Wednesday Night Overnight Open Thread (9/28/16) [Mis. Hum.]

—Open Blogger

Welcome to the National Coffee Day Eve Overnight Open Thread. Thursday September 29th is National Coffee Day. Now if we can get a National Valu-Rite Day that would be quite the accomplishment.

Are you going to miss the big day? Don't feel bad, International Coffee Day will be celebrated world wide on Saturday, October 1st.

So Horde, how do you plan on celebrating? Your humble Cob will probably drink enough to float a battleship. Saturday will probably be a repeat.

Does your significant other like coffee? You could always replace your coffee with Stiff Bull Coffee.

If you have been following the ONT lately you know we've been covering autonomous autos. There are many among us that scoff at the thought of them taking over the roads. Surprising there aren't the typical nanny state characters attempting to stop these autos.

Uber transparency. Recently Uber introduced self-driving car tests in Pittsburgh. Passengers signed their lives away.

In addition to the legal document asking passengers to free Uber of liability of death or injury caused by its self-driving cars, The Guardian also points to a public interview company executives participated in. In August, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told Bloomberg Businessweek, “Nobody has set up software that can reliably drive a car safely without a human.”

If one is to take their lives into their own hands with an automobile. This looks like moar fun. Truly, a Moron sport.

Hate standing in line? There is a chair for that.

Science means many things to many people. From helping Grandmother battle Alzheimer's Disease to helping Mom beat breast cancer. The politicization of science is increasing. Pumpkins are a lot of things. But, racist they are not.

Can we believe any "science" study?

A creeping political bias is exactly what we should expect: When agencies and government officials can control the flow of information to get more favorable stories and punish reporters who displease them, they will.

The Horde can have science and firearms. AR15 Mud Test

Obamacare in trouble. Congress acting tough.

According to the agency, the program experienced a shortfall of more than $2.5 billion in 2014, an amount so large that all of the risk corridor payments from 2015 would not cover it. Because all of the 2015 benefit year collections will be used for the 2014 shortfall, the agency anticipates that no funds will be available for the 2015 risk corridor program shortfall.

Target's bathroom policy costing them big bucks.

Debate at Hofstra U has fireworks behind the scenes.

Imagine always having the strongest mind in the room.

No math tonight. But, a quiz from 1928 about humor.

How about another quiz?

In the middle ages life was a bitch and then you died a horrible death.

Does this qualify as our history entry or our culture entry for the evening? You be the judge.

Holidays must be awfully uncomfortable.

No blood for water! Water wars on the horizon?

Canada is building one big a$$ trail. Impressive project between governments and private sector.

No, that’s not a typo. When it’s finished next year, the Trans Canada Trail will clock in at 14,864 miles long, nearly 13,000 miles of which are connected. As Anzilotti reports, the trail will open to everyone from cyclists to skiiers, horseback riders and hikers in 2017 and will be the world’s longest recreational trail

Despite those bumps on the trail to completion, construction is still ongoing. The goal is to have the trail completed by Canada’s 150th anniversary on July 1, 2017.

Speaking of Canada, farmers with firearms. We don't have a race problem. We have a crime problem.

News tips, spare change, recyclables can be sent here.

Be the first on your block to join The Group.

If it weren't for bad luck he would have no luck at all.

Genius award.

Feel good story of the day.

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Close it up

Obama Administration In Yet Another Late Friday Document Dump: Oh By The Way, Not That It Matters, But Remember that Night Club Killer We Claimed Was Gay or Something...? Yeah Turns Out He Was a Super-User of ISIS Propaganda

—Ace

Given that this information was almost immediately available to the Administration, but our law enforcement services covered it up for months and permitted false claims to proliferate, even the New York Times is daring to ask the obvious question:

The timing of this release, combined with past omissions, leads me to ask whether officials are stage-managing ISIS-linked attacks?

Nah. Go back to sleep, Little Tiger. You've got a big day tomorrow of chasing butterflies and lightningbugs.

Congress Overrides Obama's Veto of 9/11 Bill, the First Time It Has Done So

—Ace

It's a popular bill, so Democrats cravenly went along with it, giving, as it does, the victims of 9/11 the right to sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged connections to 9/11. (Of course, they'd also have to make that case in court.)

I'm not sure this is wise. Yeah, I know Saudi Arabia was involved. Saudi Arabia is the flower of terror throughout the world and always has been.

But if we're using this as leverage or a sweetener to extract concessions from them, and we're giving that up to give some (admittedly deserving) people money... Not sure if it's a good trade.

Then again, Obama doesn't use leverage to get anything out of any foreign power, so I don't know what this administration would be giving up.

Hillary Clinton's "Charity" foundation will probably end up poorer, alas.

So there is that.

And there will be a price to be paid, I imagine, for Saudi Arabia permitting its million clerics to propagate pro-terrorism messages on the internet.

BTW, Hillary's stout-hearted running mate skipped out on the bill so he could avoid casting a vote unpopular with the country at large or casting a vote which would upset Obama's cultish coalition.

But never fear-- the media will absolutely hound him on what his vote would have been.

Embarrassing: Fox Instructs Hosts Not to Cite Meaningless Online Polls Because They're Not Even Polls

—Ace

They had to warn Sean Hannity about this.

Of course, Trump is out there complaining that the media isn't noticing how well he did in the "online polls."

Does Trump know these aren't real polls? Does he know these are just click-suck jerkoff-bait for people? Does he know "online polls" are just a progressive tax on desperation, ill-education, and idleness levied by 23-year-old neckbeards looking for an easy way to goose their traffic numbers?

I think he probably does, but that leads to the next problem: Someone who can't tell a plausible lie from an implausible lie is just as dumb as someone who doesn't even realize his claim is a lie in the first place.

Can the entire online right just get its shit together and finally comprehend there is no such thing as an "online poll"? It says right at the bottom: Not a scientific poll. For entertainment purposes only.

Which is itself a lie; they're not for your entertainment, they're there so that a site can pad its traffic stats for the day by getting ignorant people to link its stupid fake poll.

And that's why no one cites these polls: because they're not polls.

They're chum for the dumb.

Stop already. It's beyond embarrassing at this point.

Political Importance: Trump would be winning if he was pulling college educated voters at Romney's level, or even close to it.

He's doing very well with less-educated whites -- as he predicted.

However, he's lost huge support from college-educated whites.

This class is very class-conscience and proud to be "educated." They're very proud that they have degrees. Like 67 million other Americans, or about 31% of the US population age 25 and above.

It's not exactly winning the Heismann Trophy.

Yet they're very proud of their class status.

And they find it hard to support a man who seems to either 1, be far below their class status despite being wealthy, or 2, who seems only interested in catering to the ignorances of the less well-educated.

Stupid shit like this -- showing either ignorance of, or deceit about, a fact that any reasonably on-the-ball person knows -- hurts Trump far more than it helps him.

It's hard to vote for a guy you not only suspect you're smarter than (this happens in most elections) but are sure you're a lot smarter than.

Trump needs to stop playing to a base he's had since June 2015 and start playing for the votes he doesn't have, but absolutely needs, if he's to win.

Chelsea Clinton Objects to Trump's Threat to Bring Up Her "Father's" Sexual Misdeeds;
Juanita Broaddrick Responds

—Ace

The Stepford Daughter spits out her sing-songy, scripted lines like a good little robot:

Chelsea responded to the businessman's threats to bring up former President Bill Clinton's infamous infidelities at the first presidential debate in a Cosmopolitan interview, published Tuesday.

