Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20A | 20B | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25-26 | 27 | 28-29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35-36 | 37 | 38A | 38B | 38C | 38D | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42-43 | 44-45 | 46 | 47 | 48-49A | 49B | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57A | 57B | 58-59| 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68-69 | 70A | 70B | 71A | 71B
PART II
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS
72
“GODDAMMIT!” TREY RAGED as he tore his mezzanine office apart.
Now, Trey was a generous judge of people, outwardly giving them the benefit of the doubt until they gave themselves enough rope to make him tighten the noose. He was harsher in his opinion of himself, more so than he was of others. But this was not his fault and he had every right to be angry with Marina.
He did not have the right to bust up her house just because he was angry with her. Lonely. What married woman got lonely? What married woman didn’t want to get her man out of the house so she could run her routine without tripping over him? She liked fucking, so he made sure to give her enough sugar to make her think it was the dope getting her where she liked to be.
Picture shows?
Fairyland?
Reading?!
He didn’t have time for that anymore! He had a business to run! It demanded even more time than it had before because of the money he was paying Boss Tom! And he still had to put up with Lazia hanging around on the fringes, waiting for his chance, with Carrollo in the shadows! Never mind Solly Weissman trying to fuck with Trey’s head, putting out rumors of the rack and ruin he was about to visit upon the speak and possibly Trey himself! Fucking was about as much fun as he had time for!
She was talking about Agatha Christie with some other cat, and that was how to get in her trousers. Agatha Christie!
Carville probably thought she was pretty too. He wondered if he’d told her. And if Trey were in Carville’s shoes, he’d try to convince the woman to leave her good-fer-nothin’ husband. Trey wasn’t sure Carville was the kind of cat to take that tack, but just in case—
He hopped in his car and headed on over to East High School, which was, coincidentally, right up the hill from Elmwood Cemetery. That was one place he would never go again till he died, and the only reason he wanted to be laid to rest there was because that was where all the important cats were buried.
He seriously considered busting into the cat’s classroom and making a scene, getting him fired for cavorting with a married woman (or any woman at all—immorality contracts and whatnot), but Carville had gotten Marina ahead of Dot, because Marina was through algebra and into trigonometry, which she’d taken to like a duck to water, given patience, time, and good explanations.
Trey was a generous man. If he could allow as how the Reverend Missus was crackerjack sharp, he could allow as how Carville had done what he’d been paid to do and done it well. Unlike with the Reverend Missus, Trey couldn’t bring himself to visit life-ruining consequences upon Carville because he had been kind to Marina.
He was waiting outside his classroom, leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette.
“Bye, Mr. Carville!” called well-dressed and pretty girls flirtatiously as the students spilled out the door after the bell rang.
“You too, girls,” the man called absently. It was a confidently absent reply, one a distracted cat would give to people he had power over and from whom he wanted to keep his distance.
A couple of the prettiest girls stopped when they saw Trey and looked him over appreciatively. It happened a lot, especially with girls who knew they were pretty. He didn’t care. He lifted an eyebrow to ask why they were bothering him, and they harrumphed away.
Trey rolled off the wall and around the doorjamb. “Carville,” he said.
Startled, Carville looked up at him. “Well, hi, Mr. Dunham,” he said, bewildered. “Did something happen to Marina?”
“Nothing firing you won’t fix.”
Carville’s mouth dropped open.
“I know you got feelin’s for my wife—” The cat’s color drained. “—so you’re fired. Ain’t gonna do nothin’ else ’less you come sniffin’ ’round her very cute ass that belongs to me, hear?”
To Trey’s surprise, his expression turned resolute and he straightened. “Do your worst, Dunham,” he sneered. “I have done nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Do you or do you not have feelin’s for my wife?”
“I do,” he shot back, “but unlike you, I like her for herself, not for what she can do for me.”
“Have you or have you not tried to poison her mind against me and offer to take her away?”
“I don’t know what she told you, but it wasn’t like that.”
