ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES. ZARDOZ MUST HASTILY GIVE YOU THE GIFT OF THE LINK…IT APPEARS THE BRUTAL EXTERMINATORS AND THE SQUATCHES ARE ENGAGED IN A CLEANSING RITUAL REFERRED TO AS A “RUMBLE” ZARDOZ MUST ATTEND!
- ZARDOZ BELIEVES THIS BRUTAL MIGHT BE TRAPPED IN HER LIE NOW. THE TABERNACLE COULD SCAN HER AND SAVE THE $99.
- ZARDOZ WILL WAIT TO HEAR FROM THE CHOSEN ONE CALLED JOHN TITOR, AS TO THE AUTHENTICITY OF THIS STORY.
- PERHAPS THEY WERE AUDITIONING TO BECOME BRUTAL EXTERMINATORS? AT LEAST THEY RETURNED SAFE TO THEIR BARRACKS THAT NIGHT. NO WORD IF THEIR SUSPENSION IS WITH PAY.
- BE OF GOOD CHEER, PANCAKE AND WAFFLE EATING CHOSEN ONES!
ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.
…
THE CONFLICT HANGS IN THE BALANCE! NO…WAIT, MR. WHISKERS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
DO NOT ATTACK THAT ETERNAL WITH STEVE SMITH!
MR. WHISKERS, CEASE YOUR ATTACK ON THE ETERNAL, MAY, AND RETURN! BAD KITTY!
NOT IN THE FACE! NOT IN THE FACE!
LOOK OUT FOR THAT HORSE, MR. WHISKERS!
*CRUNCH*
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! MR. WHISKERS!
*SQUATCHES and Enforcers scatter, May staggers off holding shredded face*
*ZARDOZ and STEVE SMITH remain*
MAY? STEVE SMITH SAD.
MR. WHISKERS….ZARDOZ IS DISTRAUGHT!
…FRIEND… STEVE SMITH. WE HAVE BOTH LOVED…AND LOST. SHALL WE CEASE THIS NEEDLESS CONFLICT?
“STEVE SMITH SAD – MAY GONE, MR. FLOPEARS GONE… NOW YOU KITTY GONE. STEVE SMITH NO MORE HOLD GRUDGE…FRIEND.”
*ZARDOZ and STEVE SMITH slowly turn and move away from the Vortex*
*Zed peels the flattened Mr. Whiskers off of horse’s hoof*
~Fin~
::Wipes away single tear::
[farts]
So no need to invade Canukistan for their strategic maple reserve just yet?
Our neighbors were out tapping their stand of sugar maples on Wednesday.
I think the harvest so far is a bit slow, but when the snow melts, they really think they’ll have a good year.
We’ve amassed 90% of our population along the border.
It still won’t be enough – given how many of them voted for Trudy or the NDP.
The strategic maple reserve does make one chuckle doesn’t it? We have gazzilions of barrels of oil in the cavernous depths under LA and the Canucks have tree sap.
Not until we can sell it to the aliens for big bucks.
That makes no sense – the Mexicans don’t have any money.
Live Free or Die bitches!
ZARDOZ BELIEVES THIS BRUTAL MIGHT BE TRAPPED IN HER LIE NOW. THE TABERNACLE COULD SCAN HER AND SAVE THE $99.
To be honest, I don’t think it’s important whether she is 1/32 Cherokee. That’s a small enough number to be insignificant, and she certainly wasn’t raised as Cherokee, so she’s still Fake-o-hantas.
If she doesn’t do anything, she can claim she’s being harassed by that big meanie Trump, which is just as valuable as being proven right. She has nothing to gain by taking the test.
That’s pre-Trump thinking.
I think the relevant question is did she or didn’t she use it for advantage? She says she didn’t.
Right….. She was hired to the faculty of Harvard for her brains…..
Maybe she just gave brain?
Behold the majesty of the English language: There’s a big difference between giving brain and giving head.
Agreed. I would swear I’ve seen newspaper reports that she used her supposed ancestry in order to get preference for her first teaching gig.
No question she did. Why else claim it? Her work before Harvard was not absolutely top tier, so she is an affirmative action hire.
You are right she has nothing to gain by taking the test, but she deserves constant ridicule for it. She says her claim is due to a family story. My grandmother (fathers side) was from S Dakota and word in our family my entire life is there was native American ancestry in that line of the family. Maybe there was maybe there wasn’t and I never really cared but I sure as shit did not put down on any application that I was native American because I’m not and neither is Elizabeth Warren. Fuck her.
That reminds me of my wife’s family. Not long after we got serious, I heard about her father’s native American ancestry. OK. Then the story went on to say he had lineage back to Pocahontas. I burst out laughing. My wife couldn’t understand why. I asked how she knew the lineage. She told me about some ridiculous family tree. I started laughing again. She was pissed and told me family stories about FIL’s mother and her Indian relatives. Fast forward 20 years. Her father did 23 and me. There isn’t a trace of Indian genes.
I’d question the reliability of 23 and me and similar companies. I read an article where three sisters took the test and came back with three radically different answers. I don’t doubt there will be differences between siblings in their DNA, but I would expect them to be somewhat minor.
For the record the three sisters were identical triplets. Playboy (and similar sites) probably have pictures.
And yes, fuck Elizabeth Warren (but only metaphorically or with someone else’s dick.)
Not it!
All she has to do is say she’s sorry. She won’t.
Dude she’s a prog – it is either a struggle session and abject repudiation or hope like hell that something distracts the mob and she can skate.
Even at 1/32, that’s only 3 %. Three % is nothing, just crumbs
You know how stupid it is to attack Trump for his being a jackass on twitter, or not liking dogs, or eating his steak well done instead of the truly bad ideas and policies he has, that’s how I see this, Warren is an assbag for tons of reasons, this isn’t one of them.
Discrimination against people because of their race is a big deal. It’s at the core of what’s wrong with the country. In large part today that means affirmative action. It’s not surprising that supporters of affirmative action prefer not to talk how the system of racial preferences can be easily abused.
Good recipes in that cookbook, though.
BE OF GOOD CHEER, PANCAKE AND WAFFLE EATING CHOSEN ONES!
I blame global warming.
recently on CNN
***
CNN investigates: Doctors who prescribe more opioids make more money
***
You mean to tell me that people who offer a product or service in high demand make a lot of money, and the more they sell, the more they profit?
stop. the. fucking. presses.
Reading that quickly I thought the TV show was proscribing opoids in a bid to make money now that they’ve driven away the audience.
Isn’t there anyone at CNN far enough outside the bubble to see how silly this looks? And they just keep be-clowning themselves over and over. Although I think they set their all time best with their pants shitting about Trump beating up the CNN logo.
They know their audience.
Yes, the people who look down on those folks that watch other reality TV.
I’d like to know more about the story — is it comparing apples to apples (doctors in the same specialty/sub-specialty who prescribe more vs those who prescribe fewer) or is it a generic ‘all doctors’ thing? Because if the latter, higher-paid docs such as oncologists and surgeons are the ones most likely to prescribe (appropriately) opioids, while lower paid docs such as pediatricians would almost never prescribe them — and that would produce the same skewed and irrelevant data as the ‘women earn 0.77 for every dollar a man makes’ canard.
here ya go
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/11/health/prescription-opioid-payments-eprise/index.html
***
As tens of thousands of Americans die from prescription opioid overdoses each year, an exclusive analysis by CNN and researchers at Harvard University found that opioid manufacturers are paying physicians huge sums of money — and the more opioids a doctor prescribes, the more money he or she makes.
In 2014 and 2015, opioid manufacturers paid hundreds of doctors across the country six-figure sums for speaking, consulting and other services. Thousands of other doctors were paid over $25,000 during that time.
Physicians who prescribed particularly large amounts of the drugs were the most likely to get paid.
***
opioid manufacturers paid hundreds of doctors across the country six-figure sums for speaking, consulting and other services
Ah, the old “paying someone for their work is actually a bribe” concept.
I’m sure a study like this would never consider that perhaps the doctors prescribing high doses and being paid the most in this survey are experts in specific areas causing pain, and thus are valued by the pharmaceutical companies for their professional consultation and educational lecturing to others? No, it’s got to be the only reason they are prescribing is that they are soulless and greedy, and are killing people intentionally, just so they can get some apparent kickbacks.
