Monday, March 9, 2020

Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?

Image result for this is the way the world ends

T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men

It’s all but official, the media has determined COVID-19 to be the tragedy we have been waiting for (Trump’s Katrina!!). We are all doomed.

As James Lileks reflects, this could well mark the end of life as we know it…at least for a little while.

I suspect this will seem, in retrospect, as the last “normal” week. The one in which there was other news.

This doesn’t mean everything will be actually horrible. It means the news will be horrible, in that it gives a sense of a rapidly escalating catastrophe that produces mass unease and uncertainty.

A few weeks ago, I think, I mused about some previous pandemic about which I’d forgotten, except that I bought masks, and noted a run on rice at Costco, That was the Swine Flu pandemic, of course. It was declared by the WHO to be A Thing in June 2009. I decided to go back to the StarTribune archives to see how it played out. From what I recalled, there was concern, but nothing like we're seeing today. See if you recall any of this, or your local variant. (more)

So there it is, this is how it ends; the media, the second coming of the ruling class, has so declared it. Not by global warming after all but by another manmade disaster - a simple virus capable of spreading, mutating and replicating (alas, as do all viruses).

Greta Thunberg hardest hit.

Image result for greta thunberg weeps“How dare you steal my global crisis!”

Wash your hands, sneeze into your sleeve, take cover, self isolate, and do not, repeat, NOT vote for Donald J. Trump!

Image result for do i dare to disturb the universe

Oh what the hell, go ahead. We’re all going to die anyway.

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Chasing Daylight

Is it 6:00 AM? 5:00 AM? or 7:00? Who knows or even cares any more. We’re all going to die from the Wuhan virus, the world economy is going to collapse and China is going to end up with all the marbles and take over the world (h/t Chicken Little-Come-Lately Tucker Carlson – just added him to my must-not-watch-ever list along with pretty much everyone else on Fox News). So observing the correct time is pretty low on my priority list today.

Love it or hate it the semi-annual ritual of time switching in order to “save daylight” is an anachronism in our technological age. The concept was originally adopted by Congress in 1917 when most of rural America was not yet electrified.

Image result for is daylight saving time still a thing

One hundred years later and most clocks change all by themselves. Our digital clocks are more adaptable than we are as they change without getting all cranky and out of sorts when they lose an hour in arguably the gloomiest month on the calendar. And as if the inconvenience of having to adjust our circadian clocks twice a year weren’t bad enough, our legislative overlords keep changing the rules every few years. Check out the erratic and arbitrary chronology of Michigan’s history with both time zones and daylight saving time. Parts of the state at various times have observed either EST or CST both with and without DST.

Legislative genius on display, doing what they do best: mucking up everyone’s life. Does anybody actually want to play this game anymore? If I were in charge I could certainly think of a more pleasant anachronism to impose on the masses than chasing daylight up and down the calendar. 

“Make sure you’re home by the time the street lights come on, Joey.”

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Snakes On the Plain

Legend has it that St. Patrick drove all of the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea using the power of his faith. - Fox News

A Dublin man is hoping for some of that power for himself after he reportedly fell victim of a venomous snakebite – believed to be the first time such an event has been recorded in Ireland.

Curious, as Ireland is indeed known to be free of these slithery critters. Of course the “Dublin man” who was bit owned a puff adder “most commonly found in Morocco and Western Arabia, the puff adder is known to cause the most snakebite fatalities in Africa.”

Let’s review: St. Patrick drives the snakes our of Ireland in the 5th century and the Emerald Isle remains snake free until the Irish begin to take in “persons in need of international protection” from areas known to be native to poisonous snakes. Hmmm. It’s either that or the fact that Ireland is becoming as Godless as the rest of the world.

Either way, there’s no doubt that snakes have been sighted in Ireland for quite awhile now.

Image result for obama in ireland

Make no mistake: poisonous snakes are more dangerous than the Coronavirus.

Image result for snakes on the plain ireland

Friday, March 6, 2020

FLOTUS Schools the Pols On Color

Hillary Clinton started it: kaleidoscopic pant suits.

Image result for hillary clinton pant suitsShort ones, long ones, collared, collarless, in every imaginable hue

Democratic National Convention August 26th, 2008:

Image result for elizabeth warren jackets orange

A couple of men of men standing on the stage holding up two blazers a piece — red, tangerine, pale teal, and a calm light blue — to determine which color would look best under the lights when Clinton gave a speech in support of her party's nominee, Barack Obama.

Other female politicians attempted to followed suit.

Image result for elizabeth warren unitard suits with colored jackets

Image result for elizabeth warren unitard suits with colored jackets

Lizzy went full Hillary, with ultimately the same electoral result:

Never go full Hillary 

Turns out they were doing it wrong. No need to go all Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

Image result for melania trump in black

Image result for melania trump in black

Image result for melania trump in blackBasic black is just fine.

Save that “pop of color” for your feet.

melania trump, celebrity style, christian louboutin so kate pumps, black dress, striped pumps, First Lady Melania TrumpInternational Women of Courage Awards Ceremony, Washington, USA - 04 Mar 2020

Christian Louboutin So Kate Cinestripes Melania Trump wore.Christian Louboutin So Kate “Cinestripes.”

Plus in a pinch (such as a “no gun” zone) they will serve as a very lethal weapon.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Throwback Thursday: “Hell No” Edition

“Complete transformations” happen so fast these days that it is helpful to set Thursdays aside to recall the roots of some of today’s popular technologies and ideas.

The Origin of Texting Devices

For example, few people today know the proper way to set a formal dinner table.

The correct placement of the texting device is below and slightly to the left of the butter plate.

And it seems that every decade or so people forget that really bad ideas create bubbles:

Image result for what is an economic bubble for dummies

that result in a really bad economic downturn when they burst. Yet they continue to fall for really bad ideas.

