Michael Moynihan on the Politics of Travel Guides

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Michael Moynihan on the Politics of Travel Guides

"Travel guide writers are obsessed with authenticity," says Reason Contibuting Editor Michael C. Moynihan. "You'll find people who say 'isn't it adorable when you go to Havana that they have all these Packards from the 1950s?' Well, no it's not. This is a pretty grim assessment of the economics of Cuba."

In a recent piece in Foreign Policy, Moynihan dissects several popular travel guides and finds "the guidebooks are clotted with historical revisionism, factual errors, and a toxic combination of Orientalism and pathological self-loathing." 

Moynihan sat down with Reason TV's Kennedy to discuss his article, the political and cultural biases in travel guides, and why the burqa should not be considered "a tool for social mobility" as Lonely Planet's guide to Afghanistan suggests.

About 3.30 minutes.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher, Camera by Jim Epstein and Fisher.

Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV's YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.

Comments

[Caleb Turberville]

Really, we're combining Moynihan with Kennedy?

[Warren]

I know right. This is probably Kennedy's best ResonTV bit to date. The less she says the better.

[Trigger Warning]

Today is the most appropriate day to post in this thread!

[Jerryskids]

Just think of those poor Cubans forced to read black-market downloaded copies of the internet that results in them getting a steady diet of months-old news and commentary. It's hard to imagine the horror, isn't it?

[Pro Libertate]

Um, where did my posted comments go? And BP's?

[BakedPenguin]

If I'd known my comment would be disappeared, I would have made it unimaginably profane and off topic.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm offended at this affront. It was even a relevant and complimentary comment!

[Paleo-ConAvenger]

Is it just me or does this seem new?

"We reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason at any time"

[Pro Libertate]

Nah, they've had that for a while.

I think all of the comments got zapped inadvertently, because all BP and I said was that Cuba is a hole and shouldn't be.

[AlmightyJB]

All your comments were zapped into the future.

[Brochettaward]

It's not new. I reported all of you as soon as I found out this place had a report system.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It was when he made that comment.

[Careless]

wow, 3.5 years old

[Long Woodchippers]

Not that new. It's now 2016 and this article popped up in the 'Most Visited"

[Corning]

Um, where did my posted comments go? And BP's?

I may or may not have said something bad about Moynihan being between jobs.

But i ended it with saying i wanted him back with reason...so who knows.

[Caleb Turberville]

Are the Castros really the hardest dictators to topple?

[Archduke PantsFan]

remember the Alamo!

[prolefeed]

I'm gonna go with the North Korean dictators outlasting the Cuban dictators.

Being 90 miles or so away from Miami, and now getting to see actual wealthy Cuban emigrees, is gonna drive up the resentment factor among Cubans.

[Ryan60657]

What about travel to other third world nations, like Mississippi?

[Eduard van Haalen]

You mean where the cities are being reclaimed by the wilderness?

Wait, someone just told me that Detroit is in Michigan, not Mississippi.

[ant1sthenes]

Doesn't CN do travel reporting or something? I guess I should actually bother to read my local newspaper once in a while.

[Citizen Nothing]

Yeah. And I agree completely with Moynihan's take.

[Citizen Nothing]

And this week I go to Branson, Mo., ant1. You sure as fuck don't want to miss that.

[pan fried wylie]

This week, in Soviet Russia, Branson goes to you!

[geo1113]

What...no photos of Hyman Roth!!!

[Adans smith]

'This is the business we have chosen'.

[Emma]

A great site for booking transportation and hotels is http://www.worldwideetravel.com ! Great photos, reviews, and discounts !

[yweuijhbcf]

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[Agile Cyborg]

Excellent piece. This has been one of my pet peeves for quite some time. Travel shows are also just as guilty of promoting Pollyanna to viewers when they glibly and happily sample even brutal locales. I find this nauseating and patronizing.

[Steve G]

Holy shit, this is coherent. A lot's changed in the past few years.

[But Enough About Me]

Nothing's changed. You just caught AC between phase-shifts, is all.

[Jeanne]

Great piece! I've also heard the argument that income from tourists ruins 3rd world countries because it allows them to improve and moves them away from being "authentic". Which I think is akin to saying, please stay poor so we can admire it.

[Suthenboy]

It means those people think of third world residents as zoo animals.

[mtrueman]

Those people think that zoo animals are more authentic than their wild counterparts.

