Rebane's Ruminations
March 2023
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[Happy Spring!  If Trump is indicted and his trial starts going badly toward conviction, would that induce other Repubs not to throw their hats in the ring?  If so, Trump would be the hands down favorite for Republican nominee.  So if the Dems really want to run against Trump, would they not, as a tactic, want throw their case against Trump under the bus?  gjr]

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242 responses to “Sandbox – 22mar23”

  1. Misanthrope Avatar
    Misanthrope

    “Has to admit”? Ooh, you got me Scott! Lol!
    WTF?
    Scott doubles down spy balloon conspiracygate triviality nonsense. Hilarity ensues.

    Like

  2. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Oh Missy.
    First, bad link
    Second, this is not February.
    “The three officials said China could have gathered much more intelligence from sensitive sites if not for the administration’s efforts to move around potential targets and obscure the balloon’s ability to pick up their electronic signals by stopping them from broadcasting or emitting signals.
    “The Defense Department directed NBC News to comments senior officials made in February that the balloon had “limited additive value” for intelligence collection by the Chinese government “over and above what [China] is likely able to collect through things like satellites in low earth orbit.”
    Well, well, well. Apparently the Chinese were able to send back signals in real time that our technology failed to jam. The balloon was not blown off course as the DoD said. It was remotely steered, doing figure 8 patterns over targets. The DoD said we first picked up the balloon when it crossed US territory (Alaska) which was a lie because we followed it from its launch in China. Too many lies to list.
    What do you expect this DofD to say? That we were too afraid of standing up for the USA and did not want to ruffle China’s feathers? That China obtain better electronic surveillance than a low orbit satellite? Expect them to fess up?
    Keep drinking that Kool-Aide.

    Like

  3. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    From the newest https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/hows-that-war-going/
    “The main thing about the Ukraine War is that the US doesn’t want it to end. You understand, it is not about any airy-fairy principles such as freedom for Ukraine. It’s about antagonizing Russia no matter how many dead Ukrainians it takes, because US officials developed a delusional psychosis about Russia after years of using it to mind-fuck American citizens, and we have to justify that antagonism by pretending we have vested interests in Ukraine, which we don’t, by the way.”
    I think that’s a notion I buy into. There’s a Law of Previous Investment that tells you that you have to double down no matter how crazy it all is. Gay rights somehow morphed into child mutilation and ‘My First Blowjob’ as required reading. The homeless-industrial complex requires ever more ‘investment’ and ‘resources’. Jackwagons like Sam Harris state that it’s OK that news was censored, because the goal of keeping Orange Hitler out of office was met. Good intentions load up the handbasket to hell and this ride never stops.
    Meanwhile, in Der Union, a writer unironically captions a pic: “The Puppet Theatre of Consciousness rapped messages of humility and patience when dealing with people in our day to day lives”. Evidently, the Center for Cultural and Naturalist Studies was off ‘helping’ people around the world who would just as soon be left alone by the overprivileged Americans. It was a worthy message, but mainly proof that people on both sides of the stage could stand to find useful things to do for a living.

    Like

  4. Misanthrope Avatar
    Misanthrope

    “Keep drinking that Kool-Aide”, after you Bill.
    You have obviously swallowed the conspiracy thrill wobble bobber hook line and sinker.
    Don’t tell me, you heard it all on YouTube where all the consummate professionals post their highly researched well referenced breaking news.

    Like

  5. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    My only take-away from the infamous spy balloon is that international deals need to be cut defining the altitude that sovereignty gives way.
    You can pretty much count on the Defense Department fucking up, the policy establishment had lots and lots of meetings and PowerPoint presentations, the whole deal is as much trolling and pushing of envelope as it was useful intelligence gathering.
    Probably the most important part is for the US to realize that it’s (very) temporary role as hegemon is on a glide path and needs some intelligent planning for a soft landing.

