Saturday Morning Road Trip Links

by | Jun 13, 2020 | Daily Links | 374 comments

Viva Las Vegas! The last time SP and I were there, we got married. And saw Penn and Teller. Unsurprisingly, she and I have not been back, though I’ve gone there solo a few times. This is unsurprising since, frankly, we hate the place. We’re both pretty conversant with probability theory, neither of us has any interest in seeing Carrot Top perform, we have a huge aversion to tacky, and steak houses catering to the pinkie ring crowd hold no attraction. The parts of Vegas that aren’t tacky are seedy and depressing.  But my son (Little Spudalicious, though he’s now 6-7″ taller than his godfather and namesake) was graduating high school, they decided at the last minute to hold a ceremony of sorts, so we loaded up the car and headed up there. The high point is the drive- there’s some amazing scenery. The low point was… Vegas. And the principal’s speech, which reinforced all of my prejudices about the intelligence of public education employees.

On the bright side, it kept us away from the news, and it took me digging around for links to regain the depression and outrage I generally experience on a daily basis.

Our travels do not preclude birthdays, which today include a delightfully named emperor and his equally delightfully named successor; one of the few names in physics to rank with Newton, Einstein, and Feynman; the only real Sherlock Holmes before Jeremy Brett did the final and definitive character; the guy who killed the dinosaurs; the definitive center square; and a brainless but damn talented hottie who was on one of my favorite comedy shows (which curiously isn’t in her Wikipedia bio).

On to news.

 

I may end up being right in my prediction of Kamala “I Had To Fuck Willie Brown To Succeed” Harris as the Team Blue presidential nominee.

 

Not so strange fruit.

 

Don’t try to bring science into it, or you’ll enrage the Party of Science.

 

Wait, didn’t they freeze his head or something? He’s right, of course.

 

Whatever you do, don’t mention the war.

 

Is this why you guys post here so much?

 

In Penny Lane there’s a policeman beating up a black, in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen…

 

Old Guy Music is a song that tells a delightful story, one I was reminded of at Little Spud’s graduation. It really ought to replace Pomp and Circumstance. And a bonus for Tundra- Seela is on backup vocal. I was at this recording and it was a damn fun evening.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. Wait, wrong book, I'll find something else.

374 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    “WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s search for a running mate is entering a second round of vetting for a dwindling list of potential vice presidential nominees, with several black women in strong contention.”

    Joe got the fever.

    • Gender Traitor

      It’ll come down to who has the best-smelling hair.

      • Cy

        Harris puts out. She’s also really big on police keeping the unwashed masses in line. I’m sure she’s already sealed the deal.

    • Rhywun

      And one Indian.

    • juris imprudent

      That would be the Dem VP that would get me to actually vote for Trump.

      • zwak

        This guy gets it.

    • Rebel Scum

      Because the most important qualification is that one be both black and female*.

      *Which is curious because leftists do not believe sex is a thing, certainly not a binary thing.

  2. Tonio

    Congratulations to the graduate.

    • Ted S.

      I have one word for him: “plastics”.

      • Sean

        Latex salesman.

  3. Animal

    We rather like Las Vegas, but can only take a couple of days at a time.

    These gray-haired days I’m a pretty civilized fellow. But once in a while I have to regress a little and let the old Animal off the leash. Vegas is a place I can do that.

  4. The Late P Brooks

    Biden and Harris on the Black Lives Matter ticket.

    Fucking cognitive dissonance- how does it work?

    • DrOtto

      What are the odds Trump’s oppo research will be able to find some Black Lives ruined or brutal cop let go from prosecution under Kamala’s direction as a prosecutor? I suspect it won’t be hard.

  5. Count Potato

    “Advocates and health groups said the policy will make it easier for doctors, hospitals and insurance companies to deny care or coverage to transgender and nonbinary patients, as well as women who have had abortions.”

    Because they identify as mothers?

    • Rhywun

      doctors, hospitals and insurance companies to deny care or coverage to transgender and nonbinary patients

      I’m sure they have a pile of examples to point to of this happening, right?

      • Florida Man

        The truck to making money in healthcare is to reduce the number of patients you see. If you can get that number down to zero, you’re killin’ it.

      • Ted S.

        I thought the trick was to justify as many procedures as possible.

      • Florida Man

        *machine that goes BING*

      • Suthenboy

        Yep. That is bullshit.

    • R C Dean

      Hey, all you gotta do is get Congress to pass a bill adding gender identity and sexual preference to the list of protected classes. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump signs it, either. This is just Trump saying “Hey, you done told us sex biological sex isn’t gender identity. All the statute refers to is biological sex, so we can’t write regulations on gender identity. You just scored is what is called an ‘own goal’ in eurofagball. Don’t like it, call your Congress . . . thing.”

    • Rebel Scum

      transgender and nonbinary patients

      When you go to the hospital you should stick to one of the two sexes when filling out your information. That will make it easier for everyone.

  6. Count Potato

    “Possible reasons for the decline in sexual frequency may also include stress of juggling work and intimate relationships, as well as the prevalence of other forms of solo entertainment.”

    Euphemism?

    • EvilSheldon

      In this case, probably a euphemism for video games.

      • Mojeaux

        Exactly what I was thinking.

      • Jarflax

        I think the causal arrow goes the other way. Once you screw up the norms of child rearing to the point that virtually every kid hits adulthood without having ever done anything with out parental supervision, and the norms of interaction between the sexes to the point that any touch is viewed as an assault and any compliment as a harassment, what the hell do you expect to happen? The most popular kids do ok because they get steady validation, the less popular kids never learn to take chances and never learn that they can survive adversity or rejection, and you end up with a lot of them (primarily boys) opting out of the whole thing.

        First wave civil rights and feminism were good things, they broke down barriers restraining black people and women. Ensuing waves take the other tack, equality by leveling, and it is costing us dearly.

  7. The Late P Brooks

    Advocates and health groups said the policy will make it easier for doctors, hospitals and insurance companies to deny care or coverage to transgender and nonbinary patients, as well as women who have had abortions.

    Finally, we can let them die alone in the street, as God intended.

  8. Florida Man

    Sexual activity among young American men has declined sharply since 2000, with nearly a third reporting no sex with a partner in the prior year-

    Maybe word about the campus star chambers has spread and guys are paying attention.

    • Sean

      Pathetic. That’s the word that comes to mind.

    • Tejicano

      It’s similar in today’s military. Today’s troops are not into drinking, fighting, and f@&#ing like they were when I was first in uniform. From what I saw before retiring recently it seems like they are happy just staying in their rooms (a luxury we never saw) playing video games. I hope they are at least surfing for porn.

      With the increase in female troops there is more availability for the latter category right on base – but that can be as tricky, maybe even more so, than in the civilian meatspace. Too easy for her to get back at you via your command if the outcome gives her any reason to feel you were a jerk.

      This is partly the change in generations and technology but also the environment makes it problematic to drink in any significant quantity – even if it is only occasionally.

      • Florida Man

        If I became single tomorrow, I’d likely become a hermit.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Me too. This modern world frightens and confuses me.

      • Mojeaux

        Ditto. Mr. Mojeaux’s my bestie (got no others left due to politics, time, and distance), I’m a loner by nature, and I’ve got plenty of internet buddies and imaginary friends.

      • TARDIS

        *sigh*

        BRB

        I need a hug.

      • westernsloper

        *looks around office*

        That is what I did. I talk to my friends about day to day life and smile at the non drama that I reside in.

      • mexican sharpshooter

        I hope they are at least surfing for porn.

        Haha….nope. As of when I got out eight years ago, the internet on base is heavily monitored and firewalled for certain things—like porn.

    • mrfamous

      A more likely explanation is that they’ve now reduced lying about how often they get laid

    • Cy

      Kneeling in cultural appropriation garb = Woke.

      Anything Trump does = Racist.

    • Gustave Lytton

      The party of emancipation isn’t allowed to celebrate freeing slaves. And Juneteenth was not the end date of slavery, merely the announcement of it in TX. Slavery ended in non-rebel held states and territory on Dec 6, 1865. Dec 18 if you count the proclamation.

      • Rebel Scum

        if you count the proclamation.

        Having read it i am not sure why anyone would.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Proclamation of the passage of 13A on Dec 18.

      • Rebel Scum

        Oh, I thought you meant the EP.

      • C. Anacreon

        I don’t listen to hip-hop.

      • R C Dean

        To bad he didn’t say that he saw no reason why the a Republican Party of Lincoln and Emancipation couldn’t hold a rally on Juneteenth.

    • Rebel Scum

      following backlash over his decision to host the event at site of 1921 race massacre on end date of slavery

      He 1) probably didn’t choose the date himself, and/or 2) didn’t even know what this is. I didn’t even know and I am better than average* at history.

      *not that it says much considering the average Americans lack of historical knowledge.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    The Human Rights Campaign immediately announced that it will file a lawsuit to overturn the rule and slammed the administration for releasing it on the anniversary of the Pulse shooting, where a gunman killed 49 people in an LGBTQ nightclub.

    Trump has a team of researchers working around the clock to find the absolute most progressive-triggering day to do anything.

  10. Florida Man

    I switched to DDG because google bad, but still find it funny when you search for something you get the exact opposite of what you asked for. Example: I asked “how did the left takeover the media?” I got an article about how the right has taken over everything. Which reminded me of Leon’s comment that people always think the other side is winning.

    https://eand.co/the-far-right-takeover-of-america-is-almost-complete-67e9810d846b

    • Rhywun

      “When I look at America, here’s what I see. A country where the extreme, fanatical right wing takeover of its institutions — all of them — is almost complete.”

      Words fail.

      • Florida Man

        Right?!? But this is exactly what Leon was talking about the other day. I have no words.

      • Viking1865

        Yeah and that’s why the Left terrifies me so much. They hold the bureaucracy in perpetuity, they control the entire education system, they hold the entire media infrastructure. even the “right wing” outlets like FoxNews. The giant corporations that everyone works for? They are increasingly openly leftist in their politics. The tech companies who control what information people see? Openly leftist, and now censoring political speech.

