Wow. The weekend flew by. Thanks to ZARDOZ, the fires kept burning bright here at the Glibs.
Anyway, let’s dive right in.
Miss Watson…in simpler times
- Anthony Silva, disgraced former mayor of Stockton, CA just can’t seem to win.
- HuffPo says Emma Watson’s boobs prove we still need feminism. And here I thought they proved that even small-breasted English broads could be attention-whores by flashing their lady bits for all the world to see.
Katsandris, far out of the reach of the CHP…for now.
- Won’t somebody protect us (from guys on dirt bikes that were never on the road and never noticed by anybody below)?
- Won’t somebody protect our animals (from mailmen with nothing better to do with their time than to sex them up)?
- Won’t somebody protect our fences (from people that get aroused by those sexy, shimmering chain-link beauties)?
- The wiretapping claims are big trouble for Obama. No wait, they’re big trouble for Trump. Hold on, I got it: they’re big trouble for everybody in America. Because they either speak to the neurotic behavior of the current president or the dirty machine politics of the last one. Or both.
Well, that’s it. Go out there and make it a wonderful day.
Still here waiting for something else? Fine. Good Morning, America…
You magnificent bastard, I read your book!
I really should get around to reading yours.
Meh – I forgot all about it!
Probably because it’s just something on my to-do list and not something you asked me to do.
No I mean I forgot all about the book since I’ve been busy moving my parents, dealing with job craziness, and the railing against the lack of response from our adoption social worker.
I have a friend who lives in Austin – I actually had to read this article in detail to make sure it wasn’t him. He has uh, issues.
Austin man who was ‘having sex with a fence’ charged with exposure
Cool story.
I just got the weirdest sense of deja vu though…
No one reads your puny links!
::kicks pebble::
aww… I’m sorry – here’s some free guzzoline.
Dirty Ralphie: Christmas Story II
Need a picture of the fence before I can judge this story.
The story says “had sex with fence, but did the fence give affirmative consent?
Rape culture
Rape is a criminal of-fence.
ALTERNATE JOKE: I heard that good fences make good neighbors, but this is ridiculous!
It is past time to mend some fences.
Now that everyone knows, he’s on de-fence
Reminds me of Weird Al’s Geraldo-esque talk show in UHF: “Sex with furniture – what do you think?”
The headline was a typo: It should read Autistic man…oh wait, I guess that’s the same thing (Oh, BURN!).
HuffPo says Emma Watson’s boobs prove we still need feminism.
I thought that was what EJ Dionne’s proved.
After decades in America, the newly deported return to a Mexico they barely recognize
ugh – more thread fails
I remember hearing an NPR story that touched on similar issues. It focused on Mexican born illegal immigrants that were taken to the US as young children. They do not know Spanish, find Mexican culture foreign to them (one guy half-joked he misses Taco Bell), they felt out of place and their compatriots in Mexico were all to willing to make them feel unwelcome.
On the plus side, their English skills made them prime candidates for decent paying telemarketing jobs in Mexico.
There was a similar debate in Germany in the 90s — immigrants of Turkish descent were still considered “Guest Workers” even when they were born there, spoke native German and no Turkish, and had never been to Turkey.
The predictable groups of people took the predictable positions. As you can see today, Germany learned all the right lessons from that national conversation. (/SARC)
*heads off for a döner sandwich*
Who needs Gastarbeiter for dönerkebab?
http://www.donermen.com/
A former student of mine was in exactly that position. She spoke passable Turkish, native-sounding German, but the Germans never thought she belonged, and she certainly didn’t feel she belonged in Turkey (especially as a skeptical, non-practicing Muslim). Fortunately she’s now a full professor of Linguistics somewhere in the US.
It focused on Mexican born illegal immigrants that were taken to the US as young children.
It’s like they’re pretending Trump ended DACA
You guys freak the flock out of me every time I go back. Why do you people talk to strangers?
You and Rick Springfield both.
Love hurts when only one is in love.
*NSFyoursoul*
Why is that was an unquestioned good result in the US but bad in Mexico?
Because shut up you bigot.
Aw man. I went to all the right parties. I voted the right way. I went to all the correct demonstrations. I tweeted all the right things. You ask one question and suddenly it doesn’t matter what you did before.
(Walks home head hung low with hoodie over head)
Work for seven years in a trade and you’re still considered a journeyman, but suck one dick…
Go on.
To give a serious answer, it’s because they’re actually competing for those jobs with a large amount of other people. I don’t have a cite, so ignore it if you wish, but I’ve read that the people who come here by and large don’t end up competing with the majority of Americans for the jobs they’re seeking. So you would have a differential effect between a flow of workers to here vs to Mexico, since (SURPRISE!) we’re not actually the same country with the exact same dynamics.
What matters is the relative supply of workers for the demand for those workers. Mexico is about 1/3 the size of the US, but the market for unskilled and semi-skilled workers in each country is what really matters.
If so many Mexicans are being deported that they actually affect the price for their services back in Mexico, that means either an assload are being deported, or the market for unskilled/semi-skilled labor in Mexico is quite small (which I doubt).
I don’t find the latter possibility to be implausible. I would imagine (and imagination’s the important thing, right?) the majority of their labor demand would be for unskilled/semi-skilled labor, and that they have a rather large supply due to the majority of the country being poorer rather than richer. And the internal turmoil due to the cartels and other criminal organizations really puts a cramp in attempts to invest in and build up property and capital for economic development.
So there’s not much demand because of the already large supply with little incentive/ability for greater entrepreneurial and higher-skilled opportunities. But that’s just a guess on my part from a bunch of crap I’ve read, not just about Mexico’s economy but about how important security of person and property is for economic development. In conclusion: end the drug war, deregulate. Funny how so many problems seem to come back to those.
