Friday Afternoon SugarLinks – The Dark Ages

by | Aug 14, 2020 | Daily Links | 337 comments

Some deep reading for a Friday afternoon:

Millenarian Mobs
An old and dangerous story.

Today we see scenes of monuments which had stood for decades, now destroyed and defaced, as well as the forceful cancellation of names from circulation. Smashing others’ idols was, and remains, a staple of tribal warfare. The Old Testament recalls the divine command to destroy idols, and the clashes between Christian and Muslim armies always aimed as much at symbols as at people. The Song of Roland contains a lyrical account of Charlemagne’s iconoclasm in his campaign against the Saracens. In the 6th century, Emperor Justinian made Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia cathedral the Christian world’s biggest and most important church. The Muslims who added that city to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 killed its priests, toppled its statues, and made it into the principal mosque of the Muslim caliphate at war with Christendom. In 1923, Kemal Atatürk, Turkey’s modernizer, turned the building into a museum in order to end that war. But in July 2020 Turkey’s Islamist president Recep Erdogan, consistent with his hostility to Judeo-Christian civilization, turned it into a mosque again and began covering up what remain of the Christian frescoes on its walls. Destroying symbols, however, has had no place within Christian civilization. As the equivalent of torturing dead men, it has always been the work of cowards likelier to run from living enemies. On the other hand, war against statues, paintings, books, biographies, etc., has been a defining feature of civilization’s revolutionary enemies, consistent with their chosen identities as alien tribes.

Nietzsche’s Eternal Recurrence as blood-drenched farce, only dangerous because it is taken so, so seriously.

It’s a long read, but very interesting. And cultural memory of these ages of madness is why this image has stuck in my craw for months.

Does this not horripliate your flesh? Do your hackles not rise? Blood. This all ends in blood.


And did the COVID hordes seek to invade the north and make it their own…

Coast Guards on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border have warned people against participating in the 2020 Float Down, an annual event that sees thousands of people travel down the St. Clair River on tubes and rafts.

The event is scheduled to take place this Sunday, Aug. 16 on the river that separates Sarnia, Ont., from Port Huron, Mich.

Ahead of the Float Down, which is more than 30 years old, the Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard Leadership released a joint statement reminding people of the serious legal repercussions that come with crossing the border.

“This remains an un-sanctioned marine event and poses risks to the participants and other users of the waterways during the 7.5 mile /12 km course. In addition to these risks, the Canada/U.S. border also remains closed until at least August 21, 2020, due to COVID-19,” they said.

The RCMP said that any Americans who unintentionally arrive in Canada will be required to wear a mask while being transported back, and will have to complete a COVID-19 health screening.

Brownface Justin doesn’t want no wetbacks in his Tundra Texas. Yee-hah!

(Hey, SugarFree? Why no you put original headline? Well, that’s because that site is one of them there cunte sites that won’t let ole SugarFree cut n’ paste their headline. Because, I can only assume, they are really just a boy-touching factory pretending to be a website.)


Due to The New York Times getting so much attention, The Los Angeles Times had to make a play for dumbshittiest article of the week:

The ice cream truck song has a racist past. So Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA wrote a new one

Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA is putting the “good” in Good Humor, partnering with the sweets vendor to create a new ice cream truck jingle as a free alternative to the well-known and problematic tune “Turkey in the Straw.”

The rapper-producer unveiled the catchy new song Thursday morning in a video acknowledging the racist history of “Turkey in the Straw,” which has long been associated with minstrel shows and racist imagery.

“Remember that ice cream jingle?” RZA says in a promo video introducing his tune. “Of course — we all know it. I’m not gonna play it right now, though, because we come to find out that it has racist roots.

“‘Turkey in the Straw’s’ melody originated from British and Irish folk songs, which had no racial connotations. But the song itself was first performed (and gained popularity) in American minstrel shows in the 1800s. Some songs using its same melody contained highly offensive, racist lyrics,” Good Humor explains on its website.

Pay attention to that last paragraph. “Turkey In The Straw” isn’t racist but certain songs, sung over a hundred years ago, set racist lyrics to the same tune. So the tune itself, in an example of viral transmission of racism, I guess, is now racist.

Just like if someone took, say, a Wu-Tang song, and replaced the lyrics with ones promoting White Supremacy would mean that the original Wu-Tang song would therefore and forevermore be a racist song as well. Logic.


The counterrevolutionary coloring book must be destroyed!

The Dark, Forgotten History of Coloring Books

A medium celebrated for its stress relief in quarantine has a more sinister side.

It’s an incoherent ramble. You hope it’s satire and then you remember Slate is too stupid to write satire.


Mood music

About The Author

SugarFree

SugarFree

Your Resident Narcissistic Misogynist Rape-Culture Apologist

337 Comments

  1. UnCivilServant

    Work is over for the week, I’m waiting for a delivery at 6-7, and some malaise has come over me. For some reason, I’m not in the mood for arguing on the internet.

    It must be serious.

    • Count Potato

      It’s covid.

      • UnCivilServant

        That’s a likely as lupus.

        Hint – it’s never lupus either.

      • Shpip

        It might be a tumor…

      • Don did not Escape Bama

        Tater: you perform an LP to see if it’s a brain infection
        Shpip: you break into his house and check for toxins

        ready, break!

    • Hyperion

      “and some malaise has come over me”

      It’s all that disinfectant shit you’re spraying all over your produce to try and kill the commie cooties. Or was that tater that does that?

  2. KibbledKristen

    Adds “Float Down” to le bucket liste

    • grrizzly

      I wonder how immigration issues were handled before COVID. A passport in a waterproof case?

      • Translucent Chum

        They throw you on a bus back across the Blue Water Bridge.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Drag you across the wall and make you wear the black.

  3. Count Potato

    “Just like if someone took, say, a Wu-Tang song, and replaced the lyrics with ones promoting White Supremacy would mean that the original Wu-Tang song would therefore and forevermore be a racist song as well. Logic.”

    The Klu Klux Klan ain’t nothin to fuck with.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      It is befuddling to see self-proclaimed anti-racists give white supremacists this much cultural power. They have been given milk, the okay sign, and now folk music. Weird. I bet someone has set “Simple Gifts” to racist lyrics at some point, better cancel Aaron Copeland.

    • Bobarian LMD

      Shame on a nigga who try to run gameplay ‘turkey in the straw’ on a nigga

    • leon

      I saw where that was going and had to stop. Not going to watch someone get torn to shreds by dogs.

    • Plisade

      Are you sub’ing for Q this afternoon?

      • KibbledKristen

        Yeah, sure. But that’s all I got 🙂

  4. Shpip

    ‘Turkey in the Straw’s’ melody originated from British and Irish folk songs, which had no racial connotations. But the song itself was first performed (and gained popularity) in American minstrel shows in the 1800s. Some songs using its same melody contained highly offensive, racist lyrics,” Good Humor explains on its website.

