Glibertarians.com 2019 Archive

Author: mexican sharpshooter

  • Sunday Evening Coming Attractions.

    *clears throat*

    I’m going to channel the movie announcer guy….

    What do we have in store this week?

    Tomorrow Animal has another lesson on Toxic Masculinity with a delightful crossword puzzle in the evening.

    Tuesday Pie in the Sky presents a thought provoking piece on competition in the public sector, and another poll in the evening.

    Wednesday, Sugarfree once again either gives us reason to consider suicide by cop or just risk being fired for drinking at work.  One or the other.

    Thursday Mr. I.B. McGinty pens something I certainly hope you uncultured troglodytes actually read.  Seriously, its good..stay tuned.

    Otherwise we have the usual links, by the Old Man, Brett, Banjos, Sloopy, ZARDOZ, STEVE SMITH, Spudalicious* and everyone else that may or may not get called in from the bullpen at the last minute.  That’s what makes this place so damn exciting…even we don’t always know what’s in store.

    I don’t know about you guys, but for some reason skyline chilli is being made in my house.  Why?  I don’t know and I’m not stopping it.  Mostly because it at least looks better than the abomination they call pizza in South Korea.

    Enjoy what’s left of Sunday.

     

    *as in the Spud Man,  The Spudster.  Spud-master Flex.  Spuddin around dropping Spud like hot fiery spud….

  • Here we go again…

    I am not going to talk about shootings, but I am going to talk about guns.  Sort of.  I am going to talk about something going around social media in the last few days being portrayed as some kind of “liberal self-own”.

    This is my review of Barrier Brewing Farmhouse Ale—with Brett (H/T Iobot)

    It is this article from Business Insider making the rounds on the parts of social media conservatives are still aloud to congregate and make fun of their progressive counterparts.  Essentially, a reporter tried to find out how difficult it is to buy a gun at Wal-Mart—turns out she couldn’t just walk in, pay cash to an associate in a quiet corner of the parking lot and leave with a weapon Bill Duke uses to trim the hedges.

    Buying guns at Wal-Mart has always been a…shall we say…less than ideal experience.  I would know, while I was in college I worked the sporting goods counter for a short time.  It was only a few months, and resulted in me not hating everything about Wal-Mart because that is where I got my start.

    Its pretty sweet

    For one thing, while a customer can special order nearly anything in the Lipsey’s catalog, what was on hand was limited to standard length shotguns, Ruger 10/22, and composite stock Remington 700 in various calibers with a Chinese sourced optic.  The best rifle I ever sold was a Browning BAR in .30-06, which took a few weeks when the customer bought it via layaway, then I called Lipsey’s, put in the order and awaited shipping.  Those are pretty sweet. Wal-Mart also had certain requirements for state residency, they needed the entire address without abbreviations printed on the ATF form 4473, a “salaried manager” needed to double check the transaction, and most important was the required “all clear” from NICS, rather than after the wait time for a hold.  They also had the counter under constant video surveillance.  Finally, the manager walked the rifle out of the store and handed the customer the rifle in its original packaging outside the store.  This was 2005. Eventually, Wal-Mart began selling AR-15s, specifically the Colt Model 6920, which is absolutely nothing to scoff at even if I assembled a better carbine from vendors located in various corners of the internet.  They since stopped selling it in 2015.

    Nowadays, Wal-Mart has certain “approved” employees that can sell firearms.  The reporter had a lot of difficulty in finding out which Wal-Mart sold rifles.  By policy, they are hesitant to tell a customer where they sell guns, and when she even managed to find one ran into issues with her ID not having a current address.

    I had invested several hours across two days on this. If I were actually in the market for a rifle, I would have gone to a local gun shop instead after about five minutes of trying to figure out which Walmart stores sold guns.

    She found out something many gun owners already know:  buying guns at Wal-Mart sucks, because they go well above and beyond federal requirements to sell firearms—to aggravating levels.  Take that Sheryl Crow.

