By special request, and the fact it is still technically February…this is for you, Tundra.
This is my review of Prairie Artisan Ales BOMB (H/T: Deadhead)
Lysander Spooner…lets get this out of the way: That is one hell of a beard.
Spooner lived during the 19th century US and was highly influential in early libertarian thought. Since he lived through slavery, the US Civil War, Reconstruction his views are extremely nuanced and sometimes even contrary. For example:
- Spooner was a abolitionist, so much so he condoned violence against slaveholders.
- Spooner was against the War of Northern Aggression, and the occupation that followed.
He happens to be one of the first to identify the inherent folly in voting as a means of change, but penned a scathing indictment on the concept. In addition to calling people supporting the system for what they are:
The ostensible supporters of the Constitution, like the ostensible supporters of most other governments, are made up of three classes, viz.: 1. Knaves, a numerous and active class, who see in the government an instrument which they can use for their own aggrandizement or wealth. 2. Dupes—a large class, no doubt—each of whom, because he is allowed one voice out of millions in deciding what he may do with his own person and his own property, and because he is permitted to have the same voice in robbing, enslaving, and murdering others, that others have in robbing, enslaving, and murdering himself, is stupid enough to imagine that he is a “free man,” a “sovereign”; that this is “a free government”; “a government of equal rights,” “the best government on earth,” and such like absurdities.1 3. A class who have some appreciation of the evils of government, but either do not see how to get rid of them, or do not choose to so far sacrifice their private interests as to give themselves seriously and earnestly to the work of making a change.
To interpret Spooner in our time, perhaps it is best to keep in mind, by definition all of the founding fathers were statists. After all, they created the state. He is credited with the famous Anarchist maxim, (to paraphrase) the Constitution either authorized the action taken by government or it failed to prevent it.
WTF is this?
The best part about this guy, is he was not some Walden Pond weenie. If he didn’t like something, he actually did something about it. He saw the US Postal Service as a unfair government monopoly that enjoyed protections since its inception prior to the Constitution—so he made his own post office. Given the state of the post office today, with their most recent controversy in purchasing trucks—from a defense contractor for $6 Billion. This is especially funny given the contractor is basing the vehicle off a Ford platform, meaning they could just save $5 billion by buying a fleet of Ford Transit vans and painting the patriotic chicken symbol on the side.
Nah, Spooner was right, lets disband them and allow the buildings to be reclaimed by nature.
As always, here is the TL/DR version:
This beer was gifted to me at the Glibfest last January by Deadhead. This is very good. So good I didn’t notice it had some chilli to it that evening. Why? Well I brought Chiltepin peppers as a gift for SP and we all tried a few. Deadhead liked them, so he is a man of good taste. Its a competitive Imperial Stout with its dark chocolate, vanilla, and coffee notes. Finding it again might be an issue for me. Prairie Artisan Ales BOMB (H/T: Deadhead): 4.2/5
Late articles? No problem for the First of Firsters.
Lysander Spooner sounds like an OK guy. A real asshole’s asshole.
ANARCHY US OF A.
It’s funny, we were just talking about impatient, entitled children.
My Firsting gives me ever lasting youth. I’m like Peter Pan. A First a day keeps the doctor away.
So you’re . . . First of Etiquette?
He is but a pale imitation of FoE; for all of his braggadocio, he is an ephemeral first – only appearing on occasion and then treating that as though it were a truly eternal act.
My Firsting is as close to the divine as you will ever experience.
I think it’s that picture up in the attic that does it, not the firsting.
“impatient, entitled children”
So, Congress?
I’d say that about where most of us are.
We know changes are needed, know that we can’t vote ourselves out of this mess, but have too much to lose to do anything concrete. We’re basically flying above the battlefield with our flak jackets on hoping not to get hit.
his views are extremely nuanced
BURN THE WITCH!
What were we talking about?
Question: my 14 year old wants to get in to fantasy baseball. Never done it before (though he’s done football for several years).
Anybody here with a league who wouldn’t mind a young libertarian in training tagging along?
I think Jerms mentioned he was reading up on a bunch of fantasy baseball. Maybe he has some leads.
I don’t have any leagues with openings, but I’d recommend that you get him a subscription to The Athletic; their fantasy baseball and football coverage alone is worth the price.
That sounds good. Maybe pair it with my jambalaya tonight or with the steak tomorrow night.
Chili in beer is an abomination. Right up there with Will Ferrell in movies, pineapple on pizza, and career politicians.
Chili IN beer? WTF?
Right?
We have Old Bay beer here. Just the thought of it makes me want to barf.
Oh god, that shit was horrible.
I beg to differ. Dragon’s Milk Reserve with Toasted Chilis was sublime, a local place does a mango habanero beer called One Hot Blonde that’s quite good, and even the Rogue Chipotle Ale is solid.
Spooner was an idiot.
Man is a tribal animal, and any attempt to move past that needs to be done with the full knowledge that most people don’t want to move on from that. For most people a functioning gov, for the common defense at the bare minimum, holds a large place in their perceptions of life.
I know it’s against the ethos of the site, but choosing to not take part makes you another part of the problem.
