The Friday Link for 7/28/23

Do I have guilty pleasures?  Dang right I do, and while many of them are ONLY for me and my maker to know (I can't quit you Hallmark Channel!), there's one I'm willing to share with you, Gray Still Plays.

I'm not so much a fan of watching people play video games. Sure I'll watch for a few minutes, but usually I get bored and move on.  Nothing against it, as I'll remind everyone that watching people play video games is no different than watching a sporting event on television.  You are watching others with a skill you don't have do something well.  I'm just not that big on video game culture.  When I had three kids, that pretty much caboshed most of my extracurricular activities.

Then one day magic happened when I had a video strangely pop up in my suggested window on YouTube.  Gray Still Plays is a guy (Gray I presume) who I think is in Florida who plays various video games and contributes what is an absolutely hilarious commentary on them. I watch these for the jokes first, and hilarious video game moments second.  

He has some friends who will change the video games to allow him to test out vehicles, roads, characters, water slides, realities; anything to challenge Gray.  The video game I prefer to watch Grey get destroyed on is GTA, Grand Theft Auto. 

I'll give you four videos today.  Watch them, follow the rules of each specific test, and watch Gray struggle.  Eventually, he figures out the challenges and frankly, he earns my respect.

I know he has millions of followers and almost 4 billion views, but better late than never.  Some rougher language and mild video game violence.  You've been warned! 

First up, vehicles versus the most dangerous roads!

Next up, which car can survive the biggest loops?

What would happen is every time he hit something the car would become a bigger car?  Let the chaos ensue!

And finally, time to test the suspension of your vehicle! 

Have a great weekend.  Stay safe and make sure your vaccinations are up to date! 

The Friday Link for 7/21/21

I need to revisit something I've had to repeat over and over again for the last 20 years.  If you are a proud Minnesotan and if you love the United States, you need to STOP FLYING AND DISPLAYING THE DAMN CONFEDERATE FLAG!!!

I know, all caps.  Sorry.  I'm more than a little miffed about this.  Apparently, there's some dumb idiot in Sauk Rapids who owns a bar that displays the Confederate Flag. The Confederate States were traitors, who attacked the United States, who attacked the United States with the primary intent to continue the heinous act of slavery, and an enemy who killed hundreds of thousands of US soldiers and citizens. You might as well display the flag from al-Qaeda.

(Side note: I used to say the Nazi flag but it became clear many of the people I was trying to shame for their displaying of the traitorous southern imagery might not be too upset to fly the Nazi flag.)

In regards to why flying the Confederate flag is a DEEP betrayal for any Minnesotan, all you have to do is know the history of the 1st Minnesota, the unit which on July 2nd, 1863 saved the Union at a tremendous cost.

It was insanity as 262 Minnesotans took on around 3000 Confederates, AND WON! Winning in this case was holding back the far superior force until reinforcements arrived, but they did it.  The cost was the greatest single-day loss of life for any military unit in US history to still be standing at the end of the day.  Eight-two percent died or were injured in 5 minutes.  But they held the field.

It's interesting to hear the modern narrative that the 20th Maine was the unit to save the day, and they were outstanding on the far flank of the Union lines, but the 1st Minnesotans were historically known as THE unit from Gettysburg.  They were considered by presidents and military leaders for over 100 years to be the men who saved the United States. 

Now take down the damn Confederate flag and show some respect. 

Two from the National Battlefield Trust as they both go into detail about the 1st Minnesotan.  

The second video is good because it gives you an overview of where the first video was shot. You can see the fence line and the treeline by the little swale.  It gives you a better idea of how much carnage happened in such small spaces, a chaos that would be revisited by the US military with D-Day in WWII. 

Finally tonight is a video that actually does the diagram of the 1st Minnesota charge.

Stay healthy, have a great weekend and God Bless the 1st Minnesota. 

The Friday Link for 7/14/23

This week we start off with a clip from Jordan Klepper's podcast, Jordan Klepper Fingers the Conspiracy.  

It's amazing how many QAnon/Trump fans think JFK Jr. is alive, supporting Trump, and is going to return to take the stage with Trump in 2024.  I don't even know where to begin to tell these people they're certifiably bonkers.

But if you're like me, the question comes to mind, where the heck did this even come from?  Klepper through talking with Will Sommer and Joseph Uscinski breaks down the origins, why it resonates with the conspiracy crowd, and the disconnect associated with this lunacy. 

