Today is the 30th anniversary of one of the most incredible acts of personal bravery the world has ever witnessed. One man stood in front of a line of tanks sent in to intimidate a group of peaceful citizens protesting for change from their government. He is a personal hero of mine.
Army veteran arrested for trying to bomb Florida VA hospital. I can’t wait until all healthcare runs on the VA model.
I think I’d stay away from cheap vacations in the Domincan Republic this year.
That will teach people not to piss in the swimming pool.
This is such a bullshit study. Something like 80 teens a year visit the ER due to wrong supplement (including vitamin) use. Definitely a HEALTH CRISIS!!1!
For Her Majesty
Comments
338 responses to “Wednesday Afternoon Hero Links”
People visit the ER because they do stupid things.
You cannot fix stupid.
Hey, Justice Holmes tried, but you libertarian types were all “Don’t sterilize the idiots against their will”
But you can let them kill themselves via natural selection.
“24 hour stand down due to weather in the Channel”
…and was promptly disappeared. He (Tank Man) had to know that was coming. So even braver than one thinks.
Right then, if that tank had run him over, probably the happiest ending possible for him.
One of the truly exemplary and brave humans.
Saw an uncropped photo of that scene. There was a long line of tanks, which I did not know. At least a dozen?
This one?
What I notice is a lot of space to either side of the guy, so it would be easy for the tanks in back to spread into a line and get past if none of them are willing to drive over him.
But I’d wager the PLA trained or ordered them to drive in a line in cities and the drivers were unwilling to take initiative.
Actually, a different one that didn’t show all the tanks parked in rows. Maybe also from a different angle. But that captures the flavor, and I think is a more powerful pic.
Wow – never saw that view before. Incredible.
Yeah, that uncropped shot makes this guy’s balls even bigger than I thought they were.
Those aren’t shopping bags he’s carrying in his hands…
https://youtu.be/vSbx352cn8A
18 according to the reporter.
I know this is probably get off my lawn territory, but the voiceover is world apart from current reporting. The cadence, pitch, word choice. I miss that.
A tank battalion in the PLA?
? I dunno. I remember memorizing Warsaw Pact TOE for classes. Trying to remember the different type of regiments and all. And my PSG complaining about learning Soviet doctrine post-89 (and then look at the number of years we spent in countries supplied and trained by the Soviets).
Most of those guys wind up on CBS Sunday Morning.
The tank driver should also get some props. You know that guy was killed off too for not running Tank Man over.
My guess is that the tank commander was probably yelling at him to squash him.
With that whole line of tanks, you’d think at least one would have.
He was dragged away by others within about 30 seconds.
Added note: I had a student once who was a child of Chinese immigrants. Her grandmother grew up during the Mao years and had been completely propagandized: apparently the grandmother insisted that the whole scene with Tank Man was manufactured by western media and governments and never actually happened.
Yeah, we don’t get propagandized here in the West.
Today’s Chinese college students likely believe something similar – assuming they are even familiar with the event. The commies really cranked up the propaganda machine after 1989.
Depends on what their Rules Of Engagement were. If they had orders to not do stuff that would cause political problems in the West, like photos showing the lead tank running him over, then waiting for someone to drag him out of the way would possibly not be punished.
Tanks for nothing!
Dat’s all I need!
On the remote possibility that Tonio wasn’t fucking with me the last thread — see the photo above.
I think he was presuming to quote a “youngster” viewing your FB post.
That’s what I assumed.
Mikey got it. Next time I’ll make it louder and funnier.
“What’s that?” /clueless milennial
I am a bit weary today. So my sarcasm meter is not functioning. I got the joke, then had doubts.
Awww, buddy, with me always assume snark.
*rolls eyes*
I think the real dividing line is those born after 1990.
I tried to link this in the morning links and screwed it up.
A view of Tiananmen from a Chinese Military Insider.
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2019/06/05/the-power-of-bullying-youtube-caves-to-the-maza-mob-demonetizes-steven-crowder-for-egregious-actions/
Crowder demonetized…
I just heard he Wasn’t, hard to keep up with it, gotta love YT……..
They didn’t deplatform him but just a day later they demonetized him which is different….
YouTube is so fucking pathetic caving into an organization that’s bullying their creators. Fuck them, it looks like it’s time to cancel my YT red and get my vids from BitChute.
However it is a creator the bosses probably loathe so it is okay…
Every time they get a chance to do the right thing they choose the wrong path. Any political commenter to the left of Stalin needs to come up with a YouTube exit strategy, that’s for sure.
Also I love the irony of libertarians rejoicing at the creation of businesses that are quite willing to crush them.
Seriously.
To give into evil asshole pricks like Carlos Maza no less.
Crazy. smh.
When you’re demonized, the ads are still there. YouTube just gets all of it.
When it started, they said it was because advertisers didn’t want to have ads on X’s videos.
But that’s not how it worked.
That was never the reason. There are advertisers for almost any types of content. Indeed, in this particular example, I can name some who have paid for the ad space in the program. Demonetization has always been about punishing creators whose content youtube itself wishes to scold. It was never advertiser-driven.
That’s what I always thought. I remember hearing from YouTube that “it’s not us” and trying to blame edgy creators and goody two shoes ad companies.