And docs in academic medical institutions like Harvard are sometimes quite embarrassing in their ‘holier than thou’ attitudes about pharma, sometimes to the point that they seemingly feel that we already have all the medications in the world that we need, and thus use outdated meds with poor outcomes and bad side effects rather than — god forbid — a medication that might result in a profit for a drug company. (I see this all the time.)
Sadly — and I’ve shared with you all on this site before about my own situation with bone marrow cancer and severe pain, how opioids allow me to keep working full-time, I’ve never abused, and my daily dose has not changed in six years, but I still get treated like a junkie at the Rite Aid — I think opiates are soon going to become the new cigarette smoking. As in, they have no good and are only bad, they can kill you, there’s no reason for you to be on them and if you are you need to quit, anyone who uses them should be shunned by others, and we need to pass laws to prevent people from using them, even in their own homes. Just watch.
I fear you are right.
Just ask those researchers to apply the same logic to the money their favored politician takes, and watch how quickly they backtrack and make excuses. The Chinese were just paying Bill for his expertise on global warming!
This is a particularly retarded example of “Woke-Corporatism”
They suspend a person’s account with the claim that:
“the shit you just said sounded kind of suicidal, so like, you should totally seek help man. We’re going to help you do that by automatically shutting off your ability to communicate with other people .
Because what says, “We care man, and we’re here for you“, quite like banning you from our platform, based on the snap judgment of an inhuman algorithm? If you were smarter, you would have repressed these thoughts.”
I’ve been using the same cheapo flip phone since 2012. Emojis appear as empty white boxes. For which I am thankful.
My mom insisted on forwarding those hoax email virus warning messages, like “How to give a cat a colonic” or “It takes guts to say Jesus”.
Still on my dystopian novels kick. Mildred’s suicide attempt in Fahrenheit 451 comes from her lack of intellectual stimulation. Twitter itself enabling suicide through it’s very existence.
In Roman times, people scratched graffiti on the walls on public baths. Twitter is just the modern version of that.
Kevin? Was he linked by funny libertarian? (I can’t remember) I liked a tweet of his that FL liked and it was hilarious. Text was: OMG a girl proposed to a guy in the boys bathroom today!
Picture taken under bathroom stalls: Legs and sneakers obviously sitting on toilet, girls legs and sneakers on her knees facing other legs and sneakers.
It has been vanished before I could share it here.
I think this just speaks to how self-possessed the modern left is. It’s a movement based around being triggered by things others do. I’m reminded of a professor I had who talked about showing Holocaust footage at a conference to other professors, and then being attacked for subjecting them to such sights without warning. I mean, forget the people being shot in the video or what could be learned from it. What about their feelings?
So when the media drums up fear about how Facebook/Twitter become platforms for people hosting bad things, or we see Twitter suspending accounts of troubled individuals who maybe need help…I just chalk it up to how self-absored these people are. The concern isn’t really over the bad thing happening, just that others might see and know that it’s happened/happening.
Don’t go triggering me with your suicide, basically.
Uhh… I suppose it might depend on the conference. If I went to a talk and the guy showed some of the really horrific footage that exists of the holocaust, and I wasn’t prepared, I think I’d get a little bent out of shape. I mean, I know snuf-porn exists; you don’t have to show me it to convince me it’s horrible.
I first read that as “smurf-porn”.
That sounds surprisingly appealing…
You wouldn’t like me, then. When people enter my home, they are greeted with a six foot photo of my penis.
I was torn with what snark to throw. Global warming or technology increasing production. I got nothing. I do like maple syrup though.
I used to, but it’s getting too sweet for me now.
You know who else took advantage of vacuum sap collection?
Dyson?
Michael Eric?
Winston’s mom?
Damn too slow
For Zardoz: There are no speed limits over international waters. If your gravitonic drive can handle the elevation changes, you can head over to the CH and pick up some of these gifts? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQCUIpbSHlc
The Sloopy chosen one might help with the auction process.
Top State Department official: Taliban jihadis have “legitimate grievances”
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/03/top-state-department-official-taliban-jihadis-have-legitimate-grievances
***
During a press briefing this week, Alice G. Wells, the principal deputy assistant secretary for DOS’ Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, said:
We believe that the intensified efforts under the South Asia strategy to put military pressure on the Taliban are important, that these military efforts help shape the conditions for talks and help to underscore that there is no military victory for the Taliban, that ultimately their legitimate grievances will have to be addressed at a negotiating table. We’d like to see them come to this table sooner rather than later.
***
That’s a strange choice of words to describe a group the US has been fighting for 17 years.
Where’s Curtis Lemay when you need him?
“I’ll tell you what war is about, you’ve got to kill people, and when you’ve killed enough they stop fighting.”
Black Lives Matter had legitimate grievances, too.
Dammit, I was trimming a head and I dropped it, now it’s all dirty.
/phrased to be deliberately misinterpreted.
So you collect dry penis skin too. I have found it goes best in stews and other thick sauce dishes.
I don’t eat it.
Free base?
Carves lines
Can’t you just wash it off and stick it back in?
the latest retard slap fight from Current Affairs
***
Now, once again, a bit of a confession (don’t tell anyone): Brianna is actually a very empathetic person who could sit down with a person deeply hostile to immigrants and see their human side, and her article is an effort to explain why ordinary and good people can be convinced by anti-immigrant propaganda! A fair reading of it, which we know Alexander does not like to give, would actually show that while Brianna uses strong and biting language, she has a deep compassion for those who come to xenophobic positions after reading people like Coulter. (Coulter herself is actually a monster though.)
Alexander accuses me and other leftists of engaging in what he calls “motte and bailey” arguments. (He is constantly calling things motte and bailey arguments.) We insist “Hey, we don’t think racism is made by monsters” and then we write articles going “Death to the monstrous Republican Party!” (Or we write books about the president called Anatomy of a Monstrosity.) Alexander thinks we are operating in bad faith, lying about what we actually believe. In reality, I think this is just a product of Alexander’s lack of charity: instead of saying “Okay, do they really believe that Republicans are monsters?” and maybe asking them, he says “Aha! You think people you disagree with are literally monsters!” It is not a genuine attempt at understanding, as we can see from the way Alexander managed to construe a nuanced article arguing for greater empathy with xenophobes as some irrational leftist screed against evil racists. Instead of trying to get to the root of what the social justice activists actually believe by talking to them and forgiving them an exaggeration or two (and understanding why they might be emotional about things that cause great pain), he will find their most extreme bits of rhetoric, and deem their positions unworthy of the serious treatment he would give to those who share his assumptions. As I wrote in my article, this tendency is common among critics of campus activist culture, and it is hypocritical.
***
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/03/on-being-fair-to-social-justice-activists
“xenophobic positions after reading people like Coulter. (Coulter herself is actually a monster though.”
But you say it is unfair to claim that your position is that those who disagree with you are monsters.
I can’t wade through that gibberish.
Yeah.
[sigh of weary resignation]
Indeed. All thinking people realize that Coulter is merely a mendacious cunt.
I’m probably not one of your “thinking people,” but I think Coulter believes plenty of the shit she says. Even when she is being intentionally offensive to leftist sensibilities or an attention whore, I think she’s closer to voicing her actual opinions than the typical NYT’s writer who claims, say, that they don’t want to take guns away. I don’t think she qualifies as a mendacious cunt.
I’m talking about when she intentionally omits or twists facts when discussing the trial of Chai Vang in order to present a certain narrative.
That is both mendacious and cuntish.
That’s not the only thing she’s been obtuse about.
***
According to right-wing pundit Ann Coulter, “flatulent raccoon theory” is as valid as Darwinian evolution. On Page 214 of her new book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, she states:
Throw in enough words like imagine, perhaps, and might have — and you’ve got yourself a scientific theory! How about this: Imagine a giant raccoon passed gas and perhaps the resulting gas might have created the vast variety of life we see on Earth. And if you don’t accept the giant raccoon flatulence theory for the origin of life, you must be a fundamentalist Christian nut who believes the Earth is flat. That’s basically how the argument for evolution goes.
***
https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2006/07/07/ann-coulters-flatulent-raccoon-theory/136117
Christ, what an asshole!
I’m willing to argue many truly pointless things in life. Whether Ann Coulter is or isn’t “mendacious” won’t be one of them. I still see her more as the wrestling heel type playing up a persona to rile people up, but it’s still her persona.
