this:

        If a Socon politician claims that all men are rapist pigs who need to keep their dicks in their pants and the upper class are filled with sexual degenerates then he would be universally dismissed as an old fuddy duddy prude who has nothing to contribute whatsoever.

        However if a feminist makes the same claims then she does merit even if it is totally exaggerated.

    • RAHeinlein

      I wonder if Twitter will fact check this tweet.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I don’t get the ones telling DJT to stop doing it then. I mean, he or his admin is probably doing it…but it has never been a major story for him.

      • R C Dean

        If he issued an executive order categorically banning it, I missed it. And every agency that does it is an executive agency.

      • commodious spittoon

        It’s reactionaries all the way down.

    • Rhywun

      “The Trump meltdown continues”

      LOL

      • R C Dean

        True, but not in the way they think.

    • Bobarian LMD

      It has always been unwatchable. This just makes it more so.

    • wdalasio

      I’m still waiting for the pro soccer to replace her with a cross-dresser.

      • Bobarian LMD

        That’s redundant.

      • wdalasio

        Funny. But, I’m halfway serious. Rapinoe plays the wokeness card to try to shake these people down. Okay. She wants woke? Give her woke. I’m sure you can find a trans woman who will do her job just as well or better and be thankful for the money. What’s she going to do? Risk the social justice mobs to to insist that she shouldn’t be replaced? Let her go down in flames by her own rules.

      • Drake

        That would be funny – some guy who couldn’t make his college soccer team decides he’s a chick and takes her job,

    • leon

      Is ESPN aware that she will sue them as soon as she finds out that someone elses compensation package would have netted her more money than the one she agreed to?

      • juris imprudent

        [opera applause]

    • R C Dean

      When are her 15 minutes going to be over?

      And is it just me, or is that a picture of the lesbian model of Karen?

    • creech

      Throw in Tim Tebow and it might be worth watching.

    • Translucent Chum

      Cost=close

    • Ted S.

      What the fuck is a “values-driven return”?

      • Tundra

        A Hail Mary to stop declining enrollment.

      • R C Dean

        One that protects the value of his bloated compensation?

    • Tundra

      Well, of course. You can’t have a bunch of people with a nearly 0% chance of dying from the virus going about their normal business!

    • R C Dean

      Cue the class action suit for reduction/refund of tuition.

      The school isn’t delivering what it promised, namely, in-person classes and a high degree of socializing/networking with other students and faculty.

      • Viking1865

        What, you don’t think kids go to college for the lectures only?

      • Fourscore

        At this time in my life I

        “high degree of socializing/networking with other students and faculty.”

        I missed that part, being an introvert and libertarian has some drawbacks (or not).

      • wdalasio

        being an introvert and libertarian has some drawbacks (or not).

        Have you been paying attention to what people are actually like?

      • R C Dean

        In my mind, that is a high proportion of the value of the classic on-campus university education. One I did not optimize.

      • Heroic Mulatto

        There is something I really want to say, but I shouldn’t say, so I won’t.

        My serious question is in the crop of cases like this that have and will come, how will the act of God principle come into play? For example, if someone sues over the March to May semester, in what ways can the school be held in breach of contract if the reason the instruction was delivered remotely was unforeseen and uncontrollable by the institution?

      • Homple

        The same way tobacco companies were held responsible for lung cancer?

      • R C Dean

        how will the act of God principle come into play

        Oh, my goodness, are the law firms ever making coin on that, as we speak.

        Much depends on the contract language itself – what does your force majeure clause actually say? I expect bitter arguments and lengthy judicial opinions over whether there is even such a thing as an “act of God” that can be proven as such in court. Our force majeure clause specifically refers to “acts of civil authority”, so we at least have a start on an argument that the lockdown orders triggered it.

