The old Simon and Garfunkle song accurately describes when I woke up this morning…
1. I think that settles it. I’m going to flush myself down the toilet...Yesterday, an educated, adult woman of my acquaintance told her Facebook friends about her terrible treatment by Alamo Rental Cars. When a FBF responded with a refeence to Santa Anna, she replied, “???” Yes, she had no idea what “Alamo” referred to. This speaks to a catastrophic failure of the American education system.
On the bright side, ignorant citizens are the target audience of many of the highest polling Democratic candidates for President.
2. Ethics Hero: Whoopi Goldberg? On ABC’s “The View,” a show that relentlessly lowers the IQ of anyone who watches it for more than 5 minutes, co-host Whoopi Goldberg began the first show of the new season to condemn efforts in actors in Hollywood to blacklist conservatives and Trump supporters, a practice encouraged by tweets from “Will and Grace” stars Debra Messing and Eric McCormack over the weekend. After some back and forth with the assorted idiots who share the panel with her, Whoopi said,
Listen, last time people did this, people ended up killing themselves. This is not a good idea, okay? Your idea of who you don’t want to work with is your personal business. Do not encourage people to print out lists because the next list that comes out, your name will be on and then people will be coming after you. No one — nobody — we had something called a blacklist and a lot of really good people were accused of stuff. Nobody cared whether it was true or not. They were accused. And they lost their right to work. You don’t have the right in this country. People can vote for who they want to. That is one of the great rights of this country. You don’t have to like it, but we don’t — we don’t go after people because we don’t like who they voted for. We don’t go after them that way. We can talk about issues and stuff but we don’t print out lists, and I’m sure you guys misspoke when you said that because you — it sounded like a good idea. Think about it. Read about it. Remember what the blacklist actually meant to people, and don’t encourage anyone, anyone to do it!
I wonder how many people who don’t know about the Alamo know about the blacklist?
3. Just a reminder that the news media was never trustworthy. The Washington Post, ironically, revealed that this iconic photo from the Great Depression, intended to convey courage, hope, and American industriousness while being represented as a candid shot..
…was in fact staged, and the casual workers eating lunch while being suspended thousands of feet above the city may not even have been too far from a safe landing place.
4. Good. A 9-4 decision last week by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned earlier rulings to hold that travelers can sue the government over misconduct by federal airport screeners, because the agents often act like law enforcement officers, such as when when engage in invasive searches. A district court and a three-judge panel had previously ruled that TSA officers are only screeners who inspect passengers and bags.
5. Hey! I never thought of that! Protecting a the Bill of Rights can make you a terrorist! The reliably absurd San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution yesterday declaring the National Rifle Association as a “domestic terrorist organization.” The creed says that the U.S. is “plagued by an epidemic of gun violence,” and accuses the NRA of using “its considerable wealth and organization strength to promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence.”
“All countries have violent and hateful people, but only in America do we give them ready access to assault weapons and large-capacity magazines thanks, in large part, to the National Rifle Association’s influence,” the resolution says, parading the Board’s ignorance in all directions. [Pointer: Steve Witherspoon]
* A New York Times headline in the prescient science fiction novel, “IQ 83,” in which a virus begins reducing the intelligence of Americans to idiot levels. The scientist responsible for the virus’s escape from his lab must try to find a cure before he becomes too stupid.
Ethics Alarms 
Here is a direct link to the resolution document in PDF form.
https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=7568748&GUID=DF64490F-D8BC-4BF7-A43D-287F02BECCCA
The goal of the SanFrancisco supervisors is to give a basis for gun confiscation.
NRA = Terrorist organization
NRA member = Terrorist
Now combine that with proposed Red Flag laws
Get membership list of NRA members and start raiding homes under the Red Flag statute
This is not dumb. This is insidious and strategic.
One other point. How does the NTA incite people to violence.
Using their logic they could argue the GOP is a domestic terrorist organization because it protects gun rights and – you know- Trump.
NRA not NTA. Fat fingers
National Truffle Association. Also a terrorist organization. Understandable mistake.
Just wait until they unleash their truffle pigs on you.