Wow… that’s not even “not even wrong”.
and her article is an effort to explain why ordinary and good people can be convinced by anti-immigrant propaganda!
People become anti-immigrant in no small part because they see the pro-immigrant propaganda from the chattering classes, look around at what’s going on around them, and see that the two don’t jibe.
I don’t know who these people are or the specifics of what they’re bitching about, but it’s quite clear to me that this person has never actually tried what they’re suggesting here. That being, sitting down and talking to social justice “activists” about what they disagree with them on. Because doing that isn’t possible 95% of the time.
When you think your credibility is being threatened by a med student, it’s probably time to get out of the “public pontification” business.
The local IMAX just called and said they’re going to need a bigger screen.
A retort.
Don’t start a fight like that with someone smarter than you.
“I know who I am. And never used it for anything. Never got any benefit from it anywhere,” Warren said of her ancestry on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
She’s starting to sound a lot like Mickey Rourke in Angel Heart.
Venezuela Credit Rating Bottoms Out With $1.7 Billion Overdue
It’s official: Venezuela’s credit rating has hit rock-bottom.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-09/venezuela-credit-rating-bottoms-out-with-1-7-billion-overdue
something something state capitalism
+1 kulaks and wreckers.
That’s Chavezism, not socialism!
The spring Glibs BIF (Beer It Forward) signups have begun. Check out post 19 here. And if anyone is able to signal boost this during the week, I would appreciate it.
Jeepers creepers!
http://archive.is/fyMHs
Beautiful eyes, both northern and southern.
Trivia: The song “Jeepers Creepers” was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category, but lost to… “Thanks for the Memory”.
Seeing all the bras in a typical Q post, perhaps a better song for him would be
“Tanks for the Mammaries”.
Why are so many of these taken in automobiles? Don’t these women understand how dangerous distracted driving is???!!?!?!?!?!1!?!?11?!/1
According to my porn hub history they don’t.
I’ve often wondered the same thing. ‘Ok, buckle the seat belt, now take my selfie..’ WTF.
All very pretty girls, but 13, 22, and 47are mostest perty imho and to not sound sexist and go on only superficial outward appearance they may well all be total assholes afaik.
#12 please
I’ll take 11 and 22, with a side-order of 44. If this obligates me to take 33 as well to satisfy someone’s OCD, I’m okay with that.
Now I’m suicidal.
“Do you want to read more?”
No
Exactly.
No.
derp from the vault
Actually, Prohibition Was a Success
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/16/opinion/actually-prohibition-was-a-success.html
***
History has valuable lessons to teach policy makers but it reveals its lessons only grudgingly.
Close analyses of the facts and their relevance is required lest policy makers fall victim to the persuasive power of false analogies and are misled into imprudent judgments. Just such a danger is posed by those who casually invoke the ”lessons of Prohibition” to argue for the legalization of drugs.
What everyone ”knows” about Prohibition is that it was a failure. It did not eliminate drinking; it did create a black market. That in turn spawned criminal syndicates and random violence. Corruption and widespread disrespect for law were incubated and, most tellingly, Prohibition was repealed only 14 years after it was enshrined in the Constitution.
The lesson drawn by commentators is that it is fruitless to allow moralists to use criminal law to control intoxicating substances. Many now say it is equally unwise to rely on the law to solve the nation’s drug problem.
…
The U.S. is in the early to middle stages of a potentially widespread cocaine epidemic. If the line is held now, we can prevent new users and increasing casualties. So this is exactly not the time to be considering a liberalization of our laws on cocaine. We need a firm stand by society against cocaine use to extend and reinforce the messages that are being learned through painful personal experience and testimony.
The real lesson of Prohibition is that the society can, indeed, make a dent in the consumption of drugs through laws. There is a price to be paid for such restrictions, of course. But for drugs such as heroin and cocaine, which are dangerous but currently largely unpopular, that price is small relative to the benefits.
***
This is so dishonest, I won’t even call it a bait and switch. It’s just pure bullshit.
Yeah, I got stats too:
***
The homicide rate increased to 10 per 100,000 population during the 1920s, a 78 percent increase over the pre-Prohibition period.
***
And then there were the thousands killed by alcohol that was purposefully tainted with poison to discourage drinking.
It actually makes perfect sense: if people are dying from poison booze, they’re not going to have time to develop cirrhosis or mental disorders.
Of course, the dumbass new York Times then concludes that prohibition “worked” because of this shifting of statistics.
If I mentioned that a certain govt policy caused the homicide rate to go up by 80%, you would immediately conclude it was a terrible idea and no further discussion would be necessary.
But then again, we’re not abstemious, fun-hating, puritans.
Of all the shit that makes me think “How the hell did anyone every decide to try that” Maple syrup is at the top of the list. “Hey Bob, lets take the gooey shit outta bout 70 of these trees and then boil it down til it’s edible, probable won’t take more than 4 or 5 days on the fire and then we might have us a pint or two of sticky sweet ooze, and it won’t even fuck us up.”
Amerind kids discovered it. Break off a spring-growth twig from a sugar maple in late March or April and chew it, you’ll discover how.
And the modern man decides to forgo all the advancement, and sell the Maple Water as a health aid. Keep in mind the maple water to maple syrup ratio is 40:1.
Is that related to, I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s some sort of hot maple concoction I occasionally smell around the office in the last year or two.
The scent is disgusting – I can’t believe people drink that.
My guess is that maple concoction in your office is one of the cleansing routines. A fast where you can drink a foul concoction of maple syrup, lemon juice, water, and cayenne pepper. A variant of it was covered in the Detoxing episode of P&T Bullshit.
It’s just like the first time tried some oysters or octupi, they we’re fucking starving, starving is the mother of invention.
If you’re starving spending two weeks and six cords of wood to turn 50 gallons of sap into 3 cups of syrup seems like a waste of resources.
“My mother and daddy were born and raised in Oklahoma,” Warren said. “My daddy first saw my mother when they were both teenagers. He fell in love with this tall, quiet girl who played the piano. Head over heels. But his family was bitterly opposed to their relationship because she was part Native American. They eventually eloped.”
Just say ‘my parents’ you weirdo.
Be professional for crise-sake.
The first time she told this story, she did not specify that the parents opposition was due to her being part Native American. And color me skeptical when she trots this story out only years later, and even then the telling subtly changes. Her mother wasn’t raised Native American. She did claim to be a minority when doing so would have benefited her. So, even if that wasn’t her intent, it’s blatantly false to say she never used it to her advantage.
This…
One of the primary reasons that she annoys the piss out of me (beyond the simple evil fascism (oh, sorry, Progressivism) that seeps from her pores) is that she took advantage of 1/32 Cherokee blood. Even if it’s legit (and she has no actual evidence), she is in no way a minority.
It especially annoys me because I’m 1/8 Cherokee (with paperwork to prove it) and have never once attempted to use it to receive preferential treatment in any way. Since I wasn’t explicitly raised as Cherokee, I wasn’t ‘entitled’ to any benefits that came from it, and Senator Lying Sack Warren isn’t either.
She just needs to fess up and say ‘I’ve already made heap big wampum on this shit and I plan to keep it up until it don’t work no more’. Her supporters won’t care and no one else will care, so what’s to lose? I’d just like to see for once, leftists being honest, ‘Hey we’re commies and this is what we do and if you don’t like it, we’ll totally send you to the gulag’.
Every time I hear/read about Warren talking about her “heritage”, I’m reminded of a family tale that’s been told. I have an uncle who is from India. When my aunt told my grandfather that she was marrying an Indian, his response was, “It’s about time we got some of that blood in the family. they were here in the States before us.”
lol
So you check the Native American box on every application right? That is as legit as Warren.
No, although I did have a friend who did that for his college applications since he was a native (born in the country) American.
She’s just being jus’ folks – a time-honored tradition of political horseshit.
Mr. Smith the time traveler: “The number one threat to humanity as we know it is global warming, rising sea levels as well as the increase in Co2 in our atmosphere.
“We must take steps now to combat global warming.”
Ooo-boy. I think they just found their proof of ‘settled science’.
Great Moments in Remove Kebab
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tours
***
By all accounts the invading forces were caught off guard to discover a large force sitting directly in their path to Tours. Charles achieved the total surprise he had hoped for. He then chose not to attack and rather began fighting in a defensive, phalanx-like formation.[32] According to Arab sources, the Franks drew up in a large square, with hills and trees in their front to diminish or break up Muslim cavalry charges.
