Brett L
Heroic Mulatto
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- Make: Getting Started with Arduino– Some people make sourdough during house arrest; I hate sourdough.
- Python for Linguists– While I already have some Python chops, I am interested in starting again from first principles with a specific focus on what I actually do with it.
- Compositionality and Concepts in Linguistics and Psychology– An interdisciplinary study of syntax and semantics from a “cognitive” perspective. Steven Pinker is a drooling cretin who needs to keep the activation and deactivation of his diaphragm muscles within his working memory at all times in order to continue breathing.
- Thrawn: Treason– In the third book of Zahn’s rebooted series, in contrast to the first two novels, he doesn’t characterize Thrawn as suffering from space-Asperger’s. In my opinion, this is a positive development.
mexican sharpshooter
I picked up a copy of The Forgotten Man by Amity Shales. Its a counter-narrative to the history of the Great Depression. Covering the years from “Silent Cal“ through the beginning of the war.
Sad I have to call it a counter-narrative but as it turns out I learned in high school FDR got us out of the depression with his fireside chats and the New Deal. Then learned in college that wasn’t true—we actually got out of the depression by bankrolling the entire Allied war machine and then crushed the European economy and were the only ones left to produce anything after the war.
SugarFree
Starship Troopers for the dozenth time. I watched the dumb movie for the dozenth time when it popped up on Netflix and circled back to the book to get the Verhoven out of my mouth. And I read the companion novel, Armor, by John Steakley, which is most of the hot power armor on alien insect action that Heinlein left out of Starship Troopers. (Not a criticism, they are two different things.)
I also read the middle novel of J. G. Ballard’s trilogy of frozen-souled anomie, Concrete Island. Not the masterpiece that is Crash and less apocalyptic than High-Rise, it’s still a great feel-bad book of Ballard’s best period.
Mad Scientist
The Samsung RF267ABPP Refrigerator owners’ manual (English version) is a roller-coaster tour de force that’s fun for the whole family. This exciting manual is like the RF266 manual on crack, and easily the best refrigerator manual I have read all year. This riveting, high-octane romp through the basics of cohabitating with this particular fridge was so gripping, I couldn’t put it down. 4 stars. Can’t wait for the movie to come out.
I came. I saw. I firsted.
“I came. I saw. I firsted.
Ah, problems with premature something or other. I wish I could help but I don’t know anything about it.
I read that as “I came. I saw. I fisted.”
Read the Murderbot series recommended here. Good stuff.
I recall really enjoying Armor. I may have to dig out my copy and reread. I’m kind of in a meh mood for what’s on my Kindle. Waiting for a few series to get the last book published so I can start; trying to retain a lesson I’ve been taught many times.
Did you make it to the recently released novel, Network Effect? That slut Brett and I both really liked it.
Read them all. I found his antisocial ways and eye rolling asides about humans very glibbish.
I’d like to see it get The Expanse TV treatment. Occasionally showing the serials they’re watching would be hilarious.
I just picked up Starship Troopers to give my nephew for his (belated) birthday.
On the very last book of the Cadfael series rn.
Great series. I also enjoyed the BBC adaptation.
I actually read stuff for pleasure for the first time in years. First I read Sanity by neovictorian (who tried to break into our clique, but was a little unsuccessful). Here’s my review:
I read two “sweet”* romances that were reworkings of fairy tales with no magic whatsoever; those were good. I read two light paranormal vampire romances, which were okay I guess. “Okay I guess” is an official review term. One of them, I’m pretty sure the author lifted one of my characters, but not provably.
Oh, and I am currently reading UCS’s Beyond the Edge of the Map.
How far along are you?
About 15%, but I’m not going to gobble it up and miss stuff, so I’m reading carefully. That takes longer.
What’s happening at 15%?
gloves are involved
Schweet.
*”sweet” meaning there is no sex at all, and maybe not even any kissing. Each had a kiss at the end with a marriage proposal.
I’m not picky about the heat level of the romances I read. It’s like I’m not picky about person and tense and POV. I just go on the ride the author wants to take me on.
Probably not your neck of the woods, but Alexandra Rowland (they/them) has released a scathing tear-jerking expose of the evil rapist who groomed xem when xey was just a wee enby of 25 years old. Literally uses the term “grooming” to describe a relationship between a 25 year old nonbinary female and a 43 year old man.
The high-larious part is that the married man in question and his wife are responding to the accusations while still using their preferred pronouns. I guess if they didn’t they’d immediately lose the argument in the eyes of their peers.
Title? Link? I looked on Amazon but saw nothing that was “just” released and nothing to hint at such weirdness.
OT but related: Does none of the nonbinaries want to confront the fact that “xer” is just “her” misspelled? The X doesn’t negate the gender.
Most NB have moved to they/them, which despite being atrocious grammar, seems easier for binary people to adopt and use than the failed Esperanto of x and z transforms.
Its so much easier to just say They when talking about an individual of unknown gender (or just generic human) than explain that technically the way I was taught grammar he is the pronoun to use for such a case.
I’m still struggling with eradicating the generic “he”. In writing I can say s/he (because I hate singular-they so so much), but not in speech.
And none of it is as confusing as the term “straight lesbian.”
Instead of s/he, just use “the creature” as the generic default.
I would just use the new (and Zwakersized!) version:
See.
Instead of s/he, just use “the creature” as the generic default.
The S/He From the Black Lagoon?
Frankenstein’s S/He?
By Mary Creature-ly?
Checks out.
Rowland does use they, but considering “they” are now in a they said/they said (with a couple that is actually two people) the singular they just doesn’t work when contrasting it with a collective they.
I’m thinking “xit” would work. Pronounced “zit”.
Poppin’!
https://www.alexandrarowland.net/news
They won a Hugo!
Before or after the award was skinsuited?
After.
Mush brave. So drama. Buy my books.
My Books are Entertaining and Fun. Buy my books instead.
Buy my book?
Well, so I don’t feel so bad about being 18 and falling under a charismatic charlatan’s spell. (Okay, so it helped I ALSO had a crush on his nemesis.) I learned my lesson even if it took a while.
I’m listening to “Blackstone Fortress”, but I might have misplaced the audio player.
I am back to trying to write “On Unknown Shores” and “Prince of the North Tower”
I’m also working on the vampire story to add into an anthology, and maybe post here.
Not reading anything at this point, but I just finished The Boys on Amazon (as recommended by several people here last week). What an amazing show.
If you have any interest, the comics are even better. They had to tone it way down for the show.
Hard to imagine that being “toned down”.
The show might do the storyline featuring the superhero team comprised of kids with mental disabilities, but I doubt it.
For instance… The female heroine had to blow them all, not just fish boy.
I can relate.
That was an awesome show.
