What the Left Did Last Week

Those on the Left just absolutely cannot resist sucking the fun out everything of which they do not approve.
The only "hubris" in all of this is the hubris displayed by the nutbag who wrote this article.



https://www.thelily.com/my-favorite-gender-reveal-parties-are-the-ones-that-go-wrong-heres-why/

My favorite gender-reveal parties are the ones that go wrong. Here’s why.

Let’s have a gender-reveal party that reveals gender is a construct Monica Hesse

August 2

Last April, along a stretch of fecund Australian countryside, a couple expecting a baby performed what thousands of expectant couples now believe is the proper ritual for such an occasion. They gathered some friends and a camera, drove to a remote one-lane road, and waited to discover whether they were having a boy or a girl.
In the third second of the three-minute video, released earlier this month by the local police department, the sedan’s exhaust pipe emits bright blue smoke. The couple celebrates — it means they’re having a boy. At this point, everything is going as planned. In the fifth second, the car’s driver pilots the vehicle in jubilant zigzags while guests jog alongside and cheer.
In the 54th second, the car begins to shoot flames out of its butt. The driver escapes. The car blazes. Guests run out of the frame and then back in, realizing, with cartoonish gestures, that the burning vehicle contains their belongings. One ducks inside for a satchel before they all dash away a final time. Left behind: the Holden Commodore sedan, stewing in a pit of its own melted rubber, still emitting acrid puffs of gender-revealing smoke. Which are now black, not blue.
Is it uncharitable to admit I’ve watched this video four times?
As best as anyone can tell, the gender-reveal trend began about a decade ago, popularized by mom bloggers who concocted increasingly elaborate affairs: pyrotechnic events that looked like the offspring of a Pinterest board and an episode of “American Chopper.”
One of the original party-throwers, Jenna Karvunidis, has recently been in the news again. In 2008, the Californian arranged what would now be considered a quaint gimmick: After learning she was having a girl, Karvunidis threw a party to share the news, via a cake covered in pink icing. She wrote a post about it, which went viral, which launched insanity.
[ ‘Use a bit of common sense’: A gender-reveal party stunt ends with a car erupting in flames]
This weekend, she composed a follow-up post about the child whose gender she’d celebrated. “PLOT TWIST,” she wrote on Facebook. “The world’s first gender-reveal party baby is a girl who wears suits!”
She included a family photo of Bee, sporting a suit and an androgynous haircut, and linked to other pictures in which the ­10-year-old wore a mix of “girl” and “boy” clothes.
I spotted Karvunidis’s Facebook post, as it happens, because I was already buried in gender-reveal footage, planning to write a column about the perverse pleasure of watching the ones that fail.
[ How do parents find out the sex of their baby today? Exploring the trend of gender-reveal parties.]
There’s the Australian car explosion, for one. Or, another in which a man attempts to hit a pink-powder-filled balloon off a golf tee, and instead thwacks his buddy in the groin. Or another, of a guy accidentally hitting a softball into his wife’s face.
I’m not entirely sure what it says about the state of heterosexual matrimony in America, but gender-reveal parties are often a hypermasculine affair. There are a lot of footballs involved, an occasional ax. A certain cohort of straight American men have suddenly decided they need to learn the sex of their babies via chain saw, splitting open hollowed-out logs to reveal pink or blue dust.
My favorite reveal of all time is the tasteful, soft-focus photo shoot of a couple sitting together on a beach blanket. She, dressed in a peasant-style dress, holds her rotund belly. He, sprawled on his stomach, holds a semiautomatic weapon. In the next image, they gaze into the distance at an exploded mushroom cloud of blue dust.
We understand, gentlemen. Fatherhood will not domesticate you.
We understand, ladies. You are a fertile moon goddess.
But increased stagecraft also leads to increased risk of failure. An off-duty Border Patrol agent caused a 47,000-acre forest fire, after he shot a blue-dust-filled target that exploded more thoroughly than planned. A fireworks-based gender reveal in Philadelphia turned into exactly what you might expect: “A few adults got hit but no serious injuries,” one guest reported after footage was released of the mayhem. “Just minor burns.”
Anyway, I was going to write about that, all of that: the audacity, the Americana, the vanity and consumer excess descending into schadenfreude.
But then I saw Karvunidis’s post, which got to the actual heart of the matter: “Who cares what gender the baby is?” she wrote. “I did at the time because we didn’t live in 2019 and didn’t know what we know now — that assigning focus on gender at birth leaves out so much of their potential and talents that have nothing to do with what’s between their legs.”
The wry poignancy of the gender-reveal fail does not come from watching a sedan shoot flames down an Australian countryside. It comes from the fact that the entire event is based on remarkable hubris: Parents try to concoct a memorable moment out of exhaust pipes, only to have nature inform them that there are no carefully concocted moments when it comes to raising children.
Maybe your balloons will release pink confetti, only for your kid to later inform you they’re a boy. Pre-birth is as good a time as any to figure out the limits of binary color choices.
These parties can be fun, and moving, and celebratory for all involved.
But I can’t help rooting for the ones that go wonky.
The ones where a toddler bursts into tears because she wanted a sister, only for her mother to explain that brothers are amazing, too. Or the ones where a couple carries a helium balloon into the backyard and presents it to their dogs. The dogs are supposed to tear the balloon open and reveal boy-or-girl confetti inside. Instead, they bop their noses against it a few times and then back away, leaving the unpopped balloon to float away into the summer sky.

