Via Coffee & Covid, the New York Times has published a remarkable story today about the mean orange opposition to the pure-hearted and gentle extension of warrantless surveillance, which is good and kind and nice but the scary orange devil is being mean about it. This
november 2020 around thanksgiving somebody left a copy of the ny times in the vestibule of my building (upper westside NYC)
every single article in that edition, from the bond market in the business pages to the wedding announcements, included something on the "pandemic"
i hadn't read the times for years. like pretty much everyone here i'd had a subscription i'd let lapse sometime in the early teens when the bartender at my local announced that he'd just been hired by the ny times. and then his first piece for them with a review of his band. with him on vocals.
A little hubristic, but yes I use a pen. That said, I’m not above writing over a mistake either!
I got into crossword puzzles at the language school in 91. We got the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Jose mercury news.
The class sizes are small, 10 students to a teacher. Nowhere to hide. One gal was an absolute crossword savant. She started doing them in class on breaks, and within a month everyone was doing it.
I’ve been doing crosswords regularly for over 30 years now, I’m pretty good at it. Crossword puzzles are like an easy jog, just enough exercise to feel alive.
Years ago I heard someone say, "Wanna know how to get kicked off jury duty every time? Do the NYT Crossword with a pen. Neither side wants someone who can think."
Always chuckle a bit when I think of that--sad, but likely true. There is something deeply satisfying about finishing a crossword in pen without mistakes.
The puzzles generally get harder later in the week, so I don't get that smug little dopamine hit when I complete a Monday/Tuesday puzzle without error...
Sadly, the city daily to which we once subscribed no longer publishes a print edition, so I get by on Christmas and birthday crossword books from my sisters in NZ and the UK. And if you think pop culture clues are challenging in US crosswords, try them from the other side of the world. Yes, I use a pen(cil).
Brian, was the language school the DLI in Monterey? If so, you might know how great it can be to sit somewhere on Cannery Row and work on a crossword or more often in my case, Jumble. It's one of the few ways I have to tune out the pure crazy that seems to be everywhere these days; the NY Times article that Chris talks about here is so insane I'd think it was a candid camera stunt: "We pretend an article about the monstrous far-ultra-batshit-crazy right wingers lead by Matt "Evil One" Gaetz joining a majority of Democrats to vote down legislation is actually in the NY Times, let's watch readers' reactions..."
That year in Monterey was possibly the best year of my life, easily in the top 3. I visited Cannery Row a few times, but the few times I wasn't in the water at Asilomar or Carmel Beaches--I'd usually just sit on the rocks watching the ocean smash into the rocks.
We were voluntold to be on the run team, so every morning 12-15 of us would meet at Lovers' Point Beach, run to the Fishwife and back. About 10K, and we raced every morning (young fools). Often we'd return into the Bay as the sun rose over the Salina hills and shoot gold across the bay--breathtakingly beautiful.
It was the most challenging academic experience of my life, but it was in the most beautiful place, we surfed, played ball, ran every day. It was a paradise.
Now, when I think back on different times in my life, I realize the very best, my happiest, my most memorable--have all been when life/environment forced me to extract every ounce of effort. I was pushed into my best self.
The challenge I find now in a semi-retired life is to create that environment for myself.
i sent that quote to my composer friend who lives in NYC. this was his response:
"At least with a lobotomy you're left placid and without affect. After reading the New York Times (esp the propagandistic arts pages) I'm ready to grab an Uzi, wreak carnage and destruction, and slit my throat from ear to ear."
I know how he feels and I don't read any newspapers. I only read substacks. They're not leftwing, but they still make me that mad at the commies in power.
Can't be blackmailed if there's nothing to blackmail you with. Maybe if being a slimy porn-addled turd wasn't a prerequisite for a career in politics we wouldn't be having this conversation.
