Context: My pirate, a reluctant British earl (he was the spare), has attained his goal with his piracy and has come home to stay and do his familial duty. In this scene, he has just found out that the bride he contracted to marry for an heir and a spare got snatched out from under her parents’ noses (never mind she was way younger than the contract stated and so it was void anyway) and now he has no fiancée and must find a new one.
His mother, his staunchest supporter, doesn’t understand why Elliott can’t marry his American privateer lover and bring her back to the estate to rule over it. She believes that man is the sole controller of his own path and so there should be nothing Elliott can’t do or make happen.
Alas, he knows better.
“Eli?”
He was surprised to hear his mother’s voice in the doorway, much less laden with such concern, considering their last conversation—the one regarding Sophie’s future—had been less than cordial.
“It appears,” he said heavily, “that Camille is not the only one needing a match.”
“Well! Good! Then you may have your American privateer.”
“Not, and still fulfill my duty.”
“Duty,” she spat. “And what were your thoughts on that when you released Sophie from hers, I’d like to know.”
“Sophie’s only true responsibilities are those she chooses to bear,” he said briskly, going to the doorway to push her wheeled chair into the room next to his seat. He snatched a throw off the sofa and draped it over her lap, tucking it carefully around her legs before settling himself back into his own cushions. “What does it gain the family if she weds according to custom?”
“A good name.”
“Aye, because the Tavendish name is so pristine.” He smirked at the flush staining her cheeks. “As to my own, consider this,” he went on. “If I were to cast off any one of the many duties I have—family, home, security, country, whatever it may be—for one thing I want, what would make me stay the course for any of my other duties and not abandon everything within my realm of responsibility?”
She sniffed. “You would never do such a thing.”
“You think not? Aye, because I have always done my duty and have given you no reason to think I will not continue to do so. Here is the truth of it, Mother: I cannot have Fury and my family, too.”
She looked at him then, her expression tender and thoughtful. She grasped his hand. “Eli, whatever lies between us, I am still your mother. You try to hide it, but you are sad and lonely, and it is more than I can bear, because you have never been given to melancholy. Listen to me: We can find a way for you and your Fury to be together. There are always ways to get what you want.”
“But you do not consider the cost, which, in this case, far outweighs the gain.”
“Tell me what cost there would be to having your privateer in this family!”
“You would not gain a privateer, Mother,” he said quietly. “You would lose your son in truth, not just by metaphor.”
Her long silence was deafening. “I … don’t understand.”
“I would leave and never return.”
Her face clouded with confusion. “Why can you not bring her here to be your countess?”
“For several reasons, the first of which is that she is nine and twenty without having had any children, which would make the exercise entirely moot.”
“Well, if she is not wed, of course she has no children.”
“Mother!” Elliott said, exasperated. “She is a pirate! She is the daughter of one of King George’s sanctioned brigands, who raised her on the deck of a pirate ship on the Barbary Coast. Marriage has nothing to do with why a woman has no children when she has the same restrictions on her behavior as any male pirate, which is to say, none.”
“Oh,” she whispered, utterly shocked.
“Add to that the fact that she is not merely unwed—she is a widow.”
The countess’s bottom lip fell open a bit.
“I don’t want Fury here, Mother. Everything I love about her would waste away in the midst of such perfection and leisure until there was nothing left. Aye, she would come here if I asked, but she would sacrifice her soul in the doing and feel an ever-increasing burden of being unable to conceive. What good is that to either of us?”
“How do you want her?” she asked in a small voice.
“In America,” he said flatly. “In the wild. Carving out a life together. I know the exact spot, too. Five hundred miles inland from the coast, along the Cuyahoga River. A thousand acres of virgin land with two wide, clear streams running through a valley, and hundreds of thousands of wildflowers between them, begging to be plowed.”
He looked at her. Her face was unnaturally pale and her blue eyes big in her small face.
“You have been there?”
“Aye, I went there. Rathbone covered my absence for three months whilst I took a few of my men and found the spot. Then we stayed there and lived off the land, talked to the Indians, who, when we proved we were no threat, were in sympathy with our goals. It is what I have wanted since I was a child but had not the courage to defy Father and run off as I should have. I had never expected to become the earl—why would I?”
“When did you do that?” she whispered.
“Before Casco Bay. I was finished with the Navy and I had saved just enough to fund the venture. I could no longer fight for England when I longed for the freedom I could find on the American frontier. I intended that cruise to be my last—to come home, gather my things, say my adieux, find a wife, and head west before the war broke out in earnest.” He laughed bitterly. “And oh, aye, it was my last cruise, wasn’t it? Trussed up on a prison ship and taken to Newgate straightaway. After that, I simply wanted to be buried there after my execution.”
“Elliott!” she cried.
“Now you see my dilemma, Mother,” he said quietly. “I want a new life that includes Fury, who promised me she would leave the sea and go wherever I went as long as I was faithful to her and gave her a home. But she needs so much more than that. She needs a purpose, she needs work, and in Ohio, I could give her that, too.
“So I can stay here and do my duty by my family—which is not without its own cost independent of my happiness—or I can abandon you to pursue my own desires for the first time in my accursed life. But I cannot simply disappear because the Crown would never believe me dead and thus never relinquish the title to Niall.” He paused to see her staring into the fire, tears in her eyes.
“Fury paid a great price for her freedom—nearly her life, in fact. Twice. She was willing to, to gain that end. But she lived through it to see her independence and she revels in it. The Americans, likewise. They are willing to sacrifice their lives for the mere hope of independence, no matter how dim. Their failure is all but guaranteed, and when they lose, Britain will utterly destroy them for their little tantrum. But they will have paid the price to simply attempt it.