Cultural Re-Appropiation?
That’s a really cool anti-Trump story. By the way, two of the three people profiled were deported during The Obama administration. It’s hard to tell when the third one was deported. (The one that was caught with a fake ID, which is a Class B misdemeanor in Texas. No mention of him driving without insurance, which he would have been doing if he was driving with a fake license, since you can’t get insurance here without a DMV check.)
I lived near the border in Arizona for years. I find it exceedingly difficult to believe that many of those deported speak no Spanish since it seemed like at least a quarter of Yuma spoke no English. The fucking announcements in Wal Mart were made in Spanish first for crissakes.
Wait, why do people entering Mexico from the USA cause Mexican blue collar wages to drop, while people entering the USA from Mexico make all Americans richer?
Is there some sort of economic diode right at the border?
I have to say, I like Veronique de Rugy’s stuff, but I would love to see her response to this question.
Wait a minute. A ready supply of desperate unskilled labor that doesn’t speak the local language means lower wages for people in blue-collar industries?
Have you guys heard this???
Monster hunter reveals terrifying British ‘Bigfoot’ encounter
“Jon, who investigates sightings of monsters as a cryptozoologist…”
The only people that ever see Bigfoot are people who already believe Bigfoot is real. Are these the same people that see Trump conspiring with the Russians?
The greatest trick STEVE SMITH ever played was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.
STEVE SMITH GIVE HIKERS GREATEST TRICK, GOOD AND HARD!
Spindly, well you know who that rules out…
STEVE SMITH JUST ON VACATION ACROSS THE POND!
STEVE SMITH WANT TO KNOW IF BRIT HIKERS REALLY LIE BACK AND THINK ABOUT ENGLAND.
*applause*
What an awful racist, treating a Zoo-American like some sort of curiosity. I shall dub this story “Bigotfoot”.
I’m liking a song being added to the links.
Hi everyone. Hope y’all had a good weekend. UNC beat Duke, so all is right with the world.
Coach K has ’em right where he wants ‘m.
Do women REALLY want chaps to last longer? As a scientist invents a spray to prolong male performance, our fearless writers from both sides of the gender divide tackle a delicate question
That stuff left my wife tongue tied.
::golf clap::
Excellent double entonguedre straffin. Very good.
*squirrel attack here. I apologize if this turns out to be a double double post*
We’re all entitled to our own fetishes, I suppose. Oral bondage is a new one to me though.
Is Adam Carolla still flogging his dick spray? I stopped listening a while ago.
That’s not even a euphemism.
Longer isn’t necessarily better. Sometimes you want it to go on and sometimes it’s better if it all happens for both of you within a couple of minutes.
Sometimes it’s just been enough already and you just wanna get some sleep
George W. Bush, Liberals’ New Hero
They can have him.
They always had him – and his father. Both were less than worthless.
Wow, you mean progs are using the “old, retired Republican politician is so much more reasonable then the current Republican in power!” line? Damn, that’s shocking, unexpected, and not at all something they do every single time there’s a new Republican President.
Bob Dole’s ready to be trotted out again in 2020.
There were several people on the left lamenting that there wasn’t a reasonable GOP candidate like Romney in 2016. Romney was, of course, an animal-abusing, misogynistic Bible thumping monster with a ludicrous idea about foreign policy (Russia LOLZ!) in 2012.
A Republican in power: Hitler
A Republican out of power: a good man especially compared to Hitler who’s in power and how dare you accuse me of hyperbole, Hitler is in power, HITLER!
Not that W deserves praise, but Legum and especially Takei’s comments are more insult than compliment
So are we officially out of Bush’s influence? No longer is every bad thing because BUSH!? It’s all Trump’s fault now?
On January 20, 2017, everything ceased to be Bush’s fault and became Trump’s fault.
The left continues to delegitimize themselves by showing what hyperbolic morons they are, news at 11.
Star Trek icon George Takei
Takei is one of the dumbest celebrity political advocates I’ve ever had the displeasure of listening to. If you want a poster boy for “celebrity completely out of touch with reality” Takei is it. My personal favourite is his “DUR HUR RAISE MY TAXES” rants, yet still seems unwilling to release his tax records so we can see what tricks his accountants are pulling (David Angelo has pointed this out due to his Hollywood experience. Most left-wing celebrities hand off all their money management to accountants, who understandably exploit tax law, while their employers drone on about raising taxes).
And they are free to donate as much money to the US Treasury as they wish. Not one of them ever does.
They don’t want things to be done on a voluntary basis, never that. It must be done with the states force.
Are we sure this is a criticism of Trump? Hasn’t the bulk of the racism and name calling been coming from the left?
That’s what I was thinking too. This is more likely an attack on the goons that are busting up speeches by conservatives and others on college campuses than it is an attack on Trump.
Given that bish was no fan of Trump, if go with that.
The thing is, people tend to views Bush through the single sense of Iraq and proceed from this point forward to judge him. His role in expanding the power of the executive is definitely a bad development but on the flip side he wasn’t exactly divisive in his tone or rhetoric. The left just focused on the anti-war effort more than anything. I find it ridiculous they’re now looking back on him and saying, ‘hey, he wasn’t so bad after all’. Absurd really.
I may add, Bush was (mostly) polarizing because of Iraq, Obama was (largely) polarizing because of his rhetoric and lack of overall statesmanship skills. To me anyway.
Obama was polarizing because that was his deliberate campaigning strategy. It’s the entire foundation of identity politics.
It certainly validates the idea that the left will demonize anyone non-progressive no matter how conciliatory they try to be, so might as well get your Trump on.
I thought Shikha was the voice of Reason.
Having sex with a fence? Travis County Jail records do not show that Estala is currently in custody.
No cell is gonna hold him.
Banging the tin cup on the cell bars takes on a whole new meaning now.
