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.
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 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.
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.
"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.
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.
Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by truth in advertising.
Posted by permission of AceCorp, LLC. You are officially on probation beginning immediately and extending until the Ewok is good and ready to forgive you.
Failure to adhere to the conditions of this written warning, development of new or related problems, and/or continued unsatisfactory performance will lead to more serious corrective actions including up to and including termination of your Valu-Rite, bacon rations and Yoko Free ONT Zones.
Food Thread: Maillard....It Isn't Just A Duck [CBD]
—Open Blogger
Pastry chef Michael Laiskonis explains Maillard reactions and why browned foods taste so damn good Our very own Y-not sent this article to me, and it's fascinating and, at least for me, a revelation. Of course I knew that those luscious caramels that destroy my will power were brown, and taste good, but it never clicked that it can be the same reaction that makes those steaks I love taste marvelous. Hell, I have made caramel dozens of times (it's easy) and watched it brown.
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.
Sunday Morning Book Thread 09-25-2016: E Deplorobus Unum [OregonMuse]
—Open Blogger
Public Library, Bogota, Colombia, Interior and Exterior
(h/t to Rod for the library pic)
Good morning to all of you morons and moronettes and bartenders everywhere and all the ships at sea. Welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, where men are men, all the 'ettes are gorgeous, safe spaces are underneath your house and are used as protection against actual dangers, like tornados, hurricanes, and the election of Hillary Clinton, and special snowflakes do not last. And unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these.
Alphabet Soup
Via WeaselZippers, science! has discovered that words, not just some words, but words in general, indeed, the very concept of "words", are responsible for the oppression of women.
"Literacy has promoted the subjugation of women by men throughout all but the very recent history of the West...Misogyny and patriarchy rise and fall with the fortunes of the alphabetic written word."
Teh stupid, it burns!
First off, hasn't the idea of some sort of primeval feminist paradise, a matriarchal golden age of Goddess worship and universal peace shown to be a complete load of hooey? Second, if the literate word is so oppressive to women, then why do women dominate the writing and publishing industries? Schlain hedges his sweeping statement with the qualifier "...all but the very recent history of the West", but if the oppression is so pervasive, there is no adequate explanation for why it should suddenly be different now. I think that Schlain has managed to get things precisely backwards: the truth is that literacy has actually *empowered* women and liberated them, because facility with words does not depend upon physical strength or agility, which favors males.
The 1-star reviews complain about his bad science and pseudo-science, and Schlain's admission that "By profession, I am a surgeon... I am by nature a storyteller" kind of gives the game away. He's telling a story, or constructing a myth, not conducting a scientific investigation. It's not the way things are, it's the way he would like them to be.
Also, one of the things words have allowed us to do is to accumulate medical knowledge. This enables us to learn about the human body so we can ameliorate the effects of disease, injury, and old age. So all of us, both men and women, can live healthier, happier lives. Because of words. This should have been something that the author, who was an associate professor of surgery at University of California, San Francisco, until his death in 2009, ought to have been able to appreciate.
The father of moron commenter and fellow OB cob CBD, who was a voracious reader of history, passed back in May, and CBD inherited his library of several hundred history books. Once he takes the ones he wants, he would like to know of any of you morons have any ideas what to do with the rest. He's ruled out donating them to his local library since he thinks they'll take a few and then pulp the rest. He's tried to donate them to Hillsdale College, but they didn't return his e-mail. And reselling them individually through Amazon or Alibris is a PITA he'd like to avoid.
So I'm putting this out there in the hopes that any of the MoronHorde™ might have any ideas.
The Old Gray Mare
A few weeks back, John Kerry had another flare-up of hoof-in-mouth disease:
...But if you decide one day you're going to be a terrorist and you're willing to kill yourself, you can go out and kill some people. You can make some noise. Perhaps the media would do us all a service if they didn't cover it quite as much. People wouldn't know what's going on.
Every time Kerry says something dumb like this, I always think, does he think he can make hay out of this, or is he just horsing around?
But even though we all had fun laughing at the horse's ass, I don't think what he said is completely ridiculous.
After all, when some jackass goes running out onto the field during an NFL game, they don't show his antics, because notoriety is what the jackass wants. I think this is NFL policy. Although, if the jackass in question was a 22-year-old hottie who just so happened to be naked, I suppose the policy might get suspended for a few seconds, especially if there's a Moron™ in the control room.
And would our equine SoS ever dare to suggest implementing his policy domestically? Would #BLM be the national pests that they are if they were just ignored?
I doubt it. I suspect that what Kerry chiefly wants ignored is stuff (like ISIS attacks) that reveals the magnitude of his failures, both his and those of his boss.
But along these lines, Anna Puma mentioned an old novel "where the media decides to ignore and ridicule terrorists instead of reporting on all the sensationalist gory details."
Originally published in 1979, the terrorist bad guys of Dean Ing's novel Soft Targets are planning a terrorist attack on the U.S., which, back then, was simply unpossible:
Hakim Arif stars as the leader of the Arab-backed El-Fatah band of terrorists who have in their group a Panamanian and - surprise - two Israeli members of a religious sect whose beliefs are so convoluted as to ally them with their own enemy. Maurice Everett is the FCC Chairman whose idea to have the country's major TV networks ridicule terrorists versus giving them the publicity they and their backers so crave, puts him and the co-creators of the idea at the top of El-Fatah's hit list.
It's an interesting idea, but only for back then, when terrorism was far from our shores. Not today. I can't imagine such a policy being implemented for something like 9/11, or even that Florida gay nightclub that got shot up.
On the other hand, as Martin Luther once said, "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." At some point, these ISIS clowns need to be laughed at. Perhaps after a bunch of heavy ordnance gets jammed down their throats.
Gene Wilder
So I watched this interview of Gene Wilder, who passed away a few weeks back, and it turns out he was also a novelist. I never knew that.
It's almost the end of the war and Paul Peachy...enlists, and ships off to France. Peachy instantly realizes how out of his depth he is—and never more so than when he is captured. Risking everything, Peachy—who as a child of immigrants speaks German—makes the reckless decision to impersonate one of the enemy's most famous spies.
As the urbane and accomplished spy Harry Stroller, Peachy has access to a world he could never have known existed—a world of sumptuous living, world-weary men, and available women. But when one of those women—Annie, a young, beautiful and wary courtesan—turns out to be more than she seems, Peachy's life is transformed forever.
Veteran moron commenter Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing is reading the new Hitler bio, Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939, by Volker Ullrich.
Many previous biographies have focused on the larger social conditions that explain the rise of the Third Reich. Ullrich gives us a comprehensive portrait of a postwar Germany humiliated by defeat, wracked by political crisis, and starved by an economic depression, but his real gift is to show vividly how Hitler used his ruthlessness and political talent to shape the Nazi party and lead it to power. For decades the world has tried to grasp how Hitler was possible. By focusing on the man at the center of it all, on how he experienced his world, formed his political beliefs, and wielded power, this riveting biography brings us closer than ever to the answer.
MP4 says this new bio is good enough to stand with Sir Ian Kershaw's 2-volumeset.
