Happy Monday. Busy, busy, busy
This first link might not be safe for work (pixellated nipple), but I hope Sec. Mattis is planning on buying a couple of pallets of the magazine featured and dropping them into places where there are lots of frustrated young men who blame the West for not getting laid. (I also linked it, because its fun to see Yahoo! try to report on American flag wearing women in near undress on Hustler covers as straight news.)
“Intensive Boot Camp to Revive Men’s Primal Nature” (Spoiler: Not a Marines recruiting post) I’ll support the Universal Income when people are too poor to support bullshit like this.
On the other hand, I missed yesterday’s anniversary of actual courage. Go stand in front of a line of tanks in an authoritarian country, and you’ll never worry about wearing rompers again.
Americans appear to prefer the (unsporting) version of resistance to jihadist attackers to the British version. Lock and load.
::good edit faerie flutters by and turns sidebar off::
You people think you’re glibertarians…
But you aren’t Janusz Korwin Mikke, the Glibbest, so-Polish-he-bleeds-vodka Glibertarian to ever exist. The man gives zero fucks.
To steal a quote of his from the comments (that I confirmed): “A monkey is a much better voter than a socialist. Statistically speaking, if we assume that there are two options to choose from: the “A” and the “B” – the monkey is voting randomly, so its wrong 50% of the time. The socialist, however – is always wrong.”
Korwin-Mikke is a self-declared monarchist and thinks that democracy is the “stupidest form of government ever conceived” where “two bums from under a beer stand have twice as many votes as a university professor”.
He’s got seven kids and three bastards. In 2016, he married Dominika Sibiga, the former “Miss UPR” and the mother of his two youngest children, who is 44 years his junior.
Holy fuck, this man is my hero.
Wait, why is John’s post about the Polish politician repeated up here at the top? Are we doing promoted comments like Reason now?
I posted this and didn’t get a response to it for over two hours, so I posted it again about an hour down to the road. My mistake for including two links.
I told y’all I was busy. Also, we are happy it got pride of place.
But how did it suddenly become comment #1? This was definitely not the first comment in this page.
I assumed it was formal Glibertarians staff endorsement of the post. JohnT, I would just tell people that’s what happened in your shoes.
That would make sense. Certainly a worthy comment to endorse. That Polish politician is pretty hilarious.
https://twitter.com/HillelNeuer/status/871383078098395136
From a Human Rights Activist
Rotherham
Rotherham got international press for sheer number, but there were also Oxford, Derby, Rochdale and others (Wikipedia used to have links on the Rotherham page but now you have to go through sex crimes against children page, because you need more misery in your life).
Rochdale is my favorite because same Child Protection Services that twiddled their thumbs on the subject of rape was quick to pounce on a family that fostered children, removing the kids they had in care despite years of sterling record. Because, you see, they were UKIP members.
A quick glance at one’s priorities is often quite revealing.
Rochdale couple link for reference.
OT: First day back after nice family reunion / vacation in the Outer Banks. Went fishing last Wednesday and the five of us caught five Mahi-Mahis. Unfortunately, we caught them all in the first hour. The rest of the time looking for tuna was a bust. Still, there’s nothing like fresh fish off the boat.
I do have to say, NC has some remarkably nice beaches.
By the way, completely botched the threading on that one.
Should have made your way down to Ocracoke. Not quite a libertarian paradise but I’m working on it. I leave as many people alone as possible.
We stayed in Corolla. But, Ocracoke does look very nice.
Looking for recommendations for 3D movies/documentaries, etc. For Father’s Day. Pa is very part-ick-lar about his 3D. The movie has to have been filmed in 3D as opposed to post-production processed. He likes dark and/or violent flicks (like war movies or shit like Runaway Train).
Any ideas?
Prometheus was filmed with 3D cameras. I saw it on my Dad’s fancy TV – looked pretty good.
But the actual movie is terrible as in Alien: Covenant.
I didn’t hate it. Won’t be seeing the new one until it’s at the library or HBO.
Good move..
If you really like Prometheus, you’ll like covenant. It’s pretty much the same movie. I didn’t do my due diligence. I thought it was an Alien movie, not a Prometheus sequel.
Ridley Scott’s insane desire to explain away his good products (and remove all mystery, and therefore all horror) with his bad ones at the age of 80 makes me question if he isn’t in early state dementia.
It’s not dementia, he’s just pulling a Lucas. He’s trying to make his product more meaningful, more artistic, instead of just accepting that it was great pulp.
My Pa loved Gravity, just for the 3D. I fucking hated it and all the visuals in the world couldn’t make up for its crapulence.
I liked the first half, but after she was the lone survivor of a SECOND space station apocalypse, I lost all interest.
This looks like a good resource.
that looks like it fits the bill.
I’m looking forward to “Dunkirk”.
They played a clip (instead of the usual trailer) in front of Wonder Woman in IMAX.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. so gorgeous.
(it won’t be 3D – but it was filmed mostly in IMAX)
it does look very good.
For once, I’d like a move set in the Aliens universe but without the aliens. Like a legal drama about insurance companies fighting in the wake of Flight Officer Rippley’s intentional scuttling of the Nostromo and the resulting loss of its cargo. Or you know, investigate that one liner Hudson throws out about “another bug hunt.” Anything but people running around and screwing up things for no reason because alien. You’d think that someone who spent so much time world building would at least try to have the world behave consistently. But no, now its a formula that must feature Strong Female Lead TM. At least Alien Ripley was believable and Aliens Ripley was plausible.
Inland Marine: the Reinsurance Wars
Like “Red Shirts” vis a vis Star Trek?
Or like Better Call Saul, where you follow the life of the Interspace Insurance Company actuary who spends his days calculating risk-loss costs on crew-massacre-by-Alien
Either way there is tons of potential. They throw around some numbers for the costs of those starships and the automated refinery, even if you assume some inflation they talk trillions. She was never imprisoned but it was clear she wasn’t able to get regular work, and it was hinted that she couldn’t afford to live on Earth. How many companies went bankrupt on that insurance? How many people were affected by potential redesigns to star-ship safety systems or AI directives? Its clear other unrelated characters know about some of Nostromo’s and Ash’s issues in the later franchise – there was probably huge media impact. Or maybe there wasn’t and it was all covered up! Michael Clayton was a great movie, I expect Weyland-Yutani keeps at least one or two guys like him on staff somewhere.
How about a meeting where the Weyland-Yutani board members talk about the whole sunken cost fallacy involved in the whole Alien project? In the first movie it kind of makes sense, because “Hey we’ve found proof of freaking Alien life,” So they want to know more about it. By the second It seems like the rational response is when the colony goes dark, send in a heavily scouting party, get a quick confirmation of the aliens, then nuke it from orbit, because it’s the only way to be sure.
They talk about using the aliens as weapons, but here’s the the problem with that, every sane nation on Earth has bans on biological weapons. Not because everybody is nice, but because they recognize that it wouldn’t take much to make biological warfare bite them in the ass. And even then, people infected with weaponized Smallpox don’t climb walls and spray super acidic blood on people.
I mean what’s the sales pitch for using the Xenos to the military?
“Hey here’s an incredibly hard to contain weapon that will kill all your enemies.”
“Well, yes, but then won’t we have a planet covered in hard to kill aliens?”
“Oh easy solution to that, just nuke them from orbit.”
“If we wanted a radioactive tomb world, we would have just gone with nuke the from orbit as Plan A. Plus nukes don’t try to get loose and kill everybody on the ship.”
“Umm, …”
I mean as far as evil corporations go, Weyland-Yutani has got to be one of the dumber ones. At least Umbrella has the excuse that zombies are just kind of a side effect of trying to research immortality.
W-Y thought they could engineer it down to maintainable levels. Eventually…
Well a study was done on the economic impact of the destruction of the Death Star so “Insunce Adjusters in Space!” has plausibility.
http://www.businessinsider.com/study-on-financial-impact-of-star-wars-death-star-2015-12
Or maybe “Apollo 13 Claim Denied” would be a better movie?
Well Ripley did have a 57 year gap in her employment history, that’s got to make it hard to find work.
I thought that too, about the legal battle with Weyland Yutani using Ripley as a scapegoat, while the Nostromo was actually a calculated loss for them to bring back a Xenomorph.
AND the “another” bug hunt comment. There were others?
This was shot in 3-D?
Only 3D movie I truly enjoyed was Mad Max: Fury Road. And it’s nice and violent.
I believe it’s post-production processed.
Huh! It looked much better than most 3D, rather than be either distracting or completely superfluous.
I guess having a director who understands visuals is a good thing.
It does. I’ve also preferred the 3D when used for backgrounds only. The ‘oh wow a thing came at the audience’ isn’t for me. but to create depth? very nice.
The force awakens had a cool one in the foreground when that blaster fire was frozen in place.
You can (and maybe should) watch that entire film in black and white with no sound and still know and understand the whole story. It’s almost criminal that it didn’t win best cinematography, although I can appreciate the artistic argument for The Revenant getting it.
*clicks link above*
Yup.
I noticed most of the recent 3D are animated “family movies”. Probably cheaper to do animation than live action.
You can do some interesting things as well with camera work in a 3d model. Camera work that is doable in the real world can become magnified, and stuff that really isn’t possible in the real world without lots of post production.
I’m actually surprised people are still interested in 3D. We bought our 3D TV in 2011 when 3D was a very mainstream feature in TV sets. But now if we want to upgrade our TV and still have 3D we’ll have to pay a hefty premium.
Have you seen Hugo? (scorsese’s kid’s movie)
the 3d version was interesting; it tried to use it sparingly but as a way of aiding the storytelling.
https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/best-cinematography-hugo-martin-scorceses-3d-wonderland-2/
Fun fact: my neighbor’s cousin wrote the book the movie was based on. We had a draft of the screenplay floating around at one point.
Never did see the movie, tho’.
Brian Selznick! Cool.
Friday the 13th Part 3 was awesome. The scene with the two people having sex when Jason puts the arrow through the dude’s throat is awesome.
Also, Jaws 3D was an abomination.
Jaws: The Revenge goes into so bad it was good territory though.
I ended up getting him Prometheus (he doesn’t mind cheesey stuff) and a coupla IMAX 3D docs (Arabia and one on the Hubble telescope)
DVD Savant has reviewed a lot of recent releases – of old, classic 3D films – normally good things to say about them depending on the title. Might be something he’s interested in. CTRL-F for “3-d”.
OT: So I bought myself a tablet, an Asus ZenPat 10. The only thing is, out of the box it’s stuck in some audio tutorial mode that I can’t get out of. Every time I touch a button, it tells me what that button is for rather than actually letting me use the button. So I can’t, for example, enter the password for my wifi.
Any ideas how to get out of this tutorial mode? I did a google search, but I only get hits on how to root it.
is there a hard boot reset?
Can’t get that far. I can turn it off, but when I turn it back on it’s still in tutorial mode.
Hammer 2.0 has yielded good results for me.
You may want to return it and get something else.
Shake it?
Since it’s in audio mode, you have to talk to it.
So nobody has any idea?
?..
