Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (2/2/21)

Quote I

Furthermore, everybody “understands” what happened with GameStop. Unlike some other Wall Street stories, this one isn’t complicated. The entire tale, in a nutshell, goes like this. One group of gamblers announced, “Fuck you!” Another group announced back: “No, fuck YOU!” Matt Taibbi

Quote II

"The real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)

Quote III

The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human. Aldous Huxley

Quote IV

“A small tax – 0.1% – on each Wall Street trade would reduce high frequency trading, a practice which drains profits from retail investors and benefits only the very rich,” she added. “We could use the close to $1 trillion it would generate to cancel all student debt and make college free.”Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)

Quote V

“What we didn’t anticipate was that they would break the law,” Nigel Goldenfeld, physicist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Perhaps if NYC Mayor Warren Wilhelm Jr. had one of these he wouldn't be in the habit of killing groundhogs. Groundhog Detector

Feb 1947: the residents of Quarryville, Pennsylvania used strange, new technology in an attempt to detect and communicate with groundhogs.

6 out of 8 shots isn't to shabby in a courtroom.Meet Marianne Bachmeier, Germany’s ‘Revenge Mother’ Who Shot Her Child’s Killer In The Middle Of His Trial

In March 1981, Marianne Bachmeier opened fire in a crowded courtroom and killed Klaus Grabowski — the man on trial for murdering her 7-year-old daughter.

Inauguration day 2021, 42 degrees with mostly cloudy skies, based on conditions observed at noon at Reagan National Airport. A brisk wind from the northwest was sustained at 20 mph, gusting to 28 mph, producing a wind chill at 33 degrees. Just what the hell was Sen. Bernie Sanders to wear?

Ingrid Seyer-Ochi, a former UC Berkeley professor, wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that the Vermont senator’s choice of recycled wool mittens was integrated into her class discussion on US diversity and discrimination.

Initially, on Inauguration Day, Seyer-Ochi said her class talked about the deeper meanings of the historic day — including “the vulnerability of democracy” and “the power of ritual” and gender.

Sanders, the teacher said, was not even on their radar until he became an instant internet sensation for his mittens and brown parka.

“I puzzled and fumed as an individual as I strove to be my best possible teacher. What did I see? What did I think my students should see?” Seyer-Ochi wrote.

“A wealthy, incredibly well-educated and -privileged white man, showing up for perhaps the most important ritual of the decade, in a puffy jacket and huge mittens.”

The senator, she said, “manifests privilege, white privilege, male privilege and class privilege, in ways that my students could see and feel.”

Seyer-Ochi said in the op-ed that many people without privilege would not be able to dress like Sanders did on such an occasion.

Sure, I look at the Daily Wire. That doesn't mean Ben Shapiro isn't a world class scold.

Shapiro’s claim that the election integrity is a matter for only the “fringest of the fringe” does not seem to match up with the actions of the Arizona State Senate’s Judiciary Committee, who found enough reason to issue subpoenas against the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for their Dominion voting machines and software in order to perform a full forensic audit of the county.

Governor Ducey had refused to heed the call of Arizona legislators and the state party to call an early start to the legislative session, in order to give the state legislators time before the reading of the Electoral College votes on January 6th to properly assess any evidence that would arise from the subpoenas.

If it were up to Shapiro, Hillary would be entering her second term of POTUS after soundly defeating Jeb Bush in 2016 and Miss Congeniality of 2016 in the 2020 race.

By the way Ben, is this who you want to lead the AZ GOP?

Robert Graham, the former AZGOP chair who is attacking top Trump ally Kelli Ward, was barred from trading in Massachusetts after losing an elderly woman’s $400,000. The state party also faced FEC scrutiny from his time as chair.
Dr. Kelli Ward was successfully re-elected as the chair of the AZGOP last month, defeating Sergio Arellano in the second round of voting. However, despite Arellano joining Ward on stage following his defeat and calling for party unity, the loser then proceeded to demand an audit of the vote, insubstantially claiming that there were “errors” in the voting process.

I don't have the answers for the War on Drugs. As long as there is a desire to consume there will always be producers of such products.

By legalizing cocaine production but not distribution, Bolivia has made life far safer for its people. For starters, the nation now has one of the lowest murder rates in Latin America. As one coca farmer recalled, “There used to be all kinds of conflict before. Now it couldn’t be more different. The soldiers would abuse us, especially the women, sexually. Now, there is respect on both sides. No one exceeds their cato. Some people don’t even have front doors.”

In fairness, Bolivia is a relatively small player in the cocaine trade, producing only about 10 percent of the coke sold worldwide. At around 70 percent, the big global player, of course, is Colombia.

