Friday Morning Links, Yet Again

Happy Friday, all! Eight hours from now, I intend to be swirling a glass of wine. Or maybe getting dinner at some food trucks. Or taking LSD and chewing the bark off a tree. Who knows? I mean, this is an exciting life we lead!

Happy Birthday today to: a totally tubular guy; the Meir that made Milwaukee famous; an amazing combination of talent and stupidity; and the Three Minute Man. And that’s i…  Wait! There’s more!

On to the news.

 


 

Team Red, still useless after all these years. The fascination with the Bush/Obama Forever Wars is astounding.

 

Over/under on Jack Young’s indictment?

 

Why you can’t ever trust a fire captain. Oh wait, too local.

 

I thought this was The Onion. Huh.

 

Michelle Obama mourns.

 

Do you think they’ll let him live in Montana?

 

Popcorn please.

 

It’s ironic that I can carry a gun here. Oh wait, too local.

 

This would be interesting, except…

 

…this is from the same pollster. Astounding!

 

There’s no way that any of this should be criminal, nor any reason to have the product restricted by the State. Oh wait, too local.

 

Is this why we haven’t seen Sea Smith recently? Shit, I’m worried now.

 

I’m taking bets.

 

Team Blue- Totally Not Antisemitic. WTF is with Minnesota, anyway?

 


 

And Old Guy Music is a fun song in the photo theme, but is also a lesson in typography. The album cover for The Picks could easily be read as The Dicks. Wait… what was that…. Really??

Comments

531 responses to “Friday Morning Links, Yet Again”

  1. Nephilium

    Another from the possible fraud, but too local file. In fairness, this one has more of a chance of being real, as the only place I’ve seen a swastika carved into something in the past decade was at a park bathroom out in Ashtabula.

    1. blackjack

      They’re all full of shit. You could get that fixed for maybe 1500.00

      1. blackjack

        For 6k, I can get an old car prepped and fully painted. An OLD car, lots more work.

        1. leon

          6k to paint a swastika on a car? Seems steep.

          1. Nephilium

            The parts that don’t make sense to me is that the car is in Wickliffe, the Painesville police are investigating, and the report is coming out of Ashtabula. Those three locations aren’t exactly next to each other. And I agree on the initial estimate, hell the girlfriend backed her car into a building (long story), and got scratches down the drivers side on every panel. That cost about $2000 to repair.

          2. leon

            I’m sure you could get a neo Nazi to do it 50 bucks.

          3. Festus

            50 bucks and a snappy salute.

          4. BigT

            The man from Ashtabula had his car damaged in Painesville and the car is now in Wickliffe. What’s not to understand?

  2. Festus

    We’re gonna need a bigger turtle.

    1. Festus

      I knew two dudes from junior high that sprayed painted a giant SHITHED on the gym wall of the local elementary school. They must have stood on one anothers shoulders to do the deed and no, shithed is not a typo.

      1. Festus

        Oh Wandering Comment, you’re such a scamp!

      2. Fourscore

        Did we go to the same school? They would have made the Honor Roll here.

        1. Festus

          They were both quite bright but I think they panicked. It turned out better and funnier that way. I imagine drunk 14 year-olds don’t give much of a shit about anything. Took the district about two weeks to remove it so everyday we’d walk past it to the bus stop and just about die laughing.

          1. The Last American Hero

            Revenge of the Shith?

      3. Spartacus

        Was one of them named Beavis?

  3. Rebel Scum

    Senate fails to reverse Trump’s veto of Yemen resolution

    For some reason it struck me as odd that the article repeatedly referred to “Mr.” Trump. But yea, twas team reds time to shine. And team blue’s hypocrisy is on full display.

    1. Festus

      I can’t remember any publications not using the honorific until Trump became President and I’ve lived through ten of them.

      1. leon

        I thought it was common. Right wing places would do the same to Obama, and the Left to Bush before.

        1. Festus

          I’m surprised that one of the talking heads hasn’t let a “Drumph” slip out, yet.

      2. Ownbestenemy

        Pretty sure style guidelines says use proper title when first mention and then whatever after. This same arguement was levied against Fox and sites to the right during Obama.

  4. WTF

    Why doesn’t the article have any photos where the “noose” can actually be seen?

    1. Jarflax

      Seeing a noose can cause permanent physical harm to marginalized peepuls. This is known. EWhy do you hate marginalized peepul?

    2. Spudalicious

      The last picture shows the noose. Yeah, it’s as stupid as you can imagine.

  5. Rebel Scum

    Why you can’t ever trust a fire captain.

    I didn’t know you were a fire captain.

    1. Festus

      That’s spud’s thing.

      1. Nephilium

        And my Brother in Law.

    2. Spudalicious

      And OMWC is using what’s called “projection”.

      1. Old Man With Candy

        That’s how I get the face.

  6. Tres Cool

    mornin’

    1. Festus

      Short cans up! Mornin’ to you!

  7. Fourscore

    “Pollster says Jewish, Muslim Americans have positive views of each other”

    Onion? Babylon Bee?

    Reality is funnier than than either. I’ll have some of what the pollster is having but not too much, I’m driving.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      Leftist first Jewish second Jews sure…

      1. Jarflax

        Apparently Satanic demon creature, and Violent imbecile are ‘positive’ in this poll.

  8. Tonio

    “oh wait, too local”

    What you did there, I sees it.

    1. Tonio

      Sounds more like Church of LSD, bad LSD.

      1. leon

        This is an example of why speech needs to be policed. If they hadn’t said the word Zion, he’d be a free man.

        1. dbleagle

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDe9msExUK8

          I thought you were going this way.

    2. straffinrun

      “I would be ready to take up arms and bomb federal buildings,” Mills told the witness, according to court documents.

      That little word “would” in there tells me there’s some important context missing.

      1. WTF

        Yeah, that doesn’t exactly sound like a credible threat.

        1. straffinrun

          Pretty sure every body here could come up with a clause before it that would make it legitimate. I’ll try. “If Nazis took control of our government,…”

          1. commodious spittoon

            “If furries were ever designated a protected class…”

          2. Jarflax

            Hell the entire left has been buying into the clause “If Donald Trump is elected President…” for the past three years.

          3. The Last American Hero

            And yet Canada has about the same population….

          4. I didn’t think the migrants Trudy was importing had killed that many native Canukistanis.

  9. Drake

    A long-time Gilbert firefighter accused of sexually molesting an 8-year-old girl on Easter Sunday during a 50th birthday party is scheduled for a May 3 preliminary hearing.

    I can see how that would be confusing.

    1. leon

      Was he accused see the party or did he do the deed then?

    2. Festus

      Dressed as the Easter Bunny, no doubt.

      1. No! Nonononono!

        Stop summoning HM, to give us a link that will melt our brains!

        1. Jarflax

          The Bunny Game. (I have always been the guy willing to watch any of the ‘most disturbing movie ever’ movies, the Bunny Game still occasionally gives me nightmares years later)

          1. Not Adahn

            Do you know all there is to know about the Bunny Game?

    3. Tonio

      She was wearing a bow. He thought she was a present.

      1. It’s like Christmas and I just got the best present /Johnny Cash voice (from an obscure movie – 5 Minutes to Live)
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBohf-wqSXY

      2. Atanarjuat

        That is one of the most disturbing things I’ve read on this site, which speaks for itself. Congrats sir.

  10. Cy

    Quite the line up… where to start?

    “Team Blue- Totally Not Antisemitic. WTF is with Minnesota, anyway?”

    Minnesota is fucked that’s what it is.

    1. Festus

      Back in the long ago, in the before time I used to viscerally hate the crusaders from the moral majority. Just listening to that woman makes me smell burnt toast.

    2. Fourscore

      Still hasn’t hit the bottom, there’s some outliers that refuse to give up.

  11. Rebel Scum

    “There’s actually a very relatively warm relationship between the two communities,”

    Sure, Jan.

    1. Festus

      Muammar Glass!

  12. Rebel Scum

    “Despite his own background, despite his actual policies that favor the rich, and yet, we still find that among his base, he’s believed,” she continued. “They trust him to fight for them.”

    Did you ever consider that it is YOUR world view that is incorrect?

    1. WTF

      I bet there are no biases built into the poll questions, either.

      1. AlexinCT

        Heh heh…

        This guy gets it…

    2. leon

      I also like how stealing less is a policy that favors the rich. What else can we do that with? MS-13 is roiled in a war with rival Hispanic gang, a policy that favors whites…

      1. AlexinCT

        The rich are there for the political class to use as the please. After all, they are the stewards accorded the power to pick winners & losers, and the rich better remember that. Or else…

    3. Old Man With Candy

      She’s a pollster. That means totally objective and scientific-like.

      1. leon

        Statisticians shouldn’t be allowed to collect data. Only process the data collected by others.

        1. AlexinCT

          All we would then get is these asshates telling us they have to clean the data up, by skewing it all in whatever direction favors their talking point, and producing the same mediocre and false results we get now.

          1. +1 demographizing the data

  13. Drake

    I think I’m really going to enjoy watching Barr slap Democrats around with his big meaty paws.

    1. Atanarjuat

      Kinky.

      1. AlexinCT

        Say what you will about the guy – and I was not a big fan of his policies – but this is exactly what we need at this time when the people that attempted a coup to prevent us from finding out how corrupt the weaponized intelligence and justice bureaucracies of the Obama administration, under marching orders from said administrations, had become. Losing that election they thought that they had rigged for Clinton, especially after several attempts to entrap team Trump people with clearly criminal operations to infiltrate them with saboteurs, left them in a desperate situation.

        I have a feeling they are panicking and desperate to stop Barr, because once they start investigating the real Russia collusion shit – which was done by the democrats and the foreign agents they used that got fleeced by (or worse, willingly went along with) Russian disinformation ops – and releasing their findings, the Obama admin, the Clinton machine, the security apparatus, the FBI, the DOJ, and quite a few congressional the democrats that provided cover for the criminals, are all going to have serious egg on their face. These people left us with a constitutional crisis at this point, and we will end up with a banana republic (I know, too late: Obama’s admin already finished their effort to fundamentally changed us into that) unless people are held accountable.

        1. It certainly is/was a bigger deal than Nixon & Watergate. But the media and Democrats aren’t going to go after their own team. I expect nothing to happen to the miscreants who did this but I also hope that I’m surprised.

          1. AlexinCT

            I am worried that you may actually be correct and the political stink and attempt at a coup (especially if they manage to win the presidency in 2020) will derail this allowing the DOJ to only target some real low level people, but if that happens team red basically has acceded to the reality that only team blue presidencies will ever again be allowed to be considered legitimate, as team blue will be able to engage in any and all criminal activity it wants to prevent team red from ever winning a presidential election again. I have to believe even the retards in team red will realize they should not allow that to be the case.

          2. OneOut

            I’ve been following this pretty closely and I think this time something is actually going to be done to the bad actors.

            The FISA court has already communicated to Barr that they were lied to. The Comey investigation is coming out this week or next and the DOJ investigation ( the head of that is not from Washington and the size of his team dwarfs that of Muller’s. ) and the declass later this month.

            I believe the declass is going to be overwhelming in its exposure of the coup.

            Well a guy can hope anyway.

          3. R C Dean

            The FISA court has already communicated to Barr that they were lied to.

            I wonder how solid that is. I don’t recall how good the sourcing is, or if its more hearsay/anonymous bullshit.

            I mean, I hope its true. But I’m fully prepared to be disappointed that the whole counteroffensive against the DOJ/FBI/intel/Obama admin/DNC/Hillay campaign conspiracy will fizzle with not nearly enough people being fired, disgraced and/or going to jail.

          4. AlexinCT

            They went to the FISA court and swore 4 times that the information they had – which was either the dossier or talking points from the same people that put the dossier together – because that was required by the Woods procedure. This is what will get them all in trouble eventually with the FISA court shenanigans.

    2. Festus

      I’m impressed by his gravitas. They keep trying to trip him up and he’s like your Grandpa telling you why you shouldn’t ought to jump off the roof with an umbrella.

      1. straffinrun

        What you call “gravitas” I call “Moderately concealed disgust”.

