Monday Morning Links

Dawg Pounded

Well the year is all but over.  And it isn’t ending well for Freddie Kitchens. And I’m not sure it will end with Jason Garrett as coach of the Cowboys.  There will surely be more heads on the chopping blockout those two are the biggest names. The winners yesterday were: Miami (forcing New England into a Wild Card round game for the first time in a long time), NYJ, the Bungles, Packers, Chiefs, Bears, Falcons, Saints, Cowboys, Broncos, Rams, Eagles, Jags, Ravens, Titans and Niners.

A common sight on Merseyside

Now let’s talk about who the year ended well for: Jurgen Klopp. His team haven’t lost since January 3. And the EPL is on straight up lockdown, as they’re 13 points clear of second place with. game still in hand against team barely above the drop.  Let’s hope they keep it up.

Roman emperor Titus was born on this day. As were author Rudyard Kipling, warming Japanese PM Hideki Tojo, musical legend Bo Diddley, pitcher Sandy Koufax, Monkees Davey Jones as well as Mike Nesmeth, Patti Smith, Jeff Lynne, powerlifter Kill Kazmaier, TV’s Matt Lauer, Canadian steroid user Ben Johnson, prostitute-to-madam Heidi Fleiss, golfer Eldrick Woods, basketball team-hopper LeBron James, and the lovely Eliza Dushku.

Duuuuuuushkuuuuuuu!

That went from music-heavy to sports-heavy and really ended up being a big day of birthdays.  But now it’s time to get down and dirty with…the links!

Rep John Lewis has Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Of course he won’t leave congress so someone else can do the job.  He want’s to go out like John McCain and take a victory lap around Washington so everybody can kiss his ass. Nevermind that he won’t be able to effectively represent his district.

There are actually dumbasses out there saying this is why we need gun control in places of worship. Seriously, they think gun-free zones wound have made this better instead of making sure the shooter had nothing but unarmed targets.

Out on bail

It sounds like this guy might be involved in more than the Hannukah stabbings. And they’ll be painting him as a Trump supporter in 3…2…1. I mean, why not? There are already a lot of talking heads saying that Trump being so supportive of Jews is what’s causing people to lash out at them.

Speaking of the guy above, if he’s not married, I think I could set him up with this chick. She seems like a real peach.

Jesus, talk about out of touch. I mean…Jesus, talk about out of touch.

There’s still a couple days for the stock market to go wild one way or the other. And stability is pretty much all up to the Norks and China not going apeshit crazy.

Enjoy. I will.

Now have a great day, friends.

Comments

462 responses to “Monday Morning Links”

  1. Nevermind that he won’t be able to effectively represent his district

    Has he ever bothered with trifles like that?

    1. Slammer

      I thought he was from Baltimore and died earlier this year

      1. Congresscritters blend together, can’t tell them apart most of the time.

        1. Many of them do look think alike.

      2. Drake

        Seriously – that’s a different guy?

        1. Chafed

          Yes, it was Rep. Elijah Cummings.

          1. slumbrew

            My impression of the two is the same:

            guys who legit put themselves at risk during the Civil Rights era, then smoothly transitioned into being a useless government parasite.

          2. Mainer

            Lewis, yes.
            Cummings, no….just a hack from Baltimore.

  2. Count Potato

    “Monkees Davey Jones as well as Mike Nesmeth”

    What are the odds? Did they meet at a birthday party?

    1. I thought they were formed by a TV producer after a casting call.

      1. Don Kirshner, wasn’t it?

  3. With regards to California’s economy, if you separated the tech giants, how many employees and how much money would be concentrated in that one lump? Part of me suspects it lets them hide the statistics that say the rest of the state ain’t doing so well.

    1. if you separated the tech giants, how many employees and how much money would be concentrated in that one lump?

      Pretty much all of them.

    2. leon

      It’s like you guys don’t know how to use Duck Duck Go or what State Economies will look like.The question you are asking is two: Which companies in California employ the most people, and which generate the most revenue.

      In the first question, the answer for every state will be some Governmental entity, Usually the state itself.

      For California it is the San Diego Naval Station.

      1. My thought was that the tech giants generate the most revenue, but have such a small slice of the employment pie that it’s hiding the decline.

  4. Count Potato

    “the lovely Eliza Dushku”

    She was a total smokeshow, but not the best actress. Ever notice the entire cast of Dollhouse had weird names? Well, except Olivia Williams.

    1. JD is Unemployed

      Dang it that’s high on my list of things to watch yet currently not included in whatever streaming services I have.

      1. Count Potato

        Since Fox screwed everything up, there are two first episodes, and two final episodes.

    2. Trigger Hippie

      She’s one of the few celebrities I’ve seen out in meatspace. Logan International Airport in 2003. Needless to say, my bunk got worn out over the next couple days.

  5. Slammer

    Sloopy, that was a helluva game Saturday night. I think OSU was the better team, but they made mistakes. But congrats getting there.

    1. Slammer

      And Oklahoma earned the spot…but they should get a Playoff Ban for 3 or 4 years for getting in and and never fucking showing up

      1. Brett L

        Agree. Oklahoma should get -3 slots in the rankings for the next 5 years. If they’re a #1, they can have the 4 seed, otherwise, let someone else play.

    2. Yeah. The two teams played a great game. I’ll leave it at that.

  6. Tejicano

    “There are actually dumbasses out there saying this is why we need gun control in places of worship. ”

    Well, in their defense, these armed people intervened in what could have been a mass shooting had the dirtbag shot at least 4 people so they were deprived of the opportunity to add this to their total of mass shootings. That could have given them even more numbers to support gun control to protect their children. Won’t you think of the children?

    1. Slammer

      Well said. They’re also attacking the town name White Settlement

      1. Tejicano

        Yeah, if that isn’t a dog whistle I’m a bona-fido POC.

