"Police say Oregon man who stole a car with a child in the backseat came back and 'lectured' the mom about parenting"

https://www.insider.com/oregon-man-stole-car-with-child-in-backseat-scolds-mom-2021-1

And then he stole the car again.

Now that's funny.

Thanks for your kind words in the other thread, btw.

You're very welcome, Lenona. You're always a breath of fresh air wafting through the insults and invectives.

Thanks again. It never ceases to amaze me how certain allegedly highly professional people here are so prone to angry hysteria, hyperbole and unfair accusations - AND they seem to have far more time than I do to write (as opposed to quoting) long posts. Even pre-pandemic.

Bill Maher's video segment (post-Capitol) is interesting, as always, but the commentators have some pretty interesting criticisms of him as well. Especially regarding details Maher didn't mention about Ashli Babbitt (apparently, he sympathized with her). There are over 800 comments - be sure to rank them according to Best, first.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/watch-bill-maher-devotes-post-insurrection-new-rules-segment-to-trump-voters-who-have-a-right-to-be-pissed-off/

Other comments:

Jay W • 2 days ago
"He just has Libertarian leanings. He's trying so hard to be liberal... but also wants to prevent things from being taken, in his opinion, too far. But if he didn't hate religion as much as he does, he'd likely become a socially liberal conservative."

Marla 2 days ago

"In Colorado the self-professed liberal rich rich and their private schools love to take working class tax money and build fences around their schools while the poorer schools suffer without so much a text book. All the time claiming that our children's education is vital to the survival of the country.

"I taught math in a private school where one semester tuition was near $20,000 on the high school tier. They place was loaded with rich liberals who would come down on me if their rotten BMW-driving kid did not make it to the med school of their choice that somehow that was my fault while all the time that school never provided me with any health benefits or sick leave.

"Oh, and every kid in that school was white. Every one."

Ronald Reagan • 2 days ago
"If Ashli Babbitt didn't have internet access, she's be alive right now, the same goes for half of the idiots who gave their lives of ISIS and Al Qaeda. They were radicalized into self-destruction by far right wing propaganda on the internet. The bottom line is there is far too much untreated mental illness in the world and extremists are exploiting it for clicks on the internet."

• Glorious solution to the decades-old philosophical quandary.

• Never was anyone so unimpressed with Elvis.

• Eric Weinstein is arguably the most conceited presence on the internet today, but when he's right, he's right.

• This lighting could overwhelm when you just want to watch a romantic comedy.

• In this short video from San Fran, you can feel the anger seeping into every tissue of your body.

• In this old photo from South Caroling, you can feel the humidity seeping into every tissue of your body.

Whoohoo Conan the Grammarian!

Thanks for the link to The Cadaver Synod! Fun story. Especially re: Stephen.

Today's desecrators are no less irrational.

FTR, career Brees v Brady is 5 to 4. I love this stuff.

I was just perusing (in the modern sense) some old topics here and came across an Artie reference to his "spouse," which somehow brought to mind an exchange between Cesar Romero and Elizabeth Allen in Donovan's Reef. If the plural of "louse" is "lice," is the plural of "spouse" then "spice?"

Fun internet drama:

https://coconuts.co/bali/news/on-foreigner-privilege-gentrification-and-racism-how-one-american-digital-nomads-twitter-thread-about-bali-sparked-backlash/

I know some philosophers think that history is cyclical and thus bound to repeat itself but come on, too soon..

https://mobile.twitter.com/lporiginalg/status/1351217812203839495

The best ever Letter to the Editor, or the best ever Boy Scout story?

You be the judge!

This City Journal article echoes what I've been saying about securing our election system.

Just because you don't like the people making the claims is no reason to dismiss the need to make the process more secure.

In fact, our electoral system is not as secure as it should be. Not surprisingly, citizens on both sides seem to trust it only when their party wins. Four years ago, of course, it was Democrats who claimed that the presidential election was “hacked,” and some, including the losing candidate herself, never stopped calling Trump’s presidency illegitimate. According to a 2020 Gallup poll, deep distrust in our electoral system goes back many years, though never before has it led to the kind of frightening violence we saw in Washington earlier this month.

AND

The vulnerabilities of electronic voting systems pale next to those involved in absentee voting. Voting by mail “increases the risks of fraud and of contested elections,” warned the 2005 Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former secretary of state James Baker and former president Jimmy Carter. ... Airlines keep meticulous records of every maintenance procedure. Banks and casinos carefully track the handling of cash in their facilities. Voting by mail precludes the kind of supervision that keeps those industries safe. As the New York Times noted in 2012, mail-in voting “replaces the oversight that exists at polling places with something akin to the honor system.”

The problem is that no party wants to discover its victory was tainted or that its electoral base is not as firm as it thinks it is. So, claims of fraud or irregularities by the losing party are dismissed as sour grapes by the winning party.

Both parties are ignoring the problem, gambling that they can use the dissatisfaction to their own political advantage. The day is rapidly coming, however, when the dissatisfaction is no longer political, but widespread enough that our democracy shatters under the weight of the discontent.

"Shatters" is a loud word. It's easy to imagine there will be conflicts, mostly postured and undignified… And probably a few which are consequential, where we'll be saying 'This isn't how we did it back in the day.' And then we'll say 'It was *better* back in the day.' We'll be right both times…

But there's a dance in the old girl yet. Modern Americans are the most interdependent people who've ever lived, whatever their illusions of maverick autonomy.

Probably I'm saying this because you pointed out four years ago (-tonight, roughly) that Trump would probably be a shitty president, but we've had those before, too.

This tweet offers an applicable aphorism.

This one carries a pungent truth, even though nobody says "gay" like that any more. If Pelosi is (theatrically) wearing African scarves and (theatrically) falling to one knee, the sanctimony is out of control.



Anyway, Conan, don't know if you've heard the blog's gossip, but I'm consolidating a project known as Uncle Cridmo's 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥™, and I'd like you to be part of it… Preferably with a seat on the Cabal of Seven. Amy herself has already claimed the Treasurer's chair, but there's lots of room for making your presence felt on subcommittees such as Agenda, Refreshment, and Enforcement.

As the project evolves, we hope that these positions will include substantial honoraria... But for now, there are unavoidable application fees which need to be observed. Lenona, at the Membership desk, has affirmed at a payment plan can be composed for every budget.

Call the office in the morning, and let's get to work! Thirty-eight hours until inauguration of you-know-who!

You're certainly right that both sides are toying with voter trust and dissatisfaction.

Conan, "spice" reminds me of this 1983 letter from a man, on how to help prevent a husband from straying:

"....Make the first move occasionally. Surprise him. Do something kinky once in a while. Be exciting. Flirt with him like you suspect his secretary does. Pretend you're a hooker. He'll love it." Happy In Poughkeepsle

Dear Happy: "You may be on to something. Monotony can be deadly. A surprise move might jolt the guy into showing you a side you never knew existed They don't say variety is the spice of life for nothin.' "