The Cuckshed: Let's Take Reparations Seriously

—Ace of Spades

True conservatives, rushing to embrace racial debts and racial rights to collect:

PJ Media's Paula Boylard notes that the Cuckshed is now quoting the racist Ta-Naheshi Coates as an authority -- and mis-quoting Charles Krauthammer.

The piece, by Richard North Patterson, relies heavily on leftist Ta-Nehisi Coates and -- believe it or not -- the late Charles Krauthammer, who at one time floated the idea of reparations. Only The Bulwark article leaves out the part about Krauthammer suggesting that reparations be paid as part of a Grand Compromise that would end affirmative action programs -- and it was more than a little tongue-in-cheek.

The Cuckshed fails to note that part of the bargain, wherein Krauthammer proposed the ending of all race-based payments and preferences in exchange for a lump-sum payment.

Reminder: The Russia Collusion Hoax Was Hatched By Hillary Clinton and Her Aides Just Hours After Her Loss, and Fed to a Supportive Media to Explain Away Her Failure -- and Theirs

—Ace of Spades

Larry O'Connor with a reminder that this was an info op from the start.

The Russian Collusion mythology is the most dominant story in the news media and has been for the past eighteen months... dating back to November 7, 2016. And when one examines the contemporaneous reporting by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes in their excellent book Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign.

Allen and Parnes had incredible access to the entire Clinton campaign infrastructure because their book was really meant to be a historical account of the triumphant campaign for the first female president in American history.

As we know, it didn't work out that way. And the authors' account of the immediate aftermath tells us much about how the media were spoon-fed the collusion narrative: (emphasis added)

"She's not being particularly self -reflective," said one longtime ally who was on calls with her shortly after the election. Instead, Hillary kept pointing her finger at Comey and Russia. "She wants to make sure all these narratives get spun the right way," this person said.

...

Of course, the plan would only work if the media took the bait. They had that angle knitted up. All they had to do was focus their anger and ire at their friends in the press and accuse them of being at fault for Trump's victory.

They also decided to hammer the media for focusing so intently on the investigation into her e-mail, which had created a cloud over her candidacy. "The press botched the e-mail story for eighteen months"” said one person who was in the room. "Comey obviously screwed us, but the press created the story."

"It was all your fault," they'd say to their pals in the press. And now, they had to make good.

More at the link, including audio of Larry O'Connor discussing this on his radio show.

And this is interesting -- John Sexton writes up Bob Woodward's appearance on Fox, where he claimed that "the CIA" fought strenuously to get the Hot Garbage Dossier included in the official intelligence community assessment on Russian interference.

And Rand Paul says he heard that it was specifically John Brennan fighting to have this unverified pack of Russian disinformation entered into the records of US intelligence.

Almost as if he wanted to get this piece of shit oppo dump purchased by his gal Hillary Clinton included in some kind of official record, so it could be leaked, as a, how you say, insurance policy.

From the Washington Examiner:

"What I found out recently, which was really quite surprising, the dossier, which really is got a lot of garbage in it and Mueller found that to be the case, early in building the intelligence community assessment on Russian interference in an early draft, they actually put the dossier on page two in kind of a breakout box," Woodward said in a panel moderated by host Chris Wallace.

"I think it was the CIA pushing this," he added. "Real intelligence experts looked at this and said no, this is not intelligence, this is garbage and they took it out. But in this process the idea that they would include something like that in one of the great stellar intelligence assessments as Mueller also found out is highly questionable. Needs to be investigated."

Now, we already know that someone in the IC -- Clapper, Brennan, Comey, someone on that level -- had arranged for the fake "briefing" of Trump about some but not all aspects of the dossier specifically so that the briefing could immediately be leaked to CNN. CNN had already told Comey they couldn't publish about the dossier without some kind of "news hook" to give this unverified oppo file some pretext to be reported on, and wouldn't you know it?, Clapper, Brennan, and Comey quickly responded to give CNN just that news hook.

But now, per Woodward and Rand Paul, we seem to know who the most interested party was here: John Brennan. John Brennan, one could speculate, already had tried to get the dossier mentioned in an official US intelligence briefing.

One could further speculate that he tried to get the dossier included in the intelligence assessment precisely because including it in an official report would give it the "news hook" it needed to be reported by CNN after he leaked details of the assessment to it.

One could speculate further still and guess that someone in the CIA caught Brennan trying to sneak Hillary Clinton disinformation into the official US intelligence assessment -- for partisan political reasons, and illegal ones, I'd venture -- and forced the dossier out of the assessment.

So Brennan went to Plan B: convincing Clapper and Comey on the need to get the dossier into the official record via a different route, namely, pretending to brief Trump about it while actually only holding the briefing so that the briefing could be leaked to CNN.

One could speculate about such things.

But, as Woodward says: Needs investigation.

And subpoenas. And sworn testimony, and pain-of-perjury.

LOL: Nigerian Brothers File Defamation Lawsuit Against Jussie Smollett's Attorneys

—Ace of Spades

Jussie Smollett's lawyers were required to lie to defend him publicly. Kim Foxx's office might have put the fix in to make his legal problems go away, but there was also the public aspect of the crime of which he was obviously guilty; he was a millionaire being paid a lot of money to appear on a tv show. If the public turned against him, he might have to get a real job.

Smollett's attorney insisted publicly that the Nigerian brothers had actually attacked Smollett, and in earnest, not as part of a pre-arranged scam, but with the intention of harming him and without his consent.

That, they say, is defamation, and I don't think there are many people who disagree.

Per ABC7News in Chicago, Gloria Schmidt -- the brothers' lawyer -- also says that Smollett's lawyer defamed one of the brothers by falsely claiming he had had a gay sexual encounter with Smollett.

On or around April 6, 2019, Defendant Tina Glandian further discussed Plaintiff Abimbola Osundairo (hereinafter "Bola Osundairo") on the podcast Reasonable Doubt.

Ms. Glandian inferred that Bola Osundairo and Mr. Smollett engaged, at least briefly, in homosexual acts together. These statements were made to the third-party press and public.

Bola Osundairo is heterosexual and was dating a woman at the time.

Bola Osundairo has never engaged in any sexual acts with Mr. Smollett, thus Ms. Glandian's statements are patently false.

Video of Schmidt announcing the lawsuit at the link.

I think the attorney will have to pay the brothers off. The brothers would likely win a defamation lawsuit, and in any event, it would be costly to fight it.

On the other hand, it will be costly for the brothers to maintain the suit, too, and Smollett's lawyer will make this a very expensive suit to prosecute.

But either way, we won't get any details about what Smollett and his lawyer schemed to say to the public, and which parts of that were known to be false, because lawyer-client privilege only gets breached if you're a Republican or someone who actually supports Republicans.

Kamala Harris On Gun-Control Network CNN: If Congress Doesn't Restrict Gun Sales, I'll Restrict Them Via Executive Order

—Ace of Spades

And that's not all she said.

Sen. Kamala Harris on Monday night pledged that, if elected president, she will sign a series of executive orders on gun control if Congress fails to pass comprehensive legislation in her first 100 days in the Oval Office.

During a town hall hosted by CNN, Harris said that if a bill from Congress did not make it to her desk, she would unilaterally mandate background checks for customers purchasing a firearm from any dealer who sells more than five guns a year.

Dealers who violate the law, she said, would have their licenses revoked. The other executive orders would prohibit fugitives from purchasing a firearm or weapon, as well as close the loophole that allows some domestic abusers to purchase a firearm if their victim is an unwedded partner.

Video clip below, as well as her non-answer as to whether the Boston Bomber should be allowed to vote for her from prison.

A US Soldier Who Risked His Live in Mogadishu to Protect Ilhan Omar and Her Clan Invites Her to Drink a Nice Cold Glass of Shut the Fuck Up Dummy

—Ace of Spades

I take it back: she doesn't have a dual loyalty.

Just the one.

By the time Task Force Ranger had been launched, Aidid's network of drug-addled, Khat-dealing gun runners had taken over Mogadishu and were doing everything they could to oppress any and rival clans, including that of Omar, the Majeerteen. In other words, we were sent halfway across the world to help protect people just like Omar and her family. Nineteen incredible men gave their lives defending her country while serving ours. They deserve to be lauded for their service, not attacked for it.

I am thankful Omar and her family and countless others were able to escape to neighboring Kenya while we fought to protect those left behind, but I simply cannot comprehend her attitude towards those of us who fought to protect her country and countrymen from warlords who plunged Somalia only further into violence and starvation. I am glad that Omar can now enjoy the very freedoms we fought to protect, like the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion affirmed in the U.S. Constitution, but I don't understand why she uses those freedoms to slur the men and women of the U.S. military who made her security and liberty a reality.

The simple truth is that Omar enjoys the fruits of American combat deaths, yet she can't even bring herself to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice that was made on her behalf, either as a Somali or an American. Her clan didn't stand a chance against Aidid and Habar Gidirs, so I don't blame her for leaving. But I do blame her for attacking those of us who had zero personal interest or investment in her nation for doing our jobs on behalf of our country. And I blame her for smearing American servicemen because we answered the call of our nation to address the violent barbarism of hers.

Also see Deb Heine.

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

Interior, Strandgade 30
Vilhelm Hammershøi

The Morning Report - 4/23/19

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Mixed bag for this Tuesday so let's get with it. Starting things off, with the Mueller Deception having finally petered out with nothing substantive except a 400-page document that amounts to nothing more than yet another smear cum opposition research document (which could have easily been written by the same Fusion GPS hacks who cooked up the Steele Dossier), the Democrat-Left-Media Complex's new offensive is to take down President Trump by conducting a witch hunt into his personal and business affairs to try and find and/or concoct evidence to be used to throw him out of office. Jerry Nadler subpeonaed former White House counsel Don McGahn to grill him over alleged Trump obstruction of justice, which is idiotic since there was no crime in the first place with which to obstruct. Fruit from a poisoned tree? Hello? Twin idiot Elijah Cummings has subpoenaed Trump's financial records to which the President responded with a lawsuit. I'd have preferred him telling the tyrannical clod to take his subpoena and use it to keep his polyps company.

Aside from the fact that the Democrats, despite anything coming from the agitprop media and the halls of Congress, are now devoid of any real avenues of attack left to them - that is, anything substantive to show actual high crimes and misdemeanors - they will nevertheless continue down the road of attempting to overthrow this President as a means to appease their base base (adjective and noun). They have zero policies except everything they have ever run on for the past 80 to 100 years, now with more lies and vitriol to go along with the record of societal and economic destruction left in the wake of the aforementioned that were passed into law. The other big reason is that we may actually have an Attorney General who is serious about prosecuting and punishing those who engineered this entire soft coup against candidate and then President Trump. William Barr is already getting the Starr treatment; Ken Starr, that is. But unlike the latter, he has a President who is actually going to defend him as well as showing all indications of being able to defend himself.

Cynics in the audience, and that includes me, think the perpetrators are going to get away with it, especially Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama+Valerie Jarret. I am convinced they were behind it or at a minimum knew from the outset and approved of what their underlings were doing. That said, Brennan, Comey, Clapper and all the rest have got to somehow be held accountable. The fight now is not so much to get Trump as it is to protect the Deep State conspirators and keep their positions safe. Even if one or more of them go down, to whatever extent or manner that manifests itself, the 4-8 years of Trump must not be allowed to be the beachhead that could potentially (please G-d) dismantle the globalist entity that has hijacked America for the past 50 years or longer. Battle is joined.

