Greetings, Glib Friends (and the rest of you, too).
For the foreseeable future you’ll be SPending every Thursday Afternoon with me! Isn’t that SPiffy? I think so!
First a personal note, since I just noticed the date: Happy Birthday to both my dead sister and one of my brothers, born 22 years apart.
Anyway!
This has been a wonderful week packed with travelogues. Which, you all know, I love love love. ❤️
So, I thought I’d continue the theme. Let’s see where in the world our Thursday Afternoon Links will take us.
From a really excellent travel blog. (Free Cascadia!)
PLACES I’D LIKE TO EVENTUALLY TRAVEL
Have a terrific rest of your day, if you so choose.
See you next Thursday, if not sooner!
Now appears to be the appropriate time to get my ass to Mars.
Some theme music for your travels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWDaDi2qHxY&ab_channel=Gray
I’ve been out with the scope many nights for the last few weeks. At 9pm Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are all out. The apparent size of Mars is almost that of Jupiter. Jupiter is still an easier target since with even a spotting scope it will show the 4 largest moons and several bands. But Mars is impressive even if all you can make out is a large disk with some brighter or darker areas.
For a deeper look the Andromeda galaxy and multiple objects near the center of our galaxy are out as well. (Binos work for many once the moon rises later.)
Ive actually had a hard time with getting Jupiter’s bands. It’s so bright that it all washes out. I’m gonna try with a moon filter this weekend and see if that kicks up the contrast a bit.
Also try earlier in the evening. The lighter sky washes out some glare from the planet.
Speaking of that…
Despair’s new poster.
It’s interesting that there is one of these stories every year. Because when Mars is in recession, each year is “the closest it’s going to be until…” And then when it starts coming back, it is “the closest since…”
bro failure 2020
*shrug*
Only if you care.
seems like he saw it wasn’t gonna happen and didn’t try, oh well.
Standard pattern.
It’s easier to comment when you have something to say rather than basing all of your self-worth on no one else having finished the article yet.
It’s just a schtick. Ignore it.
Today I was aiming for the 121st post.
PLACES I’D LIKE TO EVENTUALLY TRAVEL
Romania
You didn’t have to pander to Pie.
It is wine country. That is always a lure.
Also the promise of immortality…
Friends, Romanians, countrymen, lend me your ears….
Romulans, then you get pointy ears
My maternal great-grandfather was from Romania, so I’ve long been interested in going. His wife was from an area that was sometimes Hungary, sometimes Romania. I apparently still have distant cousins there.
And, you know, wine.
If there wasn’t a musical soundtrack to that pursuit, I’m going to be disappointed.
https://youtu.be/ZnHmskwqCCQ
There’s no way it wasn’t this.
Could have been this.
Thanks Chipwooder. I get back and see two misses on the obvious reference.
You saved it.
Wouldn’t this be more appropriate?
That’s what I was thinking.
I doubt LiveATC has coverage of that area.
No soundtrack but here are some photos from the scene.
Not this?
Great photos.
They are, but they aren’t mine. I didn’t have time to pull any of mine from archive. Also, many of my best images have been published in various places and that could doxx me, what with Google image search matching.
I snagged these royalty-free images from unsplash.com which is my go-to for that sort of thing.
A couple of militia nuts talk about kidnapping some = front page news
Mobs in the street burning and pillaging while talking about destroying the system = peaceful protest
Anybody who takes TMITE seriously should be mocked relentlessly.
Yeah. It is pretty clear that they are in the tank for the DNC and either want the socialism or think they can keep that tiger down once they have power.
What the heck does TMITE stand for?
Teenage Mutant Ingrate Turtle Excrement
Transcendental Meditation is totally excellent
The Media Is The Enemy.
You’re the kind of person who answers “Hitler” during the “you know who else?” game.
1) Someone took pity on me one day when I posted the same question, thus, paying it back.
2) I’m not that imaginative when I don’t have to be. Read: I am too lazy to think up nonsense.
Till Mother Iucking Tepeche modE
Correct
The commenter is a lazy typist.
T… C… I…
wait a minute!
The Militia Isn’t Technically Existing
Or, The Militia Idiots, Totally Entrapped.
Yeah, I like that one better.
Too Many Idiots Talking Excessively
Ahem.
Tundra May Instigate Trouble Early.
(I got a double minor last time)
Were they militia? I thought they tried to contact a militia for help and that’s how they got caught.
LOL. Any sane militia would immediately view that contact as an FBI sting op.
Apparently they were part of some “Wolverine Watchmen” militia. I imagine the meeting went something like this.
Probably more accurate.
So, silently nodding in the presence of FBI agents trying to entrap stupid people is an attempted coup?
But a bullshit impeachment attempt on a sitting president = democracy at work?
KK: There are no instrument approaches to ADW that go anywhere near alexandria but the JEFSN1 SID puts departures right over the northern edge of Alexandria (Takeoff, fly heading 010 to 800 MSL, then climbing left turn 3000 to FLMOR intersection).
Fighters will likely be at 800 MSL before they clear the end of the runway, so their turn and flight path direct FLMOR will be over Alexandria, probably.
I’ll be in my bunk…
You are cleared to BUNKE via radar vectors, then as filed, maintain 7000, expect higher within ten minutes.
Come to Honolulu KK. The F22’s take off right by where I work in order to not go over Waikiki they immediately go into vertical climb and accelerate to 10k before heading to wherever they are going.
If the usual commercial traffic returns you can get close looks at everything from local inter-island puddle jumpers to the latest trans-Pacific planes. There is a military golf course (and club house) nestled next to the taxiway.
(My boss has a window that looks down on the length of the Honolulu International/ Hickam runways.)
