Yes, it actually rains in Arizona, though this is the first in many months. It’s kinda fun to watch as the drops hit the ground and instantly sizzle, bounce, then evaporate. Speaking of bouncing and evaporating, I need to go make coffee…
We have birthdays, and among them are a signer of the Declaration; star of the first Three Stooges short; a guy who knew what to do when opportunity knocked; author of one of my favorite books, one stuffed with eternal truth; a stunningly great musician; the most intellectual of the Big Band leaders; Mr. #believeallwomen himself; and a guy whose modifications of statuary are legendary.
On to news.
Most libertarian president EVER. Grab your wallets, folks, this is going to end up expensive.
“…and goddammit, we need to figure out how to grind it to a total halt.”
Government creates housing shortage, then frets about solutions. IOW, it’s just another day.
Even in losing, Gorsuch continues to be the best Supreme Court justice in my lifetime. And Roberts continues to be a useless sack of shit. Thanks a lot, Bush.
For today’s Old Guy Music, I have no fucking clue what the video is about, but the music is amazing.
Damn, Roberts is truly awful.
Freedom of religion isn’t important, because Roberts doesn’t care about it.
“The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon us, poses unusual challenges. But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel.”
Best SC justice ever.
He is the “make shit up as I go along” justice.
Thank goodness we have that staunchly Catholic Chief Justice to :checks notecards: utterly ignore freedom of religion.
So much this.
This makes me want to go to church, and I haven’t attended church regularly for more than 25 years.
I’d look around to see if there was a Contrarian church, but with my luck, The Hyperbole would be the high priest.
He’d be anti-pope of his own religion.
There is no orthodoxy in the Contrarian Church, only duelling heresies.
Have services every other week, then a full attendance would be allowed.
Huh, imagine that.
But what about muh Conservative majority!!! We need to pack the court so it is not political!!!
Say what you will about the Dems, but they know how to pack a fuckin’ court.
Gorsuch wrote the opinion rewriting the anti discrimination laws to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender rather than sex.
Took a lot of the shine off of him, for me.
And with “logic” I wouldn’t accept from my five-year-old.
I hate everyone.
I hate (((everyone))), too.
How can you hate this?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2483303/sexy-snaps-hottest-women-israeli-army-instagram/
(((fap, fap, fap)))
Why do we need to figure arrest innovation, when so many countries have given us tried and true methods.
These students go on to work for artificial-intelligence companies, logistics firms, biotech labs—or start their own. When given the opportunity, they prefer to stay in the United States.
We’re working on that.
And by “we” I mean the Democratic Party and the activist community and all the rest of the destructors doing their best to turn this place into a shithole.
Public-university budgets were devastated after the Great Recession depleted state coffers. According to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, state support for public universities was still $1,000 less per student in real dollars in 2018 than in 2008. The looming state budget cuts from the coronavirus recession will only make matters worse, and the many colleges and universities, public and private, that stayed afloat over the past decade by vigorously recruiting international students no longer have that option. Without further support, American colleges and universities face significant faculty and research budget cuts. The potential for disinvestment is greatest in the science and engineering departments, which rely most heavily on international students.
These developments jeopardize the role that universities play in promoting innovation. They not only attract and train talented students; they also produce fundamental research that becomes the basis for future technological progress. They serve as focal points for commercialization through their individual patenting offices, and as collaborators for experimental product development with industry; they also help codify knowledge through journal publications. As even the richest universities cut costs and less wealthy ones ponder whether they can survive, the net effect will be less scientific research in a shrinking academic ecosystem.
We’ll make it up in Diversity Studies research.
Don’t worry, Biden has promised to raise your taxes.
Diversity Studies research has been shown to reduce costs by 23% and increase productivity by 16.7%
Not to mention upping sciencyness by 42%.
“Without further support, American colleges and universities face significant faculty and research budget cuts[…]As even the richest universities cut costs and less wealthy ones ponder whether they can survive, the net effect will be less scientific research in a shrinking academic ecosystem”
*gets visible erection*
Start cutting administrative and faculty positions.
“The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon us, poses unusual challenges. But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel.”
Go look out your window, bub.
I did. It’s still a world where the Constitution does not permit Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel.
Unfortunately, it’s also a world where 99% of government doesn’t give a shit about the Constitution.
One nice thing about being in a solid red state, is that every 4 years we get to mostly skip the presidential campaigning. I imagine this is the same in the deep blue states?
Yes, but we still have the US House races.
We have one competitive district, we’ll see how it goes.
Being in a purplish state SUCKS. We get absolutely flooded with this shit. Good thing I’ve pretty much completely given up live TV and only watch streaming.
I haven’t seen more than a handful of presidential campaign ads in decades – and I presume those ran nationwide.
Idaho is a solid red state, except for Boise.
I get to see the “blue girl in a red state” sticker all too often. The plus side is that there are no riots.
Want me to send you some of the mailings from a battleground state? They make decent fire starters.
Yes, that’s true. In Minnesota, I never saw a presidential race.
Until about 3 weeks before Nov 30-6, when I saw a Hilary ad on TV . I said to myself “Shit—the Democrats must think she might lose!”
In-person collaboration likely won’t resume until federal and state governments succeed in bringing the pandemic under control—something that many other countries have largely managed to do. When that happens, efforts to build more affordable housing in dense cities could attract people and companies back into productive clusters more quickly.