The July 1944 Plot to kill Adolf Hitler was a desperate attempt by a group of senior officers to redeem Germany's honour and end the Second World War. They were heroic because they knew their chances of success were slight and that the result of their failure would undoubtedly be a terrible death. They wanted to leave a message for later generations: that there were Germans who understood the evils of Nazism and were willing to act against it...Luck of the Devil is...a brilliant account of just what happened in those fateful days at Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters, when his opponents came so astonishingly close to assassinating what is one of the modern era's most terrible figures.
It has always astounded me how these plots against Hitler failed due to fluke circumstances beyond all prediction or control. The phrased used in the title of Gershaw's book, Luck of the Devil, sums it up just about perfectly.
Books By Morons
I heard this week from a lurking moron who wants me give a shout out to his wife on the occasion of the publication of her first book, Into Thin Ayre: An Emerson Ayre Novel, which he describes as "an urban fantasy, an average woman in Ottawa (Canada) who has powers and responsibilities thrust upon her." The Amazon blurb says:
Emerson Ayre was a normal girl with a normal life until a supernatural inheritance leaves her questioning the nature of reality.
Forced into moonlighting in a job that she doesn't want and can't quit, Emerson joins the ranks of an elite group of women with special powers tasked with protecting the future of the planet.
And on a personal note, the author's husband added "I liked how she used all the stupid stuff her husband does as inspiration. Who knew I would be so useful?"
$2.99 on Kindle.
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Moron lurker author Vince Milam has published the third of his "Challenged World" series, which I first mentioned here last November. The first two in the series, The Unknown Element and Pretty Little Creatures were released last years. The series follows a group of ordinary people who must rise above themselves to fight supernatural evil.
The third book, Gather The Seekers, continues the adventures of Cole Garza, sheriff of a small Gulf Coast town, who, along with his two companions, is once again drawn into a battle that is way bigger than he is:
The intrepid trio of Cole, Nadine, and Francois are joined by others with the same “radar” to hone in on evil activities – all wrapped around a tale of ISIS waging jihad in America. Jude Gill is a spiritual warrior from San Francisco with tats, spiked hair, and an attitude. She is joined by Luke Sikes from Virginia, another spiritual warrior. Luke is a former NFL linebacker and brings a spiritual ferocity to the tale. These two – Jude and Luke – join Francois the French priest as a potent trio of seekers. Every spiritual warrior needs secular help. Francois is again aided by Nadine and Cole, while Jude is assisted by Jean Murphy – a retired cop. Jean holds little truck with malfeasance, having been hardened by the mean streets of Oakland. Luke’s aide-de-camp is Nick Capellas, a Department of Homeland Security agent. Nick is young, handsome (“eye candy” according to Nadine), and unsure at best of the eclectic team he has been pulled into. Jihad in America.
Trigger warnings for absolute Good, absolute Evil, and for Christianity being true. Also, even though these books are a series, each can be read as a "stand-alone" novel. Vince assured me of this.
Today, Sunday, the price for the Kindle edition of this book has been reduced to 99 cents.
Welcome to Luna City, Karnes County, Texas … Population 2,454. This does not count the strangers come to town, searching for the fabulous Mills treasure-hoard, the seldom-seen Agua Dulce ghost-horsemen, and the mysterious lights spotted floating over the highway on one dark and moonless night.Ex-celebrity chef, Richard Astor-Hall (formerly Rich Hall, the Bad Boy Chef) has his hands full managing the Luna Café and Coffee … plus some outside catering jobs … and a fund-raising charity event in which he might be drafted into playing a much bigger part than he agreed on at the start. A touch of mystery, a bit of possible romance
Moronette 'votermom' is putting together a list of moron authors over on the Goodreads site which is intended to be accessible to non-members. Here is the list she has compiled so far. Let her know if there's an author she's missing.
http://www.bookhorde.org/p/aoshq-authors.html
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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.
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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.
Heading to Philly for a relatively quick hitter, he said, tempting the fates.
Just close enough to drive. My general rule of thumb is anything inside 9 hours (that doesn't include NYC or NJ), I'll drive.
What's your favorite form of travel?
I loved taking the train between Amsterdam & London last year. That was far more enjoyable than I anticipated, and there's a very good chance I try Amtrak here some day to see how it compares.
Car is generally the best for me. Air travel has never recovered from the effects of 9/11. Hell, if time isn't a factor, Greyhound is probably more comfortable than air these days.
So Charlotte "protesters" chalk names on a sidewalk where a man was shot during the riots and they include the name of the stabbing ISIS terrorist from Minnesota? Yeah, that's not gonna help garner any sympathy. Not that I had any to give in the first place.
For inexplicable reasons, leftists believe that the violence wrought by angry minorities will benefit them, so they encourage it. They subsidize it. Obama has given his not-so-tacit permission to riot every time one of these tragic events occurs, from the Henry Louis Gates minor incident to the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and the Dallas officers. And now BLM is rolling in money, $100M from "social justice" organizations. Soros gave them $33M.
What we see in Charlotte is what they pay for. They are not wasting their money in Tulsa because Oklahoma is in the bag for Trump.
Law enforcement may target hate crime by analyzing Twitter. Another reason to stay off of Twitter. Depends on the definition of hate speech no? Based on how Twitter unevenly applies its banning rules, this will be a mess as not all hate crimes and speech are the same.
25 Years I've Been Flying This Airspace Sir, I've Never Had A Controller Talk To Me Like That [CBD]
—Open Blogger
Air traffic controllers and pilots going at each other, all while flying us around. It's funny, but damn, I would prefer not to have heard some of the idiocy on display here. [Below the break, because the hamsters are, let's be frank, sort of wimpy lately.]
So what kind of tussles has The Horde had with officialdom or waitresses, or clerks or Judges or whatever was maddening and amusing at the same time?
Good afternoon morons and moronettes, and welcome to the Saturday Afternoon Chess/Open Thread, the only AoSHQ thread with content specifically for all of us chess nerds who pay homage in the temple of Caïssa, goddess of the chessboard. And, for those of you who aren't nerdly enough for chess, you can use this thread to talk about checkers, or other games, or politics, or whatever you wish, only please try to keep it civil. Nobody wants to get into a hockey brawl on a Saturday afternoon.
"Why must I lose to this idiot?" --Hillary Clinton Aron Nimzowitsch
Nimowitsch said this after losing a crucial game to Friedrich Saemisch. Actually, he stood on a table and shouted it: "Gegen diesen Idioten muss ich verlieren?"
Nimzo's record against Saemisch was, at that point, 4-1. They played 5 more times after that and Nimzo won them all. That one loss must've hurt real bad.
Problem 1 - White To Play (110)
Hint: White mates in 2
3r4/1p5p/p1b3pk/R7/1P4B1/2Q3PP/1P1q1P2/6K1 w - - 0 1
White's queen is being attacked by the bishop on f5. White played 15.Qe2 to get out of the line of fire. That's a really bad move. Why? And for extra credit, what would be a better move?
r3qrk1/pp1n3p/2p2bp1/4pb2/2P5/1PN2NP1/P1Q2PBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 15
Chess Variant - Chess960
Chess gets regularly written off as being "played out". Meaning, we know what the good moves are, so what we're eventually going to get is an endless series of draws. A number of rules modifications have been proposed to avert this "draw death." Many involve additional new pieces and larger boards, to make the game more complicated. As I discussed last week, I generally don't care for them.