There is also a breakfast/ lunch place right on the Pearl Harbor entrance channel. It isn’t as noisy, but watching the ships transit is pretty cool. My favorite is the subs. Even with that narrow channel they throw no visible wake. Watching a carrier come through is like watching a rapidly moving cliff pass.
?
I got a pretty decent view of Mars a couple weeks back. There’s a big ass tree to the east of me, so I’m constantly having to move the telescope to keep the view.
I really need to get out into a less light polluted, less view restricted area and see if I can capture the polar caps.
Nice.
I try not to get enraged over things I can’t control, but FFS they’re making that difficult.
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/mendelssohn-in-the-condemned-cell/
‘activist British librarian’
So an asshole.
Activist is a functional synonym for asshole.
‘western civilisational supremacy,’
Fancy phrase for an inferiority complex.
When your job title is archivist, librarian, or curator and you advocate the destruction of art you suck at your job.
Looked her up; her picture will accompany the entry for “Cunte” in Homple’s Illustrated Dictionary.
Plans to kidnap Whitmer, overthrow government spoiled, officials say
And she turned the Feds away, right?
*Guffaws*
I’m sure.
First a personal note, since I just noticed the date: Happy Birthday to both my dead sister and one of my brothers, born 22 years apart.
Happy Birthday to them! Sorry about your sister.
Excellent pictures.
The only place I’ve been to on your list is Australia. I liked it so much I went twice. I passed on Italy on my last trip to Europe so I could spend a little time with friends in Vienna after Oktoberfest.
Federal agents said Thursday they thwarted a plot to violently overthrow the government and kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — a conspiracy that included visits to her home in northern Michigan and training with explosive devices.
The alleged plot involved conspirators who met during a Second Amendment rally at the Capitol in Lansing in June and reached out to members of a Michigan militia known as the Wolverine Watchmen for reinforcements, according to state and federal officials.
Now do antifa/BLM.
Thanks for the links SP!
Anybody else want one of these?
What Do You Want to Know About the 1985 Honda CR-X Si?
Fun to drive and right before cars got loaded up with all kinds of crap and weight related mandatory safety requirements. The cheapest new Honda available here will kick the crap out of it in all areas, but it won’t have nearly the same fun factor.
OMG OMG OMG OMG I HAD ONE OF THESE IT WAS WONDERFUL I CALLED IT THE GRASSHOPPER!!!
*takes deep breath*
It wasn’t an Si.
It was an awful car in a lot of ways, meaning, it was a lemon (dad bought it) and I had endless trouble with it, but I still loved it. I also drove the wheels off it and, literally, until the floor board rotted out.
Also the days before everyone drove 4,000 pound mid-sized SUV/CUV or larger. Suburbans were rare and even in rural areas the pickups hadn’t reached the size of monster trucks.
The first Honda car I drove was a Honda 600. The 600 referred to the 600 cc engine. Top speed, if you floored it and held it there for the better part of a minute: 58 MPH.
Also, I could have yanked out the front seat, sat in the rear seat, and possibly still could have driven the car if I scooched up a bit.
I have gotten caught in a bank of semi’s on the freeway, one in front, one in back, one to my right, and they were closing in on me. I was terrified, for real, legitimately terrified. I caught a slip of air between two of them and scooted out as fast as I could and floored it.
Why not go left and let off the gas as they all blow by?
Or was left a guardrail or a cliff?
Left was a no-shoulder deep grass median that would have rolled me immediately.
Reminds me of the time when I was a kid, and my father was driving, and he was telling me to always be thinking when driving, “what are my contingency plans if another driver does something stupid?”
About one second later, some other driver did something stupid. And my father executed a contingency plan.
I’m always doing what-if situations in my head.
In this case, that stretch of highway was notorious for having many truckers who liked to play with other drivers and it had a disproportionate number of accidents between semi’s and cars, and quite a few people got killed. It was well documented and heavily patrolled by the state troopers.
So I was already primed to be on the lookout for this. That day, I was stuck behind other car drivers and had no way of getting out of the trap before they put me in it. I knew they were playing. I knew they wanted to scare me (they did). I did NOT think they were trying to kill me, but I DID think it could happen accidentally. I also knew they didn’t think I would gun through the barest slip of space I could find.
It’s why I always hated driving my motorcycle on the freeway.
Gordilocks, if you’re reading, please don’t take it personally!
My wife will audibly gasp if I brake even a little bit hard. Whereas I recently had someone swerve left across three lanes of traffic and into the breakdown lane, directly in front of me – apparently a mechanical failure. I calmly braked hard and swerved right. No sheetmetal bent, no harm. When my wife had a near meltdown, I innocently said, “What?”
I do all the driving when we’re together. As in, we went on about a 4,000 mile road trip, and she did less than 100 miles of driving. Comparative advantage writ large.
I always drove like that too. And having a motorcycle will up your game of always planning contingencies.
Yup. First time I drove a motorcycle (a big one, I mean) (too big for me to be driving), I learned what “defensive driving” meant in about 5 minutes.
@Prolefeed, I do almost all the driving because my husband likes to be on his phone entering sweepstakes. Also, I like to drive and he doesn’t. Also, he’s chronically fatigued and doesn’t want to fall asleep at the wheel.
Also the days before everyone drove 4,000 pound mid-sized SUV/CUV or larger
Was that when every family had a Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon with imitation wood paneling?
I remember waiting for a ride home from a junior high event around 1973 or so. About fifty of those pulled by, and I perked up each time, thinking it was my dad. Finally he showed up in the same damn car as every other parent in town.
If I remember right at that time my dad was driving a Seville and mom had an AMC Hornet Sportabout.
Meaning Junior High for me..
Our family car when I was that age was a Ford Econoline van.