[mtrueman]

Great piece! I've also heard the argument that income from tourists ruins 3rd world countries because it allows them to improve and moves them away from being "authentic".

Tourism drives up prices. Not all that different from foreign aid.

[OneOut]

And the dollar buys so much !

We must visit here again because we feels rich while we are here.

[Hugo S. Cunningham]

As an anticommunist who has often relied on Lonely Planet guides, I was always aware of the risk that overly outspoken literature might be confiscated at the border. A politically honest guide won't be much help planning your next day's itinerary if it is sitting in a police warehouse. Also, locals known to have talked to a tourbook writer who later turned out to be an enemy of the state may expect uncomfortable interviews of their own at the police station.

In short: don't judge the book's politics too harshly, but don't be taken in either.

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[AlmightyJB]

Bark happy dog yumm yumm woodchipper. Web page like Lou Reed carry browns fan by.

[Vapourwear]

Preet Bharara?

I do not understand this game.

[AlmightyJB]

There are rules.

[AlmightyJB]

no rules dammit

[Chumby]

Happy "Jesus was a zombie" Day.

[Jerryskids]

It's rainy and gray here so Jesus didn't see his shadow this morning - I can never remember if that means an early spring or six more weeks of winter.

[darius404]

No, fool! Everyone knows Jesus was a VAMPIRE. Offers you blood and rose from the dead after 3 days. DUH.

[Ted S.]

Shit; all of the comments are from September. 2012.

[GILMORE?]

remarkably, the Chinglish bot-trolls seem to have shown complete consistency between September 2012 and March 2016

""excited with your article this inspiring me""

[Suthenboy]

Where can I find out more?

[GILMORE?]

"" keep functioning remarkable job you are a very smart person""

[Adans smith]

Standing in line for toilet tissue,cooking oil,meat and sugar is also authentic.

[Suthenboy]

People living in grinding poverty under a brutal dictator is one thing, but don't be fooled. Home Depot and McDonalds are the real evil.

[Adans smith]

I thought Warty was the real evil?

[Trigger Warning]

Speaking of evil, I just finished an excellent story about the battle between Warty's DOOMCOCK and Oderus Urungus's RAGNACOCK. I had to gouge out my eyes, but it was worth it.

[Adans smith]

Eye am impressed. Now wander in the desert like a good Fremen.

[Vapourwear]

+1 stoneburner.

[But Enough About Me]

Meat? MEAT?!?

Last time I was there (early December '13), most Cubans were lucky to get full rations of beans, rice and (especially) cooking oil. "Meat" was for us turistas.

And the toilet paper (when it's even there) feels a lot like Norton aluminum oxide 180 grit sandpaper.

[Suthenboy]

Oh. It's Easter.

I was wondering where everyone was. Nice timing, I just noticed that the first hummingbirds of the season have showed up this morning. I put one feeder out last week and until this morning the only visitors have been honeybees.

The wasps are starting to hit it too. No worry, I bought two packs of 6000 BB's yesterday.

[Yuge Greatness, Jr.]

No worry, I bought two packs of 6000 BB's yesterday.

No one needs 12,000 BBs, terrorist. *calls DHS*

[Zeb]

BBs against wasps? Am I missing something?

[Suthenboy]

Not if you aim well.

They light on the feeder, I pluck them off.

I have also eliminated the carpenter bees that want to drill holes in my wood deck. They hover. Big mistake.

[Zeb]

Sounds like a nice way to spend a lazy afternoon. I would have thought it would be a losing battle, though.

[Jerryskids]

If you take the dead wasps, impale their little bodies on stakes and set them out as a warning to the others, they soon get the point and stay away.

Or wait, is that what you do for wasps or am I thinking of jews?

[Adans smith]

Here in S.E Ohio near the river it will be a while till the humming birds show.I am roasting a chicken with olive oil,butter and herbs.Whipped whole red potatoes with onions,garlic,sour cream,half and Italian cheeses and a salad with a raspberry walnut vinaigrette .Have a few Newcastle ales chilled.

[Adans smith]

half and half that is

[Trigger Warning]

This is the only day of the year I will eat ham, but holy balls do I eat a lot of it.

[Suthenboy]

The wife put us both on low carb years ago. I miss potatoes, and your recipe is perfect. I really miss them.

[Rhywun]

That is evil. I could not live without potatoes.