      2. Tonio

        That’s going to end poorly for them. According to Wikipedia: “The name of “White Settlement” was originally bestowed upon the community by several Indigenous tribes in the area.”

        Womp, womp.

  7. Don Escaped Denim

    “congregants returned fire”

    was my son’s favorite line from his hometown news.

    I don’t think that really happened, but it’s got a nice ring to it.

    1. Trigger Hippie

      A great album name.

    2. R C Dean

      Still early, but it sounds like that’s what happened. They happened to be members of the church (“congregants”) who pulled guard duty for that ceremony, but nonetheless.

      Also sounds like at least two other congregants were armed and prepared to engage, but the the perp took his dirt nap pretty quickly, Supposedly a head shot from 50 feet. Which is either very lucky, or very skillful. I’m a decent pistol shot, but at the range I’d be going center-mass.

      1. They could have been going center mass but hit high.

        1. R C Dean

          That would be the lucky part.

      2. A Leap at the Wheel

        There is video of it. On one frame you can see blood splatter out the back of the bad-guy’s head. And yeah probably 50 feet or so.

  8. Count Potato

    “There are already a lot of talking heads saying that Trump being so supportive of Jews is what’s causing people to lash out at them.”

    Do you know who else caused people to lash out at jews?

    1. Slammer

      Jews? /JK

    2. Trigger Hippie

      Vyacheslav Plehve?

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Pontius Pilate?

    4. Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden?

    5. Aloysious

      Jeremy Corbyn?

    6. Bobarian LMD

      Jesus?

  9. Count Potato

    “an increasingly destructive fire season that is merely a preview of climate change’s potential effects”

    Oh, fuck off, already.

    1. Mad Scientist

      “Potential effects” can be literally any change, or none at all.

    2. MikeS

      Right? Stated as absolute fact in a straight news story. SMDH

    1. JD is Unemployed
      1. Why do we care that it’s mismatched?

        1. JD is Unemployed

          Exactly. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.

    1. They could make more money selling video from the honeymoon than in their entire sports career.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      They’re going to be hard looking in a just a few short years.

      Over/under on the number of days to the first drunken fistfight that the cops respond to?

      1. Lackadaisical

        I give it a solid 180 days.

        1. That long? I figured the domestic abuse already started.

          1. Lackadaisical

            Sure, but it’ll take 180 days for the cops to be called (and show up).

          2. blackjack

            Will it be over a seatbelt?

          3. Lackadaisical

            Nope, there is a deeper issue, obviously.

    3. Pope Jimbo

      I’m am completely shocked that Rapinoe showed up and pushed her way into the spot light. What is she going to do in a few years when no one gives a shit about her?

      I cannot imagine how bad a lesbian wedding must be. With a hetro wedding you can be reasonably assured that the groom will a) only sit for so many pictures, b) not really give a shit about where the wedding is, c) where whatever rental tux they find that fits at the local mall and d) just want to get the whole thing over so they get on with the fucking. With lesbian weddings, who provides that natural dampener feedback? Just looking at all the costume changes those two went through made me tired.

      1. Assumes people give a shit about her now.

        1. The Last American Hero

          She’s the greatest athlete on the second greatest sports team on Earth. The greatest of course is some boys U15 team.

      2. Enough About Palin

        My sister got gay-married in San Francisco’s City Hall, right on the mayor’s balcony. I got to read a passage by Harvey Milk about loving one another. All over City Hall people were getting married. Gay, straight, whatever. Lots and lots of happy people. Greatest wedding I ever participated in, followed up with private dining at the Wayfare Tavern.

        https://www.google.com/search?q=san+francisco+city+hall+wedding&safe=active&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=GDzb1Eo99z1_6M%253A%252CnQL9ybVTGrzOJM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kRIi2sL0nITFevc81h2BropkiYDFg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4q4L05d3mAhUOCs0KHdb9Bo4Q_h0wGHoECA0QCg&biw=1536&bih=736&dpr=1.25#imgrc=GDzb1Eo99z1_6M:

        https://www.wayfaretavern.com/.

    4. Drake

      And people say I shouldn’t stereotype?

    5. Rhywun

      exchanged rings by Great Heights a brand that supports LGBTQ marriage rights – guests ate a rainbow sponge cake

      *severe eye-roll*

      1. Not Adahn

        Wait, why would lesbians have to decide if their guests were spongeworthy?

      2. leon

        Hey, I applaud the ring company for trying to capture that market.

        1. Rhywun

          Heh good point.

          I remember Krieger being something of a sidekick to Rapinoe when she was preening about this stuff a while back.

  10. Count Potato

    “‘Don’t touch kids, you pervert’: Hecklers disrupt Biden campaign rally calling him ‘creepy’ and ‘Quid Pro Joe’”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7836907/Dont-touch-kids-pervert-Hecklers-disrupt-Biden-rally-calling-creepy-Quid-Pro-Joe.html

    LOLOLOL

    1. JD is Unemployed

      “This isn’t a Trump rally!”

      Opportunity missed to gaslight the old feller at his own rally.

    2. Slammer

      “This isn’t a Trump rally”

      Obviously. Trump pulls like 55,000. You’ve got like 500 boomers in a small gym

    3. Pope Jimbo

      I want an ex-DI to attend one and call out “PUSHUPS! I will count the cadence, you will count the reps” to see if Joe can be peer pressured into a push up contest.

      1. Tejicano

        I was honored to be able to count a Korean war veteran Marine – Chosin Reservoir participant – as one of my colleagues in a band of former Marines here in Tokyo. At 81 years of age he could still jump down and pump out 50 push-ups. I doubt gropin’ Joe could come close.