“She didn’t tell me anything. It’s what I’d do.”
He sneered. “I’m not you.”
“But you did.”
“Yes, I did! And she refused. Even if I thought I could win her affections, which I couldn’t because she’s in love with you, I wouldn’t have to drug her to do it.”
That hit Trey in the gut. He would have preferred Carville simply sucker-punch him.
“And I would appreciate her—”
“I appreciate her!” Trey blurted before he realized how stupid it was to defend himself to some cat with a crush on his wife. But then, Trey was a stupid shit.
“Mmm hm,” Carville hummed derisively, with a look of such blatant contempt, it nearly knocked Trey on his ass. “You owe me a week’s pay. Send it by courier and don’t come here again. This is a respectable school with a lot of pretty teenage girls and I will have you put on the blacklist as soon as you leave. No decent father will tolerate his girl within speaking range of a Machine underboss who’s drugged a sixteen-year-old to get under her skirt to win a bet.
“I am in love with your wife,” he sneered. “That’s true. And you probably heard that from Stanley, who doesn’t like you much more than I do. But so what. Marina is smart and kind and sweet. I would make a much better husband than you. But I can control myself, and I never thought I had a chance. So go ahead and try to ruin my life and see who gets a brick thrown through his expensive plate glass windows by a mob of angry and scared fathers. The Machine won’t care since the speakeasy is yours.”
Trey stood completely speechless, hating himself for feeling the same way he felt when he tripped in front of Marina, but unable to muster his swagger because Trey was an honest man and everything Carville said was true—up to and including the fact Carville probably would make a better husband for Marina than Trey.
“You’re still fired,” he ground out, then turned on his heel and left to salvage what was left of his pride.
* * *
He went home after work the next morning expecting … He didn’t know what he expected. The back porch light was on, as usual. The rest of the house was dark and quiet, as usual. There was no light from the top of the stairs lighting his way. That was not usual.
Marina was asleep. That too, was unusual.
He sighed and went to the bathroom to clean up, then stood in the threshold of his room naked, dripping wet because he couldn’t spare the time to dry off to look at his sleeping wife, pregnant with his child, as interesting in sleep as she was awake although in a different way. It had only been three months since they’d married and he was already taking her for granted.
Carville was wrong about one thing: Marina didn’t love Trey and that was okay. She was never going to. He might have taken it personally, but he doubted Marina had the capacity to truly love anybody. She didn’t know what it was. Trey did, having watched his father and mother.
Trey also knew what being in love really was. He had been. Once, with Florence. And see how that turned out.
So Trey didn’t expect to have that kind of marriage in any case, which was why it didn’t bother him. He also knew that because Marina had grown up with no love whatsoever, she wouldn’t believe anybody who told her they loved her.
What he did know was that he didn’t want to hurt his best pal.
He drooped, too exhausted and beat down to carry himself with pride, and trudged around the bed to his side. He climbed under the covers and didn’t touch Marina. He needed to conserve his energy for their trip to Fairyland tomorrow.
72
If you don’t want to wait 2 years to get to the end, you can buy it here.
Donations can be made here, if you so desire.
Don’t forget to tip your Firster.
Just the tip?
Somehow I missed last week’s adventure, I’ll go back and read it. Oh, ’cause my machine was down.
Anyway, this made up for it except I’m missing something as to why Trey is suspicious/jealous. Poor Trey.
Thanks, Moj
Well, I guess I won’t read last week’s, can’t find a link. Contributing writers and last week’s edition didn’t show anything.
Woe is me, oh, woe is me…
There are links to all the chapters right at the top.
Thanks, I finally figured that out. I knew there had to be a way. I’m old.
Thanks, Hype, too.
What would I do without the Glibs?
https://www.glibertarians.com/2024/02/1520-main-chapter-71b/
Submitted for your consideration: Ramstein in Paris (now on Amazon Prime) is one of the craziest things ever committed to film.
Like a documentary on the band?
Concert film.
They definitely got their money’s worth.
