SP leaves us alone for one day to do important stuff like pack for a move and we drop the ball on a midday post. I tell you folks, she’s the person who keeps this site running, and everyone should bow and scrape shamelessly to her. Shit, I can’t make the links run on time every day. Anyhow, happy Monday. I’m studying for what I fondly hope are my last set of M$ tests ever. The GRE was a fucking joke compared to their shitty, hard, nit-picky exams. But the upside is that they’re mostly worth a shit if you have some experience, and its a voluntary non-governmental solution to figuring out who the fuck to hire.*
Most Austin bank-robber ever? Here’s a tip, you don’t want the getaway vehicle associated with you.
I am reliably told that handguns never resolve any situation peaceably. I’m sure this is just an aberration.
After outliving its desired service lifespan by 15 (Earth) years, it appears that the Opportunity Mars rover may be dead. If only we could get that kind of service life out of cell-phones.
It must have been pretty shitty when this thief tried the pills he stole.
For all you people who live in the cold parts. I’m not there because…
*If you make hiring decisions, technology certifications should match experience. Its a big red flag if they don’t (Jimbo has 4 MSCEs but has never done anything but helpdesk? Maybe he shouldn’t be hired as your Director of IT Operations). Also, lots of very talented, knowledgeable people in my and other IT fields never bother getting certifications.
For all you people who live in the cold parts. I’m not there because…
Because you’re a wuss?
Ima tryna drive across the South in the morning. Pray for me.
The cold keeps the riff-raff out.
Projected -70 degF when adding the windchill in the Northwoods
Dang.
I saw Blue Oyster Cult play live last night. Holy cow, they still got it. Great show!
How was the quantity of cowbell?
This is actually pretty funny. They dragged a local up on stage and put a muted cowbell in his hand and let him wail on that thing throughout Don’t Fear The Reaper. It was delightful.
That’s great, I bet the crowd loved it.
The guy did such a good job with his cowbell solo, they gave him a microphone and had him sing Cities On Flame. Yes, the crowd loved it!
Hmmm…. any proof that this guy was a local?
Sounds like Cirque du Puree.
Good for BOC. That’s probably the best way to handle it.
That’s awesome. So nice when a band that has been around forever can still bring it.
I’ve seen them twice, both times in Santa Fe. Great show, great band, great music.
But the first time around was at a criminally shitty venue. Might have been Camel Rock.
If you make hiring decisions, technology certifications should match experience
I’ll always respect the fact that Cisco offered their cert classes to their employees for free, and they strongly encouraged all the engineers on their products to get and maintain CCNA and appropriate CCIE certs. I didn’t end up getting any certs, but that was because I was dragging my feet like a groom at a shotgun wedding.
If you don’t know how to administer a network, how can you expect to engineer one?
If you don’t know how to administer a network, how can you expect to engineer one?
One of the perks of being in a government job: competence doesn’t matter.
I have no need for the networking certs, but they also offer a gazillion other programming classes for free to employees. I’ve taken multiple python, C++, and openstack courses. My boss wants me to learn more Java, but I’d rather just ritual seppuku myself than suffer through that kind of torture.
I took all of the python classes offered, as well as a few others.
Really helped when we switched to a python based automation system a couple years later.
Heck, I still write in python when I need little scripts to automate this or that.
Weather Underground is predicting -33 for the wee hours of Thursday morning. That will be a personal best for me and will extend my personal experience from -33 to +121 (Phoenix when they closed the airport way back when).
Damn, that is cold. I was feeling bad about the -13F we’re supposed to have tomorrow night. -33 seems like you gotta be careful not to get frostbite just taking a piss.
76 yesterday. Went out to lunch with the family at Simmzy’s, and ended up on the patio day drinking in the sun.
So?
Wednesday – we’re supposed to get windchills of -26 degrees, ambient temp of -1. Lowest I’ve ever experienced -as far as I know – was -17F. Which made the pipes freeze in my rental house, causing a waterfall from the second floor down to the basement. Good times.
Don’t go chasing waterfalls.
Weather maps are showing wind chills of -50 to -60.
And then it’s supposed to be 40ish by Sat/Sun.
A little farther north we’e looking at a forecast of -37. High tomorrow of -18. I’m supposed to get a wash machine delivered tomorrow, hope their truck starts.
That’s normal from MN so I’ve been told. You betcha.
My sister lives in the southern part of MN. By the time I wake up on Thursday, it’s supposed to be around -5 here and -30 there. I may text her to apologize for not being able to send my warm weather her way.
NWS forecasts -22 for the low Wednesday morning here in my part of southern Iowa, and a high of -8
I expect them to cancel school Wednesday.
Never experienced temps so low.
Coldest high forecast here is tomorrow at -16 with -40 on Wednesday night.
If we’re comparing badges, I’ve experienced -40s several times and -50s twice. The coldest I’ve been in (well not really, I was sleeping) is -60 when we lived in Babbitt, about 10 miles from Embarrass, MN which unofficially got to -64 back in ’96. That is the night Tower got the official record of -60 since it was an approved NWS site.
Anyone here ever read Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”?
These temperatures are sounding straight out of that short story.
Coldest I’ve ever experienced was an unofficial temperature of -55° Celsius (-67° Fahrenheit) back in Edmonton, Alberta in December of 1976. The official temperature, at the airport, was considerably warmer IIRC — something like -41 or so. I had a buddy who was an AGT employee who had a (for-then) newfangled super-expensive digital thermometer he borrowed from work, and we went down to the bottom of one of the deep ravines (100+ feet down) that feed into the North Saskatchewan River valley. That’s where we recorded -55. Zero wind down there, thank God.
