Ace of Spades HQ

October 20, 2018

Saturday Overnight Open Thread (10/20/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

(Saturday Night Diversity)

***

The Saturday Night Joke

A motorcycle police officer stops a driver for shooting through a red light.The driver is a real jerk, steps out of his car and comes striding toward the officer, demanding to know why he is being harassed by the Gestapo!

So the officer calmly tells him of the red light violation. The motorist instantly goes on a tirade, questioning the officer's ancestry, sexual orientation, etc., in rather explicit offensive terms.

The tirade goes on without the officer saying anything. When the officer finishes writing the ticket he puts an "AH" in the lower right corner of the narrative portion of the ticket.

He then hands it to The 'violator' for his signature. The guy signs the ticket angrily, and when presented with his copy points to the "AH" and demands to know what it stands for.

The officer says, "That's so when we go to court, I'll remember that you're an asshole!"

Two months later they're in court. The 'violator' has a bad driving record with a high number of points and is in danger of losing his license, so he hired a lawyer to represent him.

On the stand the officer testifies to seeing the man run through the red light.

Under cross examination the defense attorney asks; "Officer is this a reasonable facsimile of the ticket that you issued to my client?"

Officer responds, "Yes, sir, that is the defendant's copy, his signature and mine, same number at the top."

Lawyer: "Officer, is there any particular marking or notation on this ticket you don't normally make?"

"Yes, sir, in the lower right corner of the narrative there is an "AH," underlined."

"What does the "AH" stand for, officer?"

"Aggressive and hostile, Sir."

"Aggressive and hostile?"

"Yes, Sir.

"Officer, are you sure it doesn't stand for asshole?"

Well, sir, you know your client better than I do.

How often can one get an attorney to incriminate his own client?

Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:40 PM Comments

Saturday Evening Movie Thread 10-20-2018 [Hosted By: TheJamesMadison]

—OregonMuse

We Come to It At Last

And here we are. Ten months ago, I wrote a post about The Passion of Joan of Arc the first film, chronologically, in my personal Top Ten list. Nine posts, and nine months, later, we come to the final move in that list, The Lord of the Rings.

Before I jump into my thoughts on the film, let me clarify. The Lord of the Rings was released in three parts in three successive years from 2001 to 2003. Principle photography occurred concurrently for the entire project (the final scene at the Grey Havens was filmed on week two). Editing and the rest of postproduction happened one year after another, along with extra filming. In essence, The Lord of the Rings is a single project that flows seamlessly from one part to the next. It is one film.

I also view the Extended Editions of each part to be the authoritative version of the film. So, when I talk about The Lord of the Rings, I mean the Extended Editions of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, three volumes to one book.

With that out of the way, let's talk about it!

Three Points

Peter Jackson's film is such a large achievement, it's hard to drill down and talk about my love for the film without turning this into a novella length love fest. So, I've decided to focus on three elements: character, the visual design, and the sound design.

Upon my most recent viewing of the film, I realized how much of it was made up of scenes whose primary focus was to build and maintain character. There are also roughly twenty characters that could be consider prominent, so I have brought the focus down to my two favorites.

The visual design is large. From special effects to props to set design to overall visual aesthetics, there was a lot that went into creating Middle Earth for the silver screen.

The audio design is nearly as large, and perhaps the unsung hero of the film overall. Howard Shore's musical score is well known, but there are particular sound choices that Jackson made that really heighten the experience.

Character

A great visual and audio design is nothing if not backed by a good story (as George Lucas might say, a special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing), and character is where this movie shines the most. As I said earlier, there are roughly twenty characters that one could consider prominent from Frodo, Gandalf, and Aragorn to Denethor, Faramir, and Eomer. The two most successful characters, those that I want to write about, are Eowyn and Samwise Gamgee.

Eowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan

When we first meet Eowyn in the second part of the film, she's a woman alone. Orphaned as a child, she was raised by her uncle, Theoden, King of Rohan, along with her brother, Eomer, but Theoden is an absent man. Under the spell of the wizard Saruman, Theoden barely reacts when Eowyn tells him that his son has died. The only attentions she receives are from Grima Wormtongue, the snakelike advisor to Theoden, who offers her words of comfort, but he's such a repulsive creature that she can see right through him, especially after he has exiled her brother.

Enter Aragorn, heir of Isildur and true king of Gondor. He arrives at Edoras, her home atop the hill, and offers his help. She is immediately smitten with him. He, though, loves another woman far away, and does not return her affections. So, at this point, Eowyn's father figure is absent. Her brother is exiled. Her love does not love her back. She is a woman of unfulfilled and unreturned affection.

On top of that, after Theoden is freed from the spell that has hobbled him and the nation retreats to the fortress of Helms Deep, Eowyn is not allowed a sword to prove herself in battle, as she wishes. Instead, she'd given the task of looking after the women and children in the caves. She wants to stand with her kin, with her uncle and king to face the evil bearing down on her country. She can fight, but no one will allow it.

What does she do? In an act of love, she defies the wishes of her king. When Rohan moves to respond to Gondor's call for aid, she is to remain with the women and children again, but resigned to her fate to be left behind one final time, she puts on the armor of a rider of Rohan, picks up Merry, who was cast aside in the same way, and rides with the cavalry into battle. It's not out of a need for glory or honor that she disobeys her king, but an act of pure love. "Courage Merry. Courage for our friends," she says as they line up for their charge.

And then this is where the movie gets me. I've seen this movie a couple of dozen times, and still, literally every time I watch this, I choke up. The Witch-King of Angmar has flown into the midst of battle, grabbed Theoden and his horse, casting them aside and breaking the king's body. "Feat on his flesh," the Witch-King orders his fell beast, and just before the giant winged creature can do so, Eowyn throws herself between her uncle and this terrifying creature of evil, shouting, "I will kill you if you touch him."

There seems to be no hope. Why should there be? A single soldier standing up against the general of the Dark Lord's army. But none of that concerns Eowyn. Her uncle has been threatened, and she is going to do what she has to in order to help him. Here's what follows:

Her journey is one of the largest single reasons I love this movie. Eowyn is such a magnificent character.

Samwise the Brave

When the movie first starts, it's obvious that the main character is Frodo Baggins. He's the one with the Ring. He's the one who decides to take the journey. He's the one who volunteers to take the Ring to Mount Doom. He's the character driving the action.

And then, halfway through the second part, we stop seeing things through Frodo's eyes. Sam, his trusty servant who has stayed with Frodo since the beginning, is mistrustful of the creature Gollum, who is leading them into Mordor. Frodo doesn't like how Sam insults Gollum all of the time and confronts him about it. Sam justifies himself, voicing very real concerns about the creature, but Frodo simply snaps at him. Sam can't understand what Gollum is going through, and, by extension, neither can the audience. It is at that moment that the perspective of the story changes from Frodo to Sam, from the more traditional hero to the Shire gardener who's only gone along in order to protect his master.

Sam himself, though, never really changes. He's as dedicated to Frodo at the beginning of the movie as he is at the end. That seems to go against every screenwriting rule against characterization I've ever read. There must be arcs, but Sam doesn't really have one. The journey doesn't really change him. He doesn't go from passive to active. He doesn't go from cowardly to fearless.

What his journey allows for him is to demonstrate his strength to the utmost. The moment that he takes that one last step that takes him the furthest from home he's ever been in the first part, is equally as brave as when Sam charges into Cirith Ungol alone in search of Frodo. That exploration of Sam's strength, brought on by his affection for Frodo, and how far he's willing to go, is one of the greatest sources of emotional involvement in the film. After all they pair have been through, from Sam saying that of course Frodo was going to Mordor alone and Sam was going with him to Sam rescuing Frodo from the orc tower in Mordor, when Sam picks Frodo up off the ground to carry him the last length to Mount Doom it's the culmination of his journey and the demonstration of how far he'll go.

That doesn't feel like an arc to me. That feels like a character discovering how strong he is already, but not really changing in the process. And yet, I find it more involving than most character arcs, perhaps because I find Sam's journey more believable.

Visual Design

What an absolute joy it is to simply look at the world of Middle Earth. From the greens of The Shire, to the browns and yellows of Rohan, and the whites and grays of Gondor, the world in which this story takes place is a marvel to witness, but what sells the films' visual flair is the fact that it never goes too far with the fantasy elements. There's a grounded reality that the film never breaks (except perhaps with its depiction of ghosts, which should feel otherworldly). It goes beyond the idea of a lived-in universe, but touches on the basic philosophies that Jackson and his team followed when creating everything.

At the beginning of pre-production, Jackson had a meeting with his department heads including Richard Taylor where he told them that he wanted them to create a film that felt like it had been dug up from the past. Everything needed to feel unique across cultures and with a sense of history. Taylor adopted that conceit wholeheartedly and operated under the idea that cultures were built on details on top of details.

Using a huge team, they created a very broad base from elves to dwarves to orcs and several cultures of men that all look and feel different. There's never any question that when a camera pans over Edoras that we are looking at anything other than part of Rohan. When we first see Osgiliath, we know that it's part of Gondor. Even the two elf kingdoms we see feel completely distinct from each other.

My favorite element, though, was the use of miniatures. The miniatures the team created for the film were gigantic. The Argonath, pair of large stone statues in the shapes of the kings of Gondor's past flanking the River Anduin stood about eight feet tall in real life. That allowed the team to get such exquisite amounts of detail on a real object to put in front of a camera. The detail of how the bottom halves of the statues look like they're cut straight from the rock, but the top halves look like they were built up from stones cut like from a quarry just add a magnificent sense of realism to the look of the film while maintaining the sense of fantasy at the same time.

Sound Design

I love Howard Shore's score. Much like the visual design, the music carries distinctive themes across the different cultures of Middle-Earth. And, thanks to the crazy gamble New Line made in doing the entire project at once, Shore was able to begin working themes into the first part of the film that wouldn't develop fully until the third. If you listen carefully to a couple of the scenes in the first half of the part, you can hear Gondor's theme, although it doesn't take center stage until Pippin and Gandalf ride up to Minas Tirith in the third part.

My favorite theme is that of Rohan:

It's a melancholy piece of music that recalls glory days long lost when we first hear it, but Shore develops it more and more through the rest of the film from its introduction until its most glorious rendition when Rohan rides to Gondor's aid on the Fields of Pelennor:

But why I wanted to focus on sound design wasn't the music, but in particular with the Ring itself. I've always known it because it's obvious in the movie, but the most recent viewing of the movie sold to me the importance of actually giving the Ring a voice. At moments when the Ring is the center focus, it actually speaks in whispers on the soundtrack. It's goading the characters into following its will, trying to get its way back to its original master.

There's so much more than that, though. The screams of the Nazgul sell the idea, very convincingly in my view, of the absolute terror that the nine Ringwraiths strike into the hearts of men. I'm convinced, that if one of those towering figures, wrapped in black clothes and possibly riding a giant fell beast in the air were to scream at me, I'd run for cover with no concern for anything other than my own safety.

Let's Wrap This Up

Okay, this is already absurdly long, so I apologize. However, I have a little more I want to say.

There's an epic sweep to this film that captures the best elements of adventure stories. It has a marvelous cast of characters. It looks and sounds fantastic from beginning to end. There's real emotion in the 11-hour journey.

The movie made a boatload of money, and feels like it was a safe bet, but it was far from it. New Line Cinemas was last in a long line of studios that heard Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh's pitch for the film. They were pitching it as a two-movie series when the executive producer at New Line asked, "It's three books. Why not make three films?"