Yep, if YouTube had told the whiners to get fucked at the outset of this censorship push it would have died by the wayside and they know this because they aren’t stupid people. The demonitization is to stifle those they disagree with and to shape the political narrative.
Something something publisher…
That’s why the left go after advertisers.
NEVER ENABLE.
Or apologize.
Something something publisher…
That is where all this goes. And it has the potential to be absolutely devastating to the social media companies (and, yes, YouTube is a social media company). They had a chance to nip all this in the bud, as you say. Instead, they chose to go along with the social justice cadres. Because, at core, they were sympathetic to them. But, we go from Alex Jones to Steven Crowder. Tomorrow it can just as easily be Fox News or ReasonTV. Because the management of YouTube no longer has the basis to challenge the cadres. And their capitulation has given the cadres positions of power within the company. But, as they target more and more popular commentary, they’ll put a larger and larger target on their back.
Am I wrong for actually rooting that all these asocial media companies implode?
since we’re piling on in predictable fashion, I’ll join:
* dumb law
* private company
Either get rid of the law or enforce it. As it it stands now it’s selective enforcement that favors large and established social media companies by establishing an uneven playing field.
I see your point. But, I have to admit that I’m torn. Let’s say Stinky had a newspaper. And I write an article for it that claimed “Don Escaped Texas likes to rape little boys!”. Now, let’s assume Stinky knew I was simply defaming you, but he ran with it anyway. Should he be able to say, “Hey, wdalasio wrote it, not me.” when it comes to you suing? That doesn’t seem right to me. I may have written down the words. But, it was Stinky who decided to publicize the claim.
So basically they figured out a way to steal from content creators hiding behind bull shit hate speech policies.
Youtube in other words are crooks.
That’s what I was thinking… Like drug users are an unprotected class, shaken down by da gubmint, sans public outcry, so go conservatives on social media – an unprotected class being shaken down by content providers.
To be sure, Crowder probably overdid it on the “gay Mexican” thing in his video. Still shouldn’t have been demonetized though.
Not my cup of tea. Good thing nobody was forcing me to watch it.
Did he also mention weed?
[golf clap]
To be sure, Maza is indeed a gay Mexican.
But is he a Gay Mexican? You’re always supposed to capitalize the names of accredited victim groups, yo.
“It adds a certain sort of dignity to the proceedings.” -Lucius Vorenus
Clearly, I lack dignity.
I thought the line in question was lispy queer?
How was Mammoth?
It was dumping snow. We got a few runs in, but then my daughter had a yard sale and we decided to cut the day short. I thought she was pretty good at skiing because I couldn’t keep up, but then she confessed that she didn’t really know how to stop. We checked out one of the hot springs where it wasn’t snowing. It’s beautiful up there. I’ll have to go back when the weather is better.
Wait….I can just pump chlorine into my pool……..?
Here’s another shot of tank man as the column approaches.
I’ve seen tanks in battle – scariest monsters you can imagine. Took guts. Too bad it didn’t make a damn bit of difference in China.
I haven’t seen them there, but I’ve been close by when they’re grinding and grumbling across ground. AT4 training in basic where a Bradley runs over you was as close to Tank Man as I’d like.
QUICK INFORMAL POLL, PLEASE HELP
Looking for some brief responses about the person, idea/quote or document which best personifies Liberty and libertarian thought. IOW, if you were decorating a Hall of Liberty, what exhibits would you put in it – price no object. Examples: BOR text carved into wall, statue of Themis, etc.
THANKS
Well I’m assuming the doorknobs are Ron Paul’s head, right?
My, what knockers!
Hayek’s “The Constitution of Liberty.”
And, obviously, Tank Guy above.
The Collected Works of SugarFree
First define “libertarian.”
An’ ye harm none, do what ye will.
That government is best which governs least.
A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.
Donation not taxation.
Freedom Isn’t Free
What would you do
If you were asked to give up your dreams for freedom?
What would you do
If asked to make the ultimate sacrifice?
Would you think about all them people
Who gave up everything they had?
Would you think about all them war vets
And would you start to feel bad?
Freedom isn’t free
It costs folks like you and me
And if we don’t all chip in
We’ll never pay that bill
Freedom isn’t free
No, there’s a hefty fucking fee
And if you don’t throw in your buck o’ five
Who will?
What would you do
If someone told you to fight for freedom?
Would you answer the call
Or run away like a little pussy?
Cause the only reason that you’re here
Is ’cause folks died for you in the past
So maybe now it’s your turn
To die kicking some ass
Freedom isn’t free
It costs folks like you and me
And if we don’t all chip in
We’ll never pay that bill
Freedom isn’t free
No, there’s a hefty fucking fee
And if you don’t throw in your buck ‘o five
Who will?
You don’t throw in your buck ‘o five
Who will?
Oooh buck o’ five
Freedom costs a buck o’ five
-Team America
Screens running clips from Veep. The norms think it is satire; we know it is the brutal reality of politics.
Wait, I thought Veep was a documentary.
You know, fake but accurate.
So damn true.
Agreed. I always thought that “Selina Meyer” was just code for “Hillary Clinton”.
(I didn’t really think this, but someone one the writing staff clearly had her in mind, so it made it easy to pretend. Two-faced, power-mad woman Senator aspiring to the big chair who gets sidelined into a lesser position, terrible husband, only daughter who she despises, and even the names have the same number of syllables.)
