Me? I (Obviously!) Believe The Best STOP To Hinderaker’s Hate Speech… Is To Let Him Talk More. A LOT More.

So much of what he espouses has strayed into openly racist falsehoods, along with illogical arguments about crime that mis-use the most basic of statistical methods… that letting him talk about it (MORE!)… just confirms his motive is nothin’ other than straight white hate. But others see another path. I respect that — either way, he is richly-deserving of his shunnings, in polite society, now.

But it is ironic, to my sense anyway, that after about 60 years of sneering at people whose skin was browner than his — and being admitted without a blink to many many (de-facto, if not de jure) white-only private country clubs around the nation… he screams like a stuck pig, when one of them decides… not to allow him admittance.

And here, not for the color of his skin, or whom he loves — or his gender… but for the (lack of) content in his character.

Said another way, his best case is that this was… viewpoint discrimination. And it is crystal clear that unless that is simply a subterfuge for a race or religion discriminatory action… he loses.

His claim of a contractual right is… again… going nowhere. The club may simply refund whatever he paid — likely under $600 — and say goodbye to him under almost all such standard contracts.

In sum, he’s been told to sit at the back of the bus — but not for the reasons he claims.

He’s being treated this way because no one on the board of directors of a private country club wants their establishment associated with his “think tank” — which is a front for racist policing notions. See this link, and the graphics here.

Sit down, John.

Of “Mea Culpas” — This is the first year…

I am embarrassed to say, this is the first year I’ve picked a NCAA bracket — for women. It is below this, now — with the men’s one.

Mr. Obama has done so for at least three years.

That is… pretty shameful on my part [I do keep pretty close tabs on the D1 Women’s games — having been graced with a niece who was the captain of one of the Ivy League D1 hoops squads, a few years back… so it really is… inexcusable. And, even worse — a sister in law who was ALSO the captain of another Ivy D1 round-ball team, a generation ago (but one that never made the big dance)…].

I will henceforth try to do better… that is all I can offer.

That said, I do love that the Obama Foundation is paying for young men and women of limited means to “shadow” various TV production professionals and vendors, as interns — at New Orleans this March… as part of a training in successes program. So as he says, do think of them — learning about life, in a new way, while you watch the Big Dance in the Big Easy, in a little over two weeks… smile.

That’s all I’ve got — when ya’ know bettah’… ya’ do bettah’.

May the road rise to meet ya’ — on this, and every morning… to the wearin’ of the green.

नमस्ते

Welp. That’s Some Crayola-Level Thinking… [Apologies To Binney-Smith. No Slight Indended.]

We. Just. Cannot.

This is just a reminder that Ms. Owens-Farmer thinks “Ukraine” wasn’t a “thing” until 1989.

That it was a “creation” of the post-Soviet break-up.

Well — that’s a precious lil’ Putin piece of agit-prop.

Six centuries minimum documented in Eastern and Western texts (committed to eternity on vellum, as it were)… tell an entirely different story. [But for her audience, it is likely only the above right image may/will be comprehended by them — thus the crayons / crayola reference, in the header. Which, come to think of it, insults all the bright, curious and creative kindergarten through third graders, who use those fat, one flat sided wax coloring devices. My apologies to them — and the fine people at Binney-Smith & Co.]

Peoples in that region have been fiercely independent… forever, explicitly throwing off Russian rule assertions as early as the 1600s.

But whatever — I just hope Putin’s checks… aren’t rubber, grrl.

UPDATED: one of dozens, now available on Twitter — in response to her lunacy — well played!

नमस्ते

Brooklyn AUSAs “Straighten Out” Mr. Barrack’s Lawyers — On What Felony Trials Are About…

Here’s another lil’ update, on our good friend, and secret UAE lobbyist / billionaire, Thomas Barrack. His lawyers argued (preposterously so — as it misses the whole point!) a day or so ago, that he could not be charged with any crime for speaking favorably about the UAE — or flattering himself, for that matter.

Of course, this ignores the fact that the putative offense is not the speaking, but the KEEPING SILENT, in the face of a federal felonies-infused duty to SPEAK — to disclose (in sworn writings, no less) on government forms, when one is acting as a paid lobbyist for a foreign power — all while serving as a close advisor to the then-incoming occupant of 1600 Penn. [And it happens that Barrack’s favored language (favoring UAE positions, on oil policies) became part of the GOP’s official written planks, after Barrack’s meetings with Tangerine.]

But no one on the planet, let alone the long-suffering US voters, were aware that he was being paid by UAE to whisper in Tangerine’s oafish ears. [This is especially relevant today, as the GOP favored the US government having to buy Arabian oil (at higher prices, too!) in these planks — as opposed to domestic (Texas) oil. Stunning.]

His lawyers go on to claim that the AUSAs are mis-characterizing the evidence, in the DoJ indictment. [“See, how this works boys, is the government gets to go to trial, to let a jury and judge decide whether the evidence supports inferences of criminal activity….” sheesh.]