Also… those guys are insane. I went back and forth between is this horrible or awesome. I landed on awesome… but if you are easily offended… maybe not for you.
Also… first time I have seen a concert film that was as much an art piece as it was a concert film. Their show was performance art, then the movie added more artistic expression, including cgi. At one point the keyboard player had lost his arm. Bizarre stuff.
I have seen them. Fantastic show. Keyboard player nearly got burned by a flamethrower when I watched.
I have no idea how they avoid serious injury.
In the Paris show, the lead singer is thrown down a set of metal stairs in a BDSM inspired performance. He injurs himself enough to draw blood, which flows down his arm for the rest of the show.
That concert DVD is the awesome.
They are one of the few bands that would get me to go to a live show.
Well, I’ve stopped bleeding. So that’s good.
You make Pie sad.
I need my blood. I’m using it.
A tourniquet around the neck will stop the bleeding…follow me for more first aid tips!
I’ll have to practice on you first.
Interesting conundrum Trey has created for himself.
“ It had only been three months since they’d married and he was already taking her for granted.”
Noooo!
Interesting strategy from the NY trial judges. They completely ignore reality and come up with insane verdicts….
But….
The insane part is the conclusions they reach on the evidence. And the trial court is the finder of fact. As I understand it you generally cannot appeal on the basis of “the judge is wrong”.
The appeals court can rule on the law and procedure, but that is kind of it. So “the evidence clearly shows I didn’t do it but the judge just said all the evidence of my innocence was BS and believed the lies of the prosecutor even though we proved they were lies” is not an appeal.
My brother (a lawyer) says Trump can appeal the unique application of the law, maybe on equal protection… but the most obvious fact, that the judge is entirely politically motivated just like the prosecutor and they ignored the evidence to railroad him is not likely to be able to be appealed.
Even if you buy their insane valuations, “he got slightly more favorable interest rates” certainly doesn’t add up to hundreds of millions.
“The judge is blatantly biased” should be an appealable condition, with real pentalites for the judge.
The system is rigged to fuck over the average defendant. Trump is just living the life of anyone else who has gone through the system, only with the luxury of high priced lawyers. I don’t think he’ll learn much from it.
There will be real penalties eventually and not the bullshit slap down sort. Theses fuckers have no idea how thin their veneer of authority and power really is. Once people start rejecting it, these retards in robes are going to be praying they were merely in danger of being overruled on appeal.
Trump isn’t just a fuck you to the ruling class any longer. It about principles now. Nothing about Trump himself matters. It’s about fighting back against the corruption and the use of government power against their enemies. It’s about fighting back against the lawfare.
Trump kind of has to win, or you’ll never see another outsider gain power again.
Agreed. I am not even sure if Trump gets in that he will smash the right things. He will definitely do some decent damage. Maybe give us a chance.
I thought he had a decent chance but after watching the banana republic shenanigans of the last couple weeks it’s pretty clear that he doesn’t. The left is about ten steps ahead of whatever the not-left thinks it has on its side like “truth” or “justice”.
What effect will this have on other investors with interests in NY?
They will all start to GTFO.
It seems to me that Trump would have had lawyers and accountants to make sure whatever financials they were submitting to obtain loans were correct and legal.
People without Trump’s resources are either:
1. Checking out corporation laws in Texas
2. Of the belief that, as Democrats, they are immune to this type of situation.
Apparently what Trump did is shady but very common, at least in NYC. It isn’t ever prosecuted unless your name’s Trump though. Selective prosecution FTW.
Trump pretty plainly lied in loan applications. He claimed his NY triplex is 30,000 square feet. It’s actually 11,000. Using that he claimed it was worth about 4X it’s actual worth. But the banks had their own appraisers for the property that collateralized the loans. So yes Trump is a liar. But no the banks were not defrauded.