        It would be one thing if they said “HAhahah we own the high ground, you are a tiny minority, stupid rubes, we’re moving on without you.” But they actually believe that they are a persecuted minority. They actually believe, without exaggeration, that Trump is an actual Nazi who is actually killing people, and that everyone who voted for him is an actual white supremacist.

        Oh, and now they have red flag laws, so every fucking annoying brainwashed niece and nephew can report MAGA Uncle Bobby after he triggers them at Thanksgiving dinner.

        It actually does remind me of late 30s Germany, where the Party controlled a surging, resurgent unitary State with a well trained, armed, and disciplined police force, secret police force, and military, but was absolutely insistent that this tiny portion of their population, most of whom were academics, professionals, and merchants were a dangerous threat to the integrity of their glorious Volk.

    • juris imprudent

      Here is another lovely example.

      These political shows of force are the hallmarks of the era in which we are living, reminders of what’s not so different from an American past many would like to think of as more undeniably racist than our present. But they recall something very present, very recent: the cold face of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, staring brazenly into the cell-phone camera held by 17-year-old Darnella Frazier as she captured the murder of George Floyd. Chauvin’s drive to stare straight into Frazier’s lens, to show this young Black girl that she and the camera she was pointing at him held no power over him as he took a Black life, is a particularly American performance of power.

      Thus we see the parades in honor of Derek Chauvin, the dinners and toasts to his good name, flowing from the lips of every white American.

  11. The Late P Brooks

    The survey found that from 2000 to 2018, nearly one in three U.S. men aged 18 to 24 reported no sexual activity in the past year.

    I blame social media. In the old days, you had to spend time with a girl to find out how crazy she was. Now you can just look at her facebonk and twatter pages.

    • Trigger Hippie

      Heh. When I was still on FB a few years ago I had an acquaintance that I friended there cuz she was a hot, busty redhead. She was in a relationship at the time and needless to say, when she announced her break up I was ready to pounce…then I saw her pour out every single intimate detail of what caused the breakup, how it was completely her boyfriend’s fault and then went on to list off every single thing he had ever done to her that made her feel bad. Having my relationship put on blast on social media is right near the top of the list on my “turn offs”.

      Oh, she also apparently had a blog called “themaneater” or some such shit that had stories of her sexual conquests or something. I don’t know, after a quick skimming of it I just closed the computer and thought to myself “Well, dodged that bullet.”

    • Nikkodemus

      I think the schools anti bullying bs has a lot to do with this as well. Your average boy no longer has to endure the uncomfortable situation of standing up to a bully, which made asking a girl out easy by comparison.

      • R C Dean

        I would say the anti-male BS of government schools has more to do with it than the anti-bullying BS. Relentlessly emasculate boys throughout their childhood and they don’t have much of a sex drive? Who could have seen that coming?

      • Nikkodemus

        Fair point. They spend half their lives in a place that demands they act like girls. It seems to turn them very risk averse as well.

      • mexican sharpshooter

        I dunno, my kids go to school in Scottsdale and I’ve fielded two calls about my son getting in a fight.

        He’ll be attending middle school in the fall.

  12. Crusty Juggler

    15 years ago today Michael Jackson was found NOT GUILTY on all 14 counts.

    Vindication!

    • Francisco d'Anconia

      Comparison of Neil Armstrong and Michael Jackson:

      Neil Armstrong walked ON THE MOON…

      Michael Jackson…

      …fucked little boys in the ass!

    • R C Dean

      Fakes news. There is no Great Barrier Reef. It died years ago from climate change/ocean acidification/net neutrality.

      • Rebel Scum

        And there are no forests because 90 some-odd percent have been cut down at some point.

      • Rebel Scum

        *sensible chuckle*

      • TARDIS

        Nice.

        We saw that in the cinema when it came out. We couldn’t sit where we wanted to because Hexxus apparently scared the piss out of some little kid(s).

      • Agent Cooper

        “It was never that Great.”

        -Andrew Cuomo

  13. Crusty Juggler

    ‘The Big Lebowski’ Has Never Been Good

    A friend recently suggested that Walter might be the unwittingly prescient precursor to every MRA/MAGA lunatic you meet online now. Maybe so, but just like in real life, the character’s a bore.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Tard alert.

    • Ted S.

      I think the movie is way overrated, but it has nothing to do with Walter’s politics, whatever they may be.

    • Suthenboy

      I find that the dumber someone is the more likely they are to A) lean left and B) not like ‘The Big Lebowski

    • EvilSheldon

      Walter’s politics were roughly whatever John Milius’ politics were, since that was who the character was based on.

  14. The Late P Brooks

    Men who were unemployed or had lower income were more likely to be sexually inactive

    No shit, Shirley?

    • Suthenboy

      That is pretty misogynistic.

  15. Crusty Juggler

    Every Plantation in the Country Should Be Turned Into a Slavery Museum

    We should start by turning all 375 remaining plantations in the South — from Virginia to Texas — into slavery museums. (To date, only one has been turned into such a museum — the Whitney Plantation. It houses “16 original structures, including the Big House and two slave cabins. As a site of memory, Whitney Plantation features several memorials dedicated to the enslaved people who were forced to live and work here and throughout Louisiana.”)

    It would constitute an appropriate memorial to the millions of men, women and children who lived their lives enslaved, people who died at the hands of cruel masters and overseers. For all the mothers who bore children from sexual assault and whose children enriched the rapist who fathered them. For the fathers who couldn’t protect their children from being sold away like cattle. For the sons and daughters who lived such unimaginably cruel lives.

    We need slavery museums so that America cannot forget or deny its history. It’s the only way forward.

      • The Last American Hero

        So, there can be only one?

      • tripacer

        Heh

    • Suthenboy

      On whose dime? Let me guess…

    • Rebel Scum

      To date, only one has been turned into such a museum

      I can think of two in VA, one in Frederiscksburg (I forget the name) and one in Charlottesville (Monticello), and actually three because there is Mt Vernon (and there are probably others not coming to mind).

      We need slavery museums so that America cannot forget or deny its history.

      But we have to tear down every statue of a person that ever did or said anything that violates our modern, delicate sensibilities (and forget that slavery existed in every culture everywhere on the planet throughout human history and is, in fact, not a defining factor of the United States, especially considering its very short existence as a country.).

      • Viking1865

        But we have to tear down every statue of a person that ever did or said anything that violates our modern, delicate sensibilities

        Not FDR.

    • l0b0t

      I’m pretty sure the guy who owns the Whitney Plantation is the fellow who surreptitiously funded the Confederate statue removals in NOLA because he wants them for display at his plantation.

    • l0b0t

      My old place in the French Quarter (My G/d I miss it) was a former owner’s house with slave quarters. Many of the French Quarter properties are former owner’s + slave quarters houses because the Vieux Carre Commission (historical preservationists with the power of the state behind them) doesn’t allow any new construction or changes to the outside of buildings.

  16. Count Potato

    “Women perform much worse on IQ tests when they wear a revealing outfit, study finds

    They are the go-to outfit for many women when they want to feel sexy and self-confident.

    But could that favourite little black dress also be damaging to female brain function?

    Research has revealed that women perform much worse on tests which measure reaction times and decision-making when they wear something tight and revealing, rather than something loose and comfortable.

    Researchers from the University of Toronto found women were slower to respond to challenges and made poorer decisions.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8416181/How-women-perform-worse-IQ-tests-wear-tight-revealing.html

    This was in Canada? Maybe they were just cold.

    • Florida Man

      Did they put men in dresses as a control?

    • juris imprudent

      I always thought high fashion was intended to cripple women intellectually.

      • Gender Traitor

        No, just financially (and sometimes physically, especially in the case of shoes.)

    • R C Dean

      What’s that, women in tight, revealing clothes make poor decisions?

      Huh.

      • Gender Traitor

        They also often cause men to make poor decisions.

  17. Trigger Hippie

    ‘In Penny Lane there’s a policeman beating up a black, in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen’

    Pepper spray is in my ears and in my eyes?

    • Old Man With Candy

      Excellent!

    • Gender Traitor

      ::opera applause::

    • Gdragon

      We have a winner! I’m going to be singing that all day

  18. Crusty Juggler

    Why You Procrastinate (It Has Nothing to Do With Self-Control)

    Procrastination isn’t a unique character flaw or a mysterious curse on your ability to manage time, but a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain tasks — boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt and beyond.

    “Procrastination is an emotion regulation problem, not a time management problem,” said Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology and member of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University in Ottawa.

    • Florida Man

      No. You are lazy and hoping someone else will take care of it. GET OFF YOUR ASS!

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        No, I going to be a lazy bum and read Glibertarians all day. And you can’t make me do any work.

      • Florida Man

        As long as we don’t have to share a common area, you do you.

      • Jarflax

        *loads up empty whiskey bottles and pizza boxes and heads to Florida

      • blackjack

        I was gonna comment on this, but I’ll just do it later…

    • Suthenboy

      Every evening I put off yard work until the next morning. I have already cut the back yard and trimmed muscadine vines before 8am. This evening I will put off cutting the grass outside the fence down to the bayou until tomorrow morning.

      *In spite of my sarcasm I am a terrible procrastinator. Just ask my wife.

      • Rebel Scum

        I am a terrible procrastinator

        #metoo

    • EvilSheldon

      Uh, yeah? Is this supposed to be some kind of new insight?

    • Tejicano

      Before you know it any movie depicting Civil War battle scenes will have the Confederate flags pixelated like Japanese porn.

      • Viking1865

        They will never ever be able to make a good Civil War movie again, because the Woke Nazis will demand that every single scene with a Confederate in it be pure propaganda.

        Scene

        Lee, Longstreet, and the rest of the generals confer before Gettysburg

        “Gentleman, as you know we are irredeemable and deplorable racists, and traitors to the perfect and perpetual Union.”