At some point, someone proposed modifying the opening position by randomly shuffling the back row pieces. But that creates oddities like the possibility of having both bishops on the same color square, and castling become problematic.
So, in 1996, former WC Bobby Fischer publicly announced his own variant, Chess960 (also called Fischer Random Chess) which was an improvement over the completely random "shuffle" chess. In Chess960, the only legal starting positions are those with bishops on opposite-colored squares, and the king placed between the rooks.
Under these constraints, it turns out there are 960 different possible starting positions to choose from. Hence the name of the variant.
Oh, and the black pieces need to be set up the same way as the white pieces, whatever configuration is chosen, so they're mirror images of each other, just like traditional chess.
The rules are pretty much the same. Castling is a bit different. Full rules are here.
I've actually played a few 960 games against my chess app, and I enjoyed it. 500 years of opening theory are completely gone, so you're on your own from move 1. Opening principles (develop your pieces, fight for the center, don't move your queen out too early, etc.) still apply. Depending on the starting position, there may be some unprotected pawns, so you'll have to deal with that. And I have found that the longer the game goes on, the more it starts to look like traditional chess. Perhaps a grandmaster with a more discerning eye wouldn't agree, but I can't tell the difference once I'm sufficiently into the middle game.
Here's an example of a Chess960 starting position.
The players need to check to see if there are any unprotected pawns, and sure, enough, in this position, there are a couple, namely, the 'a' and 'b' pawns. So, White might want to open with 1.f4, which opens an attack on Black's pawn at a7. Black can counter with 1...Nc6. This move has the advantage of not only defending the a7 pawn, but also prevents White from attacking the unguarded b7 pawn with 2.g3. Of course, instead of 2.g3, White can think about 2.Bh4, which puts pressure on Black's e7 pawn, which is only guarded by the King. 3.Qc5 would threaten a version of the Scholar's Mate. Or, White could just open more conventionally with 1.d4, which grabs a piece of the center and frees up the dark-square Bishop. There's all kinds of things you can do here.
If you want to try Chess960 for yourself, go to chess.org, click on "Play Against Computer" which will open a pop-up window, select "Chess960", then click on "Create Game".
I haven't found a way to play Chess960 against a computer opponent on Chess.com.
Problem 3 - White To Play (277)
Hint: White mates in 3
Control of the center is one of the great strategic principles of chess. And in this position, we see that White has pretty much established dominance in the center. So how does White cash in his strategic superiority for a huge tactical advantage?
2kr1b1r/pp6/2n1P1p1/3N3p/2BP1BP1/3K1Q2/PPP5/6q1 w - - 0 1
The 10 Most Important Moments in Chess History
Fun chess.com article. The "moments" are arranged in chronological order. I disagree with a number of their selections, but they'd be fun to kick around.
Problem 4 - White To Play (288)
Here's a game wherein my endgame-fu was weak. I'm playing White against moron commenter 'fluffy', and he's not letting me win, curse him. We reach this position:
4r3/2R3p1/1p1p1k1p/1PbB4/2P2P2/6P1/6KP/8 w - - 0 38 After 37...Re8
So we're in the endgame and I think it's looking kind of drawish. Despite me being up by a pawn, it's not clear to me how I can make progress: his rook on e8 looks dangerous and he's threatening to get into my face with ...Re2+ So I move 38.Bf3 to prevent this incursion. I think I did good, and the game was eventually drawn. But then I ran chess.com's computer analysis on the completed game and it labelled 38.Bf3 as a big blunder. It suggested a much better move, one that would lead to a winning advantage for White, i.e. me. So, what might this move, and the subsequent winning line, be?
Endgame of the Week (80)
Hoo boy:
4Q3/r6k/5K2/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1
KQ v KR is one of the most complicated endgames in chess. To draw, Black must keep King and Rook together. To win, White must pry them apart (usually by forcing Black into zugzwang where he has to move the rook away), and then apply a forking check to pick off the rook.
Is this a win, generally speaking? You advanced players can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I had always understood that previously, it had been thought that KQ v KR is a win for White, but not all of the time. There exists certain KQ v KR positions wherein Black can draw. That's what they used to think. However, modern computer-aided analysis has determined that KQ v KR is a win for White in all cases. But we needed a computer to tell us this, that means the winning line in certain positions is so hidden that a mere human may not be able to find it over the board. And in a tournament, you'll have the "50 move" rule to contend with.
But that's not the case here. In this position, the work of forcing king and rook apart has already been done. Your job is to maneuver your Queen into a position where you can set up a fork on the rook. If you can do that, that's a won game. After you capture the rook, I'll assume you know how to checkmate a lone King with your queen and king. Because that's a basic checkmate you can do in your sleep, right? RIGHT?
Perhaps a good hint would be what the fork will look like, so it will give you something to aim at.
Hint: Don't give Black an opportunity to move his rook. If you do, then you've lost the thread of the problem. So you want the rook to remain of on a7, and the idea is to force the Black king to the 8th rank, either g8 or h8, and if you can then move Qb8+, you've got your fork
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Solutions Update
Problem 1 - White To Play (110)
1.Rh5+ gxh5
2.Qf6#
Problem 2 - Black To Play (276)
15.Qe2?? is a blunder because of the reply 15...e4! which wins a piece. Both knights are under attack and White will lose one of them.
Knowing this, a better move for White, one that would block the attack, would be 15.Ne4. Then if Black increases the pressure with 15...Nc5, White has 16.Nfd2.
Problem 3 - White To Play (277)
This is very similar to one we had a couple three weeks ago:
I had overlooked 38.Rf7+. Well, I saw it, but I didn't really see any future in it, so I didn't play it. The computer, however, showed me otherwise:
38...Kg6 is Black' only move.
39.f5+ Kh7
Why Kh7? Because the two other possibilities lead to quick checkmates:
39...Kg5
40.h4+ Kg4
41.Bf3#
and
39...Kh5
40.Bf3+ Kg5
41.h4#
So, back to the main line
40.f6 Kg6 (if 40...Rg8 then 41.Re7)
41.Re7 Kxf6
42.Rxe8 and White should win, being up an entire rook.
It's amazing how much I miss during games.
Endgame of the Week (80)
The idea is for White to work his Queen down to the b8-h2 diagonal, so he can deliver a forking check on b8.
1.Qh5+ Kg8
2.Qg4+ Kh7
3.Qh3+ Kg8
4.Qg3+ Kh7
Not 4...Kh8? because of 5.Qb8+
5.Qh2+ Kg8
6.Qb8+ and wins
If Black instead chooses 2...Kh8, there follows
3.Qh3+ Kg8
4.Qg3+ Kh7
5.Qh2+ Kg8
6.Qb8+ winning
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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.
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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.
Lurker Steve wants to show off his abused dogs. Horrible conditions they live in. Meet Lii, Vizla and Rinny, Blue Heeler. Rinny is a recent addition and looks like a trouble maker.
