October 3, 2023

you win at pool by blocking the pockets

The insurgents masquerading as a political party called "republicans" didn't come to Washington to govern. They came to occupy seats, do nothing, and break the government.
Scrabble's not a word game. It's a "math punk" game. Once I realized this, my wins went through the roof. I started ruining my opponent's big plays by blocking all the double- and triple-word scores with whatever stupid word I could play.
The same goes for pool - don't make the shots. BLOCK THE POCKETS.
The Dems made a huge strategic error today. We are headed straight toward a dictatorship in North America.

August 29, 2023

Congress needs to vote on RE-qualifying Trump for office

Hear me out:
The 14th amendment is too vague, in defining the process by which an insurrectionist is disqualified from office. As of now, it's simply a matter of non-binding opinions that are doomed to die a "fair and balanced" death.
But it’s clear on how to remove the disqualification.
We need a Democratic senator or rep to call for the vote, to “remove such disability”, under the assumption that Trump is already disqualified.
This will force debate on the issue, and it’s safe – the 2/3 threshold to actually re-qualify him will never be reached.
But it will bring this critical issue into the light, and hopefully, into the courts ASAP.
Because if this issue isn't resolved soon, say hi to the "ballot wars", where states like Texas and Oklahoma will refuse to put Biden on their ballots, out of spite. That's goodnight for democracy, folks. We need to hash this out, legally, NOW.

August 17, 2023

Pioneering survey into censorship of the climate crisis in global storytelling

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2023/march/climate-censorship.html

I cringed watching CBS News' Jonathan Vigliotti publicly shame-blame a Maui city employee for not sounding emergency sirens during the wildfire. Though the city worker explained that upon hearing sirens, the public is trained to seek higher ground (which was precisely the fire's location) Jonathan's tsk-tsk-I-caught-you segment barrels on, self-righteously.

On the other hand, Oprah Winfrey, with a nearly 4000-ton annual carbon footprint in private jetting alone (her 11 luxury properties and superyacht put her more in the 6000 range) provided brave Jonathan a wonderful opportunity to ask her what the hell is wrong with her, when she showed up to hand out a few water bottles in a Maui gymnasium.

Private jetter Jason Momoa provided a similar opportunity the same week.

Obviously there is a media blackout going on here; understandable when your corporate overlords are selling cars, SUV's, fancy vacations, home improvement stuff, etc.

The Paris Agreement's goal of 2 tons of CO2 per year is a lifestyle many Americans would consider "poverty-level" - a salary of $30k is more than you need. It's quite clear that the pursuit of wealth is either pointless (if you care about the future) or irresponsible (if you plan to spend all that cash on something other than planting trees, and trees, and more trees).

Capitalism, and the media that cheerlead for it, are gleefully eating our children and grandchildren alive.

August 16, 2023

Most Populous Animals On Earth

https://www.worldatlas.com/animals/most-populous-animals-on-earth.html

Even adding up all the farm animals, domestic pets, plus deer and opossums, I only get 6.8 billion to humans' 7.9 billion.

I guess I was trying to find a mammalian species with a comparable population that I could point to to say: they can live sustainably, why can't we?

The cows get a pass for their methane farts, btw. It's not their fault.

August 11, 2023

The Supreme Court Justice Death Calculator

https://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/01/supreme_court_justice_death_calculator_find_out_the_probabilities_that_different.html

If all goes well Clarence Thomas will be worm food in 5 years.

July 3, 2023

Trump Lawyers--Including Sidney Powell, Giuliani--Reportedly Under Scrutiny In DOJ 2020 Election Inves

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/07/03/trump-lawyers-including-sidney-powell-giuliani-reportedly-under-scrutiny-in-doj-2020-election-investigation/?sh=286fbe2d2cb5

Yessss!

It looks like Jack Smith is genuinely focused on preventing this nightmare from happening again.

This Independence Day is for you, JS!

July 3, 2023

Firework explodes in Illinois man's face, causing critical injuries

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/firework-explodes-illinois-mans-face-causing-critical-injuries-100611348

My sister knew a guy who did this exact same thing. He died immediately.
Please, please, no matter how drunk you are, don't ever look in the tube!

June 29, 2023

CRT just chugged a Red Bull

SCOTUS just created a new generation of American historians - all the Black applicants, who will be researching and writing ass-kicking essays on the true history of the United States.
Thank you, robed morons.

June 21, 2023

30 years of U.S. gun deaths vs. 30 years of "The Troubles" in Ireland

https://www.statista.com/statistics/258913/number-of-firearm-deaths-in-the-united-states/

Add up those #'s and it's around 1 million in a 30-year period, 1990 - 2021.

Now check out "The Troubles" in Ireland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles

For the entire 30-year period, the # killed was around 3500. Now, you say, Ireland is a very small country. Adjusting per-capita, under "Casualties" on the Wiki page:

If the equivalent ratio of victims to population had been produced in Great Britain in the same period some 100,000 people would have died, and if a similar level of political violence had taken place, the number of fatalities in the USA would have been over 500,000".[290] Using this relative comparison to the US, analyst John M. Gates suggests that whatever one calls the conflict, it was "certainly not" a "low intensity conflict".[291]

So: even adjusting to a per-capita basis, which I hate, because lives are lives (!), we still have DOUBLE the problem. Double the Troubles, as it were.

Think about that! We accept, per-capita, double the murders, during "peacetime", as a country which considered itself very much in a civil war.
Is this what our lives are worth? Is America just that much of a shithole country?