“So tell me, Mother. What cost are you willing to bear to see me settled with the woman I love and the life I have wanted since I was a child? What cost are you willing to bear to free me from my duty? Is my freedom worth the possible destruction of the entire family should our conspiracy come to light? The villagers? The tenants? The boarders? No. My piracy has put all of you in enough jeopardy, but they—you—share the rewards, which are great, and thus, the culpability. By contrast, there is no gain for any of you for my freedom. If I am here and our conspiracy is exposed, I can take you all and flee, but without me, you will have no recourse. I will not abandon you now.”
She put a trembling hand to her mouth.
“I pray you, Mother, do not scoff at my citation of duty again. Do not again castigate Father for his belief in Fate. I do not believe in Fate or God’s will or anything like it, but I do believe in responsibility. And choice. And consequences. And birthrights. But most of all, I believe in weighing the cost. Nothing can be had without a price. Even a choice between two good things comes at the cost of the thing not chosen. And I say this, Mother, to make you understand that you chose to do your duty all these years because you enjoyed it, not because it was your duty. Look to Lucille and see yourself reflected in her life, her joy in her children and the estate. You should count that a great blessing.
“I made a choice not to defy Father and leave for America, my own land, my own freedom. My own happiness. Aye, I was very young and I didn’t trust my own judgment and I did not want to disappoint him. I let fear rule me. But I have paid for that choice, that fear, hundreds of times over. The family, likewise, has suffered for my obedience, bankrupting the estate for my acquittal, throwing our dependents in poverty for it. And I know Father paid for it dearly, fifteen years living with heartache and regret.”
Her head was bowed. The throw across her legs was sprouting dark spots where her tears fell.
He paused and took a deep breath, then continued softly, “There are things in this world that strip men of choice. Lightning. Hurricanes. Disease. Wild animals. Governments. Evil men with power. For reasons I do not ken, you refuse to acknowledge these things, though you have borne the brunt of some.”
“But your—Captain Fury. You say you love her, but you won’t even try!” she cried. “You argue for rolling over like a beaten dog before the fight has even begun.”
He chuckled. “I have been beaten, Mother. Rolling over is not the worst thing in the world if the goal is to survive to fight a future battle with better odds. What happened to me aboard the Ocean is not the worst thing in the world, either.”
“You say that now, after you have had your revenge.”
Elliott nodded in acknowledgment of its truth. “I cannot deny it.”
They sat in silence for a long while, his mother clutching his hands, her grip tightening as she bent her head and wept.
“I am so sorry, my son. My wonderful, cheerful, courageous little boy. What can I do?”
“You say that there is nothing that cannot be torn asunder,” he said earnestly, not knowing if she truly apprehended him or not. “If you believe that, then devise a way to free me from the earldom whilst keeping the family safe from any repercussions of my piracy, and let me go. If anyone can, ’twould be you. But if you are not willing to assist me in that, then I pray you simply ponder what I have said. And cease this insistence—at least within my hearing—that a man can control the direction and every detail of his life. He can’t. He can only sail through the storm to the best of his knowledge and ability, and hope he is not dashed upon the rocks before he attains home.”
Fun fact: Elliott was named after the dragon in Pete’s Dragon
Even though I’m completely unappreciated around here, I’m still going to first for you people.
I knew I could count on you.
Hey, I was readin’ here. And I’m slow.
Captain Fury sounds sexy. ?
Be careful though, a typo might call captain furry instead.
Best to leave that story to more whimsical wordsmiths around here.
STEVE SMITH ANSWER TO BOTH FURY AND FURRY!
I always liked Sgt. Furry and his Howling Commandos.
The dialogue was gloriously terrible.
A topless Captain Fury beheaded her captain on the first page, so there’s that.
Fury gave ‘im a Nick?
Well…that was brutal. Way to set the hook there, Mojo.
Ha! Very early on in this book’s life, I had some people read the beginning and they HAAAAATED IT *snaps*.
“This heroine is unlikeable and nobody will read this.”
Well. *I* like it and I write for *me* so it stays.
NSFW re: authors who write for their own pleasure –
http://www.oglaf.com/protagonists-tale
I write to entertain myself.
Hopefully, it entertains others.
No, I didn’t follow your link.
Heh, I didn’t catch the dick in hand until I came to the last frame.
I was inspired to start writing a couple of times. And it sort of turned out like it did when I smoked weed a long time ago and was inspired to be an artist. I’d paint the greatest thing ever, but in the morning, it had strangely transformed into … not art. I’d write a few pages and then when I went back to review what I had written so far, I’d say ‘what the fuck is this? Did I write that drivel? And that was the end of my writing until I’d forget how bad that was and try again, same results’.
If you want to review my best writing effort, right here it is, on Glibs. It doesn’t go beyond that.
Hyperion, my early attempts at storytelling were atrocious, and even I knew it at the time.
Writing is a skill, the only way to get better is to keep practicing.
So write some more. It will be better than the last thing you wrote. Then write something else, it will get better still.
I have the ideas, I see the stories in my mind. But when I write it down, it doesn’t come out like it’s flowing through my mind. I in particular have trouble with character dialogues, it comes out sounding stupid. I thought of trying again only yesterday, but I dunno. I can write computer code, but not stories.
Dude, it only counts on morning and afternoon links. This morning, you were firsted by UnCivilServant, yesterday afternoon, you were firsted by the Tater. Lame!
Thats almost as kinky as Mo’s writing if you read that as ‘fisted’ like I just did.
Fisted of Etiquette?
Bravo with the double call back
*AOC nostril flare*
Also known as the Caves of Chaos.
Heaving bosoms and quivering lips! Derring-do and bawdy romance on the high seas!
Oh, I am so happy you picked that up!
I didnt know it was meant to be subtle.
It wasn’t, but some people read very fast and gloss over details, which is fine. I do that. And then they go back and re-read to catch them again.
I’ve found some reading for the down time during my July 4th debauch. Had to cancel the trip to Vegas but at least we have a place on the coast with a hot tub overlooking the ocean.
Well, it might interest you to know there is an erotic asphyxiation scene in it.