        *Lee turns and begins whipping a slave tied up in the corner*

        “Should we fail today, I fear our glorious cause of racism, depravity, hatred, and oppression will falter for decades, only to recover when we manage to make the parties switch, elect Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, his son also named George, and then finally Donald Trump.”

        *unchains the bleeding slave*

        “The only thing that can stop us, in the future, is if young, dedicated, clear eyed warriors for social justice, tolerance, peace and equality tear down our statues. Pray to God, because we are all good Christians and also capitalists and gun enthusiasts, that they never discover this weakness.”

        “Toby, git your ass out of my tent, and send your sister in. I want to rape me an N-Word woman before the battle.”

      • The Last American Hero

        You were so close, but the phase “good Christians” is problematic.

    • Nikkodemus

      “Positive portrayal of cops…” …..what? Are we watching the same show? Nearly every cop on L&O was dirty.

    • mrfamous

      This is my thing: there are few causes I’m less sympathetic toward than the preservation of Confederate statues. Statues, in general, are creepy and political statues doubly so. I have less than no use for them and even less than that for guys like Jefferson Davis.

      But ‘purge culture’ is way way way more dangerous. Cultures that fall in love with this sort of thing rarely lead anywhere good. We shouldn’t be tearing down statues and memory holing movies, music and TV shows because doing these sorts of things is very bad independent of whatever statues, movies, TV shows or music it is you’re talking about. I don’t want Mission to Moscow memory holed any more than I want the Dukes of Hazzard memory holed.

  19. mock-star

    “Ted Williams says Trump should ‘butt out’ of Seattle occupation debate…”

    Wait, wouldnt anyone other than the Trump administration doing anything about the CHAZ be in violation of the Logan Act?

    • Agent Cooper

      Wait. His frozen head can talk?

  20. Crusty Juggler

    California police hunt ‘Karen’ linked to THREE racist attacks: White woman, 56, wanted for yelling ‘go back to whatever Asian country you came from’ at a jogger, shouting ‘Chinaman’ at a father and hitting a Good Samaritan

    Lena Hernandez, 56, was named the ‘Torrance Karen’ this week after a video emerged of her verbally harassing a woman who was exercising in Wilson Park and telling her to ‘go back to whatever f****** Asian country you came from’.

    After the video went viral, a 42-year-old father came forward with a second video in which the same woman was seen telling him to ‘go home’ and that he would be ‘f****d to death’ while his eleven-year-old son waited nearby.

    Another woman came forward on seeing the video to say that the same woman had abused her in a nearby mall last October 2019.

    Public safety is a high priority in the City of Torrance. And, all visitors to our open spaces should always feel safe and free to exercise while practicing social distancing without conflict. Conduct like that displayed on the video cannot be tolerated,’ he said to NBC Los Angeles.

    Police chief Berg would not reveal Friday, however, if Hernandez has committed any crime, according to CBS.

    ‘We are talking to the city attorney’s office as we speak,’ said Berg.

    ‘I don’t know what sections there are because a lot of this might possibly not rise to the level of a crime, and yet some of it may.

    ‘But I’m going to leave that to the investigators who have all the information. I don’t have all that information.’

    Holy shit this country is done.

    • Ted S.

      Lena Hernandez is obviously a White Hispanic.

    • Rhywun

      Why is this international news?

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      I feel sorry for Denis Leary. There was a time you could be an asshole in this country without it being a crime or going viral.

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgpZ0fUixs

    • Suthenboy

      I don’t think that is what ‘Karen’ means.

    • Rebel Scum

      verbally harassing

      Not a crime.

      • R C Dean

        Also, those weren’t racist “attacks”.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Off with his head!

    The drama began when Uhlig wrote on Twitter Monday night: “Too bad, but #blacklivesmatter per its core organization @Blklivesmatter just torpedoed itself, with its full-fledged support of #defundthepolice.”

    Uhlig continued: “Suuuure. They knew this is non-starter, and tried a sensible Orwell 1984 of saying oh, it just means funding schools (who isn’t in favor of that?!?).But no, the so-called ‘activists’ did not want that. Back to truly ‘defunding’ thus, according to their website. Sigh. #GeorgeFloyd and his family really didn’t deserve being taken advantage of by flat-earthers and creationists. Oh well. Time for sensible adults to enter back into the room and have serious, earnest, respectful conversations about it all: e.g. policy reform proposals by @TheDemocrat and national healing.”

    ——-

    On Tuesday, Uhlig’s comments were deemed problematic — and worse.

    “Racists shouldn’t be allowed to gatekeep our profession,” charged University of Victoria economist Rob Gillezeau. (Even Wolfers had stopped short of calling Uhlig a racist.)

    Amid outcry from faculty members at left-leaning institutions, Uhlig offered something of an apology — but it wasn’t good enough for Wolfers, who called it “a– covering.”

    “I’m no fan of twitter pile-ons, or call-out culture,” Wolfers said, despite available evidence. “A single tweet won’t get me upset. But reading through @haralduhlig ‘s public writing reveals a pattern that’s a bit too revealing. I don’t think it’s just or fair that Uhlig, as an editor at the @JPolEcon is an important gatekeeper for economists trying to make their mark. I don’t think the profession’s resolve to look more deeply into racial justice will get a fair hearing under his editorship.”

    Jennifer Doleac, an economics professor at Texas A&M University, gleefully tweeted that she hopes Uhlig won’t have his job for “much longer.”

    Doleac didn’t respond to a request for comment concerning whether she typically threatens students and colleagues with professional consequences for disagreeing with her. However, she tweeted: “I just got an email from Fox News asking why I am trying to hurt this man’s career. Folks, I don’t have the power to fire him. I do hope he resigns, because he has lost my confidence to be an objective gatekeeper of high-quality research at one of our discipline’s top journals.”

    The petition to secure Ulrig’s removal is slated to be delivered to the journal’s management on Wednesday.

    He must be removed from his role as gatekeeper in order that this prestigious journal of economics can be taken over by the crypto-Stalinists and MMT fabulists.

    The war on objective reality continues apace.

    • Ted S.

      “I’m no fan of twitter pile-ons, or call-out culture,” Wolfers said, despite available evidence. “A single tweet won’t get me upset. But

      As always, you can ignore everything before the “but”.

      • Florida Man

        Ted S. Is a nice guy but…

      • Ted S.

        Ted S. Is a nice guy but…

        …but his penis is much too big for most people to handle.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Thanks autocorrect.

    • Suthenboy

      ” it just means funding schools (who isn’t in favor of that?!?”

      Me.

    • Rebel Scum

      There is literally noting controversial about that tweet. Fuck these censoring cuntes.

    • Overt

      This is going to get out of control. It is going to get out of control, and we’ll be lucky to live through it.

      Seriously, I am going back through forum posts in the past trying to make sure I can excise anything linking to my identity. I work in tech. My defense of, say, Anti-Gay cake bakers is likely to get me fired from my job.

    • Jarflax

      When your beliefs are obviously nonsense and any critical examination of them reveals you to be an evil idiot the obvious solution is to ban criticism. Cancel culture is necessary for the left.

  22. SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

    Lack of sexual activity, or sexual inactivity, was also on the rise among men and women aged 25 to 34 years during the survey period, the report in the journal JAMA Network Open found.

    I mean, I’m not 21 anymore, but a whole year? Maybe a week goes by here or there, and my wife still makes fun of me for being the girl in the relationship because I let it go that long. I have to imagine that the chart is very bimodal. Either that or the tables have turned and I’m getting laid much more often than my peers.

    • Tejicano

      I expect that, in no small part, this has to do with the widespread exposure to porn from a much earlier age and the resulting bewilderment when the real thing bears no resemblance whatsoever. In my time most of us had “done it” probably a few times before we were acquainted with the world of porn – porn didn’t seem all that interesting to me at first because it didn’t look anything like what sex was to me.

      • PieInTheSky

        his has to do with the widespread exposure to porn from a much earlier age and the resulting bewilderment – I rather doubt that. I have seen now evidence on the porn bad part.

        In Romania at least most who don’t have sex is because they can’t convince a chick to bang them, nothing else.

      • Florida Man

        I can see porn decreasing real world sex because it’s risk free. No rejection, no disease, no drama. If you aren’t interested in a long term reading, it may be the rational choice.

      • PieInTheSky

        meh I just don’t see porn as a substitute, more of a complementary thing.

      • gbob

        Hell, I was thinking the other day that if the woman and I ever broke up, I may not want to waste the effort in dating in the modern age.

      • Atanarjuat

        I haven’t gotten laid since January, although the lockdown is a bad time to meet anyone.

        Young women do this thing where they pretend to be interested in you because they like the attention, good for their ego (some actually have a Tinder profile, not to use, but to bask in the number of matches, or so they claim). Then they shut you down at the last second, so you end up wasting your time going down a dead end. Of course I’ve turned down some I wasn’t interested in but I hope I didn’t lead them on. Porn never says no, and your need goes away for a while. I don’t think it’s healthy though.

      • PieInTheSky

        Porn never says no, and your need goes away for a while. – for me the need does not go away. I assume this is why I don’t really watch. never got the point.

    • Overt

      “Either that or the tables have turned and I’m getting laid much more often than my peers.”

      It has long been true that married people get more sex than singles. The narrative of the “single life” being full of sex every night is not at all common for most people. You generally have to work hard to get laid, and as boys start to opt out of life, and as boys get told that asking girls for sex is sexual assault, I can see why sex in single life is becoming even more rare.

      • PieInTheSky

        The narrative of the “single life” being full of sex is true for a very small minority

    • Rebel Scum

      This past Sunday, a veto-proof majority of the council announced plans to disband its police department and invest in community-based public safety programs.

      So…uh…police?

      • R C Dean

        Safety doesn’t mean “no theft or assault.” Safety means “no badthink”.

      • mexican sharpshooter

        No, not police. These are social workers trained in de-escalation of conflict, domestic abuse, identifying substance abuse, and maybe traffic control. Perhaps they can wear a garment of sorts, or a funny hat so they can be quickly identified by the public….

