Friday Afternoon Links

by | May 22, 2020 | Daily Links | 295 comments

Happy Friday everybody. Its a holiday weekend, so watch out for the usual holiday weekend shenanigans. We have a weekend of American staples set out: chicken wings, then fajitas, then hot dogs and hamburgers. Gotta get one more meal in… maybe pork chops on the grill. The regional differences in attitudes are interesting to me. Talking to some very smart people in the DFW area who are still worried about the ‘rona. Meanwhile, here in Central Wang, there was a half-hour line to get into one of the beach state parks, and the Tampa Zoo reopens a week from today.

Also, Gov. DeSantis has lifted all restrictions on youth activities… conveniently, as primary school wraps up for the year. But at least I can start looking for summer camps for my kids.

The gap between the ruling class and the rest of us continues to be on full display in Illi-nowah.

Wow, this is some bitter, bitter hate. Please, please, please, you paste-eating morons at Slate, do not turn Gov. DeSantis into a villain of the left. This is verging on the sort of positive feedback mechanism (left hates DeSantis because he stands next to Trump and doesn’t parrot party line, right decides to say nice things about Trump because left is hating on him, Slate and other window-lickers double down on hatred, etc.) that will see him being seriously considered for President in 2024, and I just don’t think he’s more than mediocre.

Here’s the contra argument to all of this lockdown and caution. Sorry your baby got measles, but you know… COVID.

About The Author

Brett L

Brett L

Brett set out to find America, the real America, the America of strip malls and serial killers, of butthole waxing and kelp smoothies, of cocaine and maggots. He sought it in the most American part of America—Florida: swamp gas and fever dreams, where love arrives on a rickety boat and leaves when it doesn't have the money for its fourth abortion. Oh, where has Brett gone? He’s drinking at the neck of America’s wang, chewing its foreskin and working its shaft. Brett is becoming legend. Brett can never die. Brett can never die. Brett is America, facedown in his own patriotic puke: the red his blood, the white his stomach lining, and the cold, cold blue his gas station slushie, spiked with coconut rum and tetracycline.

295 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    What’s that Irish bar with all the shit hanging on the walls?

    • egould310

      This place? https://yelp.to/qTKq/ARFXouSGH6

      We used to end up there occasionally on Sunday funday. A nice warm summer day, band playing, big crowd doing some power drinking. The cougars would be stalking and were ready to pounce! It was hilarious to watch the cougs in action. Many a young 20 something dude got herpes from that place.

      • Count Potato

        The food looks pretty good.

    • Florida Man

      Shenanigans?

      • mexican sharpshooter

        *Holds out pistol*

  2. Tres Cool

    Why Did Florida Avoid a Coronavirus Disaster?

    Theory 1: A Hot and Humid Climate

    I was told personally by our state Health director that this evil virus can survive the sweaty heat of Satan’s asshole.

    • leon

      Hmm. Is Satans Asshole Hot and Humid or Freezing and Humid.

      I would postulate the latter, as we all know that being Hot is better than Cold.

    • Count Potato

      I drove through western Ohio during the Summer. It was hot and humid.

      Also, there is no food in Toledo.

      • Gender Traitor

        I beg to differ. Drove right past it on our way to Maumee Bay State Park last summer. Whenever we go back, we hope to make a stop there.

      • Nephilium

        After introducing the girlfriend to that place, we need to stop there every time we go through Toledo now.

      • Gender Traitor

        What do you recommend?

      • UnCivilServant

        Why would you be passing through Toledo? It seems a bit out of the way. I mean the only things past it are Michigan or Canadia.

      • Gender Traitor

        The UP of Michigan is Michigan’s most redeeming quality.

      • The Last American Hero

        If you exclude the yoopers it is.

      • Nephilium

        GT: Tony Packo’s is now a mandatory stop. I’d like to try out some of the Toledo breweries, but that isn’t an option anymore if the girlfriend is with me. It’s also not a frequent direction to drive.

        UCS: Chicago takes us close enough that the move from 80 to 90 isn’t onerous.

      • Count Potato

        We were going to northern Wisconsin. So 90, to 80, to 41 or whatever.

      • Tres Cool

        Over-rated, and hyped by MASH and Jamie Farr.

        Skyline FTW.

      • Count Potato

        I think it was around 8AM. We were looking for breakfast.

        Also, this was before smartphones and stuff. We didn’t even have a regular cellphone.

    • Florida Man

      I like Slate’s take. If millions died it is 100 percent DeSantis’s fault. If his plan worked, it must be anything else to avoid giving him Any credit.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      If you really need an explanation, just look at the author’s Twitter pic…

      https://twitter.com/mollyolmstead

      Those are some batshit crazy eyes if I’ve ever seen any before.

    • Hyperion

      “his evil virus can survive the sweaty heat of Satan’s asshole.”

      I don’t think New Jersey is that hot or humid.

  3. Count Potato

    “the Tampa Zoo reopens a week from today”

    Isn’t the entire state basically a zoo? There are species from all over the world, just not in cages.

    • Florida Man

      Good luck spotting them in the wild. Except iguanas. Those things are like a plague.

      • Brett L

        Alligators in pretty much any non-chlorinated fresh body of water.

      • Florida Man

        But those are native, I was addressing his claim about species from all over the world.

      • Brett L

        What about New Yorkers and Canadians?

      • leon

        So… An Alligator in Every Pot?

      • Florida Man

        *runs numbers*

        Yeah, I can make that happen.

      • DEG

        I’ve seen worse ideas.

  4. leon

    Please, please, please, you paste-eating morons at Slate, do not turn Gov. DeSantis into a villain of the left. This is verging on the sort of positive feedback mechanism (left hates DeSantis because he stands next to Trump and doesn’t parrot party line, right decides to say nice things about Trump because left is hating on him, Slate and other window-lickers double down on hatred, etc.) that will see him being seriously considered for President in 2024, and I just don’t think he’s more than mediocre.

    The two party system is mostly filled with reactionary retards who’s only watchword is “I’m not that guy!” and love when “That Guy” gets pissed. As such the worst, unprincipled, filth floats to the top.

    • The Other Kevin

      I think I saw Reactionary Retards as the state fair in 2016. They had a great guitarist.

    • Winston

      When has politics has ever not been about this reactionary “I’m not that guy!” stuff? Hell classical liberalism was all about how they were not aristocrats, Catholic Priests or peasants.

      • leon

        Id argue that there is a difference between having principles, and then letting your political positions follow from there, rather than forming your political positions solely to be in contradiction to some “other”.

      • Winston

        One could argue that for many people “principles” are nothing more than “hating on some other” like say The Rich or The Poor or whatnot…

      • leon

        Those people would be wrong about what the word ‘principles’ means.