        1. Drake

          Yesterday he treated Blumenthal with all the disgust and disrespect the man deserves.

          1. WTF

            And that’s why the House Dems wanted their staffers to question Barr, so they wouldn’t be caught on camera being exposed as idiots by Barr.

          2. OneOut

            Attempted perjury trap set up

          3. straffinrun

            He put Crispin Glover in his place.

          4. Festus

            Everyone should put Crispin Glover in his place, the kennel beside the doggie-door.

          5. AlexinCT

            Fake Rambo deserved far more scorn. Fuck that cunt.

        2. Gustave Lytton

          If you suffer from mild to moderate disgust, talk to your doctor. Once a day Disconnexia may be right for you! *cue shitty music and completely unrelated video sequence*

    3. Rebel Scum

      He seems to be on top of things. But it helps when you are going against the stupidest people to ever graduate law school.

      1. AlexinCT

        It’s a bunch of angry douchebags whining desperately about having their racket exposed and worrying about the consequences. Barr not only derailed their coup attempt, but has turned the table on them. They thought they could do some political Kabuki and somehow win back the momentum, but it looks like all they did was make it even more obvious they were up to no good and are now out of their league.

        1. OneOut

          They are trying to tarnish his reputation now because they know indictments are coming down exposing a lot of people possibly even Herself and Obama and maybe even the Clinton Family Slush Fund.

  14. >>4,500-pound great white shark found dead with sea turtle stuck in its mouth

    Just one more bite /Homer voice

    1. leon

      In an odd way it is satisfying to know that even animals will sometimes eat more than they can chew.

      1. Jarflax

        Not a dog person huh?

        1. leon

          Hahaha. Been a while since I had a dog. Used to have a car that would eat itself sick.

    2. creech

      Did the turtle have a plastic straw in its mouth? If so, we can claim some carbon-loving right winger killed the turtle and the shark was merely doing its best to clean up the carcass.

      1. Shark….garbage can of the sea. Well, them and groupers.

        1. pan fried wylie

          In ze oczean, you are ze garbage man or ze garbage.

  15. hate_speech

    ‘Mornin everybody. Sorry for my absence over the last couple of weeks. I got canned from my job out of the blue (no complaints or indications at any point), and I’ve been nose to the grindstone looking for new work. I got an interview today and another Monday, so that’s good.

    Shameless plug: If you work at a place in the Raleigh-Durham area looking for a firmware / software engineer, let me know!

    1. Old Man With Candy

      Wow, that totally sucks. But good luck today!

      Since that’s a college area and one where a lot of people want to live, is there a lot of engineering talent buzzing around trying to find something local? That was a real problem in Austin when we were there.

      1. hate_speech

        Yeah, I’m learning that kind of is an issue for me. I came here because there’s a lot more jobs, not realizing that a lot of it is either for senior or entry level. Unfortunately I’m kind of in the journeyman phase (ignoring how many places consider 3+ years senior, which seems insane to me). So it makes it hard for me to even get calls back. Things have gone okay so far, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I had a long stretch of unemployment when we moved here and had only begun to recover financially, so to lose my job without warning is a real kick in the dick.

        1. AlexinCT

          Sounds like you are at a spot where getting back in the door is a problem despite the availability of more options man. Don’t give up. And worrying is good because it keeps a fire under your ass to get you doing what you must to find the next job. If I can give you some advice for when you interview, stress the fact that you are willing and want to learn new stuff. More and more IT employers are realizing that it isn’t just what you already know, but how motivated you are to learn and bring in new stuff that make a good employee.

          1. Rhywun

            I did a few short telephone interviews – I was nervous and terrible at it but I very quickly zeroed in on the fact that the only things I really needed to ascertain were “do you fit in” and “are you willing to learn new things”.

    2. Nephilium

      Sorry to hear about the job loss man. I hope the hunt goes well for you.

      1. hate_speech

        Thank you.

    3. Atanarjuat

      LEARN TO CODE

      1. hate_speech

        I did, but all these goddamn journalists are taking up all the jobs!

          1. commodious spittoon

            I never imagined it was possible to go from anal prostitution to the gold standard and fiat currency.

          2. commodious spittoon

            Holy shit, he goes full Chicago School.

          3. Ozymandias

            Doug Stanhope is a comic genius. I keep meaning to listen to his podcasts, but never do. He lives out here (Bisbee, AZ) and even tells people to pop in and see him if they’re down that way… He can say that because Bisbee is so far off the beaten path, near the border. Me and a buddy keep talking about doing a ride down there and stopping in the local diner to find him. Saw him live in KC and he made a heckler throw himself out. It was amazing.

          4. R C Dean

            Ozy, I didn’t know you were in Bisbee.

            I love those little old mining towns scattered around Arizona.

          5. Ozymandias

            R C – I’m not. I’m out in the west valley, or as the locals mockingly call it “East LA”.

    4. leon

      Sorry to hear about the Job, what kind of software work are you looking into?

      1. hate_speech

        I’m mostly an embedded guy, but have a fair amount of experience with desktop applications as well as some web development. I’m really leaning towards getting back into embedded, but not in a position to turn my nose up at work and prefer a good team / company over any particular technology.

    5. Festus

      Sorry, Man. I went through a period some years ago wherein I kept getting hired for probationary periods and about a week before bennies and raises would kick in you’d be carrying the box of shame. Sucks. Keep your head up and your nose to the wind!

    6. hate_speech

      Thanks everyone for the condolences. I’ve got to go get ready for my interview. Hopefully I’ll be around more soon.

      1. straffinrun

        Identify as an Indian. Can never be too careful. Good luck.

    7. DEG

      Sorry. Best wishes on you job hunt!

      1. DEG

        Hopefully you proofread your resume better than I proofread my comment.

  16. Rebel Scum

    And she has made clear, from the campaign trail to the courtroom, that she is coming for Trump next.

    Isn’t everyone?

    In recent weeks, James’s office has sought bank records relating to the Trump Organization and its affiliates. She has continued a lawsuit brought by her predecessor against the now-defunct Trump Foundation, alleging violations of federal and state laws governing nonprofits.

    Her office has joined or spearheaded some of the dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration’s most controversial plans, including efforts to add a new question on citizenship status to the 2020 census and a plan to build a wall along the border with Mexico.

    “As the next attorney general of [Trump’s] home state, I will be shining a bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings, and every dealing, demanding truthfulness at every turn,” James said in November.

    There is nothing improper about targeting a person in this manner. Move along, citizen. Nothing to see here.

    1. leon

      At least they are doing it openly now, rather than hiding it like it’s legitimate.

    2. hate_speech

      Yeah, I don’t understand how this gets reported on without anybody pausing for a beat and asking: Wait, should she be allowed to just dig through someone’s private life in the hopes of finding something to charge him with?

      I mean, I thought it was *fairly* common knowledge that the average American is considered to have committed three felonies a day. They’ll always find something to nail you for is they get to dig long enough.

      1. Stinky Wizzleteats

        The average American loves it when the other guy gets in trouble and thinks it will never happen to them.

        1. invisible finger

          The average human is a tribal sociopath.

    3. Drake

      I remember another politically ambitions douchebag NY AG who literally destroyed the American economy to further his political career. Just about all of Spitzer’s lawsuits and prosecutions were lost or overturned, but he managed to destroy some large companies and get himself elected Governor.

      1. Sensei

        If it wasn’t for his “indiscretion” he would still be ruling the plebs!

        1. Festus

          Fucking hookers is apparently a greater sin than fucking the country.

          1. AlexinCT

            Hey dude, productive people, a.k.a tax payers, are below hookers on the woke identity politics totem pole. When you fuck a hooker it is a macro aggression. Fucking over tax payers is a good thing, cause they deserve it for being successful and/or hard working.

      2. Rhywun

        Spitzer was so slimy even the Democrats couldn’t sweep it under the rug. He was no more nor less corrupt than every other recent occupant of his various offices but there was just something about him that took it over the top.

        1. AlexinCT

          And that is usually what determines if these people have successful political careers or not, isn’t it? They tend all to be scumbags, but some of them, no matter how much worse they are than your average crook, seem to do well, while others get torpedoed for minor shit.

    1. Rebel Scum

      assault turtles

      Mitch McConnell is on another bender?

    2. creech

      Is #18 Lizzie Warren, like 60 years ago?

  17. My life in sex: I don’t enjoy intercourse
    When I do experience orgasm, it is neither intense nor pleasurable

    Last year, I hooked up with a friend and colleague – miraculously ending more than two decades of celibacy. It was a bit like riding a bicycle; you never really forget it once you’ve learned.

    The hitch? When I lost my virginity for a second time, I discovered that I no longer enjoyed intercourse. In retrospect, I’ve realised that perhaps I never did.

    I find it nearly impossible to achieve orgasm from penetration, and have what is referred to as delayed ejaculation. When I do experience orgasm, it is neither intense nor pleasurable.

    Looking back, I have had this problem with every partner, though I’m sure that medication has made it worse.

    My colleague was satisfied with me as a lover, and I enjoyed prioritising her pleasure. We had a connection, but our romance ended on good terms when we both decided to move on.

    I think sex is important for happiness – so I want to find a way to enjoy intercourse, perhaps through therapy, and to find a partner. I just hope I don’t have to wait another 22 years.

    1. Old Man With Candy

      When I lost my virginity for a second time

      Whaaaaaa???

      1. straffinrun

        His hymen grew back.

          1. Private Chipperbot

            Topper Harley : So… I guess you’ve been with a man before…

            Ramada Thompson : I’m a virgin. I’m just not very good at it.

      2. Subwoofer

        Last time he was a pitcher and this time he was catching? That might be why he didnt enjoy it as much.

    2. leon

      “When I lost my virginity for a second time”

      Ahhj, a ‘Virgin’

    3. straffinrun

      The important thing is whether or not she came. *White Knight Virgin*

      1. Subwoofer

        Such a beta mindset. If you’re not enjoying it, stop and tell her you’re not enjoying it.

        1. straffinrun

          Do I have to wait for her to regain consciousness first?

    4. Festus

      UCS to the white courtesy phone.

      1. commodious spittoon

        UCS loves Tinder. He swipes everyone left.

        1. Festus

          Indubitably.

    1. leon

      That’s umm.. quite the party favor…

    2. LJW

      No pictures? Boo

    3. Chipwooder

      For reasons of thoroughness, I went looking for a picture of this woman. The Fail had one, and it was an interesting choice.

      1. I have the strangest boner.

      2. Festus

        “Only thirteen more years to wait, Little Dove…”

      3. Atanarjuat

        I’m no prude, but that kid’s too young.

        1. Drake

          Seems to have a boob fetish.

    4. Rebel Scum

      Winston’s Stacy’s mom?

    5. CPRM

      Was she a mom of one of the kids there, or is her being a mother totally unrelated? I mean it’s one thing if shes some older woman hosting these kids, but even more fucked up if one of them is her kid and shes doing this.

  18. Rufus the Monocled

    Re Burger King. What kind of woke bull shit was that?

    Sounds like millennials got into the marketing department.

    ‘I can’t believe my student debt’. Classic.

    1. straffinrun

      I’m betting that “Skank” scribbled on the locker was part of the script.

    2. Rufus the Monocled

      Host: Ok, we’ll take questions from the audience for…..MICHELLE…..WOOOO! Yes, you. What’s your name and question?
      Person (taps mic): My name is…..CHEWBACCA (growls). I would like to know if Michelle is mourning a member of her family and where will the funeral be held?

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        Damn. That was supposed not be a reply. Oh well. Sorry.

        1. Festus

          Happens to the best of us.

        1. straffinrun

          Too soon. Didn’t that actor just kick it?

          1. Chipwooder

            Yes

    3. A Leap at the Wheel

      Its for the perpetually childish, arrested development, generation Z and younger Millennial that use “adult” as a verb and not an adjective.

  19. Raston Bot

    Letitia James is trying to recreate that chess-in-the-park scene (forget the movie) where one guy is playing against eight people while trying to show off to his friend and gets check-mated eight times in a row.

    1. Private Chipperbot

      The other officer is not being named until he is arraigned. The sheriff said the man is 25 and a county resident.