        There’s a related contract doctrine – “impossibility”. To the degree that you are legally ordered not to do something, for example, then you can’t be held in breach of contract for not doing it. If the campus burns to the ground, you’re off the hook. But impossibility is pretty narrow – “I couldn’t afford it” doesn’t cut it. “I refused to do it because I thought it was too risky” doesn’t cut it.

        the reason the instruction was delivered remotely was unforeseen and uncontrollable

        Viewed in isolation, “unforeseen” and “uncontrollable” don’t really matter. At a very high level, the question is “who took the risk”. If your promise to do X doesn’t exclude the unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstance that actually came to pass, then you took the risk and you are on the hook. At some point, unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances may cross over into force majeure and impossibility.

      • Heroic Mulatto

        Thank you for the explanation. I wonder what sort of clauses are in the admissions paperwork, etc..

        The cases have already started. It will be really interesting to see what comes of it.

      • Raven Nation

        It’s also going to be interesting to see how big the hit to traditional course enrollments will be in the fall. Right now, our enrollment numbers are about where they should be (for my department). But, we’re also being told that classes above a certain size can’t meet in campus. Most of those are going to be taught as “Remote Instruction” classes = synchronous instruction via Zoom.

        I suspect students are going to bail from those classes once they discover how they’re being taught. How many will bail is the question.

      • Tulip

        My brother said applications are down about 25% at his university (fairly large state school). The faculty was told students are waiting to find out if it will be online or in person.

      • Raven Nation

        Our school still has classes listed as in person so students are enrolling. The format should be changed this week or next in the online listings, so that will be interesting.

      • Viking1865

        I am not a lawyer, but doesn’t time and advancing data come into play too?

        To me, the schools have a pretty good case against damages for spring semester and graduation. But the data is pretty clear at this point that the virus is much less deadly than was thought to be in March, and particularly to students.

        Can you close the campus and do classes online if there’s a bad flu season in 2023?

      • Heroic Mulatto

        Can you close the campus and do classes online if there’s a bad flu season in 2023?

        One thing I am afraid of is that this is what is going to happen anytime there is such a thing.

      • R C Dean

        doesn’t time and advancing data come into play too

        So much depends on facts and circumstances, and contract language. Generally speaking though, breaching a contract because you thought it was reasonable to do so, based on what you thought you knew at the time, doesn’t get you off the hook. See above, re: who takes the risk? The fact that what you thought you knew, turned out to be wrong, is going to be a big, big help to the other side.

        The schools in the best position to defend a breach of contract claim are the ones ordered to close by the governor.

        The ones who did so voluntarily might have a defense (based on what their contracts actually say), but “based on what we thought we knew at the time, we thought it was best” isn’t going to get them very far, especially since the plaintiffs will be able to put up quite a bit of contemporaneous data that shows that the idea that this was dangerous to students, or even most faculty and staff ,was highly questionable very early on. Those cases will not be easy for either side to win. One challenge for the plaintiffs is likely to be establishing the actual promises that were broken. This is where the defendant’s lawyers will come to hate the university marketing department with a white-hot passion.

        People ask me why my contracts with physicians and physician groups run around 40 pages or more (including the boilerplate). Its because they are in large part accumulated/institutional memory of all the remote possibilities (and utter bullshit that people have tried) that could affect the deal.

      • Raven Nation

        “Its because they are in large part accumulated/institutional memory of all the remote possibilities (and utter bullshit that people have tried) that could affect the deal.”

        This is why my syllabi are about 25% longer than what they were when I started teaching.

    • Drake

      The campus will include physical distancing, mask-wearing and restrictions on large gatherings, Stanley said.

      Sure they will – until Dean Karen goes home for the night.

  20. KibbledKristen

    Looks like Evan’s GFM reached goal. Libertarians ate selfish assholes! Now I gotta get back to monitoring my orphan pit…

    • commodious spittoon

      HM is rubbing off on you…

      • Mojeaux

        HM probably shouldn’t be rubbing anybody.

      • Heroic Mulatto

        It’s completely consensual. I swear.

  21. Mojeaux

    Crack that whip!

    • Mojeaux

      That was to Kristen, so she will not spare the rod.

      • UnCivilServant

        I thought you were listening to music or something

      • Mojeaux

        That’s a nice cover, thanks.

        That song is on my pirate book’s playlist.

      • Rhywun

        ?