Lurker Rick from Texas sent this photo in. Maximus a true hunting Lab. Although Rick is from TX he and his buddy found themselves on a hunting trip to a snowy area.
Our first cat entry this week is Noobie. Noobie was adopted by Richard McEnroe. The cat answers to female names but is a neutered male. I think we know why.
Check out this pair. Mr. Bandit and Mr. Jett are 4 year old cats owned by jfk1967. They come from different cities but get along quite well per jfk1967. Thanks for sharing.
JT in KC submitted his dog Barky's photo. Per JT Barkley is short for William F. Barkley. Barkley is a Border Terrier and appears to be live a life of degradation.
So Smitty 27 is one of those people. Poor Bella the 3 year old German Shepherd Dog is dressed up like a poodle. All kidding aside Smitty, Bella is a very nice looking dog.
Thank you guys and gals for the compliments to the AoS Pet Thread. We can't spell S_ CCESS without U. So you have a tip, news story or a pet photo. Of course you can send them here, petmorons at gmail dot com.
Happy First Saturday of Autumn, 2016. Today, most of our content has been provided by two of the most enthusiastic gardeners in The Horde. Both of them, with their respective spouses, have been "putting things by" from the garden for winter enjoyment.
Gordon lives in Minnesota, where the summer growing season is not particularly long. He has written a book review and recounted his experiences using automated devices for making jams and jellies and also sauces. With photos.
I also decided to highlight the latest Idaho Banana Belt report by Pat* because Pixie led to delays in its posting and I think a lot of people missed it. I really enjoyed it.
First up is Gordon. I added some heading so we could keep our places. Take it away, Gordon!
Book Review, Foolproof Preserving
So I bought Foolproof Preserving: A Guide to Small Batch Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Condiments, and More by the folks at America's Test Kitchen. Like America's Team, they all wear royal blue stars on their silver aprons. Or maybe not; I doubt Christopher and his bow tie spend much time watching the NFL. As with any recipes from the Cook's Illustrated folks, they can be very fussy about ingredients and steps. But the ones I have tried out do work.
The nice thing for me is that everything in the book is small batch. Some yield only a cup. But most yield a couple of pints, to four quarts. They can be very specific about doubling; many of the recipes should not be, as they won't set properly. I found that the jam recipes tended to yield an extra pint or two, so have a couple of extra jars ready.
Being who they are, many of the recipes have been arranged to minimize the calories, or to require little or no added ingredients. The jam recipes use quite a bit less sugar than other recipes, and include a shredded tart apple. No pectin is needed, and the apple adds some structure and tartness.
There are lots of interesting pickle recipes also. Some are quick to make, and cannot be preserved. One, for pickled radish, takes only a few minutes--and has to be used within an hour. As is their way, there are lots of pictures and explanatory sections. I like this book quite a bit, and plan to keep trying some of their interesting ideas, such as Strawberry Basil Jam. It works nicely and can be served at dinnertime with beef.
We put up some Colorado peaches using their recipe. The yield on that was a little over half what we expected, but they are delicious. We have about a quart of heavy syrup left over, infused with amazing fresh peach flavor. It will not go to waste! Some has already been used to make a peach topping for ice cream.
Making jam with an automatic jam and jelly maker
Making jelly and jam can be painful. Constant stirring of a boiling, foaming mixture of fruit and sugar will get one splashed, and that does sting. Standing over the mixture while it cooks down is boring. But homemade jams and jellies, with fruit chosen for flavor and ripeness, well, it is so much better than even the expensive artisan stuff.
Comes the Ball FreshTECH Jam and Jelly maker, about $85 from Amazon. You can also order from the company store and pay more for it. This device sits 12 inches high and about 18 inches wide on the counter. It's simple and made for producing small batches. Best of all, add the pectin, the fruit, and (four minutes later) the sugar, and in 21 minutes your jam is ready to go into the jars.
The start of the jam making cycle.
Note the dab of butter.
Does it work? Yes, and quite well, actually. It really is that simple. The recipes in the manual are easy and produce good jam and jelly. The cleanup is quick and easy. Best of all, it does all of the stirring, and no burns are inflicted.
Of course, I have to try different things, so I used a recipe out of the Foolproof Preserving book. The volume of fruit was about 1/3 larger than the machine recipe, and I didn't use pectin because the recipe didn't.
I added five minutes to the cooking time for the extra fruit. After about ten minutes, everyone in the house will know you're making something fruity, because the machine has vents all around the lid edge. Inside, the paddle turns constantly and the mixture heats up quickly. A pat of butter, recommended, keeps it from foaming. And after 26 minutes, I had delicious peach jam. After processing, it didn't set up. It wasn't runny, just more spreadable than one expects jam to be. No one is complaining and it sticks to the biscuit just fine, thanks. But if the machine calls for added pectin, pectin it will get.
Peach jam after processing.
The recipe called for the skins to be left on.
The device has two settings; Jam and Jelly. Touch the button and the time pops up. More time can be added before starting. But one cannot add time at the end. The machine goes into a cool down mode, and will not restart for 30 minutes. Everything but the base unit can go in the dishwasher.
Yes, it's one more appliance, though most of the year it can sit quietly in storage. But I have my Jam Maker badge already, and don't need any more burns. I love this thing and it's going to get a lot of use.
And there is a sauce maker, too.
Like many gardeners, I am well-served in the tomato department at this time of year. Thankfully, Ball also has a tomato processor. (They also have an electric canner, and a more complex automatic canner that takes out any guesswork. I have not tested these, but they are rated highly.) The Harvest Pro Sauce Maker can crank through 15 quarts of tomatoes in 20 minutes, removing skins and seeds, and has a coarse screen also. It sells for about $135 on Amazon.
The company says to use it for strawberry jam, applesauce, ketchup, and butternut squash soup, and pico de gallo. So far I've only used it for sauce, and it does that very well. Tomatoes go in up top, and down below you get sauce, with the skins and seeds diverted, as well as the thinner juice. With the coarse screen in place, nearly all skins are removed, but a few bits may get through, and seeds do pass through. This does not bother me, but I know some folks are pretty fussy about the skins and seeds, so if you're one of these, don't use the coarse screen.
So the machine can eliminate much of the tomato labor. There's no need to blanch to get skins off, one can dispense with the seeding and even other ingredients like onions and garlic get processed down. The process is a bit messy; stuff will get onto the counter. But not much, and less than if I were working by hand.
There are recipes included for soups, tomato sauce, paste and marinara, baby food, jams and even barbecue sauce. The Harvest Pro configures differently to produce smoother and coarser results.
Making Hearty Pasta Sauce
I used the recipe for Hearty Pasta Sauce from the manual. It called for 12 pounds of Roma tomatoes, so naturally I used some Amish paste and some heirlooms and some of the dark cherries I have so much of. I quartered them (halved the cherries) and threw them in a roasting pan with onion, salt, garlic, and a solitary minced habanero pepper, because I have a bunch of those sitting around and I couldn't find any red pepper flakes. This roasted for an hour. I could have pulled the skins off the tomatoes by hand at this point, but I have a machine for that, right?