Bull. Beyond the fact that your vote really doesn’t make any measurable difference, voting simply provides consent to the system. If you don’t support that system, don’t condone it’s existence, there is no reason to participate.
Then you have given in to that status quo and given tacit permission for it to continue.
Not voting is not giving my consent. Short of becoming an activist or trying to start a violent revolution, there’s no more clear way to voice my displeasure with the system forced upon me.
Politicians use those votes they get to talk about bullshit mandates and to enforce their policy. It aint the non-voters who are the problem.
No. It’s refusing to contribute to the piss splattering on your leg by not pissing in the wind.
Take part in what? The voting theater?
I don’t think it is theater. Even in a non-compramisd system someone still has to lose. We will rarely get our way, and apathy surely won’t get us there either. But, Libertarianism is a vector, and serves to bend the curve toward greater liberty not rule in it own right.
You have remarked that the left is scared, and they are scared due to so many people pushing back at the ballot box, even through Project Fear. Also, regional pushback is just as important as it reinforces that dissent while encouraging local differences, thus strengthening against monolithic takeover.
Giving in to the black pill of not voting is them winning.
Fuck That Noise.
Giving in to the black pill of not voting is them winning.
Meh.
1) my vote doesn’t matter because the choices are between 1st generation progressives and modern prog-fascists. Neither is an objectively good choice. Neither turns the ratchet in the other direction. The least laughable justification for voting is self-defense, which is rendered moot by outright fraud, which leads to:
2) my vote doesn’t matter because the left (and right, to a much lesser extent) have sculpted the electoral system into something that they can manipulate grossly and finely. Fraud has been part of the system for decades, but there’s no subtlety anymore. An incurious press and a set of on-the-take executive branches ensures nothing will ever come of it.
3) Even if I thought my vote did actually count and wasn’t getting lost in the noise of low information voters, grifters, idiots, and outright fraud, I’m under no illusion that the candidates presented will ever again be allowed to wander off the plantation.
4) liberty is out of vogue. Even if the government institutions can be saved (they can’t), the cultural institutions have been well lost.
Nah, I’m not going to spend my time and energy supporting a system that exists in its current form to abuse chumps like me. I’ll participate once elections are made fair an transparent, and once the primary goal of politics is no longer to find every possible justification to raid the bank accounts of responsible people like me. I’ll not hold my breath.
We actually don’t disagree that much. Local action/voting is sensible and rational.
We lose no matter who wins at the Federal level. Hard stop. So why play?
Better to start carving away at the foundations. I do think the Cathedral is scared, but not because of election results. They are scared of small, decentralized efforts are undermining their control of the narrative.
A philosophy is just that. It’s not a strategy, but a place to work toward. A string, centralized government will always lead to bad things and be led by bad people.
I do think the Cathedral is scared, but not because of election results.
I don’t see fear where everybody else does. I see the same look in their eyes that I used to see in my cat when a mouse got uppity and bit him on the lip. The look that’s equal measure bewilderment at the tables turning (if momentarily) , anger at the pain, and a newfound enjoyment as he anticipates ripping the mouse to pieces and devouring it.
Local votes are the only ones that truly matter. It’s the only government that even somewhat accountable. The Capitol is going to do what it pleases regardless of what we peons do, or who we vote for.
It’s the only government that even somewhat accountable.
Where we live currently, even that is a stretch. We live in a city of almost a quarter million people. We could divide this city into 10 smaller cities and we’d still just be a number to the local government.
Small town living FTW!
I’ve met my PA state rep twice now. Once he was on my front porch, trying to meet people and get their vote. He usually votes the way I would want (at least when I’m paying attention). He has an office right in town and the last time I emailed a concern, I got a prompt, reasonable response from his office manager.
Past that, when I send a GOA form letter to any other politician, I get a canned response back. *shrug*
This will vary widely based on where you live.
In the small suburb i grew up in, I recall there was a local vote on some issue I was very opposed to. I talked my mom into coming with me to vote against it. The final tally was the measure lost by one vote. If we hadn’t gone, it would have won, if she hadn’t come along, it would have been a tie and led to a revote. So there truly can be times when your vote can make a difference, even today, just look at the Iowa congresswoman who just won by only six votes (she’s an R, and the national Dems are still fighting to overturn this election, a reminder that it’s still ok to contest an election if the wrong party wins).
Why play? Because to not play is to give up the playing field . Willingly.
And yes, strong centralized gov will always lead to bad things because we let it by giving it up.
Why play? Because to not play is to give up the playing field . Willingly.
It’s not a fair game. We’re the Washington Generals, except we don’t get a paycheck if we lose. At some point, we look around, realize that we’re being had, and find something actually productive to do with our time. Mr. Smith goes to Washington is beyond pipe dream at this point. These days, we’re lucky if we get STEVE SMITH goes to Washington.
Great. Someone has brain-washed me and I read “a string” and think “where?!” and look around reflexively.
Not voting is not a black pill. There are three options:
1. Vote against the establishment. This was Trump, at least in 2016, but he’s gone (for now). This doesn’t do anything to protect yourself, however, since you control a small sliver of the outcome and the establishment will manipulate the system against you.
