Wednesday Afternoon SugarLinks – The Fun! It Burns!

by | Jul 28, 2021 | Daily Links | 301 comments

There are a lot of contenders, but Lake of the Ozarks might be the worst place in America right now

We’ve recently entered a new, dark phase of the pandemic that, while perhaps unavoidable given the state of everything, is no less infuriating and upsetting. There are safe, effective, and free vaccines providing immense protection against the virus and they are available to virtually everyone—but good luck selling that to the large portion of Americans whose views have been warped beyond repair by years of Fox News propaganda, weaponized misinformation, hollow culture wars, social media bubbles, and that guy.

A lot of locales highlighted over the past year-and-a-half (mostly by Andrew Callaghan) could conceivably take the crown for “Most Godforsaken Place in the U.S.,” but a new frontrunner is clear after today’s report from Politico. To reference a beloved SNL character in an attempt to mitigate our encroaching depression: This place has it all—mask-shaming beach bums, MAGA hats, AC/DC cover bands, a bar called Shorty Pants, thorough-while-still-somehow-kind-of-offensive journalists.

Welcome to Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks, a region currently inundated by literally thousands of unmasked, unvaccinated summer vacationers who—like so many in this tired nation—long ago conflated “universal contrarianism” with “patriotic American independence.” Truly, it sounds like a real hell on Earth.

“Depending on your politics, the scene at Backwater Jack’s is either a symbol of reckless abandon or unapologetic living in the face of a pandemic,” Politico describes of one particular beachfront bar in Osage Beach (“symbol of reckless abandon”…the answer here is “symbol reckless abandon”).

Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.

-H. L. Mencken


On a related note:


 

Sen. Kelly Introduces Legislation To Prop Up Failing News Outlets

Last week, Senator Mark Kelly introduced legislation designed to keep failing news outlets alive. Kelly’s Local Journalism Sustainability Act of 2021, would essentially subsidize local news organizations through a series of tax credits.

The tax credits would be available to newspapers, digital publications, television stations and radio stations.

Kelly claimed in a press release that “local newspapers, radio stations and TV stations are pillars” of Arizona communities, “bringing Arizonans trusted local news, information about community events and the latest on public health updates in their area.”

Contrary to his claims, the public has turned away from legacy media outlets due in part to the lack of trust the public has in them. That lack of trust could be exacerbated by the fact that through the proposed taxing scheme, government would be funding the very industry that is supposed to be policing it.

His wife was shot in the head; what’s his excuse?


And in other worse news, the herpes of millennial journalism is having another flare-up:

https://www.gawker.com/


 

About The Author

SugarFree

SugarFree

Your Resident Narcissistic Misogynist Rape-Culture Apologist

301 Comments

  1. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh’ ?

  2. Count Potato

    “There are a lot of contenders, but Lake of the Ozarks might be the worst place in America right now”

    This person has never been in Newark.

    • Tres Cool

      Staying within that region, my vote is for Dollywood.

      • Ted S.

        Yeah; they’re only an 11-hour drive apart.

      • Tres Cool

        Lake of the Ozarks is 11 hours (driving) from Dollywood ?

      • SDF-7

        10 hours and 38 minutes — but yeah, pretty close to that.

        Probably more in practice since TN makes driving a hellish experience every time I go through that state (perpetual construction, etc.).

      • Mojeaux

        Lake of the Ozarks = middle Missouri

        Dollywood = eastern Tennessee

      • rhywun

        Huh. For some reason I always thought Dollywood was in Missouri. Like in Branson or something.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Pigeon Gorge, which is basically Branson, but in Appalachia.

      • Lord Humungus

        Pigeon Forge is one of many armpits of America.

        I drove through it – once – and vow to never do so again.

      • Mojeaux

        Silver Dollar City is in Branson, which is one of my favorite places, but Mr. Mojeaux was unimpressed. He said it was just like Knott’s Berry Farm.

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        I can’t believe y’all doing Dolly like this. Dollywood is one of the consistently top-rated theme parks in the world, and Dolly is a national treasure and all of you can get bent & pound sand.

      • westernsloper

        We brought back crates of Jam from Knotts Berry Farm in LA when I was a kid. I come from an impressionable people. That shit was good though.

      • rhywun

        I can’t believe y’all doing Dolly like this.

        Heh, I adore Dolly and would love to visit the place some day.

        😛

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        Ozarks ≠ Appalachians

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Fucking avclub, home to the wretchedly stupid and incredibly envious.

      • Rat on a train

        Follow through to Politico. You will see a Confederate flag. It’s an insurrection.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        *faints*

      • Not Adahn

        On a dating site there was a Black woman specifically looking for whit guys. One of her pics she was wearing a rebel flag bathing suit. Since I’m not into raceplay, I noped out of that one.

      • SugarFree

        You missed out. She might have lashed you until you admitted your name was Toby.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder
      • Agent Cooper

        Was her name Daisy Duke?

      • slumbrew

        I like the use of ‘Godforsaken’. As if anyone at AVClub would be caught dead being some sort of icky religious person.

      • Chafed

        Ain’t that the truth.

    • Sensei

      Which one? I live close to one and went to school in another.

      Needless to say the one I live close to is the one that provides lots of police activity, carjackings and usage of tax dollars.

      • rhywun

        Probably not Newark, New York.

      • Ghostpatzer

        And usage of $100MM donated by Zuckerberg for “education” IIRC. That worked out well (for some people).

    • Ghostpatzer

      Not sure that is even the worst place in NJ. Camden is certainly in the running.

      • Sensei

        But it’s got an aquarium!

      • Ghostpatzer

        And light rail!

        Shame on me for failing to mention Atlantic City. Casinos and slums, mostly co-located. I remember when casino gambling was the magic pixie dust which would transform AC.

      • rhywun

        When I was little we vacationed in Atlantic City every summer. I loved the shabby honky-tonk of it all. This was before the casinos.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Played in the US Team Chess Championship at the Convention Center in 1974. Took home a trophy for best performance on 4th board, also a few Benjamins from one of the many all-night poker games. Good times.

  3. Shpip

    There are safe, effective, and free vaccines providing immense protection against the virus and they are available to virtually everyone—but good luck selling that to the large portion of Americans whose views have been warped beyond repair by years of Fox News propaganda, weaponized misinformation, hollow culture wars, social media bubbles, and that guy.

    The two groups with the highest amount of ‘vaccine hesitancy’ are the under-30 crowd and BIPOCs. Neither group are big fans of Fox News or OMB.