      They do that for all suspects… /eye roll

      1. ElspethFlashman

        I know rrrrrright?
        Let’s see: reasons why this should be a higher felony: victim was in custody, alleged perp was in uniform, multiple incidents, apparently evidence that supports victim’s testimony (cameras everywhere in jail should have caught something). . . .

    2. Cy

      “The barbs struck the inmate in the chest, but he suffered no other injuries. However, officials said, using a stun gun on an inmate while in a restraint chair violates department policy.”

      What a bunch of assholes.

  20. robc

    Based on an experience this last Sunday, I have a new idea for a game.

    You get shown pictures of a band on stage and you have to guess:

    DIVE BAR or PENTECOSTAL CHURCH

    I was visiting a fairly young church while out of town, and their current auditorium (they are growing and building a new one currently) both in terms of concrete floor, stage and lighting could have been many small venues. All they needed to add was a bar in the back corner. And dirtier bathrooms.

    1. straffinrun

      Go ahead and post a pic of one.

      1. Festus

        Sounds pretty hep in the good wAY!

      2. robc

        The only picture I can find on GIS from this church makes it too easy.

        https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6CfRTqdEvCg/maxresdefault.jpg

        Get rid of the screen on the stage (or put images instead of lyrics on it) and crop out the chairs and it gets trickier. Also, the singers need less clothes and more tats. I did notice that this church had a lower tattoo ratio than my church does. Our primary greeters are fully sleeved (husband and wife).

        But I think you can get the idea.

        1. robc

          http://headlinerslouisville.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/5-1140×460.jpg

          And this is the venue it reminded me of. Very similar design aesthetic.

          1. straffinrun

            That one’s tricky. I’d have guessed c) Estonian talent show.

          2. A Leap at the Wheel

            I went to the local Ukranian community room for a lent-fish-fry recently, and it looked exactly like that.

        2. Scruffy Nerfherder

          I can’t stand praise bands.

        1. Festus

          Hey, a gig’s a gig, Man!

    2. A Leap at the Wheel

      The polo shirt tucked into pleated dockers will give it away.

  21. Atanarjuat

    https://thefederalist.com/2019/05/02/new-york-times-admits-multiple-spies-deployed-against-trump-campaign/?fbclid=IwAR1MxzJ1L0FcW1DQ_K23N2n7c_ubYK3wLauYrEDwDrbXKd2UbkYcFVTvjGI

    The three agents publicly identified as speaking at that conference on the topic are George J. Ennis, Jr., Alan E. Kohler, Jr., and Stephen M. Somma. Ennis currently serves as the special agent in charge in the FBI’s New York office, according to his LinkedIn profile, and worked closely with Preet Bharara, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, a virulent anti-Trump activist whom the president fired in 2017.

    1. That scumbag still in the news?!

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Listen to me! I’m so smart I married a billionaire!

    Gates has seen firsthand what having money — and not having it — could mean to a society’s health.

    “I absolutely want to live in a capitalistic society. And the people I meet in so many countries in Africa and Asia want to live in the United States, because of capitalism and democracy,” Gates, the co-chair along with husband Bill of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations, told Yahoo Finance.

    “We don’t have it all right, though,” she said, echoing Dimon.

    ———-

    Gates, who is the author of a new book “The Moment of Lift,” offered a suggestion: “I think it’s time for us to look at our tax policy. We should be taxing the wealthy more than middle-class, middle-class more than low-income. We have too much inequity in society. So we need to have some of these policy discussions, and we need to tweak our capitalistic system so it works for everybody, not just the wealthy.”

    Obviously, a go-to source of information about the ills of capitalism.

    What this country needs is higher taxes and more quangos.

    1. >>We should be taxing the wealthy more than middle-class, middle-class more than low-income.

      Uh – don’t we already do that?

      1. WTF

        Yes, in a big way. The top 10% pay something like 70% of the Federal taxes, while the bottom 47% pay nothing. She is an ignoramus.

        1. robc

          Not quite. While the bottom quintile pays a negative income tax rate, once you consider payroll and excise taxes, they are slightly positive.

          in 2015 (last available from my google search), federal tax rate by quintile:

          Bottom 1.5%
          Second 9.2%
          Third 14.0%
          Fourth 17.9%
          Top 26.7%
          1%ers 33.3%

          1. robc

            The breakdown for the bottom quintile:

            Income -11.6%
            Payroll 9.8%
            Corporate 0.9%
            Excise 2.4%

          2. RAHeinlein

            Those numbers aren’t accurate, particularly given EIC expansion to the lower classes.

          3. robc

            Not accurate for 2019? I have no reason to believe they weren’t accurate for 2015.

          4. WTF

            I was talking strictly Federal Income taxes.

          5. invisible finger

            Which is a mistake.

          6. Rufus the Monocled

            So 60% instead of 70%?

    2. Sensei

      Two words – Microsoft Bob .

      She was the project manager for this product when she met Bill.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        I had forgotten about that travesty of a UI.

    3. Stinky Wizzleteats

      What do you want to bet her conceptualization of wealthy doesn’t include the ultra wealthy who can afford an army of tax lawyers to minimize their tax burden?

    4. The Other Kevin

      I think the world would be much better off if the billionaires would stop trying to get the rest of us to “pay our fair share”, and would instead focus on convincing the other billionaires to spend their money on private charity and projects. Gates does a lot of cool things, like paying for wells and mosquito netting that save lives. That’s so much more effective and efficient than giving money to a corrupt government full of waste and graft.

    5. leon

      Nothing like a billionaire telling us she doesn’t pay enough in taxes, but that you don’t either.

    6. Rebel Scum

      I thought taxes were supposed to fund the government, not redistribute income based on some arbitrary metric.

  23. Jonah Goldberg: Economic Nationalism is Just Socialism on the Right

    But, as a conservative of the Hayekian variety, I see a particular threat in how some on the right are responding to this inconvenient truth: They want to get in on the action.

    Historically, the primary conservative argument against top-down planning wasn’t so much that politicians and bureaucrats aren’t smart enough to run the economy from some Washington-based control room, but that it simply can’t be done. Policymakers suffer from what Hayek called “the knowledge problem.” The market is too complex, with too many variables on the ground, for anyone to manage things from above.

    On some parts of the right, the argument is changing. The new proponents of “economic nationalism” no longer think elites can’t run the economy — just that liberal elites, or “globalists,” can’t run it. Part of this stems from the often-paranoid conviction that liberal elites have brilliantly rigged the system in their favor. So, the thinking goes, if they can pull that off, so can we.

    It doesn’t work that way. Such thinking is wrong regardless of the partisan agenda behind it, which is why Hayek dedicated his book “The Road to Serfdom” to “the Socialists of All Parties.”

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      He ain’t wrong.

    2. A Leap at the Wheel

      This guy used to be a dyed in the wool Team Redder, didn’t he? I guess Trump doesn’t break every single person in the media (just most of them.)

      1. Nephilium

        I still remember (probably 15 years ago or so) when he was complaining about libertarians and how utopian they were (and how it was going to throw elections to the Democrats).

        1. You are Utopians, but there aren’t enough of you to throw an election.

          1. The Utopians are the people who insist the State can make things better.

            Libertarians realize this is bull, and are trying to minimize the damage.

            Anarchists want to pull the plug on the whole thing.

          2. It’s utopian in that it would require everyone to live by and embrace the same principles and perpeturally pass them on to their progeny. Appliny the principle to policy leads to the destruction of the principled peoples’ ability to make policy and at best a return to the status quo ante and at worst a collapse into some barbaric system like communism.

          3. Jarflax

            Except that your criticism applies equally to all philosophies. There is no law, rule, system, or ideology that is immune to corruption over time. The more successful the ideology is at promoting prosperity the faster it will become decadent. Jefferson was right about the proper manure for the tree of liberty.

          4. Jarflax

            And either your definition of utopian includes every one, which makes it useless, or it is wrong.

          5. Fine, I’ll go one better. You won’t even reach your proposed operating model before collapsing because of your own policies. Especially regarding borders, or the lack thereof.

          6. Jarflax

            Oh I agree that Libertarians are Utopian, I just didn’t like your definition.

          7. R C Dean

            To me, “utopian” ideologies are ones that are fundamentally inconsistent with human nature. Any ideology that promises something like a panacea is utopian, because human nature simply does not permit a society of perfect peace, justice and fairness.

            BTW, I count anarchism as a utopian ideology. The evolution of Burning Man from a temporary autonomous zone to a regulated and controlled event is a good example of why. My believe is that once a group exceeds a fairly small size (say, 200 people), it will either fragment into warring camps or develop an authority to resolve disputes and develop rules to avoid disputes. IOW, human nature, which can maybe permit a small enough group (one where everyone has or can have a personal relationship with everyone else) to be an anarchy, above that size anarchism is simply not sustainable.

          8. R C Dean

            See, I don’t think libertarianism (properly understood, IMO, as minarchy, not anarchy) is utopian. It takes into account human nature, including the drive to dominate and control, and tries to rein it in without assuming it away.

          9. 200 is small enough to be an “US” from the ingrained tribalistic nature of people.

            Tribalism isn’t some aberrant thing, it is a phychological adaptation that aided in the survival of closely related gene-carriers.

            Larger groups you’ll get a “them” fracture. Managing the “Us” and “Them” requires a mediating organization and set of rules. The size and strength of that varies depending upon more factors than I can even enumerate.

          10. Not Adahn

            My flavor of libertariansim comes from the fact that I know that not everyone can agree on what a perfect world even is.

            Then I know that nobody knows how to achieve that world.

            Then I know that no plan to implement that plan could be successfully implemented.

            Then I know that I don’t have the right to force anyone to acquiesce to such an attempt.

            Since a Utopia (a) doesn’t exist, (b) isn’t knowable (c) isn’t achievable and (d) is improper to attempt, how am I even vaguely a utopian?

  24. Chipwooder

    BTW, love the Blue Boy pic. Those late ’60s Dragnet episodes are a scream.

  25. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Morning all.

    Get your pinch of salt ready, but if there’s any truth to this at all, it would go a long way towards explaining everything that’s been going on.

    The problem for Brennan and [former Director of National Intelligence]Clapper and [former FBI Director] Comey and [former FBI General Counsel] Baker and all of them now is, is that the FISA Court has already communicated with the Justice Department about its findings. And their findings are that from more than four years before the election of Donald Trump, there was an illegal spying operation going on by FBI [private] contractors — four of them — to steal personal information, electronic information about Americans and to use it against the Republican Party.

    The FISA Court abuse is the center of this entire abuse of governmental power. The Chief Judge of that court [Rosemary M. Collyer] has already ruled that the FBI broke the law and that the people at the head of the [Obama] Justice Department — [former Deputy Attorney General] Sally Yates, John Carlin, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, all knew about it and lied to the court, the FISA Court, about it.

    There is a hero in this entire story, and it’s not a lawyer. All the bad people in this story are lawyers. There’s a hero. His name is Admiral Mike Rogers. He was the head of the National Security Agency. He discovered the illegal spying. He went personally to the FISA Court and briefed the Chief Judge and worked with her for months to uncover the people who did it. The FISA Court has already told the Justice department who lied to that court and that has been given to [Attorney General] Bill Barr already.

    1. leon

      I don’t believe it, just because it’s too good to be true. If James Comey and ilk spent the rest of their lives in jail it would be too good.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        It is too good, isn’t it? But the parts fit really well. Weaponizing the FBI using outside contractors sounds exactly like a Chicago Democrat operation, particularly after what we know about Lerner et al.

        1. leon

          Don’t get me wrong, I believe they are guilty, I don’t believe anything will happen.

      2. WTF

        I believe it’s true, and I also believe not much will come of it. This is why the Dems are getting hysterical about trying to keep the collusion/obstruction lies alive – they know with the collaboration of the leftist media it’s their best chance to avoid a reckoning for the criminality. And they will most likley be pretty successful, with maybe a couple of minor players being sacrificed and the main culprits virtually unscathed.

    2. Rufus the Monocled

      I just want to see them face some kind of justice. Even if it’s public humiliation to the point they don’t show their faces in public ever again. Let them recede and retire into the Aventine Hills never to Tweet again.