For seven days, the two armies faced off with minor skirmishes. The Umayyads waited for their full strength to arrive. ‘Abd-al-Raḥmân, despite being a proven commander, had been outmaneuvered; he had allowed Charles to concentrate his forces and pick the field of battle. Furthermore, it was impossible for the Umayyads to judge the size of Martel’s army, since Charles had used the trees and forest to screen his true numbers.
…
While many historians through the centuries have believed that the Franks were outnumbered at the onset of battle by at least two to one, the most authentic source called the Mozarabic Chronicle of 754, points to the contrary.[41]
Charles correctly assumed that ‘Abd-al-Raḥmân would feel compelled to give battle, and move on and try to loot Tours. Neither side wanted to attack. Abd-al-Raḥmân felt he had to sack Tours, which meant he had to go through the Frankish army on the hill in front of him. Charles’s decision to wait and stay on the hills proved crucial, as it forced the Umayyad Cavalry to charge uphill and through trees, diminishing their lethality.
…
The logistical failures of the Muslims included their attire. The Franks were dressed for the cold. The Arabs had very light clothing more suitable for the North African winters rather than the European winters.[citation needed]
The battle eventually became a waiting game in which the Muslims did not want to attack an army that could possibly be numerically superior and wanted the Franks to come out into the open. The Franks formed up in a thick defensive formation and waited for them to charge uphill. The battle finally began on the seventh day, as ‘Abd-al-Raḥmân did not want to wait any longer with winter approaching.
…
‘Abd-al-Raḥmân trusted the tactical superiority of his cavalry and had them charge repeatedly. In one of the few instances where medieval infantry stood up against cavalry charges,[citation needed] the disciplined Frankish soldiers withstood the assaults, though according to Arab sources, the Arab cavalry broke into the Frankish square several times. Despite this, the Franks did not break. The well-trained Frank soldiers accomplished what was not thought possible at that time: infantry withstanding a heavy cavalry charge.
…
Both Western and Muslim histories agree that while trying to stop the retreat, ‘Abd-al-Raḥmân became surrounded, which led to his death, and the Umayyad troops then withdrew altogether to their camp. “All the host fled before the enemy”, candidly wrote one Arabic source, “and many died in the flight”.
***
[Nelson laugh]
Pretty soon it will be against the law to discuss publicly these facts of history.
today I learned
Saint Martin of Tours
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_of_Tours
***
He is best known for the account of his using his military sword to cut his cloak in two, to give half to a beggar clad only in rags in the depth of winter. Conscripted as a soldier into the Roman army, he found the duty incompatible with the Christian faith he had adopted and became an early conscientious objector.
***
Give a man a half a cloak and you warm him for half a day, but teach him to fish and you get him laid.
Candy is dandy but sex won’t rot your teeth.
-Grandma Derpy
Change my mind.
You shouldn’t use gay as a pejorative. Haven’t you seen the Wanda Sykes PSAs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWS0GVOQPs0
That’s so gay
You are fined one credit for violation of the verbal morality statute.
I bet you don’t even know how to use the 3 sea shells.
Fuck shit cock-sucker asshole
Young man, my ears are not garbage cans.
In this case, it’s merely descriptive, girl wearing a skirt as a top.
This is a groundbreaking gay commercial.
Heroic Mulatto speaking truth to power
The gayest coffee in the world is still Hemingway compared to tea.
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Hemingway: To die. In the rain.
In wine there is wisdom,
In beer there is freedom,
In water there is bacteria.
-Benjamin Franklin
(on a self made beer coozy of mine)
WC Fields
I don’t drink water because fish fuck in it.
Water?! That stuff rusts pipes!
Don’t be a fag.
*runs away crying to David Boaz’ arms*
Don’t care; I drink neither.
New Mr. Whiskers.
https://imgur.com/a/m7yGM
Meow.
http://i.imgur.com/fAB0Th.jpg
Feline.
http://www.mondivirtuali.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cosplay-sexy-catwoman.jpg
Nice pussy.
https://imgur.com/a/IV0eR
my gf in college had a body very much like this last 1. giganto boobs.
i’ve told the story 1000 times, but i’ll say it again: for like 2 weeks after we started getting sexy-time, she insisted on keeping her shirt on in bed. which genuinely provoked curiosity on my part, but, well, not for very long. I was very much ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “have it your way,” Some people are just weird, no reason to dwell on it.
eventually she says, “yeah, ok now i can take it off”. and i go, “What the hell was that all about anyway?”
she sighs and goes, “did you not even ask anyone?”
“dudes aren’t like that. we don’t gab constantly about intimate things our gf’s do”
“well i thought someone might have said something. I got a boob job”.
i smacked my head. ‘well, shit, i guess i am kind of an idiot. they are remarkable.’ I stare at them in appreciation.
“i really never would have guessed they were fake tho”.
she gasps and slaps me
“it was a *reduction* you idiot!”
LOL. I’ve known a few gals that either did it or wanted to. Apparently it’s a real back-saver.
For them.
Yeah, the crazy thing was that the “post-reduction size” was what was pictured above. “still enormous”.
I was like, “are you sure they’re got it all?” and “wait a second, how big WERE they?”
she wore a back-brace in HS. i can’t remember the details but i think the reason she’d put it off until college had something to do with medical insurance not sanctioning the procedure on people under 18 or something. I was just impressed that the finished product was still so robust.
Just for you Q (probably NSFW).
Yes, this right here, this is just the thing.
Sad… her face was likely pretty before those “enhancements”
Haven’t seen this mentioned here, so… Conservative Activists Martin Sellner and Brittany Pettibone Detained in UK for Political Beliefs
The headline might seem hyperbolic, but it isn’t. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the UK government and the alt right are working together for mutual benefit. The government likes doing some martyring and these two are going make a lot of hay of being martyred.
Strictly speaking, it’s to deny them an interview with Tommy Robinson.
Holding them for 3 days is not simply denying them an interview.
It’s one of the most effective ways of ensuring an interview doesn’t happen.
It’s also outrageous, of course, but they don’t have the right to discuss hateful topics in Britain. You can’t judge foreign cultures by American standards. There are some countries which are, objectively, shitholes.
If your hateful topic is the right hateful topic, have at it.
It’s also one of the most effective way of drumming up support for martyred victims. UK authorities are shitheads, and stupid to boot. They could very easily lose control of this situation over time. Are they gonna start rounding up thousands and imprisoning them for wrongthink? Then what? Camps? Free speech is a safety valve; block it and those ideas will blow up.
The theory is that suppressing key individuals who spew “hate speech” cows the unwashed masses into submission.
It’s an interesting theory, and I’m personally looking forward to the data that arises from the experiment.
You know how the State Department issues travelers’ advisories about places where the USG can’t ensure peoples’ safety? That’s Britain’s future. Maybe Britain’s near future.
This should be big news, no? So sad.
Ribeye + oyster sauce. You’re welcome.
I think I’m going to have a second dinner.
Playa… How? As a marinade? Or do you just use it like steak sauce? Love me some oyster sauce.
I tried it as a marinade. The outcome was less than optimal. There’s something in the oyster extract that messes with the color of the beef.
I added maybe a teaspoon after searing but before wrapping in foil for a 10 minute rest. It mixes with beef juices…. and man… it’s good.
Thanks for the tip, buddy!
My pleasure.
Fake crab dumplings in a sweet pea and corn broth here. I am not sure I am going the extra step and making the chili oil that should be drizzled over it in accordance with the recipe I stole/modified for this. I don’t have to work tomorrow so I have over imbibed for my normal Sunday.
Portlandia evicted from bookstore … persona non grata!
::cue Nelson Muntz impression::
“diametrically opposed to our politics and the vision of society we’re organizing to realize.”
Self important much?
Q: How many feminists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: THAT’S NOT FUNNY!!!!!
Q: How many feminists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: One to do the job and ten more to wail about the oppressive, patriarchal nature of lightbulb replacement.
Wrong, They whine about being oppressed by the darkness until some non-feminist man comes along and does the work instead.
And then complain that a man assumed they needed help.
Wow. I assumed that was a generic set like most of the other locations. That’s even funnier since they’ve done over 7 seasons with that gag before someone complained.
What’s funny is that A: they turn a profit and B: the dipshits who signed the original agreement asked for less money than they earned in a given day to close down the store for filming.