2. Opt out wherever possible. Homeschool, build a community of conscience, set boundaries, choose your friends and comrades, build your own stuff, grow your own food, etc.
3. Leave. If you’re going to live in a place or country that doesn’t fully respect your rights, at least find one that will agree with your values.
The enemy hates us and wants us dead but will settle for our submission. Don’t submit, don’t go down without a fight, and don’t give in to despair. Do those things and you are not black-pilled, whether you choose to vote or not.
3. Leave. If you’re going to live in a place or country that doesn’t fully respect your rights, at least find one that will agree with your values.
This has came up a few times. Where is this place?
Its an offshore oil rig we plan to decommission once the well runs dry.
Depends. What are your values?
Picking up a growler and sandwiches at the local. An excellent hazy pale ale. The bartender isn’t a yoga pants model, but she’s funny and remembers me.
Oh, I live in a place that respects my “values” so to speak. It happens to be in a larger space that is full on bent on destroying them though. And that space is in an even larger space that is going full tilt idiot.
It could be a U.S. state, like West Virginia or Alaska. It could be a country, like Japan or Poland. Every option is going to have trade-offs. Most places outside the U.S. will be worse as far as the right to keep and bear arms is concerned, but that delta may disappear in the coming years (for good or ill).
Put another way, there is no libertarian paradise, but there might be better places for carving out your own niche. I did list it last on purpose, though, as it is a costly option especially if learning another language or going through an onerous immigration process is involved.
This. My family has opted for #2.
We have no control or influence on the system so have opted to withdraw as much as possible from it. Voting has no effect on outcomes. I also don’t think that by not voting you are not providing consent. Or at least practically it doesn’t matter and they don’t care whether you consent or not so it might as well be irrelevant on any but a philosophical level.
We are seeing the Left and eGOP in ascendance, not scared and cowering. The military placement in DC, the unleashing of Finance and Big Tech on private citizens, implementing curfews and lockdowns… these are all actions of a single-party government implementing control over a system. I’ve said it before, but will mention again that Americans would analyze these events very differently if happening in say Venezuela or Iran. I’ve heard similar things from acquittances who immigrated from Eastern Europe and don’t understand why Americans don’t see what’s happening.
I agree on your strategy but I disagree on your interpretation of ongoing events.
Those are the actions of weak people. Weak people can still be vicious and they can still be dangerous but their ascendance is largely theatrical. They think that by taking over the government they can land their final victory over the forces of opposition. But this is a country of vast spaces, diverse peoples, resilient cultures, and if nothing else lots of fucking guns.
The goal of option 2 is, at least partly, to reveal that the emperor is not wearing any clothes. Let the mandarins in Washington pass their edicts and let the enforcement of those edicts become confined to ever smaller enclaves. We are not accustomed in the U.S. to having large shadow markets or large areas where the rule of government law is not enforceable but we can learn.
They think they have learned everything from being armchair generals playing COIN games in the MENA. We can show them that we learned how culture is really created, how societies are really formed, and how feckless the NYT editorial board and the Harvard faculty really is.
I talk to people at my job and people here in suburban Dallas and elsewhere, and I have a hard time squaring what I hear with what you’re saying. There are tens, if not hundreds of millions of people in this country that buy what the prog-fascists are selling. Not only are they buying it, but they’re becoming what would be called “radicalized” if not for the fact that the mainstream cultural institutions are in lockstep with them. There are more people in my life who I fear would sell me down the river if they found out I voted Trump than people in my life who I suspect voted Trump.
One group sees weakness. The other group sees a consolidation and exercise of vastly superior cultural power. I guess I’m a pessimist, because I’m in the latter group.
One of the hardest parts of all of this is knowing who your friends really are and who your enemies really are. Not everyone has to be exactly either, but someone who mouths “Black Lives Matter” does not actually care about the lives of black people, but does care very much about signaling that they are better than you. Such people will sell you out because it is of no cost to themselves. These are toxic people. Insulate yourself from the consequences of their actions, and if necessary, distance them from your life entirely.
Carrying this into execution will be complicated increasingly by working for people who are part of the enemy class or susceptible to their sniveling. As time goes on and the Cathedral refuses to retreat, many of us may be left with little choice than to take some serious pay cuts so we can continue working without having to sell our souls.
…or susceptible to their sniveling.
This is the one thing I will truly never understand about people. How can you not just tell someone to fuck off for that nonsense?
I’m doing a little bit of 1 (pushing back on the NH state of emergency) and 2 (spending more time at liberty oriented events).
NH being what it is means there is a chance of #1 having an effect on the state and local level.
You sound like that guy on gun forums calling us “Losertarians” and that we’re “not needed” to advance the “Freedom movement”.
Okay that might be a little uncalled for. See you in the camps muchacho!
Reality: we’re not needed and, when it comes to making the sausage, we’re completely ignored for that very reason. The most recognition our ethos gets is half-hearted whining from election losers along the lines of, “I would have won if you nothings had voted for me.” Followed of course by a complete mis-statement about what libertarianism actually is.
I am not calling everyone “losertarians”. I don,t want mandatory voting. I am not a slaver, or anything like that.
Everyone deserves their right to bitch and to have preferences.