Aside from running on this disaster, more and more polls are showing the American people are not fond of impeachment and coming to the conclusion that the President was indeed the victim of political persecution. With the Democrat Klown Kar jamming more and more corpses into it almost on a daily basis, the other thing besides demonizing Trump and America as founded, is the pimping of more free shit to the Free Shit Army is what amounts to a Constitutional Demolition Derby. We warned the other day about Mayor Buttplug going pedal to the metal for you heathens to bake that cake, but now Kamala-Toe Harris is promising some sort of second amendment destroying edict in her first 100 days (G-d forbid) as president. Then we have Bernardo Sandersnista who wants to give the vote to convicted felons, including convicted terrorists like the Boston Marathon Bomber. If you have to scrounge for votes in prisons, what does that say about your confidence in how many supporters you have among the citizenry (hence, open borders)? Lastly, not that he has a snowball's chance in hell but potential candidate Bill De Bolshevik wants to make the stone age great again in New York by banning glass and steel skyscrapers. Yet when confronted by his hypocrisy of taking a motorcade of SUVs with him to the gym every day, he states that his deserved luxury would be offset by making whoever the hell would remain on Pliskin's Island shiver and starve in the cold and dark. There's a scene towards the end of Woody Allen's Bananas where the rebel leader now installed as president of San Marcos gets a glassy look in his eye and starts rattling off new laws like "all citizens must now wear their underwear on the outside." Compared to De Bolshevik, I think he'd be preferable.

The other story to take note of is the continued assault on freedom of religion. Along with a SCOTUS ruling on whether or not homosexuals and transgender psychotics are a protected class under the Civil Rights Act, the Democrats are pimping something innocuously labeled the Equality Act:

... It is a power grab in the guise of anti-discrimination. A bait-and-switch. It's another attempt by a ruling micro-clique to exert mega-control over everyone else's lives, including those it purports to protect. It allows the Mass State to maximize bureaucracy and social engineering, especially by its huge regulation of speech and expression. It erodes individual rights while claiming to uphold them. The net result of this act would be a huge inequality of power accrued to the state and drained from the individual...

...Below I offer five general reasons to object to this legislation. I think they give us a more macro view of how it would destabilize a free society, by 1) undermining the First Amendment; 2) threatening the rule of law; 3) nudging us towards a social credit system; 4) redefining humanity; and 5) enshrining identity politics in law. In short, the "Equality" Act doesn't really protect anybody. It undermines human freedom and dignity by legally stripping Americans across the board of inalienable rights...

Worthy of your time, linked above and below in the Feminazi section.

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

NOTE: The opinions expressed in some links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.

CONGRESSIONAL COUP, SPYGATE, DEEP STATE, THE MUELLER DECEPTION

• Elijah Cummings Moves to Subpoena Trump's Financial Records; Trump Slaps Him With a Lawsuit
  
• House Dems Subpoena Don McGahn Over Docs Related To Charges Trump Obstructed Justice
  
• Levin: "Senior Levels of the FBI - These Individuals Should Be Charged" for Their Role in RussiaGate
  
• Lord: The Tom Perez Hypocrisy: No One Is Above the Law... Except Hillary
  
• Dem Rep. Stephen Lynch: "Whatever Interference that the Russians Brought Did Not Change Votes"
  
• GRU "Spearphishing" Emails Fooled Democrats, Clinton Campaign in 2016
  
• Rabbi Fischer: While Democrats Search for Crumbs, This Too Will Pass Over
  
• Old Conspiracy Theories Never Die
  
• Was Robert Mueller Colluding With Russia?

  BORDER WALL, MIGRANT INVASION, AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY
  

• Mexican Soldiers Detain US Soldiers on American Soil - The Government's Response?
  
• Why Relocating Illegal Aliens To Sanctuary Cities Is a Brilliant, Win-Win Idea
  
• Illegal Alien Served in US Navy and Border Patrol (hello, background checks? - jjs)
  
• Supreme Court to Hear Census Citizenship Question Case Today
  
• "Shutting a Backdoor": Trump Administration Gets Tough On Visa Overstays

  OFFICIALLY-SANCTIONED DEMOCRAT PARTY ANTI-SEMITISM
  

• Rancida Tliban Tweets "Happy Passover" Picture... With Loaves of Bread
  
• Bro-Fo Omar Blasted Over Old "Blackhawk Down" Tweet

  CIVILWAR 2.0
  

• CNN Correspondent April Ryan Attacks (Threatens?) Sarah Sanders: "Start Lopping the Heads Off"

  POLITICS
  

• Sandersnista: Convicts Including Boston Bomber, Other Vermin, Should Be Allowed to Vote from Prison
  
• Sanders Team Promotes Hoyer Primary Challenger
  
• Poor Residents of South Bend: Mayor Buttplug Left Us Behind (no pun - jjs)
  
• Mayor Buttplug and the Left's False Piety
  
• Democrats Can Kiss Ohio Goodbye
  
• Four Reasons Why the Dems Will Lose in 2020
  
• Fauxca-Has-Been: My Wealth Tax Will Pay for Universal Child Care, Universal Pre-K, Free College Tuition
  
• Fauxca-Has-Been Warren, Facing Defeat In Dem Primary, Takes To Reviewing Game of Thrones (and pimping free shit - jjs)
  
• Joe Bidet Viewed Gays in Government as "Security Risks"
  
• 2020 Democrats Petition For Out-Of-State Residents To Vote In New Hampshire Elections

  FIRST AMENDMENT, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, BIG TECH BROTHER
  

• Religious Liberty Vs. LGBTQ Discrimination: Catholic Social Services Denied Their Foster Care Contract... Again
  
• "Character Assassination" - Trump's Fed Pick Stephen Moore Hammers Media For Digging Up Old "Spoof" Columns
  
• California Supreme Court Issues Stay in Case Against Journalists Who Made Undercover Planned Parenthood Expose
  
• Putting Social Justice Warfare in the Dock: Gibson's Bakery Lawsuit Against Oberlin College Heading to Trial
  
• Agitprop Media Mentions "Impeachment" 309 Times in the 24 Hours After the Mueller Report
  
• Free Speech, Political Freedom and Comedy

  SECOND AMENDMENT
  

• Kamala-Toe Harris: I'll "Take Executive Action" if Congress Doesn't Pass Gun Legislation in First 100 Days

  FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL
  

• Sri Lanka Imposes Emergency, Says International Network Involved in Attacks
  
• Good Roger Simon: New Zealand and Sri Lanka Were Not the Same
  
• Knights of Columbus Send $100,000 to Help Rebuild Christian Community in Sri Lanka
  
• US Envoy Doubts Iran's Last Oil Customers Will Want to Run Afoul of US Sanctions
  
• Day-Ending-in-"Y" Dept.: Iran Appoints New IRGC Commander Who Aims to "Annihilate" Israel (I'd be worried about just the opposite - jjs)
  
• The Burning of Notre Dame and the Destruction of Christian Europe

  ISLAM, TERRORISM, SHARIA, DHIMMITUDE
  

• Harsanyi: Islamic Terrorism Remains the World's Greatest Threat to Peace
  
• Cross Border Terrorism - Jihad Coming From the Great White North
  
• US Offers $10 Million Bounty on Hezbollah Operatives (I see 2 in the House; make check out to SeftonCorp - jjs)

  THE ECONOMY, STUPID
  

• 5G Set Free

  CRIME & PUNISHMENT (NON-DOSTOYEVSKY)
  

• Parents of Murder Victims Launch Campaign Against Newsom's Death Penalty Moratorium

  HEALTHCARE
  

• Chiquita Khruschev AOC Praises Broken VA Healthcare System: Provides "Highest Quality" Healthcare To Veterans (sponsor a bill putting all Democrats on it? - jjs)
  
• New York Courts: Mandatory Measles Vaccination Is Not a Violation of the Constitution (where were they in '81 on quarantining AIDS patients? - jjs)

  EDUCATION, INDOCTRINATION
  

• After Failing to Suppress Brett Kavanaugh, GMU Student Thugs Get Smacked Down Trying to Oust Camille Paglia
  
• Related: Drawing the Line, At Last
  
• Our Imploding Educational System
  
• Greenfield: Your Tax Dollars Financed Anti-Semitic Song at UNC Chapel Hill

  RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, LYSENKOISM
  

• De Bolshevik: Make the Stone Age Great Again; Ban Glass and Steel Skyscrapers
  
• De Bolshevik Defends Taking Gas-Guzzling Motorcade to Gym: His Skyscraper Ban Will Offset His Habits
  
• Tesla Celebrates Earth Day with Stock Crash

  FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
  

• Supreme Court Considers Redefining "Sex" to Prohibit Discrimination
  
• Far Reaching Implications: SCOTUS to Rule Whether LGBTQWERTY Status is a Protected Class Under Civil Rights Act
  
• Why the So-Called Equality Act Is a Bait-and-Switch Power Grab

  CULTURE WARS, HITHER & YON
  

• Time to Ban Irving Berlin's White Christmas
  
• Why Abortion Never Works Onscreen Even Though Hollywood Desperately Wants It To
  
• Toto: Dennis Miller - Sam Kinison Couldn't Survive Our PC Age
  
• All In The Family Live Show Will Premiere on ABC Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel (gee, I wonder how that will go - jjs)

Monday Overnight Open Thread (4/22/19)

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Quote I

“Change rarely comes without some bumps in the road. Students are becoming self-directed learners and are demonstrating greater ownership of their learning activities.” Gordon Mohn

Quote II

“It’s no surprise that the pseudo-medical animal rights group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine doesn’t know the difference between fecal contamination and bacteria on meat products,” KatieRose McCullough

Quote III

“Don Jr. and his wife have FIVE kids. No one should be having five kids. Why are people still allowed to have 5 kids?” Nikki Glaser

Quote IV

“When I decided that I wanted to take hormones to feminise my body, the last thing I wanted to do was to go in front of a psychologist to justify my decision,” Florence Ashley

***

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is a despicable piece of shit.

Too bad he didn't stay in the Soviet Union when he was honeymooning.

***

What grass costs across the US. Inflation or so I've been told.

***

White, hetrosexual, moonbat and unknown. Sure, throw your hat in for POTUS run Congress Critter Seth Moulton. Perhaps he should self-identify as a black lesbian. He might go further.

***

The last suspect in the murder of reporter Daniel Pearl's is nabbed.

A Pakistan Taliban terrorist — the last remaining fugitive sought in the 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl — has reportedly been taken into custody.

In a report by The Media Line, posted by the Jerusalem Post, counter-terrorism officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, confirmed that Azim Jan, a commander of the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, was nabbed last Friday in a joint operation headed by Pakistan Security Forces.

***

Paul Joseph Watson on the Muslim attacks on Christians. NSFW-Language

***

A threat to civil liberties or a stroke of genius for our safety? Facial recognition technology will be scanning airline passengers in the future.

One area where it will really be visible in the near future is in airports and, apparently, it won’t be long before each and every departing airline passenger will have his or her face scanned upon leaving the United States.

The Verge reports that the “facial recognition system works by photographing passengers at their departure gate. It then cross-references this photograph against a library populated with faces/images from visa and passport applications, as well as those taken by border agents when foreigners enter the country.”

This is part of implementing a program called a “Biometric Exit” which will “give authorities an idea of who is entering and leaving” as well as enable the government to more effectively identify people who overstay their visas in the United States.

***

Your humble Cob is truly a white supremacist.

Woke Journalist Says Owning Dogs Is Racist: They’re a ‘Tool of White Supremacy’

“The colonizers insist on colonizing.”
A New York-based journalist and activist on Friday declared: “Dogs are a tool of white supremacy and gentrification.”

Ben Faulding was responding to a local TV report last week about students at Howard University in Washington, D.C, who are annoyed about neighbors walking dogs on the campus. Nobody interviewed in the Fox 5 broadcast mentioned race.

***

And on the other hand Artificial Intelligence lacks diversity. H/T redc1c4

Lack of diversity in the artificial intelligence field has reached “a moment of reckoning”, according to new findings published by a New York University research center. A “diversity disaster” has contributed to flawed systems that perpetuate gender and racial biases found the survey, published by the AI Now Institute, of more than 150 studies and reports.

The AI field, which is overwhelmingly white and male, is at risk of replicating or perpetuating historical biases and power imbalances, the report said. Examples cited include image recognition services making offensive classifications of minorities, chatbots adopting hate speech, and Amazon technology failing to recognize users with darker skin colors. The biases of systems built by the AI industry can be largely attributed to the lack of diversity within the field itself, the report said.

***

Michael Avenatti is an equal opportunity rip off artist.

When Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat wired $2.75 million to Michael Avenatti in January 2017, the pro basketball player intended most of the money to go to his former girlfriend, Alexis Gardner.