    A local semi-entrepreneur was on FB recently suggesting a beer truck. Like an ice cream truck, but for beer.

    I suggested that the truck’s jingle be the Horst Wessel Lied. I mean, it is catchy, after all. Fortunately, he had no idea what the song was.

  5. leon

    Destroying symbols, however, has had no place within Christian civilization.

    Of course. Never were there any iconoclasts in christian civilization.

  6. Count Potato

    “It’s an incoherent ramble.”

    I couldn’t even find a decent pull quote.

    • SugarFree

      The author, pictured here wearing Debbie Gibson’s hat:

      • Count Potato

        Well, I hope the mall he is singing in has a hardware store.

      • SugarFree

        As real as he may seem, he’s only in your dreams.

    • Rhywun

      Holy shit… he wasn’t kidding.

    • leon
    • Gustave Lytton

      Good news, not going to Level 4 lockdown. Yet.

      WTF is Level 4? Welding homes closed?

      • grrizzly

        Level 4 is what they have in Melbourne: a curfew, less than 1 hour per day outside of home. Welding home doors must be Level 5.

      • Rhywun

        Handfuls of nursing-home residents died. They must DO SOMETHING!1!

    • Chafed

      Wait until they find out what 3 weeks really means.

    • Suthenboy

      She better up her totalitarian game. Didnt the Aussies surround some neighborhoods with armed police?

      • Rhywun

        IIRC – in addition to Level 4 mentioned above – they imprisoned residents of several public housing projects. I’d look up the details but I’m actually too disgusted.

      • Raven Nation

        Some buildings but not neighborhoods.

        NZ has placed 7 police roadblocks around Auckland to stop people getting in.

        We had planned to visit my mom this year in May but travel was too unpredictable. We were thinking of trying to pull it off in the next month or two. But, travelers into Australia have to quarantine for 14 days in a hotel room (can’t even leave the room) at the travelers expense – $2600/person. And, then, my mother lives in Tasmania and anyone traveling to Tasmania from the mainland has to quarantine for another 14 days – same conditions.

      • Viking1865

        “NZ has placed 7 police roadblocks around Auckland to stop people getting in.”

        Jesus Christ that is insanity.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Given that the virus is not going to go away and that it will continue to be reintroduced to the population there, I expect that blood will be shed before this is over.

    • mrfamous

      Flatten that curve!

      • juris imprudent

        At this point it is more like flatten the earth.

  7. leon

    Give me something and i can show how it’s racist.

    • UnCivilServant

      The Martian Moon of Deimos.

      • Chafed

        Easy with the language UCS.

      • Rhywun

        Destroyed by white Earth people.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Greek Mythology = Greek Civilization = Western Civilization = The only people that have ever enslaved anyone ever = Racist

        This is fun, its like a new seven degrees from Kevin Bacon… wait this is what the academics in Victim Studies do, isn’t it?

  8. Nephilium

    Sorry to drop this in early, but I’m on my way out the door.

    Happy Hour for tonight, I’ll kick it off at 20:00 Eastern.

    • KibbledKristen

      Thank you Neph!!

    • DEG

      Thank you! I will probably skip tonight. I have to up early tomorrow and there are some things I need to get done around here.

  9. Chafed

    Sounds like the opposite of what Brochettaward has.

    • Chafed

      Meant as a reply to UCS in comment 1

      • Count Potato

        P Brooks is contagious!

      • Sean

        *puts on mask*

    • Rhywun

      ‘Life just gets better and better!’

      Go fuck yourself.

    • R C Dean

      Won the genetic lottery, with the Powerball.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        No shit.

        Too bad she’s nucking futs.

  10. juris imprudent

    Some songs using its same melody contained highly offensive, racist lyrics,” Good Humor explains on its website.

    Well that rules out about 95% of all Irish tunes.

    • UnCivilServant

      You must be a Limey. Or a Limey-sucking scot. Or worse – Welsh.

      *breaks bottle*

      Which is it?!

      • juris imprudent

        Descended from Scots-Irish that ended up in the Appalachia. And Irish that ended up in the Maritimes. And yeah, there is a Welsh branch in there too.

  11. Count Potato

    “Manhattan’s map of homelessness: Where ramshackle encampments have popped up all over the city and the hotels that are being used to house 13,000 people since residents fled to escape COVID-19

    It comes as more than 13,000 homeless people settle into hotels across the city after being removed from homeless shelters to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.

    Now, they are living in some luxury hotels in the Garment District and Upper West Side and are terrifying residents. De Blasio says they’ll stay there until there’s a vaccine which could be another six months.

    There are also fewer police on the streets since de Blasio and the city council cut the NYPD’s budget by $1billion in response to pressure from BLM activists last month.

    Many wealthy residents have fled their homes in fear, taking their disposable income and tax dollars with them. De Blasio waved them off, calling them ‘fair weather friends’ who will be replaced.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8628845/Manhattans-map-homelessness.html

    WTF??

    • The Other Kevin

      It seems like we’re in the part of the movie right before Batman shows up.

      • Chafed

        Legit lol. I’ll bet more than few New Yorkers are praying he is real.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        “This town needs an enema!”

    • Suthenboy

      This commie rot is very disconcerting and yet I watch in disbelief. I cant look away.
      Even a year ago I could not believe this would happen. In hindsight I should have seen it coming when the ‘man on the street’ interviews showed countless people saying that Bloomburg’s rules telling free adults how much soda they could have were a good idea.

      We get what we vote for.

      • UnCivilServant

        I didn’t vote for those people, I voted against them.

      • Suthenboy

        You should get the hell out of there. They are going to cook you and eat you at some point in the near future.

        *My remark was not restricted to NYC. This crap is happening all over the country but does seem to be restricted to large blue cities.

      • Bobarian LMD

        It’s not restricted to large blue cities, it’s just concentrated.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Amazon should send AOC a thank-you letter.

    • Grosspatzer

      The more things change, the more they stay the same.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Panic_in_Needle_Park

      I spent most of my spare time between 1970 – 1972 in a place called the House Of Games about 1/2 block east of here, playing chess and backgammon and drinking espresso into the wee hours. Back then, there were boundaries – as long as you stayed out of the park, you’d be safe (although you needed to move quickly into the subway station at the south end of the park). The difference now is that the inmates don’t stay in their assigned spaces.

      • Ted S.

        A really good movie, but dog lovers be warned.

    • Rhywun

      I hope it stays in Manhattan. There is literally none of this mayhem in my neighborhood. Other than the masks – which are retreating – and the closed shops, you would not know there was anything out of the ordinary here. For now.

      • l0b0t

        Amen! We are seeing none of this in The Rockaways. It’s all outdoor dining but the beaches are packed.

      • Rhywun

        Dammit – my head edited out the outdoor dining I intended to mention. That’s OK, it goes away in a couple months anyway.

      • UnCivilServant

        “We carved outdoor seating into the snowbank.”

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      6 months?