Same dudes who made Preacher, which I loved.
Love that show. When is season 2?
I watched The Witcher on the recommendation of a co-worker. It was aight. Lots of gratuitous, hot female nudity (and male nudity but w/e.). Recently finished the latest season of The Last Kingdom. Highly recommend. Also, Frontier. All are on Netflix.
One of the best parts about The Last Kingdom is that they actually had some realistic battle scenes, with opposing lines of locked shields trying to maintain position and integrity while also trying to break the opposing line. And the line that broke first was generally the loser. Much more realistic than the typical Hollywood general melee of opponents all mixed up in a random mass.
By the end of the season I was laughing hard at what an asshole Homelander was.
Yeah, I loved that show.
Re-reading Stephen King’s Bag of Bones just because it’s been a few years, I have an old library copy and of course the actual library is still closed.
I missed my meds. my ears are ringing…time for bed, but Sloopy linked The Cure’s ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ this morning; I like The Cure, but I like Oleander’s cover better.
Prefer either Wink or the original by Moulin Rogue.
I would say I’m sorry if I thought that it would change your mind.
I am still working my way through “Retief’s War”. I didn’t read much for fun this month.
Based on some comments round these part I read The Mote in God’s Eye. It did not start well for my taste – seemed dated and tropy and too much exposition – but got better towards the end.
On the gripping hand, you will need to pick up The Gripping Hand which is a bit more up to date. Remember, Mote was a long time ago – somebody has to start the tropes…
Seconded.
Thirded. Also, King David’s Spaceship (Pournelle) is another book worth reading and in the same time period in that universe as Mote. I like most of the books I’ve read in the Co-Do universe. I’m an especial fan of Col. Falkenberg.
Based on comments here I re-read The Mote in God’s Eye, and I still really liked it.
Do you broil those, or pan-fry?
Sous-Vide with a finishing sear.
with a blow torch
Tastes like chicken, amirite?
I have been watching Porsche (also Honda) gearbox rebuild videos on youtube.
Does that count?
YES!!!!
I’ve been watching Uncle Tonys Garage obsessively. He is a Mopar guy after my own heart and is doing something interesting each episode.
Remodeling vids for me. Yesterday was not as much fun as I thought it would be while wading through ‘painting my fireplace DIY videos.’ I’m so sick of the word ‘chic.’ Come on people, we can’t think of another word to describe a painted brick fireplace?
. . . we can’t think of another word to describe a painted brick fireplace?
Sure. ”Desperation move.”
The judges would also accept “what you do when you’re too lazy to either demolish and re-build or demolish and put something else there.”
Ouch… cut me deep.
I’m on a bit of a time and budget crunch. I’ve got about 30 days to fully update a house and my wife already is trying to move walls around in the kitchen. That and I’ve never done any mason work. I’m sure I could figure it out and the thought did occur to me, but with the project I’m taking on, it’s prudent to pull out the paint and maybe put together a nice hearth that’ll ‘pop.’ Pull the eye away from one of my small failures as a man.
Please don’t tell me your wife is a Joanna Gaines fangirl. To me, that white brick/rough mantle thing is a fad long past and needs to die. Take a drink every time you hear “shiplap!”
Generally I don’t have any problem with painted brick. I limewashed my front facade going for a German schmear look (google it) that didn’t pan out. Mr. Mojeaux hates it and now I hate it too. Everyone else loves it.
So what, exactly, is the problem with the brick? Too dirty? Too wretched?
If it’s dirty, sandblast it. If it’s too chipped/worn, then I can see the case for painting it.
Just remember, once you paint it, you can’t go back without sandblasting.
BUT it could turn out lovely Before. After.
Weigh your risks, evaluate the fad, and think about future changes in taste.
We’re going with a light grey for the main wall colors and probably some textured driftwood porcelain with the grooves for the floors. I’ve been trying to convince her to go with something medium dark for the fireplace color that’ll somehow match the floor and walls, but honestly I don’t have a clue what the scheme is going to be. I’ve been liking the painted dark prick with a contrasting mortar, but I don’t think she’s going to go for it.
Yes, Mrs. Gaines is extremely prominent in our local Real estate market. Hell, she only lives like 65 miles away.
SHIPLAP!
DRINK!
Yanno, I do like her, but most of the things she did to a midcentury modern Eames-ish place cannot be forgiven.
Thing the Worst: Tore out a bunch of terrazzo in favor of hardwood in non-era colors because she couldn’t be arsed to have the missing terrazzo poured.
She took out an old island. The terrazzo had been poured around the island, not throughout with the island put on top of it. So instead of reworking it and pouring the gap in the floor, she took it out and put down hardwood.
THEN she put brass and glass everywhere. Hello, 1980s gigolo domain.
Anyway, what she did to that place was a crime, so I haven’t taken her seriously since.
She seems nice, though.
I spent all of those years in Catholic schools and churches and didn’t know what terrazzo was until today…
The current brick is just the good ol fashion generic 1970’s Texas red brick.
This is what I’m thinking:
https://fthmb.tqn.com/GAjUzSo2CyH40orRMiuaOAcBQJ8=/960×0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/fin-6-Black-Painted-Brick-Fireplace-white-cement-59f4ea7c845b340011dde71a.jpg
This is what she’s thinking:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_F7pN3Bb1UW8/TSM1pF5X0-I/AAAAAAAAA4o/lqRow6ucb2Y/s1600/DSCN6889.JPG
Hers is a German schmear-ish. I like it okay. Your choice looks like it’s dirty and needs a good cleaning.
How about something like this? The mantle can be more primitive and creamy (as opposed to stark white). If the brick goes up to the ceiling, you can paint it the same color as the walls and hang a picture or a TV.
Check your email. Work filter won’t let me see that.
Too many windows.
Too many windows
Too many windows
*flees*
Yep, sent my idea for a compromise back.
I love that house so much.
You know what? Mike Holmes had a brick house stained a slightly darker color. I’m not sure what the point of that was, because it didn’t look much different, but there is such a thing as brick stain.
Slowly making my way through Mort (which is not a long book).
Prachett? I found the Death books a little more on the silly side of the Disc World stuff. Along with Rincewind.
Out of curiosity what is the focus? Natural Language Processing? or some other kind of linguistics modeling?
I believe he’s looking to become more cunning.
debt can’t be bad: I got a great rate !!!
Although who would have expected that the government would arbitrarily just shut down the economy over a bad flu season?
The Hawaii Library system shut down in March and has barely reopened. I was re-reading many books that I owned. Now that some life has been breathed into the books my taxes pay for I have been reading three.
“The Second World Wars” by VD Hanson. He analyses the war, which he argues was multiple wars, from a systems perspective. It really helps if you already have a sound understanding of the history of the war since he assumes that you already understand some of the key campaigns and personalities Good read to own.