  5. DEG

    Meanwhile, here in Central Wang, there was a half-hour line to get into one of the beach state parks

    Clown Prince Sununu will, at his afternoon Lil Rona press conference, graciously and magnanimously deign to inform New Hampshire about whether or not he will graciously and magnanimously deign to reopen the state’s ocean beaches.

    “We trust parents to use common sense,” Gov. DeSantis said.

    Shame you couldn’t have had that trust since day one. I guess better late than never.

    FOX 32’s Dane Placko: “Well, we’re just doing a little story about the governor’s property.”

    “Which is just really stupid,” the woman responded.

    Dane: “Why?”

    “Cause he’s doing a great job, don’t you think?” the woman said.

    That woman can go fuck herself.

    Were fears overblown and DeSantis’ critics wrong?

    Yes.

    At least 80 million children under a year old could be at risk of diseases such as diphtheria, measles and polio as Covid-19 disrupts routine immunizations around the world, according to data released by global health experts on Friday.

    Maybe if they just got an essential job.

    • DEG

      Clown Prince Sununu will, at his afternoon Lil Rona press conference, graciously and magnanimously deign to inform New Hampshire about whether or not he will graciously and magnanimously deign to reopen the state’s ocean beaches.

      Just in: The Clown Prince has graciously and magnanimously deigned to reopen New Hampshire ocean beaches on June 1st with restrictions.

      • Nephilium

        Day 2 of establishments being allowed to seat people inside. Went up to a local brewery that had the misfortune to open a couple weeks before the shutdown. They’ve been scraping by on growler/howler sales. Most of the staff working there now are family. They decided not to open during the patio opening to avoid becoming one of the viral stories around the city. No customers wearing masks, and no one one the side of the continued lockdown (this is a self selected group though, people willing to go out the chance they get).

      • DEG

        Still no word on when the Clown Prince will magnanimously and graciously deign to allow indoor dining.

        Nashua, NH is reducing Main Street to one lane in each direction until November 15th so that bars and restaurants along Main Street can expand their outdoor dining areas. We’ll see if the Irish pub reopens or continues to wait.

      • Nephilium

        The most idiotic rule currently in place is that you must be sitting when you are eating or drinking. No standing with a beer at a bar or on the patio. So at least the places that had standing bars can move bar stools from the rest of their bar to set up isolated seating in that area.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’m sure some moron figured they could enforce the distance rule by doing that since the chairs have to be spaced.

        I look forward to out 6 foot spaced “STAND HERE” stickers while drinking.

      • DEG

        Seriously? Fuck. Don’t let the Clown Prince hear that or we’ll get stuck with it in New Hampshire once things open up.

      • Nephilium

        Yep. A couple of the other guests weren’t aware of that rule either, and thought I was joking until the staff backed me up. One of the places we went to yesterday had the signs up that you weren’t allowed to eat and drink while standing.

      • nw

        Think of all the exercise you’ll get.

        Sit down, take a drink. Stand up, continue conversation… repeat.

    • Suthenboy

      That is terrible journalism. Does ‘the woman’ have a name? Does the contractor have a name?

  6. Brett L

    Late breaking news. Owner of MI dam that failed had sued state in Federal court to lower lake levels, believing that mandated levels posed a threat to dam and downstream communities. Is there nothing the Endangered Species Act can’t destroy?

    • leon

      Is there nothing the Endangered Species Act can’t destroy?

      I’d say the belief of environmentalists of their own moral rectitude is still intact.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      The problem with aging dams is that if you touch them in any way to make them safer, you’re required to bring them up to the most modern code. Thus they go unrepaired because the costs to bring them up to date are extremely exorbitant.

  7. Rebel Scum

    You can’t come here and not expect a few shenanigans.

      • LJW

        Did* stupid phone

    • leon

      I loved this exchange:

      “Somebody call the sheriff!”

      “You have a phone, do it yourself”

      “GET OUT OF HERE!!!!”

      • Enough About Palin

        Jesus what a cunte!

  8. The Late P Brooks

    Late breaking news. Owner of MI dam that failed had sued state in Federal court to lower lake levels, believing that mandated levels posed a threat to dam and downstream communities.

    Trump’s America, man. What a shithole.

    • leon

      an absurd amount of people have missed my point which was that you don’t need to literally know *every single thing* about a topic to have an opinion on it

      y’all are thinking about this backwards

      Hahaha. The “Make a stupid argument and then tell everyone the missed your point when they call you a fucking moron” argument.

    • leon

      I mean she doesn’t even get her own argument:

      So, what’s your point? I should demand regulation of women’s body parts as well as guns? How about we regulate neither! Win/win for all.

      Emily
      @FeminemiIy
      ·
      May 20
      that was not even remotely implied
      GIF

      Ryan Warrell
      @RyanWarrell
      ·
      May 20
      That’s literally the logical conclusion of this argument, Like I said, let’s regulate neither. You have a right to your body as well as a right to own property.

      she talks about how its a point about hypocrisy, whithout even understanding the hypocrisy of her stance that Men shouldn’t regulate womens bodies but she should totally have a say about guns without knowing about them.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Koolaid guzzling death cultists!

    The strategy for reopening is far more critical than the timeline of states’ reopenings, says Carol Graham, author of the upcoming Brookings Institution report, “How division and vulnerability hamper our COVID response.”

    Keeping Americans safe now will require trust in government leaders and a consistent message. “To turn a pandemic…into a political issue is so unconscionable. I can’t believe it, and I can’t believe people drink the Kool-aid,” Graham told Yahoo Finance referring to Republican governors that succumbed to political pressure and reopened their states’ economies without adequate safety measures.

    She singled out Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia for rushing to relax restrictions in a way that could jeopardize public safety. “The first thing [Gov. Kemp] opened up [was] tattoo parlors and massage [businesses],” she said.

    Graham criticizes the lack of a coherent federal level plan mandating how states should reopen their economies. She suggests that states should follow a strategy that allows people who could go to work safely to return to their workplaces, while keeping those who can work effectively from home at home.

    You can’t disagree with my preferred narrative!

    Okay, Karen.

    • Rebel Scum

      Keeping Americans safe now will require trust in government leaders and a consistent message.

      The most American thing is mistrust and skepticism of government leaders.

      • Winston

        What about MUH high-trust society?

      • leon

        Americans need to trust government like they need a bullet in the head….

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Sounds good.

        /Antifa

      • Winston

        The most American thing is mistrust and skepticism of government leaders.

        But will that always be the case?

  10. The Late P Brooks

    *tag fail*

    stupid figmers.

    • DEG

      #20.

      Thought I suspect #34 is fun.

  11. Rebel Scum

    “First of all they’re operating an essential function. Construction is an essential function. And second of all, they’re union employees that are going to do the work that they do. And I’ve never said people can’t cross the border to another state,” Pritzker said Thursday.

