Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 6:51:26 AM

1

Good morning. Discussion question: is the republic finished, or can it still be saved?

Looking around at the news, I’m not feeling very optimistic, to put it mildly.

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 6:53:51 AM

2

Meanwhile in Canada, the police are successfully controlling the Christian Pastor threat:

https://twitter.com/ezralevant/status/1391171521692028929

/spit

buzzsawmonkey 5/11/2021 7:09:18 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 1:

I'm not sure what, in particular, prompted your observation, but the parade of idiocies and prevarications issuing from the Offal Orifice certainly makes optimism an uphill climb.

Kosh's Shadow 5/11/2021 7:13:50 AM

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M0st other countries would have bombed Gaza repeatedly. And those countries would cry the most if Israel did so.

buzzsawmonkey 5/11/2021 7:20:46 AM

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In #4 Kosh's Shadow said: M0st other countries would have bombed Gaza repeatedly. And those countries would cry the most if Israel did so.

I read some years ago that Israel was trying to sell its "Iron Dome" missile-protection technology at some sort of international armaments/weapons fair, and had no takers; the other countries approached basically said, "What do we need that for? If some neighbor of ours started lobbing missiles at us we'd simply flatten them."

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 7:21:28 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 3:

Looking at the news roundup from Ace of spades just kind of crystallized it for me.

http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=393770

and while not directly about this republic, the video of multiple armed cops “taking down“ a Christian Pastor for the crime of holding church services was the putrid icing on the cake.

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 7:24:49 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 4: Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 5:

hey, at least the Palestinians aren’t doing anything *truly* dangerous, like, you know, taking selfies while wearing Viking helmets.

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 7:30:07 AM

8

And meanwhile, this past Saturday, a white supremacist shot three people in broad daylight in Times Square, including a four-year-old child;:

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/robert-spencer/2021/05/10/three-bystanders-shot-in-broad-daylight-in-times-square-by-a-man-named-farrakhan-muhammad-n1445762

Well... at least I think he was a white supremacist. Because they are the threat, right?

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 7:32:25 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 5:

I saw that same account, or maybe I posted it here and you got it from me. I believe I read it via Mark Steyn.

buzzsawmonkey 5/11/2021 7:39:35 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 6:

That's a hell of a link lineup.

Kosh's Shadow 5/11/2021 7:48:48 AM

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In #5 buzzsawmonkey said: I read some years ago that Israel was trying to sell its "Iron Dome" missile-protection technology at some sort of international armaments/weapons fair, and had no takers; the other countries approached basically said, "What do we need that for? If some neighbor of ours started lobbing missiles at us we'd simply flatten them."

There have also been people complaining Israel is racist because they don't supply Iron Dome to Gaza, giving Israel an unfair advantage.

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 7:52:10 AM

12

“Kinsley Gaffe”, exhibit A:

https://www.bizpacreview.com/2021/05/09/white-house-official-fesses-up-that-biden-admin-had-a-plan-from-the-beginning-on-migrant-surge-1071571/

buzzsawmonkey 5/11/2021 7:52:30 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 11:

That's equivalent to the US offering Japan a nuke in 1945.

Alice in Dairyland 5/11/2021 8:23:34 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 13:

Well, we did offer them nukes; just not the way you meant.  I guess we made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

Kosh's Shadow 5/11/2021 8:53:35 AM

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In #14 Alice in Dairyland said: Well, we did offer them nukes; just not the way you meant.  I guess we made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

Personally, I think that should be the prototype for any nuke deal with Iran - Want nukes? We'll deliver them - at the top of a Minuteman or Trident missile.

Alice in Dairyland 5/11/2021 9:01:18 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 15:

Works for me.

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 9:26:30 AM

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Even now, some things do get better. The new Amtrak departure station (Moynihan)  in NYC is quite a contrast from nasty old Penn station.

buzzsawmonkey 5/11/2021 9:35:09 AM

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In #17 Occasional Reader said: Even now, some things do get better. The new Amtrak departure station (Moynihan)  in NYC is quite a contrast from nasty old Penn station.

Isn't that the station that they hacked out of the Central Post Office across the street---a building which had been designed/constructed by the same architects who built the Penn Station that NYC demolished?

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 9:39:40 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 18:

yes, it’s the old post office. 

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 9:42:50 AM

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Well, I tried to post a photo of it, but the site will not let me.

Anyway, it is certainly much nicer and cleaner than the old station. On the other hand, very few concessions are open yet, I can’t even find a newsstand.

Kosh's Shadow 5/11/2021 9:52:58 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 20:

The problem is you use an iPhone, and it uses an Apple image format that is not a Web standard.

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 9:54:42 AM

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Kosh's Shadow 5/11/2021 9:59:36 AM

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Is the Pope Catholic? Sometimes I wonder

The head of the Vatican’s doctrine office is warning U.S. bishops to deliberate carefully and minimize divisions before proceeding with a possible plan to rebuke Roman Catholic politicians such as President Joe Biden for receiving Communion even though they support abortion rights.

buzzsawmonkey 5/11/2021 10:07:02 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 23:

If Joe Biden were truly Catholic, he'd have given up the presidency for Fraudu-Lent.

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 10:08:59 AM

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In #21 Kosh's Shadow said: The problem is you use an iPhone, and it uses an Apple image format that is not a Web standard.

But *sometimes*, it works just fine.

Kosh's Shadow 5/11/2021 10:10:40 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 20:

Does the new station have  real waiting areas,  and enough space that you aren't tripping over people waiting for their delayed trains in the main corridor? Whoever designed Penn Station was a moron.

buzzsawmonkey 5/11/2021 10:11:09 AM

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In #25 Occasional Reader said: But *sometimes*, it works just fine.

Why, fie!

buzzsawmonkey 5/11/2021 10:12:27 AM

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In #26 Kosh's Shadow said: Whoever designed Penn Station was a moron.

The old, original Penn Station was magnificent.  The post-demolition "Penn Station" was the vestigial bowels of the original.

Kosh's Shadow 5/11/2021 10:19:30 AM

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In #28 buzzsawmonkey said: The old, original Penn Station was magnificent.  The post-demolition "Penn Station" was the vestigial bowels of the original.

I was referring to the recent incarnation. And "bowels" fit, as it could get quite constipated when a lot of trains were delayed.

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 10:19:45 AM

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In #26 Kosh's Shadow said: Does the new station have  real waiting areas,  and enough space that you aren't tripping over people waiting for their delayed trains in the main corridor?

Yes, although 1) in fairness, travel volume still seems light; and 2) you still have to queue at a one-person-wide escalator to go *down* to your train (as opposed to walking *out* onto a spacious platform, like at most intercity train stations).

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 10:21:59 AM

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Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 12:14:11 PM

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Well, it’s always nice when there’s a model sitting  near you on the train.

https://www.nextmanagement.com/miami/profile/hope-loundas

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 1:04:48 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 32:

And at the very far, far, far opposite extreme of the beauty scale... fucking Jerry Nadler was on the train.

JCM 5/11/2021 1:49:44 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 33:

Was Nadless sharting?

Occasional Reader 5/11/2021 1:56:37 PM

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Reply to JCM in 34:

[shudder]