I can’t remember the amount but years ago I read about a Congressional slush fund set aside for financial settlements for sexual abuse accusations made against Senators and Reps… the list was long and both male and female. Now it seems they’re turning on each other…..
It's all about the intent. The 209 Democrats, presumably, voted with the purest of motives.
Although that leads to the obvious corollary, the Democrats voting on the other side must be evil in some way. Or maybe just pure, but in the wrong way…?
No, no. The Dems voted to stop violating the 4th amendment on principle. The Repubs voted to put the nation at risk of muh terrorists and to hide their own nefarious acts. It's so obvious.
Probably for the same reason they don’t bother to write “still breathing “ or “human”. At some point you just assume the baseline and only note the exceptions :)
Just like you'll never hear the Supreme Court described as "the liberal court" when it's dominated by liberals. Because that's "normal" and a "good thing."
because that's the mainstream now. wish i could post that meme with the guy who stays in the same place with the ground shifting under him. leftist in 1968 = radical rightwing in 2009
A question I've been asking for so long. This simple observation is mighty in its implications. Like when are we going to see the terms 'marxist' or 'fascist' or 'left-wing ideologue' appear in anything other than a fawning context.
Self-lobotomizing is why hardly anyone reads the Times; most people are just not into self-inflicted brain damage. Though I appreciate you damaging your brain to inform us.
That is kind of weird when you think about it. It must be really popular with the Dem leadership only if so many D’s are against it yet the NYT is shrieking that it is going away. That, or the NYT is entirely run by intelligence agency staff now.
Logic seems to have completely gone out the window. All that matters is creating optics that will generate the correct knee-jerk reaction in your base.
What is really amazing is that a good chunk of the base should be old enough to remember screaming about Cheney wiretaps, or at least their parents doing it. Like it never occurs to them to think of the substance and wonder "wait... why is it good now?"
I feel like I could respond to nearly every one of Chris's articles with, "These fbomb people!!!"
Feeling contempt for my fellow American is unhealthy, but I'm finding it hard to keep an open heart when I continue to read about their antics.
I think it is Ryan Gardner who often writes, "We are only asking to be left alone..."
These hall-monitors just cannot keep to themselves. Everything is about getting in our business, so far that now they want to empower the government to do it. That is a lot of hate.
We want to be left alone, but sadly they want to tell us how to live. It may not be reconcilable.
Unfortunately the most critical time to speak out is before free speech becomes "penalized".
We mostly missed that opportunity. It sucks being stuck between a "live and let live" and "leave me the eff alone" mentality. If the later is not the case then the former will only make the later worse.
So now we are stuck with the second most important time to speak out:
When free speech is penalized, but before you have to build your own gulags.
Make no mistake that's where it ends.
It smells like a 30's re-run...because...well...that's exactly what's happening.
It is a challenge. In earlier, more innocent times--like the Global War on Terror--we could disagree with someone politically and still do business with them, work with them.
Today there is a probability of being canceled...or like @Spaceman Spiff says they will cheerfully murder you.
Don't spay/neuter your kids is blasphemy AND ANYONE WITH THOSE VIEWS DOES NOT DESERVE TO LIVE PEACEFULLY!!
So, while I agree we need to speak up, we still need to pick our battles--and also to do our very best to protect ourselves from the threat of cancellation/rioting.
Started watching 30 Rock with the wife - I'd never seen it during its initial run - and boy is it ever an interesting time capsule. One episode we recently watched had Baldwin's Jack Donaghy character - a c. 2002 - Aaron Sorkin - boogeyman GW Bush - Bill O'Reilly era Fox news "republican" - backslap another old GOP crony during a boozy party in the attempt to get the top GE job by joking, "ya wiretapping old bastard!".
Reading about Democrats *now*, they're making the Nixon White House look like Little House on the Prairie.
We started Modern Family a couple of months ago. It is Seinfeld funny. MASH funny. Simply brilliant--and there are 11 seasons with 22 episodes a season. Love it. We are in season 3 and loving it.
