Friday Afternoon Links of TGIF

by | Oct 23, 2020 | Daily Links | 284 comments

From Riven With ... Something

Bol’shoy spasibo!

Let’s start off with something local. I’m looking forward to checking this place out.

As if we needed another reason to look forward to 2021… I only heard about it yesterday, so this counts as “fresh.”

Meanwhile, good news just in time for all of those family holiday weekends.

Long time to wait for a date

But you have enough successful dates, and you might end up with a birthday like this.

Well. Enough of all that. Time for some tunes.

About The Author

Riven

Riven

[riv-uhn] noun 1. a gaming, lifting, shooting, intoxicated, ravenous, and happily-taken nerd. 2. often aims to misbehave. 3. and though she be but little, she is fierce.* And rumor has it that she (and her husband) are also delightful dinner companions. You didn't hear it from me, though.

284 Comments

  1. leon

    Alissas Russian House “With Love”

    Sounds Like an FBI sting operation to me.

    • Riven

      I just got back. It was adorable. I’m going again soon, I think.

      • Cancelled

        Russian Interference! Did they pressure you to vote for Trump?

      • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

        Pressure? Darn near pushed her and shoved her.

      • Hyperion

        Newest Trumputin operative.

      • Riven

        Faaaancy! I’d love to go to a High Tea.

        I might want a different kind of High, though.

      • Florida Man

        You and me both, sister!

      • Riven

        Maybe instead of High Tea, stay with me here, High Coffee.

        I’ll bring the green stuff if you bring the black.

      • Florida Man

        I just roasted a Rwandan coffee this morning. I can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow.

      • C. Anacreon

        Is it anywhere near the Billings Clinic?

        That’s how I orient everything in Billings.

        That and the hipster hotel downtown that has the awesome breakfast diner on its first floor.

    • WTF

      SOUND LIKE STEVE SMITH STING OPERATION!

      • ElspethFlashman

        BUT STEVE SMITH HAVE NO LOVE!

  2. grrizzly

    Along with offering Russian teas and treats, Eskendarova said she will also be teaching people to speak Russian at the tearoom.

    Must be a very useful skill in Montana.

    • kinnath

      Da

      • Riven

        Bol’shoy

      • kinnath

        Been there; done that.

    • The Other Kevin

      It will be, once the Russians buy the election and Trump lets then take over.

      • juris imprudent

        Wonder if he had to throw in a recreational vehicle?

      • Translucent Chum

        Will they check papers?

      • Hyperion

        Where do I send my donation?

    • Cancelled

      The Urals are old and worn out. Russia is interfering in our elections to steal our young vibrant mountains!

      • juris imprudent

        Hopefully Russian isn’t too similar to Slovenian. Wasn’t that the one the British singer of the Slovene national anthem got wrong?

      • Hyperion

        I first read that as ‘the urinals are old and worn out in Russia’. /more believable

      • C. Anacreon

        The Urals are old and worn out.

        It reminds of the story about famous Portuguese singer Lura, who on a tour of Russia planned to visit the Ural mountains.

        Unfortunately, the day before leaving for the mountain area, she got really badly sunburned. Her agent thought she should cancel her trip, but she wanted to still go. They decided to let her doctor take a look at her, and would abide by the doctor’s recommendation.

        The doctor did a full evaluation of her, then told her the bad news that she should remain in bed:

        “Tour all Ural Lura? Too raw, Lura, lie!”

    • Hyperion

      In Montana Russian skill you!

    • Chafed

      Nyet!

  3. Count Potato

    “We value your privacy”

    But….

    “We and our partners store and/or access information on a device, such as cookies and process personal data, such as unique identifiers and standard information sent by a device for personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, and audience insights, as well as to develop and improve products.

    With your permission we and our partners may use precise geolocation data and identification through device scanning. You may click to consent to our and our partners’ processing as described above. Alternatively you may access more detailed information and change your preferences before consenting or to refuse consenting. Please note that some processing of your personal data may not require your consent, but you have a right to object to such processing. Your preferences will apply to this website only. You can change your preferences at any time by returning to this site or visit our privacy policy.”

    • R C Dean

      As I read that, “we value your privacy” means, your private information is valuable to us because we can monetize the shit out of it. Like someone in the timber industry saying he values healthy forests.

  4. Ted S.

    Большое спасибо!

    • Riven

      Добро пожаловать!

      • Ted S.

        Поздравляю тебя с пятницей!

      • Riven

        And we’ve exhausted what little Russian I know xD My sister is dating a lovely woman who was originally from Russia; my sister passed the Army’s Russian Language specialist test… thing. Hearing them talk to each other has inspired me to try and log in to Duolingo every day.

        Sincerely debating signing up for these classes, just for fun.

      • Florida Man

        My sister is dating a lovely woman who was originally from Russia-

        I’ll be on a zoom call if anybody needs me…

      • Mostly Peaceful JaimeRoberto

        Kurva.

    • kinnath

      Back in the 90s, I travelled to Moscow quite a bit. So I had become familiar with the basics of Russian. Hello, goodbye, please, thankyou, etc.

      This was also a time when my wife and I visited a Chinese restaurant regularly at lunch time. The old Chinese gentleman was aware that I was travelling to Moscow and asked me to teach him some Russian. Большое спасибо! was one of the first things I taught.

