Sunday, July 17, 2016
Another Day, Another What The Fuck
Three dead cops in Baton Rouge - 3 others wounded, one in critical condition. Plus one dead perp and as many as 2 others on the loose. (as of 3pm Sunday)
(update as of 5:30pm Sunday: Cops think it was a single perp - Gavin Eugene Long. No others are known to be involved, and the cops say they're not looking for anybody else.)
Three police officers have been fatally shot in Baton Rouge, La., and three others were wounded, according to East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Department.
East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux III said one gunman was shot dead, but two other suspects may be at large.
"At this point in time the scene is still active," he said. "We are advising the public to please take an alternate route and steer clear of the area."
Corporal L'Jean Mckneely Jr., spokesman for the Baton Rouge Police Department, said officers secured the area around the suspect and sent a robot device in after the shooting, “making sure there aren’t any explosives in the area."
To be sure, this is a truly shitty thing. As Fugelsang tweeted earlier:
I'm on the side of everyone who's against both police brutality & brutality against police. It's not a complicated position. #BatonRouge— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) July 17, 2016
I do have to wonder though - where are all the Ammosexuals in this? They should be standing and wildly cheering as these heroic defenders of liberty have exercised their god-given 2nd Amendment rights to fight back against the oppressive tyrannical Police Forces (aka Da Gubmint). And yet there's this deafening silence.
That level of cognitive dissonance seems to get a bit paralyzing, don't it?
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Friday, July 15, 2016
Today's Podcast
Certain Press Poodles have been assigned the task of lamenting "our difficulties" in talking about the horribleness of the apparent racism in USAmerica Inc, and about how our political leaders are exploiting the divisions blah blah bah.
So there was a poll asking Americans about how the two major party candidates are doing in the whole Racial Divisiveness thing - ie: Who do you think is more responsible for the negativity regarding our "national conversation about race"?
Trump = 67%
Clinton = 16%
Press Poodles: But remember,folks - overall, 61% of Americans think it's all pretty shitty, which lets everybody slide back into the comfortably numb Both Sides narrative, and so we'll call it a draw.
Today's Tweet
People who are most against homosexuality often have the most secretly homosexual logos #TrumpPence pic.twitter.com/ZY9MUGCB4j— Mike T (@majtague) July 15, 2016
A Glimmer
Saudi Arabia has roving bands of Morality Police with the power to beat up citizens they deem not behaving as good little Wahabis.
A judge in Kentucky decided he could refuse to officiate at a civil wedding ceremony because the couple didn't mention God in their vows.
Bands of psychotically religious assholes do all manner of shitty things to people everywhere, in the name of their love and devotion for any of a dozen versions of the one true merciful and loving god.
Fuck 'em.
Still, there's this tiny glimmer of hope in USAmerica Inc.
A judge in Kentucky decided he could refuse to officiate at a civil wedding ceremony because the couple didn't mention God in their vows.
Bands of psychotically religious assholes do all manner of shitty things to people everywhere, in the name of their love and devotion for any of a dozen versions of the one true merciful and loving god.
Fuck 'em.
Still, there's this tiny glimmer of hope in USAmerica Inc.
Maybe It's Just Me
From a distance, and if you squint just a bit, the GOP Convention logo looks kinda like an advertisement for The La Brea Tar Pits.
Just sayin'.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Metal Working
They never told me I could put Shop Class together with Art Class and maybe end up with something this fucking amazing.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Today's Jeopardy Question
I'll take Blinded By Bullshit for 500, Alex.
And the answer is:
And the answer is:
What is "Deflategate"?
Right you are.
Today's Tweet
Hilarious. pic.twitter.com/GZjbA38jum— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) July 12, 2016
Jason Explains
Mr Chaffetz seems completely flummoxed by the process of Gubmint.
Normal Human: Whatcha doin'?
House Republican: Looking for my keys - I dropped 'em when I was out in the garage.
Normal Human: So, why are you in the kitchen?
House Republican: The light's better in here.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Our Mr Brooks
Another in the continuing parade of passive-voiced responsibility-ducking bullshit:
Anybody who spends time in the working-class parts of America (and, one presumes, Britain) notices the contagions of drug addiction and suicide, and the feelings of anomie, cynicism, pessimism and resentment.