    Like

  6. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Suck it up, Buttercup. I recognize your past statements about the balloon here. It’s like you were quoting them. Odd.
    ‘Here’s More Evidence of Joe Biden Lying His Head off About the Chinese Spy Balloon’
    https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2023/04/03/heres-more-evidence-of-joe-biden-lying-his-head-off-about-the-chinese-spy-balloon-n725525

    Like

  7. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    ‘Here’s More Evidence of Joe Biden Lying His Head off About the Chinese Spy Balloon’
    Honestly, I think that’s being too hard on the man.
    Joe Biden, not the sharpest tool in the shed to begin with, obviously is elderly with failing faculties. It could well be that any non-consistency or outright falseness in his teleprompter reading is just warring groups within the executive department (or his wife) speaking.
    When there’s an Idiot King on the throne, it’s not so obvious who is in charge or who to blame. Pics of Biden are starting to remind me of those Victorian Era photos of dead babies made up to look alive.

    Like

  8. Burp Burp Avatar
    Burp Burp

    Missy @ 6:47 am
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-
    Page Not Found
    This page isn’t available now. Get the latest from NBC News.
    Love his sources.

    Like

  9. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: scenes | 04 April 2023 at 10:24 AM
    Honestly, I think that’s being too hard on the man.
    Joe Biden, not the sharpest tool in the shed to begin with, obviously is elderly with failing faculties. It could well be that any non-consistency or outright falseness in his teleprompter reading is just warring groups within the executive department (or his wife) speaking.

    He who was once derided as being the dimmest democrat senator (albeit with a savants skill when it came to graft) is now the dimmest and now quite obviously senescent president. Long may he reign!
    He’s clearly what the United States deserves!

    Like

  10. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    re: fish@11:37AM
    From your keyboard to God’s ear.
    https://imgflip.com/i/7h1jwp

    Like

  11. fish Avatar
    fish

    The Fat Girl Gazette is very worried about Florida for some reason…..

    Like

  12. fish Avatar
    fish

    This should be fun…..!
    https://thepostmillennial.com/chicago-elects-far-left-progressive-brandon-johnson-as-new-mayor!
    An excellent test to see if progressives can make Chicago miss the enlightened leadership of Lori Lightfoot.

    Like

  13. fish Avatar
    fish

    Sorry bad link! Still fun though!
    https://thepostmillennial.com/chicago-elects-far-left-progressive-brandon-johnson-as-new-mayor
    You have no idea how happy I am that I made it to a Cubs game in 2019 before …..well before!

    Like

  14. fish Avatar
    fish

    The Fat Girl Gazette is going Gavin Isuzu 24/7 these days! Has President Brainstem been informed!

    Like

  15. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    re: fish@7:57AM
    lol. Genius. What could make Chicago better? A political activist teachers’ union organizer guy. It’ll make Boss Tweed’s picture put under ‘honesty’ in the dictionary.
    My time on the Earth is limited, not being a fledgling, and I deserve amusement in the years I have left. Just imagine the upcoming steerage of cash and begging for bail-outs. A variant of the old joke under Communism, ‘we pretend to work and they pay us’.
    Let’s Go Brandon.

    Like

  16. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: scenes | 05 April 2023 at 08:22 AM
    I suspect that I’m about to become a fan of “Reality Television”!
    Let’s Go Brandon!

    Like

  17. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    A pretty good article wherein I learn the word ‘phallogocentrism’.
    https://www.city-journal.org/the-real-story-behind-drag-queen-story-hour
    One thing missing here is the current and upcoming change via computers and networking. People are coarsened by what they see and hear, and the opportunities for seeing and hearing absolutely anything are ramping up. The controls put on people via religion, social clubs, traditional marriage are disappearing to be replaced by a sort of generalized debauchery.
    Can a society operate at a high level while jettisoning ‘good’ habits? Dunno. Maybe AI will save us in the end. Skynet for President!