Yup.
“I’m not living in a fantasy world, you are!”
“something that many other countries have largely managed to do. ”
America is a real shithole. If only we gave up freedom like those other places!!!
“In-person collaboration likely won’t resume until federal and state governments succeed in bringing the pandemic under control”
And that can only happen once Bad Orange Man is booted from office.
LOL I didn’t make it that far.
Never change, The Atlantic.
“efforts to build more affordable housing in dense cities could attract people ”
Inner city housing projects have been such a success; this is sure to work!
“Although the court’s order was unsigned, Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch dissented, meaning that Chief Justice John Roberts provided the necessary fifth vote by joining the liberals on the bench”
Liberal justices just making sure your civil liberties are safe, except the ones conservatives care about.
President Donald Trump said federal officers were sent to the city to protect federal property, but protesters and local leaders have strongly opposed their presence. Demonstrations, many of which have been peaceful, have been ongoing for more than 50 days.
CNN’s team in Portland on Wednesday night and Thursday morning recorded a large gathering of protesters outside the federal courthouse. Among a mostly peaceful group, some protesters launched fireworks at the building and set several fires outside.
They’re mostly peaceful.
Mostly.
Why don’t you put her in charge?!
?
Mostly not pregnant.
“Among a mostly peaceful group, some protesters launched fireworks at the building and set several fires outside.”
If that’s what the peaceful guys are doing, what are the violent ones doing?
Well,I guess the babies are peaceful.
https://mobile.twitter.com/stillgray/status/1286957398603644928
“Among a mostly peaceful group”
They have to keep repeating it like a magical incantation.
Most people in the lunch mob didn’t actively participate in the act of murder, so it was mostly peaceful.
The German people were mostly peaceful during WWII.
Jim Jones served up mostly Flavoraid.
Lunch meat is murder!
I remember reading about Emmett Till at the time, maybe Life Magazine. Even as a bumpkin, I kept thinking, WTF? Emmett was just a little younger than I was. It was sad then, sad now.
Also sad that the MSM are pretending it’s still 1955.
::blank, slack-jawed stare::
Ask Swiss about Duckworth.
Swiss, tell us about Duckworth,
I’ve never heard of the other lady.
They re having a tough time, every possible brings negatives along for the ride. Its like Biden is at the dessert table of a buffet. He can’t afford to rub any potential candidate the wrong way. They all look so smell so good.
Who is the fuck is Karen Bass?
2020 is the year of the Karens. She’ll get picked. It’s just too obvious.
I have no idea who she is, and neither does anyone else.
Feature, not bug.
I think someone here suggested Trump should ditch Pence in favor of Condi Rice. I’d be willing to bet she’s gotten over wanting to be NFL Commish.
My God that would be the most epic troll ever.
I mentally ran a line through Condi ever holding higher office due to being tainted by the NeoCon endless wars under Bush II.
Now that the mere existence of Trump has elevated Bush to sainthood in the memory of the left, maybe she can do it.
And the 1980s called; turns out, we really do need a Russia expert like Confi.
Portland Police said people threw flammable material and incendiary devices over a fence next to the courthouse, starting a large fire, while others breached the fence. Just after midnight, one person in the crowd threw a flaming item into the courthouse, police said.
At just after 12:30 a.m., Portland Police declared a riot due to the “violent conduct of the large group” and told the group to leave. Most refused, police said, and over the next several hours, Molotov cocktails were thrown at the federal building along with hundreds of projectiles. At least one assault was reported, police said.
The group slowly dissipated over the next few hours, police said. Portland Police said they made no arrests.
Okay, then. A few molotov cocktails here and there? No big deal. They eventually dispersed. They probably had to go home and get ready for work.
Silicone Saturday refuses to wear a mask.
http://archive.li/QxceR
So many Q-worthy options but Imma go with 8.
Another not completely wrong Newsweek piece
If summertime polls were reliable, or even predictive, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis would have a presidential library and the Bush family wouldn’t be an American political dynasty. But they’re not, so he doesn’t and they are.
——-
He [You-know-who] lost the popular vote—but that matters little. Americans don’t decide presidential contests based solely on who gets more votes. It’s where those votes come from that matters.
Had it been a popular vote contest, both campaigns would have approached the contest differently. But instead, they focused on swing states and largely abandoned voters in states they were sure to lose. That’s why Trump went for Wisconsin, which Hillary Clinton never once visited, but didn’t focus on New Jersey, which Clinton was certain to win but is a big state with many Trump voters.
The bottom line is both parties can make the math work for them regardless of which style of campaign is conducted and whether or not the popular vote determines who wins. The national polls that show former Vice President Joe Biden with a commanding lead, at least at this point, are almost meaningless.
I’d say Hillary never went to Wisconsin because she (and her genius “handlers”) thought it was in the bag. “What are they gonna do, vote for TRUMP?” Same for a few other states.
I definitely think he’s right about the value of the polls, but I don’t really want him blabbing it around.
And, the finale:
The GOP’s mission is to make independents especially but all voters worry more about what Biden might do as president than they care about what Trump does. If they can convince those voters to believe Biden is the tax hike guy, the one who wants to abolish the suburbs and resume the bad trade deals that send America jobs overseas, then Trump’s not out of the race at all. In fact, he probably wins.