My parents were Volvo people back when that was somewhat cool and unusual. So my hand-me-down car in high school was a turd-brown Volvo 240 wagon with about 200k miles on the clock.
Note to parents: do not give your teenage son a Volvo 240 wagon. Yes, they’re very safe. Yes, they’re slow, reliable, and about as cool as reruns of Laurence Welk. All of that faded into insignificance once I realized that I could fold the rear seats down, and fit a twin-sized air mattress in the back with room to spare.
Some truly disgusting violations took place in the back of that Volvo, along with the more innocent overnight camp-outs and such.
240’s are great
I learned how to drive on a maroon 240 wagon! Good old Bertha (everyone else names their cars, right?)
1979 240 wagon. My girlfriend and I got busted in flagrante delicto at a local park. Worth it.
Loved that car. Bought several more 240s over the years.
I’ll say it: one of the best cars ever built.
I still watch them when they show up on Bring A Trailer.
I know some folks that had those Honda CR-Xs. The cars got the job done.
I had a 1985 Prelude. Many fond memories of that car. It wasn’t fast 0-60, but it was quick at highway speeds and had terrific handling. Was a great car in the LA traffic.
The Gen 2 and G3 Preludes were my favorite Hondas. I owned a ’97 Integra GS-R but I always wanted a Prelude. The Prelude began to suck when they changed the headlights for Gen 4.
It also got insane gas mileage.
They had an economy version designed for mileage. I seem to remember something like 42 mpg.
Almost bought one in ’91. Went with an 88 Prelude Si instead.
Everyone is road trip-gloating. No fair. (pouty face)
The article on Tasmanian devils notes a theory that the animals were wiped out on mainland Australia by Aboriginals and climate change…. 3,000 years ago.
Damn aboriginal SUVs!!!
The Tasmanian devils are a lost cause. They are so inbred with so little genetic diversity that cancer is a communicable disease. They trade face cancers during fights, and because they’re all so similar, the cancer cells take root on whichever individual they land on.
But do they eat rabbits, emus and cane toads?
No, they have a lot of trouble with rabbits.
True.
Well according to that documentary, hunters and cowboys have trouble with rabbits too. I’m not sure it’s completely accurate.
And pirates, mad scientists and their monsters, Martians, gremlins….
Inspired by Trial’s state park article, I looked to see how many parks I would need to visit to pull off the same feat in Maryland…
53! A state that is 1/4 that size of North Carolina has 12 more state parks. And now I am mad about it.
175 here covering 800,000 acres.
Big Bend in TX by itself is 300k+
How small are those parks? An acre each?
Maybe, the county I live in now and the one I used to live in have a combined total of…0.
Just looked, one of the parks is only 4 acres. I think the county can look after that one.
But each one has a full compliment of staff and particularly director-level appointees, right?
In this case it looks like one of the bigger nearby state parks takes care of this one. I guess that makes it slightly less annoying.
One of ours is literally just a hole in the ground.
So, basically the pilot episode of Parks and Recreation?
Yeah it was inspiring and I did the same look for Nevada. I am gonna have to do some serious planning.
And now I am mad about it.
yep, I don’t get the otherwise limited gov’t minded folk who just love them some State and National parks.
“Well, it’s pretty obvious why National Parks have to be different.”
When I was a wee bairn, the state parks had basically zero staff. There might be a ranger. Maybe. To the extent that there was upkeep, it was volunteer from the Boy Scouts, and/or other volunteer service/civic organizations. Services would be a latrine, maybe some fire rings.
That seems acceptable — land for everyone to use (though not to homestead or otherwise render unsusable for others.)
land for everyone to use
Commie!
SOMEBODY’s gotta keep people from falling into the Morning Glory Pool…
National parks are usually awesome. Not because of who is running them, but despite that, because the Feds snagged and kept some of the most spectacular scenery.
It would be like criticizing someone who loved booze, but hated the govt, nonetheless patronizing a state run liquor store monopoly.
Perhaps I wasn’t clear, it’s not the cost or the management/ mismanagement of these parks. A limited gov’t would only own enough property to carry out it’s constitutional duties. Some land for necessary gov’t buildings, courts, military bases, that’s it.
And, I should add, all those buildings would be utilitarian, functional and brutalists, ugly, no frill square boxes.
Have you been to Boston?
When you find a limited government, let me know.
Until then, there’s little enough enjoyment in my life to pass up on scenic backpacking trips.
Guilty as charged. We all have our true scotsman failures.
The NPs are mine.
Of course they could be privatized, but since they are here, spectacular and technically I’m paying for them, I’m gonna enjoy the shit out of them.
On the hierarchy of tyrannical government actions holding some pretty land as parks does not register. If they seize land from private owners to make a park I’ll object, but deciding not to sell or gift land they already held does not really seem a violation of limited government principles.
Those private owners only hold that land at the leisure of the gov’t, and the government’s holding of other land increases the value of the privately held land, supply and demand FTW. It’s government deciding winners and losers, let the market decide which lands are worth perserving in their “natural” state and let people use the natural resources at their disposal at their discretion. Sure, It’s class envy I suppose, but the fact that some people “own” land because their great grand daddy “claimed” it and now “we’ve” decide the rest of those millions of acres are off limits annoys me.
Is your objection to the existence of the homestead act or the ending of it?
I agree that from a purist libertarian point of view the national park system is questionable, as was the homestead act. But the disposal of public lands is inevitably going to be questionable in libertarian terms because there is no method which does not involve interference in the market. I also enjoy the parks a great deal and think refusing to enjoy them because I’d prefer government be smaller is insane self flagellation.