https://www.salon.com/2019/08/10/its-not-just-david-duke-and-the-kkk-anymore-its-tucker-carlson-and-fox-news-network-who-sell-hate/

…. The most common term for it is racism, but I think it’s more accurate to call it white supremacy. It might be a kind of soft supremacy, in a coat and tie, but it’s white supremacy nevertheless. …..

I've been encountering this very sentiment more and more of late.
The Left has finally come to terms with the fact that calling everyone who disagrees with them a "racist" is no longer effective; they have misused, and overused, that word for so long that it has been rendered meaningless.
Now, the terminology must be changed - to "white supremacy".
So, congratulations, Lefties - you have discovered a brand new term you can use while you lie about those with whom you disagree, and I presume that you will use, misuse, and overuse your new term until you completely wear it out, too.

https://www.salon.com/2019/08/24/in-the-popeyes-vs-chick-fil-a-fried-chicken-war-a-sandwich-is-never-just-a-sandwich/

In the Popeyes vs Chick-fil-A fried chicken war, a sandwich is never just a sandwich

………
And yet I had moved to a northeast coastal city where my daily life had been free of Chick-fil-A. But since 2012, the company has expanded into Manhattan. And now, every time I walk by one of their new locations — the house of "hate chicken" in my city — I cringe on the inside.
………

Looks like someone seriously needs a life.

Yeah...well speaking for myself,  I have great difficulty believing that Popeyes has created a fried chicken sandwich that's as good as Chick-fil-A... but better?  No Fucking Way!

I do sympathize with those who see Chick-fil-A as a nemesis.  But what I don't feel is guilt when I bite into a Chick-fil-A sandwich.  I love Chick-fil-A.  BTW - Chick-fil-A is doing just fine out here where I live, and I'd say that it's a pretty progressive area...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/conservative-string-attached-50-million-145552254.html

'Conservative' string attached to $50 million college gift

MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press•August 30, 2019

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A $50 million gift made earlier this year to Virginia's largest public university was given specifically to "promote the conservative principles of governance," newly released documents show, raising concerns from critics that it compromises academic freedom at the school.
George Mason University announced the gift earlier this year — the largest ever received in the school's history — from the estate of Allison and Dorothy Rouse to Mason's Antonin Scalia Law School.
Documents obtained by the group UnKoch My Campus under the Freedom of Information Act and made public this week show that the Rouse trust specified its bequest be used "as an endowment to fund a chair or chairs that will promote the conservative principles of governance, statesmanship, high morals, civil and religious freedom and the study of the United States Constitution."
………
Bethany Letiecq, a Mason professor and member of the university's Faculty Senate, said the provision in the Rouse gift was problematic.
"Having that word 'conservative' in there really raises concerns about academic freedom," Letiecq said. "If you don't follow conservative principles, then what?"
……...


Then what?
Then you don't accept the grant, you ridiculous, ungrateful twat.

happy jack wrote:

Scorpion wrote:

Yeah...well speaking for myself,  I have great difficulty believing that Popeyes has created a fried chicken sandwich that's as good as Chick-fil-A... but better?  No Fucking Way!

I do sympathize with those who see Chick-fil-A as a nemesis.  But what I don't feel is guilt when I bite into a Chick-fil-A sandwich.  I love Chick-fil-A.  BTW - Chick-fil-A is doing just fine out here where I live, and I'd say that it's a pretty progressive area...

Believe it or not, last week was the first time I ever had a Chick-fil-A sandwich. And though I do not sympathize with anyone who whines about the politics and/or views of its owners, I gotta say, it was damn good, and I will be back.
Where did you move?

Oregon.  Suburb of Portland.  My biggest take away about the state so far is that it is breathtakingly beautiful.  Plus the climate, at least where I live, is pretty awesome.  It's called a "temperate oceanic" climate.  I'm cool with where I am for now, but I really want to get a place on the Pacific Ocean coast... if we are actually going to settle down out here...  The coast is magical...



It was such a fucking rush standing next to Thor's Well at high tide... just made it great to be alive, if you know what I mean... have you ever been out here?

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/25/the-invention-of-thanksgiving

A Critic at Large
November 25, 2019 Issue

The Invention of Thanksgiving
Massacres, myths, and the making of the great November holiday.