Exactly. And I think Trump still ha a shot at pulling it off, if he doesn’t fuck it up.
Did the editors at Newsweek start doing DMT trips on their lunchbreaks? What the hell is going on over there?
Maybe someone realised that when 99% of the supply chases 25% of the demand, that creates a business opportunity. Or maybe the people chased out of other media outfits for being insufficiently stupid all landed there. Or drugs. Probably drugs.
I’ve detected a change in tone with Trump. He’s gonna play along about the coronavirus (I’m almost certain he thinks it’s overblown but he has to pander a little here) so as to not ruffle people for no reason. I could be wrong.
Agreed.
You mean, by taking Biden at his word?
Read my lips, I will raise your taxes
Fact check:
False. The president doesn’t raise taxes, Congress does.
That’s right. That’s why we need the PenalTax.
“The Nevada decision highlighted Roberts’ recurring pivotal role on the bench this term.”
Pivotal Role = Unprincipled shithead with unlimited power.
My God Roberts is truly awful. Jesus, get Ginsburg out of there already and get another conservative justice. Roberts is just the worst.
White people, man, they ruin everything
Black community leaders are urging local protesters to shift the focus of demonstrations back to the Black Lives Matter movement and away from what has become a largely “white spectacle.”
Standing in front of a large banner bearing an image of Rep. John Lewis, the Black civil rights icon who died last week, the Rev. E.D. Mondainé, president of the Portland branch of the NAACP, told protesters “the focus has been moved from where it is supposed to be and made to be a spectacle, a debacle.”
“This is no new thing we’re experiencing. We have seen this from the beginning of time,” Mondainé said. “Four hundred years we have struggled as Black people in this nation … We have been made to be the last that were informed but the first that were affected.”
——-
Lost in the shuffle were the millions of Black lives suffering systemic racism and injustice, said Lakayana Drury, executive director of Word is Bond, a Portland-based nonprofit.
“I want us to remember why we’re here,” Drury told protesters on Thursday. “What’s happening downtown is not a Black issue. This is a battle between two white supremacy entities — the Trump administration and the local city of Portland.”
In the majority white city, Black people comprise just 6 percent of the population, according to the latest numbers available from the U.S. census. Many of those residents live far from the downtown area where thousands of demonstrators have descended every night for almost two months.
Drury said that instead of drawing national attention to what transpired outside the federal courthouse in recent weeks, protesters should be talking about communities of color, who are subjected to increased policing and a lack of economic opportunity.
“The Black issues exist very far from here,” he said. “It’s in the classrooms when we have Black students in 8th grade who are not at an 8th grade reading level. That’s what we should be marching for.”
The Portland NAACP has repeatedly denounced the actions of federal forces in Portland but has also criticized “mostly white anarchists” for inciting violence during the protests. Much of the national scrutiny in recent weeks has centered on the melee that erupts nightly after small groups of demonstrators begin a cat-and-mouse game with law enforcement.
You’re just there to be props on the stage. Those commies don’t give a shit whether your kids can read, and they sure as Hell don’t care if they can find a job.
“what has become a largely ‘white spectacle.'”
Well they ain’t wrong about that.
Oh my God.
*head-desk*
“Federal agents sent to Baltimore ‘will face criminal charges'”
https://foxbaltimore.com/news/city-in-crisis/balt-states-atty-mosby-federal-agents-sent-to-baltimore-will-face-criminal-charges
So I suppose when Beto sends out Fed goons to confiscate everyone’s guns the same rules will apply?
One could hope the states would do that, but I imagine that they would be called neo-confederates who can’t handle losing an election.
I’ve detected a change in tone with Trump. He’s gonna play along about the coronavirus (I’m almost certain he thinks it’s overblown but he has to pander a little here) so as to not ruffle people for no reason. I could be wrong.
I think that’s pretty much it. The panicky sheeple are in full flight, and they’re in no state to listen to reason. It’s going to take a lot of time and effort to bring them back to their senses.
“It’s going to take a lot of time and effort to bring them back to their senses.”
You think people will come back to their senses? Look at Mr. Optimist over here.
The the placebo effect on masks will be impossible to reason out of.
They BELIEVE.
It’s called the Boomer vote. Even Team Red Boomers are screaming for mask mandates and shutdowns (see Arizona) – Trump can’t lose that part of the base to Biden.
Explain to me how this is significantly different than shooting someone?
https://nypost.com/2020/07/24/3-fed-agents-likely-blinded-by-lasers-pointed-at-them-in-portland-wh/
it was done by a commie, an entity with no moral agency
I’ve been harping on this for days. They are intentionally maiming people. Deadly force would be the appropriate response.
Letting this continue is the most dangerous course of action.
I’m still having a hard time believing some shitweasel aiming a laser pointer by hand can deliver a blinding dose of light to someone who’s not standing still, 3ft away, peeling their lids open clockworkorangestyle.
The Czech Republic mandated masks in March and eased the measure in May.
What am I missing?
“The psychological effect was clear on Monday, as many people continued to wear masks outdoors despite the ending of the regulation. Some said they did not know why they continued to wear them despite it no longer being required.”
“I was in some institutions this morning that don’t allow people in without masks, but I have just become used to it,” said Natasha Manakoski, a 35-year-old architect walking through a square in Prague’s fashionable Vinohrady neighbourhood wearing a black mask, in common with many other pedestrians.
