Thursday D-Day Afternoon Links

Its the 75th anniversary of the greatest seaborne invasion in the history of the world. Like most giant military operations, it was a cockup, but one in which the invading armies prevailed through the sheer courage of individuals.

Speaking of military operations gone south.

I hate everyone involved in this story.

This idea seems all wet. But did lead to this interesting factoid: “In the mid 1800s, Chilean breweries would tow small icebergs – sometimes fitted with sails – for refrigeration purposes.”

NYPD: We’re sorry we raided your club 50 years ago, gay people.

 

Comments

433 responses to “Thursday D-Day Afternoon Links”

  1. Playa Manhattan

    In the 80s, they were pitching the iceberg method as a solution to LA’s water shortage.

    I wonder how many permits and lawsuits it would take?

    1. Brett L

      Longer than you could keep an iceberg extant in the mid-latitudes of the Pacific?

      1. SDF-7

        Feature, not defect for the enviro-activists, I’m sure.

      2. BakedPenguin

        You could probably get some from Greenland. Oh wait, Algor said it would be ice-free by now.

      3. Playa Manhattan

        Eh…. the water here is pretty cold compared to the East Coast.

        1. Tonio

          ^This.

        2. Brett L

          I took that into account.

    2. Donation Not Taxation

      “How many permits and lawsuits” would nuclear desalination take?

    3. Tonio

      Don’t forget the bribes to the various unions. Your waterworks employees unionized?

      There would be no permitting required for the Antarctic and International Waters parts of the operation. He’d only have to worry about South Africa. They could always just dynamite it way offshore and bring the chunks (ie, house size or larger) into port in the hold of a ship.

      If this takes off we could help alleviate the access to clean water thing that is a big problem in Africa. AND sequester some of that water to alleviate sea level rise. WIN-WIN

    4. Raston Bot

      they were pitching it for the West Bank in the 90s.

      1. Playa Manhattan

        PBS just aired a special about the desal/ Dead Sea brine solution.

        They’re worried that mixing Dead Sea/Red Sea water will create….. gypsum, which could turn the Dead Sea white.

        1. Gypsum, tramps the seas!

          /Cher

          1. Playa Manhattan

            *shudder*

            That poor aircraft carrier.

            “If I could turn back time”… You can’t, so please don’t wear that anymore.

          2. SDF-7

            Battleship

          3. Playa Manhattan

            Someone is clearly a fan.

            I blocked it out.

          4. Rasilio

            hey that is not the only big gun Cher has performed on

          5. Fourscore

            I ain’t been sellin’ no bottles of doctored wood

    5. Scruffy Nerfherder

      There can be only one Ice PIrate

      1. Donation Not Taxation

        “only one?” If that’s the 1984 movie, there were two of them.

    6. bacon-magic

      They would have to put the “causes cancer” label on it.

    7. Chipwooder

      Hah, I remember it being a minor plot point in Brewster’s Millions

    8. pan fried wylie

      Climate Change is going to melt the ice caps and destroy the world, but moving the ice somewhere else to melt it is totes OK.

  2. SDF-7

    Well, if we’re starting to get bergs towed for meltwater, maybe Mexico will set up a laser launch system and we’ll get NERVAs back on the drawing boards. That would be nice…

    1. Yes. Someone else gets me!

  3. Don Escaped Texas

    The Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) . . . is derived from the Austrian Steyr 12 M 18 truck, but substantially modified to meet U.S. Army requirements, these including a minimum 50 per cent U.S. content source

    Pretty sure the air-conditioning compressor is Chinese if it’s made by Oshkosh.

    1. Sensei

      And the content requirement aids to its capabilities in what way?

      1. mikey

        And the question of capabilities is relaven in what way?

        1. Sensei

          I’d like to see our service members not die unnecessarily while recognizing there are occupational hazards.

          1. mikey

            Just being snarky. the domestic content thing is all about jerbs.
            I’ve sat through more than one pitch for a weapon system the showed a map the the congressional districts of the subcontractor.

      2. Tonio

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_American_Act

        One of the rationales I have heard for this is that it keeps domestic production lines going so that we can produce our own widgets if, for instance, Mozambique cuts off our supply of imported ones.

        1. Don Escaped Texas

          right

          There are DTAR/ITAR regs that allow them to dictate your production schedule for the flimsiest of reasons. I would never sign: buy a ten year inventory if you want to be sure.

      3. Don Escaped Texas

        in this case, very little: it’s probably a copy of a Japanese part that could be quickly re-sourced . . . to the extent that war-time vehicles need prompt A/C repair at all

        1. Gustave Lytton

          *drops off Don several miles north of Mutla Ridge in July in a uparmored vehicle w/o AC*

          1. Don Escaped Texas

            I think A/C is great; it’s literally half my career . . . I’ve got grad credit in HVAC design and have probably bid on most ground military platforms in the past 20 years. I’ve slaved over how to maintain subcool in those situations and argued strenuously against computerized controls that can’t be easily hotwired in the field: Sarge, gotta zyner and a pulse width modulation circuit in your ass pack!?

            But what is needed, what is specced ain’t up to me. We could argue whether every grunt needs a flak jacket, why MRAP took so long, bitch about the 5.56, but Rummy is 100% right: you go to war with the army you have. Managing all those resources is above my pay grade.

          2. Scruffy Nerfherder

            Along those lines, the military quite often has to buy commercially available construction equipment int he US. Which means they get the latest and worst emissions control systems with it.

            I’ve shipped a few pieces of gear in a container and said to myself “This might run for a week before dying and nobody will be able to fix it.”

          3. Chipwooder

            The hottest I’ve ever felt in my life was Humvee driver course. We drove from Yuma to Gila Bend and back…..wearing flaks and kevlars…..on an 115 degree day…..with no A/C.

          4. Gustave Lytton

            “Let’s do it again! In MOPP 4!”?

          5. In Korea, our unit made sure to schedule annual MOPP training (aka a day playing softball, etc) – in February or thereabouts. More tolerable, but wearing the mask more than an hour gives me a migraine. I’m screwed if the shit ever does go down.

      4. JaimeRoberto: Gentleman, Scholar, French Tickler

        You can make an argument that the content requirement ensures supply in times of war. That’s the Baptist side of the argument anyway.

        1. Drake

          Yes. Protects against risks if blockade and embargo.

          1. R C Dean

            I think having half the parts to make a truck is functionally equivalent to having none of the parts to make a truck.

          2. Sensei

            That was my thinking here too.

          3. Drake

            Half-tracks?

  4. BakedPenguin

    When the caller asked him to give Molly some water, Duggan refused, saying the dog didn’t need water because she was from Jerusalem.

    Um… okay.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Makes sense to me.

    2. grrizzly

      I hate everyone involved in this story.
      Why do you hate the dog?

      1. Playa Manhattan

        For not bringing his own water.

      2. R C Dean

        The asshole who got arrested is the only person I hate in that story.

        Hell, I give the cops credit for restraint. If I saw someone dragging a dog who was too weak to stand on its own down the street due to dehydration, I’d probably open with a billy club to the head.

        1. Enough About Palin

          ^^THIS^^

        2. B.P.

          The cops were probably dumbstruck? “My God, what did you do to that animal? Only P.O.S.T.-certified law enforcement officers can treat dogs like that.”

        3. bacon-magic

          I have water in my car just for such situations. And a shovel to fix the other part of that equation.

        4. Chafed

          *stands and applauds for RC Dean*

  5. Stinky Wizzleteats

    “And although nabbing an iceberg might sound like theft, it’s actually not a bad move.”

    Theft from who exactly?

    1. ChipsnSalsa

      penguins

      1. BakedPenguin

        Thank you, ChipsnSalsa. Thank you.

    2. Tonio

      Gaia.

      1. R C Dean

        The iceberg’s not leaving the planet, so I’m thinking “not Gaia”.

        1. JaimeRoberto: Gentleman, Scholar, French Tickler

          All Gaias are local.

        2. Not Adahn

          Every iceberg’s sacred, every iceberg’s great. When an iceberg’s melted, Gaia gets quite irate.

