Guard Dog

Alright you two don't go slicing up my labyrinthine conspiracy theories with your damned Occam's Razors. Disgraced millionaire pedophile commits suicide vs disgraced pedophile millionaire is murdered to protect high ranking political figures who shared his predilection. Remember the life of Pi? If the truth is unknowable and it doesn't matter either way go with the better story. Besides. You have to admit, in this case the conspiracy theory is at least plausible

So let's see... the day after two prominent Democrat politicians are implicated in his case Epstein end up dead. Yeah... they killed him. No doubt about it. Now how to figure out who "they" are. Don't hold your breath. Whomever "they" are will be investigated by people who either know "them", are part of "them" of have an interest in not upsetting the apple cart. "They" don't eat their own. The people who need to be careful are all the women who were witnesses. You see they know who they were forced to have sex with. You watch, they are going to start "committing suicide" next. Like Joe Pesci said in Casino "It's always better when there are no witnesses".

No it's still censorship. Not illegal however.

I know it's from the book of Ecclesiasties. Not sure chapter or verse. That was how it was spelled in FO:NV. It's also the motto of the FAU history dept. It's just always stuck with me for those two reasons.

Isn't the Epstein case getting interesting: https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-unsealed-documents-name-powerful-men-in-sex-ring

A blonde girl called her boyfriend "I'm working on a really hard jigsaw puzzle. I can't figure it out. Can you come help me?" The boyfriend replied "OK. What is the picture on the box?" The blonde replied "It's supposed to be a tiger." When the boyfriend arrived he looked at the pieces scattered all over the table. Then he turned to the girl and said "Tell you what sweetie. Why don't you go watch TV let me put all these frosted flakes back in the box"

In 1981 a book called Mazes and Monsters came out. It was fiction inspired by true (although heavily sensationalized) events where a group of D&D players in the 70's thought the game was real and got themselves killed in a cave. And not by monsters in case you were wondering. A movie was made from the book and a brand new moral outrage and calls for banning something was spawned. In '84 a book called "The dungeon master: the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III" came out. Egbert had a history of mental illness that was blamed on D&D. Then in 1982 this came out: This caused a snit when a group of pastors said Mattel was introducing devil worship to middle school kids which caused this to get pulled. I had one BTW. I remember it being pretty fun considering the time. Blaming harmless things that some people have decided they don't like for other unrelated things is hardly new. Nihil novi sub sole.

Boycott Twitter! I’ve been doing it since there was a twitter. Pretty much every other social media platform too. Well I guess that’s not true. I’ve had a couple of Facebook accounts for specific business ventures I’ve been involved in. The one actually associated with my name is barely used. Just so I can play chess for free. In all seriousness though I really don’t get how abuse from Facebook, Twitter, or any of the rest of that crowd can actually be called censorship in the context of the first amendment. They are not government entities. You are using their bandwidth. For free I might add. That is their sandbox and they can shut you down for any reason or no reason. That does not make it censorship. Obsidian can tell any of the moderators to ban any of us for any reason whatsoever. It’s their website they can do as they please with it. They can shut the whole forum down. Free-speech is violated when armed agents of the government show up and take you away for writing something they didn’t like on the web. Or in newsprint. Or standing on a soapbox in the park screaming it out.

My back porch is my happy place. It's a gray composite deck. Not large. 2m x 4m facing southwest. I bought an oversize wood rocking chair at the Covington flea market a few years ago. I'm sitting in it now watching the sun sink. The back yard falls off pretty quickly. A two meter grade give or take to the garden. The garden is big. Almost five acres. Fallow now but would be in full growth otherwise. Beyond that is a treeline where cold creek ambles it's way to the Hatchee River. The Hatchee twists and turns through the woods to the mighty Mississippi just a two hour walk west of here. I love the dusk. The sounds of the birds changes from day to night. I swear to God I will never tire of listening to them. I was planning on listening to the Braves/Marlins game tonight but the sounds of the late afternoon are just so much more compelling. The world is a beautiful place if you can just turn off the modern conveniences and listen.

I say work permits for anyone who wants one. Make them legal, make them pay tax like the rest of us. No more fear of the knock on the door in the middle of the night. However, no path to citizenship from a work permit. THAT is the trade off, Of course, children born here ARE citizens. Here is the thing the anti-immigrant yahoos don't get. The appeal of migrant workers is you can abuse them, under pay them, exploit them and they can't complain. If they all have legal standing now the HAVE to be paid at least the minimum wage and have workman's comp and access to social services like every other legal resident. That will put a damper on demand for their serivices which might even reduce their numbers. No thinks outside the box any more.

