As the stats remain well below the peaks of April and May, the restrictions on the populace are made more strict. At this rate we will all be shelter in place, with masks, and no human to human contact by Thanksgiving. They are going to have to arrest me and toss me in a cell to make me comply.
Like I've said a couple of times, I've lost all hope in the American society and culture.
And too many of you here have too much faith and confidence in the American electorate, as if this is the 1980s.
After people totally eff the country in November, including effing themselves and turning everything to sh*t, do you think they will wise up? Will they admit their regrets? Will they rue the day? Or will they just sink us further and further?
Frankly, I think we're screwed. Totally. Permanently.
Per channel 3000 news Madison; "Public Health Madison and Dane County has corrected a backlog of negative test results displayed on its data dashboard by adding around 17,000 negative tests on Friday."
Is it possible that this information was meant to be released on Monday so that they could proclaim how effective the mask requirement has been? Wht were they holding back negative test results but not positive? Hmmm, very curious.
Interesting stat; Dane County population as of 2019 546,695. Total deaths due to Covid 19 in Dane County 33.
So ive said which book to stay way from daniel silvas the order, one thats kind of interesting is a collaborative effort with laura willig set in three periods of french history from ww 1 to the 60d
In other news, we've begun watching "The Night Manager" on Prime. Based on a John le Carré novel it is quite a good story and well acted. Very entertaining.
Mark, I share your pessimism. I live in Phoenix, which has been a successful city with moderate politics and a focus on infrastructure and economic growth. Now it has begun to turn to the socialists. It will be a hot LA in a few years, with the attendant depravity, filth and neglect. I don't know where to go next.
I don't want to 'pollute' your blog with myself, again - and sorry if I did so before. Just this poem and, then, I'm gone:
Lewis And Martina
L: A broken nose more expresses health Than your ridiculous screams and cries. I keep, at least, some human cowardice At home. Making tea in the grubby room but acknowledging this Angel. he will not, For the moment, destroy me . That you wished To deliver yourself to man was what disappointed.
M: There was no sense, speaking in the wrong language, In any action. Neither theirs nor mine. If I felt or smelt destruction don’t think of it As intended. I have told people as, perhaps, A piece of vanity, that I saw things. Nothing was so crude. Only those who wished to love me. They could not. Hate becomes, sometime, stronger than love.
L: And yet, for me, nothing was more ‘subtle’ than mine. To you it was merely looks, a means of accommodating Body to body and the dysfunction I must finally feel When doubt had to sleep with both of us. I ached And I ache everyday for what, well, I never wanted. For I tried for merely a word that would say You know me.
M: I know you but You were not enough. Or never could be. Listen, Lewis, I joy in those few months When we really were discovering what it was that always is so strange about each other: Our mortality, our distant death, our always otherness. Don’t you see – I have gone there, I have lost you, I have lost myself. And your child Is the only human word I can now discover. I hate you. You were not an Angel. I hate myself For saying this. How could I demand this impossible?
L: No, you could not. And yet you, O beautiful you, had a right to. You had a claim on an Angel. But he did not come. Only me. I love you.
M: But you, my fool, my once-was-guest, remember: Love cannot be there merely to please you. We women are accused of eating hearts – it is not us but God that burns your soul, it is not I, it is never I, but these fragments, These joys and sorrows, this ecstasy you refuse To forget. Don’t forget. I may be mad But I do not miss the compliment. For in a glass I joy greatly at what memory can produce. The happiness of a boy who cried “I love you!” Because he had never loved before nor has since.
So what's everyone been reading? I finished Bud Schuleberg's autobiography "Moving Pictures: Memories of a Hollywood Prince"
Schulberg wrote a number of screenplays including "A Face in the Crowd" and "On the Waterfront" Also wrote What makes Sammy Run which I discussed a couple weeks ago.
His father was BP Schulberg, head of Paramount and one of the most important movie bigshots of the teens and twenties and into the thirties. The book covers Schulberg's life up to the time he went off to Dartmouth for college.
Very interesting and intimate picture of the movie business of those days. The book is fascinating throughout. My only, very mild, complaint, is that about halfway through he starts writing sort of standalone chapters. For example a chapter on Clara Bow, a very big name in the 20s. It is interesting but I thought it disturbed the flow of the book. A very minor complaint as I said.
The states of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York have issued what anounts to "stay out" orders prohibiting entry for travelers from 31 states - unless the travelers self-quarantine for 14 days before having contact with their residents.
The states are: Alaska Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Delaware Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Indiana Kansas Louisiana Maryland Missouri Mississippi Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Mexico Nevada Ohio Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Washington Wisconsin
Yes, she would walk the streets, sometimes to solve A problem, sometimes because she loved the darkness She would always find between the houses. We tried to stop her – we talked to her, Told her that this was being childish or Stupid or romantic – it was foolish To walk in the all innocence of nature And say: “This is true.” Only, lunging forward, We happened on the chance of history And, hey presto, dead bodies. Still, we told her “we love you” but your ‘schizophrenic’, We said “Open your mouth”, without saying “Speak!” – but she wouldn’t – a merely Beautiful idiosyncrasy: Which we crushed, destroyed, crushed as a bug And then said “Crawl back>” She couldn’t. Why Couldn’t she be beautiful again? Only because the mirror will kill us. We have no conscience. No love. No honour.
