Weekend link dump for June 6

“Someone finally asked restaurant workers why they’re not returning”.

“Gun Church That Worships With AR-15s Bought a 40-Acre Compound in Texas for Its ‘Patriots’”. It’s located near Waco. What could possibly go wrong?

“Specific language about the QAnon conspiracy theory has all but disappeared from mainstream public social media platforms, new research concludes.”

Using blimps to fight climate change by replacing short plane rides.

“Among the unvaccinated in Washington state, for example, the rate for hospitalization and deaths is the same as it was in January, the most virulent month of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

They just don’t make the mark of the Beast like they used to.

What should the military do about seditious nutbag Michael Flynn?

“Meaning you can add “flying killer robots” to your list of plausible fears that science fiction predicted.”

“A ransomware attack against Brazilian meat-packing giant JBS has disrupted production in the U.S., Canada and Australia.”

Don’t act like a hooligan at sporting events. I know it’s been awhile, but surely we all remember this.

“With the coronavirus pandemic receding for every vaccine that reaches an arm, the push by some employers to get people back into offices is clashing with workers who’ve embraced remote work as the new normal.”

“Unfortunately, the trendline of where children are getting vaccinated so far shows an expected but still disappointing development. The same places where adults aren’t getting vaccinated are not seeing children getting vaccinated either, which will only exacerbate the growing discrepancies in the places where the most people are protected from the virus.”

No one is coming to our rescue, certainly not “history.” Once democracy is gone, it’s gone. It is up to us to protect and preserve it. Right here, right now.”

RIP, Mike Marshall, first relief pitcher to win the Cy Young Award.

“Kraken Lawyer Sues MLB For Violating Atlanta’s Constitutional Right To Host The All Star Game”.

RIP, F. Lee Bailey, criminal defense attorney who represented Patty Hearst, O.J. Simpson, the Boston Strangler, and the army commander at the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, among others.

“But I have another theory. It’s the thirst. Trump broke the cardinal rule of fame: He made it clear how much he wanted it.”

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15 Responses to Weekend link dump for June 6

  1. Jason Hochman says:

    Sounds like restaurant workers are not returning due to low pay, dependence on tips for a large part of their income, and the fear that another autocrat like Trump will use his great powers to declare a stay at home order, thus destroying their livelihoods.

  2. Política comparada says:

    Re: “Once democracy is gone, it’s gone.”

    That’s a silly proposition. Just think Weimar Republic. Failed, gone. Then Federal Republic of Germany after Hitler and defeat in WWII, followed by Allied occupation and US Marshal Plan Aid: Highly successful, economically and politically. Lessons learned and applied.

    In-name-only German “Democratic” Republic (GDR): extinct.

    Same for Austria: Deutsch-Austria after abdication of Habsburg monarch was unstable and degenerated into excessive partisan conflict and political violence. Nazis even killed autocratic Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß. Second Republic after WWI and reattainment of independence in 1955: Highly successful, economically and politically.

    There are many other examples. Think Hemingway, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. The fascists won the Spanish Civil War, but eventually Franscisco Franco died, and democracy was re-established, albeit in the form of a constitutional monarchy, rather than a republic.

    And then there are all those formerly communist countries in Eastern Europe.

    Bottom line: Defy the doomsayers

  3. Bill Daniels says:

    Regarding the lawfare being used against MLB:

    From the article:

    “It’s not clear why this filing contains repeated references to the racial demographics of Georgia and Colorado.”

    Well, it’s clear enough to me….they’re pointing out the disparate impact, and thus, illegal and unconscionable racism, in the decision to move the game from a majority black area to a majority White area. This racist action of MLB must be vigorously punished so that “this can never happen again (TM).”

    https://www.thoughtco.com/disparate-impact-discrimination-4582550

    MLB’s overt racism has cost the black people of Atlanta lots of money, and this injustice will not stand. If the blm and DNC want to be on the right side of history, they should be supporting this suit, as should we all.

  4. Joel says:

    “Bottom line: Defy the doomsayers”

    every one of your examples required a stage in which the nation descended into fascism led by a genocidal dictator.

    maybe type less, think more?

  5. Bill Daniels says:

    With regard to our apparently uber fragile democracy, it’s weird how democracy ever even got started and flourished without all night drive through voting. And the really weird thing about all this hubbub is, since black people can apparently only vote on Sunday, or in the dead of night, and my county has never had such voting…..how have black people been ever been able to vote in my county? It’s a complete mystery. I mean, I’ve seen black people in line with me at the polling place….during the day…..not on Sunday. How is that possible? What manner of sorcery do the black people in my county have?

    Maybe what Harris County really needs is some kind of Peace Corps like outreach, where my county’s blacks go and show Harris County blacks how to vote during the day, and not on Sunday. Seems like it would be better to uplift Harris County’s blacks by teaching them how to succeed, vs. continuing to have set aside crutches to keep them helpless. Teach a man to fish vs. giving a man to fish……….

  6. Manny says:

    Bill, your stupidity never ceases to amaze me. Your hate of anything not white is getting worse, will you be wearing your pants backward, or was the orange buffoon wearing diapers?

    https://a.s.kqed.net/pdf/education/digitalmedia/us-voting-rights-timeline.pdf

  7. Política comparada says:

    Joel: Eureka! … Your are getting there.

