The Cursing Cheerleader

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the case of the cursing cheerleader, the Supreme Court notched a victory for the free speech rights of students Wednesday, siding with a high school student whose vulgar social media post got her kicked off the junior varsity squad.

The court voted 8-1 in favor of Brandi Levy, who was a 14-year-old freshman when she expressed her disappointment over not making the varsity cheerleading team with a string of curse words and a raised middle finger on Snapchat.

Levy, of Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, was not at school when she made her post, but she was suspended from cheerleading activities for a year anyway. In an opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer, the high court ruled that the suspension violated Levy’s First Amendment freedom of speech rights. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, noting he would have upheld the suspension.

The justices did not foreclose schools from disciplining students for what they say off-campus, though they did not spell out when schools could act. An earlier federal appeals court ruling, in this case, would have barred public schools from punishing off-campus speech.

Despite ruling in Levy’s favor, Breyer wrote that “we do not believe the special characteristics that give schools additional license to regulate student speech always disappear when a school regulates speech that takes place off-campus. The school’s regulatory interests remain significant in some off-campus circumstances.”

 

Happy 56th Birthday to LSP

Normally there’s not a big write-up on Virtual Mirage as birthdays come and go, but LSP is officially knocking at the door of 60 yrs. (knocking at heaven’s door). He’s pictured above, in uniform preparing to call some sinner to repentance – fire, and brimstone!

There is no shame in going on Social Security, LSP. Sure, it won’t be tomorrow, but it is definitely coming.

Ok, enough triviality, y’all need to give LSP a REBEL YELL! (or a virtual rebel yell, wherever you are) In the video, LSP’s buddies from grammar school are giving the yell for him.

 

Assyria – 3,000 years ago

This is a 3,000-year-old stone carving of an Assyrian SEAL,  diving under the Euphrates River using an inflatable goatskin bag. The Assyrian Army’s Navy trained infiltrators who would deploy underwater to collect intelligence and eliminate enemy sentries.

 

Living in 2021

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” – George Orwell, 1984

We see a lot of that going around today, don’t we?

 

Venus

Venus, seen above color-coded to highlight its elevations. They don’t. take into account the constant 860° F (460° C) surface temperature, sulfuric acid clouds, and crushing atmospheric pressure. It’s also the slowest spinning object in the known universe. Its year is shorter than its day. Eventually, it will be tidally locked to the Sun. Maybe the temp on the “dark side” will drop to 840° F?

 

Failure on Parade

Fleet strength is dependent on a few big, expensive bets. USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) is underway and the LBJ is due to be launched next year, throwing good money after bad.  Those ships will never work as advertised no matter how many do-overs you do at a cost of billions – it’s just sad. Will heads roll? Of course, not.

They’re already working on a billion-dollar patch, putting missile cells where the rail gun mounts are in the photos.

 

Branding

(Bee) QINGDAO, CHINA—On the heels of the CEO proudly declaring Nike is a brand “of China, and for China,” the company has unveiled a new marketing campaign honoring the glorious Chinese Communist Party with the inspiring slogan “Just Obey It.”

 

Meme-of-the-Day

I know that it’s a Su-27. The point is there, though.

 

Biological Warfare?

Yes, it’s biological warfare, but it’s no worse than the biowarfare plague we’ve lived with. When we’re talking about Baltimore or Portland, who would notice a foot of poop on the pavement, added to the scat already there? You could have lobbed it into CHOP in Seattle and they’d have used it on their little turf farms.

Never try to teach a pig to sing.

It wastes your time and it annoys the pig.

Never roll in the mud (or poop) with a pig.

You both get dirty and the pig enjoys it.

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37 COMMENTS

  1. Based on what they produce when they take over an area, the manure gun may make SOME of the protesters feel at home….kinda like rolling out the welcome mat.

  2. Nike founder Bill Bowerman, a WWII vet, was a top rated track coach who founded the company so athletes could have quality running shoes. Early Nikes were made in the US except for the budget line made in Korea for those who were fashion minded. I doubt he’d be happy with what they’ve done to his company.
    Happy birthday LSP! There’s just something about those of us born in July.