"My reaction to that is just what my reaction has been kind of every time Trump has gone after my mom or my family, which is that it's a distraction from his inability to talk about what's actually at stake in this election and to offer concrete, comprehensive proposals about the economy," Chelsea, 36, said, "or our public school system, or debt-free college, or keeping our country safe and Americans safe here at home and around the world."

Funny, but your mom seemed to think past indiscretions were more important than any of those things when she used every moment of her debate time for a massive oppo dump on Trump.

But now one of the meaningless women who's "not at stake" in this election -- or any other, according to the media's non-coverage of her -- responds:

The Story That Hillary Wrote, Cast, and Produced For the Media Is Falling Apart

—Ace

Fat Miss Universe won't answer the question of whether she was a getaway driver in an attempted murder. "I'm not a saint girl," this very English-fluent US citizen (as of May 2016 -- gee, I wonder if Hillary and Obama pulled strings) says.

The Daily Mail revealed her alleged involvement in the murder of a judge's brother and death threats against that judge. Oh, and having a child with a notorious drug baron.

The US Media did not explore these issues very much.

Well, to give him credit, Anderson Cooper did ask about it. (He's in the top video, linked above.)

Megyn Kelly, who does it all #ForTheGirls and believes that #FeminismMeansNoCriticism, did not.

Her interview with the non-English-speaking Ms. Machado was embarrassing. She did not ask about any of these things. The one thing she asked about -- whether or not she had an eating disorder before she was crowned Miss Universe, as she said in 1997, or only after encountering The Beast Donald Trump, as she says now, she inarticulately deflected away. Whether her English is really this bad, or just very bad when she wants to evade a question, is unknowable.

Now, the interview appeared pre-recorded, and maybe she didn't know about this at the time of the recording; but then why run the video of a woefully incomplete interview with a subject whose credibility is very much in doubt as originally planned? Why make no reference to these allegations before or after running the tape?

Why?

I'll tell you why: Because MeAgain Kelly is still traumatized for being Violently Tweeted by Donald Trump.

She apparently still has PTSD due to her being forcibly Tweeted.

I always half-expect MeAgain Kelly, when interviewing a badly wounded war veteran, to say, "I know exactly what you're going through. Donald Trump once tweeted me."

How will MeAgain Kelly deal with her embarrassment tonight?

If she covers it at all, here's a prediction: She has on two soothing Authoritative Male Presences -- my guess is her mentor Brit Hume, and Howard Kurtz -- to reassure MeAgain Kelly that she did nothing wrong and any reporter would have rushed Hillary Clinton's concocted Hitjob to the air without doing any fact checking or vetting.

Think I'm wrong?

She does this -- whenever Fox's Most Fabulous Feminist feels chastened by #AntiWomanCriticism, she has on two Reassuring Male Figures to coo to her that she did everything right.

So tonight I predict she will Summon the Male Defenders/Reassurers.

More At Conservative Treehouse: They link a video they purport to be by Alicia Machado, but I've seen no confirmation of that -- then again, someone seems to be cleaning up her Wikipedia page like crazy.

But check it out.

And go there to see MeAgain Kelly delivering the lines Hillary Clinton scripted for her.

You get to see MeAgain Kelly's favorite look -- she's got her Concerned Face on.

It's like Blue Steel but with added Social Justice Warrior content.

Hillary Clinton: I Worked Hard For My Graft

—Ace

The Washington Insider Power (Marriage of Economic Convenience) Couple who made $57.5 million while Hillary was Secretary of State and Bill was scooping up donations from countries and corporations with business before his (alleged) wife is claiming they worked so hard you guys for their graft.

Morning Consult Poll Has Clinton Getting a Big Bump From Debate;
In LATimes Tracking Poll, Trump Gains Slightly

—Ace

But the LATimes poll shows Trump getting a tiny half-point bump.

Girl 27: The Case Against Hollywood Is An Old One [MP4]

—Open Blogger

As a diversion from the pending "Fat Man On White Ottoman; Part Deux," we have an interesting article about early Hollywood, which exposes the roots of its current misogyny, lawlessness and arrogance.

From esteemed commenter and Hollywood scholar MP4

Morning, ‘rons and ‘ronettes.

In the “Golden Age” of movies, no studio was richer or more powerful than MGM. “They owned everyone – the D.A., the L.A.P.D. They ran this place,” recalled Budd Schulberg, author of the 1941 novel What Makes Sammy Run? and himself the son of Hollywood mogul B.P. Schulberg. Between the heavy power of studio “fixer” Eddie Mannix (reputed to be responsible for the death of “Superman” George Reeves) and publicity chief Howard Strickling, there was, practically speaking, no crime a Metro star – or valued associate - couldn’t commit, from Clark Gable’s drunk-driving homicide to the brutal rape of a young dancer in 1937.

Patricia Douglas, a Missouri girl, was the daughter of an ambitious mother who longed to design high couture dresses for Hollywood stars, but never got closer than gowns for expensive call girls. A convent school dropout at 14, Douglas had no desire to be in the movies at all, though that didn’t stop her from being a popular bit of innocent arm candy for stars as varied as crooner Bing Crosby to tough guy George Raft to frizzy-haired Stooge Larry Fine, a hep-stepper who taught her every hot dance move he knew. She finally ended up in front of the camera, “just for something to do” and became a fairly well-regarded dancer, good at learning complicated routines and teaching them to other chorus girls. So when she was told about a casting call at the Hal Roach studio in Culver City on May 2, 1937, she ambled on over.

The Morning Report 9/28/16 [J.J. Sefton]

—Open Blogger

Hump Day, people. Have a better one!

• Former Israeli PM Shimon Peres Dead at 93, RIP
  
• Unarmed Black Man Shot Dead by Cops in San Diego
  
• Tubby Riefenstahl Has the Sadz
  
• Trump Still a YUUUGE Draw-1,000s Turned Away at Massive FL Rally
  
• "Terrorist Diaspora Like We've Never Seen Before" Warns Comey
  
• "4(65,000) Dead in O-hi-o ". . . And They'll Vote Democrat
  
• Obama Nominates First Ambassador to Cuba in 55 Years
  
• Busy Tampa Road Tagged with "Kill White People"
  

Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (9/27/16) [Mis. Hum.]

—Open Blogger

Two-For Tuesday Edition

Two-For Journalists

One is a zombie the other, well, you know............

Since you've been good little 'rons & ettes..............No Yoko.

Two-For Models

One is a zombie, and the other well, a fiancee of a MLB player.

Two-For Artists, Paint & Music

Music by David Bowie.

Paintings by Bowie.

Music by Captain Beefheart

Paintings by Beefheart.

Two artists who are no longer with us. A zombie theme?

Two-For Self Improvement

Breast size enhancement through hypnosis?

The first step to improvement. Are you a jerk?

Two-For Government Ineptitude and Down Right Incompetence

Meet the little brown shirts. Thank you Nanny State.

For example, students from Park High School’s SLAC in Livingston created signage for the school cafeteria to promote fruit selection,” the post continued. “This included a life-size poster of the basketball coach giving out an apple with the caption ‘Got fruit? Tastes almost as good as victory.

Have a Medium Rare cheeseburger and be a champ. None of this almost shit.

If these bombers had been white like Timothy McVeigh, we never would have heard the end of it.

Two-For Men

3 types of men.

There are three kinds of men. The very few who learn by reading. The several who learn by observation. The rest of them need to pee on the electric fence to find out for themselves.

Divorce lawyers hardest hit.

Two-For Foreign Stuff

Canadian $$$$$$.