Tomatoes ready for roasting
I used a slotted spoon to transfer the cooled mix into the hopper. It took less than five minutes through the coarse setting to produce nice sauce. The cook time was 15 minutes, adding oregano and then basil just before jarring it. Processing took about 55 minutes. We had seven pints (and a cup more) of very good sauce with a background of heat--just enough that you notice, but not enough to identify the source.
Roasted tomatoes go in the hopper
Coarse screen in use
What was left in the roasting pan was some liquid with bits of stuff. I ran that through the fine strainer. The result was (remember that habanero?) two quarts of deliciously spicy tomato juice. I can't drink, but even I wanted a bloody mary made with that stuff. It's very good on it's own. Since there's no preservatives, one has to drink it within about 3 days, or freeze it. We did both.
Bonus! Spicy tomato juice. Mmmm.
I admit I was skeptical about these machines. But the folks at Ball know home canning, and they have produced some good equipment. Making canning easier can only sell more jars and lids for them. They also have an introductory canning kit in stores, which includes a few jars, and a simple jar lifter one can use in a regular pot.
One thing about canning for those who have not tried it. It requires a lot of dish washing. Sometimes the same bowl or spoon gets washed several times. Plan ahead for this: if a grandchild is not available for free labor, then consider a visit to the Home Depot parking lot for a temporary worker. I've heard one can pay such folks with jars of salsa, but that may be just a rumor.
Another Bonus! Salsa Recipe
Gordon's wife kindly sent us her recipe for cherry tomato salsa, too. Looks yummy as cooking starts.
Vonnie's Three Chip Cherry Tomato Salsa
It's called three chip because those of tender tongue have to take three bites before they realize it's not going to kill them.
Yield is 6 to 8 pints
12 cups cherry tomatoes any variety or mixed
Halve or quarter the tomatoes and remove stems and seeds. Pack them tightly in the measuring cup.
3 cups red onion, chopped
18 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 poblano peppers
8 large or 10 small to medium jalapeno peppers
2-3 habanaro peppers
All peppers should be seeded and chopped. One might want gloves for this step.
1 cup cilantro leaves, packed
2 tablespoons salt
The juice from 2 limes
1 cup cider vinegar
Put all ingredients in a large heavy pot and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, tomatoes should be tender. Take off heat and run immersion blender through until tomatoes are mostly broken up, or process in food processor in batches. Put back on medium heat for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Put in prepared pint jars and process in canner for 15 minutes.
Thanks, Vonnie.
This calls for salsa music! And dancing!
>
Those who are into improvisation should be careful about improvising with Vonnie's salsa recipe, particularly by omitting the vinegar. I don't think this would be safe without a pressure canner.
Last Week's Idaho Banana Belt Report
Gardening Morons and Moronettes who don't check back for late comments on Sunday (or even Monday) may be missing something. For example, many of you may not have seen the Idaho Banana Belt Report that Pat* posted quite late, after running into some difficulty with Pixie. Having once been banned myself, I was afraid that the Banning Times would fall upon the thread before I could respond
I always appreciate her reports, but I was especially jazzed about her report last week because of what she was doing when the thread went up:
Husband and I ran a rifle marksmanship training/American history event for the group we volunteer for, "Revere's Riders" (TM or copyright or something). Taught some 15-year-olds 3-position shooting, and about the history of April 19, 1775.
Those of you who don't come back to read late comments may wonder how Pat* could live in a banana belt in Idaho. This rather droll term does not mean she can grow bananas outdoors. But the weather is milder and the growing season is longer in low-elevation areas near the Snake River than in other parts of Idaho. She could probably grow some Giant Banana Squash or Banana Melons there, but those are topics for another day. Even those in shorter-season climates can grow a banana plant in an aquarium.
Pat* mentioned that her irrigation water will be turned off not too long from now. Many cities in the reservoir-studded Intermountain West have dual water systems: one for potable household water and one for irrigating yards and gardens. "Don't drink out of the hose" may mean more in these cities than elsewhere. I was wondering if cities in other regions have similar dual water systems.
I grew up in the Intermountain West where Pat* now lives, and my Dad gave us "scientific tour guide" commentary on geological features of the areas we were passing through on family vacations. I learned quite a bit about the Colorado and Snake rivers. They allow farming and gardening in much of the West.
There is a lot to see along the Snake River, from the Grand Canyon of the Snake in Wyoming to Hell's Canyon on the Idaho-Oregon border. The Snake and Yakima rivers merge with the Columbia in the Tri-Cities area of southeastern Washington State. Shoshone Falls, near Twin Falls Idaho, is higher than Niagra Falls. It once marked the end of the line for ocean-going fish like salmon and sturgeon swimming up the Snake River. I think this unusual photo is of the Snake winding its way through the Snake River Plain in Idaho. If there is another location on the Snake that looks like this, let me know.
Dad also taught us about some dramatic events caused by Climate Change in the prehistoric past. The most striking one involving the Snake River was the Lake Bonneville Flood. This sudden, cataclysmic flood left huge boulders strewn along the Snake River, among other topographical changes. Does your yard or garden feature boulders?
Jammin' in the Banana Belt
Weiser, Idaho is a small farming community in Idaho's Banana Belt, near the confluence of the Weiser and Snake rivers on the Idaho-Oregon border. It is the home of the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest and Festival. This style of music was a precursor to Bluegrass. There is now some crossover with Bluegrass and Jazz Fiddling, but contest rules, last I heard, still specify that contest tunes must be "danceable". No "fancy tunes" like Orange Blossom Special are allowed.
I saw my sister compete in the Junior Division one year. Those who go expecting stagecraft at the contest will be disappointed, but there are events meant for an audience, too.
Many musicians attend primarily for the jam sessions around campers and in taverns between and after contest sessions. There are a lot of farmers and gardeners among them. A memorable respite from technology and glitz, with genuine people.
I am not sure that a blues song is supposed to be this happy. But I like it.
Reminder
Pat* mentioned planting Lily of the Valley under a linden tree. I think caution is warranted when putting concrete rings around some trees, but it is time for people in some climates to plant fall bulbs and such.
Anything new going on in your garden? Are you harvesting? Preserving any produce for winter?
Hope some nice things happen for you this week. Stay cozy.
Thread below the Gardening Thread: VDH on Today's Elites [KT]
—Open Blogger
Serving your mid-day open thread needs
Why are we so angry at today's elites? Earlier in the month, Victor Davis Hanson chose four characteristics of today's elites that make us hot under the collar. This is the fourth:
. . . the people feel that elites do not follow the laws.
Do you agree with his assessment? Can you think of other worrisome characteristics of today's elites?
How are today's elites different from those of, say, 1896?
Enjoy your beverages as you discuss these news items or anything else you can think of in this open thread. Remember, no running with sharp objects and play nice with others.
Good Saturday morning, gang. Was hoping for a quiet weekend without 'splodey Presto's, but instead we have a free range psycho with a gun, to Chris Hayes' delight. Feh. Have a better one!
I think the current nationwide police recruit shortage will only get worse, especially in the current climate of hate we're trudging through. Keep that in mind if you think the cops will be responding in a timely fashion when you need to call them. You best be prepared to handle things on your own until they can arrive.