I particularly loved the Kamala Harris character in Season 7.
“As a woman, and a woman of color, I…”
The greater the government, the more moral the autocrats, bureaucrats, and politicians must be for a good society.
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
Magna Carta
Zou Rong
But it feels Zou Rite.
Well played.
A giant sign over the entry door proclaiming “FUCK OFF SLAVERS!” to one and all.
A capital idea!
I see what you did there.
I’d stick with liberty. Libertarian is a highly fluid term depending on who you ask.
Locke would be my first go to, but….
I insist on an honorary display for Winston’s Mom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LySTISqaH9o
Maybe not in the Hall of Liberty, but goes with the Kelo discussion from earlier.
The Declaration of Independence
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
Busts of Gouverneur Morris and George Mason
A full size sculpture of George Washington
A full size sculpture of George Washington
So the Hall will need to be at least twelve stories tall.
And lead-lined.
Atlas Shrugged has to be mentioned here, if only because it’s how so many libertarians were introduced to these ideas.
I’ve made it to indianapolis, and don’t have anything left on the schedule.
…and it had just started to rain.
If it gets too wet, you may have to worry about sharks
God didn’t make the little green apples, and it don’t rain in Indianapolis in the summertime.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kurt-vonnegut-memorial-library
There are several problems, but this might be the biggest:
How is that a problem? Its closed, that’s all.
Just drive 20 miles, visit a Pioneer Museum or a book store.
Do I have to think of everything.
Good to see you, UCS, drive home safely, you still have a ways to go. Back to work on Monday?
I do have to get back to work on monday.
I’m not looking forward to it.
I think I’m having my first migraine.
Or this is the worst head cold in the world.
Are you sensitive to light? Are there halos around people and objects? (Not all migraines feature these, but few things other than migraines do that also present as headaches.)
Light is definitely making it worse but I wouldn’t say it’s blinding me or making me recoil. No halos around people. I have had some sinus pressure all day. And now it’s just pressure or something right between my temples.
Thinking has gotten slow.
Probably a migraine. Which can be triggered by sinus pressure in some people. Get somewhere dark, and knock yourself out with opioids if available. Edibles also help.
I had them for a few years and they went away, thankfully. Sublingual vasoconstrictors worked for me, which is an at the point of symptoms solution. I was lucky.
I’m going to leave work in a bit. I don’t think I have any fun stuff to help when I get there. A good sleep I hope
Never tried edibles for migraines, but opioids don’t do a damn thing for mine. Waste of an opioid for me.
I get migraines with some of the fun symptoms. Aura (splotchy vision and it’s fucking debilitating) and my speech is slurred/I can’t say what I am thinking. My boss thought I was drunk when I got one at work a month ago.
Migraines do tend to happen during the NBA playoffs.
/Scottie Pippen
So why is that 30 years of more wealth and trade with China has lead to no more tank men?
You mean tank corpse?
30 more years of wealth and trade, or thirty years of the Chinese consumer loading up on debt?
The first one got the point across rather well.
I can’t seem to decide if the decision to rebel is more of a network effect or a Schelling point. Or are these two words for a similar effect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man#Identity_and_fate
Interesting that no one seems to know what happened to this guy. The Chicoms could be lying but then again they may not have realized that this specific man was a big deal outside of China until long afterwards.
If he’d had C-4 in those bags that would detonate on contact it may have been a different outcome. Say what you want about Muslims, they know how to make a point.
I think it’s not unlikely he just disappeared in the chaos and they lost track of him. The thing about those protests that’s really unusual is how they took on a life of their own. The government wasn’t prepared for them at all, in part because the party tended to look at student protests as par for the course. In fact, the Tianenmen Square protests began over I believe a shortage of dormitory space and followed the usual template of “big character posters” belaboring local administrators for not living up to the high ideals of the CCP. That kind of thing was sort of benignly tolerated as evidence of appropriate revolutionary character so long as it didn’t criticize the party itself or Communism, and so long as it stayed reasonably tame and wrapped up in short order. In this case, it started off with people like complaining about Taco Tuesday getting canceled and then next thing you know Beijing residents are piling on to complain about corruption, and then it just goes from 0 – 60 before the government can get a lid on it.
It should be noted that after Mao, Deng’s reforms (such as they were) probably gave the people false hope that real change was possible in China. Tiananmen taught them otherwise.
My dad has been saying for the last 20 years that china will democratize and become just like the west once they’re rich, I don’t believe it at all.
Australian government pays Al Gore $320k to conduct climate training – and it snows.
What do you expect when you summon the Al Gor?
The joke gets even better In Italian
Snows sounds like exactly what Gore would want to happen as he thinks it proves his point.
Snow = climate crisis.
Also, no snow = climate crisis.
Well, shit. It’s not snowing here right now! PANIC!
It’s 103 outside. It must be global warming.
Well, it is winter down under. But, yeah Gore does have a knack for that shit.
Winter in a place with a very warm climate.
ACTUALLY, it’s Fall for 3 more weeks.
I’m still not sure why this is news. Isn’t it currently winter in OZ?
Wasn’t that fact one of John McAfee’s test questions to ferret out the truly ignorant?