Ordering beer in a foreign land.

Two-For Thoughts on Athletes

MLB lost an All-Star this past weekend.

An older story about Jose Fernandez from 2013. He had dreams. Big dreams.

Fernández, who turns 21 on July 31, said he will never forget the day he boarded a boat for his fourth attempt in 2008 to flee Cuba. He and his family were determined to leave at all cost to reunite with Jiménez, who had left in 2005 after making 14 attempts.

During that journey something happened that left a mark on Fernández for the rest of his life.

After escaping flying bullets from Cuban coast guard boats, and later in the solitude of the ocean on their way to Mexico, somebody said that a person had fallen in the water. Fernández did not hesitate and jumped in. When he finally had the fallen person in his arms he was shocked to realize that he had just saved his own mother, Maritza.

The 2nd thought. F*CK YOU Colin Kaepernick you ungrateful ignorant spoiled brat.

Two-For Government Punishments

You can't make this sh!t up. Who knew solar was dirty?

The department states the settlement money will include research and community outreach. Why aren't rate payers given a break?

Police Departments have to stop making unforced errors.

Two-For ISIS

We’re not mentally ready to accept that we are at war with Islam.

The J.V. Team certainly knows how to plan.

Two-For Music

Ever wonder why new music is released on Friday?

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

Two-For Global Warming

Global temperatures for the past 2 million years. Yes, it appears they used the S.W.A.G. method.

"This assumes that all of the temperature change over the ice-age cycles arose from the greenhouse-gas change," Alley told Ars. "But, we have high confidence that the ice ages were driven by features of Earth’s orbit and that the temperature would have changed (just not as much) if the greenhouse-gas forcing had not changed." Alley went on to say that "the 'sensitivity' calculated in the new paper is an upper limit, because we know that some of the temperature change was not caused by greenhouse gases."

Climate change caused migration out of Africa?Wonder what industry caused that to happen?

Two-For Genius Awards

Genius Award. Part I.

Genius Award. Part II.

Two-For Feel Good Stories of The Day

Feel good story of the day. Part I.

Feel good story of the day. Part II.

Do you like a challenge? Here is one, The Group.

Have a news tip? Spare change? A lost puppy? You know what to do.

Tonight's ONT Brought To You By 1+1=2

Posted by AceCorp, LLC. This ONT has been true. The names and locations have been changed to protect the Morons.

Close it up

This Friday, A Black Moon Shall Rise

—Ace

Cool.

It's a full moon which is eclipsed by the earth's shadow. So... It's black. Like a new moon. But I guess it's different.

It's not even all that rare -- once every 32 months.

Still, I'll be looking for it.

And stay off the moors.

University of Tennessee Ends Its "Investigation" Into Glenn Reynolds Illegal Use of Free Speech

—Ace

Ah, but it's the threat, isn't it? The process is the punishment, isn't it?

We are supposed to be free to speak -- and know without equivocation that we are free to speak -- precisely so we are not menaced by the threat of official persecution.

So that we do not become the Censor's inside man and censor ourselves out of fear.

Do you think the University of Tennessee wishes Glenn Reynolds to know -- to reallly know -- he's free to speak?

Or do you think they intended to install a Censorship Inside Man in his head, causing him to mind his p's and q's?

Trump's Equivocal, Maybe-He-Should-Wait, I-Don't-Know Answer on Cavuto

—Ace

I wouldn't say this proves Trump's claim that he was "totally against the Iraq War," but it definitely proves the media are liars in claiming that his one casual "I don't know, guess we gotta do something' statement on Howard Stern (in 2002) was his only statement on the matter.

He is not strongly against the war here -- but he is leaning against it.

And he's certainly more against it than Senator Hillary Clinton was, who voted to go to war.

Mislaid Monday Moron Medical Monitoring Thread

—Ace

I forgot to put this up yesterday.

I've got no particularly good advice. I do not know how i broke my stall. I've been drinking a lot more water -- who knows, maybe that helped.

I have heard it said that while people debate this expensive supplement or that one, they ignore the cheapest and most effective supplement of all: Just water.

Oh, and sleep. My sleep's been better. Not sure why. But they say that sleep is as important to getting into shape as exercise (or, well, pretty much as important).

A friend and I were talking about the frustration of attempting a body recomposition (not really trying to "lose weight," exactly). It's not that things move slowly -- if they moved slowly but consistently, it would be reassuring.

The problem is that nothing seems to happen for a couple of weeks, then suddenly you drop weight. Even after, say, you said "Ah the hell with this Manorexia, I want Taco Bell."

It's the fact that, past the first two months, inputs and outputs seem correlated in only a slight way, if at all.

I also started having more protein powder. In theory, that should slow weight loss. But then, I only have it before and after workouts, so who knows. Maybe it gets used up without turning to fat.

Anyway, my gains have been very slow but are pretty consistent (consistently slow, that is) since I broke the plateau. I almost put up a Bonus Medical Monitoring post on Saturday for one reason: Because after working out I dropped to 176, the lowest weight I've seen since college. I wanted to put up a thread and say "176!" because i was pretty sure I just sweated two pounds off and it would be back by Sunday.

Well it was. I'm back up to 179 but still, under 180. That was a big goal and a major reason for this thread: To keep myself going past 180 (I've been at 180 a lot) and finally get myself down to a reasonably trim 170.

I guess I'm losing a pound a week now...? Or a half a pound..?

And I suppose that's... something?

So:

TELL ME ABOUT YO GAINZZZZ, BITCHEZZZZ

Holy Crap: So, for four or five months, I've been putting butter in my coffee, and MCT oil.

But not blending it, as many recommended.

Why? Because I'm a dude and I'm lazy and I always look to Reduce Steps and Increase Efficiency even if it means I'm drinking horrible coffee with a quarter inch pool of buttery fat on top of it.

After all, Real Men do not seek comfort. It's indulgent and womanly.

Real men drink disgusting coffee. Because they're Men.

So, anyway, I discovered I actually had an immersion blender. I bought it a year ago at Target or something, when I had planned to start this, and never opened up the box.

I started blending the coffee.

Wow.

Now it's no longer black coffee with a yellow pool of grease on top of it. Now it's.... well, it tastes like coffee with luscious cream in it.

Now I actually enjoy coffee again instead of just wolfing down black coffee with a skin of partially melted butter.

How did you goofs not insist to me I just blend it?

If you're drinking it the "Ace Way," that is, the Moron Way, you're missing out. Spend $20 or $30 on an immersion blender -- you just stick it in the coffee and blend. You'll be glad you did.

One thing, you have to put the coffee in a taller glass to blend (otherwise it will get sloshed around, out of the cup), but that doesn't take long. You can just rinse that glass after you use it, stick the blender in it, and set it aside for tomorrow.

Breitbart/Gravis Marketing Poll: Trump, Clinton Tied 43-43... In Minnesota?

—Ace

The other states polled in this round aren't so great for Trump -- the Breitbart/Gravis poll has him behind in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

It is interesting to see Minnesota tied, though.

Obviously, this could be an outlier, one of those one-in-twenty polls that are straight-up wrong.

But... eh, I'll be keeping my eye on Minnesota now.

The previous poll of Minnesota, by a different firm, had it Clinton +6.

NFL Players Association: Yeah, We're Worried About the Decline in Viewership

—Ace

Sunday Night Football's ratings dropped again.

While NFL teams continue to pile up the stats, the NFL’s television ratings continue to come in with lower and lower numbers each week. NBC’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears last night drew in 18.62 million viewers, scoring a 6.8/21 rating in the 18-49 demographic, the group most coveted by advertisers.