  3. We had a 2,000 gallon liquid manure spreader on our dairy for the times it rained and rained and rained. Pulled by a tractor of sufficient size, pto powered for mobility. All operators learned that if the discharge plugged, one should relive the internal pressure before cleaned the obstruction. One lesson was usually sufficient. Made a nice 60’ swath of liquid gold just perfect for the next insurrection.

  6. Miss Levy’s parents must be proud…”expletive and middle finger posting on SnapChat”?? Zero character and clearly not a team player. Used to be when one lost or didn’t make the team it was done graciously, now the entitled whiner demands this be a legal matter. Gratitude is seriously lacking. I’m with Thomas.

    I don’t buy Nike products. But like many a company these days, social justice crap is more important than making decent products for a fair price…without using Chinese slave labor.

    I’m thinking the Hydra 6 is out…gettin’ me a manure cannon. Old school without the ensuing death despite Castle Law’s allowing such homestead protection (can’t trust the DA’s to not prosecute the innocent). And the Sheriff would understand I was just “doing what those in DC and the Statehouse do everyday, spreadin’ manure.

    • Almost forgot, HAPPY B-DAY LSP!…Handsome dude and God’s servant to boot. BTW, 60 is the new 80…on some mornings anyway where injury free while putting on the pants is a win. Have a great day!

  7. The Assyrian diver puzzles me. You can’t snorkel below “a few” feet because your lungs can’t inflate against the pressure from the water to bring in surface pressure air. To breath well under water, you need compressed air, and I’d like to know if and especially how they could have done that.

    It seems like maybe one could get a few breaths worth of air in a goatskin but I just can’t see getting more than that.

    • The goatskin had the “advantage” of being compressible, so the air wasn’t at surface pressure. That said, I don’t think they went very deep, and I expect they spent most of their time holding their breath, like pearl divers. A few extra lungfuls can extend someone like that’s range.

      OTOH, wasn’t there, just conjecture.
      -Kle.

    • That’s basically the same issue with early rebreathers.

      But, yes, just cruising under the surface using weights and stuff, one should be able to cruise without breaking the surface.

      • The idea of people who were able to travel under a river, moat, lake, without flailing on the surface was revolutionary. At the very least they were worth the time it took to chip the stone into a picture. I would say that taking off the helmet and cutting the beard would help, but that’s just me.

        The goatskin might get them the distance that they needed to travel and they might have learned to hyperventilate to stay under a bit longer before that first plunge as well. Rebreathers (without O2 or CO2 absorbant material) don’t work well. Even advanced rebreathers like the Drager series are tricky and combat swimmers can take an O2 hit and die if there is a malfunction.

  8. Happy Birthday, LSP!

    That pic looks like a still from a ’70s cop show – LSP: Police Pastor!

    -Kle.

  9. Manure is a proven deterrent to protesters and agitators alike. Last year in my little rural Kommiecticut town, BLM wanted to have a parade down the main 2 lane state highway. State Police normally have to issue a permit for such things, to which they denied. So they decided to have their rally in the library parking lot adjacent to town hall. The night before the event, unknown farmers ran a fully loaded manure spreader through the lot, leaving behind several inches of fresh, smelly, wet poo. Next morning, Public Works cleaned it up and the FD hosed it down, but the message was heard loud and clear. The “protest” consisted of 5 idiots banging on drums on the library lawn for a half hour and that was it. They have not attempted to return, but if they do, they can probably expect worse. Like the 3-S (shoot ’em, shovel ’em, shut up) treatment perhaps.

  10. When I was a kid there was a an octogenarian (but he was raised Baptist) who was a child when the interloping, trespassing army of the northern persuasion came through Kennesaw, GA. He heard the rabble yell for real. He said it sound like the Indian war cries heard in the movies. Unfortunately, I was too young and dumb to really get to know Pete and drag some good stories about the era in old Cobb County in that era.

  11. I’ve never bought any Nike product. Their products do’t fit my magnificent frame and 4E feet. It has become hard to find footwear made in the USA. New Balance, my choice,has gradually imported most of their line.

    Raising three boys, I supported the Doc Martin and Wrangler companies. Raised wearing Levis, I haven’t bought any of their products in years.

