You quote Fox News, which opines, "Drug traffickers and their organizations operate in many respects like legitimate businesses, relying on access to banking systems and to the U.S. dollar to operate day-to-day. This gives the Treasury Department a unique ability to disrupt the cartels poisoning our communities: by targeting the financial infrastructure they need to function."
Holy Hannah!
Does anyone need to point out that "the cartels" are not "poisoning out communities," but people are poisoning themselves, and drug dealers and the cartels supply a demand they do not create and operate on a cash-only basis? I suppose you could target any businesses created or taken over to laundry cash through commercial accounts (I remember a notorious pizza parlor in NYC that was a front for Mafia heroin dealing), but the T-Men have always been finding and busting these shell companies, so why create a "strike force" that will, as you say, eventually be yet another institutional weapon, supposedly deployed specifically against Fentanyl trafficking, that will eventually be used against citizens for other purposes?
Everyone knows China is the major source of Fentanyl and its precursor chemicals which they export to Mexico and elsewhere, with little or no resistance from anyone, as far as I can tell.
Fentanyl ascended to the top of the market precisely because of prohibition. It is totally synthetic, eliminating the need for processing opium latex, thus eliminating entirely the need for poppy crops. It is dosed in micrograms, so smuggling enormous amounts of it goes undetected and street junkies OD constantly.
I maintain that only ending prohibition and legalizing the sale of all drugs OTC to people 21+, with severe penalties for public intoxication and no marketing/advertising, can solve this problem, which is to say it will never be solved.
"I maintain that only ending prohibition and legalizing the sale of all drugs OTC to people 21+, with severe penalties for public intoxication and no marketing/advertising, can solve this problem."
I tend to think along these same lines. What we're doing is not working, so perhaps we should try something else. If you can be a functioning junkie, then fine. If you're living on the streets and can't hold down a job and are becoming a threat to everyone else, that's when the state steps in.
"If you can be a functioning junkie, then fine. If you're living on the streets and can't hold down a job and are becoming a threat to everyone else, that's when the state steps in."
Precisely. It is not within a state's legitimate authority to determine the drugs its citizens take. It is, however, the state's responsibility to protect citizens from the depredations of criminals and to maintain safe and wholesome neighborhoods. Laws exist to punish thieves and violent thugs and the publicly intoxicated, regardless of whatever motivates their anti-social behavior.
This opinion follows from Libertarian principles, and I credit Dr. Thomas Szasz with the definitive opinion on Libertarian drug policy put forth in his great book "The Myth of Mental Illness." "Ceremonial Chemistry" is also really good.
Always interested to hear what you have to say. But now I’ve spent longer than 5 minutes thinking about Star Wars and Disney (even watched one of the clips!), and that is 5 minutes I will never get back. Just how far can they shrink the human brain, before it crosses the line from inane into unintelligible? We’re getting there.
I saw SW in the theater when I was 12, when it was barely emerging from the mistaken belief by Hollywood that it would be a flop and only opened in _43_ theaters.
Rumor has it that Elvis was turned away by the first four of five record labels, one telling him he's be better of just driving trucks. How can the people in charge of deciding what is Good can be so Bad at knowing what's really, you know - Good?
Congratulations on your patience. I would have stopped reading and returned the Erik Larsen book to the library literally one sentence in.
Not because of his politics mind you (unlike cancel culture libs, I can still separate art from artist), but because if an author put that stupidity in the introductory sentence, I would have assumed the book was related to that same stupid viewpoint, so why should I waste my time.
I thank God for you, and Don Surber – between the two regular Saturday-morning installments, my weekend gets off to a great start!
So....
"...or does she understand but she can lie so easily?"
It's this. Joy Reid, she of the Justice Clarence Thomas hairstyle, is so invested in the lie that if she even thinks otherwise, she will burst into flames - fatally - not like The Human Torch.
***
"...from a realist perspective, the situations seem even more dire. The US is hollowed out and our leaders’ mouths are writing checks our body can’t cash."
Oh, you're being so very generous.
The US, whether under the fascism with a mask of a human face of one of the Bush klan (HW; and W, or Shrub), or the naked fascism of the first sodomite president, and his meat-puppet toady, Sleepy Creepy Pedo JoeBama, is like the kid who can't buy lunch at school because he blew that money on Pokemon cards – except it's magnitudes worse than that.