    I know… narrative uber alles.

    • Not Adahn

      It’s avclub. People who wish they could write for The Stranger.

    • Raven Nation

      Yeah, it’s a fucking mystery why black Americans don’t trust the federal government with vaccines.

      (directed at the media, not at you Shpip).

    • Lord Humungus

      It _may_ be safe but they haven’t been tested or around long enough to know.

      effective… well sort of.

      • R C Dean

        So far, the vaccines seem effective, at least by vaccine standards. Serious illness and death are heavily weighted toward people who haven’t been vaccinated, out of proportion to their percentage of the population. One intersting development with the Delta (Delta for D, D for DEATH) variant is that it seems to hit younger people. Its trending towards an age distribution that looks a lot more like flu.

        There are zero (0) valid clinical trials on these vaccines. If there are serious chronic or longterm side effects, we are badly handicapped in identifying them early, if at all. And the loss of clinical trials is solely due to TMITE and CDC panic mongering.

      • Gustave Lytton

        And the loss of clinical trials is solely due to TMITE and CDC panic mongering.

        Bullshit. There was never going to be twenty years of pocket pool and coffee & donuts, at least under Trump. Maybe if HRC has been president.

      • blackjack

        Chickens, eggs. Trump had to be pushed to do what he did, he was reluctant to get worked up about wuflu. Who did the pushing?

      • R C Dean

        They were never going to do the full long-term trials, true. But the initial trials were double-blinds, and intended to go on for years, anyway. With the panic, though, they unblinded the trials so everyone in the conrtol group could get the vaccine. And I expect every single one of them did. It wasn’t the full vaccine protocol, but at least it would have been something. Now, its nothing.

        The panic made full trials impossible, as you were never going to keep a control group.

      • Gustave Lytton

        No, they crossed over the trials, which is not the same thing.

        Participation in the trials was and is voluntary. Aside from the ethical dimension, once there were approved vaccinations, continuing two separate arms quickly becomes impractical.

      • R C Dean

        Could you expand on that? All trials are voluntary. The initial trials were blinded, and I want to say double-blinded but I’m not sure.

        I talked to several people involved in the trials last summer. When the vaccines were released for general use, everybody in the trials wanted to know if they had already gotten it, and Pharma told them whether they had or not (after putting up a little resistance). They had a lot of people saying they were going to get the vax regardless, so they probably didn’t have much choice. Once Pharma told everyone whether they had been vaxxed or were in the control group, the blinded trial was gone. I don’t recall details, but I believe that trial called for all study participants to be followed (checkups, reports, etc.) for years.

        The ethics of blinded trials are always up for discussion, of course, but most drugs/devices are on slower tracks so there is much more time for the trials to play out. The fast track may have made blinded trials of more than six months impracticial, but they weren’t set up as six month trials.

        I suspect they are still trying to follow people, but without a blinded trial, I think the scientific usefulness validity has been reduced from “blinded” to “observational”, at best, and probably isn’t worth the effort.

      • Gustave Lytton

        You’re right. I’m misremembering it. The original ones’s crossover was only for placebo and after unblinding. Novavax was/is going to keep the blinding during the crossover (so those that received the actual, will receive the placebo during that phase and v.v.).

        My point is that once it’s available to the general public, you’ll have trial participants dropping out, with or without unblinding, if they feel it’s worthwhile. And that they chose to participate in the trials in the first place means that’s more likely to be the case.

      • R C Dean

        My beef with the trial participants is they agreed not to get the vax for the duration of the study, and with very few exceptions demanded to get the vax as soon as it was released to the public. They all broke their word.

        They were all patting themselves on the back when they signed up for the trial with how they were helping with this very important research, but it turns out that was bullshit – they just wanted the vax as soon as they could get it.

    • Gadfly

      And the group with the highest levels of COVID vaccination are old people, which is the prime demographic of Fox (and all other TV news). Also, is Fox even pushing anti-vax narratives, at all? From what I’ve seen online, the mainstream conservative press is pro-vax, even if they are in the “it should be a personal choice” camp. But maybe a nuanced position is too difficult for the avclub to understand.

  4. Tonio

    “universal contrarianism”

    Wait, they know Hype?

    • The Hyperbole

      I am not a contrarian.

      • R C Dean

        Just what a . . . nah, too easy.

  5. Not Adahn

    So… Glibertarians.com is going to be reincorporating in AZ?

  6. Sensei

    We’ve recently entered a new, dark phase of the pandemic that, while perhaps unavoidable given the state of everything, is no less infuriating and upsetting. There are safe, effective, and free vaccines providing immense protection against the virus and they are available to virtually everyone—but good luck selling that to the large portion of Americans whose views have been warped beyond repair by years of Fox News propaganda, weaponized misinformation, hollow culture wars, social media bubbles, and that guy.

    Harris On Vaccine: ‘If Donald Trump Tells Us To Take It, I’m Not Taking It.’ | NBC News

    Yet it’s always Team Red.

    • rhywun

      Shut up!

  7. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Re: AV Club
    Just remember, they hate you and they want you dead.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I don’t know what AVclub is, but they seem to have that smug millennial grievance studies major tone down pat.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I used to go to them for movie and tv show hottakes but it got too political and I bailed about half a decade ago. Your reading is correct.

      • Nephilium

        It was the Onion’s sister site that deals with Television and Movies, and I believe it’s part of the Gawker network now.

      • SugarFree

        For years now. Severe plunge in quality.

      • Chipwooder

        Yup. Used to be a fairly entertaining site, and then it got Gawkerized and every single fucking thing had to be viewed through the lens of leftist politics.

  8. Count Potato

    “Kelly’s Local Journalism Sustainability Act of 2021, would essentially subsidize local news organizations through a series of tax credits.”

    Can Glibs apply? Aren’t we “too local”?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      *zing*

    • The Other Kevin

      Zing!

    • Rat on a train

      zing?

      • Ghostpatzer

        #zing

    • R C Dean

      Err, aren’t failing news organizations losing money? Which would mean they wouldn’t pay taxes even without a tax credit?

      Oh, he means a refundable tax credit. Not a tax credit at all, really, but lightly laundered check from the Treasury.

  9. Yusef drives a Kia

    “His wife was shot in the head; what’s his excuse?”
    Stray Neutrinos when he was in orbit, passed right through him and took his Soul on their way,

    • Not Adahn

      I saw Stray Neutrinos at SXSW in ’97.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Nah, just born stupid.