“Maybe I feel a little bit safer with the mask, although it feels better without it.”
This is what’s going to happen here. It’s behavioural modification based on bad science.
Now we fucked people up.
Pub and restaurant-goers are also expected to keep wearing masks when not eating or drinking.
“In reality, the rule has become inconsistently observed lately. The limited reopening of bars and cafes to provide pavement service on 11 May created the anomalous situation of pedestrians wearing masks passing by busy table areas populated by drinkers not wearing them. Parents accompanying their children to parks have increasingly neglected to cover their faces.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/25/czech-republic-face-mask-coronavirus-restrictions-pubs-restaurants-hotels
Comprehensive timeline here:
https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/blog/europe-versus-coronavirus-czech-republic-masks-how-long
Lots a lessons for us.
I just spent 11 days in a fucking hospital bed – the first few days masked, then said fuck it and didn’t bother any more. Five different roomies and dozens of nurses and doctors cycling in and out of my space.
Yeah, people are getting fucked up in the head, all right.
Hi Rhywun! So glad to see you back here. I hope you’re feeling better.
Roomies? You had to share a hospital Room with strangers?
::checks hospital room privilege::
Are you growing your hair back?
LOL I just changed a dressing and noticed what was going on down there.
And you recovered from that visual and came right back with a response. Good on you, the troops need a leader, the Glib ship was rudderless (sort of) with out you.
*the two days with a tube down my nose helped with this decision
I’m happy to report that USL Championship (2nd division soccer) has remained largely (though not totally) apolitical. So everyone here can watch JV of a sport they probably don’t like.
I was delighted to catch the Riverhounds from my hospital bed the other day. I wish there were more games on regular ESPN. I have ESPN+ but it’s a minor pain fiddling with streaming.
I honestly expected a bunch of teams to fold but seems like it hasn’t happened yet.
What am I missing?
“The psychological effect was clear on Monday, as many people continued to wear masks outdoors despite the ending of the regulation. Some said they did not know why they continued to wear them despite it no longer being required.”
Pigeon superstition.
“I wore the mask. I didn’t die. I guess I’d better keep wearing the mask, just in case.”
It’s a cargo cult.
It is purposefully dehumanization. People now view each other as dangerous bags of contagious diseases, not members of a community.
Stupid rubes. *grabs Tiger stick to ward off the fierce Wisconsin Tiger*
My shark repellent spray hasn’t failed me yet.
Some tiger repelling rocks still available, 20% off sale, this week only.
But can I keep that rock as a pet?
No.
I thought the Bee was satire.
https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-might-not-accept-the-results-of-the-2020-election-says-movement-that-still-hasnt-accepted-results-of-2016-election/
They like to throw in straight reporting with the occasional prognostication that makes Nostradamus jealous. Just to mix things up and confuse Snopes.
This guy should be canceled based on his surname alone.
https://dailycaller.com/2020/07/24/san-francisco-giants-sam-coonrod-anthem-black-lives-matter-christianity/
“I’m a Christian, like I said, and I just can’t get on board with a couple of things that I have read about Black Lives Matter. How they lean toward Marxism and they’ve said some negative things about the nuclear family. I just can’t get on board with that,” Coonrod explained to the media, according to the same NBC Sports report.”
It just means that black lives matter! How could that be unchristian. Clearly he’s just a white supremacist!
Are they required to shill for Black Lives Matter like in MLS, I wonder?
It doesn’t appear so.
Huh. In soccer, the enforced kneeling is universal and worldwide.
For today’s Old Guy Music, I have no fucking clue what the video is about, but the music is amazing.
You are not wrong about the video.
Seems very much like a targeted assassination.
https://newstalk1130.iheart.com/featured/common-sense-central/content/2020-07-24-prominent-black-trump-supporter-murdered-in-milwaukee/
Speaking of conspiracies…here’s a strange one:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/researcher-verge-making-very-significant-coronavirus-findings-shot-death-n1200896
Reads more like they don’t want the funding to stop just because the guy doing the research is dead.
Gu killed Liu.
Who killed who?
No, Hu killed Who.
Hu killed Hoom.
Hu flew? And Who knew?
Turk 182
Blink
I thought Liu killed a Jew?
None of this matters! William Shatner is attacking RedLetterMedia! It’s the most important issue of our time!
CNN explains it:
It is interesting to note that the conflict here in the city is not just between the feds and protesters. Indeed, many local city officials also want Trump’s cavalry of federal agents to leave their community. On Wednesday, I interviewed the city’s Democratic mayor, Ted Wheeler, who had very harsh words for federal authorities.
“This is clearly a waste of federal resources and it’s getting increasingly dangerous,” he said, referring to the teams of agents protecting the federal building, who routinely clash with some rioters at night. “We did not ask the feds to be here, we do not want them here. They’re not helping the situation, they’re not appropriately trained and we’re demanding that they leave.”
When it comes to guarding US government property, federal agents are basically on their own. The Portland police bureau, which is led by the mayor, has distanced itself from the federal effort and is only tangentially involved in efforts to patrol the protest area at night.
“These hippies from up north, these agitators, sitting at those lunch counters, and riding on those busses, and drinking out of “whites only” fountains, they’re not helping the situation. They’re just making things worse. Why don’t they just go on home, and let us live our lives in peace?”