So after finishing Moving Pictures I was looking for something else to read.
Insty is always touting Harry Turtledove and his alternate histories so I thought I would give "The Guns of the South" a look.
In February of 1864 Robert E Lee is in camp in Virginia, about to go into battle and not thinking highly of his chances.
Into his camp rides a gentleman in modern camo, with a strange accent and an AK-47. He offers Lee 100,000 AKs and all the ammunition he can use.
The guy making the offer is apparently from South Africa in the future.
That's about as far as I got in the sample. The writing was OK and I don't necessarily mind alternate "What if..." scenarios. I'd like to read a book based on Cornwallis having A-10s at the battle of Yorktown, for example.
This was just too ludicrous and the writing was nothing special that might make me continue.
"The Far Country" by Nevil Shute. Basic plot, twenty-something girl comes out to Australia in about 1952 because England was just too dreary and she had come into some money.
In Australia, she meets Carl Zlinter a refugee from Pilsen serving an obligatory 2 year term working in a lumber camp. Obligatory in return for his passage to Australia.
He was a doctor in Germany and in the German Army. To be a doctor in Australia he has to attend 3 years of medical school and requalify. No recognition of his German education.
They meet by chance, fall in love and live happily ever after.
I had read it once perhaps 30 years ago and was not impressed. Shute had a policy of writing one book to make money then one to make a point. This was a money book.
Unlike many of his books, I only read it the once. Reading it again, I can only plead youth and inexperience. I am enjoying it immensely.
That's on my phone. On my tablet I am reading "The Most Powerful Idea in the World" which is a history of steam. Yeah, so I have exotic tastes in history. Sue me!
I'm only a couple chapters in but so far it seems very good. He's explained Hero's, Savery's and Newcomen's engines and I suspect we are getting close to James Watt (and Matthew Boulton)
If you like industrial history, as I do, this might be of interest to you.
In other news, we've begun watching "The Night Manager" on Prime. Based on a John le Carré novel it is quite a good story and well acted. Very entertaining.
I came to LeCarre very late in life. I had known about him since the 60's but had never though he sounded interesting.
Then I saw the remake of Tinker Tailor and it got me to read the book. Since then I've read all of them, most multiple times. Big fan here.
The Night Manager is an excellent adaptation.
If you've not watched them yet, download Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People from YouTube.
Both are 6 part series by BBC from the 70s with Alec Guiness as George Smiley. Absolutely perfect.
Hawkeyedjib: I hear you! Remember when The Arizona Republic was a Conservative newspaper? On the masthead in every issue was the message: "Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is Liberty". Maybe it's the Spirit of the LORD that's missing from our society, not just in Phoenix but our nation.
I had mentioned watching Secret City a few weeks ago. I watched the second series and liked it as good as the first but I think there were some plot subtleties I missed. I plan to rewatch.
That led me to "Paper Giants: The Magazine Wars" about two women running Australian womens magazines and their competition.
That in turn led me to "Paper Wars: The Birth of Cleo" Australian Consolidated Press, the Packer family, thought they had a deal with Hearst to publish and Australian Cosmopolitan. Hearst backed out at the last minute. So Packer pere decided to start a Cosmo lookalike called Cleo.
And that led to Power Games. In 1960 Rupert Murdoch as a relatively small Australian publisher.
Frank Packer was the behemoth publisher of Australia. This is the story of Murdoch vs Packer. Very interesting.
I recommend all 3 but don't do like I did. Watch them in chronological order Power Games, Birth of Cleo then Magazine Wars.
I am tending to agree with you and it is very depressing. I am traveling to North Carolina tomorrow for 2 weeks and I am worried about the hoops I may have to jump through to get back into PR.
And yet, death rates are way down. Down pretty close to what they were in January. Close to zero for the country as a whole.
As an exercise in major league trolling, Trump should stay in the White House under absolute silence for three or four days. Nobody on his staff should answer any questions about where he is or what he is doing. A complete and total blackout.
The media will go crazy...'What is Trump hiding?' 'Did Trump have a stroke?' 'Is Trump afraid to take our questions?'
Then he announces a special press conference in prime time and speaks one line before waling away from the podium:
"Why don't you give the same goddamn about Biden?" For extra bonus points he can take the opportunity to dub him "Hidin' Biden."
I've lived in real time (meaning my own lifetime, of course) through the whole arc from America's peak power right after World War II to now, peak madness. But I'm not in despair about America because I feel that oncoming of the Civil War was a much worse time than now. Southerners had posted the entire Army way out West. The Richmond militia came into DC and paraded around the White House with Buchanan cowering inside and with John Wilkes Booth walking beside the Colonel at the head, on their way to hang John Brown. And slavery was legal. Now slavery's been abolished and since the Sixties the black community has got voting rights and a place in society at every level. Trump has shown that we could have full employment and prosperity and it's the Dems blocking that with their covid fear machine and the Dems allowing anarchy in big cities. If we didn't fall in 1860 and we didn't fall in 2016 I don't see us falling now. We're just going through a change in that vigorously responsive American way that looks so stupid and crazed but allows change to happen. Not socialist change, that's so 20C, but real change. Schools, work, sex, party affiliation, how we view other people, living in cities, how we view the regulatory state. All changing which allows weirdness to happen because millions upon millions of people are not responding to anything in the way they would have in the past. The Nameless Change. That's really how I see things.