[OneOut]

One day of the year of eating potatoes isn't going to hurt a low carb diet.

It's Easter, eat ham and greens and green beans with new potatoes till your eyes bug out and low carb the rest of the year.

Tell Mrs. Suthenboy I said it's OK for one day.

I'm simmering a mix of turnips and mustard greens with salt pork and a chunck of smoked ham. In another pot I have some green beans simmering with another piece of the smoked ham and am waiting for the new potatoes to join up with them. .

The ham has been on the smoker since daybreak and has a couple of hours to go yet. I cut a hunk off for the greens and beans though. I'm already fake complaining that we didn't cook a mess of black eyed peas this year.

So unauthentic without blackeyed peas.

Happy Easter to everyone. Good health and prosperity to you all.

[Akira]

Nice.

I'm probably just gonna make a bigass crock pot full of homemade tomato sauce with chunks of lamb meat, dish it out over some penne, and wash it down with white wine. Dessert will be apple pie with streusel topping and a tiny splash of cognac mixed into the filling.

[lap83]

Watching hummingbirds sounds like a nice idyllic way to spend Easter. Here in the Midwest we get to watch it snow

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Happy Easter to all.

And if you're offended or feel outraged for my having wishing you all a Happy Easter, suck it.

Because Jesus.

[Zeb]

As it is the real serious business day for CHristians, I mostly leave Easter to those who believe it. Though I may dye some eggs. And take advantage of this lovely early spring and rake some stuff.

Happy Easter.

[lap83]

Happy Easter!

[The Late P Brooks]

Chuck Todd just did a "Whe' de white wimmen at?" segment.

"Mister President, we cannot allow a white wimmen gap!"

[Adans smith]

'Oh boys,looky what I got here."

[coloraDOOM]

Great, more date problems.

[AlmightyJB]

Don't be datist. People in 2012 might feel triggered by your comment

[Trigger Warning]

The 2012ers are expecting the world to end, after all. They're unde4 enough stress.

[coloraDOOM]

Too preoccupied by an irrelevant election.

[Crusty Juggler]

I had a date once.

[AlmightyJB]

I would advise you to stop the story there lest you incriminate yourself.

[Adans smith]

I believe he is referring to the date he captured his first victim.

[Chumby]

His sister kicked him in his balls once. Once.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

+1 .88 Magnum

[sarcasmic]

Happy first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox!

[AlmightyJB]

May you not be murdered by a Muslim for your kind wishes.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

And there is no moon rise today.

Spooky.

[Playa Manhattan.]

End of the Grunion run last night. I took the kids down to watch on Friday, and there were thousands of fish, right on time.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

I learned about the Grunion run from The Beverly Hillbillies.

[FloridaProf]

Do the authors seriously believe that the average Cuba will be able to buy any of these "new cars" that normalization of relations will supposedly make available, or that the Cuban government will even allow them to do so?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Happy Easter all! Agile Cyborg's post from 2012 is incredibly normal. Erie.

[Rhywun]

I think Huron to something there.

[Crusty Juggler]

Joe has a Superior sense of reality.

[The Hyperbole]

Oh, go Ontario, you two Michiganahs

[Chumby]

That's Erie.

[Chumby]

Fuck. Missed the first post. One thing to not RTFA but apparently I need to RTFC!

[Ayn Random Variation]

Speaking of Trump, notice the lack of responses a coherent AC received.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

You thinking what I'm thinking? AC is a Trump sock.

[coloraDOOM]

We made him the way he is

[DenverJ]

That's what I came to post. Maybe AC doesn't do hallucinates during lent?

[Hamster of Doom]

He's going to get lit tomorrow, then. We should anticipate incoming fantasticness.

[GILMORE?]

Mexicans burn Donald Trump effigies in Easter ritual

The burning is part of a widespread Mexican Holy Week tradition where neighborhoods burn effigies to represent Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ according to the Bible. The effigies are often modeled on unpopular political figures.

"Since he started his campaign and began talking about immigrants, Mexico, and Mexicans, I said 'I've got to get this guy,'" said Felipe Linares, the artisan who crafted Trump and whose family has been making Judases for more than 50 years. "

TRUMP = MORE POPULAR WORLDWIDE THAN BIBLE FIGURES

[Brochettaward]

Trump should sue them for profiting from his likeness. Make them pay for the right to burn effigies of him. Just like they'll pay for the Great Wall of Trump.