    “Shut up, peasant!”

    • leon

      I’m wary to make a “Political Party” divide here. What we are seeing is the divide between professional politicians/government class who see themselves as better than the people, and the regular “ruled” class.

    • Winston

      I’m sure the union is a major Democratic donor, right?

  12. Florida Man

    Today I decided to install an tonneau cover on my truck in the driveway at noon. Black rubber, black aluminum and black fiber glass all get extremely hot very quickly in the Florida sun. I think I have first degree burns on my hands and knees. I am not a smart man, but the truck looks good.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      As long as you don’t have black leather seats, you’ll be fine.

  13. Rebel Scum

    Why Did Florida Avoid a Coronavirus Disaster?

    The nice weather?

    DeSantis, for his part, spouted off false information about the virus as he resisted increasingly urgent calls from experts and local leaders to take action. He refused to close the spring break gathering spots, allowing officials in South Florida to make their own decisions about restaurant and beach closures. He waited until April 1—two weeks after other states began closing their businesses—to issue a “safer-at-home” order.

    The experts that have been proven repeatedly to be wrong? As an aside, the font at Slate is just awful.

    • Winston

      As an aside, Slate is just awful.

      • Rebel Scum

        That too.

    • Q Continuum

      DeSantis is clearly a warlock of black magic. That’s how.

  14. Shpip

    …that will see him being seriously considered for President in 2024, and I just don’t think he’s more than mediocre.

    I’m not so sure. He does have a rather impressive CV so far. Yale undergrad (and he was admitted, presumably, on merit, not because he’s some bigwig’s kid), Harvard Law, Naval Officer, House Freedom Caucus member, and so far a rather able governor.

    Of course, as a Florida Republican, he has the boost of the other party running lightweights and fools for Governor most of the time. You have to go back to Jim Davis in 2006 to see a non-clown candidate for the Donks.

    And he still might not win re-election because a) the unemployed are blaming him for an unemployment system that normally handles 2,500 claims a week buckling under the tsunami of claims in March and April, and b) Florida passed a constitutional amendment allowing felons to vote. And since the gubernatorial race, even with the aforementioned clowns running in one party, is always a close-run affair, DeSantis could be one and done.

    • Winston

      Hmm allowing felons to vote and resulting in an authoritarian Democrat winning election. Doesn’t seem like what libertarians expected to happen…

      • Fatty Bolger

        Absolutely. Nobody should get to vote, then we’ll never have an authoritarian winning an election.

      • Winston

        Well the idea behind universal suffrage was supposed to be that no one could ever bribe a majority of the electorate to vote for them and the there was no way the common people would let the state have too much control over them. Whoops

      • Trigger Hippie

        Their voting preferences aside, I believe felons should have the right to vote. I’ve never been a fan of the concept of forcing people to be second class citizens for the rest of their lives because of what they have done in the past, especially after they’ve served their sentences and shown that they can at least behave well enough in a halfway house or on parole for a brief time. After that, you should once again become a full citizen.

        If what you’ve done is considered so heinous by society that you just can’t be trusted anymore, then society needs to extend the prison terms for those offenses and maybe make a repeat offense’s term very, very, tough. But keeping people a second class citizen on a list with limited rights shit just causes a lot of people to slip back into crime. Full voting rights, full gun ownership, full access to the job market. How individuals and businesses want to treat said felons is entirely up to them.

        And before anybody brings up kiddie diddlers, again, increase the damn sentences. After that, well, if you want to know the criminal records of the people in your neighborhood then find out on your own dime. There’s plenty of internet companies that can do that for you.

    • leon

      Technically Trump is a Florida Republican.

      • Winston

        He is also a New York Republican and New York Democrat like Michael Bloomberg…

      • Q Continuum

        Florida Man in Chief.

    • Florida Man

      I supported felons voting because I think it is the right thing to do, full well knowing most will vote democrat. It’ll probably end up destroying the state eventually, but that was going to happen eventually with the steady stream of blue state refugees moving here.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s the correct, moral thing to do.

        Allowing straight party line voting is not.

      • leon

        I’m quite pleased that may legislature abolished the practice this year. Surprising for a solid “One Party” state, but they did it.

      • leon

        Yeah. I’m not all about voting anyway as i don’t really feel that committed to universal suffrage. But as long as we are having it, i don’t see why a person who has paid his “debt to society” (which is bullshit too, he only owes his victims) shouldn’t be able to vote.

        In a congruent vein, I’m never convinced by the “The immigrants are gonna come and vote in the democrats!” argument. It is somewhat self fulfiling, in that if the GOP is going to be so antagonistic they chase immigrants into the arms of the DNC, who has very little in common with the catholic family coming from SA.

      • Florida Man

        My thinking is most felons are going to end up on some form of welfare since it’s nearly impossible to get a job with a record, so will vote for which ever party expands welfare benefits. Immigrants are in a different boat.

      • Count Potato

        That’s how criminals get medical insurance.

      • Winston

        I’m never convinced by the “The immigrants are gonna come and vote in the democrats!” argument.

        Pretty sure the Democrats themselves would openly admit this. I mean when has immigration policy not been about importing voters? I’m sure Democrat opposition to the 1920s immigration restrictions, was based purely on principled support for human rights of non-white people, right?

      • Winston

        Also in the last Canadian federal I saw a Liberal who defeated a Conservative incumbent climate change skeptic on election night explicitly claim that his victory was in part due to immigration.

        Not to mention immigration policy in Canada is explicitly been done to defeat the Quebec separatists.

        Also pro-immigration sentiment has almost always been very nationalistic. Get people who support the nation-state rather than more regional or local cultures. And in Europe the goal is to get people who support the EU a intranational state.

        And the public school system is needed to ensure these immigrants embrace the proper attitudes that they should be embracing, whatever they happen to be right now.

      • Winston

        In Canada get people who support “Canada” or at least Justin Trudeau’s idea of what “Canada” is rather than Quebec or Alberta.

        Or in the US get people who support “USA” rather than say Virginia or New Hampshire.

        Or in the Europe get people who support the EU rather than UK or France.

      • Winston

        And before you say anything yes the Trudeaus have been in Canada for a long time and they have been terrible or at least their modern descendants have been. The modern descendants of the old WASP elites can be pretty terrible.

        One the other on this site there has been talk about how “Americans” are much more sheepish than they used to be. Whether or not this is true is debatable. But why should “Americans” act that way and why should they act that way now? What is supposed to keep “Americans” acting that way? And no I am not suggesting that immigration restrictionism would have prevented this. “Natives” can change in bad ways too. And this does depend on what it means to be an “American”, immigrant or not and how this might not be what you want it to be.