“The Earth is Weeping” by Peter Cozzens. A history of the indian wars of the American West, and not just a focus on one battle or campaign. A positive is that the author does not cast one side or the other as the saint or the sinner. He also largely doesn’t pull a punch when one side or the other messes up. The downside is there are several factual errors that jump out if you already have studied the history of the period. These aren’t necessarily killing blows to the book but did jar me from time to time. Read from the library.
“Shattered” by J. Allen and A. Parnes. I wanted a book to bring a smile to my face so I am re-reading this very solid account of the 2016 Clinton campaign. The two authors had been granted access to the campaign for over a year to write the Hillary Clinton Administration hagiography of her rise to POWER. It is sweet to read haw the campaign never got the footing and how the tone and tenor of the writing change as the dream comes undone. You laugh and cry from laughing as the book lays bare the mess. Read, but don’t own.
I also have been reading “Understanding The Racing Rules of Sailing” by Dave Perry. Don’t even try to read straight through. Well put together and interesting if you are into that sort of thing.
“Understanding The Racing Rules of Sailing”
I still don’t understand the Leeward Fly Rule.
I googled and got an explanation of the Infield Fly Rule.
Try the Duckworth-Lewis rule
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duckworth%E2%80%93Lewis%E2%80%93Stern_method
What is wrong with “finish the next day after the rain has passed”?
Same for baseball cancellations or short inning games. Just finish the next day or next time team is in town.
Glibs:
I have two different but related questions on programming languages.
I’m looking to learn a programming language for use electronics / electro mechanical (EM) projects as well as making work related application demos of EM systems. What programming language would you recommend? I was leaning towards Arduino or Python.
I also had interest in making a Iphone app but I have no idea where to start for programming it. This would be a hobby/entrepreneurial enterprise. I would not be doing my own programming past the prototype phase. Here I have no clue. I own a Mac and a PC, but only own Iphones.
I’m not an experienced programmer, I have used Fortran77, Basic, and AB ladder Logic in the past. I’m a engineer and have a great deal of experience with systems and process flows.
Any Thoughts?
Find out which language most iPhone apps are written in an use that one. Most of the problems you encounter will have solutions on Google.
As much as I despise everything about the language, python is probably your best bet for EM stuff, as is going to have the widest support in the user base.
As fur iPhone apps, they are developed in Swift, a language I know nothing about. If you were long to do android development I could help you out, but I know almost nothing about apple products other than I hate their UI.
The little research I did seems to focus on Python for both of my interests.
Thanks for your inputs.
Right now? Ignorant, racist screeds by ignorant, racist marxists.
“What responsible editor would print an article that applauds and dignifies the white race’s rape, plunder, and genocide of a whole race of people? I find it hard to believe that any member of the white race can have the audacity and hypocrisy to call any other culture savage. The white race is the biggest murderer, rapist, pillager, and thief of the modern world,” Hannah-Jones wrote in her letter, published November 21, 1995.
“Europeans have colonized and destroyed the indigenous populations of every continent of this planet. They have committed genocide against cultures that have never offended them in their greed and insatiable desire to control and dominate every non-white culture,” Hannah-Jones, then a sophomore at Notre Dame, added.
“Christopher Columbus and those like him were no different then [sic] Hitler. The crimes they committed were unnecessarily cruel and can only be described as acts of the devil,” she alleged.
Hannah-Jones argued that “Africans had been to the Americas long before Columbus or any Europeans.” She advanced the theory that African cultures had crossed the Atlantic and influenced Native Americans, from the “pyramids of the Aztecs” to the “great stone heads of the Olmecs.”
“It was not enough for whites to come to the Americas and learn, they looked upon the native people as inferior and a people to be annihilated. Their lasting monument was the destruction and enslavement of two races of people,” she claimed. “Using Christianity as their excuse, the white race denied the native people their humanity.”
“Africans had been to the Americas long before Columbus or any Europeans.” She advanced the theory that African cultures had crossed the Atlantic and influenced Native Americans, from the “pyramids of the Aztecs” to the “great stone heads of the Olmecs.”
Oh yeah, she’s quite the historian.
Isn’t Africans influenced the Olmecs just another version of “Olmecs didn’t build it themselves, some outsider had to do it for them”?
Worse I have the sneaking suspicion she’s referring to that viral post where some dude used an Actual Olmec Head sent as a gift to someone in Africa, to “prove” the Africans influenced the Olmecs. Tricknology, I guess.
And the Olmec heads are also used to argue that there was a Chinese influence and even trade.
And fuck Gavin Menzies too.
Although, I have my sophomore methods students read that bilge and write an essay on what is wrong with it. And the answer can’t be “he’s an idiot.”
I can’t believe that shit is being revived. When Van Sertima first published that more than 40 years ago it was widely discounted then. AND, it pissed off Native Americans for the reason OTA noted. It’s like an academic version of Ancient Aliens.
It’s possible that isolated Africans ended up in South America through storms, etc. But not a cultural transplantation.
Okay! – lil’ Jon
I’ve been off again, on again between:
Strategy by Lawrence Freedman, Socialism by Mises, and The History of the Pelopenesian Wars by Thucydides
Socialism by Mises
We really are the same person.
I know. Sometimes i worry that i’m just a dumb bunny. But i can’t be if smart people like you are like me.
Or we are both idiots.
I am still trying to figure out which of us is the evil one. Have you **ever** had a goatee, because I never have.
A non-zero possibility.
Define Goatee… I’ve sported a stash and chin facial hair. Some people only count that as a goatee if you don’t have a stash.
Close enough, you qualify as the evil one.
Checks out.
That’s my default beardstyle.
/IguessI’mtheevilone
I just read the first chapter of Stephen R. Donaldson’s The Mirror of Her Dreams, the first of his two-volume Mordant’s Need series. (Do two books a series make?) My sister gave both books to me for Christmas, and when I remembered that her birthday is coming up in early July, I thought I should at least start reading them. I’d be interested to know if any other Glibs have read them and could tell me whether they’re worth the time. (First book is 600+ pages in MM PB.) First chapter hasn’t completely “grabbed” me, but an endorsement would help convince me to continue.
I read both a long time ago. I don’t remember that well, but I liked them enough to read them both.
I’ve read them, but it’s been over 30 years and they weren’t very memorable to me. I remember thinking they were just OK, and not liking the bland and passive heroine very much. I had a friend who absolutely loved them, though. I think he fell in love with the main character.
I’ve read them both — I think it is worth it, A Man Rides Through picks up the pace considerably and Teresa isn’t so bloody useless throughout it.
I read them quite some time ago, but I liked them quite a lot. Although tastes may vary.
I don’t think I got past the first chapter, but I loved his Gap Into… series.