Avenatti was Gardner’s attorney. An actress and barista, she’d hired him just a few weeks before to negotiate a settlement of a potential lawsuit against Whiteside. It’s unclear what she would have alleged. Avenatti quickly struck a $3-million deal, and the $2.75 million was Whiteside’s first payment

Butterball power bottom has nothing to say.

***

Sanity prevails at George Mason University.

The president of George Mason University has reaffirmed the school’s decision to hire Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to teach a summer job in England after some students tried to pressure the school to reverse their decision.

During a two-hour town hall, president Angel Cabrera told students that while he acknowledged that some of them disagreed with the administration’s move, the decision was final. Kavanaugh has a three-year teaching contract with the university.

“Even if the outcome is painful, what’s at stake is very, very important for the integrity of the university,” Cabrera said, according to HuffPost.

***

It seems when when sanity takes one step forward, insanity takes two steps back. Blue Lives Matter offends black employee to the tune of $100K.

A county in Oregon has agreed to pay a former employee a $100,000 settlement after she sued the county for racial discrimination because a co-worker had posted a “Blue Lives Matter” flag in an office in support of local police.

The former employee, Karimah Guion-Pledgure, had worked as a corrections technician for the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice since 2011 but agreed to drop her lawsuit and resign as part of the settlement, the Portland Mercury reported, although she will be permitted to apply for another county job.

***

When do things get better? Paper towel propaganda.

There is no such thing as gender. It is an imaginary social construct imposed by the patriarchy for sinister sexist purposes. No physical differences between the sexes exist. Any know-it-all scientist who says otherwise is a sexist who ought to have his grants revoked. This is why it is bigotry to say that men and women cannot switch genders at will.

Some people cling bitterly to outdated views. They must be brought into conformity with the new way of thinking. Otherwise, their recalcitrance could undermine the engineering of utopia. Therefore, it is necessary to bombard people with the correct way of thinking at every opportunity, until each person believes he or she is the last one left who still doubts liberal dogma. Reeducation must be so ubiquitous that you cannot even buy a role of paper towel without being told how to think:

***

The ONT Musical Interlude

This past week I was on a concert tour in California and I had the great honor of meeting Shorty Joe Quartuccio. He is an American Country Music legend- in the Country Music Hall of Fame for his work bridging Country Music with Western Swing.

He is still alive and kicking in Sacramento and he’s a hoot and a half!

This is a video documentary about his life. It may be something the Horde would like -

When Shorty talks about his life, he explains why he wanted to fight in WWII: because he was patriotic.

When he wins an award and gives his thanks, he thanks the US for ‘letting us in at Ellis Island,’... he’s humble and a good man...a great American. H/T Rondinella Momma

&&&

***

Figures don't lie, but liars figure. A study claims that the medical use of marijuana has reduced work place deaths.

The widespread adoption of medical marijuana laws may be having an unexpected effect: making workplaces safer.

Several states have adopted medical marijuana laws in the last several years. A recent study seems to suggest that states with such laws saw a subsequent drop in the number of workplace fatalities among young adult workers.

The study, by economists Mark Anderson of Montana State University, Daniel Rees of the University of Colorado, and Erdal Tekin of American University in the October 2018 issue of the International Journal of Drug Policy, looked at how fatal workplace injuries changed after states adopted medical marijuana laws.

***

Passing out with vodka, cocaine and a toddler in the car. Genius Award Winner.

A mother from Moosup has been arrested after police found her passed out behind the wheel of her car with her toddler in the backseat.

Plainfield police say they were dispatched to Hank’s Dairy Bar on Norwich Road about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Someone had noticed a woman slumped behind the wheel of a parked car.

***

We here at The ONT tease basement savers firefighters. When they aren't fighting fires they are Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

A group of firefighters in Missouri helped an elderly man get home after his electric wheelchair gave out on the side of the road.

"What happens when a Fire Truck comes upon a citizen who's electric wheelchair has stopped working. You get out and help them home," the Raytown Fire Protection District posted on Facebook.

***

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by the Ultimate Men's Room.

Notice: Posted without permission from the Ace Media Empire or AceCorp, LLC. Sometimes it is just easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Close it up

Flashback: In 2017, Omar Ilhan Dismissed the Number of Americans Killed in the Black Hawk Down Attack, and Claimed Americans Had Killed "Thousands" of Somalis

—Ace of Spades

Dual loyalty?

Lieutenants of Mohamed Aidid was hunted by US troops after he attacked UN peacekeepers attempting to separate factions in the Somali Civil War.

One can question the ill-wisdom of inserting US troops into a civil war without then claiming that they were acting "Satan"-ically in carrying out a UN peacekeeping mandate.

Eight Year Old Girl Does Perfect Spoof of AOC, Except She's Too Articulate and Common-Sensical

—Ace of Spades

Below the fold.

Meanwhile, Fake Tapper told us that two different CNN correspondents "have read" the 400+ page Muller report, just 10-40 minutes after its release.

Say, remember how CNN entertained guests who asserted that no human being could possibly read that report in a weekend?

Well, now CNN staffers can read it in 10-40 minutes. Because CNN staffers are Just That Good.

Representative Gaetz: Evidence That FBI Agents Were Paid Off by the Media For Leaks Will Surface Ahead of the Official DOJ Inspector General Report

—Ace of Spades

Nothing but straight arrows at the top.

Rep. Matt Gaetz says evidence of FBI officials improperly receiving incentives from the media in exchange for leaks will soon come out.

During an interview on Fox News late Saturday, the Florida Republican said the Justice Department inspector general is examining the FBI's relationship with some members of the press. But, he said some of this information will be made public before the watchdog report's release.

"One of the other nuggets that the inspector general is working on is the corruption that existed between the media and members of of the FBI," Gaetz said. "Where members of the mainstream media were giving concert passes and athletic tickets and other incentives to people in the FBI to leak to them so we'll be seeing that even before we see the inspector general's report on how this fraudulent investigation began."

The Washington Examiner notes that some of this has already been reported:

The DOJ inspector general released a report last summer that found many FBI officials talking to the press and attending "social events" with the media during the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private emails, breaking with FBI policy limiting employees who are authorized to speak to the media.

In October, the inspector general released more information in a summary that said a senior FBI official, who had since retired, accepted tickets to a sports event from a television reporter who regularly covered the bureau.

Evidence of Corruption in Jussie Smollett Whitewash Grows

—Ace of Spades

When Kim Foxx "colloquially" recused herself, she immediately sought to appoint her top deputy to oversee the Smollett case.

But she was informed by her staff that that would be unethical. I guess because a top deputy is just going to do what the boss wants, and the point of a recusal, if it's real, is to take a compromised boss out of the equation altogether.

Spokesmen for Foxx's office lied to the press and claimed that Foxx had never been informed this move was unethical, a law enforcement source says.

First, the department's chief ethics officer, April Perry, and Magats himself sought legal advice on the move and even prepared the proper documents calling for an outside special prosecutor after they were told Magats didn't have the authority to take over for Foxx, according to an e-mail obtained through a public-records request.

Foxx was then informed of the snafu in her plan to appoint her man, Magats, the source said.

But the prepared office document calling for a special prosecutor instead of Magats was never filed, and he remained at the helm of the investigation.

April Perry has since resigned -- as has another top Foxx staffer.

Social justice is not justice. If it were "justice," you wouldn't need the qualifier parked in front of it.

Why Are Leftwing Politicians Avoiding Saying "Christians" Were Murdered in the Sri Lanka Easter Attacks?

—Ace of Spades

Obama, Hillary, and most of the gang of clowns running for the Democrat nomination have settled on a strange locution to avoid admitting that sometimes Christians are victims (and not just (Oppressors, as The Narrative demands): they're calling the people targeted "Easter worshippers."

Note: Christians do not worship Easter. You can use Context Clues in the word "Christians" to figure out what they worship.

Deb Heine writes about this strange phenomenon.

And of course the media is definitely not interested in describing the suspected perpetrators of this slaughter:

Media reports say the suicide bomber at the Cinnamon Grand hotel queued in line at the buffet line before detonating for maximum damage. His name registration at the hotel was “Mohamed Azzam Mohamed.” #SriLanka https://t.co/aEvEOQFLOl

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 22, 2019

Update: #SriLanka government has blamed jihadist group National Tawhid Jamat for the bombings that killed nearly 300 & injured 500 on Easter Sunday. President Sirisena says the group has international connections. Officials say all the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers.

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 22, 2019

Expect the media and Democrats (but I repeat myself) to identify the religion of the terrorists as "Easter skepticism."

The Washington Post is playing the typical media game: downplay the Islamist violence directed at Christians and Westerners while remaining singularly concerned about possible future "backlash" against Muslims:

The pace of this game has accelerated. It used to be that the media would spend a day or two at least noticing that Islamists had murdered a bunch of people again before claiming The Real Crime is any possible hypothetical speculative future side-eye a woman in a hijab might get at Wal-Mart.

Now, they start claiming that Muslims Are the Real Victims here while they're still gathering up the limbs sheered off of the victims.

Below, some Fake Victims We Shouldn't Bother Ourselves About Because They're Just Alt-Right Haters.

CNN Falls to Fifteenth Place on Cable

—Ace of Spades

#FakeNewsCNN's ratings fell to their lowest weekly level of the year, continuing the fall that began when their Collusion Delusion was revealed some weeks ago.

The top networks for primetime viewership last week were led by Fox News, followed by MSNBC, the Home and Garden TV, USA Network and TBS Network to round out the top five.

CNN finished 15th, behind networks like Discovery Channel, Food Network, TLC and A&E Network. Their ratings have continued to drop following the conclusion of the Mueller report.

The President congratulated the "news" channel:

In case you missed it on Friday, even the shabby DNC front company, the NYT, is now forced to admit that the entire dossier that Jake Tapper so proudly reported on may be nothing more than the product of a Russian Disinformation Campaign aimed at reducing confidence in US elections.

Agents did not believe that either the source or Mr. Steele was deliberately inventing things, according to the former official. How the dossier ended up loaded with dubious or exaggerated details remains uncertain, but the document may be the result of a high-stakes game of telephone, in which rumors and hearsay were passed from source to source.

Another possibility -- one that Mr. Steele has not ruled out -- could be Russian disinformation. That would mean that in addition to carrying out an effective attack on the Clinton campaign, Russian spymasters hedged their bets and placed a few land mines under Mr. Trump’s presidency as well.

Oleg D. Kalugin, a former K.G.B. general who now lives outside Washington, saw that as plausible. "Russia has huge experience in spreading false information," he said.

Mr. Steele declined to comment for this article.

...

Last year, in a deposition in a lawsuit filed against Buzzfeed, Mr. Steele emphasized that his reports consisted of unverified intelligence. Asked whether he took into account that some claims might be Russian fabrications, he replied, "Yes."

F.B.I. agents considered whether Russia had polluted the stream of intelligence, but did not give it much credence, according to the former official.

But that is an issue to which multiple inquiries are likely to return. There has been much chatter among intelligence experts that Mr. Steele's Russian informants could have been pressured to feed him disinformation.

Daniel Hoffman, a former C.I.A. officer who served in Moscow, said he had long suspected the dossier was contaminated by Russian fabrications. The goal, he said, would be to deepen American divisions and blur the line between truth and falsehood.

"How many times have hearings on Capitol Hill used information from the dossier?" Mr. Hoffman said. "How much damage has it already caused?"

Avenatti Accused by Grand Jury of Lying to Another Client, Claiming a $2 Million Settlement Hadn't Been Paid, and Using That $2 Million for Himself to Go Sharsies on a... Private Jet

—Ace of Spades

You may have heard of this jet; the feds seized it.

The scheme described here by John Sexton is similar to the con Avenatti ran on the paraplegic client: After having gotten a settlement, supposedly for the client, Avenatti took the money for himself. Most of the settlement was paid up-front, but Avenatti told the client, falsely, that it would all be paid monthly over eight years.

Avenatti then made some of those payments out of the settlement money he already had his greedy little paws on.

But he only made some of the "monthly scheduled payments." From the LA Times:

Avenatti wound up making 11 payments to Gardner, misrepresenting them as Whiteside's monthly installments, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles. By the time the payments stopped in June 2018, Avenatti had given her about $194,000, prosecutors say.