    So how is this not a self-own?   One of the reasons commonly cited for the “Age of Trump” is one side simply chooses not to not understand why the other lives the way they do.  In this case we see somebody actually tried to find out.  In spite of what we might assume her biases are or what the narrative she might have intended to portray, she found out it is not so easy.  She discovered what most gun owners know:  gun retailers realize the consequence of selling to the wrong person and are going to take steps to avoid that mistake.  Some have a smoother transaction than others perhaps, but should a guy walk into a gun store and ask for the best weapon to kill [minority group of your choice] will actually find he going to be to asked to leave…and probably to go to Hell.  This isn’t a self own, she discovered something about the other side—which even if unwittingly is actually commendable given the insanely low bar set for this sort of thing.

    Something else I discovered was this beer is excellent.  Everyone here is probably aware I am a fan of Belgian-pattern wheat beer.  This one comes loaded with Brett tipped clipazines and enough body to hold that shoulder thingy that goes up.  Must be 21 to purchase…

    Barrier Brewing Farmhouse Ale—with Brett 4.2/5

     

  • Glibertarian Confessions

    Today we are going to confess a small shortcoming that has plagued us all for an undetermined amount of time.  Why you ask?

     

    I ask why not?  I will even begin.

     

    There was a time I thought the Newman’s Best brand was something silly.  A reasonably good product for a reasonable price.  By “reasonably good” I mean it’s better than the partially gelatinized goo that Kraft puts out.  The guy threw his face on everything, and sent all the proceeds to charity.  Then I turned 14 and discovered that charitable donations are tax deductible.

    Newman’s Best is nothing more than a scheme for Paul Newman to avoid paying taxes, and when presented by that angle it is something to respect.  Its bothered me since then that it took me 14 years to figure this out.  That is my confession.

     

    Now you go.

  • BAH!! KILL IT!! KILL THE LIGHT RAIL!!

    One Sunday afternoon I received a call from an unknown number.  It was a local number so I answered it, as many of scam calls come from a 323 area code (CA).  I probably shouldn’t have done that, because the lady on the other line wanted to convince me to vote against Prop 105. Is this a local issue?  Yes, but quite frankly I have a platform for free speech and damnit, I’m going to use it….

    This is my review of Four Peaks Golden Lager…a refreshingly local Pilsner.

    What does this ballot measure entail?  The City of Phoenix is asking residents to allocate, or not allocate funds to extend the Phoenix light rail.  The actual proposition is below:

    What would Proposition 105 do?

    Proposition 105 would prohibit the city from spending money on development, construction, expansion, or improvement of light rail transit, with an exception for PHX Sky Train. It would allocate any revenue from the city’s 0.7% transportation sales tax that was previously allocated toward light rail development to other city infrastructure. The initiative would earmark any revenue allocated to light rail development along Central Avenue south of Washington Street specifically for infrastructure in South Phoenix. This would include the South Central Extension project. Proposition 105’s provisions reallocating revenue would apply to any collected, unspent revenue as well as future revenue.

    Proposition 105 would also add within the city charter provisions authorizing the Phoenix Citizens Transportation Committee—which is currently established through city code. The initiative would guarantee a $25,000 annual budget for the committee and task the committee with soliciting feedback from the public and advising the city council on how to spend funds reallocated by Proposition 105.

    It appears to be intentionally confusing to the average voter reading at a 4th grade level since voting “Yes” means you DO NOT want the light rail projects to continue.  Now, Forbes did a piece on the Phoenix Light Rail project that puts a lot of the ridership numbers in perspective and they make the case it was not a particularly good investment.  Granted, this was nearly a decade ago.  The light rail, (Valley Metro) and the local media have claimed the light rail since it was opened has already created $11 billion in development.  A local free market think-tank however published an analysis that disputes this claim.  Of the 344 construction projects built within 1/2 mile, cited by Valley Metro, 177 were either government subsidized, government buildings, or part of expansions/renovations at Arizona State University.  17 are also located more than 1/2 mile away (honest mistake?) from a light rail station and 2 of the cited projects were built before the light rail.