I’d have more respect if they said “We’re losing money by allowing this filming, and have decided to end our relationship with the show”. The moment they took the “I’m offended” route, they lost any chance of good will from me.
Isn’t it the last season anyway? Chances are all the episodes have already been filmed. They are just closing the barn door long after the horses have escaped.
OT, I’m enjoying Counterparts on Starz. I recommend it. It definitely has a Fringe vibe, yet still unique to itself.
Attention fellow introverts; Susan Cain does a good job (IMHO) explaining us.
Hey, bro. Wanna party?
Um…how many people are going to be there?
See? You ARE social!
Sometimes I drink alcohol in the presence of other humans. See? I’m perfectly normal.
You, Playa, a syringe full of sodium pentathol and surgical equipment for kidney removal. Don’t worry, you only need one.
Well, if the anonymous internet person who posts titty pics says it’s ok, I guess I’ll go.
Actually, the people who should watch this are the extroverts. Especially the ones who employ or supervise people.
An introvert can wish, can’t he?
My wife is extrovert…im extremely introvert. Once we truly learned what recharges our batteries, an understanding was made and we complement in the most beautiful way.
I like quiet not because I am a loner (well, maybe a bit) but I need that time to process the day and what happened in it.
Good for you. I have two failed marriages under my belt a big part due to my spouses being extroverts. I have a thing for smart women who speak their mind but seems the ones I married don’t care for a guy who needs alone time to ponder. They married me for my looks and cooking skills. Superficial bitches that they were. They are happier, as am I in the end of things. Life works out I guess.
This is marriage number two. I decided to go from crazy Latina to crazy Redhead.
I appreciate your sense of adventure.
My exes weren’t crazy. I have dated a few of those, but the wives were very rational smart women and that became a problem once they realized what they had signed up for as it pertained to me. To be honest I can’t really blame them.
introspection, introspection….disregard all that. I am awesome and totally a functional human being..
Where is the delete button. fuck
Been there. Introspection is golden
Once again, I resort to notifying everyone of the Glibs March Madness Pick Em here in the comments. ?????
Info here:
Glibertarians
Group ID: 52048
Group Password: Podesta https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/52048/invitation?key=a3f597a7bf214afc&soc_src=app-sh
Sloop. Do I have to create a Yahoo! Account to participate?
That was my question, too. I went to create one, but they demanded a phone number. Blech.
Yeah. I’d love to participate, but sorry. I’m too paranoid and weird.
I’ll set you up send your bracket and to lightbeeraintbeer at gmail, I ain’t scared, I don’t even use ad blocker and sign up for anything. If someone wants to steal my identity they can have it, same for the $37.65 In my savings account.
Mostly the latter.
Glad Buckeyes playing Thursday looks like I’ll have to do a half day.
I have been meaning to ask what sport is this? Or if that is too embarrassing to answer such a dumb question, just tell me the shape of the ball and what surface the sport is played on.
The ball is an octohedron and the game is played on the inside surface of a tesseract.
so you are saying a ball is used? Ok, I can figure it out from there. What is an octohedron?
Round, and hardwood.
(not a euphemism)
Ugh. Quidditch Fan bois.
Men’s college basketball. March Madness.
Lame. If you can’t play along with stupid questions JB don’t play along.
Has this made the rounds yet?
In #MeToo era, some question need for ‘booth babes’ at shows
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2018/03/08/metoo-era-some-question-need-booth-babes-shows/406219002/
***
At the Geneva motor show, some automakers want visitors to focus their minds more on the models — the cars, that is, not the women.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement’s explosion and growing awareness about sexual harassment, some auto executives have been taking a new look at the traditional use of often scantily-clad women on display stands at auto shows.
…
Wolff doesn’t like the idea of women standing by merely to be objectified. “But I think we are making change in a positive way,” said Wolff, who was at the show to promote an initiative to get more women involved in motorsports.
Leggy and heavily made-up models still adorn the stands at the Geneva show, though there seems to be a bit less skin on show than previous years.
***
Right on. And it’s high time those damn art museums were held accountable for all that smut they cram down our throats.
Lordy me, I think I have a case of the vapours; where is my fainting couch?
I hear that in some cultures the women walk around covered up head-to-toe so as not to distract the men. So woke!
Correct me if I’m wrong:
Men buy expensive cars because:
-they want to impress people, especially women
You don’t need a super pricey car if you just want to drive fast.
It’s the same reason men buy expensive mechanical watches instead of far cheaper and more reliable digital ones.
In general, advertisers imply that the product will make the buyer more attractive.
Wrong
Men buy expensive cars because it makes Eurobeat sound better.
Ugh, I’ve liked a lot of trashy European music over the years but that shit is just painful af.
The ranting about booth babes has been going on for over 20 years at this point. For some reason, hot women who have limited technical knowledge continue to work at trade shows.
And what a tragedy that is. It’s high time those sexist Neanderthals took a page from the Dove Real Beauty campaign:
https://www.dove.com/us/en/stories/campaigns.html
Fancy cars should be advertised with short, fat, bald men in Speedos. What a breath of fresh air that would be!
If Dove’s primary market was men, that campaign wouldn’t exist.
Axe product advert: this will make you sexy and exciting!
Dove product advert: you’re beautiful no matter what anyone says!
Axe is the dictionary definition of “toxic masculinity”. But yeah, they don’t advertise with fat ugly slobs. Just good-looking douchebags.
I’m kind of surprised that cheerleaders still exist, TBH.
“The female form is disgusting?”
“No. It’s beautiful.”
“OK.”
“Just don’t look at it.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re disgusting for looking.”
Made this tonight with flaxseed meal in lieu of flour. Not bad, though I’d suggest wringing out the zucchini in cheesecloth a bit.
I am down with that. I don’t generally keep cheese cloth around but I am a time cook. The longer it takes the better it is. Shred that and let it drain for at least four beers and squish in a paper towel.
I usually do that. I have never owned a scrap of cheesecloth, so normally if I’m in a rush I’ll pat it dry with a dishtowel. But I prefer doing like I do eggplant, salt it and let it sit in the air for awhile.
This was interesting…
If only tarring and feathering was still a thing.
“injecting religious beliefs that are inconsistent with the instructions of the court,”
Where is the line drawn on this. If I’m a juror and think the death penalty is wrong, and thought it would be wrong to convict someone who would receive this sentence, should I be thrown off the jury?
I would be curious to hear the judge’s explanation of the difference between an opinion arrived at via the Holy Spirit and some other method.
In a potential death penalty case, you would be asked about your beliefs concerning the death penalty and disqualified from jury duty.
Even after the trial has already started?
“Brown’s attorney filed a 76-page appeal to her conviction on fraud and tax evasion charges Thursday, saying the judge in the case wrongfully removed a juror who claimed a “higher power” told him Brown was not guilty, ”
How many zeroes do you think that “higher power” had?
I would be for a system where 12 jurors are randomly selected and there is no selection process. Why should the state get to disqualify someone for their views on anything. Likewise for the defense.
How else can everyone know that these people who are going to deliberate on your fate are genuine ‘peers’?
Juror #4 is a pig farmer from Oshkosh, and you are a Goldman Sachs partner accused of grand larceny. But what deranged logic is juror #4 your peer?
Define genuine peers. And how does the current system guarantee that you get these genuine peers?
Nobody gets a jury of peers unless the accused is simultaneously a person who believes in doing his civic duty AND is too dumb to be able to avoid being empaneled.
Case in point – reliable anecdote (because I’m ineligible for jury duty, since I’m an alien – hasn’t stopped the state and feds from sending me notifications) – my wife has been called for jury duty 5 times in the last 20 years – IIRC 3 times by state, twice for federal. All she ever does is turn up with one of those ‘Pocket Constitution/Bill of Rights ‘ booklets, and make sure it’s seen during the selection process.
On the one occasion this wasn’t enough to have eliminated her, she was asked if she had had any experience with fraud, and she answered that her identity had been stolen a few years before.
If the prosecution doesn’t have a reason to decline your inclusion, the defense does.
Anyone who wants to get out of jury duty can usually get out of it.
I actually sort of wanted to be picked – I was bored at work and state workers get full pay while on Jury Duty. They empanelled the jury before I was called.
I’ve served on one jury, back when I was a graduate student. I missed out on my hourly pay (which was a bummer), but it was a murder trial, so the actual trial was actually quite interesting.