For the next nine months, they allege, Avenatti deceived Gardner, telling her that Whiteside was breaching the settlement by skipping payments.

$194,000 out of a $3 million settlement.

Meanwhile, Avenatti was the co-owner of a private jet.

Big League Politics: NXIVM Sex Cult Employees Claim that Kirsten Gillibrand's Father, Stepmother, and Cousins Were Involved in the Sex Cult

—Ace of Spades

Everyone's shocked to discover cultlike behavior among Democrat NPCs, I'm sure.

But we'll have to see if this stuff pans out.

Gillibrand's father served as a broker between NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere -- whose initials were branded on his female sex slaves -- and then-New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer to resolve Raniere’s financial problems with the state, according to ex-employee whistleblower Joseph O’Hara, whose revelations are printed below.

Gillibrand's stepmother Gwenn Belcourt got "hooked" on the cult as did Bill Clinton’s close friend Richard Mays, according to the whistleblower. Nancy Salzman, the NXIVM president, acted as a personal "guru" for Gillibrand's stepmother.

The Morning Rant

—OregonMuse

"Well, it's only Monday morning and I'm already in a bad mood -- too soon following the peaceful contemplation of the Easter weekend. I had to go and read a stupid tweet (below) by that prissy litte pussy David French at NRO, and now I'm all like this. What a prissy little pussy he is. Oh wait, I already said that, didn't I? Well, it can't be said enough about the guy. He's giving attaboys to *Romney* who has spent the last two years fighting Trump way more vigorously than he ever did against Obama during the 2012 election. Any idiot who would willingly replace Trump with a weasely little half-conservative like him really needs to have his freakin' head examined. But they're all like that: Both Bushes, McCain, Romney, Dole, all of those clowns, they get all whipped up into a hot fury when they fight other Republicans while their battles against Democrats is tepid at best. And prissy little pussy David French is the same. He's certainly been critical of Obama's policies, but against Trump, he just goes off the charts. But Trump is the only one who fights. More importantly, Trump is the only one who fights *for me*. Prissy little pussy David French refuses to understand this. He's wetting his pants because Trump banged a few hotties. Hell, as far as I'm concerned, I'd be happy to arrange to have a continual parade of hotties delivered to the Oval Office if that would help to keep him fighting. Besides, back in the 90s, we had a president that made Donald Trump look like Mike Pence, and we were told that it was only sex, so we should just ignore it. Well, that's what I'm doing. I'm tired of having someone else make the rules and then squeal like a little girl when I follow them. And my nightmare scenario is not Trump grabbing some mish, but rather it's to have some part of the progressive centipede get me in its sights, and I'm helpless, I don't know what I can do, so I look over to my corner for help, and there's French and Romney laughing about which one of them is going to shiv me in the back. Look, I'll be honest. When I voted for Trump back in 2016, I really didn't know what I'd be getting. But not only has he turned out to implementing conservative policies more so than I ever could have hoped for, he's turning out to be a major obstacle to the progressive wrecking machine that has been steamrolling across our cultural and political landscape for the past several decades. But prissy little pussy David French doesn't care. Because he lives in an isolated little bubble in a wealthy zip code in the Acela corridor, so whether Democrats get elected, or Republicans get elected, it's all the same to him. What does he care, really? His life will go on pretty much the same regardless of the results of any election. So, for him, a lost election is about the same as your team not making the playoffs. Boo hoo. But that's not the case with a lot of other Americans, though. Elections have real world consequences. Trump has tried, with varying degrees of success, to make America work again for normal Americans. But all that prissy little pussy David French has done is to try to undermine him. He's basically been siding with the enemy the whole time. So f* French with a flaming napalm-filled football wrapped in det cord. He's worse than useless."

Thread: I want to add a quick word about the character debate raging on after @MittRomney’s accurate and entirely righteous statement in response to the Mueller report. As I’ve written at length, I share his sentiments. I’m happy POTUS isn’t a traitor and disgusted by his lies /1

— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 21, 2019

"Tourists and Easter Worshippers"

The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to love, redemption, and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 21, 2019

"But..."

There is no excuse for terror attacks against innocent people but as a journalist I saw Western Christian missionaries unscrupulpusly converting Buddhist orphans for food and shelter after the Asian tsunami. Don't send your prayers. #SriLankaBlasts https://t.co/rFNMShqfW1

— Andy West (@AndyWestTV) April 21, 2019

The 2 Genders:

In The Old Days, Golf Was A Lot More Dangerous:

Hello Dolly:

Who Dese:

(I actually don't have a list of definitive answers. I think I know who most of them are, but not all. Comparing notes should be fun.)

Friday's celebs: Edwardian-era groupie Evelyn Nesbit and Mike Vogel.

448 Do the ones who guessed "Joan Collins" get half credit, since she played Evelyn Nesbit in the movie The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing.

Posted by: Pete in Texas at April 19, 2019 12:21 PM (qzStv)

A fair point. Normally, morons who randomly shout out 'Joan Collins!' in the Rant thread get a night in the box, but this time I'll allow it.

Today's Edition of the Morning Rant Is Brought To You By Chicago-Style Hot Dogs:

Chicago-style hot dogs are the only acceptable way to eat a hot dog. Ketchup on hot dogs is an abomination. Send tweet. pic.twitter.com/QqGcaqR4Ht

— Elliott Hamilton (@ElliottRHams) April 17, 2019

Close it up

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

Persee killing the Dragon
Felix Vallotton

The Morning Report - 4/22/19

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Monday and the top story is yesterday's Muslim massacre of Christians celebrating Easter in Sri Lanka. As of this writing, there are over 200 confirmed dead and at least 450 wounded. Americans, Canadians and other foreigners are also listed among the casualties. Those whose lives were savagely snuffed out for doing nothing more than being devoted servants of G-d died at the hands of others who in their mind were doing exactly the same thing. The so-called "religion of peace" is not a religion, let alone a peaceful one. It is a totalitarian death cult dressed up in the trappings of religion that for over a millennium and half has been waging a war against the ideas and ideals represented by what ultimately evolved into post-Enlightenment civilization, individual freedom and real human progress to subjugate the entire world or destroy it trying. Those goals happen to be identical to that of another malignant, pseudo-fundamentalist death cult: Leftist-Socialism. Despite certain incongruities the latter conveniently overlooks (the enemy of my enemy, etc.), the two have joined forces both here and abroad to bring us down, either by violence or by deception, infecting the vitals of society and using the very freedoms they despise, along with the naivete and willful blindness of our political and cultural leaders, as weapons against us.

I don't have to look at the way the agitprop media is going to cover this, if they indeed cover it at all. The religion aspect will be downplayed or the perpetrators described as "lone wolves" who are misguided, uneducated, come from poverty-stricken areas that lack midnight basketball etc. Funny how the psychos who shot up the New Zealand mosques last month were splashed all over every front page and dominated the news cycles for days. They were also described as emblematic of white nationalism, bigotry, Islamophobia and Trump. Funny though how when that massacre occurred, no one in Bible-Belt America or anywhere else in the civilized world for that matter was passing out candy, dancing on rooftops and ululating "Onward Christian Soliders." The Left's other avenue of attack is to try and find moral equivalency by declaring that all religions kill in the name of G-d. I'm no Rabbi Schneerson or John Paul II, but there is kind of a big difference between people who abuse and completely misinterpret scripture as their excuse to massacre others and those who are following the central tenets and core beliefs of their prophet and his writings. Three guesses as to which "religion" that one is.

And please don't cite some phrase in the Bible or the Talmud or wherever to claim otherwise. Interpretation and the gradual evolution of the liturgy disproves it. There can be no such interpretation or "evolution" of Islam out of its Dark Age cradle as to do so, like so many other things that allow people to think and worship as they please, carries with it a death sentence. In any case, the body count from 9/11/01 onward (and before, really) speaks for itself. May the good Lord bless the souls of those whose lives were cut short, and bring comfort and healing to the survivors and those left behind.

The other big story is, of course, the aftermath of the release of the Mueller Report, the complete mischaracterization of what is in it by the Dem-Left-Media Complex and using that as pretext to move forward with impeachment proceedings against President Trump. As disgusting as these people are, I invite them to go for it. If the infanticide, open borders, red-green madness, economic suicide and assault on free speech isn't enough to kneecap them, the confirmation that this President and his supporters are being persecuted will bury them electorally in 2020.

That said, the inchoate, mad ravings of Maxine "Mikvah" Waters confirm that President Trump is, aside from a political target, a symbolic one; the real enemy of her and her band of traitorous, anti-American criminals are we the people and by extension We The People. By her calling out our "patriotism" she is signaling its okay to harass us - or worse - anytime and any place. This woman and anyone in a position of power who speaks openly like this is manifestly irresponsible and dangerous. Unfortunately, with loathsome, despicable failures like Mitt-elschmerz Romney putatively on our side, we don't need Democrats. What a prick he is.

Down at the border, the migrant invasion crisis continues where fresh off trying to help oust a sitting president, the FBI has arrested a citizen who dared commit the crime detaining illegal aliens at the border and turning them over to the Border Patrol. Hey, he's only doing the job some Americans won't do. The FBI is an unnecessary menace. Sorry about the decent people who do work there, but ever since Hoover and Tolson let their slips show, outside of a few instances here and there, they seem to do more damage than good.

In politics, some shady dealings with the Progressive Caucus and an outside charity, more on the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism of that caucus and its jihad-loving members and you can't get more racist than Marx and Engels. Elsewhere, the impeachment trap the Dems are blundering into, Tubby Riefenstahl crashes Blotto's party and gets ripped, Chiquita Khruschev might actually face a real GOP challenger in 2020 and Pete Buttplug is doing it wrong, or something.

First Amendment: Aside from the fallout over the Mueller report and the author getting accosted after Easter services, Michelle Malkin has an alarming report on Chase Bank and others de-platforming conservatives for their political viewpoints. Social credits are not just for Chi-Coms anymore.

Foreign Desk: Comedian wins Ukraine prexy election, US sanctions even allies to isolate the Iranians, and tiny Malta faces down the Russky bear in interdicting help to Maduro. Also, another jihadi Easter massacre was averted in Spain.

The Economy: How the Dems obfuscated the wildly successful Trump tax cuts and the price of natural gas plummets as the US sets production records.

Healthcare: Humana looks to be the Alfred Krupp of healthcare. Bastards.

Education: The Joo-haters really hate the Canary Mission.

Red Greens: It's Earth Day so celebrate by driving a gas guzzler and making your electric meter spin like a dervish.

Hither and Yon: Oklahoma - NOT - OK... etc.

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

NOTE: The opinions expressed in some links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.

SRI LANKA ISLAMIC TERROR ATTACK

• 8 Explosions Rock Sri Lanka: At Least 200 Dead, More Than 450 Wounded
  
• Americans Confirmed to Be Among the Dead as Death Toll Climbs
  
• Pope Decries Sri Lanka Terrorist Attacks as "Cruel Violence" During Easter Message
  
• Spencer: The Sri Lanka Jihad Massacre and the Decline of the West

  THE MUELLER DECEPTION, SPYGATE, DEEP STATE, CONGRESSIONAL COUP
  

• Sour Grapes? Mueller Report Leaves Romney "Sickened" By Trump; Team Trump Claps Back
  
• Losers, Welded Together
  
• Rombo Part Deux: The Loser Returns
  
• V.D. Hanson: Russian "Collusion's" Greatest Hits
  
• Schiff-for-Brains: Actions Described in Mueller Report "Far Worse Than Anything That Richard Nixon Did"
  
• Dems' Rejection of Mueller's Exoneration of Trump Endangers our Republic
  
• Dershowitz: Mueller "Completely Wrong" on Obstruction, Should Have Cited H.W. Bush Precedent

  BORDER WALL, MIGRANT INVASION, AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY
  

• FBI Arrests Head Of Militia Group "Assisting" Immigration Authorities At Southern Border
  
• Frustration Grows Among Central American Migrants as Mexican Support Dries Up
  
• Otero County Declares State of Emergency, Demands National Guard Re-Open Border Checkpoints
  
• Amnesty: Bad Policy, Even Worse Politics

  DEMOCRAT-LEFTIST SCANDALS, CRIMES, CHUTZ-POCRISY, MESHUGAS
  

• Progressive Caucus' Arrangement With Outside Charity "Illegal," Political Lawyer Says

  OFFICIALLY-SANCTIONED DEMOCRAT PARTY ANTI-SEMITISM
  

• The Party of Bias and Bigotry
  
• The Terrorist Caucus in the House
  
• Sarsour the Hamas Louse Urges Muslims to Support Bro-Fo Omar, "the Best Our Community Has to Offer" (the community of Bedlam - jjs)
  
• What Did Marx and Engels Think of Other Races?

