The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Noah Berlatsky, Who Seems to Be OK With Pedophiles, Sure Does Hate Republicans

Posted on | October 9, 2023 | Comments Off on Noah Berlatsky, Who Seems to Be OK With Pedophiles, Sure Does Hate Republicans

In case you wondered whatever happened to this particular scumbag — who, just a few years ago, was busy defending pedophiles as “MAPs” (minor-attracted persons) — he seems now to have latched onto his buddy Aaron Rupar’s blog Public Notice, where today he declared: “Republicans have used the crisis [in Israel] to indulge in monstrously irresponsible lies and inflammatory conspiracy theories that seem designed to hobble peace efforts and encourage dissension, confusion, and war.”

Thanks for this information, Mister Pedophile Defender.

To recount a bit of history, I first took notice of Berlatsky in 2015, when he was doing a “male feminist” trip that annoyed Meghan Murphy. A few years later, in January 2020, I asked a simple question: “Is Noah Berlatsky a Pedophile?”

Look, I’m not making any accusations here, and far be it from me, an award-winning journalist, to engage in irresponsible speculation. There is no actual evidence that Noah Berlatsky is a pedophile, as far as I know, and it would be reckless to attempt to infer anything about his sexual preference based merely on a few messages on Twitter, taken out of context. Rather, if anyone seriously suspected Berlatsky of pedophilia — which, as I say, there’s no specific reason they should suspect this — it might be more productive to consider his overall oeuvre of work, including his oft-noted status as a so-called “male feminist.”
If you get my drift. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.

That 2020 post proved to be rather prophetic, because by the summer of 2021, Berlatsky had become “the Communications Director for Prostasia, a not-for-profit group that is reportedly attempting to legitimize pedophilia under the guise of helping children.” In the words of feminist Anna Slatz, “all of Prostasia’s goals and campaigns lead to the exact same conclusion: The total normalization and acceptance of pedophilia in wider society.”

Berlatsky’s association with this pro-pedophile group got renewed attention a few months ago when he published an opinion column at Bloomberg that attacked the popular anti-trafficking film, The Sound of Freedom.

As I have said before, far be it from me to accuse anyone of being a pedophile without evidence, but on the other hand, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, you should consider the possibility it’s actually a duck.



 

Category: Progressivism

Politics Is a Team Sport

Posted on | October 9, 2023 | Comments Off on Politics Is a Team Sport

Saturday evening on The Other Podcast, I found myself ranting furiously about the idiots who decided that what the conservative movement needed was for eight House Republicans to join the Democrats and vote the GOP Speaker out of office. It prompted me to invoke Casey Stengel who, frustrated by the ineptitude of the 1962 Mets, asked, “Can’t anybody here play this game?”

The problems with our team are bad enough, but at least we no longer have the problem of Bill Kristol, Tom Nichols, Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt and the rest of the #NeverTrump crew who quit the GOP in a childish tantrum and now are allied with Democrats and the Somnambulist-in-Chief, Sleepy Joe Biden.

Does any friend of Israel think Biden’s Middle East policy is better than Trump’s? And how do Messrs. Kristol, et al., feel about their current alignment with the party of Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib? Not happy, I’ll bet.

Kristol is stuck with grumbling about what he claims are “some GOP misrepresentations” about Biden’s Iran policy, because it would not do for a #NeverTrumper to admit the reality that he is now on the wrong side. The pathetic fate of the #NeverTrump crew reminds me of nothing so much as one of those hotshot college football players who, having failed to win the starting quarterback job as a freshman at a major conference powerhouse, decides to enter the “transfer portal,” only to end up at some third-rate program.

To join the Democratic Party team — as the #NeverTrumpers have done, whether they’re willing to admit it or not — requires one to tolerate (if not indeed to embrace) the left-wing fringe movements that provide the Democrats with their grassroots energy. And what is the left-wing fringe doing now?