        I love Kansas.

      • Mojeaux

        One of the comments on that vid was “when the metal version is almost indistinguishable from the original, the original was metal” or something like that.

        Of course, it devolved to an argument about musical genres and the purists came out, but it was an overall fun discussion.

  22. Winston

    https://www.aier.org/article/will-the-politicians-admit-their-lockdown-mistake/

    Are freedom and foundational principles luxuries in which we indulge and permit only under the right conditions? Do our rights exist only by permission of the state such that they can be blotted out under any pretense?

    Yes?

    Now, you might say that a new virus in absence of testing is a rare exception. The trouble is that this is incorrect. A century of history in the U.S. is replete with new viruses, and tests have not always been available much less universal. Plus, the real record here demonstrates that a coterie of high-end experts had been waiting 14 years to deploy their experiment in a new paradigm for dealing with disease. In every other pandemic, the politicians stayed out and government left the economy alone. We trusted individuals and medical experts to deal with the problem, and it worked. Only this time did we flip the other way, and it will likely be years before it is universally admitted to be a catastrophic error.

    There is also a psychological element here, fueled by media pressure. Early on, a friend of mine compared the panicked lockdowners to new residents of coastal towns during hurricane season. The media always and everywhere declares every hurricane to be the mother of all storms. They scream and yell for everyone to run and hide, go somewhere, anywhere, but there. Then the storm changes direction, which provides another excuse for a news update, telling more people to freak out and run for their lives.

    • commodious spittoon

      President Trump: So I was hearing millions of people, and it would have been millions of people if we didn’t shut down. Now, would I shut it down again? No, because we understand it now much better. We didn’t know anything about it, it was new, it was fresh.

      Sharyl: You mean you would not have, in retrospect, shut down the –

      President Trump: I would have done exactly. We’ve done the exact moves that I would have done. And I did it early. Tony Fauci, Dr. Birx, they all said what I did was incredible. . In retrospect, Tony, as you know, never thought he was going to be as severe as it was.

      ?

      • Suthenboy

        What are those exact moves? All I have heard is supplying logistics, equipment and money. Oh, and hospital ships and shutting down intl. travel.

      • Suthenboy

        Well, it was a doozie.

      • Suthenboy

        supposed to be a reply to Drake below

    • Drake

      Admit mistakes? Politicians?

      Neville Chamberlain was the last one I can think of who admitted to making a big mistake.

      • Incentives Matter

        Well, you have to admit, certain mistakes are just impossible to explain away . . .

      • Drake

        He actually owned it and became a Churchill supporter.

  23. Tulip

    On a lighter note, I have been picking lettuce from my garden for the last few days. I realized today that the garden my family had while I was growing up was larger than my entire property. We grew everything – corn, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, asparagus, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, onions, carrots, potatoes, peppers, egg plants,lettuce, raspberries, strawberries, melons and a bunch of stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting. I don’t especially enjoy gardening, but I do enjoy the results. I expanded my garden this year, but it’s still tiny. Even so, I expect to need to freeze a lot of produce and maybe can some tomatoes.

    • Suthenboy

      That is funny. We had the same garden and being a kid I hated it. Soooo much work. I swore I would never have one when I got away from there.

      Now I enjoy the hell out of it.

      • Tulip

        I still don’t like gardening and weeding, but I love having flowers from February through November.

      • Spudalicious

        First vase of roses appeared today.

      • Tulip

        I’ve had vases full of daffodils, then hyacinth, then tulips, and most recently peonies. The roses are too small for vases. And that’s why I weed the flower beds.

      • Fourscore

        I had to work in the garden as a kid but usually whined my way out after a while. Now I’m out several times a day, looking, looking. Soon, like another 10 days, the choi and kale and mustard greens will be size wise ready to pick/eat. Always some weeds, watering or fertilizing to do and I love it. Hot summer day, 86, today. Today I got some lawn mower time, the trees have provided so much canopy that the area to be mowed is getting smaller and smaller.

    • bacon-magic

      I’m getting into raised bed gardening this year. If you have any tips or stories please post an article here.

