Archive for January, 2020

The Virginia #2a Tweet Awards!

Posted: January 21, 2020 by datechguy in culture, media, News/opinion, politics, special events
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Thanks to a combination of a left arm still unable to shovel, a wife deserving a good night’s sleep, the need for additional confession and weekly scheduled adoration I found myself away from my laptop until nearly 2 pm yesterday meaning that the 1st report I had as to what was going on in Richmond Virginia at the 2nd Amendment Rally came from my son repeating what his ultra liberal friend(s) were sending him him about White Supremacists etc when I picked up up just after noon. I told him at the time that because his friends resided in the liberal bubble their information was unlikely to be accurate or complete which proved to be prophetic when we finally got home after picking up DaWife and finally getting to sources of info that were not being censored by youtube or pre-written by folks trying to advance a meme rather that write news.

The 1st clue to the truth of this came at lunch with CNN as usual in the background on one TV at our favorite lunch haunt (the one drawback to the place). The lack of live coverage and breathless headlines during our meal demonstrated that all was not going as the media expected.

It also demonstrated the value of conservatives not abandoning Twitter as it became an excellent avenue to disseminate reality to people who wished to deny it as the 2nd Amendment march in the former 2nd Capital of the Confederacy turned out to be typical of tea party events that I had covered for many years while foiling every hope of a left media breathlessly waiting to proclaim a Charlottesville or a Kent State.

So today let’s look at five of those tweets and my responses that in my opinion illustrated the events of the day so well.

Don’t touch that Play Button, Part 1

Twitter is in many ways a lazy medium where many people will send a tweet with a link and video and people will either not click the video or follow the link allowing you to make any meme you want stick. That strategy however fails pretty miserably if people do

There are few things less frightening that a video of people walking down the street doing absolutely nothing threatening

Don’t Touch that Play Button 2

If you’re going to be a blue checked NBC reporter tweeting out clips of chants at a live event it does behoove you to match the chant with the clip you claim to be tweeting out to make the media’s contention that unlike bloggers you have layers of fact checkers credible.

The Scott Brown Election Night Memorial Clip

The saddest look I ever saw on the MSM’s face was the election night when Scott Brown won in Massachusetts but this one wasn’t all that far off. it’s even worse when the 1st guy interviewed is named Manny Cruz. Maybe he’s one of those “White Hispanics”. Anderson Cooper was even more taken aback here

His face says it all it looks like he’s going to throw up.

DaTechGuy’s Laws of Media outrage in Action

Nothing gets a story demoted faster on a MSM webpage than a Democrat/media narrative that is unmet by reality.

Moment of Accidental MSM/Left Clarity #1

Don’t you dare get the idea that the right isn’t violence just because there wasn’t any. Yeah there was no violence by the right, but that’s only because the tolerant and noble left wasn’t there to cause it!

Moment of Accidental MSM/Left Clarity #2

I remember covering a big tea party event during the 2012 primaries in NH that some expected trouble at. There was a single cop and not a harsh word to be said. The police at these events know when they’re in danger and when they’re not

I am the Ghost of Teaparties Past

Maybe Baltimore or SF can invite these folks to rally for gun right there. It will save them millions from their sanitary budget.

600 miles away the crime wave begins…

Why do I have the feeling channel 7 Boston would have been highlighting something different if the narrative had been met?

We’re all gonna die! Again!

One of the problems of constantly predicting doom a/la Peter Cook in the Secret Policeman’s Other Ball over the course of several years is that when voters who expected to be imprisoned, starving or living in a state of anarchy surrounded by the dead tend to notice when on election day they find themselves with good jobs in a booming economy on election day with nary a body in sight.

Meanwhile back in Bubble World…

My son’s friend’s likely only source of news but in fairness somewhere in the multiverse this reality might exist, perhaps in the same reality where the Crisis on Infinite Networks Letterkenny & the Witcher crossover is taking place.

The “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” award

Or, if you can’t get the nonviolent ordinary citizens who are opposing you to display the violence you insisted was inherent in their system you might as well blame said lack of violence on your decisive actions and forethought.

They mentioned the fence the Governor put up in that clip and I’ll close with a tweet commenting on that.

Report from Louisiana: Reading List

Posted: January 20, 2020 by Pat Austin in Uncategorized
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By:  Pat Austin

SHREVEPORT – It seems like January lasts forever, but one thing these long, cold months are good for is to catch up on some reading. My reading tastes range far and wide, and I tend to binge read when I discover an author new to me that I enjoy. I’ll generally read almost anything, from chick-lit to serious non-fiction. I’m not a big fan of fantasy.