By Philip Deloria

November 18, 2019

Autumn is the season for Native America. There are the cool nights and warm days of Indian summer and the genial query “What’s Indian about this weather?” More wearisome is the annual fight over the legacy of Christopher Columbus—a bold explorer dear to Italian-American communities, but someone who brought to this continent forms of slavery that would devastate indigenous populations for centuries. Football season is in full swing, and the team in the nation’s capital revels each week in a racist performance passed off as “just good fun.” As baseball season closes, one prays that Atlanta (or even semi-evolved Cleveland) will not advance to the World Series. Next up is Halloween, typically featuring “Native American Brave” and “Sexy Indian Princess” costumes. November brings Native American Heritage Month and tracks a smooth countdown to Thanksgiving. In the elementary-school curriculum, the holiday traditionally meant a pageant, with students in construction-paper headdresses and Pilgrim hats reënacting the original celebration. If today’s teachers aim for less pageantry and a slightly more complicated history, many students still complete an American education unsure about the place of Native people in the nation’s past—or in its present. Cap the season off with Thanksgiving, a turkey dinner, and a fable of interracial harmony. Is it any wonder that by the time the holiday arrives a lot of American Indian people are thankful that autumn is nearly over?
.........

It is absolutely impossible for you people to refrain from being a bunch of unbelievably joyless, miserable fucks, isn't it?

https://www.salon.com/2019/12/25/hallmark-christmas-movies-fascist-propaganda/

Hallmark movies are fascist propaganda
Forget "Triumph of the Will" — the most insidious authoritarian propaganda comes in the form of schmaltz

Amanda Marcotte
December 25, 2019 10:30PM (UTC)

The Hallmark Channel has been having a rough go of it in the past few weeks. The cable TV behemoth, which has been minting money with its patented holiday season schmaltz, drew widespread criticism earlier this month when it pulled ads for the wedding company Zola that featured a lesbian couple kissing at their wedding. The company's initial excuse was that they do not allow ads that feature "overt public displays of affection," claiming the policy is "regardless of the participants."
This was, obviously, nonsense, as couples kissing at weddings is not only not outré, but generally seen as mandatory (and features in the channel's numerous rom-coms). Unsurprisingly, critics quickly found plenty of examples of straight snogging on the channel that shows that sexual orientation was the sole reason for the ad pull. (That, and Hallmark was clearly responding to a right-wing pressure campaign claiming that lesbian kissing "ruined" the channel's "family friendly" offerings.) Hallmark then flip-flopped, apologizing for pulling the ads and claiming they have been "a progressive pioneer on television for decades" and "committed to diversity and inclusion."

Which is, of course, laughable to anyone who has even glancing knowledge of the channel's offerings. Running down this year's schedule of Christmas movie offerings is like a trip into an uncanny valley of shiny-teethed, blow-dried heteronormative whiteness, with only a few token movies with characters of color. It's like watching "The Stepford Wives," but scarier, since the evil plot to replace normal people with robots is never actually revealed.
None of this should be a surprise, because Hallmark movies, as cloying and saccharine as they are, constitute the platonic ideal of fascist propaganda.

………

Now, Honey, we know you're not crazy …. not at all …. this is for your own good …. so why don't we just put the cleaver down …. good, that's good …. now, back away from it slowly …. slowly ….

"The Chicago Police Department remains committed to protecting all Chicago residents regardless of their immigration status," ….

…."protecting all Chicago residents regardless of their immigration status …."
'All', except for, apparently, 3 year-old girls.
But if you smell like the Rio Grande, no worry - we got your back.
Since her installment as mayor, I had reserved judgment on Lori Lightfoot.
Unfortunately, she has now proven herself to be just another link in the long chain of Leftist scum.

https://abc7chicago.com/5973356/

Chicago police, Lightfoot defend decision not to cooperate with ICE after DHS says man accused in McDonald's child sex assault was previously deported


By Diane Pathieu and Michelle Gallardo
Friday, February 28, 2020 3:52PM

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The man accused of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl inside a bathroom of McDonald's flagship restaurant in River North had previously been deported, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said. Chicago officials responded Friday, standing by their decision not to cooperate with ICE on immigration-related business.

Christopher Puente, 34, of Chicago, is currently being held without bail after being charged with predatory criminal sexual assault in connection with an alleged attack on a child in the former Rock N Roll McDonald's on Clark Street earlier this month.

ICE said in a news release Thursday Puente was placed into Chicago police custody in June of 2019 after he was arrested for theft. According to ICE, Chicago police were expected to hold Puente until he could be taken into their custody, as Puente was expected to be deported.

However, at some point Puente was released prior to the alleged incident at the River North McDonald's, ICE said.

Both Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago police defended their decision not to cooperate with ICE on any immigration-related business Friday.

"The Chicago Police Department remains committed to protecting all Chicago residents regardless of their immigration status," Chicago police said in a statement. "Our pledge to restrict ICE access to our information systems and our refusal to cooperate with ICE immigration enforcement measures has not changed."

Lightfoot said "if ICE is complaining, then they should do their job better."