Never experienced temps like that again, and never want to. That whole December was just freakin’ brutal.
My personal coldest was -77F in Fairbanks by official temps, but I swear that it was colder north of Norway’s North Cape in early Feb 1988. My official highest was 126 in Tucson in 1991, but I think it was higher in Baghdad in 2003 when the asphalt in the streets was melting onto my boots.
Great googly-moogly.
Everyone who complains about global warming has never considered the alternative. I despise cold — and of course, as I age, I’m getting more and more sensitive to it. It may drop to zero Celsius (+32 Fahrenheit) tonight at Casa BEAM, and my hands are friggin’ icicles right now.
Mammary Monday needs your support to make the day perky!
http://archive.is/FEFTY
Damn, look at all those nice, warm… beaches.
Like this … beach … best:
https://archive.is/FEFTY/3c7e7588991a0a5502413b5e117e5568ec1fd2e6
This was eye catching too:
https://archive.is/FEFTY/a89c4ae0a4fb301436db5676a9cb0b2e88a08b2d
No need to go past 2.
From 2001, more relevant than ever.
…
Any time I see “historical”, “systemic”, or “power structures”, I know that some serious bullshit is about to follow.
They really think that they can scare people into shutting up and going along. You call people racist without cause then those people no longer have any motivation to not be racist. And the actual racists and white supremacists and eliminationists are waiting with open arms to embrace them.
Of course maybe the left wants this to happen and thinks that they can purge them.
They’ve played the long game by infecting the educational system and moving the Overton Window. I have to give them credit for that, the bastards.
Progtards, you magnificent bastards, I (was forced to) read your book(s in school)!
That’s because they tried the quick, short road, and it generally ended in disaster. The Fabian strategy was not decided upon from the outset, but only by observation of how severe changes often met with severe backlash, precipitating failure. And even then, many of their fellow travelers were too impatient to learn. But those who stuck with it have seen results.
“You call people racist without cause then those people no longer have any motivation to not be racist. And the actual racists and white supremacists and eliminationists are waiting with open arms to embrace them.”
Exactly. When the only choices are be cowed into self-hatred and shame or ally with people who treat you like a human being (and unfortunately happen to be honest-to-G-d racists) many people will choose the latter. I don’t think Lefties realize the fire they’re playing with here. It’s politically expedient and assumes that large numbers of people will peacefully accept marginalization. They don’t have the imagination to understand the violence that could result, much in the way Antifa assumes people won’t fight back.
Not to mention that the left is full of honest-to-God racists* who enjoy wide support from all the power structures that they’ve successfully taken over.
*the good kind
There is another problem they are facing. It has been so long since the right has been violent that the left has forgotten exactly how much better at violence the right is. If the right gets violent and starts playing identity politics in any numbers then it will not be random mobs of undisciplined teens role playing anarchist in the streets but highly disciplined and motivated soldiers taking direct action against the enemies threatening everything they hold dear
I think this article that someone pointed out the other day does a convincing job explaining why this isn’t necessarily meaningful.
TL;DR – the left is far more organized than the right and has more mainstream support
It’s a sobering article. If reasonably accurate, it basically means “The western world is going to become Venezuela, whether we want to or not.”
I’m buying more ammo. And mebbe a shotgun — I don’t have a good area-effect weapon for the spousal unit.
*If you make hiring decisions, technology certifications should match experience. Its a big red flag if they don’t (Jimbo has 4 MSCEs but has never done anything but helpdesk? Maybe he shouldn’t be hired as your Director of IT Operations). Also, lots of very talented, knowledgeable people in my and other IT fields never bother getting certifications.
Duh. You shouldn’t look at certifications or experience. Just what the person has identified as on Twitter.
And you shouldn’t pick on the Pope. Bad things can happen, IYKWIM.
I doubt that Jimbo was ever any much help on the helpdesk, either.
Give prospective hires a simple test related to skills needed on the job. I once interviewed someone with a b.s. in accounting. He missed four out of five simple bookkeeping questions, so we declined to hire. He was a minority, too, but the fact we gave the same test to all applicants sort of avoided any kind of discrimination suit.
Where in the world is SP?
Chicago? Phoenix (pronounced “Foe-nicks”) or somewheres between? Good luck, hope all is well, you crazy kids.
I believe D-Day is tomorrow, but I have no idea how they’ll load out in the shit I’m seeing on TV.
I thought they said they were leaving on Thursday.
That’s how you keep people on their toes. I bet there are at least 3 decoy vans leaving on different schedules.
Live view of OMWC and SP’s moving armada
I bet there are at least 3 decoy vans leaving on different schedules.
Lot of good that will do. The real one is the one with “Free Candy” painted on the side.
OMWC is a Jew. His van offers candy at wholesale prices.
A developing story in the beer world about an allegedly bad brewer conning his way into several breweries and running them into the ground. So far the only collaboration I see is the original story, the Paste version, and a reddit thread.
(TLDR short version)
“talk a big enough game and a background check won’t be required. Talk an even bigger game and even fool business partners and investors.”
Not even the briefest of google searches? tsk tsk
If I give anyone more than say, $5, I want concrete proof. That includes the homeless guy on the corner.
Sounds like any number of VPs that have gone through the company I work for.
1) Get hired using a lot of buzzwords and BS stories
2) Promise to put some grand plan in place
3) fail miserable
4) stay on for a year or two or thee
5) eventually get fired or get hired at another company promising the same BS
6 – Profit!