That is knowing your customer right there, Mo.
Sorry to hear about needing to cancel the trip to Vegas. The inability to plan vacations is really wearing me down.
Thanks. It didn’t look like Vegas was going to be much fun w/ the panicdemic going on.
We are, for the time being, keeping our restaurants open and bars open. Really surprised our Gov hasn’t closed them down again. RV parks at Lake Mead are completely booked up. So local economy might see some boost from all the travelers.
But overall the Strip is depressed, out lying areas are doing okay though. The HOA next door to my community is still shutting down their parks and pools though, which makes no sense, but what has in the past few months.
Yeah. We had a big Strip vacation planned. High rolling style; one of the lux hotels, fancy dinners, shows, playing poker, and meeting up with some other degenerates we know in the area. When we finally cancelled 3 weeks ago the hotel wasn’t even open yet, I don’t think. No poker. It looked like more of a drag than a fun time. If things every get back to normal…
Our local casino just opened recently, opened some table games yesterday, but still no poker.
This is the most esoteric recipe for a Sazerac ever.
“is this a kissing book?”
Nice work, Mo!
Good euphemisms and everything!
Thanks!
It is, in fact, a kissing book.
To bad Eddie left, he could have written a eulogy for the last Pope.
Whoopsie! Wrong Ratzinger. Mea maxima culpa.
I miss him and John both, too few fights there days on Glibs. Sad!
*sighs, hops boards and drops gloves*
“Wanna go?”
Dude, I haven’t even had any fighting juice yet today, I’m still working! After a few bottles of fighting juice, let’s get it on! You like fat girls and your mama smells of hamster berries!
Yeah? So does your sister!
Or something.
You hate all human life and want communists to rule us while praying to your God State.
Feel better?
PAPIST!
HALFWIT!
THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT TULPA WOULD SAY!
Broccolitard said you’re gay!… oh wait, he says everyone is gay… I have to think of something else…
I see Moj is once again at destroying our once pristine family friendly status with her shameless smut.
Philosophy pr0n?
From the opening, I was afraid you had joined pornhub on the incest train.
Oops, no.
He, a former mama’s boy, fights with his mother the entire time he’s home.
She’s used to being in control of the estate while he’s out to sea. He was once a fleet commander so he’s used to being in total control and he comes home to take the reins.
You can see how that might be problematic.
Like it Mo. Reminded me a bit of Billy Bud.
Thanks!
This place got quiet. Anyone who still has big plans for the holiday weekend?
Drink?
No big plans. I’m focused on completing this one right now.
This week that is
I’m going to keep cleaning my front porch.
I plan to get a bike ride in tomorrow, possibly pick up donuts, and drink heavily. Everything is still in partial lock down, and the local rags are now complaining that DeWine isn’t shutting down bars again (yet).
I’ve now got two potential long (300+ miles) rides that I can plan, so I’ve got that going for me… but with states now going back into lockdown, it makes me gunshy about planning. I was supposed to be in Belgium today.
Sorry about your Eurotrip. Thanks to to your passion for the excised episode, I downloaded Community. On its original airing, I gave up between seasons 1 and 2; the show seemed to insist upon itself. So far, this AD&D episode has me in stitches and I will give the series a review. “This, is why I wanted to play Chutes & Ladders!”
The paintball episodes are classics as well.
I won Dungeons and Dragons! And it was Advanced!
It’s very hard for me to suspend my disbelief and not constantly hate Chevy Chase with a simmering rage.
That’s why it’s great that you can hate the character as well. There can be a touch of pity for Pierce when you meet his father.
Indeed. Was his dad the Kentucky Colonel with the ivory hair?
So much traffic today, beaches are packed, IIRC, lifeguards go back to work tomorrow so swimming is finally open. The wonderful secret has been Riis Park, a FedGov owned beach complex that is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. NYC has NO jurisdiction at all over the last couple miles of boardwalk and beach. While dealing with the National Park Service brings its own challenges – the giant parking lot (largest on Earth until Disney World was built) is closed until this weekend. That brings about the advantage of the place being locals only (the surrounding neighborhood is all residential with no street parking allowed) and, FedGov allows booze on the beach, just no glass containers.
l0b0t: That’s the father alright.
The “Theory of Trampolines” or what not is a great one as well.
*points to swastika tattoo* Its going to be a maze once its done
The second D&D episode is not bad either. Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design and Remedial Chaos Theory are two of my favorites from the show.
Oh and since the show carries running gags, plot points and arcs through all the seasons, picking and choosing episodes might dull some of the dialogue,
The ass crack bandit was actually brought up in season one offhandedly but was brought to the forefront in season 5 in a Law and Order parody.
Yeah. It’s sort of like Arrested Development, if you jump in part way through, you’ll miss a lot of the jokes.
Well its the 4th and also my wife’s b-day weekend. Normally I would be taking her to the Performing Arts center to watch a play, but that ain’t happening. Looks like I will be smoking some meats, enjoying some beers, maybe make it to the lake but that will insanely packed.
They closed the bars, masks are mandatory in stores, and NO Tubing! Kayaks and Jet skis are fine,
CWAA!
Yeah that is just terrible.
The phrase Arbitrary and Capricious comes to mind.
Well, I might yanky my wanky, and then get food.
Too much information, brah.
-1 Donger
VA ABC is running a sale on handles. Have 2 handles of Horintos Reposado and 1 Wild Turkey waiting for me to pickup after work today.
Taxes. We owe some, and I’ve been putting it off.
I’m holding off ’til next Thursday (last payday before the deadline) to file.
Yeah waiting on our tax person to hit us with what we owe. Not really looking forward to it. One tax write off turned 18 and did his own taxes, but we still have two more for a couple of years.