      One day, one of our engineers from Moscow was visiting us in the US. I took him to the Chinese place for lunch. When we were checking out, the old man looked at me and said Большое спасибо!

      When we got back to the car, the Russian engineer turned to me with a somewhat concerned look on his face and asked “How did he know I was Russian?”

      Paranoid societies are very paranoid.

      • grrizzly

        Or perhaps he was too self-conscious given that he couldn’t blend in.

      • kinnath

        He didn’t speak to the Chinese guy and the Chinese guy didn’t directly speak to him.

      • grrizzly

        Once I was walking through the Forbidden City in Beijing and got close to a group of tourists in their twenties that was rather separated from the crowd. One of them asked me if I was Russian. Turns out they were Russians from the Russian Far East. We chatted a bit; they definitely wanted to know how to get to America. To this day I have no clue how they got an idea that I might be Russian. Do I look so stereotypically Russian? Did I react somehow when they were speaking Russian? I had been living in the US for fifteen years when the encounter happened, so I couldn’t be dressed in the latest Russian fashion.

      • kinnath

        I went through Amsterdam on all my trips to Moscow. Eventually, I could tell which of the passengers were dutch, german, or russian in the waiting area.

      • Mad Scientist

        Were you wearing one of those furry hats?

      • Florida Man

        Was he drinking vodka and eating caviar?

      • grrizzly

        It was early August. Pretty sure I wasn’t completely drenched in sweat yet at the moment.

  5. prolefeed

    At the International Church of Cannabis and Colour in Denver. Big lit up sign saying “WEED” Zoutside the bathroom.

    The RiNo Art District brought the disappoint good and hard. But, Rinos are known for that.

  6. ruodberht

    Is there a Prussian House anywhere? Asking for a Grand Master. Er, friend.

    • Trolleric the Goth

      no but I’m pretty close to the King of Prussia.

      • Drake

        Big mall, not many Prussians.

      • PBRstreetgang

        Or much of anyone else this year.

    • Hyperion

      In Germany.

  7. Florida Man

    But you have enough successful dates, and you might end up with a birthday like this.-

    Bender did it first. Also, why “ No Camels”?

    • db

      Can’t you count?

    • Florida Man

      I question why you read the daily mail.

      • Ted S.

        He faps to Demi Rose.

      • Florida Man

        I question… you know what? Imma let this one go.

      • Hyperion

        I thought you were going to ask how we know he faps to Demi Rose.

        And also, what was he going to do, read the Guardian?

      • Ted S.

        Isn’t Count Potato the one who keeps posting to Daily Mail “articles” about Rose?

      • Florida Man

        Yes, but I don’t want to know why.

      • Hyperion

        Well, if you are reading Daily Mail comments, then tell us?

    • Apples and Knives

      The movie is out on Amazon Prime right now, so I watched the clip in question. They go into an adjoining room where she bends down to help him take off his mic. She untucks his shirt in the process. He leans back on the bed to tuck his shirt BACK in. That’s the “reaching his hand is his pants” part.

      • The Hyperbole

        I have only heard it described and the part where she asks if he wants to go into the bedroom and have a drink is the odd part to me. I’ve only done a handful of hotel room interviews (ok, none) is that normal hotel room interview behavior? I’d think Rudy’s Spidey-sense should have been tingling.

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        Having worked (volunteered) in A/V in the past, and having mic’d people up in the past, I wouldn’t say it was outside the norm. My experience was at church, so there was no opposite sex alone stuff going on. It was more like “let’s go backstage and help me get the transmitter clipped to my belt and the wire run up my shirt”

        I’ve seen more pastors with their flies open than I care to think about.

      • The Hyperbole

        Okay just watched it, (it’s at about 1:17 if you don’t want to search for it) and I don’t see how anyone can claim that Rudy wasn’t falling for the classic honey trap, yes he was tucking in his shirt in the “gotcha scene” but he’s handsy and flirty with her and, again, who leaves the living part of a suite to go to the bedroom and “have a drink” just to take off one’s mics.

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        *shrugs*

        Guy is probably a creep. I’m not interested to go much beyond the screen shot I saw.

      • Apples and Knives

        When the narrative was “takes girl he thought was 15 back to bedroom, gives her alcohol and then reaches in his pants,” I can’t get too worked up about “invited for drink by attractive woman, gets flirty when she gets handsy” being the truth.

      • The Hyperbole

        Fair enough, my take is that ‘He was just tucking in his shirt” is an equally dishonest narrative. If Rudy’s defenders took your ultimate approach I’d have no complaints.

      • Rhywun

        Never, ever do an interview.

        When will people learn?

      • Pope Jimbo

        I don’t know. Having some journalo ask you questions and listen to you like you are super smart must be pretty addictive. Pence won’t meet with women alone because he doesn’t want anyone to think he’s getting some pussy, but he sure does interviews. So ego stroking must be better than dick stroking.

  8. juris imprudent

    I shouldn’t be this cynical, but NPR is laying the groundwork for the narrative change on COVID – presuming a Biden victory (and the need to re-establish real normal as normal).

    • prolefeed

      You’d think Dem governors and mayors would be ready to quit demolishing their local economy on November 4th regardless of outcome, since it won’t hurt OMB’s election chances.

      • R C Dean

        Only if you think governors and mayors (its not just Dems doing lockdowns) value the well-being of their serfs more than their power boners.