      LOL

      • Bobarian LMD

        Months, years, decades?

        What’s the diff?

    • UnCivilServant

      Look, when you have that much money, you can call your team of professional photoshoppers a filter.

    • KibbledKristen

      mmm….shiny….

    • KibbledKristen

      She looks way cuter in the “unfiltered” version. IMO as a hetero chick.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, she at least looks human rather than like animate plastic.

      • But Enough About My Prostate

        She looks like a very attractive young woman. The filtered version is waaaay beyond simple glam — she’s been heavily re-sculpted.

      • prolefeed

        The filtered version looks like a sexbot where they haven’t fixed the “predatory uncanny valley” look.

        The real life version – doggystyle would always be a viable option with a booty like any Kardassian.

  12. Count Potato

    “‘Skinny house’ that measures just THREE FEET on one side and is shaped like a pie sells for $260,000 in Illinois after it went viral on Tik Tok

    When the home was first erected in 2003, the original homeowners had to follow the Village of Deerfield’s building guidelines and only used a certain percentage of the lot”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8627753/Skinny-house-measures-just-THREE-FEET-one-sells-260-000-Illinois.html

    I can’t tell if that’s genius or just stupid.

    • UnCivilServant

      Get rid of the moron striking stupid poses and it’s not so bad.

      It’s not worth a quarter of a million, though.

    • UnCivilServant

      Standard capacity magazines are legal in commifornia again?

      • Chafed

        It looks like it. I’ll be delighted when I see it. Of course, gun stores first have to have guns in stock.

    • Count Potato

      Wait, what? Does that apply to all of the states now? Or is that only for things Trump does?

      • juris imprudent

        California and the seven dwarves.

      • prolefeed

        Until it is overturned by full 9th court appeal, then kicked to SCOTUS.

    • Grosspatzer

      RIP Julian. One of my fraternity brothers was a huge fan who introduced me to jazz and classical music. And by classical, I mean nothing after Mozart (he had no use for the Romantics). We had a few interesting discussions about that.

      • Mojeaux

        I skip over Mozart and Schumann and those dudes, and go straight to the angsty Russians and early 20th Century composers.

      • Grosspatzer

        Those are my faves as well. Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Ives in no particular order. Got a soft spot for Tchaikovsky too; I wore out a recording of the Nutcracker as a youngster and could probably reproduce large parts of that score from memory.

      • Mojeaux

        Rachmaninoff here. The Rach 3 is my boo.

        Also, Orff’s Carmina Burana.

        I don’t much care for the Impressionists like Grofé even though I grew up on it.

      • Don did not Escape Bama

        he found no value in Mahler or DeBussy?

      • Grosspatzer

        He was quite adamant about his preferences. Me, there’s two kinds of music – stuff I like and stuff I don’t like. Genre is a secondary consideration.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Dissing Ludwig?

        That’s like saying I like rock and roll, but nothing after Bill Haley and the Comets.

      • Mojeaux

        Both Mozart and Ludwig were in the “classical” era, so I’m not sure we’re discussing the correct one.

      • whahappan

        Grosspatzer said his frat brother said “nothing after Mozart.”

      • Gender Traitor

        Howzabout “only stuff before Bach”? That’s my Sunday morning jam (11 am EDT) on SiriusXM’s “Symphony Hall” channel.

      • Mojeaux

        Oops. My bad.

  13. Pope Jimbo

    Uffda. Minnesoda’s answer to Fauci, Michael Osterholm gives a truly infuriating interview. Osterholm was employed by Minnesoda’s Dept of Health for years and years. He was always going on and on about the next big pandemic. He finally got booted and ended up at the U of Mn Duluth in some sort of phoney baloney job. He is one of those guys who seems to be enjoying this pandemic because people give a shit about him again. His only regret is that the President is a Republican. In a Biden administration, I’m sure he sees himself up at the podium instead of Fauci.

    So you get that I have disliked this chucklehead for decades. I didn’t think I could think less of him, but this interview where he “helps” people understand how much danger they are in lowered the bar.

    Osterholm said he recently got a question about grandparents who wanted to see a new grandchild in person, taking precautions to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. He conferred with colleagues and they agreed that if the parents stood 10 feet apart from the grandparents on a driveway and handed the baby over for one minute, it wouldn’t be a high risk encounter. There’s proximity involved, but it’s a short encounter.

    Anyone who fucking scares people about seeing a grandkid is straight up evil.

    • Plisade

      “In a Biden administration” Covid is cured day 1 by Fauci’s vaccine. If Covid continues to be an issue it will only be in overseas proxy wars to sow chaos abroad and create opportunities for foreign aid and all the lovely graft Biden & Kamala can give their debtors.

      • Plisade

        *give their donors. smdh

      • Bobarian LMD

        Yep, we’re the debtors, and they ain’t giving us shit.

    • Count Potato

      Minnesota is getting soft. Warren Moon would have faked handing off the baby to mom, then thrown the shovel pass to grandpa.

    • mrfamous

      Osterholm most recently was seen commenting that there was zero evidence on the efficacy of masks, but everyone should wear them anyway so people don’t get mad at them.

  14. Rhywun

    Barack Obama issued a rare public rebuke of President Trump on Friday, accusing him of trying to “kneecap” the US Postal Service to suppress votes at the November election.

    LOL

    Do you really wanna go there, when the workers have publicly declared their support for your chosen candidate?

    You would think at some point the Democrats’ transparent corruption would get noticed by the voters.

    • Ted S.

      You’ll be happy to know Lewandowski finally scored. 😉

      • Raven Nation

        Wow! Still time to score more.

      • Ted S.

        LOL!

        Reminded me of the 2014 World Cup semi.

      • Ted S.

        Haven’t watched this in a while.

      • Rhywun

        I guess you didn’t see my request for no spoilers. Oh well, I have better things to do at 9pm anyway.

      • Rhywun

        Jesus.

        You know what Bayern needs? To siphon off even more teams’ best players.

      • Ted S.

        They only get Dortmund’s best players. It’s not uncommon for Spanish and English teams to get good Bayern players.

      • Rhywun

        Gnabry used to play for Bremen and Coutinho for Liverpool (though not the “best” player, just one of). It is by no means restricted to Dortmund.

        But yes, the musical chairs is common. Bayern’s inertia just leads it to being one of, if not the biggest destination in the world right now.

      • Ted S.

        No, I didn’t.

    • grrizzly

      Some voters have noticed. Though, a slightly different issue was the turning point for this woman.
      “And it should also be noted that I am NOT a republican. I was a hardcore liberal before this. Not now. No fucking way.”

      • The Other Kevin

        This is a good read, with a similar sentiment. NYC is Dead Forever

      • Trolleric the Goth

        nice article, a good read to cap off the work day

      • Rhywun

        I’m not taking all these doom-and-gloom parables seriously. Nobody knows – with the certainty all these people claim to have – what is going to happen next year let alone “forever”.