There is absolutely zero chance this show could be filmed today.
The leftists are without humor. Zero. Nada. Zilch. They only laugh when conservative people feel pain or die from COVID.
I always qualify MASH funny by asking, the first few seasons Trapper John-Col. Blake slapstick funny, or the post Frank Burns years when Alan Alda decided to essentially turn the show into a dreary sermon interspersed with the occasional jab at Charles?
I watched most of MASH as a child. I'm GenX--and now I see much of MASH as typical 'making the best of the worst' that all Soldiers employ as a coping mechanism. The Army is so insane the only response is humor...and I spent 27 years amid the insanity.
There are several uk comedies we watch on a channel called Gold, made in the 70s and 80s to early 90s, that would absolutely not be made now.....and yes, our kids watch them. Some of the cast are now far left feckwits, unfortunately, but their work back in the day, was hilarious.
Ah, I'm in the UK, I'm not sure if it's available in the USA? Mind you some of them were made by the BBC and I'm pretty sure they've been imported stateside! Only Fools And Horses, Open All Hours, etc
We just started season 3 so we have a lot of laughs banked. It must be hard to continually write humorous scripts for 11 straight years! I'll choose to count my blessings that we have an additional 3-4 seasons ahead!
I do find it endlessly fascinating that no one from the 'trust the science' cult seems to question all of the died suddenly. It is like that a$$hat Scott Galloway who asked to be forgiven on Bill Mahar's show. I'll forgive you after you admit to every single awful thing you and your ilk did, you're stripped of all wealth, positions, and you spend the next 20 years in prison...then my heart may open a bit for your forgiveness.
I sense a new masthead slogan for the New York Times. "We Print all the Gibbering Bullshit in One Neat Package"
Mine is “ The Rubbish they choose to Publish”
I like that slogan!
Just the news that is printed to fit (the current narrative).
"Reading the New York Times is like giving yourself a lobotomy with a screwdriver."
^^^ this ^^^
november 2020 around thanksgiving somebody left a copy of the ny times in the vestibule of my building (upper westside NYC)
every single article in that edition, from the bond market in the business pages to the wedding announcements, included something on the "pandemic"
i hadn't read the times for years. like pretty much everyone here i'd had a subscription i'd let lapse sometime in the early teens when the bartender at my local announced that he'd just been hired by the ny times. and then his first piece for them with a review of his band. with him on vocals.
I hope it was a positive review.
The only redeeming part in any newspaper is the crossword puzzle. I do prefer to complete them by hand over the online version.
bsn
Use a pen, do you BN?
A little hubristic, but yes I use a pen. That said, I’m not above writing over a mistake either!
I got into crossword puzzles at the language school in 91. We got the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Jose mercury news.
The class sizes are small, 10 students to a teacher. Nowhere to hide. One gal was an absolute crossword savant. She started doing them in class on breaks, and within a month everyone was doing it.
I’ve been doing crosswords regularly for over 30 years now, I’m pretty good at it. Crossword puzzles are like an easy jog, just enough exercise to feel alive.
bsn
My Mom used a pen, too. And finished them most of the time without line-outs.
Years ago I heard someone say, "Wanna know how to get kicked off jury duty every time? Do the NYT Crossword with a pen. Neither side wants someone who can think."
Always chuckle a bit when I think of that--sad, but likely true. There is something deeply satisfying about finishing a crossword in pen without mistakes.
The puzzles generally get harder later in the week, so I don't get that smug little dopamine hit when I complete a Monday/Tuesday puzzle without error...
bsn
Sadly, the city daily to which we once subscribed no longer publishes a print edition, so I get by on Christmas and birthday crossword books from my sisters in NZ and the UK. And if you think pop culture clues are challenging in US crosswords, try them from the other side of the world. Yes, I use a pen(cil).