  6. ChipsnSalsa

    Who likes to eat some ass?

    this guy

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      Before this morning I didn’t know anal cancer was a thing and I wish it’d stayed that way.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s the brown ribbon.

        No shit.

        1. Stinky Wizzleteats

          That joke stinks.

          1. You don’t need to be so anal about it.

        2. The Other Kevin

          That was a dirty crack.

          1. Rectum? Hell, it nearly killed ’em !

        3. *narrows gaze*

          1. bacon-magic

            *tightens sphincter*

          2. Not Adahn

            That just drives the HPV in deeper.

      2. I was going to mention Farrah Fawcett, but apparently she died of rectal cancer.

        1. Chafed

          There’s a difference?

    2. Tonio

      Yeah, HPV is some nasty stuff. And while analingus is certainly a transmission vector, so is regular skin-to-skin contact.

    3. Raston Bot

      more likely he finishes in her arse.

    4. Playa Manhattan

      She’s a redhead with that crazy look, so I assumed it would be the other way around.

    5. Fatty Bolger

      The actress said she was able to get through her diagnosis with the help of a group of girlfriends, whom she called her “Anal Angels.”

      1. This timeline is pretty funny sometimes.

      2. Tonio

        You know who else had a group of women called “Anal Angels?”

        1. Fatty Bolger

          Charlie?

        2. Tonio

          I think Buttman, who was a pron producer in like the nineties?

          1. Playa Manhattan

            Ahem. Former Reason trustee.

          2. Tonio

            Damn.

      3. Scruffy Nerfherder

        I think her best quote was:

        “Surgery wasn’t recommended, which was a relief,” Cross said. “You want to preserve sphincter muscles if possible. Having woken up to its importance, I am now a big fan of the anus!”

        1. Playa Manhattan

          That would imply that she just now discovered ass play, which I choose not to believe.

        2. The Other Kevin

          “What do you think of the anus as a whole?”

          1. Tonio

            Have you no shame, Sir?

      4. Was one of the AlAnus Morrisette?

    6. PBRstreetgang

      Obligatory late 1980’s funk reference:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FShE0VifCYs

    1. Brett L

      STEVE SMITH SAY DEEP STATE LIES!

    2. STEVE SMITH

      STEVE SMITH GREATEST TRICK, MAKE FBI THINK HE NO EXIST.

      1. ElspethFlashman

        RAPE FBI, CIA, NSA, EPA, YOU NAME IT

    3. Mad Scientist

      The only way the FBI could catch Bigfoot is if they found a guy willing to be Bigfoot and supplied him with a costume and box of dud explosives.

  7. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

    Dan Crenshaw

    Verified account

    @DanCrenshawTX

    D-Day is remembered for those who sacrificed protecting our country, but also because their sacrifice marked the beginning of American leadership in protecting liberty & democracy around the globe. They stormed the beaches for an everlasting cause. #NeverForget

    1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      “their sacrifice marked the beginning of American leadership in protecting liberty & democracy around the globe.”

      Well now I hate D-Day. Thank you, one eyed Jack

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Way to ruin it there buddy.

      1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        But those soldiers died so more American soldiers can die in wars in countries that most Americans could not identify on a map for a cause that no one is really quite sure of. Why do you hate freedom?

    3. Stinky Wizzleteats

      “D-Day, the beginning of the American Empire.”

      1. STEVE SMITH

        WHAT SPANISH AMERICAN WAR, CHOPPED LIVER?

        1. ChipsnSalsa

          STEVE SMITH, GEOPOLITICAL ANALIST.

          1. Tonio

            [golf clap]

          2. Not Adahn

            Well, he is an expert on rape.

        2. SDF-7

          SEA SMITH REMEMBER THE MAINE…. AND BY REMEMBER, MEAN….

    4. Donation Not Taxation

      The welfare warfare state is a tri-partisan issue that conservatives (theamericanconservative.com/articles/you-cant-blame-trump-for-the-welfare-warfa), libertarians (mises.org/library/historians-and-welfare-warfare-state), and progressives (thenation.com/article/americas-warfare-welfare-state/) all decry but continues on decade after decade. To quote Ron Paul (with one addition): “The welfare-warfare state is built on a foundation of taxation and fiat currency controlled by a secretive central bank. While some type of taxation may be necessary to fund the few legitimate functions of government, taking people’s money [by force or threat of force] to fund a redistributive welfare state at home and a global empire abroad is nothing more than theft[.]” newsmax.com/ronpaul/warfare-welfare-immoral-government/2017/12/26/id/833726/ I do not think it is theft if the money is donated.

      1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        *standing ovation*

        1. Donation Not Taxation

          *takes bow*

      2. Dr. Fronkensteen

        Less of a donation and more speculation. I’ll donate to the empire building if I get a share of the tribute.

      3. Mad Scientist

        Needs more ALL CAPS.

  8. Donation Not Taxation

    FTA: “Sloane now needs to secure an agreement with South Africa for the nation to buy the Antarctic water.” Will South Africa pay for it by donation, taxation, or the kind of borrowing wit debt payments paid by taxation?

    1. Brett L

      “Do you take a check, or do we have to come up with real money?”

      1. ChipsnSalsa

        They just need to wait for the Nigerian Prince’s money order to come through.

    2. Tonio

      Or maybe they’ll just retroactively appropriate the ice from him.

    3. The Other Kevin

      I keep picturing an animated version of this, where the iceberg keeps shrinking as they travel, and at the end he picks it up with tweezers and puts it into a glass. And then charges $1 billion.

      1. Playa Manhattan

        I see you’ve eaten at Spago.

        1. Donation Not Taxation

          The trick to eating food that your server pretends was prepared by Wolfgang Puck is to get someone else to pay for it.

      2. Tonio

        Nice.

    4. R C Dean

      Buy it from who?

      1. Donation Not Taxation

        Read the article Brett L was kind enough to link to. Guy has gotten investors for getting a big piece of ice and towing it to South Africa, but they won’t pay unless he can get buyer(s). Attempting to get South Africa’s national government for that.

        1. R C Dean

          Read the article

          Pfft. Shyeah, right.

    5. Enough About Palin

      What race is Sloane? Because if he’s white, SA can just kill him as they confiscate it. And how stupid are SA’s if they can’t look at Zimbabwe and not realize that farmland confiscation/redistribution is a bad idea?

      1. JaimeRoberto: Gentleman, Scholar, French Tickler

        I thought Sloane was Ferris’s girlfriend.

  9. Don Escaped Texas

    see the link in the NYPost to the Brazilian chick gunning down an asshole?

    1. I think we saw it the last half dozen times it was posted. :-p

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Someone please link to the butt-smuggling-nad-shooter.

        1. Don Escaped Texas

          my bad . . . missed a few days

        2. SDF-7

          Only if the Cleveland Browns let me down again.

    2. ChipsnSalsa

      How about this one?

    3. Raston Bot

      that was awesome.

    4. Endless Mike

      I’ve seen it three times now – just keeps getting better.

  10. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

    https://twitter.com/BulwarkOnline/status/1136709755219652608

    “It’s easy to stick up for someone’s right to say something, anything. But free speech is about more than owning the libs.”

    One more time, neocons have no principle beyond “we should bomb this country this week”. They will believe in anything so long as you let them bomb something.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      The only people who listen to those jerkoffs anymore are the CEOs of defense contractors. Even the left who used them as political spoo rags seem to be done with them.

      1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        Cathy Young writes for them. I can’t decide if she writes parody, though.

        https://reason.com/2017/07/07/russias-global-anti-libertaria

        Still makes me laugh

    2. R C Dean

      *checks url, see’s “Bulwark”, passes*

      1. “see’s”?

        [runs from room sobbing]

        1. commodious spittoon

          Got something against chocolate?

    3. Chipwooder

      See now, this is exactly what I was talking about in the morning lynx about falling into excuse a lot of Trump’s nonsense because he has the right enemies. Anyone who inspires frothing outrage from these shitheels must be doing something right.