  24. Hyperion

    G’damnit the fuck! I finished work and was tending to me gardening stuff… and WTF? Can’t launch? Can’t launch?! Can’t never did shit! Back when there were still real men, they launched into the sea, even if there was a storm! Even if they knew there be monsters thar in the great salty depths! Even if they knew they might sail off the edge! Can’t!? Fuck this can’t shit!

  25. Count Potato

    It looks like half the stories on Breitbart are about this broad:

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/27/exclusive-canceled-contact-tracing-contract-reveals-michigan-authorized-democrat-firm-for-400-activists-to-collect-medical-information/

    “A copy of the since-canceled contact tracing contract Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration executed with a Democrat operative’s consulting firm, obtained exclusively by Breitbart News, shows the firm would have been paid to recruit 400 volunteers to collect medical information from state residents.

    The contract was signed April 20, 2020, between the Michigan Public Health Institute and Great Lakes Community Engagement, a nonprofit organization under the control of Mike Kolehouse, a Democrat campaign consultant.”

    • Hyperion

      I’m shocked. And just think, she’ll be your VP soon.

    • Q Continuum

      How does one have sex with a flip flop?

      • SugarFree

        Tenderly and with plenty of lingering eye contact.

      • Spudalicious

        And I think you would want to use and old, worn out one, like Winston’s mom, as opposed to something new and still stiff.

      • SugarFree

        There’s all types, baby.

  26. KSuellington

    I just had a rare double Karen experience. I was taking the boys on the post homeschool ride through GG Park and we passed two middle aged women who were wearing masks and armed with pool noodles. As we got nearer they scurried off to the side of the path and held out the noodles like a cross to a pack of vampires and shouted at us to wear our masks.

    • Q Continuum

      “Dear Glibertarians, I never thought this would happen to me…”

    • Count Potato

      WTF?

    • Suthenboy

      Did you take their picture with your phone, snicker and walk away?

    • LemonGrenade

      I would have had trouble not blowing them a raspberry, but I bet I’d get charged with terrorism for exhaling so hard in their direction.

    • Gender Traitor

      armed with pool noodles

      But were they assault pool noodles?

      • KSuellington

        Hehheh, this is California, assault pool noodles are a felony.

    • Nephilium

      That’s about as dumb as the “safe passing” bike I saw somewhere. The idiot had attached 3 foot pool noodles out from the handlebars and back frame of the bike.

      • C. Anacreon

        Until now he used those as curb feelers.

    • UnCivilServant

      You should have pointed, laughed, and mocked them mercilessly

    • JaimeRoberto Delecto

      I hope you grabbed their noodles.

  27. Gustave Lytton

    Any idea to co-plant with a tomato in a container? Picked up a new one and it’s a bit larger than previous ones I’ve had so can put some stuff around the edges.

    • Tulip

      Tomatoes usually need a lot. I use earth boxes and the recommendation is just two plants. My mom does three with good results, though. If you want something else, maybe a pepper. I’ve done two peppers and one tomato in an earth box

      • Gustave Lytton

        Thank you both! Might consider a single pepper or just go without.

    • Count Potato

      I wouldn’t, usually you want to prune the lower branches for more airflow (to keep them from getting sick) and higher soil temperature (for more fruit).

      • Suthenboy

        Here we have the problem, especially with pots, of soil temps being too high and killing non-natives.

      • Count Potato

        It does depend on the cultivar, although not letting the soil get too dry will keep it from getting too warm. Tomatoes can tolerate very wet soil. It’s wet leaves that causes problems.

    • Incentives Matter

      I’ve talked the spousal unit into doing just a single tomato or tomatillo per pot; it required that we take a trip down memory lane to all those years when she would plant them too close together in gardens or crowd ’em in pots, and then we’d have all kinds of problems with sun, water, diseases, failures to thrive, etc. Seemed to work.

      • Fourscore

        Plants are like people, most often they thrive better when they have space to grow.