+1 Lean Expert
My retirement career is going to be Agile Coach. Most organizations are so dysfunctional that any guidance you give them is going to be better than where they were going, and every time they fuck it up for structural reasons, you can just hold a “retrospective” and urge them to try harder.
An expert is anyone with wingtip shoes and more than twenty miles from home.
My company has a fucking VP of Lean. Are you kidding me? Dude gets paid a quarter million/year to throw buzzwords and empty platitudes around. Almost as easy and worthless as HR.
And they say irony is dead.
The real funny part is that he takes co-credit anytime someone actually comes up with a serious cost-saving idea by noting all such ideas stem from Lean implementation . The gig is pure genius.
VP of Lean?
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Lean
We have a VP of Sizzurp.
Pardon my spelling derps.
*miserably
*three
Good use of original buzz words. You’re hired.
I believe the profit for the VP is at step 4, the profit for the company of course never materializes
That is not me.
BGBC gets a mention in the article. I have heard stories about them, but it was before my time in BG.
What I can’t figure out is why he can’t make decent beer. Its not that hard. And despite what the article says, lack of pasteurization isn’t a problem (well, it can be, if you have no clue what you are doing).
There were a couple things that raised yellow flags for me, like the mention of frequent infections even as he was overdoing it with sanitation and cleaning (both of those things should not be happening at the same time), the pasteurization one was another one (bottle conditioning is a thing for a reason), and the number of places that supposedly hired him without checking out the previous brewers (or even his beers). Either this is a real story, and it’ll get some more validation, or someone wrote a fairly detailed scam piece.
Mars Rover Opportunity is one of the great success stories of space exploration. Originally designed for a 90-day surface mission, but that number is pretty much the length of time that the contractor (JPL) guarantees the equipment will work. These are incredibly well-engineered and -built machines and that there is a reasonable expectation that our rovers and probes may far exceed their service lives.
I think of Mars Rover, and then I think of the billion dollar lasik job on Hubble.
A great success story, but also one of the few.
New Horizons was also a fabulous success.
Mars Rover Opportunity is one of the great success stories of space exploration.
Indeed. It and it’s twin were rousing successes. I remember reading at the time they were landed successfully that the EU space agency had unsuccessfully tried to land their own rover a year earlier. Always struck me as a bit of a show-off move by NASA to go for two simultaneously, but I did enjoy a bit of nationalist schadenfreude at the result.
The man with the gun who held Fitzgerald for police was forced to the ground when troopers arrived but he is not facing any charges. No injuries were reported.
Lucky the cops didn’t shoot him, which is one of the things I worry about if I am ever in the situation of playing “good-samaritan” attempting to stop a bad guy.
I’d seriously consider putting the gun away the moment I heard sirens. If the idiot in the Infiniti wants to talk off again (without the old man on the hood), let the cops deal with it.
“take off”
This is why you
wanna be vigilantes…ergun nutz… uh, concerned citizens need to think ahead and carry Zip-ties/cuffs/knock-out gas/duct tape as well as your firearms.“carry Zip-ties/cuffs/knock-out gas/duct tape”
What makes you think I don’t?
As well as lots of six mil, a few power saws, surgical gloves…
…quicklime…
Get a sharp boning knife and you don’t need the power saws…or so I’ve read.
I was about to post about this. Fuck that. These pants-shitting cops are the reason I rarely carry concealed. Why bother when Officer Douchey is more likely to shoot me over a furtive movement than I am to defend myself against a ‘bad-guy with a gun’?
That is the real calculus. How much does the probability of death by criminal hands drop in comparison to the probability of death by police hands.
I am not convince that calculus is positive.
At this moment my mood say that the calculus is negative. Police shoot way more people per year than ‘mass shooters.’
I’ve been in a dark place since I listened to a couple podcasts about Schaeffer Cox. Us Sheeple can be executed extrajudicially pretty much any time the state wants.
Mass shooters are irrelevant. You are more likely to be struck by lightning.
The issue is ordinary street crime. Street crime was a significant party of deciding to leave Phoenix and head back home to Iowa (regardless of how fucking cold it is).
But even Iowa isn’t safe anymore. There was an armed carjacking in the parking lot of a Walmart about 3 miles from where I work. I have been known to shop in that place every now and then.
But more importantly, “liberals” think it’s OK to punch people for wearing the wrong cap.
So now I have a gun.
But even Iowa isn’t safe anymore.
I live way out in the rural boondocks of SW VA. A couple years ago, there was a large Bloods vs. Crips shoot-out here at one of the tiny country churches. One of my wife’s coworkers was caught in it as a bystander but survived. I’m still amazed that happened here.
I was just using mass shooters as an example to juxtapose with police shootings. People are acutely aware that there is a chance (highly unlikely) that some psycho might come to where you are and start blasting away. They are much less aware that statistically you have a much better chance of being involved in an ‘officer involved shooting’ with a psycho wearing a badge, particularly if you are carrying. Getting pulled over for a traffic violation is infinitely more dangerous than attending a concert, movie or going to a school.
This was one thing that led me to post what I did the other night about selling my 380. I’m not going to carry it, and honestly, if I did, I’d fuck things up somehow.
Employer is paying for cert classes this year, so I’m kind of loading up on them over the next couple of months. “Cyber Ops” still makes me want to puke, then commit seppeku though.
Tell them that you’re already proficient in 4-Chan.
*ponders placing Ai Chan competency on resume*
But politics by invective is a double-edged weapon. Intelligent people will ultimately stop believing these accusations.
I used to believe that. Now, I’m on the fence.
That was my favorite bit. Paglia said that in 2001.
I have no idea how they’ll load out in the shit I’m seeing on TV.