Relocate the court And all other federal offices to somewhere not-Portland.
Do an explosive demolition of the courthouse to deny the mob the chance to vandalize, loot, and burn it.
Withdraw all federal functions from the city until they beg on their knees.
Sell the courthouse to the state or city at fair market value, then abandon the place.
Affordable housing!
Or spend the day putting up “rioters will be shot” signs and spend the night doing it.
Nah. That’s giving the commies what they want – a bloody shirt.
They are getting exactly what they want right now. A chance to train up a cadre of violent rioters in live fire. Learn lessons, refine tactics.
https://mobile.twitter.com/stillgray
We’re long past the time for lethal force.
The lesson I’ve learned is stay the fuck away from any urban center in perpetuity.
Sure. But last night I saw commies going at a fence around a federal building with a cutting torch. They have real gas masks now and a squad with leaf blowers to deal with tear gas. The lasers are always on the cops and are potentially blinding. Two months ago their tactics were nowhere near that effective.
You mean more bullshit models have been shown to be bullshit? How can this be?!
https://www.aier.org/article/the-models-were-wildly-wrong-about-reopening-too/
‘We’re always adjusting our models to perfect them!’
So, what happens if the Three Gorges breaks?
Aside from all the flooding and death.
A thrilling new episode of Engineering Catastrophes?
From Q’s linjk:
At the same time though, the ICL model severely overstated the projected mortality associated with reopening in all five states. Actual data do not map onto any of their scenarios, including the broadest of the three predictions for reopening. States that peaked back in March and April show no signs of a resurgence, let alone the predicted resurgence that would surpass the first wave. And states that are undergoing later surges are still well below the ICL team’s predictions – so far below that they barely even register on the graphs.
As with other predictions from the ICL team, the May paper likely faltered due to a fundamental error in its underlying code. These flawed ICL models begin with an unproven assumption, namely that lockdowns are effective at combating the coronavirus. The models are therefore automatically calibrated to produce a sharp spike in deaths after the removal of lockdowns or any move toward reopening.
As we’re now seeing in actual data however, that assumption is grossly exaggerated. As a result, the predictive ability of Imperial College’s COVID epidemiology modeling amounts to little more than an exercise in statistical astrology.
Fund our research, or the nigger gets it.
Nobody picked up on this?
They probably had to go home and get ready for work.
I am
disappoint.
I can’t even tell what you’re referencing.
It wasn’t believable.
Does anyone have a link for the Glibs masks I saw earlier this week? I checked the shop, but didn’t see them. I figure I’m looking in the wrong place.
Hier
Thank you!
I believe they’re at Redbubble, not the Cafe Press shop.
Yeah i figured it was something like that. Ordered my new mask, and now I can’t wait to teach my kids the joys of malicious compliance.
Pondering whether to get the regular mask or the scarf. My employer got custom printed masks, but hardly anyone in the back office wears them (opting instead for the disposables) because they’re too tight. Would like to hear from “early adopters” of the Glibs masks whether they’re reasonably comfortable.
Don’t forget, when you own the mask, you can modify it to suit your preferences.
Mine was supposed to have been shipped already. Per USPS tracking, they’re still waiting for the package. Originally the estimated arrival date was August 18th.
Yikes. Well, its not like I go many places anyways with all this working from home.
I ordered them last weekend, so it’s looking like they’re going to arrive before the estimate. I already ordered a neck gaiter (made in China) to cover up when the mandates were rolling out up here. Never mind that my whiskers poke through it, it obviously will stop a virus.
Clearly your face hairs plug up all the holes.
If this keeps going much longer I think I’ll make my own mask, with a picture of my mouth on it.
Sorry if this bursts your bubble, but NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin already did it. Small consolation: If you want to look like him, you can order one,
Jesus… I don’t want to frighten people.
More from that CNN thing:
Cillizza: How/when does this end?
Campbell: The truth is, there is no end in sight. It is classic entrenchment.
Trump and his political appointees at DHS continue to publicly describe Portland as being in a state of bedlam. Raising further questions about whether this is pure politics, the President is also threatening to send federal agents to other cities run by Democrats, which he has described as lawless. In a heated election year, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Trump’s exaggeration about the state of things on the ground in Portland is being done for partisan gain as he attempts to project his so-called “law and order” agenda.
Federal law enforcement officials tell us that as long as the downtown federal building in Portland remains under threat, the infusion of federal agents will remain. The acting secretary of Homeland Security said this week that if those agents were to depart, the building would burn to the ground.
The Portland mayor told me that claim is ridiculous. He is blaming the very presence of federal agents as fueling much of the outrage from demonstrators. The mayor said the Trump administration should do some introspection and reflect upon what role the influx of federal officers is having on his city.
And so, night after night, the protests continue. With federal and local officials at loggerheads, and demonstrators resolved to continue their efforts until federal agents leave, the pattern of protests and periodic clashes between authorities and rioters continues.
“Trump and his political appointees at DHS continue to publicly describe Portland as being in a state of bedlam.” Without evidence.
If not for the Blue Meanies, Portland would be an idyllic fairyland. The mayor told me so.
Don’t believe your lying eyes….
Ha (Fact)Check and Mate, DrumpfenHitler!
I think they actually believe this.