  23. PieInTheSky

    I fueled up the car after more than two months. one US dollar a liter rather cheap…

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      About 3.78 a gallon USD?

      • PieInTheSky

        give or take. But keep in mind the average wage is much lower in Romania, so that makes things better.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        2.35 by me and I’m in a high tax area.

    • Cy

      Marine Diesel was down to $0.67 per gallon in Seattle in May… I wish I had more capacity when we filled up.

      • Count Potato

        Wow.

      • Donation Not Taxation

        PieInTheSky, for United States,
        ‘The United States federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. The federal tax was last raised October 1, 1993 and is not indexed to inflation, which increased by a total of 77 percent from 1993 until 2020.On average, as of April 2019, state and local taxes and fees add 34.24 cents to gasoline and 35.89 cents to diesel’
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States

    • Bob Boberson

      “…..It’s not just free speech, it’s hate speech, and I will drop them.”

      So in other words, people have the freedom to believe and say things that you approve of. I don’t think that word freedom means what you think it means.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Ted S. Is a nice guy but…

    To be sure.

  25. Rufus the Monocled

    Eventually, the left will over play its card. Even Robby over at TOS is starting to get it with his latest which was pretty darn good. No more ‘to be sures’ and ‘both sides do it’ crap I hope.

    • Suthenboy

      You are more hopeful than I am. Even a year ago I would have said that what they are doing now is wildly overplaying their card, yet here we are.

      • Rhywun

        The Dems have a very real chance of controlling every branch of government in the next year, in addition to nearly all the institutions that they already control. I’d say they’ve played their cards pretty damn well.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        DAMN YOU ALL!

        I’m trying to be positive!

        You really think?

        Biden can actually win?

      • R C Dean

        You bet he can. Electoral College-wise, there’s a pretty easy path for him, especially given who counts the votes in swing states.

      • Viking1865

        I still don’t see how Biden can win if he goes on stage with Trump three times. He can’t get through an 7 minute unscripted interview without babbling and sundowning, and even with the current state of the media and the institutions, I don’t think you can sell the American people on canceling the debates.

      • R C Dean

        Too many people vote the party, not the candidate.

      • Jarflax

        Virtually all voters choice is predetermined. Campaigning is almost entirely about getting your voters to actually vote and not about persuading people to choose you.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        Wow. Americans are just as bad as Canadians!

        This is depressing.

        How can you pull the lever for a corrupted, senile babbling idiot who can’t even form a sentence?

      • Overt

        ” I would have said that what they are doing now is wildly overplaying their card, yet here we are.”

        I had my first real, “Oh shit, this is real” scare yesterday. I have always been a, “It couldn’t happen here” type of guy. Sure, I always enjoyed shows that fantasize about America’s descent into totalitarianism. Of course, usually they are talking about EVIL RIGHT CONSPIRACIES to make us fascist. Even then, I always rolled my eyes and said “Of course if it were to happen here, it would be communist”. But then I’d chuckle to myself and laugh at how unlikely such a thing was.

        A year or two ago I read the “Three Body Problem”, which is Chinese Sci-Fi that starts during the communist revolution. A main character’s father is a physics professor who is killed by his students during a “Struggle Session” on the campus. His crime was teaching physics that disagreed with axiomatic communist dogma. It was a shocking scene that remains with me today.

        Yesterday, I saw that the VP was fired from Riot Games because of a…perhaps tone deaf but definitely not racist…post he made on facebook. This guy is like 2 degrees of separation from me. My company was working with his company on an advertising deal. And the viral mob attack almost sundered that deal- his firing was how the company saved itself. At the same time, I have managers in my org sending out requests for people to help “dismantle systems of white supremacy inside the company”.

        I have a long history of posting in comment sections. Under pseudonyms, sure, but if they were ever linked back to me, I could be fired on the spot- for many of my libertarian views that I hold today, and for many of the conservative views I held 15 – 20 years ago. I spent most of yesterday afternoon searching my former handles to try and delete posts.

        All we need is for these fuckers to get in control of government again. They won’t be putting me up on a stage to be stoned for intolerance. No, they will just stand back while the Gen Z acolytes do the dirty work for them.

  26. PieInTheSky

    So what is everyone drinking? I am having an aromatic white wine from 2007 and it is holding out remarkably well. It is from one of the more experimental of the enologist (who is in fact German but works in Romania), from a grape that has probably less than 50 hectares remaining, after the Great Replanting when local grapes were replace by the quest to make as much mediocre chardonnay as possible. The grape is Cramposie Aromata, a cross between the Romanian grape Cramposie Selectionata and a Muscat. Kept 2 days on the grape skins, 8 months on the yeast with some batonnage. Also some time in oak. Still has a bit of acidity but not much, very nice flavors. You find very few old wines in this country, most are 2-3 years old. This one is not bad at 75 lei a bottle although it is not to be found in stores .

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xJ2Q-0NW5WZ2pAn3KTY4IhqMRL105OXW/view?usp=drivesdk

      • PieInTheSky

        Not my favorite grape but there is good Chablis out there

      • Rebel Scum

        Anything that is not oaked.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Ice tea. It’s morning here.

      • PieInTheSky

        it is a weekend morning. No excuses.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Working today. Driving early so didn’t drink last night either.

    • Gender Traitor

      At the moment, I’m drinking this because it’s morning where I am, but later today I will be unabashedly drinking wine slushies at our favorite winery while Tom Teriffic strums his git-tar and serenades the crowd.

    • Cy

      Shitty coffee with an occasional gummy worm. At least work is predictably quiet today.

    • Tejicano

      Woodford Reserve Bourbon. A nice nightcap in my case.

    • Florida Man

      I’ll be drinking with baked penguin in a few hours. I can get The inside scoop on secret nazi president.

      • gbob

        Once you’re boozed up, the two of you should take over a section of a city and start a garden.

    • gbob

      A really nice Ethiopian coffee, done up well from a local roaster. I would have liked a little less roasting, but I’m too lazy to do the beans myself. I need to up my coffee game a bit.

      That, mixed in with a pipefull of some local variant of Afghan Kush, makes for a chill morning.

    • EvilSheldon

      Coffee. Followed by more coffee. Getting packed up for a trip to the range.

    • Suthenboy

      I finished my yard work before 8am. I cam in, cooled down and poured up a vodka/cranberry juice (over ice!). I know….girly drink. I buy what pleases my wife and I drink that.

      • Gustave Lytton

        The only girly drink is a Shirley Temple.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Goddammit, Pie, no way I could find that here.

      • PieInTheSky

        Now way you could find it here for most people :). I just happen to know a store that organizes special tastings.

    • juris imprudent

      Does anyone really expect better from Fredo?

    • Rebel Scum

      Own goal?

    • Rhywun

      W
      T
      F

      • Rufus the Monocled

        Trump doesn’t need to get involved or go the ‘Insurrection Act’ route.

        I mean, why?

    • gbob

      Man, I *really* hope the CHAZ never ends. It’s like a science experiment in political philosophy.

      Glibs need their own CHAZ.

      • R C Dean

        At the end of year one of GLAZ:

        Nuclear reactor online, rail gun installations nearly complete . . . .

      • Jarflax

        Yeah but the electricity from the reactor costs $250,000 per kW/hr because you it burns up 26 orphans every time you adjust the rods.

  27. Count Potato

    “Disney ended their partnership with Tucker Carlson over his “offensive” comments but not with the Chinese Communist Party over their millions of Muslims in Concentration Camps.

    Let that sink in.”

    https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1271609864519733248

    “NEW: China Daily, the propaganda outlet, paid WaPo more than $4.6 million and WSJ nearly $6 million to publish propaganda inserts since Nov. 2016.

    Also paid $260k to Twitter for advertising.”

    https://twitter.com/ChuckRossDC/status/1270160367080128512

    Media is asshole.

    • LJW

      But, Russia!

    • Rufus the Monocled

      I wonder if this time people threatening to boycott will make a difference. It sounds and feels like the silent majority may finally make a difference?

      My list of quietly not making purchases with certain businesses or watching spots or whatever is growing too big!

      I can dream no?

    • Suthenboy

      What offensive comments?

      I did hear him say the other night “Always tell the truth”
      I can see how most of the media would take offense at that.

    • Rebel Scum

      “News” media is propaganda.

    • Nikkodemus

      Never seen a gay man so visibly happy about the fact that he is gay.

    • Rebel Scum

      Clown world.

    • Tejicano

      The BabylonBee’s operational circle constricts further.

    • R C Dean

      I like how “not letting rioters attempt to destroy it” isn’t an option.

  28. Rufus the Monocled

    So. What are looking at here? Fall of the West?

    It’s been in steady slow decline now for, I’d argue, at least 110 years.

    I think the book ‘The Strange Death of Liberal England’ pretty much sealed the decline was well under way.

    All this time we’ve believed ourselves to be so advanced thanks to the USA but now I’m beginning to wonder if it was just the afterglow left behind by a mighty civilization long gone.

    /slowly peels banana. Takes soft bite.

    • Drake

      A coordinated attempt to create non-stop crisis after crisis in the run-up to the election. A dress rehearsal for a for real revolution. And an a large scale effort to drag the overton window way over to the left by the people who took over our institutions.

      Call it a reconnaissance in force.

    • juris imprudent

      Spengler was wrong then, and there is no reason to believe he is right now.

      The end of the world is a perennial best-seller – seems to appeal to something deep within most people.

  29. Gustave Lytton

    How long before some cop gets his Starbucks coffee with “ACAB” written on it? Bonus points if it’s the name on the cup. Triple if the barista yells it out as the name when setting it out. Will accept fake incidents.

    • EvilSheldon

      I mean, that’s happened. But it turned out that the cop faked the whole thing.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Already? Dammit, can’t keep up with reality.

    • Rhywun

      If I were a cop I’d steer clear of Starbucks. I know where I’m not wanted.