Eep. I think I saw a “more snow a’comin'” headline on teh googul.
Dr. Ruth Will Now Break Down Sex For Millennials
I can’t wait for Dr. Ruth to fall afoul of the new rules for discussing gender.
She’s old and white. Nothing can save her.
She has a vagine. So long as she voices support for Team Blue, she’ll get a pass.
Don’t go to bed with anybody you do not have a relationship with.
Yeah, I think she already has run afoul of the Millennial Twitter Gestapo with that bit of slut-shaming.
The government has already pushed through several measures to boost employment, including cutting the cost of labour as well as the introduction of the so-called active model aimed at pushing unemployed job seekers back to work.
GASP.
Double Gasp, I replied to the wrong story.
Cheaper whores will solve the problem of ghosting?
Ghosting is not a problem in Finland, that’s all I am saying.
What about Those Who Haunt? Why do you hate them?
You have a wonderful sexual experience, and then in many cases, HE doesn’t call
Hmm sounds like Female Privledge. The man isn’t your property, he doesn’t owe you a call / sarc?
sarc?
It isn’t really, though. Or, at least it shouldn’t be. If you accept the whole calculus of consent that the Millennials demand, there really isn’t a reason to contend either party owes the other party anything. In effect, the objection to ghosting is premised on the notion that the woman is “owed” a relationship.
There was an implicit agreement that he would make himself available and accommodating until she gets tired of him and dumps his ass. Why would she have slept with him in the first place if he didn’t agree to that??
Seriously though, if the issue were with women ghosting men after a date, we’d be mocking the dumb incels who can’t take a hint.
Sorry, but unless there’s enthusiastic consent, no implicit agreement can be considered legitimate. Just because he didn’t explicitly announce that he only wanted a one-night stand, doesn’t relieve her of the obligation to obtain his affirmative consent.
“Sex for Dummies, for millennials”
This redundancy is redundant.
What millennials need is some sort of app to teach them about sex.
Nah, just need to update the Leisure Suit Larry game.
Millennials ruin everything.
Originally designed for a 90-day surface mission, but that number is pretty much the length of time that the contractor (JPL) guarantees the equipment will work.
“Well, bring it in, and we’ll take a look at it.”
Our warranty covers parts and labor, but not shipping.
Shoulda paid more for the on-site service plan option.
You guys…
Getting one of the rovers back would give us a tremendous amount of info about how equipment weathers on the surface of mars. Wouldn’t be surprised if they make that a goal for late 2020s or sometime 2030s.
Isn’t that how you get the Andromeda Strain?
Finland, the world’s happiest country, gets a reality check on job creation
I thought the robot revolution would take care of this problem. Or is the problem that robots don’t pay taxes?
That is only in Japan
“Motion carried, good work boys.”
I thought they were just the drunkest nation?
They’re happy because they’re drunk?
Well, no one’s happy while hung-over, so that checks out. They keep the unhappiness at bay by maintaining a state of perpetual drunkenness.
I thought the Danes* were the happiest people in the world with their Hygge.
*Hamlet excepted.
Is Hygge how you say beastiality in Dutch?
It roughly translates to cozy living.
The lamentations of the laid off “journalists” and the freakout about learning to code has reminded me of a scene from the book of wisdom that has been handed down through the generations in my family. The book is Barefoot Boy with Cheek by Max Schulman. It’s about a country bumpkin who goes off to the mythical University of Minnesota.
Early in the book the bumpkin meets with his adviser who tells him to take a bunch of classes like the Ethnology of India, the History of Architecture, Abnormal Psychology, Rural Sociology, etc.
As he’s wrapping up his meeting with the adviser, he confesses, “I would really like to be a writer when I grow up. Will the program you made out for me help me become a writer?” to which the adviser replies, “Why bless you child. You follow that program, and there’s nothing else you can be.”
The book was written in the ’40s, but it’s still applicable today.
…was actually one of the best classes I took in college. Of course, I was an architecture major at the time.
The new administration will need to raise the employment rate to 75 per cent of working-age Finns by 2023, and to 80 per cent after that, according to a civil servants’ report published on Monday (Jan 28) that outlines the key challenges ahead.
Guarantee them all jobs. Piece of cake.
Elizabeth Warren’s proposed ‘ultra-millionaire tax’ would be the rape of the Constitution
Something something STEVE SMITH…
“I’m in,” she says, “on the notion that we have to rewrite the tax code.” And a policy like the one she proposes, say two UC Berkeley economists, “would shrink the wealth of the superrich by $2.75 trillion over a 10-year period, while only affecting around 75,000 U.S. households.”
“Ultra-millionaire.” “Superrich.” As you can see, this is all very scientific and measured stuff.
In truth, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed 70% tax on the “tippy tops” of income earners looks downright sober and rational compared to Warren’s proposed policy. And for all Ocasio-Cortez’s ignorance about how government works (the three branches of government are not, in fact, “the presidency, the Senate, and the House,” as she recently proclaimed), at least her proposed tax plan appears constitutional. Yet Warren, a Harvard law professor, has proposed a tax plan which is, not potentially, but certainly unconstitutional.
This can be proven quite simply to anyone who cares to learn.
The Sixteenth Amendment of 1913 gave the federal government an additional right to tax income, and only income. Most federal revenue currently derives from this method of taxation. Individual income tax, business income tax (corporate tax), payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare — all are collected as a percentage of income earned, and the government is deemed within its right to collect these revenues only because the Sixteenth Amendment exists.