Brian, was the language school the DLI in Monterey? If so, you might know how great it can be to sit somewhere on Cannery Row and work on a crossword or more often in my case, Jumble. It's one of the few ways I have to tune out the pure crazy that seems to be everywhere these days; the NY Times article that Chris talks about here is so insane I'd think it was a candid camera stunt: "We pretend an article about the monstrous far-ultra-batshit-crazy right wingers lead by Matt "Evil One" Gaetz joining a majority of Democrats to vote down legislation is actually in the NY Times, let's watch readers' reactions..."
Fred,
That year in Monterey was possibly the best year of my life, easily in the top 3. I visited Cannery Row a few times, but the few times I wasn't in the water at Asilomar or Carmel Beaches--I'd usually just sit on the rocks watching the ocean smash into the rocks.
We were voluntold to be on the run team, so every morning 12-15 of us would meet at Lovers' Point Beach, run to the Fishwife and back. About 10K, and we raced every morning (young fools). Often we'd return into the Bay as the sun rose over the Salina hills and shoot gold across the bay--breathtakingly beautiful.
It was the most challenging academic experience of my life, but it was in the most beautiful place, we surfed, played ball, ran every day. It was a paradise.
Now, when I think back on different times in my life, I realize the very best, my happiest, my most memorable--have all been when life/environment forced me to extract every ounce of effort. I was pushed into my best self.
The challenge I find now in a semi-retired life is to create that environment for myself.
bsn
I only write with pen, so I'm with Brian on that.
But, I do make mistakes. 😞
You're braver than I, Lass.
Nah, not really, I just hate pencils.
Ink is just clearer to see as well. I don't like reading anything written in pencil.
bsn
YES!!! So much easier to read! And you can choose pretty colors, if you're so inclined, or just go with my favorite, black.
i sent that quote to my composer friend who lives in NYC. this was his response:
"At least with a lobotomy you're left placid and without affect. After reading the New York Times (esp the propagandistic arts pages) I'm ready to grab an Uzi, wreak carnage and destruction, and slit my throat from ear to ear."
I know how he feels and I don't read any newspapers. I only read substacks. They're not leftwing, but they still make me that mad at the commies in power.
Like x 1000!!!
I restacked this article with that quote. Loved it so much.
Huh, all this time I thought screwdrivers were the preferred medical instrument for lobotomies. `\_(•_~)_/`
See, the thing is, those Republicans may have voted correctly, but for the wrong reasons. They had extremism in their hearts.
I think the real story is that Mike Johnson must be getting left with blue balls after getting BJ's from Paul Ryan.
What a phony.
He is phony with poor eye contact.
you are so right. i just noticed that
Okay, now…. I just think he and other Republicans are being black mailed
Can't be blackmailed if there's nothing to blackmail you with. Maybe if being a slimy porn-addled turd wasn't a prerequisite for a career in politics we wouldn't be having this conversation.
I can’t remember the amount but years ago I read about a Congressional slush fund set aside for financial settlements for sexual abuse accusations made against Senators and Reps… the list was long and both male and female. Now it seems they’re turning on each other…..
It's all about the intent. The 209 Democrats, presumably, voted with the purest of motives.
Although that leads to the obvious corollary, the Democrats voting on the other side must be evil in some way. Or maybe just pure, but in the wrong way…?
No, no. The Dems voted to stop violating the 4th amendment on principle. The Repubs voted to put the nation at risk of muh terrorists and to hide their own nefarious acts. It's so obvious.
Yeah, it's one of those irregular verbs: " I made a mistake; you are wrong; he is an idiot."
lol thank you... You made me laugh today
Why are there never any "far-left," "ultra-left," "hard-left" people in Congress?
Odd, isn’t it?
Probably for the same reason they don’t bother to write “still breathing “ or “human”. At some point you just assume the baseline and only note the exceptions :)
Just like you'll never hear the Supreme Court described as "the liberal court" when it's dominated by liberals. Because that's "normal" and a "good thing."