        1. Pope Jimbo

          I had a Master Gunnery Sgt in NAS Memphis who would always roll his eyes at the physical fitness tests (situps, pullups, 3mi run) and make us do the Old Breed PFT stuff. There was one with a half pack (40lb) where you had to broad jump so many feed that was horrible. But in fairness to him, they were far more realistic measurements of what was needed from a basic rifleman than the situps, pullups and running was.

          Climbing ropes was also another thing he was always making us do. We kept telling him that we were in the Wing and didn’t need to be able to climb down a cargo net to get on a landing craft, but he wouldn’t listen.

          1. Bobarian LMD

            The Army is transitioning to the ACFT, which is supposed to be a better assessment of combat required fitness.

            Rumor is that females are not passing at a significant rate, so I expect social engineering will either kill the test, or lower standards as to make it useless.

          2. leon

            Rumor is that females are not passing at a significant rate, so I expect social engineering will either kill the test, or lower standards as to make it useless.

            The tests standards are already incredibly low. I actually think that the test is being used to mask a lowering of the standard from the old test. Not that this is the sole or primary purpose of the new test. It just is going to happen that the standards will be less and you won’t be able to tell.

          3. Rhywun

            Then there’s education, where politicians in my state are quite open about why they are lowering (and in some cases eliminating) standards.

          4. Drake

            The only time I actually climbed off a ship on the cargo nets was with a Civil Affairs unit… Scary shit in the middle of rough seas in the Pacific. If you fall you’re fucked whether you land on the little boat in in the ocean. No way could the average WM do it wearing combat gear.

  11. For my dad’s birthday (but not on his birthday) later this year, I’ll be taking him on a road trip out to the Grand Canyon on what we’ve dubbed the hole in the ground tour. We also intend to visit Meteor (Barringer) Crater while we’re in Arizona. Any words of advice about the Winslow/Flagstaff area? I’m not sure what part of Arizona the various members of the Glibertariat represent, but someone might be familiar.

    1. CPRM

      Any words of advice about the Winslow/Flagstaff area?

      Take it easy?

      1. I was more looking for whether it was a nice area, a shithole, or where to avoid, what to see, things of that nature.

        1. It’s such a fine sight to see.

        2. I hear The Eagles there are quite impressive.

      2. Slammer

        *golf clap*

      3. I hate the fucking Eagles, man.

    2. Tejicano

      Depending on how much time you have in the Flagstaff area I’d recommend taking Oak Creek Canyon road down to Sedona. It could be an afternoon diversion but worth it.

      1. I’ll have to check. We’re still in the itenery drafting phase, and I’m not sure how the time will be distributed. We have to allot time for crossing the country and for sightseeing. If we skip the great plains states, we might have more time in Arizona. If we make stops there, we’ll only have time for the canyon and crater.

        1. Banjos

          I second this. A trip to northern AZ is not complete without a trip to Sedona. Northern AZ is absolutely stunning, I’d move back there in a heartbeat if sloopy was ever interested.

          1. Tejicano

            Hiya Banjos! I was just wondering why I hadn’t seen you ’round these parts recently. Glad my comment brought you to the party.

            Sedona, definitely. But the drive down Oak Creek Canyon from Flagstaff shouldn’t be missed either.

          2. Count Potato

            Cute avatar

          3. Banjos!!! OMG what a cutie!!!

          4. Enough About Palin

            I’ll be in my bunk.

            Recovering from the beating Sloop’s gonna give me.

      2. R C Dean

        There’s a lot in decent driving range of Flag. Can recommend Walnut Canyon, which is an old cliff-dweller site with a couple of pretty easy hikes. Very interesting stuff.

        1. R C Dean

          Walnut Canyon, BTW, is around a half hour from Flag, maybe a little more

          1. I see it on the map.

            It seems like we’ll be facing an issue of more sites than time to see them.

      3. The Bearded Hobbit

        Oak Creek Canyon road down to Sedona

        Then continue on to Jerome.

      4. THIS. The Grand Canyon (unless you are traversing within) is too large to appreciate.

        The Oak Creek drive is amazing.

    3. For my dad’s birthday (but not on his birthday) later this year, I’ll be taking him on a road trip out to the Grand Canyon on what we’ve dubbed the hole in the ground tour.

      So you won’t be commenting tomorrow?

      1. Fiscal year, Sloop. I closed out 2019 with the last payday/bill pay cycle already.

    4. Flagstaff is very nice; not what people think of as Arizona. It’s up in the mountains and forested. It’s a university town. Holbrook and Winslow are more like wide spots in the road compared to Flagstaff, unless you’re looking for that kind of vibe, I’d recommend Flag.

      1. My cousin just moved to Prescott. Eager to get out there and see what that area is like.

    5. Later this year, so tomorrow?

      1. Sloopy beat you to it.

    6. Pope Jimbo

      Maybe pass up on the hoverboard rentals at the Grand Canyon?

    7. Flagstaff

      Don’t forget Winona.

      1. I’m looking at the satellite view of that spot… and I’m not seeing anything there. What’s at ground level?

          1. It looks to be the size of a truck stop, so I was asking for details about what there was there – scenery, the truck stop, history, etc.

          2. It’s a song lyric. Click the link.

        1. Pope Jimbo

          Seriously? You’ve never heard of their big Beaver Museum?

    8. Tripacer

      The corgi, the girlfriend, and I are driving down to see the same two holes in the ground… early next year.

      1. How does the Corgi see over the steering wheel and still reach the pedals with its short legs?

        1. Tripacer

          You know the first time I typed that, it came out sounding like the corgi was my girlfriend.

          1. We don’t judge.

            Unless you don’t use seatbelts.

          2. MikeS

            At all times. Or else you’re a stupid fucker.

          3. Jarflax

            You know that what I said was not wearing your seatbelt is stupid. The act, not the person. If you think only stupid people do stupid things then you are stupid. 🙂

          4. Meh, the argument gets old and here, being repeatedly told that someone is doing something you believe is stupid says, “You’re stupid.”