      • Suthenboy

        *mails Rhywun a copy of the documentary ‘Escape From New York’*

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I hope REI chokes on it. They’re just about the most obnoxious virtue signallers in the outdoors business.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Most obnoxious? I guess I’ve stopped paying attention. They used to be the middle of the road, slightly crunchy. And there’s not many alternatives around here for brick and mortar. Either Bass and their high prices or middling quality (and also virtue signallers) like Dick’s. Local independent sporting goods stores are pretty much gone. More online sales.

        But back to the HQ, there’s going to be even more of that as businesses figure out how much can be done from home or lower cost locations. Both of with will come with lower locality adjusted salaries, if the employer can swing it.

      • But Enough About My Prostate

        REI’s the U.S. equivalent of Canada’s MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op). They went all squishy SJW about two years ago, and I canceled my membership at that time, which included getting my co-op share back. I originally paid $5.00 for it back in the mid-80s, and ended up getting a cheque for several hundred bucks, to my surprise.

        MEC can go f*ck themselves with a rusty chainsaw; they’d lost their way in so many ways, and were no longer producing high-quality stuff at decent prices. A bunch of retail chains popped up in competition with them, but I really think online stuff like Amazon will finally deliver the death-blow. Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of head-shoved-up-their-ass witlings.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Same with REI’s gear and clothing. It’s gone downhill along with the rest of their merchandising, although that’s a larger problem with the outdoor gear industry. Too bad about MEC. They used to have really nice stuff.

      • EvilSheldon

        Not remotely. Patagonia is much, much worse.

      • Gustave Lytton

        But still quite happy to cash those Uncle Sam checks for supplying the “war machine”.

      • Suthenboy

        I see no awareness there of why this happened.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        He’s spot on. The jobs in New York City are going to outsource to other areas because they can and because they want to thanks to the shutdown and the riots.

        And because the entertainment value of New York has been gutted over the last few months, the wealthy unemployed have no reason to stay either.

        NYC is fucked, I and New York State along with it.

      • Grosspatzer

        He’s not wrong. Covid, or the panic around it, did not cause any of this, but merely accelerated a process that was already underway, especially in NYC. The transportation infrastructure has been neglected for decades, and the chickens were about to come home to roost prior to the panicdemic. The Port Authority Bus terminal needs to be replaced, and there are no good ideas as to how to accomplish this; the “best” idea I’ve seen was to build a new terminal on the NJ side of the Hudson river and extend a subway line to allow commuters to cross the river into Manhattan. Commuter rail service is a disaster, and there is no money to build the additional tunnels needed to support the volume, not to mention upgrade/replacement of the rail terminal (Penn Station). NYC was well and truly fucked already; the assholes who lined their pockets while presiding over the decline will no doubt blame everything on Covid. Anyone with a lick of common sense knows better.

    • Suthenboy

      And I think “Yeah? So what? Fuck you Zero.”

    • Rebel Scum

      “Donald Trump is trying to damage the postal service’s ability to ensure the integrity of our election.” – Pelosi (or some other a-hole earlier)

      Sure, and they just endorsed a candidate for president…

      • Suthenboy

        “…ensure the integrity of our election.” = “…handicap our ability to destroy the integrity of our election.”

        Up is always down with them.

    • Pope Jimbo

      rare public rebuke

      Seriously? Obama has been really bad about continuously mouthing off. Even Billy C did a pretty good job of retiring and shutting the fuck up. Both Bushes also pretty much disappeared.

      But maybe I’m being too harsh because a lot of Obamas snide commentary was “leaked” and he never meant for it to be heard by the public.

  15. KibbledKristen

    Crypto enthusiasts: what’s the best Android wallet app?

    • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

      I’m just using coin base, but I’m in for about $10, so it’s low risk at this point.

  16. Drake

    China has been destroying their history forever. Even from one dynasty to the next, they would often remove all imagery. When Mao took power, the commies literally erased Chinese history. Outside of the Forbidden City, there is none. I remember reading an Englishman’s account of touring China. He couldn’t even find old houses in what is supposedly an ancient civilization. It’s all ground to dust.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Life is extremely cheap there.

    • Rhywun

      Lots of the major monuments have been rebuilt (I’ve seen them) but yes, other than that, the cities have been continuously ground down and rebuilt.

    • Gustave Lytton

      When Mao took power, the commies literally erased Chinese history.

      More like when Mao felt threatened, he allowed the Red Guards to run rampant. The Cultural Revolution was nearly twenty years after the ChiComs triumphed over the Nationalists.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    WTF is Level 4? Welding homes closed?

    You herd the infected (tax) cattle into a big pit and kill them all, like at the end of Hud.

    We have to take this seriously!

  18. juris imprudent

    Bayern is whipping Barca, and Coutinho came on late and scored 2.

  19. Derpetologist

    meandering musings

    I went to the dentist the other day. When I got x-rayed, they didn’t give me a lead vest. When I asked why, they said because Wu Ping cough. I found it interesting that someone weighed the danger of x-rays to the danger of infection and deemed the x-rays the lesser evil. If this sort of thinking could be extended to other dilemmas.

    The other day I went to Fishy Joe’s for lunch. When they brought my order, the cashier opened the box to so I could check that it was right. I said that’s a smart thing to do. She said yeah, it really cuts down on wrong orders. So shines a bit of common sense in a stupid, stupid world.

    If don’t have one already, I strongly suggest getting a portable battery jumper. It allows you to jumpstart your car by yourself. I accidentally drained my battery in the parking lot last week (had the key turned to “on” instead of “accessories”) and a good Samaritan helped me with his.

    —————————-

    There is nothing new under the sun, exhibit 42A

    The other wizard school novel

    ***
    Wizard’s Hall is a 1991 fantasy novel by Jane Yolen. The Harry Potter series, which began publishing six years later, has many similarities. However, Yolen believes the similarities are coincidental.[1]
    Characters and story
    The mother of shy Henry sends him to Wizard’s Hall where he can train to become a wizard. At the Hall he is renamed Thornmallow, suggesting that he is prickly on the outside yet soft inside. He becomes quite conspicuous as he covers a classroom in snow, yells during an orientation speech and has other embarrassing moments. He soon learns that he is one of 113 students who are being prepared to confront the evil wizard Nettle and his huge Beast. Thornmallow feels he may not be equal to the challenge.
    ***

    There is nothing new under the sun, exhibit 19K

    The other I, Robot novel

    ***
    “I, Robot” is a science fiction short story by Eando Binder (nom de plume for Earl and Otto Binder), part of a series about a robot named Adam Link. It was published in the January 1939 issue of Amazing Stories, well before the related and better-known book I, Robot (1950), a collection of short stories, by Isaac Asimov. Asimov was heavily influenced by the Binder short story.