And they had a door that was a piece of evidence in a giant evidence bag, which amused me.
Surprisingly, the door ended up being the critical piece of evidence the jury needed during deliberation. It ultimately determined what the defendant was guilty of.
Fuck that quibble. I don’t want to be judged by my peers. My peers are assholes.
Because you both like pulled pork? What is a peer?
Well, by the logic of identity politics, the only thing that matters is skin color, what gender you identify as, and what type of hole you prefer to stick your penis in or whether you want a penis stuck in one of your holes. So a Goldman Sachs partner and a pig farmer are probably peers by that logic.
Would you then still require unanimous decisions? Because if your random set accidentally gets the defendant’s twin brother in the set (or a similarly invested individual) you could end up with eleven says “guilty as sin” and one going “I know my brother done killed those kids, but I ain’t sending him to prison”
Hung juries results in retrials. They can try again if their case is good enough.
For cause dismissal of hopelessly biased jurors has the same effect, but doesn’t take ten years for the trial phase before appeals.
Define hopelessly biased. Toward whom, the state or the defendant and why are biases bad?
http://5newsonline.com/2018/03/09/5-facilities-pay-fees-to-grow-medical-marijuana-in-arkansas/
Arkansas finally got medical MJ approved last year, but my god, the way it’s being implemented is the croniest shit I’ve ever seen.
“The Department of Finance and Administration said Friday the five companies each paid the $100,000 fee and posted the $500,000 performance bond required to be licensed by the state as cultivation facilities. The Medical Marijuana Commission is expected to formally issue the licenses Wednesday.”
I don’t partake, but I watch the grow industry’s growth with genuine interest.
At what point (assuming it hasn’t already started) do we start seeing petitions to eliminate “Big Grow” businesses that will inevitably arise as this business sector matures?
Good question. There are cycles to all markets/services.
If the alcohol industry is any parallel (and it very well should be because the dynamics of transition from “prohibition” to regulation are very similar) then what will happen is that state-level regulatory authorities will only give licenses to produce to a few, favored groups, who fake-compete, basically dividing the market between them
you’ll never get any cross-state production because each state will craft regulations to protect their crony local producers. if they let outside product in, it will be narrowly confined to ‘specialty’ products (resins, etc) that locals don’t see money in themselves.
i don’t think there will be enough pressure from consumers to demand looser regulation because my suspicion is that social-pressure will keep weed a relatively “unseen” phenomena for at least another decade or so. even in places where its entirely legal, the behaviors and social patterns will be to keep its use and sale relatively low-key and out of the mainstream view.
That’s exactly what’s happening here. The state bud out 5 (I think) grow licenses. In order to even bid, you had to put 100k in the state coffers. There was a liability requirement that you have something like 1M dollars to back your business. The state lawmakers basically tailored the regulations so that none but the biggest players even had a shot at getting the license. The same is done for liquor licenses here. A retail liquor license is insane expensive here. Each non dry county gets a set number of licenses and no more. The only way to get one is to buy someone else’s and they sell them dearly. I don’t know the exact cost, but anecdotally-
One in rural as fuck franklin county came of for sale about 10 years ago. It was sold via sealed bids. My father put in a bug for 300k and didn’t win. I don’t know how much the winning bid was, but it was higher than that.
the state LOVES their ‘sin markets’ because they know they always hold the regulatory sword of damocles over the industry
they can milk the majority of profit out of the industry, while enriching their private pals. and every now and then, when it becomes politically useful to pretend to be puritanical and bitch about the horrible effects of these sinful businesses, they can make the industry bow and scrape and beg forgiveness, while they write their own loose-handcuff-legislation for show to help their friendly politician friends.
this is how alcohol, tobacco, gambling have all worked in the US. its a shady-as-fuck nexus of political + business interests.
I spent ~13+ years as an analyst of that world. well, not gambling. but i’ve rubbed shoulders with lots of people in that world, enough to learn that its not all that different. just more concentrated. Sort of like the Porn business in California/FL maybe.
Considering you’ve already got some large global beer companies investing in marijuana grows, I’m guessing the petitions will be started as soon as legalization goes country wide.
I don’t partake either, damn having a job and such, but I still get aggravated at how it’s all being done.
I think it was the same way here when it was legalized. Big bucks were needed to get in the game. Billy Bob with some potted plants was not allowed to open a store and ply his trade. Billy Bob still has a market from what I hear though. I am not a big smoker at all, but I know people who say they can taste miracle grow.
In states where it’s legal, i wonder how well the legal growers do against the black marketers. It has to be cheaper to just sell the stuff the old fashioned way.
The legal growers can’t count their money fast enough. It is huge.
How that compares to the thousands of the freelance growers I have no idea. I do know many original investors in the legal market here are working to get into every other market that becomes legally available. Such is business. Takes money to make money.
I’ve only read the first few paragraphs of this, and its a good essay
“….The politics of a globalizing world were those of a soft Left that was also getting rich….”
“The Center Left Is on Life Support”
‘progs to the left of me, jokers to the right, here i am….’
this is a good paragraph, and i think it nails the issue with why even the proggy left flails in the current-moment: they’re still obsessed with the ‘symbolic’ over the ‘material’:
the wokeness that is so de riguer in proggy circles is all about this “honorific capital”. Exhibit A: being more concerned about whether there are ‘black superheroes in comic books and movies’, than whether black people who live in public housing have the material opportunities (e.g. schooling) to get themselves out of public housing.
i.e. its not about the “actual facts of how people live”; its about “how culture represents X group”
FWIW, at the local level, they’re still all about redistributing wealth. Exhibit A: Bill Deblasio.
I read that a few days ago. Perhaps it’s just that I was a maniac of news consumption during the time, but it seems fairly obvious that Iraq part 2 was the nail in the coffin of the center left. Sarkozy, Blair, Aznar etc. (all may not have been center left by European standards, but…) all line up eventually with Dubya to wage a brutal war that, in retrospect, has done much more harm than good. That war just keeps on giving and giving.
I think claiming “iraq” as the sine qua non of the death of liberal-centrism is a weird one.
maybe in the UK; where the center left was more-tenuous
but in the US, not so much. i think Obama was hailed as very much from the center-left, and even his biggest proggy fans moaned he wasn’t proggy enough.
and he never ended the war in iraq so much as stage-managed a pre-planned downgrade…which he ultimately ended up having to double-down on, and send new troops to fight “isis” in effort to keep the shitshow seeming stable.
basically, i don’t think the decline of the center-left thing has very much to do with any foreign policy stuff at all. I think its much bigger and wider cultural reasons, not narrow-policy issues that have caused some shift.
I’m not saying that the war a necessary condition for the collapse of the center left. In fact, the far left which is poised to be the leading voice of the whole left is anything but anti war. The war was used as another cudgel by the lunatic fringe to push out the so called moderates. They may have accepted Obama, but I think it’s pretty obvious why.
IOW, they would have found another weakness to exploit, but the war provided the far left with a juicy target to attack the centrists.
The American left doesn’t seem very anti-war at all these days. And Russiagate shows some very nationalistic and interventionist sentiments on the left.
“The American left doesn’t seem very anti-war at all these days.”
They never have been. Aside from Iraq, every American war was started with a lefty in the white house.
Aside from Iraq. Indeed. I remember the far left going absolutely batshit 24/7 in 2002~2003 about the war. Then it’s crickets once Obana got in. Now, I wasn’t in the states at the time, but it certainly seemed to me that opposition to the war was an extremely effective rallying cry. Ultimately empty of meaning.
A Friday evening out on the town
That’s fucking wild. She *bit* a cop?
Bitch better go and get checked out at the ER. No knowing what she might have caught.
I’m calling bullshit.
“Concerned for the safety of the children, deputies did not pursue the woman at that time, according to the JPSO.”
That’s entirely reasonable.
neither here nor there
Islamic militants often claim the US seeks to dominate the world through violence. Ah, isn’t that exactly what they want to do?
So much of history is just Crips and Bloods. Once in a while, there is a good side.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/17/pope-francis-islam-christianity-share-idea-of-conquest-sadiq-khan
***
Islam and Christianity share an inherent “idea of conquest”, and those who refer to Europe’s roots as Christian often veer into colonialism, Pope Francis said in a wideranging interview about the the migration crisis and the ability of Christians and Muslims to live together harmoniously.