***
"'Adan was charged with murder — no bail this time — '"
Well, thank goodness! ...nothing like shutting tight that barn door after all the cattle have escaped...
"...and the incident prompted soul-searching in Portland. But perhaps not enough. A well-meaning effort to help people of color may have cost the life of a woman of color."
MAY HAVE? The road to Hell has to be the best paved road surface in the entire universe.
"A little pragmatism would be a good start, especially when it comes to migration."
Word.
***
If I were an alumnus of Stanford with any influence whatsoever, I would bring it to bear and have both of Stein's degrees revoked. As for that corpulent chipmunk Ana Navarro, I wish Maher would have just given her a Twinkie to shut her up.
Re: your question, my $ is on Stein and his ilk. Why? Because they are true believers. Maher wants to keep one foot in the world of what his party once was, and one in the dystopian world to come. He wants it both ways. He's the left's version of Bill(y) Kristol.
Most of us on the other side of the proverbial aisle know the Republican Party we once knew is all but dead and that there are too many who are keeping the corpse alive. We're just waiting for the day when it dries up and blows away like the shed skin of a snake.
***
The left learns, and applies the lessons it learns the hard way. Ted Koppel and ABC's Nightline all but doomed the Carter administration with the steady, nightly drumbeat of Iranian hostages. Trump's victory in 2016 caught the Democrats with their pants down, and being complacent. Do you think they'll EVER let that happen again? They've seen what they can do courtesy of The Patriot Act, and this will give them the cover they need to turn half of the nation into the Ukraine of Stalin's era.
***
Far be it from me to come to the defense of the first sodomite president's meat-puppet Creepy Sleepy Pedo JoeBama, but white people dancing among black people is not a good look. I dare say it would have been even worse had he sought to move rhythmically.
***
I would be profoundly sad if Alphabet Corp. found a way to cancel, The Critical Drinker.
***
Thank you, for the shout-out!
You're so kind!
***
Sadly, I now re-read books for entertainment, with a few exceptions. For me, there is untold comfort in re-reading, "Watership Down" by Richard Adams, "Brideshead Revisited" by Evelyn Waugh, "Smiley's People", "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", "The Night Manager", all by John LeCarré, the collection of short stories that were compiled to create Norman Maclean's, "A River Runs Through It", and, "On Wings of Eagles" by Ken Follett. A literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries is Tom Clancy's, "Without Remorse."
"The Bill Mahers or people who would write 'In Defense of Elitism'?"
It seems to me that the left already fought this war back during Obama's presidency, and the results were decisive: The neoliberal elites won. Without breaking a sweat. Bill Maher is bringing a knife to a gunfight that got resolved sixteen years ago.
"a new Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force"
Roll-call for the Foggy Bottom Justice League!
Captain Careerist!
Nepotism Girl!
Mr. Misallocation!
Dr. Surveillance!
Think Tank Woman!
The Sneer!
Boomer Boy!
Ms. Midwit!
(Add your own if you feel so inclined.)
Anyway, I recently read "Cobalt Red" by Siddarth Kara, and had much the same complaint as you about Erik Larson. It's a good book, quite informative, and it's making me think hard about buying things that rely on rechargeable batteries.
But also, Kara is convinced that Africa suffered horribly during Covid, and don't we all need to feel bad about that. (Hey fellow? Friend? These people deal with Ebola, malaria and crippling levels of HIV. Covid can't compete.) It's not in there a lot, it's just a soupcon of Covidianism, But I was sure giving Kara the side-eye.
It’s nearly July 4th. It typically gets hotter around this time of year, and it’s only tomorrow and Monday that are hot. Then it cools down to the 70s and 80s.
Just topped up my reserve in the garage refrigerator with a case I purchased earlier today at the "grocery" store. At that moment, there were sixteen bottles, but I opened one to have while I began prep work on my next post.
For all that's wrong with Midnight Blue MD, it had long been good grape/wine country. The Baltimore latitude is good for them, apparently So there was a Crafting Spirit, if you will. And B'more was home to the original Natty Boh, which was once, as you say, the Local Craft Beer of The Hons (think John Waters).