Thanks Mojeaux, this was fun
Thanks! I was hoping for a rousing philosophical discussion, but I’m happy people liked it. 😀
Idiot mayor just made a mask order. It doesn’t take effect until 7/9. If it’s so imperative why doesn’t it start immediately? Also part of the order is no outside visitors to nursing homes. My grandmothers was just allowing people back in a limited capacity. It’s cool, Grandma doesn’t need to have any human interaction with relatives. If she dies alone in there is there any way I can sue the mayor for not allowing me to see her?
Serious question – By what authority can a mayor stop nursing home visitations?
If I had to guess, regulations under Health Services.
But the real reason is because people obey.
Took me a bit to get to it, but Very well done Mojo! As always i’m in awe by the caliber of writers and thinkers we have here.
https://twitter.com/richardhine/status/1278697452904857601
“many others”
#TrumpEpstein
Because Trump took a ride on Epstien’s plane once to . . . NYC?
So the story goes. But you know who, apparently rode that plane and was seen on a certain island, and there’s supposed evidence of it? I won’t name names, penaltaxes, all that stuff.
I’ve seen a meme thingy on the twitters and derpbook that tells me Anthony Weiner had a file labeled “insurance” on his laptop that only twelve NYPD officers accessed. Nine of those twelve officers have since committed suicide.
I saw that too, and apparently the now fired US attorney who was working the Esptein case, was also the one working the Weener laptop case. Then the Maxwell lady suddenly appears back in the US and was arrested right away after that guy was fired. This is one of those made for TV crime dramas.
OK, I DDGed “Anthony Wiener insurance” and one of the first articles was this from 2016:
Don’t read this if you have a weak stomach.
Some (all) of it sounds a little too over the top.
Holy crap, that’s a lot of dead people. People going back to the Arkansas days are included here.
Hmm, going down the rabbit hole, apparent;y a lot of the dead Clinton bodyguards died in various aircraft accidents.
*Yells down the hole* Whiz! Come back to us!
I recently learned that most of what I thought I knew about rabbits (like they live in warrens) is kind of bullshit, because all those stores are based off of European rabbits which are different than American ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD6qtc2_AQA
OK, I found my way back.
I must admit, rabbits in our yard build nests in depressions, not full-blown holes.
Offer them a Prozac?
Trump threw him out of Mar-a-Lago because of jailbait.
Why are so many people predicting that woman’s imminent suicide? I don’t get it.
Suicide? Nah She’ll be murdered.
“many others”
But not any named Clinton, for sure.
We are watching the show and its a good propaganda piece for sure. Lots of visuals of Trump and maybe one with Bill? They did show how many times his name showed up on the plane’s passenger manifest though
Got a chance to watch the longer form video of this. It still lacks full context but the characterization in the article does not reflect apparent reality.
According to Hill, she thought the driver of the car was attempting to hit them so she knocked on the back window of his SUV to stop him, The Detroit News reported.
She got behind the van after they were already slowly backing out of the parking space.
The pair then emerge from the vehicle and the woman points a gun at her.
She just got out a drew a gun for no reason!
In the clip, she is heard saying: ‘Get away!’
Hill then replies: ‘She got the gun on me, she was about to hit me with the car. Call them, get the license plate. Get the license plate now! Cause you were about to hit me with the car?’
The woman then says: ‘Don’t you f***ing jump behind my car!’, shouting repeatedly: ‘Get the f*** back!’ pointing the gun straight at the victim.
I always yell “go away” to my victims…
The woman was later arrested by police. …
It is not known if the woman was charged with any offences.
And we will never know that the police investigated and found that she did nothing wrong.
Auburn Hills Police department confirmed the incident happened in Orion Township.
The incident comes as the concept of a ‘Karen’ has come to denote someone who represents white entitlement amid widespread Black Lives Matter protests.
That is not what “Karen” means.
Heh. I have noticed it much more in the last few months, though it has been going this way since 2016, but being a woman is no longer enough for victim status. You have to be a “woman of Color”.
I guess we’ll see how that pans out electorally.
Here is your easy to follow “Victim Status Ranking System” Play along at home with the studio audience.
Do you have to have one or preferably more of the following:
A) Gender not matching Sex Chromosomes (Make up some BS term for it) +1
B) Ethnic minority in the US no matter how large a % as long as it is not “Them” +1
C) Religious minority in the US but not “Them” +1
C) Physical or preferably physiological ailment +1
D) Most importantly the ability to consider all of the above as more important than an individual’s behavior +3
Take 3 points off if you are white, Asian, or a XY
It’s as easy as card counting into a 5 deck shoe
Love the way the video is completely useless for the crucial seconds before the gun is drawn.
Who is videoing this? Why?
Also, there’s no way for the black woman to claim she felt threatened or intimidated, since she just stands there with her phone taping the woman with the gun.
So, bumped into them at the Chipotle and by sheer coincidence they were parked near each other and left at the same time? Like RC Dean asked, who was videoing and it sure seems like the woman was followed to her car. More context indeed is needed.
Good trigger discipline though
We don’t need no more video, we saw a white woman threatening a minority with a gun, lock her up!
References to Chipotle always makes me think about who isn’t here. I guess with CFB cancelled, he doesn’t need to ask us for the Cal score.
He was posting the other afternoon.
He, like Warty, gets all the Michael Malice Retweet cred, so he doesn’t need us anymore. 🙁
Unfortunately, the Cal student body isn’t even in the top 10 for crazy, so I can’t even brag about that anymore.
I have no idea what happened there but I smell a narrative being peddled.
Journalism has really gone to shit.
Some story linked to yesterday was completely unintelligible to me. The grammar was worse than awful.
Full video with context.
That’s the same long form that is in the article. I thought there might be more. If that’s all there is then I know who is the aggressor and who is the defender. (it ain’t as the linked article portrays it.)
Oh, whoops. I assumed the article only had the shortened vid. My bad.