Also, most of you have a first aid kit but have you thought about perhaps having your own trauma kit? Could come in handy with the times we're living in.
Good lord this should be obvious to those with a brain. During my daily commute, I'll never understand why I see folks that will stop in their lane with another quarter mile of open lane ahead of them and try to force their way into a lane already barely creeping along and causing a backup in the lane they're currently in. Transportation officials say that staying in your lane until the lane actually merges is better. Also, don't be that asshat in the already clogged lane and try to straddle the line and block both lanes.
Obstreperous writers and scientists have identified some of the troubling trends in this way of conveying science to the public. For example: the fetishization of MRI imaging and the “neuro” prefix; the shallow and overly visual obsession with astronomical objects; silly genetic reductionism; the bizarre neglect of fields like chemistry, linguistics, ecology, and geology; wild speculation about the adaptive functions of certain traits in organisms; the irresponsible coverage of irreplicable psychological studies; and just the general credulity towards phrases like "studies show" and "the data says."
I would add the phrases "consensus says", "97% of scientists", and "the science is settled".
Spider-Man Theme
B-21 Raider
So the B-21 is going to be called Raider. Here is the list of rejected names which included Ace Of Spaces.
Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to player to be named later or CDR M. Otherwise send tips to Ace.
Another FBI Friday Document Dump Reveals Obama Used Pseudonym When Emailing Hillary, Strongly Implying He Knew Hillary Was on an Insecure, Illegal Syste
President Barack Obama used a pseudonym in email communications with Hillary Clinton and others, according to FBI records made public Friday.
...
In an April 5, 2016 interview with the FBI, Abedin was shown an email exchange between Clinton and Obama, but the longtime Clinton aide did not recognize the name of the sender.
"Once informed that the sender's name is believed to be pseudonym used by the president, Abedin exclaimed: 'How is this not classified?'" the report says. "Abedin then expressed her amazement at the president's use of a pseudonym and asked if she could have a copy of the email."
The State Department has refused to make public that and other emails Clinton exchanged with Obama. Lawyers have cited the "presidential communications privilege," a variation of executive privilege, in order to withhold the messages under the Freedom of Information Act.
Ace writes occasionally about the scolds of the world, who want nothing more than to correct the behavior of those who are not rigidly adhering to codes of behavior as defined by these scolds.
The appropriate response from the AD would be to laugh and say, "We have a world-class university; even the beer we serve at legal, school-sponsored events is great!"
Instead we get this:
"My first concern is always for the safety and well-being of our students,'' Hobbs told NJ.com. "Anyone who was at the [student tailgate] Saturday knows that I was acting to ensure that. "I regret that any action on my part can be interpreted as promoting the use of alcohol. That was certainly not my intention.''
Man up, you panty-waisted little worm. Fight back against the scolds of the world, because they are also coming for other, more important things in your life.
Like contact sports.
You know...football. The sport that makes your inflated salary a reality.
This election is unlike any other in our nation’s history. Like many other voters, I have struggled to determine the right course of action in this general election.
In Cleveland, I urged voters, “please, don’t stay home in November. Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket whom you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”
After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
I’ve made this decision for two reasons. First, last year, I promised to support the Republican nominee. And I intend to keep my word.
Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary Clinton is wholly unacceptable -- that’s why I have always been #NeverHillary.
Six key policy differences inform my decision. First, and most important, the Supreme Court. For anyone concerned about the Bill of Rights -- free speech, religious liberty, the Second Amendment -- the Court hangs in the balance. I have spent my professional career fighting before the Court to defend the Constitution. We are only one justice away from losing our most basic rights, and the next president will appoint as many as four new justices.
The chief effect of this seems to be increasing the psychic strain of #NeverTrumpers, as they continue conflating the question of "Do you feel Hillary Clinton should be the next president?" with the question they much prefer answering, "Do you have Principles and which Personalities do you favor here?"
I'm really getting tired of this This Time It's Personal bullshit, but whatever, the perpetual personal aggrievement cohort is going to continue to be perpetually personally aggrieved. They'll just find new ways to imply "vote for Hillary Clinton" without quite having to say that directly.
Without a doubt, of the two choices, it's Donald Trump, and not Hillary Clinton, who has had the longest track record and greatest success at corrupting the government.
So, vote for her. Because that's the Principled thing to do, for some reason.
I feel like we need Tom Hanks to step out at some point and declare "There's no crying in baseball."
But I'm sure they'd just call Tom Hanks a Trumpkin Sellout.
BTW: Why is it that #NeverTrumpers question Cruz' motives, given they get so upset if we question theirs?
Can't it be the case that Cruz is being dead honest here: Yes, I have great problems with Trump, including the beastly way he treated my own wife and father, and yet, in the scheme of things that are actually truly important, I must support Trump over this serial law-breaking and government-corrupting grifter?
I'm sorry, is that too illogical, fantastical even, for the #NeverTrumpers?
I was following the riots in Charlotte, against a background of reports of violence. Joe Bruno of WSOC9 interviewed a driver whose truck had been stopped by a mob. Trapped in her cab, she “feared for her life” as her cargo was looted. Then I retweeted a report of mobs “stopping traffic and surrounding vehicles” with the comment, “Run them down.”
Those words can easily be taken to advocate drivers going out of their way to run down protesters. I meant no such thing, and I'm sorry it seemed I did. What I meant is that drivers who feel their lives are in danger from a violent mob should not stop their vehicles. I remember Reginald Denny, a truck driver who was beaten nearly to death by a mob during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. My tweet should have said, “Keep driving,” or “Don’t stop.”
I don't believe for one second the words can "easily" be taken to mean that.
I think the Social Justice Warriors just want their weekly scalp -- and they lie to get it.
I think the left will increasingly demand that each of us will declare our devotion to their Strange New Gods for the simple privilege of being permitted any voice whatsoever in the world they own.
I don't blame Reynolds for this -- this is the going to be required of each of us in turn if we are to enjoy the privilege of simply existing.
After all -- Right now they're "Investigating" his tweets at the University of Tennessee where he's a professor.
With tenure.
But I'm sure they'll make up a special rule as to why they can fire some professors with tenure.
UT College of Law Dean Melanie D. Wilson said in a statement Thursday morning that she and university administrators are investigating the matter, calling Reynolds’ post an “irresponsible use of his platform.”
“The university is committed to academic freedom, freedom of speech, and diverse viewpoints, all of which are important for an institution of higher education and the free exchange of ideas,” she wrote. “My colleagues and I in the university’s leadership support peaceful disobedience and all forms of free speech, but we do not support violence or language that encourages violence.”
And this is why you're gonna get Trump.
People are sick of being bullied and hounded by idiot savages.
Clinton's path to 270 is relatively simple: (a) steal Ohio, Florida, or North Carolina; or (b) win her five must-win states and prevent Trump from getting 16 more electoral votes from among the 25 remaining on the board. (If Clinton wins right-leaning Ohio, Florida, or North Carolina, there's no way she'll fail to win the requisite number of left-leaning states.) Trump's task is to win his 3 must-win states (plus the 23 states that are givens) and then follow any one of five different paths to winning the remaining 17 electoral votes he'd need to achieve victory.