🎵 Trufflers gathering in their masses….. 🎵
😉 OK, that took a bit of a reach…and reminded me that I hate the laziness of rhyming a word with itself.
Using their logic, they will. Just wait.
Are you saying they will “root” out every opportunity to exploit this? Are these the people who are supposedly “more equal” than others.
Too much word association.
I associate truffles with rooting pigs and associate pigs with Orwell. Off to the vet.
The NRA incites people to violence because they refuse to be laywaid by central statists imposing “reasonable gun regulations” on law-abiding citizens’ ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Doesn’t this type of resolution open the door for other cities/counties/states to pass similar resolutions against other lobbying groups? They have already bullied Walmart into not selling ammunition.
What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander, no? For instance, let’s assume this resolution is appropriate, legal, and ethical. After all, this Anti-NRA resolution declares “The United States is plagued by an epidemic of gun violence, including over 36,000 deaths, and 100,000 injuries each year.” Should the City of San Antonio and Bexar County pass a similar resolution against Planned Parenthood? According to the CDC, “A total of 638,169 abortions for 2015 were reported to CDC from 49 reporting areas. Among these 49 reporting areas, the abortion rate for 2015 was 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, and the abortion ratio was 188 abortions per 1,000 live births.” Why can’t San Antonio and Bexar County, then, declare Planned Parenthood to be a terrorist organization because the United Statets is plagued by an epidemic of abortions and “encourage” the city to review its contracts to see if its contractors support or in someway provide a benefit to Planned Parenthood? After all, the Second Amendment is actually in the Constitution; the right to an abortion comes from judicial decisions discussing the penumbra of privacy rights.
jvb
First, San Antonio is very blue, but I wish…
Second, this anti-abortion resolution is coming soon to a (small) red city near you, should this stand. The left has pushed too far, and now the formerly principled right will respond in kind. The left has declared total war. The only way they understand what total war means is for their oxen to lay there bleeding like happens when they gore their enemy’s livestock.
Using their logic, all abortion activist should be labeled domestic terrorists and organizations like Planned Parenthood should be labeled domestic terrorist organizations. There are roughly 600,000+ intentional abortions performed in the USA every year, that’s 1,644 abortions per day.
Using their logic, the United Auto Workers should be labeled a domestic terrorist organization. There are roughly 37,000 deaths due to vehicles in the USA every year, that’s 100+ deaths per day.
What about tobacco lobbies, pharmaceutical lobbies, beef farmer lobbies, milk farmer lobbies, illegal drug dealing gangs, etc,etc.
I’m sure you all can come up with other examples.
Next up: the Vape industry. If they can get over the number of their blind followers who use the product.
One of the more common comments I have seen about Chuck Shumer’s attempt to ban body armor for ‘normal’ citizens is “I get the impression he thinks we are too hard to kill right now”.
If the government says you don’t need a gun, you really need a gun.
I was going to attribute the last sentence to Black Kettle, but I didn’t want to be accused of journalism.
The resolution also calls for an examination of vendors to the city that have any relationship with the NRA.
As a governmental agency basing any purchasing decision on political grounds would be:
A violation of 1st amendment protections; the equivalent of a an extortion attempt on area businesses by the elected Democrats; and perhaps a RICCO violation.
It is also an unethical abuse of power.
How is this different from predominantly black churches endorsing political candidates. How is it different from historically black churches saying its members can’t vote for a Republican? It is against the tax code to do so, but they are typically allowed to do so. How is is allowable for state or nonprofit schools to endorse political candidates? It is against the tax code, and I would suspect that state agencies are forbidden to officially take sides in elections, yet this is what happens.
1. Back from vacation here! Your Alamo-Oblivious friend reminds me of my return from vacation last year. I was at a Bob Evans wearing a Valley Forge t-shirt I’d just bought on my trip and the young man at the cash register had no idea what Valley Forge was. He did, however, remember the Lost Colony of Roanoke.
2. I was going to nominate Whoopi for an ethics hero if you hadn’t addressed it here. Her speech could use some polishing up, but she said what needed to be said. As has often been pointed out on EA, what you do to others can be done to you.