Man, you guys sure are particular about cultism - white cults like Scientology (and - literally - hundreds of others I can name) set up shop anywhere, even with a reputation for murder, espionage, forced abortions, and more - but a BLACK CULT?
Well, some attention and pressure must be applied to them.
"I feel that oncoming of the Civil War was a much worse time than now."
Our biggest disadvantage right now is that there are no equivalent to the "War Democrats" among our elected officials, anywhere. Nobody to tell the Democrats from within that what they've done for years is morally wrong. If there were such people, the Democrats would have reformed themselves after the Hillary Clinton debacle, and Joe Biden would be peddling influence as an ex-VP instead of being the candidate. The whole structure, though, has just doubled down again and again, creating pretext after pretext for their evil behavior.
You might enjoy " An American saga"by Robert Daley https://www.amazon.com/American-saga-Juan-Trippe-empire/dp/039450223X Having been part of that "empire" for many years,I enjoyed the book very much.
Insty is always touting Harry Turtledove and his alternate histories so I thought I would give "The Guns of the South" a look.
The book is actually pretty good. It's also known for kicking off the modern Alternative history genre.
If you're interested in alternative history with a slight lefty slant, the 1632 universe is pretty good. Dozens of books by various authors.
If you're interested in alternative history with a lefty slant and fantasy involved, the Emberverse is your thing. It was a dystopian future when it came out, some might prefer it to the one we actually got.
There's even a Turtledove series about alternative history and aliens on Earth, and a Forstchen one about a civil war regiment on an alien planet.
MadTownGuy said... To fix the broken link about the CT/NJ/NY travel restrictions - here ya go:
People Traveling to CT From 31 COVID-19 Hotspot States Must Quarantine
7/25/20, 5:52 AM
Bruce Hayden said... “Most of those are in a few states. NY(168), NJ (177), MA(123) and CT(124) all have death rates over 100/100,000
“Stay the Hell out of those states.”
Funny enough - 3/4 of these are the states quarantining most of the rest of the country if they come and visit.
7/25/20, 7:33 AM
Right, what is the logic here? Rationally, NY NJ CT PA should first if not only quarantining one another. And those targeted states would be on firm(er) ground quarantining them. Meanwhile it's all either voluntary or ill-enforced.
Tim, Ken, other COVID maximalists:
How long do we all have to mask? "Forever" is right out. "Until I/Fauci and the Pussycats say so" is right out. Gimme a number.
One more thing...the average African American has an IQ of 85. There's a reason that DMVs everywhere are filled with African Americans doing patronage jobs for the government in order to buy votes.
So you're probably correct, in your world I am a freak. In the real world, with an 85 IQ, you couldn't possibly do what I've done. You don't have the intellectual capacity nor the discipline to understand how things work.
Just be happy that the Democrat Party is there to treat you and your homeys like pets. It must be a fulfilling life.
Who said anything about what anyone wants in the advice “stay married”? The advice is about how to avoid poverty. Why cannot even unhappy marriages make you better off?
Religious Mark has a strong case. If 30% of your country wants riots, anarchy, and terror then you get those things. You don’t need anywhere near 30% actually, but you in fact have at least 30% right now.
"I wonder if Crack's sad attempts to generate traffic for his blog are bearing any fruit?"
I'll start with this fool's nonsense before I get to the freak:
My last post was on July 3rd, and it's a now-empty playlist from Spotify, so - wow - I've been really hitting the blogging thing hard, haven't I?
The one before that took almost a MONTH to get written. All three paragraphs. Because of all the effort I'm putting into blogging.
And, before that, there was over a week before something, I thought worthy of mentioning there, happened.
Now, any fool could've looked at the blog and seen this for themselves, but our Drago isn't any fool - he's their King. And a worthy King he is, blathering he is delusions to his subjects, who accept what he says without question, as we know fools will do.
Carry on, King Drago, describing my life and actions from the darkest recesses of what little mind you have. Please.
And what is there to say about Joe Smith? What is there to say about any racist who immediately brings up Clarence Thomas - because (in case you didn't notice) he's BLACK just like I am - and then throws "whitey" into the conversation, like I'm the one known around here for such silly 1960s-era bullshit race talk?
You say (as Mr. Forward noticed) that racist jumped the shark on showing what a low IQ gets you.
"Don't marry a looney tunes, and once you're married, don't fuck around. Or is that too difficult to understand?"
Dude, YOU'RE A LOONY TUNES, and nobody WANTS to fuck around with you. I don't even want to TALK to you, much less think of touching you. is that too difficult to understand?
"One more thing...the average African American has an IQ of 85. There's a reason that DMVs everywhere are filled with African Americans doing patronage jobs for the government in order to buy votes."
Ann, how you can stand these people, I do not know. I'm going to imagine it's the money. It has to be the money.
"In the real world, with an 85 IQ, you couldn't possibly do what I've done. You don't have the intellectual capacity nor the discipline to understand how things work."
I graduated, served in the military, became an iconic San Francisco artist - which is what I wanted to be. What am I missing?
"Just be happy that the Democrat Party is there to treat you and your homeys like pets. It must be a fulfilling life."
I have voted Republican since 2004.