Despite everyone pretty much putting Virginia into Queenlackthrone's column, it's the most centrist of all battleground states. It still could surprise.
Reporter: So You're Doin' Better Hillary: Super, Thanks For Asking Reporter: So You'd Take a Neurocognitive Assessment Test Hillary: Neurocognitive Assessment Test? What, Like a Cloth?
“Some doctors have said, because of your age, as well as your opponent’s age, that you could be at higher risk for dementia or even Alzheimer’s and have suggested that you take some neurocognitive test,” ABC affiliate reporter Sarina Fazina said to Clinton. “Would you be willing to do that?”
“I’m very sorry I got pneumonia,” Clinton replied, letting out a hearty laugh. “I’m very glad that antibiotics took care of it. And that’s behind us now. I’ve met the standard that everybody running for president has met in terms of releasing information about my health.”
...
Asked specifically whether she’d submit to testing, Clinton said no.
“There’s no need for that. The information is very clear. And the information, as I said, meets the standards that every other person running for president has ever had to meet, and I’m happy that we’ve met and even exceeded them in certain ways,” she told the local Florida reporter.
Tonight, my wife and I ran into some old friends from our neighborhood. They're middle aged, like us, with two kids--a boy and a girl, age 9 and 10. We have two boys, 4 and 10. The husband has a lucrative job. They moved our of our upper middle class neighborhood two years ago into a $500,000 home.
The husband travels overseas three weeks out of a month for his job. Some weeks he returns home Saturday night and flies out again on Monday morning. When I asked the wife how they were handling the schedule, she sighed and replied, "I don't know how much longer we can hang on. But if he were to find a job in his industry where he didn't have to travel, he'd have to take a pretty big pay cut."
Some part of me wanted to scream, "Take the pay cut! You look miserable just talking about it, and you could move right back into our neighborhood and still be better off than most people!"
But it's not that simple, is it? New money doesn't stay liquid for long. It always finds a way to fund new obligations--the bigger home with the upscale patio and fire pit, the luxury SUV, the vacations, the dreams of early retirement.
We all want to feel like we're advancing in life, both in status and wealth. Stepping back feels like failure.
My friends are trapped. I see it a lot as people hit middle age.
I'll be honest/ Although I'm good at it, I pretty much hate my job. I work in a poisonous work culture. I dislike my industry and most of my coworkers. I am bored, resentful, and simply phoning it in for a paycheck. I am capable of achieving and earning much, much more. And when I see someone in a personally rewarding, high achievement career I feel envious.
But I have a job that allows me to be my kids' primary caregiver while they're young. And it pays well enough to allow us to live within one of the top school systems in the state. I do not travel for work, rarely put in more than 45 hours a week and never bring work home.
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt what it is that I value. I am a family man foremost and always. My relationship with my kids means more to me than anything else in the world, and I know that you can never get back this time with them when they're young and precious and treasure my attention.
A sober accounting would say I have no good reason to be dissatisfied. My health is good, I have a happy marriage, I get to spend a great deal of time with my kids, and I don't have a lot of material wants.
And yet there's still that nagging sense of underachievement and wasted potential. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel insecure and slightly embarrassed of my own middling accomplishments when socializing with high career achievers. This, despite knowing that my choices have been deliberate and well considered.
The money trap for me isn't even about money. It's about what it represents.
So, how do you balance work and family life? Are you happy with your choices? And if not, what is stopping you from taking a different path? If you could do things over, would you do them differently? What will you tell your kids about work, family and how to define success?
Keep it civil or you will be warned once, then banned. Or if it is beyond the pale, banned without a warning.
Taxis vs. Uber
I like Uber. It's convenient, the drivers seem to be more communicative and interesting, and it is certainly transparent. Knowing what the fare will be before you get into the car is a very nice thing.
there is some evidence that, in comparison to taxi drivers, Uber drivers discriminate less against minority riders. For instance, an investigation by the Washington, D.C.-based WUSA 9 news agency found that, with respect to hailing taxis, black passengers wait longer and are 25 percent more likely to be stranded than white passengers.
Conversely, Uber’s policy of not revealing a rider’s personal information or desired destination until the driver accepts the job, coupled with its policy that drivers must accept at least 90 percent of all requests, could offset racial bias and prevent drivers from refusing to serve certain areas. In fact, an Uber study in Chicago concluded that 4 in 10 rides start or end in areas
underserved by taxis.
By the age of one, how many times had modern medicine saved your ass?
What about by the age twenty? How about now?
How many times has nature tried to kill you? Strep, staph, weather, tsunamis, all the vaccine preventable illnesses, tooth decay, allergies that range from life-threatening to "goddamnit, it's spring and the trees are fucking," and whatever the fuck Gwyneth Paltrow is getting stung by bees to cure.
And the goddamn flu.
Without modern medicine, how much worse off would your life be?
If you go back to doing all things naturally, a tiny emergency turns into a big one. A long term chronic illness turns into a quick death sentence.
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High-fat cheese: the secret to a healthy life? I actually don't care whether it contributes to a healthy life. It contributes mightily to a happy life, especially with some good crusty sourdough bread or a fresh-baked baguette.
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Well, we're on a "Telegraph" roll, so here are two Brits waxing poetic about the joys of Japanese whiskey. I have tried a few, and they are nice, but I have yet to be wowed by any of them. Does the Horde have a different experience? Why Japanese whisky is now some of the best in the world
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I roomed with a bunch of cripples (their word, not mine) in college, and most were refreshingly smart-assed about their injuries and disabilities. The current attitude that elevates their "bravery" to ridiculous heights rankles the way speaking of Hillary as a fashion icon or Chelsea as a super-achiever does...
The problem is this: most disabled people aren't interested in 'breaking boundaries' one little bit. The chances of most disabled people becoming a world class athlete is roughly the same as it is for able bodied people (i.e nil).
I should hardly need to point out that, despite having a disability, I don't have much in common with any disabled athletes.
What's more pertinent however, is the 'wow-factor' that able bodied commentators and viewers of the Games seem to have towards what sociologist Rebecca Chopp has called 'super cripples'.
It would appear that only by contorting and manipulating ones body into something approaching super-human do people with disabilities actually gain the respect of wider society. Disabled people who don't strive for these goals are still patted on the head. Disabled people who do are given medals.
I think I'm going to do a half-day tomorrow. I figure I'm going to be up late on Monday with the debate, so I figure I kinda should get a half day off.
Here's a thread idea. Maybe a recurring one.
So the Medical Monitoring thread seems popular. I was thinking: What about a self-improvement thread that's not about fitness and health? Like a thread about projects you've been putting off for years but want to complete. An accountability thread for finally doing something -- learn woodcraft, take up fencing, take up bird-watching, take the wife dancing, whatever it is -- you've long wanted to do but kept finding "better things to do."
If anyone has any ideas like that, maybe mention them here. If there's interest, I can put up this thread every Thursday evening.
But do tell me how Trump isn't conservative enough and will compromise the unshakable conservative principles of this piece of shit, unscrupulous, donor-servicing organization.