      • Chafed

        Absolutely correct. I’ll add to that the claim people moving from a blue state to a red state will turn the state blue. It’s quite common for red voters in a blue state to leave and take those same political beliefs and voting patterns with them to a red state.

    • Brett L

      I’ll wait until I see the returns before believing that voter restoration mattered. Under Crist, restoration of voting rights was essentially a “shall grant” petition once a sentence was served.

      • Florida Man

        It’s harder to vote harvest on Election Day if you have to file a petition.

    • Winston

      And Bad Things Can Not Happen but when Bad Things Do Happen we can trust TOP MEN to implement policies we support. ‘Cuz Modernity, History, Progress, etc

    • grrizzly

      This is a good article. I made this point several times myself: over-protection of children is bound to lead to something horrific. At the very end the author gets much less persuasive and might even contradict himself. But most of the article is very solid.

    • Lady Z

      Thanks for this link Q. It’s helpful to understand where our cultural “norms” are rooted. All I would add is that much of the shift toward an acceptance of this hyper-progressivism is the expansion of the external locus of control – as in, my safety is your responsibility, everybody is a winner, they shouldn’t be allowed to do x, etc.

    • Brett L

      There is more to this story. First, no 9 year old deserves to be abducted and murdered, but unless this was a case of total mistaken identity, a parent made bad decisions sometime recently that contributed to this. Which should not prevent his murderers from being executed at earliest convenience.

      • Viking1865

        Yeah I’m having trouble seeing how this went down.

        Dudes run her off the road, ram her car, block her in…..and she rolls the windows down to talk to them?

    • Florida Man

      What is wrong with people? I get stealing in the abstract by why kill the kid?

  15. Tonio

    Yo, Nephilium – you doing one of your zoom teleconference thingies later on?

    • Ownbestenemy

      And do you need cash for hosting them?

      • Lady Z

        Seconded, would be happy to chip in to cover Zoom costs.

      • Mojeaux

        Same.

      • Nephilium

        Appreciate the offers all, but it’s not necessary.

    • Nephilium

      Tonio, I’ve set one up. 19:30 Eastern.

      • Tonio

        Thanks!

      • DEG

        Thanks!

      • Mojeaux

        Thank you!

      • Tulip

        Thanks

      • Tres Cool

        Great. Im going to be drunk 30 minutes sooner

    • whiz

      Why would I want to watch of a video of Walz being a tyrant?

      Clicks link.

      Oh, never mind.

  16. Winston

    From Morning Links

    Urthona on May 22, 2020 at 11:27 am
    I’m the kind of globalist free trader scum that Tucker Carlson is always ranting about, but clearly trading with China hasn’t liberalized them like I expected.

    Turns out 21th Century China is not 19th Century England…

  17. The Late P Brooks

    Why bother?

    As states begin to reopen their economies amid the coronavirus pandemic, some experts are arguing that it won’t do much to alleviate the effects of the economic shock from the virus.

    In a working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Christopher M. Meissner and Peter Zhixian Lin, economists from the department of economics at UC Davis, found that lifting stay-at-home orders may not make much of a difference in terms of economic effects.

    “If the disease is still out there and people perceive it to be dangerous to go out, they will not go out,” the co-authors told Yahoo Finance in an email. “Also, the rest of the world is in recession, too, and the ‘re-opening’ will have a much smaller than expected impact.”

    Every U.S. state is amid some form of reopening their economies. In states like Georgia and Texas, shelter-in-place orders have expired and the respective governors have reopened businesses as a means for stopping further havoc on the states’ economies.

    The NBER paper had three main findings: the stay-at-home orders were likely effective in slowing the spread of the virus, but not in decreasing the rate of cumulative mortality; these orders may have impacted other jurisdictions; and that “there’s little evidence that [these orders] are associated with larger declines in local economic activity than in places without” them.

    “there’s little evidence that [these orders] are associated with larger declines in local economic activity than in places without” them.

    WTF? Way to stick to the Party line, boys.

    • leon

      there’s little evidence that [these orders] are associated with larger declines in local economic activity than in places without

      hehe. As in “i googled and didn’t find any evidence”. There not a whole lot of data right now.

    • whiz

      There’s also no evidence that the lock-downs saved lives, either, so why not err on the side of liberty?

      • Winston

        so why not err on the side of liberty?

        Well if they hate liberty then why would they do that?

    • Gustave Lytton

      but not in decreasing the rate of cumulative mortality

      Well no shit. No one was expecting or promoting lock downs for that, until it became “why are we still locked down?”. It was to flatten the curve (originally) so that hospitals wouldn’t be inundated past the point of collapse and corresponding increase in mortality and poor outcomes. Given that nearly everywhere flattened the curve into the ground, there was never a point of hospital collapse, so no increase in mortality from that other than basically people who would have died anyways from corona under just about any scenario. Then add the deaths (and more to come) from delayed or skipping so called elective medical work or even emergencies, its no wonder total deaths wouldn’t drop.

  18. Rebel Scum

    Putin’s Puppet – uh -Russia-hating warmonger strikes again!

    President Trump has decided to withdraw from another major arms control accord, according to senior administration officials, and will inform Russia on Friday that the United States is pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, negotiated three decades ago to allow nations to fly over each other’s territory with elaborate sensor equipment to assure that they are not preparing for military action.

    American officials have long complained that Moscow was violating the Open Skies accord by not permitting flights over a city where it was believed Russia was deploying nuclear weapons that could reach Europe, as well as forbidding flights over major Russian military exercises. (Satellites, the main source for gathering intelligence, are not affected by the treaty.)

    “You reach a point at which you need to say enough is enough,” said Marshall Billingslea, Mr. Trump’s new special representative for arms control. “The United States cannot keep participating in this treaty if Russia is going to violate it with impunity.”

    • Gadfly

      That sounds like the right move. A treaty honored by only one party is de facto void, so may as well be scrapped.

  19. Nephilium

    For those other punk fans here, this weekend was supposed to be Punk Rock Bowling (cancelled), so they’re setting up a series of live streams from the bands (including Bouncing Souls, Jello Biafra, Anti-Flag, and Fat Mike).

    • AlmightyJB

      Did you go out last night Neph? If so, how were the crowds?

      • Nephilium

        The girlfriend and I went out to a local brewery for dinner. Crowds were light. It was one of the few times going there that there wasn’t a wait for a table. Staff was fully masked up (as ordered), no customers wearing masks.

      • AlmightyJB

        Cool thanks. I was thinking that it could have gone either way. Stuck at home tonight and tomorrow. Probably go Sunday.

      • Nephilium

        The patio openings here were a big deal. Looks like the inside opening isn’t drawing the crowds as much. If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I’m planning on another bike ride up to downtown to grab a bite and some beers. So far I haven’t needed to wait at any of the three places I sat inside at. I did have to wait to sit on the patio last week.