If you look closely at those signs, you’ll notice the branding of the Workers World Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation:

These are actually two factions of the same fringe Marxist cult. Sam Marcy quit the Socialist Workers Party which wasn’t totalitarian enough for his taste. Marcy founded the Workers World Party (WWP) in 1959. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the WWP joined forces with Ramsey Clark to form International ANSWER (“Act Now to Stop War and End Racism”), a front group that has spent the past 30 years organizing protests against U.S. policy. In 2004, ANSWER leader Brian Becker and others (including Gloria La Riva and Sunil Freeman) “left the Workers World Party in June 2004, announcing that ‘the Workers World Party leadership is no longer capable of fulfilling [the] mission’ of building socialism,” and thus was born the Party for Socialism and Liberation. One may well ask, how does supporting Hamas help the socialist “mission” that the WWP and PSL seek to advance? It doesn’t matter. To these fringe kooks, “socialism” always turns out to be whatever is bad for America. There is no anti-American movement they will not support. Because Hamas hates America, the kooks are pro-Hamas — a logic not too unlike the anti-Trump hysteria that led Kristol and his friends to become pro-Biden.

Now they’re all part of the same coalition. The worst people always end up together somehow, and they certainly deserve each other.



 

Category: Politics, Progressivism

Rule 5 Sunday: I’m In Love With Shouko’s Mom

Posted on | October 9, 2023 | Comments Off on Rule 5 Sunday: I’m In Love With Shouko’s Mom

— compiled by Wombat-socho

One of the more endearing characters in the manga Komi Can’t Communicate is the tongue-tied title character’s mom, Shuuko, who is (almost) everything her daughter isn’t: chatty, flirtatious, and a rebellious teen who somehow gets her heart captured by Shouko’s strong (but very silent) dad Masayoshi. On the other hand, like her daughter, she’s pretty cute, and fan art of the “Forever 17!” mom on r/Komi-san usually inspires the comment section to break out into a slightly modified version of the famous Fountains of Wayne song.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

“Shouko, can’t you see/You’re not the girl for me…”

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Rule Five Federal Overreach Friday, and the Saturday Gingermageddon.

EBL: Saturday Night Is Right For Girls with Guns, MAGA Speaker of the House, The Jazz Singer, Men, Best To Avoid Woman Journalists, Edith Piaf, Men, Best To Avoid Women Like Lindsey, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Everybody Shimmies Now, Rose Byrne, Sepideh Moafi, The Colonel Bogie March, and Ted Lasso Season 3

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH: Shantal Monique, Trump for Speaker?, Fish Pic Friday – Lil Red Heidi Hood, Thursday Evening Tune, Oyster Season Opens with Hopes and Fears, Thursday Tanlines, Just In Time for Octoberfest, Wednesday Wetness, Gone Fishin’, Tattoo Tuesday, The Monday Morning Stimulus, Random Celebrity News and Palm Sunday

FLAPPR: T.I.T.S. For October 6

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

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Category: Rule 5

Israel and ‘The Godfather’

Posted on | October 8, 2023 | Comments Off on Israel and ‘The Godfather’

“Barzini is dead. So is Phillip Tattaglia. Moe Greene. Stracci. Cuneo. Today I settled all family business, so don’t tell me that you’re innocent. Admit what you did.”
— Michael Corleone, The Godfather (1973)

In the comments on yesterday’s post about the Hamas attack on Israel, we learned something new: Dianna Deeley has never watched The Godfather, which is why she didn’t get a reference to a key plot point in the movie, when Don Corleone finally realizes that “it was Barzini all along.”

After I saw the comment, I actually called Dianna to express my shock that she’d never seen The Godfather. “I don’t like mob movies,” she said. And I was outraged. The Godfather is a “mob movie” in roughly the same sense that Casablanca is a “World War II movie.” The mafia context of The Godfather is merely the background for a Greek tragedy about family loyalty and personal honor. Although Michael’s father had hoped to spare his youngest son from the family’s crime business, a series of crises makes it necessary — inevitable, a matter of fate — that Michael step in to become the family’s next leader.

This attack came on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. For young people in Israel, that war is something they study in history class, but now its significance — Israel’s struggle to survive when hit by a sudden attack from its enemies — must be perfectly apparent to them.

The flippant comment that provoked this consideration — dismissing Hamas as “pimps,” like Tataglia, so that Iran is the Barzini behind the scenes — was actually a clever analogy, but the larger drama is this: A younger generation of Israelis must finally abandon the illusion of “peace” with the Palestinians.