Now, you don’t have to be an economist or a Harvard law professor to know that “net worth” is not “income,” and that the Sixteenth Amendment could not uphold the constitutionality of Warren’s proposal.
Constitution shmonstitution. It ain’t a suicide pact. We have to
steal propertylevy taxes because equality. The rich are just hoarding all of their wealth and destroying democracy. Do you even care about theunbornchildren?Joking aside, commies never consider the legality or lack thereof of their proposals. Some things, however unwise, may be constitutional for any particular state to implement but not constitutional for the federal government. But these are the same people that see “the right of the people…shall not be infringed.” and think “there’s a lot of ambiguity there”.
-1 Necessary and proper
Was any of that wealth created out of state or held out of state? If so, Commerce Clause, bitches. Now pay up.
How is the estate tax constitutional then?
It isn’t considered a tax on the property of the estate, but rather a tax upon the transfer of that property upon death?
You are correct sir
https://gspp.berkeley.edu/news/news-center/the-constitutionality-of-a-net-worth-tax
It’s essentially a transfer tax.
“In truth, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed 70% tax on the “tippy tops” of income earners looks downright sober and rational compared to Warren’s proposed policy.”
I can’t help but wonder if this was the whole point.
+1 center stage effect
It was the cornerstone of most of Obama’s policy speeches.
“There are those who would say (2 ridiculous straw man proposals that nobody has actually proposed). We must compromise, find common ground, and do (the thing that is definitely not a compromise)”.
The whole point is that the truly rich will dodge this shit with ease. Then they’ll move it down / inflate the middle class up into the range and really make some money.
You know how asset forfeiture is “constitutional”?
They’ll use the same argument here, and the courts will probably buy it.
“I’m in,” she says, “on the notion that we have to rewrite the tax code.” And a policy like the one she proposes, say two UC Berkeley economists, “would shrink the wealth of the superrich by $2.75 trillion over a 10-year period, while only affecting around 75,000 U.S. households.”
This is probably some of the same thing as progs were saying when the income tax was first proposed. “Only the superrich will have to pay income taxes!!11!!1”
Why was the guy on the hood of the car charged with disorderly conduct?
FYTW.
He certainly didn’t end up there because he’s a reasonable guy, just caught out in weird circumstances.
Seat belt laws?
That would be funny. Only an ex-military cop could be that much of a humorous dick.
He didn’t just wake up on there. He got all red-assed over a fender bender rather than pulling over and calmly exchanging info.
Apparently they were yelling and screaming at each other, and when the one guy went to leave, he jumped on the hood.
So criminally stupid should be the charge.
I’m more surprised that the driver with a gun wasn’t charged.
Do you suppose it will take him a year to get his gun back, or longer/never?
It’s psychotically cold and brutal out there. -30c with the wind chill. Now another storm is about to slam us. We’re getting bitch slapped by Mother Nature!
God hates Canada (and Buffalo)
Everybody does.
It stayed in the 50s all day today! That happens once, maybe twice all year.
And all the Quebecois I saw today were wearing heavier coats than the Floridians. It’s hilarious.
Really? The second it hits 12c here the shorts and sandals come out.
That’s -22 in real degrees, so Canada balmy?
Canada stupid cold.
But at least we don’t have Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her retardation.
I know, it’s been single-digit Celsius here for a while. And now I see it might dip into freezing overnight. Monstrous. What’s next? Snow?!
So much of the progressive agenda seems to be just a series of conspiracy theories. Right now we’re living through the “Venezuela is collapsing because of American sanctions” conspiracy theory (strange how Russia and Iran haven’t collapsed under the same sanctions). Before that was the “that Catholic school boy was literally smiling and I don’t care what the tapes say that’s racist” conspiracy theory. Before that was the “boofing truther” conspiracy theory that went like this “‘boofing’ doesn’t actually mean what Kavanaugh said it means, because of Urban dictionary”. And before that (and still captivating the feeble minds of progressives) are Russia Fever Dreams.
We can go all the way back to 2000 to see how important baseless conspiracy theories have become for progressives (“muh, Bush stole the election”).
No evidence supports any of these insane conspiracy theories, but we all have to pretend like they’re measured and not completely insane. If you don’t pretend like there’s any merit to them you are deemed “far right” and therefore a baddie or, for libertarians, a “yokel” by the cosmos who so desperately want to be liked and are willing to sacrifice any principle to achieve that goal.
This article never gets old.
https://www.salon.com/2013/03/06/hugo_chavezs_economic_miracle/
Progressive lap running, like wine, gets better with age
Venezuela’s consular officer in Miami turns her back on Maduro, joining her compatriots in DC and (apparently) Houston
I blame capitalism.
I blame SugarFree.
Wow. I really shoulda refreshed.
If you’re reading other peoples’ comments, you’re doing it wrong.
Not just comments.
This was me listing to your stories last time we hung out.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MtObrnaovrI/hqdefault.jpg
But, I was describing the suit a cymbal-playing monkey was wearing!
Mediocre minds think alike.
As in wealth keeps people from wanting to join the socialist revolution?
Every time I bring up the “talk to an expat who suffered under Maduro/Chavez and see what they say” argument to one of “them”, I’ll get told that the expats living in the US are just wreckers and kulaks trying to destroy Venezuela.
Yes because capitalism will fail under the weight of its own contradictions and socialism needs someone to destroy it.
Of course history shows the exact opposite but what are you going to do.
I blame SugarFree
Totally necessary
For instance, right now, all 50 states have laws in their books against animal cruelty on the state level. But what if the animals being tortured cross state lines?
If the bill passes, authorities can go after the wrongdoers because they have federal jurisdiction. They can also prosecute criminals if the cruelty occurs on federal property.