I like the “his political appointees”, as if that’s not how the system always worked. The heads of all the departments are always political appointees,.
WRT to Trump ‘targeting Democrat cities’, I’m reminded of that famous statement of Willie Sutton’s. When asked why he robbed banks, he replied, “that’s where the money is”.
I just spent 11 days in a fucking hospital bed – the first few days masked, then said fuck it and didn’t bother any more. Five different roomies and dozens of nurses and doctors cycling in and out of my space.
We’re glad you’re still with us.
Enh, the ‘vid’s gonna suck though.
I can’t even tell what you’re referencing.
That just proves my point.
I saw it and I got it. Just chose not to respond because I am still waiting for coffee effect.
wut
https://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-off-world-vehicles-not-122800083.html
The skinsuited lizard people who run our planet had to come from somewhere…
I heard the ‘might’ and ‘may’ added into the reports so far. I have heard that all of my life.
They should put up or shut up. I am tired of hearing about it. They need to show their cards.
Yeap, complete horseshit. Why are these vehicles never inhabited and/or where are the overlords already?
You wouldn’t understand
Robin DiAngelo’s book White Fragility, published in 2018, has shot up bestseller lists after protests over the death of George Floyd reignited discussions about racism in America.
DiAngelo is white and regards racism as “the foundation of the society we are in.” She says white people become defensive and exhibit “fragility” when challenged on their underlying and, often unconscious, racism.
——-
But as DiAngelo’s corporate lecture requests and book sales have grown, so too has criticism of her work.
The Washington Post’s Carlos Lozada said the book employs “circular logic.” Lozada writes that White Fragility views people of color as “almost entirely powerless, and the few with influence do not wield it in the service of racial justice.”
Columbia University professor and linguist John McWhorter, who is Black, echoes that criticism, writing in The Atlantic that the book “openly infantilized Black people” and “simply dehumanized us.”
He argues that for “DiAngelo, the whole point is the suffering” of white people, who are “taught that pretty much anything they say or think is racist and thus antithetical to the good.”
The next thing you know, somebody will us black people don’t all think and behave as one. Kind of like white people.
When you’ve lost Columbia professors…
My initial snark was a dig at the Columbia faculty – “You’ve misplaced nothing of value.”, but I also really hate this bigot.
McWhorter can be reasonable.
I think Newsweek is just punking everyone at this point.
https://www.newsweek.com/defeat-cancel-culture-vote-republican-opinion-1518933
They want to be worth more than $1?
And then:
You say this book that is dedicated to eliminating racism in white people is racist. Why do you say it’s racist?
It is racist, and I don’t mean that Robin DiAngelo is a racist. I’m not calling her that. But I’m saying that if you write a book that teaches that Black people’s feelings must be stepped around to an exquisitely sensitive degree that hasn’t been required of any human beings, you’re condescending to Black people. In supposing that Black people have no resilience, you are saying that Black people are unusually weak. You’re saying that we are lesser. You’re saying that we, because of the circumstances of American social history, cannot be treated as adults. And in the technical sense, that’s discriminatory.
I also want people to know that you’re a linguist. And here we are using this word racist. What is a proper definition of racist?
Well, racism is a very confusing word these days. But when I say that White Fragility is a racist book, what I mean is it does not allow Black people to be full human beings, because full human beings deal with the imperfections of life.
This is important: By the imperfections of life, I do not mean somebody stepping on your neck until you’re dead. I’m not talking about actual abuse. I’m talking about the more abstract sorts of things that we’re familiar with, especially over the past several decades as part of our racial landscape, where I think that the solutions are going to be more subtle than the kind of mental and spiritual straitjacketing that DiAngelo seems to think are necessary. It’s an interesting proposal, but it’s by no means as self-evidently wise as she implies, and that many people tragically seem to be agreeing with her about.
What ? Telling black people they’re too pathetically weak to survive in a world where not everybody tiptoes around so as not to upset them might condescending and ultimately disdainful?
That’s crazy.
“I don’t mean that Robin DiAngelo is a racist. I’m not calling her that”
I am. Against both black and white people.
She is massively racist.
“You’re saying that we, because of the circumstances of American social history, cannot be treated as adults. And in the technical sense, that’s discriminatory.”
Stop tip-toeing around it and call it what it
is. Racism.
Quit thinking you can treat blacks like other people! They’re different! You racist!
I’m quite pleased looking at the ‘Rona trends.
Every state that’s seen a second resurgence is already plateaued and heading back down in cases and hospitalizations.
Unfortunately deaths are a lagging indicator and should continue to hit their peak for two weeks but after that perhaps the media will move on from this nonsense.
Stats suggest states with a second resurgence are having way fewer fatalities though.
Stats also suggest none of these government policies make a damn bit of difference. California and Texas and Georgia. All the same damn curve.
I’m confused. You say this as if data had any influence on media reporting or government action…
It’s pretty obvious at this point positive news on covid isn’t being reported, but I notice nothing is reported when there isn’t negative news to dwell on. I will gladly take that.
I would also point out that my state — Texas — alleviated lockdowns over a month ago. We were being talked about as the poster child for irresponsible government yet here we are heading back down the curve with half the deaths from our last flu season despite a more liberal death reporting standard.
Can’t we get Gary Condit to do something distracting?