    One of the most absurd projects on Valley Metro’s list is a 2,000-space parking garage for air travelers. The garage happens to be next to a light-rail station, so Valley Metro includes it on the list. Yet this station is the closest light rail comes to Sky Harbor Airport, so no one using the parking garage would ever use the light rail to get between the garage and the airport. Many other projects on the list similarly have nothing to do with transit.

    Why would nobody use the light rail in this case?  Sky Harbor International Airport has its own rail (Sky Harbor SkyTrain) to ferry passengers between parking structures, the terminals, and the rental car complex.  The report also goes on to say there is no reason any of the other projects could be built elsewhere.  The only effect the light rail has, is in relocating where (government subsidized) businesses owners choose to open up shop.  They were going to open regardless of the rail.

    Yes, the local paper and others did make sure everybody knows this is just another Koch-funded scheme, even though the think-tank or the group initiating the ballot measure denied they received funding from them for this proposition.  The ties between the think-tank and the Koch brothers is from a disclosure of a single donation dating to 2017.  The propositions were started from a group of business owners in South Phoenix that opposed an expansion due to access to their businesses.

    Not my photo of 43rd St and Washington.

    This is a concern anybody in Phoenix can see for themselves if they ever go to a sporting event downtown.  Washington and Jefferson streets run east/west through downtown and are both one way; Chase Field, Talking Stick Arena, the convention center, and other cultural locations are located along these streets. Many of the buildings between Washington/Jefferson Street, part of an existing light rail run, are closed down primarily because they cannot be accessed by car, because you can only drive one way and access the building by crossing the light rail.  Many are also too far to walk to if you take the light rail.  The proponents of the light rail consistently argue the riders are put in a better position to make Phoenix a walking city, theoretically making Washington and Jefferson streets less congested.  Never mind the light rail effectively takes up two lanes on both streets. Finally, the high today is forecast at 109 and will likely be warmer than at noon today because of the ambient heat reflecting off both the street and the buildings.  Nobody walks anywhere in Phoenix–care to guess why?

    By the way, South Phoenix is the part of town where low to middle income families live.  They say the proposed path will inhibit local businesses ability to stay in business will therefore affect low to middle income residents. These are NOT people that own the monocle factory, who can easily relocate their business to another part of town.

    Naturally opponents of the ballot measures are citing a positive economic and environmental impact.  Others argue the areas now pushing against the expansion were not well represented in the vote for the planned expansion due to supposed voter suppression.  Which is an odd argument for them to make because the measure passed in 2015, an off-cycle election when measures are deliberately voted on because turnout is often low.

    I plan to vote yes, if you are registered to vote in Phoenix, consider voting yes if at all.

    Is this another one if those drinkable craft lager/ale things that are mass produced and sold next to other yellow beers?  Not hardly. This threads the needle between a serious Czech-style Pilsner and something non-threatening for your non-beer drinker friends gathering for a sporting event.  They even put it out seasonally.  If you are in the local area, I recommend it.  Four Peaks Golden Lager 3.5/5

     

  • ¡Miércoles por la mañana enlaces mexicanos!

    ¡Buenos dias! Yesterday was a more of an impromptu selection of links I would otherwise have posted this morning…so what to do?

     

    It was to my understanding, Australia solved that whole the mass…murder…thing.

    A recession indicator.  Perhaps this time both sides might be so preoccupied with owning each other they manage to do exactly nothing in response…yeah I know.  Crisis going to waste.  BTW the current price of Bitcoin… 

    Yeah, I’d probably seek damages if I was enough of a wimp to get my ass kicked in a barfight by — Don Lemon?

    They’re gonna party like its 1989.

    Meanwhile…the NY Times is taking issue with team Trump’s ambivalence over tensions is Asia.

    But as violence escalates and old animosities are rekindled across Asia, Washington has chosen inaction, and governments are ignoring the Trump administration’s mild admonitions and calls for calm. Whether it is the internal battles in India and Hong Kong or the rivalry between two American allies, Japan and South Korea, Mr. Trump and his advisers are staying on the sidelines.

