Body of Mollie Tibbets, College Student Who Went Missing While Jogging, Found
Suspect in Custody, Subject to an Immigration Detainer

—Ace of Spades

I say we throw a parade in his honor.

After all, the Statue of Liberty has a poem on it.

His Defense? A commenter says -- not sure where he's gotten this -- that the killer claims to have "blacked out" and can't remember killing her.

Illegal claims he "tried to run alongside Mollie" and she told him to go away or something, and then he "blacked out" and remembers he dumped her body.

April Dumb Ryan: Omarosa Pushed Her "Trump Said the N-Word" Lie to... Distract From Aretha Franklin's Declining Health
Update on Manafort: Guilty on 8 Counts, Mistrial on Ten

—Ace of Spades

Now, you might be wondering why on earth April Dumb Ryan wouldn't just say "OMAROSA'S TELLING THE TRUTH, TRUMP'S A RACIST, WHOO-HOO!"

Well, it's because Ryan and Omarosa had Mad Beef earlier. It's not because Ryan has somehow become an objective reporter. No, this stance isn't based on any kind of dispassionate analysis about the lack of evidence for and conflicting stories behind Omarosa's charge; it's because Ryan and Omarosa have had Queen Bee bitch-fights in the White House.

This is embarrassing even for April Dumb Ryan. She's not just stupid and incapable of logical thought, she's actually insane.

White House correspondent April Ryan claimed Tuesday that ousted West Wing aide Omarosa Manigault Newsman purposely pushed a story in early August that President Trump used the N-word because she wanted to get revenge on Aretha Franklin for an old fight by distracting the public from the singer's declining health.

"She did it because Aretha Franklin didn't want her at her birthday party," Ryan told the Hollywood Reporter. "That's how vindictive Omarosa is."

Tell me more, Journalist. I believe everything you say. Why shouldn't I? You're obviously very smart with a good bead on things.

Manafort Update: The jury got the media's message and decided to opt for "not being doxed."

Trans Activists: The Word "Vagina" Is Too "Triggering" for Trans People Without Vaginas. May We Suggest the More Inclusive "Front Hole" as a Replacement?

—Ace of Spades

RUFKM?

In the "not enough mind bleach in the world to blot out what I just read" category of the week, Healthline has decided that the word "vagina" is too triggering for trans people and so they will now use the term "front hole" in their sex education materials. No, really. Please keep in mind that these are the same people who for years have told us that toddlers need anatomically correct vocabularies in order to be properly aware of body parts, lest they become victims of sexual abuse.

But now, we are going to stop calling a vagina a vagina and call it a "front hole."

Let's start calling breasts "artificially implanted saline sacs" too, just to increase transculsivity on that score too.

I am totally down with this program of re-architecting 200,000 years of social custom regarding men and women in order to spare 0.01% of the population into feeling like they're "different."

Spoiler alert: You are different from most people, at least in this one way. I'm sure people in wheelchairs wince sometimes at the mention of walking and running, given that such mentions remind them that they've lost this ability. Shall we begin forbidding people from using the words "walk" and "run" to spare some feelings, too?

Why not? Maybe we should erase walking and running from physical reality while we're at it-- maybe all people should get around in wheelchairs so as not to make people who are actually wheelchair-bound feel "triggered."

Kurt Schlichter has reservations, however.

Last week, "news" broke that nearly all heterosexuals -- and 75% of homosexuals, too -- would not date a trans person. It turns out that straight men prefer to date women, straight women prefer to date men, gay men prefer to date men, and gay women prefer to date women.

This was called "discrimination." Vice was very, very sad about it.

Interestingly, even those people (both straight and gay) open to dating trans people would mostly only date people born with the actual sex they're attracted to, not the "gender identity" that person claims.

In other words, even among the minority of lesbians open to dating trans people, the vast majority of them would only date trans men, which is another way of saying "biological women claiming now to be men." Lesbians open to dating trans people still want to date someone who's actually a woman, not a guy dressing like a woman.

Similarly, the even smaller percentage of gay men open to dating a trans person generally will only date a trans woman, also known as a "biological man who has transitioned, sort of, to appear as a woman."

In other words, people, both straight and gay, remain attracted to the actual sex they're sexually oriented to be attracted to, and do not just drop their basic sexual orientation because someone says "Now I'm the other one."

Apparently, trans activists are shocked that sex might be an important component in sexual attraction or sexual orientation. They've tried to rewire reality and claim that sex isn't important, that only expressed, performative "gender identity" matters -- but notice the terms aren't "gender identity attraction" or "gender identity orientation."

Oh, and there's that funny (bigoted!) little bit about the great majority of heterosexuals intending one day to have children as the ultimate product of a sexual union (not a gender identity union), and of course that is not possible with someone who has a nonfunctioning reproductive system due to drugs or surgeries.

But people who envision sex and coupling as directed towards family-formation must now drop their traditionist (bigoted!) preferences because it hurts trans people's feelings to be reminded that reproductive acts sometimes result in reproducing.

And sometimes, weirdly enough, that's the whole point of it.

We seem to have deviated quite far from the sexual left's previous slogan, "Love whoever you want." Now it's "Love who we tell you to love, bigot."

Manafort Jury Hung on ALL Counts?

—Ace

Woman Uses Dating App Tinder to Swindle Guys, Get Attention

—Ace of Spades

What's Instapundit's perpetual headline for this kind of story? 21st Century Dating Life or something?

So this guy, @Bvdhai, tried to date a woman using the hook-up app Tinder.

The thread starts here, digested below.

I am about to tell you an epic tale about subterfuge, dating in the 21st century and the fall of human civilization. This actually happened to me and it could happen to you too. Get some popcorn. *Thread*

So a weeks ago I was on the Tinder machine shopping my soul around and I match with a very attractive young lady. No bio. Fairly innocuous.

I message her some random shit and we chat for an hour or so and she says "here's my number text me" I'm like okay sure thing.

I text her n we make small talk abt work for a bit then she goes, "actually, I have this huge presentation Im workin on for my job, would you be offended if I got back to you in like a week or two when Ive got more free time? Youre cute and I want to meet you Im just too busy rn"

I thought well that's an overly elaborate way to ghost someone. I say "lol I wouldn't be offended, I totally get it. Hit me up when you're free"

She says "thank you, I was worried you would think I was trying to blow you off haha but for sure I'll text you in like a week, I'm excited" in my head I'm like sssssssuuuuurrrreeee I respond "[smiley face]"

Two weeks pass I completely forget about her then I remember and go back to tinder and I can't find the conversation... I think well that's weird she deleted her tinder but I take it as... overly elaborate ghosting methods

"Ghosting" is just blowing someone off, not replying, pretending they don't exist, etc.
‏

Then yesterday I get a text "HEY IM FINALLY FREE LMAO... my friend is DJing near Union square around 6 tomorrow I was wondering if you wanted to go for a bit then we could go get drinks after and see what happens"

‏
I'm like well I'll be damned. Genuinely didn't think she would message me. I reply "yeah I should be free, I'd be down" she says "amazing I'm gonna be running around today and tomorrow but just come around 6 and I'll meet you by the stage then we'll head out"

...

I play football with @mersrulesworld_ earlier today and express my incredulity at the situation. I find her Instagram it says singer, actress, model, 3000 followers and I'm like uugghhhh I dunno bro, THIS SHIT FEELS OFF but fuck it

I make my way to Union Square. Eat a hot dog and look over by this open lot by 17th Ave and there is a stage and a DJ and about 100 ppl and cameras and shit and I think well this is some random ass Manhattan shit.

‏

She texts me "hey I'm running a little late but just meet me by the stage then we can go" I wasn't gonna stand in front of the fucking stage so I stand off to the side a bit

Eventually I see a girl moving towards backstage with two enormous bodyguards in sunglasses and realise it's her and I'm thinking WHAT THINE FUCKETH IS GOING ON

I stay back and assess the situation and I'm like fuck I'mma stay right where I am til she texts me. The DJ eventually stops playing and she gets on the stage and I'm so fucking confused but think well I guess she's a social media personality or some shit

I immediately think I'm too fucking old for this shit.

She gets the mic and is like thanks for coming out I bet you're all wondering what this is about and I'm like yeah what the fuck is this about

She then says so I know all of you here are on tinder and I'm like [lots of emojis which i guess mean "WTF?"]

Then she says I've invited you all here for a chance to go on a date with me and proceeds to give a hunger games speech about what its gonna take to date her

ALL THE DUDES THERE SHE FOUND ON TINDER AND TEXTED THEM THE SAME SHIT

Every man in the crowd looks down and mimes WHAT IN THE NAME OF SCOOBY DOO THE IS THIS SHIT to themself

‏
At that point I am genuinely amazed at the fallopian fortitude this girl possesses. This is top 10 greatest finesse of all time. Dudes actually stayed and played.

I went home.

I TRUST NO ONE. I TRUST NOTHING ANYMORE. VANITY WILL BE THE DEMISE OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION. DON'T GET GOT. THE END.

Below, a picture of the "Hunger Games" dating competition.

Manafort Jury Note to Judge: What Does It Mean for the Final Verdict If We Can Reach a Consensus on 17 Counts But Can't Reach a Consensus on One?

—Ace of Spades

Everyone's wondering what this means. CNN and MSNBC are, get this, assuming it means that the jury is convicting on 17 counts.

Bonus: NeverTrump is getting off to a genius start today, showing the world, as they do every day, the fine workings of their elegant brains.

The Morning Rant: J.V. Edition

—CBD

95-year-old Nazi war criminal deported from Queens back to Germany

Palij was ordered deported in 2004, but Germany wouldn't accept him. That changed this week.

The White House Press Secretary said in a statement, "Palij's removal sends a strong message: The United States will not tolerate those who facilitated Nazi crimes and other human rights violations, and they will not find a safe haven on American soil."