  30. Drake

    John Cleese – holy crap he’s right on.

    • PieInTheSky

      it is getting beyond parody

      • Toxteth O’Grady

        He summarized The True Believer in two minutes.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    “A homeless Chad has taken over the garden in CHAZ and destroyed it.”

    BLACK DIRT MATTERS

    • Old Man With Candy

      As if anyone actually reads the links.

      • Jarflax

        The links are Patriarchy! Getting your news from the (((official))) links is just fueling the kkkorporate theft of indigenous LGBTQ friendly sustainable BiPOC news.

  32. Fatty Bolger

    we have a huge aversion to tacky

    I suppose that would ruin it. But to me, that’s what makes Vegas worth visiting. Tackiness may be generally unappealing, but tackiness on the scale of Vegas is a sight to behold.

    • Q Continuum

      I like strippers and Vegas is like the Olympics of stripping, attracting all the best from around the nation. Therefore, I like Vegas.

      I also enjoy getting shitfaced and playing low-stakes craps cause I can be as loud and obnoxious as I want and it’s encouraged.

  33. Q Continuum

    The best possible things that could come out of the protests:

    1) Ending/drastically rolling back the WoD.
    2) Drastically rolling back the prison-industrial complex.
    3) Banning no-knock raids.
    4) Outlawing or disempowering police unions.
    5) Eliminating QI.

    Of course none of these things will happen and are not even in the conversation. Because, as stated many times before, neither party actually has any interest in police reform, they want to do some virtue signaling to mollify the mob and they pass reforms that will actually accumulate more state power.

    • PieInTheSky

      1. lol no

      2. lol no

      3. maybe

      4. lol no

      5 maybe

    • Rhywun

      I have seen a couple of those in the conversation, but yeah I doubt anything will come of it.

    • Rebel Scum

      Nothing positive will happen because 1) the protesters/rioters/looters and their enablers are racebaiting fucktards and 2) no one wants to address the root causes.

    • Tejicano

      I would bet that if you spoke the words “qualified immunity” into the face of your average protester the response would be a blank stare. It’s difficult to imagine getting traction on an issue which the members of “the movement” du jure have no idea about.

    • R C Dean

      Nothing drums up support for rolling back the police like race riots, after all.

    • Suthenboy

      Really?
      Blackberry, huckleberry, mulberry, Kumquat and muscadine are just now flowering here. You have berries already?

      • PieInTheSky

        very warm year. Almost no winter to speak of.

      • PieInTheSky

        gooseberries should be ripe in a week or two.

      • Suthenboy

        Our winter was averagish. It has been unusually wet this year, so that is good. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the summer.

      • Jarflax

        You get huckleberries? I always thought of them as a mountain west thing (probably because every thing in Montana is huckleberry flavored all sumer lol)

    • Tulip

      Nice!

  34. gbob

    Saturday morning question.

    Let’s say there’s a Glibertarian meet and greet. After too much booze we storm the capital, take over four or five blocks and create the GLAZ. How does our autonomous zone function? Obviously, our views on private property would allow an existing business within the zone to function. We have enough guns between us to act as security, but what do we do while we’re there? Personally, I’ll be hauling in some hooch, and setting up a bar where people can pay money or barter for booze. In the meantime, I’l also be setting up a brewery to give us drinking supplies when the smuggled booze runs out.

    What are you folks doing? How does a more AnCap leaning group function for five or six months?

    • Q Continuum

      Yeah right.

      We’re all Nazis in the eyes of the authorities; we wouldn’t just be pepper sprayed, they’d probably use live ammo.

    • Gender Traitor

      Someone pointed out earlier that we start by purchasing the property. I don’t know how well or how much we’d organize, but we’d have the most awesome bars, restaurants, and gun stores.

      • Viking1865

        Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms would be an actual store.

    • PieInTheSky

      What are you folks doing? – given the people who will be there Q needs to be made head pimp and bring in the ladies.

      • Ted S.

        Only 9f you want RealDolls.

    • Rebel Scum

      MRAPS would be rolling in 5 seconds.

    • TARDIS

      Will there be sniper training? I wish to defend our open borders.

    • Suthenboy

      Shorter gbob: “How do you herd cats?”

      I already have much more territory than Chaz. There is no one there aside from my brother and myself. It is quiet aside from the wind in the trees. I like it there.

    • EvilSheldon

      For starters, I’d haul out my automated reloading gear and start churning out ammo, with gunsmithing services offered on the side.

      • Suthenboy

        I could keep you busy all by myself.

        Auto-5 needs a new barrel…..J-frame Smith needs a new rear sight….loading gate spring on an old 3-screw Super Blackhawk needs replacing….cylinder stop spring on a Colt 1917 needs replacing…..

        Give me some time and I can think of a dozen others

      • EvilSheldon

        Jeez, I need to hook you up with my old man. A lot of that is the kind of one-off parts fabrication stuff that’s right up his alley.

      • Suthenboy

        Ever notice that in most old western movies there is an old timer with a coonskin hat that still carries a black powder rifle?
        That’s me.

    • Ted S.

      Nobody said Mexicans, ass-sex, and pot?

  35. Mojeaux

    And so today begins The Big Move. No, not house. That’s easy. No, I’m moving into a new computer after 8 years with this one, but I’ve rode it hard and I’m putting it away wet. I haz a sad. Weirdly, I get attached to the tools I use all the time (this applies to my DIY tools too). If my current workhorse weren’t glitching, I’d have no reason to have a new one, but the video and sound are totally on the fritz.

    My current task is to move all my emails to my data drive (I have a SS drive for OS and programs; and a hard drive for my files, what I create, etc.). This task might seem easy, but I have hundreds of folders in my email and hundreds of files in my hard drive and I must move the emails in each folder to its corresponding folder. No, I don’t want to just safe the .msf files.

    My husband teases me that my file tree goes 10 folders deep, but that’s not an exaggeration in some cases. My hard drive is the most uber-organized thing ever in the existence of files and folders.

    And so it begins.

    • PieInTheSky

      I think it would take me 15 minutes to move computers…

      • Mojeaux

        Okay, okay, MOVING is not the time suck. DECORATING is.

      • Rhywun

        I don’t remember how long it took last time, but restoring my backup to a new computer is automated during setup.

    • Cy

      I usually just slide the old drive into my new build and make it apart of my new system. I also immediately back everything up on the new drives. I have backups of my backups on my file server. I’m lucky enough to have never lost any really important data.

      • Mojeaux

        Well, that’s what’s going to happen.

        It’s hard to describe what I do. Basically…re-customize it? I’m going from Win7 to Win10.

        I have 3 backups: external hard drive, family cloud server, Carbonite. I’m not going to lose anything. I’m just paranoid and OCD about what goes where.

  36. Rebel Scum

    Michael Moore never ceases to be a completely contemptible asshole.

    On Trump voters, Moore said, “It’s white men, a lot of white men, two-thirds of white men voted for Trump, feel that their grip on power is quickly fading. It’s being taken from them. They’ve been watching what’s going on the last couple of weeks. They are just as angry at that cop in Minneapolis because he’s really messed it up for the white male holding onto that power. I think white men and their fear of this —notice how Trump’s base really never changes. That percentage that’s going to vote for him. It’s 40, 41. On a good day, it’s 43 or 44. It always stays within the margin of error. That’s because it doesn’t matter what Trump does. They are going to show up. They’re counting on their rage, and their emotion is so much stronger. They have the courage of their convictions. They believe, and they’re counting on us not showing up in that same way.”

    Keep playing with the fire that is racebaiting, dumbass.

    • Q Continuum

      Go eat a Whopper fatty.

    • Suthenboy

      Oh blow it out of your fat ass Mike.

      I don’t know why those people don’t get called out more often. They rarely do, if at all. I don’t know if it is a lack of self-awareness, projection or just mendacity but they are the biggest bigots rolling. They never shut the fuck up about race. They see everything through that lens. I am really sick of hearing about it.

    • TARDIS

      Lefty liberal men will be in for a rude awakening if they get the race war they want.

      • Stillhunter

        “But we’re a progressive business! Why did you destroy OUR property?”

      • Rebel Scum

        I refer to them as “leftist” or “illiberal”. They are not liberal because they do not believe in liberty. I do, ergo I am an actual “liberal”. I want my word back.

        And, yes, they are playing with fire and they will get burned.

      • TARDIS

        ^^This^^

        And to be fair, I mock “righties” as “cons” because they lie about wanting small government. Most of the cons I’ve worked with want the state to do their bidding too.

  37. Tundra

    Good morning, Old Man!

    Vegas generally sucks. I’ve been there more times than I can count. as it’s a common destination for trade shows and conferences. You can seek out the quieter and nicer places in the surrounding areas and some of the hiking in the desert is spectacular. Always a good band or two playing, too.

    That said, I don’t ever need to go back. Except for maybe Neph’s Rockabilly Festival.

    You’ve linked MtE before I think. That song had 1206 views before me. Travesty.

    Thanks for that, though. Seela always does it for me!

    I hope you all have a great day!

    • Rebel Scum

      I’ve never been to Vegas but it seems to me like it would be something like visiting a strip club. It’s fun and you should try it once, but it really is a waste of time and money.

      • Tundra

        Exactly. Just like Key West.

        We took the kids a couple years ago on our way to Utah. They thought it was cool to see but both said they thought it was too crowded and depressing (lots of panhandlers, etc.) We all enjoyed the Mandalay Bay pool/beach, though.

      • Mojeaux

        I find casinos depressing also.

      • Rhywun

        The only casino I’ve ever been to was in downtown Cleveland. On a weeknight.

      • Suthenboy

        Best dive ever. Key west. I bribed the boat owner to take us to reefs that no one visits. We went in the evening, did a daylight dive and then a night dive.
        I got to touch a sand shark. We saw two (((fish))), one of which that had to be 8 feet long and well over 1/4 of a ton. I didnt touch him. They are reputed to be tolerant of being touched but if you could see his teeth you would understand why I didnt touch him. Octopus, sea snakes, a stone crab 18″ across his back….it was amazing. The reefs were beyond words beautiful.