    The inability or unwillingness of Washington to help defuse the flash points is one of the clearest signs yet of the erosion of American power and global influence under Mr. Trump, who has stuck to his “America First” idea of disengagement, analysts say.

    Meh.  If they really wanted to do something I’m sure they would do something.  Nah, lets do…nothing.  Yes, I will feel really bad for Hong Kong and Taiwan, but they fucked up and trusted the Chicoms.

    Good news for somebody here.

    Here’s some tunes.  Happy hump day.

  • ¿Martes en la tarde? Enlaces Mexicanos!

    You know Brett.  He’s double booked between two clients trying to pick up product from him, the problem of course he only has enough product for one of them, and will likely make them fight to the death to see who gets the privilege of purchasing from Don Brett.

     

    For the links!

    The big news down south is coming from Argentina.  Yesterday their stock exchange dropped a gut wrenching 48%.  Why?  This guy, no, not Peron.  Peron is dead, but his dumbass ideas are not.  The Argentines have compulsory primary elections and the current, pro-business president Macri and his policies of austerity, lost in the primary.  Now the actual election is in October but he lost by a 15% margin.  Which makes it Brazil–in reverse.

    Speaking of Brazil, a well-known drug trafficker attempts to escape from prison by disguising himself as his daughter.

    Women protest in Mexico.

    Around 300 protesters, mostly female, descended on the Mexican capital’s prosecutor’s office on Monday.  Armed with pink glitter and spray paint, they advanced on the building, smashing its door and leaving a pig’s head outside.  The protests were sparked by two recent rape cases.  The first involves a 17-year-old girl who said four policemen raped her in their patrol car in Azcapotzalco, in the capital’s north, on 3 August. The second concerns a 16-year-old girl who said a policeman raped her in a museum in the city centre days later.

    An interesting article on the lengths Venezuela needs to go to evade US Sanctions.

    Here’s some tunes sure to irritate…probably all of you.  Have a great day…

  • Shorting Everything (Part 2)

    Previously…on glibertarians.com….

     

    “Does either of you want to explain why you decided to say you had a bomb on an airplane?”

    A TSA inspector had Sugarfree and I in a small room.  It had a single table and a couple chairs with a small light fixture in the center of the ceiling.  He sat there with an unopened bag of donuts on the table.

    “I don’t recall saying anything…”  I answered.  “…other than a request for counsel as it is my right guaranteed under the Constitution.”

    “I said I had a bomb”  Sugarfree answered.

    “Shut up!”  I shouted. “You’re going to get us into more trouble.”

    “It was true.  I brought the plane down.  I warned you.”  Sugarfree continued.

    “What is the reason you travelled to Washington?” The inspector asked again.

    “I told you, we are newlyweds on our way to the Earth Capital.”  Sugarfree said, again.  In all fairness to him, most of his answers seemed to confuse the TSA Inspector.

    “You guys have been here a while.”  The inspector seemed to take a different tack.  “You want a donut?”  He broke the seal on the bag of Drake’s Cakes donuts.

    “I believe I requested counsel.”  I answered.

    “I went Keto years ago, I can’t eat that.”  Sugarfree answered.

    “You sure?”  The inspector asked again.

    “Oh hell.”  I grabbed one with both hands, being handcuffed, and began eating the semi-stale powdered donut.  “I am still not answering anything until my counsel arrives.”

    “You sure you don’t want one?”  The inspector asked Sugarfree again.  “Drakes Cakes are really good.”

    Sugarfree shook his head.

    “Cmon.  You want a donut.  You’re really hungry.  You’re going to eat one and tell me where that bomb is.”

    Sugarfree shook his head again.

    “GODDAMNIT!”  The inspector grabbed a donut and shoved Sugarfree onto the floor, stuffing the donut into Sugarfree’s mouth. “I SAID YOU WANTED A GODDAMN DONUT.”