Just a few random Throwback Thursday thoughts to pass along to anybody you know who’s tempted to vote Democratic this November.

The answer is not just “no” but “hell no!”

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Super Wednesday…The Fun Never Stops

The fun just never stops at the Democrat Demolition Derby.

Thefun_neverstops_small“The Fun Never Stops” Artist print on archival paper, Mark Hollis

Despite the fact that everyone claimed victory last night, whether they won any states or not, the truth is it looks like a duel to the death between Joey and Bernie – whoever defies death longest wins.

Image result for befuddled joe biden

So if you forgot to vote for your favorite Operation Chaos Candidate yesterday don’t worry, Super Wednesday comes right after Super Tuesday and right before Super Thursday.  Democrat precinct workers will still be accepting  ballots right up through Super Thursday. So get out there and vote for your favorite old white guy.

So far however the results indicate that Biden got a huge bounce winning 9 out of 14 states and  453 delegates compared to Sanders 382.

Image result for dead cat bounceDon’t be fooled by the dead cat bounce

But clearly something is going on here as Biden was proclaimed DOA just a week ago. I guess it pays to keep our eye on the ball.

But from here it looks like the  Empire struck back. The Machine has finally processed the nation’s appetite for socialism and decided they need to pack Bernie off to Cuba or somewhere. Biden is their guy, again.

Good luck with that old favorite. Maybe he can save the franchise, but I doubt it. Maybe they can find themselves another skywalker.

Image result for yoda there is another skywalker

But again, I doubt it.

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Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Choose Wisely Weedhopper

Finally. It’s Supper Tuesday - or Thursday if you’re Joe Biden. Unfortunately MsNBC will have to limp through their coverage without Chris Matthew’s sparkling political commentary, due to creative differences.

Image result for super tuesday

As Some Rabbit pointed out the other day the Democrats now have a choice between the Befuddled,

the Bolshevik,

or the Billionaire, 

Image result for bloomberg buys memes

who’s committed whatever’s necessary to win. Even if he has to buy the entire Internet.

Siri, Alexa and your personal Google Assistant are standing by to assist you if you need help. They will be happy to tell you who to vote for.

Image result for super tuesday

So proceed with caution and choose wisely, weedhoppers.

Monday, March 2, 2020

Life Imitates Art

All the remaining Democrat contenders going into Super Tuesday favor free college tuition. Some favor 4 years for students to pursue their bliss, debt free, while others propose (initially) a more moderate 2 years. A couple of whack jobs want to eliminate existing student debt as well.

Reflect on that as you peruse this story from The Oklahoman reporting on an ongoing student protest at Oklahoma University:

Image result for oklahoma university sit-in protest

Students said they will be sitting at Evans Hall until their demands are met. The Black Emergency Response Team (BERT) said many members would go on a hunger strike.

“To the upper administration: there will be no meetings,” said Miles Francisco, co-director of BERT, in a demand letter. “You either meet our demands or you starve us of our freedom. Join us.”

I see: there will be no negotiation. Seems reasonable, in a post-modern way. What, you ask, prompted such drastic action from BERT?

Following two controversial incidents of professors using a racial slur while teaching, dozens of University of Oklahoma students staged a sit-in Wednesday outside the OU’s president’s office.

Organized by the Black Emergency Response Team, students sat outside of interim President Joseph Harroz’s office with signs demanding action and calling for the resignation of OU Provost Kyle Harper...

https://twitter.com/KOCOChristine/status/1232671189287325697From Legal Insurrection

The protest was in response to two recent events at OU when two professors used a derogatory word while teaching.

Earlier this week, Kathleen Brosnan, an OU faculty member in the history department, said the n-word multiple times while reading from a 1920's U.S. Senate document.

Per Legal Insurrection, Brosnan gave a “trigger warning” before she read the word, but still…and Gade has no cover at all.

Peter Gade, director of graduate studies for the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and Gaylord Family endowed chair, used the N-word while comparing its usage to the phrase “OK, boomer.”

God forbid you should use an actual offensive word that was once widely used as a pejorative against Blacks in the context of teaching historical and social concepts. It’s use is now exclusively relegated to members of the Black race; whites are not permitted to utter it, with or without a trigger warning, in any context. But why the demand for the “resignation” of the Provost? Because clearly, being a white guy, he hired these racist professors on purpose.

Far more entertaining however is the rest of the student’s list of non-negotiable demands:

Demands from the group also include a semester-long class focused on diversity, and a new multicultural center that will feature meeting spaces for marginalized students, common areas, study rooms and a Popeyes restaurant.

Wait, what? They want a Popeye’s restaurant? 

Do these kids have an ironic sense of humor? Or does the group demanding diversity and retribution against a “racist’ University really not know how racist that is? They’re clearly too young to remember that Fuzzy Zoeller nearly got drummed out of professional golf for a fried chicken joke. They’re knowledge of history, even their own, is very selective.

In the 60s Black students rightfully demanded desegregation of the institutions of higher learning  including dorms, fraternities, sororities and student centers.  But by the early 90s “empowered” minorities and women began to demand the right to re-segregate themselves into enclaves of race, gender and ethnicity. Then they demanded that they get their own, separate, dormitories, fraternities, sororities, cafeteria tables, student centers, studies programs, enrichment programs and graduation exercises. 

That situation is what led to this classic 1993 Doonesbury cartoon lamenting the University President’s good intentions that degenerated into a fully segregated campuses again. You can almost feel the pain of self-loathing when the President discovers the “kids” now want… their own water fountains.

The cartoon is an excellent example of art imitating life. 

The sit-in at Oklahoma University or life imitating art. I don’t think the taxpayers need to pay for any more of that.