Part of this pain arises from deindustrialization. Good jobs are hard to find. But hardship is not exactly new to these places. Life in, say, a coal valley was never a bouquet of roses.
What’s also been lost are the social institutions and cultural values that made it possible to have self-respect amid hardship — to say, “I may not make a lot of money, but people can count on me. I’m loyal, tough, hard-working, resilient and part of a good community.”
Today's Tweet
It'd be cooler'n shit if this was all anybody had to worry about.
Great !👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/KRyvF4UfDl— Asghar Nikoorokh (@nikoorokh) July 11, 2016
Monday, July 11, 2016
Everybody's Doin' It
...so why should I be any different?
This pic is "important", partly because certain Photo Editors have told us it's important, but I think there may be quite a bit more to it than that.
First, if you show up dressed like you're looking for trouble, I have to think maybe you're looking for trouble.
This pic is "important", partly because certain Photo Editors have told us it's important, but I think there may be quite a bit more to it than that.
 |
| 28-year-old Ieshia Evans, Baton Rouge, July 2016 |
Along those lines, the feeling of invulnerability the cops have to get from wearing their Play Date Suits* can cause them to be a lot less likely to avoid trouble - and actually, most people become far more likely to start trouble because of that feeling of invulnerability.
(*available at fine Cop Shop outlets everywhere for as little as $400 each - up to $1000 depending on options. And be sure to identify yourself as Military or Police or Security, because they don't sell this shit to just anybody, y'know)
So, do we need to look any further than what seems obvious here? Do we really have to ask why people get fucked up and fucked over by a police force comprised of officers equipped for urban warfare and trained to deal with American citizens as if they're the enemy?
The shitty little irony is that those cops are convinced they're protecting Ms Evans - nobody seems able to clearly identify exactly what they're protecting her from (which means there's a high probability they're just rationalizing their behavior), but if she's not ridiculously careful, they're gonna protect her to death. In the end, who protects any of us from our protectors?
And ain't that all kinds of pretty fucked up right there?
And ain't that all kinds of pretty fucked up right there?
Today's Tweet
#TortureReport proves torture doesn't work. Dick Cheney says he'd do it again. For what, fun? (photo by @richardhine) pic.twitter.com/MutNgaFhFv— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) December 14, 2014
Resistance Is Life
The whole thing from Juan Cole:
We seem to think we can rule the world without actually having to live in it.
Kurdish Women Fighting ISIL Send Solidarity to BlackLivesMatter
“You are among the most radical voices in today’s racist, sexist, capitalist world,” the YPJ wrote to Black Lives Matter.
Fighters from the Kurdish Women’s Defense Units or YPJ, have sent a message of solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.
“To our black sisters and brothers! The people of Kurdistan stand with you!” read the short statement posted Saturday by the group, who has been fighting the incursions of ISIS [Daesh] in northern Syria for close to two years. “Here are the women who fight ISIS in Rojava (northern Syria) – saluting your honorable struggle for freedom, dignity, and resistance!”
The call for Black Lives Matter has become a focal point for discussions around systemic racism and police brutality following the police killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014, as well as numerous other incidents since. This past week, police killed Philando Castille and Alton Sterling – both incidents filmed and subsequently shared ober social media – touching off more protests across the United States.
For the women of the YPJ, solidarity and building “world revolution” against racism, sexism and capitalism, go hand in hand.
“As the women in Kurdistan know very well, we need to build our self-defense in all spheres of life. You are among the most radical voices in today’s racist, sexist, capitalist world and the freedom-loving peoples of the world deeply respect and salute your fight! Solidarity is the first step to world revolution!,” the statement continued.
Since the most recent string of high-profile U.S.police shootings of Blackpeople, expressions of solidarity from other communities in the United States as well as groups from around the world have been pouring in – with the radical, communist Kurdish groups being the latest.
“Black Lives Matter! As we say in Kurdish: “Berxwedan jiyan e!” – Resistance is life!,” the YPJgroup concluded.
Via TeleSurI guess I'd worry a little about backlash because of a ringing endorsement from a group that espouses "communism" - if I thought anybody was gonna pay any real attention to it anyway.
We seem to think we can rule the world without actually having to live in it.
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