    “What is wrong with you?  That is abuse of power.  There is no reason to do that.”  I said.

    “YOU WANT ANOTHER DONUT?”  The inspector asked me.

    “Fuck off slaver!”

    Sugarfree rose slowly from the floor.  His eyes were bloodshot with pupils dilated and a burst capillary under his left eyelid made him appear to be crying blood.  His hands were noticeably shaking, his breathing seemed to increase rapidly.  “I….told….you….” his quivering words stammered out like a meth addict.

    “I….went…..KEETTTOOOOOOO”

    He screeched loud enough the inspector covered his ears.  I tried but couldn’t because of the handcuffs.

    “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”  Sugarfree kept shouting as he snapped the chain on the handcuffs.  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”  Sugarfree picked up the stainless steel table and threw it at the inspector.

    “Stop that!!”  The inspector tried shouting over Sugarfree’s bloody screech.  He pulled his weapon and emptied the magazine at Sugarfree.

    _____

     

    …thankfully this isn’t that kind of story.

    “You’re going to have to explain how we got out of there.” Sugarfree said while we were walking through the Mall. “I kind of blacked out there.”

    “You tweaked out.  I’m not so sure I want to get into that right now.”  I replied.

    “Why am I so hungry?”  Sugarfree asked.

    “I’ll tell you what, once we find STEVE SMITH I’ll buy you a steak?”  I answered.

    “Elk?  I can totally go for elk…”  Sugarfree made a yummy sound.  “Where’s STEVE anyways?”

    “The White House is this way, I assume he’s in that crowd somewhere.  Nothing is on the twatter about a Sasquatch being shot by SS.”

    “The SS?” Sugarfree was puzzled.  “The Schutzstaffel?”

    “No the Secret Serv–yes the Schutzstaffel.”  I stopped.  “Is that STEVE?”

    Sugarfree looked onto the crowd of people in black masks gathering at the White House gates.  He fixated on a single seven foot tall figure in the crowd.  His back was turned to us and was wearing a black hood and mask like everyone else.  “Is that ANTIFA?”  He asked.

    “1-2-3-fo, racist Trump has got to go. 5-6-7-8 we want someone new to hate”

    “What are they chanting?”  I asked.  We began to work our way through the crowd.  They had a distinct smell of urine and spray paint; and those fucking idiots kept stepping on my shoes.

    “1-2-3-fo, racist Trump has got to go. 5-6-7-8 we want someone new to hate”

    The gates to the White House opened, revealing a limosine behind them.

    “He’s going to rape Trump in the limo.”  Sugarfree said. “This should be good.”

    “1-2-3-fo, racist Trump has got to go. 5-6-7-8 we want someone new to hate”

    “That’s not the President’s Motorcade.”  I said. I turned and looked at Sugarfree.  He emptied a glass bottle onto a convenient white girl with dreadlocks.

    “What are you doing you creep?”  The white girl asked.

    “Do you have Styrofoam peanuts?” Sugarfree asked her.

    “Actually I do, comrade.”  She pulled out a handful from her coat.

    “1-2-3-fo, racist Trump has got to go. 5-6-7-8 we want someone new to hate”

    The car began to slowly creep out from the open gates.  The crowd began to gather around the car.

    “They won’t run over the crowd…” I said.  I looked and Sugarfree had stuffed the Styrofoam  peanuts into the bottle.  “Too many people are watching.”

    “1-2-3-fo, racist Trump has got to go. 5-6-7-8 we want someone new to hate”

    STEVE SMITH GET ORANJ MAN!

    The lone figure towering over the crowd began forcing his way through the crowd and jumped on the car.  Suddenly my phone began vibrating.

    Not Junior’s real Twatter

    “Oh no, he’s confusing Trump with Trump Jr.”