    • Tonio

      Oh yes you should be that cynical. This is Glibs, after all.

    • Hyperion

      If that happens, you are not going to like the new normal. And neither will anyone else who sees a significant portions of their paycheck disappear, Biden supporters included. ”What? Wait, this wasn’t supposed to affect us!’.

  9. Timeloose

    Thanks for the afternoon music Riven.

    I have never heard of this guy before, but I will be looking at more of his stuff.

    • Riven

      Most welcome!

      Wax Tailor comes up a lot on my TripHop Pandora station.

      My favorite of his work is Que Sera; I’ve certainly linked it before. Another is Ungodly Fruit.

      • Cy

        Definitely digging it. New to me too.

      • Riven

        I’m pleased to hear it!

    • Tonio

      They bugged the bug.

      • commodious spittoon

        Are you wearing a wasp? I mean a wire?

  10. Florida Man

    Sorry Trashy, I saw on the TV 51 million people have already voted. It’s going to be a record smashing turnout, which I’m guessing benefits Biden.

    • The Other Kevin

      This election is basically people who absolutely hate Trump vs people who see the Democratic party as being taken over by the far left. I’m hoping there are more of the latter but we’ll see.

    • Gadfly

      Sorry Trashy, I saw on the TV 51 million people have already voted. It’s going to be a record smashing turnout, which I’m guessing benefits Biden.

      That really depends on how many people are waiting for election day. We are over half-way through early voting, and yet to reach the half-way mark to last election’s total turnout. If voting is equally distributed, we’ll have low turnout, if it is partially concentrated at the end we’ll have the same turnout, and if it is significantly concentrated at the end we will have a large turnout. We shall see.

      • cyto

        Here in Florida there have been massive efforts by the democrats to encourage early voting. Biden is spending huge on the effort, and the local media is all in on trying to push early voting. It would be shocking if it wasn’t having an effect.

        And increasing early voting has to increase turnout – because the biggest point of the early voting push is to catch people in that “i want to go vote” moment – thereby avoiding an election day case of “Meh, screw it”.

        And avoiding “meh, screw it” is definitely to Biden’s benefit. People may have a widespread cultural disdain for Trump – but there is almost zero passion for Biden. That is a recipe for intending to vote against trump, but never getting around to actually voting on election day.

    • kinnath

      Even if it proves to be false, this story should be up there with Watergate and Iran/Contra.

      There should be greedy, power-mad journalists drooling to report on this story. But, they’re all stepford-wives at this point.

      • The Other Kevin

        They should be fighting over each other to get the scoop, but instead it’s “Can’t be proven! Oh well, nothing we can do about it!”

      • Gustave Lytton

        Watergate is a funny one. It’s was out there before the election and basically ignored for months. The Senate Watergate Committee was formed in February of the following year.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Most outlets ignored or downplayed Woodward and Bernstein’s scoops; the crosstown Washington Star-News and the Los Angeles Times even ran stories incorrectly discrediting the Post’s articles. After the Post revealed that H.R. Haldeman made payments from the secret fund, newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and the Philadelphia Inquirer failed to publish the information, but did publish the White House’s denial of the story the following day.

        Sounds familiar…

      • kinnath

        Protecting Nixon at all costs.

    • The Other Kevin

      Give the FBI’s recent track record with cell phones, I don’t think it would be wise to hand those over.

      • R C Dean

        Copy them first.

        Insist on recording your interview, or no deal.

        Insist on having your lawyer with you, or no deal.

        If they give you shit, tell them you don’t want to be Flynned.

      • cyto

        Definitely record any interaction and have a lawyer.

        The fact that they do not tape their interviews and rely on notes that are sometimes written and revised much later means that you are definitely going to be on the hook for saying things that you did not say. You will be on the record as having said things that are at best the recreation of these agents after the fact. Even if they have no nefarious intent, nobody’s memory is infallible. So their version of your statement will become reality – for good or for ill.

        I was in an accident years ago – someone ran a red light and hit 6 cars, mine being the primary one. 6 different drivers and their passengers gave statements. Everyone explained the exact same thing to the officer. He went away to write it up, and came back to go over it with us. He had everything wrong. Everyone jumped on him and things got a little heated as people got frustrated. Several retellings later, he went away to write it up again.

        He came back…. still wrong. Quite wrong. But not wrong in a way that changed who was at fault – as his first several attempts at repeating back the story had been.

        If this had been the FBI, he would have waited weeks or months to share his version of our statements. And I would have been on record as having run a red light and hitting the guy who was at fault – completely the opposite of what happened.

        I would never offer a statement to police that I was not recording myself.

  11. Translucent Chum

    Here’s some music for Friday. Been digging the stuff I’ve been finding on outlaw country lately.

    https://youtu.be/oOIJecsnaWg

    • Walford

      Thumbs up for the Childers. I think it’s great how much good county music is out there right now. Probably not played much on the”big” channels but I don’t listen to them anyway.

      • The Hyperbole

        Yep, about five years ago I started listening to a different music style everyday and Wednesday became “Hillbilly Humpday”, Outlaw Country may now be my favorite channel.

      • Walford

        I have that saved as a pre-set in my car. And as much as I hate the whole AI big tech, we are going to give you suggested videos, youtube does a good job normally of helping find new things.