Speaking to the French Catholic newspaper La Croix, the Argentinian pope also hailed the election of Sadiq Khan in London, saying that a Muslim mayor personified the idea of integration within Europe.
The pope said it was “fair and responsible” to ask whether Europe had the capacity to accept millions of refugees from the Middle East and Africa. But he said it was more important to ask why there were so many, pointing to war, the unfettered free market, unemployment, the arms trade, underinvestment in Africa and income inequality.
***
Just reading something about Ethiopia the other day that might explain the incident.
Fuck the assholes that claim that all economic discrepancies between groups are all due to racism or some other form of oppression. I don’t care about IQ differences between groups, but they are forcing people to talk about it.
Speaking of any group that does better than any other group must mean that oppression must have occurred down the line. A nice summary of Google’s ideological Chinese finger cuffs.
I find those numbers suspect.
last I knew an IQ of 70 qualified as functionally retarded. It strains credulity that there is enough of the population below those values to put the average there.
I think all IQ tests are BS. Especially in countries where a big portion of the population may be illiterate. How do they even test that? I have worked with people in third world shitholes who grew up in a mud hut with a dirt floor and they had more common sense and general hygiene than people I work around now.
I like the way this article puts it. They are effective at what they do, but who cares? https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2015/09/16/is-iq-a-predictor-of-success/amp/
All IQ test are BS? O…k. You confess ignorance of the subject – maybe remain silent? Or remove all doubt. Either way.
At best they measure certain skillsets that are of less utility to a subsistance farmer/herdsman than to an engineer. From those I took what was being tested was very abstract and spacial reasoning. Also I’m fairly certain it had finicky reading comprehension components implicit in the questions.
I dunno. They seem to know how to control for factors that would corrupt the results. My extremely limited look at the literature suggests the tests are extremely predictive when it comes to success in life.
I never took a real IQ test, but from what I’ve gathered it’s a timed test where you wright your results? I know I’m much better at verbally answering questions than in a written format, so would think other similar people may exist. (case in point, if verbally answering the Jeopardy qualifying quiz I can answer most of the questions, but in a timed test having to type them out I’ve never qualified. Especially when one accounts for misspellings and typos.) On one trivia video game I remember the answer to the question was ‘sun’ but instead I wrote ‘the sun’, which is obviously wrong.
Big-time Buy Boast
Mosin-Nagant Russian M91/30, probable 1942/43 manufacture by Tula, all matching numbers, with all the toolkit, a stack of stripper clips, bayonet and sling. And 400 rounds of ammo. If this was a Garand from the CMP, it would probably be rated ‘Correct Grade’.
$140. No Tax. And for CT residents that know about the state’s registration program? No DPS-3-C.
This one never needs to be the victim of one of those unfortunate boating accidents.
*puts six on a list
That sounds very cool. 140 sounds very cheap.
You can get beat-up M91’s without all the extras for that kind of price. It’s the OUTLAW quotient that makes it a great deal.
The real objective though is that it’s #6.2’s 18th birthday in 18 months, and I want to give him some (or all) of:
Arisaka 99
Garand M1
Mauser Kar98k
Lee-Enfield 4 Mk2
Mosin-Nagant M91
I already have the Arisaka although I need to get a gunsmith to check it out, and I’ve got this M91, and I’ve got a source of a Lee Enfield, a friend who’s selling off his collection. Because of the vicissitudes of history, his grandparents and relations of that generation used all of those firearms (except the Arisaka) and I thought that as he’s into 20th Century history and firearms, it’d be a cool coming-of-age gift.
Of course, with the way things are going, he might have to wait until he’s 21.
Jesus. Will you adopt me? I don’t even remember my dad telling me happy birthday on my 18th. I had moved out a few months before but still.
Well, he’s gonna be family archivist I think, so I need to start the museum with something. Shooting some of these guns won’t be cheap.
Plus, SWMBO and I are relying on him supporting us in our dotage.
I have a 1942 M91/30 Made by Tula. It’s in good shape and shoots accurately. I gave a guy a rick of firewood for it in 2009 or so. I think I got a good deal.
“Probable 1942/1943”
Is the date not stamped on the top of the reciever? Mine is stamped 1942, right next to the tula star and the hammer and sickle.
No, that’s the odd thing. The TULA star is there, and a serial number below. I know a Mosin guy who will be able to make sense of it. It’s definitely WW2 prod though, based on other indicators.
“based on other indicators”
Like done in the cheapest fastest possible way.
Pretty much. The edge relief on the hexagonal receiver is minimal. It’s not quite “cut your hand” rough, but damn near. The leaf sight is (almost) definitely original, and some of the distance stampings are uneven. Typical “oh fuck, we just moved our factory to East of the Urals” construction.
I’m not an expert, but if you have a hexagonal reciever, I don’t think you have a ww2 era rifle. The hex recievers were one of the first things they stopped making when ww2 broke out. It was cheaper and easier to make the round recievers. Also, the hex rifles generally go for quite a bit more than the round ones. You probably got an even better deal than you think.
We’ll wait and see what this Mosin guy says.
Incidentally, I did some research on Tula – they never actually got overrun. The Germans got to within miles of the factory, but never actually captured it, and the plant didn’t get relocated; production from 1941 onwards was very low compared to earlier numbers.
Anyway – I’ll let you know. This might have been a super bargain after all.
today I learned
***
Hugo Schmeisser, the captured German designer of the
MP-44, was working in the same Russian factory where Mikhail Kalashnikov
was designing the AK-47, and Schmeisser obviously provided great
influence in the design.
***
http://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20120831_art004.pdf
***
“Effective” is the key word. In this instance, it
denotes the maximum range a projectile is expected
to inflict casualties or damage. Both projectiles
fired at a paper mache mannequin at 460 meters
may sail the distance, but one will probably bounce
off. As previous studies concluded, a truly lethal
maximum effective range for an M885, 5.56 mm
NATO projectile is about 200 to 250 meters (218-
273 yards). Therefore, because half of our firefights
occur well beyond 300 meters, our weapons are
marginally effective.
***
Seems like 7.62/.300 was the sweet spot.
It’s why the M14 is still in service; not that I’d like to be lit up with an M4 at half a klick.
Terrible article. Look at the actual results in firefights. They are documented. This is why we don’t change the round.
“bounce off”
Hah.
Your 5.56×45 will be king inside of 300m. It is fast-shooting from modern ergonomic platforms.
7.62×51 is great out to 500m. It hits hard and can penetrate concealment better than 5.56.
Soldiers don’t hit half the shit they think they do in combat. They could be running a .338 Lapula, and complain how someone they “totally shot” just kept running.
5.56×45 Sucks past 300m because wind becomes reality. It isn’t a great round at 500m in the best circumstance. Long-range 5.56×45 requires heavy single-feed ammo and expensive barrels.
7.62×51 will start getting fucked with seriously by the wind at 500m. After that, you need to be excellent at reading the wind. It can reach 800m out of a 16″ barrel before it usually drops subsonic, and gets weirdly perturbed. Longer barrels and special ammo get that out to 1000m +.
Any comments for the M27 the Marines are starting to use?: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-heckler-koch-m27-the-marines-new-rifle-24019
Seen a number of articles in the daily open source round-ups. Guess they’re at least gonna be at the squad level initially and probably widely fielded in the short term.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/gun-trouble/383508/
***
In June of 1969, in the mountains of South Vietnam, the battery I commanded at Firebase Berchtesgaden had spent the day firing artillery in support of infantry forces dug into “Hamburger Hill.” Every person and object in the unit was coated with reddish-brown clay blown upward by rotor wash from Chinook helicopters delivering ammunition. By evening, we were sleeping beside our M16 rifles. I was too inexperienced—or perhaps too lazy—to demand that my soldiers take a moment to clean their guns, even though we had heard disturbing rumors about the consequences of shooting a dirty M16.
At 3 o’clock in the morning, the enemy struck. They were armed with the amazingly reliable and rugged Soviet AK‑47, and after climbing up our hill for hours dragging their guns through the mud, they had no problems unleashing devastating automatic fire. Not so my men. To this day, I am haunted by the sight of three of my dead soldiers lying atop rifles broken open in a frantic attempt to clear jams.