But in my eyes the biggest failure point and crutch of Libertarianism is the idea that one person can’t matter. That something so simple as voting, as checking a box on a piece of paper, is defeating.
Yes, the game is rigged, but we are the ones who can put the breaks on that. Teachers ain’t working? Who hear has kids but isn’t at every single school board meeting? Because if you aren’t putting pressure on them, they will take the easy way out. If we aren’t letting people know how important the 1st 2nd 4th and 5th amendments are then no one will care.
I am sorry, but I will never be defeatist like that.
Private or home schooling.
Teachers ain’t working? Who hear has kids but isn’t at every single school board meeting? Because if you aren’t putting pressure on them, they will take the easy way out.
I think this is a good example of what I’m saying. The school board doesn’t care what parents say. The recent video from, I think Oakland, makes that abundantly clear when the board let loose with their true thoughts. There is no easy or hard way. There is the school board way backed up by the system.
We have kids but have never been to a single school board meeting. The game is rigged and we chose not to participate in it by homeschooling instead.
The social conservatives mounted an extremely effective campaign in the 80s to take over local school boards.
The elections are local and small. They frequently are not held on big election days. It can be quite easy for a small, but dedicated group of people to change the election results.
But no one does this anymore. Apparently, no one cares enough.
By the way, scored 3 more dozen pint jars and 3 more dozen half-pint jars at Walmart today.
But no one does this anymore. Apparently, no one cares enough.
Those who care are private/homeschooling.
Right.
Easier than moving the whole system.
Nice on the jars.
For me at least, it’s not that it’s easier but it’s what’s best for my children. I care more about them then the system and will fight for their interests as best I can.
Case in point… we homeschool under a religious exemption because that permanently cleaves any control from the school board. The statute for religious exemption requires belief in the Judeo-Christian God with a strong emphasis on Christianity. While Jewish, we lean more philosophically toward Taoism.
The religious exemption policy is discriminatory against Eastern-founded religions. I’m not putting my kids at the center of such a lawsuit though, even though I have no doubt we would ultimately win. Instead I just filled my exemption letter with quotes from the Old Testament about how our children will not obey teachers because only the parents are responsible for raising their children. Exemption granted immediately.
SSD, I think you nailed the disconnect here. People who are focused on their responsibility to self, to family, and to God (or whatever higher power/principles they believe in) approach the issue of creeping totalitarianism differently than those who feel a responsibility to country or society. My faith has a history of being oppressor and of being oppressed. Enacting my faith and providing for my family is “easier” in a sympathetic culture, but my duties don’t change just because society hates us.
And notice how they all shame quit immediately afterwards?
We all let to much slide in liberty when we can’t. Every vigilant must be the watchword.
Every vigilant must be the watchword.
This is why most people are more comfortable giving up little chunks of their freedom – it is so much easier.
Right, they quit only because the audio was leaked. That’s a completely separate issue than parental advocacy. Parents could talk until they are blue in the face at school board meetings. The school board would nod, mouth empty platitudes, and carry on with their agenda. The school board does not work for parents and has very little regard for parents, especially those who are against their agenda.
I am not calling everyone “losertarians”. I don,t want mandatory voting. I am not a slaver, or anything like that.
Relax, I’m yanking your chain.
How could anyone see what happened in the last election and conclude that their vote matters?
Unless by “taking part ” you mean ensuring you need them as little as possible.
Thanks, Señor!
LS has become my favorite anarchist. So cranky and always calling bullshit. And the fact that the country as we know it was less than 100 years old when he was already saying the Constitution is “unfit to exist”.
Cool guy.
The beer sounds great. I’ll see if I can scare it up around here.
I don’t know if I agree with him, but I am not about to argue against it anytime soon.
HIPSTER JUICE!
I feel better now.
Although still probably better than this half glass of flat Stella I’m drinking. Blech, why is this so flat? It was in the fridge all night. I hope my beer arrives soon, this is awful.
Grocery day is always a challenge. I have too many options and each new ingredient I put away changes my mind about what I want to make for dinner. I’ll ruminate on it for a while…
Never grocery shop in the first week of the month.
You don’t like the hordes of pensioners?
Pensioners and da welfah crowd combined is insane.
I’m sure Bernie would do something about that.
Yeah, no one needs more than one kind of herbs and spices. It’s just Basil from now on. And you need to stand in a bread line to get it.
Ill take only basil over only cilantro.
#VotesForBernie
Joke’s on you, every plant will be re-labelled basil, and it will be random green stuff roulette.
Why you not love the soapweed!? Soapweed is the best!
No one needs 23 different kinds of soap(weed).
It’s not a complaint so much as an expression of joy.
“Why should you get joy from food when so many people go hungry?”, Bernie would retort. “No one needs an abundance of spices.”
And then I’d shiv the evil old fuck and throw his corpse to the hogs.
He should be honored at helping to feed poor people instead of starving them for once.
And yet ponder the fact that he should have won the Team Blue nomination TWICE, but was fucked out of it by the party.
People WANT shit like this.
The results of the lowest turnout most partisan voting contest is not representative.
Spicy.
