68 Comments
User's avatar
Polly-Vous's avatar

January 6 is my birthday. Thanks a pantload DJT.

Bill Hightower's avatar

Same here. I used to say my birthday was the same as the Epiphany. Now it’s on Insurrection Day for cryin’ out loud

Nancy Meyer's avatar

Insurrection Day is good. I like also to call it Desecration Day.

Mar's avatar

Mine, too. Since the siege of our capital which I, like millions, saw live, I have ptsd about the 6th. Such a shame the primary perpetrator has not been held responsible.

Julie42a's avatar

Its my birthday too! And my sentiments exactly. Sigh 😕

Otto's avatar

Happy Kill an Unarmed Woman Day!

Dale of Green Gables's avatar

You mean the woman who attempted to break through a glass door to a barricaded House Speaker's Lobby after being told to stop by a Capitol Police officer upholding his oath to protect members of Congress? The Air Force vet who ignored the oath she took? That woman, asshole?

Otto's avatar

I’m curious, why do you think she was the only one shot?

Dale of Green Gables's avatar

Because she was scro. Unfortunately you weren't there.

Otto's avatar

Karma is often unexpected.

@curiousfred's avatar

True. Ashli wasn't expecting it apparently.

Pecos Slim's avatar

RIP Rosanne Boyland, trampled by insurrectionists assaulting the west entrance of the US Capitol Building on Jan. 6th. She was one of them.

Can't imagine any actual human would be happy about it, though.

@curiousfred's avatar

Happy kill an illegal intruder day! Celebrated widely in Florida.

Carl Camembert Henn's avatar

Hi, and thanks for sharing the moment when you were inspired to figure out how to make Tropic magazine more interesting to readers, and also, lucky you, working with Dave Barry. Two of the funniest writers of my life at the same publication. Well, I have a dilemma, and maybe others do, too. I canceled my WaPo subscription of about 30 years when they refused to endorse Kamala. Bezos bozos, I now call them. Then they endorsed the idiotic kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro. He is a turd, but why kidnap turds? The dilemma is, what are readers to do, ethically, to protest Bezos, without abandoning the talented journalists who still work for the Washington Post?

Robert Ebbecke's avatar

I have tried to tell numerous friends, don’t punish the Post, punish the guy who diminished the Post. If you want to make your displeasure known, hit the owner in his pocketbook by getting as many people as possible to cancel Amazon Prime. You’re “free” shipping costs nearly $200 a year for your subscription. 90% of what you buy through Amazon comes from a smaller vendor which you can find by scrolling a little further down past the top paid-for listings. You may pay for shipping but the list price will be a bit lower because the vendor won’t have to give a cut to Amazon.

Carl Camembert Henn's avatar

I agree with you, Robert; however, I am full-time on the road in a campervan, which makes it impossible for me use Amazon. I don't have a subscription. I left Zon about 3.5 years ago. I need a suggestion: what else I can do to show my displeasure with Bezos?

Colleen's avatar

Keep your WaPo subscription to support the reporters who are still left. If you really want to hit Bezos where it hurts, cancel your Amazon account.

Carl Camembert Henn's avatar

I want to hurt him more than that. See above comment and response. Thanks.

Jonathan Jensen's avatar

I've been reading the comments on Facebook articles posted about Jan 6. It's despicable the mental gymnastics so many people do in order to absolve the perpetrators - it was Pelosi's fault for not calling the Guard, police were letting people in the doors, there were planted agitators and false flag actors...Five years, and they still can't face the truth because it throws their whole belief system into question.

Dan McMahon's avatar

I understand it is a gift article; but I HATE having to supply my information (I was a subscriber for more than 40 years—and a quondam reviewer for Book World for a dozen). I will take your word for it that the article is great. I am so over having to register for everything.

Dale of Green Gables's avatar

Try this link to the article from archive today.

http://archive.today/eiou7

Dan McMahon's avatar

Thank you, worked great

BigDaddy52's avatar

I hit the paywall and came back to scroll comments. Knew you'd come through with the link. HERO!

David P's avatar

At least for this gift article, it worked for me by just entering a random / junk email address.

Apparently no requirement to validate it.

Karen's avatar

Thank you for sharing the article about Mr. Tate. Very powerful. And I’m glad Mr. Tate has taken up teaching. Those kids are very fortunate to have someone like him. I hope he finds peace and healing. And I hope he knows how many of us know what a true hero he is for his defense of our democracy on Jan 6.

Susan's avatar

There are two times to quit. When you win or when you die.

