ONT Soup

Howdy folks! Welcome to Thursday night.

Living Online

Ferris Bueller Never Would Have Made It Past Today’s Obsessive Location Sharing

My high school had a setup that I suspect has long vanished — the open campus. In practice, that meant coming and going wasn’t monitored. One could just walk off campus and leave, so skipping school was extraordinarily easy, whether one took a full or a partial day.

Heck, during my senior year, I left after sixth period basically every day since journalism conflicted with one of my AP courses, meaning that I had journalism during seventh period. The teacher didn’t show up because it wasn’t the normal class period, so neither did I — especially since my physical attendance had no bearing on whether or not I submitted my reviews of the latest grunge releases for the school paper (my musical focus at the time was a tad monomaniacal).
Which isn’t to say my friends and I never outright skipped, opting to not even bother showing up before leaving. The open campus still made it easier to avoid detection in those situations. (The fact that we worked in the attendance office made it easier to obscure the record the next day.) For example, if your father saw you at your friend’s house, he could assume it was because it was lunchtime. At least, he could assume that until the school called because you needed to fill out a form for a writing contest you were selected to participate in, at which point your friend’s phone rang.

See, I remember high school being the same way. I tried to get my son to enjoy the freedom he was earning, but sometimes he just didn't want to. He'd rather have his face burried in this phone than go outside.

Wiki Article Of the Week

Andrew Johnson's drunk vice-presidential inaugural address

According to historian George F. Milton Jr., by way of U.S. Representative Walter P. Brownlow, by way of his uncle, Tennessee Governor and U.S. Senator William G. Brownlow, at one point Johnson managed to insult all the foreign ambassadors at once[49] when he turned and said, "And you, gentlemen of the Diplomatic Corps, with all your fine feathers and geegaws."[53] The New-York Tribune described the speech as "almost impossible to follow," described wildly varying volume and projection (vacillating between "backwoods" shout and inaudible mumble), and wrote that Johnson "intimated very broadly that Tennessee was personified in Andrew Johnson" and "repeated 'I announce here to-day' at least 20 times in the 20 minutes misused by Mr. Johnson."[54] The Hamlin biography claims that the outgoing vice president tried to intercede: "Leaning forward quietly, to attract as little attention as possible, Mr. Hamlin took hold of Johnson's coat, pulled it gently, and whispered, 'Johnson, stop!' But this had no effect; Johnson was thoroughly excited, and wound up for a speech."[43] Brooks confirms as much, writing that from the press gallery he could see Hamlin periodically reminding Johnson that it was getting past time for the President's inauguration.[46]

Read the whole thing. Sounds like he was shitfaced for weeks straight.

On Covid

I Can Only Look Back in Anger

Reading further, I am reminded that my initial attitude was bemusedly and mulishly obedient, a grudging “whatever, let’s just try to make the best of a bad situation.” But this is when I start to feel an acute twinge of pain, and it becomes hard to go beyond that without pausing for a deep breath. Because I remember what happened next. I remember what was taken from me. I remember what they took from my son. And I am once again painfully overwhelmed by the lone true emotion that dominates my memories of the Covid Era: rage.

This is the real reason I haven’t written about Covid. I cannot summon memories of that era without becoming furious at what I suffered through, without reliving the sense of utter betrayal from all authority we experienced during that period. I have never felt more despairingly abandoned, and in fact actively oppressed, by every level of government than in those dark years. For some people — say, those lucky enough to live in Florida — this matter is largely one of political principle. For me it is deeply personal.

It's a tragedy the way his son was treated, but he also references a tweet from the time where he said Covid was “20X more fatal than the flu”. We all know now that that wasn't true.

Fart Spray

Steak

Dan Patrick wants to rebrand New York strip steak as ‘Texas Strip’

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has beef with the famous New York strip steak, believing it should be rebranded to represent Texas.

“Texas has about 12.2 million head of cattle, the most in America. I met with the Texas Cattle Feeders and Cattle Raisers this week,” he wrote on X

I mean, sure? But why go for the NY Strip? Ribeye or flatiron is a much better cut, let's rebrand one of those cuts!

Fake Racism

Scuba, skydiving and golf: Black adults embrace sports that defy stereotypes and bring joy

It’s not just Parker. Many Black people are finding joy in activities that were once inaccessible because of systemic racism or were not culturally traditional pursuits in Black communities. These forays have become emblematic of the ways Black people celebrate the freedom and flexibility they have, and how they are using it to escape the rigors of life — personally, socially and politically.

The activities have health benefits, too, such as stanching the release of cortisol, a so-called “stress hormone” that affects blood pressure, blood sugar and inflammation, said Linda Goler Blount, president of the Black Women’s Health Imperative, which focuses on health and wellness for Black women. 

Race, race, race, race, race. It's all they've got, and it is sooo tiring.

Global Climate Warming Change

Despite what activists say, the planet is not on fire

Nearly half of young Canadians surveyed in a 2022 study said they believed humanity is doomed because of climate change, while more than three-quarters said they were frightened. No wonder. They have grown up bombarded both by footage of natural disasters, not just in Canada but around the world, and by activists’ claims that climate change is making the planet unliveable. But that’s just wrong.

The ubiquity of phone cameras and our ability to instantly communicate mean — the “CNN effect” — that the media can show more weather disasters now than ever before. But that doesn’t mean the disasters are deadlier or costlier.

That “half of all young people” is going to be a real problem down the line.

Not A Hate Crime

LGBT Gang Allegedly Tortures, Kills Trans Woman. Queer Activists Blame Straight ‘Hate’

These LGBT activists are so insanely obsessed with anti-LGBT hate that they’ve created a new category where an LGBT person can commit “anti-LGBTQ hate” against his own partner. Ironically, they reveal an important truth in this fanatical need for victimhood: The most dangerous threats to LGBT people are usually other LGBT people.

When researching fatal violence against men identifying as women, for example, inevitably the biggest cause is domestic violence. It is the risks associated with online relationships in the LGBT community that really need attention.
In 2023 Kierstyn Williamson was allegedly killed by a romantic partner when she went to meet him in person. In 2020, a 25-year-old gay man was brutally tortured and murdered by an anonymous sex partner he met on Grindr. In 2024 a 14-year-old boy was lured into a park and brutally assaulted, murdered, and then dismembered, allegedly by a man he met on the same gay sex app. LGBT advocates refuse to address this pattern, instead positioning all violence against LGBT people as caused by non-LGBT hate and bigotry.

So a mentally ill person was tortured and killed by other mentally ill people, and we're supposed to be surprised?

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posted by WeirdDave at 10:00 PM

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