    • Ted S.

      Couldn’t even beat a dumb jock on Jeopardy!.

  10. Rebel Scum

    We’ve recently entered a new, dark phase of the pandemic

    Indeed. The government tyranny related to the scamdemic has let up but is destined to return two-fold.

    • blackjack

      I predict it increases until just after the 2022 elections.

      • Gadfly

        I don’t think so. The Red states will push back on that, and there would be no better way to rally Republicans than to go hard on the pandemic stuff after everyone is tired of it, which seems like a poor strategic move heading into 2022.

  11. Drake

    Lake of the Ozarks sounds fucking awesome! Heaven forbid the proles have a bit of fun.

    • Sensei

      Pretty much this.

    • Tulip

      He would say the same thing without the pandemic. So ^^^^ this.

  12. Sean

    That straw butt is…uh, something…

  13. Rebel Scum

    Kelly’s Local Journalism Sustainability Act of 2021, would essentially subsidize local news organizations through a series of tax credits.

    Gotta keep that state media propaganda running.

    • Not Adahn

      Good thing Jefferson never wrote about the Separation of Press and State.

    • Ghostpatzer

      There will be an ideological purity test to qualify for a subsidy. And a new bureaucracy to administer the initial test and provide ongoing compliance monitoring. More jobs!

      • Gadfly

        It won’t be ideological, subsidies will simply be withheld from institutions that publish misinformation. Even if that misinformation is true. Especially if that misinformation is true, in fact, since true misinformation is the most harmful to society.

    • Raven Nation

      I’m pretty sure “pillars of the community” don’t actually need subsidies to survive.

    • Not Adahn

      permanently suspended

      At least they didn’t ban them.

      • Tonio

        Double. Secret. Probation.

    • R C Dean

      At this point, I don’t know why Twitter doesn’t just suspend any account associated with Republicans.

      • Not Adahn

        Once the 1/6 commission designates the GOP as an “Enemy of the State” they will.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        They’re doing the rhetorical trial ballooning for this. I’ve seen more than one article where they’re pretending to struggle with the conclusion those evil right wingers forced on them, the conclusion that everybody to the right of Stalin is an insurrectionists.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Where the fuck is McConnell in all of this?

      • R C Dean

        I believe the kangaroo court is in the House, not the Senate.

        And you think McConnell has a problem with MAGA being driven from the party and society?

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        They occasionally throw a lefty under the bus.

        They should take a close look at Arab twitter… back in ISIS’ heyday finding links to beheadings were not hard to find.

      • Gadfly

        Maybe they don’t want to give fuel to their rivals? Sure, Trump had a big follower count when they banned him, but he was just one guy. Right-wing Twitter users still have a reason to stay on the platform because it still platforms hundreds of right-wing content producers. If they were to deplatform them all, that would give a real impetus for users to flee to a competitor. As it stands, there’s little incentive to go to a competitor, due to inertia and the fact that most of the people consumers want to read are still on Twitter.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      That along with the DOJ sending out warning letters that the audits may be violating federal law.

      Methinks those things are not unrelated.

      • Rebel Scum

        I would ask how states auditing elections that are conducted by the states has anything to do with the federal government but I already know the answer…

      • Tonio

        Studio Audience: Fuck You, That’s Why!!!

    • SDF-7

      There was a water leak near their servers, they’ll look into it in the morning.

  14. Count Potato

    “But with so much lockdown time I’ve had thinking about things that don’t matter, I’ve recently come to accept that I don’t care about aliens in any way outside of the world of entertainment. I’ve gone so far as to wonder if it’s really any of my business whether or not aliens are real. It’s one of those things that feel for me more like white people’s business than anyone else’s. Just look at the board of directors of MUFON, the largest organization for people who “study” UFO sightings — they’re all white!”

  15. Tonio

    “the herpes of millennial journalism is having another flare-up”

    Die, monster! Die, die, die…

  16. Certified Public Asshat

    Gawker going hard with the large font to really pull the readers in.

    • rhywun

      You clicked on it?!

    • Not Adahn

      Don’t you have him enslaving most of humanity?

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Yes, that’s one possible future, I need to finish the next chapter of the current story, now that Bezos made it back down safe.

      • Drake

        Need a chapter on how many serfs have to work like slaves so he can ride how giant dildo into space.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Hmmmm, there is this one part that…

      • Gadfly

        The whole “dildo” comparison seems silly to me, seeing as anything designed to penetrate something (spears, missiles, bullets, rockets, etc.) is inevitably going to look somewhat phallic, due to physics.

      • blackjack

        Very relevant.

    • Sensei

      Saved this from Reddit earlier this year.

      December 2015: “We’re going to end up with complete autonomy, and I think we will have complete autonomy in approximately two years.”

      Elon Musk Says Tesla Vehicles Will Drive Themselves in Two Years

      January 2016: “In ~2 years, summon should work anywhere connected by land & not blocked by borders, eg you’re in LA and the car is in NY”

      June 2016: “I really consider autonomous driving a solved problem, I think we are less than two years away from complete autonomy, safer than humans, but regulations should take at least another year,” Musk said.

      March 2017: “I think that [you will be able to fall asleep in a tesla] is about two years” –

      March 2018: “I think probably by end of next year [end of 2019] self-driving will encompass essentially all modes of driving and be at least 100% to 200% safer than a person.”

      SXSW 2018

      Nov 15, 2018: “Probably technically be able to [self deliver Teslas to customers doors] in about a year then its up to the regulators”

      Jan 30 2019: “We need to be at 99.9999..% We need to be extremely reliable. When do we think it is safe for FSD, probably towards the end of this year then its up to the regulators when they will decide to approve that.”

      Tesla Q4 Earnings Call

      Feb 19 2019: “We will be feature complete full self driving this year. The car will be able to find you in a parking lot, pick you up, take you all the way to your destination without an intervention this year. I’m certain of that. That is not a question mark. It will be essentially safe to fall asleep and wake up at their destination towards the end of next year”

      On the Road to Full Autonomy With Elon Musk — FYI Podcast

      April 12th 2019: “I think it will require detecting hands on wheel for at least six months…. I think this was all really going to be swept, I mean, the system is improving so much, so fast, that this is going to be a moot point very soon. No, in fact, I think it will become very, very quickly, maybe and towards the end this year, but I say, I’d be shocked if not next year, at the latest that having the person, having human intervene will decrease safety. DECREASE! (in response to human supervision and adding driver monitoring system)”

      April 22nd 2019: “We expect to be feature complete in self driving this year, and we expect to be confident enough from our standpoint to say that we think people do not need to touch the wheel and can look out the window sometime probably around the second quarter of next year.”