Wow, that video tells a completely different story than the news article. Hill told the couple that she was going to beat the shit out of them. She is 100% the aggressor in this scenario. The couple got in their car to retreat from the situation. Hill then goes behind the van. It’s not 100% clear that it was intentional, but I don’t see how Hill didn’t realize they were trying they were trying to escape and purposely tried to prevent them/escalate further.
When someone says I’m going to beat the shit out of you and advances on you while preventing your line of retreat, it seems reasonable to take them at their word.
Moment a white woman pulls a handgun on a black family in a Michigan parking lot after they
harangue her and accuse her of being racist ‘after SHE bumped into them outside a Chipotle restaurantthreaten to beat the shit out of her and prevent her from retreatingFixed the headline for accuracy
It is now.
Hey, Moje! I’m having a fart-in-a-skillet kind of work day and have a reservation to swim after, but I’ll try to reread this (since I’ve read the book – #HaHaIKnowWhatHappensNoSpoilers – Is this passage the same as the published version?) this evening & maybe give you a yell during the evening post.
Oh, yes. Word for word.
GAB founder is canceled.
As many of you already know we learned last week that Visa blacklisted Gab and we are now unable to process credit and debit card transactions. We learned more information this week and I think it’s important that I share it as a warning for others.
It’s not just Gab that is blacklisted. It’s also my family. …
We were told this week that not only is Gab blacklisted by Visa as a business, but my personal name, phone number, address, and more are all also blacklisted by Visa. If I wanted to leave Gab tomorrow (something that isn’t going to happen) and start a lemonade stand I wouldn’t be able to obtain merchant processing for it.
Leftists are against hard currency. Leftists will also deny financial transaction service for wrongthink. There is nothing that could possibly be an Orwellian nightmare here.
There are still MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
He is claiming that Visa is contacting other payment processors and getting them to deny him
If that’s true, it may be a suit for Tortuous Interference.
It’s an unsourced statement on the internet, and very “woe is me! I am a victim!” so I won’t swear to its veracity.
Yeah get off the woe is me bit and take them to court if that is the case. My guess is Gab is now politically and corporately untenable to do business with that no payment processor will even entertain entering into a contract with them.
Unfortunately, “pariah” hasn’t yet been made a protected class.
I wonder if he’s considered using whoever porn producers went to during Operation Chokepoint.
Can a small business directly contract with them for online payment processing? I would guess the cost would be prohibitive.
For clarification, there are 4-5 participants in many online transactions:
1. The cardholder/payer
2. The payment processor
3. The merchant
4. The card network
5. The bank
Amex and Discover directly back their credit cards so 5 doesn’t apply to them. Amazon and other large merchants contract directly with the card networks so 3 doesn’t apply to them.
In Gab’s situation, Visa is the card network but not the payment processor. All payment processors worth their salt will do business with Visa to avoid a competitive disadvantage. The card networks are generally the more powerful players in this arrangement. So it doesn’t matter what Amex or Discover might think if Visa throws its weight around, as a merchant has to go through a payment processor to get to Amex or Discover. Of course, if Amex or Discover want to take a stand against Visa, they could but then they’d split the payment processor industry.
I’m fully aware of it–I was just being glib. Only a behemoth like Costco can afford to pick and choose payment networks.
The payment networks pay Costco for the pleasure.
In the old days when Costco accepted only AmEx, I often used there my AmEx card issued by Citi. But then Citi paid bigly for the privilege of issuing Costco cards and Costco switched to Visa. Now I never use a Citi card at Costco–all of the ones I have are MasterCards.
The only reason I have a Discover card is that it was the only card the Sam’s Club would take originally. However, Discover has been better to me than my others so I use it as my primary card. Pity no one in Canada’s heard of it.
But he’s still legally required to bake gay wedding cakes, right?
Bake the cake.
Wear the mask.
Do as you are told.
#4th of July #LandoftheFree&HomeoftheBrave
Huh. So the social credit system is already in place then!
This is going to wind up at the Supreme Court and it will be 4-4 until Roberts jumps in and saves the left once again with some incoherent non-sense reason. Then hate speech will be a reason for any leftists to prevent any deplorable from doing any commerce at all. That’s what’s coming if this bullshit is not stopped.
Not going to end well.
We’re headed for civil war if this keeps up.
Yeah, when people can no longer earn a living, they might resort to desperate measures. The left intends to shut you up if you don’t agree with them, period. No matter what it takes. They were able to make celebrities grovel and apologize, and most on social media, but then they suddenly realized to their horror, that they couldn’t intimidate a lot of people, so now they’re resorting to pure evil.
make celebrities grovel and apologize
Which is pretty bad because celebs have “fuck you” money. How weak of a spine do you have to be to not just say “Fuck off” and then light a cigar with a hundred dollar bill?
They’re completely divorced from reality. They think the left are still the hippies from the 60s, flower children or whatever. They don’t have a fucking clue what is really going on. They think this election is still Nixon vs McGovern, and that they are fighting ‘the man’, when they’re the man’s biggest stooges, seriously.
This shit is getting a bit out of hand. They cancelled the guy personally?
I cant imagine the tantrums and destruction that will follow a Trump win in November. They are going to start a no-shit shooting war.
They just denied the guy and his entire family the ability to do commerce. And the left applauds this appalling behavior. Camps are next.
Camps are next.
I’m starting to think the only question is, who gets sent to the camps? The commies, or the normies?
It’s never who you expect.
The funny part is that the useful idiots go to the camps either way. They can’t win no matter who comes out on top.
I think there is a subset of people that would actually just place themselves in the camps on their own accord.
As long as the CDC says we are all in the camps together.
My towns new mask ordinance, as of yesterday:
People will be required to wear a mask when entering a grocery store, pharmacy, town building or town indoor facility. Businesses include retail establishments that sell food, but may also sell other convenience and household goods.
In addition, employees at restaurants, retail stores, salons, barber shops, grocery stores, pharmacies are required to masks.