"They're critical because we have said very clearly we are a welcoming city, a sanctuary city. Chicago Police Department will not cooperate with ICE on any immigration-related business," she said. "And that's affected their ability to conduct immigration raids across the city. But that's exactly our intention. We have to make sure our police department is seen as a legitimate force in all our communities."

She added that the city has other federal partnerships that function well, but maintained that those relationships must be conducted in a way consistent with the city's values.

Puente has been previously convicted of burglary, forgery, trespassing, domestic battery and related offenses and has a record dating back 20 years.

On Dec. 5, 2014, Puente was deported to Mexico, pursuant to an administrative removal order as he is a convicted aggravated felon due to his previous felony burglary conviction, ICE said. Five days later, on Dec. 10, 2014, border agents encountered Puente at the Brownsville, Texas, border crossing. Puente claimed to be a U.S. citizen and presented a birth certificate. Puente was subsequently charged with falsely claiming citizenship and served a notice to appear before an immigration judge, according to ICE. On March 30, 2017, an immigration judge ordered Puente removed, in absentia, as he failed to show up for his immigration hearing.


Puente was assisted by a sign-language interpreter in court Feb. 20. He listened to prosecutors as they detailed his alleged acts perpetrated after the little girl's father says he took his son and daughter to the men's bathroom, taking the boy into a stall with him, and leaving her outside.

According to prosecutors, Puente motioned for the girl to enter his stall, when she did so, the defendant closed the stall and locked it. Puente said that he had the victim by the back of the head, covered mouth, and told her "shhhh."

Prosecutors said the girl's father heard his daughter's cries and desperately tried to open the locked stall. He could see her feet dangling off the ground, so he grabbed her legs and pulled her out from under the stall. He ran out of the bathroom with her, leaving Puente inside the bathroom.

The girl was hospitalized after the alleged rape.

Surveillance pictures of Puente exiting the bathroom were circulated by police prior to his arrest.

Prosecutors said Puente was being investigated for trespassing when police recognized him from the surveillance pictures because he was wearing the same clothes he had on following the alleged attack.


After he was arrested, Puente confessed some of what he had done and described his actions to authorities.

"(Puente) said ... what happened with the little girl was 'wrong and a very bad thing,'" Assistant State Attorney James Murphy said.

On Feb. 20, ICE again requested Chicago police hold Puente ahead of a possible deportation, officials said.

https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/04/dear-prudence-offensive-jokes-rape-boyfriend-relationships-advice.html

Dear Prudence
Help! My Boyfriend Is a “Feminist” Who Tells This One Rapey Joke.

Read what Prudie had to say in Part 1 of this week’s live chat.

By Danny M. Lavery
April 13, 20203:57 PMQ.

Offensive game: My boyfriend is usually great. He is a feminist, and everything seemed to be perfect. But when I met his family, the other shoe dropped. When he and his brother are together, they reenact this stupid game from their childhood. I would probably just overlook this as nostalgia if not for the offensive nature of the game. The game consists of his brother posing as a teacher named “Mrs. Reape” and my boyfriend posing as her student who constantly calls her “Mrs. Rape.” That is the whole infantile joke. I find this incredibly stupid, immature, and offensive. Whenever my boyfriend and his brother are together, they inevitably laugh up a storm at the expense of rape victims. I’m ready to give him an ultimatum: either me or Mrs. Reape. Am I being unreasonable?

A: Asking your partner not to make jokes about rape is a reasonable request. This is a good ultimatum, and one you have every right to deliver. There’s a reason he and his brother don’t revisit any of the other jokes or memories from their childhood (of which there are presumably many). They go back to the rape joke for a reason: They want to make jokes at the expense of rape victims and they want to do it in front of you, over and over and over again. You have every reason to decline to be an audience member for this show.

Setting aside the fact that your 'boy'friend is a feminist (with all the contradictions that are necessarily involved), don't you people have anything better to worry about?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/george-floyd-live-updates-9-minneapolis-city-council-members-announce-plans-to-disband-police-department/ar-BB159zvz?ocid=spartandhp

George Floyd live updates: 9 Minneapolis city council members announce plans to disband police department

Nine Minneapolis city council members on Sunday announced plans to disband the city’s police department. They did not offer a timeline or specific actions they plan to take but said they are “taking intermediate steps toward ending” the force. The group represents a majority on the 12-person council.

………

Let us know how that works out for you, 'kay?

Stay calm, people, and do not panic. Any rumors you may have heard regarding a stupidity shortage have been thoroughly debunked.

https://apnews.com/f00bc694ee86e14badaa6344ca56c5e2

‘Nooses’ in Oakland park were exercise aids, man says
today

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland’s mayor said five ropes found hanging from trees in a city park are nooses and racially-charged symbols of terror but a resident said they are merely exercise equipment that he put up there months ago.

Mayor Libby Schaaf said Wedesday that a hate crime investigation was under way after a social media post identified a noose at the city’s popular Lake Merritt. Police said they searched the area on Tuesday and found five ropes attached to trees.