    Congratulations to LSP for another trip around the sun.

    • WSF – surprisingly I have found good footwear, under the Dr. Scholl’s brand, at Walmart. And I’m a 13 EEE/EEEE.

      Sure, they’re not ‘fashionable,’ but then again, I don’t fart glitter, so function over fashion is A-Okay (making the white supremacy hand signal) for me.

  12. That leftist twit Emma Thompson (some stupid Brit actress who thinks her opinion actually matters – clue – no it does not) and her idiot friends took over a farmer’s field to protest fracking or some other leftist squat.

    They did not ask the farmer.

    And under English Law, they had the right to ‘travel’ across the fields.

    But, of course, being leftist superiorists, they set up tents and had a cook-off in the middle of the field.

    The farmer asked them to leave. They did not.

    The farmer returned with a manure spreader and spread it everywhere, not intentionally targeting people, but…

    Funny, Ms. High-and-Mighty and her band of Earth-worshipers bailed out rather quickly after that.

    So, yes, manure cannons are good.

    Or, how about a water cannon filled with day-glow dye. Make it easy to see the scum as they scurry away.

    Or, well, just some cupric-covered plumbum delivered at speed. Identify the idiots after they stop moving.

  14. LSP
    Happy birthday, all the best in the coming year.

    I would buy a Nike …Ajax, Hercules, or Zeus. Nothing else though. I believe they were made by Bell Aerospace anyway so I guess it wouldn’t count as being politically correct, darn.

    • There was a whole underground installation of them down the road a mile from me when I was a kid. It was scary to drive by and see them raised out of their bunkers.

      • There was a Nike Herc site near my father’s house on the Palos Verdes Penninsula south of LA. I was young, but they represented a vigilant nation. Now we have Jo/Ho to look out for us. It’s a comfort.

        • Larry, I think I would be more comfortable without the current President and Vice President looking out for me. Just personal taste. I guess it must be one of my many character flaws.

          My home was originally back east and we had nothing in Ohio worth defending with a Nike site. They did have a complex defending Spokane (near where I live now) for many years.

          • There was a Nike site near Argonne National Lab by Chicago. I used to see it every time my Dad drove me up to Allied Radio to help me feed my habit. LL is talking about the “White’s Point” Nike site that was tied into NORAD.

            https://nikemissile.org/white_point_site_la.shtml

            Fascinating stories, but it was a flawed weapons system. You might have six or more missiles in your battery, but you could only engage ONE target at a time from each site, leading to multiple sites to defend high-value areas.

  15. If George Orwell had written “2021” instead of “1984”, they would have locked his a$$ up at the funny farm.

  16. Happy birthday to LSP! And we talked about using a manure gun against various rioters in places like Portland, etc. There was quite the discussion over the most obnoxious version of manure to use. Y’all can have the F-15s, I’ll stick with an A-10. 🙂

    • At the risk of repeating myself, because I know I made this comment here or someplace else, I’m in for a Cobra gunship. Old times there, are not forgotten, etc.

      56 ain’t so bad, LSP. I’m about 12 ahead of you, so enjoy your youth whilst you still have it!

  17. Doggone it….had a nice post written up, and something hung this PC up as I tried to post it.

    Things said about school off-campus that were considered “bad”, were usually attended to by parents. Guess she never heard the old Beach Boys song “Be True To Your School”.

    And a very Happy Birthday to LSP! I’m approaching 70 orbits and it’s good to see young people getting involved….

    I knew some of the Greek sponge divers had some kind of helmet, but didn’t know somebody had a portable air-storage device that long ago.

    Too bad Venus wasn’t the Tropical Paradise the SciFi writers envisioned, but something much more akin to Dante’s version of Hell. The first lander only survived about 20 minutes, and several others were crushed by atmospheric pressure while still 60,000′ above the surface. Duh…..

    Oh, geeez….the Zoomies. The only question remaining is are they worse than the LCS’? Unproven rail guns launching million dollar projectiles that didn’t work. Double Duh…

    Never owned a pair of Nikes in my entire life. And I most certainly never will….

    The manure cannon is a marvelous idea. And if collect all the BS DC spews daily, we’ll have an unlimted supply of it to use.

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