What It's Like to Cross the US-Canadian Border During a Global Pandemic...

Years ago I used to deliver general aviation parts to Montreal and there was no wait. Coming back I used to get questioned by the US side, which I thought was odd-- why did they treat me with suspicion when I was just going home? Better yet, why were there even border checks-- aren't we friends?

Then we had a terrorist attack and things were backed up for miles at the border. But now it looks insane with both sides paranoid.

Oh, yeah, I remember I had a friend in those days who lived in Toronto, but was born in Sweden. Because she was not a native-born Canuck, she couldn't take vacations in Florida after 9-11 without going through a huge pile of shit. So she went to Cuba and saved a ton of money.

https://jalopnik.com/what-its-like-to-cross-the-us-canadian-border-during-a-1844860157?utm_source=jalopnik_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020-08-30

SCIENCE! I have told this story before, but it bears repeating. The Soviets sent Sputnik up in...

1957 and it drove us nuts. We're the US, and we thought we got the best German rocket scientists after the war-- but now these filthy Russians beat us into space?

Can't have that happen.

So, damage have been done, Eisenhower and his top science people ramped up science education so it would never happen again. By the time I got into High School in 1960 my school had received, courtesy of some federal agency, fully equipped science labs-- physics, chemistry, biology, and general science. We also got some bucks to hire science teachers. We even got a "typing lab" with 20 or 30 nice new Selectric typewriters.

Here's the fun part-- it was a conservative Missouri Synod Lutheran high school, complete with morning matins and religion classes. Made no difference, though. We were allowed to not teach the first chapters of the biology text (evolution) and were left alone to otherwise teach science as science. We did not condemn evolution-- just ignored it. It was against the teachings of the church, but not to be rammed down out throats and we could believe or not as our individual consciences decreed. Religion never bothered to enter the physics or chemistry labs.

But, I digress... the point is that Ike, followed by JFK, led the nation into a new era of science education. The sciences were taken seriously as not sidelines, but as fundamental to education as reading or history.

Didn't last long, did it?

Trumps offered used gold toilet in lieu of van Gogh painting

There are rumors of the golden throne in Trump Tower, and while digging around for pictures, found this:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trumps-golden-toilet-van-gogh-museum/

OK, I'm still boiling over some of that shit on earlier...

Let's start with Pam Bondi-- she took a bribe, er, campaign contribution and stopped an investigation? Yeah, Trump dumped a campaign contribution on her PAC and suddenly she decided not to join NY going after his "charity". Wotta mess that became. Even Rick Scott almost got off his ass for that one. This **** is the LAST person to talk about corruption.

Then, just from the Wiki page on her is this stuff:

Bondi was the lead attorney general in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, or "Obamacare&quot in Florida et al v. United States Department of Health and Human Services. In the lawsuit the State of Florida and 26 other states argued that the individual mandate provision of the ACA violates the United States Constitution.[9] In 2018, Bondi joined with 19 other Republican-led states in a lawsuit to overturn the ACA's bans on health insurance companies charging people with pre-existing conditions higher premiums or denying them coverage outright.[10]

In 2013, Bondi persuaded Governor Rick Scott to postpone a scheduled execution because it conflicted with her reelection kickoff/fundraising event.[11] After questions were raised in the media, Bondi apologized for moving the execution date.[12][1

Bondi opposed same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights issues on behalf of the state. Following the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, Bondi was interviewed by CNN reporter Anderson Cooper, who questioned her about her sudden change in attitude towards the LGBT community in Florida. (This one is almost too confusing to deal with, but it's bad)

In August 2018, while still serving as Attorney General, Bondi co-hosted Fox News' The Five three days in a row while also appearing on Sean Hannity's Fox News show. This is something that is simply not done by a government official.

Bondi also pressured two attorneys to resign who were investigating the technology giant Black Knight, then LPS, following the robosigning scandal, as part of their work for Florida's Economic Crime Division, after she received large campaign contributions from LPS.[33]

Bondi's association with Scientology and the multiple fundraisers that wealthy Scientologists have organized for Bondi's political campaigns over the years have also provoked controversy.

And then there's that bullshit about the citizenship ceremony. Gaining US citizenship is serious business, so Marmalade MoFo turns it onto a PR stunt? This is the scumbag who essentially shut down immigration while putting kids in cages and chasing pregnant women across the river and he makes a show of these people? This is infinitely worse than the stunt holding the bible upside down after tear gassing protesters.

Billy Graham's granddaughter doesn't bother me a bit after that-- I disagree with her, but she believes what she says and isn't just bullshitting.

Even Tiffany doesn't bother me that much. Family is family and you gotta do what you gotta do-- I just hope she doesn't fall further into the maelstrom.

But, lying fishermen, nutty farmers, misguided manufacturers... Really sick shit.

This takes huge stones-- Susan B. Anthony quotes and what Tangerine Turdlapper is doing for women.

Oh Shit! Pam Bondi started off with such a line of bullshit it has to stink up the whole zip code...

now she's on Hunter Biden.

Put her out of our misery.

Ignoring a cop can be fatal...

Nobody knows the whole story yet, if we ever will, but say a guy who's already had a small history of anger is breaking up a fight.

Nasty fight, with maybe a gunshot fired. He's not in a good mood.

Cops show up with the usual attitude and want to know whats going on.

"None of you fucking business" and he heads to his his car to take off.

No cop can dare let himself be dissed like that so he goes off on the guy. Guy is pretty big and in no mood to stop and chat. Ignores the cop and gets into his car. Can't be bothered to talk to cop.

Cop simply cannot let the guy just go off. That stops the investigation and makes the cop look foolish.

Guy's too big, his buddies aren't helping, and the cheap city didn't give him a taser, so he loses it and empties his gun in the guy.

"That'll show him."

OK, let's say this is even partly true, it's close enough to ask WTF can we do to stop this kind of shit?

My phone has this inscrutable news app and I was reading about the Florida gator hunter who...

had his arm ripped off by a 12' gator when I noticed a link to another story about the convenience store with the sign asking people to please not use the microwave to warm up their urine.

Seems there is a drug testing place next door and people are using it to warm up the clean urine they bought.

OK, the Covid bullshit got me out of there. It's not getting any better, and...

it's just embarrassing and a little infuriating to watch.

Time Flies! Seems like only yesterday teenager Mary Lou Retton won all those medals...

and now she's doing menopause commercials.