The Police Department provided five photographs of trees, some of which showed knotted ropes and one that appeared to have a piece of plastic pipe attached to a rope, hanging from tree limbs.

They have been removed by city officials.

Victor Sengbe, who is black, told KGO-TV that the ropes were part of a rigging that he and his friends used as part of a larger swing system. He also shared video of the swing in use.

“Out of the dozen and hundreds and thousands of people that walked by, no one has thought that it looked anywhere close to a noose. Folks have used it for exercise. It was really a fun addition to the park that we tried to create,” Sengbe said.

“It’s unfortunate that a genuine gesture of just wanting to have a good time got misinterpreted into something so heinous,” he told the station.

Nooses have been associated with the lynching of black people and used as symbols to taunt or terrorize African Americans.

Schaaf said officials must “start with the assumption that these are hate crimes.” However, the mayor and Nicholas Williams, the city’s director of parks recreation, also said it didn’t matter whether the ropes were meant to send a racist message.

“Intentions don’t matter when it comes to terrorizing the public,” Schaaf said. “It is incumbent on all of us to know the actual history of racial violence, of terrorism, that a noose represents and that we as a city must remove these terrorizing symbols from the public view.”

“The symbolism of the rope hanging in the tree is malicious regardless of intent. It’s evil, and it symbolizes hatred,” Williams said.

Police said several community members came forward during their initial investigation to say the ropes were used for exercise and a man came forward to say he put them up several months ago.

The department said it is conducting a full investigation and had notified the FBI.

“We remind and ask our community to be mindful when using this equipment in a recreational manner. These acts may send an unintended message,” the police statement said. “We recognize especially at this time, that any ropes on or attached to trees, limbs or other objects can be associated with hate crimes and racial violence.”

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/06/so_much_for_seattles_summer_of_love.html

Robert J. O'Neill

@mchooyah

Define “Autonomous” again.



From the "leader" of this new Utopia:

https://
twitter.com/razsimone/stat
us/1274541843779252229
…
Raz Simone

@RazSimone

Medics refused to help even after people in the CHOP begged. They let our bro bleed out for 30 minutes till he died. Fuck politics. Fuck your currupt system.

It is not our "currupt system" (learn how to spell, Douche.) It is the "currupt system" that you yourself created that allowed your bro to bleed out.
Deal with it, you fucking jackass.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/netflix-must-cancel-barack-obama/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=featured-content-trending&utm_term=first

Netflix Must Cancel Barack Obama
By Kevin D. Williamson

July 7, 2020 12:53 PM

Boeing executive Niel Golightly has been forced to resign because of a scandal. The scandal is that in 1987, when he was a 29-year-old Navy pilot, he thought that putting women in combat roles was a bad idea, and he said so.
If this sort of thing is our new standard for corporate behavior, then how can Netflix, which presents itself as a leader on LGBT issues, maintain its relationship with Barack Obama, the remorseless bigot who twice ran for president opposing gay marriage?


If one must go, then both must go.
Agreed?

Nation That Kills 3,000 Babies A Day Feels Morally Superior To Slaveowners From 200 Years Ago
July 6th, 2020

U.S.—Leftists who support killing 3,000 babies a day were trying to virtue-signal but quickly ran into a problem: there's no one alive to whom they can feel morally superior. So, the movement was forced to look to people from 200 years ago to find someone they could somewhat credibly criticize for moral failings.
"We had a tough time finding people we could feel superior to that are currently living," said Leaf Rivers, a white BLM activist in Portland as he googled "how to tear down a statue if you don't have any muscles." "So, we were forced to turn to the archives. Sure enough, we feel a lot better about our own moral issues when we compare ourselves to the moral failings of people from centuries ago."
"It's the only way to keep any sense of self-righteousness."
"Look how much better we are than these people from hundreds of years ago!" the baby murder supporters shouted as a statue of Frederick Douglass came tumbling to the ground. Their virtue-signaling accomplished, they then returned to protesting for a woman's right to kill her unborn baby at any time for any reason.

It's not all too surprising that Scorpion and Heretic no longer post. When their fellow travelers behave like this, it has to be an immense embarrassment.

https://slate.com/technology/2020/07/racist-species-names-animals-plants-audubon-mccown.html

Scientists Are Having a Reckoning Over a Bird Named for a Confederate General
And a beetle named after Hitler.