    Isaac Asimov was heavily influenced by the Binder short story. In his introduction to the story in Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories (1979), Asimov wrote:

    It certainly caught my attention. Two months after I read it, I began ‘Robbie’, about a sympathetic robot, and that was the start of my positronic robot series. Eleven years later, when nine of my robot stories were collected into a book, the publisher named the collection I, Robot over my objections. My book is now the more famous, but Otto’s story was there first.[1]
    ***

    ……………..

    I had another 5-day stretch with no booze. Yay me! The tide of the battle has turned in my favor.

    Spot the Not: Novels of bizarro fiction

    1. Time Pimp

    2. Space Walrus

    3. Betty the Battle Beetle and the Big Bad Bald Bat

    4. Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere

    5. Warrior Wolf Women of the Wasteland

    6. I’ll Fuck Anything that Moves and Stephen Hawking

    and lastly, some quality gibberish from Biden
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRJh4KGynOI

    • Mojeaux

      I won’t say the not because I cheated and looked them all up. However, it was the one I suspected second-least.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      There are some nice lithium-ion jumper sets out there now. Very small and effective.

      • Gustave Lytton

        At least jumper cables, preferably long length. They’re like $20. Throw em in your trunk. I’ve helped jump a couple people over the years and no one had their own cables.

      • Mojeaux

        Naw, bruh. Ours is a Black and Decker with a mini air compressor. Saved our bacons many a time.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Self aid is better than buddy aid.

      • Sean

        I’ve got a like mint jump box & compressor. It’s battery is dead. ?

      • Count Potato

        I have something similar, but not a B&D. Air compressor is nice, because who bothers to check the spare?

      • Mojeaux

        I have an air compressor now, but before I got that, it was great for bike tires and suchlike.

      • Sean

        I’m pretty sure my car came with a set of jumper cables.

        I should double check.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m not sure my car has the proper hookups for a jump start.

        fukkin hybrids.

    • TARDIS

      I had another 5-day stretch with no booze.

      Your life is apparently better than mine. Stop bragging. Although I did go 10 days back in May. Then I realized I don’t care anymore. Good on you, anyway.

      I’ll go with #5 because it sounds boring.

      • TARDIS

        Stop bragging.

        I meant that lightheartedly BTW.

      • Derpetologist

        No worries, I was picking up what you were putting down. And I am now my 3rd pint of Guinness. It would be best if I stopped drinking completely, but at a bare minimum, I don’t want to exceed 2 drinks a day.

        Heavy rain here at Camp Swampy. My internet comes and goes.

      • Rhywun

        Ever since my operation a single drink gives me a pounding headache. I may try one tonight, I don’t know.

      • Derpetologist

        I had 10 yesterday and felt like stomped shit the next day. Never again.

      • TARDIS

        This is what bothers me the most. I feel nothing. No hangover, no nausea, nothing. But I literally can’t write anything legibly when i sober up.

        *checks penmanship*

        No worries, I’m good now. I should go to the range. If only someone would drive me. /Kidding!

      • Derpetologist

        Wait a minute. The next day after yesterday is today!

      • Ted S.

        Try married drinks instead.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        a single drink gives me a pounding headache

        Better skip it and start with Drink #2

    • Rhywun

      they said because Wu Ping cough

      I don’t get it. The vest has cooties?

      • Derpetologist

        Well, there’s only one vest and it would be touched by numerous people. Of course, by that logic, all doors should be propped open.

        All I want is consistency. I’d prefer to have logic and consistency, but if forced to pick one, I want consistency.

        It was funny, I had to wear a mask the whole time I was at the dentist, and when they gave me the sunglasses so the exam light wouldn’t blind me, the glasses fogged quickly. So what is it to wear a mask?

      • Rhywun

        So presumably they’re disinfecting every object in the office that anyone could conceivably touch*. Why not disinfect the vest too?

        *I doubt this

      • Derpetologist

        99% of the what has been done is for show, IMO. Reminds of a story I heard when I was a wee lad.

        Guys are nailing together wooden crates in a little workshop. One guy runs out of nails, so he just sits for a bit. The boss runs over and asks why isn’t he working. When the guy says he ran out of nails, the boss says well just pound on the boards so you look busy.

      • Rhywun

        99% of the what has been done is for show, IMO.

        Absolutely. For example: why only tell people to use rubber gloves or hand sanitizer when you can shut down the subway every night to “sanitize” it? See also: your kid’s classroom in the fall.

      • Bobarian LMD

        No, no. See, if you get enough x-rays you’re guaranteed to not die from Moo Goo Gai Panic.

      • Derpetologist

        Bah, the average person could take 100 chest x-rays a year, and they ought to have them too!

        Galen Windsor has some amusing stories about radiation safety. He built nuclear weapons in the 1950s back in the days when it was a common practice to carry plutonium in pockets, with appropriate distance of course so you didn’t get burned from an accidental criticality. In the video below, he eats uranium (about 32 minute mark) and then says that since he is now technically radioactive waste, he should be buried under 50 feet of concrete.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R1ReBuvsMk

        The Dept of Energy is not fond of him.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        When a forest fire burned through Los Alamos 20 years ago there were several times that the Hazmat teams had to assist the firemen. It seems that many of the retired nuke scientists had brought home “souvenirs”.

      • Derpetologist

        It is endlessly fascinating to me that people will staunchly oppose nuclear power and yet have multiple smoke detectors in their homes. Fun fact: smoke detectors contain Americium-241 and work on the same principle as a Geiger counter.

    • Derpetologist

      OK, no more bets. 3 is the Not. 4 sounds like a Sugarfree anthology.

      No winners, choose the form of the Destructor:

      Dr Fauci playing every character in Jesus Christ Superstar or Joe Biden high on LSD singing the 12 Days of Xmas

      • Gender Traitor

        The latter sounds as if it would be much more amusing.

  20. Mojeaux

    Kansas City’s mayor put the mandatory mask order into place until mid-January.

    Fucker.

    THEN the thought of Arrowhead being empty.

    If I didn’t have a seething hatred for government already, I do now. No, you stupid fuckers, it is NOT the covid. It’s the GOVERNMENT.

    Fuckers.

    • KibbledKristen

      Ridiculous. I don’t think masks will ever end.

      • Mojeaux

        That occurred to me the other day.

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        Can we get 4chan to make the surgical/dust masks some secret white supremacist sign? Maybe we won’t have to wear them.

    • mrfamous

      At least there’s a date. It’s indefinite here.

  21. Shpip

    In case you were wondering what Brett L’s neighbor was up to recently.

    • Count Potato

      Lucky for him they didn’t find his meth lab in the locker room.

  22. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Will-Tang founder RZA can can suzzuck my dizzick.

    • Pope Jimbo

      The Orange-Tang clan has the sickest beats in near earth orbit!

      Honestly though a lot of people do not like their frontman ODT (Old Dirty Trump).

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I actually liked ODB, that vid of him collecting his welfare check still gives me a laugh.