Alt-A FTW
You have the right idea but this case is an enormous shit sandwich both because of the judge and Trump’s lawyers. This is an overtly political prosecution IMO. The giant problem for Trump is his lawyer fucked up the start of his case by failing to file his answer to the complaint on time. He conceded liability which meant only damages were at issue. There is a very real issue of whether he committed fraud. But he waived it. I hope looking at pictures of his lawyer in a bathing suit is worth it.
Having said that, I can’t wrap my mind around the damages imposed by the court. It seems untethered to any harm in the case.
I hear you but your lawyer screwing the pooch shouldn’t remand you to (relative) financial ruin.
“The giant problem for Trump is his lawyer fucked up the start of his case by failing to file his answer to the complaint on time.”
I have seen this happen several times. I have never seen the judge and plaintiff/prosecutor pounce on it as an admission of guilt across the board.
I don’t know the details, but were someone to claim that they *did* actually file the answer in time, but that the judge secretly moved the deadline forward, or changed the location where they were supposed to file, I would not scoff.
Much watch Viva Frei summary of the Willis/Wade hearing today.
Seriously, watch to the end.
Fani Wade & Nathan Wade CHOSE VIOLENCE!
I’ll watch later. Just curious if anyone still watches Rekieta anymore.
He’s good when there’s an OJ level trial like Rittenhouse but otherwise he can be unfocused and rambling. Not a bad thing to watch occasionally though.
I’ve seen a lot of people get turned off by his constant drinking. Like, he gets trashed.
He lost me with his entire feud with Eric July. Not that I’m some big July comic book fan guy, but Rikieta came off as disingenuous to the max.
Maybe the drinking is why he’s a small law firm in Minnesota instead of a not small law firm in Minnesota. He does like to toss them back no doubt.
I honestly don’t think he’s that experienced or talented. He’s never won a case that actually went to trial. Or maybe it was that he hadn’t even been to trial.
He posted about Wade’s attorney on X.
The state is insane. They had a witness who was walling up to cover for them. Claimed privilege and it was going nowhere.
The state then completely goes scorched earth, revealing sexual assault allegations, potential playoffs, surprise confrontation with names .. “do you know..?”
Crazy. Seem to have opened the door for having to testify that they lied about the dates of their relationship.
Thanks to you and OBE for putting me on to Viva Frei. I’ve never been one to watch many podcasts/vlogs/whatever the kids are calling them these days, but I’ve been enjoying his coverage of this whole sordid shitshow.
“I am in love with your wife,” he sneered. “That’s true. And you probably heard that from Stanley, who doesn’t like you much more than I do. But so what. Marina is smart and kind and sweet. I would make a much better husband than you. But I can control myself, and I never thought I had a chance. So go ahead and try to ruin my life and see who gets a brick thrown through his expensive plate glass windows by a mob of angry and scared fathers. The Machine won’t care since the speakeasy is yours.”
Carville is smarter than Trey.
And I expected Trey to kill Carville. It fits Trey.
I really hope I didn’t set Trey up to be thought to be able to kill somebody for something relatively trivial in his realm of morality.
Someone here, I think it was Festus, said he didn’t like Trey and saw him as a shitty person.
I hope I have the person right. Someone said it. I miss Festus’ posting, the few times I’ve seen him post it is when I’m catching up on a dead thread.
Anyways…
as I’ve read more of the story, I’ve really soured on Trey. I’ve thought whoever it was that said Trey was a shitty person is right. The last chapter, Marina called Trey evil. Yeah, I see that. And yes, I think an evil person would have someone like Carville killed.
That is the risk of writing morally questionable people, I guess.
I’ll be honest. I’m having a hard time with people who are otherwise assholes who aren’t TO ME. I mean, I know eventually assholes gonna asshole, but that just came back to bite me on the ass in a rather shocking way. So because of that, I’m souring on Trey a little myself.
I’ll tell you this. He gets worse before he gets better, so there’s your spoiler.
That made no sense. I had a bestie who is now an ex-bestie because she just got so egregiously assholish I couldn’t overlook it. Assholish? No. She was cruel to my daughter for no reason.