Doesn’t mention anything about this audio tutorial mode. I can’t type the password for my wifi because every time I try to type a letter, it just says the letter rather than entering it. I have to hit the letter key like 50 times to get it to enter, and then it’s hit or miss. And if I make a mistake, delete isn’t working.
It claims you can go through the setup wizard, but I’m stuck there with a keyboard that’s basically not working.
A hard reset might work.
http://www.hardreset.info/devices/asus/asus-z500m-zenpad-3s-10/
Now it’s stuck in “FASTBOOT mode…” and nothing’s happening. 🙁
You’re obviously not using your indoor voice.
I have the same and had to do a hard reset when I couldn’t remember my password. I think I saved the site with the instructions on my browser at home. Check back later (at work now) and I’ll post the address if I can find it.
The manual Alex posted says there’s a reset in the settings, but I can’t get to the settings. I’m stuck in the Setup Wizard.
See above. The link I posted can be done with power and volume buttons only.
Download adobe reader.
And it only responds if you talk dirty to it..
That’s not my 32 pin gold plated connector!
Ted,
It sounds like the thing is in some sort of Accessibility mode. It might be in “TalkBack” mode. The things I’ve googled up indicate that you have to swipe with two fingers—i.e. make it really apparent that you’re trying to swipe, go to Settings, and from there to Accessibility, and turn off TalkBack. https://www.asus.com/zentalk/thread-3153-1-1.html
The two fingers seems to be important, in other threads I’ve read with about other Android device users frustrated as hell with a similar ‘feature’.
OK, that helps with the swiping, but I can’t go back past the Welcome page of the Setup Wizard. 🙁
Assuming you’re not going to do what sloop recommended below, in a post I saw, the guy had to two-finger his way all through the wizard, until he could finish the damned thing, then get to Settings and turn off talkback.
I’m not finding a short-cut to that. And it sounds like system reboot isn’t helping you. Factory reset?
I thought my Galaxy Tab was a piece of shit at times…GF’s Asus year old tablet hasn’t given her any where near this kind of hassle either.
Thank you! This worked. Now if I can just get my Glibs password to work on the table. I think I tried too many times and I started getting error messages. 🙂
In all seriousness, that’s unacceptable for any new product. Take it back from whence it came for a full refund, toot sweet.
Sounds sort of like my first girlfriend,
Yes, two fingers always works better than one.
I think the proper procedure for that is to take the battery down to zero, recharge it completely, reset it and take it back to the store and exchange it for an iPad.
But then you are stuck with an Apple product.
Yeah. Which you should be happy about if you’re not a really savvy product user and want a very slick, simple interface that’s almost completely bug-free.
What a bummer!
The interface sucks ass.
If it is so simple, why can’t I figure it out?
Google devices make sense to me (Android devices by 3rd parties, not so much — I have a Samsung phone right now and the first thing I had to do was install a button remapper, the back button should be on the LEFT).
Apple interfaces suck? You’re nuts. It’s the simplest interface imaginable. Hell, Baby Liberty navigates it pretty easily to play baby games and shit. Meanwhile the lone android piece of shit device that’s still in the house is actively used as a doorstop.
Agreed. Apple tries to outthink the user, which makes doing anything but the most simple tasks more difficult than they need to be. It’s like Apple makes a car that only turns left, then says Apple makes driving simple and user-friendly by eliminating pesky and distracting “geeky” concepts like turning right.
At least Apple would be a good fit for NASCAR.
iShit is overpriced, and I want Android anyway. I’ve had next to no problems with Android on my smartphone.
And as I said above, I was able to get through the initial setup. Now I’ve got to set up my email accounts and all that other fun stuff.
You know, making the hijab a tacky piece of fashion might not be a bad idea. Completely obliterate its ability to be taken seriously as religious symbol and give it something even more extreme than the Che t-shirt treatment.
You know, you’re really not advancing the image of the polite Canadian.
That image can fuck off the tip of my dick.
This attitude right here is what made the “Politically Incorrect Canadian History” series so entertaining.
I know everyone who submits (often great) articles here does so for free (such bad capitalists among you libertarians), so the schedule for things to come out must necessarily take a back seat to more important concerns, but I still hold out hope for a part 3. Of course, I also hold out hope for a Half-Life 3, and Valve’s a for-profit concern…
The revenue from Steam insures they’ll never have to make another game again.
*ensures rather.
Eh, EA dropped out of Steam so they could roll their own clusterfuck. I don’t think Origin is ever going to be more than just “where you go to buy EA games, if you must”.
That was meant as a reply to Pan Zagloba.
Origin is pretty usable these days. And they had refunds way before Steam put them in.
But yes, it’s where I go to play EA games. My preferences are GOG->Humble Store (which mostly goes to…) -> Steam-> Origin -> emulators -> consoles ->uPlay
That is a fair point. As much as I dislike Origin (… which is probably just because I dislike EA), nothing compares to the horribleness that is uPlay*.
* = Except for GFWL but that’s dead now. Probably.
Oh god I forgot about Microsoft! GFWL be dead (and some games are near- to completely unplayable because it’s dead), but Microsoft is doing it again.
Well my list stays the same. They could put Sid Meier’s Pirates! Super Awesome Edition (with Blowjobs) and I would still keep the fuck away from it!
I don’t think any company in today’s economy can rest on their laurels like that. Steam is tops now, but there are competitors (esp. GOG) who could, if not unseat Steam, at least cut into Valve’s revenue.
GoG has a niche but I don’t think they’re out to disrupt Steam.
Truth. Activision is putting up Destiny 2 on Battle.net for a reason. Just like EA dumped Steam altogether. That 30% Gaben takes will only last so long…
I don’t think GOG has a niche anymore (except for their anti-DRM stance, which may not last). Originally, they were “good old games”, then they were old games + indies + anything CD Projekt Red (parent company) produces, now they seem to be willing to offer a virtual storefront to anyone reputable who wants to sell through them.
Pan, Activision and Blizzard are the same company, so it’s not exactly shocking that they would put their product on Battle.net.
I’ve been bogged down by work for the last two months, and the bigger problem was than my other, larger writing project (i.e. the thing I wouldn’t mind making some money off of) took off recently and so my spare time has been dedicated to that. I’ll have to get back to it once I stop yelling at illustrators.
Details?
It’s a weird-ass alternate history comic book about communism and outer space. All I’m giving away until I’ve got something out (and that might be awhile because my artist slaves take awhile, but their work is good).
Yeah, orphans generally produce poor artwork. Giving them food might stop their tremors, but it’s not worth the risk of getting banned here. Hell, I deserve a cat-butt for suggesting it.
It’s a weird-ass alternate history comic book about communism and outer space.
Isn’t that what Star Trek is?
Sure, but the difference is I don’t view the communism positively.
The Zubaz hijab? You may really be on to something.
Zubaz.
::sigh::
The shame of southwest Ohio to this day.
Ugh, I just had to google that, and now I’m having flashbacks about the only person I’ve ever met in real life who wore those. He was some 50ish year old body builder at a gym I went to in high school, and those were the only sort of pants he owned. Creepy dude, would not leave me alone and stop hitting on me, and I was about 16 at the time. Ugh.
Bacon Hijabs!
Shut up you cis shitlord!
Local Somali girl is storming the international modeling world because of her hijab.
Flynt better not fuck with the berkini!
Mutters something about the Horn of Africa …
I think you fuckers should appreciate the fact that neither Tundra nor I linked to the stories locally about how brave this girl was for wearing the hijab and berkini as part of that Miss Minnesoda contest. There was a lot of fucking derp about that one.
Maybe a hijab shaped like a road?
Victoria Secret needs to make a pink hijab, with the word modesty bewjewled onto the front.
blol
On the other hand, I missed yesterday’s anniversary of actual courage. Go stand in front of a line of tanks in an authoritarian country, and you’ll never worry about wearing rompers again.
The cops still don’t care if you are in the way.
Is that in Arizona? They’re lucky nobody shot at em.
I think so. I just like the shrug.
Does make me wonder why the Deputies didn’t clear em off the road. I’d like to think my tax dollars would pay them to do at least that much. Or you know, arrest the fucking assholes climbing on that guy’s jeep.
Yes it is. If I remember correctly Trump had a rally at the Ft. McDowell Casino and the protestors were blocking the 87 route from Mesa and Shea Blvd route from Scottsdale.
Pikers.
I’ll be voting in the NJ Republican primary this afternoon.
Based on this article, I’ll be voting for Jack Ciattarelli – who has zero chance of being our next Governor.
A NJ Republican? Is that like a Mississippi Democrat?
There are 2 kinds:
People like Ciattarelli and Steve Lonegan who talk like conservatives and have no chance in a state-wide election – and pretend Republicans like Chris Christie and Christie Todd Whitman.
You left the side bar on… That is going to mash up comments.
This first link might not be safe for work (pixellated nipple)
Already mentioned before on 6/1/17
http://www.barstoolsports.com/boston/i-feel-like-this-hustler-magazine-cover-might-be-problematic/
“Check out the new Hustler magazine cover. When virtue signaling goes wrong. That’s pretty offensive, in my opinion.”
See, when you’re a filthy foreigner like me my immediate reaction was more an eyeroll about having to shove your flag onto everything than the ‘PCness’ of it all.
Speaking of Canada: http://www.christianpost.com/news/ontario-passes-law-government-seize-children-parents-oppose-gender-transition-186332/
holy fucking shit.
*Ontario, not Canada, and right now we have a particularly scumbag Liberal government in power desperately passing all kinds of idiocy before the election next year.
I see that, but this is a pretty atrocious piece of legislation. Although, I’m sure, coming here soon
How do you even see to type your comments on here with that boot on your face?
Get out of the major cities and control loosens up extremely fast. Drive north of the 401 for an hour and you can pretty much get away with murder, and that’s southern Ontario. Up here it’s even easier to get away with shit. Rural and urban Canada are two different worlds.
So, they’ve started stealing Murika’s law naming conventions?
That’s some retarded shit right there.
Yeh. that’s not good.
Fuck you Michael Cocteau. Eat a bag of rusted nails.
Michael Cocteau
Wasn’t he the guy who did The Room? “You’re tearin’ me apaht!”
“You’re tearin’ me apaht!”
Every time I see James Dean deliver that line in Rebel Without a Cause, I think of George Costanza imitating his mother. “George! You could fill Madison Square Garden!”
What the ?
In April, a Christian couple filed a lawsuit against Hamilton Children’s Aid Society for removing two foster children from their home because they refused to lie to the girls by saying that the Easter bunny is real.
“We have a no-lying policy,” Derek Baars, one of the foster parents, said at the time, pointing out that a child support worker insisted that he and his wife, Frances Baars, tell the two girls in their care, aged 3 and 4, the Easter bunny is real. “We explained to the agency that we are not prepared to tell the children a lie. If the children asked, we would not lie to them, but we wouldn’t bring it up ourselves.”
The eligibility of the Baars, members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, was canceled and the children were taken away. The CAS worker, who insisted that the Baars teach the kids that the Easter bunny is genuine, told them that the Easter bunny was an important part of Canadian culture.
I did not know the Easter bunny was Canadian.