By Hannah Thomasy
July 23, 20208:00 AM

Across the United States, people are pushing for the removal of Confederate officers’ names from buildings, schools, and army bases, as protests against racial injustice continue in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.
Something much smaller has also elicited debate over its Confederate name: McCown’s longspur, a bird that lives in the Great Plains and looks a bit like a sparrow. It was named after John Porter McCown, who was involved in forcible relocations of Native Americans during the 1840s and who left the United States Army to serve as a Confederate general during the Civil War.
By memorializing someone who fought to defend slavery, the longspur’s name, some birders and scientists say, adds further barriers to inclusion in the world of bird researchers and enthusiasts—an overwhelmingly white community where people of color have repeatedly reported feeling ignored, excluded, and even deeply unsafe.
“Naming and language have power. The way that you use language tells people whether they belong or not,” said Earyn McGee, a Ph.D. student in conservation biology at the University of Arizona and an organizer of Black Birders Week, an online campaign to celebrate and increase visibility of Black birders and nature enthusiasts. When scientists refuse to stop using terms that are steeped in racism, she added, “that tells Black people and other people of color that they don’t matter, that they’re not important.”
Last year, the North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS), passed on a chance to rename McCown’s longspur, citing the importance of maintaining stability in bird names. More recently, after Black Birders Week, the AOS proclaimed that it would be increasing efforts for inclusivity. Many birders and scientists say that these efforts should include renaming bird species saddled with names that are racist relics of the past. Their advocacy has spurred a petition and social media campaign, brought new scrutiny to AOS naming procedures, and, in the process, launched debates about how scientific communities should reckon with the racist and colonial history embedded in nomenclature.

In response, the AOS has announced that it is revisiting the name of McCown’s longspur this summer. In a recent blog post, the organization expressed appreciation for “the outpouring of sentiment,” writing that the opposition to such names has “highlighted the need to address potential relics of systemic oppression.”
“I’ve been an AOS member for two years now, and I think that this should be their utmost priority,” said Juita Martinez, a Ph.D. student at the University of Louisiana–Lafayette and a fellow Black Birders Week organizer. “Multiple people in high-up positions in neighboring ornithological groups have spoken out with their thoughts and have given really, really great solutions to this problem. So, they really have no excuse for not changing these names.”


……...

Riot Police Unsure If Their Tear Gas Worked Since Libs Were Already Crying
July 23rd, 2020

PORTLAND, OR—Riot police used tear gas on the Portland mayor and protesters last night, which is crazy because they were just trying to warm themselves by a harmless fire they started in a federal building.
But the riot police soon encountered a problem: they weren't able to tell if their tear gas was even effective, since the libs were already crying uncontrollably before they were hit with the tear gas.
"Liberals are always shedding tears, so how do we even tell if it worked?" asked one confused federal agent after firing another can into the crowd. "Seems like this would be pretty redundant."
The liberal tears continued to flow, whether or not riot police fired gas into the crowd. Finally, the police shrugged and left the protest, since the protesters just kept crying.
"Mission accomplished, I guess," said one officer. "Hey, Carl, wanna go kidnap some Antifa thugs?"



White BLM Protesters Try To Start Chant But No One Able To Clap On Beat
July 23rd, 2020

PORTLAND, OR—In what is being seen as a major victory for federal enforcers, Antifa morale took a hit today after the entirely white mob failed to produce a decent chant or even clap on beat.
"Pathetic, just pathetic," said one observer. "They couldn't even rhyme. I always believed in the movement, I don't even know what to believe anymore."
According to citizen journalists on the ground, the crowd began to dissipate after a failed attempt at the following chant:
"2-4-6-8,
What is the thing that's bad because it's the source of all oppression?
CAPITALISM!"
Sources confirmed that nobody really knew when to clap and people began to hang their heads in defeat. The leaders tried again:
"Systemic racism! Transphobia!
We'll stop it!
Yes, that's absolutely
What we're going to do!"
Leaders tried to help people along by drumming on the hoods of cars and clapping but failed miserably. As the crowd continued to dissipate, rioters were forced to revert to their standard primal screams. Antifa leaders have confirmed they will be hiring consultants to help make their chants more catchy in the future.
At publishing time, the protesters had tried to just tweet their slogans but they couldn't put the hand clap emojis in the right spot.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/democrats-make-mockery-of-barr-hearing/
………
It doesn’t matter how you feel about Donald Trump or Bill Barr. A faction that would rather delegitimize than debate its opposition can do that to anyone or anything. At that point, it’s about power, not policy or progress. Anyone who wants power that badly shouldn’t be anywhere near it.
………

You should be starting to take notes, assholes.

Keep it up, asswipes - in fact, please escalate.
November is coming.

https://lynnwoodtimes.com/2020/08/02/hundreds-of-blm-supporters-storm-snohomish-county-neighborhood-to-protest-at-seattle-police-chief-carmen-bests-home/?fbclid=IwAR3PX8FM3LJDwVJWokK_5qQEcU4p2mAfGPOJmTH4dgL3LCm8r9FrsFFKYsc

Hundreds of BLM supporters storm Snohomish County neighborhood to protest at Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best’s home
August 2, 2020

In the early morning of August 3, the Lynnwood Times reached out to all Snohomish County Councilmembers and the Mayor of Seattle to provide statements. Their statements will be posted in the order received.
[2:00 p.m., August 3, 2020] Added Snohomish County Councilman Sam Low’s statement about incident.
[1:30 p.m., August 3, 2020] Added Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s statement about incident and included pictures provided by her spokeswoman of intimidation at her home.
[1:30 p.m., August 3, 2020] Added Snohomish County Council Chair Nate Nehrings statement about incident.


