jwz

Worst Kirk.
Worst of all possible Kirks. The Nation goes hard: "It's a choice to write an obituary that begins 'Joseph Goebbels was a gifted marketer and loving father to six children.'"

Charlie Kirk's Legacy Deserves No Mourning:

The white Christian nationalist provocateur wasn't a promoter of civil discourse. He preached hate, bigotry, and division.

Charles James Kirk, 31, died on Wednesday from a gunshot to the neck at a Utah Valley University campus event just as he was trying to deflect a question about mass shootings by suggesting they were largely a function of gang violence. He died with a net worth of $12 million, which he made by espousing horrific and bigoted views in the name of advancing Christian nationalism. The foundation of his empire was the group he cofounded and led, Turning Point USA, which is a key youth-recruitment arm of the MAGA movement. Kirk was able to launch Turning Point at the age of 18 because he received money from Tea Party member Bill Montgomery, right-wing donor Foster Feiss, and his own father, also a prolific right-wing donor. He was an unrepentant racist, transphobe, homophobe, and misogynist who often wrapped his bigotry in Bible verses because there was no other way to pretend that it was morally correct. He had children, as do many vile people.

It is rude of me to say all of this, because we live in a culture where manners are often valued more than truth. That is why a slew of pundits and politicians have raced to portray Kirk's activities, which harmed many vulnerable people, in a positive light -- and to give him the benefit of the doubt that he did not grant to anyone who wasn't white, Christian, straight, and male. California Governor Gavin Newsom framed Kirk's project as a healthy democratic exercise: "The best way to honor Charlie's memory is to continue his work: engage with each other, across ideology, through spirited discourse. In a democracy, ideas are tested through words and good-faith debate." This downwardly defines both "discourse" and "good-faith."

There is no requirement to take part in this whitewashing campaign, and refusing to join in doesn't make anyone a bad person. It's a choice to write an obituary that begins "Joseph Goebbels was a gifted marketer and loving father to six children."

Molly White:

Ashley Rindsberg and Fox News are furious at Wikipedia editors for "attacking" Charlie Kirk by... listing the viewpoints he prominently and publicly advocated

Charlie Kirk in His Own Words:

• Civil rights: "We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the mid-1960s."
• The death penalty: "[The death penalty] should be public, should be quick, should be televised... I think at a certain age, it's an initiation... At what age should you start to see public executions?"
• Empathy: "I can't stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made up new age term that does a lot of damage."
• Guns: "It's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment."
• Martin Luther King Jr.: "MLK was awful. He's not a good person. He said one good thing he actually didn't believe."
• Transgender people: "You're an abomination to God."

Bluesky Really Doesn't Want People To Say 'Rest In Piss' About Charlie Kirk:

Over the course of the last night, Bluesky took aim at many but not all posts wishing Kirk a restorative piss bath. [...]

The reason provided to me and others by an automated Bluesky email was that typing the phrase "rest in piss" is tantamount to "glorifying violence, including the promotion of harmful acts that cause widespread harm and suffering, as well as showing admiration or glorification of the offenders responsible for such acts."

I appealed my suspension, arguing a simple counterpoint: No it isn't.

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Evergreen: Pay Your Respects, Mattie Lubchansky:

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We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk:

If the far-right misogynist with a bad haircut wants to villainize independent women, Jezebel is more than happy to be the hag of his nightmares. [...]

Then I found the crown jewel: "Shit Your Pants Spell." Review: "It really worked. Thank you." At that point, it was clear I'd need to order multiple curses, at different severity levels and price points, to guarantee results.

Update: I did not have Jezebel on my "preemptively kowtow to the fascist regime" bingo card, but here we are. "On the recommendation of our lawyers", "driven by an abundance of caution".

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Pro tip for Californians: If you try to get a COVID-19 vaccine at Walgreens, they will ask you if you have a condition that puts you at high risk, and what it is.

The correct answer is "smoking".

Who said cigarettes are bad for you?

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According to the market research firm Omdia, the school security industry is now worth as much as $4 billion, and it's projected to keep growing.

"The school safety and security industry has grown rapidly over the past decade," says Sonali Rajan, senior director with the research arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates for gun control. "The challenge right now is that these school safety products, the vast majority, have absolutely no evidence guiding their effectiveness."

Inside the school safety conference, vendors in an expo hall showcase panic buttons, bullet-resistant whiteboards, facial recognition technology, training simulators, body armor, guns and tasers.

Tom McDermott, with the metal detector manufacturer CEIA USA, says schools used to be a small fraction of their U.S. business. Now they're the majority.

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48 Hills has an interview with Cemetary Girlz, performing this Saturday at GLŌM FEST. Get your tickets!