CANCON and Canadian cultural insecurity is a very special and incoherent phenomena.
How completely retarded is that CAS worker? Part of fucken Canadian culture? That’s what happens when your culture is deficient substance. You have to make shit up; like public health which is not a symbol of Canadian culture apparently but part of our value system.
Beyond grotesque thinking.
That’s back-asswards. Anybody enabling a child to undergo sex reassignment before they are even out of puberty!!!! are the ones who should be accused of abuse.
*waves sixty-three star, post-annexation flag at John Titor*
You’re keeping Quebec? I never believed the “dumb Americans” propaganda, but…
Oh, no, that star is for Jefferson.
You people are bloody stupid if you’d keep the territories separate and didn’t break up Ontario and B.C. into a half dozen separate states. It would be like adding half a California to the electoral college.
We didn’t give the native Canukistanis citizenship… Jus Soili was such a really bad idea in of itself.
We’d annex Canada as one big territory, calling it, lets say North Minnesota, and then let the local polities come up with their preferred boundary lines. We’d then accept those lines, or reject them until we like them. That’s how most states came into existence, no need to mess with the formula.
Can’t we just move the Native Canukistanis to reservations and delay letting them count for a hundred years or so?
We already put them all in reservations.
Quebec is too big a reservation.
That’s why we shipped the most uppity ones to New Orleans, and drown like half of them along the way.
Fuck that, we’d expect at least North Montana.
The first step is to cow the rebellious to our will. You can get cool names once you behave. Be happy you don’t get stuck with Upper Wisconsin.
The urbanites will be easy to cow, they’re used to getting fucked. The people you want on your side are the rurals, because they’re the people who will be taking potshots at patrols and blowing up railroad tracks for generations to come. And they want a cool name. Also gun rights.
The gun rights will be instantaneous. First thing to go is existing law, and everyone in the territory will be ruled solely by federal laws until a local legislature can be established. So all existing gun regs go out the window.
If you pick a name that annoys progressives while drawing up territorial lines that have a good number of progs included (not enough to give them sway, but enough to effectively neutralize them electorally) you can have whatever name you want.
A kick ass flag and a constitution guaranteeing a Republican form of government are also required.
…a constitution guaranteeing a Republican form of government are also required.
Meh, fix your own first and we’ll talk. As of right now I’m of the opinion republics come with inevitable expiry dates.
You’d give the Vikings all those fans? I must protest as a fan of the Eagles.
No, they’ll turn on the Vikings, too.
As a resident of Philadelphia, I fucking hate the Eagles.
There are no Iggles fans, just people who hate other teams moar.
Philadelphians hate Santa Claus; why wouldn’t they hate the Eagles?
“…my immediate reaction was more an eyeroll about having to shove your flag onto everything…”
Yeah, well, our flag is cool, leaf boy.
Meh, you got it right the first time but then had to be all special.
Of course, you’d think that, Brit boy. At least Harriet Tubman was a real American.
Hmmm, choosing between a head of state who is a monarch that minds her own business and doesn’t fuck with her colonial subjects…or Barack Obama.
Tough call there.
Barack Obama is gone. Hillary is president now.
*Whispered side conversation* what? Really? Donald Trump? Bullshit, I don’t believe you… *Google’s* well I’ll be damned!
Google’s what?
Obama isn’t going to be on any US currency soon. Mebbe some food stamp scrip. Which would be fitting.
Meanwhile – Rule, Britannia! Loonies, indeed.
The picture from the 1976 cover is what made me the hairy-palmed, curved-spined, glasses-wearing, libertarian I am today.
I was 12 or 13 when I got a hold of that out of my uncle’s stash.
That’s the one with all of the 70’s pube peeking out from behind “Old Glory”, right? “Ah, yes, I remember it weeeellllll….”
Fact check at register three please. fact check, register three.
Robin Williams did a documentary about this in the 80’s called “The Survivors”.
In the update to this morning’s post, I decided to skip to what I’d put on tuesday’s schedule and visited both the Louisville Slugger factory and the Evan Williams Experience. It is technically only a distillary tour because they have one active pot still on site that produces maybe a barrel a week, while the actual production runs are done elsewhere. But they do get high marks for salesmanship and it wasn’t a bad little tour of their history.
I was annoyed that there were no photographs allowed inside the bat factory, as industrial processes are fascinating. But I followed the rules and got my free mini-bat at the end.
I’ll be hunting for one of the hammerhead/game/m-something set tomorrow or this evening. I had thought about doing so today but I was starting to hurt and needed to get lunch and get some painkillers down. So I stopped next door to the Bourbon people at “Azteca”. Not sure if authentic mexican to tex-mex, but the food was all right. The words I rarely utter “This rice is pretty good” applied.
PSA: I’m sure they told you a million times, but the mini-bat can’t be carried on to your flight home. (Can’t remember if you flew.) There’s always a big comical transparent bin full of ’em at security.
I’m on a road trip, I drove.
New York – Maryland – North Carolina – Tennessee – Alabama – Kentucky.
Will continue on to Ohio and back to New York after this.
Nice. I’m headed to NYC next Monday through Wednesday for a beverage conference. Thinking of trying Sbarros while I’m there.
“I’m thinking of trying Sterno while I’m there.”
Hello Michael Scott!
WHAT ABOUT THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, birthplace of America, you motherfucker?
I stopped at a Rite Aid on the Delmarva Pennensula if that counts…
Oh, and an Applebees in Emporia because I needed a public restroom.
Look, I only have two weeks. When I get back one of two things will have happened – I’ll have a serious mess to clean up at the day job, or they’ll have realized they don’t really need me. Even if they realize I’m not needed, State Workers are hard to fire… Blame the Union.
You should have just pissed your pants.
I didn’t want the longer term inconvenience of dragging around effluent-soaked clothes for the length of time it took to find a washing machine and take even more of my vacation washing them.
That Applebees also has the distinction of being one of only two failed service experiences on the trip. I ordered one meal and the food arrived in two batches because they were unprepared for a basic menu item to be ordered.
The other service failure was Evo Brewery in Maryland – they took so long getting the food to the table that it had gone cold.
Well, it was Applebees, and it was Emporia.
Well you fucked up in Emporia. You should have gone to the Shell station beside the Applebees and gotten a large cup of boiled peanuts (Cajun) and pissed in the bathroom.
That’s the farthest north you can find that wonder of southern cuisine, in my experience.
Fuck, I want some boiled peanuts now.
Also, you better eat at a Gold Star Chili or a Skyline at least when you hit Ohio. If you don’t, your trip is a failure.
I’m a fan of Skyline, but being fast food often staffed by low skill employees, it’s often over cooked or just otherwise not fresh.
When it’s good it’s good. But on average it sucks because of those reasons. Lately I have been buying the frozen chili and making it at home.
I freaking love the Skyline hot sauce though. I buy it on occasion when I’m in the Skyline restaurant. And for less heat, the Tabasco green pepper sauce goes well with it too.
Yeah, I get the packets mailed here and I make it myself. Or I buy the Kroger brand packets and make it from that, although
I think it turns out a little weak that way.
That’s why I recommended Gold Star. They always did a better job in their shops from what I remember. Although to be honest, I’d give one of my balls for a four-way and a couple coneys from a Skyline right about now.
Despite my bitching, I still eat Skyline about once a week. Don’t even know if I have ever had Gold Star, may try to seek it out.
And yea… just thinking about Skyline makes my mouth water. Regular 3-way with copious amounts of hot sauce for me. Noms.
I had to look that up. Since my route probably comes either dangerously close to Cincinnati or goes through it, I can see about remembering to make a stop while on my way.
Don’t “see about it.” Do it. Cincinnati chili is something every decent human being should experience. In fact, I’d almost go so far as to say if we exported this to the Middle East, ISIS and the rest of the islamo-nutballs would abandon their jihad and would immediately assimilate to southwest Ohio culture.
There are Skylines in Louisville… Or must it be one in Ohio to meet your standards?
If your standards include Skyline there is no problem meeting them.
Maybe if there’s like an “Original” storefront in Cinci? Idk? There’s nothing special about the ones in Columbus from my experience. Don’t get me wrong still, I love it, but it’s possible for the taste/quality to vary a bit by store or time of day, So any storefront should do ya.
In fact, I just got back from the grocery. Just had to grab frozen skyline chili, spaghetti, and cheddar cheese. Not the same experience of eating at the store but still satisfying.
Damn, Sloopyinca, you’re just itching to start a fight aren’t you?
Cincinnati chili isn’t chili. It is spaghetti with chili on top.
And cinnamon. (Vomits)
Late entry here in the late lynx, but yes, there is an “original” storefront. At least, there is a “best” Skyline Chili. Go to the Clifton store. The best. Also, if you want some recommendations for punk bars and other dumbfuckery, let me know. Clifton Skyline Yelp link:
https://yelp.to/qTKq/Ok7snHveKD
Seriously, chili doesn’t contain cinnamon.
Las Aztecas?
Okay, fake Mexican local chain. Not my favorite, be they will do.
And, yes, on the rice.
Sounds about right. As I said, it got picked because it was right there.
Just got back from my vacation to South Florida and the Keys. Holy shit how do people live there. I’ve never been so eager to get back to a Texas summer. Of course the humidity was high, but one day the dew point was 78. Seventy fucking eight. That’s almost enough water in the air to outright kill an asthmatic. Surprisingly the bugs were not that bad other than the goddamn sand fleas.
Other than that we had a lovely time. Hit multiple restaurants recommended by some of you guys. The big winner was El Sibonney in Key West. So thanks to whomever recommended it. That place absolutely kicked ass, was less than two blocks from where we stayed, and provided the only cheap meals we had in our entire trip.
Other notable favorites that were recommended here were Keys Fisheries in Marathon and Puerto Sagua in Miami Beach.
Someone suggested we check out the “Ancient” Spanish Monastery on the way down to the Keys and it was very pretty. Dr. Girlfriend liked it a bunch. I liked it a bit less, but I have a worthless graduate degree in Medieval European History so I can be overly critical about things like that.
Overall it was a great trip that I do not want to repeat ever again. Certainly not in the summer time.
Thanks for all of your suggestions and recommendations.
Holy shit how do people live there.
I had no idea what humidity was until I went to Arizona for three months and then came back. Fish don’t know they’re wet.
Growing up in Texas, I thought I knew what humidity was. 2 weeks in Florida nearly broke me though.
I don’t know man. Houston in the summer is pretty much the same as Orlando in the summer.
Growing up in Arizona, and then living in the south for a few years still leaves me wondering what the fuss is about (I sweat anywhere above room temp).
I am confused. You’re from Florida and you’re complaining about Arizona humidity?
I think he’s saying he didn’t understand what people meant by humidity until he experienced Arizona’s 0% and then went back to Florida.
That makes much more sense. Coming from AZ I didn’t know what humidity was until I spent a week at the cape. I wanted to die, literally praying for rain every day. Anytime someone bitched about environmental conditioning requirements for ground support equipment I’d invite them to attend a launch (not that management would have paid for it).
That was me that recommended El Sibonney. You’re welcome.