I did read, and loved, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus a while back, and now that her long awaited second book is out, The Starless Sea, I picked it up, but I couldn’t get into it. I’m going to try again, maybe in the spring. It’s getting nice reviews, but just was not resonating with me at the time.

I’ve been on an Elizabeth Strout binge; I loved Olive Kitteridge, so when Olive, Again came out, I snapped it up and loved it. I relate to Olive. The older I get, I seem to get crankier. Cantankerous. I’m not as bristly as Olive, but I can relate. And now that I’ve seen the HBO adaptation of Olive Kittridge, I can’t help but see Frances McDormand as I read. Such fun! Now I’m on to My Name is Lucy Barton, also by Strout, and am enjoying that. Strout is sort of like a female version of Fredrik Backman, to me. Both authors are so adept at character development and in creating characters we become sympathetic to even though we may not want to.

In that same way, consider Steph Post’s final book in her Judah Cannon series, Holding Smoke. Post is an author who should be on your radar and who is not as well known right now as she will be.  Her Judah Cannon series has been referred to as “grit-lit” as a nod to its gritty, Florida noir setting and characters, some of whom are truly inspirational in their evil deeds. I received an ARC of Smoke a few weeks ago – its release date is next week, and I immediately jumped in and could not put it down. I would recommend reading the first two books in the series so that you are more invested in this one, plus, the story arc is fabulous. Post is a versatile writer and her last novel, Miraculum, might be my favorite of her works; that’s hard to say because I dearly love the Judah Cannon series.  Miraculum can hold its own with Night Circus any day, all day long.

In the non-fiction realm, I’ve recently finished Sarah Broom’s The Yellow House, which is a memoir about growing up in New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, and the aftermath. It is more than a story about her family and Katrina, however. It reminds you that so many people around us are living lives that are ignored and unseen, forgotten, misunderstood. Broom’s skill in wrapping complicated themes around her family’s little yellow house is what makes her the gifted writer she is.

I just finished reading The Silent Patient, the much acclaimed new book by Alex Michaelides. It was a page-turner, and I couldn’t put it down, but in the end, I felt manipulated. I’m not sure how to explain that without spoilers, but let me just say the book was a good read, I enjoyed it, but the ending left me irritated. I’m not sorry I read it, and I’ll read this author again, but ….  I guess the last time I felt irritated by the conclusion of a book was Stephen King’s Elevation. I don’t want to give spoilers on that either, but at the end of Elevation, let’s just say there was a lot of profanity involved on my part and a huge reluctance to contribute to King’s bank account any further.

Next on my reading list is American Dirt. What are you reading? Give me some recommendations!

Pat Austin blogs at And So it Goes in Shreveport and is the author of Cane River Bohemia: Cammie Henry and her Circle at Melrose Plantation. Follow her on Instagram @patbecker25 and Twitter @paustin110.

9th surprise, Adam Who? CNN as Tragedy, CNN as Comedy and two SB stats Under the Fedora

Posted: January 20, 2020 by datechguy in media, News/opinion, nfl, politics, Sports
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If you want to know why the left is so afraid of Donald Trump this headline says it all:

9th Circuit Dismisses Climate Change Lawsuit Brought By Kids

The idea that a federal court would dismiss a frivolous lawsuit is in general not all that odd a thing, but that the 9th circuit, the historical court of liberal insanity is doing so is a sign of the difference Donald Trump is making.

This was the fun story of the week.

Let’s point out that Congressman Schiff was on TV constantly, the media was pushing him constantly, newspapers were mentioning him constantly and three contestants on Jeopardy, the folks who know everything about everything had no idea who the hell he was, even with a picture. included.

That’s how little impeachment means to the public.

Speaking of things nobody cares about the media outrage over Senator McSally putting media hack Manu Raju in his place is really funny:

Given the abysmal ratings of CNN these days, the complete disintest by the country in impeachment and the low opinion the press is currently held while their anger is in fact a “tale told by an idiot” or rather idiots and does “signify nothing” I don’t think it their whining rises to the level of being “full of sound and fury” although it is full of something.

I’m really enjoying all of the outrage by the Bernie Sanders fans and others over CNN as being biased:

The big loser of the night was the network that hosted the event. CNN was so consistently aligned against Bernie Sanders that it compromised its claim to journalistic neutrality.

That’s from that well known right wing bastion the Nation in fact some Bernie sites are taking direct action:

A Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) subreddit has banned all content from CNN over the network’s coverage of the presidential candidate.