  CIVILWAR 2.0
  

• Maxine "Mikvah" Waters: "I Call Out" the "Patriotism" of Those Standing with Trump

  POLITICS
  

• Democrat Divide on Impeachment Does Not Bode Well for 2020
  
• Anti-Trump Crazies Urge Impeachment on Cringing Dems
  
• Top "Blotto" Beto Aides Jump Ship As Poll Numbers Stagnate
  
• Tubby Riefenstahl Crashes "Blotto" O'Rourke Rally and Crowd Turns on the Fat Fraudster
  
• Fauxca-Has-Been: "We Cannot Claim Victory Until We Legalize Marijuana at the Federal Level"
  
• Hillary's Two-Year Tantrum
  
• An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton: Run!
  
• Chiquita Khruschev AOC Targeted By Mystery Multimillionaire Donor (actual GOP challengers from the block who are serious, yo - jjs)
  
• Pete Buttplug Is Wrong About Homosexuality
  
• Dem Candidate in PA Special Election Called for Middle-Class Tax Increase (hit up welfare recipients and I'd take a second look - jjs)
  
• Will Americans Vote in 2020 to Surrender Our Freedom? (and every election for the foreseeable future - jjs)

  FIRST AMENDMENT, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, BIG TECH BROTHER
  

• Malkin: Questions For Chase (Away) Bank
  
• MSNBC Reporter Sticks a Mic In Robert Mueller's Face After Easter Services... It Didn't Go Well
  
• Things the Media Ignored in the Mueller Report
  
• 7 Ways the Mueller Report Exposed the Media's "Bombshell" Fake News Stories

  ABORTION
  

• Wokesters Go After Democrat Cartoonist For Objecting To Abortion

  NOTRE DAME FIRE AFTERMATH
  

• Making Sense of the False Outrage Over Notre Dame's $1-Billion Restoration

  FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL
  

• Ukraine Vote Winner Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky Promises: "Everything Is Possible"
  
• US Authorities Arrest Ex-Marine for Anti-Kim Raid on Spanish North Korean Embassy
  
• The Problem with Sanctions: Feel Good Versus Effective Policy
  
• Tiny Malta Punches Above Its Weight For a Free Civilization... Again
  
• US to Sanction Nations For Importing Iranian Oil... Including Allies

  DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS
  

• A Flock of F-15X Eagles

  ISLAM, TERRORISM, SHARIA, DHIMMITUDE
  

• Jihadist Plotting Holy Week Attack in Spain Arrested
  
• Swedish Teachers Stop Student Speech For Being Too Pro-Israel (any amount = too - jjs)

  DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, THE BUREAUCRACY, WASTE, FRAUD, CORRUPTION
  

• Florida Panel OKs Hurricane Recovery Bills, Including One Without a Price Tag

  THE ECONOMY, STUPID
  

• US Sets World Record Natural Gas Production as Prices Plunge
  
• How Democrats Misled the Nation About Trump's Tax Cuts
  
• In Minimum Wage Case, Justices Lament Having to Assume Rule-Making Duties of State Agency
  
• NY Times Raises Questions About Safety of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner (pro-union hit piece or raising legit concerns? - jjs)
  
• How to Keep New York's Economic Engine Pumping (outlaw socialism; the verb, not the adjective - jjs)

  CRIME & PUNISHMENT (NON-DOSTOYEVSKY)
  

• Black Driver Involved In Fatal Hit-and-Run Avoids Jail Time Because He Feared Police "Racism"
  
• Why Bob Kraft's Ordeal Should Alarm Us All

  HEALTHCARE
  

• Humana CEO Refuses to Oppose Medicare for All (government forcing citizens to buy your product is fascism - jjs)

  EDUCATION, INDOCTRINATION
  

• George Mason University to Leftist Thugs: Brett Kavanaugh Will Teach Here, Sorry
  
• Louisiana Senate Committee Rejects Bill to Let Schools Opt Out of State Standards
  
• In Defense of Canary Mission

  RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, LYSENKOISM
  

• Earth Day: Opposing Progress Trumps Protecting the Planet

  FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
  

• Transgender Privilege: Why Must We All Be Forced to Bow to It?

  CULTURE WARS, HITHER & YON
  

• Admitted Child Rapist Roman Polanski Suing Academy For Kicking Him Out
  
• Inside the Life and Christianity of Legendary Sci-Fi Author Gene Wolfe
  
• Not O.K.! SJW Maniac Stages Perverse Revival of Iconic American Musical Oklahoma With Predictable Results

Sunday Overnight Open Thread (4/21/19)

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Quote I

And so it's going to be very hard in our society to ever build a cathedral again, much less to repair them, because we don't believe in what they represented. And it's ironic, because we don't like the past. We are at war with the past. We tear down monuments. We don't build cathedrals. We erase names. We say to Father Serra or Christopher Columbus, you don't live up to our standards of race, class, and gender, moral superiority. Shame on you. Victor Davis Hanson

Quote II

“This is a dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families. Today's arrest by the FBI indicates clearly that the rule of law should be in the hands of trained law enforcement officials, not armed vigilantes.” New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas

Quote III

“Ilmar Omar is crying she’s receiving death threats. They’re no death threats. There just some people saying something.” Lynne Patton

Quote IV

"Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been over shadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Quote V

“Holding Mark Zuckerberg and other top Facebook executives personally at fault and liable for further wrongdoing would send a powerful message to business leaders across the country: You will pay a hefty price for skirting the law and deceiving consumers,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)

***

The Religion of Pieces strikes again. Nothing says says coward more than attacking churches.

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Easter Day bomb blasts at three Sri Lankan churches and four hotels killed 138 people and wounded more than 400, hospital and police officials said, following a lull in major attacks since the end of the civil war 10 years ago.

The explosions, some of which officials said were suicide bomb attacks, led to an immediate clampdown, with the government declaring a curfew and blocking access to most major social media and messaging sites.

It was unclear when the curfew would be lifted.

***

What do Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney have in common? Besides being carpet baggers? Also they will never be President of The United States of America. And Romney is a sorry loser as well. And former Gov. Mike Huckabee calls him out.

So does President Trump.

***

Because The ONT cares, Tomorrow, April 22nd is Earth Day. Celebrate accordingly, I was thinking about firing up every cylinder I have.

***

So f*cking what..........Republicans spend money at Trump properties.

In one of the most scorching tweets he’s ever written, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee slammed failed 2012 Republican presidential nominee Sen. Mitt Romney on Friday for having used the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report to take further shots at the president.

While most Republicans responded to the release of the report on Thursday by slamming the special counsel for producing what renowned conservative commentator Mark Levin has described as a “political document,” Romney instead took to Twitter to slam the president … again.

***

The ONT's crack staff of researchers has found that New Orleans is anywhere from 2 feet below sea level to 20 feet above sea level. What a surprise then that $14 Billion of taxpayer dollars were flushed down the toilet with new levees in New Orleans.

The $14 billion network of levees and floodwalls that was built to protect greater New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was a seemingly invincible bulwark against flooding.

But now, 11 months after the Army Corps of Engineers completed one of the largest public works projects in world history, the agency says the system will stop providing adequate protection in as little as four years because of rising sea levels and shrinking levees.

***

The law of unintended consequences.

Taylor found these bag bans did what they were supposed to: People in the cities with the bans used fewer plastic bags, which led to about 40 million fewer pounds of plastic trash per year. But people who used to reuse their shopping bags for other purposes, like picking up dog poop or lining trash bins, still needed bags. "What I found was that sales of garbage bags actually skyrocketed after plastic grocery bags were banned," she says. This was particularly the case for small, 4-gallon bags, which saw a 120 percent increase in sales after bans went into effect.

***

So what evil gun forced these two middle school girls to plan on murdering nine people?Too much social media and not enough God in their lives.

AVON PARK — Two Avon Park Middle School girls are facing charges that they planned to kill nine people.

Delaney M. Barnes and Solonge N. Green, both 14, were arrested after a teacher at the school called law enforcement to report that they were acting “hysterical” in her class while looking for a folder.

The teacher told Highlands County Sheriff’s Office investigators that the girls said they were going to get arrested while looking for the folder and saw them looking through other students’ backpacks.

***

Mexico is not our friend. Their recent enabling of migrants to storm the US border ia a hostile act. Now they are detaining American soldiers on US territory.

Officials confirmed that the Mexican troops were armed with what seemed to be assault riffles. They drew their weapons when they saw the two U.S. soldiers and ordered the U.S. troops to return their weapons to a military vehicle. According to officials, the two Americans obliged "in an attempt to de-escalate a potential volatile situation."

"Throughout the incident, the U.S. soldiers followed all established procedures and protocols," Northern Command said in a statement.

While the two U.S. troops were on the south side of the security perimeter, officials say that they were still north of the Rio Grande and thus were firmly inside American territory. After the incident, military and Department of Homeland Security officials sent an inquiry to the Mexican government demanding an explanation.

***

Emma ThompsonThe Queen of Virtue Signalers flies 5,400 miles to save the planet.

***

Kevin Williamson’s Hilarious Sophistry or Kevin Williamson is a dick.

Last week National Review published an unintentionally funny bit of sophistry by Kevin Williamson. “The division of labor is the meaning of life,” the article begins, and lest anybody should be confused, Williamson explains:

I do not mean this metaphorically or analogically, but literally.

Life begins with the cell, and the cell is defined by a minimum of specialization: membrane, cytoplasm, and (usually) nucleus.

What makes a cell a living cell is a matter of some slight imprecision: Most living cells reproduce, but some (such as neurons) do not; most cells have nuclei and DNA, but mature red blood cells do not; etc. But the generally shared characteristics of living cells all depend upon the division of labor within the cell: order, sensitivity to stimuli, growth and reproduction, maintenance of homeostasis, and metabolism.

***

The ONT Musical Interlude

Died on this day, April 21, 2016 - Prince
Prince was found dead at his home in Minnesota at the age of 57, after Police were summoned to his Paisley Park estate and found his body in a lift. The acclaimed and influential musician became a global superstar in the 1980s, with albums such as 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O' the Times and recorded more than 30 albums. via thisdayinmusic.com

I prefer the Zevon version better.

***

World of Fun Battle Royale

There’s nothing better than watching a bunch of morons brawling in a Walmart, McDonalds, a bowling alley, a Chucky Cheese pizza joint or at an amusement park.

Well, that’s not exactly true, I prefer watching NASCAR much more.

Apparently a massive brawl broke out at the Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday night which involved at least 300 people!

***

The last laugh didn't belong to tonight's Genius Award Winner.

Well, that backfired.

A Pennsylvania woman who wound up on a local police department’s “Top Ten Most Wanted List” was busted this week after she taunted cops in a Facebook post about her being on the lam, authorities said this week.

Chloe Jones implicated herself when she commented on the “wanted” post by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, writing, “Do you guys do pick up or delivery??” with four crying-laughing emojis, police said.

Jones then got into an argument with other commenters on the post and claimed that she was at a hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia, WDTV reported.

***

Fighting the media. Fighting the Democrats. Fighting the Never Trump false conservatives, Donny 2-Scoops finds time to be Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

My daughter Bella got the biggest surprise today in the mail!An envelope addressed to her from the White House!!!! She was so excited! Received a bunch of cool stuff and a letter from him!THANK YOU! @realDonaldTrump @DonaldJTrumpJr @raficarone_21

***

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Excessive Rules.

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire and AceCorp, LLC. ONT tips, loose change, drink tokens and Russian Bot Twitter accounts to petmorons at gmail thingy dot com.