I love Keys Fisheries, I’m glad you had a chance to check it out and have a bite.
Of course no one who buys/reads Hustler thinks so, and no one else’s opinion really matters.
I hate this journalistic practice of “declaring things controversial”. If they can find one person on twitter who moans, they can declare it a fact and then pretend that this is representative of some widespread reaction, despite the fact that no one would even know said cover existed were it not for the mainstream medias desperation to try and get clicks while pretending to be protecting public morals.
its the best way to make sides and shut people up.
I have a strong suspicion that lots of these dudes are gay as fuck. Nothing wrong with that! its just that the overt “LOOK AT ME IM A FREAKING MAN-STUD HOO RAH” stuff gives me the impression that a techno-beat is going to kick in at any moment and everyone’s going to start slathering each other in Vaseline.
You spoke to soon…
Um, no amount of vaseline is going to allow it to fit in the nostril.
braggart!
Bear role playing is part of the curriculum from what I hear.
Sounds like Qatar lost all their friends because they paid a massive (as in $1 Billion) ransom to the Iranians for some of the royal family members who got themselves kidnapped.
Funny how those people didn’t issue ringing denunciations of Obama paying hostage ransom to the mullahs.
Ima chalk this one up to “tribalism”, not principle.
Hadn’t Al Jazeera—based in Doha as you know—been running a few features exposing just how corrupt and hypocritical some members of the Saudi royal family are? Such as the importing of E. European prostitutes, the drugs, partying, spending truly gigantic sums of cash and otherwise not acting like good Wahabbis?
Moreover there was the bit where the Qatari government claimed they were hacked when one of their officials started shit talking about Qatar withdrawing its ambassadors from other Gulf countries. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/qatar-prosecute-perpetrators-qna-hacking-170524145444746.html
Hilarious when a nation-state major representative caught with his foot in his mouth, is using the same excuse that a drunken celebrity uses for an ill-advised 2AM Tweet.
The Trump School of Tweetery
They don’t have any men with a particular set of skills?
You mean, ululating and throwing gays off buildings?
Particular, not Peculiar.
Speaking of vacationers- the other day, I saw a Tesla with Oregon plates.
That would make for a rather leisurely trip, stopping every few hundred miles for a prolonged visit to the recharge station.
Trucked there by yet another proggie transplant, perhaps?
Some are more dedicated to the virtue signaling than others. Respect to that.
Maybe they shipped it over to drive while on vacation.
Towed it behind the RV.
I stopped every couple of feet the entire time I was in Georgia. There was a car with California plates in front of me. The traffic jam lasted until after I got past the site of the accident – back in Tennessee…
A tesla would not have made it through.
There’s a recharge station in Blanding, Utah, which is pretty much the middle of nowhere. The next station south is in Flagstaff, Arizona. That’s 250 miles, and an astute observer will notice what occupies 90% of the territory in between. I like to imagine some seriously white-knuckle trips between those two.
Lol. Risky to run the AC, as well!
That’s funny
Really? There are charge stations all over this region (DC-Baltimore). Don’t know how many are out there somewhere off the interstate, but I’ll bet people can find them.
But yeah, waiting for it to charge up is another story.
Lol. DC to Baltimore is nothing, nothing, like out west. You should take a road trip someday, bra; the vast size of the American West, and the huge distance between towns (in some parts, mostly desert) is completely unlike the Ohio valley and points east.
I think this non understanding of the shear size of the USA may be part of the disconnect between the coasts and the middle.
Reminds me of the old line, “In America they think 100 years is a long time, in Europe they think 100 miles is a long distance.”
I live in an area where seeing Teslas with Bernie-2016 stickers is not uncommon. I keep hoping for a chance to enlighten them about the price of a Tesla in their Scandinavian utopias. If you can afford to buy one there, most people will probably treat you like a leper because rich people are not popular. In fact you should probably make sure to also have a garage to keep it in.
my theory on that last link is the NICS are so high because manufacturers are throwing rebates at buyers this year. S&W, Marlin, Walther, DPMS, Remington, Savage (invariably) are running decent rebate programs to spur sales. and S&W and Walther are rebating their single-stack conceal carry line at a time when reciprocity is a Congressional topic of debate.
Did my part to help them offload their wares and rebates.
Trucked there by yet another proggie transplant, perhaps?
Like the Harleytard trailer queens at the Festival of Dirtbags who unload their
bikesbehemoth junkpiles in the hotel parking lot, and then wobble their way downtown?I hadn’t thought of that.
*Sturgis, SD
Don’t sugarcoat it. Tell us how you really feel.
But at least they didn’t go out like Mr Harley, Bruce Rossmeyer, on the way there.*
*I worked for his son in law for a couple years right after that happened. So fucking sad.
Haven’t done much research, but is there any way a universal income isn’t catastrophically inflationary? I mean, if you write a check for everyone for 20k, you’ve just pumped 20k * 330 million into the economy. How do prices not skyrocket with that?
This.
The US welfare state already ‘taxes and spends’ whopping sums per capita.
the assumption is that the UBI would get rid of SS and welfare (tho i assume medicare/medicaid would be left aside). Tho not everyone recommends a revenue-neutral form of UBI
Not an advocate.
The theory is that the money supply is the same, as far as I know. they don’t inject it, they tax us all and then give that back.
It would affect prices, because that money would be spent by more of the people who get that money on immediate goods rather than invested in some future good.
so some markets would be distorted, but not necessarily in a bad way. I think it would have less of an affect than say holding interest rates at 00 or injecting billions into various banks.
The theory is that the money supply is the same, as far as I know. they don’t inject it, they tax us all and then give that back.
So it won’t add one penny to the deficit? Suuuure. *eyeroll*
I’m sure it will.
So all we need is government with unwavering discipline, free from corruption or monetary pandering to implement a Ubi efficiently. Sounds easy enough.
So, my understanding is that it requires constant increases in productivity, until one magical day, automation and nano tech makes the supply side of the curve so steep as to be effectively vertical.
I think i agree, that in the future, goods will be so cheap as to be almost free. How long from now and at what cost getting there? No idea.
But right now, on the USA, trucking employs 3.5 million people. And how many people work for Uber or Lyft or taxi companies? In the nearish future, self driving vehicles will put everyone of them out of work.
And it’s not like buggy whips- the machines will be doing most of the work in the future. We better figure out a new economic system.
Most of your optimistic post singularity thinkers posit that in a world where too cheap to meter energy meets strong AI and robotics, you see an explosion in leisure/service economy stuff. Which I tend to think, in the absence of a regulatory and licensing bureaucracy, would actually tend to emerge.
Sure, but if the leisure/service stuff can still be handled cheaper by robotics/IA, there’s still no jeerbs for a huge amount of people. I think libertarian theory can answer this, but I’m not convinced the “social rating” method works as an actual monetary system.
I think things are going to go pretty squirrelly, before we land on the next… Can’t find the word.
And, if More’s law holds, how long will that system last?
I think things are gonna get pretty crazy, maybe.
The negative income tax shouldn’t be as inflationary. Essentially, everyone is guaranteed a certain level of income, and if you fall below that threshold you get a rebate that brings you up to that level, and if you’re over it you get nothing and paya normal income tax. However, we already have about 90% of that plan with the EITC now.
I could support it as a replacement for literally everything else.
I really just prefer cutting spending a fuckton, ending the income tax entirely and getting out of SS.
A flat income tax that starts at some ‘poverty line’ would be an ok middle ground, if it was low enough in percentage (under 10) and started high enough (50k)
SLD all over this post. We’re just outnumbered, and that seems like the best of a immoral system.
“I really just prefer cutting spending a fuckton, ending the income tax entirely and getting out of SS.”
That, so long as we’re King. I wouldn’t mind seeing SS turned overtly into welfare, I.e.: remove the income cap on contributions, fund it out of the General Fund like AFDC etc…, and means test the hell out of it. Killing it would be preferable, of course.
I can’t see UBI not doing for prices what gov’t involvement in student loans did for college costs.
except it’s just a lump of cash. It will affect the market, but not nearly as pronounced as the college loans do. people would use that money how they see fit, and their own priorities are all different.
I don’t like it as a goal, and think if it happens it won’t replace every other government transfer or welfare program.
Meaning they will piss it away on stuff they can’t afford, booze, vacations, and lottery tickets, then bitch that they don’t have enough to feed the children. Because we all know you top-hat wearing, monocle polishing, monopoly men out there don’t care about the children.
So, make investing x amount of your paycheck in an IRA.
Yes, it’s mandatory, but better than SSI.
And gives the Fed a reason to aim for long term growth, instead of concentrating on quarterly reports.
From my cold dead hands…. or uh…. I’ll fight UBI on the beaches and in the fields or wait….though I disagree with your monstrous welfare scheme, I’ll defend to the death your right to promote it like an asshole slaver. Or umm….well you know what I mean. I don’t care for it.
The problem is to do it “right”, the tax rate is high enough to encourage a black market.
And that assumes you actually get rid of EVERY welfare program too.
The odds of it being done right is next to zero.
UBI would be expensive and not very effective, IMO. A better welfare replacement would be to have a subsistence level of income guaranteed to everyone who had an income of $0, and then have that fade away gradually such that there is still an incentive to work to better yourself. Say, give $8K to everyone in the income bracket $0-$4K/yr, and then reduce the handout by $0.50 for every $1 earned over $4K. Although that might be too complex to administer; maybe the most effective welfare program would just be a return to bread and circuses.
Is it closing time yet??? Today has piled on the suck.
Related, I’m looking for a good motivational strategy to get my ass out of bed at 4:30 or 5am. I know that some reading time, a decent breakfast, and some physical activity would do me worlds of good, but I can’t gin up enough motivation to actually do it. I’m addicted to sleep. Unfortunately, those badgers I linked to a few weeks back aren’t available anymore, so I’ll have to find some other way to motivate myself to get out of bed.
Go to bed earlier?
I’ve learned to live on six hours a night because I value free time almost as much as sleep. Those one or two hours where my family is abed are almost as rejuvenating as the sleep to follow.
I was thinking more “shift your sleep schedule an hour or two”.
“Those one or two hours where my family is abed are almost as rejuvenating as the sleep to follow.”
Could not agree more.
Put an alarm clock in the next room since it forces you to get out of bed to turn it off. You could always drink a ton of water before you go to bed, but if you’re that heavy a sleeper you might just piss yourself.
IIRC, you have a newborn, which probably makes my advice worthless. Here’s how I do it:
I get up a 4:30 every day. Weekends included. Some days are gym days, some are running, and some are nothing. Even if I have no reason to get up, I’m up to maintain the schedule. No electronics for an hour before bed, and I’m asleep by 9.
Yep! Up at 5:30 to walk the dog. Took years after grad school to get back on a schedule. I am not messing it up again.
you gotta make it to the shower. put it a few degrees colder than you like.
Getting something to turn the lights on in your room when you need to get up also helps a ton.
wake up sex is my last suggestion.
I usually train by montage, so I suggest playing an upbeat inspirational tune while snippets of you jogging, lifting, reading, and hitting the alarm whizz by. End the montage with a high five and well deserved collapse on the couch OR homoerotic scene running on a beach and splashing in the water with Carl Weathers while wearing knee socks. Your choice.