The Trump administration pledged to deport Palij, saying that he shouldn't live out his last days in this country.

Sure, this low-level scumbag is just one man, and in the grand scheme of things was just a tiny part of a global effort to destroy the Jewish people, but it still makes me smile that he got caught after all of these years, and is going to be uprooted from the life he built (on a lie) and die in a strange place, alone and unwanted.

******
Here is a fine example of the axiom that education does not always equate to wisdom. These professors are completely ignorant of the history of political violence, and are blinded to reality by their own deep biases.

Professors who wanted federal court to stop concealed carry on Univ of Texas campus "expressed particular concern for 'religiously conservative students [who] have extreme views,' as well as 'openly libertarian students'” (p. 6). The court rejected case.https://t.co/i1zh1oi6Kt

— John R Lott Jr. (@JohnRLottJr) August 21, 2018

******
I love pissing matches between politicians. The people always lose, and tax money is being spent on a frivolous, ego-driven witch hunt for those evil barbecue cheats.
Sid Miller Is Still Obsessed With Barbecue Scales
Although...I do understand the need for correct scales. It's just that the free market would probably do a better job of fixing this possibly nonexistent problem.
******

******
My Twitter Feed

Close it up

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

Moonlight on the Everglades
Paul Frenzeny

The Morning Report 8/21/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Tuesday's here so let's get to it. First up, the Mueller Witch Hunt and Flea Circus grinds on as the jury is still deliberating, which is not stopping the Democrat-Left-Media complex from doing whatever it can to influence, intimidate and threaten the un-sequestered jury. You'd think in a trial of this magnitude, they would have been held incommunicado, but of course not. Meanwhile Judicial Watch is going after the DoD for its persecution of the whistleblower who blew the whistle on Deep State spy and Obama/Clinton/Brennan conspirator Stephen Halper, and the whole thing with George Papadapoulos, the administration/campaign bit player whom the Deep State used as a means to nail candidate Trump only highlights the incompetence and corruption that is your FBI.

Sliding over to John Brennan, PDT is using his (Brennan's) rage and arrogance as weapons against him, for all the world to see. And some CNN stooge who also profits off of his security clearance went ape-shit on someone who defended the President's actions and now PDT is citing that as reason to revoke that clown's clearance. Heh. In any case, anyone and everyone regardless of political affiliation should no longer be privy to any classified materials once their public service career comes to an end. Executive order that one, Mr. President.

On to politics where Camera Hogg is raising his pimpled head and declaring himself the new head of the Democrat party; he told Nancy Palsi to fuck off and die, and I'm not exactly misquoting the little shitler either. And that Alcee Hastings. It was bad enough that he "joked" about applauding the President drowning to death, but then we find out that the "joke" was written by a 16-year-old. No worries; the Chappaqua Choad is hitting the fundraising trail (and the bottle) to sweep the Dems on to victory. Then there's poor Loopy Ocasio-Fiasco who stopped in to say farewell to the Union Square restaurant she used to tend bar at. They shuttered yesterday after 28 years because of the minimum wage laws she supports. Not to worry, though because Fauxcahontas has a sure fire plan for capitalism: communism. And as the Democrats seemingly swirl the bowl, the RNC just had another huge fundraising month in July.

In censorship news, Neil De Gas-Bag Tyson wants a "truth force" to confront enemies of the truth (read the Morning Report, jag-off), the President is calling out big social media for silencing conservative voices and two interesting links on the politicization of books and the hate speech inquisition.

On the international scene, PDT is hanging tough with the Turks vis a vis the American pastor they are holding hostage, two Farsi spies were nabbed scoping out targets here in the US, South Africa is descending into Zimbabwean madness as the first white owned farms are seized, the Chi-Coms are ramping up their spying and sabotage actions here (see also the link in the Education section), Venezuelan businesses are shuttering due to minimum wage laws (hello Loopy Fiasco!), a once very anti-Semitic PepsiCo has purchased Israeli owned SodaStream and the First Lady is off to Africa on a goodwill tour. She should stay away from Johannesburg lest she be seized.

There's quite a bit of interesting stuff about Obamacare-caused doctor shortages, the illegal drug addiction epidemic and the rush to free drug dealers, VW and the diesel wars in Deutschland, SJW madness in Richmond schools, and an Indiana ISIS wannabe gets 15 years for plotting a mass terror attack. He was allegedly inspired by the right-wing, anti-gay, Christian, Jewish, conservative, capitalist, Trump-loving, MAGA-hat-wearing, Republican Bircher... Omar Mateen.

From hither and yon, the Omarosa ploy to sabotage Black approval of PDT has flopped, the Pope's letter apologizing for priestly sexual abuse is not going down well, ESPN's president has a new policy on political punditry that will save the network, vandals destroy a memorial to our WW2 submariners and an essay from an eyewitness to the Soviet's brutal crushing of the Prague spring. 50 years ago today. Wonder what the Democrat-Left has to say about this. Not really.

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

SPYGATE, MUELLER WITCH HUNT, DEEP STATE

• Judicial Watch Sues Pentagon on Behalf of Whistleblower Who Questioned Stephen Halper Contracts
  
• Media Finding Manafort Guilty as Jury Still Deliberates, Unsequestered
  
• In Papers Saying Papadopoulos Lied, FBI Reveals It's Either Lying or Incompetent
  
  BRENNAN FALLOUT
  
• PDT: CNN FBI Analyst Who Blew Up on TV About Brennan "In No Mental Condition" to Have Clearance
  
• Trump Is Not Trying to Silence Brennan; He's Using Him as a Political Foil
  
• It's Not Just Brennan: No Former Spy Should Have Access to the Nation's Secrets
  
  CIVIL WAR 2.0
  
• Alcee Hasting's "Joke" About Hoping PDT Drowns Was Written by a 16-Year-Old; Kid Thinks "Joke" Totes Appropriate
  
• Man Attacked for Carrying "Fascist" US Flag at Portland Protest Turns Out to Be Bernie Supporter
  
  POLITICS, 2018 MIDTERMS
  
• PDT Refocuses Midterms on Immigration; "Blue Wave Means Crime, Open Borders"
  
• RNC Breaks Fundraising Record Again; $14.2 Million Raised in July
  
• Camera Hogg Goes Wild on Nancy Palsi: "Move the F**k Off and Let Us Take Control"
  
• What to Expect if Democrats Win the Midterms
  
• Don't Overlook the State Elections
  
• The Return of Crooked Hillary: Chappaqua Choad to Host 3 DNC Fundraisers
  
• Loopy Ocasio-Fiasco Visits Restaurant She Used to Work At; Forced to Close Because of Her Policies
  
• Democrat Strategy? Rage, Smear, Lie and Cheat
  
  AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION
  
• More Than 700,000 Visa Overstays in 2017
  
  FIRST AMENDMENT, FAKE NEWS, CENSORSHIP
  
• Social Media Corporations Step Up Attacks on Conservatives
  
• PDT: It's Dangerous for Social Media to Ban Accounts
  
• Neil DeGrasse Tyson: "Truth Force" Needed to Confront "Enemies of Accurate Information" (we have one - it's called Ace of Spades HQ - jjs)
  
• Boo to the Hate Speech Inquisition
  
• The Book World is Getting Way Too Politicized; Here's What to Do About It
  
  SECOND AMENDMENT
  
• Plans for 3-D Printed Guns Explode Across Internet Amid Court Battle to Suppress Them
  
• Armed Furniture Store Owner Sends Would-Be Robber Fleeing in Fear
  
  FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL
  
• White House: US Will Pay "Nothing" for Pastor's Release
  
• Iranian Opposition in the Crosshairs; Two Men Accused of Spying for the Regime on Potential US Targets
  
• South Africa Begins Seizing White-Owned Farms in Land Redistribution Program (you know who else seized farmlands... - jjs)
  
• Chi-Coms Ramp Up US Spying Programs
  
• Senate Ramps Up Russia Sanctions Threat With Dual Hearings
  
• Venezuelan Businesses to Close Following 60-Fold Minimum Wage Increase
  
• PepsiCo Buys Israel's SodaStream 27 Years After Ending Boycott of Jewish State
  
• American Jews Viewed With Suspicion at Israeli Border, Highlighting Growing Rift
  
• First Lady to Travel to Africa Highlighting Humanitarian Work and Development
  
  BRETT KAVANAUGH SCOTUS CONFIRMATION
  
• Cuck Schemer Demands Judiciary Committee Shares Kavanaugh Confidential Records with Entire Senate
  
  DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS
  
• Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over DoD Grants to Schools Hosting Confucius Institutes
  
• Is This the Right Plan to Win the Long War in Afghanistan?
  
  ISLAM, TERRORISM, SHARIA, DHIMMITUDE
  
• Indiana Man Inspired by Pulse Nightclub Terror Attack Sentenced to 15 Years for Plotting Mass Bomb, Poison Attack
  
  THE ECONOMY, STUPID
  
• Fauxcahontas' "Accountable Capitalism" Is More Proof of "Progressive" Feudalism
  
  DOMESTIC POLICY, COURTS, BUREAUCRACY
  
• IRS Still Lacks Protections for Sensitive Taxpayer Information
  
  CRIME & PUNISHMENT (NON-DOSTOYEVSKY)
  
• Why Morality Demands the Death Penalty
  
• Unprecedented Drug Crisis? No Problem - Release the Drug Traffickers!
  
  HEALTHCARE
  
• Doctor Shortages Explode Thanks to Obamacare - Who Could've Predicted That?
  