But in the last 15 years or so there are literally dozens of good craft breweries that make a distinctive brand of ales, largely, bc it turns out that the same regions friendly to Vineyards is also right fine for growing hops. Think Bordeaux Region (grapes) and Bavarian Region (hops).
I've had to cut back a lot bc beer is lots a calories and it showed on me for a while. But I Love beer.
I wrote this (or nearly this) yesterday but see now that it didn't go through.
It was so hot he popped up maybe two minutes after I wrote that. Wood floors inside are cool for him, and the basement is even cooler but he won't go down there if we're not there with him. He likes being where we are.
It appears that you and Simplicius must have been having similar thought processes this week. There are elements of his essay that came out last night to yours, especially in the Mersheimer piece.
I watched the Joy Reid clip. That’s the most I’ve ever watched her. To be honest she’s saying the same things I’ve heard for decades. They might remix the songs and upgrade the packaging, but they’re the same old hits. You overthink things too much. The lie is the point. There’s not a nefarious strategy.
The Mersheimer piece was a reaffirmation of the definitions of the players. Neocon, liberal, realist. Read the Simplicius piece. He fleshes it out nicely in the context of the current administration, and events. I might take it a step further. This would also go along with some of the political narrative. “No one can rise above their worldview “. I had to come to grips with that in trying to determine why Trump failed his first go round. When he faced with forces who wouldn’t “make a deal”, he failed.
The Disney situation makes me sad. I wanted to like their content. I loved early Star Wars. After the first year I scrapped the Disney Channel. The content wasn’t just woke…it wasn’t any good.
Your culture reach far surpasses mine. My contribution to culture was going to the Ghost concert/movie Thursday night to see whether it would be suitable for my performance students to view.
I subscribe to Amazon Prime's streaming service and it has proven to be a fine replacement for cable television. However, (probably due to a financial squabble between CBS and Amazon) I no longer have access to CBS evening news. My anxiety has dropped to an all-time low level (as has my blood pressure). I have to challenge your statement that nothing changes, though. Bill Maher's new book, while he slams Donald Trump enough times to satisfy any Z Generation character that knows how to read, is an excellent, thoughtful, and profane book by a man that has recently had a spiritual awakening.
I'll have to look for it. Bill Maher's TDS gets in the way of a lot of things, though he seemed almost sensible in a clip I caught of him talking with Andrew Cuomo about the "hush money" case.
Fun book reviews, free coffee (your treat this week), potential for self-reflection, WWIII winds, super novas from the time of Caesar, world views with substance and a true offer to understand what may be may be.
You quote Fox News, which opines, "Drug traffickers and their organizations operate in many respects like legitimate businesses, relying on access to banking systems and to the U.S. dollar to operate day-to-day. This gives the Treasury Department a unique ability to disrupt the cartels poisoning our communities: by targeting the financial infrastructure they need to function."
Holy Hannah!
Does anyone need to point out that "the cartels" are not "poisoning out communities," but people are poisoning themselves, and drug dealers and the cartels supply a demand they do not create and operate on a cash-only basis? I suppose you could target any businesses created or taken over to laundry cash through commercial accounts (I remember a notorious pizza parlor in NYC that was a front for Mafia heroin dealing), but the T-Men have always been finding and busting these shell companies, so why create a "strike force" that will, as you say, eventually be yet another institutional weapon, supposedly deployed specifically against Fentanyl trafficking, that will eventually be used against citizens for other purposes?
Everyone knows China is the major source of Fentanyl and its precursor chemicals which they export to Mexico and elsewhere, with little or no resistance from anyone, as far as I can tell.
Fentanyl ascended to the top of the market precisely because of prohibition. It is totally synthetic, eliminating the need for processing opium latex, thus eliminating entirely the need for poppy crops. It is dosed in micrograms, so smuggling enormous amounts of it goes undetected and street junkies OD constantly.
I maintain that only ending prohibition and legalizing the sale of all drugs OTC to people 21+, with severe penalties for public intoxication and no marketing/advertising, can solve this problem, which is to say it will never be solved.