Dale of Green Gables's avatar

"You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.

Throughout history, compassionate minds have pondered the dark and disturbing question: what is society to do with those members who are a threat to society, those malcontents and misfits whose behavior undermines and destroys the foundations of civilization?

This is the story of one group of misfits in thrall to a would-be king who sought to undermine a 250-year-old democracy on Earth and failed. What now is to be done with them ?"

You may recognize the partially paraphrased introduction to "The Outer Limits" from one of its great episodes,"The Zanti Misfits”

Robot Bender's avatar

I still remember that episode.

John E Simpson's avatar

I haven't seen The Outer Limits in forever. Gonna try to see if I can find that episode, at least -- sounds just about perfect for our time!

Carol McDonald's avatar

Hope you’re feeling better, Gene. I miss the Tropic magazine. I miss Miami. Most of all I miss my country, it wasn’t perfect, but it certainly beats what passes for our government now. Yes, I’m in despair.

Suzanne S Barnhill's avatar

When I took the poll, I wasn't thinking of history, I'm afraid (dumb me). I was thinking about January 6 being Epiphany, the date on which we traditionally take down the Christmas decorations. This would be the day to do it, too, because we could then put the tree out for the yard trash collection tomorrow. But we're still stuck on the last of our four Christmas jigsaw puzzles, and it just seems wrong (not to mention entirely too much trouble) to take down the decorations (some of our neighbors have not, either). But I really need to get back to normal life after an extended vacation, so I chose "resolve," hoping it would spur me to get off my ass and do what needs to be done.

Suzanne S Barnhill's avatar

Writing that, I was reminded of the song "You've Got to Do Your Christmas Shopping" from the Prairie Home Christmas album.

Dale of Green Gables's avatar

For those who prefer not to give your email to the newspaper formerly known as The Washington Post in order to read the J/6-related article Gene mentions, here's a link to the piece via archivetoday. No email requested, but you may be asked to prove you're not a robot. Not a problem, right?

http://archive.today/eiou7

Nelsonsdad's avatar

I can't read a WAPO article, not even one, because no, I will not humble myself to give them my email. Bezos killed a once great newspaper.

Ann's avatar

The most important part of creating a successful enterprise is having an eye for the right talent and then giving them the freedom to do their work.

Dale of Green Gables's avatar

Your mention of George Lois reminds me of another graphic master, Milton Glaser, who pretty much ushered in a new era of publication design and graphic design in general during the '60s.

John E Simpson's avatar

Glaser was also at Esquire, wasn't he? Or was it New York Magazine? [Of course, duh, I could just look him up...]

Dale of Green Gables's avatar

You're right. He was a founder of New York Magazine and served as art director for close to 10 years. Also did covers for The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Life, Time and a number of other magazines. Did at least one cover for Esquire.

https://i0.wp.com/www.printmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/4cbe8d_c9add939f17c4e5aa2f58691b1d72d05mv2.jpg?resize=1000%2C1317&quality=89&ssl=1

John E Simpson's avatar

In college, I didn't do a straight Journalism major -- went for Journalism's more amorphous cousin, "Communications." This meant (among other things) that I got to see and work with a lot more design and visual-media projects than I would have otherwise... I *worshipped* the publications those folks (Lois, Glaser, et al.) produced, for their "looks" and layout principles as much as for the words poured into those structures. When I edited the college opinion magazine, we didn't have the budget to do full color, but within the B&W/monochrome limits I explicitly modeled us after Philadelphia Magazine's (which had followed in New York's footsteps).

Such a damned shame that those tight integrations of verbal content and design apparently can't be made to work on the Web-based "publications," even when supported by subscriptions.

Yehawes (VA)'s avatar

Your point may be you found a way to make yourself feel better, but it's also that the way to build reader fellowship and engagement is to let the readers engage: ..."develop a personality, an attitude, in which the reader becomes not just a reader but a partner". It sounds like you are describing Substack, and we're glad you are here with personality and attitude.

Leslie G's avatar

Read WaPo? Not on your Nellie.

junk food for the snarky soul's avatar

here's a strange thing, I really really actually just now saw in a different location BOTH of those Dave Barry covers, cause I'm rereading a Dave Barry book. I;m going to try to make some universe telling me something cause I just know the universe, its great vastness spreading, always spreading across unfilled Space time continuums is very interested in my personal existence and wants to ell me something, without however, doing it in a way which I might actually understand.

junk food for the snarky soul's avatar

forgot to say glad to see them here because I couldn't read them on my Kindle, because I;m old.