That marks a fall from last week’s 7.4 rating in the 18-49 demo. Last night’s game also scored a 12.9/21 in Nielsen’s metered-market rating, a decline from last week’s 13.7/23.

This Forbes article, written before this weekend's games, notes the general trend.

Just last year some opined that the league’s ratings had no ceiling. That appears to be false.

To summarize Sports Business Daily: NBC’s three primetime games, which includes the NFL Kickoff game, have averaged 23.7 million viewers, down 12% from the same period last year. ESPN also is seeing a 12% decline for its three “MNF” games to date. While CBS CBS +1.45% and NFL Network have only one Thursday night game to date, that lone game (Jets-Bills, 15.4 million viewers) was down 27% compared to the opening “TNF” game last season. Looking at Sunday afternoons, Fox is off (-0.2%) through two weeks, averaging 20.9 million viewers. CBS is averaging 17.3 million viewers through the same point, down 5%.

While some suggest that the drop in ratings may be due to the lack of “marquee” match ups, I don’t buy it. For starters, none of the recent PR debacles, such as drugs, beatings or concussions, created something like #boycotnfl. Two, Kaepernick is the most-disliked player in the NFL. Three, I challenge anyone to look at the comments on stories about the NFL national anthem protests and tell me the anecdotal evidence does not strongly suggest many, if not most viewers are fed up either because they are against the protests, or just don’t want politics of any kind to interfere with their football.

The NFLPA says they're concerned by the amount of blood gushing from this very pale formerly golden goose.

"This is a huge issue for us obviously," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said on Friday's PFT Live. "We spend a lot of time looking at trends. I was thrilled to see the game being streamed on Twitter. We're interested about where media is going. Viewership is an important issue, stadium attendance is a very important issue to us. So as we look forward knowing that there are a couple of television contracts that are going to come up. I think it is smart for us to look at the impact of whether fans are watching on TV or not."

A decline in TV viewership won’t be a factor until after the current TV contracts expire, assuming there isn’t a renegotiation before the existing deals expire after the 2022 season.

Well, there's only one possible way to arrest the decline of the NFL:

Coed bathrooms for everyone!

The Plural of Anecdote is Not "Data;" It is WINNING

—Ace

Okay, this is a little hackish, even for me, but I just don't buy the claims of the Twiddiots that Trump lost badly.

McClatchy held a focus group to watch the debate in North Carolina. Who won? Well...

Presidential debate surprise: Clinton loses ground among some voters in swing state

Kae Roberts and Jay Eardly were leaning toward Hillary Clinton before Monday night's debate.

By the end, they had both pulled away.

John Kokos and Hank Federal were undecided going in, potential Clinton backers.

By the end, they'd ruled her out.

Indeed, while polls said that Clinton won the first general election debate with Donald Trump Monday, she may not have won actual votes. And she may even have lost some, at least in the battleground state of North Carolina.

In a focus group of 21 voters from around Charlotte conducted by McClatchy and the Charlotte Observer, four who were up for grabs before the debate moved away from her by the end.

...

For the four who emerged less impressed by Clinton, it was the seeming familiarity of her proposals for the economy and national security that was a turnoff.

Roberts, who is unaffiliated with a party, wrote in her notes several times during the debate that Clinton offered "pie in the sky" ideas. By debate’s end, she had moved from leaning toward Clinton to undecided.

"The things she says she’s going to do, there’s no substance behind it," Roberts said.

And in a bar in Youngston, Pennsylvania...

Letosky entered the evening undecided in a town that is heavily Democratic in registration. Her sister and father are on opposite sides of the political aisle. Donald “Trump had the upper hand this evening,” she said, citing his command of the back-and-forth between him and Hillary Clinton.

Reed, 35, is a registered Democrat and small businessman. “By the end of the debate, Clinton never said a thing to persuade me that she had anything to offer me or my family or my community,” he said, sitting at the same bar that has boasted local icons as regulars, such as the late Fred Rogers, and Arnold Palmer, who had his own stash of PM Whiskey hidden behind newer bottles of whiskey for his regular visits.

"Have to say Trump had the edge this evening, he came out swinging but also talked about specifics on jobs and the economy," Reed said.

Reed said Clinton came across as either smug or as though she was reading her résumé, adding there was nothing on her resume that touched on his life.

One thing that has impressed me more and more over the past two years is how powerful the left is in colonizing the thoughts of all citizens -- including commentators on the right.

Andrew Breitbart used to say -- he said this the first time I met him -- that the left creates a "Matrix," as in the movie, a prison of illusion and reality distortion. When you are in the Matrix, he said excitedly, you can't see the Matrix itself.

Many commentators on the right -- I included -- are thoroughly colonized by leftist memes. How could we not be? We are constantly mesmerized by them, a thousand cult chants a day whispering at us from our electric soma boxes.

Many are looking at Hillary Clinton's answers and saying "She won on points."

Did she?

Because what did she really say? On national security and ISIS, she offered the novel thought that we must work more closely with our allies.

Really. You don't say? I'm glad someone had the guts to finally say it.

Now, those whose brains are colonized by leftist viral memes will call that a "good answer." It's the accepted Conventional Wisdom answer of the Davoisie and the Davoisie wannabes.

But is it a good answer?

Or is it just insect-talk? (Insect talk being my own word for something so trivial and brainless it doesn't even rise to the level of small-talk.)

Clinton said a lot of crap like this last night -- she said that to improve race relations, we needed to build more trust in the community in police, and more trust in police in the community.

Um, that is not an answer. That is simply a way of re-stating the problem. Her husband used to do this a lot. How do we improve education? Why I have a five-point plan. (Ticking off points on each finger.) One, improve the curriculum. Two, improve the administration. Three, improve teacher-school relations. Four, encourage children to learn. Five (now put up the thumb in a big thumb's up like Fonzie) improve education.

Um, you didn't say how we were going to improve education. You simply broke the problem into several sub-problems and said we have to solve each of the sub-problems.

We know that. And we also knew all of the sub-problems associated with the main problem of improving education.

You said exactly nothing, but took three minutes to say it.

Yet people were always impressed by this -- at least among the chattering classes -- and praised Clinton for being soooo detailed.

Hillary tried this last night with her various bubble-headed Unsweet Nothings responses.

She's not as good as it as her husband.

People have heard all these non-responsive no-answer evasions before, and I don't think they're more impressed with them on the umpteenth repetition.

I think that our current politics has been organized around the central concept of Emptiness for a long time, and I think maybe this year, a year of rejectionism, is the year when people begin to see through the Emptiness.

So I would just suggest to the Chattering Classes and the Twitterati:

Are you really judging what she said, or are you simply regurgitating the Conventional Wisdom as to what is credited as counting as an "informed answer" in these moronic affairs?

Because people less colonized by parasitic, invasive leftist memes might have seen this show differently than you did.

Just because you know the Matrix exists does not mean you can see the Matrix.

To see the Matrix, you actually have to escape the Matrix.

You have to purge the Matrix from your brain.

Note: 1996's Miss Universe Winner Really Did Gain So Much Weight In Her Year of Reigning That Even CNN Had to Fat-Shame Her Ass

—Ace

Hillary tossed this out in her last big Oppo File dump at the end of the debate -- that Trump had allegedly called a former Miss Universe "Miss Piggie" and criticized her for her weight gain.

So did CNN, at the time.

She'd gained 60 pounds during her year of reigning as Miss Universe -- obviously not the weight she'd won the contest at -- and apparently was in danger of losing sponsorships.