    • egould310

      I’ve bern listening to alot of Gram Parsons/Burrito Brothers/Byrds stuff lately. I’ve been traveling the deep south and wild west for the last six weeks, so it kind of fits the environment.

  12. Count Potato

    “‘We have to erase men’: Lesbian author who urges women to ‘eradicate’ men from their lives racks up 5 star reviews on Amazon – but some argue it’s ‘a form of apartheid’

    A lesbian activist has urged women to ‘eliminate’ men from their minds and lives in a controversial new book that claims to provide the ultimate solution to female emancipation.

    Paris city Councillor Alice Coffin, has revealed in her debut book, Lesbian Genius, that she doesn’t listen to music, read books, or watch films made by men and her partner Yuri also only consumes things that have been produced by women.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8872001/Feminist-author-calls-women-eliminate-men-lives-new-book.html

    They must be cold and hungry.

    • PBRstreetgang

      Why is she wearing a Philadelphia T-Shirt?

      • leon

        Legit guffaw

    • Trolleric the Goth

      is that the sequel to “Stable Genius”?

    • Apples and Knives

      I’d love to see a list of the music and film she’s watching that’s not ‘made’ by men. Like, the whole thing? The gaffers, the sound engineers, the actors?

      • Mad Scientist

        “Sorry, honey, we can’t watch this movie. I just found out there was a man on the catering staff.”

      • leon

        And what about any best boys

    • Drake

      No indoor plumbing?

      • Hyperion

        That was going away anyway with the green new deal. I wonder what happens when they tell her the cell service is down, forever.

    • Hyperion

      You can eliminate anything you want in your own mind, sweety. But I think it’s already a lonely place up there.

    • Mad Scientist

      “in her debut book”

      I’m sure she’ll refuse any proceeds from men who buy her book.

    • Florida Man

      I’ll spend as much time worrying about this as I do the homeless lady that refuses to drink generic bottled water on the corner.

      • Mad Scientist

        She’ll only drink Sierra Springs?

      • Florida Man

        My wife found out on next door that she refuses, I think CVS bottled water. I guess beggars CAN be choosers. She looked her up because I mentioned how it’s odd to see homeless women, especially for years on the same street.

    • Rhywun

      Stunning and brave AF

  13. DEG

    Eskendarova said Thursday afternoon that she plans to add Russian meals and sandwiches to the menu in the future. But for now, she is happy that she can bring a piece of her hometown and Russian culture to people in billings.

    But will there be Russian Collusion?

    OK, that’s too obvious…

  14. Count Potato

    “Unarmed black man, 19, is shot dead by a cop and his girlfriend seriously injured after ‘they fled a traffic stop and reversed towards an officer’ – sparking protests in Chicago

    An unarmed black man was shot dead by police and his girlfriend left seriously injured after officers say the allegedly fled a traffic stop before reversing towards one of the cops.

    Marcellis Stinnette, 19, was killed and his girlfriend and the mother of his child, Tafara Williams, was seriously injured when a police officer in Waukegan opened fire on Tuesday night.

    Police have said the car, which was being driven by Williams, fled as a white officer approached them following a traffic stop just before midnight.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8872085/Protests-erupt-police-kill-black-teen-traffic-stop.html

    • leon

      Just reading the bit you quoted, plenty to get me mad.

      1. The ever present black vs white.

      2. Vehicles are only dangerous weapons when they run over rioters I guess.

    • peachy rex

      Well, it’s 46, windy, and pissing rain on-and-off in Chicago… not really protesting weather. There’s a few weirdos out doing an R Kelly/BLM mashup downtown, but otherwise pretty tame.

      • limey

        So, your standard critical race theory, malevolent provo-prop baiting, looting, arson, etc, but mixed up with underage sex allegations and one or two catchy songs out of a career of successful mediocrity?

      • Pope Jimbo

        One of the factors that played a role in the George Floyd riots was the fact that it was one of the first nice pieces of weather here in Mpls. The week before was cold and rainy. People were tired of crap weather and lockdowns and were ready for some outdoor fun.

        Of course, Floyd might not have resisted getting into the squad car so much if it had been cold and rainy.

      • peachy rex

        Zardoz willing, we’ll get a really nasty early winter.

  15. Nephilium

    So, it appears that I can’t set up alternate hosts in Zoom unless I link other people’s accounts to mine… so…

    For the times I’m around, here’s the link for the recurring Friday/Saturday night Zoom/Happy Hour/#NoToobin, which I’ll kick off at 20:00 Eastern.

    • KOVIDKristen

      Danke schon

    • limey

      Yes. Have you just been waiting for someone to answer this whole time?

      • Florida Man

        You ruined the game!

    • The Gunslinger

      Nope. Birminghan-born beauty.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    A hornet big enough to carry a radio.

    A tube radio, no less

    • mikey

      Want!. That’s in my imaginary 10-car garage.

    • limey

      Potato salad is the thiccest salad.

    • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

      Potatoes are associated with the Irish.
      Irish drink Guinness.
      When you pour a Guinness, the white foam is on top of the black liquid.
      Thus, white supremacy. Potato salad is racist.

      • commodious spittoon

        Pfft, the Irish aren’t white.

      • Mad Scientist

        And if you pour a black and tan, the black floats on top of the tan, so we can assume the Irish prefer blacks to brown people.