Has anyone around here ever mentioned the extra layer of bullshit, that black conservative Republicans have to put up with, just to be in this shitty racist party? Has that ever come up? I don't think it's difficult to see in this example. The number of wrong assumptions you have to fight, alone, leave no time for anything of substance because racist idiots take it all up with their foolishness.
There's a new study of the DNA of American blacks that finds we're almost ALL the product of white men raping black women, so - if there's a low IQ issue - I think, we know, which pool of sexual degenerates we need to start looking in for a mental problem.
I went too far because, as I don't know you, you don't know me, and the 'freak remark was totally out of the blue and it pissed me off.
So I was trying to piss you off in return and it clearly succeeded. I would like to call a truce. In fact, I will go further than that. I will continue to comment but will no longer direct comments at any particular person.
I think it's remarkable, to hear conservatives call the Democrat Party a cult, when this is how Republicans treat anyone who doesn't completely toe-the-line with their bullshit.
They're both cults - but the white guys got a lot of guns - making them the best one to watch from where I sit.
"...Right, what is the logic here? Rationally, NY NJ CT PA should first if not only quarantining one another. And those targeted states would be on firm(er) ground quarantining them. Meanwhile it's all either voluntary or ill-enforced...."
CT requires you to complete an online form and if you violate the rule there's a $1,000 fine. Not voluntary; I can't say of they have border checkpoints like CA did for Dust Bowl escapees, but likely as not the CT State Troopers are on the lookout for out-of-state plates.
MadTownGuy, sure, but how good can they be at it? How much effort? How much "I just register the car there?" It's like locks keeping honest people honest.
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66 comments:
As the stats remain well below the peaks of April and May, the restrictions on the populace are made more strict. At this rate we will all be shelter in place, with masks, and no human to human contact by Thanksgiving. They are going to have to arrest me and toss me in a cell to make me comply.
While @N1ckSandmann has settled with @washingtonpost and @CNN he still has claims against @ABC @NBCNewsb@CBS @nytimes @Gannett and @RollingStone...
Like I've said a couple of times, I've lost all hope in the American society and culture.
And too many of you here have too much faith and confidence in the American electorate, as if this is the 1980s.
After people totally eff the country in November, including effing themselves and turning everything to sh*t, do you think they will wise up? Will they admit their regrets? Will they rue the day? Or will they just sink us further and further?
Frankly, I think we're screwed. Totally. Permanently.
The end had to come some time.
Per channel 3000 news Madison; "Public Health Madison and Dane County has corrected a backlog of negative test results displayed on its data dashboard by adding around 17,000 negative tests on Friday."
Is it possible that this information was meant to be released on Monday so that they could proclaim how effective the mask requirement has been? Wht were they holding back negative test results but not positive? Hmmm, very curious.
Interesting stat; Dane County population as of 2019 546,695. Total deaths due to Covid 19 in Dane County 33.
https://cityofmadison.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#
/e22f5ba4f1f94e0bb0b9529dc82db6a3
So ive said which book to stay way from daniel silvas the order, one thats kind of interesting is a collaborative effort with laura willig set in three periods of french history from ww 1 to the 60d
Biden should be pressed on the question of whether he will accept the election result if Trump wins.
In other news, we've begun watching "The Night Manager" on Prime. Based on a John le Carré novel it is quite a good story and well acted. Very entertaining.
So, I didn't know that Willie Loomis was played by someone else for the first six or seven episodes.
Is this where we talk about murdered Trump supporters?
https://newstalk1130.iheart.com/featured/common-sense-central/content/2020-07-24-prominent-black-trump-supporter-murdered-in-milwaukee/
I guess some lives are more equal than others.
The "good" Mark stands on a street corner with his "The End is Nigh" sandwich board.
Your NoVa life has your brain scrambled.
Lin Wood
@LLinWood
Attorney at L. Lin Wood, P.C. #FightBack #WWG1WGA <-------------
interesting
This one
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062931091/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0062931091
Mark, I share your pessimism. I live in Phoenix, which has been a successful city with moderate politics and a focus on infrastructure and economic growth. Now it has begun to turn to the socialists. It will be a hot LA in a few years, with the attendant depravity, filth and neglect. I don't know where to go next.
His name is Coonrod and he refuses to take a knee
...that takes 'based'* balls
*Often used in contexts where the action or opinion ignores popular trends and social conventions or requires special effort.
***
“I really wish Joe Biden would shut the f–k up forever"
...And when you lose Charlamagne...
Charlamagne tha God slams Biden for calling Trump ‘first’ racist president
https://nypost.com/2020/07/24/charlamagne-tha-god-says-biden-should-shut-the-f-up-after-calling-trump-first-racist-president/
I don't want to 'pollute' your blog with myself, again - and sorry if I did so before. Just this poem and, then, I'm gone:
Lewis And Martina
L: A broken nose more expresses health
Than your ridiculous screams and cries.
I keep, at least, some human cowardice
At home. Making tea in the grubby room
but acknowledging this Angel. he will not,
For the moment, destroy me . That you wished
To deliver yourself to man was what disappointed.
M: There was no sense, speaking in the wrong language,
In any action. Neither theirs nor mine.
If I felt or smelt destruction don’t think of it
As intended. I have told people as, perhaps,
A piece of vanity, that I saw things.
Nothing was so crude. Only those who wished to love me.