      1. Festus

        You slay me, Montreal Man!

    3. Stinky Wizzleteats

      We’ll see, if this has really occurred then there will be serious fallout. It just sounds too good to be true, like all of those secret indictments Sessions was working on before he got shitcanned.

      1. WTF

        if this has really occurred then there will be serious fallout

        The one does not necessarily follow from the other. It probably did occur, and there probably won’t be much fallout. The federal bureaucracies including intelligence and DOJ are firmly in the grasp of partisan leftists.

        1. straffinrun

          Unfortunately, this ^. Clapper has already been proven beyond doubt that he lied to Congress while under oath. The state doesn’t have incentive to investigate the state even if it’s from the other team.

          1. Stinky Wizzleteats

            Way to harsh my buzz fellas.

    4. Festus

      Fapping imminent….

    5. Rebel Scum

      It fits. But even if true, I am not holding my breath for anything to happen to the perps.

    6. Spartacus

      So a Star Chamber-type secret court is manipulated for political ends? Say it ain’t so!

  26. Nephilium

    And with the weekend upon us (and Free Comic Book Day tomorrow), the local comic shop released a video of last year’s Free Comic Book Day midnight event. This should give an idea of the scope of this event here, there’s the midnight event (geared more towards adults) and the daytime event (geared more towards kids). They rent out another store front for this event, the comic shop is actually in the corner by the Cricket wireless. Rejoice geeks, there are a lot of us (at least around me).

    1. ::prepares pepper spray::

      1. Nephilium

        That won’t protect you from the 501st Legion.

        1. WTF

          Doesn’t matter. Their marksmanship is worse than the Vogons.

      2. Festus

        ::prepares Axe body spray and cholroseptic::

    2. Fourscore

      …and Pick up Honey Bee Day”. By tomorrow afternoon I’ll be running about 40,000 more head of livestock.

      1. It’s easier when they have such small heads.

        1. Festus

          And a hive mind.

      2. Jarflax

        How do you brand them?

        1. Where do you think the black bands come from? Those are Bee brands. Wild bees are all yellow.

          /damn lies.

  27. Rufus the Monocled

    What’s with the Muslim anti-Trump shtick and constant being in the news?

    Because of that ban? The one SCOTUS found was fine? The one with the same seven countries Obama singled out?

    Everyone’s a disingenuous asshole.

    1. Rebel Scum

      The not-a-muslim-ban muslim-ban.

  28. straffinrun

    My 10 year old daughter is the best. We bought a 15 liter bucket for camping tomorrow. While we were waiting for the light to change at the crosswalk, I asked her if she cleaned her room yet. “Not yet, Papa.” “You know what that means. Put it on.” Without hesitating, she puts the plastic bucket on her head. “Papa, I don’t like wearing the bucket.” The people around us looked horrified and obviously she knew exactly how it was playing out because I could hear her stiffling laughter under the bucket.

    1. Rufus the Monocled

      Lol.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      That’s funny.

    3. Sensei

      Did you the appropriate verb for headware? かぶる?

      It wouldn’t be Japanese if it didn’t have six different verbs depending on the what is being worn.

      https://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/136/six-words-that-mean-to-wear-put-on-in-japanese

    4. A Leap at the Wheel

      That’s great.

    5. Tundra

      Very nice. You are an excellent father!

    6. kinnath

      This is world class parenting.

    7. Annoyed Nomad

      OMG, that’s priceless!

  29. The Pacifist Roots of an American Nazi
    Ingrid Rimland was a pioneering voice of the neo-Nazi Internet. She was also raised Mennonite, a peaceful religion with a long history of celebrating white “ethnic” identity.

    Moral institutions such as Christianity can provide important centers for ethical decision-making. At their best, they are critical to the life of a healthy democracy and are arguably analogous to democracy itself. Progressive Mennonites such as myself understand politics as the work of living together. We practice a faith that fosters debate and that seeks to hear each person’s voice. Our congregations make their own rules and guidelines through democratic vote, and we are committed to inviting all members to preach, teach, and hold leadership roles. This kind of political engagement usefully combats the apathy and individualism of our current neoliberal culture.

    Nonetheless, it is worth asking whether the relationship between Rimland and Mennonitism is as surprising as it might appear on the surface. In recent years, Christianity has often seemed more a counterpart to far-right activism than a bulwark against it. Racist, anti-immigrant groups around the world justify their actions through various brands of Christian nationalism. In 2016, 81 percent of white evangelical voters cast ballots for Donald Trump. Many Mennonites undoubtedly did the same.

    Perhaps the most egregious of the denomination’s failings has been our propensity to excuse and even foster white supremacy. Ethnic parochialism would be familiar to Scottish Presbyterians, German Lutherans, or Italian Catholics. But white Mennonites’ chauvinism is in a class of its own. Despite (or possibly because) most Mennonites worldwide are now people of color, white churchgoers often uncritically identify as “ethnic” members, whose European ancestors allegedly survived centuries of persecution by marrying only within the faith.

    1. WTF

      In 2016, 81 percent of white evangelical voters cast ballots for Donald Trump.

      And? Trump is neither “far right” nor a Nazi. Yet this yutz thinks he has made some sort of argument.

    2. leon

      “whose European ancestors allegedly survived centuries of persecution”

      You heard it here folks, white Europeans have never been persecuted. Especially never Christians.

      1. Rebel Scum

        The Mongols, Arabs, and Persians (and various European groups/cultures) could not be reached for comment.

      2. Yeah there’s a reason the Puritans left Europe and it wasn’t just to exploit Indians.

    3. Pine_Tree

      “Many Mennonites undoubtedly did the same.” Um, no.

      And the Mennonites I know have a bunch of adopted East Indian kids.

    4. Not Adahn

      This kind of political engagement usefully combats the apathy and individualism of our current neoliberal culture.

      Fuck off Mennonite-slaver.

  30. bacon-magic

    I do not listen to bands with sickle and hammers on their album cover.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Jimmy Sommerville haz a sad.

      1. bacon-magic

        SUCK IT COMMIES! (hides Rage Against the Machine cd’s)

    2. The Last American Hero
    1. WTF

      Well, that’s certainly treating the assignment with the seriousness it deserves.

    2. straffinrun

      Hitler was into sweater vests? That makes him even creepier.

      1. creech

        “It’s a wonderful day in the lebensraum; won’t you by my neighbor…or else?”

        1. invisible finger

          Tomorrow, tomorrow

          We’ll start the day tomorrow with a shower

          for you

          Tomorrow, tomorrow

          We’ll start the day tomorrow with one less

          Jew (Eins, Zwei!)

  31. The Late P Brooks

    the apathy and individualism of our current neoliberal culture.

    “Apathy” meaning allowing other people to live their lives unmolested, presumably.

    The horror.

    The HORROR.

    1. leon

      People prefer it when you sanctimoniously stick your head in their lives.

  32. I. B. McGinty

    It’s Friday. I don’t have to work. I don’t have shit to do.

    *looks at to-do list*

    Well shit. There goes my weekend.

  33. Evan from Evansville

    Thanks everybody for their kind words on my piece!

    OT Update: As you might have known, I have a pretty severe anxiety issue for about 17 years. (BTW, and Evan is now 32 years.) It was getting pretty bad back in the states. Now that I have my own place, not hunkered in some attic in someone else’s house, and with meds, something amazing has happened.

    I know being in Asia is good for me because it’s so much more anonymous and I get to telecommute and avoid offices. I was still worried about moving in with Lady for the first time. I had a realization today and had to break her the news: I haven’t had any anxiety attacks, or even just general anxiety, since I moved here.

    I’m so happy to have my/our own place. My god, having your own space, just for you, is so important for the human psyche. I can breathe again. It’s Friday night, I’m a bit lit and I’m about to get super stoned. Watching Umbrella Academy. Weird, but visually beautiful and so far quite interesting.

    I also listened to the Get Up Kids’ album Eudora (mostly B-sides and covers). Fave band in high school, mostly because of my brother. I love how it’s just a tight band, clearly playing together in a room with just the vocals overdubbed. But tight. Sounds like so many early bands I was in.

    How about a Pixies cover? FUCKING THEME MUSIC! (Monocle has stopped working so I can’t embed. Apologies.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OInieXoW71A

    1. Nephilium

      Glad to hear it’s working out for you man. I’ve got to admit to a small smile to someone talking about anxiety issues while moving half way around the world at the same time. I can’t imagine how much I would be panicking doing that.

    2. WTF

      Hey Evan, I was late to the party, but I want to say that I really enjoyed your Sri Lanka article.

    3. The Other Kevin

      Sounds like you are thriving and that’s a great thing. My middle daughter (18) has anxiety and PTSD, and she occasionally has trouble managing it. It’s nice to hear from someone who has this kind of self awareness and is doing well.

      Incidentally, she really loves Umbrella Academy. Mostly because it’s written by the guy from My Chemical Romance. I have seen a few episodes, it is pretty good.

    4. Festus

      I really liked your article, Evan. The part where you slipped into third person was adept and fitting. I wish that I’d had the nards to do what you are doing because I had that travel bug when I was young. Life gets in the way. Keep us updated on the flesh-pots of Thailand.

  34. Rufus the Monocled

    “…Activists have also been raising alarms about a rise in racist incidents at auto plants.”

    I’m gonna go ahead and assume no.

    “….For Lust, the possible loss of a home she has been in since she started her job…”

    She better not be making this up because if she did, she’s one stupid, irresponsible boob.

    1. Rufus the Monocled

      “Kevin Harrington
      I can’t believe the comments I’ve read here. America has lost it’s soul. If her story was fake, the company wouldn’t have spent hours doing an investigation”

      I don’t think that’s how it works Kevin.

      1. Festus

        I’m going to go out on a limb here and call bullshit. This kind of stuff just doesn’t happen anymore, anywhere. People might lift an upper lip about certain things but outright racists are frowned upon even harder than smokers or drunk drivers.

      2. Rhywun

        If her story was fake, the company wouldn’t have spent hours doing an investigation

        That’s some solid logic right there, Lou.

  35. Rebel Scum

    Norwegians weighing options for whale allegedly used as Russian spy: report

    I thought hanging was the traditional means of dealing with spies.

    1. Or firing squads, or turning them double agents.

  36. Pope Jimbo

    Minnesoda Government – We know how to invest your money!

    After 12 years and spending $113M, Minnesoda has decided to scrap the state’s vehicle licensing system

    A blue-ribbon panel formed by the governor said that the system known as MNLARS should be switched over to a private vendor and off-the-shelf software at a cost of at least $20 million.

    The new Gov and the DFL are spinning this in the media as some minor program that went bad and was totally the fault of the last administration. Absolutely no one will be punished or lose their jobs over this. And not one person will ask the Gov why taxpayers should be expected to pay an extra $0.20/gal gas tax when the govt obviously has no idea how to manage money or projects.

    1. Fourscore

      “It ain’t over ’til its over”

      The new guy has a lot of new plans. Won’t be able to understand the exodus.

      1. Tundra

        The new guy may out-retard the last retard.

        There is absolutely no need to do this shit in-house, though. Spawn 2 got his Colorado fishing license the other day and it came from somewhere out east.

        Outsource to experts, people. It’s not that fucking hard.

        1. Pope Jimbo

          I think most of the states use the same outfit for hunting and fishing licenses. (which reminds me that I need one)

          Horrible interface, but they get the job done.

          Also: No one will out-retard Mark Dayton.

          1. Jared Polis and Gavin Newsome say …”Challenge accepted!”

          2. Fourscore

            Maybe not but the new guy will be first runner up. Participation awards are for the B team

    2. blackjack

      I live in California, .20 is almost one of out quarterly hikes.

  37. A work week’s worth of worthless peoplesoft training took until mid-thursday to reach something I didn’t already know – and it was about the component that was recently retired from the product. What’s left is purportedly a short day according to the instructor.

    Taxpayer money well spent.

  38. Rufus the Monocled

    That didn’t take long….Burger King parody retitled…..Biden King.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufrw7IE2Hzs

    1. Rufus the Monocled

      By the way, I don’t give a crap excuses twits give, it’s completely inappropriate and troubling the way he touches kids. Kids are very good at showing discomfort signals and those kids are uncomfortable.