New Line Cinema gave almost $300 million to a New Zealand director whose biggest movie up to that point had been The Frighteners. It doesn't have a single movie star to its name (save Orlando Bloom who became a star because of this movie). Elijah Wood was a child star making the transition to being a grown up. Ian McKellan was a respected Shakespearean who had been trying to break out in Hollywood for a while. Sean Bean was known as the guy who dies all the time. Viggo Mortenson was a nobody. John-Rhyes Davis was a character actor known best for a bit part in two Indiana Jones movies. Billy Boyd? Dominic Monaghan? Bernard Hill? Liv Tyler? Hugo Weaving? All of them were somewhere between "That guy" and nobody.

The Lord of the Rings was one of the biggest gambles that Hollywood every made, and it not only made money, but it ended up being one of the great adventure and fantasy stories that ever hit the silver screen.

Movies of Today

Opening in Theaters:
Halloween

Next in my Netflix Queue:
Billy Budd

Movies I Saw This Week:
Lone Survivor (Netflix Rating 4/5 | Quality Rating 3/4) Poster blurb: "The middle hour is great, but the mawkish first twenty minutes really dragged." [Netflix DVD]
The Missing (Netflix Rating 2/5 | Quality Rating 1.5/4) "I really liked the first 30 minutes or so, and then the mechanical and unimaginative plot completely took over the movie, driving it over a cliff." [Netflix DVD]
Kill the Irishman (Netflix Rating 2/5 | Quality Rating 1.5/4) "Generic and thin mobster movie that brings nothing to the table other than a desire to be Goodfellas in Cleveland." [Netflix Instant]
King of Kings (Netflix Rating 3/5 | Quality Rating 2.5/4) "Jesus is really boring, but Pilot and Barabbas are both great. Too bad they largely disappear from the last third of the film." ["Library"]
The Last Detail (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) "A highly involving story of three navy men dealing with their limited options on life." ["Library"]
Tango & Cash (Netflix Rating 2/5 | Quality Rating 1/4) "Sly is way miscast. The action is nonsensical. The plot is dull." ["Library"]
Citizen Kane (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 4/4) [Rewatch] "A great film that tells the story of a man who is impossible to truly know." [Personal Collection]
Once Upon a Time in the West (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) [Rewatch] "A triumph of style." [Personal Collection]
The Chronicles of Riddick (Netflix Rating 3/5 | Quality Rating 2/4) [Rewatch] "A complete mess of a film, really about three in one, but I enjoy some of the individual parts." [Personal Collection]
Minority Report (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 4/4) [Rewatch] "One of Spielberg's best. A rousing adventure." [Personal Collection]
Spider-Man (Netflix Rating 3/5 | Quality Rating 2.5/4) [Rewatch] "I've never quiet understood the love this movie gets. It's alright." [Personal Collection]
21 Jump Street (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) [Rewatch] "Smart and very funny comedy. Even makes Brie Larson seem appealing." [Personal Collection]

Contact

Email any suggestions or questions to thejamesmadison.aos at symbol gmail dot com.

I've also archived all the old posts here, by request. I'll add new posts a week after they originally post at the HQ.

Please, visit my website.

My first novel, The Battle of Lake Erie: One Young American's Adventure in the War of 1812 is now available for sale in eBook and paperback editions!

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Posted by OregonMuse at 07:35 PM Comments

Chess Thread 10-20-2018

—OregonMuse

Pic Note

BREAKING: Barron Trump Awarded Chess Grandmaster Title reads the headline. Of course, it's fake news. Barron Trump has never been awarded the Grandmaster title.

Also:

In the 1970s and 80s, Donald Trump studied under the tutelage of players like Bobby Fischer. Eventually, he won hundreds of chess tournaments abroad before retiring at the ripe old age of 40.

Uh-huh. Right. Although it does have some surface plausibility. Donald Trump looks like he's playing 3D chess while his enemies are still trying to figure out how to tie their shoes. Perhaps this is actually a parody news site. There's another story, Chelsea Clinton Calls Barron Trump "A Creepy Psycho". But at least he's a chess genius.

Easier Problem - White To Play (804)

What is the fastest way White can finish off Black?

Goal: White can force a mate in 2; there is more than one solution
Hint: The best first move is not a check

8/6p1/6kp/5R2/5K2/3R4/8/1B6 w - - 0 1

More Challenging Problem - White To Play (799)

This problem is devious. You may look at it and think, as I did, "What's so hard about it? All White has to do is force Black's king off the back rank with a check, then skewer his rook on the next move, easy peasy." Actually, no. That doesn't work. Because if you look at the position for a few minutes, you will soon see that Black can set a stalemate trap that effectively prevents White from scoring an early knockout.

Goal: White can force a win
Hint: The technique here for White is to use the skewer threat to force Black into a knight fork.

3Nk3/r7/7R/8/3K4/8/8/8 w - - 0 1

Dress Pr0n For The 'Ettes:

Muted pastel details and soft outlines create an evening dress that suits late summer days drained of bright colours as the sun sets earlier, a one piece gown dating to c1909-11 @HillwoodMuseum #1900s #fashionhistory pic.twitter.com/hDEbxv9mDX
— Dr Kate Strasdin (@kateStrasdin) September 1, 2018

Look at these little munchkins:

Greetings From Wales

This photo is bad because colonialism.

___________

Solutions Update

Easier Problem - White To Play

8/6p1/6kp/5R2/5K2/3R4/8/1B6 w - - 0 1

With such an overwhelming material superiority, there are many ways for White to force checkmate. But the quickest is a mate in two, and I've found 3 distinct solutions. Perhaps you can find more.

All of the solutions I've found start with:

1. Rf8!

This move cuts off any escape to the back rank as well as maintaining control of the 'f' file.

Now Black has 3 possible moves, all of which end up in a quick mate:

Solution #1: 1...Kh7 2.Rd7#
Solution #2: 1...Kh5 2.Rh3#
Solution #3: 1...h5 2.Rd6#

More Challenging Problem - White To Play

3Nk3/r7/7R/8/3K4/8/8/8 w - - 0 1

1.Rh8+ Kd7

Not 1...Ke7 2.Nc6+ and Black can immediately resign.

2.Rh7+ Kd6

This is the stalemate trap. Which is the result if White takes the rook. There is no legal move for Black after 3.Rxa7.

3.Nf7+

Black has 3 options here:

If 3...Ke6 then the skewer will work: 4.Ng5+ Kd6 5.Rxa7 and wins

If 3...Kc6 then 4.Ne5+ which morphs into the the main line (see below).

That leaves only

3...Kc7

4.Ne5+ Kb6

Black still must protect his rook from the skewer.

5.Nc4+ Ka6 (if 5...Kc6 then 6.Rxa7 is OK, because it's not stalemate as Kb5 is a legal move)

6.Rh6+ Kb7
7.Nd6+ Kb8

If 7...Ka6 then 8.Nc8+ wins the rook.

8.Rh8+ Kc7
9.Nb5+ and wins

Hope to see you all next week!

___________

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

___________

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

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Posted by OregonMuse at 05:12 PM Comments

Ace of Spades Pet Thread

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

***

Welcome to the almost world famous AoS Pet Thread. It doesn't matter what tribe your pet is from. Sit back and enjoy the world of pets.

***

A Little of This. A Little of That.

Photographic proof that cats can make bad decisions.

***

I'm waiting for Nevergiveup to offer his excellent dental prowess. Meet a cute dog with a hell of an overbite.

***

Man's best friend and vice versa. This particular dog found himself in a predicament. h/t ibguy

Meet The PetMorons

Hello, That Deplorable SOB Van Owen here.
Attached are pictures of Layla's Bark Park buddies Mason (L) and Shiloh (R). These two goofs don't take a bad picture. You can't see it in these photos, but Shiloh has one blue eye and one brown eye that give her a truly demented look. Mason always reminds me of Scooby Doo's less intelligent brother. Great pups, both and always fun to be around.

Van Owen, thanks for the photo. These pups look like they are a blast to be around.

***

Hi Pet thread!

I wrote in a few months ago and you asked me if it was harder to raise two dogs that are the same age.

I have found that it is really easy to raise littermates. They play nonstop with each other which is awesome and it tuckers them out. The only con that I have found is when they’re off-leash, they embolden each other so they will chase bears or coyotes which scares me.

Elsa and Stella just turned 1!! Happy birthday to these beautiful girls! -Erin

Happy Birthday Pups!!!! Try to be good off leash and leave the lions and tigers and bears alone.

***

Thanks for all you do in keeping the pet thread going.
Here's a pic of doggy,Maxine. I had to leave her in US when i went overseas 3 yrs ago. Back then, she was 10yrs old, energetic,able to hear well,and loved to go after snakes,rodents,and other critters in NC. I picked her back up a few weeks ago and she would barely give me a sniff. Now,13yrs old,she's deaf, slow and creaky. Breaks my heart and i feel guilty. Ive been spoiling her since and now she insists on sleeping with some of my clothes. I hope she keeps going for a couple of more yrs.

All the best,
fastfreefall

Get rid of that guilt. You're home now and Maxine is loved. Enjoy your time with her!!! And thanks for sharing.

***

Hello,
Longtime lurker Keith, and I would like to submit a photo of my 7 year old German Shepherd Radar. From her puppy days to now her ears are a dominant feature, and she turns them as she is listening just like the old radar dishes and that is how she came to be named. She is a gentle sweetheart whose bark maybe loud but loves to like everything and everyone. I always look forward to the pets on Saturdays.
Thanks!

You're welcome Keith. We appreciate you submitting Radar's photo. A very splendid looking GSD.

***

This is Stella the berner, the embodiment of love, loyalty, patience, and good cheer since we brought her home when she was eight weeks old. Here she's getting ready for a walk in her spiffy polka-dot rain shoes, a gag gift. You wouldn't know it from her I'm-totally-on-board-with-this expression but she didn't like wearing the rain shoes. Needless to say they didn't last long but while they did, they brought the funny.

Hello to all the pet morons from Stella and her stoopid hoomans! -JuJuBee, just generally being shamey

Booties for doggehs. Cute. Wonderful ensemble for a nice looking dog. Thanks for sharing her photo.

***

Hi from gp! Oh, the huge manatee! I found 6-week-old Buddy on my stoop the week before the Sep 11 attacks. He's super gentle and sweet, has made close friends with more than a dozen cats over the years. He has an ultra-cute teddy-bear look, and he works it hard when begging for stuff. This pic is from 2012. He's 17 now, slimmer, getting lame in the hips, but still enjoys all his favorite stuff: sunbathing, laptime, eating, and helping make the bed.

Hi gp, thanks for thinking of us and submitting Buddy's photo. Sounds like quite the pal, a pet without thumbs that can make a bed.

***

The Pet Thread received the following after last week's thread was posted.

I normally don't post solicitations for assistance. However it appears that one of our Moron lurkers could use a helping hand.

Here is what I received

Long time lurker asking you all to spread the word about my wife's service dog Chester. I've already shelled out over $3000 in vet bills with more to come but it's been worth it as his progress is amazing . I need help please so here goes. Hi everyone, please click here to support my GoFundMe campaign, Long live chester:
Chester's GoFundMe Page

Please take a min and read this and share it if you can please.
Thks Don,Carolyn and Erin.