Also tonight a trio of Wizard of Oz/Antique Roadshow videos. Wizard of Oz is very hot in regards to collectors and these three items all had shockingly high appraisals.  The book is sensational, the props are fun (and look at the updated price!!!) and then there is the Bert Lahr script.

Lahr was the Cowardly Lion in the movie and this was his working script.  The insurance price is astounding, but for a lot of people who get a massive inheritance of an item (non-cash), the insurance can become a burden.  The owner decided to sell it at auction, and that's where we discover the difference between auction value and insurance value.

Have a great weekend everyone! Stay safe! 

And remember to stay vaccinated!

The Friday Link for 7/7/23

This week a travel video, and two funny political shorts.

The travel video first. I love the idea of going to weird and unusual travel destinations.  I'm not too counter-culture.  National Parks are spectacular and big glitzy cities are a lot of fun, but sometimes you can find gold by venturing onto less-beaten paths.

The less-beaten path would be a good way to describe Nuuk, Greenland.  It looks shockingly cute. This relatively small port has the fact that it's the main port for all of Greenland in its favor, and with that comes economic growth and some levels of stability. Plus the surrounding countryside looks stunning. 

Jonathan Wheeler from Travel Obscurer visited and made me want to find the way there. 

Next up tonight is Kat Abu.  The Media Matters member is a bit of an internet celebrity as her videos describing what Fox News is up to garner a lot of views. She says she watches Fox so we don't have to.  Kat, I salute your service. 

In this video, she dismantles Rob Schneider, the former SNL comedian (???) who has become irrelevant. Out of bitterness and anger, and a lack of any legitimate media outlet hiring his worthless ass (unless he is sucking on Sandler's teat), he decided to go scorched earth on Hollywood.  Fox News wanting to encourage a certain narrative welcomed this shrieking harpy into the fold.

Fox allowed Schneider to do a comedy (???) special on Fox Nation, and it was what you'd expect. A bitter angry conservative screaming ignorance while the conservative lemming crowd grunted their approval.  Kat watched it, and well...

Warning some rough language.  I KNOW! Especially from the same people who constantly scream "Whatever happened to decency in America!"

Even Better, Kat outdid herself when she made a video doing her own version of the Fox Nation washed-up 90s celebrity 'comedy' special.  This is damn near perfect. You'll have to click on the link for this one:

https://youtube.com/shorts/71pCBrlFYvY?feature=share

Have a great weekend everyone.  Make sure to stay up to date on vaccinations.

For God's Sake! Take the Beef N'Cheddar

Most of us remember the guy from our youthful days who would eat anything for a dollar.  Something rancid or smelly you'd immediately start to throw out?  Someone would stop you and mention, "Maybe 'that guy' would take a bite?"  I remember when a guy in my military unit accidentally left tuna out overnight and paid 'that guy' to take a bite.  He did and proceeded to get very sick.  The unit adopted a new "don't eat things you should know not to eat" policy.  The guy who ate the spoiled tuna actually framed the dollar bill and hung it up in his room, a source of pride for the guy too stupid to get out of his own way.

Why did I start with that story?  You'll understand perfectly in a few paragraphs.

Republicans are in a real conundrum right now.  It's looking like they will be stuck with Trump as their candidate for President again in 2024, and they already know the higher office nullifying resume which his supporters applaud is box office poison when it comes to November of next year.

That's why Republican have to convince you of two lies.  The first is that Donald Trump is not THAT bad, while at the same time convincing you that Joe Biden is (at best) no better than Trump.  This is their ONLY path to victory. 

This is a game plan they used with shocking success in 2016.  Hillary Clinton was a FAR superior candidate, but through constant negative ads, baseless repeated investigations into non-existent scandals, and a social media campaign that convinced a shocking amount of Democrats that Clinton would be no better than Trump (causing many to either sit out the election or place a protest vote for a guy who had endorsed Clinton), Trump beat Clinton.  

Let's put 2016 into food terms. Hillary Clinton might not have been your first meal choice but she really was a relatively tasty family restaurant meal.  Donald Trump was an actual crap sandwich; two pieces of bread with a ton of crap in between.  Republicans convinced enough people to order the crap sandwich instead of the tasty family restaurant meal in 2016, and in doing so Trump won.  