“This is commonsense, bipartisan legislation to bring some compassion to our animal laws,” Rep. Deutch said. “We’ve acted in the past to stop the horrific trend of animal abuse videos; now it’s time to make the underlying acts of cruelty a crime as well.”
Under the PACT Act, a person can be prosecuted for crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, and impaling animals and sexually exploiting them.
The legislation contains exceptions for hunting.
The bill has been endorsed by the National Sheriffs Association and the Fraternal Order of Police. Those convicted under the PACT Act would face federal felony charges, fines and up to seven years in prison.
Nothing to do with federal task force loot or asset seizure. Just empathy and human kindness.
Yeah, if rape is outside the purview of interstate Commerce, so is animal cruelty. It’ll take the Supreme Court about 2 seconds flat to strike this down.
suffocating
Many reptile hobbyists use CO2 chambers to humanely euthanize mice and rats before feeding to their snakes. I wonder if this will be used against them.
A lot people also put down their own animals because it can become exceedingly expensive using a vet (for example, my neighbor used a shotgun when his pitbull attacked bit his guest). I also wonder how this falls on them. Allowing the unrestricted selling of “blue juice” would do more for reducing animal cruelty than any bill.
“Many reptile hobbyists”
Hmm where is Mr. Lizard
This is getting ridiculous.
Waters: More Diverse Financial Institutions Needed, Particularly in Management
She also wants to float another reparations bill.
“Minorities and women”
Everyone but the white dudes get bennies.
“to address a lack of access to financial services for female consumers and minorities.”
Bank of America and Wells Fargo are locking their doors when they see women and minorities walking down the sidewalk?
Oh sure. I see it every day.
I can foresee Occluded-Cortex or Liewatha claiming that women and minorities only get offered loans while white males only get offered savings accounts, And that the interest on the loans is HIGHER!
She reiterated her support for a “huge” bill dedicated to ending homelessness, which she estimated would include more than $13 billion to tackle the issue
Future Headline.
Homeless population explodes in spite of 13 billion dollars spent to resolve issue. Waters to ask for 30 billion dollars in next appropriations bill. “We’re not spending enough.”, she states.
NYC on its own already spends billions on the homeless every year.
With all this diversity whining I’ve yet to see anyone interview one the the myriad (there must be tons of them) women or PoC with an MSEE or MBA that can’t find a job.
Lol
Diverse like payday lenders vs. banks, or “diverse” like “looks exotic, thinks exactly like us”?
None dare call it fascism.
Why don’t they just say they want more party members in positions of influence?
That would at least be honest.
For whoever might be interested, here’s Scott Horton on the Lions of Liberty talking about the Russia/Ukraine ongoing situation and what led up to it:
https://lionsofliberty.com/2019/01/28/scott-horton-on-ukraine-russia-trump-and-nazis/
As usual when it comes to Horton it was very informative.
Too Long Didn’t Listen: Once again we’re sticking our nose where it doesn’t belong.
Scott Horton also discussed this a month ago on his own podcast with Aaron Mate at the Nation. I’ll have to listen to this one too
Mate knows his stuff so I’ll have to give that one a listen. iTunes?
Waters noted that she is creating a new “diversity and inclusion” Financial Services subcommittee to address a lack of access to financial services for female consumers and minorities. Waters argued that minorities and women are not adequately represented in financial services industry jobs, particularly at the management level.
I’m pretty sure it’s not *illegal* for women and/or minorities to provide banking services. The only alternative explanation is racism and misogyny.
I’m pretty sure it will be *illegal* for banking services to hire a man if they don’t have the right number of women and/or minorities. If you don’t agree, you’re chock full of racism and misogyny, you shitlord.
Financial services are ripe for this type of action. Bankers already have regulators beating down their necks on a frequent basis.
Tyler Cowen asks a question. Why don’t those temporarily furloughed workers have any money in their cookie jars?
Don’t worry, he bashes Trump.
Alternatively, you might blame this whole episode on President Donald Trump being mean and erratic, and see talk of low savings rates as irrelevant. That is an attempt at sleight of hand and emotional distraction. Insofar as the president is mean and erratic, it is yet another reason Americans should be saving more.
It has been a staple of common-sense morality for centuries that people ought to save for an uncertain future. It would be a shame if such talk is on the verge of becoming politically incorrect because it sounds too much like blaming the victim.
Trump’s presidency has created many victims. Let’s not allow common sense to become yet another of its casualties. Most Americans really ought to be saving more. It shouldn’t be controversial to point this out, even if the most obvious illustrations of this national failure also happen to be the most recent victims of Trump’s ineptitude.
Why don’t Americans save? Maybe he should ask Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellin.
During the last shut down my sister was caught because she and my BiL just raided their savings to pay off their mortgage early. But yes aside from bad timing that shouldn’t happen for most people.
Why don’t Americans save?
I’d say its less about government policy, and more about personal lack of willingness to do so.
Anecdote:
One of my sisters and her husband have rather high paying jobs for the area they live in, and a house that they could probably have paid off in about 2-3 years without really trying.
They also have a Jeep, Camaro, and a pickup. Go to a dozen or more Pro-sporting events every year(including playoffs when their teams are in it). Bars, parties, comedy clubs, and on and on.
They could be saving 40-50% of their income and live modestly, or even 20-30% and still have a lot of fun and luxury.
I mention saving to her and the thought is like kryptonite to Superman.
“Yo, all my bros are headed to Cancun for the weekend, so I just had to max out my credit cards so I could go with them.” Anyone worthy of the term “adult” who isn’t disabled or in jail should have 3-6 months “rainy day money” set aside. Even if your job isn’t likely to go away (I’m talking about you government drones.)