    Sugarfree was shaking the bottle to dissolve the peanuts.  I smelled gasoline. My phone vibrated again…

    “He took a photo of STEVE…we need to get him out of here.”  Sugarfree somehow found an oily rag.  My phone vibrated again…

    and again…

    and again…

    ”The voice of reason chimes in.  Do these people do anything beside sit on twatter?”  I asked.  Then it vibrated once more…

    ”STEVE SMITH has a twatter!?”

    “Do you have a light?”  Sugarfree asked.  I handed him my Zippo and tried to squeeze my way through the crowd.

    “STEVE!  You’ve been made!  Get out of here.”  I shouted.

    STEVE SMITH GET ORANJ MAN.  STEVE SMITH TAKE BACK $1.5MILLION PAPER LOSS FROM ORANJ MAN.

    ”Thanks for the light.”  Sugarfree handed me back my Zippo.  He had a lit Molotov cocktail.  “How long do we let this cook?”

    ORANJ MAN NO RUN FROM STEVE SMITH.  STEVE SMITH GET ORANJ MAN GOOD

    “Aye-ya-yie!”  Sugarfree tossed the Molotov cocktail at the crumpled limousine.  Flames erupted and spread across the car and into the crowd.

    ”The Nazis are here!  Run!”  The crowd began to disperse and panic.  A clusterfuck of hapless retards in black masks crawling over each other. I grabbed Sugarfree by the collar and moved with the crowd.

    ”Do you see Steve?”  I asked.  Sugarfree pointed at a tall figure sprinting through the crowd.

    And like that, he was gone.

    Washington was on lockdown and none of the restaurants seemed to be open.  Sugarfree didn’t seem to mind, he had a pigeon spinning on a makeshift spit over a small fire in a park.  He seemed to have spooked the homeless.  Thankfully, I found a gas station open.

    Tecate Titanium.  Its like regular Tecate, only they don’t water it down.  Its a thirst quenching, 7.5%abv Pilsner that has a needless bite of booze, which was what I wanted. Previously found only in Mexico, it is now available stateside…in tall cans.

    ”You want a breast?”  Sugarfree asked?

    “I’ll take a wing.  Well done.”  Tecate Titanium:  2.5/5

  • Shorting Everything

    While I was eating breakfast I got a bunch of alerts on my phone.  ZXY is down.  WVG is down.  ADXT is down.  All down.  Dangit.  Trump must have called somebody a cunt again.

    I got something else equally disturbing in an email.

    Oh no…I need to call Swiss, anything but calling Swiss…

    While I was scrolling in my phone for his unlisted number…I got a call.

    “This Prathiba from Swiss Corps International Industries.  Nice to see you have manual dexterity and can push the little green call button on  your phone.”

    “Hi Prathiba.  You get deported back to Hell yet?”  Two in a row.  Maybe Swiss’ outsourced executive assistant, really is good.

    “That funny, shithead.  Sit tight and stay on line.  I patching you through to Mr. Swiss.”

    “Permission to sit tight, boss?”

    “What?”

    “Sitting tight, boss.”

    “Just shut up.”

    “Permission to shut up, boss?”

    “What?”

    “Shutting up there, boss.”

    “What in hell do you think you trying to do?”

    “You told me to shut up, boss.”

    “You know what, I not have time for your failure to communicate. I fucking hate you. MAGA bitch.”

    Wow.  Note to self:  Swiss’ assistant has never seen Cool Hand Luke.

    ____

    “mex. you have a problem.”  Swiss began.

    ”Oh, I have a problem?”  Let’s try to play it dumb.

    ”Yes.  Your problem is STEVE SMITH needs to get wrangled in again.  Something has him spooked, and we’re afraid he’s going to do something…um…impolite.”

    ”This sounds like a you problem.”

    ”Well he left a SCRIBBLED note with the Swiss Corps stock ticker saying, STEVE SMITH GET ORANGE MAN.  LEAVE BROWN MAN AT HOME, OR STEVE SMITH GET BROWN MAN TOO.  BY GET BROWN MAN…MEAN—“

    ”What’s he want with Trump?”