I also love the Gap Into . . . series.
That. And Thomas Covenant.
Both of these have protagonist who I found myself hating, while building an arc of redemption.
the third trilogy (actually 4 books) of the Covenant series was ultimately kind of unsatisfying.
But never read the Mordant books.
I read them a while back and really liked the worldbuilding/magic system in it. Like a lot of portal fantasies, the person from Earth is usually the least interesting person in the cast (and she’s even more deliberately so, unfortunately) but as the others said, it does pick up as she figures shit out. Secondary characters are better, though some are a bit broadly drawn, iirc.
Thanks for all the feedback, everybody. I’ll keep going and give it some more time to grab me.
Progress and Poverty – Henry George
Socialism – Ludwig von Mises
1632 – Eric Flint
The first two I am reading and taking notes for my next SLT article. I have read parts of Socialism before but never slogged all the way thru.
The latter is a reread, I hate his writing style and (some of) his politics, but I like the world. I have 3 of the books, out of approximately 800 bajillion. The writing gets better in partnership with David Weber.
I also just finished a reread of The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul. It was out of my possession for about a decade, I found my copy on a friend’s bookshelf.
I’ve been slowly churning my way through that one too. I enjoyed the first few chapters. The part on sexuality was… weird, but manageable.
I read 1632 and 1633 but then just kind of lost interest in the whole thing. Like you, I enjoy the world.
Have you read Thomas Harlan’s “In the Time of the Sixth Sun” series? It’s set in the 25th century but is based on a historical past where the Aztecs conquered the world with support from the Japanese (it’s more complex than that but that’s the gist of it).
I would think a linguist would prefer Perl.
OT already, but it should be interesting to see how this plays out.
Marvin Bartley is an English-born footballer of Jamaican descent who plays for Livingston in Scotland. Following recent calls for more BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) managers in British football, Bartley said such candidates could be better equipped.
“I was shocked with the lack of black and ethnic minorities that have their A licence,” Bartley said. “It began to make more sense why there aren’t as many black managers in Scotland or England because not that many have the qualifications.”
I want a real Starship Troopers movie, solely for the opening scene pre-credits with the battle vs the Skinnies. Some sweet powered suit action!
You should read Armor, if you haven’t. They cannibalized a few pieces of it for the 1997 movie. But it is a darker take on the idea.
Yeah. read through it years ago. I like Steakley’s work and have to pick up some more.
Vampire$ was a horrible film adaption.
Also reading whatever i can find about becoming a “seller” on Amazon. I have too many things, and not enough money.
Apparently, Amazon is not (contrary to my prior assumption) exclusively a marketplace for lowest-imagineable-price commodities. I might be able to find a niche, on an ongoing basis.
I would not recommend Alibris for publishing a new book. Too expensive for too little marketing. But I don’t know about their Used book selling.
He’s selling old books he has.
I personally would recommend sticking with Amazon to sell. If it’s not there, it’s only on eBay (maybe) and eBay has made itself so hostile to sellers that there’s only the dregs left.
I can’t vouch for or against, Alibris, though, so maybe list in both places? Is that allowed?
It depends on the specific books, but often you can ship the books directly to them and they will pay cash. It is done with book having a barcode and reasonable resale values. Check their site, it should show how to do it.
OT but in the last forgotten weapons video there is one impressive bayonet. Someone was overcompensating.
I’m heading down to Sebring for a track day weekend. In between sessions on the circuit (and perusing Glibs, natch) I’ll be reading Scott Adams’ Loserthink.
Awesome! Sebring is a blast, but bumpy as hell. What are you driving?
’15 Boxster S.
And I’m familiar with the circuit. As the saying goes… Sebring has more elevation changes than any track in the country. It’s just that it’s an inch at a time. Going around Turn 17 and down the front straight, the car bounces around like an ugly girl on her wedding night.
I didn’t much like the track at first, but it’s grown on me. It, along with Barber and VIR, are my favorite tracks.
That corner seems to last forever. My favorite line through there is full tilt until you get all the way past the flagging station, turn in a little, straighten up, and stand on the binders. When you scrub off enough speed you’re at the perfect spot to turn back in and accelerate through the turn. Too narrow on the exit and you risk whacking a slow car entering the pits around that blind corner. Too wide and you’ll end up backwards in the outside wall. But there are at least 15 usable lines through that corner and all kinds of opportunities to pass. Enjoy yourself! A crummy weekend at the track is still better than the best day anywhere else.
I was looking at Alibris as a venue to sell my book collection, but something about it just doesn’t feel right. Amazon still has a rare and collectible book category. We’ll start there, and see how it goes.
Brooks, I was in used books for decades, and if you want to make money back on the books, selling them one at a time on Books is probably best but can take literally years. But to get rid of them call the nearest used book store to do a buy. They will give you a price on them, bulk if they are worth their salt. Don’t call a paperback shack.
Shit, ABE Books
https://www.abebooks.com/books/Sell/?cm_sp=TopNav-_-Advs-_-Sell
If YouTube is allowed as a medium, I’ve been binge watching “Forgotten Weapons”. I’ve become a patron and had a few brief comment/conversations with Gun Jesus himself.
The most recent actual reading I’ve done was a few books about how American Indian tribes clashed against the American westward expansion. “Empire of the Summer Moon”, “The Heart of Everything That Is”, and “9 Years Among the Indians”. Among other things, from my perspective, these underlined the technological giant leap which the Colt’s revolver (the early cap and ball versions, not the 1873 Peacemaker) gave to those who took it to their bosoms. The early settlers, and those who would try to protect them, were facing (quite arguably) the best forms of light cavalry who ever rode a saddle. If it had not been for the percussion cap leading to multiple firing handguns westward expansion might have been delayed much longer.
If YouTube is allowed as a medium, I’ve been binge watching “Forgotten Weapons”. I’ve become a patron and had a few brief comment/conversations with Gun Jesus himself.
I regularly watch that channel. I am also a patron. I have read his book. I have not had a conversation with Gun Jesus yet.
I’m reading The Law for the first time. Figured it was time to actually read some the books I’m supposed to have read already as a libertarianish fella.
Also reading Foundation by Asimov. I haven’t read much sci-fi but I heard an interesting interview with Orson Scott Card a while back and it inspired me to buy Foundation, Ender’s Game and Dune. I figured those were a couple good starters since I’ve heard a lot about them.
The only problem with Foundation is that some people take the idea seriously.
Those are all pretty good places to start. Yes, they all have “problems,” just as LOTR does, but as many others have noted, they were ‘firsts’ in many ways and launched generations of writers and SF fans. I went through “phases” with all of them when I was a kid and I’ve read Ender’s Game a couple fo times as an adult. I think it holds up.