    Like

  18. fish Avatar
    fish

    “Drag Queen Story Hour pitches itself as a family-friendly event to promote reading, tolerance, and inclusion. “In spaces like this,” the organization’s website reads, “kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where everyone can be their authentic selves.”
    Well what I imagine is really the case is that a bunch of fat, middle aged white guys who get turned on by shaking their equipment at children really, really, really want to make this seem like “normal” behavior to children who might be vulnerable to influence by these perverts. The parents that permit it need their heads examined!
    They can be their “authentic selves” in the company of the like minded…..topics like, “How to apply too much makeup – Badly (the Mimi from the Drew Carrey protocol)”, “Hair…..why so much of it?”, and “Just what to do about that Belly – a respiratory specialist weighs in?”….these would be beneficial to the “like minded” and won’t damage children who really need to be left alone until they can be more discerning!

    Like

  19. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Fish 921a
    “The parents that permit it need their heads examined!”
    It has been suggested that Munchausen-by-proxy by bored moms is in play in some cases.

    Like

  20. fish Avatar
    fish

    Wisconsin just elected the K-101, The Karenator (The Karen’s Karen) to the state Supreme Court! This may be every bit as entertaining as the new Chicago Mayor is likely to be!

    Like

  21. Burp Burp Avatar
    Burp Burp

    Posted by: fish | 05 April 2023 at 09:21 AM
    I know you and Bill post most of the drag show happenings so I thought you curious men might be interested in Drag Queen Bingo nites at the National Hotel in Nevada City.
    Be there, be curious!
    https://thenationalexchangehotel.com/happenings/

    Like

  22. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Burp Burp | 05 April 2023 at 12:36 PM
    Well it looks like someone isn’t paying attention because I really don’t. I post mostly about what douchenozzles progressives are in general, Shotgun Joey’s antics, what idiot has been most recently seen rockin the Greek Fishermans Cap (every flabby Nevada City progressive male likes to dress like a revolutionary….can’t do a fucking pushup to save their own life but loves to make a fashion statement). Maybe that’s not completely fair….rumor has that seven or eight years ago The Sheriff of Hostess Town thought he could get credit for cardio by bobbing like a cork in the town pool so I guess he’s probably ready for SEAL training at this point.

    Like

  23. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “I know you and Bill post most of the drag show happenings ”
    I’m holding out for Diaper Furry Keno.

    Like

  24. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    PRO-TRUMP MP KICKS A HORNETS NEST IN BUNDESTAG: ‘THE UNITED STATES OF THE CLINTONS AND EPSTEINS, OF SOROS, BIDEN AND ZUCKERBERG, IS NOT OUR FRIEND’
    The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a right-wing populist political party whose members fiercely oppose the elitist, globalist agenda now favored by leftists around the world.
    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/04/pro-trump-mp-kicks-a-hornets-nest-in-bundestag-the-united-states-of-the-clintons-and-epsteins-of-soros-biden-and-zuckerberg-is-not-our-friend.php
    ——————-
    France: A ‘Field of Ruins’
    “Food prices in 2022, meanwhile, increased 14.5%. The French standard of living is deteriorating.
    In the face of a crime wave, insecurity is sharply rising. The number of assaults increased by 33% percent between January 2017 and January 2022. Last year, the number of rapes reached an alarming figure, 84,500, an increase of 11% compared to 2021…..
    (…)Have we hit rock bottom?” asked journalist Franz-Olivier Giesbert. “No, not yet.””
    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19549/france-field-of-ruins
    ——————
    ‘Finland Swings Right, Ousting Progressive Prime Minister Sanna Marin’
    “We got the biggest mandate,” Orpo said in a speech to followers, vowing to “fix Finland” and its economy, CNN reported