Reason: Trump sics his border police on Americans: We are all immigrants now
I’ll give everyone one guess as to who the writer is.
Shrieka?
Yep, ‘Member when Trump killed that Iranian lady before she could visit her grandkids, Sheika does…er, she probably doesn’t remember any her hyperbolic tantrums, but I’m…well…fuck it.
I started reading Reason around 04 or 05 I think, it used to be a multi-times daily refresh for years and years; it’s a shame.
I still have a lot of copies of Reason from that era. I rotate them in/out at the cabin so visitors can learn or get pissed off.
Drudge repeats headline:
>blockquote>Elon Musk makes $2 Billion in one week; opposes more cash for unemployed
As if part 2 is Obviously Bad Thing, and Part 1 is clearly just Musk got lucky being handed a rocket company, car company, and tunneling company. Those jobs should have been government-generated and they then apportioned out evenly to historically underrepresented groups to execute the missions.
Drudge has lost his god damn mind over the commie cough and seems to be almost vindictive in his anti-Trumpness at this stage. Like a scorned lover. I mean he’s running some bullshit headline about how there’s a death every 8 seconds in Florida from the covids.
IIRC Drudge sold the controlling interest in the site to the progs. Matt cashed out and doesn’t run it anymore.
I think Newsweek is just punking everyone at this point.
Maybe the honchos at Newsweek looked at the numbers, and had a big sit-down and came to the realization they are never going to out-Atlantic the Atlantic, or out-CNN CNN. They’ll never get crazier than the wackos at the Washington Post.
And then, somebody slapped the table and said, “Hey, I’ve got it. Why don’t we take a stab at the sane-people market. It’s a long shot, but it might be worth a try.”
I’m 100% done with the ‘rona. I look out my office window and see the hardcore homeless population sharing their bottles of rotgut, joint passing, sleeping in different groups every night and whatever else Our Experts recommend against. And you know what, this group that is probably in the worst health of damn near any demographic appears to be doing just fine. I mean, they’re not fine in any sense of the word, but the ‘rona does seem to result in the cops or EMS finding stacks of bodies in empty lots or parks or sidewalks. I wish no ill on any other human, but I can’t help but look around and think if the worst off among us are getting by, then 99.5% of the rest of us are going to be fine.
Survivorship bias. The homeless population are our evolutionary pinnacle. The last remaining American population to experience survival of the fittest. They have immune systems honed to a razor’s edge by thunderdome combat with every pathogen known to man.
The weak ones who would succumb to the vid are all long since dead
Well, time to sell all my stuff, grab my tent and head over to the empty lot next to my office with a plastic bottle of bottom shelf vodka and start working on boosting my immune system.
There ya go. It’s as rational a retirement plan as relying on your 401k at this point.
My grand daughter and brand new husband are on their way to Galena, somewhere along the BC coast on a boat going north. Take care of them, 61.
That ferry ride is supposed to be amazing. They have to get tested, I think, upon arrival to the Port of Whittier, which is an hour’s drive south of town. Are they driving to Fairbanks and flying out from there?
Galena is a cold, cold ass place in the winter. I hope they’re up for it.
Yeah, get tested several times along the way plus quarantine in Galena, I believe. Drive from Whittier to Fairbanks, then to load the truck onto a barge down the river, back to Fairbanks to catch a plane a day or two later. They are both from Northern Mn so maybe not the cold but the isolation/dark may be tough.
I’m always ready for spring when it comes and I’m isolated by choice and can leave.
They should be able to handle the cold, but the small town and isolation will be difficult. It’s a whole nother world.
this just in: banjos and the song Turkey in the Straw are racist
thus saith NPR
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/25/895112760/breaking-down-the-legacy-of-race-in-traditional-music-in-america
***
Traditional music is a broad term for songs that were passed down. The most popular ones like sea shanties and folk songs date back to the 19th century. And festivals have been a way to keep them alive.
But some of the songs made Blount feel uncomfortable, like “Turkey In the Straw.” White fiddlers in blackface used to play the tune in minstrel shows, and it’s been recorded with racist lyrics.
“I know what it makes me feel when I’m at a fiddle festival and I hear someone play ‘Turkey in the Straw,’ ” Blount says. “When I hear that, I will go up to the person and say, ‘You should stop,’ but I didn’t feel empowered to do that for a very long time.”
…
In one room, people are singing so loudly it can be heard outside. And when someone introduces the beloved sea shanty, “Rolling Down to Old Maui,” the room electrifies even more.
But when the song is over, 13-year-old Nadia Tell interjects:
“Can I make a note?” she asks. ” ‘Kanakas’ is a racial slur.”
“Whoa, it is?” someone asks.
“Yes, it is,” Tell says. “And if it’s possible, it scans perfectly fine to say ‘Hawaiians’ instead.”
The line she’s referencing in the song is: “And now we’re anchoured in the bay / With the Kanakas all around.” The word falls into a grey area. Kanakas does mean “person” in Hawaiian, but white people have used it in the past to insult and demean Pacific Islanders. And so in this case it’s best not to sing that line.
***
[Kif sigh]
Never heard of either song.
But if New Pravda Readers hates them I have to support the songs.
So the ubiquitous Turkey in the Straw is racist?
boo.
And blackface may be culturally inappropriate at this point in time but it clearly wasn’t racist.
I thought banjos were on the “Africans invented everything” list?