      “It’s easy to stick up for someone’s right to say something, anything….” If it’s so easy, why is it so goddamned hard for them to do so?

    4. BakedPenguin

      Is anyone else having issues with videos on Firefox? I’m having to go to goddamn Edge to watch.

      1. BakedPenguin

        Not supposed to be a reply.

  11. Juvenile Bluster

    Have Liz Warren’s fans all abandoned her after Tucker Carlson endorsed her economic plan?

    Tucker wants a candidate with Liz Warren’s economic plan and that’s a socon on social issues. That sounds like my worst nightmare.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      That does sound like a nightmare combo. Carlson’s good on war though.

    2. R C Dean

      So Tucker’s ideal candidate is a fascist church lady?

      1. Tonio

        ^Winner.

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Tucker’s bowtie is now firmly in charge.

      We need him added to the H&H cornucopia of characters.

    4. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      Say what you will about Tucker Carlson, but he’s still the only person in all of TV news who criticizes Trump on foreign policy. From bombing Syria, to supporting the Saudis in Yemen, to the suggested intervention in Venezuela, to Bolton’s efforts to sabotage the NK negotiations- he’s made more substantive criticisms of Trump than most libertarians.

      1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        https://thegrayzone.com/2019/05/01/anya-parampil-fox-news-venezuela-tucker-carlson/

        He even has lefties on to criticize Trump on foreign policy.

      2. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Oh I’m with him on that end of it, but his economics suck.

        1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          Paleos have always sucked on economics. It’s to be expected.

          1. Scruffy Nerfherder
          2. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            It was fun watching the McLaughlin Group when Pat would agree with Eleanor on foreign policy (under Bush) and then agree with Larry Kudlow on cultural issues, before disagreeing with him on economics. At least it wasn’t the standard tribe stuff.

            To their credit, though, their idea of a restricted domestic market and a restricted foreign policy still makes a lot more sense than an aggressive foreign policy and a smaller government at home, which seems to be en vogue nowadays.

          3. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Great skit

          4. Tonio

            +1 Scene from “Watchmen” movie. The exaggerated tweedy pantsuit…

    5. Tonio

      ^This.

  12. AlmightyJB

    Moeller Brew Barn’s Wally Post. A very nice Red Ale. 5.4 ABV on draft. Hot garlic wings with blue cheese ordered.

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      I’ll never understand you people who like bleu cheese.

      1. Don Escaped Texas

        bleu cheese? I thought it was blue fromage

        1. Sensei

          ブルーチーズ

      2. Scruffy Nerfherder

        What do you mean “you people”?

        1. PBRstreetgang

          What do YOU mean ‘you people’?

          1. You people.

      3. Donation Not Taxation

        Hypothetically, some people are embarrassed to tell their primary care physicians that they have syphilis or want to avoid getting syphilis in the first place (and have not considered drug resistance) and want some over the counter (OTC) penicillin.

      4. Chipwooder

        “Bleu” cheese? Whatever you say, froggy.

    2. Donation Not Taxation

      Does the menu say “blue cheese” or “bleu cheese”?

  13. The Late P Brooks

    Down with capitalist oppression

    Walmart shareholders on Wednesday voted down a proposal backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to put company workers on its board of directors, according to CNN.

    The 2020 presidential candidate, speaking as a proxy for Walmart employees, offered the resolution earlier in the day at the shareholders meeting, saying, “The concerns of workers, not just stockholders, should be a part of board decisions.”

    Sanders told CNN after the vote that he didn’t think CEO Doug McMillon had gotten the message.

    “You people are all assholes!” is not a winning message, Granddad.

    1. Enough About Palin

      This is so stupid. I have worked with Fortune 500 boards for 30 years and the last thing they need is some idiot who drives a truck making multi-billion dollar decisions.

      1. Juvenile Bluster

        The stupid thing is that if a person meets a (very low) stock ownership threshold, they can basically put anything to the company and the company will be required to put it on the proxy statement. Can’t even change a word of their language about it (though the board can put a statement on the proxy as to why people should vote against).

      2. robc

        I have always thought unions should pump some of their dues into buying company stock. Then, after long enough, they will build up the numbers to force a union rep onto the board.

        The “problem” is it aligns the union’s interests with the company interests, and we can’t have that.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          That would mean not spending it on perks for the union bosses.

        2. wdalasio

          I remember, years ago, when I was in college, we had a guy who’d been one of the leaders in the UAW speak to our business club. The interesting thing about him is that he’d been on the board of Chrysler after its first federal bailout. From what I could tell from what he had to say, it was a real education for him. Things that he’d always been able to ignore or evade or pretend weren’t considerations were front and center when it was his union’s money at stake.

      3. Sensei

        We may have finally found the one person who will be personally liable after the D&O cover is exhausted.

        That fiction of personal liability for directors evaporated after Enron.

      4. Don Escaped Texas

        generally true

        Of course, lots of CAC and DAX companies are run in a similar way with supplies, clients, the bank, the union, and the mayor all on the board. A lot of decisions in those cases are based on full employment and other priorities other than necessarily profit. Along that line, VW hardly knew how to get things started in Chattanooga without a union.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          Hadn’t considered that about VW, but makes sense.

      5. Playa Manhattan

        Are you talking about Venezuela?

        Maduro was a bus driver. Seriously.

      6. Gustave Lytton

        I’d wager the percentage of truck drivers that are idiots is lower than the percentage of F500 board members that are idiots, at least based on observed results.

        1. Don Escaped Texas

          I’m related to a metric fuckton to truckdrivers: they can pour piss out of a boot, but that’s it.

          Garrison Keillor had this line about 4WD being like a tall IQ: just allows you to get stuck in more remote places. Working up and down corporate life, I got the feeling that lots of folks are getting stuck at their appropriate place (Peter Principle?). My stats reminds me that most things in life are just ugly distributions and that few appreciate that the bad tail exists for all process: truckers, CEOs, senators, dentists, you name it.

          1. Playa Manhattan

            Speaking of bad tail…

            Did you hear about Marcia Cross?

      7. Homple

        Were those boards of directors anything but the CEO’s rubber stamps decorated with the proper quota of women and minorities?

    2. Gustave Lytton

      Pretty sure that McMillon, a Walmart worker, already sits on the board.

    3. Drake

      Same reason pure democracy doesn’t work – people would just raid the Treasury until all the money was gone.

  14. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Dead Man Walking

    A southeast Iowa man was sentenced Monday to 120 years in prison after sexually abusing a girl from infancy to the age of 6, court records show.

    Steven Douglas Crook Jr. of Bloomfield pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a child. The sentence is the maximum allowed for the crime, which includes violent sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum said Tuesday in a news release.

    The Davis County man at times would livestream the rape on a social media app, encouraging his followers to watch the abuse, according to release.

    The young girl was rescued by law enforcement in March 2018, court records show. She was 6 years old at the time.

    Authorities found electronic devices containing videos of the abuse in Crook’s possession, according to a criminal complaint. One folder on a storage card was labeled “child porn and baby rape.”

    1. Dr. Fronkensteen

      What’s the over/under on the time he’ll survive?

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Measured in days, not weeks

      2. Tonio

        I suspect he’ll survive the appeals process, but when that is exhausted he’ll probably go to a supermax. I believe prisoners can request solitary for their own protection, but it’s an all-or-nothing deal – they have to abide by the same restrictions as people placed in solitary for disciplinary reasons.

        At some point he may get tired of the boredom and risk general population.

    2. His death will be slow and rectal.

      1. TARDIS

        He should be made to beg for it.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    Math is not fair

    More than 300 Vox Media employees staged a walkout on Thursday as staffers and management failed to come to an agreement for a union contract after more than a year of negotiations.
    The walkouts affected Vox Media’s group of popular websites — such as Vox, SBNation, The Verge, Eater, Recode, Curbed, and others — and some were not publishing new content on Thursday.
    “Our unit members are taking their sites dark today to show management how important these issues are to us,” tweeted the account for the Vox Media Union.