I have to deal with the mountains of bad things government does daily; I can’t opt out of that. So I don’t regard availing myself of the few things I enjoy as sinful. You may feel free to consider my libertarian credentials tarnished. I don’t value them very highly any longer anyway. Places like this keep me sane.
I have to deal with the mountains of bad things government does daily; I can’t opt out of that.
I am licensed at least 4 ways with fedgov for various interactions I have with them. National parks sit somewhere below the least egregious of those licenses on my outrage list.
Electoral college predictions:
1) smart people all getting it right prediction Biden almost sure to win
or
2) echo chamber groupthink epitomizing confident but wrong (aka GIGO)?
I tried to get the prediction percentage on the electoral college, and they ranged from the * pessimistic * 85% chance of a Biden win to the optimistic 100% chance of a Biden win from 270towin. And this was going thru page after page of search results on Duckduckgo, until I ran into the white noise of predictions from psychics to the survivorship bias of one professor who predicted the last nine elections (aka random coin flips would give 1 out of 500 such predictors that “winning streak”).
Here’s a summary of different sites:
https://www.270towin.com/2020-election-forecast-predictions/
These run the gamut from the * pessimists * at NPR and Politico predicting Trump would have to take every state they show as leaning Trump PLUS every swing state to win;
to the optimists at the Princeton Election Consortium predicting Trump would have to take every leaning Trump state, every swing state, every leans Biden state, every likely Biden state, and 40 more electoral college votes from Safe Biden states.
My take? Mark Twain called it over a century ago: “The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
Biden is going win. Republicans should focus on the senate. If the Dems take the government it’s going to be a long 2+ years.
If the Dems take the government they’ll never give it up. Nuking the filibuster, adding states, packing the Court – they’ve been very open about the fact that they’ll do whatever they have to do to never, ever give up power again. America will become California writ large.
If they win the House, Senate and Presidency, we’re fucked. We are just well and truly fucked.
But how can they not? The alternative is to risk losing our democracy to the likes of Trump! and the people who elected him!
Every one of them has Biden taking NH. I don’t buy it.
Anyone can draw an electoral map to say whatever they want.
I don’t believe them.
Who knows. I couldn’t believe Trump won last time. It won’t surprise me if he wins as the incumbent.
I posted it before, but this is the map based on that one poll that adjusted for political party split:
https://www.270towin.com/maps/nGBVn
Just a few days ago most posters on glibs were confident of a Trump win. Now everyone is confident of a Biden win? What happened? Will it change next week?
One thing I know is hurting Trump is the evening national network news shows, of which elderly, traditionally conservative people are the main audience. Every one of these shows is now a half hour of screaming how terrible Trump is. The elders have never thought these news shows could be biased, so it must be true that Trump is awful, and apparently the over-65 voters are now moving to Biden in droves.
That doesn’t explain any of the prior elections. If you actually believe the consensus MSM, you’d vote straight Democratic every time, because every Republican is * uniquely evil * and yet all exactly like Hitler.
+1 Bushitler
They (the evening news) weren’t screaming that four weeks/months/years ago? If they (traditional elderly conservartives) believed the nightly news Trump wouldn’t have ever had their support.
This. ^^
If Trump loses, it’s not about the old codgers. It’s about the suburban soccer moms. TMITE isn’t who is going to turn the election. Social media has the potential to play that role, though.
Four years ago old people weren’t afraid of Covid and those damn teenagers who are spreading it.
And Biden is running ads during the evening news about how “Trump’s Plan” will end your social security benefits in 2023. Sure, most folks say bullshit, but if 5-10% at the margin believe it, then Trump is doomed in high old age demographic states like Pa.
No way all the extra people who voted for Gary Johnson and Evan McMullin in 2016 pull the lever for Biden/Harris. I still say Trump wins both the EC and popular vote.
I think Pence may have saved PA last night.
In what way?
Bear in mind, I didn’t watch the debates.
He hammered them on fracking. Even referred to specific bills she sponsored and their campaign webpage.
Ah, thank you.
He did a FRACKING decent job on that subject.
Nice.
How long do we have to wait til they finish that poll?
That formatting is out of this world.
Those were some SPecial links.
Awwww. Thank you.
Give us a little time to get moved. We plan to have ample guest space.
Even if I bring OMWC along?
Especially if you bring OMWC along.
Sounds like a trap, SP, be wary.
Always.
https://www.nps.gov/deto/learn/historyculture/aboutthename.htm
***
Bears Lodge or Devils Tower?
Most maps from 1857 to 1901 mark this feature as Bear Lodge or Bears Lodge (a translation from a common Lakota name for the Tower, Mato Tipila). The name change happened during this time period with information brought back by an expedition led by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge. His expedition sent a small contingent, including geologist and mapmaker Henry Newton, to study the Tower. After Newton’s group returned, Dodge wrote that “the Indians call this place ‘bad god’s tower,’ a name adopted with proper modification…” And so the label “Devil’s Tower” was created.
No other records indicate that Native Americans associated this place with bad gods or evil spirits. It is suspected that a bad translation led the men to confuse the words for bear and bad god. Others feel Dodge deliberately changed the name of an important indigenous site. Cartographers, geologists, and others in the academic community continued to use Bear Lodge for many years. The General Land Office (responsible for granting homestead and property rights in the late 1800s) sent a letter to a field office in 1890 regarding land claims around the future monument: “it appears that a great national wonder locally known as the ‘Devils Tower’ technically called the ‘Bear Lodge Butte…’ is being sought for speculative purposes.” Regardless, Dodge published a book about his expedition which became very popular. The new name “Devil’s Tower” became lodged in the public consciousness, and was adopted by the early 1900s.