*claps vigorously*
Are we still doing euphemisms?
And by “doing them” you mean…
…I’ll be in my bunk, of course.
Made me look – new Archer episodes in 30 days.
“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of my throbbing erection.”
Wow. Somehow I missed season seven. Who does that?
Someone who’s “missed” seasons one through six?
Attica! Attica! Atticaaaahhhh!
*sploosh*
Two bars, one cup?
Gah?!
*turns green*
You guys are killing me tonight.
When Will the Left Come for You?
You take that back about her. Goddess.
Small breasts can be happy breasts.
Nothing wrong with being in the itty-bitty titty committee
Yeah, I thought she was an attention-whore for her asinine “he-for-she” campaign.
Her UN speech was hilariously stupid. My favourite part was her using the misattributed Burke quote of “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Burke believed that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
Sounds like he was a wise man. *runs away*
I don’t agree with the idea that all of a person’s ideas suddenly become invalid or less true because some of their other opinions are distasteful.
I agree, however it’s certainly a standard that they (feminists) would use in evaluating an idea.
Exactly, that’s why it struck me as weird. I’m used to seeing new wave feminists use this kind of logic. That being said, John clarified what he was saying below.
It’s not that Burke’s ideas are invalid, it’s that Watson could have spent five minutes googling to find out that:
A. Burke was not a feminist icon.
B. This quote is misattributed and doesn’t actually show up in this form anywhere in his work.
C. John Stuart Mills has a similar quote, and unlike Burke, supported women in the political realm.
Not that I hold the UN in a high regard, but apparently she’s unwilling to do basic research for a speech at an institution she probably feels is important. In short, it shows how absolutely air-headed, uninformed and lazy Watson is, but somehow we’re supposed to take her seriously as some interesting thinker with solid beliefs.
I hear you – this seems to be the case with a lot of Hollywood people. I don’t understand why we expect anything else from actors/actresses. They don’t seem to be uniquely qualified in any way to know more about politics. On social issues, they might as well be the least qualified considering how removed they are from the ordinary folk.
But she went to an Ivy League school and speaks with an English accent, so she has instant credibility. And she’s purdy.
FTFH
Did you listen to her talk about feminism? Ugh.
She’s ok, if you like girls that look like little boys.
So, I don’t care about this guy flying across the highway as long as he doesn’t land on anyone. But, I noticed something in the original video that could very well be a problem It appeared that he did quite a bit of “landscaping” to make his track up the hill. I may be wrong, but I’m guessing that isn’t his land.
No harm no foul.
There are dirtbike trails all over the hills where he jumped. Might not be his land, but someone is allowing alot of dirt-biking and trail making.
I’m no expert, but this sure doesn’t look like your everyday, run of the mill dirt bike trail. I could be wrong. Or maybe he got approval. Whatever.
I travel thrpugh there pretty regularly. What he did was damned stupid. If his jump went badly he would definitely have been hit by a car. There’s a good chance it would have been a multi car pile up.
SW is right in Libertopia it’s no harm no foul. In my neck of the woods where Californians are terrible drivers under any conditions this was an acfident waiting to happen.
Russian Hackers Said to Seek Hush Money From Liberal U.S. Groups
Is there any evidence that these hackers are Russian or are they just assuming facts not in evidence.
I think it’s not that relevant. Just because hackers are Russian does not mean they were working for the Russian government. But the media knows people will conflate the two as “the Russians!!!”
I would enjoy watching them crash and burn more if they weren’t doing so much damage. They cant win now without razing the world to the ground, something they seem willing to do. They would rather be the king of ashes than not be king at all.
We don’t spend enough on education!
From 1980 to 2014:
Number of students in American public education: Up 22.6%
Administrative positions: Up 50.1%
Spending (in constant dollars): Up 115.2%
Spending on public schools has approximately tripled since the 1970s, while academic achievement and outcomes have remained flat.
This obviously proves we still aren’t spending enough money.
Imagine what would’ve happened if they hadn’t spent that much money.
You can’t put a price on educating children. I say triple it again. Though as long as the sum is a finite number, sadly it won’t be enough. I blame libertarians, myself.
Look, if we can’t blame lack of funding, then it’s either the schools’ or the parents’ fault. And last I checked teachers’ unions and parents were voters, so lack of funding it is.
I’m blaming the kids. What sort of idiot can’t learn to read from a Kanye West video?
No, you can’t blame kids, they’re the future and stuff. Never in human history has a child be responsible for their own unwillingness to learn.
Also, is that a koala bear shooting up eucalyptus heroin? Because that’s awesome.
Yep, it’s from an EP by Australian band TISM, the name of which I am apparently not supposed to say because it’s NSFW. So here’s the Wikipedia entry on it instead
The best predictor of educational achievement is not per-pupil spending, or teacher’s pay, or size of the classroom; it’s parental engagement. But that can’t really be legislated, so instead we seize the opportunity to pander to the teacher’s unions.
So the best predictor of educations attainment is the amount of home schooling a student gets. Got it.
Edit * educational* which I apparently did not get very much of.
According to a nurse in one of my parenting classes, sleeping on the back is the 4th best way to prevent SIDS, but they cant tell parents to stop smoking or stop being poor.
Some good information, and food for thought from a non-libertarian:
https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/02/09/considerations-on-cost-disease/
Am I the only one getting very slow response times from the site today?
Nope, me too.
No. We’re working on it.
I blame Lord Humungus. It didn’t slow down until he told me nobody reads my links.
*kicks pebble*
It is because there is too much awesome. Computers have trouble when this much awesome is in one place.
You should have went all Mad Max on him Sloop.
Lack of Diversity on TV driving people to ISIS
I thought global warming was driving people to ISIS.
Somehow far too many seasons of Little Mosque on the Prairie on the CBC didn’t stop the Parliament Hill shooting.