            It is not objectively stupid to choose not to wear a seatbelt. It is something you believe is objectively stupid. Yet you would not say the same out loud to a motorcycle rider.

            “You’re not driving in your best interests!”

            Okay. And?

          5. MikeS

            I didn’t really mean to drag this up again, but OK. ? Yes, I understood you perfectly, but my point was that you don’t automatically get hurt the very second you’re unbuckled in a moving vehicle. That’s the pearl-clutching I was referring to. And not everyone is driving 75 down an interstate at all times. If someone thinks I’m stupid for not wearing my seatblet when I am driving 15 miles an hour down my 1/2 mile long private driveway, well I got a word for them, too.

            Also; if being unbuckled in a moving vehicle is stupid, isn’t being in a moving vehicle at all also stupid? I mean, seatbelts aren’t some magic force field.

          6. l0b0t

            And then the rage-o-meter spikes when you catch a seat-belt ticket from a cop on a motorcycle.

          7. MikeS

            @ l0b0t. Haha! Right?! And I it’s also eye-rolling when people who preach seatbelts like they are some sort of magic shield drive Smart Cars or Minis or some other tin can*. If you’re so concerned about safety, drive a vehicle that can actually take a hit.

            *Yes, yes; crumple zones. I don’t care how well engineered it is, the door on a Mini cooper is not going to protect you if you get t-boned by anything larger than a Vespa.

          8. I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s true.

            The only time I got a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt (including all the times I’ve been stopped for speeding), a cop was standing on a corner by a stop sign to catch people doing California stops and not wearing their seatbelts, nary a cop car in sight.

            It had JUST been signed into law that not wearing a seatbelt was a primary offense and pointable.
            City revenues went up that day, I tell you what.

          9. Oh! Have you seen the helmets motorcycle cops wear?

            No better than brain buckets. I also see no leather. They do not, in fact, dress for the slide.

          10. It is true that I have chosen to do objectively stupid things in the course of attaining goals as fast as possible, staying out of trouble, and/or thrillseeking, but choosing to not wear a seatbelt is not one of them.

          11. if being unbuckled in a moving vehicle is stupid, isn’t being in a moving vehicle at all also stupid?

            No. The stupid part isn’t that you’re taking a risk by driving. The stupid part is unnecessarily increasing the risk by intentionally circumventing an easily available and non-invasive safety feature because “reasons” .

          12. MikeS

            For 6 seconds. You make worse gambles by crossing the road.

          13. Tripacer

            I like pineapple on pizza.

          14. MikeS

            That’s OK. Just because you do stupid things doesn’t mean that you are stupid.

          15. Scruffy Nerfherder

            *hisses, points finger*

          16. I generally make stupid life decisions (not including thrillseeking) because I either have no idea what decision would be best and am forced to throw a dart and/or because I don’t have enough life experience to know what I’m getting myself into and/or because I really am too stupid to logic out consequences of any given decision, and/or because I have a singular inability to see past next week because reasons and/or I thought I could handle a situation (See: buying this house for all listed above).

  12. Slammer

    Looks like many of the congregants in the Texas shooting were packing

  13. The Late P Brooks

    For all its forward-thinking companies and liberal social and environmental policies, the state has mostly put higher-value jobs and industries in expensive coastal enclaves, while pushing lower-paid workers and lower-cost housing to inland areas like the Central Valley.

    I, uh…

    1. Gee. I wonder how/why that happens.

  14. The final Mammary Monday of 2019 sez “precious time flowing irrevocably into the past has robbed you of yet another year.”

    https://tinyurl.com/tvxy4a3

    1. slumbrew

      23 wins for having a hilarious t-shirt.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    “What’s happening in California right now is a warning shot to the rest of the country,” said Jim Newton, a journalist, historian and lecturer on public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s a warning about income inequality and suburban sprawl, and how those intersect with quality of life and climate change.”

    He sounds smart.

    1. Not Adahn

      *Houston waves hello*

    2. ChipsnSalsa

      standard university gibberish. I give that 2 out of 5 hammer and sickles.

    3. Tonio

      “intersect”

  16. Not Adahn

    Furher Cuomo is pushing to make a state “Domestic Terrorism” law to “point out how ignorant, how intolerant” stabbing Jews is. Of course, this will be used to justify Ruby Ridging anyone who owns a firearm capable of firing more than seven bullets.

    Hie-larity on NPR re: the church shooting “But these were specially trained security personnel, not just random parishoners right?” “Well, we don’t really know the status of the training that the volunteer security force received.”

    1. The two incidents are just about as perfect of a juxtaposition as a 2A advocate could ever dream of. It’s sad-musing watching the anti-gunners tie themselves into knots trying to warp reality into fitting their preconceived ideas.

      1. leon

        But the statistics say you are more likely to kill yourself than use your gun to defend yourself!!!

    2. Slammer

      We don’t know the status of the training of NPR hosts.

      1. ChipsnSalsa

        little to none by the sounds of it.

    3. Tejicano

      “Well, we don’t really know the status of the training that the volunteer security force received.”

      Given that it is Texas I’d pretty much wager that the guys that congregation forwarded to be the “volunteer security force” were better trained than the usual security professional the average NPR staffer has in their personal vicinity.

      1. Slammer

        Word is it’s this guy.

        Jack Wilson, the owner of On Target Shooting Academy.

        But don’t expect any follow-up corrections

        1. Tejicano

          OK, sorry but I’ve just gotta chuckle on the poor decision of the shooter on picking this place to attack.

        2. R C Dean

          I expect them to seize on the “former FBI agent” to sideline this incident. Even if it turns out he’s not.

        3. On Target?

          That there is truth in advertising.