3. I’ve actually known about that picture for a bit.
5. I’d love for them to give specific examples of the NRA inciting people to violence.
Welcome back. I don’t get vacations, and so I hate you.
#5: The NRA’s response should be limited to a single quote: “Dieu m’a exaucé.” -Voltaire.
2. Some Authentic Frontier Gibberish from Will and Grace. I’d urge them to hire some PR help. This doesn’t even register on the apology scale. I don’t think it’s sufficiently comprehensible, at least by anyone other than Grace. Are they speaking to each other in code or a foreign language:
‘I want to be clear about my social media post from last week, which has been misinterpreted in a very upsetting way. I absolutely do not support blacklists or discrimination of any kind, as anyone who knows me would attest,’ McCormack said in a statement posted on Instagram.
‘I’d simply like to understand where Trump’s major donations are coming from, which is a matter of public record.
‘I am holding myself responsible for making educated and informed decisions that I can morally and ethically stand by and to do that, transparency is essential.’
His co-star Messing followed up by tweeting a screenshot of his statement on Twitter and saying: ‘I couldn’t have said it better’.
‘My friend Eric McCormack posted this today. It perfectly explains the intent behind each of our posts concerning the fundraiser. I am posting it here because, honestly, I couldn’t have said it better,’ she tweeted.
I’m sure she couldn’t have said it better.
blitheringly idiotic
Going back in history a bit, this is how Hitler and the Nazis dealt with private ownership of firearms and gun clubs: https://www.nationalreview.com/2013/12/how-nazis-used-gun-control-stephen-p-halbrook/
I wonder why no similar hatred for criminal gangs like the Crips, the Mafia, and MS-13.
Because that would be racist.
Nobody else mentioned the TSA. There have been some real horror stories about that troupe of brigands over the years. I, for one, hope they’re sued into oblivion and reduced to tipping their hats politely at passengers passing them by unimpeded. For now though, has there ever been a more wretched hive of scum and villainy? May we soon be rid of them.
5 points for the Star Wars reference.
Wonder if anyone at Disney related to the series knows what movie it came from, or what city it referred to?
Whoopi is sometimes the sole voice of reason on that show. When the Covington incident turned out the opposite of what had been initially reported, Whoopi and Joy Behar had had this exchange-
Whoopi Goldberg, Host: Many people admitted they made snap judgments before these other facts came in. But is it that we just instantly say that’s what it is based on what we see in that moment and then have to walk stuff back when it turns out we’re wrong? Why is that? Why do we keep making the same mistake?
Joy Behar: Because we’re desperate to get Trump out of office. That’s why.
Abby Huntsman: Not everybody though.
Goldberg: What does that have to do —
Behar: I think that’s the reason. I think the press jumps the gun a lot because we just — we have so much circumstantial evidence against this guy that we basically are hoping that Cohen has the goods and what have you and so it’s wishful thinking.
Goldberg: Right, but let’s talk about the kids in this particular confrontation since that’s the question at hand.
That discussion really didn’t get anywhere, as it was still early days, and Phillips hadn’t been exposed as a liar yet, but it’s admirable that Whoopi was willing to challenge the narrative.
Whoopi is exhibiting the knowledge that the left has gone too far.
She realizes two things, in my opinion: that the tools progressives, the resistance, the media, and the Democrats (but I repeat myself) use against their opponents will be turned against them in the end; and that the batshit crazy inmates running the asylum (the DNC, media, et. al.) have zero compunction with burning fellow travelers. None.
Ask the formerly immune virtue signalling Hollywood glitterati who have been attacked for things that were once dogma, expressed on social media years ago.
Ask the formerly immune Lesbians who now must date (and have sex with) men (who think they are women, yet still have the OEM equipment) just because the men SAY they feel pretty. No transition plans needed.
Ask women athletes who must support men (again, all original parts intact) who defeat them in their own sports. Smile, ladies, and acknowledge that you will never again be relevant in the sport you once dominated.
Ask the victims of metoo who are blacklisted over accusations alone, many times by those who stand to gain for the accusation.
Self interest finally rears its ugly head.