Naming Places
The US Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is the federal agency responsible for managing place names. Since its inception in 1890, the BGN utilizes a policy not to make place names possessive (e.g. “Devil’s Tower”): “Apostrophes suggesting possession or association are discouraged within the body of a proper geographic name”
***
And now you know…
Tomorrow, for three hours (including commercials) on The Rush Limbaugh Show: President Donald J. Trump.
https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/10/08/rush-announces-virtual-radio-rally-with-president-trump/
Hard pass
Trump on Rush: Rush llisteners not all voting Trump? Thoughts?
He’s trying to appeal to the Working Man.
Thanks for the Distant Early Warning
I wonder if that has something to do with Rush’s cancer treatments?
‘I wonder if that has something to do with Rush’s cancer treatments?’ — Raven Nation
Guest hosts this week because ‘cancer treatments’. Rush @ home instead studio tomorrow.
Donation not taxation.
It’s going to be great when he interrupts the commercial breaks.
So, he’ll spend three hours talking to people who are already voting for him.
As I’ve said, he’s fucking up, and he’s probably going to lose.
I don’t see it as a mistake. you take a demographic for granted and ignore them, they simply stop showing up to the polls.
It’s just one day …
Lockdowns weren’t all that bad, mmm-kay?
Despite the economic damage inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurant and hotel closures in New Hampshire are running lower than they have over the past two years, Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday.
The hospitality industry has been hit hard by mandated closures in the early stages of the pandemic and limits on capacity and other restrictions as the economy reopened. But Sununu said it appears that closures are pacing lower than previous years.
I’m gonna call bullshit on that.
Yeah… local rag has a feature explaining why a bunch of places will probably be closing soon.
I know a bunch of places that are scared about what will happen in the Fall when outdoor dining goes away.
The Clown Prince now graciously and magnanimously allows indoor dining at 100% capacity provided either parties are six feet apart or there are six foot tall barriers between parties.
Moveable barriers which meet the requirements are expensive, $700 a pop according to one news article I saw.
Wow, SP, very impressive, although honestly I don’t think afternoon links deserve that much work.
Anyway, I should probably contribute something. Should I write an article about my new political philosophy I just invented, or do another cooking article? Maybe a series on pulling beef?
Cooking or cattle wrangling.
Yes, please.
Also, it’s easy to throw together nice looking links fairly quickly if one knows what one is doing. 😉
Or any other post. See: Kristen’s beautiful travelogue this week.
‘
Greetings, Glib Friends (and the rest of you, too).’ — SP
Greetings, SP.
Greetings, Donation Not Taxation.
Thanks for the Lynx, SP. Happy birthday to your late sister (condolences) and your brother. Also, happy birthday to my mother.
We had a department meeting today over Zoom (of course). The other SLP supervisors and I decided to play a drinking game (my beverage of choice: Dr Pepper) with every time that COVID or coronavirus were mentioned. The meeting was much more tolerable that way. It’s a damn shame I don’t drink anything harder.
I think Tundra suggested the Tom Woods Show episode from the other day. The one today interviewing Jennifer Cabrera was awesome as well.
‘Site admin, who doesn’t recall the “except when a scary virus hits” exceptions to the Constitution.’ — SP
SP, like new bio.
SP, even though you and I have only met once, it was a fabulous once, for some reason, I miss you guys.
Awww. We miss you, too. It’s too bad things didn’t work out for the KC relocation instead.
New skill acquired. I wired my truck with under body lights, bed lights and a constellation of off-road lights. Pretty easy except a few scraped knuckles in tight spaces. Always fun to get my hands dirty and try something different.
My family is all about skill acquisition. It makes one more self-sufficient. Which is always good.
“Big haul: Apodaca has not only enjoyed internet fame but was also given a generous gift as Ocean Spray gave him a brand new cranberry red truck with a trunk full of goods from the brand”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8820899/Fleetwood-Macs-Dreams-No-1-iTunes-viral-TikTok-star-Van-Halen-takes-100.html
Wow.
Aw, good on that guy.
Hey, it’s cheap advertising.
“Governor Whitmer blames Trump for right-wing plot to kidnap her: FBI captures 13 ‘depraved’ militiamen linked to April’s storming of Michigan capitol who plotted on WhatsApp to ‘grab’ Democratic pro-lockdown leader and ‘incite civil war'”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8820147/FBI-arrest-five-people-plot-kill-Michigan-Gov-Gretchen-Whitmer.html
Pictures of eight of them.
“Just last week , the President of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two militia groups.”
Bullshit
Wait isn’t she white? But I guess there are plenty of reasons for people to hate her besides race.
The ginger bearded dude had a YT channel that celebrated anarchism- including a prominently posted flag. I guess the right wing is more inclusive now.
There they go again.
As Red Forman would say, “Why would you do that? What good could come of it?”
She really is a despicable character.
WhatsApp? Enkidu wept…
Supposedly, it’s encrypted. That’s why IG hookers use it.
“BREAKING NEWS: Nancy Pelosi announces she is launching commission on Donald Trump’s ‘capacity for office’ in move towards using 25th Amendment to remove him – as he goes on twitter rant calling her crazy and accusing her of a ‘coup’
Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to form a commission to evaluate President Donald Trump’s mental health and his ability to hold the office of the presidency, she announced on Thursday.
The commission would be part of the process to invoke the 25th amendment and comes amid fears the medication Trump is taking for his COVID treatment is affecting his mental health.
Trump, meanwhile, claimed Pelosi is crazy, should be under observation and accused her of plotting a government coup.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8819293/Trump-claims-cured-interview-COVID-hospital-treatment.html
Not this shit again.
Totally got him this time!
If the Dems were confident of winning, why pull this shit?
All of their behaviour reeks of “panic mode”
Yep. It’s why I don’t really buy the polls – so much of what the Dems are doing comes off as at least slightly desperate.