        If. you go to Key West you just have to know where to go. Forget the touristy crap.

        *The huge (((fish))) swam right up to my face and stopped less than two feet away. He just hung there watching me for at least a minute. When I got back on the boat I remarked to the captain about him. He said “Oh yeah. We call him VW because he is the size of a Volkswagen Bug. He likes when we bring people out here to spear fish. He waits until they have their catch and are on the way back to the boat. He takes their fish away from them every time and there isn’t a goddamned thing you can do about it.”
        I realized Ahhh….he was checking me to see if I had any fish.

      • westernsloper

        I am not a diver but the best snorkeling I have experienced was around the old fort on Dry Tortugas. Very cool.

      • l0b0t

        I grew up all over there. Ft. Jefferson is my win-the-lotto-make-my-last-stand dream home. I was probably 5 or 6 when I first learned how Dr. Mudd was fucked over by FedGov and imprisoned there at Ft. Jeff; it made quite an impression upon me and helped set on the path to distrusting/hating the state.

      • westernsloper

        Key West back in the day was way different than it is now. It has been over 5 (?) years since I visited and it was nothing like when I was stationed there early 90’s. That island was not designed to hold as many people as it does now. It is a shame, but whatev’s life moves forward. Whats her face number two and I stayed at Mandalay Bay (grand opening week) when we got married. (big mistake) A new hotel in Las Vegas was something I remember to this day. It smelled of coconut and everything was brand new. It was awesome. They had to shut down the wave pool because the waves were fucking people up they were so big. Again, awesome. I like vegas for the food. Not to mention, chuck a few quarters in the bar slots and you are drinking for “free”.

        I stayed at Mandalay Bay some years ago with ex-girlfriend and it was already wore out. The coconut smell was gone and it was not the same experience. Food was good though and we drank our faces off which is what Vegas is for. Plus saw BB King at The House of Blues. Not the best show, but ya, it was BB King.

      • Overt

        “I like vegas for the food. Not to mention, chuck a few quarters in the bar slots and you are drinking for “free”.”

        My friends and I tend to rate our gambling losses based on these free drinks.

        “How was your day?”

        “Not great. I had a couple $80 rum and cokes at the blackjack table”

      • db

        Key West is great — if you have family that live there and know all the non-tourist places to eat, and a boat to head out to all the local gathering places. The party scene is just a tourist attraction.

      • Mojeaux

        I went to a male revue once.

        It was awful.

      • PieInTheSky

        It’s fun – not the one I went to…

      • Ted S.

        Apparently you went to a different male revue than Mojeaux did.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        We were at the Bel Agio. Beautiful and fun but after a few days it gets stale. We don’t gamble so that’s one big part of the equation gone. Splurged on the ridiculous prices for meals. When in Rome….drove to the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon which was a lot of fun. If we had more time we would have stopped off to see more of those shops on the way. There was a horror shop I wanted to see but it was getting late.

        Not sure we’d go back though. 105 degrees is not comfortable even if it’s a ‘dry heat’.

      • Overt

        Picasso has one of the best sommeliers I’ve ever drank with. And the food is fantastic. Plus, it is one of the few places we can get foie gras that is within driving distance of los angeles.

        Yes, it is ridiculously over priced. But the wife and I don’t need “stuff” any more, so a great $500 – $800 dinner is the gift we give to each other for our anniversary.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Well, I don’t need to go to Vegas to get in some desert hiking! It’s not only a depressing place, our GPSs don’t work right in that area. To get anywhere, we needed to do a lot of circling, backtracking, and U turning.

      That MtE album was a seriously excellent show. There were two recording sessions at the late, great Flipnotics, I was front row for both of them. Every couple of songs, they had to stop and run the A/C for a few minutes.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Good old recording in the Summer “Oh crap,we forgot to turn the air off!, try it again”

      • Tundra

        Hah! Yeah, I was just trying to look at the bright side. A good friend of mine lives in the same town as Ownbestenemy and was telling me about taking a bike ride down the Strip during lockdown. He said it was surreal. I actually would have liked to have seen that.

        I just went down a rabbit hole and found a SXSW performance I bookmarked for later. The guy definitely has a gift.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Yep. Our area out in Henderson is wonderful but the city overall sucks.

    • Ted S.

      I was in Vegas once — at the Ford dealership. We were on a cross-country trip and suffered a blow-out in the Mojave Desert, limping into Vegas to get the van fixed.

      I’d seen the pictures of glitzy Vegas in our old World Book Encyclopedia, and as a kid I was very disappointed that what we saw was nothing like those pictures.

      We spent a night camping at Valley of Fire State Park, where the water came out of the spigot already hot.

  38. DEG

    And saw Penn and Teller.

    I liked their show.

    There’s also The Gun Store.

    Democrats with knowledge of the process said Biden’s search committee has narrowed the choices to as few as six serious contenders after initial interviews. Among the group still in contention: Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California, as well as Susan Rice, who served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser.

    So he’s not giving Michigan to Trump? Huh.

    City officials also added this was not the first suicide that has occurred in Palmdale during the coronavirus pandemic.

    They were all Lil Rona deaths. Gotta pump those numbers up.

    On a more serious note, I wouldn’t be surprised if a) there was a spike in suicides during the Lil Rona Panic and b) it accounts for more deaths than Lil Rona.

    In a statement, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the government’s interpretation of sex discrimination will be based on “the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology.”

    Fucking science deniers!

    “This is a state and local matter that should be taken care of,” said Williams, putting the onus on Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

    Yes, and then Trump should use CHAZ in his campaign ads.

    John Cleese has laid into the “cowardly and gutless” BBC after an episode of Fawlty Towers was temporarily removed from a BBC-owned streaming platform.

    Fuck the BBC.

    The survey found that from 2000 to 2018, nearly one in three U.S. men aged 18 to 24 reported no sexual activity in the past year. Lack of sexual activity, or sexual inactivity, was also on the rise among men and women aged 25 to 34 years during the survey period, the report in the journal JAMA Network Open found.

    Women in that age group are welcome to visit me.

    Old Guy music is good.

    • DEG

      PROOFRAD THE TAGS DUMBASS!

  39. Rebel Scum

    4 years ago an Islamic radical that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State killed a bunch of LGBT…QRSTUVWXY&Z people but it is the fault of Drumpf and the “right*”

    *collectivists, racial or otherwise, are not right-wing.

    The Pulse murders occurred during Pride Month in a nightclub that acted as a haven for LGBTQ people in Orlando to celebrate their whole selves. Anti-LGBTQ hate groups and some members of the radical right, in a sickening display of bigotry, praised the gunman after the attack.

    It’s clear that the LGBTQ community remains under threat — the 2019 SPLC Year in Hate and Extremism report showed a nearly 43% spike in anti-LGBTQ hate groups. Groups that vilify the LGBTQ community, the report found, represented the fastest-growing sector among hate groups in 2019, rising from 49 in 2018 to 70 the following year. Much of this growth has taken place among groups at the grassroots level, a surge possibly fueled by continued anti-LGBTQ sentiment and policy emanating from government officials.

    The anti-LGBTQ hate groups that we list often couch their opposition to LGBTQ rights in harmful rhetoric and pseudoscience that demonizes LGBTQ people as threats to children, society and often public health. They have also fortified their influence over policy decisions and mainstream culture in recent years. LGBTQ hate even has a home in the halls of the White House: The Trump administration has welcomed members of these hate groups who have designed new, oppressive policies.

    The president himself, despite once promising to be a “real friend” to the LGBTQ community, has fully embraced anti-LGBTQ hate groups and their agenda of dismantling federal protections and resources for LGBTQ people.

    • Viking1865

      SLD that “right” and “left” are very nebulous terms, but I’m fine marking Christian anti-abortion violence and Tim McVeigh as “the far right.”

      But I think calling radical Islamic fundamentalists who hate America “far right” then you’re just doing the usual leftist thing of “all bad people are right wing”

      • Rebel Scum

        I have a working definition. Obviously others have theirs. I think if you are using a binary the sides should be opposite. For me:

        Left: big-government/collectivist
        Right: small-government/individualist

        I think your references can fall into that categorization. There are assholes all around.

        just doing the usual leftist thing of “all bad people are right wing”

        Indeed.

      • Viking1865

        Notice also the SPLC is calling the Pulse attack murders and not terrorism. But they do call the OKC bombing terrorism. I would argue that a violent attack on a government building is not terrorism, its either insurrection or an act of war. To me, terrorism is an attack on a civilian target.

        Muslims who kill gays in a nightclub in the service of jihad are not terrorists, a white man who repeatedly stated that he blew up a government building in response to government terrorism is a terrorist. SPLC never fails to push their agitprop.

    • R C Dean

      “Anti-LGBTQ hate groups and some members of the radical right, in a sickening display of bigotry, praised the gunman after the attack.“

      I don’t recall that.

      “The anti-LGBTQ hate groups that we list . . . have also fortified their influence over policy decisions and mainstream culture in recent years.“

      What?

      • EvilSheldon

        Nor do I, probably because it didn’t happen.

  40. Ownbestenemy

    Youtube hasnt pulled the best part of Fawlty Towers yet…

    https://youtu.be/yfl6Lu3xQW0

    One of them best written jokes.

    • Rhywun

      That series was one of my earliest DVD purchases.

    • DEG

      I like “Fawlty Towers”.

  41. Stillhunter

    The number of people equating chaos with anarchy is astonishing.

    Ok, not really astonishing given government schools and a general lack of intellectual curiosity.

    • Rebel Scum

      I find it astonishing that a group of marxists think that marxism=anarchy. They probably also think that “libertarian socialism” is a thing, despite the obvious contradiction.

  42. Rebel Scum

    Tacoma Woman

    A Tacoma woman was arrested at her home Thursday for allegedly burning five police vehicles in downtown Seattle on May 30 during protests over the death of George Floyd.

