C'mon… This is sweet. Admit it.

Wyoming is not only the least most populous state in the nation, it is apparently the most homophobic. (It is, after all, the state where Matthew Shepard met his gruesome, cruel and prolonged death.)

It seems there's a Junior High in Cheyenne where one student was distributing flyers of the least tasteful type of humor. "It's great to be straight. It's not okay to be gay."

And here's the worst one: "Black lives only matter because if it weren't for them, who would pick our cotton?"

The offender was found and disciplined. (I don't know how he was disciplined. Expulsion seems appropriate.) But that's not the end of it. Students were found waving Confederate flags, so the students were members of the Gay Straight Alliance waved rainbow flags in response.

Three teachers at the school, apparently without sanction from anyone except themselves, took two dozen members of the GSA out of their classes to inform them that they were no longer be allowed to have "LGBT paraphernalia" including rainbow flags, pins, ribbons, etc. at school. Nor even dress in rainbow colors.

Why? Because it was "a distraction" and the students were told, "You wouldn't want to make others feel they way you felt when you saw the posters."

Yes, we must protect the tender sensibilities of bigots. Wouldn't want to offend them by, for instance, showing them that their hatred will not suppress your self-respect. I certainly hope they told any non-white students at the school to be less non-white, too. Out of respect for the Confederate flag-wavers, of course.

The principal insists that he knew nothing about this meeting and didn't authorize any such ban. However, he did make the decision to fire the substitute teacher who was the GSA's sponsor.

The superintendent has vowed that the teacher will be reinstated, but that hasn't happened yet. It might be interesting to see how this situation is rectified.

Sorry about the "least most..." I had written something else, then decided to change the wording and attempted to revise. It seems I didn't edit enough.

Authorities are still uncertain as to the cause of the fire at Notre Dame...

...but I hear they've got a hunch back at the station.

Talking about Matthew Shepard:

No one was talking much about meth abuse in 1998, though it was rapidly establishing itself in small-town America, as well as in metropolitan gay clubs, where it would leave a catastrophic legacy. In Wyoming in the late 1990s, eighth graders were using meth at a higher rate than 12th graders nationwide. It’s hardly surprising to learn from Jimenez that Shepard was also a routine drug user, and — according to some of his friends — an experienced dealer. (Although there is no real evidence for supposing that Shepard was using drugs himself on the night of his murder).

https://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/09/13/have-we-got-matthew-shepard-all-wrong

Reading this about Columbine called to mind Cousin Dave at April 19, 2019 11:44 AM.

Wikipedia says of the Columbia accident, echoing CD:

Engineers made three separate requests for Department of Defense (DOD) imaging of the shuttle in orbit to determine damage more precisely. While the images were not guaranteed to show the damage, the capability existed for imaging of sufficient resolution to provide meaningful examination. NASA management did not honor the requests and in some cases intervened to stop the DOD from assisting.[12]

And now for the first moment seeing that these nightmares share a name.

Brat elephant.

Mark Penn makes the interesting point in this piece that the Nixonian characters in the whole Trump-Meuller collusion story are the Democrats in Congress, not the Trumpistas.

Using the instruments of government to harass and investigate political opponents, as the Democrats in Congress are doing, is the kind of thing for which Nixon is today reviled.

"But the problem is that Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) are congressmen from safe districts who are nobodies if they have no investigations to launch. It’s in the interest of their egos to keep it all going so that they can have daily press availabilities. And they are whipping up their political bases. It will take some Democrats of courage to turn this off and stop the abuse of going after the president’s financial records. These are the kinds of things Nixon was doing, and there is no justification for those in Congress to be doing exactly those things for which Nixon resigned from office — going after his political enemies."

This entire chapter of our politics has gone beyond investigating possible wrongdoing and is devolving into a coup d'état. Leftist Democrats will not rest until they've stained the political process indelibly.

As odious as Trump is, he is the legitimately elected president. Removing him from office without evidence of a serious crime reduces this country to a Third World banana republic. Such a coup will not augur a prosperous and stable future.

It feels like having the President under investigation for something or other is just one of the customs of our people.

It feels like having the President under investigation for something or other is just one of the customs of our people. ~ NicoleK at April 20, 2019 8:05 AM

I'm all for presidents being investigated for specific wrongdoing, but I'm getting a little tired of special prosecutors being sent on taxpayer-funded fishing expeditions for little more than political gamesmanship.

The only accolade I'll give Meuller as a special prosecutor is that he wrapped it up in under one presidential term. Lawrence Walsh took almost two Reagan terms and half a Bush term. Starr took almost two Clinton terms.