***

A wonderful group of pets. Thank you all for thinking of us and sharing. It is appreciated.

If you have something you would like to share with us you can reach the pet thread at petmorons at gmail dot com.

Have a great week!!!!

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Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 03:10 PM Comments

Saturday Gardening Thread, October 20 [KT]

—Open Blogger

The great photo above is from first-timer ByTor. There are a couple more below the fold.

Wildlife and Wild Places

ByTor lives in California. Anybody want to try for a species ID on the hummingbirds?

Hummingbirds, Canon EOS 1D, Sigma 100-300 EX

Burrowing owls near Ontario International Airport make use of sewer drains for shelter. Canon EOS 1d, Sigma 100-300 EX

Stay out of the way of the planes, little owl.

Thanks for the photos, ByTor.

Illiniwek caught this little guy on a sunflower stem. They can be cute where they are alone.

Illiniwek reports that he is still getting raspberries and peppers. But there is something more exciting going on at the farm:

17 turkeys showed up on a trail cam ... had seen some younger ones a couple months ago, could be the same group.
Haven't seen this many together for a decade or so. Have also seen quail more frequently.

This is why I've removed a lot of raccoons, trying to give the turkeys and other fowl a chance to recover.

Gordon in Minnesota has been busy. Last week in the comments he asked about experience with galvanized raised beds. Anybody? I'm saving his harvest report and Farmer's Market report for next week, but I liked this photo. I know it's not is a wild place, but it brings a touch of nature to the city. Glad he thought to send it along to us. This is at the Mall of America.

Gardens of The Horde

The comments of the famous Pat* in Idaho are one reason to go back and check the comments to the Gardening Thread later in the weekend, most weekends. (But don't comment on this old thread now). The recipe requested by gingeroni sounds great. A way to use some of the peppers below.

Well, now Pat* has sent us some photos of her pepper harvest!

When husband and I got back from a short trip on Sat. 13th, we found out the coming week would bring freezing nights, so we hastily harvested all our peppers on Sun. 14th.
Our indoor mat, at the door that goes out to the vegetable garden, says "Gather", which is quite appropriate... This is the bell pepper crop (2 plants), not counting 4 greens and 4 reds that had been harvested and chopped previously. This is the best bell pepper crop we've ever had.

We also harvested the jalapenos and the pepperoncini (1 plant each) - this doesn't include the pepperoncini that were pickled earlier in the season. (They're in 1 pound salad tubs.)

Then there are the poblanos... lots and lots of poblanos. (I think there were 4 plants.) The small tray and flat box at the front hold the huge ones that will become pre-packaged frozen chiles rellenos, while the 5-gallon bucket and larger tray hold the smaller or misshapen ones that will go into our new recipes for chile relleno casseroles... lots and lots of casseroles.

Love to see that great harvest, Pat*. Poblanos are my favorite.

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at g mail dot com

We will be featuring hardscaping, statuary and such in the near future if you want to send in a photo or two.

Got pumpkins?

Or, wanna go fishin'?

Close it up

Posted by Open Blogger at 12:33 PM Comments

When the Dream of Diversity Goes Wrong [KT]

—Open Blogger

What happens when the left's goal of diversity runs into either reality or some of their other goals? Some vignettes from the news:

Rural California becomes less diverse, more dangerous

Victor Davis Hanson's message here is not new, but this piece is particularly graphic as a harbinger of where illegal immigration and Democratic rule are taking us.

I live on a farm beside a rural avenue in central California, the fifth generation to reside in the same house. And after years of thefts, home break-ins, and dangerous encounters, I have concluded that it is no longer safe to live where I was born. I stay for a while longer because I am sixty-five years old and either too old to move or too worried about selling the final family parcel of what was homesteaded in the 1870s.
Rural Fresno County used to be one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the United States. I grew up with first-, second-, and third-generation farmers--agrarians of Armenian, German, Greek, Mexican, Japanese, Portuguese, Punjabi, and Scandinavian descent.

Race and ethnicity were richly diverse; yet assimilation was the collective shared goal--made easier because immigration was almost entirely a legal and measured enterprise.

I have seen huge bags of trash thrown onto the side of Highway 43 through VDH's hometown, Selma. I haven't spent a lot of time on its back roads, but nearby I have seen dumped couches, beds and appliances. He describes worse.

The tragedy of illegal immigration is that it did not have to be this way. Legal, measured, meritocratic, and diverse immigration leads to rapid assimilation and Americanization and enriches the country culturally and economically.
Its antithesis--illegal, mass, non-meritocratic, and non-diverse immigration--hinders the melting pot. It fuels tribalism, while incurring vast costs in social services to ensure some sort of parity for those from impoverished southern Mexico and Central America. The wages of our citizen working poor and their access to needed social services are not helped by thousands of new arrivals without legality and English.

Yet illegal immigration in such numbers certainly empowers a host of special interests. . . .

He identifies some of them. Sure seems like we have been stupid about immigration for a long time.

Harvard vs. Asians

JJ Sefton picked up this piece by Justin Torres in City Journal on the discrimination case against Harvard, See Their Faces.

This week, after more than four years of pretrial litigation and sifting through 160,000 documents, Students for Fair Admission will get its day in a Massachusetts federal district court on allegations that Harvard University discriminates against Asian-American applicants. The trial is expected to last for at least three weeks. Based on the evidence that SFA presented in pretrial motions, Harvard--whether it wins or loses in court--is in for a long, embarrassing slog.
The case is the latest in the federal courts' tortured consideration of affirmative-action policies in higher education. (Harvard, as a private university, is not subject to constitutional requirements that apply to public universities, but because it accepts federal funding, it is subject to Title VI, the civil rights law that replicates much of the constitutional structure.) The law governing affirmative-action practices is a complete mess. . . .

Nice piece with some interesting details. Check it out.

Lost in the abstract discussion of numbers and trends is the fact that the victimized students are real people, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, with their own legitimate aspirations built on years of sterling academic achievement. The most poignant section of a motion bristling with statistics and regression analysis is an excerpt of deposition testimony from a college admissions counselor at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Admissions to Stuyvesant are race-blind and based on test scores--at least for now, though Mayor Bill de Blasio is advocating for a "holistic" admissions review there as well. . .
Q. You want to keep going? You want to tell me why this is upsetting to you?

A. Because these numbers make it seem like there's discrimination, and I love these kids, and I know how hard they work. And these just look like numbers to all of you guys, but I see their faces.

Elizabeth Warren needs to Face the Music

Earlier this week, JJ Sefton linked a Daniel Greenfield piece that reminded us of some of the earlier transformations in the life of Elizabeth Warren, in addition to becoming a Native American:

Elizabeth Ann Herring has been many things in her life. All of them fake.
She represented an insurance company in an asbestos case before becoming a consumer rights crusader. She was paid $350,000 to teach a single course before deciding to fight student debt. She was a Republican, then became a socialist, and then announced, "I am a capitalist to my bones."

Ironic how her political career has intersected (ahem) in unfortunate ways changes in leftist causes over the years.

As OregonMuse suggested yesterday, even many on the left are concluding that Elizabeth Warren has now blown it big time. Here is one of them, in Current Affairs:

I like Elizabeth Warren a lot. She's probably my second-favorite elected official. It's only thanks to her that we have the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the best agency in the U.S. federal government. She is gutsy, smart, and she cares about the economic well-being of ordinary people. Which is why I am so frustrated that Warren has so badly mishandled this native ancestry issue. Obviously Donald Trump does not care about Native people. (He put a picture of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office, for God's sake.)

Side note: Dang, these people get upset over statues and portraits and such lately. Trump does a little symbolic reach across the aisle by hanging a portrait of the Democrat whose face is on the 20 dollar bill and it proves he hates Native Americans.

But back to Elizabeth Warren: The author of this piece outlines the times Warren has used the claim of Native American heritage professionally before ripping into her handing of the resulting controversy. His bottom line:

After offending Cherokee people and doubling down on an indefensible claim, Warren really cannot run for president.

Interesting to see his question about why Warren didn't consult with some Cherokees before proceeding, in light of Daniel Greenfield's comments on Native American attitudes toward DNA testing in the piece linked just above.

Perhaps it's time for Elizabeth Warren to relax and reflect on her natural tendency to choose the recipes of a French chef for a Native American cookbook. Could she be part French? When she was young, was she La Fille aux cheveux de lin? The Girl with the Flaxen Hair? Go ahead and retire to a little place in Provence, Elizabeth. Cook some of your favorite recipes and tell some stories. We won't mind.

Note: This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Serving your mid-day open thread needs

Hope you have a great weekend.

Close it up

Posted by Open Blogger at 11:22 AM Comments

Weird News Dump

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:38 AM Comments

EMT 10/20/18

—krakatoa

Bye weeks are for the birds.

Posted by krakatoa at 06:00 AM Comments

The ONT Turned Upside Down

—WeirdDave

On this day in 1781, Cornwallis surrendered to Washington (well, he had an aide do it) and England officially stopped trying to make us subjects again instead of citizens.

The British band played “The World Turned Upside Down” to mark the occasion. I wonder what they'd play today if they could see their descendants meekly surrendering their culture and sovereignty to foreign invaders? “Suicide is Painless”, probably.

Posted by WeirdDave at 09:58 PM Comments

Nancy Pelosi, What Is She? F*cking Nuts?

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

***

Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:28 PM Comments

Politico: Trump-Derangement Sufferers Should Lower Their Expectations for the Mueller Probe

—Ace of Spades

They've probably got nothing.

I've been wanting to link this Federalist interview with Andrew McCarthy for a long time -- he says the same thing, in the second part of the interview. He's pretty sure that the Mueller investigation is a bust.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 06:24 PM Comments

Kyrsten Sinema: "Stay-at-Home Moms" Are "Leeches"

—Ace of Spades

What a charming psychopath.

Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema, of Arizona, once described stay-at-home moms as leeches in a 2006 interview.
"These women who act like staying at home, leeching off their husbands or boyfriends, and just cashing the checks is some sort of feminism because they're choosing to live that life," she told Scottsdale nightlife magazine 944. "That's bullshit. I mean, what the f*** are we really talking about here?"

This NPC's emails are interesting, too.

BREAKING: 🚨

We obtained an email sent by @kyrstensinema, among many crazy conspiracies, she accuses the then President Bush of:

“Putting arsenic in our water.”
“Crowning himself King of the World for Life.”
“Stealing all of our civil liberties.”

Read: pic.twitter.com/VgAqsOsGf4
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) October 18, 2018

🚨More @kyrstensinema emails that show that she was behind a protest to free José Padilla, also known as Muhajir Abdullah, who was convicted in federal court of aiding terrorists. Padilla was arrested in Chicago on May 8, 2002, on suspicion of plotting a radiological bomb attack. pic.twitter.com/ypGAydD2pG
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) October 18, 2018

Posted by Ace of Spades at 05:19 PM Comments

Democrat NPC Arrested for Threatening Senators Grassley and Collins

—Ace of Spades

Not a mob!

Like Hillary Clinton said, the time for civility is over.

The Smithtown man is accused of leaving disturbing voicemails on the senators’ office phones following their public support of Kavanaugh's nomination and confirmation, in an attempt to discourage the pols from voting in the jurist's favor, a source familiar with the case revealed.
In one message left on September 27, DeRisi allegedly said that he had a "present" for Iowa's Grassley, growling, "It's a 9 millimeter. Side of your f—ing skull you scumbag motherf—–r."