    Federal authorities in full SWAT gear took the 25-year-old woman into custody without incident, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. …

    The woman was identified from photos and videos by her numerous and distinctive tattoos, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. The videos came from Seattle police, surveillance cameras, broadcast news video and social media posts.

    “This defendant was captured by multiple cameras using an accelerant, lit like a blowtorch, to start fires in five vehicles — putting the public at risk and creating the very real possibility of a structure fire amidst the throng of people protesting downtown,” said U.S. Attorney Brian Moran.

    • creech

      She doesn’t look Amish, but is probably a violent white supremacist in any case.

  43. Rufus the Monocled

    I see Chappelle is bitching and moaning.

    I don’t get it.

    75% of blacks are born out of wedlock. No one wants to talk about this.

    But ‘whypippo’.

    By ignoring that elephant in the room, the cycle will never be broken.

    All this 8:46 stuff is kabuki theatre. It would matter if people reacted with indifference. But they didn’t. It earned immediate and universal condemnation.

    Floyd was a criminal. He played his own part in his tragic fate.

    I don’t think he’s the sort of character to base ‘change’ on. But I’m white so I’m privileged. I should shut up.

    • Suthenboy

      There are no good guys in this story. Everyone in it is a POS. Weighing in on it is like cleaning up runny dog shit. No matter what you do some of it gets on you and cleaning that off usually means just smearing it around more.

      • Naptown Bill

        My favorite podcast quote this week: “George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin, Derek Chauvin, and George Floyd can all be bad people.”

      • Rebel Scum

        It’s almost like multiple things can be true at the same time.

    • Nikkodemus

      I do find it interesting (and others here have pointed it out) that they always choose the worst examples of these kinds of incidents to hang their hat on. Michael Brown was shown to have been violent shortly before being killed, but they latched right on to him. No one seems to remember Tamir Rice, which is a much more clear cut case of police brutality. Its almost as if they want to sew discord between groups of people…

      • Rebel Scum

        Its almost as if they want to sew discord between groups of people…

        Ding ding ding! We have a winner! ///divide&conquer

    • Rebel Scum

      Yeah, he screwed the pooch with his Candace Owens comments. (Of course, I’m biased.) She took it well, though.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        Yeh well, he should man up and debate her.

        Imagine if a white comedian said that about a woman in today’s culture.

        Let’s go Dave. Don’t be a coward like Lebron hiding behind Twitter. Face to face. Do it.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        “…I seen Candace Owens try to convince white America, ‘Don’t worry about it. He’s a criminal anyway.’ I don’t give a f–k what this n—– did. I don’t care what this n—– did. I don’t care if he personally kicked Candace Owens in her stanky p—-. I don’t know if it stanks, but I imagine it does. If I ever find out, I’ll let you know for sure. I’ll tell like Azealia Banks. I’ll tell.”

        WTF does this gibberish mean?

        I don’t need Owens to convince me of anything. He was a criminal. I don’t need her to tell me that it’s retarded to stake your grievances on his criminal ass.

      • Rebel Scum

        My problem with the bit is that she literally did not say that and it is not close to satirizing what she did say. It is just a lie.

  44. TARDIS

    Too Local?

    We are supposed to take my son into the city for a celebratory dinner this evening. Might have to rethink my privilege.

    • Drake

      Do you plan to take a nap in the drive-thru lane?

      • TARDIS

        Possibly, since I’ll be drinking/intoxicated. I won’t be doing the driving though, so I should be okay.

    • Rebel Scum

      Maybe stick to the Wendy’s in the burbs.

      • Rebel Scum

        Speaking of Wendy’s, it is the best similar alternative if a Chick-fil-a is not available. Change my mind.

  45. Stillhunter

    Speaking of computers and storage drives… what would options be for restoring data from a dead external HD? Asking for a friend.

    • Rhywun

      If the drive itself isn’t fried, you can pull it out and there are gizmos you can buy where you can insert the drive into it and use it.

      • Stillhunter

        It powers up, but doesn’t connect. It just clicks.

    • Mojeaux

      Other people can probably answer better, but my husband had to do that a couple of times. If you can’t get a good answer, I’ll have him answer you.

    • cyto

      It depends on what is wrong.

      It normally isn’t the enclosure. Usually it is the drive.

      If they heard some clunking before it died… it is the drive.

      Depending on what is wrong, on some occasions the drive head gets stuck (sticktion) and you can temporarily get it working again by whacking it. It will break again, but you might be able to move vital files. Another method for handling this is putting it in the freezer. Again, short term fix.

      Past that, there are companies that can get the data if the drive is totally broken. They basically open the drive and fix it, either replacing parts or transferring the platters to another drive. This costs a lot of money. Hundreds, last I checked.

      But it can be cheap if you compare it to the cost of recreating the data you lost.

      As rhywun said, if it is the enclosure, you can simply remove the drive and plop it into another machine. It is most likely just an ordinary hard drive inside there. Probably SATA of some variation. So hooking it up should be simple if that’s the case.

      • Stillhunter

        Thanks. That’s what I was afraid of. The data loss isn’t life ending, but would prefer to get it back.

      • Tres Cool

        All your best pr0n on there ?

    • l0b0t

      Disregard the fact that the website looks like it is from 1992. Download the trial version of File Scavenger and Disk Recoup; give them a quick go and see if they can recover the data/drive. If they can, spring for the paid versions; I’ve been using them both for many years with great success.

      http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm

      • cyto

        I can confirm, in certain cases this is a viable solution. When it is, it works great.

  46. Naptown Bill

    Made me so annoyed. Rather than focus on the points of BLM, this has given a bunch of people a story to share on Social Media about how “They want to take away British culture.”

    That IS the point of BLM.

      • Suthenboy

        Marxism in blackface.

      • Naptown Bill

        That’s why I’m so dead-set against this tearing down statues of “racists” thing. It’s just the usual revolutionary destruction of the existing order. But these people are postmodernists who have nothing to substitute in its place. They’re Marxists, yeah, but they haven’t even really thought *that* through as much as, say, Lenin and his crew did. Say what you will about the Bolsheviks, at least they had principles, to coin a phrase.

      • Bob Boberson

        We all know it won’t stop with Confederates…..next will be statues of Jefferson and Washington, and on down the list as the the glorious and perpetual revolution unfolds.

      • Naptown Bill

        Frankly, and I know there are good people here who are very much against statues of Confederate leaders remaining in place, I’m not a big fan of the wanton destruction of culture these nihilist barbarians practice and I think they should be treated as violent looters. And lest I be misunderstood, I have no problem with the squeamish aiming for their knees so as to wound or cripple them provided the volume of fire drives them off.

      • cyto

        I’m very much opposed to our current ethos of allowing a bunch of unemployed 20 year old kids decide what statues are allowed, what buildings are allowed, and who should be allowed to speak in public.

        It is about damned time that the grownups started acting like grownups. And that goes for all of society, not just Seattle and DC. But particularly it applies to the colleges, where “studies” majors are actually explicitly designed to mint out these sorts of progressive activists.

        It would be bad if this were occurring at private colleges, but this is mostly prominent in public colleges funded by tax dollars. The idea that the state is funding the overthrow of the state is just ludicrous.

        So start being the grown-ups, folks.

      • Overt

        “Marxism is the point of BLM.”

        Honest question: I skimmed through that “What we believe” article, and can’t find the marxism. I see clear evidence that they’ve been infiltrated by the Trans community. But I don’t see any marxist dogma.

      • grrizzly

        This.

    • Bob Boberson

      Reading their “what we believe”

      “…We make space for transgender brothers and sisters to participate and lead.”

      “…We are self-reflexive and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence.”

      “….We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.

      We foster a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual (unless s/he or they disclose otherwise).”

      Please TOS and other beltway libertarians…..tell me again how cultural marxism only exists in the minds of us yokels.

      • cyto

        I particularly love the focus on extreme fringe cases….

        As they say, this is how you can tell that we don’t have any problems. If we are focused on the fact that people don’t automatically assume that every person they meet might be part of a minority comprising some 3% of the population and who’s minority status is entirely irrelevant for 99% of all interactions. (unless you intend to hook up with them, is it really any of your business what their orientation is?)

        As John Cleese said in Life of Brian, speaking of Loretta’s desire to have babies… “It’s a symbol of his struggle against reality…”

        People think heterosexual orientation is normal because that is what the vast, vast majority of people you meet will be. Having an even number of arms and legs is also normal. We don’t need to struggle against “4 appendage normative thinking”.

        When they moved on from “don’t discriminate against us” and past “treat homosexual couples just like heterosexual couples” and into “stop assuming that the guy you encounter at the hardware store is heterosexual”, they’ve pretty much run out of battles to fight. I really don’t see how anyone is going to chose that hill to die on.

  47. cyto

    Vegas: I agree. Gambling is not my thing either.

    That said, I was there in the late 90’s and I was very impressed with the people. It seems that everyone in Vegas understood that tourism is where their money comes from. So they were noticeably customer service oriented… everywhere. At the airport. At the hotels. Even at the Walmart. I don’t know if that is still the case, but we definitely noticed it back then.

    And I saw the best magic trick ever when I was there. At the Hilton they had the “Star Trek Experience”. A simulator ride that was described thus:

    “You will be transported aboard a federation starship during a battle…..” yadda-yadda.

    So I read the brochure, smiled at the language and we plunked down $16 per person to ride a ride.

    First, it was a cool setup. They had a bar run by a Ferengi. There were people in character circulating. And the wait was heavily themed. So that was kinda nice.

    We get to the area where you load into the simulator. There’s a set of handrails for the rows and we line up between them facing the doors to the simulator. There are TVs playing themed “instructions” for the ride. All very familiar for people who have been on this sort of ride before.

    Then the TV starts glitching and the announcer is saying something about an attack and the TV glitches more and the lights flicker and go out. And then there’s a lot of twinkly-flashing lights and wind for a couple of seconds and the lights come on.

