Amy Redheaded Alkon of Santa Monica, California: Have you ever, in your life, met a woman socially and --having talked about practicalities for a few minutes-- told her that she should look for work as a prostitute?

Who on this planet would recommend such a thing?

[Bitter horndog men excepted.]

Here's the thing about the Covington kids...

In early blog days I'd always follow the links that people were writing about. But after a few years, when Amy (or others) would make their point and then commenters would pile on, I'd have a pretty good idea what was going on without following the link, watching the video or whatnot. Later, when the moment had passed, I'd go back and do the homework... And it would turn out that I'd been way right, like, 99.33% of the time.

And it wasn't from having a mystical third eye or from the wisdom of old age, it was from reading the moods and principles which commenters were offering as they presented their responses to the issue.

Just for instance——

How many of you go through your lives trying to judge the smiles of unremarkably handsome teenage strangers as indisputable evidence of Satanic character, condemnable for centuries of malfeasance, and perhaps deserving of fisticuffs from strangers?

Because, I mean, a lot of people in America seem REALLY EAGER to make judgments like that.

They want to be REALLY right, IMMEDIATELY, such that judgment is unnecessary. They don't even want ballots tallied by hand.

This is why I wasn't particularly offended by the bogus theories and accusations on Twitter during the manhunt after the Boston atrocities. Yeah, sure, Twitter is silly street rumors and bullshit. Well, we *knew* that already, didn't we? It's instantaneous and egalitarian communication. I mean, some of us were raised in homes where we were taught to be reflexively skeptical of the New York Times and the Encyclopedia Britannica... And we'd eventually develop a pretty good nose for the KJV.

For years, and ever-so-frequently on the internet, people have been saying you have to let some time pass before judging events, especially the experiences of other people. I'm not claiming fashionable righteousness for having accepted this admonition in web-browsing haste... We're supposed to have been doing that in all contexts, including classrooms and bedrooms, across our time on Earth.

And in fact, this may be preaching to the choir here at Amy's. I haven't seen anyone here making any noise about this story, and even though it's only the fourth or fifth day, it's usually the first hours of such a dustup which inspire the greatest passion.

I mean, some of that "punchable face" stuff was straight out of a Salem witch trial.

I don't even have gaydar. I can't tell from faces whether people are stupid or smart, let alone murderous or kind.

When Kaczynski the Unibomber got arrested, a girl I was seeing said "You can just TELL from his face that he's guilty!" And I though, well Hell, if you knew, why didn't you speak up?

I haven't seen anyone here making any noise about this story, and even though it's only the fourth or fifth day, it's usually the first hours of such a dustup which inspire the greatest passion.

These are five days of trainwreck and evidence-collecting and the engine keeps on chugging, the lawyers must be seeing dollar signs all over Twitter as they watch these verified journalists and all these celebrities burying themselves even deeper.

I've never liked Kara Swisher. She's always seemed like an obnoxious and smug presence with no compensatory illumination for her proximity to the most exciting enterprises & personalities of our generation... An unremarkable lefty of exactly the type to react badly to the events of the weekend (whatever they were). But at least her apology seems sincere.

For those who recommended violence, or even enduring condemnation because they didn't like a 16-year-old's smile... Where do they go next? I mean they've claimed to have supernatural, spiritual insight, a deeper discernment of hidden interiors than any claimed by the observant Jews and devout Christians I've known. They've exposed a childish belief in voodoo which we might thing would condemn their careers....

Well, of course, what's going to happen is that people who said stupid things be fine... I don't think lawyers will have much to work with. And not because their readers and listeners are blithering, forgetful idiots, but because a lot of us are in the habit of turning to particular sources to get our bearings on the day, not for direct instruction. As Aaron Haspel once put it:

Good critics do not have good taste. They have articulate, consistent taste for which the reader can correct.

Testing confirmation bias...

https://twitter.com/TheDiamondMike/status/1087848275657609217

I mean, some of that "punchable face" stuff was straight out of a Salem witch trial.