Just a mild warning. In the case of Foundation remember that this was written over 50-60 years ago, so in some cases it will show it’s age.
Card wrote his knock off of Foundation in a series called the Worthing Saga. I liked both very much.
Wasn’t Card canceled before cancel culture got big?
I remember something about him being an asshole, but other than that I don’t know.
He was anti-gay marriage. He even had one of his books where a lesbian and a gay guy got married and had children for the good of the genetic diversity of the space colony.
Sounds like a reasonable compromise to me. I also remember him being too blatant in his LDS references. He wrote a SciFi version of the book of Mormon called the Homecoming saga. I read half of the books and gave up once it seemed to be going nowhere fast.
He got in trouble a few times.
In 2004 for this: “I’m a Democrat voting for Bush, even though on economic issues, from taxes to government regulation, I’m not happy with the Republican positions. But we’re at war, and electing a president who is committed to losing it seems to be the most foolish thing we could do. Personal honesty is also important to me, and Kerry is obviously not in the running on that point, given that he can’t keep track of the facts in his own autobiography.”
Then in 2013, he wrote: “On foreign policy, Obama is already the dumbest president in American history, and there’s so much competition for that title. Only the fact that Al Gore, John Kerry, and Joe Biden were never president leaves him in sole possession of the crown.
But that brings me to a little thought experiment that seized my imagination a few weeks ago and won’t go away.
Obama is, by character and preference, a dictator. He hates the very idea of compromise; he demonizes his critics and despises even his own toadies in the liberal press. He circumvented Congress as soon as he got into office by appointing “czars” who didn’t need Senate approval. His own party hasn’t passed a budget ever in the Senate.
In other words, Obama already acts as if the Constitution were just for show. Like Augustus, he pretends to govern within its framework, but in fact he treats it with contempt.”
The whole 2013 thing is here: http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2013-05-09-1.html
All very good choices for a foundation (not intended, but I am glad it is there) in SF. Need some Heinlein and Niven too. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Ringworld would be my recommendations (I am a huge Niven fan and Ringworld isn’t my favorite, but its his big breakthrough work).
World of Ptavvs and Protector were great short Niven books as well.
Protector is my favorite.
Thanks got the input, guys!
For the Ender’s Game series, I much preferred the Shadow series then the original continuation of the stories.
I thought Speaker for the Dead was a good book, although it’s been awhile since I read it. I don’t remember reading past that
I actually agree. Enders Game is good because it’s stand alone, but Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide are actually better IMO.
Tejicano- If you haven’t read the Mari Sandoz book about Crazy Horse, I highly recommend it.
I won’t pretend to vouch for its historical accuracy, but i thought it was a great read. She also has some other excellent books about pioneer life on the prairie.
“Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglala” – OK, I’ll put that on my list. Crazy Horse was a minor character in “The Heart of Everything That Is” but he is a well known figure in that time and place. – Thanks!
Took a break from the Longmire series to read As I Lay Dying. Wasn’t really enjoying it, until they started the journey to Jefferson, and Addie’s chapter blew me away. I’m about 3/4 through the book now.
I’m currently slogging though the basics of bankruptcy law: so entertaining, it’s the cure for insomnia. BUT, I’ve got an opportunity to walk into a practice and right now, as a result of COVID lockdowns, (a) I could use the work and the cash, and (b) it will get me back up to my roots in the northeast where I’m barred in multiple states. (Should allow me to see my 96 yo old grandmother before she kicks it.)
I’ve purchased a bunch of ‘spiritual’ books and continue to work my way through them… S-L-O-W-L-Y. Not that they’re hard reading, I’m just up to my ass at the moment getting set up to start doing personal bankruptcies. Zerohedge had a great article that suggested we will see a “biblical” (TD’s word) number of personal bankruptcies as a result of what’s happened. I intend to cream off a very small chunk of that and do some purely transactional legal work for a change – work that doesn’t require me to empty my soul into it, as I’m done doing that nonsense.
My apologies to TPTB Sorry for the dearth of writing. Once I get set up, I’ll put some stuff in the queue. I have to admit that all of the nonsense in broader society has really just drained my desire to write. It feels rather pointless in the face of what looks like civilizational collapse.
Same, I’m trying to get motivated to put up another article. Plus working at home has my regular calendar in a bit of flux.
You are sorry for the dearth of writing? Relax – you don’t see much coming out of us…even if we do have to plod along and get links, and features like this out.
The Fatburn Fix – Cate Shanahan
A diet plan to ease onto Keto when you’ve got too much vegetable oil in your system.
Alphabet Squadron – Alexander Freed
A Star Wars novel that takes place shortly after RotJ, about a TIE pilot who has defected to the rebels and is helping to track down her old squadron.
The Daily Stoic – Ryan Holiday
Daily stuff about Stoicism.
CCNP & CCIE Data Center Core Official Certification Guide
Already read the whole thing once and took notes, now going through again and setting up some virtual labs for some of the things I don’t already have enough hands-on experience with.
A diet plan to ease onto Keto when you’ve got too much vegetable oil in your system. – just don’t get too excited on these keto plans.
How’s the new cert structure working for you? I’ve been avoiding it with the other work I have going on.
Kinda screwed me up for a while, I had already taken the first CCNP-DC test and was about to take the second one on UCS when I found out about the changes. It ended up making more sense to skip that test, study for and take one of the other CCNP tests, then come back around to the DC Core test (which also acts as the CCIE-DC written) once the changes went into effect.
My main issue now is that I’ll need to find another written test and/or some classes to take after this one, since this one test won’t be enough to recert my R&S CCIE.
I’m sure we’ve all read its antithesis Haldeman’s “Forever War”. This seems to draw mixed reactions, but I liked it.
I really like The Forever War. While it is the antithesis of Starahip Troopers but they are about two fundamentally different wars, the widely popular and “righteous” WWII and the morally shaky and confused Vietnam.
The sequel, Forever Free kinda disappears up its own ass, though.
I never read the sequel, but you’re not alone in that opinion.
I thought Starship Troopers was written with an eye to the Cold War rather than WWII?
For me the big message about starship troopers was about the bond between soldiers. A One for all and All for One kind of thing. But it’s been ages since i read it, so i’d have to give it another go.
True. But the underlying story was individual free men (in theory) vs. the collectivist bugs.
Heinlein* noted that “Starship Troopers outraged” his critics. He listed a lot of reasons for this many of which revolved around “glorification of war.” But interestingly, RAH noted that he thought what his critics found most offensive was “the dismaying idea that a voice in governing the state should be earned instead of being handed to anyone who is 18 years old and has a body temperature near 37 C.”
*Standing apology to Unciv for discussing RAH 😉
Depending upon the party, you don’t even need a body temp above room temp.