I don’t think Trump is a lock or anything, but I certainly don’t buy Biden having a big lead.
Why now? She knows there’s an election within a month right?
I would guess to derail the SC nomination. But if he’s removed, wouldn’t Pence just confirm her?
The Senate confirms justices. The president’s role is done already.
Oh, and there won’t be any removal from this push, it’s kabuki.
Well, it wouldn’t help bamboozle voters after the election.
As if anybody thinks their vote actually counts.
Because he’s become particularly unhinged in the last few days? If a president goes batshit crazy it shouldn’t matter if the election is five months or five minutes away.
His demeanor being particularly unhinged is somehow unusual?
That’s what I was wondering.
I’m no linguist or wordsmith but isn’t that what “particularly” means. If I knew the right word for being more unusually unhinged than ones usual unusual unhinged-ness I would have used that.
Meh, he’s no more unhinged than usual, and having the rival party talk about removing a month out stinks pretty bad.
It’s the same Trump mildly hopped up on corticosteroids. The last time I had to do a course of prednisone I felt like I was on speed before it was finished.
This.
Because Harris performed poorly last night. It changes the topic.
I’m usually not around for the What We’re Reading posts, so here goes: I’ve read about 200 books in my life, at least that’s as many titles as I could remember. About 30 were assigned for school.
My favs
Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh – imagine if Heart of Darkness was a Monty Python movie
Hokkaido Highway Blues – a Canadian hitchhikes the from the southernmost point of Japan to the northernmost. Probably the funniest book about Japan ever written and the funniest travelogue I’ve ever read
Hunter – autobiography of a guy named Hunter who was a big game hunter and game warden in Kenya in the 1920s and 30s. If you’ve ever wondered about the life of Van Pelt from Jumanji, this book is for you
Comrade Don Camillo – an Italian priest pretends to be a communist and joins a bunch of leftist Italians on a tour of the USSR in the 1960s. Great humor in this one.
Escape from Laos – the true story of Dieter Dengler, US Navy pilot and one of the handful of POWs who escaped during the Vietnam War
Sixth Column – part Dune, part Red Dawn, all Heinlein
The Unbearable Lightness of Being – written by a Czech communist who got expelled from the party and the country; his other famous novel is about a guy who gets sent to a uranium mine for telling a joke
100 Things You’re Not Supposed to Know – Freud’s entire body of work was based on interviews with 6 people. James Audobon killed all the birds he painted. Read the book for the other 98.
Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches – the practical reasons behind strange customs
Tactics of the Crescent Moon – detailed study of 20th century Muslim militant groups; written by a USMC infantry officer
The True Believer – a classic on the psychology of groups; contains the gem “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket” and many others.
About Face – autobiography of Colonel David Hackworth, infantry vet of Korea and Vietnam
The Diamond Age – a great sci-fi novel that predicts virtual learning; featuring Neo-Victorians!
Neither Predator Nor Prey – a self-published novel I bought at a gas station in Wyoming; the feds try to disarm the good people of Wyoming and they fight back
“The True Believer”
On my shelf for ages. Never read it.
“The Diamond Age”
Tried. Couldn’t finish it before I had to return it.
True Believer is great! Should be on HS graduation exit quiz IMO, even if to the exclusion of other textbooks.
Love early Waugh.
(er, exam. Me talk pretty one day.)
Skipping the ending is a good call for several Stephenson books.
Snow Crash was great.
Cryptonomicon was good, but too long.
Bimbo boxes.
I gave up after Cryptonomicon. I have read that a couple times, but I just couldn’t commit to the others.
Snow Crash and The Diamond Age remain favorites. He also wrote one called Zodiac that is a fun read. Not remotely libertarian but definitely entertaining.
I love Milan Kundera (Unbearable Lightness of Being!)
So who thinks another Trump-Biden debate will happen?
Seems as though I made a glib “fo paw” yesterday, sorry
NSFW
https://giphy.com/gifs/matt-lands-54Z5yRMdCB2og
actually probably is, I didn’t want to go to far
Make sure your volume is turned down and no one around who is easily offended, especially females
https://youtu.be/j0zv7rH8EBE
I like the GIF.
“Chicago pizzeria slams Netflix show Emily in Paris for featuring a ‘heartless’ joke about its deep-dish pies being ‘made of cement’ at a time when ‘most restaurants are struggling to hang on'”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8820611/Lou-Malnatis-Chicago-slams-Netflixs-Emily-Paris-heartless-joke-pizza.html
Finally, something we can all agree.
Nah, deep dish pizza is the best casserole around.
Seems like a stretch to find something to be outraged about.
Or a smart way to get some free publicity. No press is bad press, as Trump would say.
That’s a lot of link! Thanks SP
The 201st comment is mine.
I’m afraid you got #200.
I’m out here without a wire stuntin’ and you are there in your little seconder corner throwing peanuts. You aint about this First life. You aint ever going to be about this First life.
I gave up on pitying you.
You’re hopeless.
I’m First.
And that’s enough for you? Being a tired schtick?
I’m First.
I hate when supposed scientists just start stealing logical bases without supporting evidence.
Watching an archeological documentary about a single mummified body found in the sahara. Carbon dates to before the earliest egyptian mummy. Mummy is notable because the torso was stuffed with plant matter, aiding embalming. They start randomly speculating that these people might have taught the egyptions, ignoring key items that need to be addressed.
Not proven – that the evisceration was done postmorem as part of the embalming rather than being the cause of death.
Not proven – any evidence of a tradition of embalming in the region – there is only one mummy.
Not proven – any contact with Egypt.
Not proven – that the mummification was the intended result.