      1. Festus

        Unfortunately, just about everyone on this planet has one of those “Stay away from” Uncles. This is known.

      2. Ozymandias

        +1 There is no doubt in my mind that guy is fundamentally broken.

        1. R C Dean

          I think he has just lived so long in a bubble were nobody ever set any limits for him, that the part of him which polices that kind of behavior has just atrophied. I think he truly believes there is nothing wrong with grabbing women and children and sniffing their hair; that, in fact they enjoy it when he does it.

          1. Festus

            If his latest presser is any indication he’s well on the way to assisted living land. That was brutal.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    And not one person will ask the Gov why taxpayers should be expected to pay an extra $0.20/gal gas tax when the govt obviously has no idea how to manage money or projects.

    People like you are why we can’t have nice things.

    1. Pope Jimbo

      Want to know how much of a shitlord I am? I will also point out that we had a $1.5B surplus when asking why the gov wants his shiny new gas tax.

      (I already had one person use the surplus as a reason why we shouldn’t be all that upset by the $113M we wasted on the vehicle licensing BS.)

      1. Tundra

        Did you punch that person in the dick?

        1. Pope Jimbo

          No. It was a woman in the office who is always blathering on about things.

          Her saving grace is that she does a shitty job well. Any sentient being would slash their wrists if they were given her job, but she just grinds it out.

      2. Fourscore

        That’s not a surplus, that’s a Rainy Day Fund. We just never get any rainy days here in Sunshine Country. Domino’s will get the contract for filling potholes ’cause they have a vested interest.

  40. When a Mommy Herpes virus and a Daddy Herpes virus love each other very much…

    The Oral and Genital Herpes Viruses Are Having ‘Sex.’ The Result Is Worrisome.

    The researchers “found, basically, that there was considerably more recombination than had previously been appreciated,” between the two viruses, said study co-author Dr. Alex Greninger, an assistant professor of laboratory medicine at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine.

    What’s more, although scientists knew that the two viruses had mixed in the distant past, the new study shows that this mixing continues to this day. “Herpes viruses are still having sex,” Greninger told Live Science.

    But the mixing appears to be a “one-way” exchange, with HSV-2 acquiring genes from HSV-1, and not the other way around, the authors said.

    As a result, the genital herpes virus (HSV-2) continues to evolve, which could have negative implications for public health, the researchers said. For example, HSV-2 might evolve in a way that makes it resistant to current antiviral drugs.The ability of HSV-2 to mix with HSV-1 could also be a barrier to the development of a vaccine against herpes, which doesn’t yet exist, Greninger added.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      So that’s how the zombie apocalypse is going to start.

    2. Pope Jimbo

      I wonder if the sleazy herpes viruses (the ones that will fuck anything) end up getting their own VD? Like maybe they get a painful SugarFree on their virus dicks.

      1. Festus

        Full-body carbuncles. “It’s just a phase baby! It’ll pass!”

  41. Rebel Scum

    Arizona governor will decide whether to legalize nunchucks

    If you ban sticks connected by a chain no one will be able to acquire sticks connected by a chain.

    1. Festus

      If you ban them how will 14 year old nit-wits manage to break their own noses? Betcha never thought about that, Smart Guy…

    2. Spudalicious

      From my experience, for 95% of the people that use them, nunchucks serve the vital purpose of smashing yourself in the nuts, hitting yourself in the head, or smashing fingers.

      1. Jarflax

        The other 5% sit there with a confused look on their face wondering why their mastery of the super cool nunchucks have not gotten them in the prom queen’s panties.

        1. Ozymandias

          Hey, hey. One can be in both the 95% and the 5%, can’t one? I went through that phase as a teen and once hit myself in the head so fucking hard I almost knocked myself out. Trying to hide (and then explain) the giant lump in the middle of my forehead to my mother was enough to make me realize that this wasn’t going to (a) win me any fights, or (b) get me any play with chicks – at least not before I concussed myself.

      2. DEG

        Or fucking up a wall.

        The son of the folks I bought my house from was into martial arts. I noted nunchuks hanging up in his room when I walked through the house. I also noted but didn’t really think about all the posters on the walls.

        When I did the final walkthrough before closing, all their stuff had been moved out as expected. i noted many, many chunks of wall missing in the son’s bedroom. All of which his posters covered. That was an involved patch job.

      3. B.P.

        You’re missing the vital demographic of 20-year-old dweebs who go to the park and practice their nunchucks thinking that women are going to think it’s cool and take interest in them.

        1. Festus

          “Oh Nunchuck Man! Take me, I’m yours!”

  42. straffinrun

    What’s worse than bringing a bucket of fried chicken to the House floor? Team Red partisans take a shot at out doing the stupidity.

    https://www.mediaite.com/tv/diamond-silk-call-out-rep-steve-cohens-fried-chicken-stunt-as-racially-insensitive/

    1. WTF

      LOL – I guess turnabout is fair play, because you know what the Dems and their media shills would have said about a Republican eating fried chicken on the House floor. I gotta think this is just parodying the Dems own racial bullshit.

    2. Juvenile Bluster

      Diamond and Silk aren’t so much Team Red Partisans as they are whores (which I separate from sex workers). Like Candace Owens, if they thought there was more money on the other side they’d be there.

      1. Festus

        JB gets it but at least Candace is pleasing to the eye.

    3. Pope Jimbo

      Steve Cohen should be pilloried for taking a job away from a black man. He represents Memphis (a very much black majority district) and is also one of (((them)))

      1. Chipwooder

        Yes, I remember a kerfuffle years ago when he was first elected and tried unsuccessfully to join the Congressional Black Caucus because most of his constituents are black.

    4. Rhywun

      Meh. Sometimes turnabout is fair play.

      1. Festus

        Smelling burnt toast again… Funny how I pay more attention to your politics than in my own country because I know nothing up here ever changes. Just a different bobble-head mouthing platitudes. At least this time we do have an actual clown in charge of the government. Honk Honk!

  43. Hyperion

    “Is this why we haven’t seen Sea Smith recently? Shit, I’m worried now.”

    SPACE SMITH HAVE POWER OF INTERNETS. SPACE HEAR ABOUT TURTLE ARMIES, SUMMON HIS OWN. TAKE OUT SEA BECAUSE NEED MORE POWER. SPACE COMING FOR YOU NEXT, STEVE, WILL BE NEW PATRIARCH.

  44. Rufus the Monocled

    The thing is about that Burger King ad, I think, is it does seem to confirm millennials are narcissistic. I don’t necessarily think it’s their fault given how they were raised and the BS they were probably taught in school but they don’t seem to realize if those are the worst problems they face then they’re no different than previous generations. There’s nothing unique about them. Who said about millennials something along the lines, ‘no generation has documented themselves so fully yet achieved so little’?

    So you get all these lame ass ‘woe is me’ and ‘do better males’ ads. If we go on the theory millennials have begin to crash marketing departments, then we see how they perceive the world and themselves through those lenses. I think.

    Also.

    That chick storming down the steps in the Burger King video. She was upset after she was turned down for a safe space. And the one pushing a carriage with a baby in it telling the world to ‘suck it’ because she’s a bad ass single mother? Yeh, she looks like she’s heading right to her subsidized housing after collecting a welfare check.

    Another miss I suppose. Like the Gillette mess.

    1. CPRM

      Soon they will change their name to Burger Monarch, because ‘King’ reaps of mysogony.

      1. Not Adahn

        Burger YASSSS SLAY KWEEEN

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      People who define themselves as individuals first have control over their self-image and worth. Millennials, as a generalization, have come of age with social media and identity politics. Both of which encourage your self-definition as part of a collective. It’s no wonder they’re miserable.

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        Hence all the beards and tats.

        1. Rufus the Monocled

          And weird fetish for socialism.

          Gen X saw with its own eyes the misery socialism and communism brought so it never really became a topic of discussion except for scorn. Gen X, despite the angst, still managed its sense of individuality marked mostly by loose sects from jocks to Goths and everything in between including metal heads, punks, preps, and nerds. I like to think our cynicism was tempered by healthy skepticism.

          1. invisible finger

            It’s probable that many millennials will grow out of their narcissism. If the boomers are any indication though, not nearly enough of them will. GenXers grew out of their adolescent angst quickly because there weren’t enough of them to be coveted by marketing departments.

          2. Chipwooder

            Exactly. We were simply too few in number for advertisers to ever care much about.

          3. Festus

            That’s a dolorous yep. The previous generation sucked all the air from the room so we were left with the crumbs. There were just so many of them that we couldn’t really compete on a level playing field. People live longer nowadays and most of them are wont to hang onto the power that they have. I’m not saying that it’s a good or a bad thing but yeah, our generation got royally fucked in the ass. I shiver to think what the following generations will decide to do with the old and useless.

    3. Desk Jockey

      As a millenial in a Marketing department, a lot of it stems from colleges.

      I enjoyed my marketing and business classes, but they were always tinted with SJW nonsense by the students. Most of the professors in those classes were pretty standard. The students would take what they were learning in their “studies” classes (which were mandated) and applying them to what should have been straightforward business and marketing principles.

      The end product is smart kids who understand the principles and are often times talented, but think that there is no separation between personal and business beliefs. They are then seen as representative of a generation, and the older members of the agencies and departments assume they must be able to talk to their peers. So we get the advertising nonsense we’re starting to see.

      Fortunately my industry doesn’t lend itself to such a thing.

      1. Rhywun

        I am noticing a lot of commercials lately that seem to be the product of millennial ad agencies (no offense :)). The current GoodRX one is a perfect example that makes me leap for the remote every time it comes on. Some beta dude talking about this chick’s prescriptions and he goes “That’s not good!” and “You go, Kate!” *barf*

        1. R C Dean

          The current trope of portraying men as either feminized beta males and/or stereotypically hapless arrested-development cases is grinding my gears. I mean, a few scattered around would be one thing (I confess to thinking the Geico “everybody is turning into their parents” ads are pretty funny), but except for some beer and truck ads, the trope is nearly universal.

        2. Desk Jockey

          That’s why I left agency work after one year.

          Not much pressure to do that in the heavy equipment industry, even in NY. Less OMG more lets see how much this big ass dump truck can carry.

  45. Rebel Scum

    Diamond & Silk Call Out Rep. Steve Cohen’s Fried Chicken Stunt as … ‘Racially Insensitive’?

    Everyone likes fried chicken, so this is dumb. But as politics of the left go, hold them to their own standard. Flip the party affiliations and make the target of derision non-white and you have a recipe for leftist hysteria.

    1. Chipwooder

      This is a discussion Suthen and I had once a while back – fried chicken isn’t so much soul food as it is Southern. Southerners. white and black, have many of the same culinary preferences: fried chicken and fish, BBQ (especially pulled pork), cornbread, mac n cheese, greens, etc. It’s not identical, but there is a lot of overlap.

      Hell, you’d think the fact that the Colonel himself, the world most famous fried chicken purveyor, was a white Southerner would make this obvious.

      1. Rhywun

        So would watching any cooking show.

  46. ‘Electability’ is a terrible reason to pick a candidate

    There’s no sense in fussing too much about either Greens, libertarians, or greedy centrists refusing to vote tactically. In a democracy, people have choice, and the whole system depends on people voting out of a sense of moral duty. The most logical thing to do tactically speaking is not vote at all, since the chance of your vote swinging the election is virtually nil. In a parliamentary system, people could simply vote their conscience and assemble a coalition afterwards, but potential splitters is simply an unavoidable aspect of the crummy U.S. Constitution.

    As Alex Pareene argues, “electability” is always invoked as a reason why the Democratic Party can’t have nice things — why liberals must vote for the worse candidate, because the alternative is Republicans winning. It’s left the party in a defensive crouch, terrified of its own shadow, convinced that America can’t have anything but occasional bursts of penny-ante reforms.

    I knew people personally who shared Bernie Sanders’ politics but thought voting for him in the 2016 primary was too risky. And while one can’t say for sure he would have been able to defeat Trump, he certainly couldn’t have done any worse. Those voters may as well have gambled on someone whose record actually matched their values.