At least in the Salem witch trials, you had to be physically present to say such things. The goober who tweeted that out would likely soil his panties if he were required to verbalize that thought to his victim.

Virtual keyboard warhawks. At least the black Hebrew Israelites said what they said in person, and I'm guessing are willing rumble any time, any place.

Feds Prepare To Bail Out "Vast Majority" Of 90,000 Sears Pensions

...

It should be noted that the PBGC is not supported by general tax revenues, rather, funding comes from four sources; insurance premiums paid by sponsors of defined benefit pension plans; assets held within the pension that PBGC takes control of; recoveries of unfunded pension liabilities from the bankruptcy estates of plan sponsors, and investment income. Sears entered into a five-year protection plan with the PBGC in 2016.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-21/feds-prepare-bail-out-vast-majority-90000-sears-pensions

A compelling new truth from the computer internet!!

So – IAW (in accordance with) sensible practice, I deferred any interest, personal reaction or comment for at least 48 hours. The first reports about anything are usually wrong, misleading, inaccurate; SOMETHING has happened, and it usually takes at least that long for reporters to put out the fire in their hair and come up with some sensible reportage. Such was, I assumed (over considerable evidence to the contrary, gleaned through sad experience over the years) the common practice also among the more responsible news-gathering organizations. It seems that I am doomed to disappointment again, on this front.

https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/58925.html

To be honest, my biggest takeaway from last weekend's events was to reinforce my opinion on how tiresome, content-free and generally worthless most political activism is. Protests almost never accomplish anything useful; their main function is to serve as a means by which those involved morally elevate themselves above others. Plus, y'know, hitting on chicks. It's all theater; it need not actually say anything -- its worth is supposed to be self-evident, and if you aren't tight enough with the kewl kidz to get it, then you're part of the problem.

Activism mainly functions for the aggrandizement of its leaders. Anything else it accomplishes is incidental. I was so happy to see that fad wear out as the 1970s wound down the last years of that decade's miserable existence, and I'm not thrilled with its zombie-like revival. (Although it does have amusing moments. But probably not the ones that the organizers intended.)

And while I'm good and pissed off (absolutely none of our stupid IT systems are working right today), I'll add this: The statement "we're going to fix oppression with more oppression" -- someone show me when, in human history, that has ever worked.

Who wants to fly coach? if I could afford private jet, I would. Business class would be OK, too.

David Attenborough might have urged world leaders at Davos to take urgent action on climate change, but it appears no one was listening. As he spoke, experts predicted up to 1,500 individual private jets will fly to and from airfields serving the Swiss ski resort this week.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jan/22/record-private-jet-flights-davos-leaders-climate-talk

When I said "inclusiveness", I meant segregation! Get it right!

I dig chicks, y'knoe?

Caity and Big Mac both dropped Covington pieces today.

I a haven't read them but will! Open in tabs!

Also...

Also, Meg has made a habit of publishing sidecar threads on Twitter with additional thoughts: Read these.

And remember that it was Flanagan who had the best explanation for the weird Gillette marketing, for which to my knowledge, P&G has yet to issue any retraction or apology.

The Covington Fiasco Is a Perfect Example of Why the Founders Distrusted Democracy

https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/01/22/the-covington-fiasco-is-a-perfect-example-of-why-the-founders-distrusted-democracy/

(The Flanagan and McArdle pieces were okay-not-great, but I'm gonna read their next ones eagerly anyway)

"As he spoke, experts predicted up to 1,500 individual private jets will fly to and from airfields serving the Swiss ski resort this week."

More wealth envy and nothing else.

Tell me you can get where you want to be, with armed bodyguards, on time, on commercial transportation. You'd be wrong.

Radwaste: At least 95% of those people flying into this conference want to deprive everyone who can't afford private security of the right to arm and defend themselves, so that's just another layer of hypocrisy.