ROLEY

Tag: MTG

  • Wednesday, March 1st, 2023

    • I’ve lived here in Virginia Beach for decades.  It’s as much my home as anywhere else I’ve lived.   I love this place, but there are some uncomfortable truths about living here that some of you in other places may not know, or you might be aware of one or two things. First, this town is Red.  Very Red.  You can’t be AOC and run for office here.  Elaine Luria voted for Scott Taylor in the election before she ran against him.  Also, they tend to get their way a lot.  We had a referendum about whether or not to extend a light rail system from Norfolk into Virginia Beach.  That referendum passed.  Until the City Treasurer decided he wanted a do over because he didn’t get his way.  The second referendum failed, and now there’s no light rail in Virginia Beach.   Second, If you’re not a fan of the military, this is not the place you want to live.  I would argue that we have the highest concentration of military personnel here than anywhere in the world.  Politics is going to cater to the military here in one form or another.  Third, because of the number of military folks here, folks from the Government like to come here to use our fair city as a backdrop.  I’m pretty sure that every President since Bill Clinton has come here for something, and I’d bet that Reagan and Daddy Bush has been here as well when they were in office.  Every one of them would have traveled by motorcade from the plane to wherever they were going, and each time they have had to close down at least one of the major arteries here.   But you would think from reading Virginia Beach as a trending topic on Twitter yesterday that this has never happened before, and I’m here to tell you that memories are conveniently short.  At the very least, they’re color coded.
      • One Twitter troll who identified as MAGA on his bio responded to my take on this by saying “He’s not a president”.  I’d like to be clear on this:  I did not like Donald Trump.  Didn’t care for Hillary either, but I held my nose and voted for her because I did not feel like opening the Seventh Seal of the Apocalypse.  As much as I hate the fact that Trump won, here’s the deal: He won.  As did Obama, W, Clinton, HW, Reagan, and so on.  Trump was elected President.  Anyone with a shred of fairness and logic about them has to acknowledge that.   See, there’s an objective reality and then there’s the cultish delusion that the MAGA folk have fever-dreamed their way into, and you can wish really hard that it isn’t so, but Biden won the election, just like every other President that’s been elected.  Just because you don’t like the guy doesn’t mean shit.  Flip it around and tell me what the MAGA folk would say if I said “Trump isn’t MY President!”  They’d say something along the lines of “Facts don’t care about your feelings, soy boy.”   I promise you, the sentiment is mutual.  I just happen to acknowledge reality, snowflake. There are two years left on the clock, minimum.  If you want to get rid of Biden, the answer is simple:  Run someone better.  I don’t think that will be Trump, though.  I suspect he will be otherwise engaged or barred from running.
      • Finally, all the clearly Republican folks on Twitter bitching about the traffic today…if only there was alternate transportation, like, say, light rail…
    • Someone on my team made a bot to perform a function, and decided to name it Hubert. Amazingly, I found a GIF in Teams of Hubert Humphrey.  I was shocked.  I mentioned that I’ve had Humphrey on the brain lately because I’ve been watching the CBS coverage of the 1968 DNC from Chicago.   My boss implored me to get a life or two.  I hadn’t thought of an interest like that as being all that indicative of needing to get a life, but I suppose it isn’t a common interest?  I like watching news coverage of historical events.  I’m trying to curate a few playlists on my YouTube Page of those things, so jump over there and check it out as I grow it.
    • Another thing to file under Memories are short:  MTG got the vapors when someone decided to get all up in her grill at a restaraunt: “I was attacked in a restaurant tonight by an insane women and screamed at by her adult son. They had no respect for the restaurant or the staff or the other people dining or people like me who simply have different political views. They are self righteous, insane, and completely out of control. I was sitting at my table, working with my staff, and never even noticed these people until they turned into demons. People used to respect others even if they had different views. But not anymore. Our country is gone.”  This woman has harassed David Hogg, AOC, and at the very least hung up a transphobic sign on her door directly across from a Rep with a Transgender child.  You’ve shown who you are, and you’d think when someone gives you a little of that same medicine, a person capable of self-reflection might pause and reconsider some things.  I’m guessing you’re not that person, Marjorie.   It’s ok.  I used to be the same way, and it’s easy to let that all-ego no heart or brains trick you into thinking that you did nothing wrong and that you’re being picked on.  You’re not being picked on. You’re getting exactly what you deserve.  One thing I learned the hard way is that if you don’t take the time to reflect and change your heart and mind, is that when karma comes along and does that for you it’s not a pleasant experience.  Not at all.
    • Semi-serious question for the White House Press Office:  What is stopping you from yanking FOX News’ credentials?  After yesterday’s revelations, they clearly don’t deserve them.  Seriously, square up and yank those passes, be ready with the receipts, and don’t cave in.  Not the same level, but when Gizmodo ‘found’ the iPhone 4 at a bar and leaked it, Steve Jobs barred them from Apple Events for years.  I always used to tell people on Beach Mac that you could go to all the other tech sites to get the news, or you could go to Gizmodo to get what someone else told them about the news.  Let Fox be the new Gizmodo.   Let ’em be in exile for the rest of the time Biden’s in office, or Harris for that matter if she comes after.  Sure enough a Republican will restore their access. But let them cry about how long that will be.  I think that would be perfect.
    • Remember, this is a Patreon Podcast, as are all the poddlements from Tuesday through Friday.  Go to my Patreon to subscribe, and thanks.