Surely you mean “ground temp.”
You go to the trouble of burying your voters?
But there’s NO VOTER FRAUD AT ALL.
This is going to be an insane election. I now believe it will be stolen by Team D, that will come to light shortly after – before Trump would leave office – and there will be riots in the streets over who is President.
There, THAT is my 2020 prediction. It just came to me like a flash.
Like most libertarians, Heinlein didn’t see a huge difference between fascism and communism, but the central idea of an unambiguous, expansionist and genocidal foe informs the novel more than the sort of low-intensity proxy wars of the Cold War.
But the Bugs are a stand-in for communists. ST was written as a didactic novel for teens, so the idea of getting them ready for the next hot war was something Heinlein wove in as well.
Fair enough.
The Forever War is great right up to the end, then it leaves you with fucking idiotic explanation for the whole thing.
It’s been a while since I read it, but I think the explanation Haldeman used was the one that was generally believed by a lot of people in the 1970s about Vietnam.
“A lot of people” = hippy morons.
After all that great writing, he falls back on making Generals one-dimensional unrepentant warmongers. Because they’re reaction to their wars must have “gee, this great” instead of his charaters’ experiences. It literally made me question the whole book.
Meh. I read
, and rather than improve my opinion of the generals in Vietnam, it made me realize that the Joes were fucked not only by the politicians, but by the brass as well.
I found this book to be fascinating. A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam
Westmoreland really was in over his head trying to fight his brigades like he was up against the Wehrmacht. Abrams turned things around pretty spectacularly – and won the war on the ground. Then the commies in the press and Congress gave it back.
Yeah, my uncle was in Vietnam in the 101st Airborne during the Tet Offensive. He was beyond pissed that the media made it out like a VC/NVA victory after they actually had their asses handed to them.
I guess if it was written today, I’d buy it if it was defense contractors buying off armchair generals and politicians.
Also known as the “Gulf of Tonkin incident”.
Pretty well documented that the Joint Chiefs wanted nothing to do with Johnson and McNamara’s idiot plans for Vietnam.
The infamous meeting where Johnson insisted on getting into our last Forever War. It wasn’t the Generals’ idea.
That is stunning. I did not know that. Holy fuck.
Fuck Lyndon Baines Johnson to hell and back. What a piece of shit. I think I agree that they should have quit and made a public stink about it, although… I’m kinda uncomfortable with that, too, though. Jeez.
More racist, more sexist, more antisemitic, cruder, assaulted more women that ORANGEMANBAD.
But that (D) makes up for a lot.
The generals got off easy – at least Johnson didn’t wave his dick at them like he sometimes did to his staff.
Don’t disagree. I was referring to what was a fairly widely held belief. Haldeman’s time in Vietnam still influences him.
Yeah, and i was being tongue in cheek too.
In 1974 when the book was written that probably wasn’t known the way it is now.
Rereading Elroys American Tabloid, with The Count of Monte Cristo waiting in the wings.
As bathroom reading, Rogues, Vagabonds, and Sturdy Beggars: A New Gallery of Tudor and Early Stuart Rogue Literature Exposing the Lives, Times, and Cozening Tricks of the Elizabethan Underworld – Quite tasty!
I’m currently slogging though the basics of bankruptcy law: so entertaining, it’s the cure for insomnia. BUT, I’ve got an opportunity to walk into a practice and right now, as a result of COVID lockdowns,
There will be plenty of work for you.
I’m reading absolutely nothing, which I need to fix. I have a library book in the garage I checked out in February – it hasn’t been open since.
Note to self: Pointing out that the current COVID situation is not the end of the world to lefties on Facebook will get you accused of being delusional and paranoid.
I havn’t had that happen, but i don’t post on facebook. I do mention to a few people every once in a while that having the spike in cases now is perferable to during flu season, having it now was kind of expected. Finally we are still at the same point we were at the begining which is, we can’t expect everyone to just give up on everything in life for the CORONA. Things need to get done, and people need to get on with their lives. Personally i think all the restrictions have had a negative effect because they turned people sour on any precaution. I don’t think we would have the fights over masks if it wasn’t for the lockdowns.
I don’t think we would have the fights over masks if it wasn’t for the lockdowns.
Disagree. I would have been just as adamantly against masks as I’m now.
From the New England Journal of Medicine:
For a lot of people the political effect of the COVID situation is more important than anything else.
I don’t see any other possible explanation for the defense of Cuomo.
will get you accused of being delusional and paranoid.
And isn’t it ironic?
Don’t you think?
Don’t ya think?
Every day, need to or not.
Aloha. I have been re-visiting some old favorites, Harrison Bergeron and Animal Farm, with repeated viewings of Demolition Man in between.
It has become quite clear to me now that these works were sent from the future in a last ditch effort to warn us of where we are headed.
Unfortunately, instead of heeding knowledge of what not to do, they became the roadmap for woke theology, thereby confirming that there is no way to change the past.
So, I can only offer my condolences to those poor future souls who hoped in vain that we would be able to avert the pending wokepocalypse.
Anyway, Merry Coronomas too all. Truely the most wonderful time of the year.
SF,
I freaking love Armor by John Steakley. Read that several times.
I’m currently attempting Selected Essays by Michael de Montaigne, but since it doesn’t have a nuclear powered armored exoskeleton it’s a slow process.
Did you ever read Steakley’s only other novel, Vampire$, which was adapted to film by John Carpenter?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120877/
Not the novel that Armor is, but still worth the read.
I have not. Thanks. I tried several years ago to search out more of his books and didn’t find much. That was pre-google(how something so useful as Google can be turned into a brainwasher still pisses me off).
Think I’ve seen the movie though.
I read that back in high school, and have exactly zero recollection of anything in it. Might be time for a re-read.
His depiction of Felix’s(I think that’s the main character’s name) struggles with the horrors of war were pretty vivid.
Armor is terrific. Too bad is was a one-time thing.
HM,
I haven’t explored the SW universe of books, Thrawn being one of them. Thanks for reminding me.
Going through the Longmire series , currently on Hell is Empty. With all the allusions to Inferno went ahead and picked that up, figured I’d read it next before moving on to the next book in the series.
AP Poll on Covid vaccination:
20% said they would be vaccinated
31% said unsure
Did the poll mention that there has never been a coronavirus vaccine that worked?
You are ruining their dream.
*I remember when someone wanted to say “That is never going to happen” they would say “Yeah, that will happen when they find a cure for the common cold. “
This is something I bring up regularly. There is no cure for any other coronavirus because it is constantly mutating (ie the common cold). The second the powers/influences that be moved the goalposts from “flatten the curve” to “vaccination” I went from 90% sure the situation was a farce being used as a power-grab to 100% sure*.
