
Look, am I eating a pot pie at midnight? Maybe. I don’t come to your house and judge you.
Let’s see what else is going on, shall we?
Ya, drag him.
Maryland officials to launch review of cases handled by ex-chief medical examiner who testified in Chauvin’s defense
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/maryland-medical-examiner-investigation-chavin-testimony/2021/04/23/61951580-a2ed-11eb-85fc-06664ff4489d_story.html

‘Watch the show, folks’: Va. trooper no longer employed after playing to camera in violent stop of Black driver
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/watch-the-show-folks-va-trooper-no-longer-employed-after-playing-to-camera-in-violent-stop-of-black-driver/2021/04/23/21dd1b36-a3a6-11eb-85fc-06664ff4489d_story.html
No thank you.
Caitlyn Jenner announces plans to run for governor of California
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/04/23/caitlyn-jenner-california-governor-announcement/
Sprots!
Well that was short lived.
European Super League collapse explained: What’s next? Real Madrid’s Florentino Perez and Barcelona speak
https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/european-super-league-collapse-explained-whats-next-real-madrids-florentino-perez-and-barcelona-speak/
J & J back in the game.
U.S. lifts pause on use of Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine, clearing way for states to use doses
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/23/jj-covid-vaccine-us-ends-recommended-pause-on-use.html
I feel like I should save this for Brain Drain, but maybe you can ponder it now and check back later.
The Oscars always get it wrong. Here are the real best pictures of the past 45 years.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/02/06/oscars-what-should-have-won-best-picture/
I love him.
Enjoy your weekend!
I have a stupid question. I am a relative (although prolific) newcomer to deadsplinter dot com. I notice in the horizontal scrolling feature Stuck in the Past all kinds of verticals that I previously never knew existed, like History and Listicles. Are those still active? Does everything show up on the home page or should the Careful Reader go hunting for them?
…the short answer is that the folks who mostly produced those would seem to have other things to do with their time…so you’ve not been missing recent installments…but if anyone felt like knocking some together I’m sure we’d find space in the rotation
…I know myo likes to remind me that I ought to find the for something other than the DOTs I produce?
Oh I should try a History one. Today, for example, is the 105th anniversary of The Easter Rising, when Irish independence movement members took control of Dublin, including the General Post Office, and the GPO today is a sort of shrine to independent Irish identity. The British, in the midst of WWI, had no patience for this so they spared some troops and took back Dublin. The leader, Patrick Pearse, and several others, including his brother Willie, were shipped off to Kilmainham Gaol (jail) where they were summarily executed by firing squad.
A large portion of the British population was appalled by this (another large portion thought the measures didn’t go far enough) and six years later the Irish Free State was granted Dominion status, like Canada or Australia, and in 1937 a constitution was passed creating the Republic of Ireland. Six Northern counties wanted nothing to do with this, being in the control of Protestant Unionists, so they became Northern Ireland, as part of The United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and Northern Ireland. This divide haunts them to this day. Things have been quiet along the border in recent years, with lots of progress made in opening the border and letting everyone on the Emerald Isle live in peace with each other. But, crucially, then the UK pulled out of the EU, so now they have this situation where Northern Ireland is not part of the EU but the Republic of Ireland most certainly is, they’re among the most enthusiastic of members, and “hard border” is no doubt in their future. The UK would say, “Why shouldn’t Belfast be treated like Birmingham, with a free flow of UK goods and services.” The government of Dublin’s perspective is that they abide by all the EU’s laws and regulations, of which there are thousands upon thousands, so the Northern Irish are, to them, as foreign as any other country not in the EU, so all the stuff coming into Belfast, which has a vast shipyard, it’s where the Titanic was built, cannot flow freely throughout the island and is subject to inspections and levies.
It’s a very interesting place, Ireland, both parts.
…you’re a brave soul indeed if you think you could explain the deal with northern ireland in a single post…if you’re not careful you’ll be on the hook for a whole series
…but for sure it’s a topic that’s ripe for examination…particularly with respect to the brexit stuff…just exceedingly hard to render into anything coherent since the whole thing seems to have been approached as blindly as possible while promising mutually exclusive “solutions” to intractable issues of long standing?
…I for one would certainly be interested in reading anything you might care to come up with, though
I read a really interesting article about shipping in the Irish Sea. That alone is a very contentious topic although I forget exactly why, but it is another casualty of the Brexit chaos. Also, one of the most contentious aspects of Brexit were the negotiations surrounding fishing rights. Non-Brits forget that fishing is still a huge industry in Britain, it would be considering it’s a fairly compact island. Who gets to fish in British territorial waters and how, and where exactly would the Brits be able to fish? What about all that Scottish North Sea oil? Although that’s more a Scottish independence hot button issue.
It’s really amazing, and not in a good way, how much misery humans can bring on themselves and others.