    4. leon

      Hie-larity on NPR re: the church shooting “But these were specially trained security personnel, not just random parishoners right?” “Well, we don’t really know the status of the training that the volunteer security force received.”

      I’ve been musing on an article about the (modern?) perception of expertise and how it permeates society. We treat US Congressmen as somehow more competent than State Legislators, when there is no compelling reason to do so.

    5. Tonio

      They loves them some expertism and credentialism.

    6. MikeS

      “But these were specially trained security personnel, not just random parishoners right?”

      Well, I’m not a journalist, but I did read a story linked by Sloopy today:

      A state law went into effect in September 2017 that allows churches to have armed volunteer security. Licensed handgun owners may legally bring firearms into a place of worship as long as the church allows it…

      I’d say the chances lean more towards the latter than the former.

  17. Don Escaped Denim

    @RBrookhiser on C-SPAN explaining away the Patriot Act allthewhile hawking his book on liberty

    1. “We had to destroy the village to save it!”

  18. “We lost two great men today, but it could have been a lot worse, and I am thankful our government has allowed us the opportunity to protect ourselves,” said Britt Farmer, the church’s senior minister.

    Sad that even people who supposedly ‘get it’ can still have this backassward.

    1. leon

      It’s both bass ackwards and correct at the same time. The Government does not issue the right to keep arms and defend yourself. But they certainly have attempted to take it away. So in one sense, a government that is all powerful and can do whatever it wants because nothing binds it, is allowing you to do stuff that you have every right to do.

      1. I get that, I’d just like to think that gun nuts and 2A absolutists would phrase it better. ‘I am thankful our government hasn’t entirely stripped us of our right to defend ourselves’

        1. leon

          +1 ^^^

          If every-man were like unto that, then no government could withstand them.

        2. Tonio

          “I am thankful for our God-given right to self defense.”

    2. Not Adahn

      That jumped out at me too. However, I think he was being politic.

      1. Maybe, but it’s still grovelling, which is unfortunate, especially from a Texan.

    3. Tonio

      Yeah, that was extremely disappointing. Totally treating self-defense as a privilege, not a right.

    4. MikeS

      I’m leaning towards a healthy dose of sarcasm.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    Greg Biggs is adding more machines and moving jobs to cheaper locations. Biggs is the chief executive of Vander-Bend Manufacturing, a company in San Jose that makes metal products including surgical components and racks where data centers store computer servers. Vander-Bend has doubled its head count over the past five years, to about 900 employees, and pays $17 to $40 an hour for skilled technicians who need training but not a college degree.

    This is precisely the sort of middle-income job needed in the Bay Area, which like many urban areas is bifurcating into an economy of high-wage knowledge jobs and low-wage service jobs.

    The problem is he cannot find enough workers. The unemployment rate in San Jose is around 2%, and many of Vander-Bend’s employees already commute two or more hours to work. To compensate, Biggs has bought several van-size robot arms that pull metal panels from a pile then stamp them flush, bend their edges and assemble them into racks. He has opened a second location 75 miles away in Stockton, where labor and housing costs are a lot lower.

    This is in most ways a success story. Vander-Bend is raising wages and training workers. The machines are not replacing jobs but instead make them more efficient, and the company is bringing higher-wage positions to a region that needs more of them. But for workers, even substantial income gains are being offset by rising costs.

    And there isn’t a single thing which makes it essential for the work to be done in California. One of these days, ol’ Greg is going to put down his ten dollar cup of coffee and say to himself, “This would all be so much easier if we were in Texas, or Florida, or South Dakota.”

    And journalists and historians and chroniclers of history will scratch their heads in befuddlement.

    1. leon

      I certainly get the not wanting to move sentiment though, if you have lived your entire or even most of your life, in that state. A Californian being told that “If you don’t like our buisness climate, why don’t you move to [Pick Inter-mountain/Great Plains State] is like telling libertarians that they should just move to Somalia.

      But seriously, i get not wanting to move. If my state was going to shit, i would want to fight back and stop it.

      1. Tonio

        Unfortunately you reach a point at which you realize you are outnumbered by people who don’t respect your rights and believe that they have a right to take your money and redistribute it to others. You realize this is not going to change anytime soon.

        I’m surprised California has not tried to levy an exit tax on businesses.

          1. Legit question:

            Do they have any recourse if you tell them to fuck off and just never go back to the state?

          2. “Full faith and credit” means they can demand your state enforce their judgements against you, or even extradite you for imprisonment.

          3. And… would your new state protect you if Cali came knocking?

          4. leon

            I don’t get it. I don’t get any of that. How is any of that legal? If a Company from California buys something from you you have to pay Califonria income tax?

          5. leon

            A recent decision says you can.

            Now, check out California Office of Tax Appeals decision In the Matter of Blair S. Bindley, OTA Case No. 18032402 (May 30, 2019).

            Executive Agencies given the power to write their own regulations, and to interpret them too….

            Tax man should not be able to have his own courts to decide what is legal.

          6. Slammer

            In Bindley’s case, the state noted that whether a nonresident is subject to California’s rules for apportioning income depends on : (1) whether the taxpayer is carrying on a trade or business within California, outside of California, or a combination thereof; (2) the type of entity conducting the business; and (3) whether the business is unitary.California ruled that Bindley’s screenwriting business was carried on inside and outside of California.

            Of course they did. There are higher courts, though

          7. R C Dean

            whether the taxpayer is carrying on a trade or business within California, outside of California, or a combination thereof

          8. R C Dean

            Sell to someone in CA? You’re carrying on a trade or business in CA. You will find attached your CA income tax form, and forms for calculating the tax you owe CA for the past 5 years.

            If this sticks, expect to see states passing laws prohibiting the enforcement or collection of CA income taxes on their residents.