I am the exact same, addicted to sleep. Something weird has been happening the past week or so, been waking up much earlier. 6a – 7a on the weekend without an alarm clock… bizarre.
A youtuber I watch offered this motivation advice. Calculate your number of days left on this planet. So for me: ~ 32,000 days or so left. Think of counting down every day and really, there’s not much time left. Spend every day thinking about what you want and work towards that goal. I’m single now but have the most confidence I have ever had and really enjoying life and been working harder at work as well. If you have significant other and/or children, think about what they need or want every day and try to do something for them.
IDK if it worked on me, and if it will last, but all I know is the past 2 weeks I have been waking up earlier, doing small exercises (which is a lot for me), and still out drinking until closing times on the weekends.
Good luck mate!
Er… 22,000* days left would be more likely accurate, that was a typo lol.
You’re about 27-28, then?
30 & a bit optimistic.
So for me: ~ 32,000 days or so left.
Ronald Bailey would have added a zero to the end for his number.
A snort of meth will get you started on the right foot. And as luck would have it, I know a guy. Or actually half my high-school graduation class.
You jest but I spent the night with a girl that used cocaine like most people use coffee. She woke up in the morning, reached under her bed, pulled out a little pouch, and popped a hit before taking her shower.
You spent the night with a coke-head and thats the best story you have?
No, that was the relevant part of the story, and definitely not the most interesting part.
Haven’t done much research, but is there any way a universal income isn’t catastrophically inflationary?
Not at all. You take that money from the rich people and give it to the poor. It’s like bailing out the deep end of your swimming pool into the shallow end. The amount of water in the pool remains the same. Now, a lot more of that money will find its way to the makers of malt liquor and the operators of lotteries instead of into long term investments, but that’s [part of the stimulative bonus.
If we had taken the bailout from 08 and just given every citizen a check, we’d all have something like 50k. everyone, not just adults.
not saying we should have done that, either.
I’m wondering though, because the supply of money has been hugely inflated in the last 10 years. A lot of that money isn’t out ‘working’ right now because of monetary policy stupidity. Something like UBI could be the straw that breaks that shaky-ass camel’s back.
Does anyone have recommendations for a basic free market/econ book, preferably short and hopefully entertaining, that I could drop casually on my thirteen year old? Or an entertaining vid that can get to the basics quickly? I need to do a better job countering the shit he’s being peddled at school, so I was thinking a program this summer to expose him to some alternative facts.
I find it so weird to see all these stories about shit being ‘peddled at school’ to children under the age of 14 when I distinctly remember zero politics at school growing up in the 90s.
Guess it pays to go to a redneck school.
” when I distinctly remember zero politics at school growing up in the 90s.”
I dunno, John. I remember in the mid-80s having one social studies teacher in 7th and 8th grade, who was just to the right of John Birch, and constantly injected his political views in damn near everything he taught. Case in point, I wasn’t in his class when we got the news that the Challenger blew up, but I had friends who did, and they claimed the first words out of his mouth were, “Khadafi did it.” Or that the news media was filled with liberals and couldn’t be trusted. This was in coastal CA FWIW. Probably not the norm.
That I find myself agreeing more and more with what I remember him saying as I grow older is really funny.
As for a book, is the tyke too young for Parliament of Whores?
I did not have any teachers like that, and the school basically dodged politics as much as possible. When 9/11 happened they refused to talk about it at school and told everyone to ask their parents. Canadian history in elementary school is all 1500-1750s that doesn’t leave much time to soapbox either.
My high school had an elective social studies class called HERstory, which was all about feminism.
BTW, John, my apologies for the other night… It was a bad combo of emotional venting, devil’s advocacy, and trolling on my part. Of course we shouldn’t nuke Mecca because of terrorism.
Fair enough, I’ve been getting worked up over people’s ‘quicky solutions’ to this stuff as well.
Why nuke it when dropping vats of pigs blood on that stupid meteor they worship would do the trick.
Relax. I keed.
*shelves plans to dust Mecca with anthrax spores*
So long as we drop the blood from a sufficient height, and condense it into a single drop.
I would have gone with free Hajj’s for everyone, let them all kill each other. ~1000 deaths a year is pretty normal, now let’s multiply that by 100. Plus, it would screw over the Saudis, especially if we only give everybody one–way tickets.
I’m kinda joking .
WTF? There is no apologizing in Glibertopia!!!!
If you said something dumb you regret now, you DOUBLE DOWN ON IT!
Uffda. We need to send you to that man camp thing and make you learn that real men never change their minds.
Glad to hear that, Trashmstr.
Meh the worst I had was an English teacher who was liberalish who objected to me using the phrase limousine liberals to complain about the Clintons. She objected because the phrase wouldn’t persuade neutral opponents, which was a fair cop.
I also had a US History Teacher/ football coach who was full USA #1! He liked to brag that the US had never been invaded, and I pointed out the time those damned Canadians burned down the White House in the war of 1812.
I got straight A’s from there on out. He kind of accepted that I knew more about American History then he was going to teach. I literally had a discussion where he asked me why why I didn’t do my homework, and I told him I had more important things to do, and he he gave me an A for being honest. Because I really was bringing the curve way up, No way in hell he was about to flunk the guy who who scored 100% on the standardized tests.
FYI, O’Rourke also has a book about The Wealth of Nations, where he simplifies a lot of the concepts from the original.
When I was a High School Freshman, my History teacher had us do a Reagan-Carter debate. Nobody mentioned politics again the rest of the year. I was a college freshman the next time around. Nobody seemed to care much and that was really a foregone conclusion.
My kid goes to a private school in LA. Their teachers basically broke down in tears after the election, there are at least five Teslas in the pickup line, we had a Diversity and Inclusion seminar… There’s a reason I have a Twitter wthat includes other parents at my kids school, and a different one under this name I use to tell Ted Lieu he’s a moron with.
learn liberty on youtube.
Capitalism and Freedom by Friedman.
Sowell on youtube.
I read The Fatal Conceit at 15, close enough.
Ron swanson montages?
Better than a book or video, buy him a cheap lawn mower and tell him to go mow lawns. If you can and are inclined to do so, match dollar for dollar the money he saves toward a certain goal (like a first car).
Kids learn much better by doing than by observing.
Make sure to go down to the city and get his business permit and set him up with the required liability insurance as well.
No. Don’t do that. Send him on his way with his mower and then report him to the appropriate authorities. If that experience doesn’t turn him into a libertarian nothing will…..
The One True Beginners Guide to economics is undoubtedly Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson. That should be ever kid’s starting part. It starts from the ground up and uses simple examples and analogies, so simple in fact that it’s contents are almost completely uncontroversial to all non-retards.
“Economics in One Lesson” is probably manageable. If your 13 year old is more a TV consumer, expose him to “Free To Choose” on youtube. All the episodes are there, including Milt slamming the progs for 30 minutes at the end. The book titles “Free to Choose” is quite accessible too.
I’ve not viewed the material first hand, but Stossel in the Classroom would likely fit the bill.
“Does anyone have recommendations for a basic free market/econ book, preferably short and hopefully entertaining, that I could drop casually on my thirteen year old?”
Economics in One Lesson – Henry Hazlitt. Short, to the point, and written at a time when journalists were expected to have a command of the English language.
Or what FS & #6 said.
Seconded. Also “The Problem with Socialism,” Thomas DiLorenzo.
“How an Economy Grows and Why it Crashes (2010) by Peter Schiff is perfect for younger readers. Amusing and insightful.
Speaking of “news media declaring things controversial”
another standard journalistic practice that rubs me wrong is ‘declaring that failure to meet assumed expectations is news”
in this case, look at how the media have been running this bullshit headline for the last nearly-2-weeks about how
“UNKNOWN IF TRUMP WILL TRY AND BLOCK COMEY TESTIMONY”
if its unknown, why it is news? Is there evidence one way or the other? no. But speculation is apparently a worthy basis for a story.
Today they learn, “No”, that is not going to happen and there never was any plan to.
And guess what? they all act like this is some major revelation. Its the #1 and #2 story @ the AP
https://apnews.com/
Those fucks created the entire “might he try and block it?” from whole cloth and then pushed it like crazy. Only now are they walking back after it became a mainstream talking point that Trump might have tried to block Comey.
Trump should have tweeted how absurd the thought is a minute after the first conjecture came out.
yeah, exactly. There was literally zero evidence anywhere that it was going to be blocked = it just went from ‘speculation’, to reporting that its non-occurrence was somehow therefore supposed to be surprising.
Does anyone have recommendations for a basic free market/econ book, preferably short and hopefully entertaining, that I could drop casually on my thirteen year old?
I don’t look at it much anymore, but as I recall, Cafe Hayek has a lot of good, short explanatory posts and links.
Yes, and FEE does, as well.
Brendan O’Neil gets angry, puts cocktail invites at risk.
I don’t think O’Neill gets cocktail invites already due to his Brexit stance.
You cracked my code, by “cocktail invites” I meant “Reason articles”…
In a shocking turn of events, O’Neill was publishing pretty much weekly articles on Reason until late-February. And then nothing afterwards. There was, of course, no major shifts by the editors around that time…
But what can the Brits actually do? Put all Muslims into internment camps and then deport them? I cannot find any solutions in the article. Also, Theresa May said “Islamist” the last time I saw her on TV. It’s not like anybody has a plan what to do.
Make attendance at Millwall United matches compulsory.
They do not have a Constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments. I suggest Sunderland for those in the north.
Start by rescinding the stupid gun laws and give citizens some say in their self-defense.
Maybe figure out why every one of these douche bags is already on a watch list.
Bam, no pun intended. Terrorists attack soft targets. Solution: harden those targets.
There’s definitely an argument to be make that European nations should, at least be trying to control foreign funding to mosques and actually recognizing and investigating the reports people keep sending in about radicals in their communities rather than throwing up their hands and going “terrorism, it’s just a normal thing now” and try to police the internet.
Don’t import any more of them, for a start.
No, the solution is clearly more Internet censorship. If only facebook deletes posts from radical islamists, as well as those who say mean things about them, everything will be just fine. There is no reason to think that forcing radicals of any stripe underground will create more of a problem.
/sarc
But what can the Brits actually do? Put all Muslims into internment camps and then deport them?
(a) Stop immigration from known exporters of terrorists.
(b) Cut off welfare for immigrants.
(c) Refuse to allow people who travel to the mideast to fight for ISIS or otherwise hang out with terrorists back into the country, or if they come back in, lock them up.
These are very partial solutions, but better than nothing and probably the best place to start.
England and Europe have a huge problem because they’ve got enough jihadis and jihadi-symps that the Maoist “fish in the ocean” thing applies within their own borders. This will take decades to sort out, but while you are figuring out how to drain the bucket-o-nutters, you could sure start by shutting off the spigot.
Absolutely this.
Refuse to allow people who travel to the mideast to fight for ISIS or otherwise hang out with terrorists back into the country, or if they come back in, lock them up.