I hear Cancun has a “chop off 2 head for the price of 1” special.
Meh, unless your definition of “adult” is saddling oneself with responsibilities, one can easily go through life without “rainy day money” as long as your obligations aren’t greater than your rock bottom opportunities.
The patriarchy strikes again!
Bitches are being kept down!
So they are saying bitches be crazy?
So all this time I have been deafaming dogs by calling women bitches
IN my own subfield of IT, Software QA, pretty much nobody in the States gets a certification because there isn’t one which is worth a damn but my understanding is the ISTQB is pretty much required in India and strongly recomended in much of Europe
The only time I’ve been pushed (as a developer) to get certifications was when it benefited the company, because the number of certifications/certified people was important to gaining/keeping partner status with Microsoft.
Most software sucks. Wtf do u do?
Not work on most software.
That said my job is not to prevent shitty software from getting released, my job it just to tell the bosses just how shitty the software is before it is released then they make a business decision as to whether that is a big enough risk to delay the release (and it almost never is).
I also spend far more time trying to teach business analysts and product owners how to actually write meaningful requirements than I do finding actual code bugs. My guess is that 65% of all of the defects I find are mis-identified, un-identified, or poorly defined requirements. Actual coding mistakes slipping into the QA environment are pretty rare these days
It’s scary how rare it is for a business person to really think through the consequences of the actions they’re asking for. If it’s a terrible idea, I’ll generally give them a couple of warnings, and ask for them to write it all off and sign off on it. Some examples:
If someone’s holding for 10 minutes, force them into a VM box.
Have a main menu with 15 options.
Force agents to select a wrap up code after every call
Send out inaccurate reports to managers
If someone’s been on hold for 30 minutes, play a message and disconnect the call
Have a queue that wouldn’t let callers wait in queue if you didn’t have agents available
So that was you ?
No. That was one we successfully talked them out of, by pointing out that all that would do is have those people call back in being pissed. It didn’t help that at their peak time the average hold times were usually over an hour. It was one of the worst managed call centers I’ve ever seen, they had their peak staffing between their peak call volume times, and wondered why they never hit their service levels. It didn’t help that their average handle times for calls was over 15 minutes, and they pushed back against any suggestions that would change their process.
That’s typical. Point out a process change that costs them comparatively little and the bureaucrats come from out of the woodwork to protect their precious process. Hell, they usually go apeshit about even answering a question about their process,
Lol. Same as it ever was. Certification was never go to fix such things, and I’d say your percentage is on the low side.
I used to love when people would have me a “spec” and ask for an estimate. Sometimes they would stand at my desk waiting for the estimate.
So I’d say “four months”. Typical response, “it can’t take that long. And the client would never go for it.” Then I’d rattle off a list of questions. Inevitably I’d ask “So how much are they paying use for all this analysis work?” and the answer was typically “We’re not charging them for the spec.” And I can never resist the response “Looks like they’re getting what they paid for.”
Half the time the request is for use to “fix” something on our end even though the real problem is in SAP but they charge a lot for analysis and coding so they’re trying to see if they can find some other sucker to do the work cheaper.
“hand me a spec”
Replace “SAP” with “CSC” and I’ve been there.
Cheap, good, fast.
Pick any two.
I usually tell them “They already picked cheap – us. Now your choice is thorough or bare bones.” And I usually remind them that the more thorough they want it the more testing time on their end they have to spend. There’s usually one or two people who have thought it through getting out-ranked by their only-knows-enough-to-be-dangerous bosses that appreciate that the boss will finally listen to them.
It probably comes off as my complaining, but I’ve been doing it long enough that I realize that IS the job and the value I add. There’s plenty of great coders out there will will take a shitty spec and code something that works and only after delivery the end users realize they want something else. And two or three more swipes at it they finally get what they want, but if they would have spent the time up front thinking about what they are asking they would have had what they wanted much sooner.
Seems the Big Sky is being left alone by the big cold front.
+26 today and not a cloud in the sky. Took the mountain bike for a ride in the fresh powder from yesterday. Wonderful.
I clicked on The Smoking Gun link and got to the site. After about 30 seconds I was redirected to what was supposedly a message from Google telling me there was an attempt to inflitrate my banking information and providing a toll free number. I couldn’t navigate away from the page. I had to use Task Manager to close Chrome. Did this happen to anyone else?
If you would send me your debit card number, I can help you with that.
Thanks. It’s… hey wait a minute.
Looks legit.
– John Podesta
Thats happend to me when I mis-typed druegreportt before.
I dont use Chrome and I generally have another tab, so I just X out.
A certain pr0n site would do it too….so I was told by a friend
Ahhhh that makes some sense.
My browser is set up to do a search from the address bar and/or show a list of “Top Hits” as I type. It would be almost impossible to mistype Drudge and hit some scammer.
Made it through the first day back with the bosses!
(I really like my bosses)
So I slipped on some ice yesterday and stabbed myself in the thenar real good. Like, there’s meat hanging out of it (but it’s a small cut in area). Gross.
Any advice for quick healing other than keeping in clean, dry, and protected?
If the underlying tissue is protruding from the wound, you need to get that checked. It won’t heal properly on its own.
NNNNnnooooooooo!!!!
Wash it out really well with betadine apply sterile nonstick gauze pad and wrap with sterile gauze. Change bandage daily. Any sign of infection means you go to the doctor immediately.
And by wash it out really well, I mean wash it really well and then soak it in a bowl of betadine for five minutes.