    ———-

    Bankoff said that he had “instructed our bargaining team to ensure that while making ambitious, values-based investments in our people, we don’t undermine that goal by spending so far above industry norms that we create an unsustainable environment.”
    “Of course we need to pay people competitively and fairly to attract the best and keep them (a.k.a. all of you), but we’ve stopped short of the union’s insistence on levels that far exceed industry norms and averages,” Bankoff added. “While paying people a lot more than market wages sounds great on the surface, it’s not realistic or smart.”

    “You think your pay envelope is light now, just wait ’til this place goes tits up.”

    1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      “The walkouts affected Vox Media’s group of popular websites — such as Vox, SBNation, The Verge, Eater, Recode, Curbed, and others”

      Outside of journos, I don’t think anyone regularly reads any of these websites.

      Good investment, NBC

      1. robc

        EDSBS is on SBNation.

        But other than that, yeah, no.

      2. Chipwooder

        Eh. there are a few SB Nation sites I read semi-regularly – Blueshirt Banter for the Rangers, Streaking the Lawn for UVA. Too much, though, and the Voxness starts seeping through.

        1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          You guys need to start reading Barstool Sports for your sportball news

          1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            They even have girly pics

          2. Chipwooder

            Aren’t they Boston based?

          3. Tonio

            Didn’t they give us Trigglypuff?

          4. bacon-magic

            F barstool sports. They post about half of sports and the rest is stolen from TMZ.

        2. peachy rex

          I’ve given up on pretty much all of the SBnation sites I used to frequent for just that reason.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      I eagerly await the article “What You Need To Know About The End of Vox Explained”

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        Didn’t NBC just give (waste really) them $200 million?

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          If they did, whoever made that decision needs to be tarred and feathered.

      2. Gadfly

        *slow clap*

    3. Juvenile Bluster

      I don’t think the strike affects the SBNation team sites, which is all Vox really cares about (because they drive most of the traffic).

    4. Playa Manhattan

      I love how it’s a one day walkout.

      “We’ll be back tomorrow, no matter what!”

      Way to play hardball.

      1. Gustave Lytton

        Locked them out and terminate them for job abandonment.

    5. B.P.

      “While paying people a lot more than market wages sounds great on the surface, it’s not realistic or smart.”

      Management then ordered up another 2,500 articles from the grunt writers on inequality, the failure of free markets, the swell economic ideas emanating from various ascendant nitwits in the Dem party, etc.

    6. More than 300 people work at Vox? I thought it was just like 4 dudes using Mad Libs forms for their “hot takes”.

    7. JaimeRoberto: Gentleman, Scholar, French Tickler

      Does that mean we won’t be getting more outstanding content from the lispy queer Mexican guy?

    8. Not Adahn

      Hey, instead of just torching other people’s livelihood at least now they’re setting the match to their own.

  16. Pope Jimbo

    Is Minnesoda’s new governor in cahoots with STEVE SMITH?

    Thursday marked the last day of school for many students across Minnesota, and as they face the first weekend of summer break, Gov. Tim Walz has a challenge for them: Get outside and go camping.

    To be fair, this is the first sensible thing Gov Walz has said/done. No better way to let those recent grads get a taste of the real world than to send them out into the woods for come “counseling” by STEVE SMITH.

    1. Chipwooder

      STEVE SMITH LOVE MENTORING STUDENTS, AND BY MENTORING, MEAN…..

  17. kinnath

    Our unit members are taking their sites dark today

    And yet, I didn’t notice.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      If a tree falls in the forest…

    2. Rhywun

      I’m noticing a slight decline in derp.

  18. robc

    Wasn’t there a series of Jerry Pournelle stories based on the idea of crashing an iceberg into Africa?

    1. SDF-7

      If only someone had alluded to that in comment #2… If only… 😉

      1. robc

        I start at the bottom and read upward, hadn’t gotten there yet.

        And it has been so long since i read them, I might not have made the connection.

        1. commodious spittoon

          I start at the bottom

          Hope you’re vaccinated.

    2. Rasilio

      I don’t remember that but having a Iceberg towed into LA Harbor for drinking water was a minor feature of Oath of Fealty

  19. Gadfly

    Its the 75th anniversary of the greatest seaborne invasion in the history of the world. Like most giant military operations, it was a cockup, but one in which the invading armies prevailed through the sheer courage of individuals.

    Here’s a pretty good article that recounts a bit of both. Written (in the 1960s) by a guy who had been tasked with taking field notes of what happened shortly thereafter.

    1. mikey

      Quite a read.

    2. Drake

      Damn

  20. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

    https://twitter.com/KeshaRose/status/1136005335364169729

    hey guys sooo i hear you!! that you want my new song ‘Rich, White, Straight Men’ on streaming services..not sure how to do that personally..hmm maybe @RCARecords will help me if their not too mad bout me leaking it???what else do they expect from me at this point lol?☠️???

    1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      Yes, Ke$ha still exists. And she is being brave by releasing a song titled “Rich, White, Straight Men”. She has the moral authority to do so, seeing as she is a rich, white, straight woman or something.

        1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          That was before she accepted wokeness as her lord and savior.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      RCA is just a bunch of rich white straight men anyway,

      1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        Being brave nowadays means regurgitating the NYT opinion pages

        1. Dr. Fronkensteen

          Telling rich and influential people what they already believe with is brave? Got it.

          1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Yes. Haven’t you noticed?

    3. robc

      My first thought was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUpJlui_Y4I

      eh, it was close.

    4. Gadfly

      What the heck is up with those emojis? Alien + skull + rainbow + heart + unicorn? Is that supposed to mean something? Kids these days. *looks up Kesha’s age* Shit, she’s older than me? I give up.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        I would venture that physically she’s older than Methuselah.

      2. Chipwooder

        Looks like something my daughter would do. She’s 9 though, so I guess it’s ok.

      3. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        Those emojis are code for “orange man bad”.

        Everyone clap

    5. Rasilio

      all I can say is she really took the piss out of those guys

  21. Pope Jimbo

    Uffda. My tummy is a bit upset after reading the press release about a new bus line in Minneapolis.

    I’ve noticed a LOT of press recently about this new bus line starting up. I’m not sure why the transit folks are pushing this so hard. It is simply replacing an existing line with a few changes.

    1) Less stops
    2) ELECTRIC BUSES (So, so, woke)
    3) Like the light rail, this bus won’t have a fare box on it. You are supposed to buy a ticket before getting on.

    How do I pay my C Line fare?
    You must pay before boarding a C Line bus. METRO C Line buses DO NOT have fareboxes or Go-To Card readers onboard. Ticket machines and Go-To Card readers are available at every station. Ticket machines take exact change or credit cards.

    How does the driver know I paid my fare?
    C Line drivers do not collect fares. Metro Transit Police officers will frequently board buses to enforce fare payment. Be prepared to show your C Line ticket, transfer or validated Go-To Card, pass or mobile app ticket as proof of payment.

    This should work great. The bus line starts in one of the less affluent suburbs and then goes through an even poorer neighborhood before it gets downtown. I’m sure all those people will never cheat the system and ride for free.

    1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      “3) Like the light rail, this bus won’t have a fare box on it. You are supposed to buy a ticket before getting on.”

      Ask the Italians how well that works. Last time I went to Rome, I bought a ticket like a sucker, until an Italian told me no one buys a ticket.

      1. Rhywun

        In Germany, everyone buys a ticket. Funny how that works….

        I’d imagine in the US, it’d be somewhere in between.

        PS. NYC has several lines like this already. They have higher fare compliance than the regular lines because of the cops.

        1. Gustave Lytton

          Just wait

          https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-rules-trimet-fare-enforcement-unconstitutional

          Ignored out of the press release is the cunt fare evader is a school board member. Great example there. Of course, nothing else happened and she wasn’t immediately ejected from the board.

          1. Rhywun

            Meh, Oregon. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

          2. Gustave Lytton

            Ahem, Portlandia. Which runs the state these days.

        2. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          You’re right, the rate of purchase in the US would probably be pretty high. A people who automatically form a line, without being instructed, are going to abide by the rules.

        3. Rufus the Monocled

          Romans: We haven’t paid for public transportation since Tiberius!