They could not. Hate becomes, sometime, stronger than love.
L: And yet, for me, nothing was more ‘subtle’ than mine.
To you it was merely looks, a means of accommodating
Body to body and the dysfunction I must finally feel
When doubt had to sleep with both of us. I ached
And I ache everyday for what, well, I never wanted.
For I tried for merely a word that would say
You know me.
M: I know you but
You were not enough. Or never could be.
Listen, Lewis, I joy in those few months
When we really were discovering what it was
that always is so strange about each other:
Our mortality, our distant death, our always otherness.
Don’t you see – I have gone there,
I have lost you,
I have lost myself. And your child
Is the only human word I can now discover.
I hate you. You were not an Angel. I hate myself
For saying this. How could I demand this impossible?
L: No, you could not. And yet you, O beautiful you,
had a right to. You had a claim on an Angel.
But he did not come. Only me. I love you.
M: But you, my fool, my once-was-guest, remember:
Love cannot be there merely to please you.
We women are accused of eating hearts –
it is not us but God that burns your soul,
it is not I, it is never I, but these fragments,
These joys and sorrows, this ecstasy you refuse
To forget. Don’t forget. I may be mad
But I do not miss the compliment.
For in a glass I joy greatly at what memory can produce.
The happiness of a boy who cried “I love you!”
Because he had never loved before nor has since.
L: I had never loved before nor have since.
Françoise Hardy haunts me. Then again, I have a bit of OC in me sometimes.
I've bought a few of her final albums, produced 50 years after she broke in. She is simply amazing.
Boo!
As in Boo-Kaffe
So what's everyone been reading? I finished Bud Schuleberg's autobiography "Moving Pictures: Memories of a Hollywood Prince"
Schulberg wrote a number of screenplays including "A Face in the Crowd" and "On the Waterfront" Also wrote What makes Sammy Run which I discussed a couple weeks ago.
His father was BP Schulberg, head of Paramount and one of the most important movie bigshots of the teens and twenties and into the thirties. The book covers Schulberg's life up to the time he went off to Dartmouth for college.
Very interesting and intimate picture of the movie business of those days. The book is fascinating throughout. My only, very mild, complaint, is that about halfway through he starts writing sort of standalone chapters. For example a chapter on Clara Bow, a very big name in the 20s. It is interesting but I thought it disturbed the flow of the book. A very minor complaint as I said.
John Henry
The states of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York have issued what anounts to "stay out" orders prohibiting entry for travelers from 31 states - unless the travelers self-quarantine for 14 days before having contact with their residents.
People Traveling to CT From 31 COVID-19 Hotspot States Must Quarantine
The states are:
Alaska
Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Idaho
Indiana
Kansas
Louisiana
Maryland
Missouri
Mississippi
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
Nebraska
New Mexico
Nevada
Ohio
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
You should get out of the cities and recognize the 90% of the country that doesn't depend on Uncle Sugar.
I know, I said 'Never!' but just as an addendum:
Beauty
Yes, she would walk the streets, sometimes to solve
A problem, sometimes because she loved the darkness
She would always find between the houses.
We tried to stop her – we talked to her,
Told her that this was being childish or
Stupid or romantic – it was foolish
To walk in the all innocence of nature
And say: “This is true.” Only, lunging forward,
We happened on the chance of history
And, hey presto, dead bodies. Still, we told her
“we love you” but your ‘schizophrenic’,
We said “Open your mouth”, without saying
“Speak!” – but she wouldn’t – a merely
Beautiful idiosyncrasy:
Which we crushed, destroyed, crushed as a bug
And then said “Crawl back>”
She couldn’t. Why
Couldn’t she be beautiful again?
Only because the mirror will kill us.
We have no conscience. No love. No honour.
Lawfare misfires:
https://www.kptv.com/news/judge-denies-oregons-request-to-stop-arrests-of-protesters-in-portland-by-federal-agents/article_39609aef-204f-514c-929b-aa101045ce95.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true
Judges need to have their ears pinned back.
So after finishing Moving Pictures I was looking for something else to read.
Insty is always touting Harry Turtledove and his alternate histories so I thought I would give "The Guns of the South" a look.
In February of 1864 Robert E Lee is in camp in Virginia, about to go into battle and not thinking highly of his chances.
Into his camp rides a gentleman in modern camo, with a strange accent and an AK-47. He offers Lee 100,000 AKs and all the ammunition he can use.
The guy making the offer is apparently from South Africa in the future.
That's about as far as I got in the sample. The writing was OK and I don't necessarily mind alternate "What if..." scenarios. I'd like to read a book based on Cornwallis having A-10s at the battle of Yorktown, for example.
This was just too ludicrous and the writing was nothing special that might make me continue.
I bailed without even finishing the sample.
John Henry
So what I am reading:
"The Far Country" by Nevil Shute. Basic plot, twenty-something girl comes out to Australia in about 1952 because England was just too dreary and she had come into some money.
In Australia, she meets Carl Zlinter a refugee from Pilsen serving an obligatory 2 year term working in a lumber camp. Obligatory in return for his passage to Australia.
He was a doctor in Germany and in the German Army. To be a doctor in Australia he has to attend 3 years of medical school and requalify. No recognition of his German education.
They meet by chance, fall in love and live happily ever after.