      • EvilSheldon

        Quality rises to the top.

    • Chipwooder

      I guess the Germans don’t exist?

    • kinnath

      Wall Street Journal. Is that another sleazy tabloid like the NY Post?

      • grrizzly

        The same owner.

      • kinnath

        So much for that joke.

    • limey

      How many times has the “Tony Bobulinski didn’t kill himself” joke been made, and is it still a joke?

      • ElspethFlashman

        Ok, I lol’d.

  17. RAHeinlein

    Has anyone read Biden’s tax plan? The Tax Foundation’s summary is frightening.

    Summary of Biden’s Tax Proposal Estimates Plan Highlights

    Repeal the TCJA components for high-income filers
    Impose 12.4% Social Security payroll tax for wages above $400k
    Increase the corporate income tax to 28%
    Establish a corporate minimum tax on book income
    Double the tax rate on GILTI and impose it country-by-country
    Temporarily increase the generosity of the Child Tax Credit and Dependent Credit

    Conventional Revenue, 2021-2030 (Billions of Dollars)
    $3,334

    Dynamic Revenue, 2021-2030 (Billions of Dollars)
    $2,782

    Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
    -1.62%

    Capital Stock
    -3.75%

    Full-time Equivalent Jobs
    -542,000

    https://taxfoundation.org/joe-biden-tax-plan-2020/#Updates

    • Florida Man

      I thought taxes originated in the house?

      • Nephilium

        That’s only required by some thing a bunch of old white guys said. In glorious UStopia, strong leader Biden will save us from everything.

      • R C Dean

        Either Joe or Kamala said something about implementing their tax plan on Day One.

        Presumably as an EO, I guess.

      • kbolino

        There’s 435 members of the House, and at least one of them in each party is willing to sponsor a President’s proposals.

      • Raven Nation

        TBF, I think we’ve been talking about presidents’s tax plans since at least the 1980s.

    • Gadfly

      Between his tax plan, his environmental plan, his support for doubling the minimum wage, and his willingness to consider more lockdowns, Biden has basically promised to destroy the economy.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Stupid is as stupid does

      • Count Potato

        That kid goes to Harvard.

      • limey

        He sails through every class. They absolutely can’t afford to let him fail, since they lowered the bar so irretrievably to bring him aboard. He’s on the track that takes him right into his ordained role as good little propagandist, so it’s not like he ever really needs to know, or understand anything beyond how to regurgitate his assigned talking points with a scowl, and that Hitlerian gesticulation he is so adept at.

      • C. Anacreon

        Sounds like every other student at Harvard.
        Getting in is the hard part (at least for most people).
        Once you’re in, they don’t want you to leave unhappy.

      • R C Dean

        Harvard is basically in the business of farming alumni gifts and influence.

    • Rebel Scum

      The traffickers are the ‘coyotes’, you stupid and/or mendacious cuntes.

    • Rebel Scum

      Nice.

    • limey

      That is particularly well done and very amusing. It’s about time political ads upped their game. Let this be the new benchmark.

  18. Yusef drives a Kia

    Hey everyone, a fine but very wet Friday indeed, do we have our Tall Cans in the air?

    • Cy

      Hello. Not yet. But I’m loving this 60 degree weather and nice after rain smell!

      • Nephilium

        Damn. We hit 80 today. I’m holding off on my small cans as I’ve got some work I need to do tonight.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        What time?

      • Nephilium

        22:00 Eastern. It’s only about 10-15 minutes of work, but it’s either tonight or tomorrow morning before 07:00. I stand by my decision.

    • KOVIDKristen

      I mixed up my cocktails for later

  19. Derpetologist

    suggested music: Pomp and Circumstance

    https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/why-conservative-arguments-are-so-worthless

    ***
    On other occasions, Sunstein has suggested that it is “disturbing” that academia does not have more Republicans for “viewpoint diversity” (just as chemistry departments need a few more phlogiston theorists).
    ***

    QED, deplorables. He called you poopyheads!

    ***
    Conservatives do not disdain social justice because they have good arguments; as I have shown over and over, they do not actually grasp the left’s case or give it a fair hearing. Instead, they have a preconceived worldview, and they interpret the facts in accordance with that worldview rather than building the worldview on the basis of a careful examination of the facts. There are plenty of people on the left who do the same, of course, but that does not mean that “both sides are equally incorrect”; the question is: which side is saying things that, when we check them carefully, actually turn out to be true?
    ***

    I see. Do these facts include things like men and women having different chromosomes?

    For those wondering about the origin of Joanna Gambolputty, it’s from a Monty Python sketch.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYMRjnM6j6w

    • kbolino

      they do not actually grasp the left’s case or give it a fair hearing

      The motte or the bailey?

      the question is: which side is saying things that, when we check them carefully, actually turn out to be true?

      Both, and neither. Black people really do get shot by cops disproportionately; they also are disproportionately the victims and perpetrators of crime. There really is a disconnect between productivity and wages; it has very little to do with how much Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos are worth. Health care really is getting more expensive; no mainstream proposal is going to fix it. The Democrat and Republican Parties really are full of corrupt people who want to make money and names for themselves more than they “care” about problems; they will continue to be (re-)elected handily and the problems will be brushed off as unique to the other side instead of being systemic and bipartisan.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      That is the most circly of all circular arguments ever to exist.