    • KibbledKristen

      That’s the equivalent of “asking for a friend”

    • TARDIS

      Hey Tommy, remember when you said Donnie wasn’t going to be president? LOL. I still love that compilation.

    • Rhywun

      “honorary citizenship”

      GTFO.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I think so you have to do to get Greek citizenship is promise to actually pay taxes.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Wait, you will? You’d be the first.”

    • Bobarian LMD

      Pedophilia is just a perk.

    • KSuellington

      Fecking Greeks!

    • Roland of Gilead

      Seems reasonable

    • The Other Kevin

      Well yeah, you have no choice but to vote for the person who did some bad things, because any day now, Trump will start doing REALLY bad things even though he hasn’t yet. Or so they tell me.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      “ima do it”

      Good argument, I’m convinced.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I guess that answers the question of whether his judgement improved while in prison.

    • Suthenboy

      “I am a (insert opponent of choice) but even I think….”

      Blah blah blah. That phony line of argument gets so tiresome. That twit is complete horseshit.

    • Agent Cooper

      Don’t vote for the guy who actually worked on sentencing reform.

    • mrfamous

      Stockholm Syndrome, Democratic Party edition.

  23. Count Potato

    “Dear White Vegans, Stop Appropriating Food

    Veganism is going through its own racial reckoning that’s a long time coming, considering white vegan influencers have appropriated traditional foods forever.

    When Afia Amoako became a vegan five years ago, she said she didn’t see herself reflected in the community, which was dominated by wealthy white women.

    They often touted recipes—”African peanut stew” or “Asian stir fry”—that rely on racial stereotypes, said Amoako.

    “One, they don’t look like you, and, two, they are appropriating your food. Those are ways to turn racialized people away.”

    Amoako, 23, is a vegan Instagrammer and blogger based in Toronto (@thecanadianafrican). She said the weeks and months following the killing of George Floyd have been marked with an onslaught of support for Black creators, particularly from white-run accounts. It’s a stark departure from the white norm.

    “These white women, they are the gatekeepers of the vegan movement,” Amoako said. “We Black creators have been here this whole time.”

    White women are starting to acknowledge Black and racialized vegans now, following a string of racial reckonings happening in several sectors and communities, Amoako said, but “I’m not gonna lie to you, some of us are still skeptical.””

    https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bv833z/dear-white-vegans-stop-appropriating-food

    ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz…..

    • The Other Kevin

      I was going to say something about them eating their own, but they’re vegetarians, so…

      • Bobarian LMD

        Well, they’re pretty close to vegetables.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I don’t give a shit.

    • Rhywun

      That’s not satire?

      • Count Potato

        We’re through the looking glass.

    • Suthenboy

      They really want a race war. You know who else wanted a race war?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Charlie “Ladies Man” Manson?

      • Grosspatzer

        Jackie Stewart?

      • Suthenboy

        I was looking for ‘Roller Derby Girls’

      • Roland of Gilead

        Ford and Ferrari?

      • Count Potato

        LOL

    • Fourscore

      Wait, I can’t have any more egg rolls for lunch, today was the last time? If Mrs F finds out I’m not woke it looks bad for, culinarywise. I picked and enjoyed a watermelon from the garden today, not the whole thing but I’ll work on it some more for dinner. Inquiring minds need to know if w’melons are OK, asking for a friend.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Melon’s are great. Let it get warm in the sun before you poke a hole in it…

        or, uh…

        God damn, is it midnight already?

  24. Rebel Scum

    Assault on our what, who and where was I?

    Pelosi said, “Well, this is ironic if that is the word because this president has welcomed interference from Russia into the campaign. He knows that Russia is 24/7 actively working to help re-elect him. So this is a sad situation. We take an oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. The actions this administration are taking, vis-a-vis our voting system, our sacred right to vote, are a domestic assault on our Constitution.”

    She added, “I think we spend too much time on what the president says and notion mongers out there. Let’s focus on how we can crush this virus, how we can support our children to go to school in a very safe way. We can put money in the pockets of the American people, so our economy is strengthened, rather than take time wondering what he meant and if he knew what he was even talking about at the time and if his advisers do as well. I think one day children and grandchildren of these Republicans who are in office now or serving the administration in one capacity or another will say to their father or grandfather, or grandmother, what did you do to protect our country from this assault on everything that we stand for? An assault on our elections, an assault on our environment, an assault on the people that we are, a nation of immigrants, and assault on our Constitution, they’re going to have to answer to their children and grandchildren for this, because their silence is really deadly to so much of what we care about.”

    I cannot even describe the level to which this witch makes my blood boil.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Anyone still pushing the Russia nonsense is either a liar, an idiot, a lunatic, an ignorant fool, or some mix of the four.

    • Rhywun

      Her job is “attack dog” and that’s what she does.

    • Suthenboy

      How old is she? How much longer do we have to listen to her gibberish?

      *checks watch*

      • Fourscore

        I think she’s 80, rather spry and like a lot of old things, way past her prime use by date.

    • Pope Jimbo

      20 years ago, I would have at least grudgingly given her respect for being a canny political operator. Now, she is just Double-X Biden. She stuck around too long and now the Squawk and the other crazies are eating her lunch.

      • juris imprudent

        The Bee knows how to give her her due.

  25. Drake

    Interesting comparison of Europe and American latitudes. I didn’t realize that even southern Europe was that far north. That Gulf Stream really warms them up.

    • UnCivilServant

      …oh. It’s a pepper.

      I’m disappointed.

      • Sean

        Were you hoping for some sort of arachnid?

    • Gustave Lytton

      I’m sure Kelly would support one of her neighbors displaying a “White Unity” sign or similar claptrap.

      A Black family in Lake Oswego received a letter from their neighbors this month demanding the removal of a Black Lives Matter window display.

      A black family in Lake No Negro? Huh.

    • Rhywun

      “If you don’t want to support BLM that’s your own racism to deal with, but don’t force that on your tenants.”

      It bears repeating that the BLM campaign has been the most successful bait-and-switch I’ve ever seen in my life. Those trained Marxists are fucking geniuses.

      • Suthenboy

        A lie gets half-way round the world before the truth can get its shoes on

        I am not sure genius is the word. It is a lot easier to spin some shit people want to hear than to tell the truth, which people dont want to hear.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        “I agree with the sentiment, not the organization. Now get out.”

    • Count Potato

      Can they make photocells out of it?

    • Grosspatzer

      I won’t pretend to understand the implications of this, but it sounds like good news. And any good news is welcome nowadays.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Huge implications for instrumentation and imaging.

      • Sean

        I only had to lay off several employees today, instead of all of them.

        Does that count? ?

      • Mojeaux

        Oh, that sucks. I am so sorry.

      • Grosspatzer

        Sometimes the choice is between bad and worse. Sorry you had to deal with that.

        Sometimes there’s a silver lining. Espeed (the electronic bond trading division of Cantor Fitzgerald) laid off about 30 employees on Sept. 10 2001. 30 very lucky employees.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Crap. I’m sorry Sean.

