Guard Dog

@Gromnir I never said they have the RIGHT to go without. I said it's not the government's place to tell them they must. Not the same thing. And I'm socially graceless enough to tell someone to back the f--k up in as many words. But, that's me. @Bartimaeus It's no one's personal fault they got sick. It may well be someone else's fault, namely maskless d-bag. Especially since we wear masks to protect other folks, not ourselves. That said despite Grom's insistence the maskless and socially careless cannot be avoided I simply disagree that is the case. They can be avoided and should be. It is not blaming the victim for pointing out there steps that can reduce your chances of being a victim. Saying that does not make me unsympathetic to people who get sick. Like you said, it would not be my fault I was dead on Chelsea Ave, but if i'd had the sense not to do it it would not have happened. As for the state, yesterday I went to Walgreens, Kroger, and Lowes. Every one of them had a sign saying, in effect, no mask = no entry/service. IMO that is more effective than the police in Michigan arresting (or citing I don't remember) a man fishing alone. If the governments of the cities and states had placed the burden on places like stores, buildings, etc saying "thou shalt require thy customers and employees to wear masks" I'd have less of a problem with it. I have yet to see a credible news story about the police molesting someone for being unmasked in their car alone or in their home. There is enough rumor of it. That much smoke there is a fire somewhere. But I HAVE seen stories where people alone in parks, walking on the sidewalk alone, etc have been. There is a line that gets crossed here. BTW guys as you know I have had a personal experience with a drunk driver. So I am 100% with Gromnir on not relying on the personal responsibility of drunks. It is an activity where harm to others is likely so no objections to state prosecutions on that. If that traps me in something of a contradiction here then so be it.

I am not "blaming" the victim by any means. But everyone does bear some personal responsibility for their own well being and that includes avoiding the d-bags whose carelessness puts you in danger. I'm in the grocery story, maskless d-bag in in the aisle coming my way, there are things I can do. Go the other way, turn my back on the SOB That kind of thing. I shouldn't HAVE to do that. He SHOULD be wearing his mask. Just like he SHOULD be wearing his seat belt. But no one can no should MAKE maskless d-bad do anything. If I took a walk down Chelsea Ave in Memphis tonight there is a pretty high probability I'll be robbed or f----d with in some way. There is a little less than even chance I'll even be killed. It's not illegal for me to be there. I have every right to do it. But if the worst happens and I ended up dead is it really blaming the victim to say I probably should have not engaged in risky activity? I'm not the one that made it risky. The d-bag who shot me did that. Probably wasn't wearing a mask either. But if I had done something other than engage in a dangerous activity I'd be fine. You see what I'm getting at here? Yes it IS the maskless d-bags fault. But I still could have avoided it myself without the government getting involved.

1. The big difference between drunk drivers and maskless d-bags is you can see and avoid the latter. 2. GD: "Its smart to wear a seatbelt. I always do" State of Tennessee: "Thou shalt wear a seat belt. We command it" GD: F--k you. Get out of my car and don't tell me what to do. I'm still wearing the seatbelt but not because you told me to. It's kinda like that. Fine, no more memes unless I make them.

@Gromnir, correct, everyone SHOULD be left to make their own decision on masks. The government is not our goddamned nanny. That said it is rude, inconsiderate, and weapons grade stupid not to. And I am 100% cool with Kroger and other stores refusing to admit or serve the jerks who don't. Before we get too far into a semantics discussion I didn't make the meme and take no responsibility for its specific wording. Although I do think it has a pretty good point. As far as public control I would not say there is some kind of conspiracy or cabal at work here. But many state governors went absolutely power mad with senseless, capricious, and altogether unnecessary and unexplainable rules. Few more than that bitch in michigan. When a man is arrested for not wearing a mask while fishing alone at a lake you've gone way too far.

So, I think i told you guys two of my coworkers were genuine Environmental Scientists. Very smart, and very young. This is their "foot in the door" job to get experience before going on to earn big money elsewhere. The are both good guys but would fit right in on Big Bang Theory. Nearly everything they say is an inside joke I usually didn't get. Well, now I finally got one of them. Whenever they had a tedious or even meaningless task they wanted you to do they would say "another settlement needs your help". NOW I know what that means!