          9. Sounds like interefering in interstate commerce.

        1. Gustave Lytton

          NY and a number of other states tax out of state employees under the bullshit convenience of the employer theory.

          1. Clearly the answer is to ban taxes on income

      2. KSuellington

        Yup, I’m still here for that reason. Almost all my family outside of Ireland is right here in the Bay and my biz is centered here. It gets harder every year not to flee though.

        1. slumbrew

          Same-ish – Mass is my least-worst choice if my wife & I want to stay within driving distance of family in CT & LI.

          NY? Fuck no.
          NJ? Fuck no.
          CT? Fuck no.
          PA? Pass.

          NH? Eh, we like cities.
          Portland, ME? Eh, maybe – Maine has its own issues. But I want less cold, not more.

          It’ll be status quo for the foreseeable future.

  20. Scruffy Nerfherder

    On June 2 of the following year, Thomas was arrested for punching a police horse with his right fist. He was detained after he allegedly tried to flee and charged with creating “the risk of injury” to both the horse and a sergeant named Bishop, who was riding it at the time. The charge was subsequently reduced to disorderly conduct.

    At least it wasn’t his left fist.

    1. He punched a horse and failed to KO it?

      He is no Mongo.

      1. Not Adahn

        Tales of college:

        My fraternity had an annual week long party, culminating with turning the front yard into a bullriding ring. One of my brothers, after being thrown, punched the bull in the snout. The bull performed a maneuver wherein it pivoted on its front legs and slammed into him with it’s hip, throwing fratbro through the air further than I’ve ever seen a human fly. Fortunately, the ground being well torn up was soft and he escaped without major injury.

        1. I guess fratbro is lucky the bull decided to hip-check. There are far more injurious things those beasties can do (as you certainly know)

          1. Not Adahn

            They brought us the more mellow amateur bulls. They were pretty chill once the rope was off their scrota. But yes. I certainly never managed 8 seconds, and I can’t remember anyone succeeding, though surely someone must have.

            Also, between the enstompening of the ground and the excretia, we had the greenest, lushest front lawn in South Greek.

          2. Enough About Palin

            “They were pretty chill once the rope was off their scrota.”

            I’m the exact same way!

    2. leon

      I’m not saying punching animals is fine. But i’d like to know where he punched the horse, cause let’s remember that the rider is kicking the horse to get him to move….

    3. l0b0t

      The absolute worst beating I’ve ever seen administered as an on-the-spot-correction by a policeman was during the Mardi Gras when some drunken asshole stubbed his cigar out in the flank of the policeman’s horse. The horse let out a horrible sound, the cop grabbed the guy by the nape of the neck and took off down the street at a brisk trot, bashing the fellow into every single lamppost, balcony support, and street sign they passed. When he made the turn onto Dumaine, he dismounted, drew his truncheon, and just went Punch & Judy on the guy until the Paddy Wagon showed up.

      1. I hate everyone in that story.

        1. Slammer

          Even the horse?

          1. The Equine officer did nothing to curtail his partner.

          2. Like a police dog would’ve cur-tailed?

          3. No, copdogs would have hounded the human to be more aggressive.

          4. Tejicano

            Not sure their bark would be worse than their bite

        2. leon

          ^^^ This.

          I don’t like animal torture, and hurting animals. But Police Man uses it as an excuse to get his beat down on. My guess is that the cops wife was appreciative, because the cop beat some stranger an not her that night.

          1. Not Adahn

            I don’t know that I’d go that far. If humans feel the same way about horses as they do about dogs, I can see some homicidal rage being inspired.

      2. Scruffy Nerfherder

        I witnessed a guy yanking his wanker at Mardi Gras in the street. Mounted cop came up behind him, pulled the horses head down right behind his bare ass and the had the horse flip the guy about ten feet.

        1. Tres Cool

          “No more yanky my wanky!” – The Donger

  21. Pope Jimbo

    Then one of the faithful began throwing furniture—a chair, an end table, a coat rack—with the fierceness of the Maccabees of ancient Israel, whose long-ago victory is celebrated with the eight-day Festival of Lights.

    Suck on that Windoze fan bois! When have you guys stopped a mass shooting with your fierceness?

  22. If Northam actually authorizes the National Guard to start confiscating, things could get very interesting indeed.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/virginia-gun-sanctuary-leaders-urge-resistance-to-gun-laws-compare-to-american-revolution

    1. leon

      There are stupid politicians. There are ideological Politicians. It seems you’d need a stupid, ideological politician to call out a military unit to enforce the law. Martial Law doesn’t look good, and the cops already have all the training and equipment and moral capacity of the SS that you would need.

      I don’t know Northam (Not My State, Not My Problem), so i don’t know if he fits in the Stupid & Ideological box.

      1. Gustave Lytton

        A) I’ve seen a great willingness for NG to support counter drug missions

        B) really depends on how it’s framed and used. Successfully labeling them as a criminals, and using as support for police would tip the scales a bit. If bullets start flying, a lot of sympathy disappears when it’s directed at you. I don’t believe there were many refusals to do patrols in Iraq on the grounds of Iraqis’ gun rights being infringed

        C) this is a perfect opportunity to weed out any refuseniks out of the Guard. Maybe nail a couple to wall with dishonorable discharges to take away their own ability to own firearms.

        1. R C Dean

          I suspect Northam ordering the National Guard to go on a door-kicking spree would be rapidly countermanded by the VA National Guard being taken under federal control for the duration.

          Not sure if Posse Comitatus is a dead letter yet, but if not it should also be a consideration.

          1. leon

            It’s not, but only applies to the guard when on a federal mission.

            I don’t disagree that there would be those in the guard who would “just do their job”. I’d expect a few Battalion Commanders or two to resign and maybe some Company Commanders.

          2. Gustave Lytton

            Excellent! Then Northam’s compliant state leadership can move more of their people into those slots. Win win.