• The Godzilla Wrecking the American Economy
  
  EDUCATION, INDOCTRINATION
  
• Fight Richmond, VA Public School Indoctrination
  
  RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE, LYSENKOISM
  
• The Other Shoe Has Dropped in the VW Diesel Wars
  
  CULTURE WARS, HITHER and YON
  
• Why Omarosa's Antics Will Fail to Undermine Trump's Progress for Black Americans
  
• Trump's Character and Trump's Presidency: A Question for Never-Trumpers
  
• Pope's Letter on Sexual Abuse Called "Slick PR Stunt" to Divert Attention from Abusers, Enablers
  
• ESPN Prexy Announces New Politics Guidelines for the Channel... But Is It Too Late?
  
• Scuttling History: Vandals Destroy Memorial to US World War 2 Submariners
  
  FINALLY...
  
• 50 Years Ago Today: Eyewitness to the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia

Monday Overnight Open Thread (8/20/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Quote I

“You shouldn’t own more than 25,000 acres of land. Therefore if you own more it should be taken without compensation. People who are privileged never give away privilege as a matter of a gift. ANC chairman Gwede Mantashe

Quote II

It's simply untrue that religion provides the only framework for a universal morality. Sam Harris

Quote III

Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods." C.S. Lewis

Quote IV

“Everybody is pointing at somebody. The criminal, the criminal activity, the gang have to be raised, not just ‘what did the police do? Legitimate questions, but not in lieu of another set of questions, not in lieu of asking where is the individual or the gang or the culture who condones rather than condemns?” Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D)

***

This Cob doesn't care what the Cucks say about President Donald Trump. He is a pretty classy guy at times. Class is something that Skipper Biff will never have. PDT surprises WWII vet with birthday card.

Perhaps the best part of all of this was that there was no reason for Trump to send the letter beside simply wanting to personally reach out and thank Fabela for his service.

Better yet, Trump hasn’t really talked about this himself. It was just a touching gesture sent directly to Fabela, and if it wasn’t for his daughter filming it, we might’ve never known it happened.

***

In tonight's The ONT is always looking out for you segment: Be careful with those contact lenses.

A 59-year-old man was in the shower, wiping his eyes with a towel, when he heard a popping sound and felt pain shoot through his left eye.

His cornea had developed a severe ulcer and ruptured, tearing a hole in his eye.

The ulcer grew from a bacterial infection the man developed after leaving his soft contact lenses in overnight during a two-day hunting trip, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case report.

Personally, I would rather reach for my specs.

***

Debunking the myth of the Scandinavia socialist utopia.

The most obvious issue is that under this measure of socialism, Norway is not the most socialist country in the world, Mexico is. A look at WIR’s country-level data shows that 60 percent of Mexico’s national wealth was state-owned in 2009 (the most recent year available) compared to just half of Norway’s (50.5 percent) that same year. The same WIR data shows the Korean government owns 21,205 percent of the country’s wealth, which would make it 359 times more socialist than Norway, but I digress. (I reached out to two of the economists who worked on this report to clarify this, but they have not responded as of the writing of this article.)

Was Mexico the world’s most socialist country nine years ago? Hardly. In 2009, Mexico’s president was Felipe Calderon of the conservative National Action Party. Far from being a Marxist, at a 2007 address in Davos, Calderon criticized “state control of the economy” and warned of Latin America’s embrace of socialism as “a move toward the past.” Furthermore, his tenure was marked by deregulation and pro-business policies.

***

Tornadoes. North Dakota style.

***

Americans own less stuff. Is this a problem?

Some social problems are blatantly obvious in daily life, while others are longer-term, more corrosive and perhaps mostly invisible. Lately I’ve been worrying about a problem of the latter kind: the erosion of personal ownership and what that will mean for our loyalties to traditional American concepts of capitalism and private property.

The main culprits for the change are software and the internet. For instance, Amazon’s Kindle and other methods of online reading have revolutionized how Americans consume text. Fifteen years ago, people typically owned the books and magazines they were reading. Much less so now. If you look at the fine print, it turns out that you do not own the books on your Kindle. Amazon.com Inc. does.

***

At approximately .24 per round, a lot of this legal bull shitmaneuvering could have been averted.

WASHINGTON
The judge in the death-penalty trial of those accused of carrying out the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the U.S. has ruled that prosecutors may not use key FBI interrogations conducted at the Guantánamo detention center soon after years of CIA black site abuse ended.

Under the war court system, confessions must be voluntary. So prosecutors had already pledged not to use what the captives told their CIA interrogators during their years of secret spy agency custody that included torture. Instead, as a substitute, prosecutors had planned to have FBI agents describe what the suspects told them soon after their September 2006 transfers to Guantánamo in supposedly consensual interviews.

But the judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, excluded the FBI interviews, known as “clean team statements,” from trial in a 36-page ruling.

The ONT Musical Interlude

***

***

August 20, 1948, Born on this day, Robert Plant, singer with Led Zeppelin who had the 1969 US No.4 single Whole Lotta Love. The bands fourth album released in 1971 featuring the rock classic Stairway To Heaven has sold over 37 million copies. Plant had the 1983 solo hit single Big Log. Also a member of The Honeydrippers, (with Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck & Nile Rodgers), who had the 1984 US No.3 single Sea Of Love. Plant scored the Grammy award winning 2007 album Raising Sand with bluegrass star Alison Krauss. via thisdayinmusic.com

***

***

Our sophisticated and classy Food Thread Cob recently addressed squirrel in his Sunday Food Thread. It appears he didn't perform his diligence.

Every fall, hundreds of chefs from all around the country head to Bentonville, Arkansas, to take part in a heated competition. They baste, emulsify, marinate, and flambé. They make everything from bratwurst to lollipops. But they all have something in common: They’re cooking with squirrel.

Over the past decade, Bentonville has become a hotspot for “high South” cuisine, which is characterized by local ingredients combined in unusual ways and tends to come at a relatively high price point. “To keep us somewhat grounded, I wanted to show the public that … we also still have the ability to cook squirrel,” says Joe Wilson, who organized the inaugural World Champion Squirrel Cook-Off in 2012.

***

Their goal? Missed it by that much ><. And that is the reason for the Genius Award.

A piece of string, a small hole and a little ingenuity. That's what four men sitting in the Christian County Jail had.

That, and a hankering for drugs, allegedly.

The plan went into action on June 3.

That's when court documents say one of the men was released from jail around lunchtime.

***

The criminal justice system does have some heart. Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

***

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Smoking In The Boys Room.

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire and AceCorp, LLC. The ONT, please enjoy in moderation.

Close it up

Early Quitting Day Open Thread

—Ace of Spades

Talk amongst yourselves.

Unapologetic Racist and Asian Supremacist Sarah Jeong's New, Improved Twitter Feed: Sunrises, Butterflies, and Rainbows Are Pretty

—Ace of Spades

Sarah Jeong, no doubt under strict corporate direction, is mounting a Bland Offensive, by deliberately tweeting only links or stuff like...

So... the New York Times' new editorial board member cannot be trusted to share her actual editorial opinions publicly.

Top Ten Corporate-Directed Sarah Jeong Tweets

10. Two groups in America just don't get enough credit -- mothers, and eagles. Even the white-faced ones. Nay -- *especially* the white-faced ones.

9. Here's my unpopular opinion: Spats were a mistake whose time has gone. Unless more than 20% of you are pro-spat. In which case, people's individual senses of fashion should not be used to make sport of them. #WearWhatYouLove

8. I may get grief for this, but there's just nothing like mulled cider on a crisp autumn night, after a full day of washing the feet of the impoverished. Including poor white people, who I am informed also struggle in this wonderful country of dreams and possibility.

7. They say "Never Meet Your Heroes." Well, I think they're wrong. I met my Heroes the other day and they filled me with inspiration. And who are my heroes? *The Troops.* Fight me if you disagree.

6. Wal*Mart is underrated. Quality merchandise for very fair prices. The staff is lovely and the clientele? *Incomparable.*

5. This may get me in trouble with the Language Police, but all I can say about Aretha Franklin is this: Now that's one classy lady. She will be missed. She was a national treasure of her race -- the human race.

4. I'm going to break with a 35 year tradition and dye my hair to its natural color (if I can remember it) as a show of solidarity with Jerry's Kids.

3. If I could have dinner with any two people in history, I would dine with Jesus of Nazareth and Randy "The Macho Man" Savage. Who is white. And that's okay with me. In fact it's more than okay -- it's a delight.

2. When I see a baby's smile, I feel like that baby is smiling because he knows a joyous secret, and that secret is that life is good and worth living. #RealTalk #TimeForHonesty #SomeoneHadToSayIt

...and the number one new Sarah Jeong tweet...

1. Hall and Oates. Lynyrd Skynyrd. Joan Jett. David Bowie. Hanson. What do these legends have in common? They're all white. And that's just great. God must really love white people because he filled my upper-class gentrified neighborhood with so many of them. Also, some Indian doctors. Who are also great. In fact, who even sees color? I sure don't.

[Next tweet:] Wait, was Oates technically white? Well either way. Hall is white enough for the both of them.

[Next tweet:] And that's just great.

Update: This might explain a few things.

David Horowitz Diagnoses Jonah Goldberg and the NeverTrumpers' Cowardly Positioning

—Ace of Spades

Goldberg attacked Horowitz nastily on Twitter; if you care about that, see the link.

In this new column, Horowitz discusses the NeverTrumpers' focus-grouped ploy of claiming they support Trump's conservative policy actions while still hating him -- some, like Bret Stephens, even admitting they "still wish Hillary Clinton were president" -- due to Trump's character defects.

Funny, they never seem to have much to say about Hillary Clinton's character.

Also funny: they seem much more emotionally traumatized by President Trump than they ever were by President Obama. One senses, rather acutely, that they rather liked Obama, but were required for careerist reasons to pretend they didn't.

But anyway, as to this supposedly-I-support-his-policies-but-I-hate-his-character posture: it is strange indeed that they spend so little time or effort or emotion talking up these conservative policies they allegedly support. I guess you'll just have to take their perfunctory word about that.