    Like

  25. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    Lol. No matter how small, I will take Pushback wherever it is to be found.
    ‘NPR Gets Slapped With Warning Label On Twitter, Lashes Out In Statement’
    https://www.dailywire.com/news/npr-gets-slapped-with-warning-label-on-twitter-lashes-out-in-statement
    ——————
    New York Times Loses Twitter Verification As Elon Musk Rips Outlet
    “Oh OK, we’ll take it off then,” the Twitter CEO tweeted in response to the user’s comment. Musk later criticized the Times, calling the Pulitzer Prize-winning news organization “propaganda” and equating its Twitter feed to “diarrhea.””
    https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/york-times-loses-twitter-verification-153927644.html
    ————————
    Smiley face
    NPR Panders to Audience at Indictment Time: Sorry If We Haven’t Been Anti-Trump Enough!
    https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2023/04/04/npr-panders-audience-indictment-time-sorry-if-we-havent-been-anti

    Like

  26. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    I thought that Mr. Gregory might enjoy this.
    The guy’s twitter feed has other, similar things.
    https://twitter.com/SteveMillerOC/status/1641331414703689728

    Like

  27. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    A report is due for the current StarLink service.
    I’d been leaving it be, mostly. It’s been working fairly trouble-free for the two years it’s been on.
    It is now phenomenal. Really, really, really good.
    Streaming movies are now getting maybe twice the bits that they’d been getting… guessing they’re adapting to the better transmission.
    My wife is on the board of a major non-profit website, and she’d been getting kicked off of video calls regularly, but no more.
    After being gone for a week, she came back and said the movies we’d watched looked better than they ever had… it’s a hand-me-down cheap shitty Hisense flat panel but it has always looked really good… now it looks really, really good.
    She thought the movies we’d watched must have been remastered… no, it’s just that even though we’d been getting good bitrates download, but not we’re getting much better downloads period.

    Like

  28. fish Avatar
    fish

    Given 24’s likely crop of mindless woke progressives and gutless turncoat interventionist republicans I suppose you could do worse…..

    RFK Jr Files To Challenge Biden For 2024 Democratic Nomination

    Certainly less embarrassing than President Brainstem……or as we like to call him around here….“The man who truly represents psul emery….truly…on multiple levels truly!”
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/rfk-jr-files-challenge-biden-2024-democratic-nomination

    Like

  29. fish Avatar
    fish

    Not the Rodent of Anaheim…..but the Rodent of Florida…..same species though. Enjoy an entertaining quarter hour looking into how returning CEO Bob Iger may have just cost Disney millions (maybe more) by attempting to defend involving itself in Florida politics…..
    The guys…who claim to be attorneys come across more like sports or gaming bloggers but it’s still worth a look!
    Let’s watch shall we!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gok6h0uVxns

    Like

  30. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    re: fish@7:51AM
    Institutional capture is a funny thing, isn’t it?
    Companies who maximize profits, with government regulation keeping them from throwing shit in the river, is a thing a person can grok. Over time, it looks rather easy for activists to take over universities, companies, non-profits…God knows what the founders of the Pew Trust would make of the current management. If not activists, it’s someone who reimagines the organization to maximize their own pocketbook. Or someone who does both.
    In the long run, 100’s of years, these places blow up unless propped up by government (which has it’s own lifespan), but in our own timelines they seem permanent.
    Dunno how you fix it aside from organically shrinking institutions so that they are less important. There’s always going to be natural monopolies (economies of scale for one) and artificial ones (John Company, large company friendly copyright and patent law, etc.), and I haven’t run into really good systems/solutions for any of this.
    https://quillette.com/2022/03/29/disneys-institutional-capture/

    Like

  31. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: scenes | 06 April 2023 at 08:35 AM
    If not activists, it’s someone who reimagines the organization to maximize their own pocketbook.

    Ironically they are less dangerous to society!
    Or someone who does both.
    What appears to be the Standard Model in these latter days!