"I maintain that only ending prohibition and legalizing the sale of all drugs OTC to people 21+, with severe penalties for public intoxication and no marketing/advertising, can solve this problem."
I tend to think along these same lines. What we're doing is not working, so perhaps we should try something else. If you can be a functioning junkie, then fine. If you're living on the streets and can't hold down a job and are becoming a threat to everyone else, that's when the state steps in.
"If you can be a functioning junkie, then fine. If you're living on the streets and can't hold down a job and are becoming a threat to everyone else, that's when the state steps in."
Precisely. It is not within a state's legitimate authority to determine the drugs its citizens take. It is, however, the state's responsibility to protect citizens from the depredations of criminals and to maintain safe and wholesome neighborhoods. Laws exist to punish thieves and violent thugs and the publicly intoxicated, regardless of whatever motivates their anti-social behavior.
This opinion follows from Libertarian principles, and I credit Dr. Thomas Szasz with the definitive opinion on Libertarian drug policy put forth in his great book "The Myth of Mental Illness." "Ceremonial Chemistry" is also really good.
Thank you for the book recommendations.
Always interested to hear what you have to say. But now I’ve spent longer than 5 minutes thinking about Star Wars and Disney (even watched one of the clips!), and that is 5 minutes I will never get back. Just how far can they shrink the human brain, before it crosses the line from inane into unintelligible? We’re getting there.
Just a little further and they will have achieved their goal. ;-)
I saw SW in the theater when I was 12, when it was barely emerging from the mistaken belief by Hollywood that it would be a flop and only opened in _43_ theaters.
Rumor has it that Elvis was turned away by the first four of five record labels, one telling him he's be better of just driving trucks. How can the people in charge of deciding what is Good can be so Bad at knowing what's really, you know - Good?
Congratulations on your patience. I would have stopped reading and returned the Erik Larsen book to the library literally one sentence in.
Not because of his politics mind you (unlike cancel culture libs, I can still separate art from artist), but because if an author put that stupidity in the introductory sentence, I would have assumed the book was related to that same stupid viewpoint, so why should I waste my time.
I've read quite a few of his other books. He got the chance because he's always been pretty straightforward.
I thank God for you, and Don Surber – between the two regular Saturday-morning installments, my weekend gets off to a great start!
So....
"...or does she understand but she can lie so easily?"
It's this. Joy Reid, she of the Justice Clarence Thomas hairstyle, is so invested in the lie that if she even thinks otherwise, she will burst into flames - fatally - not like The Human Torch.
***
"...from a realist perspective, the situations seem even more dire. The US is hollowed out and our leaders’ mouths are writing checks our body can’t cash."
Oh, you're being so very generous.
The US, whether under the fascism with a mask of a human face of one of the Bush klan (HW; and W, or Shrub), or the naked fascism of the first sodomite president, and his meat-puppet toady, Sleepy Creepy Pedo JoeBama, is like the kid who can't buy lunch at school because he blew that money on Pokemon cards – except it's magnitudes worse than that.
***
"'Adan was charged with murder — no bail this time — '"
Well, thank goodness! ...nothing like shutting tight that barn door after all the cattle have escaped...
"...and the incident prompted soul-searching in Portland. But perhaps not enough. A well-meaning effort to help people of color may have cost the life of a woman of color."
MAY HAVE? The road to Hell has to be the best paved road surface in the entire universe.
"A little pragmatism would be a good start, especially when it comes to migration."
Word.
***
If I were an alumnus of Stanford with any influence whatsoever, I would bring it to bear and have both of Stein's degrees revoked. As for that corpulent chipmunk Ana Navarro, I wish Maher would have just given her a Twinkie to shut her up.
Re: your question, my $ is on Stein and his ilk. Why? Because they are true believers. Maher wants to keep one foot in the world of what his party once was, and one in the dystopian world to come. He wants it both ways. He's the left's version of Bill(y) Kristol.
Most of us on the other side of the proverbial aisle know the Republican Party we once knew is all but dead and that there are too many who are keeping the corpse alive. We're just waiting for the day when it dries up and blows away like the shed skin of a snake.