...
In another rant aimed at the 85-year-old senator, DeRisi was recorded saying "We're tired of this guy sucking taxpayers' money! Getting a free f--ing ride! How many more years you gonna do it? None! He’s a dead man! 9 millimeter, side of the f--ing head! If f--ing Kavanaugh gets in, he's dead f—ing meat! Actually even if Kavanaugh doesn’t get in he’s dead f--ing meat. 9 millimeter, side of the head, you f--ing old bastard."

Most of the calls were placed from a pre-paid cell phone, according to court docs.

DeRisi took a different tone with Collins, of Maine, calling her a "twit" on the day of the vote.

“"’m gonna get you," he's accused of saying. "You better pray this guy don't get in."

He left another message two minutes later, saying: "tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock."

I haven't seen any word if this guy is connected to the ricin letter Collins received -- have any of you?

Posted by Ace of Spades at 04:02 PM Comments

Jim Acosta Goes Full Jake Tapper in a DM

—Ace of Spades

He DMs a stranger to say "fuck you" after a minor joke, then lies about why he did it.

Dear Diary.....
— justin (@justincap_) October 19, 2018

cc: @CNNPR do you support this?
— justin (@justincap_) October 19, 2018

What a fruitcake.

NPC Jim Acosta:

Posted by Ace of Spades at 02:53 PM Comments

Vice: Generation Z is Skipping College and Going Into the Trades to Make Fat Money with No Debt

—Ace of Spades

What cannot go on, will not.

As the Brookings Institution noted in 2017, participation in career and technical education (CTE) has declined for several decades. That was in part because of a lack of funding and the fact that many states implemented more stringent academic requirements. However, the growing belief that everyone should obtain a college education also surely played a part. The National Center for Education Studies found that the number of CTE credits earned by American high school students declined by 14 percent between 1990 and 2009.
But the jobs are still there. NPR reported in April that the pressure to attend a four-year college remained so strong in American society that many high-paying jobs in the trades were currently sitting empty. Melissa Burg, the principal of Queens Tech, insisted that New York City's Department of Education and some savvy parents had taken note of this dynamic, increasingly regarding a bachelor's degree as the new high school diploma.

"I think those [trade] jobs go unfilled because skilled labor is looked down upon, even though those skilled labor people make more money than I do," she explained. "I don’t know if people don’t want to work as physically hard as they used to, or if they see their families who’ve worked hard physically, or if those families are saying, 'Don’t do what I did.'"

The article actually doesn't have much evidence that this is the hot new trend, though, despite promising that in the title.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 01:30 PM Comments

Are We Still Believing All Women Or Was That Just for the Kavanaugh Hearings?

—Ace of Spades

Sherrod Brown, Democrat Senator from Ohio.

His ex-wife had previously accused him of domestic abuse, too, though now she's more reluctant to talk about it.

Recchie also sought a restraining order against Brown to keep him from "doing bodily harm" to her. Recchie claimed to be "in fear for the safety and well-being of myself and our children due to [Brown’s] physical violence and abusive nature” and said Brown "intimidated, pushed, shoved and bullied" her on multiple occasions.
A judge granted a seven-count restraining order against Brown. Recchie soon accused Brown of violating the order and said he "pushed me up against the wall with his arms in order to pass and entered the house."

According to a Columbus Dispatch article from 1989, Recchie again accused her ex-husband of violent behavior. This time, she said, Brown pounded on her door so hard that he broke it and assaulted her new husband, Joseph Recchie. Both Recchies filed police reports at the time but did not end up pressing charges.

And now another woman accuses him of making an "uninvited, unwanted, and sudden advance."

Sounds like a pattern of conduct to me.

Can we afford to have this wife-beating likely rapist in the Senate?

Inbox: @JimRenacci campaign releases statement by attorney describing "an unexpected, uninvited, unwanted, and sudden advance" by @SherrodBrown on an unnamed woman #OHSen pic.twitter.com/u3q5AgKgoR
— Jeremy Pelzer (@jpelzer) October 19, 2018

Posted by Ace of Spades at 11:58 AM Comments

The Morning Rant

—OregonMuse

"Lizzie 'Notaninjun' Warren has own-goaled herself so badly that down in the Twitter sewers, even hardcore progs are saying 'you know, I hate Trump and everything he stands for, but he sure owned Warren.' No Dems will defend her, Republicans are laughing at her, real Native Americans despise her and are telling her to just shut up. And her nascent 2020 presidential campaign is now a flaming pile of wreckage. Which is kind of sad, because she's still delusional enough to think she can take on Trump in 2020 and it would be very entertaining to watch that debacle. Oh, and speaking of national laughingstocks, did you hear the latest about the creepy porn lawyer? According to the L.A. Times, a federal bankruptcy judge issued a restraining order late Wednesday to block the firm of Michael CPL Avenatti, the lawyer for porn star Stormy 'Horseface' Daniels, from spending any fees it collects while it owes more than $10 million in unpaid debts and back taxes. The restraining order covers 54 cases. My question is, why does every one who goes against Trump end up hurting themselves? It's absolutely uncanny. If I were the president, I would be on my knees every night, thanking God that my enemies are so stupid."

Own Goal:

Posted by OregonMuse at 11:27 AM Comments

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

Portrait Of A Lady
Lawrence Kilburn

Posted by CBD at 09:45 AM Comments

The Morning Report - 10/19/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. The weekend's here and lots of ground to cover so let's get to it. The two big stories are the fallout from this apparent liquidation by the KSA of Washington Post taqqiya-pimp cum "journalist" Jamal Khashoggi and the completely phony migrant caravan crisis at the Mexico-Guatemala border that is heading our way. Let's start with the former.

It is now known, widely or not, that Khashoggi was minimally an acquaintance of Osama bin Laden ('memba him?) a card-carrying member of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose aim it is to establish the global domination of Islam by any and all means necessary and the concomitant annihilation of anything and everything western, Judeo-Christian and/or "haram." Since his ascendancy to become the de facto head of state of the KSA, and by extension the global supreme authority on what is and what is not to be considered Islamic, Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) has sought to move the kingdom out of the 7th century and into the 21st by purging to whatever extent he can or desires the Wahabbism of his predecessors.

And that meant that sooner or later, Jamal Khashoggi had to be dealt with. His position as a reporter for The Washington Post meant (in his mind) he was free to criticize the Prince and his policies. And for the WaPo, it had a "journalist" it could put out there as a putative expert on the kingdom whose writing would no doubt bash President Trump's Middle Eastern policy while attempting to polish the turd that was the previous administration's policy, especially when it came to Iran.

From an optics standpoint, yeah this whole thing does not "look" good. And now we have the news that one of the assassins has been killed in some sort of car accident. Ugh. The other bullshit story is that the hit was recorded on Khashoggi's Apple Watch but Rush Limbaugh took that myth apart piece by piece yesterday, but I digress. Given all we know about who this guy was, there's no doubt in my mind that he had to go. Unfortunately, the retrograde forces at home and abroad will seek to use this to kneecap MbS, PDT and our uncomfortable if not crucial alliance with the Saudis vis a vis Iran.

And then there's The Washington Post. While that rag and every other phony Leftist house organ is rending their garments over this, I would ask the question, where were they when Khalid Sheik Mohammed was sawing journalist Daniel Pearl's head off with a rusty hacksaw and filming it? Or when Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Duffy and Glen Doherty were being slaughtered in Benghazi while Obama did nothing except go off to Vegas to snort coke with Jay Z? Or even a much milder yet deadly serious incident involving the wiretapping and harassment of reporter James Rosen right here on our own soil?

Yes, this is an embarrassing situation. And to their credit, the President and Secretary of State are handling it well, all things considered. Personally, just as he saved the day by exposing Christine Blasey Ford's lies that the media (spit) embargoed, he should lay out the case of exactly who and what Khashoggi was and what he stood for, not as a way to excuse his death (not that I give shit, but again, the optics), but to explain the realpolitik behind it. He has done extremely well in exposing the corruption of our media, as is evidenced by polls that show America's overwhelming distrust of same. Day in and day out, week after week, year after year, the Post and every other newspaper and broadcast outlet formerly known as the mainstream media pimps and pumps out nothing but lies, half-truths and distortions. Jamal Khashoggi and his relationship with The Washington Post is a prime example of propaganda disguised as journalism, not to mention the taqqiya/sharia angle of this which is just as important.

We live in a world that is an ugly, nasty and dangerous place, and that means that sometimes you have to do ugly, nasty things to survive. But far worse is the Left that hypocritically struts, preens and points a holier-than-though finger while covertly and overtly working to undermine and destroy the very freedom it pretends to be upholding. It is to vomit.

The other story making news is this phony caravan of Hondurans that is now about 4,000 strong that has crossed the Guatemalan border into Mexico and headed north. The President, in no uncertain terms, has laid the hammer down on the countries involved, to stop this immediately or face financial aid consequences. He has also stated he may move military assets to prevent what is an invasion from crossing into the country. Joe Arpaio even made the case for our military moving into Mexico proper to interdict the caravan, ostensibly as a means to bolster the limited capabilities of the Mexican forces (nudge-nudge wink-wink). Evidently some sort of deal has been struck with Mexico to turn them back or at least prevent them from coming here. Bottom line is, this took millions of dollars to organize, so I smell a combination of sulphur and rotten goulash. No doubt when footage of raped and crying children air on American television - conveniently a few short weeks from the Midterm elections - the President and Republican congress would just have to let them all in. In my view, this less-than-cunning stunt is already backfiring on the Dems. We also have a dreamy DREAMer accused of raping a wheelchair bound 72-year-old woman and Jeff Sessionszzz is dealing with MS-13 and terrorist infiltrators effectively even while sleeping.

Yet the incitement continues as Nancy Palsi burped up a threat to all who oppose the overthrow of the Constitution; they will be "collateral damage." Please define that, toots, m'kay? The restaurant that dared host an event for Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee gets threats and the brave guy who threatened and degraded a 9/11 widow in Portland ain't all that tough after all. Also a couple of good and sobering essays on the nature of all this evil. That is to say, it's evil.

To politics, where the President was in Montana where he ripped Jon Tester and coined a new catchy phrase "The Dems produce mobs, the GOP produces jobs." Could be shortened to "Jobs, not mobs" but I like it. Meanwhile Limbaugh was on Hannity for the whole show and predicted the GOP holds the House and bolsters its advantage in the Senate. And there is a lot of circumstantial news that backs this up, such as the DCCC pulling out of MN-8, a traditional Dem district. Meanwhile, Claire McAssKill went after Josh Hawley in a debate last night and wound up being pwn3d by herself in the process. While gun control is a loser of an issue with the voters, "Agarn" O'Rourke buried himself even further with his comments about gun control and Texas, which means he must be primping for the 2020 Prexy field, but there's a disturbing report about voter fraud in the Lone Star state, Fein-China Feinstein sez she will continue to persecute Justice Kavanaugh, DeBolshevik and Cummo both get Bronx-cheered at the Dem Al Smith Dinner, a whole slew of terrorist-lovers are running as Dems (ain't they all?), and Victor Davis Hanson with a mouth-watering essay about black voters and 2020.

Meanwhile, circling back to our wonderful media, CNN hosted a town hall with "Agarn" O'Rourke and in that entire hour there was no mention of his drunk driving incident. Jersey's own champion of women, Governor Murphy evidently covered up the rape charges against a Muslim outreach aide, and the dame running for governor in Michigan was involved in a drunken crash in 2016 which for some unexplained reason is getting no press. Hmm...