        Twenty years ago, my boss had to give a lay-off notice to our work group. Said it was the hardest thing he had to do in his career. Of course, that remark wasn’t taken well by the noticees (“yeah, it’s harder for us”). But as I’ve aged, I’ve realized how correct he was even if it maybe wasn’t something that he should have said out loud.

      • UnCivilServant

        I was going to be contrarian with an example of a time I was laid off… but the people who thrived at that company were not exactly the empathetic type and churned through employees pretty regular. So even though I took it phlegmatically, I don’t think it was particularly hard on them.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Previous one a couple years before, I got the department Christmas card on the same day as my notice. According to my boss then, the department head didn’t take it well when I sent the card back to her, along with a copy of my notice and a post-it that that said “Merry Christmas to you too”.

      • Fourscore

        So, they have an opportunity to move on with their lives and find places where they’ll be a better fit. I rarely let someone go that didn’t end up better off, financially or educationally or both. We were not the best place for everyone.

      • commodious spittoon

        Now they can pursue their passions in the arts or other elevating hobbies, rather than being tied down to a job merely to earn money.

      • Gender Traitor

        I appreciate the sentiment, but in this case – economic trends being what they are at the moment – I suspect “fit” was not the issue.

      • Sean

        Short term. Still sucks.

        They’re all eligible to return as soon as our work picks up. I hope they all return.

        Some of them had scheduled time off that overlaps this. I think that softened the blow somewhat.

      • TARDIS

        As a supervisor/manager or owner? Either way it sucks.

      • Sean

        Manager

      • juris imprudent

        I assuming you went all Norm Peterson on ’em.

      • Sean

        Classic

      • Raven Nation

        Wife found out today that an employee who was paid from Payroll Protection money was pulling unemployment checks at the same time.

      • Ted S.

        Turn in the employee for fraud.

      • Raven Nation

        Yeah, not much choice.

      • DEG

        Sorry.

    • Drake

      Is that her overseeing the plantation or in the rich Canadian neighborhood?

    • Suthenboy

      What a wasted opportunity. They should have modeled it with some gruff, grey haired white beardo.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    I am victorious. I have won a battle, if not the war. My old Suburban has been sitting untouched, for close to ten years. As part of the Great Purge, a couple of days ago, I went out to see if I could get it to start.. [insert Nelson Muntz laugh]

    Not only would it not start, it would not even turn over. She were locked up solid. So- having nothing to lose, I pulled the plugs out and gave her several doses of ATF (sometimes mixed with acetone- thx Scruffy) into the cylinders. I wasn’t having much success moving it by hand, and I was afraid I was going to destroy the nose of the crank turning it with the harmonic balancer bolt. A little while ago, since I still had nothing to lose, I stuck the battery in it and started knocking on it with the starter. It moved a little, then hung, so I douched it with ATF again and let it sit. Went back out a little while ago, and after whamming on the starter, all of a sudden, it started to turn over. If that Vice Grip Garage goofball can do it….

    It sounds awful, but it spins. It’ll run in. So I guess the time spent was not completely wasted. Tomorrow, I’ll put the plugs in it and see if it will make vroom vroom noises. Even as a parts car, it’s worth more if it will run. Hell, maybe I’ll keep it.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Those cylinders had to have been bone dry. Wow

    • Roland of Gilead

      A guy oughta have a couple wobblepops to celebrate that.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Well, there’s only one vest and it would be touched by numerous people. Of course, by that logic, all doors should be propped open.

    Hang on…

    Wouldn’t the Xrays eradicate the cooties?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      It just gives them cancer.

    • Rhywun

      Soak it in bleach between patients.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Those are only one half value layer and are for show anyway.

  28. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Looks like Durham got one: “Ex-FBI Resistance Lawyer To Plead Guilty In Durham’s Trump-Russia Probe”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/durham

    Inadequate sacrificial lamb or just the beginning? I’m going to go with the former.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I’m afraid you’re correct.

    • commodious spittoon

      Quietly pardoned by Biden, and our shitdick media will either campaign for it or just ignore it afterward.

    • Tres Cool

      I read that as “Dunham” and thought “is she naked again?”

      Have another beer, Tres.

      • Tres Cool

        She’s “petite” by my standards. Its the goo in her head and the stuff that comes out of her mouth that makes her repellent to me.

      • commodious spittoon

        You might as well be gay for all I understand your preferences.

      • juris imprudent

        Hell, I understand gay better than I understand any reaction to Dunham other than puking.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I always figured you were kidding but who’s an example of your standards?

      • Tres Cool

        I need a Size 22 or better.

      • Suthenboy

        Like I am gonna click on that…

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Those cylinders had to have been bone dry. Wow

    It sounds like it’s crushing gravel. It’ll get better (!).

  30. The Late P Brooks

    It sounds like one of my neighbors got a bump stock. Goody.

    • UnCivilServant

      Look on the bright side, he won’t be able to afford the ammo to use it too often.

  31. Fourscore

    Got an ad from Reed’s Sports, Walker, MN, saying they have a carload of guns/ammo and will ship. Big sale before hunting season starts. No idea, never shopped there, I checked online, no 30-30, what’s up with that, in MN? Fortunately I don’t need any since the accident on the river.

    • Suthenboy

      For a couple of years I would pick up 100-200 pieces of 30-30 brass every time I would pass a Bass Pro or Cabelas. Sometimes I would toss in an equal number of 150 or 170 grain jacketed soft noses. For the rest I have a 150 grain flat nose mold.

      30 grains of IMR 3031 for the 30-30 (easy to remember) = ~2000fps for the 170gr, ~ 2200fps for the lighter bullets.

      I finally got them all loaded up and haven’t been hunting since. Before they were all done I did manage to bag a couple of deer and one hog. Very effective load and easy to shoot. Inside 250 yards I dont think there is a round more suitable for deer hunting.

      • Fourscore

        I was doing the same, got lots of fixins but gave my 336 to my G’daughter to take to Alaska, with all the ammo I had. Now still got everything to make but nothing to shoot it in. Have to use others for deer season, just not 30-30. Deer don’t know the difference.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Tired of fretting about the plague?

    QAnon is a virtual cult that celebrates President Trump and casts Democratic politicians and other elites as evil child abusers. Aspects of the cult are downright delusional. Last year an FBI office warned that Q adherents are a domestic terrorism threat.
    Despite all of that, or maybe because of all that, this dangerous nonsense seems to be spreading. It is cropping up in congressional races and national news coverage.
    In recent weeks many observers of the online information ecosystem have written, with growing concern, about the mainstreaming of QAnon. Reporters like Kevin Roose of The New York Times and Ben Collins of NBC have said that the conspiracy theory is in much wider circulation than polite society wants to admit.