***
The left learns, and applies the lessons it learns the hard way. Ted Koppel and ABC's Nightline all but doomed the Carter administration with the steady, nightly drumbeat of Iranian hostages. Trump's victory in 2016 caught the Democrats with their pants down, and being complacent. Do you think they'll EVER let that happen again? They've seen what they can do courtesy of The Patriot Act, and this will give them the cover they need to turn half of the nation into the Ukraine of Stalin's era.
***
Far be it from me to come to the defense of the first sodomite president's meat-puppet Creepy Sleepy Pedo JoeBama, but white people dancing among black people is not a good look. I dare say it would have been even worse had he sought to move rhythmically.
***
I would be profoundly sad if Alphabet Corp. found a way to cancel, The Critical Drinker.
***
Thank you, for the shout-out!
You're so kind!
***
Sadly, I now re-read books for entertainment, with a few exceptions. For me, there is untold comfort in re-reading, "Watership Down" by Richard Adams, "Brideshead Revisited" by Evelyn Waugh, "Smiley's People", "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", "The Night Manager", all by John LeCarré, the collection of short stories that were compiled to create Norman Maclean's, "A River Runs Through It", and, "On Wings of Eagles" by Ken Follett. A literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries is Tom Clancy's, "Without Remorse."
I love Don Surber! I should pay, I only just read and take the polls, but he's as straight a shooter as there is.
"So who do you think will win out? The Bill Mahers or people who would write “In Defense of Elitism”?"
I'm rooting for John Galt.
$
"He thinks Shellenberger is a conservative. I suppose that should tell you everything."
I'm pretty sure Kristof _knows_ Shellenberger isn't a conservative but chose to label him thusly.
And that tells me everything.
"and we’d need something much stronger than Bailey’s"
I know I didn't jump in until Beer:30 but, for the coffee, Bailey's was definitely had.
"The Bill Mahers or people who would write 'In Defense of Elitism'?"
It seems to me that the left already fought this war back during Obama's presidency, and the results were decisive: The neoliberal elites won. Without breaking a sweat. Bill Maher is bringing a knife to a gunfight that got resolved sixteen years ago.
"a new Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force"
Roll-call for the Foggy Bottom Justice League!
Captain Careerist!
Nepotism Girl!
Mr. Misallocation!
Dr. Surveillance!
Think Tank Woman!
The Sneer!
Boomer Boy!
Ms. Midwit!
(Add your own if you feel so inclined.)
Anyway, I recently read "Cobalt Red" by Siddarth Kara, and had much the same complaint as you about Erik Larson. It's a good book, quite informative, and it's making me think hard about buying things that rely on rechargeable batteries.
But also, Kara is convinced that Africa suffered horribly during Covid, and don't we all need to feel bad about that. (Hey fellow? Friend? These people deal with Ebola, malaria and crippling levels of HIV. Covid can't compete.) It's not in there a lot, it's just a soupcon of Covidianism, But I was sure giving Kara the side-eye.
As far as I can tell Africa didn't even notice Covid. Bill Gates is the real plague there.
I've been reading in and out all morning. It's gonna hit 95° F here in the Suburbs of Pretty Boy so had get some yard chores started early.
Sorry I missed on covfefe. Here's a Burnish Shine Grapefruit IPA made right here on the Eastern Shore in the People's Democratic Republic of Maryland.
I'll catch up from the couch in a bit. L'Chayim!
*waves* Hi, Lil!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PCCRBu8TPHULXCks5
101 here tomorrow. Keep Dante cool.
In Montana? What gives, there?
It’s nearly July 4th. It typically gets hotter around this time of year, and it’s only tomorrow and Monday that are hot. Then it cools down to the 70s and 80s.
I have a movie recommendation for you:
What You Wish For
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX4qvZezbNU
That looks good. Is it streaming anywhere or is it in the theater?
We viewed it streaming - though, whether it was Amazon Prime Video or Netflix, I cannot recall.
I'd like to see that one.
"101"
Egads! That's, like, 38° for those of us in the Metric System!
I put big piles of ice in all three ground level water dishes - kitchen, garage, front patio - and he crunched on the patio one before Second Naptime.
95°? AMATEUR!!
Tomorrow here in north Texas, it's gonna be 100° – in the SHADE!!
It's no reason to boast – I don't know why I do it...
Sounds like a Nice Cold Lemonade Day!