      April 22nd 2019: “We expect to have the first operating robot taxi next year with no one in them! One million robot taxis!” “I feel very confident predicting autonomous robotaxis for Tesla next year,” “Level 5 autonomy with no geofence”

      May 9th 2019: “We could have gamed an LA/NY Autopilot journey last year, but when we do it this year, everyone with Tesla Full Self-Driving will be able to do it too”

      April 12th 2020: How long for the first robotaxi release/ deployment? 2023? “Functionality still looking good for this year. Regulatory approval is the big unknown.

      https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1249210220200550405

      April 29th 2020: “we could see robotaxis in operation with the network fleet next year, not in all markets but in some.”

      July 08, 2020: “I’m extremely confident that level five or essentially complete autonomy will happen, and I think, will happen very quickly, I think at Tesla, I feel like we are very close to level five autonomy. I think—I remain confident that we will have the basic functionality for level five autonomy complete this year, There are no fundamental challenges remaining. There are many small problems. And then there’s the challenge of solving all those small problems and putting the whole system together.”

      Dec 1, 2020: “I am extremely confident of achieving full autonomy and releasing it to the Tesla customer base next year. But I think at least some jurisdictions are going to allow full self-driving next year.” Axel Springer Award

      Jan 1, 2021: “Tesla Full Self-Driving will work at a safety level well above that of the average driver this year, of that I am confident. Can’t speak for regulators though.”

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        He’s still cool, he runs a Rocket company, I’m not big on Teslas, other than they accelerate like I never felt before,

      • Tonio

        It’s just like fusion-generated electricity, only with a shorter lead time.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        “Hey, just what you see Buddy”

      • Rat on a train

        When do we get a self-driving, fusion-powered Tesla? We were supposed to have flying, fusion powered DeLoreans by 2015.

      • blackjack

        Two years, but I can’t speak for the regulators?

  17. Penguin

    A butt made of straws, so the CDC can suck my ass.

    I don’t know art, but I know what I like.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      RIP bearded one

    • Tulip

      When I lived in San Antonio, we drove out to China Grove because of the song.

  18. Animal

    Backwater Jack’s is one of our regular stops in our Redneck Yacht Club summer reunions. I love that place.

  19. Count Potato

    “A woman branded a ‘danger to men’ by a judge after she stabbed her ex-boyfriend in a drunken rage celebrated walking free from court.

    Chloe Kendrick left Daniel Wint ‘for dead’ after plunging a 6in kitchen knife into his stomach while screaming, ‘Now you know how I feel!’

    The jilted 28-year-old attacked Mr Wint when he went to Kendrick’s flat to drop off some of her belongings after they split up.

    Mr Wint suffered a 2in deep stab wound and lost four-and-a-half litres of blood in the terrifying attack.

    Kendrick, of Malvern, Worcs., admitted grievous bodily harm with intent when she appeared at Worcester Crown Court.

    She was handed a 20-month sentence, suspended for six months, ordered to complete 15 days of rehabilitation and given a 8pm to 7am curfew.

    After she was spared jail, Kendrick bought several cans of Carlsberg larger and was pictured carrying the booze minutes after leaving court.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9834353/Woman-stabbed-ex-boyfriend-stomach-kitchen-knife-drunken-rage-buys-larger.html

    • R C Dean

      Gotta wonder how getting hammered squares with her rehab.

      • Not Adahn

        It didn’t say all 15 days had to be consecutive.

    • Not Adahn

      r/pussypass

    • Ghostpatzer

      “Danger to men” is now a get-out-of-jail-free card?

      And this is apparently why she was spared prison:

      ‘You run a risk of taking your own life and a risk, if you were incarcerated, of carrying such a threat out. That isn’t a hollow risk.’

      Well, then.

      • R C Dean

        “If you put me in jail, I’ll kill myself!”

        “Well, alrighty then. You’re free to go.”

        Alternate reply:

        “What, you’ve got something on the Clintons, too?”

    • blackjack

      In my experience, chicks that are crazy like that are usually hot. Chicks that look like her, well, they usually try harder. Maybe it’s the different scale over in England.

  20. Rebel Scum

    Bird Flue 2: Avian Boogaloo

    In early June, the Animal Rescue League of Arlington was receiving an average of 17 reports a day of sick and deceased birds. Although that number has dropped to an average of just 1.5 per day in July, DWR said they’re still not sure what caused the outbreak.

    “Diagnostic investigations of this nature can be prolonged, due to the wide range of testing possibilities, and because of this no definitive cause(s) of illness or death have been determined at this time,” DWR said in a statement.

    In the meantime, the department is recommending that bird feeders be removed if there are multiple dead birds in a location over a short period of time. And they recommend that in affected areas, bird baths and feeders should be cleaned with a 10% bleach solution every two weeks.

    This one is super scary because it is literally airborne.

    I appreciate your opinion but kindly fuck off.

    There is a chance, however, that Northam’s team could restore a statewide universal indoor mask mandate.

    “We’re looking at those options. Our team is studying this and we’ve been in communication this morning. Those CDC guidelines just came out yesterday.”

    8News asked if there is a threshold in terms of cases and positivity rate that would cause the state to restore the mask mandate. Northam said he looks at the data every day and knows that the Delta variant is out there but did not directly answer our question.

    “As long as there are human beings that are vectors that are walking around unvaccinated, whether it be the delta variant or the echo or the foxtrot, you can go right down the alphabet, we are going to continue to have variants and this virus will continue to smolder unless we all become part of the solution and get vaccinated,” Northam said.

    Make these dirty, pathogen-carrying bioterrorists wear and identifier so we know to keep away from them.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      “As long as there are human beings that are vectors that are walking around unvaccinated, whether it be the delta variant or the echo or the foxtrot, you can go right down the alphabet, we are going to continue to have variants and this virus will continue to smolder unless we all become part of the solution and get vaccinated,” Northam said.

      Fuck you Ralph. The variants are coming out the vaccinated population.

      • Ghostpatzer

        We need more variants. Diversity is good, right?

    • R C Dean

      Northam said he looks at the data every day

      Dude, your offshore bank accounts aren’t really “data”.