That is a conundrum. Perhaps the Democrat party screens their people for extremist views. (Too few and they don't make it, lol)
because that's the mainstream now. wish i could post that meme with the guy who stays in the same place with the ground shifting under him. leftist in 1968 = radical rightwing in 2009
Maybe because we all already know they are commies.
They all are, therefore they don't need the extra descriptor. 😉
A question I've been asking for so long. This simple observation is mighty in its implications. Like when are we going to see the terms 'marxist' or 'fascist' or 'left-wing ideologue' appear in anything other than a fawning context.
Headline = “Democrats with the support of their ultra MAGA allies save Democracy!”
Self-lobotomizing is why hardly anyone reads the Times; most people are just not into self-inflicted brain damage. Though I appreciate you damaging your brain to inform us.
'the story also tells you that the extremist, Trump-hypnotized Freedom Caucus of far-right nutjobs…joined…Democrats in…uh.'
It's even worse when you do the math. 209 Democrats and 19 Republicans. Yet the whole thing can be laid at the feet of of the 19 evil Republicans.
That is kind of weird when you think about it. It must be really popular with the Dem leadership only if so many D’s are against it yet the NYT is shrieking that it is going away. That, or the NYT is entirely run by intelligence agency staff now.
Logic seems to have completely gone out the window. All that matters is creating optics that will generate the correct knee-jerk reaction in your base.
What is really amazing is that a good chunk of the base should be old enough to remember screaming about Cheney wiretaps, or at least their parents doing it. Like it never occurs to them to think of the substance and wonder "wait... why is it good now?"
It's that kind of thing that just makes me sad.
The dumbocraps have NEVER been logical. They gave always been screaming, spoiled a$$e$.
1. Math is raaaacist!
2. It very clearly states, in the Bible, that demoncans can DO NO WRONG, and repuplicrats are evil - by definition. So of course its their fault.
Don't get me started about the racist math thing 😵💫
Yeah. 🤔🤨😖
They moved so hard to the right that they went all the way around the world and landed with the democrats.
I feel like I could respond to nearly every one of Chris's articles with, "These fbomb people!!!"
Feeling contempt for my fellow American is unhealthy, but I'm finding it hard to keep an open heart when I continue to read about their antics.
I think it is Ryan Gardner who often writes, "We are only asking to be left alone..."
These hall-monitors just cannot keep to themselves. Everything is about getting in our business, so far that now they want to empower the government to do it. That is a lot of hate.
We want to be left alone, but sadly they want to tell us how to live. It may not be reconcilable.
bsn
Unfortunately the most critical time to speak out is before free speech becomes "penalized".
We mostly missed that opportunity. It sucks being stuck between a "live and let live" and "leave me the eff alone" mentality. If the later is not the case then the former will only make the later worse.
So now we are stuck with the second most important time to speak out:
When free speech is penalized, but before you have to build your own gulags.
Make no mistake that's where it ends.
It smells like a 30's re-run...because...well...that's exactly what's happening.
The people upset about free speech would cheerfully kill you. That is currently illegal. But that will change if we let them.
Eh, they'll let the illegals kill us, so they won't have to dirty their hands.
It is a challenge. In earlier, more innocent times--like the Global War on Terror--we could disagree with someone politically and still do business with them, work with them.
Today there is a probability of being canceled...or like @Spaceman Spiff says they will cheerfully murder you.
Don't spay/neuter your kids is blasphemy AND ANYONE WITH THOSE VIEWS DOES NOT DESERVE TO LIVE PEACEFULLY!!
So, while I agree we need to speak up, we still need to pick our battles--and also to do our very best to protect ourselves from the threat of cancellation/rioting.
bsn
Didn't the DNC try (or want to) to censor people's *text messages* over "covid misinformation" and "vaccine hesitancy"?
No wonder my knuckles always hurt!