Horowitz criticizes this stance as cowardly and calculating, for maximum career protection and even career advancement:

The posture of these NeverTrumpers is transparently self-serving. It preserves their intellectual credentials as "conservatives," and simultaneously takes them out of the line of fire from an increasingly vicious Left whose goal is to destroy Trump and his presidency, and--incidentally--conservative America. Sitting on the fence affords them new career opportunities -- appearances on CNN and MSNBC and columns in the New York Times.

All that's required is that they avoid taking sides in the political war that is engulfing the country.

All this reminds me of a memorable Trotsky sneer about liberals, whom he accused of being reluctant to step into the stream of political conflict because they were afraid to get their moral principles wet.

He also says:

The nastiness of [Goldberg's personal attack on me] sentence shocked me. Evidently the hatred of Trump is so fevered it can burn through two decades of cordiality and acquaintance. I wonder if Jonah would be so hostile to someone who shared his view of Trump's character but thought Trump's policies were racist, and tyrannical.

No, he wouldn't be. He was never this purple-facedly enraged at Obama and was one of the guys you could count on to chide you if your criticism of Obama offended the sense of propriety of his liberal friends.

Chelsea Clinton: I Haven't Ruled Out Running for Office

—Ace of Spades

The thing is, 330 million Americans have ruled you out, though.

From the Guardian:

"While I disagree with the president … I think my family … is being really well represented. But if that were to change, if my city councillor were to retire, if my congresswoman were to retire, my senators, and I thought that I could make a positive impact, then I think I would really have to ask my answer to that question [of whether to run for office].

"For me it's a definite no now but it's a definite maybe in the future because who knows what the future is going to bring?"

Not Worth Its Own Post Unrelated Update:

#MeToo Leader Asia Argento Pays $380,000 In Hush Money to Underage Boy She Sexually Assaulted

—Ace of Spades

And by "sexually assaulted," I mean "statutorily raped."

Yeah this one's a beaut.

The Italian actress and director Asia Argento was among the first women in the movie business to publicly accuse the producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. She became a leading figure in the #MeToo movement. Her boyfriend, the culinary television star Anthony Bourdain, eagerly joined the fight.

But in the months that followed her revelations about Mr. Weinstein last October, Ms. Argento quietly arranged to pay $380,000 to her own accuser: Jimmy Bennett, a young actor and rock musician who said she had sexually assaulted him in a California hotel room years earlier, when he was only two months past his 17th birthday. She was 37. The age of consent in California is 18.

That claim and the subsequent arrangement for payments are laid out in documents between lawyers for Ms. Argento and Mr. Bennett, a former child actor who once played her son in a movie.

The documents, which were sent to The New York Times through encrypted email by an unidentified party, include a selfie dated May 9, 2013, of the two lying in bed. As part of the agreement, Mr. Bennett, who is now 22, gave the photograph and its copyright to Ms. Argento, now 42. Three people familiar with the case said the documents were authentic.

The New York Times notes that Jimmy Bennet played Asia Argento's son in 2004, in a movie called “he Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things. Below is a picture of the two, to show the age difference:

Of course both aged 9 years more before they hooked up. Still -- weird.

It gets weirder:

The script, based on a book by the pseudonymous writer JT LeRoy, depicts the grim relationship between a drug-addicted prostitute played by Ms. Argento and her son, played by Mr. Bennett and two other young actors. Ms. Argento’s character dresses her son as a girl to lure men, and the boy is ultimately raped.

In interviews and subsequent social media posts between the two over the years, they referred to each other as mother and son.

Although the American media managed to almost completely embargo it -- despite her boyfriend Anthony Bourdain's suicide being a top news story for a week, and Argento herself having been a hot news story for a year -- Argento was photographed in Rome embracing and holding hands with a French reporter, shortly before Bourdain's suicide.

Do I blame her? No. That was his choice. Someone who commits suicide over the possible/likely infidelity of someone he's only been dating for a year is someone who's probably going to find some reason to commit suicide.

But I think it's very interesting to watch the media embargo otherwise-newsworthy stories that conflict with their precious narratives.

Netflix Cancels Michelle Wolf's Show

—Ace of Spades

Man, when not even Twitter Idiot Liberals are talking about your leftwing political agitation show -- and those stupid fucks will watch literally anything on tv to get their political-affirmation dopamine hit -- your show must really suck.

No one was watching it.

If you don't remember, Wolf is that very unfunny, very obnoxious screechy-voiced hag who the Washington Press Corps invited to emcee their stupid dinner (the one Trump boycotted), and she embarrassed them all by showing them the real face of progressivism.

She also did this:

How was everyone's weekend?

The Morning Rant

—OregonMuse

"If there's any organization that's even worse at self-awareness than the MSM, at how bad they look in the eyes of others, and are completely clueless about it, it would have to be the Roman Catholic Church. Last week, Pennsylvania investigators released a 1300+ page report that detailed thousands of cases of child molesting by over 300 predator priests in 6 dioceses, and what does the Church do? First, nothing. Yes, I heard about their official statement which I'll get to in a bit, but the important thing is that the Pope has not said one damn thing about it. A case of this magnitude demands some king of visible, demonstrable act of contrition from the man at the top, but Frankie has been completely AWOL. And the Vatican's official statement is mighty weak beer. First, there's blather about 'shame' and 'sorrow', but they always say that. And then, and this is where we get to the cluelessly unself-aware part, it says there's been 'almost no' cases 2002, so, presumably, everything is OK now. Really? Do they really think now is the time to brag about the new shiny lock they put on the barn after it has burned down? Even if it's correct, I don't think most pew Catholics want to hear about that just now. It's like the old Monthy Python skit about how there's no cannibalism in the Royal Navy. I don't think anybody is satisfied with statements about 'shame' and 'sorrow'. One can easily conclude that once again, the Catholic Church is circling the wagons to protect its own. Not until the Catholic Church opens up an independent investigation, starting with the College of Cardinals and working throughout the seminaries and then down to the ranks of the parish priests, and rooting out every last sexual predator and enabler, will justice be done. Because, despite the bragging about no cases since 2002, you can bet there is child molesting going on now that won't come out until 2025 or 2030 or later. The Inquisition has a bad rap, but maybe it's time for another one."

Dusty In Here...

These families thought they'd never see their lost dogs again — until now ❤️ pic.twitter.com/QVSdwOciEb

— The Dodo (@dodo) August 16, 2018

Twitter Was Full of Stupid Over the Weekend, Here Are a Couple of Beauts:

Michelle Wolf’s cancellation goes to show if you’re a talk show host with great jokes and perfect sketches, it’s best if you’re not a woman.

— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) August 19, 2018

Dumbness Level: 725 millikohns

Dumbness Level: 875 millikohns

Handmaid's Tale Cosplay: Phoning It In

Oh come on, she's not even trying.

If Satan Drove a Car, I Think It Would Be This One:

(h/t Iowahawk)

Close it up

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The Lute Player
Hendrik Martenszoon Sorgh

The Morning Report 8/20/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Another Monday and we're loaded up with link-fu so let's commence. First up, the absolutely justified revocation of John Brennan's security clearance is turning into yet another political victory for the President, as is evidenced by both the jerk's own walking back of his anti-Trump rhetoric probably at the urging of his fellow Deep Staters, such as James Clapper who is openly telling him to cool it on the State-run house organs. That didn't stop Michael Hayden from jumping on the self-righteous self-serving fake hero bandwagon to taunt the President into revoking his clearance. Which leads to two somewhat cromulent points; a) unless administrations are transitioning at a time of war or other national security situation, why does any former government official in those capacities get to retain security clearance after they leave the service? As is now clearly and painfully evident, those within the Deep State who are hell bent on seeing its preservation and the destruction of this President and all who support him will use their power and position and subvert the tools they are entrusted with in defense of the realm for political purposes and the accretion of power. That's a rather alarming, yet obvious, conclusion given the external threats posed by the rise of global Islamic totalitarian expansionism, petty tyrants flexing their muscles and for me the number one threat to America for the foreseeable future, the People's Republic of China (see a couple of links below).

That said, the President completely debunks the myth that revoking high level security clearances is a political move to silence free speech and dissent; in fact it does just the opposite since having that clearance in a sane and logical world means you are supposed to keep your yap shut. Not having one gives you the freedom to shoot your mouth off (without revealing state secrets) whenever and however you like. Anyway, Brennan has succeeded in scoring an own goal and looking like even more of an ass to an ever-widening group of people.

In Mewler-Gate news, the big story is that the White House counsel was allowed to be interviewed by Mueller and company. By all accounts nothing was revealed and, despite desperate hoping against hope by the Left, did not implicate the President in anything. That said, why allow him to be exposed to a process crime sting? Meh. They're desperate; they're praying for a Manafort conviction and of course if by chance he is acquitted you bet your ass the judge will be smeared as being in Putin's pocket. Anyway, we're 10 or so weeks from the Midterms when all of this will come to a head, one way or another.

Speaking of politics, after getting the rhetorical tar beaten out of him, Andrew Cuomo is back for more, spewing a litany of charges against Republicans and conservatives that he and the Democrat-Left have been wholly guilty of since the founding of the nation. And still are. Plus, we have several links that anecdotally debunk the notion of a blue wave coming in November. Meanwhile, the essentially Marxist Democrat Farm Labor Party in Minnesota is standing by he-man woman-hater Keith Ellison, despite the charges that he physically and emotionally abused his ex-girlfriend. I guess if you rub the pussy-hat it turns into a burqa with no eye slits, ja? And bipedal turd Alcee Hastings burped up that it would be catastrophic if Trump were drowning... and someone saved him. Where else but America can a judge who was impeached for taking bribes come back and become a 25-year congressman? Maybe Cuomo's got something; how can America be that great if cheap-suited, race-baiting dimwit goniffs like Hastings can serve in Congress? Meanwhile, the Feds have posted a reward for info leading to the capture of some punk who threatened the President. Meh, Hastings, Durbin, Waters, Booker et al are unindicted co-conspirators in my estimation.