    • Ghostpatzer

      In early June, the Animal Rescue League of Arlington was receiving an average of 17 reports a day of sick and deceased birds

      No details about the affected species. If they are hate birds, I’m not seeing a problem here.

      • Tonio

        The local avian afficianados have been earnestly posting about this. Everything shown has been some variant of songbird, loosely defined.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Too bad, I mostly like them critters.

    • Gadfly

      whether it be the delta variant or the echo or the foxtrot, you can go right down the alphabet

      I’m going to be pedantic and point out that that’s not the alphabet they’re using to name the variants. They are using the Greek alphabet, not the NATO alphabet, though those two do share a few letters.

      • rhywun

        ^ Look at the Northwest Euro-centric here

        One alpha-beta is as good as another, bigot.

  21. EvilSheldon

    I have many fond memories of shooting 3-gun at Lake of the Ozarks. Shooting all day, hanging out at this decrepit resort hotel, drinking and singing karaoke all night.

    One year, there was a stage based on those Somali pirates hijacking that oil tanker, and subsequently getting chopped up by the Dev shooters. It involved a bunch of self-resetting steel targets bolted into a rowboat, anchored 150 yards out in a lake. Good times.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    the large portion of Americans whose views have been warped beyond repair

    Again- successfully identify the problem, whiff magnificently on the cause/solution.

  23. Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

    “local newspapers, radio stations and TV stations are pillars” of Arizona communities, “bringing Arizonans trusted local news”

    Not in AZ, but my local paper is owned by a lady who very much pushes her own agenda. She and her paper are anything but trusted. One of her projects is to “save” a park that doesn’t even exist. And she seems to be a big fan of Swalwell.

    • rhywun

      And she seems to be a big fan of Swalwell.

      You could have just started and stopped there.

  24. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    Kelly’s Local Journalism Sustainability Act of 2021, would essentially subsidize local news organizations through a series of tax credits.

    Well-known local news outlet CNN will get billions from this

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      Too Big to Fail 2: Electric Boondoggle-oo

  25. OBJ FRANKELSON

    Lake of the Ozarks sounds like it would have been a target-rich environment for a twenty-something Frank.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      You know who else did compulsory medical experimentation on a bunch of people in the ghettos?

      • Ghostpatzer

        Richard Roundtree?

      • Chipwooder

        Shut your mouth!

      • Ghostpatzer

        But we’re talkin’ ’bout Shaft!

      • blackjack

        Literally thousands of crack dealers?

    • rhywun

      If this leads to a huge exodus of NYC “workers” I’ll be quite pleased.

      • Ghostpatzer

        My brother (NYC employee) is not jabbed and not pleased. Just found out he is seeking counsel to advise him on his legal options; hope things work out for him. I’m not optimistic.

      • rhywun

        🙁

      • Hyperion

        And everyone else around the county will be most displeased.

  26. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    Funny story about Lake of the Ozarks. We went on a family vacation there back in the 70’s. We rented a boat and were driving around the lake looking for a park or somewhere to picnic. We spotted a beautiful park with a dock and lots of activity. My dad pulled up to the dock, and a young man ran up, grabbed the rope and saluted my dad.

    It was a family day for some military base or battalion or some shit.

    We unloaded the boat and had our picnic & pretended we were military folk.

  27. Rebel Scum

    As predicted…the shots are intended to recur forever.

    A third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can “strongly” boost protection against the delta variant — beyond the protection afforded by the standard two doses, suggests new data released by Pfizer on Wednesday.

    The data posted online, which are expected to be discussed in a company earnings call on Wednesday morning, suggest that antibody levels against the delta variant in people ages 18 to 55 who receive a third dose of vaccine are greater than five-fold than following a second dose.

    Among people ages 65 to 85, the Pfizer data suggest that antibody levels against the Delta variant after receiving a third dose of vaccine are greater than 11-fold than following a second dose.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Playing with fire. They’ll just be putting more selection pressure on the virus and it will escape again.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Will that work? Maybe…until it doesn’t.

    • Drake

      You only get short term protection and the rna fucks up your immune system, making you far more vulnerable to different strains and variants – so an endless cycle of boosters.

      At that point you do as your told or no more boosters and you’re dead in a month.

    • B.P.

      Tomorrow’s headline: “Another dose will turn this thing around,” says snickering Pfizer CEO during earnings call.

    • Hyperion

      Don’t worry, they’ve got their gain of function SCIENCE! down on the variants now. So if you deplorables will behave yourself, it won’t be too bad. They’ll only have to dial up the gain of function stuff during threats to our democracy. Like the 2022 midterms.

    • Agent Cooper

      According to the UK (and the US), the Delta looks to be burning itself out already. (See Scott Gottlieb’s tweets)

  28. The Late P Brooks

    You know who else did compulsory medical experimentation on a bunch of people in the ghettos?

    Bumpy Johnson?

    • Suthenboy

      Is it within the rules to answer Josef Mengele? Or is that too close to Hitler?

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        If they personally met Hitler and or wore swastikas, it’s too close.

  29. Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

    I wonder if that article on Lake of the Ozarks is some clandestine marketing for the upcoming season of Ozark.

  30. Mojeaux

    My dad’s people are from the Ozarks. The Laura Ingalls Wilder farm is in the Ozarks. Silver Dollar City is in the Ozarks.

    Fuck it, I just love the Ozarks.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      The Laura Ingalls Wilder farm

      We’re taking the kiddo there this fall during our big road trip. I think she’s still a little bit young to fully understand it at 4 years old, but she’s gonna absolutely love it nonetheless.

    • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

      My dad’s people are from there too!! Where are your dad’s people from? Mine are from Christian County & Greene County (Springfield)

      • Mojeaux

        Ava, Douglas County, 50 miles east southeast of Springfield and 50 miles northeast of Branson. It’s 12 miles to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home. My people were there when she was there.

        So I don’t know how my AWOL-from-the-Belgian-army-turned-French-citizen great grandfather Felix got there, but he met and married my great gma there. He was 40. She was 16. Then he left her there and went off gallivanting around the world. Story is he sailed on a Chinese junk for some time. He came back enough times to get four (five?) boys and a girl (two?) on her.

        There is a creek we used to go to and wade in, Bryant Creek. Up the road just a teensy bit is a Trappist monastery famed for their fruitcake. Anyway, around my great gma’s place, there are some steep bluffs over Bryant Creek. There used to be a suspension footbridge from the bluff to the monastery. It was old and creaky when I was a child, old boards and bare rope holding it up. I crossed it, hanging on for dear life, but not without much squawking.