I remember staring at the ceiling that night wondering what the hell my country had just done.  Almost immediately many of the Democrats who had bought the crap sandwich with a smile on their faces stopped chewing and realized "Oh my god! I've eaten a crap sandwich!" Trump voters spent the next three years savoring every bite of the crap sandwich, chewing it with a smile on their faces, as they convinced themselves they were actually eating filet mignon.

Sorry for the visual, but I'm not wrong!

By the time we got to 2020, and Trump, with help from the Republicans in Congress, sat three far right-extremist Republican judges on the Supreme Court, enough people woke up and decided to pass on the crap sandwich.  A shocking amount of Republicans eagerly ordered seconds.  Common sense won the day, but then Republicans (like the guy I mentioned from my military unit who'd eat anything for a dollar, people too stupid to realize they are eating something which will undoubtedly make them sick and could likely kill them) were furious when the electorate in 2020 pointed out they were eating crap.  The crowd that attacked the Capitol on January 6th, trying to overthrow Democracy itself, was a crowd of 'that guy' (and a few idiot gals) who'd eat anything for a dollar, demanding their second potion of crap sandwich.

We're now heading into 2024 with Joe Biden on the top of the Democratic ticket.  I've not always agreed with Joe Biden, but you can't deny all he has gotten done in his first term.  His first two years in office were the most productive first two years since FDR and if not for SCOTUS and Republicans, he would've made this country even better.

Trump is a political disaster, undeniably a crap sandwich in human form.  It's now known he was pressuring two states to find fake votes to overturn their legitimate elections, he and his cronies had coordinated the fake elector scheme, with the intent to overthrow the election in 2020, and there's the whole classified documents scandal, where he's proudly admitted his guilt as he still tries to proclaim he's innocent.  We still do not know where many of our country's most secure documents ended up, or if Trump actually sold them to enemies of the country.

The only chance Republicans have in 2024 is to once again insist Biden is the worst President ever while putting on a hard sell for their 'new and improved' crap sandwich ("Doesn't it look tasty!!!").

The news media is already on board with this scheme, AGAIN.  After SCOTUS, on a laughable decision that struck down Biden's attempt to forgive student loan debt, a decision which half of was "we don't wanna," and the other half was ignoring the actual language of the statute they were invoking, the news media immediately pounced on Biden asking "Why isn't he doing something to address Student Loan Debt?"

WTF! How is it even possible to write that headline?  He WAS trying to address it.  A fraudulent SCOTUS stopped it.  This was not on Biden but on Roberts and the other shady 5.

I've also seen an immediate rise this week in internet trolls screaming "I'm a lifelong Democrat, and I sure hate Trump, but I'd never vote for Biden again!"  It's the SAME EXACT strategy that worked in 2016, convincing just enough Democrats to drop the ball.  Democrats, I know it's hard looking back at 2016 and seeing how badly you got played, but it's time to 1) publicly admit Hillary would've been a FAR better President than Trump, and 2) promise to never sit out an election again BECAUSE ELECTIONS HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES!  Block the Trump trolls trying to disguise themselves as Democrats and move on.

So you're not the biggest fan of Joe Biden?  Fine.  I think he's the equivalent of a tasty meal from Gordy's in Cloquet, a pasty from Pep's in Virginia, MN, or a tasty pho from Quangs on Eat Street. If you really dislike him, he still is (at worst!!!) an Arby's Beef N'Cheddar.  A Beef N'Cheddar is not the meal you want, but it will get the job done, with a little gas.  Hey, I have occasionally had one, and they're not the worst thing I've ever eaten.

(Side note:  this is not an invite for fanatical anti-fast food lefties or vegans to start screaming about how really horrible Arby's Beef N'Cheddar is.  It's an analogy, not an affront to your lifestyle choices.  Please calm down.)

Most Republicans are getting ready to excitedly order a 3rd serving of crap sandwich; A THIRD!!!  They're already drooling over the thought of eating it right in front of the Democrats, smiling as they swallow it down.  And instead of framing the dollar bill and hanging it on the wall, they'll spend their limited income on Trump flags and merchandise just to show the world they LOVE crap sandwiches and how belligerently insanely stupid they are.

2024 comes down to this decision.  Biden is (at worst!!!) a Beef N'Cheddar.  Trump is an actual crap sandwich that will make you sick and might kill you.  What are you ordering?

This isn't a hard choice for anyone to make, unless you're the idiot who thinks one dollar to eat anything is a good investment.