Exemptions include people who are unable to safely wear a mask, children under the age of 12, people whose religious beliefs prevent them from wearing a covering, any person in a private or individual office, in settings where it is not feasible to wear a mask like someone swimming or engaging in athletic activities, emergency responders when engaged in an emergency matter.
I went to the gym and noticed they had posted that all people are required to wear a mask when not working out. It seems to be for CYA, cause they don’t give a crap that no one was wearing a mask.
The vote was 6-2, so all is not lost.
One news article said that the people speaking at the meeting were using the exact same points to argue both sides of the issue.
BhC Walmart, said no mask, no service, that’s the Fucking Mark of the Beast shit right there,
I pulled my T shirt over my nose til I got inside, what a clown show,
“that’s the Fucking Mark of the Beast shit right there”
What do you think denying people the ability to do commerce because of wrong think is?
I know, I was serious, I will not comply
My malicious compliance device would suck where you live, maybe if you have a spare ten bucks?
Bonus points if you wear it while buying axes, machetes or power tools.
Excellent
Sounds pretty close to what Myrtle Beach just did. American Burkas for all!
Well, I am just down 17 from MB.
Charleston?
CHS metro area, yes.
Mad Men producers say Fuck Off Slaver
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/07/02/mad-men-producers-refuse-to-remove-blackface-episode-from-streaming-services/
Well…way back that was a capital offense when the English had the Black laws.
Instead of being removed, the service will provide a disclaimer warning viewers the “episode contains disturbing images related to race in America.”
“One of the characters is shown in blackface as part of an episode that shows how commonplace racism was in America in 1963,” the disclaimer will read.
Still cucked a little. You should be able to portray historical settings without fear of or kowtowing to the woke-mob. The woke-mob are pansies.
I never got into that show but saw a few episodes. That scene was funny.
The disclaimer seems fine to me.
I guess where I am at is that people should not be taught to be such hypersensitive pansies such that they can’t bare to see a portrayal of racism in entertainment.
The only thing I remember about hat, was the guys smoking and drinking bourbon in the office, and the hot redhead.
Not to mention, the woke mob already KNOWS how monstrous the sixties were. They shouldn’t need parental guidance for this.
MM was so laboriously “bad old days” that I watched only the first few episodes. If I want BOD I’ll watch The Apartment.
The streaming services may decide to remove it on their own.
Still find it hilariously sad that dressing as a D&D Drow is considered blackface…
Good!
Oh, a white guy. Let me go find my shocked face.
Well, of course the white guy got arrested. A black guy would have just been shot and left on the street.
DNC throws fundraising event for his defense when?
No need. Soros and ActBlue have it covered.
It’s less a “need” than an “opportunity to skim.”
https://freedomwire.com/blm-biden-donations/
I dont think you know how this works. The DNC doesnt give money, they take it. That guy is a useful idiot. He’s going under the bus.
*Anyone who thinks Trump is Orangebadman, wait until a candidate funded by outspoken communists wins. No matter how boorish you think Trump is you really should consider choking up an d pulling the lever for him.
My concern is how did they find him. Was it like the dope with the unique tattoo, social media posts, informants, or by some facial recognition.
Apparently, he’s a common fixture at these events, and he uses social media.
So he’s stupid as well.
Well, he is a commie, that goes without saying.
See when we were kids we just did it, no need to video tape it or talk about it outside of your circle of friends. The Internet destroyed normal life.
The big thing at our school was to steal the cannon that our rival school had as a mascot. They have (had?) I think a 3″ Napoleon that was used in action in the Civil War. They would shoot off a squib every time their team scored a touchdown.
No one ever damaged it…it would just get moved and put in conspicuous places as a joke.
I have photographs of me wrapped in the flag of a rival school (wearing it like a toga, actually). But this was well before the (consumer) internet.
Those are the fun photographs that you bring out during Thanksgiving and laugh at how stupid you used to be when you were young. I have photos but they are not for the world to see.
I have photographs of me wrapped in the flag of a rival school (wearing it like a toga, actually). But this was well before the (consumer) internet.
Not only are the lynx late, they’ve let hte squirrels loose.
I don’t click many links but I do hover. I had to laugh at “attack on statue”.
Did someone start their holiday weekend early?
Seem so,
Beer numero uno!
RIOT!!!!!!!
Everybody in the mail room where I work.
I know I did.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/paula-bolyard/2020/07/02/what-are-they-hiding-ohio-health-dept-says-foia-requests-can-be-delayed-until-90-days-after-covid-emergency-ends-n597273
Well that in convenient.
Who cares about writing the laws when you get to interpret them.
You get what get I guess and Senator Obhoff was a ‘yea’ when he voted on the bill that put that language in there.
The bill was presented as to amend tax law and I would guess that no one even know what they were voting on.
I read the statute about 5 times, and can’t figure out what it actually says.
I think it comes down to whether producing records is an “action” that the agency has to do. Seems marginal to me.
Breaking for Virginia: a special session of the General Assembly is being convened next month to pass additional gun control measures
This state is done. Per the VCDL:
No one want’s to keep you from defending yourself for your own good.
Bingo. The only thing standing between the violent leftist mobs and people’s homes are gun owners. Remove that obstacle and we are toast.
I dont give a shit what they write into law, they can’t have my guns.
I did have a friend who was shocked at another expressing that sentiment:
“Really, even if democracy came out and said we needed to limit them? You wouldn’t care?”
I just had to shake my head. He’s open to other ideas, but then wasn’t the time to drop “Democracy can FOAD”.
“You actually take seriously ‘democracy’s’ opinions about whether you can exercise fundamental human rights?”
1. Require proof of training to purchase a gun.
2. Make training with a gun illegal.
Alternatively:
2a. Make the training for 1) require a live-fire component
2b. Make it illegal for anyone to lend a gun to another person.
I think that’s actually the case in DC, so you have to go train somewhere else.
2c. Declare out-of-state training invalid for VA gun purchases.