        Now it’s all dusty in here, WTF.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        It’s 12 miles to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home. My people were there when she was there.

        Not the Benders, I hope…

      • Mojeaux

        No. My g-gma’s family name was Plumb.

      • Mojeaux

        The Ingalls family, made famous in the books and television series Little House on the Prairie, lived near Independence, and Laura Ingalls Wilder mentioned the Bender family in her writing and speeches. In 1937 she gave a speech at a book fair, which was later transcribed and printed in the September 1978 Saturday Evening Post and in the 1988 book A Little House Sampler. She mentioned stopping at the inn, as well as recounting the rumors of the murders spreading through their community. She alleged that her father, “Pa Ingalls”, joined in a vigilante hunt for the killers, and when he spoke of later searches for them she recalled, “At such times Pa always said in a strange tone of finality, ‘They will never be found.’ They were never found and later I formed my own conclusions why.”

      • Ghostpatzer

        So, you’re Plumb loco?

      • Mojeaux

        Mr. Mojeaux stuck it in the crazy.

      • Ted S.

        Now I have this image of Mojeaux saying, “It’s always Marcia! Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!!!”

      • Ghostpatzer

        Lol

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        My 2x great grandpappy botched a hangin’ o’ some outlaws in Christian County. My 1x great grandpappy shot & killed a local Springfield yoot who was vandalizing his store.

        Family lore says there was a letter among my dad’s paternal side gossiping about the maternal side (the ones doing the hangin’ & the shootin’) long before my grandparents were married. Apparently, the Johnsons were the talk of the town.

      • westernsloper

        How long were the Johnsons there that the the town talked about?

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        I dunno. I should go and do some…research. For science.

      • westernsloper

        He was 40. She was 16.

        WTF????

      • blackjack

        That was back in the pre-puritanical era. Well, post and pre.

      • Mojeaux

        Lessee … my grandfather was born in 1912 and I think he was child #3 or #4, so it had to be before 1900.

        Girls were considered a tidge young at 16, but still within the boundaries of propriety.

        Also, Ozarks.

      • westernsloper

        Oh I have seen it in, well, some places but those places had still had not figured out how to use a wheel borrow. I suppose I choose to be ignorant that we were there early 1900’s when it comes to the marrying off of ones daughters. How many cows did he have to give her father to marry a girl that young?

      • Mojeaux

        I don’t know anything more than what I’ve shared, except that my ggpa was apparently a scoundrel and my ggma was feisty.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      It was early September when I rolled through the Ozarks and Holy crap! What an absolutely gorgeous place, it would be fun to explore.

    • Rat on a train

      I haven’t been to Branson since I was a child visiting family in the area. I still remember Silver Dollar City and the Baldknobbers.

      • Mojeaux

        SDC is wonderful.

    • Ozymandias

      I am currently typing from Table Rock Lake, right down the street from Silver Dollar City. Yes, it is the Redneck Riviera – and it’s wonderful.
      Fuck the rest of the world.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Listening now, and my Blood is beginning to boil, We are fucked……

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        The one thing that bothered me was when one of the Capitol Hill cops were trying to talk to the rioters to get them to leave said to them that “This [The Senate floor] was a sacred space.

        No, It’s not a sacred space. There is no divine right of rule or mandate of heaven. It is not a temple, church, or holy ground. It is a government office building. One with symbolic meaning yes. But at the end of the day, it’s a government office building.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Filled with hired help, not aristocracy.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Have a does of the warm fuzzies

    “I think it’s more than likely we’re going to end up, if we end up in a war – a real shooting war with a major power – it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach of great consequence and it’s increasing exponentially, the capabilities,” Biden said during a half-hour speech while visiting the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

    Joe forgets his e-mail password, and it’s bombs away.

    • Rebel Scum

      How could he forget “tendy-nub-nubs”?

      • R C Dean

        Welp, I’m all set now for our next mandatory password change.

  32. kinnath

    Dew point is 82 degrees. This isn’t supposed to be the fucking tropics.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Insurrection in the hallowed halls of the Temple of DEMOCRACY!

    The drama over mask wearing on Capitol Hill is back and in full force.

    One day after Capitol Attending Physician Dr. Brian Monahan reinstated a mask mandate in the House of Representatives, many House Republicans purposefully defied the rules by appearing on the floor maskless.
    This is the latest sign of the deep divide and tension between Republicans and Democrats in the House on how to handle the Covid-19 pandemic and various other issues, with it even festering at the top, between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
    GOP Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida was seen without a mask walking off the House floor on Wednesday even though he told reporters he is not vaccinated.
    “I have not been vaccinated. I have had Covid-19. I’ve recovered,” Donalds told reporters.
    When asked why he did not wear a mask on the House floor, Donalds said, “This rule is stupid. Let’s just be very blunt about this.”
    “The Senate has no rules, so it’s funny how Covid operates differently here than in the Senate,” he added.
    Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California got into a yelling match with Donalds outside the chamber over mask wearing.
    Huffman, in a mask, said Donalds was selfish for not wearing one. Donalds responded, “Don’t be worried about me! Mind your business!”

    ——-

    Arguing that the mask mandate breeds resentment among members, Roy said on the House floor, “No kidding. Consider resentment being magnified right here in the floor of the House of Representatives. We are absolutely sick and tired of it. And so are the American people. This shame of an institution is doing nothing for the American people.”
    “This institution is a sham. And we should adjourn and shut this place down,” added the Texas Republican, who last week refused to tell CNN his vaccination status.
    GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Andy Biggs of Arizona gave Roy a standing ovation after his floor remarks, all without wearing masks.
    CNN spotted at least 24 Republicans who chose not to wear masks on the House floor Wednesday.

    I have here, in my hand, a LIST, Madame Speaker.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      “This institution is a sham. And we should adjourn and shut this place down,”

      Where do I go to vote for this guy?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I know, right?

      • Mustang

        USA USA USA

        Damn, I want to believe they’re growing spines but that football’s been yanked away so many times…

      • Gadfly

        There have always been Congresspeople with spines, and they are usually a small minority. If the leadership starts talking/acting that way, that might indicate an actual shift.

    • Rebel Scum

      CNN spotted at least 24 Republicans who chose not to wear masks on the House floor Wednesday.

      Insurrectionist, the lot of them.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        CNN, self appointed political snitches

    • Raven Nation

      Unanswered question: “if un-vaccinated people can give the virus to vaccinated people then, on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the lowest, how effective is the vaccine?”