[Ayn Random Variation]

This reminds me of a Russian joke: What do Americans call poverty, starvation and disease? The good old days.

[Chumby]

1980. Three dogs are at an international dog show: one Russian, one Polish, and one American.

The American dog looks at the other two and says, "When I'm good and stop barking my owner sometimes gives me meat."

The Polish dog asks, "What is meat?"

The Russian dog then asks, "What is bark?"

[Trigger Warning]

Bruised a rib in BJJ yesterday. So fucking painful. Xrays confirm nothing is broken, but the Vicodin my doc gave me is doing fuck-all.

So today will be spent in front of Witcher 3. Not a bad Sunday.

[Suthenboy]

BJJ? Too many J's there?

I am trying to figure out how one could crack a rib doing that. Was Warty involved?

Also, don't believe the x-rays. Been there. Trust me, it's cracked. Give it three months and it will be normal again.

[Ken Shultz]

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

It's cultural appropriation of something the Brazilians themselves culturally appropriated.

[Suthenboy]

That isnt as much fun, but yeah, that will do it.

The first time I had my ass thoroughly whipped was in a dojo. Some little dude came to give us some lessons, a visiting instructor. I was stupid enough to volunteer. He was a surgeon but a weekend ninja...for 50 years. He was 5'3, 125 lbs and almost 70 years old. I figured I would go easy on the guy.

Ten seconds after facing off I could taste the mat and was trying to figure out what the fuck just happened. He did that three times in a row, mere seconds each time. One bloody nose, one cracked rib and with my pride no where in sight, I limped off of the mat. I never was able to lay a finger on the guy.

[Trigger Warning]

I've had EXACTLY that experience. Had a VIP visit. Wizened little Japanese Yoda. I went to shake his hand and he torqued it exactly the right way to make me eat mat.

[Chumby]

"Bow to your sensei." - Rex Kwon Do

[Akira]

Question for all you martial arts dudes:

I want to learn a martial art that would be practical and immediately useful if I were attacked, and preferably one that includes techniques for disarming someone with a gun or a knife. Any recommendations?

I've heard other sport fighting enthusiasts say that boxing is the most practical, but I worry about suffering brain damage from repeated blows to the head.

[Suthenboy]

Wrestlers whip boxers every time.

Every. Time.

Boxers have rules. Boxing is a sport, not combat.

Check out local dojos. If the Sensei isnt teaching to go for the eyes, throat, or balls, go check out another one.

And take up pistol shooting. As a couple of anecdotal stories here tell you, when you run into someone you have no idea who they are or what they are capable of. It isnt always the big muscly guy you should fear. It is always a good idea to avoid physical contact with anyone if you can.

I got tossed out of a dojo in Tucson for whipping the teacher on my first night. Mr. extra super Black Belt. He tried some flying, spinning spectacular 5 dimensional shit. I simply stepped inside his kick, grabbed him by the balls and the throat and put his back flat on the mat hard. That is how I was taught. You are in it to win because every fight is for your life.

When he got his breath back he said that sort of thing wasn't allowed there, would I please leave. I very politely respected his property and his rules.

[Akira]

Thanks for the tips, Suthen! I do carry a CZ-75 Compact loaded with 14+1 of Hornady Critical Defense, but I thought it might be good if I could also fight hand-to-hand in case my gun wasn't an option. I weigh 220 pounds from lifting weights like a madman, but I've literally never been in a fight, so I'd have no idea what to do. I'll look around for a wrestling dojo.

[GILMORE?]

""don't believe the x-rays. Been there. Trust me, it's cracked.""

Lol this is my experience as well. I remember a doc telling me "only bruised" but it was just as painful and took as long to heal as when they were broken. Sux.

[Trigger Warning]

I can only hope. I wasn't even doing anything interesting. Just letting one of the guys work on his escape from side control. He went to shrimp, and he ended up throwing a wild elbow right at the bottom of my ribs. Newer guy. Sharp little elbows.

I take Judo, too, and it is going to set training back.

[Warty]

Fucking white belts, dude. So spazzy.

[Warty]

Cracked ribs blow. Give me broken fingers and toes any day over anything rib-related.

I need to get back into training BJJ seriously. Reproducing, finishing a dissertation, and getting a real job have not been good for my hobbies.