I had read it once perhaps 30 years ago and was not impressed. Shute had a policy of writing one book to make money then one to make a point. This was a money book.
Unlike many of his books, I only read it the once. Reading it again, I can only plead youth and inexperience. I am enjoying it immensely.
That's on my phone. On my tablet I am reading "The Most Powerful Idea in the World" which is a history of steam. Yeah, so I have exotic tastes in history. Sue me!
I'm only a couple chapters in but so far it seems very good. He's explained Hero's, Savery's and Newcomen's engines and I suspect we are getting close to James Watt (and Matthew Boulton)
If you like industrial history, as I do, this might be of interest to you.
John Henry
I found the book uninspiring maybe it waa hiddlestons everyman protagonist hugh laudie as the villain.
Blogger stevew said...
In other news, we've begun watching "The Night Manager" on Prime. Based on a John le Carré novel it is quite a good story and well acted. Very entertaining.
I came to LeCarre very late in life. I had known about him since the 60's but had never though he sounded interesting.
Then I saw the remake of Tinker Tailor and it got me to read the book. Since then I've read all of them, most multiple times. Big fan here.
The Night Manager is an excellent adaptation.
If you've not watched them yet, download Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People from YouTube.
Both are 6 part series by BBC from the 70s with Alec Guiness as George Smiley. Absolutely perfect.
John Henry
Hawkeyedjib: I hear you! Remember when The Arizona Republic was a Conservative newspaper? On the masthead in every issue was the message: "Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is Liberty". Maybe it's the Spirit of the LORD that's missing from our society, not just in Phoenix but our nation.
"I really wish Joe Biden would shut the f–k up forever""
That's what his supporters are saying.
I had mentioned watching Secret City a few weeks ago. I watched the second series and liked it as good as the first but I think there were some plot subtleties I missed. I plan to rewatch.
That led me to "Paper Giants: The Magazine Wars" about two women running Australian womens magazines and their competition.
That in turn led me to "Paper Wars: The Birth of Cleo" Australian Consolidated Press, the Packer family, thought they had a deal with Hearst to publish and Australian Cosmopolitan. Hearst backed out at the last minute. So Packer pere decided to start a Cosmo lookalike called Cleo.
And that led to Power Games. In 1960 Rupert Murdoch as a relatively small Australian publisher.
Frank Packer was the behemoth publisher of Australia. This is the story of Murdoch vs Packer. Very interesting.
I recommend all 3 but don't do like I did. Watch them in chronological order Power Games, Birth of Cleo then Magazine Wars.
All free on Prime.
John Henry
SteveW,
I am tending to agree with you and it is very depressing. I am traveling to North Carolina tomorrow for 2 weeks and I am worried about the hoops I may have to jump through to get back into PR.
And yet, death rates are way down. Down pretty close to what they were in January. Close to zero for the country as a whole.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm#ageandsex
Total deaths for the week ending 7/17
0-24 years old 0 as in ZERO deaths.
25-54 51 Deaths
55 and over 639 Of those more than 400 were 75 and older.
That's for the whole country. All 330,000,000 of us. Less than 700 deaths total. 0.0002% of the population
Most of those are in a few states. NY(168), NJ (177), MA(123) and CT(124) all have death rates over 100/100,000
Stay the Hell out of those states.
Florida and Texas are getting a lot of flak but they are both pretty low on the list at 26 and 16/100m
We're number 48 hear in Puerto Rico. Tied with Oregon and West Virginia at 6/100,000
This chart of total deaths per 100m by state is pretty interesting.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109011/coronavirus-covid19-death-rates-us-by-state/
John Henry
Blogger Birkel said...
Your NoVa life has your brain scrambled.
A NoVa life just doesn't go.
John Henry
AI experts release eerie deepfake video of Richard Nixon 'announcing the failure of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing' to prove how real they can seem
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8548317/Deepfake-video-shows-President-Richard-Nixon-announcing-failure-1969-moon-landing.html
"deepfakes" again.
Battleground prep for upcoming incriminating videos?
The mere question remains Why?
Why doesn't Jewel put white towels on the floor anymore?
WHY WHY WHY???
Because Jewel learned there were consequences.
That's why.
Anyone living in America has privilege. Stay in school, get married, stay married, save your money, and don't take on too much debt.
No matter what color you are, you can start with nothing and retire a millionaire in the richest, most powerful country in history.
You are privileged to live here.
Don't whine and don't fuck it up.
Bookends
Françoise Hardy - Dors mon Ange (2018)
https://youtu.be/XgZYbEcYVrI
Rendez-vous dans une autre vie (2012)
https://youtu.be/xa6nBOgwFE0
Tante De Belles Choses (2008)
https://youtu.be/gKriXEl0Wpg
Parlez-Moi De Lui(1968)
https://youtu.be/dtYQMMyO7pE
Je veux qu'il revienne (1965)
https://youtu.be/MDn4D8MoTo4
Yes, Coonrod deserves massive respect. A man among boys.
As an exercise in major league trolling, Trump should stay in the White House under absolute silence for three or four days. Nobody on his staff should answer any questions about where he is or what he is doing. A complete and total blackout.
The media will go crazy...'What is Trump hiding?' 'Did Trump have a stroke?' 'Is Trump afraid to take our questions?'
