Apparently the Q forums are a bit disappointed. Here’s more.
Oh, yeah: The New York State Capitol was almost overrun. Almost:
Post-Inaugural Open Thread – Watered by Incel TearsPost + Comments (226)
Read a fucking book.
mistermix has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2010.
by Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix| 226 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Apparently the Q forums are a bit disappointed. Here’s more.
Oh, yeah: The New York State Capitol was almost overrun. Almost:
Post-Inaugural Open Thread – Watered by Incel TearsPost + Comments (226)
by Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix| 287 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
I’m watching the official feed, which is hosted by a couple of long-time Capitol guides, since they have cameras in places where nobody else does. They have apparently been told to avoid mentioning 1/6, so it’s interesting to hear them dancing around the subject, especially when Eugene Goodman was introduced.
by Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix| 153 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
I’m a glass half full and there’s a spot on it guy, I know, but there’s about a 100% chance that the same wankers wondering whether Trump left a note in the desk for Biden will soon be filing stories about Biden’s failure to vaccinate everyone for COVID, followed by pieces on the crushing deficit.
We just had an armed insurrection that was almost successful. These fuckers are going to try to memory hole that as quickly as humanly possible.
In the words of a great female philosopher: I’m tired of dumb boy talk.
This thread is for anger only, because I’m god damned angry.
But Did He Leave A NOTE???? In the RESOLUTE DESK??Post + Comments (153)
by Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix| 200 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Yep, those pardons are really gonna suck. I wonder how many will be announced and how many they’ll keep secret until Biden takes office.
I’ll bet against a blanket pardon of the insurrectionists and a self-pardon, but honestly it’s like predicting where a fly is going to land, so I don’t put much stock into my or anybody else’s predictions.
Open thread.
by Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix| 124 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
I know it’s not the best thing for my mental or physical health, but I just can’t quit reading these charging documents for what one FBI agent termed “the low-hanging fruit”, i.e., the terrorists who completely outed themselves on social media. They’re soothing in a way similar to genre fiction — they follow more-or-less the same pattern with just enough variation to keep it interesting, and they all have a happy ending (for me, not for them).
The pattern is extremely simple: boilerplate about the agent and the event, followed by robust (usually multiple pages) of detail culled from social media and/or press reports, ended by a list of federal statutes that were violated. They’re all a satisfying read, but for me to give one of these five stars on Yelp, it also has to include some form of self- or family-incrimination when the FBI interviews the terrorist or their family.
It’s hard to pick favorites, but here’s one that I think goes the extra mile: University of Kentucky student Gracyn Courtright. Here’s the press story and the affadavit filed by FBI Special Agent Miriam Hanna [pdf].
Young Gracyn began her day by posting a picture of herself on the Capitol grounds, captioned “can’t wait to tell my grandkids I was here”. Another photo was captioned “Infamy is just as good as fame. Either way I end up more known. XOXO” Note that these photos were supplied to the FBI by people who took screenshots since Gracyn deleted her Insta after the riots.
After posting her selfies, Gracyn was photographed holding a “Members Only” sign (a “thing of value” under 18 USC § 641), walking up some steps inside the Capitol. The affadavit also documents an Instagram DM exchange between her and someone else. Here’s an excerpt:
Someone: You were there???
Gracyn: Yes it wasn’t violent like the news said I took pictures all in the building, I never saw the violence I guess I was lucky – The cops like lets us walk in
Someone: Dude that’s embarrassing.
Gracyn: I walked into the chamber like the senate where desk are – it’s history idc – I thought it was cool.
Someone: You’re a moron – What’s cool about that lady dying because you and your fellow idiots are cry babies over an election??? She’s dead. It’s history??? You’re on the wrong side of it dumbass. You embarrassed everyone who knows you.
Gracyn: I’m sad she died? my friends are my friends everyday?
Someone: YEA YOU FUCKING IDIOT! What you did was treason!