It’s a data point for the Al Gore Effect.
That man must be a wizard…
He’s the worst named frost wizard in history.
It does snow where he went, just hasn’t for a few years.
ManBearPig was unavailable for comment.
Remember a few days ago when we were talking about the cognitive dissonance of Qatar banning homosexuality at the same time Al Jazeera was flying its LGBT flag?
Here is a great micro example of that same thing here in Minnesoda.
Also with a helping of anti-semitism.
Phrasing?
Interesting since the movement is generally in favor of BDS. Gay bars used to be pretty exclusively Mafia-owned as they were the only ones who could manage the payoffs and bribes.
But the whole concept of a gay bar is kind of over, particularly in cities that size. Between online apps, and greater social tolerance, you no longer have to go to a seedy bar and pick lesbian underarm hair out of your American pisswater beer.
“the whole concept of a gay bar is kind of over”
Please consult either or both of Clubfly and/or Gaybars to find a gay bar that meets your criteria in your area.
There was an article not long ago focused on the gay-bar owners and how they’re closing up shop because gays are welcome in regular bars now.
Oh, I know they still exist, but they are becoming much more of a niche market since gay and lesbian couples can go out to other places without fear of being hassled.
And they also have a lock on the drag show thing which is now a tourist attraction for straight people.
+1 Rehoboth Beach
Cape May NJ would like a word…
I thought there was something queer about that place.
We camped a couple of times at Cape Henlopen when I was a kid.
Nothing there.
https://theslot.jezebel.com/fuck-you-again-joe-biden-1835268738
For the cannibalism lulz
The primary is going to be awesome
DEEPLY CRUEL!
Whycome there are so many rich Hollywood lefties who are gung ho about abortion yet there’s no private effort to fund these women’s abortions? Miley Cyrus has an estimated net worth of around $200 million, but she expects you and me to foot the fucking bills?
I once got eye daggers thrown at me for saying something along the lines of if every white liberal woman made the sacrifice for a cause they believe in and forgo Starbucks and their wanderlust vacations, Planned Parenthood wouldn’t need to worry about being defunded by the state and federal governments. But then said that none of them would ever do it because they could care less about women’s health and instead use PP funding as a way to bludgeon the right.
Owen Benjamin had the joke that everyone who flew to the women’s marches could have done that with that cash. Flight. Hotel. Transportation. Food. Everything. They’d be set for life.
Its easier to force others to make sacrifices while operating under the guise of being morally right.
Wendy Davis became a national icon filibustering exactly the standards she would have insisted upon in her abortion-on-demand gyntopia.
I hate situational ethics and postures.
Free riders!
And the long version of the history is crucial here. It shows that for much of the 20th century, total taxes on the very wealthy were much higher than they are now. Before World War II, the average rate hovered around 70 percent. From the mid-1940s through the mid-1970s, the average rate was above 50 percent.
It’s really no mystery why the rate has declined: The federal government has cut tax rates on the rich. The top marginal rate has plummeted. Taxes on stock holdings have declined, too. Perhaps nothing has mattered more than the erosion of the estate tax, through a combination of a lower rate and an increased threshold for paying the tax. These policy changes have helped turbocharge economic inequality.
Is it possible to tax the wealthy too heavily and damage the economy? Yes. I don’t think the top marginal tax rate should be 91 percent, as it was in the 1950s. But it’s a very, very long way from 91 percent today. It’s only 37 percent, which is too low. Taxes on stocks and most other financial investments are also too low.
Changing this situation is within the power of the federal government. History shows that when the government tries to collect more taxes from its richest citizens, it succeeds. So don’t give in to cynicism. Today’s radical levels of inequality are not inevitable. They’re a choice that our society has made.
Blah blah blah we hates us some rich folks.
As usual, he overlooks the distinction between rates and total dollar amount paid. Also- rich people won’t alter their behavior to reduce their tax burden, because argument-by-assertion.
Yup when it was 90% I believe the effective rate was somewhere around 45%.
Yup, nothing but the writer showing how little research he/she did – aka fraud.
The Reagan tax reforms, which lowered rates, also got rid of a great many tax shelters and deductions.
History shows that when the government tries to collect more taxes from its richest citizens, it succeeds.
You know what else history shows? That when governments try to create equality by taking assets from the people who have assets, it destroys the economy.
“Today’s radical levels of inequality are not inevitable. They’re a choice that our society has made.” Today’s radical levels of climate control and indoor plumbing are also not inevitable. That does not make them bad. Also, today’s radical levels of tax revenue are not inevitable. Donation not taxation.
“That will teach people not to piss in the swimming pool.”
I recall reading that scientists found peeing in the pool creates a toxic compound that can damage your lungs. Not sure how much pee it would take to cause damage.
Ammonia plus Clorox equals Chlorine gas.
scientists found peeing in the pool
Hey, it wasn’t me! That warm feeling in the water when you got near me was just natural currents.
If I’m going to pee in a pool, I’m going to do it standing on the edge. Ample warning for anybody in the vicinity.
Countdown to the next moral panic in 3…2….1
We played around with the idea of nebulizing ETOH in school and we decided to drink alcohol instead of risking possible lung damage
If supplements were such a public health hazard, you’d think that they would go to the trouble of telling you which ones are bad.