Big news on the amnesty front; the hack-in-black has reversed himself and ruled that the Feds do not have to expand the illegal DACA program, the Media is now oddly silent since learning that the illegal alien apprehended and set to be repatriated away from his poor preggo wife is in fact wanted for murder. And of course, contra Cuomo, if we suck so badly why are foreigners flocking here by the millions? I can see the Arnold Horshack reaction through my USB.

Let's go to the economy where in something truly remarkable which will never be seen in the propaganda organs, US Steel has announced a $750 million investment in plant expansion at the Gary, IN facility and is crediting PDT's tariffs, 401(k)s are becoming great again, Chelsea Hubbel's aborting our way to prosperity is a sick joke, Fauxcahontas' plan to communize the American economy would be a disaster and a good essay on the myth of the Swedish socialist miracle, the one your libbo friends always crow about whilst avoiding Cuba, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Nicaragua...

Quite a good assortment of links on fake news fakery and censorship, as well as good news on the gun front, where Louisiana is going after corporations restricting gun rights, Washington state's latest gun-grab initiative is tossed from the ballot and concealed carry permits are skyrocketing.

I mentioned the threat from the Chi-Coms and while they are arming up everywhere they still have problems developing indigenous technology that can compete with ours, as evidenced by the jet engine link. Then again, whatever they can't steal with spies here (Feinstein) they are given on a silver platter by crooked stooges (the Clintons and Loral Space). Meanwhile, they are in our schools bigly and also in bed with Google et al. Thank G-d Trump is president is all I can say.

From hither and yon, the Catholic church sex abuse scandal needs to be addressed and the Bishop of Madison Wisconsin of all places puts the blame on the culture of homosexuality. I expect his home to be firebombed at any moment for that one. Michelle Wolf's sick abortion show gets canned by Netflix, Al Sharpton beclowns himself yet again, Mike Lindell stands by the President, the Left owns the Brit grooming gang and Tommy Robinson atrocities and, considering the Chi-Com school infiltration, a sobering piece on why a population of ignoramuses is the perfect opportunity for Leftism.

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

BRENNAN FALLOUT

• Brennan Pulls a Whoopi: When I Called Trump Treasonous, I Didn't Mean "Treason" Treason
  
• Levin Unloads on Brennan's Deep State Defenders and Their Brazen Obama Administration Hypocrisy
  
• Brennan's Anti-Trump Bellicosity Prompts Friendly Fire From His Own Defenders
  
• Michael Hayden Dares PDT to Revoke His Security Clearance Too
  
• Retirees Shouldn't Get Security Clearances (a-f***ing-men - jjs)
  
• PDT on Silencing Critics by Revoking Security Clearances: "If Anything, I'm Giving Them a Bigger Voice" (bingo - jjs)
  
  CIVIL WAR 2.0
  
• Feds Offering $20,000 Reward for Suspect Accused of Threatening the President
  
• Alcee Hastings: It Would Be a "Catastrophe" if Trump Were Drowning and "Anybody Saves His Ass"
  
  POLITICS, 2018 MIDTERMS
  
• Andrew Cuomo Says Trump's America Consists of "Sexism, Racism, Bigotry and Intolerance" (just call us "deplorable" and be done with it, schmuck - jjs)
  
• NY's 19th Congressional District Resists "Blue Wave"
  
• West Virginia is Great Again, and PDT Deserves the Credit
  
• Too Blue for Red: Democrats Out of Touch and Out of Contention
  
  SPYGATE, MUELLER WITCH HUNT, DEEP STATE
  
• What to Make of the White House Counsel's Cooperation with Mueller
  
• Giuliani: Leak of White House Counsel's Cooperation Shows Mueller's Team "Panicking"
  
• Did Sally Yates Enable Bruce Ohr? GOP Investigators Want to Know
  
  AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION
  
• Judge Says Government Does Not Have to Accept New DACA Requests
  
• Reporters Go Bananas When ICE Arrests Illegal Alien... Until They Find Out Who He Is
  
• "Red Terror" Ethiopian Accused of Cheating His Way to US Citizenship
  
• Why Come to America if They Don't Want to Be Americans?
  
  FIRST AMENDMENT, FAKE NEWS, CENSORSHIP
  
• Return of the Blacklist: The Left Shuts Down Free Speech
  
• These Screenshots Show How Google Shadow-Bans Conservative and Pro-Trump Content
  
• And They Wonder Why We're Angry
  
• First They Came for Alex Jones (yes, Jack Cashill can't resist a TWA 800 reference, but still a good read - jjs)
  
  CLINTON SCANDALS, OBAMA SCANDALS, DEMOCRAT SCANDALS
  
• Minnesota DFL Backs Keith "X" Ellison Despite Abuse Allegations
  
• Ellison's Political Future "On the Ropes" After Ex-Girlfriend's Abuse Allegations
  
  SECOND AMENDMENT
  
• Louisiana AG: We're Not Going to Let Corporations Restrict "Ability to Legally Access Firearms"
  
• Demand for Concealed Carry Permits Skyrocketing
  
• Washington State Disqualifies Gun-Control Initiative from Ballot
  
  FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL
  
• Glick: Brunson Case Proves US-Turkey Alliance Has Been Over for Years
  
• Hasina and Erdogan: Two Anti-Israel Birds of a Feather
  
• As Hajj Begins, Ayatollah Urges Pilgrims to "Ask Allah to Cut the Hands Off US"
  
  BRETT KAVANAUGH SCOTUS CONFIRMATION
  
• Kavanaugh Racks Up Record of Dissenting Opinions in Major Federal Cass
  
  DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS
  
• Pentagon: Chi-Coms Boost Nuclear Readiness
  
• China's Ukrainian Jet Engines
  
  ISLAM, TERRORISM, SHARIA, DHIMMITUDE
  
• Greenfield: The Capital of British Pakistan Goes to War with the British Parliament
  
• Time to Change the Rules in Gaza
  
  THE ECONOMY, STUPID
  
• US Steel to Inveest $750 Million at Indiana Plant Thanks to Trump Tariffs: "We Are Experiencing a Renaissanec"
  
• Trump-onomics Makes 401(K) Millionaires Like the Swiss Make Chocolate
  
• Despite What Chelsea Hubbel Sez, Abortion Hurts the Economy
  
• The Ox-Peckers, the Rhinos and the Tyranny of the Eternal Now
  
• Fauxcahontas' Plan to "Fix" the Economy Would Destroy Trillions in Market Value
  
• Debunking Socialist Myths: 90% of Scandinavia's Wealth is Privately Owned
  
  DOMESTIC POLICY, COURTS, BUREAUCRACY
  
• OMB Mulvaney: "Shouldn't Be News to Anybody D.C. Derailed Military Parade
  
• CA Bill Would Make "Water or Milk" Default Restaurant Choices for Kids
  
• According to Judges, Trump is Bound by Obama, not the Law or the Constitution
  
• Public Housing's Most Notorious Failure (if Obama had a presidential library, it would look like... - jjs)
  
  HEALTHCARE
  
• David Daleidin Promises Most "Damning" Planned Parenthood Tapes Still to Come
  
• Media Ignore Record Low Obamacare Rate Hikes - Anyone Want to Guess Why?
  
• A Case Study in Obama-Trump Double Standards
  
  EDUCATION, INDOCTRINATION
  
• Mass Taxpayers Sue Over Anti-Semitic, Pro-Islam School Lessons
  
• Anti-Police Propaganda In Our Schools
  
• Chines Infiltration of American Schools
  
  CULTURE WARS, HITHER and YON
  
• Bishop Morlino: It's Time to Admit "Homosexual Subculture" Harms the Church
  
• Catholic Leaders Haven't Done Anywhere Near Enough About Their Child Abuse Culture
  
• Netflix Aborts Michelle Wolf's Show Amid Subscriber Backlash, Boycott
  
• Gender is a Construct - Except When It's Not
  
• My-Pillow CEO: Support for Trump Stays Extra Firm Despite "All the Attacks"
  
• "R-E-S-P-I-C-T": Sharpton Much Manipsonates Spelling of Aretha Franklin Hit
  
• Leftists Own the UK Grooming Gang Crisis and Tommy Robinson's Prison Torture
  
• The Importance to Liberals of Ignorance and Stupidity

Sunday Overnight Open Thread (8/19/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Quote I

Sarcasm: the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded. Fyodor Dostoevsky

Quote II

You want to have two guys making out in front of your 4-year-old? It's OK with them. A guy smoking a joint, blowing the smoke into your little kid's face? OK with them. And I'm not exaggerating here. This is exactly what the secular movement stands for. Bill O'Reilly

Quote III

Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country. Sinclair Lewis

Quote IV

“Before the camps, I regarded the existence of nationality as something that shouldn’t be noticed—nationality did not really exist, only humanity. But in the camps one learns: if you belong to a successful nation you are protected and you survive. If you are part of universal humanity—too bad for you.” Alexander Solzhenitsyn

***

Not only can Al Sharpton teach you how to be a pond scum sucking anti-Semite and tax dodge, he can teach you how to spell.

Sharpton concluded his comments with a reference to Franklin's 1967 hit "Respect," in which the singer spelled the word out. Sharpton and Franklin, who died last week at the age of 76, were close friends.

"So in the words of my late friend Aretha Franklin, show some R-E-S-P-I-C-T, and the next time you get a black woman and a beagle confused, remember this: I got you," Sharpton said

***

An incomplete story, no word if Judge Smails, Al Czervik, or alcohol was involved.

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a collision between a commercial powerboat and a sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay on Friday.