Since when did we take ktchong seriously? I missed that memo!

Here's a different idea: Let's ban guns IN video games! After all, no one ever went nuts and shot anyone of after spending a few hours and quarters with these two:

My girl Sunny Smiles

Web sites ranks by traffic. Congrats to porn for still being king of the internet. Six of the top 25 are all porn! https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/united-states

Received an actual hand written letter in the mail from my niece today. Two and a half pages long hand. She is a freshman at Stetson University down in Florida. she is "rediscovering" the lost art of letter writing. Nice stationary, elegant hand writing, etc. I have to say I was both touched and intrigued at the idea. I don't think the art of writing is lost. In my job I am very careful and meticulous in e-mail and business writing/document production. But handwriting it on paper.... been a loooong time since I did that. So I sat down at my desk and wrote her a reply. Wow. Does my handwriting look like s--t. Was it always like that or am I out of practice? And no matter how many times I tap on the paper with my right hand it won't spell check! WTF? Does anyone know a printer font that looks like real handwriting? Bah... it was a nice idea while it lasted.

Pretty good analysis: https://lobelog.com/tulsi-gabbard-and-the-military/

OK, just found this funny as hell because I have chickens

Well how about this? https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/us/connor-betts-dayton-shooting-profile/index.html Not sure what will come of this but it will keep the talking heads talking

Tulsi Gabbard hasn't been in the news much. Here is why: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/5/tulsi-gabbard-2020-presidential-campaign-hits-snag/ Her National Guard unit is in Malaysia for two weeks of Drill. This is a candidate I can find few faults with. She could easily have gotten an exemption and alternate duty but she fulfilled her obligation, stepped away from the campaign trail, and went to Malaysia with her unit. Compared to Trump and all his draft deferments and all the other candidates except Buti-something & Bullock (both served and are completely out) who could not be bothered with military service she is deserving of respect. It is a damn shame she isn't getting more traction. In fact the NY Times & MSNBC have taken an interest in running her out of the race. Out of all the Democrats running she is by far the best candidate.

Deepest condolences daven. That truly sucks.

I’m under no illusion that I am staking out any legal or moral high ground here. The moment I touch a firearm in response to the lawful action of authorities I have crossed the Rubicon. “Here have I abandoned peace and desecrated law”. No going back. But how far must we bend in acquiescence to the State? If any right, any liberty, any material possessions, even our very lives can be demanded of us by the state with the blessing of the legislature and support of the majority of our fellow citizens are we ever safe? Do we own the State or does it own us? At some point we reach for the “higher law” as John Brown called it and say NO. That is really what we are talking about here. I will and do pay my taxes. I “render unto Caesar “ but there is a line up to which I will comply peacefully. This far and no farther. That is something every one should agree on IMO even if those lines are drawn in different places. Imagine some late day Herod demanding families give up their male children to the State with the blessings of the legislature. How far do we submit? Many of the worst acts done in the history of this country were legal and supported by the majority of the people. Would you tell Red Cloud he was wrong? Would you tell John Brown he was wrong. At some point we have to say no. I am 100% in favor of civil disobedience. But for me, civil ends at my front door. Anyway we have beaten that to death. Reply if you like. I am always interested in your opinion. That is my closing argument

Mike Gravel has dropped out of the running for the Democrat nomination. Never heard of him? Probably why he's dropped out. He endorsed Bernie Sanders on his way out. That leaves 23 with just 9 qualified for the next debate in September. Gabbard has the number of unique donors and looks like her poll numbers are going up. She is likely to be the 10th. So my horse is still in the race.

You gotta be kidding?! Some day you are going to catch a break and have some good things happen. It HAS to. Well, this was good in that it didn't happen to you. Not what I had in mind though.

Blaming unrelated things for stuff that came after isn't new. Those who were around in the 80's remember D&D being blamed for a number of deaths. In the late '80's Al & Tipper Gore were crusading against heavy metal music. In fact if you remember a band called Cinderella they even wrote a verse in a song about it: Tipper leads the war against the record industry, says she saw the devil on MTV.