*Not to suggest that there is not a virus. There is. But we, as a country, have not reacted to any other respiratory virus (MERS, Sars1, H1N1, etc) the way we have to this one. So something else is up.
Vaccination – no.
Variolation – yes. Well, maybe. Yes for sure 20 years ago. I am in a riskier age group now.
http://www.overcomingbias.com/2020/03/variolation-may-cut-covid19-deaths-3-30x.html
Published March 30…it would have been a late start, but still worth it to do.
Don’t worry. When Joe is elected he’ll use exective power to force everyone to get vaccinated. Just call it a tax, or maybe some kind of executive power that the SCOTUS can create out of thin air.
He’s already stated he supports a nation-wide order requiring masks.
After November you won’t hear another word about the commie cooties. Or Russia. Or BLM/Antifa riots.
Remember when the CDC needed $1BN to combat zika virus, cause we were about to have a nation of microencephalic babies? Dont hear much about it these days…
Currently not reading anything. I feel asleep on the couch this morning. When I woke Mrs. Suthenboy was watching some English movie. I cracked one eye and watched about five minutes of it before I wanted to strangle every character in the show. Finally I asked “Goddamn. What in hell are you watching? I hate these people. They are trashy as hell and they live in a prison. Who could stand that?”
Her – “It’s Downton Abbey, the movie”
Me – “Jeeeeesus. No wonder we ran those fuckers off.”
That was a popular program? My step mother watched it religiously and talked about it all of the time. She was sooooo envious of the characters. You couldn’t make me live like that at gunpoint. The pension men have no idea how lucky they are. (bonus points for anyone who knows what a pension man is)
Ok, so now I have seen more than I needed to see of Downton Abbey.
Pension man.
Heh. My Mom used to call them “remittance men” — basically, ne’er-do-well sons of the British aristocracy who were banished by their families to the colonies (in my Mom’s case, west-central Alberta during the 1920s and 30s) and given a monthly remittance, with strict instructions that, were they ever to return to the shores of That Sceptre’d Isle™, their remittances would be terminated.
She had some hilarious stories about the remittance men. Most of whom really were ne’er-do-wells.
A character in The Legacy of Heorot was a remittance man. He was sent to colonize another planet to get rid of him. Basically, he didn’t have the background to be accepted for the trip, but his Father bribed his way on board.
The Gendels were horrific. Nitrous Oxide boosted kill crocodiles
We have gators in our neighborhood. I keep expecting them to attack out of the water grendel style.
Bonus points to you. I am impressed.
Costa Rica is full of them.
I remember one in particular….Colin….uh….something. He had a Cadillac convertible and a different woman was in the passenger seat every day.
He was the one who explained to me what a pension man is. After he explained I said “Ah. So they threw you in the briar patch did they?”
He was puzzled. I had to explain to him what that meant. He almost fell on the floor laughing.
*rummages in drawer for duel-initiating gloves*
Do you mean that in the San Francisco, very tangy, vaguely leathery crust way or everything in the broad category of breads that are risen by the action of microbes, but not commercial yeast like the buttery Pain au Levain way?
That reminds me, my creperie is finally reopening for dine-in.
sounds creepy.
I have buckwheat flour that I’m trying to figure out what to do with. Crepes could be fun. The 25%-buckwheat sourdough was fun but dense.
Soba noodles?
I was unaware, but it seems buckwheat allergies are somewhat common. I’ve had Japanese acquaintances make sure I wasn’t allergic before we ordered.
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/salty-buckwheat-chocolate-chunk-cookies
Buckwheat? Chocolate?
TRIGGERED!
Heeeyyyyy Ev’rybody have you seen my chunks, they’re big and salty and buckwheat….
I’m no Isaac Hayes, sorry.
Kasha?
Try buckwheat pancakes. nutty and great texture. You might need to mix in a 50-50 ratio with AP flour.
I love Armro-Piercing Flour, useful for puncturing the hulls of lesser grains.
Oh wait, did you mean mere all-purpose?
What ever definition makes you complete.
Here as well, but they’re still serving everything in to go packaging. They were slammed when I biked up there last week.
So i’m going to propose a new (probably not new) effect. I call it the Leon-Kroger Immunity Effect. It’s the effect that causes anyone who has heard about the Dunning-Kruger effect, to think they are immune from it.
I’m too stupid to fall for that.
Masks: Just yesterday, some jackass on Bloomberg was basically saying you should wear a mask because it proves you are willing to set aside your toxic individuality for the greater good. In other words, social signalling. The needs of the many outweigh the freedom of the few.
Communitarian solidarity, FTW!
In other words, said jackass is a coward who’s afraid of the mob. I have some appreciation for that, but don’t try to hide it with appeals to altruism.
OBEY.
At this point I wont put on a mask at any price.
How about I just show my DD-214 instead?
How Obscene.
Please show it one of the draft-dodging Boomers who are yelling about “those damn kids”
My Mom used to call them “remittance men” — basically, ne’er-do-well sons of the British aristocracy who were banished by their families to the colonies
I played lacrosse in college with a guy who was rumored to be paid a substantial stipend to stay the fuck out of New England. He was pretty entertaining.
I can’t imagine letting that get around, it seems pretty degrading. Like being a kept man but not even by a woman.
Then again, I don’t come from a family that could afford to pay a stipend, so maybe it’s a culture thing.
I believe it’s a class thing, and the British have a very finely tuned class system.
Remember, this was Back In The Day, in a small west-central Alberta town (Rocky Mountain House, to be precise), where everybody knew everybody else and the remittance men would come into town once a month for the express purpose of getting their mail, and then taking their cheque to the only bank in town and getting it deposited/cashed. The tellers would have known what was going on, and it was only a matter of time before they blabbed/gossiped to someone else.
Nurture vs nature
Now I realize why I am what I am. I think there my be more of us than we know
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/latvia-europe-s-nation-of-introverts?utm_source=pocket-newtab
ZWAK- I looked at ABE Books, and the terms seemed to be pretty unfavorable. Like, “Why bother? I might as well throw them in the trash.”
Honey? Let’s spice things up in the bedroom.
Electrocution During Sexual Activity
So much better than the David Carradine strangle-thingy – what Bruce Lee would have done if given the role of Caine.
The volts will jolt, but the mils will kill…
I wonder whether that’s worse than the balcony railing giving way.
Now THAT is going out with your boots on…. oh wait…
Democrats are the best firearms sales people.
As if we didn’t have enough evidence that ‘Public Health’ is a giant fraud…
Public X is going to be a large money pit for people to graft on.
I wish I owned a thousand acres of developable land in the Minneapolis suburbs.
Wait a year or two and you can snag it for pennies on the dollar. I think they will pay you now to take it in Detroit.