This is a particularly insane thing that the UK is doing. Why you’d allow hundreds of what amount to enemy combatants back into your country I don’t understand. I think it’s entirely fair for a government to charge foreign volunteers with treason if they return, provided they don’t permit people to volunteer in said foreign conflict.
No, we’d just be treated to more stories about how we’re discriminating against Muslims peddled by organizations like CAIR.
That’s another shtick I’m getting tired of.
Hey, I’d been fine with a broad application. If you’re some Russian or Ukrainian fan who wants to go and fight over the Crimea that’s fine, just don’t come back or you get a treason charge if the government hasn’t permitted you to do so.
In terms of propaganda I’d be digging into CAIR’s finances at the same time and broadly publishing which governments are funding them and how much they abuse their power in country, making sure to question why CAIR isn’t doing more to defend Muslims’ rights in majority Muslim countries. Just to fuck with ’em.
Agree with RC’s points. Might want to look to giving the boot to non-citizens, non-UK ‘green card holders’ too.
At least the ones that populate the watch lists we always hear of after an attack, where the perpetrators were already known to law enforcement.
I’d add that the Brits should look at how they beat, or at least fought a draw with, the IRA. Mainly, the IRA stopped fighting when: their Soviet sponsor’s funding dried up, the Supergrass program threw a shit-ton of their shooters and shotcallers in prison, and Sinn Fein started to get more of a say. That and like in the Lebanese Civil War, everyone involved just got tired of fighting.
Adapting that to their home-grown jihadi problem, the Brits should get into who is funding these guys and the mosques they worship within. Find out who is cutting them checks, who is letting them sleep on their couch after they get back from terror graduate school in Syria, arrest them on terrorist org support laws, confiscate their funds as related to supporting terrorist orgs, and throw people in jail/expel them. If you have a mosque with a firebrand iman, kick his ass out of the country if you can. I don’t see why the U.K. needs to tolerate a church that preaches death to the infidel, which not all Muslim mosques do.
Point 2, make it worthwhile, like they did with IRA members, to cooperate with MI-5. Of course, they’d actually have to start listening when the tips came in… As it is, where’s the incentive for Nigel bin Hassan to rat out his fellow Muslim, the one who has just gotten back from a ‘religious studies’ trip to Pakistan, and is pissed off at a bunch of slags showing some ankle during a hen party pub crawl? You’re going to get a lot of false positives, and people who’ll treat the tip line as a way to get back at someone they’re pissed at, owe money to, etc… Oh well.
As to Point 3: what do these people want? It may be, and probably is, that the UK is unwilling to give it to them.
Regarding RCD’s (b), Sargon put out this vid about a Polish MEP.
Fuck. John T linked it below.
His solution is unpalatable and impossible to implement in the part that might be effective, and is useless for the purpose, if nice in general, in the part that is possible.
I did say “angry,” not “right.”
Declare war on ISIS and then deport to the battlefield any Imam supporting them and spreading their bellicose language within your borders.
And anybody that leaves and goes to a country involved, doesn’t get to come back.
And make sure every single person from a hostile nation that wants in meets strict standards to at least marginally respect western enlightened values. Sorry, but enough importation of people whose belief systems are so fundamentally beneath* ours.
*Yes, I said beneath. Because those animals belief systems are beneath ours. And it deserves being repeated as often as possible lest people embrace “diversity” in ways that will subjugate their wives, daughters, sisters or female friends and get their gay friends chucked off grain silos.
At the least, the left ought to be reminded that by expressing solidarity with Islam every fucking time there’s a terrorist incident, they are supporting that shit.
They don’t give a fuck. They will say “but they’re not all like that.” Nevermind the polls throughout the Muslim world that completely contradict that statement.
That religion is, by and large, an unenlightened dumpster fire of human intolerance. And until it steps into the Industrial Age, let alone the 21st century, we should be wary of importing large numbers of its adherents without strict individual vetting to ensure those that get here have a modicum of respect for others and a willingness to adhere to our general belief that all men and women are equal human beings with the same rights.
I know this puts me at odds with the open borders libertarians here, but I don’t care. We owe nobody an opportunity to experience the wonder of our culture and I think it prudent to be selective in who we let in to ensure its survival in the face of a relentless attack by a considerable minority of the adherents of a certain religion and the silent assent by a majority of its followers.
It would be nice if we could deport natives who keep bitching about what a white Christian-centric oppressive shithole America is. I could argue that they are contributing to the radicalization of second/third generation Muslims with all of their pap.
I hear Liberia is nice this time of year.
Oh, I know what sort of denial that they live in. Doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have their shit thrown in their faces.
I believe we in the West are reaching this point where we’re either going to have to get used to a brave new world of modestly covered women and less pork, or we’re going to have to resort to drastic measures. What measures, I don’t know; I’ve never tried to root out an invasive, hostile culture before, and I can’t lean on Ferdinand and Isabella for advice.
I’m not interested in the former. To be honest. So….drastic measures.
HANDS OFF MY BACON.
I vote for admitting no more of them and then starting the deportation process. The UK would hardly be the first European country to do just that.
You people think you’re glibertarians…
But you aren’t Janusz Korwin Mikke, the Glibbest, so-Polish-he-bleeds-vodka Glibertarian to ever exist. The man gives zero fucks.
To steal a quote of his from the comments (that I confirmed): “A monkey is a much better voter than a socialist. Statistically speaking, if we assume that there are two options to choose from: the “A” and the “B” – the monkey is voting randomly, so its wrong 50% of the time. The socialist, however – is always wrong.”
Korwin-Mikke is a self-declared monarchist and thinks that democracy is the “stupidest form of government ever conceived” where “two bums from under a beer stand have twice as many votes as a university professor”.
He’s got seven kids and three bastards. In 2016, he married Dominika Sibiga, the former “Miss UPR” and the mother of his two youngest children, who is 44 years his junior.
Holy fuck, this man is my hero.
*files application to change name to Janusz Korwin Dean*
Jesus fucking Christ, that man is about 50 kilograms from being real-life incarnation of my avatar!
So he’s an early 20th century progressive?
No he’s a free market old school Polish monarchist.
Maybe he’s still salty about Liberum veto?
TL:DR – any member of Polish Parliament could block any proposed resolution/law by vetoing it. Every Polish noble could theoretically be elected as a member of the Parliament. Norman Davies estimated that roughly 10% of population was recognized as belonging to nobility. See where this could be going?
Oh, and one of the things Parliament voted on (ironically) is who should be the next king after the king dies.
If I could be like Mikke
Yeah, watched that yesterday. Was massively enjoyable. Can’t say I disagree with anything he said in the clips Sargon showed.
Study wonders why American teens work less, no mention of minimum wage increases except to complain that they’re too low.
Min wage and licenses to open a lemonade stand have no bearing whatsoever on jobs for the youth.
Minimum wage + kids not needing to work because they’ll finance their lifestyle and college through parents and debt = high teen unemployment.
Update:
Some of you may recall my excited jabbering about having ordered a new carburetor for the 914. The old one was a progressive two barrel Weber. The new one is a significantly larger synchronous (both butterflies operate in unison) unit, of the same DGV family. Finally got the Honda back together (new front struts, springs, ball joints, tie rod ends, et c) and out of the way, and brought the Porsche inside. Carb plopped right onto the manifold and studs. I fabbed up a revised cable mount and after a little fucking around with the pedal assembly, fired it up.
I have only had it on the dirt road so far, but running up the hill above my place, it shows a distinct improvement in throttle response and power when you roll on the throttle at 2000-2500 rpm. I need to get out on the pavement and run it up a big hill to see if it will pull 80 in fifth gear better than it used to. Waiting for the new air cleaner to arrive.
*both front springs on the Honda were *broken* when I took it apart. Since original equipment Civic wagon springs are NLA (no longer available) I gleaned what useful info I could from the finest minds on the internet and ordered a set of Acura Integra springs. I deem this to be an excellent substitution.
Very nice! glad it was an easy install for that carb.
Did you get yours squared away?
The head is back on, the rebuild for the carb failed. I sent it to a place in New Hampshire that rebuilds them and sells them for a core.
Suspension has been cut off, that took forever.
Nice! I have the 32/36 on my Triumph. Which air cleaner are you getting?
Broken front springs!? I find that just amazing. Any idea why they broke?
Car was formerly owned by Trigglypuff.
“I have only had it on the dirt road so far, “
Euphemisms…
Oops- gotta go.
Maybe Trump is sending more coded messages to the Russians?
Ad in local alternative rag:
Ah, City Pages classifieds. So nice to see they still exist!
The Replacements did a hilarious homage back in the day: Lovelines.
I’m guessing someone just did the middle suggested word game where you press the suggested word on your phone keyboard to see what interesting sentence it forms. It’s a great way to find out if your significant other is cheating on you.
Example:” I have a great day and I will be there in a few minutes late but I don’t know if you want to go to the gym.”
I strongly believe Polish, Lithuanian, Estonian etc immigration was a godsend for Britain, but Beeb is trying hard to change my mind
Sweetie, they ain’t complaining about you. And those whom they are complaining about can and do vote (sometimes for multiple people).
It’s a pages-long whinefest of the people who aren’t citizens complaining about how they can’t vote and also potential deportations. For some reason none of them are bothered that people from Commonwealth countries have much easier time getting residency, voting rights and citizenship than they do.
That Estonian almost gets it, and then drops this bombshell:
Of course, British people’s opinions should be prioritised as this is their home, after all. Maybe there should be a separate vote for British people at the general election and another for the EU citizens who live here. I think it’s very important their opinions are heard – as well as those of British people who live in EU countries, what about their opinions?
The whole British nationalist complaint about the EU is how the EU makes decisions that influences British policy negatively for the locals…and her response is that EU citizens in Britain should have some kind of influence on their national politics as well. I mean, way to basically confirm the nationalist argument.
They want to turn Europe into a HOA
Haven’t read it yet, but the weekend WSJ has a long article about how maybe its not such a good idea to get rid of nations right now.
That’s the fundamental rub – most people in America want there to be an America that means something. Too many of Our Masters don’t want there to be an America that means anything – they want a nice even smear of globalization instead. I say, fuck that. Sovereign nations are like watertight compartments in a submarine – if something goes bad, you have a chance to confine it and keep the problem from spreading.
I doubt you’ll find this POV prevalent on most college campuses. Or rather, the “Something” that it means isn’t the thing you’re talking about.
Yes, I love the stories where the illegal immigrants complain about the fact that they have to hide because they are illegal. How dare ICE and the police try to deport them!
Yeah! Let us ride around your city without being worried about being hassled. (The light rail incident was where some mass transit cop asked a Mexican guy on the train about his current status. Since Mpls is a “sanctuary” city, that was a big no no)
I actually finished my SNP, but due to other things, it’s weaker than usual. I’ll leave it up to you guys – publish it anyway, or wait for better work?
We are slavering fanboys! Post and then pull a Lucas and give us Special Edition. We could use some SNP flamewars anyway!
MORE SECRET NAZI PRESIDENT!!!
Oh yeah, I owe you (and other female and/or gay readers) a beefcake episode, too.
Penguins are the best people!
More fun from the place of “higher education” that is Evergreen State College
I’m beginning to think all the students are trolling.