The Four Lions star, who is currently starring in the final season of Girls, also spoke out against UK broadcasters’ inability to create roles for actors of all ethnicities.
Jesus that’s dumb, Doctor Who alone is utterly shameless with crap like this.
I meet with producers and directors here and they say, ‘We don’t have anything for you, all our stories are set in Cornwall in the 1600s’
Oh no, not filthy history, instead we need another season of Girls!
Jesus, next you’ll tell me that Cleopatra wasn’t black and that George Washington Carver didn’t invent the aeroplane!
Rememer Garrett Morris? Damn funny on early SNL. Now goes in for “Beethoven was really black” conspiracies.
He’s still alive?
The Brits have been pouring poison in the Moors’ ears for 400 years.
I really don’t think he gets how horrible this actually comes off. What he’s suggesting is that Muslims are basically incapable of empathizing or projecting themselves onto non-Muslim characters, despite the fact that most people are able to do that with different faiths, races, or even sexes (I don’t care that Keith David is black, I care that he’s a badass motherfucker). Which is actually a point against them, not the media itself.
It rarely happens though.
I think the funniest moment of ‘American cultural hegemony’ I’ve ever had was the time I spent twenty minutes talking with a guy from Cameroon about how awesome Alice Cooper is.
That was just Dan Akroyd in blackface.
This. He’s basically saying that they can’t empathize because they don’t see non-Muslims as fellow human beings that they could reasonably identify with. I don’t need to be black to empathize with the horrible plight of slaves in the antebellum South.
Yes you do, otherwise it’s cultural appropriation.
Keith David is truly a gift from God.
And what about David Keith?
What is he, chopped liver?
Girls might make people want to join ISIS more than their propaganda videos.
How does this go… Some one else became radical due to a lack of a role in the arts…
You know who else was radicalized by being rejected on the arts…
Elliot Rodger?
Nice. We need more Nazis on sitcoms.
Cut after one episode.
I was watching Blazing Saddles last night and not only did they have Nazi soldiers as part of the thugs, but comic Hitler at the end. The Producers, Hogan’s Heroes… Nazis used to ridiculed and laughed at. Somewhere, maybe the 80’s or 90’s, Nazis became something unspeakably evil that they couldn’t even be used a comic stooges any more. In a way, it’s almost a redemption for Nazis. Sure they’re reviled but not laughed at and marginalized as they were for years.
The sad thing is that no one in Hollywood could get away with making a movie like Blazing Saddles in today’s political climate.
Nope, never. Mel Brooks has literally said that he could never make Blazing Saddles today.
“They lose me in the bunker scene” was a hilarious line.
KungFury
Cat Stevens?
Ronald Reagan?
George Bush?
So make your own show and broadcast it.
Well, they can’t do that because the Jooz run that part of the business. The same Jooz that are enslaving those poor, helpless Palestinians.
-idiot actress or actor
There’s no diversity of thought, and that’s pushing Brexiters to ISIS?
Has anybody here worked at Cato? I have a friend interviewing with them and he’d like to talk to somebody about what it was like working there.
I hear it’s all cocktail parties all the time.
They put something in the cocktails, to make you forget.
The whole purpose of cocktails, if only for a little while.
Kind of bizarre, I appear to know people from pretty much every major libertarian outfit but Cato.
I can definitely get you in touch with someone who knows people who work at Cato, though.
Emma Watson, you say? I seem to recall spending a large chunk of some crappy movie wishing the three-headed dog would tear the obnoxious little prissypants limb from limb.
She’s a victim of her own popularity. She’s famous so people want to be around her. She interprets this as people want to hear her ideas, so she must be really smart and revolutionary.
In a decade she will be the subject of one of those taboola links – “You won’t believe how low this star has fallen!” featuring a photo of her crouching in an alley.
If a feminist crouches in the alley, and there’s no one around, does she still equality?
“That’s not funny!!”
This one is actually a beautiful echo chamber. They are complaining that other feminists complained that she wore a sexy outfit on a magazine shoot. Which proves to them that we still need feminism.
No lie, this is what they are actually claiming. The fact that feminists derided her for objectifying her body means we need more feminists. Because the feminists complaining about her attire are apparently saying that you can’t be sexy and serious as a woman, and other feminists are saying we need feminists to stand up and say that you can choose to be sexy or serious as a woman.
And here I didn’t know there was ever a time (at least not in the last 40 years) where being a hot woman meant that people wouldn’t listen to what you have to say. My experience has been quite the opposite. Attractive people tend to get listened to way beyond what their intellect would otherwise suggest is prudent.
I like how people keep fighting battles that have been over since before they were born. At least this one particular battle has been long since over in the west…. perhaps she can fight the good fight in the middle east, Africa and Asia?
The answer is always more feminism.
Just like more Marxism.
“Attractive people tend to get listened to way beyond what their intellect would otherwise suggest is prudent. ”
E.g., Robby?
Has anybody here worked at Cato? I have a friend interviewing with them and he’d like to talk to somebody about what it was like working there.
[insert snide reference to cocktail party culture]
Also, tell him I’ll give him a cookie if wallops Suderman with a sock filled with nickels.
We lost George Carlin too soon. From a British University here is the new list of forbidden words.
HoverRound Master
Why is cripple off limits? It’s 100% accurate and doesn’t speak to the character of the person at all.
Appropriating gang culture?
Cripple was like 8 iterations ago.
This is the treadmill of offensiveness. Cripple became associated with being…. you know… crippled. So they changed it to disabled. Then when everyone figured out that disabled meant cripples they decided that was offensive too. So they picked something more empowering, like handicapped. So it isn’t disabled. It is just an extra weight. A handicap. But that too became offensive when everyone figured out that it meant crippled. So then they tried to push a new label. Most famously for me was the Cerebral Palsy actress on Facts of Life who claimed she wasn’t “handicapped, I’m handi-capable”. Needless to say, that didn’t catch on.