Weekly commenter stats for week of 4-21-2019

Top 10 commenters:
1 [453 comments] 'Insomniac - Founder, Farmer Liberation Front' [63.59 posts/day]
2 [396 comments] 'Skip'
3 [390 comments] 'TheJamesMadison, Read Some Movie Thoughts'
4 [358 comments] 'Jane D'oh'
5 [354 comments] 'Sponge'
6 [350 comments] 'willow'
7 [321 comments] 'Can't resist temptation '
8 [313 comments] 'Christopher R Taylor'
9 [305 comments] 'Tami'
10 [304 comments] 'Yudhishthira's Dice'

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [122 names] 'raimondo' [17.13 unique names/day]
2 [114 names] 'Miklos, General of Contractors'
3 [43 names] 'LeftCoast Dawg'
4 [39 names] 'Count de Monet'
5 [34 names] 'freaked'
6 [34 names] 'wth'
7 [31 names] 'garrett'
8 [31 names] 'In Vino Veritits'
9 [29 names] 'Notorious BFD'
10 [27 names] 'Duncanthrax'

Thanks and H/T to Maetenloch

Close it up

Gun Thread: Reloading 101 Pt. 3: Easter Edition - Working with Powder [Weasel]

—Open Blogger

There's a Hare in my Scope!

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you've bitten the heads off of your chocolate bunnies and found all of the eggs hidden in your back yard. Remember, if you're good, the Easter Bunny will leave a quarter under your pillow tonight. Or is that the Tooth Fairy? Either way, let's pick up where we left off with reloading and other fun gun stuff last week, shall we?

For those who need to catch up, we've been discussing reloading and spreading the material over a few weeks. Here are links to Part 1 and Part 2 where we review essential gear and begin setting it up.

As a reminder, please do not list specific load powder charge weights when discussing reloading, and please remember this material is intended for the novice reloader, so let's keep the information basic for now. Thanks.

Moving right along in our reloading series, it's time to unbox the powder dispenser and scale, and this isn't a particularly difficult procedure. So open the boxes, and take out the powder dispenser and scale, and put them on your bench. The End. Seriously, a few words on the gear; you recall from the shopping list I recommended investing in a better than average powder dispenser and scale, and the reason is simple. While you can reload with satisfactory results using much less expensive equipment, using it can be tedious and frustrating. You want to make the reloading process as smooth and uncomplicated as possible, and a goofy powder dispenser is a pain in the ass to use. And it doesn't get better the longer you sit at the bench fighting with it. Same with scales. Nothing will make you less confident in your work than a powder scale that seems to be wandering all over the place, so if at all possible, this isn't the place to economize.

Powder Dispenser
These all work about the same way with the difference mostly being in the quality of the components. A micrometer of some sort is moved in and out creating a volumetrically variable chamber which fills with powder from a larger hopper above each time the lever is cycled. The setup really only involves putting the parts together and practicing a bit to develop a technique for operating the dispenser the very same way each time and using as close as possible to the same speed and pressure on the lever as you dispense a charge. At the beginning of a reloading session I always run through several test charges, measuring each until I am getting acceptably consistent results. It's also helpful to keep the main powder chamber at least approximately half full. I've found the charges begin to vary as the powder level gets close to running out. Finally, it's not a good idea to store powder in the dispenser between reloading sessions. I dump any unused powder back into the original container when I'm done for the day.

One note: For some powder dispensers, the micrometer size varies depending on whether it's designed for loading handgun loads where smaller charge weights are used, or rifle loads where larger charge weights are needed. Be sure to look at the range of performance for your particular dispenser to make sure it's appropriate for your intended use.

VIDEO: Powder measure setup
VIDEO: Using a powder measure

Scales
Powder scales come in all shapes, sizes and prices. You can spend a lot of money on a scale. I have small inexpensive digital jeweler's scales which honestly aren't too bad for a quick check, and very elaborate and expensive laboratory balances which can be fussy and subject to electromagnetic interference from household wiring and flourescent lighting fixtures. What I use is an old fashioned beam scale and I have collected a few from various manufacturers. There are all sorts of integrated dispensers and scale combinations which many people like, but what I use to produce my match ammunition is a plain old reloading beam scale. A couple of tips; calibrate your scales before each reloading session using a check weight, and I find it very helpful to add about a pound of stick-on lead wheel weights to the underside of the scale body when first setting it up. This helps dampen tiny vibrations and keep the scale from skittering all over the place on the bench as you work.

VIDEO: Redding beam scale review
VIDEO: How to zero and read a beam scale

Next week we'll talk about choosing components!

***

Last week lin-duh sent in an excellent instructional video, and I thought I'd include it here again for those that may have missed it.

Did anyone have a chance to watch this and what do you think?

***
Prolific Gun Thread contributor ibguy sends us this link for a neat-o hanging target frame. All you have to add is some 1' diameter electrical conduit and you're ready to shoot. In fact it's so neat-o that I ordered one my own self to use at the farm and it was delivered USPS in just a few days. I'll try to remember to include a review later this spring once I've used it. Thanks ibguy!

I have a bunch of different target frame setups of similar design. What do you use? Something you purchased or did you engineer one yourself?

***
Range Time With a Purpose
The folks at Shooting Illustrated have some suggestions for making practical use of your range time.

When you go to the range, do you have a particular training objective in mind, or do you just plug away at paper trying to make a small group of holes?

*******
Link-O-Rama

iMarksman Sport Range Simulator h/t: ibguy
Ammunition Store - SALE!
Fulton Armory - SALE!
Powder Valley - SALE!
Outdoor Life: Six Survival Rifles Under $600
Gubs Magazine Review: Springfield Armory XDM 10mm
Shooting Times Review: Remington 700PCR
Shooting Illustrated: Ballistic Gel Testing
Barrel Twist Rate and You

***Mail Bag***

Our pal and Food Thread guru Mr. Charles B. Dildo sends us this week's Mail Bag entry. Perhaps an advanced cleaning procedure I'm not familiar with? Or a seasoning for the green matter?

*************

Please note the new and improved gmail account morongunthread at gmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!

That's it for this week - have you been to the range?

Close it up

Food Thread: Variety Is The Spice Of Life

—CBD

Some of my favorite cooking is simple stuff; grilled steak, fried eggs, roasted chicken, Sautéed fish. There is a minimalist theme that runs through that list...the list of the seasonings required start and finish with salt (okay...pepper too...sometimes). It's technique and raw ingredients that drive the quality, but that is by no means the only or best cooking at Chez Dildo.

Sometimes I have a hankering for some maniacal 20-ingredient monstrosity that is, hopefully, a symphony of flavors that come not from the main ingredient -- finned or feathered or hoofed -- but some of the incredible range of flavors we have available to us in most supermarket spice aisles.

It is no wonder that the Spice Trade was a very big deal for a very long time in most of the world. Sure, we all know somebody who just doesn't give much of a shit about eating, and considers meal-time sort of like pulling up to the gas station to fill up. But most of us also love to have our tongues and noses tickled by pungent or spicy or sweet or sour or bitter flavors that compliment the foods we enjoy.

I have a 36 test-tube rack with herbs and spices in it, and that is just a start. Sometimes I will read a recipe and find some odd word in the ingredients, and discover that it is a spice or herb from Africa or Asia or South America that is used and enjoyed by tens or hundreds of millions of people...and I have never heard of it or tasted it! That's neat.

And even spices that are not for everyone (like cilantro) can, in some dishes work out really well.* I have mentioned before a dish at a local Chinese restaurant that is, seemingly, half cumin, half hot peppers and half sautéed lamb. It's ridiculously out of balance, except that it tastes wonderful!

Anyway, don't be intimidated by weird spices and odd combinations. Sure, some of them won't work for you, but you might discover something really pleasing and interesting.

*Except for bay leaf, which is grown in the crack of Satan's ass and is not meant for human consumption.

******
From commenter "Miley, the Duchess" comes a very good question. Maintaining consistent grill or smoker temperatures for longer cooking times is a challenge, as everyone who has ever smoked brisket or pork butt or beef clod or lamb leg (do it! It's fantastic) knows all to well.

And every set-up is different, so that makes it entertaining. For instance, when I use my Weber Smokey Mountain (R2D2) I have to plan about 15°-20° hotter at the lid thermometer than the top rack surface, which is 15°-20° hotter than the bottom rack.

I recently purchased a barrel-type charcoal grill (Char-Griller Wrangler model...). I'd really appreciate tips on how to utilize it for larger cuts of meat. ...I'm OK with surface grilling like steaks and salmon and veggies, but I would really appreciate tips on controlling the "oven" temperatures. Right now I'm in the process of curing this grill. It says to maintain 250F for two hours, then a second session of 200F for two hours.

It wants to be 400F, or more. I understand that more airflow means higher temps, so I closed the bottom (side) vent most of the way, and opened up the chimney. It's now dropped to just below 400F after half an hour. Maybe I used too much charcoal (about 3 lbs, started in one of those chimneys).

Looks like the variables are 1) amount of charcoal, 2) the level of the grill bed and 3) the airflow. I'm sure there are more fine-tuning tips.

Since we're kicking off the beginning of grill season, this might be of interest for other Horde grillers, too.

So...have at it! Tips and tricks and secrets for maintaining temps in a grill such as the one pictured.
******
Gorgeous, and wow! That is quite a dark bake. I don't have the intestinal fortitude to try to get my sourdough boules that dark...

Photo by Flo Maderebner
***
Yes, yes...that's avocado toast, which is a hipster thing nowadays. But a nicely poached egg is a thing of beauty, and surprisingly difficult to get in restaurants. And that's understandable, because it is quite time sensitive.

Photo by Daria Shevtsova
***
I am a big fan of this kind of burger, because the beef is so obviously front-and-center. But...and this is a biggie, the meat has to be perfectly cooked and perfectly, messily, embarrassingly juicy. If you don't leave the table liberally covered in spray from the burger, the cook has not done his job.

Photo by Adrian Dorobantu
******
Commenter "Tyler" sent this to me, and clearly he is a bit...off. Or is it just Nebraska?

As the Frogs say, "Chacun à son goût!" But this is just weird. Worcestershire? You Morons have strange tastes!

Got another recommendation for the cooking morons out there. Springtime in Nebraska calls for an awesome salsa when cooking out on the grill. This one caught my attention with the Worcestershire sauce and celery. Not the most logical combination but this has been a family favorite ever since we stumbled upon it in the Weber's Greatest Hits cookbook. Can't recommend that cookbook enough...everything is awesome there, especially the Grilled Shrimp and Orzo Salad recipe which I'll have to send soon! I usually add more Worcestershire than the recipe calls for but depends on your tolerance for the flavor. In my opinion, the recipe calls for too little to truly impact the flavor. Enjoy!

Santa Maria Salsa
Ingredients
2 pounds tomatoes, cored and chopped fine
2 tsp salt
2 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and chopped fine
1 small red onion, chopped fine
1 celery stalk, chopped fine
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Preparation Steps
1. Toss tomatoes with salt in strainer and let drain for 30 min.
2. Toss drained tomatoes with jalapenos, onion, celery, lime juice, garlic, oregano and Worcestershire sauce in bowl.
3. Cover and let stand at room temp for about an hour.
[Recipe Source: Master of the Grill]

******
Food and cooking tips, triple-cream cheeses, young wild pigs, Venison Steak and Eggs (Swiped from Garrett), thick and fluffy pita good matzo brei (it's Passover!) and good tomatoes that aren't square, pale pink and covered with Mestizo E.coli: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com. Any advocacy of French Toast with syrup will result in disciplinary action up to and including being nuked from orbit.

Close it up

Ronald Reagan Was Correct: "No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear"

—CBD

Reining (reigning?) in the power of the Justice Department would be job #1 in a Dildo administration. Well, maybe 1A. Job #1 would be putting a time limit on those stupid video challenges in baseball.

Anyway, Americans should have some expectation that court cases will not continue forever. Or, for that matter, any government interference in commerce or the legitimate exercise of our freedoms. Yes, I'm referring to the ridiculous Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Standard Oil Case, 100 Years On

I was stunned earlier this week to read in the Wall Street Journal that the famous antitrust lawsuit against Standard Oil that broke up John D. Rockefeller’s massive creation and decided at the Supreme Court in 1911 was still an open case at the Justice Department a century later, and is only now being closed up at long last:

The Justice Department wants to bring to an end its breakup of Standard Oil Co., which started in 1911, along with its efforts to ensure competition in the markets for horseshoes and player-piano rolls.