Apparently we've now reached that phase of Political Correctness and Fat Acceptance Celebration that even beauty contest winners, contractually obligated to, you know, look like the person who won the crown, can't be critiqued about their beauty.

Here's how mean Trump was:

"Some people when they have pressure eat too much. Like me. Like Alicia," said Donald Trump, the executive producer of the Miss Universe Pageant.

Defending her, that is.

Since winning the crown, the former Miss Venezuela went from 118 pounds to -- well -- a number that kept growing like the size of the fish that got away.

And as her weight grew, so did reports that Kellogg had canceled a deal for her to appear on boxes of Special K in Venezuela or that Kellogg modified her body on the box. But a Kellogg spokesman said the contract simply expired in December and that they were "real pleased" with the promotion.

"I don't eat Kellogg's and for this maybe I gain weight," the young Machado said simply.

Rumors also surfaced that she might be forced to give up her Miss Universe crown.

But Trump, as co-owner of rights to the pageant, said he would never let that happen. "We had a choice of: termination or do this," he said. "We wanted to do this."

The pageant's meaning of "do this" was for Machado to get her weight down to about 130 pounds. At a recent photo op, Machado -- hardly a blimp at 5-foot-7 -- pedaled a stationary bicycle and jumped rope in front of a pack of photographers and reporters who could themselves use a little training.

Apparently Trump mocked the reporters making an issue of this fat broad's weight:

"A lot of you folks have weight problems. I hate to tell you," Trump told the rowdy pool of reporters.

So let us all cry for the Miss Universe who got so fat she almost had her crown taken from her.

CNN did another story on the heavyweight Miss Universe, too.

So this was an actual thing and a point of embarrassment for the pageant (and for the woman herself).

By the way: This was twenty years ago.

Mid-Morning Open Thread [CBD]

—Open Blogger

This black-and-white photo of "The Enchanted Pose" by Rene Magritte is the only image of the painting that disappeared in nearly 80 years ago. A piece of the missing painting was just discovered in Britain.

Apparently Magritte just cut the damned thing up.

And that is just fine with me.....

H/T Mis. Hum.

The Morning Report 9/27/16 [J.J. Sefton]

—Open Blogger

Tuesday's child is full of disappointment. Hey, it's not like we didn't know Le Grande Orange was not a master debater. Anyway, take heart and have a better one!

• Salena Zito: Trump Seals the Deal with Ex-Dems and Indies
  
• Lester Puts the "F" in "MFM"
  
• Old Coot Finds an Acorn
  
• Snap Polls All Show Trump Won Last Night . . . Except CNN
  
• Clinton Flack: Immunity for Oma's Staffers "Fairly Routine and Appropriate"
  
• UPI/CVoter Polls Show Trump Ahead in Electoral College
  
• Everything You Always Wanted in a Nuke. And Less!
  
• Obama's Climate Change Insanity Heads to DC Circus for Probable Rubber Stamp Go-Ahead
  
• One Third of Calls to VA Suicide Helpline Go Unanswered

Monday Overnight Open Thread (9/26/16) [Mis. Hum.]

—Open Blogger

The Non-Debate The Education Overnight Open Thread Edition

Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.
-President John Adams

Instead of teaching multicultural crap, social justice, and self-esteem. Why not teach thermodynamics?

When I was a child......As long as you live under my roof.... Oh, the parents of today are a different lot.

Scientists, have they lost our trust? The fat, cholesterol and sugar studies gives one doubt. Now Valu-Rite. Say it aint so.

Global warming is another. An older news link. But worth reading, digesting and perhaps discussing. For example did you know we spend more money on "climate change" than we do on border security?

Moar science. Or why donuts of any variety are better for you than crystal meth.

Why teach economics when you can learn to care about Brad and Angelina?

(NSFW-Language, you have been warned)

Preserved Nazi time capsule unearthed in Poland. Some one cared about history.

Are you teaching your children to become stewards of the earth? After reading this guide how many of you have failed in teaching?

The laws of unintended consequences.

So Horde is he on to something or is he just full of himself? Seems to me since the dawn of recorded history mankind always wanted something better. Is the problem secular humanism? Is the love of money the root of all evil?

I struggle with the fact that I helped create this contemporary consumer culture.

And at the same time, I’m repulsed by it, disturbed by it. The reality is we are all actual humans, we live in a material world where material beauty brings us a certain level of enjoyment in our lives, but we can’t let it overtake that. …

When will Civics classes teach Socialism does not work? Even Democratic Socialism as espoused by Crazy Uncle Bernie.

What have we learned about self-driving cars?Autonomous cars can be hacked.

Multiple diseases such as polio and malaria have been controlled. The life expectancy of men and women have increased. Why is the mortality rate in the U.S.A. sliding?

Education requires books. You can be a bookstore owner, with a catch.

Text book authors with a sense of humor.

Add water makes it's own sauce.

Modern science meets Mother Nature.

Genius Award.

Feel good story of the day There shouldn't be a shortage of all that pumpkin spice crap hitting store shelves now.

Try this. Cheaper than online dating, safer than Craiglist friendships.

News tips, spare change and unmatched socks can be sent here.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by The Neighborhood Watch Program.

Posted by permission of AceCorp, LLC. Opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions, attitudes or wallets of management, staff, interns, advertisers or the makers of the Happy Fun Ball.

Close it up

Post-Debate Thread: Final Thoughts

—Ace

Trump did not attack Hillary very effectively. She had her attack lines memorized. He was improvising his from memories. I suspect he might bother studying for the next one. Because she pissed him off.

Hillary dinged Trump up a fair amount. However, some people view these debates and their candidates like a new car -- ever fearful of the smallest ding.

Look, have you ever had a car that didn't get a ding?

The idea that a candidate has to come through a debate without having had a glove laid on him to win is simply wrong. Its an idea borne of a lack of perspective -- people get so emotionally invested in a win that every single error seems unbearable.

Trump made lots of errors -- I can't believe he brought up taking the oil again, for example -- but Hillary's goal here was to disqualify him.

What did she do? She painted him like every other Republican gets painted in a debate. She did not succeed in extraordinizing him -- making him an extraordinary threat the Republican can not bear.

By repeating the same sorts of attacks lodged at every Republican -- wants to cut taxes, "racist," etc. -- she actually ordinized him.

Trump's demeanor was generally strong and calm. He got rattled a few times. He looked pissy when she was dropping her programmed attack modules on him.

But by and large, he kept it together.

Was he good? No. He wasn't sharp. I know people's jaws were falling open when Trump failed to pounce on her for daring to bring up emails, disclosures, and cybersecurity.

He was meh.

Hillary delivered the exact same message that all of her ads are playing around the clock. The viewer really got no new information on that front.

On the other hand, Trump stood up at the podium and kept to his basic message without melting down. (Well, except that "take their oil" like.)

Her goal was to disqualify him; his goal was to seem like an ordinary Republican. Or, at least, ordinary enough to not seem scary (while attempting to seem like a big change agent).

Neither did a very good job. But Trump did a slightly better job at is job than she did at hers.

The one good thing -- I hope -- is that sometimes Trump has to get his ass kicked a little before he starts listening to other people. He didn't get whooped by Hillary, but she did make him angry.

Maybe that will animate him to study up and make himself prepared to deliver crisp attack lines.

By the way: Lester Holt directed every single hostile question towards Trump, and purported to "fact check" him every five minutes.

We'll leave this up until around 11:30 for your own discussion. Then I'll post a late edition of the ONT (courtesy, of course, of Misanthropic Humanitarian).