  • Tuesday, February 21st, 2023

    Has anyone else experienced the following:  You’ve been stressed out past your limit so much for so long that you stop holding back about things?  That’s where I’m at right now.   Whether that’s good for my mental health–or anyone else’s–is up for debate.  Film at 11, as they say.

    • RIP to Richard Belzer, most likely the first comedian I ever saw on TV and knew what he was.  A brilliant comedian.  The character of John Munch will have him on TV from now until the heat death of the Universe because SVU is playing on TV somewhere on the planet.  I heard yesterday that he took the settlement money when Hulk Hogan dropped him and bought a house in France that he named Chez Hogan.  I don’t know if that’s true, but that sounds like him.  And, of course, let’s never forget his brief moment of MTV stardom.

    • MTG posted this tweet this morning (it’s there as I type it, card subject to change) where she says:

      “We need a national divorce. We need to separate into red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done.”


      Honestly, I’m warming up to this idea, but not for the reasons she would like.  It would appear that the red states are more dependent on Federal Aid than the Blue states, which generally have a higher income and GDP.  The Blue states pay more taxes, and the Red states appear to be the–to be generous–slightly larger beneficiary of those taxes. But, of course, this ‘national divorce’ will never happen.  She knows that.  This is just red meat for the ignorant.  Her citizens will expect the same services they’re getting today with a fraction of the tax base.  You have to make up for that somehow.  Someone should ask her how she plans to….oh, wait.  Right.  What plan, right?


    • MTG Related: Could someone please tell her that giving access of the 1/6 tapes to Tucker Carlson is not the same as releasing the tapes?  If there are 41,000 hours of footage, you can bet Tucker is going to release about 30 seconds of some guy from Dubuque taking a leak in the Bushes and claim it was Antifa, so TOTAL EXONERATION.  Of course all that footage will NEVER be made public, but that’s ok.  We have C-Span.
    • To get back into photography, I’ve signed up for a newsletter from Digital Photography School.  This week’s challenge appears to be about using lines in your images.  I received a beginner’s guide to street photography for signing up for their newsletter.  I was today years old when I realized one of the best tips about street photography is to find a place you like aesthetically and JUST FUCKING WAIT THERE.  I’m the Goofus walking around with a camera making everyone uncomfortable.  Plus, the last time I went out shooting street photography, I had my Canon T5i.  My iPhone 12 camera with the Moment Gear is much more suited to this purpose.  So, I think I have two things to work out this week.  Let’s see how it goes.
        • Photography related:  I see that Canon is releasing the R50, which seems to me to be the entry level mirrorless camera.  This is clearly meant to be replacing the M50; the M Line was Canon’s first excursion into Mirrorless cameras and after a while it was clear that Canon wasn’t going to devote more time to it.  A fine camera, but a limited amount of glass.  The R50 along with an 18-45mm and 55-210mm lens is out for pre-order for 1029.00, and I have to tell you I’m wanting this one.  There is an adapter for my EF Lenses, so there’s a way to keep my current glass involved.  My more professional friends might laugh at wanting just the entry level camera.  I don’t need more than that. I’m not a pro, but I do want a new camera.  My T5i was out of date when I bought it at a pawn shop with two lenses for 300 bucks.  I’ve held off on getting a new camera until Canon made an ‘affordable’ replacement they were going to stand behind, and this R50 is that camera.
    • Jimmy Carter is entering hospice care, and the amount of tributes he’s receiving for the life he’s led post-Presidency is nice to see.  Honestly, he wasn’t the greatest President, but he’ll be leaving this Earth knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that he wasn’t the worst.  I stand by my belief that Carter freed the Iranian Hostages in the hours before Reagan’s Inauguration, and Ronald Reagan got credit for it, and I hope in the coming weeks the tributes make that abundantly clear.  Of course, there will be the vultures, you’ll see them come out of the woodwork the moment the announcement is made.  I suppose I’d ask them how they felt when someone spoke ill of Reagan when he died, but they’ll never answer that question as long as the white hot hatred of Carter/Clinton/Fonda/Ted Kennedy fills them with impotent rage.   That Venn Diagram is the most perfect of circles, you can be assured of that.
    • The human equivalent of the slime you scrape from a hull under the water line James O’Keefe has resigned from Project Veritas.  No doubt he’ll find another grift, they always do.  On the other hand, maybe he’ll end up doing dinner theater in Branson. Kind of a coin flip, truthfully.
    • At last, the true power of AI: Let it decide who gets laid off.  You know this is how we get Friend Computer, right? Please report to the Food Vats for…uh…Reassignment.
    • Lastly, I’m starting a little experiment.  This post is also a Podcast on my Patreon Page.  It’s got what you see here, plus a little more in the way of my flavor of crazy because it’s me.  I’m making every Monday Patreon show public so it can be shared and promoted.  Feel free to check it out, share and subscribe.  Thank you.