[Trigger Warning]

I feel your pain and I am in exactly the same boat. Not enough hours in the day, and the toddler gets the ones that aren't blocked for work or studying. I don't even know how I'm managing to shoehorn training into my life right now.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Do they know it's Easter?

[Ken Shultz]

Feed the woooooooorld.

[Vapourwear]

+2 fish.

[AlmightyJB]

Video kind of reminded me about when Kim Basinger bought that small town because it was so quaint and charming that never wanted it to change.

[The Late P Brooks]

Nature- occasionally cruel and inexplicable:

State wildlife officials said they've never seen anything like it: A pack of wolves killed 19 elk at a western Wyoming feeding ground and didn't even bother to eat.

-----------

The killing happened Tuesday night or early Wednesday at McNeel feedground near Bondurant, one of 22 western Wyoming feedgrounds where state wildlife managers put out grass and alfalfa hay to help elk survive the winter. Seventeen of the elk killed were calves born last year.

Wolves eat a lot of large prey, averaging as many as 22 ungulates _ elk, antelope, deer or moose _ a year. And wolves often kill without eating their prey. But Game and Fish has never documented wolves killing so many elk without eating the animals, Lund said.

"It's extremely rare in that severity," he said.

Game and Fish says wolves have killed as many as 75 elk at the McNeel feedground this winter ? so many that agency division chief Brian Nesvik wrote to a top federal wolf management official on Feb. 1 asking what could be done.

The lawsuit by environmental groups doesn't permit many options, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regional wolf coordinator Mike Jimenez wrote back.

"Even if we had authority to move wolves, it is likely that translocated wolves would return to the area within a short time period," he wrote.

[Brochettaward]

Not fooling me. Government cover-up of the Chupacabra.

[Ken Shultz]

I read about that. 19 elk in one night?

That's a lotta meat!

Those elk are kinda like Cuba. Being protected from wolves for so long made them less authentic elk rather than more so.

[Ayn Random Variation]

"wrote to a top federal wolf management official"

Nothing left to.....

[Trigger Warning]

I know. How is that even a federal position?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Game and Fish says wolves have killed as many as 75 elk at the McNeel feedground this winter ? so many that agency division chief Brian Nesvik wrote to a top federal wolf management official on Feb. 1 asking what could be done.

SSS

shoot-shovel-shut up

[prolefeed]

Longer version: "Unofficially tell the local ranchers that there is an unofficial open season on wolves. We'll be in the federal building drinking coffee and helping y'all greatly by not doing our official jobs."

My liberal GF looks at me like I'm on Crazy Planet TM that I consider the ideal politician one who never even shows up for the job.

[Notorious UGCC]

Or who sleeps late...like HITLER?

[Chumby]

When area tourists and hikers don't see elk this year it will be blamed on hunters and they will worry whether the wolves will have enpugh food to rear their young.

[GILMORE?]

MSNBC = Brussells bombed: problem is obviously too many guns

[Ken Shultz]

I blame racism, Christianity, and the demonization of illegal immigrants.

[Ken Shultz]

And capitalism. Don't forget to blame capitalism.

[Suthenboy]

Listening to useful idiots is just a parade of non sequiturs. Ask about Saudi oil production and you get a screed on guns. Bring up Apple's latest product and you get a screed on racism. No matter what the subject is they are programmed to hammer the usual talking points so it always goes back to that.

[Akira]

Welcome to post-racial America, where every single fucking thing that happens is a giant racist conspiracy!

[mtrueman]

"No matter what the subject is they are programmed to hammer the usual talking points so it always goes back to that."

Americans can't get enough when it comes to talking about race and guns. Apple's latest product, Saudi's oil production? Who are you kidding? You've got nothing to say on these matters. It's guns and race you return to again and again, like the proverbial dog returning to its vomit.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I've noted as much before, but:

The quality of our trolls has really gone downhill fast.

[mtrueman]

"The quality of our trolls has really gone downhill fast."

At least we trolls concentrate on what's important. Guns and race. None of this 'politics of travel guides' for us, thank you very much.

[AlmightyJB]

Easter Egg hunting now full contact bloodsport.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....event.html

[Suthenboy]

I stopped going to parades years ago because of shit like that.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

HAHAHAHAHA!

Christians.

*shakes head*

[Rhywun]

Um... WTF are adults doing hunting Easter eggs? Why would they even want to participate?