Now reading Ben Hur, the original novel. I got it from the library last night. I didn't know this was written by Lew Wallace! THE Lew Wallace! OK, many of you haven't heard of him but as a student of the American Civil War he was was a pretty important figure. He commanded the reserve force that executed a reinforcing flank attack at Shiloh. He also commanded a near hopeless Union defense of the north bank of the Monocacy River in the battle that bears its name. Jubal Early led a Confederate force of 14k men towards the Potomac and Fort Stevens. The idea was to draw grant away from Petersburg and allow Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia to escape. Grant did not take the bait. Instead he sent Wallace and two understrength regiments of Indiana Volunteer Infantry, 2800 men ore or less to reinforce Ft. Stevens. It was clear to Wallace his 2800 men could not save the Fort, or Washington DC for that matter (just a bit further up the Potomac) so he set up a defense on Georgetown Pike on the north side of the Monocacy river. He received some reinforcements the night before the battle. Wallace and his now 6000 men faced off against Early and two Corps of CSA infantry and three cavalry brigades. Wallace's men were outnumbered more than 2-1. They repelled 5 infantry assaults and numerous cavalry flanking attacks in a fight that lasted all day. By evening the Union troops had lost 20% of their strength and could no longer maintain the defense. Wallace ordered a retreat to Baltimore. Although Wallace lost the battle his actions allowed time for the VI US Army Corps to reach Washington and Fort Stevens. Two days later Early attacked a fully manned and well defended position at Fort Stevens and was defeated. Had he attacked the previous day he would have found just 900 inexperienced men facing him. He would have overrun the position and been able to attack Baltimore and DC (although the former was much more strategically important). That would have forced Grant to abandon Petersburg and the surrender at Appotomax would not have happened. The war would have gone on longer and more people would have died but for Lew Wallace and 2800 Indiana volunteer infantry in a battle they technically lost. But... that is not the end of the story. After the war he led volunteer troops (including a 2nd in command who was a captain under Johnston in the Army of the Mississippi at Shiloh) and brought guns to Mexican Federalists fighting Maximilian and the French. But.... even THAT is not the end of the story. After that he was appointed the governor of the New Mexico Territory by President Rutherford Hayes. While he was there he met with and pardoned Billy the Kid! But.... even THAT is not the end of the story. In his 60's & 70's he wrote novels including Ben Hur! It only became on of the biggest movies ever made starring Charlton Heston. When I say his name on the book I just it was someone with the same name. Imagine my surprise when I googled it. But... even THAT is not the end of the story. in 1898 at the age of 71 he tried to return to the army and fight in the war against Spain. They turned him down. That was one amazing dude!

The first one. The next is too ponderous. Third one looks just ok.

Free market solutions to big government bulls--t.

For the life of me I cannot fathom what you find admirable about a Kleptocracy on one hand and a repressive pseudo-communist state on the other.

Libertarian Presidential Candidate to Miss Rally After Being Bitten by Bat 2020 gets weirder

Russia wants Trump, China & Iran want Biden No matter who you choose you will be making your enemies happy

Plus how cool is this? Jolabokaflod

A bad day in the USA can still be pretty s----y. Not like we are all universally nice to each other here. But if I had to live anywhere else I'd pick Iceland.

Micky Mouse baby! "Put the little black mouse in the big White House"

The "Revolutionary Communist Party" of the US has endorsed Joe Biden: https://revcom.us/index.html Wow. Did you guys know the US has more than one Communist Party? I didn't. Well, the CPUSA, the REAL US Communist Party endorsed Barack Obama.... twice. For whatever that's worth. They did not endorse Clinton and I would be somewhat surprised if Biden gets a nod. But.... never know. This news is a bit of a nothing burger. Just posting as a curiosity.

The NRA will likely survive it's current difficulties. Not sure it deserves to. Because of the cause it champions and it's political alignment it is certainly going to be more zealously investigated and prosecuted than other advocacy groups/non-profits. Particularly those leaning left. But Wayne LaPierre and his cronies have left it wide open to that with their greed and corruption. In 1992 I bought a lifetime membership because the 2nd Amendment IS as Thomas put it since a "disfavored right" and one the government would be very pleased to eventually strip us of. In the years since I've made numerous donations and supported NRA backed candidates and initiatives. That stopped, of course, five years ago when all of this s--t came to light. I makes me very angry (understated) that my donations have been used to enrich the members of the executive committee rather than help the cause. I've cancelled my lifetime membership (a purely symbolic move since it's paid for and I'm still alive) removed myself from their mailings and they have received their last penny from me. The 2nd Amendment needs and deserves earnest and forthright advocacy. Whatever people think of it, it is as important and essential to American security and liberty as every other right endowed by our creator guaranteed by our government. Perhaps if the NRA falls into ignoble destruction a new organization will give us that.

Happy Birthday @BruceVC! hope it's a good one!

Great piece from Vox on policing: We train police to be warriors — and then send them out to be social workers They hit an number of points Gromnir has made and one of my big ones: turn down the pressure on the cops. Take some of this petty BS off their plate. Traffic enforcement is a big one. They all seem to agree how dangerous it is. Random tag checks while in public. I'd put an end to that too. They are busy enough they don't need to go looking for trouble. Interactions between the police and the public are dangerous. We need fewer of them. Welfare checks could easily be done by "social workers". Ditto noise complaints, etc. Traffic enforcement can be done by camera or not at all. But you know municipalities will never give traffic enforcement up. Because the fines are free money to them. And there is nothing the government values more than it's goddamned money. Far more than the lives of it's police and it's citizens.

There is that

It seems our shift to a virtual office will not be as permanent as we had been led to believe. At some point next year we are going to be assigned office space in one of two facilities. But they are giving us a choice on which we would prefer. One is in Memphis the other is in Dyersburg. Neither is particularly desirable for me but if I have to choose between the two it’s a no brainer. I’ll take Dyersburg over Memphis every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Who needs to deal with that traffic.

Crappy vehicles. Ever heard of a '77 Ford f-150 with a rusty bumper, no tailgate of muffler getting carjacked? Plus it would be suicidal because nearly everyone is armed.

Don't know if anyone posted this or not. It was a messge from the Minneapolis PD to residents in one part of the city: Would anyone like to guess why this kind of thing would never happen in Northwest Tennessee?