I hope we’re all appropriately sobered and saddened on the day when the fruit of our labor as sovereign freemen is appropriated by the iron fist of confiscatory taxation wielded by the collective.
Archives for April 2014
Disarray in the Silver State
Nobody’s written about this but it seems pretty remarkable:
Amid raucous debate, Nevada Republican Party conventioneers on Saturday stripped opposition to gay marriage and abortion from the party platform and endorsed Gov. Brian Sandoval for governor in the June 10 primary despite misgivings by conservatives, his criticism of the process and his absence from the meeting.
They also endorsed Rand Paul for President, so apparently the Paulists packed the convention, though there’s no news of a platform plank endorsing the gold standard or warning against the Amero. Maybe they didn’t have a veto-proof majority.
You’d think a slow news cycle and a national media who enjoy political conflict and strife would generate some stories about this event, but I find little evidence that the portentous emanations from that august gathering have reached the ears of the beltway glitterati. Still, what an incoherent mess. First, let’s not forget that Rand and his daddy think that freedom from government ends where sex begins, since both of them oppose abortion and gay marriage. So how do the libertarians in the audience square their newfound views on those two subjects with their Paulian tendencies? Second, I hope those are scare quotes:
Republicans who sat on the platform committee said they decided not to deal with social issues this year because the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have weighed in and it doesn’t make sense for the party of “personal freedom” to have the government or the political party get involved in people’s personal lives.
Finally, I’m sure most of the candidates this convention endorsed, especially those running for federal office, want no part of this convention’s foolishness. For example, Senator Dean Heller switched his position to oppose abortion once he made it to Congress.
If any state Democratic convention showed the utter incoherence that the Nevada GOP showed this weekend, we wouldn’t be done hearing about it until Memorial Day, but apparently this one is going to be filed under IOKIYAR. Maybe we’ll hear a little more if the Wisconsin GOP votes to secede from the union, but my guess is that they’ll have to start sacrificing virgins before the national media points out the combination of crazy and clueless that’s running amok at state GOP conventions.
Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Could Be Worse…
Still trying to figure out what level of TurboTax you have to buy to get asked about deducting your kidnapped child. pic.twitter.com/NouAAZlk1J
— Noah Veltman (@veltman) April 15, 2014
This gave me a chuckle, possibly because I’m actually enjoying Crisis, despite a million plot loopholes including the biggest one of all: Twenty-six teenagers on an overnight field trip with only two male chaperones?
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Apart from the predictable slew of Tax Day stories, what’s on the agenda?
Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Could Be Worse…Post + Comments (51)
Late Night Open Thread: Star Warts!
According to NYMag, Harrison Ford told Reddit he could totally beat up Mark Hamill. He also responds to the Most Important SW Question: Who shot first?
No idea how Ford would respond to the news in Grantland:
The almost-70-year-old Peter Mayhew is returning to Star Wars to play Chewbacca in J.J. Abrams’s Episode VII, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This is probably the first in a chain of events in which Harrison Ford gets confirmed (because Chewie without Han? C’mon), then Carrie Fisher (’cause Han without the one he said “I know” to? C’MON), then Mark Hamill (who was never not going to do these new movies). The casting might also explain why Mayhew shared all those nostalgic behind-the-scenes snapshots of the original trilogy in January…
ETA: Benedict Cumberbatch, howevs, says absolutely no way will he be in Episode VII. (Sorry, Crackerdaughter!)
Pet Memorial: Farewell, Wylie
From commentor Parrotlover77:
I know you guys post pet memorials sometimes, so I’m really hoping you can do one for the most awesome bird to ever take flight on this world of ours.
His name was Wylie. He was a peach faced lovebird. I adopted him 19 years ago when I was 18. So if you do the math, you can see that I’ve had him for more than half my life, which is a heck of a thing. When I adopted him, he was about two months old, so I was lucky to have him for basically his whole life. He passed away last week – one day after my birthday, in fact. It’s like he held on to make sure it wasn’t actually on my birthday.
I was at work when I got the call. My wife said I needed to come home immediately, something happened to Wylie. When I got home, she was cradling him, in tears. He was gone. He passed away quickly and quietly. I would find out from the necropsy at his vet that he died from a heart attack due to severe atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries due to plaques).
There wasn’t anything we could have done. It was just old age catching up to him. Nineteen is pretty old for a lovebird. In the wild they live typically 5-8 years. Modern veterinary medicine along with amazing formulated pelleted diets has increased that lifespan tremendously – and I am truly thankful!