Debate Thread 3: Hillary Keeps Reading Her Rubio-Like Memorized Policy Modules

—Ace

Below, another Luntz Dumm-Y-Dial showing Trump doing well. But be aware, this is still from the beginning of the debate, when Trump was doing better.

For a long patch now he's been doing very meh, but then, so has Hillary.

Debate Thread 2: Trump Keeping Cool So Far

—Ace

...but he's beginning to run a little hot.

Meanwhile, Hilary just cried out for the media to help her: "'Fact checkers,' aid me in my time of greatest peril!"

Debate Thread: The Donnybrook at Stony Brook

—Ace

Yeah I know the debate's at Hofstra, not Stony Brook, but I've been sitting here trying to think of something that rhymes with Hofstra and the closest I've gotten is "Mothra."

And there are two problems with that: 1, it makes no sense, and 2, it also doesn't rhyme.

So I'm changing the debate locale, for the purposes of this post, to Stony Brook.

It's on all the cable news channels, and NBC. And CBS. And ABC.

My take: I have no take. This could go any which way. Trump could end his campaign in a single sentence. Hillary could do the same.

Joe Trippi's analysis struck me as dead-on: The swing demographic, now that non-college educated men have almost all defected to Trump, are college-educated white men who consider themselves too erudite and upper-crust to vote for the same guy the commoners do.

That suggests that Trump should be trying his level best to sound normal and informed, and Hillary should be trying like hell into baiting him to playing to his base. She wants him to turn off the college educated men; if she does, she'll probably win the election.

If Trump can win most of them back (Romney got a much higher fraction of them in 2012 than Trump has now), then Trump has almost sewn the whole thing up.

If Trump just does what he's done for 90% of this campaign -- playing for votes he's already had since June 2015 -- he loses. Or rather, he does himself no good. And if he plays to his base in a raucous way that offends the, um, more refined sensibilities of the college-educated set, he loses.

Benghazi Survivor Mark "Oz" Geist To Have Front Row Seat for Hillary's Conniptions

—Ace

She can tell all of her Benghazi lies right to his face.

Oh, and Hofstra is posting TRIGGER WARNINGS outside the debate hall, because students might be triggered to hear political opinions that they disagree with.

Debate Odds

—Ace

Suggested by Not_Steve.

PROPOSITION: ODDS (amount paid: for amount wagered)

Hillary wears something white: 3:1

Hillary wears something ill-fitting and ghastly: even

Hillary wears something that looks like she stole it from a homeless ghost cursed to haunt the earth until she tells 10,001 lies: 9:1

Trump says "Believe me:" 1:3

Trump pays himself a compliment, and adds "You all know, you've all said this many many times yourself:" 1:2

Trump says his dick smells like frankincense and winning: 10:1

Trump says his dick smells like frankincense and winning, then adds "You all know, you've all said this many many times yourself:" 25:1

Trump exhales loudly through his nose when the camera's not on him: 2:1

Trump exhales so loudly through his nose you an Amber Alert goes out for an immigrant child running out of air tied up inside his podium: 13:1

Hillary talks some bullshit smack like "You ask MOAMAR QADAFFI if he thinks I'm tough enough!:" 3:2

Hillary talks some bullshit smack like "You ask VINCE FOSTER if he thinks I'm tough enough!:" 40:1

Trump denies voting for the Iraq War: No bets accepted (guaranteed)

Hillary denies voting for the Iraq War: 7:1

Hillary has a cough: 1:6

Hillary has a wet cough: 3:2

Hillary coughs up something that looks like lung and Scrapple: 10:1

Trump Appoints Noted Climate Change Skeptic to Lead EPA Transition Team

—Ace

Well this doesn't sound very conservative at all.

True conservatism consists of making soft, timid noises and then going along with the leftist-mediated narrative.

ld Trump is tapping a high-profile climate change skeptic to lead administration transition efforts for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Myron Ebell, director of energy and environment policy at the conservative think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, is heading Trump’s EPA transition preparation, E&E Daily reported Monday.

Ebell is an outspoken, long-time skeptic of the scientific consensus that human activity is dramatically changing the climate. He often refers to warnings about global warming as climate "alarmism," and is a vocal critic of President Obama’s climate change regulations.

It's Not 100% Conclusive, But Frame-By-Frame Screencaptures Seem to Show that Keith Scott Had a Pistol in an Ankle Holster, and Later Was Holding the Gun

—Ace

Taken from the cops' camera.

Meanwhile, the NYT and WaPo are in the forefront of the media's latest trend: Blazing the race of a cop involved in a shooting when he's white, and burying his race when he's black.

No Indication of Terrorist Motivation: Washington Mall Shooter Had Picture of ISIS Leader on His Blog

—Ace

Now they're even recruiting "Hispanics"!

The Turkish immigrant accused of gunning down five people at a Washington mall smirked at his first court appearance Monday even as reports revealed he had a blog with photo posts of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

That smirk is probative in and of itself.

538: Trump Now Is Favored to Win This Election Over Hillary

—Ace

From zombie, who says "the entire left just sharted."

Nate Silver's site now says Trump is 54.5% likely to win, and Hillary is just is at just 45.5%.

Oddly, those two figures sum to 100% -- yet I was told this was not a "Binary" election!!! I don't understand.

Update: Another poll came out, the Monmouth Poll, showing Hillary ahead 46-42, which might be why Nate Silver has now adjusted Trump's odds downwards to 50.9%.

John Schindler: We Now Have Incontrovertible Proof That the FBI's "Investigation" of Hillary and Her Henchmen Was a Sham From the Start

—Ace

You're saying the system is rigged by the Washington insiders, then?

How shabbily populist!

From the moment the EmailGate scandal went public more than a year ago, it was obvious that the Federal Bureau of Investigation never had much enthusiasm for prosecuting Hillary Clinton or her friends. Under President Obama, the FBI grew so politicized that it became impossible for the Bureau to do its job – at least where high-ranking Democrats are concerned.

...

This week, however, we learned that there is actually no mystery at all here. The FBI was never able to get enough traction in its investigation of EmailGate to prosecute anybody since the Bureau had already granted immunity to key players in that scandal.

Granting immunity is a standard practice in investigations, and is sometimes unavoidable. Giving a pass to Bryan Pagliano, Hillary’s IT guru who set up her email and server, made some sense since he understands what happened here, technically speaking, and otherwise is a small fish. The wisdom of giving him a pass now seems debatable, though, since Pagliano has twice refused to testify before Congress about his part in EmailGate, blowing off subpoenas. Just this week the House Oversight Committee recommended that Pagliano be cited for contempt of Congress for his repeated no-shows. That vote was on strictly partisan lines, with not a single Democrat on the committee finding Pagliano’s ignoring of Congressional subpoenas to be worthy of censure.

Now it turns out the FBI granted immunity to much bigger fish in the Clinton political tank. Three more people got a pass from the Bureau in exchange for their cooperation: Hillary lawyer Heather Samuelson, State Department IT boss John Bental, and – by far the most consequential – Cheryl Mills, who has been a Clinton flunky-cum-factotum for decades.

Mills served as the State Department’s Chief of Staff and Counselor throughout Hillary’s tenure as our nation’s top diplomat. Granting her immunity in EmailGate, given her deep involvement in that scandal – including the destruction of tens of thousands of emails so they could not be handed over to the FBI – now seems curious, to say the least, particularly because Mills sat in on Hillary’s chat with the Bureau regarding EmailGate.