Shani Louk, a victim of Hamas

One of the most horrific images of the first 24 hours of this war was the naked corpse of a young woman being paraded around by Hamas terrorists. Because her tattoos were visible, it was possible to identify this victim as Shani Louk, a German citizen who had come to celebrate a holiday music festival:

Hundreds of Israelis and foreigners came together in Kibbutz Re’im near the Gaza Strip for a vibrant celebration of music and culture — the Tribe of Nova — intended as a means of united human expression and connection. And the music trance festival was being held to celebrate the end of the Jewish holiday Sukkot.
But the atmosphere of joy and festivity was interrupted by the horrific sounds of gunfire and soon after, troops of Hamas militants swooped in, terrorising the festivalgoers. A place that was teeming with life was turned into a scene of devastation, echoing with cries and reverberating with shock and loss. Several videos surfaced on social media showing panic-stricken people escaping from the music festival as shots of gunfire were heard in the background when the Hamas militants launched a sudden attack.
In one video, Noa Argamani, a 25-year-old Israeli woman, is seen carted away on a motorcycle of a Hamas militant while she pleads for her life. “Don’t kill me! No, no, no,” says Argamani, who was present at the festival. The camera pans to her boyfriend, Avi Nathan, who looks on at his girlfriend helplessly while being held hostage by the militants.
In another video, the naked and battered body of a German woman, Shani Louk, a tattoo artist, was paraded in the back of a pickup truck by Hamas. Amidst a raucous crowd, the militants spat on the woman’s body.
Shani’s sister Adi Louk confirmed that it was her sister in the video. Her mother appealed to people for more information regarding her whereabouts. According to Shani’s first cousin, the victim had been reportedly missing after militants took control of the Tribe of Nova festival on Saturday morning.

No more festivals. No more dance parties. Nothing but all-out war now — the young people of Israel ultimately have no choice. They must kill or be killed.

Do you see how The Godfather is relevant? It was not Michael’s choice. That choice was made for him by his father’s enemies, who first attempted to assassinate Don Corleone, and then succeeded in assassinating Michael’s older brother Sonny. But Michael was the smart one, and with cool cunning he waited for the right moment to retaliate, to “settle all family business,” including with his brother-in-law Carlo Rizzi, who had betrayed Sonny to Barzini.

Israel must not only destroy Hamas, but they must also retaliate against Iran, which sponsors Hamas. Nothing personal. “It’s strictly business.”



 

Category: Israel

FMJRA 2.0: Lepanto

Posted on | October 8, 2023 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Lepanto

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary, originally known as Our Lady of Victory. On this day in 1571, an alliance of Catholic states including Spain and Venice faced off against the Turkish fleet led by Ali Pasha. Under the command of Don John of Austria, the smaller Catholic fleet won a stupendous victory over the Turks, forestalling a major invasion of Italy and forever ending Turkish naval domination in the Mediterranean. Credit for the victory is variously attributed to the Venetian galleasses, the Spanish arquebusiers, the leadership of Don Juan, but most of all to the intercession of the Blessed Mother. G. K. Chesterton’s epic poem “Lepanto” excellently summarizes the battle and the context of the times in which it was fought. For best results, read it aloud. Victor Davis Hanson’s chapter on the battle in Carnage & Culture is also very much worth reading.
The less said about the Senators’ week, the better. We lost both games to the Red Sox on Monday, and were swept by the Phillies on Friday.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Our Lady of Victory at the Battle of Lepanto

Let’s Play, ‘Find the Hidden Racism’!
The DaleyGator
Flopping Aces
Flappr
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

A Self-Inflicted Disaster as Republicans Vote to Boot Kevin McCarthy as Speaker
The DaleyGator
First Street Journal
Flappr
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

‘Building a Deeply Inclusive Culture’
Instapundit
Champion This Project!
Dave Olsson
EBL
357 Magnum

Update From the Dept. of Ironic Crime
The DaleyGator
Champion This Project!
Battleswarm Blog
A View From The Beach
EBL

An Unusual Consensus
EBL

House Passes Spending Bill After Democrat (Allegedly) Pulls Fire Alarm
The DaleyGator
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

FMJRA 2.0: I Was Dreaming I Was Awake
A View From The Beach
EBL

Rule 5 Sunday: Meanwhile In The Kitchen
Animal Magnetism
Flappr
A View From The Beach
EBL

In The Mailbox: 10.04.23 (Punditocracy Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 10.05.23 (Early Morning Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