There’s been a glut of pork locally. I’ve been stocking up like mad. The pre-seasoned tenderloins are going for $4.50 each instead of $9 (they’re about 1.5 pounds). Nice quick and easy dinners.
I made rueben sandwiches for dinner.
I had a heck of a time opening the jar of kraut. I should have just bought the can and not worry about resealability.
I’ve got homemade kraut in the fridge, but when I buy it in the store, I get the resealable bags from the local provider (on sale only).
Lost your jar opening gloves?
Grocery shopping today. My observations
1) Albertsons actively hates their customers and wants to make shopping as painful and annoying as possible. The modern pop whining songs are the icing on the cake
2) Their new store layout is getting ready for a future with less food and more out of stock items
3) if you’re going to make a one way flow in the store, at the very least your employees should be the ones following it. They don’t because American retail is for the benefit of employees, not customers, and it shows. Not just that but the obliviousness to customers, laziness, and doing whatever they feel like without repercussions.
4) inflation is here. A generation of product marketers that have become used to not just being profitable but needing ever increasing rates of growth because breaking even plus a little more isn’t enough, is about to get fucked. Well, everyone is.
Kroger (at least the Kroger we go to) quit with this bullshit long ago, though the rest of the stupidity remains.
There are stickers on the floor most stores around here, but nobody ever paid them any heed.
Same here. The whole idea is pointless. People may be wearing masks, but they realize the cattle chutes are a bit too far.
Oh please. There are numerous directional signs that you and everyone else unquestionably obey regularly. Calling Covid theatre ones uniquely cattle chutes is just asinine.
I have long argued that roads and the numerous and onerous traffic laws are a tool used by governments to both teach obedience to the citizenry and to infringe upon their rights. Driving in Iraq only reinforced that for me. Never saw an accident while I was there and there sure as shit weren’t rules.
Most interactions people will have with the police in their lifetimes occur because of traffic laws. As far as there is a police state, it starts on the roads.
numerous and onerous traffic laws are a tool used by governments to
both teach obedience to the citizenry and to infringe upon their rights.generate revenue./em>I had the opposite reaction when in Brazil, where there are also few rules.
It was a fucking shitshow. It took forever to get anywhere, and everyone was an asshole.
Yeah, my Kroger gave that policy about a week before giving up.
Most of those went away in my neighborhood a few months ago when they noticed the only ones people were following were the dots spaced six feet apart.
Yeah, my local Kroger closed and locked one of the 2 main doors. How in the fuck is that supposed to help?
It certainly help the next mass shooter.
Or firebug.
The store that I shop at still has the one way signs up. I’ve seen more people ignoring the signs then I’ve seen not wearing masks.
Food is getting more expensive. The store I shop at is a bit more expensive than the places I used to shop at, but even factoring that in, food is definitely more expensive.
Never had that silliness in my area.
We’ve got it where I live, but almost everyone seems to be ignoring it now.
Today is my Pa’s 80th birthday. I arranged to pay for his & his wife’s dinner down in Jekyll Island. I hope they go hog wild!
*cialis not included
(congrats to him- Tres Sr. is 81, and is likely in better health than I am)
Happy Birthday to your Pa!
I left a comment too late in your genealogy article.
I remember you talking about a ski trip to Park City a few years ago.
Did you make a stop at FamilySearch while you were in Salt Lake?
Hey Playa! We just went straight to PC from SLC that time. We did do a tour of the campus back in the mid-90’s and looked at some very basic stuff for 5 minutes while we were there, but that was pre-internet, so we didn’t find anything. We also didn’t know much back then, so we didn’t really know where to look.
I assume it’s mostly online now?
My dad and my maternal grandfather are both genealogy nuts. When I was a kid, every trip to Park City (summer and winter each year) involved a 2 day stop at the Library.
The Scandinavian side of the family is…. interesting. Once you get about 4-5 generations back, things start going in circles.
Once you get about 4-5 generations back, things start going in circles.
*deletes inbreeding joke
It’s still a serious issue in Iceland. They have a “cousin app” that you can open at the bar to find out if you’re related to the person you’re hitting on. It’s supposed to stop you from fucking them. In theory.
There’s something you don’t know
The card catalogue is online, and many of the actual documents are online in the form of Ancestry dot com, which is owned by the Mormons.
Happy Birthday to him!
Sounds fun. Happy birthday to you dad!
Happy birthday, Pa!
Congrats! Happy Happy.
Ford Transit vans and painting the patriotic chicken symbol on the side
But they would have to be right-hand drive Ford Transit vans, something which would no doubt confound Ford of America. And as far as anyone in the U.S. knows, Ford of Europe doesn’t even exist.
You mean the vans they build in Europe with the seat in the back so they can avoid the chicken tax by classifying it as a passenger car, then remove the seats upon receipt to the Ford factory in MD, then finally ship the seats back to Europe to be reinstalled on the next run of vans?
Man, that is some crazy shit.
But yeah, even jumping through those hoops would probably be cheaper than the current contract.
Lionel Shriver remains one of the few current writers (Moj and UCS excepted) who consistently calls out the left for language warfare.
https://spectator.us/topic/beware-linguistic-trojan-horse-dictionaries/
I am a day late for book recommendations, but if you haven’t read her book “The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047” I give it a strong recommendation. With the pre-Harris Administration in place her timeline needs to be moved forward slightly, but it is a solid read.