    The reality is that we can’t know who would be the strongest challenger to Trump. The only thing we can say is that Trump is consistently unpopular, especially given how strong the economy is, and he trails most Democrats in polls. Actual Republican policy, meanwhile, is even less popular than Trump. Almost nobody wants the tax cuts and deregulation the GOP is stuffing down the country’s throat.

    1. “the crummy U.S. Constitution”

      …aaaaand this person can be safely ignored.

      1. Chipwooder

        Yep.

    2. Rebel Scum

      the GOP is stuffing down the country’s throat

      They’ve started passing monstrous bills in the dead of night with zero from the opposition party?

      crummy U.S. Constitution

      There is a method to change it built into it.

      1. invisible finger

        Yes, but that method doesn’t include “temper tantrum”. Therefore, “crummy”.

        Kind of tells you this person hasn’t even begun a mental adolescence yet.

    3. CPRM

      since the chance of your vote swinging the election is virtually nil

      This is one ‘truth’ that really irks me. One person saying they won’t vote for X because their vote doesn’t matter, ok. But when you have millions doing it, it kind of changes things.

      It’s like saying you shouldn’t go on a diet because cutting one calorie won’t make you lose weight, but when you start cutting out more calories it adds up.

      /perturbed

      1. The Last American Hero
        1. CPRM

          I do live in Wisconsin.

          But rigged elections isn’t the same argument.

    4. Juvenile Bluster

      I’m slowly becoming convinced that there are a lot of “resistance” folk who want Trump to be re-elected next year. It’s the only thing that explains the abject stupidity of Team Blue.

      1. B.P.

        Nothing is quite as satisfying as bitching and moaning 24-7, so yes to four more years of that!

    5. leon

      Everyone I know voted for Hillary

    6. Hyperion

      “Almost nobody wants the tax cuts and deregulation”

      Almost no one I KNOW in my little lefty bubble, that is. None of them work either and mommy will protect them against any BAD regulation, which would only ever happen under GOP rulez. Well, there might still be bad regulation, but as long as we lefties are in charge, it would never ever be used against us. Obama promised us that, and he’s almost Jeebus.

    7. *sheepishly raises hand*

      …I want the tax cuts and deregulation.

      1. invisible finger

        Don;t be a wuss, raise that hand with enthusiasm!

    8. Chipwooder

      Alex Pareene was a smarmy little shit of a Gawker writer years ago (is there any other type of Gawker writer?) and I have no idea why anyone pays the slightest attention to anything he has to say.

      1. B.P.

        Also, one of the most punchable faces ever hatched by the Internet.

    1. RAHeinlein

      The technical equivalent to the classic fortune cookie response.

    1. That’s a good read. She makes an interesting point that I’ve come across before. It’s not necessarily that the mainstream media is biased as a whole, it’s that it’s operating according to a model that rewards volume over quality. So somebody reports something original, or maybe not even all that original, and then everybody else grabs hold of it and repeats it. They all start using each other as sources rather than looking for an original source. Eventually, through repetition, it comes to be generally accepted as fact.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        There’s a bubble in internet media. The big outfits are valued too highly and there are a horde of smaller outlets. It’s just a constant rush to be at the top of the google news feed results.

        1. Festus

          Therein lies the problem. The “algorithms” being used aren’t that at all. It’s just a a bunch of snot-nosed brats using a ban hammer the like of which we have never seen before. It’s creepy and frankly, terrifying.

    2. Spudalicious

      Would.

  47. The Late P Brooks

    Too dumb to live?

    The family of a software engineer who died after his Tesla SUV crashed in a Northern California highway has sued the automaker.

    The lawsuit filed in a Santa Clara County says the autopilot navigation system caused the crash on Highway 101 that killed Walter Huang near Mountain View in Silicon Valley last year.

    A “software engineer” who trusts software with his life? That makes no sense.

    1. Has to be fake. I know computers, which is why I don’t trust them with anything that requires decision making.

    2. The Other Kevin

      Maybe he was a former journalist.

      1. invisible finger

        Yep. Learn to code doesn’t mean one will learn to think.

        1. antisthenes

          For some reason I thought it was a Michael Hastings reference.

    3. That’s why I have little faith in the “future” of self-driving cars. Heck I don’t even trust an automatic transmission to pick the right gear.

    4. I don’t even trust other humans to drive me around safely, there’s no way I’m trusting software written by wokester Californians to maneuver a complex, heavy machine through an environment that is filled with variables.

    5. invisible finger

      “A “software engineer” who trusts software with his life? That makes no sense.”

      Probably just a scrum master.

    6. Pope Jimbo

      I would happily trust autopilot to drive my car from Minnesoda to Western North Dakota. Granted there isn’t much in the way of “variables” in that drive.

      1. I wouldn’t.

        Snow in of itself is a variable I would not entrust to the machine.

        1. Pope Jimbo

          My last company was with a big German outfit that did all sorts of auto related work. Some of the demos I saw were uber cool.

          In theory mesh networked cars will lead to far less problems with snow and ice. First car over an icy patch could transmit that data to cars behind so they can adjust traction accordingly.

          Driving on 94 in the middle of the night through ND is the ideal case for autopilot. No one else is on the road. The highway is wide, flat and straight. If you can’t make it work there, it won’t work anywhere.

        2. invisible finger

          I would happily trust auto-pilot over most other drivers on the road. 98% of the people on the road want to be the first person to wait at the next red light. Fucking idiots.

          The fact of the matter is actuaries are going to determine how quickly auto-pilot gets adopted.

      2. Homple

        Me too, if I wasn’t in the car and had absolute immunity from liability for any damage it might cause.

        1. So…. a police car then?

  48. Well… the “multicultural, proudly diverse” company I work for did some reorganization and laid off an employee who has been over here for 20 years. A guy with MS who always arrived every day and, from what I heard, always did what was asked of him.

    And they recently fired someone – another multi-year employee who became a plant manager – who lost her daughter to cancer last year.

    /not very good optics

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      But they were both white, yes?

      1. why yes they were.

        1. They needed to check their privilege.

    2. Spudalicious

      My wife was once told to lay off one of her direct reports…who happened to be off on a medical because she had cancer. My wife refused and she got laid off a few months later.

      1. R C Dean

        I’m in the beginning stages of a fight over COBRA for somebody who had to quit their job because of a truly rare and aggressive form of cancer. They misses a requirement that they notify their employer within 60 days of qualifying for SocSec Disability, which (as I understand it) allows, but does not require, their employer to kick them off COBRA.

        I’m planning a two-prong strategy – one is to go the appeals route, which is almost certain to fail. The other is to publicize and shame them for making the choice to pull coverage from a young woman with cancer. Since this is in an industry that has unions, I’m even trying to think of a way to sic the union organizer on them. Pisses. Me. Off.

    3. creech

      Back in the day, I remember a few cases like this. Employer tolerates some slack ass employee for years..maybe even gives a few acceptable reviews to avoid hurting feelings… Finally, they take sick and the employer is getting zero out of them, so employer pulls the layoff trigger at precisely the wrong time.

    1. Hyperion

      He’d better stick to grinning, chuckling and looking around the room. That’s his only defense against the Great Orange Trumpalo.

    2. Fourscore

      You can’t fool me, that was a Smothers Brothers skit, wasn’t it?

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Biden is an off-the-cuff bullshitter through and through. He is absolutely going to say something that will kill his campaign.

      1. Hyperion

        Trump will probably force him to do so, if he doesn’t do it before getting the nomination. Trump will not try to take the high road with Biden, like Paul Ryan did, he’ll get right down in the gutter and wrestle in the slop with him and it might just get under Biden’s skin.

    4. Rebel Scum

      Maybe he was drunk.

  49. Hyperion

    Anyone hear yet about some little brats taking over part of Homewood campus at JHU? Chained all the outside entrances shut, threatened and intimidated other students, faculty, staff, and admins? So far, nothing has been done about it, as far as I know, even though they have violated all sorts of criminal laws. Looks like the left coast has finally made it’s way here to the EC. And here we do, wheeeee!!! Balmer, the new Freeattle, just less white.

    1. Back when I went to college in person I would’ve paid what little money I had for some leftist SJW idiot to inconvenience me even slightly. Good God, the unfettered ass-whoopin’s would’ve been like all of the Christmases rolled into one.

      1. Hyperion

        They’re not going to stop JHU from getting a private police force, which is badly needed. Especially at the medical campus, where crime is at 3rd world levels, like the streets. They need to just have these little brats arrested and ban them permanently from campus. But they’re too big of pussies to do it. Sad.

        1. Old Man With Candy

          Homewood is miles better than the med school (and Hygiene & Public Health). Not many Roland Park and Charles Village gangbangers.

          1. DEG

            I briefly dated a woman who considered going to Johns Hopkins. She was a grad student at Harvard. I can’t remember her major, but I think it was epidemiology.

            She told me she considered going to Johns Hopkins. She told me that when she had the campus tour, the guide said the area around the school was known for high rates of syphilis and other STDs. The guide told her, “So it’s great if that’s what you want to study, but terrible if you want a date.”

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Hopkins does have a history of protest. So much so that the administration banned some older yearbooks that were deemed a little too critical of the administration and city. However, the protesters seem to be getting dumber and dumber as the years go by.

      These kids are protesting the creation of a private police force at Hopkins, which is the university’s response to the complete failure of the Baltimore police force. While I have my own opinions on the reservation of force to the state, it really is stupid to not acknowledge the absolute failure of the Baltimore police, both in regards to effectiveness and preservation of individual rights.

      I don’t think they’re going to get far with it. Hopkins is an enormous organization (second only to the government in Maryland in terms of employees and money) and it is known for being able to ignore this sort of stuff until it goes away.

      1. Hyperion

        They absolutely are not going to stop them from getting the private police force, the decision has already been made. But the little brats need dealt with anyway.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          I guarantee you that none of those students are in the engineering school.

          1. Hyperion

            It’s also a guarantee that none of them have anything to contribute to a civilized society and if they continue to be coddled like 2 year olds, they will eventually become menaces to society and felons.

      2. I don’t know how to fix Baltimore, but it’s pretty obvious at this point that the city government, including the police, can’t do it. At this point I can think of worse ideas than hiring private security contractors to take over police functions.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          The interesting part will be how far the Hopkins police force will be allowed to operate off-campus. Hopkins has extensive real estate holdings all over the city.

          1. Yeah, that’s a good question. I’m curious as to how the city will save face here. This is a blatant indictment of the failure of the city to handle crime, but Hopkins can’t really just pull up stakes and leave, nor would the city survive without the money and jobs Hopkins brings in. If the city council is smart they’ll share jurisdiction with the JHU cops over maybe a one block buffer zone and allow for “hot pursuit”.

  50. Rebel Scum

    Burger King released a commercial to coincide with the new boxes, in which several people having various kinds of bad days admit that it’s OK to not be OK all the time. The ad swaps Burger King’s iconic “Have it your way” slogan with “Feel your way.”

    I don’t frequent BK but now I will even less. Good job marketing dept. Sure people don’t always feel fine, but I don’t think you should advocate that people dwell on or wallow in negativity.

    That aside, this is just stupid. Make some crappy burgers and chicken at a reasonable price and shut the hell up.

    1. Right? How ’bout I handle my emotional well-being and y’all just sell me hamburgers.

  51. Sean

    So last night I was complaining about phishing links in my work email.

    This morning I got a notification from Capital One that my personal email address had been found on the dark web along with my password. I logged into my account and found someone had added a totally bogus phone # to my account. I used a unique password for this and just changed it last year.

    I try to be vigilant about sites I visit, stuff I download, using unique passwords/user names, etc. *sigh*

    1. Nephilium

      Two factor authentication is your friend (I don’t remember if Capital One offers it). I’d also recommend requesting a new card regardless just to be safe.

      1. Hyperion

        “Two factor authentication is your friend”

        If by ‘friend’, you mean pain in the ass? Then, yes. It’s a Satanic plot from the pits of hell, to eventually lead to people having to spend most of the day logging in and then people just give up and say ‘OK, here, take my DNA. And yes, I agree with all the small print that says it will be shared with the NSA, DHS, Facebook, the FBI, CSA, China, Hillary Clinton, and someone’s mum’.