A moderator with the r/SandersForPresident subreddit, which has more than 373,000 members, announced the decision on Wednesday following the presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa.

The post argues that CNN, which hosted Tuesday evening’s debate, has “abandoned their journalistic integrity” in an effort to derail Sanders’ campaign.

The level of outrage is really amusing as much worse than all of this is the kind of treatment that any conservative who isn’t willing to attack conservatives is subjected to daily.

Of course the Sanders crew has never been outraged over this kind of behavior as long as it’s directed at conservatives, but the idea that they might be the target, is beyond the pale.

cue the Troll in chief

Point and laugh time.

Finally it’s the Chiefs vs the 49ers in the Superbowl in two weeks. Basically an unstoppable offense vs an impenetrable defense but there are two stats that I find amusing going into this game

Stat 1: Going into the playoffs there were four QB’s in the playoffs that are locks for the hall of fame. Brees, Brady, Rogers and Wilson. Only Rogers made it to the final four and none of them made it to the big game suggesting this will be the passing of the torch.

Stat 2: If San Francisco wins this will be Jimmy G’s 3rd Superbowl ring as he won two with the Pats, one as a backup all season and the other starting a pair of games without losing one (he gone by the time they lost to the Eagles) that will put him at a full half Brady and he’s just getting started.

Review of the Netflix series Thieves of the Wood

Posted: January 19, 2020 by John Ruberry in culture, entertainment, media
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By John Ruberry

Are you missing some Robin Hood in your life? If you are a Netflix subscriber and you can stomach graphic violence, including torture, as well as gratuitous nudity, then you may want to take a look at the ten-episode Belgian series Thieves of the Wood, which began streaming earlier this month.

And you must be patient. Thieves of the Wood moves slowly, and if you don’t know about Jan de Lichte or Flanders of the 18th century, as I didn’t until a few days ago, you might get lost.

After watching the first episode I was indeed lost. So I got on my iPad where I learned that Jan de Lichte was a real person, a highway man, who of course robbed from the rich. After all, stealing from the poor is never very profitable. At the beginning of that first episode, de Lichte (Matteo Simoni) is being dragged on a sandy trail by mounted Austrian troops, he’s accused of murder and desertion. Now is the time to bring some historical perspective. Most of contemporary Flanders, a Dutch speaking region, lies in Belgium. But in the 1740s this region was then part of Austria although it was occupied by France. Historians call this conflict the War of Austrian Succession.

De Lichte escapes. He returns to his hometown of Aalst, which is run by corrupt Flemish aristocrats, led by Mayor Coffijn (Dirk Roofthooft). Just as de Lichte arrives in Aalst, so does the new bailiff, that is the chief of police, Jean-Phillipe Baru (Tom Van Dyck). Both learn that punishment is harsh in Aalst. Baru is horrified when he learns that a man and a woman are about to be flogged for the crime of stealing two rabbits from Coffijn’s estate, then branded–while their children watch. Now paperless, they are exiled from the city to live in a nearby forest.

Those woods are not the Nottingham Forest of Errol Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood. The refuge is overrun by abject poverty, disease, prostitution, and opium smoking. De Lichte, aided by his half-brother Tincke (Stef Aerts), organize the downtrodden to fight back against the oppression, although it’s not until the fourth episode–I did say that Thieves of the Wood requires patience–that their plans bear fruit.

The loot is shared. Everyone wins in the forest. While Coffijn seethes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C_dBiXsaos

The scriptwriters are clearly hostile to the Catholic church. There is no Friar Tuck in this forest, in the town presides an imperious priest, Picke. He reminded me of the cruel Lutheran bishop in Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander. 

As the series played out to me I fully expected a Donald Trump reference or two, especially since America comes up in the dialogue a couple of times. Then it hit me. Two of the town council members, including Mayor Coffijn, wear orange, or I should of course say red, periwigs. Perhaps that’s only a coincidence. Perhaps not. 

Some of the good: The costumes of Thieves of the Wood, including those wigs, are first-rate and the cinematography is superb. 

And now some of the bad: There are no subtitles, the Dutch dialogue instead is dubbed by British actors. The American entertainment industry suffers from the false premise that we won’t watch subtitled offerings. But last night I saw the Korean film Parasite, which is subtitled. Not only is Parasite an Academy Award nominee for Best Picture (and Best International Feature Film), but it is also performing very well in the domestic box office. Deservedly so, I’d like to add. 

Thieves of the Wood is rated TV-MA for reasons I listed above. 

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

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