    ——-

    On Twitter Thursday morning, disinformation researcher Molly McKew argued that TV news “is not doing a good job covering this corrosive conspiracy or explaining it. You can’t just call it insane. That doesn’t explain why it is cognitive cancer.”
    So I asked her to elaborate. Here’s what she wrote to me: “QAnon offers its adherents an addictive alternative reality that requires their participation and, through this participation, draws them into the elaborate architecture of the conspiracy. It exploits the sense that something is broken in our society. But rather than focus on understanding these social fractures and healing them, QAnon instead fixates on the pursuit of enemies and villains described in such extreme terms that any action — either by adherents or by identified champions like President Trump —becomes justifiable. By drawing on the culture and value system, Q adherents have justified violent attacks.”

    Take a break from plague hysteria, and tie yourself in knots over Qanon.

    “They think something is broken in society” but they’re too stupid and crazy to pin the blame where it belongs; on Trump. What’s wrong with those people? Don’t they know the Russians have infiltrated our highest levels of government?

    • Rhywun

      The half-dozen QAnon believers should cripple-fight the half-dozen White Supremacists and put the country out of its long suffering nightmare already.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      QAnon is a bunch of 4 Chan larpers fucking with gullible people. You can see the occasional Q acolyte at ZeroHedge, that bastion of commenter sanity, and they’re universally mocked. I don’t think they’re much of a threat but, hey, whatever let’s the left get their hate on.

    • Rebel Scum

      Last year an FBI office warned that Q adherents are a domestic terrorism threat.

      Name one example of advocacy for violence and/or act of violence.

      • Grosspatzer

        Q adherents

        I’m on another list.

    • Count Potato

      “Last year an FBI office warned that Q adherents are a domestic terrorism threat.”

      It is known, big tits are a threat to democracy.

    • Grosspatzer

      Ooh, nice!

    • But Enough About My Prostate

      “Yeah, bay-BEE!”

  33. The Late P Brooks

    You’re right.

    I do need music

  34. Rhywun

    A Japanese-American journalist who studied the opposition to I-200 similarly concluded that “recent Chinese immigrants do not grasp the nuance of racial history in this country. It’s not their fault. It simply isn’t their lived experience.” As for Asian immigrants like himself, who had been in this country longer, “we developed a tacit understanding of America’s racial hierarchy.”

    “I know my place, and you should too.”

    Disgraceful.

    • Count Potato

      I saw that, and expect to see more.

    • Grosspatzer

      Interesting rendition of Bizzaro Superman.

  35. Hyperion

    “Some deep reading for a Friday afternoon”

    Oh come on, SF, it’s Friday night, I can’t do no more that deep stuff tonight. I guess I’ll save that for tomorrow night.

    My wife and I went down to this hole in the wall liquor store I discovered which has an incredible beer selection, to me, I appreciate all the European lagers and pilsners, and my wife likes their wine selection as well.

    We finally made our way up to the counter with the final round of our stash we were compiling, and she says ‘what is that?’, and she’s pointing at something in front of the counter on one of the little shelves they had there. So I looked and I picked one up to read it. I said ‘Baby, that there is a buzz ballz!’. No really, that’s what it says on the front ‘Buzz Ballz’. Little round containers of various color that I assume contains something with alcohol, look like a melted jello shot. So she says ‘what is a buzz ballz?’ in her cute accent, lol, really we’re having this conversation and the kid at the register is just standing there with this blank expression on his face. What is it with millennials that they look like that all of the time? Anyway, so I said ‘You drink one and you’re buzzin your balls off!’. Kid at the counter still has that same blank ‘there ain’t no functional brain back here’ expression, and my wife is just looking at me and finally says ‘You’re crazy’.

    So anyway, having a beer, or two, I’m all deeped out.

  36. Mojeaux

    On FB (can’t find the link now), some lady posted a pic of the back of her kid’s legs where he got a chemical burn from sitting in a grocery cart. I guess somebody hadn’t wiped the disinfectant off well enough.

    Much more of that, and there’s going to be a mommy revolt.

    Or a lot of lawsuits, whichever comes first.

    • Drake

      My wife leaned over a self to pick up some produce. The bleach or ammonia took all the due out of her shirt.

      • Hyperion

        Funny, when I’m with my wife, she doesn’t lean or reach, or stretch to get anything. She just looks at me and then points’

        ‘this one’?

        ‘no, that one’

        ‘this one’?

        That’s a trip to Walmart in summary.

    • Rhywun

      I have a strong suspicion that nobody is disinfecting any shopping carts at the markets I shop at. And I couldn’t care less. You know, because I have soap and a faucet at home.

      • Sean

        Enough of your white privilege.

    • Count Potato

      That must have been some disinfectant.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Ran out of quat, just use floor stripper or toilet bowl cleaner.

    • Rhywun

      Nice. Now run the thieves out of town.

    • Hyperion

      I get two things out of this.

      1. Pissed off cops, because they’re supposed to be the ones who get to knock over those kid’s lemonade stands.

      2. We have to get toy guns off the streets, ban them now.

  37. Hyperion

    I think sometimes, we on the right, think we are alone in hating the media. We’re wrong.

    Today, I had a Zoom meeting with 2 co-worker/friends, it was a non-work meeting, we were just doing catch up on bullshit. Both of them are liberals and democrat voters. Part of the conversation we were having brought up the topic of the media. One of them, her father had worked as a journalist, he’s passed away now. But she was saying that when he retired back in the 90s, he was getting thoroughly disgusted with what media has become. I said ‘if he was disgusted in the 90s, what would he think now? She said ‘I can’t even imagine, it’s sickening’. And they both actually said ‘fake news’ and there were definitely referring the the MSM.

    So what I’m gathering is that most people know the news today is not journalism, but just pure bullshit. Now, they may not know why that is, but they definitely get it.

    • Nikkodemus

      I’ve heard the same sentiments echoed by my liberal acquaintances. They hate the race baiting, the deliberate grouping and generalization of people, and virtually everything the government (federal mostly, since our state doesn’t have any mandates) is doing. But its like they cant make the leap. Theres still this pervasive idea that “someone must do something!” and its never, ever them.

      I was talking to my mother today (Im stuck at her place for now since I need to work and I have no power) and I heard something very disturbing come out of her mouth. She said, “I’ve lost faith in people. It was a mistake I won’t repeat.” It took me a moment after she said it, but if I’m honest with myself, I feel the same way. How many others feel like this? How far apart are we now, as a nation? Ive been walking around this year looking at various people, saying to myself, “what an idiot.” a lot. If a majority of people feel this way, it can’t be good. I have to reel myself in as well. I have to remember, most of these people have been indoctrinated their entire lives, and when that includes family members, it gets much more depressing.

      I have seen a ray of hope recently though. We got hit with a massive storm early this week, and I have seen many people just helping others out because its the right thing to do. No politics. No BS. Just, “Hey, do you need a hand?”.

      Anyways, thats my rambling. Sorry, it got long, but there’s a limited amount of places/people to vent to when you can see the propaganda that others haven’t woken up to yet.