Ingored – the known timeline of egyption techniques starting from accidental mummification through to sophisticated techniques thousands of years later.
Ignored – Evisceration is not an early development in Egyptian mummification.
The existance of a saharan mummy opens up the possibility of a separate mummification culture in that area, which would require finding at least one more mummy with similar techniques to prove this wasn’t an accident. It requires even more evidence to show any link to egypt because of the existing proto-mummies and well-documented timeline of advances in the nile valley.
And then there’s this one lady who reads waaay too much into the barest item that doesn’t show what her wild ramblings claim. But all of these have at least one crackpot like her.
Whatever. It was all just aliens, anyway.
They’re also ignoring all the similarities to common themes in cultures to try to fabricate a link.
“Look, an animal mask! They must be the source of the animal-headed gods of egypt”.
I guess they also inspired the pacific northwest tribes, Just as much evidence of that.
I do know what you mean, I see that kind of stuff in those shows all the time. It’s entertainment, not science, and I just roll my eyes.
Somewhere Ivan van Sertima nods wisely.
Where’s Erich von Däniken when we need him?
Chariots of the Gods seemed pretty compelling but I was seven or so when I read it.
I read it around 4th grade because my Mom got it for me, and at first it was kind of interesting, but by the end I was convinced it was a load of horseshit.
B-b-but the Plains of Nazca!
I was about that age when I bought it. Damn con man, I took that shit seriously. He stole my childhood!
Wasn’t everyone who saw that movie stoned af?
I ain’t saying it’s aliens, but IT’S FUCKING ALIENS!
Science for the most part is dead now. The only thing that matters these days is going along with the 97%. Science is settled, there’s no more work to do.
Hello all, and especially the PA people. I am creeped out over this email I got today, not to mention the helicopter that just flew past my window. Any thoughts about what this is about?:
Thursday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m., fire apparatus sirens will sound throughout the city to indicate the start of the citywide fire drill. All Philadelphians are urged to participate by putting their home escape plans to the test. Please do not be alarmed when you observe the sirens.
It’s a trap.
Alien invasion is imminent, it’s the only plausible explanation.
A “city-wide” fire drill? Did the SOSUS network pick up Gojira?
They’re just getting ready to firebomb some rowhouses again.
Dammit.
MOVE bitch.
Philly? Your city block is about to be firebombed.
I missed the reference. What horrible thing am I not remembering?
Philly’s very own Waco incident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOVE
Holy shit. A 1.5 million settlement for killing 6 people and destroying 65 houses with a bomb????
Nowadays you get more than that for thinking a mean word
On the other hand, you no longer get that punishment for killing six people and destroying 65 houses.
Not only that, but the buildings the city built as replacements?
Garbage.
Shitty workmanship.
Quickly infested with mold.
I heard some developer recently, as in the last year or so, got some sort of deal to come in and rebuild.
Yep. The firebombed block was rebuilt with townhouses, the cost of which (and remember the land was essentially free) was twice what you would pay for a similar house in a nice suburb. Now these replacement houses are falling apart and need to be rebuilt from scratch for, you guessed it, about twice what it would cost for a brand new townhouse in a nice suburb. Philly knows how to do corruption.
Only Wilson Goode could get away with it.
Oddly enough, an Australian band recorded a song about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzrCjeo-bO4
Not to be confused with this one.
https://youtu.be/-Vv_LwwwpmU
Was there a link you are supposed to go to, where you submit your SSN and bank account info for verification?
https://twitter.com/TheLaurenChen/status/1314031403374465025
Of course, it wasn’t true.
How many black SC justices did Obama nominate?
Oh sweet Jesus, spare me.
https://youtu.be/g868M-27qpI
OFFS!!!
So I’ve commented on two separate Facederp posts concerning the bullshit NEJM editorial on COVID.
Both comments have been nuked. I guess my leftie friends can’t stand any disagreement.
It should be noted that both people who posted it would consider themselves scientists.
Any journal that takes reports of Vietfreakingnam having a death rate of 200 times less than ours shouldn’t be taken seriously about, well, anything. It’s ludicrous.
Honestly, I don’t think they read it.
You are queen of the lynx.
Beautiful.
I share some of your travel goals, especially Australia and Alaska.
When you go to the Oregon coast, I highly recommend Manzanita. It is a groovy little beach town. We rented a house with some friends and had a spectacular time.
I’ve really enjoyed the travel articles. If I wasn’t such a lazy fucker, I’d write a couple up (or finish the two I have started…).
Looking forward to spending Thursday afternoons with you!
Whoops, forgot the link
Manzanita
Also Manzanita
Hey Tundra, thanks for pointing out the Tom Woods Show on The Great Barrington Declaration. It was most excellent, as was the show for yesterday with Jennifer Cabrera. I need to listen to his show more often, but sometimes I get caught up in Book listening mode.
Anywho, thanks again for drawing attention to it.
You’re welcome!
Straff’s post reminded me. Woods puts out so damn many I tend to forget.
Seriously. That was episode 1749 and then episode 1750 of his main podcast. He hit 225 with Contra Krugman. Guy is a machine when it comes to podcasts.
I like that they are usually 30 minutes or so. Perfect for driving around town.
This is why I just need to double down and make it part of my morning routine.
I listen to most everything sped up. Everyone sounds like a Scorsese character.
Man, whatever the truth of the polls are, rank and file Democrats sure seem convinced. They’re very confident that Biden has a huge Obama-like lead, and all he has to do is stay in the saddle to win.
That sort of attitude can easily backfire if they don’t bother to actually vote.
Probably why they want to inplement ballot harvesting.
Re: the Whitmer kidnapping plan. My bet is that after 24 hours, the kidnappers would’ve returned her.