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      Are you now, or have you ever been skeptical of the CDC?

    • rhywun

      CNN spotted at least 24 Republicans who chose not to wear masks on the House floor Wednesday.

      Good for them. I want to see Nancy demanding the entire opposition being led out in handcuffs. And CNN cheering it on.

    • R C Dean

      Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California got into a yelling match with Donalds outside the chamber over mask wearing.

      Getting into a shouting match with one of the unmasked Unclean strikes me as a good way to catch the ‘Vid. I hope Rep. Huffman was at least ten feet away from the Unclean one.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Speaking of unclean ones, i wonder if there is any extra space in Molokai.

      • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

        There’s lots of extra space, but the locals ain’t too friendly.

    • Agent Cooper

      “CNN spotted at least 24 Republicans who chose not to wear masks on the House floor Wednesday.”

      Tomorrow, it will be 112.

      /Manchurian Candidate.

  34. Lord Humungus

    I wish ol’ STEVE SMITH would visit Washington DC. But even rapesquatches have standards.

    • Hyperion

      STEVE SMITH NO DO SO GOOD IN SWAMP, ESPECIALLY BOG OF ETERNAL STENCH. SMELL BAAADDD!!!

  35. B.P.

    “…but good luck selling that to the large portion of Americans whose views have been warped beyond repair by years of Fox News propaganda, weaponized misinformation, hollow culture wars, social media bubbles, and that guy.”

    How dare the unwashed take up arms in a culture war forced upon them.

    • EvilSheldon

      Bullies are usually really surprised when one of their victims picks up a rock and caves in their skull.

      You hear a lot of, “I was only joking around!” bullshit once they get out of the hospital.

    • The Hyperbole

      But wait, there’s more….or maybe not.

    • Suthenboy

      Dammit.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Good for the AG. Here’s hoping the mayor becomes an actual victim.

    • Hyperion

      Yep, they’re starting it again already. Too much lost sleep for the authoritarians over a couple months of freedom for the unwashed masses.

      It’s going to get much worse, including total lockdowns and much a worse pandemic leading up to the 2022 midterm elections.

      This will never stop, they’ll never let it go.

      • Mojeaux

        Pleasedontberight pleasedontberight pleasedontberight…

      • R C Dean

        a worse pandemic leading up to the 2022 midterm elections

        So are you thinking a new engineered virus/variant, or just an increase in hysterical shrieking?

      • Hyperion

        It could be any of those, or a combination, but the intended result will be the same. The democrats plan to never lose again and to finally usher in their proggy utopia. And they’ll do whatever they have to, to get there. So far, pandemics have worked really well and there’s no reason to stop now.

        Just listen to asshats like Gates and Buffet already predicting a much worse pandemic headed our way. So if they have to, I mean they already have the lab and the gain of function know how and no one will lift a finger to try to stop it. So if that’s what it takes, that’s what we’ll have.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Look at the goddamn comments responding to that tweet.
      We. Are. Fucked.

      • Mojeaux

        I was trying not to.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I had to remind myself that Twitter is a predominantly hivemind left wing cesspool so this isn’t necessarily reflective of the views of this guy’s constituents. There, now I feel better.

      • Mojeaux

        My new mantra: “Lake of the Ozarks, Lake of the Ozarks, Lake of the Ozarks … “

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I’d move to the Ozarks in a heartbeat if I could find a job and convince the wife.

      • Ask your doctor if BEAM is right for you

        Yeah, it’s pretty amazing how many people think that YET. ANOTHER. MASK MANDATE. will somehow “save” them.

        My species is dominated by fucking idiots.

      • Hyperion

        Only idiots are breeding. It’s a game of numbers and they’ve won.

      • Ghostpatzer

        That is depressing.

  36. Hyperion

    WTF?

    California hates you, no matter who you are.

    • Ted S.

      Do computers have asses for drugs to fall out of?

      • Ask your doctor if BEAM is right for you

        I thought they were to bite.

      • PutridMeat

        And are often bitten.

      • blackjack

        GIGO

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      What’s the impact on the environment to drive a car to a friend’s house in Nevada who’ll receive it for you I wonder. I feel bad for the Hawaiians though.

      • Hyperion

        It’s Cali. They’ll probably put you in prison for 40 years if you get caught transporting it. Right wing extremist terror or something like that.

      • Ask your doctor if BEAM is right for you

        Someone trying to smuggle in that much computing power can’t possibly be up to any good.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Andrew Tanenbaum – CA public enemy #1

      • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

        The fruit inspection stations at the California border will have a new responsibility to check for computers too.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Might have to keister it then.

  37. Ghostpatzer

    First Responders

    Do these guys get a ticker-tape parade?

    • EvilSheldon

      They fucking should.

    • R C Dean

      I’d like to see what the flood water looked like where they drove into it. If it was anything like what was on that video, the driver is a fucking idiot who dodged being a Darwin Award finalist.

  38. Shpip

    Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California got into a yelling match with Donalds outside the chamber over mask wearing.
    Huffman, in a mask, said Donalds was selfish for not wearing one. Donalds responded, “Don’t be worried about me! Mind your business!

    Donalds should’ve just called Huffman a racist. Shuts ’em up every time, from what I understand.

  39. Ghostpatzer

    Season to taste

    Turns out UCS was right all along.

    • Ask your doctor if BEAM is right for you

      I don’t use McCormicks stuff, for the most part. Over-priced and of average quality.

      Plus I HATE HATE HATE their freakin’ bottles!

      • EvilSheldon

        What do you use for mid-bulk spices?

      • Ask your doctor if BEAM is right for you

        Gots me a Wholesale Club and a Costco Business Centre near me.

        Plus, if I want really high-quality stuff, I use the Silk Road Spice Merchants here in town.

      • Ghostpatzer

        No love for Bawlmer, eh?

      • Gustave Lytton

        Someone else who misses their old 2/3-way boxy tins!

      • rhywun

        Oh god I hated those.

    • Rebel Scum

      McCormick recalls 3 seasonings for possible salmonella at major chain stores

      Hm. I stick to the Weber blends. I also have a few things from Killer Hogs..

      • rhywun

        Wow, big bro looks like he really likes his BBQ.