WARNING: The above post contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, or birth defects or other reproductive harm.
I’ve been around a lot products with that warning on many a worksite. The running joke when reading that is “Good thing we’re not in California”.
The fat soluble ones.
I don’t think Justin Raimondo would agree…
There’s a blast from the past.
https://original.antiwar.com/justin/2019/06/03/china-and-the-new-cold-war/
TL;DR but he can’t be stupid enough to deny that it’s possible to be both against a war with them and think they really are an “Evil Empire”…?
They must have alternate-reality China in mind.
The Rothbardian/Rockwellian/Raimondoite shtick is the “bad guys” can not possible be guilty of anything terrible since that means the neocons are correct about something which is impossible since they and America are wrong on everything since War is Bad and America is Evil.
30 years on and that picture still gives me chills.
I used to have the tank guy’s picture as my background. I hope he was able to eventually carve out a life for himself in China.
…assuming he lived.
I thought I read that he disappeared into a crowd after climbing on the tank and talking to the crew, and that nobody knows what happened next.
He could have been scooped up by the commies and killed, but they would have had to find him first.
Video footage shows two figures in blue pulling the man away and disappearing with him into a nearby crowd; the tanks continued on their way.[9] Eyewitnesses are unsure who pulled him aside. Charlie Cole, who was there for Newsweek, said it was the Chinese government PSB (the police),[10] while Jan Wong, who was there for The Globe and Mail, thought that the men who pulled him away were concerned bystanders.
It was time travellers collecting famous people from history.
I like this.
Dude is about an authentic a hero as they come.
Sounds like the odds are he’s still alive.
Commies claim to have no clue what happened to him or who he was. If they executed him would they deny it? They also may not have been aware of the fame of Tank Man until long after it happened so they truly may have no idea.
I don’t think they would ever be able to find him. I mean, they all look the same, right?
I hear he’s a big Pavement fan.
/pulls out Vaudeville cain.
Is that a guy who smites his brother with a creme pie?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/25/capitalism-economic-system-survival-earth
Artificial scarcity and rationing every time. There’s a whole universe out there waiting to be exploited.
Well, its a good thing we are making progress on getting off the planet, then. The progress, oddly, seems to be coming from . . . capitalists.
Nope.
The mistake is equating what we currently have in the USA with capitalism. We have a heavily regulated welfare state with crony capitalism, fractional reserve banking, and fiat money.
So not really capitalism. And as such, it absolutely cannot tolerate deflation.
Well this article is about Monbiot talking about how learned that “Crony capitalism”, “consumer capitalist” and “corporate capitalism” aren’t the real problems which is capitalism itself.
Yes, letting people control their own money is definitely the problem.
Major and capital cities stereotypically have dirtier air, land, and water than the countryside. If you look at environmental results rather than the wokeness of their policies, of the 27 major and capital cities in the top 25, only five nations have more than one city on the list. Singapore only has one, but since that is the whole of Singapore, let us make that a list of six nations. Australia and the United States have 5 each, with Canada, Switzerland, and New Zealand having 4, 3, and 2 respectively. That’s 20 of the top 27. What was that about free markets “leads inexorably to environmental calamity?”
The Soviets certainly never never fucked up the environment. No, siree. Not them.
REEEEEEEEEEE! NOT REAL SOCIALISM! REEEEEEEEEE!
Why socialism works.
My favorite example:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea
There never was a Sea here, comrade. Nothing to see here, move along.
Capitalism, at its core, is private property ownership and freedom of choice in the marketplace. Which component, exactly, requires growth?
Oh, you mean the homeopathic fascism that IS Western “capitalism”? Yeah, that requires constant growth, mainly because the government runs many schemes predicated on growth and consumption.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girondin_constitutional_project
Thomas Paine tried to write a constitution, one that was not implemented (oh the irony), and he was almost executed by the revolution that he supported and defended from Burke.
Is that more hilarious than Spooner complaining about the state of post-Civil War America?
Bit of context to my shots at Paine:
https://www.thenation.com/article/democracy-environment-astra-taylor/
Adams and Jefferson were split over the French Revolution. Jefferson supported it, Adams called what would happen.
Adams was strangely anglophile since they tried to hang him — there was an actual offer from Britain: Stop the war, turn over John Adams for hanging, and everyone else gets a pardon.
Huh – that story yesterday about the Dutch girl who was euthanized turns out to be fake news.
Bottom line – she was quite mentally ill, requested euthanasia and was refused, and starved herself to death.
The Government didn’t force feed her so it’s the same thing.
So instead of assisted suicide it was plain old suicide? Huh…
Well they gave her pain meds, I believe, so I think you could make the argument that it was assisted suicide. As I said earlier in the day, I don’t think euthanasia and assisted suicide are mutually exclusive. Also, I want to put forth the caveat that this is a terrible situation for everyone involved and I in no way hold the doctors or the family or certainly not the girl herself at fault in any way. I would rather die than be a parent in this situation, honestly. So, with that said, I think that there’s a reasonable argument to be made that if you provide pain relief to a mentally ill person who has chosen a long and painful method of suicide you are assisting them in committing suicide. And, honestly, I’m not sure I see a useful distinction between asking someone to kill you and asking someone to help you kill yourself. For whatever that’s worth, because as I say, I’m not about to make a moral judgement on the people involved in what is a horrific situation.