‘Chiseling Sociopathic Whore’
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 10.06.23 (Afternoon Edition)
EBL
357 Magnum

Will You Still Feed Me?
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 10.06.23 (Evening Edition)
EBL
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum

Top linkers for the week ending October 6: 

  1.  EBL (14)
  2.  357 Magnum (10)
  3.  A View From The Beach (9)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

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Category: FMJRA Award

Hamas Attacks Israel

Posted on | October 7, 2023 | Comments Off on Hamas Attacks Israel

More than 100 people have already been killed, according to reports from Israel, which is under a sustained attack from Hamas terrorists based in Gaza:

The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched unprecedented terror attack on Israel, which has included the firing of thousands of rockets onto the Israel and the infiltration of Israeli territory by land, air, and sea. Responding to the surprise attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the nation is “at war” and the terrorists “will pay a price it has never known before.” Thus far, the attacks in Israel have left 100 people dead and 900 wounded. Hamas claims it has captured Israel Defense Force soldiers and civilians during its assault on Israeli border towns outside Gaza. Israel’s military response–“Operation Sword of Iron”– has led to the deaths of 198 Palestinians and 1,610 people injured.

UPDATE: When Democrats like Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar declare their support for the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement, this is what they’re really supporting — rocket attacks and terrorism against Jews. BDS is objectively pro-Hamas, and anyone with two eyes and a brain can see that Hamas exists for exactly one purpose, to kill Jews. Really, when you see left-wing students marching with “free Palestine” banners, what do you think that slogan ultimately means? Two words: Dead Jews.

UPDATE II: Associated Press:

The Israeli military says that fighting is continuing in 22 locations in southern Israel 12 hours after Hamas militants carried out a surprise infiltration into the area.
In a statement, the army’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said “there is no community in southern Israel where we do not have forces.” He said Israel has regained control in some communities but the army is still conducting scans to make sure they are safe.
Hagari also confirmed ongoing hostage situations in two towns — Ofakim and Beeri.
“There are special forces there with senior commanders and live fire fights are going on there,” he said.
Hagari said that Israel was striking targets in Gaza from the air and that ground operations were imminent. He did not elaborate but said an additional four divisions of troops, as well as tanks, were being deployed to the already heavily fortified area.

UPDATE III: John Nolte connects the dots:

The terrorist state of Iran kidnaps five Americans. Biden then chooses the anniversary of September 11, 2023, to pay the terrorist state of Iran a ransom of $6 billion. This ransom payment comes in the form of releasing $6 billion in assets seized from Iran. So, Iran now has $6 billion it didn’t have before, and Iran funds Hamas. And now, less than four weeks after Joe Biden paid that $6 billion, Hamas is flush with enough resources to launch an unprecedented attack on Israel.

Far be it from me to “pounce” or “seize” upon this merely as an excuse to score political points, but can you imagine what Democrats would be saying if the shoe were on the other foot? And, in point of fact, Biden’s policy is being blamed by people who can’t be dismissed as right-wing extremists.

Jake Simons is editor of the Jewish Chronicle. Can’t wait for Biden supporters to smear Simon as a “Nazi,” the way they do all other critics of Biden.

Meanwhile, one of our commenters invoked “Saint Pancake,” a/k/a Rachel Corrie, the left-wing “peace” activist who went to Gaza and became a Sacred Martyr of the Intifada, flattened by an IDF bulldozer.



 

Category: Israel, Terrorism

In The Mailbox: 10.06.23 (Evening Edition)

Posted on | October 7, 2023 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 10.06.23 (Evening Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Couldn’t hurt.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Concealed Carry In LA
EBL: Joe Biden Beats His Dogs (what a bastard), Dick Butkus RIP, MAGA Speaker of the House, and BIDENOMICS
Twitchy: Twitter Tries To Figure Out What’s Wrong With The VP, Will The Real Fascists Please Stand Up? and Joy Reid & Ben Collins Join In REEEEEing About Elon Musk
Louder With Crowder: Congressman Jim Jordan will be the next Speaker of the House, Keith Olbermann lashes out at reporter for accurately reporting the accusations against Trevor Bauer were bulls***, and Teacher on leave after being caught watching porn in front of students, enjoying himself a little bit too much
Vox Popoli: Perhaps She Just…Evolved? Vaxxing the Proles, and Psyop City: Population One
According To Hoyt: Two Sides, Fall Is Coming, and Rad
Monster Hunter Nation: Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever Is Out!
Jon Del Arroz: WTF Did I Just Watch In The Ahsoka Finale?
Gab News: What Is Toxic Masculinity?