So they went with “differently abled”. Which everyone used as a punchline for a joke. Now I think you just have to pretend that everything is normal and use no labels.
They do this with every label that could be associated with anything pejorative. Like idiot. Which became moron, on to retarded and mentally handicapped finally “that’s offensive”. Or Gay, Homo, Queer, Fag, etc… all of which have been the inoffensive accepted term and all of which have been offensive in my lifetime.
The problem isn’t with the words…. but there is a certain type of person who will never understand that.
After Negro, Black, African-American, and now People-of-Color, we have just about worked our way back to “Colored”. I assume we’ll just do the whole cycle again over the next few decades.
There was an Afro-American period there in the 70’s before cycling back to black. And Colored came after Negro. We seem to be in a strange period of political retrenchment as we attempt to include all non-whites in a victim group (people of color, black and brown brothers and sisters, etc.). Which makes for funny terminology like “Asian woman of color” and “Hispanic woman of color”.
We are probably 20 years overdue for a label switch. Jesse Jackson tried a few years back and was roundly rejected.
-1 himey town
I suggest the new term Ebonian…
There may be an Ethiopian in the fuel supply.
Most of the words these people harp on are in themselves not inherently offensive or at least accurate descriptions of reality. That has nothing to do with this at all. It’s about controlling people and forcing compliance with the narrative.
I don’t get it though, what kind of people would in any way be actually bothered by random standard words? If you are actually affected by someone saying mankind you have more serious issues than language.
I would like for them to explain how this is not newspeak.
That would be doubleplusungood.
How does “housewife” get changed to “consumer”? I’m pretty sure my housewife would be utterly confused by calling her a consumer.
So, all housewives are consumers but not all consumers are housewives?
As long as she is not wearing chinos.
I am offended by debasing my glorious profession down to the word “consumer”.
The wiretapping claims are big trouble for Obama. No wait, they’re big trouble for Trump. Hold on, I got it: they’re big trouble for everybody in America. Because they either speak to the neurotic behavior of the current president or the dirty machine politics of the last one. Or both.
Both were good articles. It would be great if we could compile a list of non-partisan (OK semi non-partisan, just as long as they aren’t freaking out) analyses of this so u could better understand the problem.
The problem at this time is that no one knows the facts. Both left-leaning and right-leaning sources reported the alleged FISA requests almost two months ago. But it was all based on unnamed sources.
Anyway, if it’s true that first FISA request was rejected. Then that counters Schumer’s “probable cause” argument, because the court rarely refuses to rubber stamp anything.
Hey, the FISA courts have declined to sign wiretap orders lots and lots of times. Almost reaching double digits by now! In fact, they are a great impediment to keeping us safe. That’s why we should just do away with them.
I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t believe both. Trump IS a narcissistic, paranoid dolt, and Obama IS a devious shitstain who was always eager to use the apparatus of the state as a weapon against his political enemies in violation of the law.
This has become abundantly clear over the past 2 months – parties wanted to see Clinton win.
The Republican leadership talked a big game about tax reform, Obamacare repeal, spending cuts, etc… but had no actual plans for any of it. And now that they are accidentally in full control, they seem to be having a real hard time summoning the balls to do any of it.
Yup, they have no provisions or framework for any of this because they expected Hillary would win and they could just go on enjoying life as the “opposition” party without ever having to actually do anything.
both parties…
If I had the heart, I’d reread The Foundation Trilogy again. 25 years have passed and a reference like “The Mule” has me flipping through the mental Rolodex and most of the cards are stuck together.
eww…
The Male Glaze(tm) really gums up the ol’ computer.
Highly, highly overrated.
I loved it when I read it. Of course I was only 12 at the time.
Read it now. Something actually happens, then everyone talks for the next 30 pages. Repeat.
And the author’s love of technocrat planned and controlled societies will bother the adult WTF.
The first book was actually OK but the series got worse as things progress.
Absolutely, which is why I shall not revisit it, thus it remains a fond childhood memory.
I’m not that bad of commenter, am I?
I’ve been meaning to talk to you. Come into my office. Shut the door, please.
*Sits down on the sofa with Tulpa and Tony*
(If you call that scene overrated, it’s time to divvy up the CDs)
Best cover of Jessie’s Girl ever!
Nice. His cover of Faithfully is excellent, too. Rolodex updated.
Look up “For Angela.” Matty always does a fun show.
It’s a trap!
Destroyer of Worlds made me think it was a Larry Niven reference at first.
You don’t want to pass too many laws. You have to have at least one issue untreated. If the Democrats enacted gun control who would they blame when the next mass shooting occurs.
The “loopholes” which require moar laws.
DON’T ANY OF YOU WORK?
I am at work.
Get off my back slaver!! Work is totally a bourgeoisie construct.
STEVE SMITH WORKING ON CANADIAN VACATION. STEVE SMITH VISIT RUFUS.
STEVE SMITH LIKE *SLAP* TOO.
I thought STEVE SMITH was in England right now? Planning another vacation before the current one is even done?
RAPESQUATCH: THE WORLD TOUR
STEVE SMITH GOT SPECIAL POSITION FOR RUFUS, NEED COW PIECES AND ROTTEN POTATOS THOUGH. STEVE SMITH CALL IT ‘THE POUTINE’.
STEVE SMITH HAVE SPECIAL SYRUP FOR RUFUS’S MOOSEKNUCKLE.
I do. In fact, we even got the new website up over the weekend.
It’s a work in progress, so try not to be too critical.
Do you require the equipment to be relocated or are you simply providing the listing service?