Technically, it’s legal to consume cocaine in Colombia. In fact, it’s considered a legally protected human right. This isn’t due to some popular mandate or progressive push, but rather, an acknowledgement of cocaine’s value to the country’s Indigenous communities. That said, it’s still totally illegal to grow or produce cocaine in Colombia.

Until, maybe, now. Because, like Bolivia, Colombia has started to consider the unthinkable: What if it nationalized cocaine, too?

In particular, two Colombian senators have put forward the bold new idea for the country’s cocaine market: Legalize it… and nationalize it!

If the Fabulous Mrs. Mis. Hum. is lurking tonight. I believe these are part of the plan. How to make the best chocolate eclairs.

Thankfully, bookings come with a full list of what’s needed and useful advice to have a bit extra of everything in case of complete disasters/dropping things on the floor.

In an action-packed session, scheduled for two hours, we made creme patissiere, the thick delicious custard Helen uses as a base for many cakes, creme diplomat, the delicious filling for buns and eclairs, plus chocolate sauce and savoury fillings.

But the star of the show was the choux pastry itself – used in eclairs, profiteroles and Paris-Brest.

After an involved process involving heating the pastry dough in a saucepan and cooling it with a stand mixer, we came to the really tricky bit – the piping.

I'm torn. Part of me feels sad. Yet part of me chuckles LOLGF. Once again the common politician knows nothing of Basic Econ 101.

There’s an old saying about the road to hell, and it definitely applies in this case. In order to reward to work for grocery store employees, Long Beach passed the “Hero Pay” measure, which increased the pay of grocery store employees by four dollars an hour. While the measure seems like it was well-intentioned, good intentions don’t balance budgets nor make the availability of products any more diverse. Long Beach officials were looking for a positive moment in the press, however, the Kroger grocery brand quickly put that to rest, by announcing that they were closing two grocery stores in the city, a Ralph’s location as well as a Food4Less store.

Born on this day: 2 Feb 1963
Eva Cassidy, US singer. She is the only artist to score three posthumous UK No.1 albums: 2001’s 'Songbird'; 2002’s 'Imagine' and 2003’s 'American Tune'. In 2001 she also had a UK No.42 single with ‘Over The Rainbow’ and the 2007 UK No.1 single 'What a Wonderful World' with Katie Melua. Eva died of skin cancer on November 2nd 1996, aged 33. via thisdayinmusic.com

On this day: 2 Feb 1979
Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose in New York City. There had been a party to celebrate Vicious' release on $50,000 (£29,412) bail pending his trial for the murder of his former girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, the previous October. Party guests, said that Vicious had taken heroin at midnight. An autopsy confirmed that Vicious died from an accumulation of fluid in the lungs that was consistent with heroin overdose. A syringe, spoon and heroin residue were discovered near the body. via thisdayinmusic.com

On this day: 2 Feb 2014
Skinny Puppy sent the US government an invoice after finding out their music was used as torture device in Guantanamo Bay. Despite the band's aggressive sound, they said they had never envisioned their music being used in such a way. Asked how they felt about their songs allegedly being used in the detention camp, singer cEvin Key replied: "Not too good. We never supported those types of scenarios. … Because we make unsettling music, we can see it being used in a weird way. But it doesn’t sit right with us." via thisdayinmusic.com

This damn Chinese Kung Flu crap has been going on for a year now. You would think that certain behaviors are off limits when you are participating in virtual settings. Guess not. Genius Award Winner.

He was court in the act.

A lawyer has gone viral in Peru after he stripped off and had sex while still on-camera during a live-streamed court case, according to reports.

Héctor Cipriano Paredes Robles had been taking part in a virtual hearing involving a feared local gang, Los Z de Chanchamayo, when he shocked the judge and other viewers Thursday with his X-rated display, according to Todo Noticias.

Robles completely stripped off, then started kissing an equally naked woman who soon straddled him, according to video that went viral on Twitter.

The outraged judge, John Chachua Torres, immediately called a halt to proceedings — ripping Robles for having “disrespected the dignity” of the court, Todo Noticias said.

“This lawyer has lacked the honor and dignity of the profession,” the judge said.

The Mounties always get their Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

Officers Chop Firewood For Elderly Woman Who Was Burning Furniture To Stay Warm

Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police went above and beyond the call of duty to help an elderly woman stay warm this winter.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Delivery Pizza.

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire, AceCorp, LLC. and the thousands of hamsters at the International Brotherhood of Hamsters. No hamsters were injured in the production of this ONT.

posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 10:00 PM

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