With a few modifications, the weapon that killed my soldiers almost 50 years ago is killing our soldiers today in Afghanistan. General Ripley’s ghost is with us still. During my 35 years in the Army, it became clear to me that from Gettysburg to Hamburger Hill to the streets of Baghdad, the American penchant for arming troops with lousy rifles has been responsible for a staggering number of unnecessary deaths. Over the next few decades, the Department of Defense will spend more than $1 trillion on F-35 stealth fighter jets that after nearly 10 years of testing have yet to be deployed to a single combat zone. But bad rifles are in soldiers’ hands in every combat zone.
***
“It’s the rifle’s fault!” — every pundit since 1789
The M16 Story is hopelessly politicized and it’s really rare to see an objective review that doesn’t take the opportunity to stab someone in the neck. Early M16 rollout was – by many reports – resisted by a lot of military personnel. In Vietnam, it wasn’t a great choice for jungle warfare – partly because of the ballistics of the 5.56 NATO round and partly because of the design of the M16/4 platform that required a degree of maintenance that wasn’t really needed for the M1/M14.
Everyone picked favorites, and the M4/16 won out for a bunch of very good reasons, over and above some of the acknowledged benefits of the M14. Some of the factors that influence that choice are terrain. The M14 platform is a popular weapon if you want to hit someone and put them on their ass with a high degree of confidence at 600 yards, and is far superior to the M16/4 platform due to the inherent qualities of that larger 7.62 round, but you can carry around twice as much 5.56 and if you do run into a situation where you’re not reaching out to say “hello” to someone beyond 300 yards, one projectile is pretty much like another.
In just about any situation I can imagine where I’d need a long gun, the 7.62 is the go-to solution for me, but an M4 is damn useful and effective in its niche.
I had the joy of serving alongside one of those infantrymen from Hamburger Hill later in his career and life. I chatted with him quite a bit over the years and while he had a lot to say on his experiences (especially if you got him fired up, like one OC did when suggesting insufficient cover) but I don’t recall him ever slamming the M16 despite that being his assigned weapon.
I think you might be my dad.
Did we talk earlier tonight?
Gilbs, bringing family together, in the most awkward ways.
I don’t think so, but I’ve been kind of drugged yesterday and today so who knows. Also, doubt I’m old enough to fit the bill.
Agist shitlord!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_of_the_Premier_League
Unlike the NFL the Premier League cares about the sport…oh wait:
Oh and Rob Ford’s bro is the new Ontario PC leader. Um can he not fuck up like John Tory and Tim Hudak and ditch Wynne?
Speaking of Wynne and Turdeau Jr. whatever did happen to neoliberalism? For a while it looked like neoliberals might be better on spending, size of government and regulation than the Conservatives ever were but I guess not.
https://glibertarians.com/2018/03/the-greatest-political-movie-ever-and-my-favorite-politician/
This article is pretty good evidence for why Libertarians will never win a city council seat in a big city ever.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_mayoral_election,_2017
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_mayoral_election,_2013
We talk of Nationalization of state and local politics. While this is certainly true to some extent but on the other hand I think the notion that California and New York, for example, don’t really like Democrats but hate Republicans is overstated.
I mean deBlasio got 66% of the vote in November. Is that purely due to hatred of Trump? How about the fact that he performed worse (and the Republican slightly better) than in 2013?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Maine_goes,_so_goes_the_nation
Also in the 19th century Ohio and Pennsylvania had elections in October that were considered Bellwethers for the Presidential election.
Or how in 1912 Allen M. Fletcher’s election as Governor of Vermont with less than 50% of the vote was considered proof that Taft was doomed.
Hi.
Season 2 of Jessica Jones is proof that feminism is cancer. The show is terrible, and I’m actively rooting for the as yet to be revealed villain to slay this fucking raging cunt. The show runner is a feminist and my god does it show. Jessica is basically a villain who goes around assaulting people and threatening them, while treating everyone around her like complete shit. There is nothing heroic or admirable about the character. The show gives you an inside view of a feminists power fantasies and it ain’t pretty.
That describes the first two seasons though, so why are you still watching?
er, first season.
Season 2 ramped it up. The 1st season had Luke Cage. So I thought I’d give it a try.
Oh, so you’re just in it for the exploitation of black bodies then? (I spent the weekend on a different nerd venture, Ash VS Evil Dead, so I didn’t get around to Jessica Jones yet)
Luke Cage season 1 was possibly the most libertarian thing on Netflix. Basically every government organization was corrupt, incompetent, or both. And the only effective positive change was through individuals cooperating. Luke also didn’t resort to violence unless there was no other option. So I guess, yes, I was exploiting black bodies for my entertainment.
And Ash VS Evil Dead is awesome. Wife and I love that one.
Just finished AvsED Season 1 on blu-ray. Not sure if 2 is out on BR yet, but 3 is on Starz right now. Nice to see something filmed in NZ again, and starring Lucy Lawless too (regardless of her politics outside the show).
You think there has been an increase or decrease in rape fantasies since the third wave hit the shore?
which shore did they invade from? I bet it was Lake Michigan, only shit states border that shore!
Increase. This may be influenced by my experiences with the kink community, but a /yuge/ proportion of these feminists are also serious submissives/masochists. I half jokingly say that their descriptions of rape culture aren’t descriptive, they are prescriptive projection of how they want it to be.
I’ve never talked face to face with a woman that openly called herself a feminist. I’ll have to trust y’all are being honest with me.
My sister in law would call herself a feminist (and has the stupid views to prove it) But she also seems ok with my brother naming his son after a movie character. People are fucking weird.
I don’t know what that is, and I’m now determined to keep it that way.
Netflix, Marvel show. But yes, stay away from it.
My uncle, a wheeler and dealer type, bought a Smansung smart TV that was discounted because it didn’t have the remote. Took me an hour to figure out how to set up without the factory remote given he wasn’t using HDMI to connect, which the TV assumed as the first option. But he gave me $20, that’s a case of beer and a pack of smokes.
I also have a Smansung. 65″ curved something or other.
I’ve never touched the remote. There’s an app for that.
It also had no instruction book, and there is only one button on the TV.
Reading the paper. Yeah, yeah, who reads that crap blah, blah. I do it to keep my Japanese skills sharp and to see what the people are talking about. Today they have a bunch of testimonials sent in by readers describing the losses of their loved ones from the earthquake 7 years ago yesterday. Jeez, I’m sorry for their losses, but do I really need to hear about it every year? At some point doesn’t grieving become a purely personal exercise?
I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but as a percentage of the population, it was many many many times worse than 9/11. Many.
So yeah, get used to it.
“Sorry for your loss, but you don’t hear me bringing my father’s losing battle with pancreatic cancer, do you? Seriously, you’re testing my limit of compassion. Shit happens.”
That is the facial expression I’m working on. Fingers crossed.
That runs in your family too? Sorry. It’s grim.
My mom gets tested every other month. Based on our family history, she’s on borrowed time.
The old man made it to almost 80. Good luck to mum.
I take the old school approach to diseases that run in my family, don’t see a doctor. It seems people fall off a mental cliff when they are diagnosed with a disease, leading to their demise. So what if I can’t feel my feet, not like I was doing anything good with them.
Pancreatic cancer is swift, and usually early.
Patrick Swazy. Quick and painful and usually relatively young.
Yeah, my aunt died of it, defied her doctor’s life expectancy because she wanted to collect that first sweet Social Security Check she was due when my uncle died 15 years earlier. She died 2 days after reaching her goal.
9/11 NEVER FORGET!
“We came, we saw, he died from getting sodomized with bayonet”
Please forget that.
And also forget the Jew we blamed it all on and made a news splash about arresting him on unrelated charges. Move along, it was all a Jew’s movie on Youtube, nothing else. What difference at this point does it make.
I haven’t really played a Mario game since Mario 64, but it sure sounds like the last Mario game was based on Hat and Hair.
Reason #5,284 why I can’t stand to watch television these days:
There was some crime investigation show on the TV in the break room at work. They were investigating a sniper attack, and some character was trying to deduce where the shot came from. She prattled off some equation and I happened to catch the phrase “the speed of the average bullet”.
What the fuck is “the average bullet”? Even if you isolate it to rifles that could conceivably be used for sniping, that’s still a huge difference. Was it a .223 Remington or a .50 BMG? An average of those numbers would be useless.
Even if you give them the benefit of the doubt and say they had the projectile and it was the average of that caliber, it’s still a useless value.
Meh, TV writers have really strict deadlines and are uneducated as fuck (speaking as one who was educated in that field)