          Germans are suckers.

          I saw Don’t walk, run productions show Brooklynites jumping the subway stalls to avoid paying for the service.

        4. Playa Manhattan

          When I took the train from Grand Central to the Bronx, there was a guy onboard punching tickets each time.

          1. Rhywun

            Sounds like Metro North commuter rail. There are no tickets on the subway.

      2. Rufus the Monocled

        Did he tell you you’re a sucker in Italian, Roman or English?

      3. Juan-Baptiste Emmanuel Seguin

        I went earlier this year to Italy…they check your tickets now. I guess the Germans got to them.

    2. Pope Jimbo

      Actually the PR was sort of funny when I read this part:

      To celebrate the opening of the C-Line, Metro Transit will have an opening ceremony and ribbon cutting starting at 9:30am. The first C-Line buses – one to Downtown Minneapolis, and one to Brooklyn Center – will depart Penn & Lowry at 10am. Twin Cities NUMTOTers (the local branch of New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens) and busfans from the upper midwest will meet for breakfast at The Lowry Cafe at 8:15am, with hopes to be the first ones on the bus at 10am.

      Is there anything sadder than a teen who would join NUMTOT? I was a complete D&D/computer nerd back in the early ’80s in Jr. High, but no way that me would ever have joined NUMTOT.

      1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        When you’re dorkier than a D&D teen, you’ve lost at life

      2. Gustave Lytton

        Depends, what do the chicks look like?

      3. Tonio

        WTF is a NUMTOT?

        1. Pope Jimbo

          A small child who just stumbled out of OMWC’s van in a daze with a 1000 yd stare?

      4. Homple

        Penn and Lowry. God help that line.

    3. Rhywun

      So, exactly like a typical bus in Europe has operated for generations. I dunno about MN but items 1 and 3 are huge problems in NYC that slow everything down.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        Our light rail trains have stations that are completely open. There is a box you can buy a ticket for a ride, but no one ever checks it. So – be prepared to be surprised – hardly anyone ever pays. Compound that with the fact that when the metro cops do check for tickets, I think you only get a warning the first few times you get caught.

        As for stops…. One of our light rail lines was built between the two downtowns (Mpls and St. Paul). In theory, this would have been a great route for light rail. Unfortunately to get the project built, they had to put a station about every 100 yards. So it actually takes longer to take the train between the two downtowns (over an hour) than to take one of the buses (40 minutes).

        I’m always surprised that Mass Transit organizations haven’t beaten out the Post Office as the gold standard for work place violence. I have no idea how you can work there as a sentient being and not come to work one day with a bag of guns and explosives.

    4. Donation Not Taxation

      If all bridges and roads were toll and prices for public transit were raised so instead of subsidized they would cover the costs, then users would alter their behavior to reflect the changes in costs to them and the providers would have more accurate data on how much money they could afford to spend on particular bridges, roads, vehicles working a bus/train/etc. route, and so on. Assuming the money generated by fares, tolls, etc. actually went to capital and operating costs instead of being raided for other purposes, the ‘problem’ that Obama era required 10^12 dollars and Trump era talking an additional 1 1/2 x that would fix itself. Especially if could lease out money-losing toll roads to nongovernmental entities that could make a profit from them without raising rates and still increasing the average vehicle speed (not speed limit but the actual speed of travel) on the money-losing toll roads.

    5. Chipwooder

      Here in Richmond, they opened the PULSE rapid transit bus last year. It’s the same thing – you buy a ticket at the bus stops. They are supposed to have random ticket checks, but in my very limited experience that doesn’t happen.

      Also, they’re bragging about how much ridership is up because of it, but I suspect that has just a bit to do with GRTC making a deal with VCU to allow students to ride for free.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Stop charging and ridership goes up. It’s like magic.

    6. Tonio

      In Richmond we have a special “light rail bus system” called the pulse. Complete boondoggle. The buses require special elevated platforms at bus stops (no steps on bus, no time-consuming “kneeling”), run in special bus-only lanes (stolen from taxpayers), and when they approach an intersection the traffic signals on cross-streets turn red so they can proceed unhindered. IOW, complete bullshit and eliminating all the advantages that buses have over actual light rail, ie that regular buses require no special infrastructure such as raised platforms and therefore stops can be relocated at a moment’s notice.

    7. Gadfly

      Metro Transit Police officers will frequently board buses to enforce fare payment.

      No ticket!

    8. commodious spittoon

      So… cops getting into frequent confrontations with passengers, no doubt many of them minorities. That shouldn’t be an issue.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    I have no particular objection to having an hourly employee on the board of directors of a corporation, or at least being in a position to provide information and input. My objection is to a “worker” who has been hand picked by the union to represent the interests of the union over the interests of shareholders, management and most actual employees (like everybody who would benefit from the replacement of seniority rules with merit promotion and productivity based incentive pay).

    1. Enough About Palin

      I can see you’ve never been on the board of a multi-billion dollar, publicly held corporation. The hourly worker has no concept of what’s going on.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Clay pigeon shooting and whiskey? Lots of evil laughing?

        1. Sounds like a pretty typical weekend to me.

    2. Gustave Lytton

      See United Airlines

  23. So, I found no protestors at the bakery, bpught some carbs and a hat. Now I’m too far from the hotel to get there and make the meetup on time, so I’m going to loiter.

    1. Not Adahn

      Conduct reconnaissance of the meeting location. Disable any of Neph’s booby traps and replace them with your own.

  24. Playa Manhattan

    I don’t know why this doesn’t come up more often:

    BERNIE SANDERS HAS FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

    It’s not his fault, obviously, but it sure does explain a lot.

    1. wdalasio

      By God, you’re you’re right>/a>!

      1. Playa Manhattan

        I loled at this:
        “Bernie’s story is a bittersweet one. While his beady little rat eyes, lack of impulse control, poor social skills and difficulty working toward reality-oriented goals really resonated with his voter base (42% of Bernie supporters also suffer from FAS), in the end it was his inability to anticipate the consequences of his actions which cost him the DNC nomination.”

  25. Pope Jimbo

    I read this story because I misread the headline to be “Twins to ban blackface, big bags at ballpark”.

    It was backpacks, not blackface, but the story still reminds me why I refuse to go to sporting events anymore. I also think the Twins security folks are playing a bit loose with the facts:

    The team is rolling out a new security policy that it will phase in over the next month. The most immediate change, starting Tuesday, will allow fans to keep personal items, like cellphones, keys and wallets, on them while going through security.

    “Fans will be able to enter Target Field without emptying their pockets,” says a summary of the policy from the Twins. The team says its magnetometers can distinguish between routine personal items and potentially dangerous weapons.

    I’m entirely supportive of not hassling paying customers, but if there are magnetometers that can distinguish between personal items and dangerous weapons, you think that the TSA might use them?

    1. So, blackface is still acceptable at Twins games?

      1. violent_k

        UCS or Neph, Are the reservations under Smith or Tulpa?

        1. Reservations? We’re unfit for any place that requires reservations.

          1. Well, I’m here. An hour early isn’t the worst I’ve done.

          2. Don Escaped Texas

            isn’t that the same as a beer early ?

          3. You drink slowly.

          4. commodious spittoon

            You drink?

      2. Pope Jimbo

        Required on Kirby Puckett Day.

    2. Chipwooder

      Whew! For a second there, I thought my plans to attend a Twins-Yankees game as Al Jolson were going to have to be scrapped.

      1. Dr. Fronkensteen

        Figured that would be more for a Utah Jazz game.

    3. Playa Manhattan

      Everything is dangerous to the TSA.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Cognitive thought being first on that list.

    4. R C Dean

      But what if my potentially dangerous weapon is a routine personal item, for me?

      And if your weapon is only potentially dangerous, yer doin’ it wrong.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        Look we can get to your piddling questions once we convince them that my cooler full of beer qualifies as
        “medical items/supplies”.