      • Tres Cool

        I drove down Main St. (GT knows it) and passed a messican place that had people seated outside on the patio.
        It was oddly normalizing.

    • Lady Z

      I am NOT a punk fan, but we saw Jello Briafra perform live a few years back and he was amazing. Will definitely check this out.

  20. Mojeaux

    Watching a marginally stupid disaster movie starring Gerard Butler. He’s not working very hard to disguise his brogue. I find this marginally amusing.

    • Winston

      Geostorm

      • Mojeaux

        Yeeeeup.

        Same martyr antihero trope as Armageddon and Independence Day.

      • Winston

        Oh dear lord do I hate the word “trope”.

      • Mojeaux

        Actually, I do too.

        “Conceit.”

        Better?

        Also, antihero didn’t end up dying.

      • Winston

        antihero didn’t end up dying.

        That’s another trope…

    • Mojeaux

      The reason I am not moving is because I have a cat in my lap, pinning me to the chair. I’m trapped. Can’t … move …

      • nw

        Well, at least you’ve got your computer so you can watch cat videos.

      • Mojeaux

        Owls. Flying cats.

      • Gender Traitor

        The cat owner’s servant’s burden.

    • Florida Man

      I liked 300.

      • Mojeaux

        I did too, but the sepia filter annoyed me.

      • Florida Man

        Yeah, I’m not a fan when they filter an entire movie, like the ring being overcast the entire movie.

      • Count Potato

        I thought the blue/yellow thing for Traffic was kind of neat.

      • Fatty Bolger

        It was very good, though it could probably never live up to the trailer, which was amazing.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    C’mon- who doesn’t like free money?

    George Soros suggested Europe should issue debt that would never have to be paid back as a way to finance the costs of the Covid-19 crisis.

    As the European Union faces the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the billionaire investor said the 27-nation group should issue “Perpetual Bonds” — meaning the principal amount would never be repaid, only the annual interest payments.They are also known as consols.

    “A 1 trillion-euro bond would cost 5 billion euros a year, assuming an interest rate of 0.5%. The consols would not need to be sold all at once; they could be issued in tranches and they would be snatched up by long-term investors like life insurance companies,” Soros said in an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf published Friday.

    Under this plan, “the only mutual obligation is the payment of the annual interest, which is negligible,” Soros said.

    “Gee, I wish we had one o’ them doomsday Machines.”

    • nw

      “issue debt that would never have to be paid back”

      Who exactly would they issue it * to *?

      And don’t they sort of do that now anyway?

      • nw

        I guess I could read the whole post. I’m not sure I would call that “debt”, it’s more like
        a perpetuity, since it is. IIRC, the university of Leyden issued something like that in the
        1600s and still pays on it.

      • Incentives Matter

        This just in: The University of Leyden is more reliable and responsible than every sovereign government on Earth.

      • Incentives Matter

        That’s actually quite cool.

  22. Rebel Scum

    Jemele Hill
    ✔@jemelehill

    The issue wasn’t what Joe Biden said, because it was accurate. The issue was that it came from Biden. It also was clearly a joke that didn’t land. But I’m wondering where all this outrage was yesterday when y’all president declared his public devotion to a Nazi sympathizer.

    Race-baiters gotta race-bait.


    Jemele Hill✔
    @jemelehill

    It’s accurate because of Trump’s very clearly anti-black policies and positions. So if you’re a black person voting for Trump, you are actively choosing to vote against yourself and black people. So if you’re anti-black then that makes you … what exactly?

    So clearly bad that before the commie cough panicdemic they were doing better than ever.

    • Viking1865

      “his public devotion to a Nazi sympathizer.”

      • Rhywun

        I’m struggling to guess what that’s about.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I think she’s trying to throw out the “good people on both sides” line and she got confused.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Everyone knows there are no conservative black people and the ones that think they are conservative just got hornswaggled and hoodwinked by white tricknology so they deserve what they get.

  23. Florida Man

    I’ve been watch Umbrella Academy and the most confusing part is Ellen Page’s wardrobe. Are they actively trying to make her as unattractive as possible?

    • The Other Kevin

      I watched some of that. It wasn’t too bad. One of my kids loves it because it was written by a guy from My Chemical Romance.

      • Translucent Chum

        Ha. Yep. Same here. 16 y/o daughter loves it. I enjoyed it as well. New season end of July.

      • Florida Man

        I’ve enjoyed it so far. Just have one more episode to go.

      • Translucent Chum

        Last episode of pretty damn good.

  24. Translucent Chum

    I suspect she has a lot of input into her look for the show…

    • Florida Man

      Must be. I think she is the biggest star on the show. I know she is a lesbian so maybe she didn’t want any of the traditional super hero stuff that puts women in skimpy clothes.

  25. gbob

    Just spent 6 hours mowing, weeding and planting. Now going to hit a bongo, get drunk, and enjoy the firepit from the tree I cut down last year.

    Good fucking times.

    • Translucent Chum

      Enjoy. Re-did our fire pit today too. Currently drinking some B-43 before switching to whiskey later.

      For the glibfit crowd, Old Nation B-43 has only 3 carbs in a 16 oz can at 7.0 abv.

    • Count Potato

      A bongo?

      • gbob

        Itswhenylu do a bing ripped dressed as a clown while having sexual intercourse with a……

        No, no. I said too much.

      • Mojeaux

        midget?

      • Florida Man

        I assumed he was punching an antelope.

  26. Derpetologist

    About ciorba- while the immediate root of the word is the Turkish word for soup, that word is ultimately derived from shorba, the Arabic word for soup, which is derived from the word sharaba, meaning to drink. The English words sherbet and syrup are also derived from that word.

    s/sh and b/p sounds tend to switch when a word moves from one language to another.

    Hope you enjoyed this foray into the Land of Learning.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPqpmSWwuGk

  27. Translucent Chum

    If you’re looking for a show to watch may I recommend The Girl With All the Gifts? Different take on zombie movie. Thought it was pretty good. Streaming on Amazon and whatnot.

  28. Derpetologist

    That time Canada staged an invasion of itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_Day

    ***
    If Day (French: “Si un jour”, “If one day”)[1] was a simulated Nazi German invasion and occupation of the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and surrounding areas on 19 February 1942, during the Second World War. It was organized by the Greater Winnipeg Victory Loan organization, which was led by prominent Winnipeg businessman J. D. Perrin. The event was the largest military exercise in Winnipeg to that point.[2]

    If Day included a staged firefight between Canadian troops and volunteers dressed as German soldiers, the internment of prominent politicians, the imposition of Nazi rule, and a parade. The event was a fundraiser for the war effort: over $3 million was collected in Winnipeg on that day. Organizers believed that the fear induced by the event would help increase fundraising objectives. It was the subject of a 2006 documentary, and was included in Guy Maddin’s film My Winnipeg.
    ***

  29. Fourscore

    The Illinois guy reminds me of an out of shape Babe Ruth.