Internationally, along with l'affaire Khashoggi, there was an horrific mass shooting in the Crimean peninsula town of Kerch that has left 20 dead and 50 wounded, a top US general survived an assassination attempt in Afghanistan that killed that nation's top cop, and Michael Ledeen wonders where the administration is when Iran is in his estimation on the verge of collapse.

Domestically, PDT has vowed to cut spending in cabinet departments and says it's easy (show us by doing more Mr. President!), and he also touts the regulatory rollback as a big reason for the current economic miracle. Elsewhere, a US Gymnastics official has been arrested for attempting to destroy evidence in the Larry Nasser abuse case, and an interesting piece on self defense in the shooting of a hatchet thief.

In science, the Federalist rips apart the continuing push to eradicate poor Africans, a look at repressed memory vis a vis Christine Ford, and how the US massively cutting greenhouse gasses might affect the Paris Accords (they won't; it's a swindle). From hither and yon, Francis the Talking Pope is a dope and a Marxist, the twilight of the never-Trumpers and happy birthday to conservative icon Russell Kirk.

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

CIVIL WAR 2.0

Posted by J.J. Sefton at 08:15 AM Comments

An ONT For Me, But Not For Thee

—WeirdDave

A little light reading, perhaps?

Left Wing Violence

The mob is on the march! Everyone is encouraged to be on the lookout for this guy. If you see him, be very, very careful you don't get injured when you fall down from laughing so hard.

Thanks, Dustin! This chant is how we defeat Trump.

STURGIS, WE'RE COMING!!!! #SturgisRally pic.twitter.com/f64uMbM1rO
— Dustin's Disciples (@BostonBikers) July 19, 2018

Sturgis, huh? That would indeed be something to see.

Then there's this guy. Antifa wanna-be goon who tried their goto move, the sucker punch. Guess he left his bike lock at home.

The guys reaction. pic.twitter.com/ro2RNZ2Ib4
— Only in America (@Crazzyintheusa) October 13, 2018

I appreciate that the people he was attacking were part of a prayer rally, so violence probably isn't their thing. And I love the guy who caught the punch's reaction, but that guy is lucky he didn't try that on one of the Proud Boys. They fight back.

Video allegedly shows members of far-right 'Proud Boys' group beating up Antifa members in NYC pic.twitter.com/GHuTzy26yX
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 15, 2018

My advice to Antifa: Practace.

At least he tried pic.twitter.com/WZaHEmWXxI
— The World Of Funny (@TheWorldOfFunny) October 18, 2018

Political Ads Heating Up

Forget it Jake, it's New Jersey, but this is a hard hitting ad:

This new ad by @BobHugin is absolutely savage. pic.twitter.com/Sl68BR6wAX
— Caleb SkHull �� (@CalebJHull) October 15, 2018

As is this one from a PAC down in Arkansas:

This is a real radio ad currently running in Arkansas in support of Republican Congressman French Hill on radio stations targeted to the African American community. I don't even have words to describe it. pic.twitter.com/vpzt1nGPlc
— (((Ben Tribbett))) (@notlarrysabato) October 18, 2018

There's a lot of back and forth going on about that last ad. Of course the left is crying racism, but I've seen several posts by black folks from Arkansas saying “That's just how we talk”. One thing is sure, the issues raised, while presented in a hyperbolic manner, are quite real.

In the 2013–14 academic year, 4.2 percent of Colgate's students were black. According to the university's records, in that year black male students were accused of 50 percent of the sexual violations reported to the university, and they made up 40 percent of the students formally adjudicated.

I'd appreciate the Horde's thoughts on the ads and on the issues raised. Do you think the ad will be effective? I'd ask Emmett Till, but he's unavailable for comment.

Security

For 20 Years the Nuclear Launch Code at US Minuteman Silos Was 00000000

A plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.

Mom's a Hero

Fiona Simpson could be the toughest mother in Queensland. Caught in yesterday’s crazy storm at Kingaroy, she shielded her baby from pelting hail after it smashed her car windows. @7NewsBrisbane pic.twitter.com/dzwKfmKouh
— Mac Lyon (@MacLyon7) October 11, 2018

Dad....Not So Much

Man run over by lawn mower while trying to kill son with chainsaw

Public Service Announcement: Always Use a Tire Gauge

Tonight's ONT brought to you by the candidate that today's political climate deserves:

Close it up

Posted by WeirdDave at 09:28 PM Comments

Open Thread

—Ace of Spades

I'm falling asleep.

Get your flu shots, guys!

Posted by Ace of Spades at 08:01 PM Comments

Project Veritas Sting Video: Claire McCaskill Staffer Says Planned Parenthood Doesn't Donate Directly to McCaskill So As Not to Alienate Pro-Life Voters, But Smuggles a Lot of Money to Her Through Cut-Out Organizations

—Ace of Spades

Digested at RedState.

Journalist: What were you telling me last night about Planned Parenthood?

Starost: How they never- How they don't donate to Claire because they don't want to ostracize pro-life voters in Missouri.

Journalist: But they still somehow get us money?

Starost: They put it through, like, different organizations.

Journalist: Keep the Planned Parenthood name off the thing, but we still get the dough?

Starost: Yup. I love that stuff, man. It's f-ing beautiful.

McCaskill Staffer: “it’s f***ing beautiful” how Planned Parenthood indirectly contributes to McCaskill campaign so they don’t ostracize pro-life voters pic.twitter.com/FyOtDKrpjY
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) October 17, 2018

Posted by Ace of Spades at 06:55 PM Comments

The Obama State Department Subverted The Rule Of Law During The Investigation Into The Clinton Server Scandal

—CBD

Laws are for the little people, and if an illegal and unsecured server was hacked by seemingly every one of our enemies...well, that's just the price of being a serf in the Obama/Clinton world.

State Department provided 'clearly false' statements to derail requests for Clinton docs, 'shocked' federal judge says

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said he was "shocked" and "dumbfounded" when he learned that FBI had granted immunity to former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills during its investigation into the use of Clinton's server, according to a court transcript of his remarks.

"I had myself found that Cheryl Mills had committed perjury and lied under oath in a published opinion I had issued in a Judicial Watch case where I found her unworthy of belief, and I was quite shocked to find out she had been given immunity in — by the Justice Department in the Hillary Clinton email case," Lamberth said during Friday's hearing.

I wonder whether there is a critical mass of judges on the federal level who in spite of their partisanship are even more disgusted by the overt dismissal of the rule of law by the elites, and the explicit assumption that at a certain level within the government, all are immune?

I sure hope so.

Posted by CBD at 06:11 PM Comments

NPC Tater

—Ace of Spades

From the Phantom Photoshopper.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 05:11 PM Comments

Don't Say the M-Word: Democrat Operatives Attacking Female Republican Staffers and Cold-Cocking Male Republican Candidates

—Ace of Spades

What are we going to do about this right-wing violence, is what I imagine Jake Tapper and the Brain Trust at CNN are wondering right now.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 04:00 PM Comments

Krysten Sinema Just Virtue-Signaled Herself out of Senate Race

—Ace of Spades

As Twitchy says, she says "Arizona" with such disdain it looks like she smelled her own fart.

NEW VIDEO: @kyrstensinema can't hide her disgust of Arizona in March 2018. pic.twitter.com/hZX6Ot8pgn
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) October 18, 2018

And this is from this past August. She hates her state so much she can't even fake it when she's running to be one of its senators.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 02:59 PM Comments

Judge "Shocked" at State Department Providing "Clearly False" Statements to Avoid Disclosing Documents Related to Clinton Email Investigation

—Ace of Spades

I'm shocked that he's shocked, to be honest.

In a combative exchange at a hearing Friday in Washington, D.C., a federal judge unabashedly accused career State Department officials of lying and signing "clearly false" affidavits to derail a series of lawsuits seeking information about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server and her handling of the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said he was "shocked" and "dumbfounded" when he learned that FBI had granted immunity to former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills during its investigation into the use of Clinton's server, according to a court transcript of his remarks.

"I had myself found that Cheryl Mills had committed perjury and lied under oath in a published opinion I had issued in a Judicial Watch case where I found her unworthy of belief, and I was quite shocked to find out she had been given immunity in -- by the Justice Department in the Hillary Clinton email case," Lamberth said during Friday's hearing.

Lamberth rules against a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the State Department, citing the fact that they have lied and lied and lied about searching for Clinton's emails, and other matters.

"It was clear to me that at the time that I ruled initially, that false statements were made to me by career State Department officials, and it became more clear through discovery that the information that I was provided was clearly false regarding the adequacy of the search and this -- what we now know turned out to be the Secretary's email system," Lamberth said Friday.

He continued: "I don’t know the details of what kind of IG inquiry there was into why these career officials at the State Department would have filed false affidavits with me. I don't know the details of why the Justice Department lawyers did not know false affidavits were being filed with me, but I was very relieved that I did not accept them and that I allowed limited discovery into what had happened."

During a tense exchange with Justice Department lawyer Robert Prince, Lamberth pressed the issue, accusing Prince of using "doublespeak" and "playing the same word games [Clinton] played."

That "was not true," the judge said, referring to the State Department's assurances in a sworn declaration that it had searched all relevant documents. "It was a lie."

Note this tweet about this story by Jason Chaffetz, calling out the Cuck's Champion Ben Sasse for aiding Clinton and the Deep State in the cover-up:

State Department provided 'clearly false' statements to derail requests for Clinton docs, 'shocked' federal judge sayshttps://t.co/0ea4wbVf4J

⁦@BenSasse⁩ - you may think this is old news, but this is another reason truth and justice must prevail
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) October 18, 2018

They're not NeverTrump -- they're NeverConservative. They're just on the other side.

They always have been.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 02:13 PM Comments

Open Thread

—Ace of Spades

At Disneyland today with Senator Elizabeth Warren pic.twitter.com/37rvaSOVGl
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) October 18, 2018

My flu got worse so today I'm going to barely be here today.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 01:01 PM Comments

The Morning Rant: J.V. Edition

—CBD

Maybe a taste of totalitarianism is a necessary prerequisite for the preservation of freedom. In the greatest experiment in freedom the world has ever known (that's here, in case it wasn't obvious), we seem to have gone off the rails. Perhaps the people who are suggesting that the "burning times" is a necessary first step on the path to our roots of freedom and self-determination and independence, are correct. Because we are fat and happy and barrelling down the mountain toward a country that has absolutely no sense of any of the things that innervated those very smart men who founded this country.

Hungary Enacts Plans to Ban Gender Studies Courses, Tangles with Soros

The Soros-funded Central European University (CEU) said on Oct. 16 that it was a “major infringement on academic freedom and university autonomy.”

Soros is touted by Orban’s government as public enemy No. 1—as the puppeteer behind leftist influences that Orban says he wants to replace with traditional “Christian values.”

The Hungarian government’s anti-Soros campaign forced his Open Society Foundations to leave the country earlier this year, after creating new rules on influence by foreign organizations.

And look at that! Good old Nazi George is involved, and getting his pet brain-washing project sidelined by the Hungarian government. Why, it's as if the government is trying to conserve the traditional culture of the country, and not let it be subsumed by globalist nonsense in the form of 71 genders and idiotic pseudo-intellectual blather.