  40. creech

    New lockdowns are on the horizon. The Wash. Nationals baseball team announced 12 covid positive cases; eleven of them had been vaccinated. Looks like vaccine is worthless for not testing positive but probably very effective in preventing any symptoms at all. Last night, the Nats won so sick or not the vid doesn’t seem to hurt performance of most healthy young folks.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I realize I’m preaching to the choir but if the symptoms are mild or nonexistent then who cares? I’m far more worried about the economy and inflation at this point.

      • R C Dean

        Mr. Teats has it right. Even assuming the test is 100% accurate, you’re not sick unless you are, you know, sick. You have hundreds if not thousands of different kinds of viruses present in your body at any given time. None of them are making you sick, even if they are disease viruses. So, who cares, indeed?

        And, we used to know that you present minimal risk of transmission unless your viral load is high, and your viral load isn’t high unless you are, you know, sick.

        The biggest of the Big Lies around COVID is conflating “cases” with “positive tests”.

      • rhywun

        AsYmPtOmAtIc SpReAd!!1!

        Also, killing grandma.

      • Ask your doctor if BEAM is right for you

        I’m more concerned about the increasing evidence for ADE Syndrome myself.

        We’ve vaccinated over a billion people. If only 10% of them get ADE Syndrome, we just killed 100 million+ people or gave them either ALS- or MS-like symptoms.

        Yay us.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Wouldn’t that manifest as the vaccinated showing more severe symptoms than the unvaccinated? I’m not aware of that being seen.

      • Ask your doctor if BEAM is right for you

        Elevated titres amongst the infected vaxxed is one indication. Dr. Robert Malone weighs in:

        https://twitter.com/RWMaloneMD/status/1420390188988223488

        I’m most worried for the Spousal Unit, who’s been double-vaxxed.

    • Rebel Scum

      announced 12 covid positive cases

      I thought the CDC finally admitted that the pcr test is bs because it cannot 1) diagnose anything and 2) distinguish between/among viruses.

      (I have been pointing this out since the beginning…)

      • Hyperion

        None of it matters. Most people are dumb sheep and the authoritarians know this. So they know they can keep the herd frightened and under control easily. The rebels, people with actual functioning brains, they’ll be be labeled extremists and get yelled at by the dumb sheep on Twatter.

        So basically, they’ll just keep riding this thing harder and harder until we’re China. Only more woke. Like the lowest level of hell in the Inferno. Learn to speak Mandarin. You won’t have any freedom, but at least you’ll get to see the wokesters get ran over by tanks and they won’t be bothering you.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Things look bleak but all this isn’t a foregone conclusion. You sound more pessimistic than Winston.

      • Hyperion

        I’m not a pessimist. I’m a realist. There just isn’t any real reason for hope. I read an article today that explained it very well. The reason that democrats are willing to do suicide missions is the same reason why they did it in 2010 when they got slaughtered in the midterms. They’re the fucking Borg. A few of the cogs get their political career ended, but it’s all for the collective. The shitty legislation they pass is FOREVER. We can never get rid of it. That’s what they do, they play the long game.

        Now that they’ve got this bioterror stuff and get away with it, election fraud, get way with it. It’s game over, just a matter of time. Learn Mandarin.

  41. Semi-Spartan Dad

    The dominos have started falling as they intended with the DOJ announcement. I’ve been added to an official noncompliance list for refusing to share my vax status. Two days to share or face consequences. I tried to buy myself at least a few more months to see what shakes out this Fall before having to make a decision. I hope my appeal to delay is successful.

    I had guessed that this would all settle down and the pressure would ease off by now. Instead it looks like the we’re going in the opposite direction now towards vax passports now and a dystopian future.

    • Hyperion

      “I had guessed that this would all settle down and the pressure would ease off by now.”

      When authoritarians taste this level of control, it’s never going away until they’re swinging from lampposts.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I’ve been added to an official noncompliance list for refusing to share my vax status.

      As a contrast, 2 years ago today the evening post on Glibs. If you hopped a ride with John Titor and dropped the above quote in that thread, I don’t think anybody would 1) believe you, and 2) believe that the country is still in one piece.

  42. l0b0t

    I only know Lake of The Ozarks through the tv show Ozark, but, having grown up in various seasonal tourist towns, it looks like my kind of place. Also, I could spend years diving those waters for salvage finds.

    • Hyperion

      We used to go on vacation there in the summer after we moved back east from Cali when I was a little kid. Haven’t been back there since.

    • blighted_non_millenial

      Which is filmed North of Atlanta. That’s Lake Lanier.

      • Mojeaux

        Because Missouri won’t give Hollywood tax credits the way Georgia has.

  43. R.J.

    That Gizmodo article is so over the top I thought it had to be sarcasm. Everything the author hates sounds great. The author needs therapy, not a byline.

  44. l0b0t

    (Squeals with delight) New Absolute Mad Lads from Count Dankula is about Buster Keaton – https://youtu.be/T1FgJfb21-M

    • Tulip

      Hey that Raven Rock book is great! The fairy tales our government used to tell itself!

    • westernsloper

      Nope not doing it. I was to hungover last time and that won’t do tomorrow. I am weak.

  45. rhywun

    Have an excellent deep-dive into America’s higher-ed bubble.

    TL;DR: It’s worse than you thought.

  46. Gadfly

    So Glib Californians (Glibfornians?), how does the recall effort look on the ground? I read that the race is tightening, and that the front-runner for replacement if Newsom goes down is Larry Elder, who I don’t know much about but seems like a decent guy. I also read that the recall will largely hinge on turnout, and that the pro-recall side is smaller yet more motivated than the anti-recall side, so is Newsom popular enough to get people to turn out to save him?

    • blackjack

      The scary thing is, turnout really doesn’t matter anymore. They mail out ballots. They harvest ballots. Somehow they always win. They didn’t use to. There used to be a tendency to move towards blue, but it vacillated in both directions. It seems like they got enough of a majority one time to spike the punch and then they took everything. I know that Newsom would lose a fair recall election. I don’t know that he will lose one in California at present. We’ll see.

  47. westernsloper

    “Depending on your politics, the scene at Backwater Jack’s is either a symbol of reckless abandon or unapologetic living in the face of a pandemic.”

    I’ll take the latter TYVM. Not that I go to bars or party on lakes anymore. I hate people. A good pandemic suits me but I am not such an ass as to say the kids shouldn’t be kids.

    • Drake

      They probably eat terrible peasant food like barbeque and listen to that awful country music!

  48. limey

    AC/DC cover bands, a bar called Shorty Pants

    I’m available for that.

    Apparently Dusty Hill died. Very sad. I only just heard about it.