Then he announces a special press conference in prime time and speaks one line before waling away from the podium:
"Why don't you give the same goddamn about Biden?" For extra bonus points he can take the opportunity to dub him "Hidin' Biden."
A man can dream...
She's simply angelic.
18-year-old Françoise Hardy's first television appearance - 1962
singing La fille avec toi
https://youtu.be/SByMAUM1nd0
I've lived in real time (meaning my own lifetime, of course) through the whole arc from America's peak power right after World War II to now, peak madness. But I'm not in despair about America because I feel that oncoming of the Civil War was a much worse time than now. Southerners had posted the entire Army way out West. The Richmond militia came into DC and paraded around the White House with Buchanan cowering inside and with John Wilkes Booth walking beside the Colonel at the head, on their way to hang John Brown. And slavery was legal. Now slavery's been abolished and since the Sixties the black community has got voting rights and a place in society at every level. Trump has shown that we could have full employment and prosperity and it's the Dems blocking that with their covid fear machine and the Dems allowing anarchy in big cities. If we didn't fall in 1860 and we didn't fall in 2016 I don't see us falling now. We're just going through a change in that vigorously responsive American way that looks so stupid and crazed but allows change to happen. Not socialist change, that's so 20C, but real change. Schools, work, sex, party affiliation, how we view other people, living in cities, how we view the regulatory state. All changing which allows weirdness to happen because millions upon millions of people are not responding to anything in the way they would have in the past. The Nameless Change. That's really how I see things.
JULY 24, 2020
IT’S A CULT: ‘Wokeness is being pushed on everyone.’
Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 2:00 pm
Man, you guys sure are particular about cultism - white cults like Scientology (and - literally - hundreds of others I can name) set up shop anywhere, even with a reputation for murder, espionage, forced abortions, and more - but a BLACK CULT?
Well, some attention and pressure must be applied to them.
You guys are an ethical joke.
To fix the broken link about the CT/NJ/NY travel restrictions - here ya go:
People Traveling to CT From 31 COVID-19 Hotspot States Must Quarantine
"I feel that oncoming of the Civil War was a much worse time than now."
Our biggest disadvantage right now is that there are no equivalent to the "War Democrats" among our elected officials, anywhere. Nobody to tell the Democrats from within that what they've done for years is morally wrong. If there were such people, the Democrats would have reformed themselves after the Hillary Clinton debacle, and Joe Biden would be peddling influence as an ex-VP instead of being the candidate. The whole structure, though, has just doubled down again and again, creating pretext after pretext for their evil behavior.
Mike Adams just couldn't get off the Republican "plantation".
Joe Smith said...
"Anyone living in America has privilege. Stay in school, get married, stay married, save your money, and don't take on too much debt."
Like anyone has control over who wants a divorce.
Shut-up, Freak.
stephen cooper said...
Yes, Coonrod deserves massive respect. A man among boys.
Why are all your heroes also reminders whites are racists?
You guys are losers.
John Henry
"So what am I reading"
You might enjoy " An American saga"by Robert Daley
https://www.amazon.com/American-saga-Juan-Trippe-empire/dp/039450223X
Having been part of that "empire" for many years,I enjoyed the book very much.
Insty is always touting Harry Turtledove and his alternate histories so I thought I would give "The Guns of the South" a look.
The book is actually pretty good. It's also known for kicking off the modern Alternative history genre.
If you're interested in alternative history with a slight lefty slant, the 1632 universe is pretty good. Dozens of books by various authors.
If you're interested in alternative history with a lefty slant and fantasy involved, the Emberverse is your thing. It was a dystopian future when it came out, some might prefer it to the one we actually got.
There's even a Turtledove series about alternative history and aliens on Earth, and a Forstchen one about a civil war regiment on an alien planet.
Biden should be pressed on the question of whether he will accept the election result if Trump wins.
He and the rest of the Left haven't accepted the election results from 2016 yet.
“Most of those are in a few states. NY(168), NJ (177), MA(123) and CT(124) all have death rates over 100/100,000
“Stay the Hell out of those states.”
Funny enough - 3/4 of these are the states quarantining most of the rest of the country if they come and visit.
Thank you, Sara,
I've always thought Trippe and Pan Am were pretty significant but never read a bio of Trippe. Probably didn't know there was one.
I downloaded the sample and will take a look.
John Henry
MadTownGuy said...
To fix the broken link about the CT/NJ/NY travel restrictions - here ya go:
People Traveling to CT From 31 COVID-19 Hotspot States Must Quarantine
7/25/20, 5:52 AM
Bruce Hayden said...
“Most of those are in a few states. NY(168), NJ (177), MA(123) and CT(124) all have death rates over 100/100,000
“Stay the Hell out of those states.”
Funny enough - 3/4 of these are the states quarantining most of the rest of the country if they come and visit.
7/25/20, 7:33 AM
Right, what is the logic here? Rationally, NY NJ CT PA should first if not only quarantining one another. And those targeted states would be on firm(er) ground quarantining them. Meanwhile it's all either voluntary or ill-enforced.
Tim, Ken, other COVID maximalists:
How long do we all have to mask? "Forever" is right out. "Until I/Fauci and the Pussycats say so" is right out. Gimme a number.
yes trippe ends up the foil of howard hughes in the aviator, as played by alec baldwin,
@ CRACK...