      2. Don Escaped Texas

        Accidentally took a pocketknife I’ve had 40 years to ATL@STL game

        put everything in my cap, a bunch of little stuff under my wallet on one side to make it busy; the knife went under my reading glasses on the other side: appeared to be just the jumble of components that spectacles are; tossed cap and all in one piece in the bin, went through scanner clean; guard immediately picks out wallet, scans objects underneath thoroughly, hands bin back to me; knife in plain sight went right through

        1. Pope Jimbo

          That guard is no fool. He isn’t going to hassle a guy carrying a knife when he’s getting minimum wage.

  26. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Anybody up for lunch in the Richmond area next Friday? I’m coming thru on my way up to Rocky Gap.

  27. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

    https://thefederalist.com/2019/06/06/lawmaker-accuses-constituents-hate-speech-protesting-drag-queen-story-hour/#.XPl_urjhxYg.twitter

    “Lawmaker Accuses Constituents Of Hate Speech For Protesting Drag Queen Story Hour”

    TW: The Federalist

    1. “Your resignation has been accepted.”

    2. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

      I’m a little unclear on the rules here, so if you oppose your public library hosting drag queens you are a bigot and you have no right to complain, even though its your tax dollars supporting this. But, if you’re a private baker and you don’t bake a cake you are also a bigot, even though its your money that was invested in your business. And then if you are on a private social media site and you get banned, it’s a private company and you have no room to complain because its their money invested in the business.

      So this is all just principals over principles, right?

      1. R C Dean

        What part of “arbitrary and capricious” do you not understand?

      2. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

        Or does noticing this obvious double standard and weak argumentation make be a social conservative by default?

        1. Yes, you are now officially a filthy Socon. Here’s you official thumping Bible, built extra-durable for that purpose. Practice your passive-aggressive scolding and holier than thou tone.

          1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Well, you’re a sinner

          2. We’re all sinners. It makes things easy to remember.

          3. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Now, I think you’re going to hell. Fornicator!

      3. grrizzly

        That sounds about right, bigot/snowflake.

        1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

          Serious question (and I’m not saying you’re wrong), would you think that would also apply to people who might complain about a priest or a nun reading a religious text to children at a library?

          Obviously, that would never happen because the interpretation of the First Amendment suggests a divide between church and state, but I’m really starting to question when a belief becomes a religion.

          1. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Full disclosure- I don’t have anything against this. I probably wouldn’t take my kid, but I wouldn’t protest it either. I’m just wondering when principles start being consistent, because no one is being very consistent in all of these instances.

          2. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Standard disclaimer: libraries shouldn’t exist

          3. Donation Not Taxation

            I am OK with libraries if they are NOT paid for by taxes or the kind of borrowing that has its payments made by taxes. See, for example, the Library Company of Philadelphia. Donation not taxation.

          4. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            Well, obviously privately funded and maintained libraries are fine. I’d even donate to one

          5. grrizzly

            The principle is very simple and consistent: if SJW are in favor — you’re not allowed to complain.

          6. “Tulsi Gabbard Apologist”

            I was kind of hoping that you took the alternative position, because I don’t know what to make of this situation.

            Thanks for nothing

            *storms off*

      4. Dr. Fronkensteen

        It’s not just enough to tolerate. You must celebrate and if possible participate in these alternative lifestyles.

        1. R C Dean

          *shaves left side of head and beard, dies right side purple, gains 50 pounds, buys ugly glasses, pierces nose, wears loggers boots, yoga pants, and a mumu*

          Like that?

          1. Spudalicious

            If you want to confuse them, tie an onion to your belt, too.

    3. Donation Not Taxation

      Is it also hate speech to object to taxes or deficit spending paying for the libraries that have the drag queen story hours? Fines, fundraisers, and memberships come to mind as alternatives.

    4. l0b0t

      A dear friend has been doing these at her lie-berry (she’s a branch head in the NOLA system) for a number of years now and they are fantastic. The kids and parents really enjoy the events and the library builds relationships with new patrons. The occasional protests have been nothing but the same couple of local churches who protest the gay bars in the French Quarter and the decadence of Mardi Gras.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    The hourly worker has no concept of what’s going on.

    And the directors (for the most part) know fuck all about what happens in the stores and on the production line.

  29. Pope Jimbo

    One thing everyone can agree on, the Judean People’s Front is a bunch of fucking splitters!

    Minnesoda has decided to transition from a caucus to a primary. One of the things that will come from that is that there will be a list of voters and what party primary they voted in. Our Sec. of State (who is currently defying a judge’s order to turn over other voting data) has proclaimed that only MAJOR parties will receive voter lists. His office will not turn them over to the public or anyone else.

    When it became clear that the 2016 law would let anyone get the party preference data, however, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon began pushing for a change. He originally preferred that nobody get party preference data, but the parties insisted on getting it as a condition of shifting to primaries. In fact, their national party rules required it, the party leaders said.

    So during this year’s legislative session, Simon requested a change that was accepted by the DFL-controlled House: that the DFL get only a list of Democratic voters and the GOP get only a list of GOP voters. Limiting access to the parties was what Simon termed “the next-best place to be.”

    There is a minor kerfuffle because we had two pot parties that qualified as MAJOR parties in Minnesoda because they got more than 5% of the vote (no the Libertarians didn’t qualify). DFL and GOP says they don’t count.

    1. Hold up.

      Why are the voter rolls secret at all? Any citizen should be able to see them.

      Why has this tyrant not been seized and ridden out of the state on a rail?

      1. Dr. Fronkensteen

        Because the voter rolls will show which party primary you voted in. No one needs to know that.

        Now the real question. Will this allow discovering primary ballots in people’s cars and not just the general election?

        1. Tonio

          Of course those primaries should be entirely private, members-only, affairs run by the political parties.

          It just occurred to me that some state parties have caucuses instead of primaries. Do they check ID at those? Do they keep records?

          1. Dr. Fronkensteen

            At Iowa when I was a student I could have voted in the state caucus where they don’t check voter rolls and in Illinois which is a primary system and they do check voter rolls. I didn’t but I could have. This was some time ago so I don’t know if anything’s changed.

      2. Pope Jimbo

        Because he is doing yeoman’s work keeping data out of the deplorables hands.

        The lawsuit that he lost and is still refusing to comply with was all about getting more info about voters who’s ballots were challenged and why. This is part of the whole reason that “there is no proof that there is any voter frauld”. If you won’t investigate, or let anyone else investigate, of course there won’t be any proof.

        1. Refusal to release this data is a confession of complicity in fraud. Drag him out in chains in front of all the cameras you can muster.

        2. Don Escaped Texas

          Ted hasn’t returned since his last sobbing bout, has he?

          1. R C Dean

            Yeah, sorry about that, Ted. It was the classic “spot the error just as the mouse clicks”.

          2. You damn well better be sorry! 🙂

        3. R C Dean

          The tolerance of judges for people defying their orders just amazes me. They’d probably have to add a wing to the local jail for Judge Dean’s contempt inmates if I was a judge.

          1. Tonio

            ^This. This. So much, this.

            But they also are the contemplative, generally less undignified, branch of government. Most judges I know are ill-suited to daily executive type action that that would require.

          2. Playa Manhattan

            Police won’t give up body cam footage or the camera was “turned off”?

            Contempt. Lockup for 30 days at a time or until the footage shows up.

          3. wdalasio

            The tolerance of judges for people defying their orders just amazes me.

            This sort of touches on something I’d been thinking about recently. The judiciary, in pure practical terms, is the weakest of the three branches of government. They really don’t have much in the way to make anyone really obey their decisions or edicts. If the other branches were to simply say “Screw ’em, we don’t give a shit how they find. We’ll defy them if they don’t agree” there’s really only a very limited amount they could do about it. And, to back it up, the judicial branch, because they’re either not elected or only elected as an afterthought, don’t really have an electoral base, don’t really have a constituency.

            What they have going for them is respect for law. The other branches defer to them because they have the authority of the law or of the Constitution to back them up. The other branches understand that the fiction of their own authority rests on maintaining the basis of judicial power. And if they don’t, they at least understand that the public’s respect for their authority rests on that.