I'm trying to think of a reason why the Hungarian people would be wary of a left-wing globalist perspective, and the use of academia to control society. Anyone have any idea why they seem so sensitive? Anything in their history?

Posted by CBD at 11:30 AM Comments

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

Woman With Cat
Fernand Léger

Posted by CBD at 09:45 AM Comments

The Morning Report - 10/18/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Thursday and as the Midterms approach, the Democrat-Left violence and intimidation is ramping up. You'd think that with a massive victory all but in the bag, or so the press has been telling us all year long, violence and intimidation would be the last thing they'd be fomenting/participating in. Snark-asm aside, this situation is intolerable and is only going to get worse - a lot worse - especially if the promised massive victory fails to materialize, which day by day is becoming a very distinct possibility.

The most recent examples include a Soros-paid goon being arrested and charged with assault after attacking the campaign manager for Nevada GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt, two Minnesota GOP state candidates have been under near constant verbal and physical assault, a propagandist professor in Mississippi is openly calling for Republicans to be confronted and harassed by "sticking fingers in their salads" (literally or is that a euphemism?) and most disgusting and disturbing is an incident in Portland, Oregon, which has now devolved into Gaza on the Willamette. During the protests a woman evidently ran afoul of a brave, Antifa "freedom fighter" who upon learning that the woman was a 9/11 widow was told...

"...your husband should fucking rot in the grave."

As revolting as this is, I think I am even more disgusted by the fact that not only did he not cover his face as the incident was being recorded, but everyone around him all had a good laugh as this woman had the memory of her husband defecated upon by this slug and everyone around him. Certainly, all things considered, I imagine if there was anyone nearby who felt compelled to come to her defense quickly disabused themselves of that notion since Portland is now officially a no-go zone for any and all Americans and other law-abiding citizens. On a personal level, I hope that this vile entity is identified and, shall we say, gets his comeuppance.

More broadly, there is no longer even the tiniest scintilla of common ground. The mentality of the thug in question is not an outlier. It is the mindset of the leadership and members of the Democrat Party, its media/propaganda arm and virtually all of academia, from pre-school through post-graduate. There can be no longer any question that the nation is in a state of dissolution, even as the seemingly routine events of regular elections take place in the midst of it. It's all so damned bizarre, really. It's not mere rhetoric to say, as Lindsey Graham did at that travesty of a confirmation hearing, that I hope to G-d the Democrats never get back into power. After everything we have seen and are continuing to live through, it would not be wholly inaccurate for me to say that I think the Democrats should be prevented from ever attaining power again - and I do not mean merely via the ballot box. You know, for a while now, Augusto Pinochet has been a recurring theme in the comments but as time goes on, it's becoming less snark and more wishful thinking on my part. G-d help us. Let's move on before I write something I might regret.

The other big story is the phony migrant "caravan" slithering its way through Central America and towards our southern border. Evidently it has grown to approximately 4,000 people, mostly from Honduras as well as most likely funded by your favorite Nazi collaborator and mine George Soros (4,000 people don't just appear out of nowhere). The President has warned that nation and others that they are risking being cut off from foreign aid if they allow this to continue. That said, he is fully within his authority as chief executive to stop this on his own, an Hawaiian hack-in-black notwithstanding. In any case, Nancy Palsi has assured us that there will be no border wall if, G-d forbid, she ever gets her bony digits on the Speaker's gavel. Any GOP candidate running should be hitting this note and hard for the next 20 days. And lastly, an illegal alien has been arrested and charged with practicing dentistry without a license. He was quoted as saying "Hey NGU, you're doing it wrong!"

And speaking of politics, the seemingly ignominious end (if that is possible for Democrats these days) of Fauxcahontas' political aspirations tops the category as a real descendant of the real Pocahontas demands an apology, Andrew Cuomo refuses to debate his GOP challenger Marc Molinaro, Krysten Sinema is a freak, Malkin on "puta-chica-Domincana" Bob Menendez electoral woes, Scott Wallace uses a gun felon as a character witness, several links about the all but evaporated "blue wave," Chelsea Hubbel denounces Calypso Louie but not Sarsour the Hamas Louse, Cuck Schemer is silent about his party's open Joo- and Israel-hate, the gun-grabbers are quietly shifting focus and bucks to other Dem issues this cycle, and yet Ben Jealous persists with an insane gun-grabbing scheme for Maryland, Keith X's Muslim protege denies she married her brother and guess what country is going to observe our elections.

On the international front, the President and SoS Pompeo are sounding the right chords on this Khashoggi affair, the Trump of Brazil is sounding the alarm bells on Farsi electoral interference there, Nikki Haley still shines at the UN despite that filthy sewer's attitude on the fictional nation and people of Palestine so-called, Billy Ayers must have a hard-on for the Chi-Com re-education camps, and war is brewing along the Gaza border (Gaza-Gaza, not just Portland-Gaza).

In Mueller witch hunt news, Go-Go Gohmert says that the announcement of an impending conclusion of the investigation is only to keep the Dems from being depressed when he announces that there was no collusion, if the Dems take the House, Adam Schiff-for-brains is going to bury everything that can implicate his party and Byron York on the intractable Rod Rosenpenis.

Domestically, some sort of weird polio-like disease is busting out all over (mostly near the border), PDT signs into law a measure to clean up our oceans, the EPA is praising his efforts on lowered greenhouse gas emissions (I smell a rat there) and e-mails reveal even more of the plot to sue oil companies out of existence.

From hither and yon, thanks to Kavanaugh the #MeToo movement is drawing more skepticism than ever, American academia is a vast nest of propagandists and hacks, Democratic Socialism is neither (and worse), and Carroll Spinney is hanging up the Big Bird costume after playing the character on Sesame Street for 49 years.

Lastly, the President has awarded the Medal of Honor to Marine Sgt. Major John L. Canley for his heroism in Vietnam. He ain't no Danang Dick Blumenthal, but still. Oo-rah! and thank you.

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

CIVIL WAR 2.0

Soros-Funded Male Dem Operative Arrested for Assaulting Female Campaign Manager, Leaving Bruises

8 Violent Attacks on Republicans Just This Year

Alleged Assaults Shake Up Minnesota GOP Candidates as Election Day Looms

Leftist to 9/11 Widow: "Your Husband Should Fucking Rot In the Grave"

Professor Calls for Harassing Republicans at Restaurants, Sticking "Fingers in Their Salads" (nudge-nudge wink-wink - jjs)

Threatening Letter Sent to Susan Collins' Home Mentioned Kavanaugh

Democrat Mobs, Then and Now

KEITH ELLISON ABUSE SCANDAL, OTHER DEM ABUSE SCANDALS

Ellison Claims Ex-Wife Kim Abused Him in Unsealed Divorce Records

FIRST AMENDMENT, FAKE NEWS, PROPAGANDA, CENSORHSIP

Twitter Won't Ban Farrakhan For Calling Jews "Termites" But They'll Ban Conservatives for Calling Chelsea Manning a Traitor.

6 Political Scandals the Press Doesn't Want You To Know About

AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION

Illegal Caravans Encouraged by Honduras and Soros (time to declare war on the Sorosians - jjs)

President Trump Has Full Constitutional Power to Stop the Border Invasion... Even Without Congress (Judge Molokai Leper-Colony sez "hold my poi" - jjs)

US Diplomat in Honduras Tells "Caravan" Migrants to Return Home, But Still They Come

Nancy Palsi Details Dems' Plan for Open Borders: "I Don"t See Any of Us Voting for Wall Funding"

Illegal Alien Arrested for Allegedly Practicing Dentistry Without a License (open wide, Nancy - jjs)

SPYGATE, MUELLER WITCH HUNT, DEEP STATE, COUP

Go-Go Gohmert: Mueller Leaked News of Report to Affect Midterms, Prepare Dems for Disappointment

Byron York: Rosenpenis Talks to Press, But Not to Congress; Republicans Irate

Federal Judge "Shocked" Clinton Aide Cheryl Mills Was Granted Immunity by DOJ (Claude Rains-shocked or shocked-shocked? - jjs)

"We'll Never Know" Truth on DOJ "Partisanship" If Schiff-for-Brains Chairs Intel Panel

POLITICS, 2018 MIDTERMS

Pocahontas' Descendent Rips Fauxcahontas, Calls on Senator to Apologize

How Elizabeth Warren Made Identity Politics Work... For Her

Greenfield: The Incredibly Fake End of Elizabeth Warren

"Coward" Cuomo Still Refusing to Debate His GOP Challenger

11 Freakiest Things About Arizona Senate Candidate Kyrsten Sinema

Malkin: Sinking Sleaze-Bob Menendez

Scott "Henry" Wallace Uses Gun Felon as Character Witness in Campaign Ad (TOP. Men - jjs)

Muslim Dem House Candidate Denounces Claims She Married Her Brother (a Keith Ellison joint - jjs)

Now Do Linda Sarsour: Chelsea Clinton Calls Out Louis Farrakhan's Anti-Semitism

Cuck Schemer Won't Admit the Dems Are Abandoning Israel

"Blue Wave" Ebbing? Dem Advantages Offset by Strong Economy

Does Midterm History Really Augur Big GOP Losses?

Russians Are Among the Foreign Observers of US Midterm Elections

Dem Candidate Was Member of Group Working Against US Gov't in El Salvador

Ledeen: The Trump Workers Party

KAVANAUGH CONFIRMATION AFTERMATH

Why Brett Kavanaugh Should Sue Christine Blasey Ford For Defamation

SECOND AMENDMENT

Gun Control Advocates Shift Attention, Money to Other Issues Ahead of Midterms (Camera Hogg, Shaved Guevara hardest hit - jjs)

MD Gubernatorial Candidate Wants to Expand "Red Flag" Law to Allow Postal Workers, Neighbors to Take Away Guns

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL

Perceived Threat: Long, Tangled History Put Khashoggi in Crosshairs

Good Roger Simon: Trump Takes the Right Position (Again) on Khashoggi

Right-Wing Brazilian Presidential Candidate Warns Against Iranian Influence in Election

China's Obscene Excuse for Its Mass "Re-Education" Camps

Snubbing the US, UN Empowers Palestinian Observer Mission to Lead Major Bloc

Haley: US Will "Continually" Remind UN That Palestinians Aren't "Any State at All"

Winds of War Brewing in Gaza

DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS

President Trump Awards Medal of Honor to Marine Sgt. Major John L. Canley for Heroism in Vietnam (well done, sir - jjs)

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

$13,799,501 Federal Contract Requires UC San Francisco to Obtain Aborted-Baby Parts to Humanize Mice

CRIME & PUNISHMENT (NON-DOSTOYEVSKY)

A Quiet Weekend... and Nothing More

THE ECONOMY, STUPID

They're Coming After the Prop. 13 "Loophole"

Elon Musk Has Reached a Settlement, But Tesla's Troubles Are Far From Over

CHURCH SEX ABUSE SCANDAL, COVER UP

Predator Priest Named in Pennsylvania Abuse Report Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing Boys

HEALTHCARE

Mysterious, Polio-Like Illness Leaving Some Children Suffering From Paralysis

Repeal Taxes and Tariffs on Medical Devices Before It's Too Late

EDUCATION, INDOCTRINATION

Trump-aganda?

K-12: Why So Little for the Mind?