        1. Nephilium

          You hate your ATM card that much? That’s two factor authentication (something you have and something you know).

          1. I can’t remember my PIN, so I’m the one most locked out of the ATM.

      2. Sean

        To be clear, Capital One notified me via their CreditWise service that my Comcast account (email) was compromised. Not my banking info.

        1. Nephilium

          That could be better or worse depending on if that’s the e-mail account you use for most of your access. If you use it for your login (like most places suggest), and that’s where they’re sending your password reset requests to then they could have logged into any of your accounts. Does it allow you to check recent login locations? I’d verify you can still log into any financial accounts that you have that may be linked to that e-mail.

          1. Sean

            Everything else looks OK.

            One of the other banks even has this disclaimer on their website:

            “Internet e-mail is unsecured. For the protection and privacy of our customers, we are unable to provide detailed user name or password information via an unsecured e-mail request.”

            And I use different usernames/passwords for everything.

    2. Hyperion

      What’s the URL for this ‘Dark Web’?

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          nice

        2. Hyperion

          That’s the Derp Web, not the Deep web. I could have found that all over.

    3. invisible finger

      Anybody else laugh at the Discover commercial about the “dark web”, which happens to be the only Discover commercial with a black guy in it?

      1. Hyperion

        LOL

      2. Tundra

        The one with Timothy the macaw?

        1. invisible finger

          Yes.

          Also, about 30 years ago, I remember a commercial for Cub Foods where customers faces morphed into produce. One face morphs into an apple, another face into a potato, another into a turnip, etc. The black woman’s face morphed into an eggplant.

          1. at least it wasn’t a watermelon. /goes to hell

    4. wdalasio

      my personal email address had been found on the dark web along with my password

      What are Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, Eric Weinstein, Dave Rubin, etc. doing with your e-mail and password?

      Oh, wait, wrong dark web.

  52. wdalasio

    As the next attorney general of [Trump’s] home state, I will be shining a bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings, and every dealing, demanding truthfulness at every turn,

    Yeah, because it might be a little much to ask that you focus your time on preventing crime from happening under your watch, rather than trying to score points over legal matters that have been under public scrutiny for years.

    At this point, I don’t even resent that they’re making me defend Trump. Whatever awful he may be, his opponents are totalitarian fuck-stains.

    1. Pope Jimbo

      I’m sure she will also be shining a bright light in every dark corner of the Clinton Foundation too. Can’t have crooks living in NY after all.

      1. Rhywun

        She could have a lengthy career investigating the corruption in the governor’s off– almost made it to the end.

    2. Hyperion

      Trump will just call her horse face or something like that and her career will go into a tailspin.

  53. commodious spittoon

    James Delingpole interviewed the guy behind Titania McGrath. They talk about Shakespeare’s homosexuality, “right wing” comedy, and not-so-snowflake millennials.

  54. Juvenile Bluster

    This seems like it’s probably a good idea. A push to vocational/technical education for some in the high school environment.

    TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers on Thursday gave final approval to a key portion of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education agenda, which seeks to boost the state’s workforce by helping students pursue vocational and technical training in high school.

    The legislation, which passed unanimously in the House and the Senate, would create a new pathway to high school graduation focused on technical and vocational training and would inject more money into apprenticeship programs in public schools as well as state colleges and universities.

    “This is the most transformational thing we have done in education since Gov. Jeb Bush presided over us, and I mean that not to disrespect anyone else, but because we are doing a lot in this bill,” said Sen. Travis Hutson, a St. Augustine Republican who sponsored the bill in the Senate.

    The bill (HB 7071) now heads to DeSantis, who’s expected to sign it.

    Under the legislation, all school districts would be required to give students the option to partially fulfill high-school diploma requirements by completing two credits in work-based learning programs and two credits in career and technical education.

    Starting in the 2019-2020 school year, students would be able to graduate using that option with a 2.0 grade point average.

    The bill would help remove the “stigma” of pursuing a vocational path rather than going to college, said Rep. Amber Mariano, a Hudson Republican who sponsored the measure in the House. Many Democrats agreed, saying the bill would offer options to students not heading to college.

    Lawmakers also voted to create a grant program at the Florida Department of Education that would inject money into adding new apprenticeship programs and expanding existing programs. The department would prioritize programs that demonstrate “regional demand,” which DeSantis has asked legislators to do.

    “I think looking at the (economic) needs of the state and then crafting our education opportunities to reflect that and to fulfill that makes sense,” DeSantis said in January when he made the push for more targeted apprenticeship programs.

    Other bill provisions would allow students to substitute a computer-science credit for a math or science credit and take steps to help people who have left school but are within 12 credit hours of completing an associate degree or bachelor’s degree.

    Lawmakers also agreed to include in the bill a long-discussed proposal that would require school districts to offer financial-literacy courses as electives. The proposal was added to the bill in honor of the late Sen. Dorothy Hukill, who died last year of cancer and championed the financial-literacy issue for years.

    “After six years, the House has agreed to take up financial literacy. This is so important to me because of my good friend Sen. Hukill,” a teary-eyed Hutson said. “She fought so hard for this piece of legislation, and I am glad we can do it for her.”

    The House held a moment of silence in honor of Hukill before final passage of the bill.

    “I am absolutely confident that Sen. Hukill is looking down smiling and she loves that 40-0,” Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said after the Senate’s unanimous vote.

    I’ve been part of a group trying to get that financial literacy piece in for 6 years, so finally.

    1. Tundra

      Excellent. Congrats, man.

      Local paper had an article about one of our high schools bringing back an automotive program. Things are slowly changing.

      1. Rhywun

        My hometown has long had a Tech HS. One of my older brothers went there. I know there’s been a big push for “college for all” but this stuff hasn’t gone away everywhere.

        1. Fourscore

          Is “Shop” not taught any more? In junior high all boys had mandatory Wood Shop, Mechanical Drawing, Electricity, Metal Shop and Printing (typesetting, hand presses, electrical presses) Then for 1 semester advanced shop where one could chose any of the others on a sort of self study program.

          High school had similar but not printing. Some of those skills are still handy today even as the world turns.

          1. R C Dean

            Is “Shop” not taught any more?

            Very rare, I believe. Aside from the risk of injury, it was contrary to the belief that every single high school graduate should go to college, so it had to go. And go it did.

          2. Tundra

            It’s coming back here. At Spawn 2’s HS, they have wood shop, small engines and CAD classes. Interestingly, the theater program has a scene shop where a lot of the kids learn to build stuff. Very popular, even in our gottagotocollegedontchaknow area.

          3. DEG

            My old high school, a Catholic school, had a vo-tech program where they partnered with some local schools. You showed up at the Catholic school in the morning, took a set of required classes, then went off to the tech school for the afternoon.

            Doing a little digging, the successor school to my old high school has the same program but with different partnerships.

          4. When I was in high school, there was a shop room… but no option to take shop class.

          5. Sean

            I still have stuff I made in shop class. I know I have copper candle holders and a tavern puzzle. There could be more in storage.

          6. invisible finger

            Trade unions eventually discovered the law of supply and demand.

            The entire impetus behind the “reduced class sizes” push is the large supply of people with education degrees. If there’s ever successful pushback on the bullshit of reduced class sizes in public schools, there will eventually be pressure applied to discourage as many kids as possible from going into education as a career choice.

          7. CPRM

            We had wood shop, just making bird houses and end tables. They had auto shop in the 80s and early 90s, but it was no more when I was in school.

            Of course, small rural school.

          8. CPRM

            Oh, and there was a small bit of metal shop included, just learning arc welding, not really doing anything with it.

            Also, there was a program (only available to those deemed too slow to graduate with just core classes) where they could get credit for going to job for a couple hours during the school day.

          9. I keep thinking I want to learn hobby welding, but I’m not sure where to find a non-vocational course in it. (Last time I was looking, there was a high demand for welders, so vocational training in the field was mushrooming, withemployers paying training costs. Haven’t looked in a while)

          10. CPRM

            I wasn’t any good at it, with the welding mask on I couldn’t ever see what I was doing, and the welding rods kept getting stuck.

          11. There’s the catch 22. In order to not burn out your retinas, the mask is too opaque to see without the light from the welder. But without being able to see, you can’t get the wlder in position.

          12. R C Dean

            So, if I follow, if you handle your rod without protection, you’ll go blind?

          13. CPRM

            And harry palms.

          14. Rhywun

            Is “Shop” not taught any more?

            No idea. We had it in junior high in the 80s, just wood though, none of that other fancy stuff. Home ec too. Both were required for boys and girls IIRC.

          15. kinnath

            I took a shop class back in Jr High. I hated it.

            Now I have a garage full of woodworking equipment. It’s not my primary (or even my secondary) hobby, but when I need to make something, I can make something.

          16. Rhywun

            Oh, I hated it too. Not for me. But I appreciate the exposure so I could find out that it wasn’t for me. I can’t imagine not being exposed to the enormous variety of things I was back in the day.

    2. Hyperion

      “boost the state’s workforce by helping students pursue vocational and technical training in high school.”

      But, but… where’s the part in there about indoctrinating them to be useful little commies?

      1. Gustave Lytton

        Filling out SNAP and SSDI forms isn’t a vocation?

    3. Gustave Lytton

      Putting on my Debbie Downer hat, those financial literacy classes will be taught by the same teachers whining about their student loans and low pay. So as good as the civics, economics, and so many other classes in public schools.

    4. That’s a fantastic idea. It’s interesting–to me at least–that when I attended a public middle school in a then-blue collar community there was an active effort to promote vo-tech programs. I was actually really interested in some of the stuff. The next year we moved ten miles away, same county, to a more upper-middle class community. At that middle school no vo-tech programs were ever mentioned, let alone offered. At the high school level it was an option, but generally regarded as the place where well-behaved dummies go when they finally give up on pre-calc.

      Meanwhile, I look at friends who have no student loans and have become or are close to becoming master plumbers, electricians, etc., and are making very comfortable livings for themselves.

      1. At my HS in the 80s, Votech was offered and a lot kids went to it; learning how to be mechanics or autobody guys. Or whatever.

        It was generally considered – for us snobbish academic kids – the place where the “slow” people went. I’m afraid that bad idea still carries over now, maybe more so. I, of course, realize now that not everyone does well in school settings, including myself. I just knuckled down and got things done – but only the bare minimum to make it through.

        1. Yeah, I was a gentleman’s C guy myself. I excelled in classes on topics I found interesting and where the grade was based mostly on essays, tests, and believe it or not class participation. I scraped by in classes I found boring, or where grades were based largely on turning things in on time, “notebook checks”, stuff like that. Actually, as I think about it, “process grades” often coincided with classes that didn’t interest me.

          Ultimately, when I look back on it, I would’ve done really, really well if there had been a CS vo-tech style program. Or, honestly, if I’d gone into something like carpentry. It’s not that I’m particularly bad off now, but I’m up to my eyeballs in debt and I wasted easily ten years dicking around in college figuring my shit out and growing up when I could’ve been in a career making money.

          1. I would have been a lot happier with a votech job – anything working with my hands and physical labor.

            Yesterday I ripped the wall off an old building at the community pool. It felt great. And we discovered an old mural (for the swimming pool) that we are going to restore.
            https://i.imgur.com/nEOl2oy.jpg

          2. Mural of a White Girl, so problematic.

            /socjus

          3. “Class Participation” doesn’t measure ability to learn and apply knowledge, so any course which includes that as a component should be dissolved (preferrably in acid, with the teachers and curriculum developers).

        2. invisible finger

          Same as my high school. But we thought it was for the “slow” people because they took auto shop, wood shop, but no electronics or plumbing or anything like that which my dad took in high school in the 40’s.

          It wasn’t until years later that we learned most of the vocational-type classes were dropped because the unions – which were the driving force behind the school board – didn’t want any more labor going into those trades. So anyone born after 1955 could only take shop courses in trades where the unions had little to no pull. So auto and wood were basically the only vocational courses with multiple levels offered. Only one basic electronics course was offered, for example, by 1970. If you had interest in electronics, plumbing, etc. you were tracked into science-type courses which were mostly academic, and if that didn’t motivate you into engineering or kill your motivation completely, then you could apply to union-backed trade courses after graduation. It succeeded in exactly what the unions wanted, although it did open doors for lots of immigrants who had the training and skills already.