By calling us to shared agreement on what words did and didn’t mean, hard-copy dictionaries helped facilitate clear, precise communication.
*HM intensifies*
Thanks for the tip on The Mandibles, sounds really interesting. Just put a hold on a copy at our town library.
(to paraphrase) the Constitution either authorized the action taken by government or it failed to prevent it.
I dunno, I spose this is true but the problem is not the Constitution, the problem is the immoral people who chose not to follow it. I am not sure what form of government has the ability to enforce the ideals laid out in the Constitution which to my simple mind being the sole purpose of government is to ensure natural rights/liberty for its citizens. And that horse left the barn a long time ago. So ya, I guess I agree with the asshole.
My beer for MS’s weekly post is this. It’s not horrible.
“Patriotic chicken”
Heh.
That beer looks good.
Since he lived through slavery, the US Civil War, Reconstruction his views are extremely nuanced and sometimes even contrary. For example:
Spooner was a abolitionist, so much so he condoned violence against slaveholders.
Spooner was against the War of Northern Aggression, and the occupation that followed.
I don’t think these are contradictory concepts. Violence against slaveholders is action of self-defense or defense of others. The Civil War was a war of offensive conquest and occupation.
It’s why the oft repeated notion that the Civil War was primarily about freeing slaves is absurd. If that was truly the case, the Union could have set the terms of surrender as the end of slavery and then withdrawn. Instead they occupied and the Fed gov became sovereign at the expense of every state. It was a war of conquest with slavery providing the justification. Spooner may have approved the Civil War if the Union had withdrawn and allowed the South to secede after securing abolition for slaves.
I don’t think these are contradictory concepts
Me neither, but 90% of the population will read those two lines, twitch one of their eyes and then stab themselves with a KFC spork because they thought their eyeball was itchy.
The articles of secession are quite clear what the wedge issue was. And it wasn’t about mint juleps or tariffs. Why did the states start seceding before Lincoln was even sworn in?
The belligerent parties can have different reasons for fighting. The South fought because they wanted to preserve their ability to own human beings. The North fought because they wanted an imperial government that they would be in charge of.
That van looks like a cartoon.
*beep beep* -swerves away while bending leaving a cloud of dust
I was reading the compendium of Nat’l Lampoon’s Letters from the editors, and this made me think of our happy little site for some reason:
Sirs:
All us cats in our groovy hippie commune really dig your swinging treasonous magazine and all the hep put-downs of our nation’s leaders. We are a bunch of dangerous pothead radicals, too, and wonder if you would send us 10 copies per month of your way-out magazine and the names of all the political organizations where you belong (so we can join ’em too) and the names of your nearest relatives.
R.D. Tomlinson
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Washington, DC
The Letters section of the classic NatLamp was often the best part of each issue. I recall one which was purportedly from the “Homosexual Santa Claus Alliance” telling the Editors about their favorite Xmas carol:
Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
Tis the season to be jolly,
Don we now our gay apparel,
Suck the ancient pork meat barrel!
LOL I just elicited the following comment from one of my long-time neighborhood bodega proprietors, in reference to “America”:
#hesnotwrong
Chiney Jo is getting the job done.
“Going “?
Finally got around to putting the Xmas sling on an AR.
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/LpJg7PUCSe-FAp8SJEm4jw.cMuK1NQIAHQr7Ebg1oEv7h
“Christmas sling”
I was expecting a red and green sling with ornaments and a big cross-stitched “Now I have a machine gun. Ho-Ho-Ho.”
?
Me too. No jingle bells or holly or anything. I am disappoint.
Looks like what I got for the M1A and the shotgun.
And I got around to my Christmas Bomb. Ho ho ho.
Better to start carving away at the foundations. I do think the Cathedral is scared, but not because of election results. They are scared of small, decentralized efforts are undermining their control of the narrative.
Judging by the ferocity with which they conduct their attacks on anybody who contradicts the narrative, and attempts to circumvent the approved news distributors, I rate this “true”.
And conversely, the lengths through which they’ll go to “verify” some asinine ass shit said by someone in the approved journalist class.
The weather man was spectacularly wrong, and that’s a good thing.
Sunny and pretty warm. I went out and whittled some more off the glacier in my driveway. A nice string of sunny days would be a big help.
What the fuckety fuck is this?
In Statehouses, Stolen-Election Myth Fuels a G.O.P. Drive to Rewrite Rules
So Democrats changing the rules to ensure a Biden victory (by their own admission) is “fortifying an election”. But any changes from the other party is disenfranchising voters. This is exactly the type of thing that removes any doubt about whether or not we have fair elections. Just when I think we’ve reached peak chutzpah, I read something like this.
“What the fuckety fuck is this?”
A nice mix of fuckety fuck and horseshit?
https://mobile.twitter.com/TravelGov/status/1365743132701302788
Missile attacks. ?
Wow, that’s escalating a lot faster than I thought.
Give our current administration a few more months and the entire Middle East will be one giant dumpster fire.