      • Derpetologist

        Circular logic is fun because circular logic is fun!

  20. The Late P Brooks

    From Juris Imprudent’s NPR link, above:

    In the absence of data, there are scary and tragic anecdotes of teachers around the country dying of COVID-19. But it’s hard to extrapolate from these incidents. It’s not immediately clear whether the educators contracted the virus at school, whether they are part of school-based clusters, or what safety precautions were or were not followed by the schools in question.

    You don’t say.

    And, of course, the clear lack of correlation between schools and additional “cases” is buried in qualifiers. It might look as if it makes no difference, but we just can’t be sure. Better safe than sorry.

    • Count Potato

      Or some other alcohol and/or drug.

    • Fourscore

      You are being immortalized by some Honey Harvesters. Your current record for consecutive years attended will only be threatened if you are a No Show, 2021.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Conservatives do not disdain social justice because they have good arguments; as I have shown over and over, they do not actually grasp the left’s case or give it a fair hearing.

    Unfortunately, those conservative lunkheads are too stupid and ignorant to comprehend the subtle beauty of our arguments. They are, in short, incapable of salvation.

    • The Other Kevin

      Wasn’t there some study that found conservatives understand the left’s point of view more than the reverse?

      • Nephilium

        Several, but they agree with my biases… so…

        It’s also not the first time the left has made this same argument.

      • Derpetologist

        here ya go

        https://theindependentwhig.com/haidt-passages/haidt/conservatives-understand-liberals-better-than-liberals-understand-conservatives/

        ***
        The results were clear and consistent. Moderates and conservatives were most accurate in their predictions, whether they were pretending to be liberals or conservatives. Liberals were the least accurate, especially those who described themselves as “very liberal.” The biggest errors in the whole study came when liberals answered the Care and Fairness questions while pretending to be conservatives. When faced with questions such as “One of the worst things a person could do is hurt a defenseless animal” or ”Justice is the most important requirement for a society,” liberals assumed that conservatives would disagree. If you have a moral matrix built primarily on intuitions about care and fairness (as equality), and you listen to the Reagan [i.e., conservative] narrative, what else could you think? Reagan seems completely unconcerned about the welfare of drug addicts, poor people, and gay people. He’s more interested in fighting wars and telling people how to run their sex lives.

        If you don’t see that Reagan is pursuing positive values of Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity, you almost have to conclude that Republicans see no positive value in Care and Fairness. You might even go as far as Michael Feingold, a theater critic for the liberal newspaper the Village Voice, when he wrote:

        Republicans don’t believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the planet. Human beings, who have imaginations, can see a recipe for disaster in the making; Republicans, whose goal in life is to profit from disaster and who don’t give a hoot about human beings, either can’t or won’t. Which is why I personally think they should be exterminated before they causeany more harm)3

        One of the many ironies in this quotation is that it shows the inability of a theater critic-who skillfully enters fantastical imaginary worlds for a living-to imagine that Republicans act within a moral matrix that differs from his own. Morality binds and blinds.
        ***

        LOL at that theater critic quote. “I support peace and love, unlike my enemies who should be exterminated!”

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I have to wonder if it would be morally justified to preemptively kill someone who espouses a viewpoint that their political adversaries be exterminated.

      • kbolino

        Yes, though I’d say it’s a snapshot in time rather than a truism. As more time passes, I understand the left less and less. I can mimic them, to some extent, maybe even passably, but not really understand.

  22. Rebel Scum

    Grain of salt.

    It is hard to understate enthusiasm for voting this year. A massive 92% of battleground voters and 91% of voters nationally report they are ‘extremely motivated to vote’ in the election, giving a 10 on a 0 to 10 scale. Most of the voters who have already voted are the most highly motivated: 95% of those who have already voted in the battleground are ‘extremely motivated’ while 90% of those who have not yet voted are 10s. A large minority of our respondents report having already voted. Nationally, 53% of Biden voters report having voted already compared to just 25% of Trump voters.

    • The Other Kevin

      Oh no, the virus is having a huge second wave! We better just close the polls and count what ballots we have, I’m sure that will be fine.

    • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

      Nationally, 53% of Biden voters report having voted already

      That doesnt bode well for him

      • Florida Man

        Why?

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        assuming that it’s true, the early voting numbers coming out just aren’t big enough to carry the election. Even if he’s ahead 70/30 so far (~40M votes cast so far, IIRC) , that means he gets to 56M votes plus whatever undecideds go to him. Hillary got 65M.

        Granted, Trump’s number is even lower (48M).

        In other words, the poll is full of shit, I’m full of shit, or both.

      • prolefeed

        How exactly do they know how many Biden voters there have been?

        Are the ballots cast so far been counted already nationwide and the totals released to the press?

      • The Hyperbole

        Voting early is a leftist plot to turn the country commie, anyone who votes early is a godless Biden supporter. Real Mericans™ vote on ‘lection day, in person, and for Donald J Trump!!1!

      • Florida Man

        I’m sure there is some fraud, but it seems like you only need to get to the person that reports the total for a state. Why mess around with each little polling place?

    • Rhywun

      If the turnout in 2020 is markedly higher than 2016 I’ll eat my hat. In fact, I would not be surprised if it’s lower. I think the “enthusiasm” they’re trying to pump up is most likely overstated.