We could just ask her.
RACISM!
Racists watched Schindler’s List, therefore it should be banned!
“When I hear that, I will go up to the person and say, ‘You should stop,’ but I didn’t feel empowered to do that for a very long time.”
Try it with me. I’ll smile and as soon as I figure out that you’re serious, you will have a violin bow colon cleansing.
~”…13-year-old Nadia…”~
She can piss right off.
Yes, teacher told me so.
Elon Musk makes $2 Billion in one week
Wrong.
See what happens if he tries to collect or spend it.
suggested music: Great Gate of Kiev
Without A Vaccine, Researchers Say, Herd Immunity May Never Be Achieved
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/07/24/894148860/without-a-vaccine-researchers-say-herd-immunity-may-never-be-achieved
***
As the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly throughout the U.S. and beyond, many are wondering: How on earth will this end?
…
These scientists’ view that the virus will persist is based on growing evidence that immunity may not be as straightforward as first assumed and that the virus is spreading relatively slowly, while continuing to sicken and kill.
***
Well, NPR, which is it: spreading fast or spreading slow? Can’t you morons at least be consistent in the same article?
[anguished Zoidberg groan]
Then why are we shutdown? are we going to be shutdown permanently?
Yes, and the masks
https://twitter.com/GeneralDilley/status/1286349473413771265?s=19
We may have to nuke the whole planet and exterminate our whole race to save the universe from this virus
Yes! But on the RightThinkers will be put on Space Arks (publicly funded, none of this capitalist bullshit) to take the glorious message of socialism to the stars!
“I know what it makes me feel when I’m at a fiddle festival and I hear someone play ‘Turkey in the Straw,’ ” Blount says. “When I hear that, I will go up to the person and say, ‘You should stop,’ but I didn’t feel empowered to do that for a very long time.”
Well, aren’t you special.
Why are you at a fucking fiddle festival in the first place?
Racists in the mist.
Survivorship bias. The homeless population are our evolutionary pinnacle. The last remaining American population to experience survival of the fittest. They have immune systems honed to a razor’s edge by thunderdome combat with every pathogen known to man.
The weak ones who would succumb to the vid are all long since dead
Nice.
That may be true, but what about all those people who flew in commercial airliners, sans masks, last spring? Why aren’t they all dead?
Like me? I assume I am dead. Reading what the models say there is no way I’m alive.
I’m not defending covid hysteria, just pointing out that hobos can replace their blood with a soup of mad dog 20/20, hepatitis, and every cause of death my Oregon Trail children experienced while still maintaining the vitality necessary to stab you for your spare change.
They aren’t the best argument for making fun of the vid.
Mad Dog 20/20 is no longer the booze of choice. Bottom shelf vodka along with Rich and Rare whiskey are the new choice, along with whatever booze comes in the blue plastic airline bottles.
Good to know. See you are ready to grab that tent and head into the empty lot!
hobos can replace their blood with a soup of mad dog 20/20, hepatitis, and every cause of death my Oregon Trail children experienced while still maintaining the vitality necessary to stab you for your spare change
That’s the sort of writing missing from modern journalism.
Was the ‘mystery’ respirator disease that was blamed on vaping Civid-19? Discuss. I’m going to vape.
Vaping causes razor blades to slice thru your lungs. I just saw the commercial, again.
So my guess is that Trump is trying to break into City voting demographic by halting/attacking riots, and hoping that the voters there see it as a law and order choice.
It’s an interesting move, but I rate low probability of working
I think he’s doing it because it’s the right thing to do only. May seem weird to say but I do.
And libertarians seem very uncomfortable with this, but putting down commie terrorists seems to me like one of the few legitimate functions of these people.
It’s none of the feds’ business, unless they stick to federal buildings (or strictly protecting citizens’ rights). As much as I hate commies, I also respect the separation of powers.
There’s a lot of pretty fuzzy lines.
At some point, it’s insurrection, which is the feds’ business.
At some point, the failure of the locals to protect rights, or even the violation of rights by the locals, is the feds’ business.
Do you even libertarian bro?!
One could easily argue that at this point many state and local authorities are aiding and abetting insurrection against the United States.
If, for example, the Portland situation resolves by the Feds pulling out entirely, then Portland becomes a de facto autonomous zone outside Federal jurisdiction. The city will have more of less seceded from the country. If they have the official support of the State of Oregon, you could make a strong case that Oregon has rejected Federal sovereignty and seceded as well. They effectively become South Carolina in December of 1860.
At that point, there’s no question that it’s the feds business. Either CW2 gets underway or Oregon and probably Washington plus a few others break away. If I were Trump and the Republican Senate though, I’d encourage the breakaway and do what West Virginia did to Virginia.
Which is what they are doing, IIRC.
Don’t believe Nancy’s blathering about “stormtroopers”.
So my guess is that Trump is trying to break into City voting demographic by halting/attacking riots, and hoping that the voters there see it as a law and order choice.
A lot of black people are law-and-order voters.
Bullshit! You racist! All black people want to be treated as special snowflakes who can blame all their problems on racism!
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/5978-there-is-nothing-more-painful-to-me-at-this-stage
Jesse, 1993
Cancel Jesse!
“Universities are in trouble and the influx of brainpower”
How? We’ve finally learned that there are 26 genders. Science!!!