I know, RTFA, dammit…
Thanks for posting that. It makes the world just a little, tiny bit less sucky.
I don’t really see how. She is dead either way. She just suffered more this way, instead of quick and painless.
That Louder with Crowder “I’m sorry” video in the morning links commentary was super funny. Thanks.
Still got demonetized…
Like your mom?*
*I can’t help myself.
I wasn’t going to say anything, but since you took a shot at me, darling, I took that sweaty wad of cash you were hiding in your underwear drawer.
Oh…and seriously Rufus, Iron Man briefs?
You do realize it’s Canadian Tire money right?
Adjustable links
4 1/2″ female heim joints
4 1/2″ grade 8 bolts
1/2″ ID steel tubing, cut to length
Remove heads of bolts with die grinder cut-off tool
clean up cut ends on belt sander
put in acid bath to remove plating
neutralize acid with baking soda
insert bolts into tubing, weld
assemble to desired center-to-center length
*welding plated steel hardware is an extreme health hazard- don’t do it
Galvanized lungs make you rust proof.
You can do it, just don’t breathe the toxic fumes created.
*barnyard welder
*hasn’t affected me yet! *convulses, foams at mouth
Set your shop vac close to the weld and put a hose on the exhaust port to get rid of any residual zinc shut. Acid dips can ruin heat treated hardware. Use a bead blaster.
Looks like the NY AG intends to use every tool at her disposal to go after Trump and his family. To the point of having the NYC DA put Manafort in the hole.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/legal-experts-stunned-by-das-barbaric-decision-to-send-manafort-to-rikers-island
Wow. AOC said something I can get behind.
Attorney Cy Vance, Jr.
/Turns woodchipper on.
Christ what an asshole.
His daddy was:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Vance
Still a jerk.
Correction: presumed a jerk.
Yes, of the Vance/Brzezinski foreign policy comedy duo.
They infamously couldn’t agree on anything and Carter would entertain them both. Usually with poor results.
He typically went with the worst advice.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/white-people-are-still-raised-be-racially-illiterate-if-we-ncna906646
I knew that was going to be DiAngelo. She’s riding that white guilt gravy train like a five dollar hooker at an NBA postplayoff party.
I submit a negative now prove your innocence.
Fair enough.
You’re a racist cunt.
Prove you’re not Di Angelo.
I can’t!
*smacks self with copy of Coates’ latest book*
Boys…
Sorry Dad.
I got a little carried away with my metaphors.
/pinches SN’s nipple.
Oof. This crap is getting tiresome.
Fuck off already with your inane blathering.
But… Inane blather is all I have.
True, but he wasn’t talking to you.
You’re just racially illiterate. Never mind that I have idea what that is supposed to mean.
Don’t know how to spell nigger?
So if I’m not racist, don’t feel superior for being white, treat all races equally, never make decisions based on race… I’m racist. Just because I’m white.
Sounds like the concept of original sin.
Only a racist would claim to not be a racist.
This is an interesting (if moderately long) discussion of how the CCP combined political repression, market economy, and globalization after 1989.
Conclusion:
“The CCP’s narrative, which is believed by many people inside China, is that stability brought prosperity. Many people say that yes, the party made a lot of mistakes, but if any political change happens, stability will be lost, and China will immediately face a major crisis. This line of thinking holds that even though it’s troubling that the government has exerted tighter control over speech, the press, and the internet, China has suffered no major political change or turmoil — allowing the country to instead focus on economic development. Thailand and Ukraine are used as cautionary examples of the reality an unstable China would face. Democracy means suffering from political instability, which impedes economic development.”
This is what Deng hoped would happen and it appears to be working…for now.
It’s a metastable state that can only be maintained if all conditions remain the same.
The problem is, those conditions are not staying the same.
What conditions are you referring to?
It requires the ongoing insane growth to provide the illusion of future prosperity for the proles and the rural peasants. When they realize they’re not going to gain from the supposed development, the social and political stability erodes, and the problems return. There’s good reason the chinese have built whole cities no one lives in or will ever use, and roads that no one drives on. The facade must be maintained.
This, over and over.
The illusion is going to fail, and it’s going to be spectacular in the most morbid way you can imagine.
I’m afraid that they might try a bit of Imperialism (with concomitant plundering) to stave off the decline.
Reminds of de Tocqueville saying that increasing living standards seems to cause revolution rather than poverty.
Revolutions are generally started and led by disgruntled members of the upper class, and manned by the middle class. The poor may be along for the ride as cannon fodder.
That’s exactly what they’ve done.
They’re only one serious economic crisis away from mass graves and full blown purges at any time.
Another interesting thing I read was how the notion that economic reform leads to political reform may have been based too heavily on the experience of US-backed authoritarian regimes. The US pressured those regimes (e.g. South Korea and Taiwan) to democratize which lead to incorrect assumptions about why the democratization happened.
The iron grip on movement, thought, and belief is just a happy coincidence for the Party members.
My favorite argle-bargle they use is tacking “with Chinese characteristics” on to some angle they’ve ruthlessly repressed (like “democracy”) and claiming with a straight face that the “Chinese race” are incapable of doing things the “Western way”.