There is a ton of mischief packed into:
• proof of training to purchase a firearm
How much training? On what? By who? Where? When?
100 hours by one of the three state certified instructors in the state within the last year? Sure, why not?
And since there’s a tax in there, Roberts will vote to uphold it.
And the last page of the application is a sworn statement that you will never buy a gun, and registering to vote as a Democrat.
1. Require proof of training to purchase a gun.
2. Make training with a gun illegal.
They’ve got that covered:
• shutdown indoor shooting ranges
• restrict outdoor shooting ranges
I wonder why they are doing this now, instead of after the election. Are they totally unconcerned that it will affect their electoral chances, or afraid of their electoral chances and jamming it through while they can?
I haven’t thought the Donks have much of a chance of losing their majorities, but they sure seem to be acting as if they are afraid of that happening. I don’t understand what the big rush is for otherwise.
I read somewhere (don’t remember the source…could even be here) that the Dems learned a lesson from ObamaCare and that lesson was regret for focusing on ObamaCare to the detriment of their other issues. Their new strategy is to charge full steam ahead on everything they possibly could want without regard for elections, whether those elections are in the clear or not.
They are so close to their ideal paradise, they can almost touch it. Masks dropped. Roberts bought/blackmailed. Go for broke.
^^^ Look at all the rhetoric about how McConnel “won’t even look at the bills sent over by the house”, when the House Dems have been passing every wish-list item and sending it over to the Senate to die.
A valid strategy, since the Repubs have shown they won’t repeal anything passed by a Dem-controlled legislature and signed by a Dem executive.
New York did exactly the same the second we became a one-party state last year. I don’t think they’re afraid of losing power, they’re just giddy with power.
The trend has been bad here but I still don’t think they have anywhere near the dominance here that they have on NY.
Sheer Power? IDK
They must feel they have the votes and the momentum. A complicit media and boogymen created out of thin air about those crazy gun owners and protesting with open firearms. They feel their gall is justified and winnable.
Maybe they do, I don’t know. Seems somewhat unlikely, though, given that so many localities around Virginia have very clearly demonstrated in the past month that they will allow mobs to rampage around and that police will not protect the citizenry.
JFC
What a fucking scumbag.
Fuck Roberts.
Despite my intention to never set foot in VA again this makes me quite angry.
I don’t get what the play is here.
Last time they backed off because of the demonstrations.
Do they think there won’t be demonstrations this time? Are they hoping to provoke violence to justify this bill? Did Bloomie by more legislators that he thinks the protests will be ignored?
If anything, the demonstrations will be much bigger and angrier this time.
Does lean that way. People see what gets politicians moving and peacefully exhibiting your firearms may have held the tide back, but watching statues get torn down, windows broken, etc getting ‘results’ might make the next display of 2A a bit different.
So what? There’s really no downside and they can show the deplorable and bitter clingers they are powerless
Demonstrations won’t be allowed because of covid, I guarantee.
Good luck with that after Richmond has had mobs on the streets every single fucking night for over a month. Trying to pull something like that is the kind of shit that will lead to an actual, no-shit civil insurrection.
I don’t think they’re too worried about that. The press provided the BLMers with cover, anyone who comes from the right that defies a no demonstrations order will get Charlottesvilled.
I can’t imagine anyone other than the hardcore leftists would buy that, but then no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the average American.
I hope I’m overestimating the scumminess of Virginia’s politicians but we’ll see.
They’re flirting with revolt on this. Large portions of the state have no patience for the DC assholes.
And DC is what is driving this, nothing else.
What Scruff said. They would seriously be playing with fire here.
God help any gun owner using lethal force too. Because I’m sure antifa will be allowed to confront any demonstrations.
Looks like they’ve gotten the message that they can do any fucking thing they want to because the SC won’t grant cert on gun cases. If you like your guns get the hell out of Shitginia.
I’ll bet you’re right. I hadn’t thought about SCOTUS.
Not only will the SC not take it, but if they do and your law is clearly unconstiutional, All you have to do is repeal the law on the specific points being challenged and the Supreme court will take your word that you pinky promise not to do it again.
Dammit
The hate crime provision is particularly insidious given that it’s wholly open to interpretation.
Commit a thought time, surrender your guns.
Why do you want people who hate to have weapons?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8484629/Ghislaine-Maxwell-arrested-1million-New-Hampshire-estate-bought-secret.html
Wood.
Ooooh a TENTH of an acre!
That kitchen though.
It’s OK. Nice interior. But no way that house is worth that much money, it’s too small.
“Attached 2 bay garage with storage. A charming fully restored 2 BR antique cape with a fabulous barn for square dances and hoedowns! A 4 bay equipment barn with workshop on 156 acres of fields and forests. “
Well, I was going by the initial post of a 4500 sq ft lot. If the lot was that small, the house must be too small to be worth that. Tell me it’s 150 acres, that changes everything.
So you are saying it was the underage square-dancing?
I’m telling you it was the 4500 sq ft lot. No one is paying a million bucks for that, because the house would be too small.
I should probably stay silent on the price and size of my house.
How do they measure caves anyway? Someone just walks around the perimeter, or do they use a laser level or something?
CUBic feet
It’s a dead thread, but you still deserve a narrowed gaze.
I’ll disagree with the countertop choice.
But holy hell, the views from the living room!
The general design I like very much. I do have to wonder how much all that glass costs to heat in a NH winter.
Probably quite a bit, besides the fireplace, it sounds like it is all electric.
Damn you and your fast fingers! A million dollars? LOL, the house must be really small to fit within that tiny ass lot. Someone sure got fucked on that one… oh, maybe more than someone.
It says here 156 acre lot.
https://www.estately.com/listings/info/338-east-washington–1
The house is 4,365 sqft.
https://www.estately.com/listings/info/338-east-washington–1
Well, 156 acres and 4,500 sq ft, I mean that’s just a tiny mistake. Would that make a difference?
Over/under on days to suicide?