Or radioactive green glass from horizon to horizon, if we’re especially unlucky.
bUt ItS so PrESiDenTIaL
It’s a millstone.
https://amp.tmz.com/2021/02/27/cpac-stage-design-similar-nazi-symbol-rune-hyatt/
LOL
As for how it came to be an apparent blueprint of the CPAC stage — it’s anyone’s guess, but many feel it’s no coincidence.
“Many feel it’s no coincidence”
Fuck their feelings.
I’ve always found that phrase to be equivalent to “sources say” or similar constructions — it’s basically the article writer’s dodge around the fact that he/she was too lazy to do any investigation, and is substituting their imagination for what might actually be the case. In short, it’s an exercise in fabulism. Hundred bucks says the drone who wrote this never left his/her keyboard from story assignment until completion of the article.
OFFS.
Texas bill to end mask mandates
Following the example of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R–Tyler) filed bills that would help protect citizens’ freedom during emergencies and ban mask mandates statewide. He did this the same day Tarrant County commissioners ignored scientists, as well as citizens, and extended their countywide mask mandate.
On Tuesday, Schaefer filed House Bills 2097 and 2098, both of which would end the governor’s and local officials’ mask mandates, bar them from ever issuing such mandates again unless the legislature authorizes it, and take away officials’ ability to fine citizens for not following their emergency orders.
Both bills, if signed into law, would take effect on September 1, 2021, unless a two-thirds majority in the Texas House and Senate voted for approval. In that situation, the bills would take effect immediately.
I just went out and opened the hood on the Honda. The wind the other night packed the entire engine compartment solid with snow.
It might be a while before I can drive it.
The main CPAC stage where Republicans and other conservatives are gathering this weekend in Florida looks eerily similar to an old Nazi symbol … something that’s causing utter outrage.
Outrage is where you look for it.
Or, you know, it might look like a stage with walkways.
And these are people that go off about Q conspiracy theories? What, they don’t like competition?
So with the thaw, the various street people are back, and it seems even worse than ever.
How do you city folk with them? I vary between ignore, giving a head nod, saying hello or something like that.
They are particularly aggressive in Philly so I’m open to suggestions. I have had confrontations that have gotten dangerous, and I just want to be left alone.
I haven’t seen any since my work location was moved out of downtown a few years ago. They seem to congretate where there’s limited parking so people are forced to walk past them.
And it’s always the same people, after a few years it becomes apparent they’re professional panhandlers and there’s no point in doing anything but ignoring them. Attention only begets attention.
Look like you’re an unhinged maniac who will tear them apart if they hassle you.
(*doesnt work for the really crazy or drugged ones)
Kristi Noem is smoking hot in that red dress. And she has some pretty eyes.
Just don’t be the equivalent of Canadian women, dreaming of Trudeau.
*hangs head, sticks hands in pockets and kicks a can down the road* fine…
Nation of Psychos
An American Airlines flight was diverted to Phoenix after two women got into a fight with another passenger who asked them to stop using a racial slur, police said.
The incident took place Wednesday on Flight 776 from Dallas-Fort Worth to Los Angeles.
The airline company said in a statement that after arriving in Phoenix, law enforcement “removed and arrested two individuals for verbally and physically assaulting other customers and flight crew members.”
Phoenix police identified the women as Kelly Pichardo, 30, and Leeza Rodriguez, 29. According to authorities, witnesses said that Pichardo and Rodriguez were using a racial slur when a male passenger asked them to stop using that language.
Hear something, say something.
What was the “slur”? It’s so offensive you’d die if we told you.
They were asking for more crackers.
Pubic health expert
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, 65, received his second dose of the Covid vaccine a week ago, he said during an interview on social media app Clubhouse Wednesday. But even though the Microsoft co-founder is fully vaccinated, he’s still following safety precautions like wearing a mask.
“I want to set a good example,” Gates told Andrew Ross Sorkin on Clubhouse. “If you’re vaccinated, you can still transmit.”
The Centers for Disease Control says that even people who are fully vaccinated for Covid need to continue to follow public health safety measures. While the vaccines in use from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have been shown to be very effective at preventing severe illness and death from Covid, it’s not clear at this stage whether they prevent transmission.
“I’m not going to stop wearing masks or being careful, particularly around older people who haven’t been vaccinated,” Gates told Sorkin, who is also co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Good for you, you panic-stricken hypochondriac.
My friend who got vaccinated still wears a mask, even outside. She says she does it for the optics. And this is a nurse who voted for Trump.
My apartment building bans visitors. (I ignore this). Because it is a place where ” people work or congregate “, we are at the top of the list to get vaccinated. Once we are vaccinated, the no visitors policy may be “relaxed”.
Freedom
she does it for the optics
So do I. By not wearing a mask anywhere. Sane but scared people should see that not everyone is suffering from psychosis.
I got the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine almost two months ago now, but in California that’s meaningless for the mask mandate. Still required to wear one anywhere outside of the home or car (and half the people driving by are wearing inside their cars). Gyms, indoor dining, bars all still shuttered.
