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Post by timothylane on Jun 19, 2019 9:47:28 GMT -8
The Atlantic has an actual news article, and a good one, looking at the crash of Malaysian Airlines 370 several years ago, and the search to find out what happened. No one yet knows for sure, but there's enough evidence available for a decent idea of what happened (probably a murderous suicide by the senior pilot). Much of the search has been an effort to locate the plane in the southern Indian Ocean, which is nearly hopeless given the area and the difficulty of searching it. Much of it also consists of finding debris on beaches in the southwest Indian Ocean, starting with a large piece on the island of Reunion, most of it on the coast of northeastern Madagascar.
One problem has been the corruption of the Malaysian government. The early search was in the South China Sea because the government didn't want to admit what actually happened. Conceivably the plane could have been located if they had looked in the right area sooner.
Well, now I get to try my first link here. Here goes nothing.
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kungfuzu
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Post by kungfuzu on Jun 19, 2019 12:34:36 GMT -8
I read the article yesterday and it was very good for about the first half. It then seemed to be a case of the author trying to fill up space to reach the required number of words. The conclusion is not new and has been the generally accepted reason the mystery for some years now.
While it is well known that Malaysia is a fairly corrupt place*, I found some of the author's phrasing a little sensational.
* The Club Med, which opened on the East Coast of Malaysia almost forty years back, was the first Club Med in the world which had to install locks on the guest-room doors due to the light fingers of the local staff. At least that is what I recall these many years later. That being said, I like Malaysia a lot. One simply has to know what one is dealing with. The Bumis (sons of the soil, i.e. indigenous Muslims) have a somewhat peculiar sense of property rights.
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Post by timothylane on Jun 21, 2019 18:12:32 GMT -8
Eric Erickson had a nice article on the recent hysterical claims by She Guevara and her leftist compatriots that Trump has set up concentration camps to deal with the invasion of illegal aliens. He mocks them as probably insincere (with She Guevara, one can never be sure. He wonders: if you really believed this, and you were either a congressthing or a reporter, would you do more than just send out an angry tweet? Like investigate and report what's actually going on? He contrasts that with how pro-lifers have dealt with abortion. Even leaving aside the occasional violence (which most don't support), they take many active steps to reduce the number of unborn babies killed by the Demagogues' favorite industry. Pro-lifers do this because they really mean what they say. She Guevara and her fellow hysterics do nothing of the sort because they don't mean what they say. (Brad would definitely appreciate this article's message.) The link is: Concentration Camp Moral Cowardice
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Post by timothylane on Jun 27, 2019 7:08:36 GMT -8
I didn't watch last night's debate and won't watch tonight's, but I have read about it. The high point for conservatives looking for a giggle probably was Julian Castro discoursing on "reproductive justice". In his case, that means allowing transgender women (i.e., biological men) to have full abortion rights. Yes, you heard that right, Castro thinks men can bear children. And where's the fetus to gestate? Don't oppress the sexually dysphoric by asking that question. Clearly, Castro should be named Loretta in honor of the character from Monty Python's Life of Brian. The sad thing is that this is only slightly crazier than politically correct leftism already is. Radicals have objected to the feminist play The Vagina Monologues because it "discriminates" against women who don't have a vagina (i.e., men who think they're women), and have demanded that male restrooms should dispense tampons for the transgender men (i.e., women who think they're men). But Castro takes a weird notion and sends it totally out of touch with reality. The link to one article mentioning this is:
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Post by timothylane on Jul 29, 2019 7:43:19 GMT -8
Michael Ramirez has a nice editorial cartoon aptly skewering the continued Demagogue obsession with the Russian collusion hoax even after Heinrich Mueller's testimony. Here's the link: www.gocomics.com/michaelramirez/2019/07/28
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Post by kungfuzu on Jul 29, 2019 9:49:12 GMT -8
This link takes the reader to one of the most bizarre and perverted things I have ever read of. Pervert x 10At the very least, this guy should be confined to a small cell and only let out for a little sunshine once a day. Letting such insanity go unchecked is extremely unhealthy for any society.
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Post by timothylane on Jul 29, 2019 10:41:33 GMT -8
Yes, I've heard of him and written about him elsewhere. We're talking pure, unadulterated evil, aided and abetted by Canadian human rights advocates. The GOP needs to challenge every Demagogue on whether they support his campaign to abuse women, especially immigrants. Something of the sort will soon happen here, if indeed it isn't happening already. Whenever they're accused of "transphobia", they should bring this up as an example and force the Demagogues either to support this miscreant or to explain why he's different from the rest.
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Post by kungfuzu on Jul 29, 2019 11:43:28 GMT -8
The link is to an excellent Mark Steyn piece about the U.K.'s new P.M, Boris Johnson. Steyn worked for Johnson and knows him well. What makes the piece so good is its insight into, in my opinion, the way politicos think and work. While written in a jovial tone, it is in some parts a sharp indictment of Johnson. (And most politicians if one thinks about it) Boris Johnson
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Post by timothylane on Jul 29, 2019 12:14:27 GMT -8
Interesting as Steyn always is, of course. "Bertie Wooster with Jeeves's brain" -- now, that's an unusual image.
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Post by timothylane on Jul 29, 2019 12:31:49 GMT -8
A friend sent me a copy of Babylon Bee's report on an interesting new health threat, and the CDC's typical response to it. The link is:
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Post by kungfuzu on Jul 29, 2019 12:43:21 GMT -8
Very droll.
