peak covid.

 

today in US history:

 

 

While that one is pretty good, I think it's hard to top Mr Mumbles saying:


US Helicopters airlift US Diplomats off embassy roof




Anyone read or watch Putin's State of the Union speech last week?

 

@Braineack, it is a sad night for all of us who have enjoyed making and sharing Chicago memes for the past four years.

Mayor Lightfoot has conceded defeat in today's election.

Paul Vallas, who actually appears to be a semi-decent human being¹, will face off against Brandon Johnson² in a runoff election in April.

1 = Is supported by, and is a supporter of, the Chicago PD. Has appeared at fundraising events for Awake IL, a nonprofit which opposes the teaching of CRT in schools, and publicly called IL Governor J.B. Pritzker a “groomer.” Declared himself to be "more of a Republican than a Democrat because, fundamentally, I oppose abortion."

2 = Hasn't done much other than encourage schoolteachers to go on strike. Oh, and he was also the chief sponsor of an ordinance which prohibits landlords from inquiring as to the criminal history of potential renters.


I honestly didn't bother to vote this time, as I would never have imagined Vallas making it to the finish line. But he's presently in the #1 spot with 34.9% of the counted vote, vs. Johnson's 20.2%.

This, of course, is before the surprise jump in Johnson votes overnight.



Meanwhile, Willie Wilson presently stands in 5th place (of nine) in overall vote count. Meaning that I win the office betting pool on that one. If you don't know the name Willie Wilson, all you need to know is that Wikipedia describes his political experience as "Perennial candidate."

 

braineack and joe debating covid, 2022 (stop motion, colorized)

 

she needs reparations.

 

There's nothing funny about what's happened to Chicago under Lightfoot. However, Lightfoot herself is a walking meme.

 

I'd say that's a pretty accurate analogy. Two guys who agree on a topic, only one of them is shouting and jumping around and using all sorts of hyperbole, and the other one seems a tad embarrassed by the conduct of this colleague, and the shouty guy actually seems angry that the non-shouty guy is just sitting there with a calm demeanor.



Oh, c'mon. It's not like our homicide rate has increased by more than 50% over the past three years or anything crazy like that.

 

 

uh oh, someone is close to the target...

 

Serious reply: I hadn't heard of that specific outrage prior to looking it up just now. But, as someone who has lived in 15 minute cities for the past nine years, I really do quite prefer it to sitting in my car for an hour or more each day.


Also, I'll bet that Mr. Rogers could lift Thor's hammer.

He'd just pick it up casually, and then he'd say something along the lines of "How interesting, it doesn't seem very heavy to me at all. But you know, sometimes life is a lot like that. Something that may be very easy for one person might be very difficult for another. I think it's because everyone is special and unique in different ways. Just because someone has difficultly lifting your hammer doesn't mean that they aren't talented in other ways. In fact, I suspect that some of those people can probably do things that you and I could never even dream of.

I'm so glad you decided to visit here today."


And I agree with Mr. Rogers. Something which is easy for one person to comprehend might be difficult or impossible for another.

 

I personally dont like prison.

 

well they know whats coming next for them better leave now when they are needed most!

 

I am confused by this statement.

I mean, I also suspect that I would not like prison (haven't experienced it first-hand), but what does living in a city in which you can easily access shopping, commute to work, etc., without driving long distances have to do with prison?

 

 

or "racism"?

 

the amount of xenophobia on display here is staggering.

 

 

I keep thinking about this...

Cries for the immediate cancellation of Jon Stewart were, predictably, swift and loud. But his response to this controversy is what interests me.

"The larger problem with all of this is the inability to discuss things that are within the realm of possibility without falling into absolutes and litmus-testing each other for our political allegiances as it arose from that."

That's a very wise observation.

"The part that I don’t like about it is the absolutes and the dismissive like ‘**** you, I’m done with you. I will never forgive you, you have crossed an unforgivable line. You’ve expressed an opinion that is antithetical to mine, or not mine."

Preach, brother.

This is something I've said before. The biggest problem which we face as a society is not that people disagree about things, but that within the past decade or two, we have become conditioned to treat every politicized issue as binary and absolute. If you do not agree with me, then you are either stupid or evil, and I absolutely cannot engage in dialogue with you.

And it's a trait which I see expressed equally by both far-leftists and far-rightists.

It's deeply unsettling.