  28. Nephilium

    Got a nice bike ride in today, passed one sign that pissed me off. It was by a beach, saying “Crowded beaches are Closed beaches.” On the bright side, the closed signs have all been pulled down through the Metroparks.

    • Suthenboy

      “Crowded beaches are Closed beaches.”

      What does that mean?

      • Nephilium

        Sorry, I didn’t remember the wording correctly. It said Crowded beaches lead to Closed beaches (emphasis mine).

        But yeah. Stay apart, or we’ll take back what we’ve given you.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        I don’t speak Jive either.

      • JaimeRoberto Delecto

        It means nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.

    • Yusef drinks too much

      Arbeit Mach Frei Comrade……

      • Count Potato

        This is my shocked face.

    • SugarFree

      The officer held his hand for his last moments, and then slipped his drop piece into the corpse’s pocket while pretending to pray.

  29. UnCivilServant

    The instant I figure out a way to stop the puddling on the floor, the humidity drops and the AC stops sweating all over the place.

    Funny how that works.

    • Yusef drinks too much

      Try a condensate pump in the future

    • Tulip

      I just moved my portable a.c. into my bedroom. This is unusually late for me. Usually I need it in April

      • hayeksplosives

        We turned on the AC unusually late too. The fruit trees look like they will bear a small crop this go “round. Cherries were good though.

      • Yusef drinks too much

        Check your filter!

      • hayeksplosives

        If my HVAC filter affects my fruit trees, I’m doing it wrong…

      • UnCivilServant

        Check your filter because it’s a good idea.

      • Yusef drinks too much

        Regards your last question, you have either a clogged drain or a cracked pan, that shouldn’t happen

      • UnCivilServant

        The drain still drains quiet well, and the thing hasn’t moved since last year, other than impact, what might crack the pan?

      • UnCivilServant

        *quite

        And that’s judging by how much ends up in the bucket.

      • Yusef drinks too much

        Nothing should crack it, that’s why it’s odd to me, PTACs are pretty reliable, I still drag one around for emergencies, customers love that shit when your waiting on a part….

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, as I said, it’s still cooling just fine. The only problem was the water.

      • Yusef drinks too much

        From my POV, water is cause for concern, I get paid to fix your issue

      • UnCivilServant

        Are there any diagnostic steps short of cracking it open and looking for damage that can be taken?

    • hayeksplosives

      When I first heard otherwise mentally competent Americans clamoring for a NHS for us, I assumed they were naive.

      Now I think they have to know that nationalized healthcare is bad, but it’s worth it to them for us all to have equal healthcare. Except the elite public servants. They will go to Switzerland and pay a private doc.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Egalitarianism is always about bringing everyone else down to your level.

  30. Count Potato

    “He CAN breathe. Anyone who does jiu jitsu knows that someone can’t choke you with a knee of the back of your neck. He’s playing it up for the person recording.”

    https://twitter.com/MattBohl25/status/1265372401606569985

    cool story, bro

    • Yusef drinks too much

      well obviously the Cop didn’t know Ju jitsu…….

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Funny how cutting off the blood flow to your brain has a deleterious effect.

      I’m talking about the guy who posted that tweet.

    • leon

      I bet he died to just play it up for the person recording too.

    • Juvenile Bluster

      *looks at his profile picture*

      There’s no way in fuck that guy does jiu jitsu.

      • EvilSheldon

        Seriously. Dude can’t even flex his lats…

    • hayeksplosives

      I never will understand her longevity in that position. Last decent night one they had was Helmut Kohl.

    • Suthenboy

      East German native educated in one of the communist brainwashing institutions. Full blown commie to the bone.
      I would say also worst German voters ever.

      “…worst Chancellor ever”

      How can that be?

      • dbleagle

        I guess German society is like their military. There is no history before 1949. I think I heard of some worse anti-Semitism in the years 1933-1945.

        This is not to say everything is good the some (((folks))) in Germany and Europe now. Life has grown steadily worse for (((some))) over the last 20 years and the pace of scheisse has gone up remarkably in the last 6-7 years. No idea why. I guess it is unknowable.