The two boats were off the shore of Thomas Point Park when the commercial boat, part of a charter service, and a J/105 sailboat belonging to the Chesapeake Boating Club in Eastport, collided. The powerboat slid over the sailboat, then came to rest with the cabin mounted across the middle of the deck, leaving a sizable dent.

***

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Thomas Jefferson. Or the Battle of Athens-August 1, 1946. h/t Bitter Clinger

Bill White, who had fought in the Pacific while still in his teens and come home an ex-sergeant, had gotten angrier as the day wore on. At two in the afternoon he had harangued the group of veterans in the Essankay, saying: “You call yourselves GIs—you go over there and fight for three and four years—you come back and you let a bunch of draft dodgers who stayed here where it was safe, and you were making it safe for them, push you around. … If you people don’t stop this, and now is the time and place, you people wouldn’t make a pimple on a fighting GI’s ass. Get guns…”

In the early evening White went to get the guns himself. He sent two GIs to get a truck and, with a few other veterans, perhaps a dozen, he headed for the National Guard armory. There, he said in a 1969 interview, he “broke down the armory doors and took all the rifles, two Thompson sub-machine guns, and all the ammunition we could carry, loaded it up in the two-ton truck and went back to GI headquarters and passed out seventy high-powered rifles and two bandoleers of ammunition with each one.” By 9:00 P.M. Paul Cantrell, Pat Mansfield, State Rep. George Woods, who was also a member of the election commission, and about fifty deputies were locked inside the jail and going through the ballot boxes. The presence of Mansfield and Woods meant that a majority of the election commission was on hand, so the tallies could be certified and validated on the spot. More deputies were still barricaded in the courthouse, but along the streets none were to be seen. If the Cantrell forces had been a bit more wary, they might have spotted some shadows slipping up the embankment directly across the street from the jail.

It's a long read. But, a very good one. Go ahead, read it for yourself, we'll be here.

***

Haven't had enough government BS tonight? Then maybe Southport is the town for you.

A homeowner has been told she could be breaking the law by parking on her own driveway in Merseyside.

Helen Maloney, of Emmanuel Road, Southport, said she received a letter from Sefton Council as she does not have a dropped kerb and has to drive over the pavement.

About 20 Sefton residents had been sent similar letters, the council said.

The homeowners had been asked to take the "necessary corrective action", a spokesman for Sefton Council said

***

You kick a dog long enough, the dog will bite back. NARL being cute. Someday, sometime, somewhere will be sorry that they have made a mockery of this debate.

The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) has always promoted abortion as a fundamental right of women – sacrosanct and inviolable. But how much do these people really respect the women they purport to represent?

The Oregon chapter of NARAL has partnered with a local ice cream shop to market new flavor: Rocky Roe v. Wade.

***

Fvck Screw you and the horse you rode in on.

Louisiana commission blocks two banks from $600 million road plan because of gun sales policies
There are 2 comments on the The Advocate story from Thursday Aug 16, titled Louisiana commission blocks two banks from $600 million road plan because of gun sales policies. In it, The Advocate reports that:

State Treasurer John Schroder and Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, squared off Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018, at a State Bond Commission meeting over excluding two banks from work on loans to fund highway projects. Schroder, right, and Alario are shown in this file photograph from December 2017 Bond Commission meeting.

Waiting to hear from the usual suspects (Kristol, French, Will, et al) that this is criminal and how it shouldn't stand. They too can F-off.

***

Coffee

***

The ONT Musical Interlude

***

Had Gavin McInnes' been a stalwart conservative like cuck Kevin D. Williamson there would have been a furor over this suspension. But, Gavin is Gavin.

***

That is one way to grab her attention and let her know you aren't happy. Genius Award Winner.

Devastated woman, whose husband tried to kill her by flying a PLANE into their home after blazing row but succeeded only in killing himself, insists he was a 'fantastic guy' and she'll 'never understand what was in his head'

Duane 'Rhedd' Youd was killed Monday after he intentionally flew a plane into his home in Payson, Utah, where his wife Sandy and son were sleeping

Both escaped unharmed as flames engulfed the two-story home in Payson, Utah
Sandy has said she will 'never understand' what was going through his head

She described him as a 'fantastic guy' in an interview days after the deadly crash
Police say Rhedd was arrested for assaulting his wife the night before the crash
After making bail, he went to local airport and flew plane directly into the home

***

The moose out front should have told you this was Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

***

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by the slogan of "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome”

Notice: Posted with permission by The Ace Media Empire and AceCorp, LLC. 3 hour cruise reservations gladly accepted.

Weekly commenter stats for week of 8-19-2018

Top 10 commenters:
1 [490 comments] 'Insomniac' [68.81 posts/day]
2 [427 comments] 'Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, GECSPLAN, SMR and Ancient Slavonaut Newsletters'
3 [388 comments] 'Calm Mentor'
4 [344 comments] 'hogmartin'
5 [317 comments] 'Grump928(c)'
6 [297 comments] 'ScoggDog'
7 [293 comments] 'Cicero (@cicero)'
8 [291 comments] 'Anna Puma (HQCaR)'
9 [288 comments] 'J.J. Sefton'
10 [286 comments] 'Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp '

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [67 names] 'Adirondack Patriot' [9.41 unique names/day]
2 [64 names] 'Duncanthrax'
3 [59 names] 'Miklos, just Miklos'
4 [42 names] 'Under Fire'
5 [38 names] 'Hands'
6 [36 names] 'Surfperch'
7 [34 names] 'Don Q.'
8 [34 names] 'Adriane the Music Critic ...'
9 [33 names] 'Axeman'
10 [32 names] 'Cicero (@cicero)'

Close it up

Food Thread: "You can have any color as long as it's black"

—CBD

I realize that this is a tortured comparison, but I see in the typical food lunatic a touch of the Colorado bakery insanity. When I go to a restaurant I expect that the business will accommodate me...up to a point. Sure, asking for extra-crispy fries is a reasonable request, but there is a point at which those requests become too time-consuming and expensive for any restaurant to tolerate.

It is a view that places the individual at the center of the universe, and I simply cannot tolerate that attitude. We are a (mostly) free people, but that freedom does not extend to the power to control others.

But back to food...I am usually happy to accommodate guests in my home with specific dietary requirements, but I have a line that I will not cross. If you don't like it...don't eat it.

Lewis Carroll had it exactly correct:

..."don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"

*Of course one was a conservative, and both loved baseball...

******

Look, it's just a quiche without a pie shell. But it does sound easy, although what the hell is "dry biscuit mix?" Seriously...I have seen the biscuits in the tins in the refrigerator case, and have eaten my share of them. But is there really a product marketed as biscuit mix? Why? It's flour and baking powder and a bit of salt and maybe sugar. Am I missing something elemental about the complexity of mixing three dry ingredients in a bowl?
Impossible Ham And Swiss Pie
I like dishes like this for large breakfast or brunch gatherings, because they can feed a bunch of people and they don't require the skills of a short-order cook. I like cooking as much as the next guy, but sometimes I want to be able to relax with the people around the table with my breakfast bourbon and wax poetic about the joys of French Toast with butter and salt.
******

Skip puts beans and vodka on his French Toast, and you give me shit for putting on salt and butter?

******
I haven't had the opportunity to mock Chipotle for months! I guess their much-vaunted programs to address filthy, microbe-ridden food didn't work quite as well as they expected. It's one thing to address specific breakdowns in the logistics that allowed tainted ingredients to enter their restaurants, but when multiple attempts to remedy the problem have failed, perhaps it is time to address the overall design of the system. It is obvious that Chipotle does not get it. Their ersatz "farm-to-table" marketing plan is based on a chaotic supply chain that is uncontrollable. There is something to be said for that Sysco or McDonalds semi rolling up to the restaurant. Maybe the ingredients aren't locally sourced and caressed by vegan wood nymphs before harvest, but usually people don't get sick from them. And the current catastrophe is even worse. Unsafe temperatures means that the food safety system within the restaurant broke down.
CDC: Food left at unsafe temperatures led to illnesses at Ohio Chipotle
McDonald's has almost 20 times the number of restaurants, yet we hear about far fewer cases of food poisoning! Why is that?

I will cheerfully eat oysters and beef tartare, love a runny egg in my ramen, and become apoplectic over medium-well pork, but I would think twice before eating at a Chipotle.

******
It's lunch. It isn't an existential attack on your way of life. It isn't someone sneaking into your house and kidnapping your children. It's the shape of your french fries.
Furious customers threaten to attack restaurant owner and his CHILDREN after he changed the shape of his famous $4 french fries
1. Anyone near Waterville Maine? Please spend a few bucks at this place.
B. People are crazy.
III. The owners should buy shotguns.
Four. I like straight-cut fries more than crinkle-cut.
******
I love this dish, which is simply a fancy version of the chopped chicken livers my maternal grandmother made. That, and her cheese blintzes were my happiest memories of her kitchen (everything else was...um...sort of crappy)

Don't bother with the Cognac Gelée unless you really want authenticity. It's nice, but this dish used to be quite rustic until it was dandified by snooty city chefs.

Julia Child’s Chicken Liver Mousse

(Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking)

• 2 c. chicken livers
• 2 tbsp. minced shallots
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1/3 c. cognac
• 1/4 c. whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. allspice
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• Pinch of thyme
• 1/2 c. melted butter
• Kosher salt and pepper

1. Remove any greenish or blackish spots from the livers, as well as any sinew. Cut the livers into 1/2″ pieces.

2. Melt butter over medium heat in a sauté pan until foam has subsided. Sauté livers with the shallots in butter for 2 to 3 minutes, until the livers are just stiffened, but still rosy inside. Scrape into the blender jar.

3. Pour the wine or cognac into the pan and boil it down rapidly until it has reduced to 3 tablespoons. Scrape it into the blender jar.

4. Add the cream and seasonings to the blender jar. Cover and blend at top speed for several seconds until the liver is a smooth paste.

