Remember, remember the sixth of Janember,

V for Vendetta

Stolen entire from Monday Evening

Insurrection by Marcel

A couple of days late, but still within the Heptad of the Insurrection

What if the insurrection* had succeeded? Maybe a security guard held a door open for a minute, and a mob of bloody-handed insurrectionists just walked in unarmed, laughing and taking selfies, claiming without evidence that there was corruption in Chicago and Joe Biden was a senile doofus. If our gallant Congress ran away, that would have left that one guy in the Indian suit as Speaker of the House, and as Speaker he could have called it for Trump.

Recall how things were in the Before Time: President Trump said mean things on Twitter, a lot! and good people wanted to de-fund the police. If the insurrection had succeeded, the wise and steady hand of President Biden would not now be guiding us, and a number of consequences would follow.

Trump would have caused inflation.

Trump, ignoring the generals, would have allowed the withdrawal from Afghanistan to degenerate into a costly, deadly, failure that brought the Taliban to power.

From malice or incompetence Trump would have forced Covid hospitalizations to a record high. Since Trump's vaccine would have worrying side-effects and be only marginally effective, the teachers' union would be out on strike.

Instead of a ground-breaking news-making wonder, the James Webb Space Telescope would be unable to keep the roads open, as Trump's global warming snowed shut the interstate from Virginia to Pakistan.

If the insurrection had succeeded, the unrest in Krhazagirzistria would be Trunp's fault, and good people would be in the streets chanting to de-fund the police.

That's how things might be today if the FBI hadn't stopped the insurrection, so

Always remember the sixth of Janember,
face-paint and selfies and, what?
I see no reason why insurrection
should ever be forgot!

*The heinous DESPICABLY violent Terrorist Attack on our Most Prized National Institutions,** threatening our very DEMOCRACY in a way unprecedented in our nation's HISTORY!! It's been in the news lately.

**Congress and NPR

Bonus new word - heptad - a group of seven. I suppose in the back of my mind, I knew it, but I don't think I have ever used it.

Bidens' Brave New World

Hope

Before 2020, the world was a bleak dystopia overrun by Nazis. It never ceased to amaze me how many Nazis I would encounter on a daily basis once I had decided that everyone but me was a Nazi. - Titania McGrath

Via Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge

Zazzle Bumper Sticker

Via California Bob.

Update February 2017 replaced missing image.

Bicycle Lift in Trondheim, Norway

California Bob reports on a similar endeavor in San Francisco:

Bicycle Lift Shuts Down

20 months after its installation, the Post Street hill bicycle lift in San Francisco is being dismantled.

Modeled after a $20,000 bicycle lift in Trondheim Norway, the lift was originally budgeted at $100,000 and scheduled to open in 1999. The construction was blocked for years by various special interest groups. The automobile lobby spent an estimated $5 billion dollars lobbying against the project, and several city supervisors receiving contributions vociferously opposed the lift, citing noise from the chains, the possibility of skateboarders using the lift for unintended purposes, and safety issues of people tripping over the rails. Wildlife advocates argued that squirrels and rats might get their tails stuck in the machinery, and the lesbian coalition raised a similar argument about cats. Advocates for the homeless opposed the lift for not accommodating shopping carts. Several bicycle groups even argued against the project, arguing that the lift would encourage bicycle use by less dedicated riders who "didn't deserve" to ride bicycles.

The project even drew the ire of the group Support and Advocacy for Depressed, Sad and Angry Citizens, who argued that the word "lift" was discriminatory. According to SADSAC chairman Bill Blight: "The word 'lift' implies that being lifted, elevated or raised to new levels, either physically or emotionally, is somehow desirable. Adoption of such ugly attitudes is sure to engender persecution against persons in low spirits."

After 7 years of hearings, the project eventually won adoption. Interest groups successfully pushed through engineering changes, including: modifying the lift to accommodate shopping carts, wheelchairs, skateboards, motorcycles, small boats, furniture dollies, cars, and tractor trailers; 24 hour security surveillance; GPS systems to track a riders progress as they progressed up the lift; 4 handicap-access restrooms along the lift's route; an architect-designed facade and tower to meet neighborhood aesthetic standards; and enclosing the project in 6-foot thick concrete walls to secure it against terrorist attacks. Engineering changes pushed the project's costs form $100,000 to $5.4 billion.

The lift opened in early 2008, with a per-use rider fee of $625. During its operation the lift served a total of 43 users, 40 of whom belonged to a single wedding party of a Hong Kong billionaire, who used the lift for a one-time photo op. The lift was shut down after a homeless man fell off a stack of garbage cans while trying to gain illicit access to the lift. He is suing the city for $7 million to cover a bruised shin and a torn loincloth.

The city has contracted with a central valley salvage firm to dismantle the project at a cost of $1.4 million. A spokesman for the salvage company said: "We already have a number of parties asking for items from the project -- mostly superwealthy clients looking for 'design items' for yachts and penthouses. Plus we'll get a few hundred for the scrap metal."

California Cynic

Email from CA:

I hear the new mortgage bailout scheme is going to be called the "Troubled Asset Relief Program" or TARP.

There's some tremendous irony there -- "You may have lost your house, but the government has a TARP -- maybe you can live under that."

Headlines of the Day

• U.S. TREASURY TO INSURE GOOD WEATHER ALL WEEKEND


• FEDERAL RESERVE TO INSURE PERSONAL HAPPINESS


• U.S. TREASURY TO REPAIR TOM BRADY'S DAMAGED KNEE


• CONGRESS TO GUARANTEE HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

From The Big Picture