        I personally know (((people))) who had to move from their home of over 30 years because of the ramp up in anti-Semitic acts. The abuse was sporadic and grew and grew. The last straw was attempted arson with a neighbor who was a witness refusing to cooperate with the police.

    • Yusef drinks too much

      I saw the tour for that Album, great live show! 15 years old I was,

    • blackjack

      ELO is a great band. I have always liked this one.

  31. hayeksplosives

    How is the stock market so high when the economy is in reality quite crippled right now?

    • UnCivilServant

      Gamblers betting on a boom when the lockdown lifts?

    • Fourscore

      Pyramid scheme. I keep asking your question, Hayek, when there is a limited production of goods what makes the stock value increase? We’ve seen these things before and then a real day of reckoning sets in. One of the affects of the stimulus, the money has to go somewhere. Stock prices inflate.

      I’m confused…

      • cyto

        Yeah…. I’m thinking wall street is betting that those dollars are worth a lot less now that they’ve printed an extra 8 trillion of them in the last 2 months.

    • blackjack

      I believe that all the smaller players are about to go bust. The big guys inch closer to monopoly for a period. I predict less competition for those more able to weather this storm. If’n I had to gamble, of course.

  32. Ownbestenemy

    Still can’t sit at the actual bar but on the high tops “close” to the bar. Apparently by Friday we can but @ 50% capacity…so 8 people. What a fucking joke.

    • Yusef drinks too much

      Come down! Coveu was wide open, lunch and pitchers at the bar…

  33. cyto

    So, from the “I control the universe, but only in tiny and perverse ways” department….

    Today I controlled the weather in Cape Canaveral. We vacillated about whether to go…. it certainly didn’t look good. So at the last moment, the sister in law and I jumped in the car with my middle child and headed out.

    We were on the road, about to cross the bridge onto the causeway ….. .3 and a half hours of driving…. A mere 2 miles from our destination. 15 minutes until launch…. “Abort due to weather”….

    Yup. No question about it. That was me.

    The good bit? We were right at the exit. Another 30 seconds and we would have been forced to cross the causeway before turning around and coming back, stuck in traffic the whole time. 30 seconds that saved me an hour or two sitting in traffic. So thanks for that, anyway.

    I was at the last Shuttle mission, so I figured I needed to be at the first US mission after the shuttle. Saturday we’ll probably hit Playlinda Beach instead.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I say hit the launch. But thats me and I may or not have been drinking

    • I'm Here To Help

      Don’t they shut that down with launches from 39A? Also, I believe the national seashore is still shut down…

      Wife and I are thinking about driving over for it on Saturday…

      • cyto

        That’s a definite “sometimes”. It was open for Demo Falcon Heavy. Apparently, the best place to “feel the heat” without paying for “feel the heat” tickets.

        From what I hear it has more to do with the beach closing at sundown than for launch purposes.

        I’ve been up there several times… only seen a couple of launches. Never tried Playlinda though. It is less than 4 miles from 39A, so much closer than Titusville at 7.5 miles and the causeway at 13.

        If the weather is a little better than it has been all week, I’ll probably hit the beach there early so I can get a good spot for viewing and let the kids play in the ocean for a few hours.

      • cyto

        Ok, after doing some looking… the parks seem to still be closed due to covid. At least the websites think they are.

        And they seem to have changed something about playalinda over the last couple of years. It says the beach is closed for falcon 9 launches – there used to be a line you couldn’t go past. I wonder if that’s still the case.

        I really want to have the up close experience without paying $300 for the privilege.

      • I'm Here To Help

        It really is an impressive experience, especially when you aren’t expecting it. I was on the Cape about 15 years ago for work, and I was driving through the Air Force station on my way back to my hotel with the top down on the rental convertible. Noise like I’ve never heard before, and I see the rocket going up in front of me. Find out I was outside of the exclusion zone, but just barely.

        I still have some friends who work for NASA at the Cape. I really need to get in touch with them to see if they can get me close for a launch sometime…

    • blackjack

      That was on the radio every hour when I was a pup! Thanks.

    • Drake

      Preferred Ebony Eyes.