            And this is what makes certain strains of modern judicial activism so dangerous. I’ve recently been reading that there’s a whole set of schools of legal thought that contend that the judiciary is just as much a political branch as the others, that legal systems are simply power structures, and that judges shouldn’t be bound by the legal principle from doing what they consider the good. On its face, it’s a massive expansion of judicial power and undoubtedly incredibly seductive. But, it creates a huge contradiction. If all of those things are true, then the basis of the judiciary’s power is null and void. They’re nothing but weak political players with no power base to back them up. If the judges don’t respect the law and the Constitution, they have no grounds when everyone else decides to take the same tack.

      3. Donation Not Taxation

        Consider moving to Florida. I could be wrong, but I think they are the only one of the United States for which that is true. But, IIRC, the rolls are county by county instead of one statewide roll, you have to pay for the medium of the copy and the cost of copying, and agree not to make bootleg copies. IIRC, some counties even provide election dates (not actual date vote cast, absentee ballot signed, etc.) the voters voted.

    2. Tonio

      “Our Sec. of State (who is currently defying a judge’s order to turn over other voting data)”

      Um, no. The judge lacks the balls to send deputies, state troopers, US Marshals, whoever to the SoS’s office to haul him into court to answer for contempt.

      1. R C Dean

        [Secretary of State enters courtroom accompanied by bailiff]

        Judge Dean: Nice of you to make it, Mr. Secretary. I am happy to provide transportation from your office to my courtroom any time you don’t feel like making your own way over here. Now, about the documents I ordered you to turn over. I have some options for you.

        First, I can ask you if you will produce the documents by noon tomorrow. If you say no, I will declare you in contempt and put you in jail.

        Second, if you say yes, and the documents aren’t in my office by noon tomorrow, I will declare you in contempt and put you in jail.

        Third, well, there is no other option. So, will you produce the documents by noon tomorrow? Yes or no?

        1. R C Dean

          [SecState]: *sputters*

          Judge Dean: That sounded like a no. *raises gavel* Was that a no?

          1. Just remembered I haven’t watched The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean in a while.

  30. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Looks like Trumpenstein is batting around the idea of banning suppressors:

    https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-banning-gun-silencers/story?id=63502902

    Bump stocks were one thing, suppressors are another. If he pulls this he’ll lose.

    1. DOOMco

      I was already on the fence. This would ruin any chance.

      1. Stinky Wizzleteats

        Ditto for me and many others I’m sure. Lots of single issue voters voted for him because the Dems are in the ditch when it comes to guns but they’ll stay home if he makes this move.

      2. Tejicano

        He would really be stepping on his crank if he moved towards banning suppressors.

    2. Tundra

      It’s fucking ABC. I’ll worry when the ink is dry.

      1. Stinky Wizzleteats

        There are plenty of others reporting it, it was from an interview with Piers Morgan. That being said, he says he’s going to do things he ends up not doing on a regular basis.

        1. Florida Man

          He said he doesn’t like the idea of a ban, but he would look at it. Meh. How many suppressors are in the country. How many would turn them in?

    3. Gustave Lytton

      As long as he’s going to issue unconstitutional EO’s, how about one affirming constitutional carry nationwide and voiding fed/state/local laws & regulations prohibiting lawful concealed carry in anything other than courtrooms, jails/prisons, and the secure area of airports?

    4. Sean

      There is a reason the media is all over this…to sow the seeds of Trump hate among his base. I’ll believe it when I see it and not a second before.

  31. Gadfly

    Here is an interesting article in the Atlantic, in which a teacher of Yiddish and Hebrew literature reviews the new holocaust exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. The author had a bit of an unexpected takeaway:

    At the end of the show, onscreen survivors talk in a loop about how people need to love one another. While listening to this, it occurs to me that I have never read survivor literature in Yiddish—the language spoken by 80 percent of victims—suggesting this idea. In Yiddish, speaking only to other Jews, survivors talk about their murdered families, about their destroyed centuries-old communities, about Jewish national independence, about Jewish history, about self-defense, and on rare occasions, about vengeance. Love rarely comes up; why would it? But it comes up here, in this for-profit exhibition. Here is the ultimate message, the final solution.

    That the Holocaust drives home the importance of love is an idea, like the idea that Holocaust education prevents anti-Semitism, that seems entirely unobjectionable. It is entirely objectionable. The Holocaust didn’t happen because of a lack of love. It happened because entire societies abdicated responsibility for their own problems, and instead blamed them on the people who represented—have always represented, since they first introduced the idea of commandedness to the world—the thing they were most afraid of: responsibility.

    1. Ed Wuncler

      “The Holocaust didn’t happen because of a lack of love. It happened because entire societies abdicated responsibility for their own problems, and instead blamed them on the people who represented—have always represented, since they first introduced the idea of commandedness to the world—the thing they were most afraid of: responsibility.”

      What a great and accurate quote. I’ve always felt like the whole gist of politics is offering people a way to forgo taking any sort of responsibility for their lives and putting the blame on others for their misfortunes. Politicians have this down to a science. You can’t tell people that you’re going to fuck them over, gain power, and make a little money, so you tell them that X is responsible for your problems and if you give me power, I’ll fuck over X and take their shit because fairness.

  32. Tundra

    Not sure if anyone already posted this, but:

    The Man Who Told America the Truth About D-Day

    Pyle’s second report from the Normandy beaches, published 10 days after D-Day, was markedly different from anything he had ever previously filed. “It was a lovely day for strolling along the seashore,” he wrote, reeling the reader in with a cheerful opening. “Men were sleeping on the sand, some of them sleeping forever. Men were floating in the water, but they didn’t know they were in the water, for they were dead.” Pyle cataloged the vast wreckage of military matériel, the “scores of tanks and trucks and boats” resting at the bottom of the Channel, jeeps “burned to a dull gray” and halftracks blasted “into a shambles by a single shell hit.” Some reassurances followed to soften the unvarnished fact — the losses were an acceptable price for the victory, Pyle said — but he hadn’t shied away from showing his readers the corpses and “the awful waste and destruction of war.” Pyle was working up to something he hadn’t done before.

    Great article. Sorry it’s from the NYT.

  33. Spudalicious

    I’m currently slamming a Mule. I’ll get something to drink when I’m done.

    1. hayeksplosives

      Slamming a mule.

      Are we not doing phrasing anymore?

      1. Tundra

        He’s serious. Sick fuck.

        Is your cell phone number the same? I want to catch up and ask a few questions about Spawn 2 and her college search.

        1. hayeksplosives

          Yeah the Minnesota one is valid. Just not today; I’m hammered

          1. Tundra

            Lol. No, just sometime in the next couple months. I’ll text you!

          2. Playa Manhattan

            *checks watch*

            The Churchill Challenge, eh?

          3. Tundra

            Like you aren’t.

          4. Playa Manhattan

            *checks watch*

            OK. Now.

      2. Tonio

        Lana!

        1. hayeksplosives

          I am more of the Mallory tupe i think.

          “Can’t or won’t?”

    2. Dr. Fronkensteen

      Are we no longer doing euphemisms?

    3. Spudalicious

      That Mule was so good, I think I’m going to do another one. I’ll take my time with this one though, so I can savor and enjoy it.

    4. MikeS

      I’m making rhubarb juice this weekend and plan on substituting it for the lime juice in a mule. If it’s any good, I’m going to perform an exhaustive (5 minutes tops) internet search to see if I get to make a claim of inventing a new drink.

      1. Spudalicious

        I believe you might be a bit late to the party.

        https://www.saltandlavender.com/rhubarb-moscow-mule/

        1. MikeS

          Dammit!

      2. Florida Man

        Give up Mike. Everything has been done.

        1. robc

          I saw that episode of Cheers. Screaming Viking?

          1. Raven Nation

            Flaming Moe?

  34. Ed Wuncler

    So about a month ago I posted here that my wife and I got a call from the doctor that the blood test she took showed that we were at risk of having at worst a child with severe abnormalities and at best down syndrome. My wife was devastated by the news and I tried to be stoic but some days it was difficult.