Amazing: Angry, Bent Feminist Shames Her Own Sons as Being Insufficiently "Anti-Rape" Despite One of Her Sons Being at Risk For Suicide
—Ace
And the Washington Post published this madwoman's rantings, because the Washington Post has four or five verticals now devoted to Social Justice Warrioring -- and you gotta fill that space, day in day out, no matter what the day's lunatics send you.
On September 14, The Washington Post published what can only be described as a public display of child abuse. In an article entitled "My teen boys are blind to rape culture," feminist writer Jody Allard chastises her sons for questioning the propaganda she feeds them.
"They've been listening to me talk about consent, misogyny and rape culture since they were tweens. They listened to me then, but they are 16 and 18 now, and they roll their eyes and argue when talk to them about sexism and misogyny."
That Allard’s boys won’t take up their mother’s fight makes them "part of the problem," writes Allard. They’ve "dipped their toes into toxic masculinity," she adds. Toxic masculinity is a favorite feminist term. It means the more masculine a man is, the more vile he is. Nice, huh?
Fortunately for Allard’s sons, their mother’s efforts to indoctrinate them has failed. Unfortunately, her response was to publically shame them.
...
That’s not even the worst of it. This same author, Ms. Jodi Allard, wrote an article back in February, also for The Washington Post, about one of her sons--who's suicidal.
Yes, you read that right. One of Allard's sons, the 16-year-old, is a known suicide risk--known to Allard and known to The Washington Post editors. And still they publically shamed him.
Those are just the facts -- definitely click the article, though, for the author's observations on what feminism really is (a crutch for the demented and deluded).
By the way: If you're thinking "This Jody Allard sounds like a real catch," oh man, you don't know the half of it. Check the link.
Amazing: Angry, Bent Feminist Shames Her Own Sons as Being Insufficiently "Anti-Rape" Despite One of Her Sons Being at Risk For Suicide
—Ace
And the Washington Post published this madwoman's rantings, because the Washington Post has four or five verticals now devoted to Social Justice Warrioring -- and you gotta fill that space, day in day out, no matter what the day's lunatics send you.
On September 14, The Washington Post published what can only be described as a public display of child abuse. In an article entitled "My teen boys are blind to rape culture," feminist writer Jody Allard chastises her sons for questioning the propaganda she feeds them.
"They've been listening to me talk about consent, misogyny and rape culture since they were tweens. They listened to me then, but they are 16 and 18 now, and they roll their eyes and argue when talk to them about sexism and misogyny."
That Allard’s boys won’t take up their mother’s fight makes them "part of the problem," writes Allard. They’ve "dipped their toes into toxic masculinity," she adds. Toxic masculinity is a favorite feminist term. It means the more masculine a man is, the more vile he is. Nice, huh?
Fortunately for Allard’s sons, their mother’s efforts to indoctrinate them has failed. Unfortunately, her response was to publically shame them.
...
That’s not even the worst of it. This same author, Ms. Jodi Allard, wrote an article back in February, also for The Washington Post, about one of her sons--who's suicidal.
Yes, you read that right. One of Allard's sons, the 16-year-old, is a known suicide risk--known to Allard and known to The Washington Post editors. And still they publically shamed him.
Those are just the facts -- definitely click the article, though, for the author's observations on what feminism really is (a crutch for the demented and deluded).
By the way: If you're thinking "This Jody Allard sounds like a real catch," oh man, you don't know the half of it. Check the link.
Who, by the way, cannot be a racist, definitionally, because he's black, and you can only be racist if you have power.
Do observe in the first video that a gang of black thugs chases down a random white guy to beat him; I wonder, who has the power here?
I'm sorry -- please explain to me why it's me who needs to learn that people of a different skin color aren't Free-Range Scapegoats to be beaten or murdered at will Because Angry About Things.
Also enjoy the second video, which begins very heartwarming; but then watch on, to see this guy get harrangued for actually selling peace.
Update: Tired of the Angry Alcoholics Thread-Stalking and Constantly Shit-Stirring
—Ace
Lot of bannngs coming.
You can only be warned so many fucking times.
Join Alcoholics Anonymous, assholes. No one else wants to see your drunken, irrational anger and girlish sniping day after day after fucking day.
Get clean and get a moment of clarity and maybe come back when you've got your 90 day chip.
Hint: When a moderator tells you to STOP, you either STOP, or you get banned.
In addition, threads will have comments CLOSED if this continues, and you'll be named as the reason why.
There are some losers who are Anger Junkies and seem to believe the rest of us find their unending, pathetic INTERNET WARZ to be highly fascinating.
Pro-Tip, Losers: We do not find your pathetic INTERNET WARZ fascinating.
If you are getting your only emotional release from your made-up, unmanly daily drama on the Internet, for God's sake: Get a life.
Take the advice I have been trying to offer and get outside the fucking house for once, talk to real people for once, and develop a hobby that doesn't involve typing angry comments into your masturbation box.
Do you know that when other people see your behavior, we do not think, "Wow, what a sick burn that guy just dished out"?
No, what we're thinking is: "How sad that this is this shut-ins only engagement with what he sadly terms 'the world'."
You're embarrassing yourselves, which I don't give a shit about, and you're embarrassing everyone else here.
That part I do care about.
If you want to drop Sick Burns on people all day and do your stupid unending TRUMP WARZ, then go to fucking Twitter.
BTW: All coblogs and everyone with the banhammer are now authorized to BAN ON WHIM.
I'm really tired of people challenging moderators' authority -- moderators who are doing a thankless and wearying and absolutely necessary job.
Anyone know why so many cobs keep quitting? A big part of it is people getting WORN THE FUCK OUT by the nasty cohort here who will just not stop.
So now everyone is authorized to ban at the drop of the hat. Cobs and moderators usually ask me "should I ban this person for this;" well, that regime is over. Ban as you like. I'll only look at these things retrospectively.
When I get around to it.
Which I probably won't, because I don't like dealing with this constant bullshit either. No one does.
If you want to be reinstated, you can petition me for the reinstatement, and i'll get around to looking at that in three or four weeks. Or, never.
10% of any group is responsible for 90% of the moderators' attention -- and we moderators have decided you're just not worth the hassle any longer.
So-- by all means, keep ignoring moderators and other commenters (many who have the banhammer code) when they issue a friendly, but direct, warning.
That is no longer permitted, Comrade. That is nekulturny.
New Soviet American Man is to be meek and deferential, except when the state commands him to be enraged and cruel against the Irredeemable Enemies of the State.
The State will protect you, Citizen. And if the State does not protect you -- well, your life is a small sacrifice to offer out of respect to the absolute State Monopoly on Violence.
By the way, if you surround My car on the highway in a threatening way? You're likely to sustain very serious injuries, beginning with the horrific shin-shears people get in run-downs.
Sorry, but not sorry. Get the fuck out of the way, Racist Clown-Thug.
Instapundit was later reinstated but only on the condition he censor himself by deleting the tweet.
If there's one thing the Obama administration can be counted upon to do, it's to abandon Americans overseas. After nearly $2B in cash payments to Iran, hostages forced to purchase own travel back to U.S. - NDH