5. Add the melted butter and blend several seconds more. Adjust seasoning.

6. Pack into the bowl or jar and chill for 2 to 3 hours.

Cognac Gelée
• 1/2 c. water, separated
• 1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 c. dry vermouth
• 2 tsp. cognac
1. Place 1/4 c. of warm water in a ramekin, sprinkle unflavored gelatin and let it stand for about 10 minutes.
2. In a small saucepan heat wine and sugar over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Once the gelatin has softened, add the other 1/4 c. of hot water to the ramekin and dissolve until mixture becomes clear. Add the gelatin mixture to the warm wine mixture and mix thoroughly.
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add cognac. Let the warm mixture stand until it almost reaches room temperature. 5. Once it has cooled, pour over chilled mousse. Return the mousse to the fridge and chill until the gelée has set.

******
Food and cooking tips, Haggis, Henry Big Boys in .357, gefilte fish replacements, thick and fluffy pita and good tomatoes that aren't square, pale pink and covered with Mestizo E.coli: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com. Any advocacy of French Toast with syrup will result in disciplinary action up to and including being nuked from orbit.

Close it up

Truth Or Consequences....Moron Edition

—CBD

Tell us a story...it can be true, or mostly true, or partly true, or a complete load of unadulterated bullshit.

The only rule is that it should sound good.

Whoever tells the best true one that sounds ridiculously farfetched wins a Platinum Membership with the ampersand utility and Troll-B-Gon^TM.

Whoever tells the best tall tale and passes it off as true wins a set of steak knives.

Oh...if you just feel like bragging about something, go ahead!

THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED!

—CBD

The scientific method is unforgiving, and not quite as simple as one would think. I was having a conversation about it with a friend who knows a lot more about it than I, and he corrected my lazy definition with a more complete one:

Instead of "true" and "not true" I'd substitute "consistent with what we know so far" (i.e., not yet disproven), and "not true." The problem with characterizing an explanation as "true" is that it gradually accretes more and more credibility over time, until it becomes received truth. It's important to remind oneself that any explanation could be overturned tomorrow.

So I was immensely amused to find this article recently about a scientist whose theory is upsetting the "settled science" apple cart, and it is awesome. The Nastiest Feud in Science: A Princeton geologist has endured decades of ridicule for arguing that the fifth extinction was caused not by an asteroid but by a series of colossal volcanic eruptions. But she's reopened that debate.

There are many instances of accepted science that were disproven in a flash, and years or decades or centuries of fact were simply discarded. And that is as it should be. Having an emotional or financial or egotistical connection to a scientific conclusion is an invitation to sit at the head of the table and get the first and largest serving of crow.

I have no knowledge or expertise in this field, but her theory certainly makes sense. it may be right..it may be wrong, but it should battle it out honorably on the field of logic and science, not on the post-modern field of malleable rules and acceptance of the popular as the truth.

Sunday Morning Book Thread 08-19-2018

—OregonMuse

Rockingham Public Library, Bellows Falls, VT

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes. Oh, and we've got a new category of readers, escaped oafs and oafettes ('escaped oafs' is an anagram of 'Ace of Spades'). Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, and publishing by people who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, which I don't understand why anyone would want to wear. They don't look comfortable, they're ugly, and if you suddenly need to run, you'll be doing an instant faceplant.

Pic Note

This week's photo is courtesy of a lurking moron who spent most of his childhood hanging out in this library. This was back in the days when you had to look up stuff in massive card catalogs. More here, but the site navigation is somewhat cumbersome.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

To BRATTLE is to squander your money.

Usage: Is it a coincidence that Mary Cloggenstein lives in Brattleboro, VT?

(h/t to the moron who sent me this a long time ago, I forget exactly who it was, I'm guessing it was probably The Political Hat)

Looks Interesting

I discovered How to Survive an Active Shooter, 2nd Edition: What You do Before, During and After an Attack Could Save Your Life (Conversations) by Jacquelyn Lynn from a review posted on votermom's blog. It asks the question "Would you know what to do if someone started shooting?" It gives pointers on:

•What you should do when someone starts shooting
•What you can do if escape isn’t possible
•Why it’s dangerous to keep your cell phone with you
•What a kill box is and how to avoid being in one
•How to defend yourself against an active shooter
•Why playing dead can get you killed
•What weapons, other than firearms, attackers are using
•How to protect a house of worship
•What you should do before and after law enforcement arrives

The last item is a bit problematic. I've heard that during the Columbine shootings, the police stood around outside the school while the shooters blazed away. And we all know about the derelict sheriff's deputy at Parkland who thought sticking his head in the sand was the better part of valor. And of course, the answer is more gun control laws.

If I'm ever caught in one of these situations, I have to assume that law enforcement is not something I can count on to save me and my loved ones.

I understand that the Israelis teach that everybody needs to rush the shooter, even if no weapons are available. Because eventually the sheer weight of numbers will obstruct the shooter's progress.

Of course, the Israelis arm their school teachers, which undoubtedly helps.

Travel Books

A lurking 'ette sent me this pic of books she took with her on a trip that involved a number of long flights. Along with her Kindle, she carried with her:

Island of Mad by Laurie King- liked the earlier ones better but this one was kind of fun since it was set in Venice and that is where I was headed.

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz- better than expected since the author inserts himself into the story- I don't usually care for those kind of plots but this is done about as well as one can do those kind of things.

The War in the Dark- Nick Setchfield- nice moody historical fantasy with magic but characters did not ring true.

Lonely Planet Venice- solid historical summary and overview of major and minor attractions, but not great on shopping and eating recs.

first of the Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell- will be reading more of these- very sharp military scifi with engaging characters and plotting.

(And on her Kindle):

Young Trailers by Altsheler- loved these as a teenager and there are worse things a teenager could be reading now- strong male characters that value friendship and adventure but simplistic plots at times and awful dialogue.

Murder on the Oxford Canal by Martin- decent mystery setup for a series- will probably try a few more.

Moron Recommendation

Lurker Chuck e-mailed a couple of recommendations for WW I history:

Peter Englund’s “The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War” is told through the eyes of twenty average men and women who participated in some way in the conflict. The perspectives are from all over the world, not just the Western Front. Very powerful.

Also Wade Davis’ “Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest” about how the war affected the climbing expeditions of the 20s and 30s.

The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War is available on Kindle for $14.99 (ouch), but you can buy the hardcover edition for 8.00.

The Amazon blurb describes Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest as

The definitive story of the British adventurers who survived the trenches of World War I and went on to risk their lives climbing Mount Everest.

The Kindle edition is $14.99, but used hardcover copies go for as low as $3.00.

___________

This week I finished The Hearts of Horses, by Molly Gloss, a look at the not-easy life of homesteaders in the 1917 Western U.S. -- an era not usually written about.

I recommended it for a maiden aunt just coming off a heart attack (she's 93) because I know she likes the Western genre and because it was "clean." Well, it was until the last 10 pages. Then the author felt compelled to wreck it with one stinking scene of "hot and bothered" characters. Ugh. Still recommended, but not for your genteel elderly aunt.

Posted by: SandyCheeks at August 12, 2018 09:08 AM (ihzOe)

This recommendation fit in well with the "books ruined by sex" theme I had going last week. Seems to me you can just tear out the last 10 pages before you give it to your elderly maiden aunt. The Amazon blurb calls this book an

...irresistible tale of nineteen-year-old Martha Lessen, a female horse whisperer trying to make a go of it in a man’s world. It was thought that the only way to break a horse was to buck the wild out of it, and broken ribs and tough falls just went with the job. But over several long, hard winter months, many of the townsfolk in this remote county of eastern Oregon witness Martha's way of talking in low, sweet tones to horses believed beyond repair—and getting miraculous, almost immediate results—and she thereby earns a place of respect in the community.

The Kindle edition of The Hearts of Horses is $9.99.

___________

If you like, you can follow me on Twitter, where I make the occasional snarky comment.

___________

Don't forget the AoSHQ reading group on Goodreads. It's meant to support horde writers and to talk about the great books that come up on the book thread. It's called AoSHQ Moron Horde and the link to it is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Close it up

EMT 08/19/18

—krakatoa

I don't know if it's occurred to anyone yet, but I'm really not a morning person.

Saturday Overnight Open Thread (8/18/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

The Saturday Night Joke

The teacher asked the class to use the word “fascinate” in a sentence.

Molly put up her hand and said, “My family went to my granddad's farm, and we all saw his pet sheep. It was fascinating."

The teacher said, “That was good, but I wanted you to use the word ‘fascinate,’ not 'fascinating'.”

Sally raised her hand. She said, “My family went to see Rock City and I was fascinated.”

The teacher said, “Well, that was good Sally, but I wanted you to use the word ‘fascinate’.”

Little Johnny raised his hand, but the teacher hesitated because she had been burned by Little Johnny before. She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word “fascinate,” so she called on him.

Johnny said, “My aunt Carolyn has a sweater with ten buttons, but her tits are so big she can only fasten eight!”

The teacher sat down and cried.

***

Sure it is Caturday, but could a cat do this? Clumsy! Yet so cute!!

***

There are still a few weeks of summer left. If you want to do some sight seeing why not visit one of the 15 oldest taverns in the good old U.S.A.?

Besides drinks, some of them sound like they have fine eats as well.

***

I'm not so sure the name BlackFly is the one I would have chosen for this flying car.

Which of course gets you this from Tim Wilson NSFW

***

Moar Saturday night humor

***

Just where did you obtain your drivers license?

***

The ONT Musical Interlude

*

And.....Keith Richards has outlived another performer of his generation. Go figure.

*

Good music and good neighbors. In this situation do not go hand in hand. Surprisingly she was not shot, stabbed or maimed prior to arrest.

Eva N., from the Slovakian town of Štúrovo, was recently arrested after defying the Supreme Court’s decision to stop playing a four-minute aria from Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ on loop every day from early in the morning until late at night.