Why are these kids there? isn’t it summer?
What, you want them to go back to the real world? People, like, don’t understand how woke they are and don’t listen to them there.
Maybe they are just trying to plumb the depths of cravenness of the faculty?
Seriously, they probably have meetings to see what more humiliation they can heap on this president. “Hey, let’s tell him that standing on two legs is fucking an oppression of those brothers who lost a leg to an IED in Iraq. We’ll scream at him until he stands on only one leg and hops everywhere.”
It would be nice to see one of these faculty members grow a pair and expel every student who showed up to one of these meetings.
Why would they? The faculty are just as likely true believers as well. I bitched in yesterday’s afternoon links about the graduation ceremony I went to had the dean of the school conducting his own struggle session, confessing white privilege and saying the biggest problem in this country is racism.
What an overeducated moron.
I’ll set up a fucking gofundme page and start by making a $100 donation to the first professor there that shows up to his next class with a fucking fire hose and starts blasting every asshole that physically starts toward him or makes any attempt to intimidate him.
I’m sure I can find a thousand likeminded souls to get this guy a couple years salary for doing what needs to be done.
I suppose if you run a Maoist indoctrination camp long enough, you will eventually find yourself eaten by the Cultural Revolution you wanted to ignite.
I hope the classes are like this.
Seattle city council just passed the soda tax… unanimously.
of course.
DEAR GOD MAN
*begins countdown till Vancouver City Council copies them*
Normally I’d say five years, but….our latest crop of retards might cut it down to 18 months.
My inside source was wrong. It finally hit the media, it was 7-1, Herbold voting no, and Economic Creation Science believer Sawant absent.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-city-council-says-yes-to-soda-tax/
Idiot Sawant?
The poor and minorities hardest hit?
That’s not entertaining enough. I need real entertainment. Come on Moonbeam minions, pass that single payer healthcare now!
The Great War YouTube channel finally gets to arguably best-looking army of WW1 (yes, I am aware of Italian uniforms and French 1914 ones).
AAs the war went on and economies worsened, certain materials became increasingly scarce. This doesn’t make sense. With all that government stimulus, the economy and availability of materials should have gotten better and better.
You forget hoarders and speculators!
+1 Zoot suit riot.
Thanks for the link!
OT: First day back after nice family reunion / vacation in the Outer Banks. Went fishing last Wednesday and the five of us caught five Mahi-Mahis. Unfortunately, we caught them all in the first hour. The rest of the time looking for tuna was a bust. Still, there’s nothing like fresh fish off the boat.
I do have to say, NC has some remarkably nice beaches.
My first deep-sea fishing experiences were off the coast of Okracoke. My family rented a house for 2 weeks down there and i’d hang out at the docks and do chores for the boat captains for pocket money. I’d get out on the boat at least once, if only to help them rig lines and help net/gaff fish. We mostly caught bluefish and spanish mackerel. the occasional yellowfin. I loved it down there.
re: “all in the first hour” Did you start in the early AM? (6 or so) that’s normally how it is. You have a lot of action at dawn, then they vanish in the middle of the day. I think its to do with temperature or something. Most of the time i go out on a boat we catch lots of fish in the AM fairly close to shore, then go out deeper for bigger fish in the midday.
Left the dock around 5. Started fishing around 6. Yeah, you got the schedule down pretty much.
NC is where I go to the beach. Down on the Crystal Coast. Good shit.
Looks nice.
Why can’t I quit you Walker Art Museum controversy?
Where the Walker went wrong: Eight questions posed by the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden controversy
That is just the tip of the derpberg.
I’ve heard that over 90% of the derp is below the surface.
Are you still talking about that? Here’s the solution: invite them all to a forum to discuss it far away from any form of public transportation and make it an open bar. The problem will work itself out in the hours immediately after the forum concludes.
+1 Dirty Dozen placecard settings
Like I said, I want to stop. But the Strib keeps printing more and more stupid shit about it and I am powerless to resist.
Yeah, I don’t think you are gonna trick me into inviting the indians to a pow-wow to drink firewater. I am sure the buffalo chips would hit the fan if that ever happened.
::sigh::
Then let’s move on to Plan B. Get me your address and I’ll have the blankets up there in a week or so.
On the other hand, I missed yesterday’s anniversary of actual courage.
In the Land Of The Free, that guy would have been gunned down because they “thought he might have been carrying a bomb” in those bags.
So Reason had a UBI article the day. I did some back of envelope calcs with some basic assumptions. Attempted to be conservative. If you eliminate all entitlements including social security save appx 2.7T. If you eliminate all tax deductions and credits (ubi is new tax credit) add another 1.3T to top line for a total of 4T. Pay everyone 18 and over Federal minimum wage costs appx 3.7T which leaves about .3T to reduce current budget deficit (would have to make up other .2T with military cuts or tax increases). Of course taxes have to increase to cover current social security and Medicare collections. This also doesn’t account for new incentives and disincentives created by these changes of which there would be many. Of course taking all entitlements away and giving people 15K a year for all expenses including buying health insurance is never going to pass. You might make it $15 an hour which means now you have to come up with another 3.7T somewhere which means would have to double Federal revenues somehow. Not feasable. I was against it anyways. I don’t want to further entrench the welfare state, I want to eliminate it.
My problem with UBI, besides the math (which you laid out well), is that it’s basically just a way to give up on the welfare issue.
Besides, there really aren’t any material gains to be had with UBI. But there are tons of downsides: there is now a de facto national minimum wage that can be set in very deceptive ways (and all of the economic impacts therein), there are zero restrictions on what people do with someone else’s money (Catholic tax dollars going to abortions) and it normalizes and simplifies being solely dependent on welfare — bad news economically and culturally.
Seems like the main issue they are trying to solve is to end the so-called “disincentive” of welfare to work, or I suppose also welfare to marriage since a lot of women would rather not get married so they don’t lose their welfare. I agree that both of these are problems with the current welfare system but UBI is not the answer.
https://theintercept.com/2017/06/05/top-secret-nsa-report-details-russian-hacking-effort-days-before-2016-election/
The top-secret National Security Agency document, which was provided anonymously to The Intercept and independently authenticated, analyzes intelligence…
While the document provides a rare window into the NSA’s understanding of the mechanics of Russian hacking, it does not show the underlying “raw” intelligence on which the analysis is based. A U.S. intelligence officer who declined to be identified cautioned against drawing too big a conclusion from the document because a single analysis is not necessarily definitive…
When informed that we intended to go ahead with this story, the NSA requested a number of redactions. The Intercept agreed to some of the redaction requests after determining that the disclosure of that material was not clearly in the public interest.
Translation from scumbag reporters cover scumbag surveillance state operators: “An anonymous leaker says this happened, we have absolutely zero evidence to support it and he doesn’t provide any, but still says it happened. Other operator notes that there’s nothing actually to support this leaked document, newspaper continues to treat it as factual. Newspaper, after demonstrating ability to determine ‘the truth’, then decides what the public should and shouldn’t see, in a strictly objective fashion of course.”
you don’t hear many calls for better cyber security, or even better training on not falling for phishing attacks, it’s almost like it’s about something else.
Government needs their back doors to spy on everyone because they’re ASSHOLES
You’re just mad because Hillary’s going to get to be President.
without reading the story yet….
…the headline’s claim seems implausible to begin with – if “hacking” was being done days before the election, how could it possibly be conceived intended to *affect* the election?
This is meaningless unless you also show how many “attacks” the same companies deal with the other 365 days of the year, and how many “spear-phishing” attempts were similarly made against *completely unrelated* entities at the same time.
Even the FBI report on the Russian ‘hacking’ pointed out that the DNC was only 1 of 100s of targets of the same scam. Its not even clear that stealing “podesta’s” stuff was actually the intended target of their efforts = it was just coincidental that he happened to be one person who was compromised (because he was an idiot)
Every time these people pearl-clutch about Cyber crime, the same question arises in my mind: are they just characterizing some normal, everyday, base-level cyber ‘noise’ as some sort of nefarious Military Campaign to undermine America? Because this same sort of bullshit ‘hacking’ stuff happens to millions of americans every day, which is why they have fucking Anti-Virus and Firewalls.
Basically, it seems to me that the narrative of some evil scheme to undermine our democracy is just wild exaggerations about normal computer-security activity.
from the story =
We don’t have “US Voting Systems”.
Every state runs its own elections, and polling stations aren’t even networked. Most voting machines are incapable of *being* networked. the only way you could compromise them would be one by one with something like a USB/SD card.
“elements”? Like *what*. they never give a single example. Did they send dick-pics to the person who certifies the polling station results?
They then proceed to show that everything that WAS done couldn’t possibly have had any effect on *this* election. Its possible they gathered intelligence that might enable future election-fuckery? Well given that everyone seems to *know* they’ve been hacked, isn’t the conclusion to alter your security measures in the future?
really i can’t find anything here that even remotely adds up to significant news. Half the story are just recitations of how ‘phishing’ works, and “what if?” speculating on how future cyber-buggery might be a problem.
And from what I’ve read, they may have hacked a voter registration company. Not one that anything to do with actual voting. The software that actually counted the votes. Still safe.
It was a weird feeling to watch the Tiananmen Square protests go down in 89, when I had been standing right there less than a year before as a high school student.
And one thing I can tell you that you don’t see in that famous photo or any other coverage from the time is that the Square, even then — every lampost had a security camera. It wasn’t a surprise afterward that the protestors were identified and swept up so quickly.
On that same tour they also subjected us to their propaganda Village, which we all thought was creepy as hell. So for a pretty sheltered bunch of high schoolers it was a pretty eye-opening experience to the evils of communism.
I have a hard time remembering those events. I can’t fathom the courage it must have taken tank man to stand up against a system he’d been brought up in and been inculcated into. The refusal of the West (in general) to demand an acknowledgement of his disposition is a huge indictment of our alleged commitment to freedom.
” I can’t fathom the courage it must have taken tank man to stand up against a system he’d been brought up in and been inculcated into.”
…Let alone standing in front of 4 T-72 tanks, with nothing but moral certitude.
Tank Man is a stainless steel balls symbol of liberty.
75th Anniversary of Battle of Midway – 4-7 June. 73rd anniversary of D-Day tomorrow.
Turning the tides.
Yeah, Midway was the beginning of the end in the Pacific. D-Day the same in the Atlantic.
Also. Midway was great payback for Pearl Harbor. “Oh yeah, those carriers that sank all our battleships? Where they now?”
LT_Fish, whatever you think of Thunderfoot, he makes a good case that the magnetic mine could’ve won the war for Germany. The US essentially copied it, and used it to great effect (affect?) against the Japanese merchant fleet.
OT
And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death. (Leviticus 24:16).
For hundreds of years, Christians routinely killed homosexuals, blasphemers, witches, and heretics, much as Muslims do today. Why did Christians change and what must happen for Muslims to change in the same way?
I think the biggest reason for the change was that many likeable people ended up being punished by religious authorities, and over time, this eroded respect for them.