…the fishing thing is sort of a weird one…as you say, island nation, proud naval history…yadda yadda…so it got a lot of emphasis during the brexit negotiations…but the UK economy is heavily tilted to the service industry end of the spectrum so in GDP terms fishing is relatively small beer…much of the emphasis on the issue had more to do with the “we want our sovereignty” crowd demanding the right to exclude foreign vessels from territorial waters…& it’s not untrue that arguably vessels from other countries are wont to breach their quotas while within those waters & the extent to which that is causing fish stocks to dwindle precipitously is not a small thing…over-fishing is entirely capable of dropping the population of some fish below the level of replacement & that certainly seems like something that ought to be avoided
…but that wasn’t really the way the issue was presented during those negotiations…quite the reverse in fact…supposedly britain was going to enjoy some sort of fish-based financial windfall thanks to brexit…despite there not being enough british fishing vessels or fishermen to bring such a thing about
…& as for the shipping thing…goods bound for eire that originate in the EU (& vice versa) are not subject to the same requirements as those moving between britain & northern ireland…even when they pass through both as part of their route…which has done much to highlight the issues with the northern ireland borders that supposedly aren’t borders
…one other thing that might interest you though has to do with scotland…a lot of seafood is/was exported from scotland to europe…a lot of the mussels consumed by tourists in various coastal european destinations for example have been shuttled over from rather colder climes…& of course that sort of thing does not do well when beset by delays in the shipping…which have been legion…so there’s another rabbit hole for you, I guess
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Posts in other categories!!! I can create any category/sub-category anyone wants.
I like to think of myself as tuned into history, but I’ve got to tell you that this one comment gave me a whole new understanding of the dynamic with Northern Ireland. I will read your posts with (dill) relish.
Oh, also, is that why all the other so-called “commonwealth” countries still consider themselves to be subjects of the queen, even though they are independent nations, while the US does not? Is it because we fought for independence rather than having it granted to us? It’s never made sense to me why someone in Canada or Australia would still consider themselves royal subjects.
I’m not exactly sure what the dynamic is in places like Canada and Australia but I know there are “Republican” movements (as in, become independent republics and stop having the British monarch being the figurehead, not electing people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump, although I know Australia has had some real humdingers of elected officials.) But I think they cling to Commonwealth status out of kinship and tradition, and when America broke away there was no Commonwealth, just the Empire or not. One of the biggest reasons we broke away was that George III and the government at Westminster had real power over its American possessions and the Royal Governors actually did govern. A compromise was suggested that Americans, who paid excise taxes, be allowed to send some members to Parliament, but the Crown was not ready for this. No else did, why should we? So out we went.
One of the reasons why slavery continued as long as it did in the Empire (but it was abolished much sooner than in the US) was that several of the Lords owned vast estates in Jamaica, and they didn’t want to see slavery go away. In Ireland there were similar vast estates, and they didn’t exactly have slavery, it was more like serfdom, with tenant famers working the land but not owning it and turning most of their produce over to the Lords who were the landlords (that’s where the name comes from.) Even at the height of the great famines of the early 19th century all sorts of agriculture and livestock were turned over for export back to Britain. The penalty for poaching was death. That is the primary reason why, to this day, there is so much hatred in Ireland toward the British. That and the severe anti-Catholicism.
Have you ever heard the term, “to get your Irish up”? It means to become angry and to fight back.
…I could be wrong but I think at least some of the “commonwealth” stuff was a combination of things that came as a sort of package deal with the crown subject thing…so, trade stuff…& a legal system…but I’m pretty sure it is/was a deal that tended to be stacked in britain’s favor
…although having to create a court/law framework from scratch is no small task, for example…so there are/were at least some benefits to the ex-colony side of the deal?
My first experience with the Oscars was 1978 when I was traumatized that Star Wars lost to Annie Hall.
Still kinda split on the decision. I enjoyed both. Star Wars changed movies forever (even the plot is almost cliche at this point) and Annie Hall is… well Annie Hall (knowing what we know about Woody Allen, we should be happy that Annie was an adult woman.)
Fuck incompentent celebrities running for office. Caitlan Jenneer WILLINGLY married a Kardashian! That ALONE should be enough to keep one from political power.
Also a trans Trumper who didn’t care that Trump spent a lot of time/energy excluding trans people from serving.
Caitlyn Jenner needs attention. It’s far more important to her than breathing or literally anything else. I’m not going to make any judgement on her trans journey, but it’s very curious to me that every time she starts to slide into obscurity she finds the opportunity to manufacture publicity by any means necessary.
Like a certain orange attention whore, the worst thing you can do to Caitlyn is … ignore her.
Oh, and look, the NYC metro area may be getting a summer neighbor!
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DfGGLedxRp4J:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-23/trump-discussing-a-relocation-to-new-jersey-golf-club-for-summer+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
At least he’s not returning to Trump Tower. This city has suffered enough. It’s too bad though, Bedminster is lovely. I wouldn’t mind living there, although I doubt we could afford it. If Trump goes through with this plan it might as well be a Superfund toxic waste site.
Huh. So I’m guessing sight unseen that his Bedminster club’s financials are not doing so well since he left office. He spends the summer there, and MAGA politicians seeking his blessing need to pump up the club’s rental fees.
Which makes me wonder if he’s still billing the government for his Secret Service detail? Anybody know?
Oh that golf club in Bedminster is quite the money maker, it pulls in more money than even Mar-a-Lago itself. Which is kind of surprising but that area of New Jersey is very wealthy and very conservative, lovely though it is.