          3. leon

            For sure. Virginia is fucked if Northam goes down that route, because the ratchet will increase. I’ll say this though i still think calling the guard out is stupid because it is saying you have to use the iron fist to do what you want.

            But once again, Not my State, Not my Problem. Sorry Virginians.

        2. Heroic Mulatto

          A) I’ve seen a great willingness for NG to support counter drug missions

          Fuck. Even Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers has filled his Twitter feed with calls for Trump to send the military into Mexico to “destroy” the cartels.

          Because drugs are bad.

  23. Gender Traitor

    Noting anniversaries isn’t OT, right? If so, too bad. Forgot to mention in early a.m. prelynx convo that Mr. GT & I are celebrating our first 24th wedding anniversary today. (We observe two anniversaries each year – if we don’t forget. On this date, we made it legal in the mayor’s office. The following June, we threw the public ceremony, officiated by my previous husband, the Rev. GT.)

    1. “officiated by my previous husband”

      *ominous music*

      1. leon

        well it was because they were stranded on an island and the Rev was the only person legally able to marry someone.

        1. I think you’re thinking of an episode of Gilligan’s Island.

    2. I’m glad you had a civil enough separation from the Reverand that he was willing to do that.

      1. Tonio

        Not just a separation if she was able to remarry.

        1. I’m not judging people if they wish to have multiple spouses…

      2. Pope Jimbo

        What better revenge on the guy who replaced you in the affections of your ex than legally binding him to her?

        1. Pope Jimbo

          Uffda. Sorry GT. I meant to add something to that to let you know I was kidding. And to offer congrats.

          1. Gender Traitor

            No worries. Thanks! We like to add to the story that at no time during the ceremony did the Rev. GT turn to the impending Mr. GT and ask. “Are you SURE??”

    3. Tonio

      Nothing is off-topic after thirty minutes.

      Congratulations.

    4. Slammer

      Congrats! Here’s to many more

    5. Count Potato

      Happy Anniversary!

    6. Happy anniversary!!!

      All good romances are built to last.

      1. Gender Traitor

        Baby, he & me got a groovy kind of love. : )

    7. Tres Cool

      Congrats homie!

      If you want to mix it up and have your vows renewed, I too am authorized by the State of Ohio to perform marriages.

      1. I’m not authorized to perform marriages, but since a renewal has no legal significance, I too could stand there and muble some words at you.

        1. Gender Traitor

          Would that make it an UnCivilCeremony?

          1. Or an UnCivilService

      2. Ohio will let anyone do anything. It’s a dangerous (but fun) place.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    We interviewed these professors from the Humpty Dumpty School of Law, and they told us what we wanted to hear

    …legal experts say this criticism, peppered with terms borrowed from criminal proceedings, is based on a misinterpretation of what the Constitution says about impeachment and how much protection it gives the president.

    The answer: Not much.

    Like Bill Clinton in the 1990s and Andrew Johnson more than a century earlier, Trump does not have the same constitutional protection afforded to a criminal defendant, they said.

    “The president of the United States takes the presidency conditioned on the fact that he may be subject to impeachment,” said Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor. “He has no entitlement to demand due process.”

    To compare the president – any president – to a common criminal defendant is misleading, experts say. Here’s why.

    ——-

    This brings us to due process. The Fifth Amendment says no one can be deprived of “life, liberty or property” without due process of law. A president facing an impeachment trial is not at risk of losing life, liberty or property.

    Congress “is not obliged to follow due process, (though) it may well decide to provide things that look like due process,” Gerhardt said.

    Due process, at a minimum, requires an impartial decision-maker. “You can see how that doesn’t really apply to impeachment,” he said.

    Oh, okay. Politics is a blood sport.

    1. leon

      You can find a “legal” scholar anywhere to support your position on the constitution.

      But this argument is infuriating to me, especially this part:

      “Due process, at a minimum, requires an impartial decision-maker. “You can see how that doesn’t really apply to impeachment,” he said.”

      Well then which is it? Because last week we heard about how the senate trial needs all the jurors to be super duper impartial.

      Now look it could be that this particular professor didn’t agree with the arguments being made before about the impartiality of senators. what bothers me is how quick people (of any political stripe) will jump from argument to argument without a single thought to how their arguments are completely at odds with each other.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        Leon said exactly what I was trying to say. And did it before me. Should have refreshed and I wouldn’t have had to try to use my own brain to articulate my exasperation.

    2. Pope Jimbo

      So all these legal scholars also agree then that there is no requirement or need for the Senate to pretend to be impartial jurors?

      I mean, if you are going to hand wave away all the Star Chamber bs that Schiff and his committee did because it wasn’t really a legal proceeding, you also have to then agree that the Senate can engage in whatever political stuff it wants to as well.

      Or is there some special writing on the back of the Constitution that you need Nick Cage glasses to read that says that impeachment procedures are totes different for the House and the Senate?

      This is what I find to be the most galling aspect of this entire spectacle. The “who are you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes?” nonsense that is trotted out.

  25. Cis-white gay men can tell Jews all about those bus tires they now find on their backs.

    https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/287821/orthodox-jews-attacked-brooklyn-hate-crime

    Once you find yourself above a certain percentile on the victimhood totem pole, you’re no longer useful.

    NB: It’s also just absolutely precious that media elites are managing to blame Trump for attacks committed by blacks against Jews in one of the bluest cities in the country. It’s similar to Cali Dems blaming Republicans for the State’s failing policies.

    1. Gustave Lytton

      Why not? De Commio is blaming Trump for NYC’s homeless problem.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    WordPress is back to doing its format flipflop thing.

    For me, anyway.

    1. Count Potato

      Same here

      1. Jarflax

        #metoo and it kills my old eyes.