It’s safe to say that Eva N.’s neighbors on Kossuth Street, in Štúrovo, know Verid’s La Traviata by heart. After all they’ve been forced to listen to it for 16 years, ever since the woman started playing it from loudspeakers on her balconies almost non-stop during the day. They’ve been trying to get her to stop for years, appealing to both local police and the justice system, but Eva just defied everyone and kept turning on Placido Domingo’s interpretation of La Traviata every morning at around 6 am, and only turned it off at around 10 at night. Luckily, after over a decade and a half of audio torture, Slovakia’s Supreme Court recently upheld the decision of a lower court that required Eva N. to stop playing her music at loud volume. She ignored the ruling as she did the previous ones, only this time, she got arrested.

Good tune but an endless loop?

***

Respect your elders or you could end up winning a Genius Winner Award.

***

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Back To School Shopping.

Notice: Posted with permission from The Ace Media Empire and the subsidiary AceCorp, LLC. Caution The ONT makes wide right turns fascinate sweaters.

Close it up

Saturday Evening Movie Thread [Guest Blogger: Moviegique]

—CBD

We are going to try to expand the topics a bit for this time slot, so it is entirely possible that you will see fishing, Yoko Ono, macramé, Mechanical Engineering 228: Shelf Design, hacky-sack, the psycho-sexual politics of veganism, and other interesting topics. Or not.

It was an inauspicious start to "Incredibles 2" where some people who made the film (actors, in this case) come out before the movie to tell you how much you're going to like the movie that you paid for and are waiting to see. It feels positively needy. But "Coco" turned out okay,

The next thing that hits you—hard—is that they're all 15 years older. I don't know if Holly Hunter smokes, but her voice has gone from a charming whiskey-soaked Southern twang to...your grandmother. Craig T. Nelson is no spring chicken either. Writer/director Brad Bird's Edna Mode is fine, but she was an old lady all along. And while this may not bug most people, I sorely felt the absence of the late Bud Luckey (who plays agent Rick Dickey, the guy in charge in keeping Mr. Incredible employed, and the narrator of the charming "Boundin'" short that played before the first "Incredibles").

The political correctness of the film is the next bump on this ride. I would argue that the first movie, while a philosophical muddle, was at least not overly SJW. To elaborate it helps to get a light summary of the story:

We begin at the exact end of the previous movie with the Underminer running amok and our newly united super family ready to face him together! Except this is a new movie and we need a new conflict, so let's pretend nothing was resolved by the last movie—the number one way sequels screw up their classic origins—and let's use the same conflict again, to wit, the Parrs are at each others' throats and superheroes are still illegal. The Incredibles defeat the Underminer, but heroism backfires due to collateral damage.

The Parrs are broke because the government can't get them jobs any more.
A reprieve comes in the form of a Jobs/Wosniak-style brother-sister team who assure the Parrs that if they wear body cams people can see what more than just the damage. They can use this to sway public opinion and get supers de-criminalized. Because Mr. Incredible tends toward the more destructive, Elastigirl will be the pilot, and her target is the mind-controlling Screenslaver. Bob will stay home and take care of Jack-Jack.

The "Mr. Mom" bit was reasonably fresh when Michael Keaton did it in 1983, and it doesn't have to be the case that this kind of storyline is SJW, but the Bob Parr of this movie is more than just a middle-aged man looking to relive his glory days: He's borderline psychotic, usually on the verge of a murderous rage. When his wife tells his how well the crime-fighting is going, he's so riddled with envy, his heroism is that he is actually able to congratulate her.

Mr. Incredible in one of his happier moments.

He's completely unable to do the house-husband thing at first. About the time I was starting to ready to check out completely, he has a good moment and I thought, "OK, at least he's not a complete boob." Except that the next scene, he's back to being utterly overwhelmed. It doesn't help that Elastigirl's feistiness gets knocked into 12th gear here.
She's utterly unsympathetic to Bob, with only a token nod toward missing the biggest moments of her baby's life.

Once you notice one of these things, they start to pile up fast. In the brother-sister team, for example, it's the sister who's the world-wise Wozniak (technical wizard), and the brother who's the bubble-headed Jobs. The sensible Violet is victimized by her father's blundering attempts to help while Dash is basically random uncontrolled impulsive destructiveness.

Then there's the second string heroes. In the first movie there's a quick run-through of all the (murdered) super-heroes? You probably didn't think anything of it, but all those characters were what you might call "conventionally attractive" and even "rather idealized". In this movie, all of the heroes (apart from the Parrs and Frozone) are what Diversity & Comics would call alt-lifestyle-freakazoids, except for the one white male who's old and has irritable bowel syndrome for his power. The most prominent wannabe hero even sports the classic "mentally disturbed" hairstyle: blue and shaved on one side.

They look like a latex fetish convention.

Who WOULDN'T wanna look like these guys?

Bird, whom I have loved since his early days on the "Simpsons" and "The Critic" was wrong to bristle at the Twitter dad who said his kid had trouble sitting still during the talky parts. There are two lengthy, pointless speeches that I think a more engaged John Lasseter would've gently guided Bird away from. At 2:05, it's too long for woke, girl-power speeches which literally do nothing to advance the plot.

All this I could actually overlook, but the story is as rote as they come. The villain is supposed to be a surprise, but it's tipped very early on. Elastigirl misses so many obvious cues as to what's going on—mind control is the hoariest of superhero clichés—she ends up looking dumb. This is not coincidental.

Everybody looks fine in here!

I've often said that critics have a gut reaction to a film, like everyone else, and then invent "reasons" to "explain" that feeling, much like people do with politics. With SJW-based fiction (not exclusively, but especially), we see artists desiring to create specific outcomes played out by certain demographics, and retrofitting stories completely to make those things happen—however little sense it ends up making.

This happens big and small throughout "The Incredibles 2", as when Violet's character arc shows her accepting the possibility that a teenage girl might occasionally, maybe, sometimes when there's no other option, be suited to babysitting.

The action is competent, the final set piece is solid, and there are a few good gags, but we learn nothing new about our heroes. The art is good, of course, and Michael Giacchino's score is great but we didn't hate it, but we couldn't muster more than a "meh".

But we were just marking time before the real feature: A Chinese thriller about the no-holds-barred world of underground rock-scissors-paper.

Close it up

Chess Thread 08-18-2018

—OregonMuse

As always, the chess/dress pr0n thread is an open thread, so there is no such thing as an off-topic comment.

Easier Problem - Black To Play (Ch. 4149)

Hint: hit the pawn

8/1p1P2bk/p5pp/3Q1pq1/P3r3/5pB1/1P2r2P/R4R1K b - - 0 1

Continue reading

More Challenging Problem - Black To Play (Ch. 5320)

Hint: Remove the obstructing knight

1r3rk1/p1p2q2/2Bp1bpp/5p2/4p2P/1N1bP1P1/PP1Q1P2/K2R3R b - - 0 1

Dress Pr0n For The 'Ettes:

Charles James’s aptly named 1954 butterfly dress consists of layers and layers of shaded net constructed in such a way as to mimic the downbeat of a butterfly’s wings catching the breeze @ChicagoMuseum #1950sWomen #fashionhistory pic.twitter.com/ynXjp8Jpgp

— Dr Kate Strasdin (@kateStrasdin) August 17, 2018

The 70s called. They want their hat back

Oktoberfest!
(click for larger version)

Question: what is the capacity of those bierkrüge? They look like about 2 quarts, which is ludicrous. Can you really go to bars in Germany and get served a half gallon of beer?

___________

Solutions Update

Easier Problem - Black To Play

8/1p1P2bk/p5pp/3Q1pq1/P3r3/5pB1/1P2r2P/R4R1K b - - 0 1

1...Rxh2+!
2.Kxh2

If 2.Kg1 then Qxg3# or if 2.Bxh2 then Qg2#

2...Rh4+
3. Bxh4 Qg2#

or 3.Kg1 Qxg3#

Mate in 3.

More Challenging Problem - Black To Play

1r3rk1/p1p2q2/2Bp1bpp/5p2/4p2P/1N1bP1P1/PP1Q1P2/K2R3R b - - 0 1

1...Rxb3!

White's position is surprisingly weak. Now Black threatens Bxb2+

2.axb3 Qxb3
3.Bd5+?!

White's only hope. If anything else, say 3.Rc1 then Qa3#.

3...Qxd5
4.Qb4

To counter mating threats on the a-file.

4...Qc6
5.Rxd3

The loss of the exchange is necessary to blunt the force of White's attack.

5...exd3

6.Rd1 Qc2
7.Rd2 Qc1+
8.Ka2 c5
9.Qb3+ c4
10.Qd1 Qxd1
11.Rxd1 Rb8

Black is up a bishop and has a passed pawn, which is more than enough to win. This is how I did it against my app, which runs the Stockfish engine:

12.Rd2 Kf7
13.Ka3 Ke6
14.f3 Kd5
15.Rf2

And now my king is in place so I can use my favorite tool in my tactical tool kit: simplification.

15...Bxb2+
16.Rxb2 Rxb2
17.Kxb2 a5

Now I have 3 passed pawns and White won't be able to stop them all.

Hope to see you all next week!

___________

Note: that cryptic line of letters and numbers you see underneath each board diagram is a representation of the position in what is known as "Forsyth-Edwards Notation", or F.E.N. It's actually readable by humans. Most computer applications nowadays can read FEN, so those of you who may want to study the position, you can copy the line of FEN and paste into your chess app and it should automatically recreate the position on its display board. Or, Windows users can just "triple click" on it and the entire line will be highlighted so you can copy and past it into your chess app.

___________

So that about wraps it up for this week. Chess thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to my yahoo address: OregonMuse little-a-in-a-circle yahoo dott com.

Close it up

Posted by OregonMuse at 05:10 PM Comments