      • Florida Man

        Okay, I’ll play. What do you want to bet? Bag of coffee, six pack, bottle of wine, you name it? I mean within reason. I’m not getting stuck for freight charges for shipping an elephant again.

      • Rhywun

        Not a betting man.

      • Florida Man

        So I’m supposed to just trust you to eat your hat or not? I think not, good sir!

      • The Hyperbole

        Okay no money involved, Hat eating it is, live on Zoom. now what is markedly higher? we’ve been 50-55% turnout since 72 . ’16 had 55 third highest since ’68. I’m backing Rhywun no way we get over 56% this time. choose your hats gentlemen.

      • Florida Man

        I’ll eat a fedora, just to trigger the hipsters.

      • The Hyperbole

        That’s a trilby.

      • Florida Man

        That’s a trilby.-

        Hipster triggered!

      • The Hyperbole

        Fuck that noise, I’m no PBR drinking hipster, I drink Strohs, listen to Tom Waits, and don’t even own a microwave…oh shit, I out-hipster the hipsters!

      • Nephilium

        Hyperbole:

        Does this mean you’re the first hipster? Does that work like being the head vampire?

      • Sean

        I don’t believe that. *shrug*

  23. Rebel Scum

    What did they ever do to black people?

    BLM protesters rush inside a Trader Joe’s again in Seattle. For weeks, they’ve been protesting the grocery store and telling them to give money to black communities.

  24. Rebel Scum

    The biggest, classiest peace prize, maybe ever.

    HUGE win today for the United States and for peace in the world. Sudan has agreed to a peace and normalization agreement with Israel! With the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, that’s THREE Arab countries to have done so in only a matter of weeks. More will follow!

    • Count Potato

      *crickets*

      /CNN

  25. Derpetologist

    authentic frontier gibberish

    https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/agre/conservatism.html

    ***
    Clone George Soros

    George Soros is an excellent citizen. Conservatism has gotten so out of sync with the conditions of a modern economy that significant numbers of wealthy people, especially young entrepreneurs who live and breathe the liberal culture that makes successes like theirs possible, would be happy to help build the institutions that a democratic society needs. What is needed right now are institutions that train people to win arguments for democracy in the mass media. Antireason has become thoroughly established in the media, and it will take real work to invent languages of reason that are fresh and cool. And this work just costs money.
    ***

    wiki on the author

    ***
    Philip E. Agre is a former associate professor of information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. His new media writing includes the essay, Surveillance and Capture. He was successively the publisher of The Network Observer and The Red Rock Eater News Service. TNO ran from January 1994 until July 1996. RRE, an influential mailing list he started in the mid-1990s, ran for around a decade. A mix of news, Internet policy and politics, RRE served as a model for many of today’s political blogs and online newsletters.
    ***

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      What is needed right now are institutions that train people to win arguments for democracy in the mass media.

      Mob rule, it fixes everything.

      • kbolino

        It’d be nice if any of them could define democracy before they go around proselytizing for it. I’m not talking about “republic” vs “democracy” semantics; very few people who say the word “democracy” positively seem to have any notion of what it means; it’s just a synonym for “good things”.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        *public education achievement attained*

    • Raven Nation

      “Antireason has become thoroughly established in the media”

      I judge this claim to be true (taken in isolation from the rest of the paragraph).

    • Raven Nation

      Good lord it’s a piece of…something:

      ” But the most central feature of conservatism is deference: a psychologically internalized attitude on the part of the common people that the aristocracy are better people than they are.”

      How many fucking modern-day conservatives think that? And don’t most leftists worship people in power if they’re on the right ideological train.

      • Raven Nation

        OK, he wrote it in 2004. I would be interested to see if he’d repeat all of his arguments today.

      • Raven Nation

        Huh:

        “On October 16, 2009, Agre’s sister filed a missing persons report for Agre. She indicated that she had not seen him since the Spring of 2008 and became concerned when she learned that he had abandoned his apartment and job sometime between December 2008 and May 2009. Agre was found by the LA County Sheriff’s Department on January 16, 2010, and was deemed in good health and self-sufficient.”

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        He’s a manic depressive with a flair for the word salad.

        “The future hybrid sociotechnical practice of information service design will take these trends much further: more systematic analysis, deeper appreciation of the interaction between symbolic and practical aspects of design, best practices for the evolution of middleware, and a heightened appreciation of just what it means, both technically and morally, to design a wired life.”

    • Rhywun

      I need a dictionary to understand all the words he’s redefined in that.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    What’s the first rule of Fight Club?

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not answer questions about his health Thursday, only saying there were “no concerns” after reporters asked him about what appeared to be bruises and bandages on his hands in recent days.

    “Of course not,” McConnell told reporters in the Capitol when asked if he had any health issues people should know about.

    Fit as a fiddle.

    • Rebel Scum

      I often post similar videos.

    • Walford

      I want to be a Spitfire when I grow up. -Old Looney Tunes (I think) cartoon

    • KOVIDKristen

      She’s a screamer!

  27. tarran

    My daughter’s high school went on lockdown today after a teacher thought he or she found a bullet under a student’s desk.

    The email from the principal didn’t mention what it actually was, but a teacher owned up to my daughter’s class that it was nothing illegal (bullets are illegal to posses in school here in the national socialist people’s republic of massachusetts unless you are a member of the state security services).