          1. invisible finger

            I should probably add that the Viet Nam war contributed to this. Come out of high school with useful skills and no need for college and you had a better chance of getting drafted. Take your vocational courses at age 19 as part of community college and you get a student exemption from the draft.

      2. Festus

        THIS! I got pushed and prodded to courses that would set me up to become, wait for it, a teacher! They decided that I was suited for it and did everything in their power to ensure that I took those classes. The homework was unrelenting because we didn’t run on semesters but on a two day system. You’d have five essays and two labs due at the same time. My parents were no help because they were basically absent and I had nowhere else to turn. In grade twelve I ended up with eight academic courses. I tried to kill myself in November.

    5. Nephilium

      Good job man. Look at you trying to change the system instead of just protesting.

    6. Scruffy Nerfherder

      How dare you actually get something done to lessen our gripes!

      You’re supposed to just be a random internet wacko like the rest of us.

    7. MikeS

      Congrats, JB. And congrats to Florida in general. It’s good to see vo-tech slowly making a comeback. This “everyone needs a four year degree” bullshit has completely come about in my lifetime; I’d love to also see it completely go away. Soon.

    8. The Other Kevin

      I took the middle kid to an open house at the local community college. Turns out the state of Indiana has a program where they will pay for one-year certification programs in certain fields (medical, manufacturing, construction, computer science) as long as the recipient does not already have a degree. While I still don’t agree with throwing money at a problem, I do like the idea of making it more attractive for kids to learn useful skills and then go right into the workforce without any debt.

      1. MikeS

        IIRC; South Dakota has a program where they will pay for a resident’s 2 year degree in certain fields (machining is one) if they promise to work in the state for 5(?) years after graduating. The thought behind it is to spur interest in some trades as well as address some skilled worker shortages.

        1. Nephilium

          Here in Ohio, at some of the public schools, if you were progressed far enough your Junior and Senior year you can enroll in Community college classes, and they’ll be paid for by the school district. My niece started college about halfway through her Sophomore year thanks to that. Now, she still hasn’t completed college yet, but that’s due to bad decisions of youth (she’s got only a couple of credits left).

          1. We only got to take AP classes – I took AP History and English, which, thankfully, gave me the credits so I didn’t have to suffer through a English 100-level class at the university.

            Bonus: When I took the AP final exam there was a list of books that we could write an essay on. There was nothing in the list that I had ever read, so instead I picked Naked Lunch by William Burroughs. I managed to squeeze out a 3/5 grade from that, good enough to pass. The grader must have had a sense of humor.

          2. Nephilium

            I went to private (Catholic college prep) high school, so it was just AP classes for me as well. I seem to remember that I got a 4 on the two tests I took. Of course, I only went to college for a year and then dropped out for the glamorous life of retail, then eventually finding an IT job.

    9. Spartacus

      Overall, I think it’s very positive, and I say that as a university professor. We have way too many students who would be better off with something like this.
      Some of the “other bill provisions” I need to look into more before rendering judgment, but this is a great step.

      1. Tundra

        What subject do you teach, Spartacus?

        1. Not Adahn

          Either History or Film Studies, I’m guessing.

          1. CPRM

            Critical Cory Booker Studies.

          2. Spartacus

            You’re very close. Try something that starts with an M, and ends with athematics.

          3. Spartacus

            And just to clarify a little more…
            –counting a “computer-science course” as a math or science might be ok, depending on what they consider to be a computer science course. Coding or algorithms, fine. Facebook 101, not so much.
            –taking “steps to help people” who are close to finishing a degree, again, could be good or bad because it could mean almost anything. Needs some details…
            –a financial literacy course is a good idea. I was on a state committee a number of years ago that created a set of objectives for such a course. It still hasn’t been implemented, and I don’t think this bill will change that, as long as it’s an elective. As other commenters have pointed out, having a good financial literacy course depends greatly on who will be teaching it.

  55. DEG

    Perhaps the great white shark bit off more than it could chew. It’s not known why a 4,500-pound great white died, but when it was found, there was a massive sea turtle stuck in its mouth.

    The shark should have spent more time practicing its deepthroating skills.

  56. DEG

    Nunchucks are classified as deadly weapons along with bombs, gun silencers and automatic firearms, which means it’s illegal to make, possess, transport or sell them in most circumstances. Violations can bring felony charges.

    Arizona bans full auto-firearms?

    I did a little digging. From what I find is if you are legal under Federal law (licensed, registered, blah blah blah) to own a machine gun, Arizona is OK with it. If you aren’t, then Arizona prohibits it.

  57. DEG

    A beluga whale suspected of being used for Russian spying is refusing to leave the Norwegian port where it was discovered, according to The Washington Post.

    He’s a defector.

  58. Enough About Palin

    Wait! There’s more!

    Nice.

    1. Enough About Palin

      Why don’t HTML tags work for me on this site? Also, here this a 1954 Mile Davis Quartet piece on the radio while waiting for the bus this morning:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVl-Vb10fHI

      1. You mean Bill Evans – right?

        1. /not serious

      2. Which tags and how are you writing them?

      3. Use Monocle

        other wise the greater-than / less-than symbols are your friends, not brackets.

    2. Rhywun

      That guy was an institution, especially back in the days of 3 or 4 television channels.

  59. A message for everyone here:

    A Former Alt-Right Member’s Message: Get Out While You Still Can

    Her story is fascinating, and sometimes frustrating. She wishes she had never said the things she’s said or did the things she’s done, but when I first met her, she still insisted that they were often jokes gone wrong and that, on some level, she’d said these things because she’d been egged on by others. She seemed unable to face her full complicity in her own behavior. Unlike Derek Black, the son of Stormfront founder Don Black and to date one of the most significant defectors from the white nationalist movement — he’s even the subject of a recent book by the Washington Post’s Eli Saslow — McHugh wasn’t raised in the movement. Although Black represented the old guard of white nationalism — his godfather is David Duke — McHugh was part of the vanguard. Her set took the emerging own-the-libs ethos that animated the online right and combined it with the new iteration of white nationalism, which called itself the alt-right.

    Where was McHugh radicalized? Her story is about support systems and pipelines. It’s about how an angry young conservative with reactionary views got herself involved with a small coterie of ideologues in Washington and prepped for a conservative media career in the crucial years before the rise of Donald Trump, as extremism became more popular on the right and as people could optimize themselves for success through attention on social media. It’s about how the organizations she worked for either turned a blind eye to or were genuinely ignorant of the fact that one of their young stars was leading a double life among hardcore racist activists. And it’s about how the cultlike atmosphere of the so-called alt-right helped people make more and more harmful decisions.

    Her story is also about something that has ended. The events she described to me took place mostly between 2013 and 2017, a span of time in which the alt-right rose and fell dramatically as it attempted to go mainstream.

    1. Rhywun

      TL;DR but this popped out at me:

      “John essentially selected me to come to DC as part of the libertarian–alt-right pipeline,” McHugh said of Elliott.

      Literal LOL.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        The never-really-libertarian to alt-right pipeline.

        1. Festus

          I believe that’s usually called “stair-climbing”.

        2. MikeS

          The never-really-libertarian to whatever-the-hell-alt-right-means pipeline.

    2. Festus

      Uhhhhhh, Racism is bad! Mmmmkay…

  60. Rufus the Monocled

    Burger King gets its first unhappy meal customer:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eREiQhBDIk

    1. Festus

      He’s a virulent lefty but full props to him for taking on that role.

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        He is?

        Not that it’s surprising.

      2. Rhywun

        D-FENS!

        Love that movie.

        1. Chipwooder

          Me too. Most people didn’t seem to get that it was a black comedy.

          “Now you’re gonna die here, wearing that stupid little hat. How’s that feel?”

    2. commodious spittoon

      I’ve never seen the movie, but the guy seems like an insufferable tool.

  61. Michael

    Re: The Dicks

    This place has some unsettling synchronicity sometimes, because I was just listening to this song on my morning commute. Great minds?

    1. Michael

      Also, Mudhoney did a great version of it:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp7P_S3AipI

    2. related: I saw the Dickies about a decade ago. Great, humorous show. Especially the penis puppet doing a Who cover (see me, touch me, feel me)

  62. B.P.

    Speaking of Michelle Obama mourning, it seems that some of the school lunch crap she championed is being rolled back…

    https://www.9news.com/article/news/nation-world/white-bread-may-come-back-to-school-lunches/73-8b365fc0-466f-4330-a51b-cb86e74e74d9

    So kids can be served mac and cheese, white rice, saltines, etc. Of all the horrors of the Obama administration, serving up whole grain croissants to innocent school kids ranks toward the top.

    1. Rufus the Monocled

      Like I like to, like, say. Roll back everything as if they didn’t exist.

    2. Rhywun

      White bread?? *faints*

      1. Festus

        Margarine grilled white bread with plastic-wrapped cheese product is still one of my go-to luncheons. Michelle Obama can go suck her own dick.

        1. Jarflax

          I think leaving the plastic on the ‘””””””Cheese”””””””” might actually improve it

          1. Festus

            Makes not a whit of difference when yer drunk enough. Beats the hell out of Burger King.

    3. Festus

      “If your kids like their saltines, they can keep their saltines!” *looks furtively about for the Wookie*

  63. Spudalicious

    “BTW, an Evan is now 32 years.”

    Nay, an Evan is a fixed unit of 31 years. That makes it hard enough for the eurofag metricists to comprehend.

    1. robc

      So an Evan is a barrel?

      A barrel of beer is 31 gallons. A keg is a 1/2 barrel or 15.5 gallons. A sixtel is 1/6 barrel, which is 5.167 gallons. I like units based on prime numbers.

      1. Not exactly, a barrel is a measure of fluid volume. It may be a time-based equivalent.

  64. Michael

    I love when #RESIST dipshits inadvertently reveal that they actually lead pretty cushy lives:

    https://twitter.com/NotMikeDitka89/status/1124311078287097856

    1. R C Dean

      The sole reply (“U can’t fix stupid”) is really all that is necessary on that one.

      Its a common stupid – looking only at the refund, not at the actual taxes paid -but its still stupid.

      1. kinnath

        Right. My total taxes paid for 2018 went down slightly even though income went up. So that’s a net tax decrease.

        The IRS fucked with the tax withholding tables in 2018 and I owed nearly 6 grand. That just means I had access to that money and the feds didn’t during 2018. Not a bad thing, but a surprise that I wasn’t fully prepared for.

        1. R C Dean

          I think changing the withholding for 2018 was a tactical error (whether intentional by the IRS or unintentional). The tax cut got diluted into a small increase in most people’s paychecks. If they had left the withholding alone, a lot of people would be looking at bigger refunds and there would be a better appreciation of what the tax cut really was. Kind of a seen v unseen thing.

          1. kinnath

            I read somewhere that 2/3rds of people normally got a refund and the IRS wanted to push that down to 1/2.

            However, I am fully willing to believe that someone in the IRS wanted to fuck over the Trump administration at the beginning of the 2020 campaign.

            I can’t tell anymore.

      2. Michael

        I was referring more to posting an actual dollar amount when trying to garner sympathy. Should I assume standard deduction for an individual or a single parent of five who’s also caring for an elderly quadriplegic with multiple sclerosis?

        1. How did someone with MS survive to be “Elderly”?

  65. Banjos

    Needz moar cute ded animal pics!

    1. Mornin’ Banjos

      1. Banjos

        Mornin’

    2. MikeS

      ^ knows what’s up ^

      1. CPRM

        The jig?

        1. MikeS

          Yes, I believe some of her dead animal diorama’s have been dancing a jig.

          1. Festus

            Am I the only one here that finds them morbid and kind of fascinating? Do you have an older sister, Banjos? A lonely mother?

          2. MikeS

            I think they are really cool. But I’m a shitlord, Gaia hating monster, so what do I know?

      1. Rhywun

        Aw, adorably terrifying!

      2. MikeS

        I’ll get you a martini, my pretty!

      3. Festus

        I’ll have what he’s having!