    Democracy –> fascist regime (as in, Trump rule, after coup) –> Democracy restored.

    And don’t forget the mass killings. Pretty high price to pay to learn lessions.
    Will we ever learn from history?

    Maybe snipe less, read more. But you are now on the right track. Cheers!

    Next step: Realization that repetition is *not* inevitable (“required … fascism”). Not so. That’s the essence of the promise of human progress: We can do better, and hopefully we will, with the benefit of being learn by comparison, and from the past.

    Meanwhile, the pursuit of advocacy of virtue is being vilified …

    And it’s been about 2000 years that we had time to ponder what Cicero had to say about de re publica and related matters.

  8. Ross says:

    Bill, can you come up with a rational reason to not have one all night voting day other than “we’ve never done it that way”?

    Not surprisingly, making voting easier and more available leads to more people voting. Why would you be opposed to that? You might not have trouble voting with the traditional schedule, but you aren’t everyone, and are not representative of the voting population as a whole.

  9. Bill Daniels says:

    ~ FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY

    Extra costs to run all night/drive through voting. The county can’t fix the streets, the drainage, or even mow the grass very well because of budget concerns, and you want to spend money on something new that has never been done before? Same reason you don’t mass mail ballot applications to every swinging dick that ever made it on your list, knowing full well most of them aren’t even eligible to vote by mail to begin with. Stop wasting the taxpayers money. You work hard to earn it, the county should be a good steward of that money.

    ~ INFANTILIZATION OF BLACK PEOPLE

    Stop treating black people like stupid invalids that can’t do for themselves. I know black people can vote during the day, during the two weeks of early voting, including a Saturday, plus election day. I have seen them do it in my county. They can do it. Stop the soft bigotry of low expectations. If I was black and being held up as the reason we need to have all night drive in voting and Sunday voting, it would piss me off; you’re saying I’m too stupid and lazy to vote like everyone else. I really don’t understand why blacks don’t rise up and call out this bullshit….unless they are too stupid and lazy, of course, which I don’t personally believe.

    ~ NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS AFTER MIDNIGHT

    Kuff actually came up with this good argument. More drunks and criminals are out at night. There’s no reason for honest citizens to be driving out to vote at 2am when the bars are closing and the streets are full of dangerous drunk drivers.

    ~WHY MAKE IT HARDER TO HAVE POLL WATCHERS?

    Having poll watchers is the best way to prove that you’re running a clean election with no funny business. It’s the exact same reason cops generally LIKE the body worn cameras. It usually works out that the cop has done nothing wrong. It usually HELPS the cops, likewise, poll watchers HELP poll workers by witnessing things being done by the book. Generally, people do bad things at night, when nobody’s watching.

  10. Jason Hochman says:

    I am against drive through voting because climate crisis, the biggest existential threat to everyone, is exacerbated by more vehicles driving around.

    And how far are they expected to go in order to make it easier to vote. Should they have a voter concierge who comes to your house with a ballot, and then fills it out for you? This would lead to more people voting, and the concierge can even make your decision for you. Just because we haven’t done it that way before, doesn’t mean we can’t do it now. I would start voting if the concierge came over to my house and filled out the ballot for me.

  11. Bill Daniels says:

    Well said, Jason!

  12. robert says:

    Five states—Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington—allow all elections to be conducted by mail

    How about an app to vote…we transact billions daily by apps.

    And Bill, your stupidity never ceases to amaze me too….SAD

  13. Ross says:

    Bill, Harris county doesn’t have enough budget concerns to avoid spending $10k on one night of voting.

    What infantilization of Blacks? The polls are open to all.

    Hard on poll watchers? There were what, 8 all might locations in Harris County? Even the Republicans should be able to get poll watchers out fir one night.

  14. Bill Daniels says:

    Ross,

    It’s black people that need all these extra voting crutches. That’s why the bills in Texas and the laws in Georgia are racist and an assault on the voting rights of black people, because it prevents black people specifically, from voting. I’m just taking what the left says as fact. Why aren’t you taking it as fact? We have to infantilize blacks, give them special, kid glove treatment and coddling, because, bless their hearts, they just can’t perform at the level of everyone else that can actually walk into a polling place during the 12 hours a day they’re open. They can’t do it. If not being able to drive through vote in the middle of the night hurt White people, that wouldn’t be racist, because you can’t be racist against Whites. These bills are racist because they hurt black people.

    Either blacks are so incompetent and lazy that the only way they can possibly vote is drive through, in the middle of the night, or blacks are just the same as everybody else and don’t need extra help.

    Pick one narrative and stick with it. I can see that’s hard, because your president tells us blacks can’t access the internet, and don’t know how to hire lawyers and accountants. That seems true. I mean, other than one black lady who posted here a couple of years ago (Adoile, something like that?) I haven’t seen any black people comment. Maybe they don’t know how to use the internet and Biden is right.

    So, it’s a real simple question, Ross….can black people vote without Midnight drive in voting, or are they just not as intelligent as Whites, who don’t seem to have any problem voting during normal hours?

  15. Manny says:

    Maybe Blacks don’t post here because of racist pieces of manure like the person that goes by Bill Daniels.

    That is assuming that Black people don’t post here.

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