Yes, let's talk about Cheryl Mills -- and ponder, briefly, why on earth James Comey of all people would grant her immunity, except if the Fix was in.

As a Whitewater investigator for the Senate in the mid-1990s, Comey sought information from Mills; but wouldn’t you know, the then-deputy White House counsel claimed a burglar stole her notes.

Comey concluded that Hillary Clinton ordered Mills to block investigators. The obstruction, the Senate committee found, included the "destruction of documents" and other "highly improper . . . misconduct."

Two years later, Mills was in the middle of another Hillary scandal, involving the then-first lady's integration of White House and Democratic National Committee computer databases.

This time the House subpoenaed information from Mills, who not only withheld the documents but, a government committee said, "lied under oath" -- prompting staff lawyers to send a criminal referral to the Justice Department demanding prosecutors charge Mills with obstruction of justice and perjury.

In 2000, a Commerce Department official testified that Mills ordered her to "withhold" from investigators e-mails and other documents exposing yet another scandal involving the first lady -- the selling of seats on foreign trade junkets for campaign cash.

At the same time, a federal judge suggested Mills helped orchestrate a cover-up that blamed a technical "glitch" in the White House archiving system that conveniently resulted in the loss of 1.8 million e-mails under subpoena in the Monica Lewinsky, Filegate and other scandal investigations.

Fast-forward to Hillary’s tenure as secretary. In October 2012, Mills sorted through key Benghazi documents and decided which to withhold from a review board. She also leaned on witnesses. Deputy ambassador to Libya Gregory Hicks testified before Congress in 2013 that Mills told him in an angry phone call to stop cooperating with investigators.

Let's talk about that immunity deal. Comey wanted documents on her laptop. He could have compelled them by the simple and routine expedient of a subpeona.

Instead, he granted her immunity for any documents he found on her system.

And what was on her system? Classified documents which are illegal for any non-authorized person to have copies of.

Instead of prosecuting her, he made the problem go away by fixing her up with immunity for the very crime she was red-handedly guilty of.

Neck and Neck: National Polls Put It At A One Point Race, With Trump Ahead in Some; Trump Ahead By One Point in Colorado, Behind By One Point in Pennsylvania

—Ace

Here are the latest polls from Real Clear Politics.

Quinippiac: Clinton 44, Trump 43.

Blooomberg, 4-way: Trump 43, Clinton 41. In the two way, no third party candidates offered as choices, it's tied at 46 apiece, but it's silly to even mention that, because Binary Thinking is like so 2015.

The Morning Consult poll, which has generally been favorable to Hillary, now has Trump ahead by 1, 39 to 38.

A Washington Post/ABCNews poll has Clinton up by two with likely voters, 46-44, but with registered voters, it's all tied up at 41.

That may suggest that Trump has a greater upside with new/irregular voters... if they turn out. Which they usually don't -- unless it's for a candidate they're enthusiastic about. And many do seem enthusiastic about Trump.

In two blue states -- Colorado and Pennsylvania -- CNN has it a one point race in either. In Colorado, it's 42 Trump 41 Hillary; in Pennsylvania, it's Hillary 45 Trump 44.

In more bad news for Hillary, Trump voters used to say they were backing him just to stop Hillary; now a plurality say they're affirmatively voting for him.

Obviously, the debate tonight is very important. The most important one of all three.

More: Trump absolutely blowing Hillary out of the water with one of the largest cohorts in the voting public, non-college educated white men. He's leading her by 59 points with this group, 76 to 17. Mitt Romney won this group too -- but only by 31 points.

Of course, the reason that Trump isn't destroying her in the overall numbers is that he's lost almost an equal number of college educated voters.

So tell me again how crazy I was to posit a year ago that this was largely a class-based race and that the college-educated crowd was feeling resentful and scared at having their hegemony -- their ability to cast a class-wide veto over a candidate -- challenged and ultimately scotched.

Mid-Morning Open Thread [CBD]

—Open Blogger

H/T MP4

The Morning Report 9/26/16 [J.J. Sefton]

—Open Blogger

Monday, Monday. Can't trust that day. Put your backs into it, Morons, and have a better one!

• The King is Dead: RIP Arnold Palmer
• Dead Heat Going into Tonight's Debate
• Will Holt Bolt Or Pull a Crowley? . . .
• . . . It's a Safe Bet He Does
• Winning! Clinton Proposes 65% Top Rate for Estate Tax
• Toe to Toe With the Rooskees? Thanks, Obama! And . . .
• . . . Flashpoint in Syria
• Curfew Lifted in Charlotte
• WA Mall Jihadi Described as "Zombie-like" by Cops
• The Slow Slide to Single Payer
• Leader of the Free World Meets the Candidates . . .
• . . . And Bombs On Broadway??? WTF New York?!
• 91 Year Old Hero Finally Gets His Purple Heart

Sunday Night Overnight Open Thread [Mis. Hum.]

—Open Blogger

Why are these Canadians being asked to sell their homes?

On the far eastern edge of Canada sits Little Bay Islands, a beautiful, dying village divided by crisis. The fish plant was shuttered half a decade ago, and most supporting businesses – as well as the school – have closed with it. Perry Locke is among the tiny population that’s left. He served as the mayor, the fire chief and now runs the power-generating station. His son was the last student enrolled in town.

Fishing villages like this one built Newfoundland and Labrador, a coastal province sent into a tailspin by a fishery collapse, oil-price slump and mounting debt that left it with Canada’s most severe fiscal and demographic crisis. The provincial government now is pushing to close places like Little Bay Islands altogether rather than service them, offering Locke and his neighbors at least $250,000 (US$189,000) each to leave — and spurring a bitter, three-year fight over whether to cash out or endure.

It’s like a disease. Once a community gets infected, there’s no cure for it
“It’s like a disease. Once a community gets infected, there’s no cure for it. You’ll either stay sick from it, or you’ll die,” said Locke, 51, standing on his porch in July overlooking the bay. He voted to stay, worried he’ll lose his job if everyone leaves and the power station closes. Many residents now blame him for ruining a windfall. “Nothing we can do to change it now. The damage is done. And the damage is irreversible.”

It looks like a beautiful location. What would you do? Personally, I'm glad that I do not have to make that decision.

The AoSHQ gives the following advice. If you are to leave Little Bay Islands don't move here.

But, if you want to visit the Big Knob Grange Fair in Beaver County go for it.

Insert the word "empathy" into any search engine and you will come up with a large number of sites. When does one learn empathy? Would you have it when you reached the pinnacle of foreign diplomat service, such as the United Nations?

If you are the U.N Ambassador from the U.S.A. you speak gibberish.

“If diplomats were to spend more time in the theater, museums and cinemas, we might have a more just and humane world,” quipped from Samantha Power, US ambassador to the United Nations, in a Sept. 16 speech at the Lincoln Center Global Exchange in New York City.

“We all know what genuine empathy feels like. I’ve not only experienced it myself but seen it happen in one of the most thick-skinned and cynical professions out there,” she joked. “I’m speaking of course of diplomats.” The former journalist and Pulitzer prize winning author has long used theater to address an empathy deficiency among grizzled UN ambassadors.

Empathy.

Haiti in 2005, UN peacekeeping troops killed 23 people, including children, in a poor area of Port au Prince. Doctors without Borders reported that they had treated 27 people for gunshot wounds - around 20 of them were women under the age of 18. In December 2007, more than 100 UN soldiers from Sri Lanka were deported under charges of sexual abuse of underage girls. A video was also released showing four Uruguayan troops in Haiti laughing while allegedly raping an 18 year old Haitian boy. Two Pakistani peacekeepers were recently sentenced for raping a 14 year old Haitian boy. There are also strong claims that fecal waste from UN troops deposited in a river spread cholera bacteria in Haiti which killed more than 6,000 Haitians and infected more than 400,000.