See Their Faces

FEMI-NAZISM, WAR ON MASCULINITY

Americans Now More Skeptical of Women Claiming Sexual Harassment After Year of #MeToo

RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE, LYSENKOISM

Emails Show Law Firm Pitched San Francisco on Idea of Suing Energy Producers

President Trump Signs "Eco-Friendly" Save Our Seas Act Into Law

EPA Cheers Decline in US Greenhouse-Gas Emissions Under Trump Administration

CULTURE WARS, HITHER & YON

Caroll Spinney, the Original Big Bird on Sesame Street, Retiring After 49 Years

Oath Director: "Yes," Fascist Comedy Is About Trump

"Democratic Socialism": A Myth and an Oxymoron

Posted by J.J. Sefton at 08:02 AM Comments

Wednesday Overnight Open Thread (10/17/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

***

The Quotes of The Day

Quote I

“With respect to Mr. Kaepernick, he nationally exercised his First Amendment right to kneel. I exercised mine. I regret that at the time I didn’t better clarify my feelings. That one tweet has been made the litmus test of my reputation over almost two decades of public service.” Mary Bono

Quote II

“Clearly, many people around the world value their beer. It’s important to understand how climate change will impact our daily lives and things we care most about – whether that happens to be a favorite national park, coastal beaches or a pint of beer.” Nathan Mueller

Quote III

We must never remain silent in the face of bigotry. We must condemn those who seek to divide us. In all quarters and at all times, we must teach tolerance and denounce racism, anti-Semitism and all ethnic or religious bigotry wherever they exist as unacceptable evils. We have no place for haters in America -- none, whatsoever. Ronald Reagan

***

WE BELIEVE SURVIVORS!!

A French woman has received a jail sentence after passing herself off as one of the victims of the 2015 Paris terror attacks for financial gain.

Alexandra Damien, 33, is to serve six months in prison for fraud and perjury.

She was found to have pocketed up to 20,000 euros ($23,180; £17,552) from funds set up for victims in the aftermath of the attacks.

Damien also claimed therapy sessions at a hotel in Normandy paid for by the French Association of Terror Victims.

***

~~Tree rats~~ Squirrel meat may have been the cause of a man's death.

According to the report, the 61-year-old man had been admitted to a hospital at Rochester Regional with cognitive impairment, schizophrenia, and psychosis in 2015; he was also unable to walk under his own power. But there was nothing to be done. Five months after his symptoms began, he died. Judging by his brain scans and other tests, the man had likely come down with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a form of the rare and universally fatal neurodegenerative ailment.

***

Voter disenfranchisement? It looks like there are more voters registered than there are eligible voters.

Riddle me this: Why does the United States have has 3.5 million more registered voters than it has living adult citizens? That’s impossible after all the Democrats say there is no reason for Voter ID laws or purging the voter rolls. They anyone who wants to ensure only people who are supposed to vote are allowed to vote are trying to suppress voter turnout. And in a way they are correct, we want to make sure that none of those 3.5 million extra voters get to cast ballots, that would be voter fraud.

***

If you are going to have a Christmas concert, do you know that Christ is part of the term Christmas? No Jesus songs for you intolerant non-inclusive Christmas celebrators.

A middle school in Virginia has come under fire for an overly-politically correct decision regarding their annual Christmas choir concert.

Robious Middle School in Chesterfield notified parents that the upcoming event would do away with Christmas songs containing the word ‘Jesus’ as a means to promote diversity.

A letter explained that the decision was made as part of an effort to be “more sensitive” toward an increasingly “diverse population” within the school’s student body.

***

A staple for many of us over the years is disappearing. Say goodbye to American Cheese and hello to fancy cheese.

One by one, America’s food outlets are abandoning the century-old American staple. In many cases, they’re replacing it with fancier cheeses.

Wendy’s is offering asiago. A&W’s Canada locations switched to real cheddar. McDonald’s is selling the Big Mac’s soft, orange square of American cheese with a version that doesn’t contain artificial preservatives. Cracker Barrel ditched its old-fashioned grilled cheese. So did Panera Bread, replacing American with a four-cheese combo of fontina, cheddar, monteau and smoked gouda. The result: higher sales.

***

Not quite Muldoon quality, Silly puns and their opposites.

***

My guess? Sooner or later the 'Left' will face a serious push back. A U of MS faculty member calls for open hostility against conservatives.

Ole Miss Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter condemned a “recent social media post by a UM faculty member” in a statement on Vitter’s personal Facebook page Sunday night.

“A recent social media post by a UM faculty member did not reflect the values articulated by the university, such as respect for the dignity of each individual and civility and fairness. While I passionately support free speech, I condemn statements that encourage acts of aggression. I urge all members of the Ole Miss community to demonstrate civility and respect for others and to honor the ideal of diversity of thought that is a foundational element of the academy,” Vitter’s post read.

You know what Chancellor Vitter, if that jackass doesn't fit the values articulated by the university. Fire his sorry ass.

Worked for ABC and Roseann.

***

Speaking of getting up into ones face, A MN candidate running for a local race claims he was attacked because of his party affiliation.

A Republican candidate for the Minnesota House said Monday that he is recovering after suffering a concussion from an attack at a restaurant in St. George Township a few days earlier.

Shane Mekeland is running for the House in District 15B, an open seat that includes parts of Benton and Sherburne County. He said that last Friday night, he was "blindsided" by an assailant as he spoke to patrons at a bar and restaurant he wouldn't identify.

Benton County Sheriff Troy Heck confirmed Monday that his office is investigating the alleged assault, which Mekeland reported took place between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Friday. Heck said his office interviewed the suspect, whose identity is not being released because he has not been arrested or charged with a crime

***

The ONT Musical Interlude

October 17,1958, Born on this day, Alan Jackson, country music singer, who has recorded over a dozen studio albums. More than 50 of his singles have appeared on Billboard's list of the Top 30 Country Songs, for which of Jackson's entries, 35 were No.1 hits. He is the recipient of two Grammys, 16 CMA Awards, 17 ACM Awards and is also a member of the Grand Ole Opry. via thisdayinmusic.com

October 17, 1995, Sting's former accountant Keith Moore was sentenced to six years in jail after being found guilty of embezzling £6 million from the singer's 108 bank accounts. via thisdayinmusic.com

***

Longbow vs. Crossbow, Mary Ann vs. Ginger, The Bed vs. Carelessness.

A woman who was left paralyzed after being “catapulted” from her super-king bed during sex is suing the bed suppliers for $1.3 million.

Claire Busby suffered a serious spinal injury after she fell from the super king-size double divan while changing positions.

The 46-year-old was kneeling in the middle of the bed performing a sex act on her partner when she decided to change positions.......

***

Paul Joseph Watson takes a look at the NPC issue.

***

The United Kingdom is far more politically correct than the good old U.S.A. However, sanity reared its ugly head recently. The gay wedding cake Nazis take it in the pie hole or in this case cake hole.

Case in point is the example of a bakery, Ashers Bakery, in Northern Ireland who was charged with illegal discrimination for refusing to bake a cake with an explicit message of support for same-sex marriage. The Orwellian names “Equality Commission” ruled against the baker, and most would have thought this would have been the end of it.

However, this case went all the way to the U.K. Supreme Court which surprisingly ruled unanimously in their favor by recognizing the obvious: “They would have refused to make such a cake for any customer, irrespective of their sexual orientation”. In other words, that “artists and other professionals don’t discriminate when they object ‘to the message, not the messenger,’” while concomitantly affirmed “the fundamental freedom of Ashers Bakery’s owners to decline to express through one of their cakes ‘a message with which they deeply disagreed’”

***

Leave no trace, no fingerprints, no DNA. All of these rules broken by our Genius Award Winner.

A north Alabama burglary suspect was taken into custody after bathing, washing clothes, clipping his toenails and cooking in a stranger’s house, authorities said.

Limestone County investigators said Tyler Keefe Love “made himself at home” in a woman’s house on the 25000 block of Davis Avenue on Tuesday. The woman wasn’t home at the time but returned to find Love in her house, said sheriff’s spokesman Stephen Young.

“What are you doing in my home?” the woman shouted at Love, according to the sheriff’s office.

Love replied, “Washing clothes, Grandmama,” according to investigators.

***

Sounds like Mom is a loser. Mom's boyfriend is a loser. Mom's four year old son is Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

A fugitive in western Pennsylvania was no match for a 4-year-old.

Sheriff's deputies in Westmoreland County were searching for 24-year-old Jesse Vaughn Lawson last week on an arrest warrant for burglary and receiving stolen property.

***

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by The Handyman.

Notice: Posted with permission by The Ace Media Empire and AceCorp, LLC. Of course they care.

Normally, The ONT doesn't promote causes (Mocking liberals excluded). However, we probably know someone who has been stricken with cancer. Our very own Moron ibguy is no exception.

He asked for help from The ONT and the Horde.

Once again, ibguy is raising money to help in the fight against breast cancer with his team: Love, Hope and Faith. The walk is this coming Saturday (the 20th) in Dayton, Ohio.

Will you please help out by making a donation - any amount helps:

Thank you!!
ibguy

Close it up

Posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:09 PM Comments

White Privilege Means Having Your Reputation and Career Destroyed for Asking a Black Guy for I.D. [Warden]

—Open Blogger

Yet another white person convicted by the media of racism, condemned by the internet mob, and fired from her job--all before her side of the story can be heard.

Well, you can hear it now that her life has been ruined by baseless smears. This "racist" white woman stopped another building occupant who she didn't recognize from following her into the building. The reason she didn’t allow him in is because there had been crime and at least one mugging in the building previously, and she had been instructed by her HOA to never let anyone into the building who didn't have a key fob.

So, she followed the instruction and asked to see the man's key fob that would prove he was an occupant. It turns out he was. He'd just moved in. The problem is she asked a member of a privileged class here in America, a black man, and he took offense.

Instead of simply saying, "Oh, hi. I'm new here. I've got my key fob right here. Let me introduce myself," he chose to cry racism.

And thus her life was ruined by yet another round of the media's favorite new game, Smite the Normie.

If you aren't familiar with this game, here's how it works.

1. A white person asks a minority, usually black, for identification or to follow
some general rule of membership, property, etc...

2. The black denies the perfectly reasonable request, claims racism and
escalates the conflict while recording it on a smart phone.

3. The video is posted on social media, often edited and always with missing
context.

4. The media runs with the "look how racist white people are to blacks"
narrative and convicts the white person of racism.

5. The story goes national.

6. The white person is threatened, harassed, and then fired from his/her job,
despite the conflict not having taken place at work and having nothing to
do with their employment.

Now here's the fun part: If and only if you watch the video on that news website do you discover that this "racist" white woman is married to a black guy.

Days later, buried at the end of a video most people won't watch is a piece of context that most people would deem exonerating. Aren't journalists terrific?

This is happening every other month or so, which leads me to believe that the people who record these videos know exactly how much power they possess to harm whites through weaponized online outrage, eagerly stoked by the left-wing media.

Robert Hampton at American Renaissance documents other recent cases here.

This incident followed that of a black babysitter looking after two white children who complained on camera last week that a white woman called the cops on him--this even earned a report from the New York Times. The babysitter is a 27-year-old black man, hardly a typical caretaker for white children. The Times called this "babysitting while black."
There were two similar cases in July. A white CVS manager was fired after he called the cops on a black woman customer who threw a tantrum over the rejection of a fraudulent coupon and refused to leave the store. The man's name was all over social media and the press sided with the black woman.