Gracyn: idk what treason is
There are a half dozen other pictures of her in the mob, then comes the part that shows you that the dumb Gracyn didn’t fall far from Daddy’s stupid tree. The FBI
On January 14, 2021, FBI Special Agents went to COURTRIGHT’s father’s address to interview COURTRIGHT. COURTRIGHT’s father indicated that he did not feel comfortable allowing COURTRIGHT to give a statement unless she was notified she would not get in trouble for her actions.1 However, he told the FBI that COURTRIGHT traveled to Washington, DC, to be at “the party” and stayed with friends from high school who live in the DC area. According to her father, she was in the front of the crowd during President Donald TRUMP’s speech. Her father further stated that she made it to the Capitol an hour after TRUMP gave his speech, and she did not remember which side of the Capitol she was on when she entered the building. Her father stated that she had recalled walking up a ramp prior to entering the Capitol and was able to walk in. The father concluded by stating that if his daughter was charged with a crime, he would assist in ensuring she turned herself in to authorities.
The footnote is a low-key work of art. Special Agent Hanna should take up writing humor if the FBI gig doesn’t work out:
1 COURTRIGHT’s father represented that he was a lawyer, but was not COURTRIGHT’S criminal attorney, and that if she was charged with anything, a separate attorney would be hired for her.
This guy is acting like his kid got hauled into the principal’s office for throwing spitballs. Dude, I don’t know what you learned in law school, but the fucking FBI does not notify you that you won’t get in trouble for your actions, especially if your actions are sedition. The stupidity and ignorant privilege on display here beggars belief. Gracyn is charged with violating 18 USC § 1752(a)(1) and (2), 40 USC §5014 (e)(2)(D) and (e)(2)(G), and 18 USC § 641 (under $1,000). Maximum possible sentence is at least 21 years from what I can tell, but I’m not a lawyer, and they’re just getting started charging this young woman.
It’s Not What You Thought When You First Began ItPost + Comments (124)
by Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix| 211 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
It looks like there’s some discussion in the previous comments on masks. I’m going to add my two cents here, but you might want to look at the comments for the last post.
I’m only going to talk about my experience with N95 and KN95 masks.
This is a medical grade 3M Medline N95 mask that I wore when caring for my parents in the Dakotas (it was a gift from a friend of theirs). Things to note are the foam on the nosepiece, the stiff construction of the mask to ensure that as much of the mask surface is involved in filtration as possible, the two plastic bands that go over the head and hold the mask very tightly against the face, and the substantial metal band at the nose. It is also quite uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time because of the force with which the mask is pushed onto your face. Also, I only had a couple, so this mask has almost certainly lost some of its filtration ability. I don’t wear it anymore.
This is a pretty typical KN95 mask with earloops, purchased from Amazon. KN95 is the Chinese standard for N95 masks. The FDA has approved certain of these masks for use under emergency orders during COVID-19. Appendix A at this link will give you a list of manufacturers certified by the FDA. This particular mask was purchased in a lot of 20 from Amazon, and it claims to be on the FDA list, but there was no way to make sure it was. It uses earloops, which are more convenient than a headband but not as effective. The nosepiece metal is weaker than the N95 above, it has no seal around the nose other than the metal, and it is tough on my ears. But, I wear it as my go to mask because it seals pretty well and I have a fair number of them. It has less of an effective seal as the N95 above, but it is more comfortable.
This KN95 has headloops and is pretty definitely on the FDA list. I purchased it from a company called BonaFideMasks. It took them 3 weeks to deliver it in December. It came with a seal with scrape-off coating that had a code underneath. There was a QR code on the seal — by scanning it with my phone I was directed to the manufacturer website and told that the mask was one of theirs. Two important points: First, the mask fits almost as well as the N95. Second, my wife, who has a small face and for whom the other KN95 doesn’t fit well at all, finds that this mask seals pretty well. This is the one I’d recommend if you’re in the market for an “almost as good as an N95” mask, because the headloops are much more effective than earloops.
This is a PAPR. A nurse who trained with this and N95s say this is far superior and you can actually work a full shift without discomfort. I haven’t seen any of these in the grocery store, yet.
by Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix| 175 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Now, health officials across the country who had anticipated their extremely limited vaccine supply as much as doubling beginning next week are confronting the reality that their allocations will not immediately increase, dashing hopes of dramatically expanding eligibility for millions of elderly people and those with high-risk medical conditions. Health officials in some cities and states were informed in recent days about the reality of the situation, while others are still in the dark.