Roughly 40 vehicles lined the road of a small, quiet, and quaint residential community in unincorporated Snohomish County to protest at the private residence of Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best.  According to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, this is the first occurrence of protestors targeting an official in the county.  The incident took place at 6:50 p.m. on Saturday, August 1.
Firsthand witnesses told the Lynnwood Times that a neighbor tipped off residents to dozens of vehicles traversing the street of the private residence of Best.  Neighbors aware of Best’s physical home location, established a perimeter to protect her home from possible mischief.  Best was not home at the time of the incident.
A crowd of about 200 persons, mostly white men and women in their twenties, were dressed in black with masks and black hoods and carried signs that read “Black Lives Matter.” Black Lives Matter protestors shouted profanity and insults at neighbors, took license plate information on vehicles, took pictures of homes, and asked little kids who lived in the neighborhood what schools they attended.  
Other BLM protesters carrying large duffle bags attempted to make their way to Chief Best’s private residence. When confronted by neighbors to show the content of the large duffle bags, protesters refused to cooperate. There were no reports of any physical altercations.


In a statement to the Lynnwood Times, Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney wrote, “I assured her [Best] that the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office would deploy whatever resources were necessary to protect her, her family, and her property.”
Neighbors told the Lynnwood Times that some of their private information has been publicly disclosed on social media and they are afraid for their safety.  Because of this, the Lynnwood Times is respecting the confidentiality of those that provided statements and not disclosing the home address of Chief Best.
Because of the proactive response by neighbors, the crowd dispersed by 7:45 p.m. that evening.  Neighbors shared that a yellow GMC Vandura van and a motorcycle was seen several times throughout the evening driving through the neighborhood.
“I feel incredibly unsafe,” said one neighbor. “We think it will happen again… Their objective was not completed; they never made it to her house, we stopped them… so we think they will be back.”
All of the neighbors interviewed by the Lynnwood Times were thankful to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office for providing an around the clock law enforcement presence.
In his statement Sheriff Fortney wrote, “The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office has been supportive and accommodating to all peaceful protests that have occurred in our jurisdiction.  With that said, protestors targeting one individual’s house is a bullying tactic that will certainly require an extra patrol response to ensure every resident in Snohomish County can feel safe in their own home, with their loved ones, no matter what they choose to do to make a living.”
A community resident and witness to the protest shared some of the tactics used by BLM protestors.
“They were very organized. They had radios, talking to each other. They had numbers they used to decal all their cars for who knows what. So, they were identifying all their vehicles individually by number. They came with a mission…They were out here intimidating us.”
Many of the residents have lived in the neighborhood for well over ten years.
“It is an awesome neighborhood.  It is quiet and we know most of the neighbors. There are a lot of families with kids who ride their bikes and play with their skateboards.”
Chief Best personally thanked each of her neighbors for their support and apologized to them for the incident. However, neighbors responded with sympathy to Best for the ordeal she and her staff are going through.
“She [Best] thanked us all for banding together,” one neighbor told the Lynnwood Times. “It made us feel awesome.  She felt she had to apologize to all of us, that this was happening to us and we said no. We apologized to her that this is happening to her.”
When asked to comment on the incident, one neighbor said, “At the end of the day, the biggest thing we aren’t getting anymore is discourse. As a country, as a nation, as a people, we had always done a good job, whether or not you are right, left or indifferent. When things came about there was conversation…a meeting of minds…people talked.”
He continued, “At the end of the day, whether or not the protest would have been peaceful all day long is the fact that there is one bad apple…could that one bad apple light a house on fire or do something destructive.”
Official statement from SPD Chief Best
Below is an official statement and letter from Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best urging the Seattle City Council to act and denounce the current trend in the intimidation of public officials and civil servants before it devolves into “mob rule.”
August 3rd, 2020
Lorena González, President and Lisa Herbold, Public Safety Chair
Seattle City Council, City Hall
600 Fourth Ave, 2nd Floor
Seattle, WA 98104
Re: Intimidation of Public Officials and Employees
Dear President González, Chairwoman Herbold, and Seattle City Council Members:
I wanted to update you on recent events, particularly those that occurred late last night.
A residence of mine in Snohomish County was targeted by a large group of aggressive protestors late last night. My neighbors were concerned by such a large group, but they were successful in ensuring the crowd was not able to trespass or engage in other illegal behavior in the area, despite repeated attempts to do so. Currently, the local sheriff (not SPD resources) is monitoring the situation.
I urge both of you, and the entire council, to stand up for what is right. These direct actions against elected officials, and especially civil servants like myself, are out of line with and go against every democratic principle that guides our nation. Before this devolves into the new way of doing business by mob rule here in Seattle, and across the nation, elected officials like you must forcefully call for the end of these tactics.
The events of this summer were initiated in a moment of grief and outrage over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and so many other Black and Brown people suffering at the hands of injustice. All of us must ensure that this righteous cause is not lost in the confusion of so many protestors now engaging in violence and intimidation, which many are not speaking against.
Sincerely,
Carmen Best
Chief of Police
Seattle Police Department
CC
Tammy Morales, Councilmember, District 2
Kshama Sawant, Councilmember, District 3
Alex Pedersen, Councilmember, District 4
Debora Juarez, Councilmember, District 5
Dan Strauss, Councilmember, District 6
Andrew Lewis, Councilmember, District 7
Teresa Mosqueda, Councilmember, District 8, At-Large
Community Police Commission, Co-Chairs