I can do either. I’ll have a yard in Houston pretty soon, but can do the listings for equipment located elsewhere. The key is finding the buyers, which I can still do even if it keeps sitting in someone’s yard or is in use.
I have some specialty construction equipment that is difficult to move (at a decent price) on the general auction market (Ritchie Brothers, etc…). Let me know if that’s something you would be interested in.
Absolutely. Email me at my work email ken@spicerindustrial.com
Will do. I’m buried in some other projects at the moment but need to get moving on this.
I’ll take it off your hands. Seriously. Let me have a crack at it. It’s not like you’d be out anything.
OK. I’ll put something together.
If this works out….drinks are on sloopy!
I see no trucks painted Big Daddy Roth style. SAD!
Looks good. My brother-in-law is debating rent versus buy for his heavy equipment right now.
What does he do? And where is he located? Just curious.
He making roads in new developments (take that technical description as an indicator of my level of knowledge on the subject) in Massachusetts.
If they do concrete, he may as well buy. If they deal in asphalt, he should rent. The depreciation and wear and tear on asphalt pavers as well as distributor trucks and everything else is ridiculously fast. Whereas with concrete, most of the moving parts are from the guys pouring it. And even having said that, those pumper trucks really hold their value even if the mixer trucks don’t.
This site is blocked at my work. What do you sell?
If you need to ask, you don’t want any.
Do you know Jack Schmidt?
If you suddenly feel compelled to do some B2B (or consumer) advertising, let me know.
Depends on what your definition of work is i suppose …
As you well know, I work outta da home!
I’m in a conference call right now. It’s like listening to a less exciting version of NPR.
Florida man isn’t working today.
Retired am I, ha, ha!
More TDS from the literati. This one’s from scifi author Kameron Hurley from a blogpost titled “How to Keep Writing in Time of Great Political Upheaval”:
“My grandmother grew up in Vichy France, under a regime propped up by and answerable to the Nazi regime. These last few months, I’ve wished she was still alive more desperately than any time since her death. I wanted to ask her how you coped when terrible things were happening all around you…It’s in realizing that it was the anxiety unleashed by the sudden uncertainty in this country – when will the government declare martial law? Will we become a Russian puppet-state? Did a city explode in nuclear fire overnight? – also helped me figure out how to address it. If we can’t control the world around us, at least we can control the work we do in the face of it.”
Somehow, I suspect Kameron’s grandmother might tell her to get a grip and stop trivializing the sufferings under the Nazis.
Did most of the non-Jewish French suffer all that much in Vichy France. They generally sat out the war after the opening battles and made wine for the Germans while bitching about them. (Except for 12,000 or so volunteers who joined the SS Charlemagne.)
These last few months, I’ve wished she was still alive more desperately than any time since her death. I wanted to ask her how you coped when terrible things were happening all around you…
If she’s anything like my grandparents who spent five years under the Nazis in the Netherlands, she’d call you a whiny, spoiled bitch who has no idea how good she has it. My grandfather spent ten months sleeping in ditches, eating rotten produce and taking potshots at German patrols. My grandmother almost starved.
You? You’re an idiot throwing a hissy fit because her favourite corrupt politician didn’t get elected.
How dare you compare their suffering to mine. It took me almost 5 minutes to get a latte yesterday. 5 MINUTES!!!
What’s that show about alternative history where Nazis won? I fully suspect someone – probably a radical communist no less – to pen some dystopian tale of what would have occurred if Russia won the Cold War soon.
Man in the High Castle
Yeah, the equivocation is pretty bad. I’m split between believing these people know they are pushing hyperbole, or that they actually believe that the situation is on a knifes edge of being in martial law.
I guess it’s the realization that, you know, an all powerful government is bad. I mean I don’t want to sugar coat things, the state of our government is bad, and it probably could and will do horrible things. I mean it already has. The issue is that these people will only care because it was Trump that did it. These people didn’t care when their guy had power to kill American citizens without due process.
I read an interview with her in a different forum and I think she really believes this. Her responses were peppered with terms like microaggression, etc. She seems to think the fate of female SF writers is not too different from slaves. And, assuming she’s truthful about some of her experiences, she definitely saw some shit. But I hate this whole, “one editor was patronizing to me so now I know how court whores in the Middle Ages felt.”
That’s right Kameron, stopping people from coming into the country illegally is exactly the same as rounding up ethnic groups and putting them in ovens. Exactly. The. Same.
I wonder if it has occurred to Kameron that people are trying to sneak into this country while people were trying to sneak out of Vichy France.
If we can’t control the world around us
Color me shocked.
This makes sense if you restrict the term “upheaval” to self-induced lefty vomiting.
Free liver and onion plate to any who make through one podcast.
I would need a liver transplant if I did that.
“Racism in food photography”? Huh?
“You took more pictures of sandwiches with light-colored bread than you did of sandwiches with pumpernickel bread!”
(but pumpernickel bread is awesome)
(so is pump/rye swirl)
(yes I am Jewish why do you ask?)
The court jester is the king.
I’m not woke enough to understand that.
in a white room.
WITH BLACK CURTAINS NEAR THE STATION
Hilarious that they are willing to put the Breitbart logo on their site.
Yeah, that seemed out of place. Any publicity is….
My phone is set to give me news alerts. The vast majority are CNN and WaPo alerts. Both are constantly yammering about evil Trump, global warming alarmism and culture war bullshit. Was Pravda ever this bad?
Just got one…the SCOTUS just vacated the appeals court ruling that children that have been deluded into believing that they are some gender they are not can use the bathroom of their choice at school.
Let the hair tearing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments commence.
This is going to cause the left to freak out even more, if that is possible. If the SC starts slapping down their culture war victories and with Trump set to appoint Justices…
I can easily seeing this come to violence. They are in their death throes, unhinged, and lashing out at everything. It won’t take much to provoke them.