> Leftist Democrats will
> not rest

Their delusion that they themselves are the Great Seers of Trump's Wretchedness is almost forgivable as an expression of harsh, untested ego by this fat, happy, and essentially unaccomplished generation. Lefties gonna leftify, and we always knew that.

But the undergirding corollary in their fantasy is that Trump/Putin pulled a fast one, and Trump voters and everyone else who isn't just as drunk on the MuellerTablewine is just too naive to see the truth.

I think this should not be forgiven.

It these people want to look down on others, make social distance from them, and shamelessly squirt an unending shower of obvious, self-aggrandizing insults, no problem. (It's a shitty and self-embittering way to live your life, but human nature is a foolish thing. Some people drink too much; others listen to country music. We all got our poisons. If you want to ruin your ride with sour and transparently needful posturing, go ahead.)

Doing so through the irresistible power of the United States government is inexcusable. It brings enduring corruptions to the project of human civilization, to which I've heretofore regarded America as the greatest benefactor.

People hated Murray's Bell Curve for saying black Americans were nearly a standard deviation below the norm for IQ. For this sin his career was badly bruised.

Because doing so noisily masked his even more consequential message: The entirety of our culture is directing far too much of its moral and financial capital to the benefit of its more intelligent members, who are going to do well in life anyway...

...By, for example, getting jobs in government.

I think a lesser —if much smellier— portion of Trump's support comes from bitter idiots who watch too much teevee and are desperately in need of a cartoon hero who uses short words. Often on Twitter, which is no less capable of pandering than is basic cable.

My belief, or fondest hope, is that the greater part of the Trump phenomenon is a recognition by a very broad swath of the American public —whether articulated or not, and from both sides of the intelligence hill— that smart people are gaming our culture to their own lifelong benefit (including as a salve for personal insecurities) at a tremendous expense to the rest of us.

Trump MEANS SOMETHING. Of course he does. And it might mean something critical about America's way forward. Mr. or Missus* Lefty, this is more important than your need to believe you were right all along.

As Bannon put it in debate with Frum last autumn, America is a revolutionary power, not an imperial one. (Or have you not noticed that young voters seem disinterest in making fresh war overseas?)

*Snicker.  I did that just to be mean.

That was another great blog comment! Bring me your finest meats and cheeses!

Hollywood A-lister's seven-year-old outed as transgender.

Damn. DisinterestED. Typo.

Oh well, let's FedEx it to the Committee and see what happens.

Gog, I sometimes fear the Starlet Miss Theron has lost her way. She's a little too old for some of this.

I'm in.

You guys?

New Duran Duran video this weekend!

I'm married but otherwise I'd ask her out.

I would wish you the best of luck with that NicoleK. If you were unmarried and presumably male (she doesn't appear to be looking for women). And as a man I would laugh at you and buy you a beer when it all falls apart. Never stick your dick in crazy. She is single for very good reasons.

The Bronfmans are making trouble in show business again? "NVIXM," huh? Let's follow some random links!

Alison Mack looks crazy cute & attractive in high-school-heartbreak kind of way! Here's a random link to explain who the Hell she is! Great complexion, fantastic dentition and a nice rack! There are thousands and thousands of starlets I've never heard of, and she's only one of them! She hasn't found true love yet!

Also she's worth seven million, and she's going up the river. The Bronfman woman's worth $200 meg after her idiot big half-brother vaporized nine BILLION by swinging his dick through Hollywood.

This is me reading between the lines… XVMNI was apparently a mind-control sex cult that isn't even interesting enough for someone to turn into an overlong article in Vanity Fair. Helter Skelter it ain't.

If someone here can find a few words to make it all comprehensible, their next assignment will be Pizzagate... And no one wants that.

But if I could have woven Alison Mack into my sex cult, I'd have done so promptly. Of course. Look at her, for Chrissake. She's got a great pair of Macks.

No, seriously, go back and look at that web page:

"Allison Mack and Keith Raniere present, [sic] The Source, A curriculum designed for the actor, artist, speaker, singer and other aspiring professionals to discover themselves, and find a part of themselves that is unique and apply it to their own career.

Allison Mack plays a vital role in the work of The Source and so far she has a lot to say about this program,[sic]

I’ve been an actress for over 28 years. I’ve worked on film, television, theatre, web, voice-over’s [sic]; you name it, I’ve been there. I’ve also studied the full spectrum of methods. While I’ve found everything I have done incredibly helpful and useful, I’ve never found a curriculum more profoundly life changing than, [sic] THE SOURCE...."