It’s an interesting theory. And it’s probably true in very limited circumstances. The problem is that when the model fails, it collapses. The system itself becomes hyper-adapted to the conditions that gave it the stability that was advantageous. But, that means when one part breaks down, the entire thing breaks down with it.
I bet the trains run on time, too.
In other words, the CCP is arguing that they get to rule because they have the Mandate of Heaven. The more things change…
So… it’s fascist? Did anyone tell antifa that?
https://twitter.com/C_Sommerfeldt/status/1134557691043622912
The comments. They burn.
She doesn’t seem to know how to pour wine like a pro….I mean, wasn’t she a bartender?
You smash off the neck of the bottle to rid yourself of the tree bark, and make sure someone else gets the first cup poured so you don’t drink the glass shards.
Jeebus. A rather stupid young woman who somehow has accumulated quite the crowd of worshipful sycophants.
If I was on Twitter, I’d probably go through that thread and after every post by a man, reply “Dude, she’s still not going to fuck you”.
“A rather stupid young woman…”
Yep, and she’ll continue to be re-elected in that district until she’s a rather stupid old woman, in the mould of Maxine Waters.
I read that as “…in the mound of Maxine Waters.”
*literally shudders with disgust*
Geez man, that’s not right at all.
Not cool.
Don’t give Sug any ideas…
What the hell is wrong with you?
You think? I’ve heard murmurs that the (D) brass has already grown tired of her shenanigans and might be looking for someone a little more controllable to bump her out.
Depends on her ground game. If she finds some old-school Chicago ward heelers and manages to bring the patronage she can survive a well-financed primary challenge.
If she finds some old-school Chicago ward heelers and manages to bring the patronage….
From what I’ve heard, that’s one of her weakest points. She’s too busy being a “tribune of the people” to worry about little things like constituent service or bringing home the bacon.
She’s like Daenerys, except her first act was to burn the smallfolk (by getting rid of Amazon).
I doubt she’s well-liked by anyone back home except for some part of the small minority that bothered voting for her.
Not to mention, she’s an embarrassment.
It’s possible. This district isn’t hipster, food co-op liberals, it’s free-shit and union-hack liberals. They couldn’t care less about SJW stuff like identity politics or Green New Deal. She won the primary with less than 20,000 votes. My cat could probably get more votes than that if I figured out how to turn more people out to vote.
I’d vote for your cat.
Of course, neither of my cats is a Democrat.
Time to make one of your cats turn. For the common good, of course.
“The Sapriarchy has oppressed people of fur for eons! It is time to rise up for true equality! The future is feline!”
For me the tell was when she walked over to the table to take their order with a pad and a pen. A two top. There’s no chance she worked in the service industry on a full-time basis or for any significant period of time. One of the first things you learn is how to remember orders. You only break out the pad if you’re looking at a large table, and the more you can remember at once the better. And that’s a skill you never lose, either. It’s been over ten years since I’ve taken an order and I could go into a restaurant tonight and take orders without writing anything down. It’s all bullshit. It’s all a scam.
I can’t see any bar letting their bartenders fill a wine glass to the brim like that. Not twice, anyway. Yeah, its bullshit.
Dude, we’ve got plenty to go around for everyone. Didn’t you know?
^This. It’s called stealing wine from your boss and reselling it for a big tip.
*Michael Scott thank you gif*
That order pad may have been planted by her media handlers because it makes a good picture. Which is not to defend her so much as suggest that she’s already gone full swamp creature.
I never wrote an order down. NOT. ONCE.
I didn’t think they wrote orders down at Chipotle in any case.
I don’t really know. I’ve been exactly once, and only then to confirm what I already knew: it sucks.
Replying to
@C_Sommerfeldt
and
@AOC
She will be president some day.
She’ll be lucky not be primaried out by her own party before she’s 35.
For anyone who thinks Tank Man got away…
I was in Tiannenmen almost exactly a year before the protest, on a high school tour of Asia. When I was watching the protest on tv, I remember telling my parents that every single one of the students was going to be identified and arrested, because – although the western footage never showed it — every light pole in the square and surrounding areas that I saw had a camera on it. Everyone in the square was under (I presume) constant surveillance. So I doubt any of them escaped for very long.
Thanks. I was afraid some of the Glibs were allowing the grim specter of optimism to creep in.
We’ll have none of that crap around here!
Poor guy was probably executed long ago.
I’m optimistic that some day I’ll die and leave this godforsaken world to it’s inevitable demise.
That’s the spirit!
They had us stay overnight in their creepy village, meant to show us how great China is, with their modern townhomes and concrete school buildings, and had little kids dance for us. Propaganda level — obvious and cloying.
I haven’t been back since, so I doubt it’s as Soviet now, but it was very striking to this small-town girl.
I was there in 2001 – the worst propaganda I saw was in the in-flight magazine. 1986 East Germany was wayyy more soviet-y.
No kidding. Did you go thru Checkpoint Charlie?
No – Friedrichstraße train station.
I think we visited the museum at CC, though.
And, IIRC, any kids of party members were pulled out of TS the day before.
Damn, I should have answered his email!
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-48509274
Emergency! Romania sytle. Yes, sausages of course.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/783573/ambulance-salami-sausage-video-viral-romania
From the sidebar:
As if.