Are you Madge the manicurist by any chance?
“You’re soaking in it.”
https://www.aquaphorus.com/healing-ointment/
I wonder if Bag Balm would work the same way?
The “thenar eminence” sounds like something out of a fantasy epic.
+1 poisonous atmosphere and tentacles.
I can already hear Pete Townshend butchering the word to “Thenar Eminence Front”
Isn’t is also the mons Venus in palmistry?
What you did there was noticed.
Like, there’s meat hanging out of it (but it’s a small cut in area). Gross.
Post pics!
Seriously, if you haven’t had a tetanus shot recently, you should get one, and if the wound is big enough (doesn’t have to be that big), stitches. Also, do you have loss of feeling or function?
About two months ago, our foster-fail dog and foster dog got into a food fight, and I caught the worst of it trying to break it up. Result: gaping holes in my skin followed by 12 stitches total in three different places (Luckily, it didn’t bleed much.). Even then, it looks like I’ll end up with visible scars. Wounds like that are not to be ignored.
A sixth unreported demand was that he self castrate and place his former testicles in a velvet lined box crusted with the Crown Jewels.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/meghan-markle-inspires-prince-harry-to-make-changes-5-things-the-royal-dropped-for-his-bride
I thought he had a pair.
Now she does.
That makes me sad.
Before: “I want to marry you for who you are.”
During: “I do.”
After: “Now change.”
My mother hates The King and I for the same reason.
5 years from now: “You aren’t the man I married!”
“Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!”
/Yul Brynner
She seems nice.
So he can’t even drink to wash away the pain of all the other shit he’s had to give up? I’m throwing a yellow flag.
Incidentally thats why I’ve always passed on dating Mormon girls (no offense to any LDS folks). You can pry my morning coffee and afternoon beer from my cold, dead fingers.
Artist depiction of Harry in five years.
Add 50lbs.
Depends on how long he puts up with her shit, including the bread and water diet.
A friend of mine that tends towards the “too much information, dude” told me his wife wants him to get penis reduction surgery because she’s going through menopause and sex hurts. Being the thoughtful friend I am, I told him that her anus isn’t menopausal.
Now that’s a creative shit test. I hope for his sake that he didn’t even pretend to consider it.
Lopadickophomy?
Replace the KY with some orajel?
Wait…is this a Japanese friend?
Seems like fake news if so.
Well, he only deserves it. Harry was a Nazi once.
Not even a hard choice. He may not have much hair left, but he definitely got the better spouse.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6540705/Duchess-Cambridge-waited-Meghan-left-Sandringham-shooting.html
That’s good eatin’, right there.
The bird isn’t half bad either.
The connected video story
Meghan Markle accused of making Prince Harry more high maintenance
Jan. 28, 2019 – 1:13 – A veteran royal reporter says Meghan Markle may be making Prince Harry more high maintenance as his staff has allegedly said that he has been grumpy and aloof with his own inner circle of staff lately.
Yeah, no wonder. The obvious response question to Ms. Markle is “What the fuck are you giving up? Because it’s clear that being a bitch isn’t one of them.”.
If you give up booze, coffee, junk food and tobacco you may it may not live longer. But it will certainly feel like it.
I can go with out tobacco – easy peasy. I can minimize “junk food” – 3+ years keto. But, booze & coffee…NO FUCKING WAY.
No vices, no virtue.
I’m sure this report is all 100% true.
Holy Shit!
I’m in waiting room with NBC news playing on the TV. They just had a story about the raod rage / hood-riding incident. They completely ommitted the part aboit an armed civilian putting a stop to it.
It’s nothing but lies and propaganda.
They should have at least let everyone know that the police at least put him on his face for his efforts. Frankly I’m surprised they didn’t find something to charge him with. Over under on him having a cop relative in the state somewhere?
Lots of former Marines in the MA State Troopers. They aren’t nearly as scared of guns as their political overlords.
The driver was eventually stopped by others on the roadway, one going so far as to point a gun at the SUV to convince him to stop the car, NBC Boston reported.
Yep, lies and propaganda.
When are they going to dox the guy who used a gun? Now the real reporting begins.
A ‘right to disconnect’? New York City Council explores protecting off hours
New York City. Chasing off businesses 1 law at a time.
Fuck off, asshole. I don’t your tender mercies.
*needs a “need”
Or a “want”.
I’m perfectly capable of ignoring non-critical emails during my off hours. I know they are non-critical because I work with decent human beings who only text “did you see me email” when it is a no-shit, other people can’t work emergency that I am on the escalation chain for.
Yeah, I always knew when I had to available odd-hours, usually during or after a release. But more importantly my company wasn’t an asshole about it & they didn’t need a law to not be evil.
Interesting admission that getting rich is usually hard work.
Translation: My boss is cutting into my Twitter outrage mob time.
Yup. The very first line starts off with a girl named Yulia Laricheva bitching about being connected. And here is a link to her LinkedIn. In her off hours she has an outfit that is “a Creative Agency and a podcast amplifying women and diversity-led ideas“.
Pretty much a textbook case.
cause every job must fit in the 9-5 schedule
Conversely, set boundaries for your work, and all else fails, find another job that doesn’t have as much after hours work/travel/customer contact/office politics/whatever your particular workplace beef is.
“But the pay is too damn not high enough!”
Here’s an idea. Let’s be fair about this. You get disconnected from work when you step out the door, but you’re disconnected from all of the internet (including on your phone) except what is absolutely necessary for your job while you’re in the office.
Oh, disconnecting doesn’t sound so good now, does it?
Describes my job.