[Suthenboy]

Come to a Mardi Gras parade and it will become apparent immediately.

[Rhywun]

Well, that at least I would expect to be full of college-age drunks.

[Suthenboy]

It is a certain class of people. I don't know how things were in the past but our modern welfare state has not fostered self discipline, maturity, wisdom, personal responsibility, respect for others.

In small rural towns the parades are orderly. In the larger towns with sizable populations on public assistance it is pure mayhem; adults shoving small children etc. just like the description from the story. They are feral humans really.

[Rhywun]

Yeah, we get that at certain, ah, "ethnic" parades in NYC. I would not have expected such behavior at a freakin' children's egg-hunt. WTF is wrong with people.

[Suthenboy]

Most humans are not really civilized. The clothes, the cars, driving on the correct side of the street, all of that is a very thin veneer over the savage that lies beneath. Take away the rules and the comfort for even the span of time for a parade or an egg hunt and the least of us will revert to killing and eating each other.

My personal theory is that welfare is marginally and only temporarily successful attempt to keep such people from burning everything down.

[Suthenboy]

Oh, also, it is culture, not ethnicity.

[Rhywun]

it is culture, not ethnicity

True

welfare is marginally and only temporarily successful attempt to keep such people from burning everything down

Some leftists will admit this when they think no one's listening.

[Vapourwear]

The two do correlate, though.

[Playa Manhattan.]

I heard that the local college had an easter egg hunt, so.....

[Notorious UGCC]

It's *Orange,* Connecticut.

It might as well be Belfast.

"inevitably, in recent years a "rough element" have also infiltrated the gathering, turning the rolling hills of the Ribble Valley into a battlefield where hard-boiled eggs fly through the air like missiles or get lobbed at passers-by like hand grenades....

"In the Czech Republic, for example, young men are given a whip on Easter Sunday. Yes, an actual whip. For whipping people with. The idea is that they then use the whip to whack the girl they find most attractive and then she, in return, gives them a hand-decorated egg as a thank-you ... er ... for being whipped. The following day the women get their own back by dousing the whipper in iced water. The mind boggles, doesn't it?

"Meanwhile in Cyprus, the young lads there celebrate with competitive bonfire building. Very much like our July Twelfth 'bonies', in fact. Gangs of lads roam the towns and villages there looking for scraps of wood (often obtained by vandalism) and the one who gets the biggest bonfire made ? and burnt ? wins the woman of his choice."

[Notorious UGCC]

*
*********
*
*

[Notorious UGCC]

No, that wasn't meant as a middle finger, it was meant as a cross.

Consider me duly embarrassed by the symbolism.

[Rhywun]

I was wondering what got you all bent out of shape on this day of all days.

[Rhywun]

I can see something like this devolving into violence in Europe but in wealthy suburban Connecticut?

[Chumby]

As long as CT passes easter egg background checks, mandatory registration, and limits the amount of eggs a carton can hold then the world will be right again. They need common sense easter egg control laws.

[AlmightyJB]

No one needs more than one color egg

[The Late P Brooks]

Big Brother is watching you

Intelligence gathering for the Republican convention has already begun. Law enforcement agencies are monitoring social media posting and tracking protest groups such as Black Lives Matter, which have disrupted Trump rallies over the past several weeks. The Secret Service is even using its Twitter account to warn users about their commentary. The agency tweeted recently, "Watch what you say on Social Media!" with a link to a news story about how agents visited a man who joked about sending a bomb when Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were visiting his region.

-------------

Earlier this month, the city of Cleveland solicited bids on its contracting website for interlocking steel barriers and 2,000 sets of riot gear, including collapsible batons, as it prepares to spend the $50 million federal grant set aside to pay for convention security needs. Cleveland is also looking to recruit police officers from other cities to help bolster its ranks to 5,000 officers.
A spokesman for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said increased violence at Trump's rallies hasn't altered the city's requests for acquiring security gear. "We're not going to change it right now," Dan Williams said.
Cleveland already has a complicated history with its police

[Cdr Lytton]

agents visited a man who joked about sending a bomb when Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were visiting his region

Should've stuck to woodchippers.

[Mr Lizard]

I'm probably late on this thread but....here ya go:

http://www.tbo.com/news/crime/.....-20160326/

And I want a damn momentary adjustment of your cranial covering for this one

[Rich]

A 15-year-old youth was shot and killed by a security guard at a Lakeland apartment complex early Saturday after the teen fired what turned out to be two pellet shots into the guard's face

Not sure what your point is, Mr Lizard.