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Stories, not Arguments
American Conservative: After Shutdown Missteps, McConnell’s Leadership on Unsure Footing
American Greatness: Pennsylvania School District Reverses Transgender Bathroom Policy After Student Protest
American Thinker: The Party’s Over, also, Marx Was a Bastard
Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Federal Overreach Friday
Babalu Blog: Cuban pitcher defects during tournament in Puerto Rico, When the Castro dictatorship deployed Cuban soldiers in the Yom Kippur War to destroy Israel, and Immigration demagoguery meets reality
Baldilocks: I apologize
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm for October 6
Behind The Black: Another lawsuit filed against SpaceX, India’s government confirms its policy to transition to private enterprise in space, ULA’s Atlas-5 rocket launches first two Kuiper satellites, Gale Crater as seen by Curiosity from the heights of Mount Sharp, and Real pushback: Student walkout in September forces school board to rescind queer bathroom policy
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Chicago Boyz: Hood Ornament
Da Tech Guy: 5 Speaker Overboard Thoughts Under the Fedora, Why is Nobody Asking the Obvious Question Here? To win future elections Republicans must fight the Culture War, and Why The Answer to Brit Hume’s Question For the Left is Easy (But not for the reason you might think)
Don Surber: The Child Sex Surgery Liberals Oppose
Gates Of Vienna: Homeless Woman Raped by a Culture-Enricher in Bologna, The Perils of Multicultural Pedagogy, The Pandemic that Never Was Can Never End, Mass Shooting in Bangkok, Women of Unusual Size, and The Murder of Lola Daviet, One Year Later
The Geller Report: Teachers’ Union Wants Homeless People To Sleep on Public School Grounds
Hogewash: Only Kidding? Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, National Poetry Day, and LFBOT
Hollywood In Toto: Why Child’s Play Remains the Creepiest Chucky Close-up, Disney Got Exactly What It Wanted, and Woke Totally Killer Misses Its Huge Potential
The Lid: Texas Gov. Abbott Proposes JAIL TIME For Illegal Migrants In Special Legislative Session
Legal Insurrection: Report: FBI Targeting Donald Trump Supporters as Threats to 2024 Election, Iowa Democratic Primary Moved to Super Tuesday, Appeals Court Blocks School District’s Policy Mandating ‘Respect’ for Gender Identity, California School Districts Defy Newsom by Adopting Policies Requiring Parental Notification About ‘Trans’ Kids, and Hillary Calls for ‘Deprogramming’ Trump Supporters
Nebraska Energy Observer: It’s not all TV
Outkick: Virginia Swimmers Unite, Speak Out After Biological Male Pulls A Lia Thomas, Al Michaels Claims He Hasn’t Knowingly Eaten A Vegetable In 78 Years, From Duke Lacrosse To Trevor Bauer: The Media’s Disgusting Failures , and Mike Freeman Strikes Again, This Time Attacking Aaron Rodgers For Calling Travis Kelce ‘Mr. Pfizer’
Power Line: Hillary Clinton Goes With the Pho, Mending wall, Baseball Is Better Than Politics, and Thoughts from the ammo line
Shark Tank: Steube & De La Cruz Decry Biden Border Barrier As Political Calculation
Shot In The Dark: Where Credit Is Due – Don & Pat Hall, also, Soundtrack Part 4
This Ain’t Hell: The irony. Or the hypocrisy, your choice, Valor Friday, Marines killed in car crash; justice demanded for off duty cop, Dismal Return Rate for Troops Discharged Over Vax Mandate, Military helicopter noises contribute to Australian crocodile mating, and Illegal alien steals disabled veteran’s identity, later convicted of murder under that name
Transterrestrial Musings: Potemkin Village
Victory Girls: Army Strongly Considering 10-20% Cut To Special Ops Forces
Volokh Conspiracy: Kurt Lash on “The Meaning and Ambiguity of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment”
Watts Up With That: Superfund Cleanups Descend Into Uncertainty, The Jupiter Effect: The Hubris of Green Central Planners, and Update On Offshore Wind Projects Off The Mid-Atlantic and New England
The Federalist: Nicaragua’s Anti-Christian Ortega Regime Sentenced A Faithful Bishop To 26 Years Behind Bars, Hunter Biden Is So Used To Being Above The Law, He’s Citing A Rejected Plea Deal To Claim ‘Immunity’, Biden Evades The Constitution By Letting Failed Nominees Be De Facto Agency Heads, ‘Health And Safety Nightmare’: Homeless Encampments Permanently Shut Down Denver Gay Bar, Newsom Didn’t Veto The Anti-Parent Trans Bill To Protect Kids, and Hillary Clinton Wants Trump Voters To Undergo A ‘Formal Deprogramming’
Mark Steyn: And Then There Were None, The Flaccid Populace’s Channel, and Live Around the Planet