Really...I'm a freak? Clarence Thomas is a freak too. What was his crime; marrying whitey?
...Don't marry a looney tunes, and once you're married, don't fuck around. Or is that too difficult to understand?
@Crack...
One more thing...the average African American has an IQ of 85. There's a reason that DMVs everywhere are filled with African Americans doing patronage jobs for the government in order to buy votes.
So you're probably correct, in your world I am a freak. In the real world, with an 85 IQ, you couldn't possibly do what I've done. You don't have the intellectual capacity nor the discipline to understand how things work.
Just be happy that the Democrat Party is there to treat you and your homeys like pets. It must be a fulfilling life.
I wonder if Crack's sad attempts to generate traffic for his blog are bearing any fruit?
Who said anything about what anyone wants in the advice “stay married”? The advice is about how to avoid poverty. Why cannot even unhappy marriages make you better off?
How many IQ points does it take to come across as a rude, racist asshole on the internet?
Religious Mark has a strong case. If 30% of your country wants riots, anarchy, and terror then you get those things. You don’t need anywhere near 30% actually, but you in fact have at least 30% right now.
Drago said...
"I wonder if Crack's sad attempts to generate traffic for his blog are bearing any fruit?"
I'll start with this fool's nonsense before I get to the freak:
My last post was on July 3rd, and it's a now-empty playlist from Spotify, so - wow - I've been really hitting the blogging thing hard, haven't I?
The one before that took almost a MONTH to get written. All three paragraphs. Because of all the effort I'm putting into blogging.
And, before that, there was over a week before something, I thought worthy of mentioning there, happened.
Now, any fool could've looked at the blog and seen this for themselves, but our Drago isn't any fool - he's their King. And a worthy King he is, blathering he is delusions to his subjects, who accept what he says without question, as we know fools will do.
Carry on, King Drago, describing my life and actions from the darkest recesses of what little mind you have. Please.
I must be entertained.
And what is there to say about Joe Smith? What is there to say about any racist who immediately brings up Clarence Thomas - because (in case you didn't notice) he's BLACK just like I am - and then throws "whitey" into the conversation, like I'm the one known around here for such silly 1960s-era bullshit race talk?
You say (as Mr. Forward noticed) that racist jumped the shark on showing what a low IQ gets you.
"Don't marry a looney tunes, and once you're married, don't fuck around. Or is that too difficult to understand?"
Dude, YOU'RE A LOONY TUNES, and nobody WANTS to fuck around with you. I don't even want to TALK to you, much less think of touching you. is that too difficult to understand?
"One more thing...the average African American has an IQ of 85. There's a reason that DMVs everywhere are filled with African Americans doing patronage jobs for the government in order to buy votes."
Ann, how you can stand these people, I do not know. I'm going to imagine it's the money. It has to be the money.
"In the real world, with an 85 IQ, you couldn't possibly do what I've done. You don't have the intellectual capacity nor the discipline to understand how things work."
I graduated, served in the military, became an iconic San Francisco artist - which is what I wanted to be. What am I missing?
"Just be happy that the Democrat Party is there to treat you and your homeys like pets. It must be a fulfilling life."
I have voted Republican since 2004.
Has anyone around here ever mentioned the extra layer of bullshit, that black conservative Republicans have to put up with, just to be in this shitty racist party? Has that ever come up? I don't think it's difficult to see in this example. The number of wrong assumptions you have to fight, alone, leave no time for anything of substance because racist idiots take it all up with their foolishness.
This asshole and Drago deserve each other.
BTW - Drago,
Your ever-burning desire to try and hurt or demoralize me? I can't say enough about it.
[Blows kiss]
Thank you.
@Crack...
God bless you for serving. Really...I mean it.
And I shouldn't have taken the bait with the 'freak' remark but I did, and I'm sorry for that.
Whether you have voted Republican or not, does not change the fact that the Democrats have been patronizing blacks for decades.
Have a great life...
And one more thing:
There's a new study of the DNA of American blacks that finds we're almost ALL the product of white men raping black women, so - if there's a low IQ issue - I think, we know, which pool of sexual degenerates we need to start looking in for a mental problem.
This is my official apology to @Crack...
I went too far because, as I don't know you, you don't know me, and the 'freak remark was totally out of the blue and it pissed me off.
So I was trying to piss you off in return and it clearly succeeded. I would like to call a truce. In fact, I will go further than that. I will continue to comment but will no longer direct comments at any particular person.
Best of luck to you MC...
I think it's remarkable, to hear conservatives call the Democrat Party a cult, when this is how Republicans treat anyone who doesn't completely toe-the-line with their bullshit.
They're both cults - but the white guys got a lot of guns - making them the best one to watch from where I sit.
They shoot themselves in the foot more.
Nichevo said...
"...Right, what is the logic here? Rationally, NY NJ CT PA should first if not only quarantining one another. And those targeted states would be on firm(er) ground quarantining them. Meanwhile it's all either voluntary or ill-enforced...."
CT requires you to complete an online form and if you violate the rule there's a $1,000 fine. Not voluntary; I can't say of they have border checkpoints like CA did for Dust Bowl escapees, but likely as not the CT State Troopers are on the lookout for out-of-state plates.
MadTownGuy, sure, but how good can they be at it? How much effort? How much "I just register the car there?" It's like locks keeping honest people honest.
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