Come to violence? Did you hear about what happened in CA at the Trump marches? It’s already upon us.
Looks around for hill to die on.
They are fighting the good fight, defeating fascism.
Meh. Some black eyes and pepper spray? That isnt exactly what I had in mind.
Fair enough. I’ve seen a lot of violence directed at Trump supporters lately, and it seems to be getting worse. What were you thinking? Full-scale revolt? Aren’t most of these people anti-second amendment. Do they even own guns? I feel like they’d lose that fight.
Oh, they will lose alright. But how many bodies and how much will they burn down doing it?
I will note that this wasn’t an overturning; it was vacated and remanded in light of the DoE’s new guidance. It’ll get heard again in the 4th Circuit and then go back to SCOTUS. Also means it won’t get heard again in SCOTUS until at least the latter part of the 2017-2018 session.
What this will mean is a lot more hair tearing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over Gorsuch’s SCOTUS nomination.
Well there you have it. I didn’t actually look at the story, just the headline CNN sent to my phone. It explicitly said “SC vacates ruling…”
My point wasn’t about that case but about the propaganda CNN and WaPo are pumping out at a feverish rate.
While we’re disappointed that the Supreme Court will not be hearing Gavin’s case this term, the overwhelming level of support shown for Gavin and trans students by people across the country throughout this process shows that the American people have already moved in the right direction and that the rights of trans people cannot be ignored,”
Law depends on popular opinion, friends.
Also, for the record, Gavin Grimm was born a girl, and now asserts her…um…his manhood.
I propose an acronym for these stories: “BAM” = Born a Male, “BAF” = Born a Female. So, we can say, for instance, “Gavin Grimm (BAF) had a setback in his case when the SCOTUS vacated the decision of blah blah etc.”
“BAM” = Born a Male, “BAF” = Born a Female
I really like this. I am usually confused as hell every time I read some trans-news
Now that I think about it, it,might be even better to say “Gavin Grimm (XX) had a setback in the blah blah…”
“Caitlyn Jenner (XY) chased down Ben Shapiro and gave him a smooch during negotiations with blah blah…)
You could even just say “a male”. Male and female are the proper terms to describe the sex of an individual, which as a biological fact doesn’t change with either wardrobe or surgery.
What I am talking about is when someone here is quoting some story from the Woke Press. “(XY)” is quicker and easier than “(Really a male)”.
Because, the problem is that, when I’m reading a story about Gavin Grimm, the story uses the masculine pronouns, and so I am wasting time trying to figure out if Gavin is male or female or “male” or “female”. I have to get to the part where it relates which bathroom Gavin is forbidden to use and by then I’ve lost my train of thought and wonder why the Supreme Court has declared it unConstitutional to jump over Berkley University protesters on a motorbike while carrying a gay wedding cake.
My wife is from a former Ostblock country, and she claims our media is even more one-sided than theirs was.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/05/opinion/when-one-president-smears-another.html
“It is past time for them to begin asking themselves if they can continue lending their names and exposing their reputations to a president with so little regard for democratic institutions, and for the truth.”
Funny, the byline is “The Editorial Board”.
They were talking about Obama prior to Nov. ’16, right? Or the Dems in general just after the election, right? It has to be one of those two.
This weekend I think I found my small version of hell – following my dad in his old Trailblazer as he went down the highway at 54mph, hauling a trailer that should have been junked years ago. ~55mph feels like a snails pace, especially when everyone else is going 75+. I swear I had old ladies flipping me off as they blew by our little convoy of two.
At least I was driving the right vehicle for it: a Buick!
I wanted to back road it all the way home, staying on the M roads. But nnoooooo.
But at least their old house is all cleaned up and the keys are dropped off to the new owner, who plans to move the whole log cabin to another property.
plans to move the whole log cabin to another property
Watch out for live-ins. He will get some live-ins.
A little ol’ convoy, eh?
*blows air horn*
One of the things I’ve noticed is that the Twitter account for this site doesn’t inject the images where the tweets are linked. I don’t know how many news sites do it, but there must be some format they adhere to that causes an image to appear with a blurb of text beneath it. That increases engagement with articles (some figures say that people are twice as likely to click them).
this made me laugh and laugh and laught
In related news = Robby suspects this internet thing might actually start to catch on, and end up being more than just a fad.
Damn. There is a lot of hair splitting in that thread. Who is/was WakaWaka?
Possibly Tulpa? I don’t know, lots of those threads are ending up arguments between Tony, Tulpa and Mary socks. I’m starting to think Sugarfree’s idea of locking the comments for a couple months is a good idea.
Actually, Waka seemed more rational than the others.
That’s a pretty low bar when the competition is Tony and Mary.
WakaWaka seems like a John clone.
I honestly can’t read other comments anymore. its painful to watch. they just froth and spit at each other.
re: WakaWaka
i have no idea. My rough glossary for identities is “Chip Your Pets” is tulpa, and Mary is “DanO” “Konima”, etc. I don’t know who Hail Rataxes is but he’s a dick too.
I don’t know why but at least AdditionMyth/dajjal has vanished, probably starved due to lack of attention.
They’re like Herpes. They’re never gone.
I get that Robby is basically there to be Millennial outreach, but you aren’t going to court Millennials by soft-pedaling things. If you’re going to social signal to pull in the Millennial crowd then at least do it competently.
I am not sure that what he’s doing is going to attract more millennials on the left than drive away ones more on the right to be honest.
Honest question: why aren’t more of these things taking place online? You can’t disrupt or derail a Hangouts session, you can attend anonymously, far more people would be able to watch than could fit into an auditorium, let alone those who can get past the braying mobs of jackass students, it’s around forever, and the acoustics are bound to be better.