    Well after a couple of tests, the results came back a couple of days ago as negative and we’re having a healthy baby girl in October. A lot of people told us that chances are low that these things can happen but when you get a call like that and having to sit in a geneticists office telling you the worst case scenario along with watching your wife break down in tears, it puts a strain on you mentally and emotionally.

    1. hayeksplosives

      God bless and keep you.

      Congratulations on the new adventure.

    2. Spudalicious

      That’s awesome news, Ed. I’m glad that painful wait is over.

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder

      I’m happy for you. I hope the new continues to be be good and no more scares.

    4. Playa Manhattan

      Great news.

      My wife is a carrier for Sandhoff’s, and my screen came back inconclusive the first 2 blood draws.

      We tried not to get too attached early on.

      1. Ed Wuncler

        As a coping mechanism, I did the same thing. Everyone thought I was being sort of an asshole to not have any attachment but I knew that if I got attached and something bad did happen, it would crush me.

    5. Tundra

      That’s great, Ed!

      All my best to you, your wife and that little bundle of awesome!

      Do you know the sex (gender?)?

      1. Ed Wuncler

        Girl

        1. Tundra

          It’s a blast. They are weird, but they end up liking you more than mom 😉

      2. Tundra

        Fuck. Nice reading, Tundra.

        Congrats on the baby girl, Ed! I’m happy for you.

    6. SP

      What a relief. So happy for you both!

    7. MikeS

      Great news, Ed.

    8. Suthenboy

      You just made my day Ed
      I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that
      That’s the best news you could possibly get

      1. Ed Wuncler

        Thanks!

        It was great when my wife got the call and called me at work with the good news.

      2. Don Escaped Texas

        exactly: the lump in my throat took a ride there for a minute

    9. Semi-Spartan Dad

      Congratulations Ed.

    10. Sensei

      Wow. I know firsthand how difficult that makes you relationship.

      Great news!

    11. B.P.

      Fantastic.

    12. Pope Jimbo

      a healthy baby girl

      So you are going to be raising a mentally challenged kid? Uffda…

      *Just kidding. So glad to hear that.

    13. Gustave Lytton

      Congratulations Ed, to you and your wife!

    14. one true athena

      Great news! So glad it turned out for the best!

    15. Sean

      Yay for happy news!

    16. Congratulations!

    17. Tejicano

      This is so great to hear. I am almost in tears reading this. What a blessing that it is turning out good. I am so happy for you and for your wife.

  35. Suthenboy

    All d-day all day long
    I have to turn it off this shit is killing me

    1. B.P.

      I’m about ready to sit down with my 10-year-old boy to some D Day viewing. We’re going to Belgium in a few weeks so I want to give him some context. And maybe divert his attention from goddamn iPad gaming for five minutes.

      1. Suthenboy

        Ouch
        He should see that
        It will take a few years to sink in
        It is impossible to understand if you weren’t there
        I can’t imagine what it must have been like to march into that meat grinder to nearly certain death

        Heard a few interviews today
        One guy said the machine gun fire sounded like rain hitting a tin roof on thier landing craft before the ramp was down
        When the ramp came down every single man was hit within seconds
        Only he and one other survived

        1. Spudalicious

          I can’t even imagine the horror of being in the first few waves that landed.

        2. Urthona

          Just makes me sick to think about.

        3. B.P.

          Guys absorbing bullets so the guys behind them could eventually overwhelm the enemy.

          1. Urthona

            I think we could never have a d-day today. Maybe that’s a good thing.

    1. Rhywun

      “No New Yorker is above the law — especially those who try to ignore public safety laws and create dangerous situations for pedestrians, bikers and drivers,”

      …said the boss of thousands of cops who routinely do exactly that every day because they are above the law.

      1. Stinky Wizzleteats

        I fucking hate de Blasio, what a sanctimonious twat.

        1. Rhywun

          He is literally the worst. Lazy, Marxist, humorless, honeymooned in a commie country – he’s Bern Junior.

    2. Pope Jimbo

      Did the cop squint at the ice cream truck driver and say “Do you feel licky punk?”

      1. A licky boom boom down

  36. Drake

    Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Robert De Niro’s soon-to-be-ex is trying to get rid of the pre-nup and grab half his stuff.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      He’ll pay her off to minimize the trouble would be my prediction. “Here’s 20 million, now just go away.”

      1. Playa Manhattan

        He undoubtedly has A LOT to hide.

        1. JaimeRoberto: Gentleman, Scholar, French Tickler

          You mean like he wasn’t really acting in Cape Fear?

          1. Playa Manhattan

            Generally speaking, it’s not the cocaine that’s the problem. It’s the things you end up doing on a 14 day cocaine bender.

            And that covers most of his adult life.

    2. Spudalicious

      I don’t know the details, I just know that he turned out to be a shit bag. I hope Karma gets it’s own.

  37. Playa Manhattan

    Hammerland DIPA and mediocre sushi.

    I think I’m going to focus on the beer.

  38. CPRM

    Redbubble removed my Wartyhugeman and the Girl with the Nazi-Ray Eyes products. Something, something laws in other countries. I’m guessing it the Nazi stuff, even though the Nazis are the bad guys. What a word, what a world.

    1. They can’t just not ship that product to those countries?

      1. CPRM

        As Redbubble expands further into the global marketplace it is necessary for us to take into account country specific laws which prohibit the use of certain content, like symbols, images or words. To comply with the laws in these countries we have today removed the works listed below.

        /cprm/-warty-hugeman-nazi-ray-eyes

        *shrugs*

        1. Spudalicious

          Making it country specific would involve extra work and cost on their part so, global ban on their platform. It’s only going to get worse.

        2. Stinky Wizzleteats

          Were there swastikas? Those are illegal in Germany regardless of context (maybe not in a history documentary).

          1. Spudalicious

            I think it’s Warty.

          2. CPRM

            Yeah, she has swastikas. That’s why that is my guess for the removal, since they don’t specify.

  39. Urthona

    Sounds like Mexico gonna cave to Trump’s tariff threats.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      I hope so, it’ll be better for everyone involved.

  40. grrizzly

    That’s cool.

    Some subjects of investigation said Mueller’s agents and prosecutors tried to pressure them into admitting things to give the appearance of collusion. They demanded to know if they had spoken to anyone with a “Russian accent.” They threatened to jail them “for life” and to drag their wives or girlfriends into the investigation.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      That’ll teach the next group of assholes who even think about supporting an outsider for president what’s what.

    2. CPRM

      That’s just what a RUSHUN SPIE WOOD SAy!!!11!!!11!11

    1. Sean

      I see no protection for that…

        1. Sean

          Mo bettah.

    2. Playa Manhattan

      They stole your cap?

  41. Sean

    Cheers Glibs!

    https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/t6rJ36bcS5W6-xceWtp6AA.8JsKGkPHkOAp3rPulCYgnK

    And, no, I am not drinking alone. The turtle is here. ??

    1. Spudalicious

      I like the flamingo. Nice touch.

  42. MikeS

    I don’t want to shit up McGinty’s awesome Murphy Bed post, so hopefully some people are still in this one:

    I have feral barn cats. It appears that two very young kittens contracted pink eye, or some similar eye condition. One had both eyes completely crusted over. It also contracted lead poisoning and died. There is one left who isn’t nearly as far along.

    I’ll get to the point; I want some antibiotic salve for this kitten to stop this from spreading to all the cats. I do not want to pay to take inbred, feral, barn cats to the vet. However, I will to keep my wife happy…but I’d rather find a cheaper way. Ideas?

    1. commodious spittoon

      “The good news is, it’s just a cat.”

      1. MikeS

        Get out of my head!

    2. Rhywun

      Aw. Good luck.

      I had a giant litter of all-gray ferals in my backyard a few years ago. I asked my landlord to do something about it and he was like “my wife already has 13 cats”.

      1. MikeS

        Got the antibiotic, applied to kittens eyes, will repeat a few times tomorrow.

        While I am capable of doing what “must” be done, I much prefer they live healthy lives. Doing my best to see to a happy ending.

        1. R C Dean

          Good man.

          Better than me, anyway.