GLŌM FEST's polyglot nocturnal liturgy brings deathrock, darkwave artists from around the globe

It's a bill designed like a nocturnal liturgy, where each act takes its turn, adding new textures to the night's ritual.

"GLŌM FEST exists to give independent artists from across the world a shot at reaching audiences they've never had access to," says chief creative officer Vara Pappas. "That kind of opportunity doesn't come easy, especially in darker genres like goth, post-punk, and deathrock. These bands have loyal followings overseas but have never set foot on a US stage. We're here to change that."

Bunch of other great live shows this week, too:

Rhapsody of Fire Nitzer Ebb
(sold out!) Missing Persons Haru Nemuri Corbeau Hangs Desire

RFK Jr. Claims He Can Tell a Child Is Unhealthy Just by Licking Them

"I know what a healthy child is supposed to taste like," said Kennedy alongside his Make America Healthy Again team. "You can get a lot of information from tongue to skin contact. Temperature, salinity, texture, they should in no way taste gamey or stale, yet the children I lick when I'm walking through the airport or down the street all taste the same, unhealthy. The President and I are adamant that every child in this country needs to pass the lick test before we can truly make America healthy again."

"He had unknowingly trained his senses through a diet of raw milk and bearcub meat," said Joe Bones, director of MAHA's marketing team. "Secretary Kenndy's tastebuds are adept at sensing mitochondrial imbalances, inflammation, and plaque psoriasis. And if you give him a sample to chew on for the day he can give you a diagnosis at 99.87% accuracy. We've even started compiling a national database of American children that organizes them by overall health, history of disease, which kids would pair well together with a fine red wine."

RFK Jr. Warns Mistress That Condoms Cause Autism
Secretary Claims Sheathing Penis 'Just Too Risky'

"All of the increased cases of autism over the last decade can be traced to condom usage -- at least from what I've been reading," said the nude health and human services secretary, insisting the 32-year-old woman go wash her hands after touching a still-packaged Trojan-brand condom she had retrieved from her nightstand. "Something about the latex or maybe the friction encourages autism growth in the genitals," he continued. "Or, it goes into your bloodstream and straight to your brain -- and also into your sperm, which then becomes your future children's brains. I don't remember exactly what it was, but I know it's really bad. The media has been suppressing the evidence, since the major publications are basically run by condom companies these days, but it's all out there if you know where to look. There's even a medical journal called Condoms And Autism that publishes stuff all the time about how they're so bad for you. Once put on, they stay in your penis system for, like, years, so I think it's better not to risk it.

Head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Explains Why It's No Longer Recommending the Use of Seat Belts

Let me be clear that under this order, the NHTSA has only stopped recommending seat belts for people who we are pretty sure won't get into a fatal car accident, and for people who we feel like could handle themselves just fine if they did wind up in a catastrophic wreck. This decision does not apply to individuals who actually need seat belts, such as those who are either very old or very drunk. [...]

This updated recommendation is about expanding people's liberties, not about reducing anyone's access to an allegedly potentially lifesaving apparatus. I will promise the American people right here and now that anybody who wants a seat belt will still be able to get one. Is it true that car manufacturers will no longer be required to include seat belts free of charge in future lineups? Yes, but car companies have assured me that they're working tirelessly on a subscription-based model that will allow users access to the seat belt already included in their cars for the low price of only a few hundred dollars per year.

Companies that make poor people cars will also offer flexible packages that allow certain seat belts to be activated for a lower monthly cost. This innovation empowers families to decide for themselves which child is worth protecting, or whether to withhold that privilege from a spouse during a marital dispute. There are also countless options for budget-friendly aftermarket seat belts on Amazon. These are sold by definitely real, trusted companies such as Beltyxon, which makes a fantastic product called "Seat Belt Safety Belt High Quality Car Strap for Use in Automobile."

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Pissdrunk Pete Kegstand, Secretary of GWAR President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho

I think Idiocracy was a very bad movie, and references to it are just so easy and trite. Mike Judge has done great things but this was not one of them. And yet, these people keep doing this shit.

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Who wore this rotting skin-suit best, Edgar, Dr. Channard or Dr. Pretorius?

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A swarm of jellyfish has caused major disruption at one of France's largest nuclear power plants, for the second time in a month.

The jellyfish entered the filters of the pumping station and the Paluel nuclear plant. The incident reduced output at the plant in Normandy by 2.4 gigawatts and crews are working to restore it to full operation.

In August, generation at another major nuclear site in France was also disrupted by jellyfish, after a "massive and unpredictable" swarm forced the Gravelines plant to temporarily cease operations.

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