    And I’m standing in an entirely different room. I’m standing on the pad of a transporter in a federation starship. The walls are different, the ceiling is different. The floors are even different. And where the simulator was there’s a Star Trek redshirt engineer running a transporter station.

    It was an amazing effect. Part of it was because I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t even know they were going to do an illusion. So it was fantastic! I really was transported aboard a federation starship during a battle.

    They hustled us off to go ride a shuttle back home, but the simulator ride was nothing compared to the magic trick of the transporter.

  48. Rebel Scum

    Are you from Tennessee? Because you are the only ten I see.

    Activists and protesters gathered Friday night outside the Tennessee state Capitol to claim the space as an autonomous zone, bringing forth a new strategy for demonstrators who have been consistently protesting statewide since the end of May.

    A group of approximately 50 people gathered around 5 p.m. Friday and plan to stay for an undetermined amount of time. Ahead of the protest, Gov. Bill Lee issued a warning that autonomous zones “will not be tolerated.”

    “We encourage Tennesseans to exercise their First Amendment rights and have seen many examples of peaceful protests across our state in recent weeks,” Lee said in a statement midday Friday. “As demonstrations continue, we will continue to protect Tennesseans’ right to peaceful assembly, while also reassuring citizens that lawlessness, autonomous zones, and violence will not be tolerated.

    The crowd brought chairs, tables and a few tents to set up camp while state troopers watched. Despite Lee’s warning and state law prohibiting camping on state property in undesignated areas, by 10 p.m. demonstrators weren’t asked to leave.

    • cyto

      I do not see Nashville tolerating a CHAZ clone. I’m surprised they let them take it that far.

      I know a huge number of foreigners have moved to the area over the last decade…. but there’s no way it changed that much.

      • cyto

        By foreigners, I of course mean people from the northeast and Chicago area, etc. Also a fair number of Californians from what I hear.

      • Gustave Lytton

        No one wants to be the first to crack skulls, no matter how deserving.

      • Rebel Scum

        I’ll reserve personal judgement until Profa decides to boldly enter the suburbs. If they cause a problem on my street they might boldly die of lead poisoning.

      • cyto

        This sentiment is what is worrying me about CHAZ in particular.

        There are loads of people who have their livelihood there. And these people are shutting them down. I don’t know if any of those businesses are residential upstairs, but eventually I’d feel pressed to grab something from S&K and take out every one of those assholes. Protesting is one thing… destroying my life’s work so you can play dress-up and camp out with your LARPing buddies something altogether different.

        And for some reason, these mayors who want proggie points have not factored this in.

      • Bob Boberson

        Seattle city government is basically run by commies. I wouldn’t expect them to consider the consequences to property owners anytime soon.

      • Rebel Scum

        these mayors who want proggie points have not factored this in.

        “Right-wing Terrorists Attack Peaceful Demonstrators” …

        Propagandist headlines are TIGHT. ///butnotreally.

      • cyto

        There definitely is an element of hope for that sort of conflict so that the national media can spin it their way.

        There’s been a lot of this “do evil in order to provoke a response” stuff coming from the left… and the “establishment” fighting Trump. The Amicus brief in the Flynn case makes their strategy clear. They are going to throw the book at Flynn specifically to force Trump into a pardon, simply so that they can frame it as a political pardon as part of a cover-up.

        They literally bankrupted a dude and intend to throw him in jail, simply to win that one little talking point.

        As evil goes, that ain’t Jeffrey Dahmer, but it is pretty far up the scale.

      • Viking1865

        As evil goes, that ain’t Jeffrey Dahmer, but it is pretty far up the scale.

        They’re worse. Dahmer was sick in the head. These people are sane, in the clinical sense.

      • cyto

        I literally had the same thought as i was composing that example.

    • Gender Traitor

      I’ll be surprised if the CHAZ hasn’t become a CHAZ-been by then, but the way things are going this year, who knows?

      • cyto

        The mayor has expressed complete support for them. The national media has dubbed them a joyous expression of democracy and an experiment in cheerfully living police-free. They are assuring us that the guys with the rifles and the vandalism and the blocked streets are peaceful expressions of political opinion.

        The mayor has not had anything to say about the CHAZ folk, but she did attack Trump for violently tweeting that he wanted her to establish rule of law in her city.

        So, I’d say not. They are being funded and supported not only by their network of Communist Worker’s Party groups and DNC “grassroots” organizations, they are also being directly supported by the city. The city has moved in porta-potties for them and came through to clean up their garbage – leaving them entirely alone to unlawfully block access to streets and businesses.

      • Rebel Scum

        The city has moved in porta-potties for them and came through to clean up their garbage

        They keep using the word “autonomous”. I do not think it means what they think it means.

      • cyto

        That’s another interesting aspect to this whole thing. Everyone wants to jump in front of this parade, so there are loads of people running around telling me what things mean (in direct opposition to the english language).

        There are at least 20 different “no, this is what they actually mean” explanations for “Abolish the Police”, none of which fit the definition of the words they are using, and most of which are clearly not at all what the people chanting and painting “Abolish the Police” have in mind.

        They spent a lot of time explaining that the Green New Deal didn’t mean what they said it meant when they announced it.

        Violent acts are non-violent and peaceful.

        Peaceful and non-violent acts are violence.

        Words are violence…

        They really do sidle up awful close to that “insanity” definition, not that I’d cast such aspersions. But the resemblance is quite powerful.

    • Bob Boberson

      Thats the worst thing they could do. Like all experiments in isolated communism (communes), it will collapse under its own weight from free-riders and infighting in very short order. Giving them an external enemy to rally against will only delay that.

      • cyto

        The problem with that is the external support. They are getting funding and support from various groups and from the city itself. And apparently a rapper/activist has taken control and has his own armed police force. With external support for command and control, they could stay as long as they think it is politically advantageous. (november)

        Remember, Occupy lasted quite a long time, and they had less external funding and support.

      • Bob Boberson

        And it’s only a matter of time before said rapper shoots someone and it all falls apart. Not saying I want there to be an innocent victim but it’s inevitable. Like the Occupy movement it will degenerate into a violent, homeless rape camp that the rich, white LARPers will quickly flee from, no matter how much corporate sponsorship they have.

        The worst thing that can happen is for a bunch of MAGA hat wearing bikers to go in there and advance their narrative.

      • cyto

        Yes… that absolutely would be the worst possible outcome.

      • Bob Boberson

        Not sure if you are being sarcastic so I’ll elaborate;

        “Bikers go in and Charlottesville 2.0 happens on a much larger scale. CHAZ becomes the left’s Selma, AL. The left and the corporate media frame this as “White Supremacist Vigilantes” victimize peaceful CHAZ. Any Antifa people injured or killed in the fighting become martyrs around which th far left rallies. Corporate sponsorship and favorable coverage is ensured in perpetuity (or at least the next serval months). CHAZ becomes a quasi-permanant institution with corporate, government and media support.”

      • cyto

        I’m 100% on board with this being the worst possible outcome. That is also their wet dream. They’ve been trying to provoke this sort of violent confrontation for at least a decade now.

        Charlottesville was Antifa attacking a peaceful protest against removing some statues. Their allies in the media spun it as a bunch of Trump-supporting racists attacking peaceful protesters… and the nut that drove his car into the crowd, killing that girl, cemented that spin as fact.

        There is no way that a violent conflict with Antifa by other citizens works out well.

      • cyto

        Particularly in this part of the country, where police have been repeatedly ordered to stand down when Antifa types have announced their intention to violently attack “alt-right” demonstrators at permitted rallies. It is a guarantee that the local police would be sent in to put down the violent outsiders, transforming it from an attack on lawless hoards by vigilantes intent on establishing order into a violent attack by Trump supporters on the police.

      • Bob Boberson

        Ah, gotcha, we are in agreement then.

      • cyto

        Just take a look at the case of Andy Ngo. The dude is a gay, progressive activist reporter. He gave some negative coverage to Antifa, so they attacked him in a coordinated way on a public street right in front of police. The police just watched and let it happen.

        I can absolutely guarantee if those had been some Alt-right group like the Proud Boys, there would have been massive charges filed alleging a criminal conspiracy to commit mayhem. They’d all be looking at essentially life in prison.

        I didn’t follow all of it, but I don’t think anyone was even charged with assault.

        In fact, national publications like VOX and Rolling stone will be happy to explain to you that he is in fact a right-wing provocateur who lies about Antifa to demonize them to the nation.

        (that was distilled from the first two links google offered up when I asked if anyone was charged in the Ngo assault.)

      • Rufus the Monocled

        The police chief – a black woman we should note – is claiming crimes including rapes are being committed but….cops can’t go in.

      • cyto

        She seemed pretty pissed about the whole thing. I don’t know how the power structure in that city works, but it might be a smart play for her to order he men in on her own dime and tell the mayor to fuck off. If she could pull off a peaceful taking of the area by her people, I’m sure that the city would rally around her and install her as the next mayor.

        If it were me, I’d send in only black officers to provide the correct optics, no weapons. And I’d simply escort people from the area. First, those guys with guns would have to be in violation of local gun laws, so just pick them up one at a time with unarmed teams, until you have removed all of the armed folks. Then you could take the rest of the “experiment” down.

      • cyto

        There has to be a way to do it where you go in using small groups, explain that they are being detained for violation of penal code whatever, and that the charges will likely be dropped. But resisting arrest is a felony with jail time. So please let officer Washington here escort you to her squad car.

    • Suthenboy

      And that is when the mayor will send in the cops to shut that down.

    • db

      These people are just working their way through every guerilla handbook ever. The goal is to taunt and prod and instigate until someone fights back, or the government puts on a squeeze, or someone else escalates. They provide the impetus, but the counter reaction is the ratchet. Then they start again. Their job is to make things progressively worse until the general populace loses faith in the authorities, or the authorities crack down so hard that the populace is caught in the crossfire and sides with the insurgents.