A white neighborhood swimming-pool monitor lost his job after he called the police on a black woman who angrily refused to show her ID. His name was also on social media, and again, the New York Times covered the encounter, dubbing the man "ID Adam."

These incidents came after the much-covered “racial profiling” ruckus at a Philadelphia Starbucks in April. Video showed two black men being ushered out of the coffee shop by police after they asked to use the rest room, refused to buy anything, and then refused to leave. This video had a huge impact and probably taught blacks the value of taping encounters. The result was intense, undeserved humiliation for Starbucks and for the manager who called the police. There was also a "confidential financial settlement" between the blacks and Starbucks.

We need to get a handle on this abuse. It's turning whites into second class citizens--people who can have their entire lives ruined by anyone belonging to the victim class who decides to level a charge of racism at them.

You are interested in civility, in getting along. But there is an entire group of sociopaths on the left who are not interested in these things at all. What they want is the power to control, humiliate, and ultimately ruin you.

If that sounds familiar to what happened to Judge Kavanaugh, well it's clearly a go-to tactic of leftists these days. It’s not the individual person who is being smeared that matters. It's the message that’s being sent to the rest of us.

Shut up. Sit down. Know your place. We’re in charge and don't you dare question anything we do.

You deserve this, you filthy white piece of garbage.

Frustratingly, some of the most enthusiastic participants in these internet mobs are other whites, particularly white women--happy to throw an innocent person under the racism bus simply for a few up-votes and Facebook likes.

They don't seem to understand that they could be next.

For as much abuse as Judge Kavanaugh took, at least he had part of the government backing him up. To where does your average person turn when they've been smeared on a national scale and had their ability to make a living permanently crippled?

We need to find ways to fight this, starting with setting up funding for anyone who is victimized in this manner. We also need to press for legislation protecting non-public facing workers from being fired for private acts. We also need to fund lawsuits against companies who do this. Possibly a case could be made for disparate treatment simply by combing other employees' social media accounts for "offensive" material. I don't know. I'm not a lawyer.

Like ace, I've had quite enough of this fetishizing the "rights" of private companies to abuse any employee who happens to be on the political right. It's time to make political ideology a protected class.

Posted by Open Blogger at 08:55 PM Comments

Minnesota Democrat Party Suspends (Not Fires) Party Official For Encouraging Political Violence After Two Republicans Are Physically Attacked

—Ace of Spades

Gee, I just hope there wasn't any gloating by Republicans that would justify these assaults.

And I hope there was no #OwningTheLibs, either. Which is the same as punching someone, to hear some of our sob sister cucks tell it.

The Minnesota Democratic Party has suspended a spokesman for calling for violence against Republicans even as two GOP candidates have been assaulted in suspected politically motivated attacks.
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has suspended communications staffer William Davis for one week without pay after making a Facebook post joking that Democrats would "bring [Republicans] to the guillotine" on Nov. 7, the day after the midterm elections. Minnesota Republican Party chairman Jennifer Carnahan said the suspension was not enough, calling for his immediate firing in the aftermath of separate attacks against Republican candidates. She said she has been subjected to numerous death threats during her tenure as the state party leader and that death threats are no laughing matter.

The rest of the article talks about the violence.

Week's suspension. Wow.

And -- don't accuse them of mob-like tactics!

Posted by Ace of Spades at 08:01 PM Comments

NPC Rogues Gallery: Cucks

—Ace of Spades

If you missed the NPC Meme, see here.

From the Phantom Photoshopper, who may or may not disclose his identity later.

BTW: The Phantom Photoshopper wants you to feel free to share these, particularly on Twitter. However, be advised, Twitter is banning anyone who uses the NPC meme. The left makes up reasons it can't be made fun of and the one they've offered here -- which Twitter has fully accepted -- is that calling someone an NPC is "dehumanizing."

Posted by Ace of Spades at 06:04 PM Comments

Report: Mueller Preparing to Announce Key Findings in Russia Hoax Probe After Elections;
Rosenstein Reportedly Urging Him to Wrap It Up Already

—Ace of Spades

Not sure if that bit about Rosenstein is legit or just disinformation pumped out there to trick Trump into letting him stay on at Justice.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to issue findings on core aspects of his Russia probe soon after the November midterm elections as he faces intensifying pressure to produce more indictments or shut down his investigation, according to two U.S. officials.
Specifically, Mueller is close to rendering judgment on two of the most explosive aspects of his inquiry: whether there were clear incidents of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, and whether the president took any actions that constitute obstruction of justice, according to one of the officials, who asked not to be identified speaking about the investigation.

...

Rosenstein has made it clear that he wants Mueller to wrap up the investigation as expeditiously as possible, another U.S. official said.

This isn't as big a deal as you might think, because the Democrat-Media Complex has its next conspiracy theory cum Special Counsel investigation lined up: Whether or not Trump aided and abetted the Saudis in killing a guy who, quite frankly, was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and staunch Islamist who used to pal around with a terrorist named Osama bin Ladin.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 05:10 PM Comments

FBI Makes Arrest in Case of Illegal Leaks of Financial Information About Paul Manafort

—Ace of Spades

Either she goes to jail for this, or I'm personally vowing I will vote "Not guilty" in each and every federal case I'm a juror on.

Either the laws apply to all or they apply to none. If the government is not going to prosecute and jail criminals who are in their little club, then as a citizen, I'm going to practice jury nullification and extend the same Privileges and Immunities to citizens who aren't sucking at the government tit.

BREAKING / NBC News: Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards has been arrested by the FBI and will face federal charges for leaking FinCEN Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to media organizations.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) October 17, 2018

DOJ alleges that the FinCen employee, Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, saved 24,000 suspicious activity reports to a thumb drive. pic.twitter.com/90bZ6sFeCZ
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) October 17, 2018

Obviously we should trust our Uncivil Servants implicitly.

Trusting government officials who harass citizens is the True Conservative Way, I'm sure Ben Sasse will be lecturing us. I think it's right there in the Declaration of Independence.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 03:28 PM Comments

Krysten Sinema to a Leftwing Boston Crowed: Look Upon the Example of My Arizona and Be Afraid

—Ace of Spades

People love it when leftwingers go to leftwing Northeastern cities and trash their home states.

They especially love electing such people to be their senators!

Another day, another Kyrsten Sinema video of her trashing Arizona.

Kyrsten Sinema In Boston: Let “My Arizona … Serve As A Warning Symbol For Each Of You” pic.twitter.com/dWWqL1UciR
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) October 16, 2018

Posted by Ace of Spades at 03:25 PM Comments

Let's Play A Game: What Would America Look Like If The Supreme Court (and Others) Could Not Overturn Popular Will

—CBD

Let us ignore for a moment that this turd fished out of the Charles River and tossed into Harvard Yard did not argue something completely different just two years ago.

Harvard Law Prof Who Wanted to Unleash a Liberal Supreme Court Now Wants to 'Abolish' the Court

There are two components of the case for getting rid of judicial review. One is that, as a matter of basic democratic principle, the people ought to be able to consider policies and then vote on them without having the courts step in and say "no." So from a democratic point of view, it's hard to justify allowing the courts to single-handedly overrule popular will whenever they choose.

The second component is that judicial review may actually impair the public's ability to engage in serious thinking about what the Constitution means, and what we want to do in light of what we think our Constitution says. In a way, the Supreme Court simply takes on this conversation for itself, and leaves the citizenry as bystanders.

He has no understanding of the basic principles of our country's political philosophy! And he is a professor. At Harvard.

[Hat Tip: Jay Guevara]

Posted by CBD at 02:20 PM Comments

LOL

—Ace of Spades

Hillary Clinton drives as well as she navigates stairs.

LIVE LOOK at @HillaryClinton trying to save @SenatorMenendez. (Spoiler alert: she crashes.) #NJSen pic.twitter.com/7poUpIYxl6
— The Senate Majority (@NRSC) October 16, 2018

She had a mechanic immediately swear the car just had Automotive Pneumonia.

Posted by Ace of Spades at 01:12 PM Comments

Saturday Overnight Open Thread (10/20/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Saturday Evening Movie Thread 10-20-2018 [Hosted By: TheJamesMadison]

—OregonMuse

Chess Thread 10-20-2018

—OregonMuse

Ace of Spades Pet Thread

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Saturday Gardening Thread, October 20 [KT]

—Open Blogger

When the Dream of Diversity Goes Wrong [KT]

—Open Blogger

Weird News Dump

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

EMT 10/20/18

—krakatoa

The ONT Turned Upside Down

—WeirdDave

Nancy Pelosi, What Is She? F*cking Nuts?

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Politico: Trump-Derangement Sufferers Should Lower Their Expectations for the Mueller Probe

—Ace of Spades

Kyrsten Sinema: "Stay-at-Home Moms" Are "Leeches"

—Ace of Spades

Democrat NPC Arrested for Threatening Senators Grassley and Collins

—Ace of Spades

Jim Acosta Goes Full Jake Tapper in a DM

—Ace of Spades

Vice: Generation Z is Skipping College and Going Into the Trades to Make Fat Money with No Debt

—Ace of Spades

Are We Still Believing All Women Or Was That Just for the Kavanaugh Hearings?

—Ace of Spades

The Morning Rant

—OregonMuse

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The Morning Report - 10/19/18

—J.J. Sefton

An ONT For Me, But Not For Thee

—WeirdDave

Open Thread

—Ace of Spades

Project Veritas Sting Video: Claire McCaskill Staffer Says Planned Parenthood Doesn't Donate Directly to McCaskill So As Not to Alienate Pro-Life Voters, But Smuggles a Lot of Money to Her Through Cut-Out Organizations

—Ace of Spades

The Obama State Department Subverted The Rule Of Law During The Investigation Into The Clinton Server Scandal

—CBD

NPC Tater

—Ace of Spades

Don't Say the M-Word: Democrat Operatives Attacking Female Republican Staffers and Cold-Cocking Male Republican Candidates

—Ace of Spades

Krysten Sinema Just Virtue-Signaled Herself out of Senate Race

—Ace of Spades

Judge "Shocked" at State Department Providing "Clearly False" Statements to Avoid Disclosing Documents Related to Clinton Email Investigation

—Ace of Spades

Open Thread

—Ace of Spades

The Morning Rant: J.V. Edition

—CBD

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The Morning Report - 10/18/18

—J.J. Sefton

Wednesday Overnight Open Thread (10/17/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

White Privilege Means Having Your Reputation and Career Destroyed for Asking a Black Guy for I.D. [Warden]

—Open Blogger

Minnesota Democrat Party Suspends (Not Fires) Party Official For Encouraging Political Violence After Two Republicans Are Physically Attacked

—Ace of Spades

NPC Rogues Gallery: Cucks

—Ace of Spades

Report: Mueller Preparing to Announce Key Findings in Russia Hoax Probe After Elections;Rosenstein Reportedly Urging Him to Wrap It Up Already

—Ace of Spades

FBI Makes Arrest in Case of Illegal Leaks of Financial Information About Paul Manafort

—Ace of Spades

Krysten Sinema to a Leftwing Boston Crowed: Look Upon the Example of My Arizona and Be Afraid

—Ace of Spades

Let's Play A Game: What Would America Look Like If The Supreme Court (and Others) Could Not Overturn Popular Will

—CBD

LOL

—Ace of Spades

Report: Mueller Preparing to Announce Key Findings in Russia Hoax Probe After Elections;
Rosenstein Reportedly Urging Him to Wrap It Up Already