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Post by timothylane on Jul 31, 2019 18:00:34 GMT -8
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 1, 2019 8:11:42 GMT -8
The link is to a nice piece by Theodore Dalrymple regarding the useless warnings which appear on every product sold and in every public place trod by mankind, including a single step in a train station. While Dalrymple understands the fact that this is a result of the infantilization of humanity, he misses another, in my opinion, larger reason for this proliferation of warning labels. Everyone is covering their asses due to the spread of and increasing power of lawyers in our society. Once again, I say I agree with Dick the Butcher. Be Careful
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 1, 2019 9:30:11 GMT -8
Exactly. Ditto. One wonders if the drive for “universal salvation” isn’t a part of this. Ultimately, that is about people not having to be responsible for their moral actions. It’s a perfect fit for today’s amoral consumerists and the entitlement mindset. Yikes! Pussies! Yes…as you say, the fear of lawsuits is a big part of this as well. Yesterday, I watched the first episode of season six of a reality show called 24 Hours in Police Custody. I don’t know why I started there. It’s what came up when I clicked on the show title. The episode was titled Sex and Corruption. This episode was about a prostitute in England. I had no idea that prostitution in England was legal. It won’t be for long after Muslims take over. But they can enjoy it for now. Anyway, this one “John” finds a blackmail note on his car after having visited a “sex worker.” (“Whore” is a suitable adjective but times have changed, at least in England.) The blackmailer wanted 1000 pounds or he’ll let his wife and the world know that he’s used the services of a “sex worker.” What this series never explains is why, with prostitution legal, anyone would even care. If you got your nails done at the salon, is that something you could be blackmailed over? In the show, one of the “police officers” (scare quotes will be explained later) notes regarding the whore (sorry…”sex worker”) that it’s her body and she has the right to do with it what she wants. Okay. If that’s the premise, and prostitution is considered no different than stopping by for a Quarter Pounder with cheese, why would anyone consider this a blackmailable offense? They never explain that aspect. As it turns out, it was neither the “sex worker” nor her pimp (they gave no euphemism for his role) who was doing the blackmailing. It was some off-duty cop surveilling the prostitute's trailer and using it as a way to make some (what he thought) was easy money. He had, of course, the special police equipment, not only for effective surveillance (making videos) but for finding names and addresses associated with license plates, etc. If you have BritBox, please watch this because it will be difficult to make my point in writing. But you see how absolutely namby-pamby these police are. At every step of the way, you can tell they are trying to avoid a lawsuit. To say that they treat perps with kid gloves is an understatement. I was shocked that the inside of a police station could so resemble Kindergarten.
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Post by timothylane on Aug 1, 2019 10:16:42 GMT -8
My understanding is that most of the really weird warnings happen because some fool did something really stupid once, suffered the consequences, and then he (or his heirs) sued over it. When or lose, the suit would be expensive for the company, so now they issue warnings and thereby gain immunity. (Hey, they told you not to do it. Common sense has no place in a court of law, clearly, so they need a better defense than that.)
I have a phobia about wasps, bees, and (especially) hornets. I sure wouldn't sweep a wasps' nest away and have them come after me. I don't know exactly when this developed. As a very young child, I remember that we would catch bees in jars -- we poked holes in the lids so they could breathe. I also recall being warned that some bush we passed walking to school had yellow jackets in it (this was in Fort Leavenworth). Later, in Greece, the frequent presence of wasps and hornets certainly affected me. (I remember seeing some very large hornet buzzing around our car just as we were leaving on a trip. Good thing our windows were up.) And later a cousin, mowing on the family fan, went over a wasps' nest with the results you might expect.
But even so, their reaction seems excessive. There are products out there for dealing with such nests. And even I can endure -- somewhat -- the presence of flying hymenoptera. But I'm very nervous and hesitant, and if they head for me -- aaugh! Fifty-yard dash time! One advantage of being indoors is that I'm unlikely to encounter any wasps. (But it can happen. As a home-owner, I was prepared for that danger.)
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 1, 2019 10:29:21 GMT -8
When I encounter a wasp nest (usually yellow jackets), I get a can of insecticide and have at ‘em. I took care of a nest this in the ground this summer that way.
A man (teacher, janitor, or whatever) employed at a school would know what to do. There are more than a few ladies who were (in times past) not only capable of taking out a wasp nest but could use a gun to deter varmints of all types. We’re talking wasps. It’s not a terrorist cell.
Now we’ve become a culture shaped by:
1) Nannies 2) Lawyers 3) Infantilism
If your highest value is safety, then take no risks.
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Post by timothylane on Aug 1, 2019 10:48:15 GMT -8
Exactly. Insecticides will work, and I've used them. There are also special products designed specifically for dealing with wasps' nests.
And then there's The Furies by Keith Roberts. England didn't have enough insecticide to deal with them. But fortunately, they were also as much a physical impossibility as such 50s disaster movies as Them! and Tarantula.
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 1, 2019 11:10:12 GMT -8
We get Mud daubers at our house and I take a good can of insecticide to them, along with a broom to destroy their little nests.
I think I would just run from this thing.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 1, 2019 11:14:35 GMT -8
American Hornet
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 1, 2019 11:24:45 GMT -8
I don't think I have the right insecticide for that one, and I am not a very good swimmer so I would be sunk.
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