    Like

  32. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    “What appears to be the Standard Model in these latter days!”
    I think to some extent the fault is the heavy encouragement of people to own stock (bonds, at least, are a more straightforward way to give companies some capital). With a jillion jillion dollars being heavily nudged into that area via tax-deferred investments, pension plans, gubmint pension plans, most of the money is shoved into the system without much rhyme or reason. There’s just the notion that ‘IT ALWAYS GOES UP UP UP!!!’.
    I expect that most owners of Disney stock don’t know they are owners of Disney stock, so keeping an eye on how the company is run doesn’t matter so much.
    ‘Latter days’ looks to consist of people who are not self-employed, largely pretend to do useful things for a living on a keyboard, and are disassociated with how the value is really added (apologies to any plumbers reading this). Instead of yeoman farmers, underpaid factory workers, and robber barons, there’s consumers and hobbyist executives who don’t know how their company’s products are made or work. It’s the age of the $100 Android phone and a lack of realism on the ground.

    Like

  33. fish Avatar
    fish

    So much high quality entertainment coming up……we suffer from an embarrassment of riches!

    CNN’s Don Lemon ‘apoplectic,’ wants to sue Variety over ‘sexist’ allegations: report

    Please, oh please, oh please make it happen!
    https://nypost.com/2023/04/06/cnns-don-lemon-reportedly-looking-into-suing-variety-after-bombshell-story/

    Like

  34. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    The fruit of the poison tree.
    Rebekah Jones’s Son Arrested for Threatening to Shoot Up a School
    https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/rebekah-joness-son-arrested-for-threatening-to-shoot-up-a-school/

    Like

  35. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    ‘Our French Revolution’
    America now has three potential futures and two are bad.
    By Victor Davis Hanson
    https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/05/our-french-revolution/

    Like

  36. scenes Avatar
    scenes

    thought of the minnit.
    What with the new hullaballoo in Israeli vs. The Neighbors, you have to wonder how they plan on dealing with the birth of highly accurate, very low cost weapons (ie. drones and their relatives). An interesting problem.
    The domestic version of that problem has yet to happen, but it will.

    Like

  37. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    The new red guard strikes again –
    “The most socialist thing I’ve ever seen is a bunch of deranged students screaming ‘no cops, no KKK, no @TPUSA’ at a Jewish immigrant while also happily shoveling free pizza down their throats paid for by…@TPUSA!,” he wrote.
    Jokingly, he added, “Sure, they’re Nazis, but who doesn’t love a free slice?”
    One demonstrator, according to another tweet in the thread, even went as far as destroying an event attendee’s Bible for “no reason whatsoever.”
    And, as Haworth noted, things got even weirder when protesters decided to form a conga line in the room, flipping off the camera as they passed by.
    “Not one person seemed concerned that this is a traditional Cuban carnival dance, and is therefore an act of cultural appropriation,” Haworth wrote on a video tweet.
    Other students kicked off their Crocs and danced and screamed, before eventually taking over the room.
    “College is now where free speech goes to die, and we need to push back against this bulls— with everything we have. Don’t let the angry minority bully people into silence,” Haworth said.
    https://www.foxnews.com/media/suny-albany-protesters-destroy-bible-free-speech-event-tolerant-left-ladies-gentlemen
    😉

    Like

  38. Don Bessee Avatar
    Don Bessee

    Not even the lamestream is going to fall in line on this one –
    On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” NBC News Investigative Unit Reporter Dan De Luce and guest host Alex Witt reacted to the Biden administration’s report on the withdrawal from Afghanistan by stating that the report omits “that, as early as April of that year, there were lawmakers and refugee advocates and veterans groups that were all pleading with the White House privately and publicly to start evacuating all of the Afghans that had worked as interpreters and in other jobs for U.S. forces.” And that the administration had seven months after it took power to plan and make policies for the withdrawal.
    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/04/06/nbcs-de-luce-biden-afghanistan-report-omits-fact-they-had-months-of-warnings-to-start-evacuation/
    😉

    Like