I think he means the burbs because people will be fleeing the city.
Yes – Outside of Minneapolis proper.
Personally, I think the Committee of Public Safety sounds catchier….
Doesn’t it though?
I think you’d need to have started that on June 14th though.
In this May 28, 2020 file photo, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks during a news conference in Minneapolis. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP File)
More like Jacob Trudeau, amirite?
Meh, if I was starting Libertarian City, I would probably have City Watch instead of the the Police Department. Something to make it clear that your job is to guard people’s safety, not extract revenue by writing tickets.
Columbus was just the beginning. Now they are coming for the Russians.
I will say this: for the most part the Russians in Alaska made the English on the east coast look like a humanitarian expedition.
Yeah? Almost every indigenous American made all of the European colonists look like humanitarians.
-1 Noble Savage
Wait a minute – are you telling me that the tribes of North America didn’t all live in blissful, communal harmony in North America before the white man came????
That depends on how you define ‘blissful, communal harmony’.
Skinning each other alive?
My front yard is full of rock chips. Find any hill top in Louisiana near water and you will find rock chips, pottery etc. I am sure some of those chips were put to uses we don’t want to know about.
The injuns around here were some of the most notorious cannibals in the Americas, so much so that the choctaw finally got enough of their shit and exterminated them.
+ all the colors of the wind.
https://patch.com/rhode-island/cranston/ghost-gun-ban-now-rhode-island-law
Oh, really? Tell me more.
up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
The state is willing to spend an awful lot of money to keep you in prison for violating your rights.
So stamping a random number on the thing makes it legal?
I am not aware of any fully functional firearms that have no metal in them.
Yeah, I guess if you’re making your own you could just stamp “1” “2” etc. etc. and it now has a serial number so it’s legal.
That’s what we do with 80% lowers here in Commifornia.
But if I just use the 3d printer to make blanks and use those to form molds and injection-mold the plastic, I would not run afoul of the law?
White Cis Men need to get edjumacated.
https://spectator.us/jarvis-guide-identity-politics/
Ha! That was funny. Unfortunately too close to the truth to be funny for long. I hope it’s still funny in 6 months.
Florida closes bars too
The governors of Florida and Texas closed down the bars Friday to slow down the spread of the coronavirus that has been rampaging at record levels through their states.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the bar shutdown as the state health department reported 8,942 new COVID-19 cases, shattering the previous record of 5,508 set just two days ago.
But DeSantis, who has been resisting calls to slow down the reopening of his state, left it to Halsey Beshears, the Secretary of Department of Business and Professional Regulation, to convey his message in a tweet.
Another blood boiling example of the dishonesty of the media. There was never any way to prevent the coronavirus. It was always going to spread. The idea was to slow the spread, to flatten the curve. Only after two months of lockdowns did it become “Huddle inside until no one is sick.”
This crap came directly from the senior-citizen arm of the Republican base – AZ, TX, FL – which is why they caved. My FIL has been inundating us with emails on the progress of their blue-hair campaign since these Governors have “left them to fend for themselves and allowed kids to go out and party”
I haven’t felt like punching a Boomer this much since the last NRA Annual Meeting.
I am very thankful that my father has been saying that the WuFlu panic is bullshit from practically day one.
I bought Atlas Shrugged back in 2007 but it disappeared before I ever had a change to read it. I think one of the kids took it to school or something. Anyways I just repurchased it and started reading it. The writing so far seems to be pretty good. Better than than I was expecting, honestly.
Her writing gets savaged a lot by people who hate the message. If it was a long, convoluted tome about the glory of the State and the evils of the market, it would be praised to the heavens by the critics.
The funniest criticism of Atlas Shrugged is the cartoonish, hackneyed villainous strawmen…..all of whom can be found inside a week if you just watch the news.
+1 Das Kapital
It is a bit of a slog but worth the time and effort. As Viking says above, it hits a little too close to home for fiction. I would bet that the majority of its harshest critics never bothered to read it. I was about 12 when I read it (height of the Cold War) and it did not change my. thinking but it damned sure cemented it in place.
Wait til’ the SPEECH.
*falls over in a dead faint*
Read the first 5 pages of the speech and skip ahead.
It is worth the read. And you get +20 shitlord credits added to your score.
Seen on suv with Semper Fi and marine service license plate, “Cuomo for President”. Truly crayon eaters.
Every branch of the service is chock full of retards and weirdos. The smart, good ones do their time, get their fill and get out.
There are plenty here that have done their service…they are the outliers.
See: Derpetologist.
The Marine Corps of today values nothing more than blind obedience, a far cry from the Corps of old. My old shop chief in Okinawa used to rant about that all the time – “we’re supposed to be the rebellious bastard children of the armed forces!” A guy like Lou Diamond, a legend of the early 20th century Corps, wouldn’t last two years today.
Lou Diamond was my father-in-law’s Battalion Senior DI on Parris Island in 1945. He had some stories about that crazy old bastard.
No shit! Small world
Apologies to Derp. I didn’t mean to imply that you are not a weirdo.
Wanna bet?
Q: I know you have been critical of the president’s handling of the pandemic in the past. But let’s look ahead. If you became president tomorrow, what would you do differently regarding the pandemic and getting these surging cases now under control?
Biden: I would go back to making sure that everybody had masks, that you had PPE [personal protective equipment] lined up, we’d have been making sure we stockpile all the things that we need that we don’t have now. The one thing we do know, these masks make a gigantic difference. I would insist that everybody out in public be wearing that mask. Anyone to reopen — would have to make sure that they walked in their business that had masks.
Q: Couldn’t you use the federal leverage to mandate that, though?
Biden: Yes.
Q: Would you?
Biden: Yes, I would from an executive standpoint, yes, i would.
Q: So you would, in effect, mandate the wearing of masks.
Biden: I would do everything possible to make it required that people had to wear masks in public.
I realize the left isn’t a monolith, and the Democrat Party does not explicitly endorse every utterance of every shouty, rock-throwing progressive millennial, but they do exert a great deal of effort trying to appeal to their Marxist fringe, so it seems worth asking: how do you intend to do that without causing even more friction between people and law enforcement? How do you square a mandatory mask policy with wanting to reduce the power and reach of police?
You know, questions a reporter might ask.
The people who don’t wear masks are all stupid science-hating white supremacist deplorables, so who cares if the cops shoot some of them?
Van’s Aircraft RV-10 Construction Manual and Drawings
Well you want to make sure you keep the aircraft “Off the Wall”.
Or at least above it.
Nothing on the PA Supreme Court ruling on the fight between Gauleiter Wolf and the legislature yet. This PennLive editorial writer can go fuck himself.
Fuck that guy. Totally ignoring the nursing home deaths.
Is PennLive the Centre Daily Times, now?