    MN guv is fatter though but certainly no smarter

  30. Oy the Billy-Bumbler

    Breaking news. Governor Whitmer has extended Michigan’s stay at home until June 12. The day she announces that school will not open in the fall will be the day my house gets listed for sale and I start looking for a new state to live in.

    • DEG

      Beat the rush, do it now. You know she’s going to extend things out.

    • kinnath

      Come to Iowa. We are opening back up.

      • Oy the Billy-Bumbler

        I do have a brother in Des Moines.

    • Count Potato

      What the hell for?

      • mexican sharpshooter

        To punish the protestors she declared enemies.

    • Sean

      Two more weeks and we go to yellow.

      Fuck Wolf. A pox on him and his family, for now and for ever.

      • DEG

        I guess the impeachment push is going to go nowhere?

      • Ownbestenemy

        I suspect NVs push for recall a couple of weeks ago was actually driven and promoted by friends of our Guv here.

        Total shutdown, no one out and about, no one wants to touch a pen that 12000 people already did.

        And we didn’t make our numbers by a large margin and the Guv can claim the people want him to stay

      • DEG

        That’s devious, but makes sense.

      • Sean

        I’d hope they keep pushing it and hang the nursing home deaths on him too.

        Probably too much to hope for. ?

      • Oy the Billy-Bumbler

        The recall I signed on change.org is at about 342k signatures. I think over 1 million are needed to start the recall process.

      • hayeksplosives

        I’m going to see if I can find a church service Sunday. Can’t readily online because the churches can’t freely advocate such a thing without paying heavy fines and getting us all turned away.

        Living in a military city, I gotta think they will not shut down the Memorial Day observances. If they try, we will see soldiers squeezing into their old Korean and Vietnam war uniforms, and desert uniform for our more recent conflicts, so that they can show respects on Memorial Day.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Our school district, the 5th largest in the nation and probably the most diverse in terms of rural, suburban, and city is seeking input from not just tax payers but parents and students on how the next year should look.

      What a damn clusterfuck

      • Florida Man

        They’re doing that in Florida too. It’s CYA. Parents want daycare. The state doesn’t want to take the heat of a kid gets a sniffle, so they take a vote.

      • Ownbestenemy

        My kids both responded with “we don’t care just let us see our friends again”. Hahahahahha

    • The Last American Hero

      She’s running for President in 2021 and needs to take bold actions to look presidential.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Trump definitely has the upper hand in this. Though I fear the pushback of liquor stores closing again might be the downside

      • Ownbestenemy

        Given the obviously vindictive nature these guvs are displaying.

        Sorry closed the booze store cause of President Trump!

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I’m not shocked or surprised because Joe’s senile and an asshole. If black people think this is a big deal they won’t vote for the guy.

  31. l0b0t

    Starting binge watching Death Valley Days. I’ve never seen it before. Not bad, slow pacing, but that’s to be expected. Only 4 episodes in but I think I prefer Wagon Train.

    • creech

      I saw a couple Wagon Trains last week. Why are single wagons always joining the train in the middle of nowhere and then you never see those folks in subsequent episodes? No matter how hot dusty and grubby things get, theys always a purty gal about.

  32. hayeksplosives

    How is Joe Biden still the front runner?

    In today’s Great Moments in Racism, brought to you by Joe Biden:

    Biden: ‘If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black’

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/22/politics/biden-charlamagne-tha-god-you-aint-black/index.html

    Same Joe Biden who referred to candidate Obama this way “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

    And also told us that “poor kids are just as bright as white kids.”

    • Ownbestenemy

      Eh…he is done. I mean come on! Loading… is waiting in the wings and President Trump even said privately according to unnamed sources closest to the maids said he wants her to run!!!

    • Lady Z

      Racist jokes from senile older white men are just “cute.” Nothing to see here.

      • Winston

        Blackface is okay when Northam and Trudeau did it. If Trump or Scheer did it on the other hand…

      • hayeksplosives

        That’s cuz Trump and Scheer are racists, it is known.

        They even put the little (R) after their names so you can readily identify them as racists.

      • hayeksplosives

        “Joe Biden is Joe Biden.”

    • hayeksplosives

      WHAAAAAT! ?

      That is insane. Not to mention a real loss for the state and for the individuals who were planning to participate.

      MN needs more armed demonstrations.

    • Raven Nation

      Not to suggest the MN government is sane or moral, but I wonder if this has to do with planning? As in, if they decided two weeks out it’s a bad idea then that is a bigger problem.

      This is why my school is already putting plans in place for modified instruction in the fall.

      • Ownbestenemy

        The minute they put the first order to shutdown and none arrived with pitchfork and touch…they knew they had us by the shorthairs

    • Nephilium

      Ohio cancelled the state fair a couple days ago.

    • The Last American Hero

      If they held it anyway would the government even know? Does anybody from the twin cities even attend?

  33. DEG

    Another lawsuit against the Clown Prince. I expect it will go nowhere.

    This morning, we filed the firm’s second lawsuit challenging Governor Sununu’s shutdown orders, and this action contains a potentially explosive revelation that calls into question the transparency of our government officials and whether they have any desire to follow the rule of law during this “pandemic.”

    The lawsuit, on behalf of a father and his child (of Salem, New Hampshire), challenges (1) Governor Christopher T. Sununu’s Executive Orders 2020-08 and 2020-09, which extended New Hampshire’s state of emergency until June 5, 2020 (totaling 84 days); (2) Governor Sununu’s Emergency Orders #1, #19, and #32, and the New Hampshire Department of Education’s “emergency” amendment to one of its internal rules, ED 306.18(a)(7), all of which collectively canceled the rest of the 2019-2020 school year for all New Hampshire public schools, and substituted in its place an inadequate system of remote instruction that is failing to meet the needs of students across the state; and (3) the Salem School District’s implementation of remote instruction pursuant to the directives above. The lawsuit, like the first action we filed on behalf of Mary Rivard, also includes an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order enjoining the Governor, the Department of Education, and the Salem School District from enforcing these orders and rules.

  34. commodious spittoon

    Time to cancel anti-science, anti-CDC quack… Dr. Fauci.

    “I don’t want people to think that any of us feel that staying locked down for a prolonged period of time is the way to go,” Fauci said during an interview with CNBC’s Meg Tirrell on “Halftime Report.”