@Agent Sloper had her pegged about a year and a half ago when I was describing her BEST qualities, and now I just need to tell him he was right.
Trey’s character has flaws, which makes him relatable. At least to me.
He is smart, but has blind spots, which makes his decisions unpredictable.
I guess I’m trying to say that I like this kind of character, whether he’s a”good guy” or an irredeemable louse.
FWIW I do not get that impression at all.
On Alexander The Great doc from Netflix.
I was completely right on their attempt to make Darius’s wife, a relatively insignificant figure whose only known act was offering herself to Alexander after his victory at Issus, into a girl boss.
She gets belligerent with Alexander and threatens to kill him in ultimate girl boss moment. Then they pretend that Alexander would have needed to use her to gain intelligence on the situation in Egypt, crediting her with his decision to turn South after Issus when it was his entire plan of campaign all along (and the reason he disbanded his unreliable navy). Egypt had revolted years before. It was obvious that they were not fond of Persian rule.
They completely skipped over his siege of Tyre. How the fuck do you do that? It was his longest single military engagement and a complete testament to his determination and ingenuity. They had to leave this out because you can’t really explain Alexander conquering the coastline while simultaneously giving credit for the strategy to Darius’s wife.
I didn’t think they’d cover his siege of Gaza, but that was also a pretty revealing character moment where he had the governor dragged around by a chariot after I think three months of resistance. Alexander was pissed and he hated the guy because he was apparently an ugly fuck.
They also refused to call Cleitus The Black Cleitus The Black. For obvious reasons.
I still maintain that if they couldn’t paint Alexander as bisexual (he ends up fucking Darius’s wife in a heat of passion moment, so they didn’t go full gay), he’d be a villain. You can’t have a straight white man who wanted to conquer the world portrayed in a positive light.
They are skipping over most of his atrocities so far. This is only season 1 so I’m guessing they’ll go for the fallen hero route as he becomes more of a paranoid drunk in his later years.
Here you go if interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ06_c6fzRA
I haven’t watched it yet but his analysis is usually pretty solid.
I know a lot about Alexander the Great already, but I’ll give this a watch to see some different takes.
I find he uses pretty flimsy sources for the relationship between Alexander and Hephaestion, though the two likely did have a sexual relationship. There’s more direct proof in the case of Bagoas. The sources he used for Hephaestion were of later creation.
He also contradicts himself saying that Alexander slept with everything and then noting the sources that tell us he showed little appetite for sex in general.
There remains debate or ambiguity over the relationship with Hephaestion precisely because the best sources we have aren’t clear.
Also curious – he doesn’t point out that they never used the word “phalanx” in the entire episode, or in subsequent episodes. You’d have no idea how the Macedonian infantry fought or how they differed from the Greeks.
Going back to Stateira, Darius’s wife…they make it seem as though of course Alexander fathered a son with her. They misstate the dates of their relationship. Issus was at the end of 333 BC and she died. The show states she had been away from Darius for 2 years. We simply don’t know this, and Plutarch gives the name of the son as one who, per Persian sources, was already several years old.
This narrative being sold is possible, but no one fucking knows and they present it as fact. There are contradictory sources and it’s being done purely to make her story more palpable to a mythical modern audience.
There’s, like, 20 hot libertarian wimmin on the Zoom right now
Will any of them make me a sandwich?
No.
Tell them to turn on the A/C
All 20 of them are in here making sandwiches naked
And dozens of hot glib men wearing sharp suits. Or naked, whatever your preference.
There’s a few Glib bachelors, I’m sure they are going to start Zooming, after they clean up a bit
Well shit, I’m going to bed as I have shit to do tomorrow. I guess I’ll just miss out on all the naked libertarian women making sandwiches.
Naked sandwiches? I always like mine with a little dressing.
Lingerie afficianado, creech? #Metoo
OK srsly there’s still 7 of us here – come join!
Thanks Moj. Interesting twist.