For example:
***
Michael Servetus was born in Spain in 1509. He had a brilliant mind, was trained by the Dominicans, and went to the University of Saragossa. There he began studying the Bible, whose authority he accepted; but his interpretations brought him into conflict with the orthodox church. In 1531 Servetus published a work called the Errors of the Trinity, in which he said those who believed in the Trinity were really Tritheists (believers in three gods) or atheists. He said the gods of the Trinitarians were a 3-headed monster and a deception of the devil. Both Protestants and Catholics found the work blasphemous, and the emperor banned it.
…
In 1553 Michael anonymously published The Restitution of Christianity which he saw as an attempt to restore Christianity to its primitive purity. In that work he boldly–or rashly–continued to deny the Trinity despite the danger it brought him. Denying the Trinity and the incarnation of Christ were still capital offenses as they had been throughout the middle ages. Michael said Jesus was the Son of the eternal God but not the eternal Son of God. Contrary to the reformers, he also taught that both faith and works were necessary for salvation. He sent Calvin a portion of the work.
Roman Catholic authorities in Vienne discovered the name of the Restitution’s author because Calvin collaborated in denouncing him to the Inquisition, and they arrested Michael for heresy. He escaped, however, and fled toward Naples by way of Calvin’s Geneva. Vienne’s authorities burned him in effigy. He entered a church where Calvin was preaching, was recognized, and arrested on charges of blasphemy and heresy, although he was not a citizen and was just passing through town. Was it legal for them to arrest him?
Nonetheless, Michael was tried for heresy, this time by a Protestant city council. He continued in an attitude of superior knowledge and called John Calvin “Simon Magus” an “impostor,” and more. Servetus shocked the Genevans with his pantheistic or gnostic claim that everything emanated from God, even the devil. Like the Anabaptists, he declared infant baptism a great error. Geneva unfairly refused him legal council although he was a stranger to its law system, saying he could lie well enough without a lawyer to assist him.
The Geneva Council voted to condemn Servetus for heresy and called for his execution. The Swiss churches of Berne, Zurich, Basle, and Schaffhausen encouraged this move. Although Calvin insisted with the rest that Servetus must die, he urged that in mercy Servetus be executed by the sword, not by burning, but the Council rejected the suggestion. It was quarreling with Calvin at that time over the city government. Calvin and reformer William Farel spent hours with Servetus trying to turn him back from his lapses from commonly accepted Christian doctrine, but Servetus stood fast to his principles.
On this day, October 27, 1553, Geneva burned Michael Servetus at the stake for blasphemy and heresy. In the flames, Michael called repeatedly on Jesus, the Son of God for mercy.
Geneva’s action led to an immediate controversy among reformers whether it is right for a reformation church to execute heretics. Most said it was not. Calvin took a lot of heat for his role in the denunciation, trial and execution of Servetus and was not always honest in his account of what had happened.
***
This case also sticks out:
***
In 1766 a French boy, the Chevalier de La Barre, was accused of singing irreligious songs, mocking a religious icon, damaging a crucifix, and failing to remove his hat while a religious procession passed in Abbeville. He was sentenced to ‘the torture ordinary and extraordinary’ to have his tongue cut out, to have his right hand cut off, and to be burned at the stake. Voltaire fought for his life and the case was referred to the French Parliament. The clergy insisted on the death penalty. The boy was tortured, then beheaded, and his body was burned along with a copy of Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary.
***
Every time they killed a skeptic, they gave more attention to their arguments and thus caused more people to accept skepticism, much in the same way that Christianity was energized by tales of martyrs.
The only way to speed up the process is for more people to criticize the dogmatic belief. They can’t kill every blasphemer.
Everybody draw Mohamed!
Europe going through the third most horrific war in its history (at the time the worst, the 20th century outperformed) over religious arguments and having to deal with decades of horrible religious purges and massacres helped to significantly mellow them out a bit. After awhile it becomes self-interest not to try and purge the heretics in your local town, considering the heretics two towns over who want you dead and outnumber you three to one.
Secularist breaking of church political authority, whether politically or violently, also helped a lot.
Denying the Trinity and the incarnation of Christ were still capital offenses as they had been throughout the middle ages. Michael said Jesus was the Son of the eternal God but not the eternal Son of God.
Good grief, man, you thought trying to bring back Arianism after a thousand years was a good idea?
Honestly, this strikes me as one of the earliest examples of the oppression of Kekistani people.
Arianism works a lot better when you’ve got a couple hordes of barbarians backing you up over it.
I think that Jewish guy who pretended to be the Messiah (no not that one, the one OMWC talked about) was the first historical example of the noble line of Kek.
A little perspective wouldn’t hurt either to look at the distinction between “blasphemy” and “heresy” in Christianity vs “blasphemy” as it’s traditionally been recognized in Islam.
Similarly, at the outset of Christianity, there was no discussion whatsoever of harming heretics, etc (you could potentially make an argument re: the political power of the writers), but Paul, Peter, John, etc are pretty clear about just watching out for false teachers, avoiding them, warning them, disassociating with them, etc. Nothing about torture, killing, etc.
Contrary to the reformers, he also taught that both faith and works were necessary for salvation
And, you know, Paul:
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
Letter to the Ephesians 2:8-9
Huh. The first Unitarian.
woman arrested for leaking top secret documents
“Reality Winner, a 25-year-old National Security Agency contractor”\\
Who the fuck names their kid something like that?
Yeah, she won some reality for sure.
On Twitter, Reality Winner expressed frequent dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s policies and retweeted a joke about government leaks, as well as a tweet by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
In recent months, she frequently tweeted at Trump. “have you ever even met an Iranian?” she responded to Trump when he tweeted that immigrants coming from seven Muslim-majority countries were “SO DANGEROUS.”
She tweeted “#RESISTANCE” after the U.S. Department of Agriculture began blacking out public information. Immediately after Trump’s election, she took to Twitter to voice her disappointment. “I listened to you daily, and your podcast kept me sane,” she wrote at the FiveThirtyEight podcast on Nov. 9, 2016. “What the heck #betrayed #disillusioned.” She tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders’ statement calling Trump racist and xenophobic immediately after.
On election night, she tweeted, “Well. People suck.”
I couldn’t possibly see her leaking unsupported intelligence reports for politically biased reasons, no sirree.
I bet with a name like Reality at least she knew she was going to get in trouble, right?
It worked for Barnes…
The NSA’s contractors are doing yeomen’s work. Is keep you fucking yap shut not part of their job postings? It’s like the idiots bragging about their security clearances and detailed position listings on LinkedIn.
*keeping your
All she has to do is say she didn’t know it was against the law. It worked for Hillary.
And it turns out the above story about “voting hacking” is the one she leaked.
Isn’t the document that she leaked, the same one that Waterfall Insurance is talking about at #40?
I feel for her; they’re going to burn her at the stake. Metaphorically, not like that poor bastard Servetus above. Although, seriously, you walk into Calvin’s Geneva and start calling him Simon Magus and Impostor? He had balls, at least.
Anyway, about Ms. Winner, someone is going to be hung pour encourager les autres, and it looks like it’s going to be her. I’d feel more indignant about the classification breach, if I hadn’t just witnessed eight years of: the Secretary of State running all emails to her through some 3rd party server; giving root access to the databases that held, among other things, the full SF-86 questionnaires, to contractors in China; treating Snowden like the next incarnation of Benedict Arnold and Judas Iscariot; and letting some poorly checked Pakistani nationals run all of the IT for several senior Congresscritters.
Compared to the above, meh: she leaked, so what? Big fucking deal. Yet she’s going to be hammered, and none of the above (well, except Snowden) are going to be touched.
And I see I’m sniped by Urthona. I’ll just ask then, how much of the U.S. .gov’s love of classification stems from a desire to keep secrets from our enemies, and how much is a desire to bury their mistakes and cover their asses?
Spot on.
In almost every case of its execution, you have to wonder about how just this law is.
Are foreign powers really learning something about us? Almost never. More likely, it’s the public learning of our own government’s incompetence and inefficiency.
yep, and the left will likely pretend like Obama didn’t set the precedent with a scorched-earth policy re: Leakers.
Hasn’t he set the record for Espionage Act prosecutions, or something along those lines?
Jesus, Washington leaks; it’s the law. It’s how the press can do their job. Then again, the leaker is supposed to have a sense of proportion about it, but jeez, why are we treating leakers like the Walker spy ring?
CNN’s Tapper: Obama has used Espionage Act more than all previous administrations
politifact tried, but could not find a way to contradict his claim.
My opinion re: prosecuting leakers is ‘the law is the law’. If you violate NDAs or security clearances or whatnot, you better have a damn good reason. I think people who do it trivially and indiscriminately (see: manning) are far more damaging and deserving of penalty than those who do so out of a sense of civic responsibility and conscience (see: snowden)
FFS, so the story i just read which any half-brained person would conclude “Nothing to see here”…. this chick is going to jail over? WTF did she think she was doing? Sharing some vital intelligence which the American people needed to know? it literally means nothing. Even if true, its inconsequential – and there’s good reason to think the claims in it aren’t even true: mainly, the assertion that this was all being done by the Russian military, rather than just some contractor-hackers somewhere in the Eastern Bloc.
Also, would.
It looks like she’s gonna’ need a pen pal. Go for it man and you’ll be set in 20 years or so.
After a few years in federal women’s prison semis will be able to turn around in that snatch.
Such an enriching Ramadan this year.
Ramadan video from the Philippines: Muslims smash church statues, set fire to church
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/06/ramadan-video-from-the-philippines-muslims-smash-church-statues-set-fire-to-church
I mean, what’s a 7th century barbarian to do for fun these days?
Hitler?
NM, Invade el Andulus again?
All we have to do is outlaw islamophobia, and this will all end!
(we can totally keep bombing their countries though, there’s no way that would cause terrorist attacks)
Wikipedia: Muslims are also instructed to refrain from sinful behavior that may negate the reward of fasting, such as false speech (insulting, backbiting, cursing, lying, etc.) and fighting except in self-defense.
Is this simply untrue, or is there a jihad exemption or something?
Not clear from the quote, but this is what it says about Ramadan.
There’s a generally excepted jihad exemption (I don’t have a link offhand and I doubt it’s on wiki – I’d check jihadwatch or gatesofvienna for specifics). The baseline is that if you die in jihad during ramadan, it’s pretty much an automatic exemption for everything (based on something mo said) – even more so than normal jihad.
Rinne is playing okay tonight…
that save!
How drunk is Charles Barkley at the Stanley Cup game? Because he seems to be absolutely loaded.
Looks like P.K. just mouthed his foot was broken after that shot.
Pfft. Or not. He’s back out there.
…
well, good. If he can’t handle talking to the Chinese about a piece of paper that required them to do nothing until 2030, he sure as hell couldn’t handle talking to them about something actually important.
That’s not what “conscience” means.
So he was totes cool with a country that bills people for the bullets to execute their relatives, but he has to quit his job because Trump withdrew from the Paris thingamabob. (It ain’t a treaty, since it was never voted on. If you have a problem with that, take it up with President Pen&Phone.) Yeah, I don’t see this one as a huge loss, he isn’t exactly my ambassador.
Wow, what a game!