Anyone seen Hillary in NH?
15 and cameras/guards will be deemed incompetent again.
Hit reply too soon. 15 days and it won’t be suicide, it will be COVID.
“The four-bed, four-bath set on nearly 4,500 sq. ft. of land house”
This makes no sense. Elsewhere the article claims the estate is 152 acres.
More of todays tack-sharp journalism.
It’s a Brit paper, they have no idea what an acre or a square foot is.
Wait, aren’t those English measurements?
Well, they were. But the UK’s all modern and metric now. Except for weight, apparently they still use “stones” there. We should ask JD.
they still use ‘stone’ and get gas in litres.
Truly fags.
Still feet, drive by miles, drink (568 mL) pints, but shop by kilo and measure temp in Celsius.
stone: 14 lbs. 9-stone woman: slim. 10-11: low thick. 8 st: skinny. They also have 7-stone weaklings.
I can never remember how much a stone is. Why 14 pounds? Not 16? Or 12?
Rosie weighed 19 stone………
/Whole Lotta!
I don’t know why 14 lbs.
Did they tell how many stones the house weighs?
House is probably 4500 sq ft. Meh, it’s too Rocky Mountains.
University of Massachusetts Nursing Dean Fired After Saying “Everyone’s Life Matters”
Clear White Supremacist Dog Whistle
OFFS. They’re going to cancel everyone with common sense until companies only employ idiots. That’s not going to go well.
That is the plan. It always was. Welcome to the endgame of the long march through the institutions.
You will be made to care or the mob will do everything they can to see to it that your life and career is destroyed.
That’s just ridiculous.
Especially considering she’s a nurse.
If you say black lives matter, and object to people saying everyone’s life matters, then you must believe that only black lives matter.
suggested music: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Third Movement (Firing Line theme)
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/06/coronavirus-stimulus-check-poverty-unemployment
***
Newly published research confirms that poverty fell in April and May thanks to federal Coronavirus aid.
***
[head desk]
***
Nonetheless, it is abundantly clear from the research that the unprecedented expansion of federal aid has not only averted a catastrophic spike in poverty, but also given many workers a bigger income than they would have had if they’d remained in work.
***
Bug, not feature.
***
Want to fight poverty? Give poor people more money. It really is as simple as that.
***
Ah, the Zimbabwe solution. Brilliant idea, good sir. Truly you are a philosopher-king, straddling the earth like an intellectual Colossus.
Perfect compliment of music and derp.
It’s worked really well on the international scale.
Pop quiz time – which country has gotten the most foreign aid*?
answer – The Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire
By a strange coincidence, it’s also consistently been one of the poorest countries on the planet.
“Do not steal too much or too quickly, else the people get angry.” – advice given to his underlings by Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of Zaire for 37 years.
*mainly during the Cold War
Now where did I leave that Monopoly™ game?
Probably in your wallet.
2 weird worms – #1
the hammerhead worm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx_Aj29OZyI
Ugh.
There is a link in the sidebar for conesnails. Conesnails are the stuff of nightmares.
I beg to differ: the worm from Antarctica with gold legs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as3pZ-w7FWM
Please tell me the PM lynx are deliberately late just to give Brocetta an aneurysm.
He’s broken the f5 key on his keyboard.
TPTB are declaring their independence from oppressive schedules.
Time is a White Supremacist Patriarchal concept.
If we really want links aren’t we supposed to riot and beak some statues?
Nobody really reads them, and we just end up posting something from this morning, so the drugs have a reason to fall out.
“Please tell me the PM lynx are deliberately late”
They’re waiting on me to go on a beer run, but I tricked them and ordered on Drizly, and now they’ve accidentally killed Broccolitard.
So when did Robby join TPTB?
Fascinating.
It got hot enough to trigger a torrential downpour.
And the cleaning crew now have some sort of area sanitizer that must have an ultrasonic nebulizer, judging by the pain in my teeth and skull.
“Ultrasonic Nebulizer” would be a great band name.
I may have seen them open for Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction
91 here and 57% humidity. Feels hotter than that.
Wrong think detectors
But the wrong think detectors got overloaded and exploded.
I am almost willing to believe that there is some resistance to wokism here.
The big Diversity and Inclusion initiative was just announced and it was… extended maternity leave. Don’t know how long we can avoid it though.
Without extended paternity leave, that’s not very inclusive.
Whelp that’s it apparently, no more links. It was a good run what three years or so. Oh well nothing last forever. So are you guys going to go back to Reason or find another place to shill for the republicans in the name of libertarianism?
HEY NOW. I’ll mind you that i don’t get paid for my shilling!
Not even a farthing?
Why, only this morning we were quoting Dr. Sowell – “Who needs Antifa when we have the Republicans”.
This guy…this guy fucks!
You should check out the DM article on the Epstein chick’s house. Right nest to the staged pile of beef stew is something I thin you’ll like.
suggested music: Rondeau (Masterpiece Theatre theme)
A Cheap, Race-Neutral Way to Close the Racial Wealth Gap
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/close-racial-wealth-gap-baby-bonds/613525/
***
Baby bonds are simple. The government would create investment accounts for infants, giving babies born to poor families large seed grants and babies born to rich families small ones. The money would grow, and kids would gain access to it when they reached adulthood, to use for school, a down payment, or a start-up.
***
And the best part is the fedgov has plenty of spare cash lying around to fund this program!
***
Eliminating student debt, ending mass incarceration, rationalizing the country’s system of health insurance, stopping covert redlining, ending poverty as measured by income—all of those are necessary elements of racial justice, and would be complementary policies to help make the country’s wealth distribution more equitable.
***
But what to do about those who are stronger, smarter, harder working, or better looking than average? Surely they could be humbled somehow, perhaps by some sort of handicapper general…
Student debt is mostly a middle and upper class thing, and I would bet also mostly a wypipo thing. How is eliminating student debt an element of racial justice?