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Category: Linkagery

Will You Still Feed Me?

Posted on | October 6, 2023 | Comments Off on Will You Still Feed Me?

Portrait of the Author as an Old Man

When I get older, losing my hair,
Many years from now,
Will you still be sending me a Valentine?
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
If I’d been out till quarter to three,
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me? Will you still feed me,
When I’m sixty-four?

Turning 64 is an auspicious occasion, I suppose, and today was the anniversary of the date — October 6, 1959 — when I was born at what was then Georgia Baptist Hospital in Atlanta. (It later became Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center, but was permanently closed last year.) Atlanta’s metastatic growth is such that most people who tell you they’re “from Atlanta” are actually from Cleveland or Pittsburgh and live somewhere in Gwinnett County. But no, I was actually born in Atlanta, “early on a frosty morning,” if it’s still legal to say so.

YOU COULD HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR

Past a certain age — and it may be 30, but perhaps as early as 21 — birthdays aren’t much of a celebration, and this morning I was toiling away in the home office without a thought of the occasion when my wife asked if I wanted to go out for a birthday dinner later, which of course I did. At first, I’d suggested Olive Garden, but later changed my mind: How about Golden Corral?

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Robert Stacy McCain (@robertstacymccain)

We got there a little before 2:30 p.m., and I remarked to the wife as we approached the cashier that we were eligible for the Senior Discount. My wife mentioned this to the lady at the register, who replied: “I already gave it to you.” Not necessarily flattering to be recognized as a geezer, but it is what it is.

Mrs. McCain went for the salad bar, while I headed to the main buffet. My first plate was roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans and turnip greens. If you’re going to eat a week’s worth of calories at one sitting — which is the basic goal of a buffet dining, right? — you should at least try to make it a nutritious meal, hence the vegetables. On my second go-round, I got meat loaf, roasted potatoes, collard greens, black-eyed peas and fried okra.

Meanwhile, my wife pointed out that the lobby was now crowded with geezers, who were lined up out the door. Apparently, the Early Bird Special begins at 3 p.m., and I don’t know what kind of discount they offer, but it was sufficient to attract dozens of geriatrics. We’re not that old are we? Well, no, but we are far enough along that it’s within the foreseeable future.

After pecan pie for dessert, I was fully stuffed. We had talked about buying me a new pair of shoes as a birthday gift, but I could feel myself rapidly headed toward a buffet-induced coma, so we skipped the shopping trip. As soon as I got home, I went right to bed and zonked out for two hours before being awakened by a phone call from my Army son, calling from Alaska to wish me a happy birthday. This was followed by a call from my oldest daughter in Florida with similar greetings. Our offspring are scattered far and wide — the youngest is now attending a year abroad at a university in Latin America — and so there’s no gathering for the cake-and-candles kind of celebration. And really, at my age? Just give me the Golden Corral buffet and a two-hour nap.

Among the inconveniences of advanced age, many suffer from increased near-sightedness, which makes it hard to spot the yellow PayPal “donate” button on the sidebar, so I’ve enlarged it for your convenience.

 

If you’ll click the Big Yellow Button, you’ll see that the default contribution is set to $6.40 for this occasion, although of course I wouldn’t protest if readers felt generous enough to kick in a full $64. Or, if you just wanted to pay for our dinner, it was about $20 with the Golden Corral senior discount.

 

Category: Family
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