Our politicians are very unwilling to give up even a smidgen of their power trip. And the local Bay Area news continues to play along, with daily scare stories of people dying despite seemingly safe, and without any context to explain it was a one in a million outlier — nope, you will die if you leave home, so stay home and shut up.
In order to appear “reasonable”, I’m willing to play the game for another 3 months.
After that, if you approach me about my habits or those of my family, you’re going to have a fight on your hands.
I crossed that line a while ago. Thankfully nobody has made any noise yet.
“My friend who got vaccinated still wears a mask, even outside. She says she does it for the optics.”
I’m holding firm to my prediction: twenty years. That’s how long we’ll have enough mask mandates around that we’ll have to have one ready in the car at all times.
I won’t ever forgive those responsible. Ever.
“But even though the Microsoft co-founder is fully vaccinated, he’s still following safety precautions like wearing a mask.”
Sure he does, and he’s perfectly willing for someone to follow him around 24/7 with a camera all day to make sure.
“If you’re vaccinated, you can still transmit.”
How the fuck does that work?
If you’re vaccinated, you can’t get it, right?
If you can’t get it, you don’t have it.
If you don’t have it, how on Beelzebub’s little green space apple can you transmit it?
*noose emoji*
Because this all has nothing to do with health. It’s about control. And now that they’ve gotten a little taste of their newfound powers, more will neve be enough.
If you’re vaccinated, you can’t get it, right?
No, and that’s not true for all existing vaccines for other diseases either.
What other vaccines are touted as not preventing an illness? I am sure there are some, but I haven’t heard of them.
The thing with these vaccines, is they were sold as preventing you from catching covid, and then months later it comes out, no they only lessen the severity of the illness. So from where I sit, they are little more useful than Hydroxychloroquine or some of the other new treatments out there and why I am a tin foil hat wearing skeptic as to why they are being pushed so hard.
Our problem from jump street has been a complete refusal to understand categories of risk. Just because things “can happen” doesn’t mean they are particularly likely to. _Can_ asymptomatic spread happen? Yes. Is that likely to happen? No. Can this spread outside? Yes. Is that likely? No. Can this cause serious health problems and even death in younger otherwise healthy people? Yep. Is that likely? No.
But if no one ever stops to ask “is that likely?” and simply loses their shit once it’s determined some such bad thing is “possible,” we wind up in the disaster we currently find ourselves in. Depressing as hell…
Never fuck with Puerto Rican women.
Oops- that was an unintentional misspelling of “public” above.
I can’t think of anything less likely than Bill Gates and pubic in the same story.
Dude he’s rich.
As of this morning, my Costco has removed the glass cubicles at the door for checking receipts. One step toward normality.
We’re not going back to normality. This was just the warmup to see how far they can push it. The next one will be a real ‘papers please’ moment.
Everyone, I am going to put together a piece going over a bit more what I am talking about above.
Fuck off, Tulpa.
He’s been posting here for a while. He got his greetings a while back.
Well, shit, I just can’t keep up.
I mean with all these Tulpas. It’s just Tulpas all the way down.
“Who the fuck are you? Who am I? What is existence?”
?
I just assume you’re another Tulpa. I’m the only real poster here.
^^ Just what the One True Tulpa™ would say to throw us off his/her/its scent.
I just assume other people stop existing when I close my eyes. Pretty sure that’s how it works.
“^^ Just what the One True Tulpa™ would say to throw us off his/her/its scent.”
Exactly this.
Adm Tulpa Stockdale?
In the imposters defense ZWAK changed his avatar, people shouldn’t be allowed to change avatars all willy-nilly, there oughta be a law!
Hey buddy, stop doing that.
Excellent. I’ve been running around this afternoon and never got back to the discussion.
Looking forward to your thoughts.
I’m watching Bad Lieutenant for the first time, and I’ve got a lot of questions.
Does the World Series end if a team wins four games in a row?
Omg you’re in for a treat. And yes.
I was watching the Harvey Keitel scene in Pulp Fiction and I thought, I’ve never seen Bad Lieutenant.
Except for the 2 years it was best of nine.
2 or just 1?
This is a rough film. I thought Requiem was difficult, this is impossible
Great comparison. Kids fits in there too.
And Taxi Driver.
The Unwoke French?
France talks a good game in front of fora like the UN, but when it comes to their own cultural ID, they’re remarkably willing to be politically incorrect/unwoke. My Normandy cousins really opened my eyes to that about twenty years ago.
That’s the 2nd surprise for me in as many days. Just yesterday there was the video about how no freaking way France will ever allow mail in ballots.
No mail in ballots because cheating</a?
France mosdef has its problems, but in some ways its where I’d flee to if Canada continues down its “Build Back Better/Woker” path. Their memory of how they suffered during WWII is long and instructive, if somewhat selectively applied.
This is the first time in my life I’ve ever seen Europe as a maybe attractive alternative. Although I balk at their insane confiscatory taxes, maybe as a retiree.
Switzerland was my backup plan when I still had contacts and a standing job offer.
Do the Normans even consider themselves French?
Everyone, I am going to put together a piece going over a bit more what I am talking about above.
Go for it.
Don’t expect me to alter my behavior.
You only refuse to change your behavior because you’re racist. Confess your sins!