I get that hosting the event and braving the picket line sends its own message, but what else can be gleaned from the practice except demonstrating ad nauseum that colleges are now lefty banlieues?
If you’ve effectively ‘driven underground’, you are safer, but as you mention, it eliminates your moral superiority. Constantly showing that the left wing are engaging in repeated violent attacks against people they disagree with just continues to delegitimize them. If things escalate eventually someone is going to die and make a martyr.
I wonder what Dalmia will tweet in the event.
I get what you’re saying, but I the more the left uses violence, the more I notice my friends (all millennials) saying that “feminism is cancer” and “progressives are the worst.” I feel like its crucial that these things take place in the real world so we can all see each other’s true colors.
I agree. When people can hide behind machines, they’re effectively performing a persona.
I know that’s sort of an awkward thing to say on a message board, but oh well.
Exactly this. The left’s mask is slipping, and it has advantages. Now when I’m arguing with someone about how the state uses violence to achieve its ends I can point to them and say “these are the people who want an expanded state, and look it what they use to try to enforce their standards. Do you want them in charge?” They are a glowing example of the screaming id of the modern left-wing.
thats an interesting point.
I think part of it is simply the symbolism of inviting a guest to appear on your stage.
I do think there is some benefit to actually hearing someone speak in person, and get people to ask questions to their face. (politely) I know it sounds hippy-dippy but i think there’s real benefit to ‘in person’ engagement. Young people are terrified of 1-1 dialogue. Actually taking a mic and asking questions to ‘established people’ is something i really enjoyed whenever i got the chance. It forced you to be articulate and respectful and try and limit the hemming and hawing,etc.
I guess I answered my own question. Although I have to compare, say, Milo showing up at an event and the sturm und drang that surrounds his visit to the view count on a typical Sargon video. Sure, Berkeley lefties get a black eye, but what particulars did Milo manage to get across?
Not to say it’s one or the other, there’s room in the world for invitee performative art and youtube videos. I’m just waiting for the former to start having an effect. Getting universities defunded would be a nice start.
The effect you’re looking for is the delegitimization of activists that resort to violence. As I mentioned above, the more violent they get, the more damage they do to their own cause, which is a win for anyone that opposes totalitarianism. Its becoming more and more socially acceptable among my friends and general peer group to make fun of black bloc and far-left positions like gender identity and sexual fluidity.
I also think it counts that these live things get a lot more publicity and once you go maybe you actually listen. I mean it’s much easier online to switch to something else if a talk loses you for a few minutes.
I never use the Internet anymore.
Er, I dunno everyone’s feelings about this, and it is a cool stunt. I just don’t think people should be performing stunts over public highways with unwitting participants on the road. It could easily go very wrong and wind up with several dead people. It’s like, watching people juggle chainsaws with one another is neat, but I don’t want to be walking through the middle of that act unwittingly, even if they’re good enough to never hit anyone.
While um…researching, how to spell “himey” for a very thought provoking comment here, I ran across this: The Racial Slur Database
Never heard Ame-koh. It sounds cute. Heard some kids yell, “Gaijin da!” the other day as I walked down the street. I’m looking around like, “Where?”. Been here too long.
You aren’t an Otaku are you?
Otaku – A white person that tries to be Japanese in every way
God no. Dances with Wolves sucked.
I know when I want to strip a word of its power to inflame hatred, I make using it socially verboten and hearing it tantamount to physical assault. That’ll learn ’em racists.
Hymie.
thank you. its like kids don’t even Jessie Jackson anymore
Yes, kind of ironic that I misspelled it while talking about looking it up to to spell it. I’m such a dumb gavacho
it is a cool stunt.
I am suddenly reminded of the time I was driving up Berthoud Pass (I think) on the way to Winter Park / Mary Jane, and there were some guys who were skiing a big snow field on the pass. They had built a big jump, and were flying over the road as people were driving through.
Ive seen good spots to jump Berthoud pass.
My friend works as a sort of scout for locations for a local ski movie company.
In other news, Shikha has reported that the GOP is almost dead now. Must be true.
It wasn’t dead before the election. I saw the stories about the GOP’s electoral success at the various levels.
This also puts the lie to the alt-right claim that Republicans are a bunch of cucks that don’t know what they are doing.
In the wake of a severe snowstorm last December, Pocatello, Idaho resident Mitch Fisher acted when city maintenance workers didn’t by clearing the sidewalks in front of his home and that of an elderly neighbor. This act was witnessed by a police officer who, in obedience to the universal government mandate to harass productive people without cause, issued Fisher a $206 citation for “placing or depositing material on a public right of way.”
“All that the mechanic has to do now, and which any boy or lad of 14 or 15 is quite able to do, is to sharpen his tool, place it in the machine in connexion with the work, and set on the self-acting motion, and then nine-tenths of his time is spent in mere superintendence, not in labouring, but in watching the delicate and beautiful operations of the machine.”
Oh, come on! This quote is golden!
Even if one grants (and I don’t) that the Trump side is dangerous, bringing a pocketknife to a machine-gunfight is going to turn out badly. The last thing that the political minority should advocate is violence.
So you’re saying that encouraging a bunch of effeminate snowflakes who are afraid of their own shadow to go out and start punching people is a bad idea?
Well, the author of the article is.
I agree with him.
“Oh good, we’ve reached the point at which the attorney general of the United States is a prop for members at the president’s for-profit club.”
The whole operation is 41 people. “Finding an average price doesn’t require complicated math,” Smith says. “It’s arithmetic.” Since posting the price list eight years ago, they’ve adjusted it twice, both times to lower rates.
I hear rumors (which is all they are) that their basic model, or at least their pricing, really can’t be replicated – its based off of sweetheart deals that aren’t ever going to be generally available. To me, that means that going all cash can result in better prices, but not prices that are that much better.