I would think you, of all creatures, would appreciate pellet guns.

[Suthenboy]

Sounds like the little idiot was begging for it.

[The Late P Brooks]

My liberal GF looks at me like I'm on Crazy Planet TM that I consider the ideal politician one who never even shows up for the job.

No kidding. I just shake my head when hear people whining about the Do Nothing Congress. Doing nothing is the best outcome.

*second best, if you consider the infinitesimal likelihood something might actually get repealed.

[Suthenboy]

I went on a rant friday after my wife turned on the news and I heard some fuckwit talking about politicians 'getting things done'. That phrase applied to politicians enrages me.

After I screamed at the tv "Get things done? What things? What exactly do they need to get done that they haven't managed to get done in 200 fucking years?" she just shook her head and changed the channel. My wife is a saint.

[Rich]

Use "weapons of love" to fight evil of terrorism, pope says on Easter

"We must love ISIS to death."

[Ayn Random Variation]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMXcHj6S4bc

[Notorious UGCC]

Here is what the Pope actually said.

[The Late P Brooks]

Fucking trolling- how does it work?
The petition's author, known as N A, finds fault with the policy, calling it "a direct affront to the Second Amendment." Pointing to an article that ranks Cleveland among the United States' most dangerous cities and mentioning "the possibility of an ISIS terrorist attack," the author said the Republican National Committee and the Quicken Loans Arena are putting people at risk.

"Without the right to protect themselves, those at the Quicken Loans Arena will be sitting ducks, utterly helpless against evil-doers, criminals or others who wish to threaten the American way of life," the petition reads. "All three remaining Republican candidates have spoken out on the issue and are unified in their opposition to Barack HUSSEIN Obama's "gun-free zones.'"

[Chumby]

The establishment RNC looks a lot like the establishment DNC.

[Notorious UGCC]

11th century Easter hymn

(To the haters - I customarily troll on weekends, but on this particular weekend, rather than deep dish pizza, Abraham Lincoln and circumcision - my customary specialities - I linked byootiful Easter music. But there's no pleasing some people.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

[Shpip]

I still prefer The Mamas and The Papas Easter classic, "Maundy Maundy."

[But Enough About Me]

Niiiiiiice.

[The Late P Brooks]

I need a better BB gun.

[Suthenboy]

I just got a $20 Red Rider. I use it to shoot carpenter bees, wasps, and the caterpillars that eat my passionflower vines. If they are sitting still I can zap them on the first shot. The carpenter bees I can get inside of ten shots. Hell, I have more fun with that thing than I do with any of my gunpowder guns.

[Notorious UGCC]

Here's Rick Astley, oops I mean the Royal Choral Society, singing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus

[Notorious UGCC]

Here's Lady Gaga - oops, I mean the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, with Ode to Joy

[Notorious UGCC]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

[Notorious UGCC]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

[Suthenboy]

Are you stoned Eddie?

[Notorious UGCC]

"*" is the international symbol for "Eddie is going on about religion again."

[Notorious UGCC]

There's a commenter who likes to mark my religious posts (or allegedly religious posts) with asterisks, and I'm trying to make his job as surreal as possible.

[Suthenboy]

I don't get it. I am the most solid atheist on the planet but I don't feel the need to give Christians grief about their religious beliefs.

You are doing it wrong. You have to rant about how people are going to hell for not towing the religious lion and screwing out of wedlock. Go watch a few Pat Robertson shows. You will get the hang of religious trolling in no time.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

I don't consider linking to chants and hymns - heck even literature - to be Christian trolling.

Christianity, whether people like it or not, forms part of the bedrock of our civilization. Period.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

The point being, Eddie is not a libertarian. He doesn't come here to discuss libertarian philosophy. He comes here to proselytize.

I don't take issue with religious people, provided they are not in the business of converting me.

Eddie is. It's either that OR he gets off on showing the rest of the world how holy he is. Either way...

[Notorious UGCC]

I didn't write or perform the music, so...no claim of holiness there.

But I happen to like the music, and I thought some of you might like it too.

But I'm guessing you don't. 🙁

[Sevo]

Notorious UGCC|3.27.16 @ 4:56PM|#
"But I happen to like the music, and I thought some of you might like it too."