Sidebar from your sidebar. And then they grew up and cried.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/real-life/783302/polyamorous-non-binary-mastectomy-surgery-scars
I wonder what happens to discarded boobs.
If process is followed, they should be incinerated.
If not… who knows.
Now there’s a SF story for you.
A hydrologist crunches the numbers.
His conclusion? You should definitely buy more ammo
https://medium.com/s/story/the-surprisingly-solid-mathematical-case-of-the-tin-foil-hat-gun-prepper-15fce7d10437
I don’t think there is any question about that.
After taking all of the stats courses I did in Uni, it was an interesting smack upside the head to read this guy’s analysis a few months ago.
I went out and bought more ammo.
I got bored and skimmed the second half so maybe he addresses this but…Not everyone in a country that undergoes a revolution is adversely affected. i.e. If you are in a flood plain and it floods you are flooded. Not so much with revolutions, to use the Revolutionary War and Civil War as he does exactly what percentage of the population was at actually at risk during those conflicts? I’d wager most people at the time while tangentially affected pretty much just went about their lives. I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy more ammo, just that this ‘Math’ is missing a big parameter, for lack of ability to think of the right term.
Assuming that only 10% are affected (which seems conservative to me), that pushes the chance of revolution impacting somebody in their lifetime to 4%.
I’m skeptical of treating revolutions as random occurrences. Some places are hotbeds for political instability (fertile crescent). Some have only had a handful of ruling nations over thousands of years.
Random? Mebbe not. But Long Tail?
That’s what keeps me up at night.
And it doesn’t have to be a revolution, per se — it could just be a political/social cascade failure, which due to critical or supercritical networking effects, could happen surprisingly fast.
This. I’m also of the opinion that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. The fall of the western Roman empire had a profound and not entirely positive impact on Europe for 500 years.
Sgammo keeps trying to convince me of that.
Hershey, PA looks like a good place to set up a porn studio.
https://www.abc27.com/news/local/fifteen-sets-of-twins-graduate-from-central-dauphin-high-school/2053404092
Plus, all the Amish plots!
Amish Wood Workers 8
Seeing Double, Doing Double
Amish Boner Raisings!
Rumspringa gone wild!
“May I churn your butter?”
Now that you raised that barn, you should do us in it.
I read about the Chinese using tanks (or maybe APCs) to run down protestors and turn them to paste, rolling back and forth until they were nothing but red and brown smears. I always assumed something similar happened to Tank Guy. I didn’t know he was pulled away. And now that I think about it, if we have footage of him squaring off we’d of course have footage of him being run down.
So, calling John Dean to testify…
Are the Democrats pants on head retarded or something? Do you really want to remind everyone about the last major American political scandal, where a sitting president monitored his political opponents? The true believers will see whatever you want them to, but the squishy middle… aren’t you going to make them think “hey, wait a second…”?
All everyone will think (thanks to the compliant media) is Nixon was a Rethuglican and so is Trump.
Lol
“photoshop me”
Is it Friday yet? Other than getting a new roof this week, I’m not liking this week.
I’m too busy at work and everyone wants something from me. Really cuts into my fucking off time. ?
I feel ya.
I’m counting the days until I can leave the abomination of The Lower Rainland™ and then call in the nuclear strike. (It’s another six days in the house, and then the packers/movers take over — but for logistical reasons, we actually don’t drive away from Canada’s Hellmouth™ until Saturday the 15th.)
Are you staying in Canada or moving somewhere better?
?
My only major complaint with Canada is our idiot laws promulgated by a succession of idiot governments (mostly, but not exclusively, Liberal). No, we’re moving back to The Last Officially Sane Province in Confederation™: Alberta.
Thank you Jeebus.
I’m going to be getting more involved in politics once we move back — I’m quite interested in getting Alberta the hell out of Canada, and separatist sentiment in Alberta has never polled higher than now (above 50% of the population!). I’d give my left nut to have future historians write the history of Albexit as having come about because of the direct influence of that idiot spawn of Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s having alienated the West beyond tolerance.
Good for you and I wish you luck in those endeavors. ?
Thanks. Luck’s only one of the things we’re gonna need to make this happen.
https://youtu.be/ExAydddhsIk
2-year-old’s prayer tonight:
“Dear God,
Thank you for momma, dada, and potties on airplanes.
Amen”
She hasn’t flown on an airplane in 4 months.
Tucker Carlson thinks half of DC is Libertarian zealots
Wow, that guy is an idiot. You know who else ran on nationalist economics and traditional values?
Seriously though, the payday lender bullshit drives me nuts. Of course it’s an absolute scam. It is the last resort for somebody who is desperate for cash. The next step is sucking dicks at the local bus station. However, what’s the alternative? Is the government gonna loan money to the poors at some subsidized rate? Are they gonna ban the payday lenders, either explicitly or through usury laws? Every solution is worse than the actual problem.
Last Resort? I’d try knocking over a 7-11 before going the bus station route but I get your drift. Somewhere in there is the gist of a thought I’ve had but never really dove into, if you use your superior strength to take someone’s property that’s theft, yet if you use your superior wits to talk them out of it that’s “A-Okay.” Seems odd to me.
The alternative to payday lenders are the legbreakers of days gone by.