Shiner Blonde, baby!!
Just topped up my reserve in the garage refrigerator with a case I purchased earlier today at the "grocery" store. At that moment, there were sixteen bottles, but I opened one to have while I began prep work on my next post.
Shiner should be bigger than it is.
Perhaps, but mine is that it is as big as it needs to be. It's the local craft brew for the state of Texas!
For all that's wrong with Midnight Blue MD, it had long been good grape/wine country. The Baltimore latitude is good for them, apparently So there was a Crafting Spirit, if you will. And B'more was home to the original Natty Boh, which was once, as you say, the Local Craft Beer of The Hons (think John Waters).
But in the last 15 years or so there are literally dozens of good craft breweries that make a distinctive brand of ales, largely, bc it turns out that the same regions friendly to Vineyards is also right fine for growing hops. Think Bordeaux Region (grapes) and Bavarian Region (hops).
I've had to cut back a lot bc beer is lots a calories and it showed on me for a while. But I Love beer.
PS: That's Dante the Husky Dawg on the driveway in the far-away. He loves being outside but he won't be able to stand it long.
It looks like he's already struggling with the heat...
I wrote this (or nearly this) yesterday but see now that it didn't go through.
It was so hot he popped up maybe two minutes after I wrote that. Wood floors inside are cool for him, and the basement is even cooler but he won't go down there if we're not there with him. He likes being where we are.
...'cause all of you are his pack!
Yup.
To misquote Marx - the funny one with the big mustache, not the listless trust fund commie:
I wouldn't want to be a member of any pack that would let me be Alpha. Yet, here we are.
And it is Good.
It appears that you and Simplicius must have been having similar thought processes this week. There are elements of his essay that came out last night to yours, especially in the Mersheimer piece.
I watched the Joy Reid clip. That’s the most I’ve ever watched her. To be honest she’s saying the same things I’ve heard for decades. They might remix the songs and upgrade the packaging, but they’re the same old hits. You overthink things too much. The lie is the point. There’s not a nefarious strategy.
The Mersheimer piece was a reaffirmation of the definitions of the players. Neocon, liberal, realist. Read the Simplicius piece. He fleshes it out nicely in the context of the current administration, and events. I might take it a step further. This would also go along with some of the political narrative. “No one can rise above their worldview “. I had to come to grips with that in trying to determine why Trump failed his first go round. When he faced with forces who wouldn’t “make a deal”, he failed.
The Disney situation makes me sad. I wanted to like their content. I loved early Star Wars. After the first year I scrapped the Disney Channel. The content wasn’t just woke…it wasn’t any good.
Your culture reach far surpasses mine. My contribution to culture was going to the Ghost concert/movie Thursday night to see whether it would be suitable for my performance students to view.
I started the Simplicus article last night and my eyelids got in the way. I'll go back and finish it.
And, yes, I do overthink things.
I had Disney for a little while to watch the old movies. I can't handle much of anything that's new.
I subscribe to Amazon Prime's streaming service and it has proven to be a fine replacement for cable television. However, (probably due to a financial squabble between CBS and Amazon) I no longer have access to CBS evening news. My anxiety has dropped to an all-time low level (as has my blood pressure). I have to challenge your statement that nothing changes, though. Bill Maher's new book, while he slams Donald Trump enough times to satisfy any Z Generation character that knows how to read, is an excellent, thoughtful, and profane book by a man that has recently had a spiritual awakening.
I'll have to look for it. Bill Maher's TDS gets in the way of a lot of things, though he seemed almost sensible in a clip I caught of him talking with Andrew Cuomo about the "hush money" case.
He seems almost obsessed with his disgust of the woke and the trans.
Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
Well, they’re ruining his party. Bill Maher is above everything else a Democrat, and the “woke” are a threat to Democrats’ holding on to power.
You're right. It's a lot like James Carville. They can see that the "big tent" of the Democratic Socialist Party includes too many lunatics.
They either lose the lunatics or the normies. So far 🤞there are still more normies.
Well done, Gajewski.
Fun book reviews, free coffee (your treat this week), potential for self-reflection, WWIII winds, super novas from the time of Caesar, world views with substance and a true offer to understand what may be may be.
Thank you.