After a review of old legal agreements, the DOJ on Tuesday asked the U.S. District Court in St. Louis to terminate the decree that was the ultimate outcome of its case championed by President Theodore Roosevelt against the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey. . .

“To say it’s been overtaken by events,” said Daniel Yergin, who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning oil-industry history, “is a vast understatement.”

I know...I know...the government never lies. I am as surprised as you are!

Read the whole thing...it's well worth it, if for no other reason to remind one that monopolies are in many ways and cases a figment of the fevered imaginations of the anti-business left.

Sunday Morning Book Thread 04-21-2019

—OregonMuse

Private Library of T. Boone Pickens

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, and everybody who's holding your beer. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, snark, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, writing, and publishing by escaped oafs who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, which are just baaa-aa-aa-aaa-aa-aaa-ad.

Pic Note

You're going to want to click on the photo to see the larger version. The woodwork is magnificent.

Bad Library Jokes & Puns:

I think Muldoon may have written some of these:

I asked the librarian where to find a book of patriotic American songs. She said “Over there.”

I asked the librarian where to find books about paranoia. She whispered, “They’re right behind you.”

I asked the librarian for a book about Pavlov’s dog and Schrödinger’s cat. She said it rang a bell, but she didn’t know if it was there or not.

I asked the librarian for a book on engine lubricants. She said to look in the nonfriction section.

I asked the librarian to recommend an author who wrote dinosaur novels. She said, “Try Sarah Topps.”

I asked the librarian for a book about Stockholm Syndrome. She told me the first few chapters were horrible, but by the end, I would love it.

(h/t Bluebird of Bitterness via mindful webworker)

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

ABSUMPTION is the process of gradually destroying something.

Usage: The Democratic Party's Feast of the Absumption falls on May 1st this year. Of course, it falls on May 1st every year.

Down the Memory Hole

Last week, in the discussion on the unavailability of Tommy Robinson's book, Mohammad's Koran: Why Muslims Kill For Islam, I neglected to mention the name of Tommy's co-author, Peter McLoughlin, who has written his own book, Easy Meat: Inside Britain's Grooming Gang Scandal, which really sounds quite depressing:

Peter McLoughlin spent years believing the Leftist narrative, namely it was 'a racist myth' that organised Muslim groups in Britain and the Netherlands (‘grooming gangs’) were luring white schoolgirls into a life of prostitution. But in 2009 he first encountered people who said their children had been groomed like this. These informants had non-white people in their immediate and extended family, and were thus unlikely to be racists. So McLoughlin dug deeper and what he found shocked him...He also came across references to incidents where any proof had since vanished. McLoughlin spent several years uncovering everything he could and documenting this scandal before the evidence disappeared. He demonstrates that the true nature of this grooming phenomenon was known about more than 20 years ago.

McLoughlin argues the authorities will continue their cover-up of this scandal...McLoughlin's book is an attempt to get the public to wake up, for them to demand civilised solutions, because if the social contract breaks down, people may turn to vigilante justice as the prostituting of schoolgirls continues unabated. The book documents...how Sikhs in Britain have already resorted to vigilante justice. The book exposes how political correctness was used to silence potential whistle-blowers...Every layer of authority in the British state comes under detailed examination to expose their part in the scandal. McLoughlin leaves no stone unturned, and at 130,000 words in length, it is likely to be the most detailed critique of this scandal for years to come.

There are three levels of crime here. The first is the actual crime, the victimization of thousands of young girls. That's pretty outrageous in and of itself.

The second, which in some respects is even more outrageous, is the authorities, whose sworn duty it is to protect its citizens precisely from precisely these sorts of predators, did not do so. Not that they couldn't do anything about, or were unable to do anything about it, but they refused to do anything about it. Even though they knew full well for decades that the sexual predation was going on. Just typing those words fills me with blind rage. What the hell good are the British police if they can turn a blind eye to this?? ( *types* )( *deletes* )( *must not advocate violence on somebody else's blog* ) Let me put it this way: if a father of one of those raped girls stalked and murdered the British police officer or administrator who knew and did nothing, and they caught him and put him on trial for murder, and if I were on the jury, I would vote to acquit. Automatically. I would not be interested at all in anything the Crown prosecutor had to say. I don't know how "justifiable homicide" works in British law, but that's exactly what this would be. And the fact that the dead guy is a representative of the Crown would mean nothing to me at all.

But the third level, while not as horrific as the first two nevertheless has the worst effect in the long-term, and I'm referring to the disappearance of evidence that these crimes had ever occured. In this way, McLoughlin is a bit like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, frantically recording the names, places, and dates of horrific criminal acts that the authorities would like to pretend never happened.

For example, on the Grooming Gangs Jailed vs National Cover-Up page, McLoughlin says this:

Below is my record of these gangs as they are convicted (indicating which of the rapists have Muslim names, and highlighting those named after the founder of Islam). Since there is no record of these convictions tabulated by the agencies of the state nor the controlled media, it is clear that neither have any interest in this data being known to the public. Interspersed with the conviction details are significant events which the state and the controlled media wish to keep from the public.

Peter is doing the work that the Crown is steadfastly refusing to do. His website is a wealth of information, including updates to his book.

This eradication of evidence is particularly important in view of things like this:

It's kind of creepy to know that even though the government is not mandating the wholesale destruction of books for ideological ends, it is not hard to find those who are willing to undertake the task themselves.

Note: Library Journal, no doubt realizing how royally it had beclowned itself, deleted the original tweet so I had to go looking for a screenshot of it. But I was amused when I was looking for it to observe its apologists frantically motte-and-baileying themselves all over the place trying to make excuses for it: "Gee whiz, all she wants is more library diversity. How could you be against that?"

Moron Recommendations

21 Just came across a great title at Amazon: "Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death"

Posted by: Frau Doktor Professor All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 14, 2019 09:20 AM (kQs4Y)

AHE didn't specifically recommend this book, but I went and looked it up, and it does sound like it might be interesting:

Best-selling author and licensed mortician Caitlin Doughty answers real questions from kids about death, dead bodies, and decomposition.

Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. What would happen to an astronaut’s body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral?

In the tradition of Randall Munroe’s What If?, Doughty’s new book, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, blends her scientific understanding of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five urgent questions posed by her youngest fans. Readers will learn what happens if you die on an airplane, the best soil for mummifying your dog, and whether or not you can preserve your friend’s skull as a keepsake.

Featuring illustrations from Dianné Ruz, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? will delight anyone interested in the fascinating truth about what will happen (to our bodies) after we die.

36 illustrations

I'm especially interested in the 36 illustrations. Unfortunately, there's no preview and the book (Kindle and hard copy) won't be released until Sept. 2019.

___________

And speaking of death:

380 Another book that is amusing and informative for fans of murder mysteries and legal thrillers - A Miscellany of Murder: From History and Literature to True Crime and Television, A Killer Selection of Trivia. Executed by The Monday Murder Club. 2011.

The reader will not only be shown Lizzy Bordon taking a few whacks at her parents but also the story of Jane Toppan who liked to climb in bed with her victims. Three movies that the American Bar Association likes. Inept crime labs including one in Broward County, FL. Or how blood splatter thwarted Henry Beattie Jr as he tried to rid himself of a wife. Plus great lines from PIs like Philip Marlowe along with Alfred Hitchcock quotes.

The epilogue is a real killer (SWSDT? -OM) that provides a checklist of things you should try to avoid while trying to hide/bury a body.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 07, 2019 12:16 PM (AfyLj)

Also, chapters on the most puzzling unsolved murders and who's really gotten away with murder (maybe OJ?). A Miscellany of Murder: From History and Literature to True Crime and Television, a Killer Selection of Trivia can be had on Kindle for $10.99.

___________

And yet more skullduggery:

As a pallet-cleanser, I read Rocket to the Morgue by Anthony Boucher; it is a locked room mystery that features writers of the Mañana Literary Society (one of them is Robert Heinlein under a pseudonym) that are suspects in the attempted murder of a particularly unpleasant heir to a literary estate (modeled after Adrian Conan Doyle's handling of the Sherlock Holmes estate). A lot of fun and Boucher even puts himself in the novel -- he originally wrote it under the pen name of H.H. Holmes. Boucher does a nice bit of misdirection and finished with some neat twists. Boucher also gives some interesting glimpses of the "scientifiction" scene of the 1940s. Heinlein (AKA: Austin Carter) also talks about a story plot he was considering in which California becomes a Socialist republic and 2nd American Civil War takes place! Rating = 5/5.

There's a bit more detail in the Amazon blurb:

Legendary science fiction author Fowler Faulkes may be dead, but his creation, the iconic Dr. Derringer, lives on in popular culture. Or, at least, the character would live on if not for Faulkes’s predatory and greedy heir Hilary, who, during his time as the inflexible guardian of the estate, has created countless enemies in the relatively small community of writers of the genre. So when he is stabbed nearly to death in a room with only one door, which nobody was seen entering or exiting, Foulkes suspects a writer. Fearing that the assailant will return, he asks for police protection, and when more potentially-fatal encounters follow, it becomes clear to Detective Terry Marshall and his assistant, the inquisitive nun, Sister Ursula, that death awaits Mr. Foulkes around every corner. Now, they’ll have to work overtime to thwart the would-be murderer—a task that requires a deep dive into the strange, idiosyncratic world of science fiction in its early days...Reprinted for the first time in over thirty years, the book is a must-read for fans of mysteries and science fiction alike.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at April 14, 2019 09:37 AM (5Yee7)

The Kindle edition of Rocket to the Morgue is available for $9.99.

Also:

Came across a curious little book: "Fighting Words: From the Greeks for Today's Struggle, by Kathleen Freeman (trans. and ed.). Published in 1952, it consists of excerpts from the writings of the Ancient Greeks that can be used as critiques of Leftist political philosophy. Very interesting if your curious about what a bunch of dead white guys thought over 100 years ago about the human condition. Rating = 5/5.

This book is out of print, probably for many years. There's a used copy on AbeBooks for $20.

___________

Books By Morons

From an e-mail I received earlier this week:

My illustrated book, Doctor Deplorable’s Political Characters A to Z, will “officially” launch on April 18. 2109.

Two decades ago, when my children were young, I read to them every chance I could. My favorite read-aloud books entertained and educated my kids, contained interesting illustrations and had text that tickled my adult funny bone. The best of them raised questions and prompted conversations between reader and listener. The very best occasionally sent me looking for my own dictionary.

I was (and am) a libertarian-leaning, well-educated, conservative dad, with little patience for those who would pollute my kids’ minds with arrogantly-held, economically illiterate, beliefs. Combing through the children’s departments of local bookstores, I would search for intelligent, fun-filled books and try carefully to avoid those that were full of what I have come to think of as TUSC – the usual socialist crap.

I began work on this book about six months ago, hoping to give Deplorable parents like myself something fun to read aloud to their children. A send-off on the traditional alphabet primer, the book is written by “Doctor Deplorable” (a bald eagle with red, white and blue design elements and a stethoscope hanging around his neck) and then “translated” by me from the original Deplorable. The illustrator is a talented libertarian from Canada, Kyle Fleming.

I think you will find Doctor Deplorable’s Political Characters A to Z to be enjoyable, funny, and more than a little subversive. (think Yertle the Turtle meets Mad Magazine.)

The book is available for purchase at www.doctordeplorable.com, where you can also check out sample pages and FAQs.

This is an 'ABC' teaching book. Meaning, there are books you give to your kids to read, and there are books you read with your kids. Doctor Deplorable’s Political Characters A to Z is one of the latter. Each page is meant to encourage conversation between parent and child.

Amazon says it's not available, but you can buy it directly from the author's website.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, insults, threats, ugly pants pics and moron library submissions may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Close it up

EMT 4/21/19

—krakatoa

Easter Morning Thread.

“To be sure, it was not Easter Sunday but Holy Saturday, but, the more I reflect on it, the more this seems to be fitting for the nature of our human life: we are still awaiting Easter; we are not yet standing in the full light but walking toward it full of trust.”