It wasn’t entirely unexpected. He had been in decline since last fall. It started with his flight skills declining. He couldn’t coordinate nor fly as long as he used to. Then he apparently had a stroke which left him with a permanent head tilt. But he persevered! His attitude was amazing. He was always so happy. He would still preen us and still do his darnedest to follow us around the house, even though he couldn’t zip around like he used to when he could fly. It was just his time. And he accepted it. That morning I had him out and he was sitting on my face, preening me, chirping and making the sweetest sounds. I’m glad I had him out that morning. He was so loving. It’s like he knew.
The Attempted Self-Martyrdom of A Welfare Rancher
The continued popularity of this tweet among both liberals and wing nuts/gun nuts continues to impress me. pic.twitter.com/f5XpdrQXWx
— billmon (@billmon1) April 14, 2014
In the Guardian‘s scrupulously fairminded reporting:
… Cliven Bundy, the last remaining cattleman in southern Nevada, mobilized hundreds of sympathizers on Saturday to his “range war” in Bunkerville, Nevada, after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rounded-up nearly 400 of his cows which were grazing on protected land.
For 20 years Bundy, the 68-year-old patriarch of a family of 14, has defied federal regulators by refusing to pay grazing fees and ignoring court orders to relocate his herd, insisting he has a “preemptive” right because his Mormon ancestors worked the land decades before the BLM was established…
The heavily armed crowd rallied under a banner that read “Liberty Freedom For God We Stand”. Camouflaged militiamen stood at attention, communicating with earpieces. Most had signs, many of which chided “government thugs”…
Moments later, Deputy Chief Tom Roberts, of Las Vegas Metro, diffused the situation by delivering the announcement that Cliven Bundy’s cattle would be returned within 30 minutes. Responding to the Ammon Bundy’s demand that the BLM stand down, Roberts said: “I’m getting them out of here. That’s why I’m here.”…
David Damore, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor, told the Guardian: “This goes back to the days of the Sagebrush Rebellion, where essentially the idea is that ‘this is our land, not the federal government’s land.’”
“The federal government owns 85% of Nevada,” Damore added. “It’s an ongoing fight. The related issue is that you have a great ability on the part of these folks to overlook the reality of how much the federal government subsidized Nevada in terms of big projects – the Hoover Dam, the mining subsidies. It’s a welfare cowboy mindset.”…
If you prefer your craziness curated at a safe remove, Roy Edroso at the Village Voice has done his usual excellent job rounding up the details and the usual suspects:
This weekend a scofflaw gathered some gunmen and drove off some federal agents who were trying to confiscate his property.
Rightbloggers approved for several reasons. For one, the scofflaw is a rancher, just like Ronald Reagan; for another, there is an environmental angle, which always makes them mad, and a Harry Reid angle, which makes them apoplectic; and perhaps most importantly, the scofflaw refuses to acknowledge the authority of the federal government, which puts him right in the emerging mainstream of conservative doctrine…
The Attempted Self-Martyrdom of A Welfare RancherPost + Comments (88)
Monday Evening Open Thread: Blood Moons & Seder Plates
The "Blood Moon" is upon us: 5 things to know about tonight's freaky lunar eclipse http://t.co/gOG8ftGI6j pic.twitter.com/aC4neIspLH
— Salon.com (@Salon) April 14, 2014
From the link:
… A blood moon is so-called, due to the moon’s red hue during a total lunar eclipse. The United States will be in prime orbital position to witness a blood moon in the wee hours of tomorrow morning. “Depending on local weather conditions, the public will get a spectacular view looking into the sky as the moon’s appearance will change from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and perhaps gray,” explains NASA. “The eclipse is a phenomenon that occurs when the Earth, moon and sun are in perfect alignment, blanketing the moon in the Earth’s shadow.” The next time the U.S. will be in this position to witness a lunar eclipse is in 2019…
Much fear has been stirred up over this particular blood moon, since it coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover, and comes soon before the Christian holiday, Easter. However, despite the fears of Pastor John Hagee — who wrote a book called “Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change” — the rapture is not upon us.
Eclipses are rooted in science and the moon’s tilted orbit. Also, tetrads themselves are not extraordinarily rare. According to Fred Espenak, a NASA astrophysicist, there are nine sets in the 21st century. What makes this tetrad so special is that all four can be totally or partially viewed in the U.S…
It is also (thank you, commentor Gene108) the Tamil New Year:
The Tamil New Year in 2014 will be called Jaya, the 28th year in the 60-year Tamil calendar…
“Jaya will bring all-round prosperity to the people of the country,” forecasts astrologer R Swaminathan. “There will be good rain and good harvest. People will be generally happy, but there is bound to be some hindrances during happy occasions,” he said…
Of course, Passover, the Tamil New Year, and Easter are all calculated in relation to the first full moon after the spring equinox, so it’s no coincidence, but why pass up an excuse for a celebration?
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Apart from religious or moon-watching parties, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Monday Evening Open Thread: Blood Moons & Seder PlatesPost + Comments (80)