In any event, the additional offense, as alleged, is lying about those relationships — specifically denying they existed at all, and that he had no burner phone, and in a formal FBI interview, with his then counsel present, of all things.

So the AUSAs said so last night — in writing.

P E R F E C T.

He’s going down, if he doesn’t plea. Onward, grinning….

Tangerine — Ironically — Only Now Realizes… He Represents A Tiny, And Dying, Minority…

Tonight, Tangerine is whining that real news organizations and real media companies… don’t need, or want racist faux-fringer OAN to remain on air.

If Tangerine’s people believe its message is so vital, perhaps they can put the feed through Parler (DOA), Gab (nearly so) or Truth Social (apparently still-born).

Hilarious.

And… good riddance. Sorry Hinderaker — your propaganda outlet… is (like you) DOA.

Cheers.

[U: One Answer] “Pi 2022” Game On! — NCAA Brackets Tomorrow…

Time to exercise your brain muscles! Especially at 1:59 p.m. this afternoon. [But we will also be exercising a different core competency this afternoon, as we work our way through the bracket picks — liking the draws of the Ramblers, Colorado State and Marquette at the moment.]
Enjoy. I will source my cherry pie from the local “Hoosier Mama” pie shoppe. It is always first rate, and made with locally grown dark, ripe Michigan cherries, preserved from last Summer.

Here is the full set of problems, as a multi-color PDF from the kind folks at NASA. [Answers to be posted tomorrow morning. No cheating!]

…LUNAR LOGIC

NASA’s Lunar Flashlight mission will observe and map the location of frost within permanently shadowed craters in the Moon’s south polar region. Knowing how much frost is in these craters and where to find it can help us prepare for extended missions on the Moon, when water will be a valuable resource.

The spacecraft, a backpack-size cubesat, will collect data during 10 orbits over a two-month period, making repeated measurements over multiple points to map ice in these dark craters. To take measurements, Lunar Flashlight will send infrared laser pulses to the surface of the Moon and measure the signal that is reflected. The amount of light that is reflected back will help scientists determine where the lunar surface is dry and where it contains water-ice. At 20 km altitude, the spacecraft’s infrared lasers have a radius of 17.5 meters when they reach the surface of the Moon. How much area do they cover in a single pulse?….

There are several more puzzlers, of increasing difficulty at this poster-sized PDF handout — read them on your screen and try your hand.

Updated 8 p.m. EDT — here is the answer to the one problem quoted above (rest tomorrow, in a separate post): Using the formula Area of a Given Circle = π times r2, we would see that a 17.5 meter radius circle would have an area of… 962.112 square meters. Now you know. End updated portion.

Grinning a pie eating grin all day, now… while multi-tasking / working brackets as well!

नमस्ते

This One Hit Me Inexplicably… Hard: William Hurt Gone, Already — At 71…

I sheepishly now admit that in the 1980s… I often saw at least slivers of myself… in his roles… “Body Heat“, and “Altered States” (I know; I know…), in particular.

So it is… that I will miss him, and more than I might be able to articulate. He did win an Oscar for “The Kiss of the Spider Woman“… the two above being less serious roles. Here’s the Beeb — on his passing:

…Hurt won the best actor Oscar in 1986 for playing a prisoner in a Brazilian jail in Kiss of the Spider Woman.

He was nominated two more times in the next two years, for Children of a Lesser God and Broadcast News.

In recent years, he has been known as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in five Marvel blockbusters….

On to Pi Day 2022, in the morning — but I may just have to return later this week, to those darkened saline isolation tanks (see at above right, and below, centered) in the City of Big Shoulders (yes, they still exist, here — and in Boulder, Colorado, Eugene, Oregon and Sacramento, California — among other cities)… to honor his memory, and his impact on my world views. Grinning — travel well, and do travel light, William.


नमस्ते

From “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”… To A Suburban Minn. VFW Speech — Against Public Health Measures…

…Or, how the once-mighty have… fallen.

Nearly 20 years ago now, the boys of Powerline made some news, by debunking a “fake but accurate” news document. In the course of US history… it was a minor footnote. But… that time in the relative sunshine faded over a decade ago, when Romney lost badly to BHO 44, despite their exhortations that he would be a landslide winner.

This morning, minus the one voice of reason the site once possessed (in Paul Mirengoff), Scott Johnson is promoting a false public health narrative, from a former law-client of his firm, there.

The only place that will give a public podium / forum to this joker is a deep red northwest suburban Minneapolis VFW outpost.

So Scott hypes it — to the dying readership, of their blog.

I think that whole episodic (“Death of A Salesman“) arc — from 2002, forward to this morning… speaks for itself.

Good luck boys… the world you once purported to rule… by force of public opinion… has left you all in the ash-can of history.