― Pope Benedict XVI, Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977

Saturday Overnight Open Thread (4/20/19)

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

I was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching my wife, Beverly, who was looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off I asked what she’d like to have for her birthday.

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.

***

A simpler time............Advertising you will NEVER see again.

***

OK, Lent is over and Easter is tomorrow. But for you Catholics planning on next year's Lenten meals, Muskrat is for you!!!

Luckily for the Catholics in Detroit, we here at WU have their muskrat-cooking needs covered, having previously posted the recipe for Cream of Muskrat Casserole, as well as how to find the full cookbook Recipes for cooking muskrat meat.

Another reason to remain Lutheran.

***

First of all I have boots older than these kids.Roadies and the #MeToo Movement.

***

As ever, The ONT is looking out for you How to perfectly reheat pizza.

It doesn't involve a microwave or eating it cold.

***

George Washington, The Father of Our Country and quite the whiskey man.

You can still buy a bottle of small-batch whiskey at a re-creation of one of the largest whiskey distilleries of the late-18th century United States. Even better, it was owned by George Washington, the only Founding Father who, when he wasn’t building a nation, was trying to lift its spirits.

Immensely popular during its time, Washington’s distillery was located three miles from his estate in Mount Vernon. Records show that it produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey in 1799, the year of his death. It also produced such delights as peach and persimmon brandy. The distillery was destroyed in a fire in 1814, but resurrected in 2007, and today, conducts tours and whiskey tastings.

***

No word if Yoko attended The Annual Sasquatch Calling Festival In Whitehall, New York

***

The ONT Musical Interlude

&&&

***

Once again, Florida Man is our Genius Award Winner.

Authorities in Florida are asking for the public’s help in tracking down a man who they say burglarized a Little League concession stand wearing nothing more than a ballcap and gloves.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says the naked burglar struck the stand at Fischer Field in Dunedin almost two weeks ago.

Deputies say the burglar stole cameras and a cash box with $250 inside, and he caused $5,000 in damage.

***

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Easter Baskets.

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire, AceCorp, LLC and their legal team of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, S.C.

Close it up

Saturday Evening Movie Thread 07-14-2018 [Hosted By: Moviegique]

—OregonMuse

Ben Hur:

According to Wikipedia, 1959 saw the popularization of the sword-and-sandal epic through a smash-hit Italian film distributed in America as Hercules, starring Steve Reeves. No citation is given for this, but one wonders if another little film—you probably haven't heard of it—called Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ was a factor as well. A box-office monster, this film ranks #14 in the all-time adjusted-for-inflation box office—and as I like to point out, the adjusted-for-inflation does not adjust for population. Just as with TV 60 years ago, movies like this had an outsized influence compared to, say, the #15 film Avatar.

It won 11 Oscars, an honor only shared with two other movies, Titanic and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. And while Ace's love of 1982 is not unfounded, 1959 can give any year a run for its money: Some Like It Hot, North by Northwest, Rio Bravo, Pillow Talk, Anatomy of a Murder, Imitation of Life, The 400 Blows and on and on. As host Ben Mankiewicz pointed out in his intro, this film was so popular, the merchandising for it was bananas, and for years after it came out. You could even get Ben-His and Ben-Hur robes. As Mankiewicz doesn't point out, making this movie 10 years later would've been utterly unthinkable.

None of us had ever seen Ben-Hur, but not one of us balked at the three-and-a-half-hour running time. (And when movies of yore ran this long, they put in an intermission at least!)

TFW you have to pee and you're not sure when the intermission is coming.

The plot is basically Gladiator, if that film had a fourth act where the hero meets Jesus and comes to eschew revenge. Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is a wealthy Jewish prince whose childhood friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd) has returned to Judea to help put down the rebellious Jews. Miffed by Ben-Hur's refusal to betray his people, Messala frames him and has him sentenced to a slave galley. Through a twist of fate, Ben-Hur survives the galleys only to become a prominent figure in Rome, whereupon he uses his freedom to return to his homeland in search of revenge. INTERMISSION. (In other words, you still have half the movie to go!)

This movie is jam-packed. There is no padding here. In fact, it feels kind of breakneck, with lots left out—probably due to the fact that it's based on the 800 page smash-hit book that unseated Uncle Tom's Cabin as the most popular book of the 19th century. We learn, for example, that Ben-Hur drove chariots in Rome but we never see that. He's on the galleys for years but we only see a little of that. He journeys from Rome to Jerusalem, where he meets Balthazar and lays the groundwork for the ultimate chariot race—and that's about all we see of that journey. It's practically a highlight reel, with no time to spare.

As a result, the acting burden falls primarily on Charlton Heston. We can only experience things through him. He won the Oscar for this role and it's well-deserved. It was de rigeur to deride his acting skills when I was a kid, and his iconic apocalyptic roles in Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes and The Omega Man are cheesy—but that '65-'75 period was a cheesy time. Put Heston in a big, heroic Biblical role like this (or The 10 Commandments) and he shines.

The lovely and moving Haya Harareet, a Palestinian from back when "Palestinian" meant "Jew".

Even so, this movie works because of William Wyler, the director of some of Hollywood's greatest films, like The Best Years of Our Lives and Roman Holiday, as well as one of the other great religious movies of all time, Friendly Persuasion (which has the most mature treatment of the challenges of faith I've seen from a Hollywood film). Wyler had turned down Ben-Hur repeatedly because he wasn't a Big Spectacle picture kind of guy. Ultimately, producer San Zimbalist convinced him by saying the movie needed intimacy—the spectacle would take care of itself. So Wyler brought the human interest, and let the spectacle take care of itself. (Wyler didn't even direct the chariot scene!)

And it is a spectacle! A glory of mattes, rear projection, models, set design and lighting, all skillfully blended give a sense of real time and place. It all reads beautifully, even if it's not perfect. The long shots of the fleet of galleys are pretty clearly models, and if you're really paying attention, you can see the little stick figures. But you do have to be looking, for the most part. (I do look because as much as CGI bores me—a bunch of guys like me typing on computers to move pixels around—I love practical effects and all the various crafts involved.)

The chariot race is still spectacular. It's Mad Max: Fury Road level of breathtaking, with horses and chariots flying everywhere and miraculously no stunt men dying.

Me trying to merge onto the 101 in the morning.

What takes the movie beyond the traditional sword-and-sandals revenge flick is that the chariot race, which is the climactic action set piece of the film is book-ended by Ben-Hur's redemption, where he realizes revenge isn't going to save him or restore his mother and daughter. The peripheral-character-in-the-life-of-Jesus trope was a common one for centuries and it is done expertly here. The Flower especially appreciated the trope of never showing His face.

Helluva flick, is what I'm saying. And crazy influential, too, of course. Obviously the inspiration for the Coen brothers Hail, Caesar!, we also couldn't help but notice that Life of Brian leans heavily on this (and Spartacus) for its portrayals of the Romans in Judea. What sort of surprised me was how some key points of Army of Darkness were echoes of this movie. For instance, the opening narration "My name is Ash, and I'm a slave." is shot in a very similar way to Ben-Hur's enslavement and the music cribbing from Miklos Roza's brilliant score. To say nothing of the bizarre windmill scene where the tiny Ashes yell "Ramming speed!"

Those just leapt out at me. I'm sure a brief review of IMDB's connections page would reveal much more.

We all loved it, and are primed for next month's classic: True Grit.

"Stwike him, Centuwion! Vewy woughwee!"

Close it up

Saturday Afternoon Chess Thread 04-20-2019

—OregonMuse

Mae Clarke Vs. Capa

As always, the chess/dress pr0n thread is an open thread, so there is no such thing as an off-topic comment.

Easier Problem - White To Play (962)

Goal: White can force a mate in 4
Hint: Force Black to trade away his knight

6n1/2q2Nkp/4Kpp1/8/7Q/8/3B4/8 w - - 0 1

Continue reading

Even Grandmasters Make Whopping Big Bonehead Mistakes

This is a game from a currently ongoing tournament. Iranian Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja is playing someone who isn't even master rated. You won't believe what happens:

You look at the position and all of a sudden it hits you: "Wait, did he just hang his rook??? Yes, yes he did. I've gone over a number of grandmaster games in chess books and they're all such superlative examples of brilliant strategy and perfectly-timed execution and you think wow, these guys are just superhuman. It's nice to know that they're not. At least, not all the time.

Firouzja didn't help himself in a subsequent round by intentionally forfeiting a game against an Israeli master. I would prefer to think he did this out of fear of repercussions from his government rather than personal animosity.

More Challenging Problem - Black To Play (964)

What is Black's move that threatens to TOTALLY WREK White?

How does White avoid getting TOTALLY WREKT? (at least, immediately)

Hint: White needs to lose an exchange or risk being mated quickly

6k1/4R1b1/p4rq1/2pP1N2/4n1r1/P4Q2/6PP/5RK1 b - - 0 1

Dress Pr0n For the 'Ettes:

Mrs Ernest Guinness was captured in all her finery by Sir Francis Dicksee in 1912 wearing a dress of richest emerald silk. The style is echoed in a surviving garment that is equally dramatic, now in the Alexandre Vassiliev Foundation #1910s #fashionhistory pic.twitter.com/sm4sac8tFq

— Dr Kate Strasdin (@kateStrasdin) April 17, 2019

(She looks like she could be the high priestess of something-or-other.)

(click for larger kate)

(Greetings from Sardinia)

(click for larger trumps)

___________

Solutions Update

Easier Problem - White To Play

6n1/2q2Nkp/4Kpp1/8/7Q/8/3B4/8 w - - 0 1

1. Bh6+ Nxh6
2. Qxf6+

Not 2.Qxh6+ Kg8 3.Nd6 and the attack is basically going nowhere due to White's pieces getting in each other's way.

2...Kf8 (or 2...Kg8 3.Nxh6#)
3.Nxh6+ Ke8 (or 3...Qf7+ 4.Qxf7#)
4.Qh8# 1-0

More Challenging Problem - Black To Play

6k1/4R1b1/p4rq1/2pP1N2/4n1r1/P4Q2/6PP/5RK1 b - - 0 1

I found the best answer in the comments:

34 Harder problem:Black's threat is
1... Rxf5, to deflect the White queen from its defense of the g2 pawn. If 2. Qxf5, then Black can win the enemy queen by 2...Rxf2, 3. Kh1 Rg1+ 4.Rxg1 Qxf5, and remains about a piece ahead after 4...Rxg7. Actually a better line for Black after 2. Qxf5 is Bd4+ 3. Kh1 Ng3+ leading to mate. White can put up a better defense after 1...Rxf5 by 2. Rxg7+, which eliminates the mating pattern initiated by Bd4+.

Posted by: GolfBoy at April 20, 2019 05:50 PM (sZuVX)

So that bird's-eye-view description of the strategy, when fleshed out, looks something like this:

1...Rxf5 2.Rxg7+

Probably the best way to avoid the quick mate: 2.Qxf5 Rxg2+ (2...Bd4+ 3.Kh1 Ng3+ 4.hxg3 Qh6+ 5.Qh5 Qxh5#) 3.Kh1 Nf2+ 4.Rxf2 Rg1#

2...Kxg7
3.Qxf5 Rxg2+
4.Kh1 Nf2+
5.Qxf2 Rxf2
6.Rxf2 c4
7.d6 Qxd6
8.Rg2+ Kf6
9.Rf2+ Ke5
10.Re2+ Kf4
11.Re1 c3 and wins

Hope to see you all next week!

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Note: that cryptic line of letters and numbers you see underneath each board diagram is a representation of the position in what is known as "Forsyth-Edwards Notation", or F.E.N. It's actually readable by humans. Most computer applications nowadays can read FEN, so those of you who may want to study the position, you can copy the line of FEN and paste into your chess app and it should automatically recreate the position on its display board. Or, Windows users can just "triple click" on it and the entire line will be highlighted so you can copy and paste it into your chess app.

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So that about wraps it up for this week. Chess thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to my yahoo address: OregonMuse little-a-in-a-circle yahoo dott com.

Close it up

Posted by OregonMuse at 05:27 PM Comments