Statements from elected officials
Best was appointed Seattle Police Chief by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on August 13, 2018.  Best, a native of Tacoma, Washington, became the first African American woman to serve as Seattle’s chief of police and one of a handful of female African American police chiefs in the United States.  

Snohomish Mayor John Kartak shared with the Lynnwood Times his concern to the recent trend to dox and protest at the private residents of both elected and law enforcement officials.
“Although this took place outside city limits, it is well within my Snohomish community. As the Mayor of Snohomish, I find this deeply troubling… I condemn the doxing tactics used against fellow officials and law enforcement. I have never doxed anyone and I have never supported doxing anyone.”
Doxing is the practice of publishing private or identifying information about an individual on the internet, typically with malicious intent.  According to the New York Post article, “Personal information of high-ranking cops leaked online, feds say,” law enforcement officials had their personal information posted online amid nationwide unrest over the police killing of George Floyd.
Kartak continued, “We are in times when a few voices are loudly crying out to defund our police. I would like to challenge every citizen and every voter to consider that they need to decide what they value.  I know my community values their police and their sheriffs.”
The Lynnwood Times reached out to former Snohomish County Sheriff and current 44th Legislative District Representative John Lovick for comment about the incident and tactics used by the BLM protesters, but he did not return any of our calls.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan
Kelsey Nyland, provided the following statement to the Lynnwood Times on behalf of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan:
“There is no one better positioned to transform the Seattle Police Department than Chief Best. She has nearly 30 years in the department, and she knows it better than anyone.”
“Peaceful protests push elected officials and governments to be better. They are a core tenet of our democracy, and the City remains committed to supporting our communities’ right to peacefully protest. But we cannot keep engaging in hateful language and destruction. Those acts undermine the push for systemic change, and they are unsustainable. In order to truly make the change communities are asking for, we must be in conversation and in partnership with each other.”
Nyland shared with the Lynnwood Times that Mayor Durkan has had five demonstrations at her house in recent weeks. As U.S. Attorney, Mayor Durkan has prosecuted cartels, Russian cybercrimes (a son of a oligarch), and right wing militias.
Durkan and her family are part of the 4,500 people statewide who are part of a state program for individuals who have been targets of stalking and domestic violence.
Below are photos provided to the Lynnwood Times by Nyland of outside the home of Durkan after recent demonstrations.

Snohomish County Council Chair Nate Nehring
“I am very disappointed to learn that protestors attempted to visit the home of Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best. There are several forms in which civil discussion around policy can occur in our society, including public meetings, emails, and peaceful demonstrations in the public square. Harassing the Seattle Police Chief at her personal home is completely unacceptable and these sorts of intimidation tactics require strong condemnation. I call on Seattle’s elected leaders to join me in denouncing this inappropriate behavior.”
Snohomish County Councilman Sam Low
“I applaud and respect those who have peacefully protested in my Council District, which includes Lake Stevens, Monroe, and Snohomish over the past 2 months. With that said, all people in Snohomish County need to feel safe and secure in their neighborhood and on their property. Organized groups of individuals trying to intimidate, bully, harass, and trespass against individuals in their neighborhood and on their property is disgraceful.”
Current local trends by BLM to intimidate elected officials
Seattle Police Chief Best is the latest official to have been targeted by BLM groups.  In June, 50 BLM supporters vandalized the home of Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby. Joined by Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, hundreds of BLM protestors demonstrated in front of the home of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.
Only two weeks ago, protestors marched at the homes of Seattle councilmembers Alex Pedersen and Debora Juarez demanding their vote to defund the Seattle police department.
On Friday, July 31, Seattle City Council members offered a proposal to cut 100 full-time officers from the department’s budget and create alternative systems to prevent violence and provide community safety.
The latest Crosscut-Elway scientific poll of 402 registered voters in WA conducted July 11-15, found that majority of Washingtonians oppose defunding law enforcement agencies.  When asked about changing the current policing model, 62% of those surveyed oppose dismantling and starting over with a new model and 73% oppose reducing law enforcement funding by 50%.  
The Crosscut-Elway Poll is a quarterly survey of voters in Washington state.  It has been providing an independent nonpartisan analysis of public opinion trends in Washington and the Northwest since 1975.