I’m think Bette Midler in Ruthless People.
Or whatever Dennis Leary had to deal with in The Ref.
The Ransom of Red Chief?
Yes, the state of Michigan would have charged the kidnappers $100K to let them bring her back.
Bunch of guys in MAGA hats with a rope, yelling racial slurs?
Not nearly cold enough for that type to be out.
Many interesting links, thanks SP.
Looking back, it is hard to believe that the GHW Bush era was the modern golden age of travel. The world was opening up and the modern crazies hadn’t put large stretches of entire continents into the “visit and die” bin. If you wanted to visit various sites related to the Roman Empire almost the entire extent was there for the visiting. Want to visit Asia? Hong Kong, China, Mongolia, SE Asia were all open. Africa? Disease, including rampant HIV sure. Boko Haram and even wilder groups? Nope. Visit the Sinai in 1991. It was a great trip. In 2008 it was still safe, but you needed more care. Today? Your death would be posted in an ISIS video.
Sadly the same problems are impacting the US. Go to Powell’s Books in downton Portland? Not a fucking chance. I even CXed my annual elk hunt because of a combination of COVID panicdemic and election craziness. I would arrive the day after the election. Could I even get a rental p/u out of the airport and across the river? I lived in Manhattan for three years starting in 2005 and shudder to think what it has recently become.
Kind of a buzzkill, dude.
But hard to argue. I’m kind of pissed i didn’t hit some of those spots 25 years ago, but what can you do?
I’m still bitter about the ‘vid fucking up my Prague trip last April. We’re booked for T&C in December, but I’m already prepping the family for disappointment.
Fucking covid freakout shitbrains.
I loved visiting Istanbul in early 2001. Now? I might visit Turkey if it was for work, and they hired an escort for me.
I visited Switzerland in 2013, and I remember feeling different in a way, to be in a country that wasn’t at war with anyone.
Man, insisting your employer hire your hookers for you is a ballsy demand.
Work hard, play hard.
To be fair, it’s probably easier to live there than to visit these days – if you’re lucky enough to have a job.
https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1314223381743652864
LOL
I want to thank so many of you who took this tweet completely seriously. I read your replies to my daughter and she said, “Though I don’t require external validation for my feelings, I feel no less encouraged to have received it.”
That’s beautiful.
*wipes away a tear*
Shit that never happened for $500, etc.
That’s the joke.
Perfect
Godspeed, Belarusians or whatever you’re called.
I work closely with a bunch of ’em.
Seriously.
What’s going on there now?
Took me a while to find it but…
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/7/belarus-opposition-leader-placed-on-russias-wanted-list
They are White Russians, so they must be racist.
Just realized I have some heavy cream in the fridge…
More white Russians.
“Hey, careful, man, there’s a beverage here!”
Good tune.
They’re on the “list of criminally overlooked 80s bands” I keep in my head.
Are those bands who went unprosecuted for actual crimes?
Never heard them then.
Spotify will rectify that. Thanks, Rhy!
If you like it, look for The Snake Corps while you’re at it – a side-band during a period in the mid-80s when SL&G were broken up.
Done. Thanks, brother.
I will report back!
Somebody couldn’t get Joe to hold his tongue.
https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2020/10/08/biden-pledges-to-reveal-stance-on-court-packing-when-the-election-is-over/
Does he even realize that the whole term “court packing” is considered a pejorative? I mean, if they thought it was an a-ok thing to do, no questions asked, you’d think they’d use some sort of term that normalizes the practice, rather than a polarizing phrase.
Joe doesn’t realize anything anymore.
The left is reclaiming yet another concept tarnished by the oppression of decent people who enjoy things like liberty and decorum
The canned response about Trump “packing” the Court with Conservatives is so dishonest I don’t know how they sleep at night.
No sense of shame?
thissssssss
LOL good point
And the media, who think it’s their job to hold politicians accountable, look the other way.
https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1314317099247054848
It’s not something the average voter thinks about.
80$ a night at that airBB in Oregon. You couldn’t stay at a net cafe overnight for that here.
But then you’d be in Oregon.
Are you in Oregon?
Should we send help?
The Pacific NW sounds like a nightmare right now. Rather stay here on my fault line.
地震があります？
自信があります？
No. Parts of Portland and Seattle are a nightmare.
Last week I had dinner a few blocks away from the mess here in Minneapolis. Quiet and normal.
Pat Robertson: Christianity Is Not About Religion—It’s About A Personal Relationship With Donald Trump
Should have finished with “Now watch me do leg presses.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-pat-robertson-leg-press-2000-lbs/
“Wow! This is big. Brandon Caserta, one of the ringleaders of the group of men arrested for a plot where the group planned to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, hated President Trump too!
“Trump is not your friend dude”
He says Trump is “a tyrant” & calls President Trump an “enemy”.”
https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1314326553506000897
It will be completely ignored.
But Trump fraternized with the extremists! Gretchen said so!
Unreal.
He makes a terrific point.
They’ll ignore that too.
https://twitter.com/YesThatAnna/status/1314326082921934848
facepalm.jpg
Damn, she’s one of my go to SJWednesday topics. Hopefully she’ll put something else out by next Wednesday.
Tfw they burn themselves so bad, there’s nothing you need to add.
JP has released a new video treating everything like the Kungflu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEkxWTsBINI
*applause*
Am rather glad not to be registered with this site. https://blog.nextdoor.com/2020/10/01/nextdoors-treat-map-is-back-with-new-features-for-a-safe-halloween/
I feel very sorry for kids growing up today. Every pleasant memory I have from my childhood involved something the nannies and scolds have eliminated.
No kidding. “You’re grounded for two years!”
“But I literally didn’t do anything!”