LOLOLOL
Started watching 30 Rock with the wife - I'd never seen it during its initial run - and boy is it ever an interesting time capsule. One episode we recently watched had Baldwin's Jack Donaghy character - a c. 2002 - Aaron Sorkin - boogeyman GW Bush - Bill O'Reilly era Fox news "republican" - backslap another old GOP crony during a boozy party in the attempt to get the top GE job by joking, "ya wiretapping old bastard!".
Reading about Democrats *now*, they're making the Nixon White House look like Little House on the Prairie.
We started Modern Family a couple of months ago. It is Seinfeld funny. MASH funny. Simply brilliant--and there are 11 seasons with 22 episodes a season. Love it. We are in season 3 and loving it.
There is absolutely zero chance this show could be filmed today.
The leftists are without humor. Zero. Nada. Zilch. They only laugh when conservative people feel pain or die from COVID.
bsn
I always qualify MASH funny by asking, the first few seasons Trapper John-Col. Blake slapstick funny, or the post Frank Burns years when Alan Alda decided to essentially turn the show into a dreary sermon interspersed with the occasional jab at Charles?
I watched most of MASH as a child. I'm GenX--and now I see much of MASH as typical 'making the best of the worst' that all Soldiers employ as a coping mechanism. The Army is so insane the only response is humor...and I spent 27 years amid the insanity.
...just realized what that says about me! 😳
bsn
Read the original book and watch the original movie by Altman, *much* darker, raunchy and cynical.
Mike Farrell was the worse. When Wayne Rogers left, the show was crap. Rogers couldn't stand Alda either, what a coincidence
There are several uk comedies we watch on a channel called Gold, made in the 70s and 80s to early 90s, that would absolutely not be made now.....and yes, our kids watch them. Some of the cast are now far left feckwits, unfortunately, but their work back in the day, was hilarious.
Previously, most creatives were Democrats. And they produced great art.
They probably hired conservative, managers, and focused on their art.
Today, they are artless, humorless, and without Grace. The true creatives are the people you’ll find on this Substack and others like it.
We will have to check out that station Gold. It’s hard to find good television these days.
bsn
Ah, I'm in the UK, I'm not sure if it's available in the USA? Mind you some of them were made by the BBC and I'm pretty sure they've been imported stateside! Only Fools And Horses, Open All Hours, etc
The first six or seven season of Modern Family were excellent. The rest not as much.
We just started season 3 so we have a lot of laughs banked. It must be hard to continually write humorous scripts for 11 straight years! I'll choose to count my blessings that we have an additional 3-4 seasons ahead!
bsn
Luckily, it's usually them dying from covid, or side effects from the vax.
I do find it endlessly fascinating that no one from the 'trust the science' cult seems to question all of the died suddenly. It is like that a$$hat Scott Galloway who asked to be forgiven on Bill Mahar's show. I'll forgive you after you admit to every single awful thing you and your ilk did, you're stripped of all wealth, positions, and you spend the next 20 years in prison...then my heart may open a bit for your forgiveness.
bsn
Yes, a lobotomy with one of those weird hex-headed screwdrivers.
TORX™ -- when only the dullest instrument will do!
Hooray for the Constitutional Conservatives who stood up for the 4th Amendment.
yeah all 19 of them. what a sad state of affairs.
it's like The 300 in the Battle of Thermopylae against Xerxes the god-king of Persia.
Good luck boys.
We need more of them. There should be a least 50. And the rest of the caucus should follow their lead.
I like the David vs. Goliath comparison myself. It just takes small well-aimed strikes. Then the whole battle begins to turn.
Man, I wish I could read the NYT comments to see if any actual subscribers were allowed to point that out.
Most subscribers would just see their own insane views confirmed. Any who didn't likely wouldn't be published (can't spread disinformation, you know).
Exactly. That's why it's interesting to see what does slip through the censor.
Well put, Mr. Bray!