    ”I looked in to that.  Trump’s trade war been nailing him pretty hard.  This must have been the last straw.  STEVE SMITH owns 25% of Swiss Corps International.  Apparently he direct deposits his dividend to the Foundation for a Free Cascadia Foundation.  Nice little tax scam he has going for him.”

    ”So he owns a quarter of your Swiss masters—does that make him your Swiss Quartermaster?”

    *Narrowed Gaze*

    “Okay, I got it.  It still sounds like a you problem.” I said after an awkward moment when my phone became noticeably cold.

    ”Not really.”

    ”How do you figure?”

    ”We put Sugarfree on the red eye your way, you’ll meet him at the airport and head to DC to intercept STEVE SMITH, before he rapes the president.”

    ”What?  That doesn’t make any sense.  Sugarfree is flying four hours the wrong direction.”

    ”You expect any of this to make sense?  You’re being sent to intercept a  Sasquatch on his way to rape the president.”

    _____

    ”Nice to see you again mex.”. Sugarfree said as the flight attendant was going through the safety guidelines.  “I really appreciate you meeting me on the flight to our nation’s capital.  I have trouble flying.”

    ”Its cool, they have alcohol.

    “Thats a good idea.  STEWARDESS!”

    ”You …can’t call him that.”

    ”Oh I know.  STEWARDESS!”

    ”Can I help you?” The flight attendant asked.

    ”Yes.  My emotional support animal needs a drink…”  Sugarfree said.

    “You don’t have an emotional support animal.”  The flight attendant  replied.

    Sugarfree grabbed me by the wrist, and raised my hand over my head. His hand was unsettlingly clammy.

    ”My emotional support animal is right here…”

    _____

    Sugarfree kept fidgeting.  He wouldn’t stop moving, even in the slightly larger than normal seats in the 737Maxx.

    ”mex.”  Sugarfree whispered.

    ”Yeah…”

    ”mex.”

    ”What.”

    ”mex.”

    ”WHAT?”

    ”I have a bomb”

    “Excuse me?”

    ”I have…a bomb.”

    ”Don’t say it so loud.  You’re going to get us into trouble.”

    ”…but I have a bomb…in my pants…”

  • Monopoly Money

    There is a meme going around depicting Monopoly, the classic Parker Brother’s game from the 1930s, if the board was designed in a manner to suit Kamala Harris.  I found it funny, but I also thought it was missing a couple spaces for taxes and began thought experiments on some of the other candidates and how Monopoly would look for them.  Warren for example would be nothing but spaces for Income Tax and Luxury Tax. Sanders would alternate between tax spaces, communal housing, players wouldn’t be able to purchase any of the properties, nor would they be able to land on Boardwalk and Park place as they are both Dachas, nobody gets to be the racecar, and of course Sanders himself is the banker and only pays in black bread.  Wiliamson would be a bunch of pot dispensaries, yoga studios, hipster eateries, the railroads are electric and the pieces are all different colored crystals.  Booker has the distinction of simultaneously having or not having a version of Monopoly with his name as being racist.

    The racecar token is not an option in any of these versions…

    Then I got to Yang…more tax spaces and you get $1000 when you pass go?

    This is my review of Santa Fe Brewing Co. Chicken Killer Barleywine.

    Yang’s campaign is focused on the idea of a “freedom dividend” that in a sense sounds like a UBI of $1000 per person over 18 per month.  That’s the about all anybody focuses on in the media, so I decided to look up the proposal itself and it is straightforward enough.

    This is independent of one’s work status or any other factor. This would enable all Americans to pay their bills, educate themselves, start businesses, be more creative, stay healthy, relocate for work, spend time with their children, take care of loved ones, and have a real stake in the future.

    Other than regular increases to keep up the cost of living, any change to the Freedom Dividend would require a constitutional amendment.

    It will be illegal to lend or borrow against one’s Dividend.

    A Universal Basic Income at this level would permanently grow the economy by 12.56 to 13.10 percent—or about $2.5 trillion by 2025—and it would increase the labor force by 4.5 to 4.7 million people.  Putting money into people’s hands and keeping it there would be a perpetual boost and support to job growth and the economy.