    He said the U.S. had to institute severe measures because Covid-19 cases were exploding then. “But now is the time, depending upon where you are and what your situation is, to begin to seriously look at reopening the economy, reopening the country to try to get back to some degree of normal.”

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      He can probably kiss his YouTube channel goodbye with talk like that.

      • commodious spittoon

        His press conference groupies are burning their Fauci-branded panties in protest.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I saw that a couple of days ago. Pretty sad isn’t it?

      • Lady Z

        Gah, that’s worse than the Fauci bobbleheads.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Can’t wear a bobblehead now can you?

      • hayeksplosives

        I have a Darryl Strawberry bobble head. The Mr Splosives wants me to paint a little white under his nose for authenticity.

  35. hayeksplosives

    MT. SOLEDAD NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL

    Is a large cross memorial to veterans in San Diego. It’s been the subject of many lawsuits demanding the “offensive” Christian symbol be removed, but so far it’s still standing. Maybe that’s where I will go…

  36. Raven Nation

    In more stupid eyes, study in Britain calls for government to create bailout for English Football League (three divisions below the Premier League) in return for govt. being a minority shareholder.

    “Rather than just give money to clubs, because I don’t have a lot of confidence they will spend it well or properly, I think what the government should offer with the support of the FA is to say ‘we will buy a stake in the club, maybe 20%, and appoint some independent local directors from the community who will oversee our interest.’

    “In return they will have access to proper financial information about the club and in turn that stake could then be bought by a supporters’ trust or a local authority so a stake of community ownership remains.”

    Apart from just the inherent stupidity, I’m pretty sure FIFA will take a dim view of the governments owning stakes in a bunch of clubs.

  37. l0b0t

    My BP is now down to 180/120 before my daily meds, WINNING!

    • Rhywun

      Republicans for Biden LOL

    • one true athena

      ah yes, “Project Lincoln” where – it’s so weird – but 90% of their donations end up in the pockets of the founding members and paying for their hotel/dinner/airfare. They Really Love Lincoln, though, so you know they’re good people.

  38. Count Potato

    “Mississippi church fighting coronavirus restrictions burned to the ground
    “Bet you stay home now you hypokrits” was written in parking lot at church that had sued the city over its public health orders.”

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1212646

    • Winston

      You know who else burned churches in Mississippi?

      • Raven Nation

        The Natchez Indians?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Pastors trying to get attention and sympathy (definitely not outside the realm of possibilities)?

      • mexican sharpshooter

        Andrew Jackson?

      • mexican sharpshooter

        I’m just guessing, it sounds plausible.

    • Florida Man

      I’ll wait a bit before fully buying this story. Just too many hoaxes and false flags to believe what you see anymore.

      • Count Potato

        True.

      • Sean

        Same thought I had.

    • Florida Man

      You would think a demographic that is 12 percent of the population wouldn’t advocate voting based on race.

      • Winston

        Majoritarianism will never result in the majority wanting me to have be killed. TOP MEN will never decide that I should be killed.

      • The Last American Hero

        Brown wave.

  39. l0b0t

    The Navy really named one of its giant boondoggle, poorly made, littoral combat ships the USS Gabrielle Giffords?!? Really?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Ships are like Postal Offices apparently.

      • Winston

        Well, um yeah? Remember the John C. Stennis?

    • creech

      Does it have a big target painted on its side?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Too soon – Palin

      • Ownbestenemy

        Cesar would be a right-wing activist in todays world.

      • Gustave Lytton

        He was a Ferninand Marcos supporter…

  40. Derpetologist

    the father of machine translation

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

    ***
    Warren Weaver (July 17, 1894 – November 24, 1978) was an American scientist, mathematician, and science administrator.[1] He is widely recognized as one of the pioneers of machine translation, and as an important figure in creating support for science in the United States.

    Weaver’s memorandum was designed to suggest more fruitful methods than any simplistic word-for-word approach, which had grave limitations. He put forward four proposals. The first was that the problem of multiple meanings might be tackled by the examination of immediate context. For example, the English word fast has at least two meanings which we can paraphrase as rapid or motionless. If we wish to translate an English text, it is likely that these two senses of fast correspond to different words in the target language, and in order to translate the word correctly one needs to know which sense is intended. Weaver proposed that this problem could be solved by looking at the words that occur in the vicinity of the word to be translated, and he conjectured that the number of context words that would be required is fairly small.

    The second proposal in the memorandum was inspired by work on an early type of neural networks by McCulloch and Pitts. Weaver interpreted these results as meaning that given a set of premises, any logical conclusion could be deduced automatically by computer. To the extent that human language has a logical basis, Weaver hypothesized that translation could be addressed as a problem of formal logic, deducing “conclusions” in the target language from “premises” in the source language.

    The third proposal was that cryptographic methods were possibly applicable to translation. If we want to translate, say, a Russian text into English, we can take the Russian original as an encrypted version of the English plaintext. Weaver was especially impressed with the potential of Shannon’s classified work on cryptography and Information theory from World War II.

    Finally, the fourth proposal was that there may also be linguistic universals underlying all human languages which could be exploited to make the problem of translation more straightforward. Weaver argued for this position with what is one of the best-known metaphors in the literature of machine translation: “Think, by analogy, of individuals living in a series of tall closed towers, all erected over a common foundation. When they try to communicate with one another, they shout back and forth, each from his own closed tower. It is difficult to make the sound penetrate even the nearest towers, and communication proceeds very poorly indeed. But, when an individual goes down his tower, he finds himself in a great open basement, common to all the towers. Here he establishes easy and useful communication with the persons who have also descended from their towers”.
    ***

    I think using books that have been translated into many languages like the Bible or Alice in Wonderland would be a good corpus for a computer to search through. Assuming every sentence is translated, key words could be used to find corresponding phrases, which avoids the pitfalls of word-for-word translation. Once the user finds a grammatically equivalent phrase, they simply substitute whatever verbs, nouns, etc to turn it into what they want. So for example, if you search for English phrase “where is the”, it pulls up all the English phrases containing those words and the foreign language equivalent.

    Weaver’s 3rd proposal is my favorite one.

  41. Winston

    https://www.aier.org/article/lockdown-suicide-data-reveal-predictable-tragedy/

    It’s not just about money. Even if material provision is present, the sudden loss of freedom and life control is demoralizing and debilitating. We have always taken it for granted in America that we are in charge of our own futures. Then one day, without warning, without consultation of voters, without votes from legislatures, it was all gone. Schools, bars, gyms, parks, and whole cities were forcibly shut by executive edict, all in the name of virus control with precious little thought put to the costs or legal protections we believed were in place to protect our freedom and property. Zoom became our social outlet – and it’s a very poor substitute for the real thing. Life purpose became unclear.

    It is fascinating that only a healthy, wealthy and free society could be willing to accept and afford such horrors. But Science!