Why is this tutor fellow mooning over an already pregnant teen? I understand that this is Romancelandia but still. Mind you, I did have a life-long friend who hooked up with a girl that had a new-born baby and other spawn. Might have something to do with him owning a penis like a fire hydrant ( I saw it. We all saw it while skinny-dipping at a drunken teen party). My point being that was when I knew that I had chosen poorly and it was time to move away from the projects. All that I saw there was desperation and despair.
“when I saw that”
Good to see you, Fes! How are you feeling?
Judi helped to bed last night. Sometimes my legs go away. Thanks for asking, Red!
I have an urge to refer to that tutor fellow as a simp. I reserve the right to change my mind.
Painted red with a big nut on top? Well he had to settle for what he could get.
Dude. It looked like a JBL speaker, just hanging and swinging! The dorkiest (ha!) feller that you ever would meet. Flabbergasted, we were.
What’s his porn name?
“House OKs Bill Prohibiting Any Normalization With Syria”
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/house-oks-bill-prohibiting-any-normalization-syria
We enable headchoppers and then do this when our scum of the earth get their asses kicked. Man, we suck.
They’ve been doing it for over a century. Nothing to see here, move on citizens!
You can take my First from my cold dead hands.
OK ladies it’s a sausage fest, come on in to the zooms
“Maryland Proposes Raising Registration Fee For Pickup Trucks”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/maryland-proposes-raising-registration-fee-pickup-trucks
If you haven’t figured out Baltimore yet maybe you should hold off on this.
Also, fuck you.
If that scheme applies to all vehicles than wouldn’t EVs also get hit with higher fees?
🍿 🤡
Disappointed, but not surprised with True D S4. Best part is Jody Foster, who is still great. Could do without the repugnant pincushion costar. The whole plot is a mishmash of nonsense and claptrap. The new grrrlpower running is an idiot without a clue.
Will still watch Sunday.
I am convinced that most congestion on long haul interstate is from people being in the wrong lane, with CMVs being the worst offenders. Left lane is for passing. Only. Period. And there’s never any excuse for a CMV to be in the left lane on three lanes or more. Zero. Fuckers need to be pulled out of their cabs and beaten until those illiterate CDL holders figure out what those squiggles* on the posts along the road mean.
*different than the squiggles on the jingle trucks driven by the Shitintruckistanis from BC.
Not sure who the fogey behind the mike is or where Bruce is in the video, but I like it
https://youtu.be/GsTKEQzLkmw
Happy snowy morning!
Wheee!
☕😁
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HTDYMTBrKMU
🎶🎶
Good morning, Sean and cav973! We have quite the winter wonderland here in SWOH, too. Got a lot of it while I was driving home. 😬❄️🌨️
Morning greetings
Short-ish videos on the development of the NES games, Super Mario Bros., Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, Super Mario Brothers 2 (the USA version), and The Adventures of Link.
All of these are interesting.
Little bits of trivia. Like, the first opponent in Punch-Out is Glass Joe. He has a record of 99 losses and one win. Who did he beat?
Mike Tyson. Evidence is provided in the video.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0rcIjXh1J14vE9XrvtVvCKfFs0GfGhpJ&si=E_1NykT_nMD9qphC
Neat. The first 3D Metroid remains one of my favorite games of all time.
According to the video, the original Metroid was designed to be the “Anti-Super Mario Bros.”
Instead of just going to the right, you had to explore both right and left (and up and down). The backgrounds were dark and scary instead of bright and cheery.
Speaking of the original Super Mario Bros., the background story is that King Koopa used black magic to turn all the people in Toadstool Kingdom into bricks and mushrooms and such. So, Mario is killing people when he bursts a brick section apart.
Morning Sean et al,
Drank the coffee, started the fire, been up for an hour catching up to last night’s Glib business. Gonna be a nice day and looks like the next 10 days are going to be nicer. Not much of a winter here but I’m still tired of it.
Good morning, 4(20) and rhy!
4(20) you’re welcome to a bit of winter down south here! Glad I have a three-day weekend and don’t have plans to go anywhere until Tuesday.