Listen, here's how we fix these things: If you have kids, don't let them be stupid and gullible.

Going back through the browser history, still no clue how I fell into that rabbit hole.

The only way to beat this is to focus your concentration above his left eye, the 'near' one.

There's this, which I kinda sympathize with.

And there's this which I disagree with vehemently... Even though the link is from Haidt, whom I've come to admire tremendously.

You should read that piece. When theatrically smart people start selling incense and colorful fabrics as a consequence of "our empirically based studies," you know there's another Alison Mack out there who's about to meet her manipulator.

And see this.

Every religion worth a prayer gives you the same warnings in the first verses:

1. You were not brought here to have a good time.


2. You are here to struggle.


3. That struggle will mean contesting things with other people.


4. They will be people you both do and certainly do not like very much.

I've been avoiding paperwork this afternoon. It's been going great.

Per the 8:17am comment: Trump had freaking well better portend a revolution in American thinking, because his administration certainly ain't delivering the goods politically.

Do you want a revolutionary president? Because I can show you a revolutionary president, one whose efforts shine on in our lives, even at this hour.

(In his own hour I despised him.)

(Today's Executive is not equipped to enjoy this kind of revision in appraisal.)

Notes:

1. By professional experience and despite hearing loss, I recognize the weird audio dynamics of an incorrectly-decoded 1980's Betacam SP videotape. Basically, everything shot for TV by a news or entertainment crew in the field between 1986 and 1997, from game-changing historical news events to petty celebrity interviews, has this distracting audible effect. Blame Sony and Dolby labs, who were literally speaking different languages when their shared specs were published. Also, blame incompetent broadcast executives, who didn't have the sense to monitor their own product and hold underling producers and engineers to account.


2. Reagan is well into his disease by this time (1986), but moves through every moment of this clip with the efficient dispatch of a Hollywood-trained professional. Watch his body language. Watch the expression of his handshake partners, even as his own glance has moved on. Listen to his own tone of voice, even as (five years after the attempt on his life) he cracks jokes about surviving the transit from the podium to the desk.


3. Even at the time we knew his hair color was ridiculous. In retrospect, it's unfathomable... Why didn't someone help him with this?


4. Note that he ACTUALLY DELIVERS THE GOODS ON IMMIGRATION.

The Reagan Revolution was real, and changed the life of everyone who read these words. Also of everyone who doesn't.

Trump is just a guy on Twitter.

Do you want a revolutionary president? Because I can show you a revolutionary president, one whose efforts shine on in our lives, even at this hour. ~ Crid at April 20, 2019 11:23 PM

Your video is of Amy's sea lion; don't know if that was intentional.

No. No, it really was NOT.

https://t.co/YqXqVCOwtT

Man, that was a good comment, too....

"How could this possibly be excused? Morally, I mean?"

It can't.

I'll say this. I was in the MCC for that mission. Everyone knew something had happened -- we all saw it in the launch video. There were people looking at it after launch. But I'm a computing and data guy, and it wasn't within my discipline, so I wasn't involved in that. We heard hall talk and rumors of management discussions. I had a job to do so I had to buckle down and ignore all that.

As the mission went on, and nothing bad seemed to be happening, it gradually faded from forethought. But no one forgot about it entirely. So when the accident happened, it was shocking, but in a way, not surprising -- which was the worst part. Knowing what we know now about the Broward County school system and its discipline practices, I wonder how many people in Fort Lauderdale, after the Parkland shooting, said to themselves, "I'm not surprised".

Do you want a revolutionary president? Because I can show you a revolutionary president, one whose efforts shine on in our lives, even at this hour. ~ Crid at April 20, 2019 11:23 PM

You wanna know why he was "revolutionary?" He trusted the private sector more than the government.

In an article lauding Trump's decision to leave the development of 5G in the hands of the private sector, City Journal reflects on Reagan doing the same when the US computer industry was threatened by a government-backed challenge from Japan.

The other event occurred on April 14, 1982, when Japan launched its government-backed program to “leapfrog” U.S. leadership in computers. Japan was then the ferocious “Asian tiger,” prompting all manner of fears within the political intelligentsia. Democrats and Republicans begged then-President Ronald Reagan to launch our own government initiative to counter the Japanese threat, lest America lose its computing supremacy. Reagan’s response: "I don’t know what the future holds for computers, but I do know one thing. None of you do, either."