Yeah, eddie, you only posted it 'cause it's nice!
Do you ever post honestly? Do you think your constant proselytizing is somehow not visible?
Did your momma tell you that you were clever?
She lied, twit.

[Sevo]

Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer|3.27.16 @ 4:21PM|#
"Christianity, whether people like it or not, forms part of the bedrock of our civilization. Period."

Bull
.
.
.
.
shit.
Xianity co-opted ME practices and gained adherents largely when the Romans made it the Gov't religion.
IOWs, profess bleef or die.

[The Late P Brooks]

I have a crappy BB pistol. I can't even hit a mouse with it. Insects (flying or otherwise) are completely out of the question.

[Suthenboy]

$20 bucks at Walmart. Daisy Red Rider. Buy a ton of BB's. Once you start plinking you can't quit.

[But Enough About Me]

Sadly, such activities are forbidden in my municipality here in the Lower Rainland.

And if the neighbours saw me using the CO2 Beretta in the backyard, I'd get a visit from the RCMP, followed by a night in remand and a date with a judge, real quick like.

Because Peace, Order and Good Government, doncha know...

[JeremyR]

Try throwing it harder

[Eric L]

How do we define authentic? How Is Cuba today with 'all these Packards from the 1950s' more authentic than Cuba prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century or more authentic than a future Cuba with Starbucks or McDonalds on every corner? The problem with those who talk about a place being more authentic is they have chosen some arbitrary time period against which to judge authenticity. Said time usually reflecting their notion of how a place should be which may not be how the locals want it.

[Suthenboy]

They are closet commies. They secretly dream of Utopia but deep down they know how stupid it is so they don't admit to it. It is a slip of the mask, thats all.

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Anyway. Cuba is not on its way to being 'less authentic' despite what the left, celebrities and/or hipster doofuses think. They talk as if Cuba exists to satisfy their romantic ideals of some sort.

It's on its way to becoming more prosperous. Not to mention freer (hopefully once those two assholes are gone).

As it stands, the only reason why it's a place 'frozen in time' is because of communism. The Cuban people didn't choose to live this way. Their tin-pot dictator did.

One can only look to a brighter future for Cuba.

[Seamus]

The Cuban people didn't choose to live this way.

Of course not. That's because the Cuban people can't be trusted to know what's best for them, and need a benevolent dictator to run their lives for them. (Tom Friedman explained all this with respect to China. If it weren't for pesky things like democracy, we could have sugar and carbon taxes in place, instituted universal/single-payer health care, banned guns and microaggressions, and pretty much brought in the kind of ideal society they have in Cuba.)

[JeremyR]

Meh. If trade with basically every other country on the planet didn't uncommunist Cuba, I don't see how trade with the US will magically do so.

Unless people start trading with the people of Cuba directly, instead of simply trading with the government, which keeps all the money and hands out the $30 a month (or whatever), it's not going to make anyone richer in Cuba except those in the government....

[Sevo]

JeremyR|3.27.16 @ 8:47PM|#
"Meh. If trade with basically every other country on the planet didn't uncommunist Cuba, I don't see how trade with the US will magically do so."

That was a lie to begin with, but now US citizens are free top travel there.

[Peter]

This is why many tourists stopped going to Germany after WW2.
The huge NAZI rallies, the lovely sunsets through the haze of burning corpse smoke.
Now THAT was authentic.

[LoneWaco]

The process of normalization between the two Cold War foes opens Cuba up to some much needed capital and goods from America, like new cars. And while they might provide some of that old world charm, the cars in Cuba are falling apart and have been since the 1950's.

I guess lines like this are where noted moron Alice Bowie gets the idea that Cuba has been blockaded for more than 50 years.

Nothing has been stopping Cuba from getting new cars other than paying for the new cars. Seems like that "world class" medical care could be traded for new cars, unless it's not world class or maybe Cuba's government is just a deadbeat with a 378 FICO score.

[ammythomas8090]

Before I saw the bank draft which had said $9426 , I didnt believe that...my... brother woz like actualy earning money part-time at there labtop. . there uncles cousin has done this 4 less than fifteen months and by now repaid the dept on there place and got a great new Mini Cooper . read the full info here ...

Clik This Link inYour Browser??
? ? ? ? http://www.MaxPost30.com

[Travel Center]

Standing in line for toilet tissue,cooking oil,meat and sugar is also authentic.