Biden Beastie Boys Campaign Ad Removed After Club Owner Doxxed

3 years ago
With "Sabotage" as its theme, the ad focused on Joe Malcoun, the owner of the half-century-old Ann Arbor, Michigan, bar the Blind Pig:

He says that he's been struggling to run the bar -- which has hosted everyone from Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon to Nirvana over the years -- in the midst of the pandemic. "This the reality of Trump's COVID response," Malcoun says in the ad. "We don't know how much longer we can survive not having any revenue... This is Donald Trump's economy: There is no plan and you don't know how to go forward. It makes me so angry. My only hope for my family and for this business and my community is that Joe Biden wins this election."

The ad was pulled from all of Biden's channels on Wednesday after the campaign said he was attacked and threatened by Trump supporters. "The price for having a voice in our political process cannot be endless harassment," said campaign spokesperson Bill Russo. "And yet, that is what Joe Malcoun and his family currently face as he was doxxed, harassed and threatened after the Trump campaign has sought to smear a community leader who dared to speak out against Trump's failed response to the Covid crisis. It is shameful." [...]

In the meantime, as the clock is running out on the last best opportunity to pass a much-needed economic relief package, hundreds of venues across the country are on the precipice of permanently turning off the lights. That dire prospect has led to the push by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) for a $10 billion "Save Our Stages" bill, which is currently stalled in Congress after Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell urged the White House not to seek an agreement with Democrats for the desperately needed relief for American businesses before the Nov. 3 election for fear that it might derail their efforts to fast-track Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the high court.

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Current Music: Hesta Prynn -- Pepper ♬

Winter Is Coming for Bars. Here's How to Save Them. And Us.

3 years ago
"Coming?" It is VERY MUCH NIGH.

If we really want to stem the spread of the coronavirus as winter looms and we wait for a vaccine, the government should pay bars, many restaurants and event venues to close for some months.

That may sound radical, but it makes scientific sense and even has a political precedent. We pay farmers not to cultivate some fields (in theory, at least, to protect the environment), so why not pay bars that cannot operate safely to shut down (to protect public health)? [...]

Back when we knew little about the novel coronavirus, the government responded with a hammer. The Paycheck Protection Program treated all small businesses equally, providing them with loans to shut down so long as they paid their employees. Now we can use more delicate instruments. [...]

Some states have allowed restaurants to open indoors at 25 percent or 50 percent capacity [but] "No bar or restaurant can make it at that capacity -- on the best days in normal years, our profit margin is 10 percent."

Bars and other venues that depend on drinks are not essential services. We want them to survive so that in the future we can enjoy them. So why not pay owners who cannot keep their businesses afloat safely during the pandemic an average of their normal monthly income to shut down for some months? They would keep paying their employees and help break the chain of coronavirus transmission.

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Murder Hornet Vacuum Couture

3 years ago

Crews vacuum 'murder hornets' out of Washington nest

Despite their nickname and the hype that has stirred fears in an already bleak year, the world's largest hornets kill at most a few dozen people a year in Asian countries, and experts say it is probably far less. Meanwhile, hornets, wasps and bees typically found in the United States kill an average of 62 people a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

The real threat from Asian giant hornets -- which are 2 inches (5 centimeters) long -- is their devastating attacks on honeybees, which are already under siege from problems like mites, diseases, pesticides and loss of food.

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Current Music: Felix Da Housecat -- Rocket Ride ♬

Bellevue WA bans all weapons except firearms

3 years ago
I guess this is what is known as "rules of engagement"?

All persons are prohibited from possessing any weapon (with the exception of firearms), including but not limited to, rocks, bottles, pipes, bats, clubs, chains, sharpened objects, shields, gas, flares, torches, paint balls, light bulbs, any incendiary devices, pry-bars, skateboards, liquid filled balloons, lumber, or any other objects which can be used for infliction of bodily harm or damage to property, if possessed with the intent to cause harm to persons or property. With respect to firearms, all persons are prohibited from discharging any firearms in the restricted area.

Shields are weapons. As are skateboards.

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Current Music: Public Enemy -- Miuzi Weighs a Ton ♬

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