    • creech

      See Ownbestenemy above at 5:11pm

  42. Count Potato

    “The question that such representations present for the food world is a difficult one: Who gets to use the global pantry or introduce “new” international ingredients to a Western audience? And behind that is an even more uncomfortable query: Can the aspiration that has become central to the culinary arts ever not be white?

    Because the aesthetics of food media are indeed white. That white aesthetic is not, strictly speaking, the abundant natural light, ceramic plates, strategically scattered handfuls of fresh herbs, pastel dining rooms, artisan knives, or even the butcher diagram tattoos that the food media so loves to fetishize. It is more accurate to say that the way we define what is contemporary and fashionable in food is tied to whiteness as a cultural norm — and to its ability to incorporate other cultures without actually becoming them.

    Only whiteness can deracinate and subsume the world of culinary influences into itself and yet remain unnamed. It’s a complicated little dance of power and desire: The mainstream is white, so what is presented in the mainstream becomes defined as white, and — ta-da — what you see in viral YouTube videos somehow ends up reinforcing a white norm, even though the historical roots of a dish or an ingredient might be the Levant or East Asia. You might say whiteness works by positing itself as a default. You might also say that this sucks. ”

    https://www.eater.com/2020/5/20/21262304/global-pantry-alison-roman-bon-appetit

    It’s all so tiring.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I didn’t get far…but I am guessing “whiteness”, “Covid”, “Trump” are used throughout?

      • AlmightyJB

        I’m now seeing where Trump caused the economic depression caused by the shutdowns.

    • AlmightyJB

      What else are they going to do with their social justice degrees? What’s sad is that they think that they’re so smart and clever to come up with this derp. I feel most sorry for people who read these types of articles and feel like they’re that much further on their path to true wokeness. Although, they do say ignorance is bliss, so they’ve got that going for them.

      • cyto

        That’s been my question since I was in school back in the 80’s. Now that you have your masters degree in “women’s studies”, what now? Who hires someone with that degree?

        Turns out, they had a plan. Those folks go to work as the “diversity officer” for major corporations. They get jobs in HR departments. The work for the NRLB.

        In other words, they go out and become the police in a police force we didn’t know we had or needed, and certainly never wanted.

        They also “consult” – which I like to analogize to “extracting indulgences”. One of my SJW acquaintances is of this ilk. She has her PhD in SJW. She works for universities and NGOs and corporations, travelling the world as a grifter who puts together “curriculums” for teaching various SJW inspired nonsense.

        It took well over a decade for her to earn her PhD in a field that is entirely “take classes and write a big term paper based on stuff you read in books” based study. That’s impressive. It demonstrates both the lack of ability and the tenacity it takes to make a go of it in the modern SJW business.

        She does just fine, despite an astonishing level of ignorance intermixed with several personality disorders that make her insufferable in person and have prevented her from holding any one position for more than a year or so. It is stunning just how much “demand” there is for a SJW indulgence to protect against various liabilities.

    • Winston

      Only whiteness can deracinate and subsume the world

      Replace “white” with “Jew” or “black”.

  43. Raven Nation

    So the comments (29) above about Trump’s “public devotion to a Nazi sympathizer.” Trump made a reference to the “good bloodlines” which Ford Motor Co. inherited from Henry Ford. Henry Ford is the Nazi sympathizer.

  44. Drake

    I’m enjoying my one day of freedom in SC.

    • Winston

      A New Jerseyian going to South Carolina to be free. Oh the irony…

      • Drake

        I’m an old New England Yankee who happens to reside in the garden State.

      • Winston

        Old New England Yankee visiting South Carolina to be free is still quite ironic.

      • Drake

        Yes. I blame the Irish – one in particular.

      • Winston

        Ted Kennedy?

      • Drake

        His clan certainly crapped up the place. But I was thinking of Phil Murphy – another Boston Mic who decided NJ wasn’t fucked up enough already.

  45. Shpip

    Local microbrewery pairs with a pizza food truck on Friday evenings. One of their most popular offerings is the “Dilly Dilly.”

    Don’t believe that pineapple belongs on pizza? WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?

    • Ownbestenemy

      I love pickles…but not that much. Even frickles I can stand…but pizza? Too far sir…too far

      • cyto

        During an unplanned roadtrip with the family, we had to stop late-night for food in the hinterlands. The only thing open for food was one of those super-gas-station chains. They had pizza in their hot display, so the kids wanted that. It was “cheeseburger pizza”. I was doubtful, but it was only a buck a slice, so we went for it.

        Mistake.

        Whatever that was, it wasn’t Pizza. And dill pickles do belong neither on Pizza nor on whatever that was.

    • Incentives Matter

      Isn’t this just the culinary equivalent of Rule 34?

    • Nephilium

      You going to pair that monstrosity with a Pickle Gose?

    • Count Potato

      No.

    • Rhywun

      The ranch dressing is what takes it to another level. ?

      • l0b0t

        IDK, our local makes a chicken bacon ranch pie that is pretty damn good.

  46. Mojeaux

    The Kansas legislature just cut the Commie Cunte governor off at the knees with her tyranny and she’s talking about how dysfunctional the whole process was.

    Feature, not bug.

    Sometimes the differences between Missouri and Kansas couldn’t be more stark.

    • Drake

      Good, although I’m more interested in a state that just doesn’t elect commies.

  47. Ownbestenemy

    Who wears it better? Cuomo with ‘get an essential job’ ir Prince Charles with ‘go pick fruit’

    • Rhywun

      OFFS.

      • Tres Cool

        Id wear THIS pin tho.

  48. Count Potato

    “Documents: Federal agents engaged in sex acts with victims

    PHOENIX — The women were forced to live and work in filth and near darkness, the federal agent said, surviving on only the tips they received from performing massages and sexual favors.

    Lon Weigand, deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Arizona, described them as “Asian females” who may be sex-trafficking victims. He praised the joint operation between federal agents and local police in western Arizona that led to their rescue and credited “investigative techniques” with helping to crack a “transnational criminal organization.”

    What Weigand didn’t say at that September 2018 press conference – although HSI documents show some supervisors knew – was that federal undercover agents repeatedly paid for and engaged in sex acts with suspected victims.

    That fact, coupled with HSI’s refusal to let its agents testify, caused the collapse of a case that was more than three years in the making. All felony charges against the alleged ringleaders were dropped. And sex-trafficking experts said the women were likely re-traumatized.”

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/documents-federal-agents-sex-trafficking-victims-70619440

    • Ted S.

      Lon Weigand, deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Arizona

      Not Lon Horiuchi?

    • Tres Cool

      we have our own UN !

  49. robc

    My daughter has 4 weeks of camps scheduled. 3 are dance, 1 of music. Basically every other week in June and July.