This excerpt is from 2012. There have been more episodes of empathy by the U.N. since then.

ISIS doesn't know the definition of narrative fight.

But, Josh Earnest does.

"What I can tell you is that we are, when it comes to ISIL, we are in a fight, a narrative fight with them, a narrative battle," Earnest said, using an alternate name for the terrorist group, which is also known as the Islamic State or Daesh. "And what ISIL wants to do is they want to project that they are an organization that is representing Islam in a fight, in a war against the West and a war against the United States."

The buzz in the tech field are self-driving cars. Rumor has it that Apple wishes to purchase McClaren to get into the race. (Sorry about that pun) We should all feel safer now, the Feds have placed rules on these cars.

I would rather have a jet-pack. Or a lawn mower like this.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Or why socialism is always toxic.

The answer is not pi$$in' in the wind or on this wall.

Look what feminism has wrought. Are you a parent? Look what you have done to the planet.

There are only 2 genders. And it is explained here.

University of Delaware students know how to throw a party.

Moving is a young and sober person's sport.

What do you do on your commute? Nap? Practice self-restraint? People watch? Mentally plan for work?

But according to an Association for Psychological Science blog post this week, new research suggests another reframing trick to make commuting just a little less awful — one that’s probably more productive than napping, if not as enjoyable. A new paper led by Columbia Business School doctoral student Jon Jachimowicz found that people who use their transit time to mentally plan for work are better off than those who spend it on other things.

Hungry? Make yourself a McRib sammich.

Looking for a natural boost? Perhaps turmeric is the answer.

Who would do this? You get 3 guesses.

Genius Award.

Feel good story of the day.

C'mon, it's for the kids.

Tips, spare change, drink chips and pocket lint accepted here.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by truth in advertising.

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Close it up

Move Along, Nothing To See....[CBD]

—Open Blogger

Shooting Attack In Malmo Sweden

Very little information, so the 24-48 Hour rule should apply.

But just between you and me, I think it's those damned Lutherans again.

And...Open Thread

Food Thread: Maillard....It Isn't Just A Duck [CBD]

—Open Blogger

Yes, I am a moron, and not just with a capital M.

Grilled Tenderloin in a Salt Crust I have done something like this with chicken, and it worked rather well; juicy and tender and, interestingly, not over-salted. And since whole tenderloins often go on sale for not very much money, it's a good cut with which to try this technique.

By the way, while prime beef is often significantly better (and significantly more expensive) than choice, tenderloin is very lean, so buying prime makes very little sense. My local place often has whole tenderloin on sale for about $7/lb, which is a fine price, considering that the yield is great. No bones, and minimal loss from trimming the silverskin and the little bit of connective tissue.

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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I bought a temperature probe with alarm so that I could roast turkeys and other large chunks of flesh without constantly opening the oven to check the internal temperature. It was a pain in the ass, complete with preprogrammed temperatures that were not easily overridden. I have no interest in eating pork cooked to 175° or a beef roast charred to a crisp. The little beast had been programmed according to government guidelines which, as we all know or could surmise, are worthless. So a few years ago I bought this dandy little gadget from a company called Thermoworks.

They call it a "DOT," and it is ridiculously simple to use, and seems accurate. They also make Thermapens, which are ubiquitous among the chattering classes in the cooking world, but are actually marvelous tools. And expensive. Which is why I use slower but just as accurate probes that cost 1/4 of what they get for their fancy models.
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And speaking of tools....your hands are the best ones around. Bare, not covered with gloves or holding some fancy gadget that cracks your eggs for you. Admittedly, I will grab a pair of surgical gloves when i slice ribs before serving, because the dry rub that I favor has an amazing affinity for underneath my nails, no matter how short I trim them. And mixed with pork fat it's even more tenacious, so gloves it is. But for most other jobs I use bare hands, which improves dexterity, and also gives me a sense of the raw ingredients. That sounds touchy-feely and New-Age, but it really isn't.

When I started paying attention to meat (shut up!), and not just slapping it on the grill, I found that I was able to be more discerning at the market. And picking up meat that needs some prep, such as hanger steaks, and paying attention to the way the grain runs and how much connective tissue there is and how much fat and how firm or tender it is before cooking is a good way of learning a little bit about how to cook different cuts. And this extends to other foods. Even vegetables!

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Hank Shaw, of the marvelous Hunter-Angler-Gardener-Cook website is always a fun read. And his discussion of how to make Homemade Root Beer Syrup is a wonderful, far-ranging discussion of....everything.

If you like root beer, you like sassafras.

The aromatic bark, leaves and roots of this little tree are believed to be the first plant exported from North America to Europe, back in the late 1500s. All parts of this little tree make for delicious — and different — teas, sweets and other confections, and sassafras commanded exorbitant prices in Europe… until everyone started drinking sassafras tea to cure their syphilis. Soon no one wanted to be seen sipping their syphilis cure in public, and the sassafras trade withered.

More recently, sassafras has been getting a bad rap by the folks at the USDA, who say that the active component of sassafras, safrole, is a “known carcinogen.” Why? They gave tons of pure safrole to rats and the rats got cancer. Later researchers noted that, like the whole saccharine scare in the late 1970s, safrole seems to cause cancer in rats — but not people.

From root beer to politically-driven medical research to STDs...it's like he is reading our minds!

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here's a recipe for Grilled Balsamic Chicken Wings that looks like it would be fun. it's definitely simple. Yes, they are selling their glaze, so ignore that part if capitalism offends you. And I wonder whether leaving the wings to marinate for six hours at room temperature is wise. The vinegar certainly inhibits microbial growth, but it isn't going to kill everything, and six hours is a long time considering that the doubling time of many bacteria is less than 20 minutes. 2¹⁷ is a very big number.If any of you Morons want to do the experiment please report your findings. I will be refrigerating mine. And making a dipping sauce that contrasts the balsamic vinegar. Yeah....it will probably be Ranch dressing.
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I have made this, and it tastes damned good, although the color of the end result is not particularly appealing, so don't be put off by it. And Giada has other attributes besides the color of her food....

As usual, there is a step that works fine, as long as you have someone else washing your dishes. It's one of my pet peeves: recipe writers, particularly celebrity chefs, have no sense that cleaning up is actually a requirement of most of their readers, who can't simply step away from the kitchen and relax with a glass of wine while their kitchen gnomes make everything sparkle.

So....one cookie sheet is plenty.

Artichoke And Bean Crostini

Ingredients
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 4 very thin slices prosciutto
• 12 (1/4-inch thick) slices rustic country bread
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 (12-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
• 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray a baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray

Lay the prosciutto in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until crispy. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

On another baking sheet, arrange the bread slices in a single layer. Using a pastry brush, brush the bread with 1/4 cup of the oil. Bake until golden, about 12 to 15 minutes.

In a food processor, combine the artichoke hearts, beans, cheese, basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Pulse until the mixture is chunky. With the machine running, slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Spoon the artichoke mixture onto the crostini. Crumble the prosciutto and sprinkle on top.

Drizzle with oil and serve.

Close it up

Sunday Open Thread [CBD]

—Open Blogger

For those of you who don't want to go off topic in the Book Thread.
But...no gun talk.*

Bovine Aerodynamics

*What's the over/under on the first gun comment?