    🙄

    • kbolino

      Thing of the havoc that could have been wrought with a whole bullet!

    • Hyperion

      Here’s a better one. Today in a zoom meeting, one of my co-workers told us that they just suspended a teacher at his daughter’s school for masturbating in from of a bunch of 3rd graders. I think he said 3rd graders, at that point I was finding it hard to absorb all he just said. But his daughters, twins, look about that age.

      I said ‘you mean arrested’?

      WTF? Pedo teacher was trying outdo one of his CNN idols?

      • Count Potato

        They should take the bullet from the other teacher and use it to shoot this one.

    • ElspethFlashman

      STEVE SMITH HAVE ONE BIG CYLINDER

    • Hyperion

      Nerds!

      • KOVIDKristen

        Don’t tell me you (or even Hyperbole) wouldn’t want to drive the A-Team van around there!!

      • Hyperion

        Yeah, sure, I’ll do black face and a mohawk and yell out the window at everyone ‘I pity the fool!’.

      • The Hyperbole

        Sierra Gold Pontiac Firebird Esprit or GTFO

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      The guy in the DHL van has balls, I’ll give him that.

    • pistoffnick

      I don’t believe that was a ’69 chevy truck. It looks more like pre-1968.

      *still lusts after a ’69 short bed stepside*

  28. Hyperion

    Just got back from my afternoon walk and one of my neighbor’s has a huge ginormous Trump 2020 sign on their front lawn. LOL, libtard fake news be triggered!

    • creech

      Drove through several of the more very affluent neighborhoods while doing errands today. Biden signs outnumber Trump about 3 to 1. I hope they get what they want, good and hard, when President Harris brings the hammer down on these exploiters, wreckers, and kulaks.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        My neighborhood has college professors with Biden signs and everybody else with nothing out, almost assuredly for Trump based on my conversations.

      • The Hyperbole

        Huh, going from one job to the other today I decided to count yard signs, gated community deep in rural Ohio – 95 Nobody 7 Trump 2 Biden. My take is that apathy and exhaustion are the predominate drivers, most people are sick of the constant “Most Important Election Ever”, “It’s over if ______ wins!” bullshit. I’d wager that the enthusiasm gap is less of a factor this time around.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Based on previous conversations with the college profs, supporting Democrats is pretty much a requirement for career advancement.

        There are a few who don’t but they make a point of keeping their political preferences well hidden from their employers.

        The other neighbors seem to be rather pissed about the events of the summer in the major metros. Not surprising since a lot of them are retirees from those areas.

      • Florida Man

        I’ve seen more Biden signs than I did Hillary in 2016. Not tremendously more, but significantly more.

      • KOVIDKristen

        Nerd!

      • The Hyperbole

        Ouch, but fair enough.

      • J. Frank Parnell

        95 Nobody

        Do you mean ‘no sign’ or literally a sign for “NOBODY 2020”?

      • The Hyperbole

        Nobody lives forever!, Nobody is worth dying for!

    • KOVIDKristen

      Hahahaha

    • commodious spittoon

      Curious wtf lane change wankery is going on at 1:16…

      • commodious spittoon

        I guess I meant 1:12

        Simultaneous oncoming yield signs to slow down traffic? WTF?

  29. Ayn Random Variation

    GUNS!!!!

    I’m at the gun shop waiting for my background ck.

    They have the S&W EZ as recommended by a couple of you as a first timer. It felt good in my hands and is a cool beige like color.

    It’s 800 all in with taxes, back round fee and a box of 50 bullets and a training session which is about 200 more than I expected.

    • The Hyperbole

      You’ll shoot your eye out!

    • Gustave Lytton

      FDE?

      Does sound a bit high. But it’s a sellers world still I think.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Damn, that’s pricey.

      The new normal sucks.

    • Sean

      Congrats!

    • Florida Man

      Congratulations. The bullets and training even out the cost.

      • Ayn Random Variation

        The background check took too long as they closed at 7 so I have to wait until tomorrow.
        But I’m mad now!

      • Gustave Lytton

        Rights delayed are rights denied!

      • Sean

        Boooooo!

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I’ve been watching an Irishman called Computing Forever on a YouTube and it sounds like a bit of rowdiness is warranted. Their relockdown sounds like it’s pretty draconian.

  30. Gender Traitor

    I thought only politicians and the press had weaponized the COVID.

    • KOVIDKristen

      Ded.

    • KOVIDKristen

      “butt chunks!”

  31. Ownbestenemy

    Damn kid failed his knowledge test for his permit. Idiot. DMV was like going in for booking at the local drunk tank.

    Guy who helped us was nice though. Cause of ex-wife issues, I dont have his social. He said thats okay while his work mate next him gasped. His response to her was “eh I have gotten in trouble for worse things.”

    So now my son has to wait another 3 months (appointment only and that is the next available) to test again. Which means no license until he is 16 and a half.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Ugh. Who cares. I mean for sake of how Team Red would be treated I get it…but its a costume party.

    • Rebel Scum

      He DOES want to disarm everybody. . .

    • The Hyperbole

      Okay they are a publisher, now what?

  32. Tulip

    Hmm, I’m getting a notice that the host has another meeting in progress when I try to join the zoom

    • The Hyperbole

      At least that’s better than “go away, toobin”

    • Tonio

      Same here…