    Yang’s FAQ page states his plan does not take the place of other social programs like Veteran’s benefits or Social Security since both are either paid into or earned.  This is in contrast with Milton Friedman’s Negative Income Tax; while often portrayed as a UBI scheme it is better described as way Friedman balanced his Chicago School philosophy, Minarchism, and everyone else’s desire for welfare programs.  Not paying income taxes is a way to give low wage earners extra money without the disincentive to work.  The same FAQ page quotes Friedman out of context as a way to convince the voter UBI is not a new idea.  He even quotes Thomas Payne.

    Welcome to Alaska…here’s $1000

    Yang also goes on to compare this scheme to the dividend from the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) given to residents of Alaska as an example of how this might work on the national level.  The APF however functions much differently and is not funded through a tax, it is a state owned wealth fund and the dividend paid is based on the overall performance of the investments in that fund.  The amount paid therefore varies, and it is also subject to strict definitions of “resident”.

    There is also the part where there are what, 100 people living in Alaska?

    “Foolish Irishman, stop this at once! I’m white! Can’t you see I’m white?”

    Interestingly enough, there are not many recent arguments out there discussing the merits or demerits of the idea, other than this article from FEE that is mostly making the argument that once a government program starts it never dies and gets bigger.  While true, I was hoping for something a little more in depth and  FEE to their credit does deliver in an older article.  I expect this to change as the primary election rolls along since unlike nearly all of that field, Yang is actually likeable.

    As far as a barleywine goes this one is a bit unusual since you can almost serve it ice cold and chug it.  Not recommended for a barleywine since it should be served at the almost universal optimum temperature (50F) for beer and there it starts to feel more like what one expects from this style.  Its deep red and a bit of a sweet aftertaste but overall, a nice complex brew but I’ve had better.  Santa Fe Brewing Co. Chicken Killer Barleywine 3.5/5.

     

  • ¡Gracias a Dios! Enlaces mexicanos el viernes por la tarde!

    EDITOR’S NOTE: When Brett L went to do links, he found these already scheduled. Since we all know he’s a lazy, meth-addled Florida Man, he decided to just let them run, as is. 

    In Texas–“active duty troops” are now mere “feet” from monitoring migrants.  In what might be a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.  In case you are unable to obtain a history book, that’s the one that says the military is not supposed to act in a role reserved for law enforcement.

    John Cornelio, spokesperson for the U.S. military’s Northern Command, said that interaction between the troops and migrants “is limited as much as possible.”

    “At the Donna facility specifically,” Cornelio said, “unarmed military personnel monitor the migrants for signs of medical distress, possibility for unrest, unusual behavior and unresponsiveness. In the event of a medical emergency or other reportable event, our military personnel immediately notify CBP personnel on-site who respond to the incident or event in question.”
    In a move that come to a surprise to nobody, a Federal Judge issued an injunction on the latest asylum restrictions placed by the Trump administration that nobody wanted to talk about a couple weeks ago because they were too busy mentally masturbating to Trump’s racist remarks on twatter regarding those four morons, with the funny hat, the big teeth, and the anti-Semitism…..
    An Argentine boxer dies in the ring. (Emphasis mine)
    The 23-year-old collapsed in the ring on Saturday shortly after his WBC Latino Silver lightweight bout with Eduardo Javier Abreu in Argentina ended in a draw.
    For some reason I seriously doubt it was actually a draw.
    Armed robbers steal $30MM worth of gold in a heist at the Sao Paulo Airport.
    The gunmen left the airport with approximately 750 kilograms (1,653 pounds) of gold and other metals due for shipment to Zurich and New York. No shots were fired and no one was injured during the robbery, the state news agency said.
    Sorry, Swiss…but that takes some stones.
    If the bottle of booze says “Molotov”….why are you drinking it?
    I’m finished with this week.  I need a cocktail.  Until then, am I the only person that forgot Filter was a thing?
    Salud.