    2. I can only think it’s a conflict between the upgrade and the theme function, which has not yet been updated.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    “In the past,” Bowman said, “senators try to maintain at least the fiction of impartiality, to maintain at least the notion that they could be persuaded. What we have with McConnell … is essentially a statement that there’s nothing you can do that’s going to persuade us: We’re the president’s men and women, and he’s going to stay in office.”

    Democrats may see this as brazen, but it’s not unconstitutional.

    And, again, “impartiality” is best demonstrated by a signal of eagerness to convict. As Elizabeth Warren has vowed to do. Because why would they be impeaching him if he hasn’t done anything wrong?

    1. R C Dean

      As ever, one wonders about the remedy. SCOTUS has already said impeachment is a political matter not subject to judicial review, so if a bunch of Repub Senators say they aren’t removing Trump because he is a Republican, waddayagonnado?

      Of course, the Senate has the “sole power” of removal, so it gets to say what its procedures are. Both the House and the Senate are ultimately bound by what the public sees as legitimate. Its pretty clear that a big chunk of the public doesn’t see the House’s impeachment as legitimate.

      1. Heroic Mulatto

        The whole thing is a farce now that the Senate is popularly elected. The impeachment process was always designed around a Senate appointed by state legislatures following the classical republican ethos of mixed-government.

  28. They put these shows on Sunday Morning specifically so no one will watch them. Reasonable people are A) at church, B) sleeping off a hangover, C) having intercourse with their SO or D) drinking mimosas at brunch.

    https://www.redstate.com/bonchie/2019/12/29/just-hours-anti-semitic-stabbing-spree-chuck-todd-decides-trash-bible/

    1. leon

      Chuck Todd still thinks the russians hacked the elections. So yeah, i don’t really care what he thinks.

    2. Multiple choice?

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder

      What a douche

  29. Pope Jimbo

    SHUTUP and take my money!

    Aroussiak Gabrielian says she was inspired to create what is believed to be the world’s first wearable farm after seeing what her body could provide for her newborn.

    The project, Posthuman Habitats, is a vest or cloak that grows plants and crops using fertilizer from insects and human waste.

    What was the inspiration for creating these vests?

    This happened at a particular moment in my doctoral work where I was immersed in literature around the post-human. And this is the idea that, you know, human exceptionalism has been such a kind of dominant part of our lives.

    This was also at the same time when I had just given birth to my daughter.

    Your body turns into a machine that starts to produce the exact nutrients that your child requires and the precise delivery system to get this food to the child. And so I was amazed at my own body for its ability to do this.

    I thought to tap into the bodily systems, such as the renal system and the digestive system, and to try to imagine, you know, in a future state where our soils are depleted and there’s not enough access to water, how would we be producing the amount of crops necessary to feed our growing population?

    So I thought, you know, there’s the system that exists that grows decorative plants … as vertical gardens throughout the world. Why not use this fabric-based system to grow food directly on our bodies and to kind of tap into those bodily systems?

    And when you talk about bodily systems … you’re actually talking about fertilizing with human waste. How is that achieved?

    I guess human waste could also be used, but the waste was coming from the smaller creatures and the pollinators and so forth.

    The idea is that your urine would be captured via catheter filtered through a process called forward osmosis — which is developed by NASA technology that currently exists that is used in space, and delivered to the crops as irrigation.

    So this would be kind of …. an easy irrigation and water system to tap into.

    1. And it’s too late to stop her from reproducing.

      1. There’s no guarantee her child will follow the same road. They might instead be rationally repulsed and embarassed by the crazy woman and take a different path.

        1. Pope Jimbo

          The apple doesn’t fall far from her mom’s organically grown apple tree vest.

    2. The Last American Hero

      PhD and a professor no less.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        This happened at a particular moment in my doctoral work where I was immersed in literature around the post-human.

        And she came up with this peach of an idea while she was doing her doctoral work and they still gave her the doctorate. I’m really hoping she showed up in front of the committee wearing one of those vests.

        1. Gustave Lytton

          Piled higher and deeper.

    3. Jarflax

      Earth is running out of resources! Don’t you people know that once you eat a meal all the elements in the food are GONE!

    4. Heroic Mulatto

      *shrugs*

      Sure, if you judge it by fashion, it looks retarded.

      But the tech is cool and I’m sure could be put to use in interesting applications.

    1. leon

      They are just trying to stir up the Incell anger.

    2. Lackadaisical

      Can confirm the study. Dunno about the communism part, a lot of ladies might be willing to do what needs done for a little extra rations.

  30. hayeksplosives

    AAAAARRRRRRRGH!!!

    The one drawback to living in a “census designated place” out of town in the mountains it the shitty internet service.

    I’m trying to log on to work so I can sign everyone’s final time cards, but the service is so poor, every action takes FOREVER and usually ends up with a “can’t reach this page” error.

    Fuck it. I’m going to make my iPhone a temporary hotspot

    1. I think the people would appreciate it. Not getting paid for work done sucks.

    2. leon

      You’re at Dugway again? Swing by my place. The Internet is….decent.

      1. hayeksplosives

        No, I’m at home in CA. I say I’m in San Diego but I’m actually closer to Mount Palomar.

        1. Count Potato

          I’m sure the observatory has great internet. Their file sizes are astronomical.

          1. hayeksplosives

            I’m highly looking forward to Palomar observatory tour.

            Meteor shower last night was amazing.

          2. Now you’re just pulling statistics out of Uranus.

          3. Gustave Lytton

            Keep it up, and Switzy will show up to narrow his orbits.

    3. PieInTheSky

      Elon Musk is on it

    4. Expense that.

      No, I am not kidding.

    5. hayeksplosives

      On the bright side, I just saw the most beautiful sunrise in memory right out my living room window with a mimosa in hand, made from oranges plucked from my own yard.

      Yeah, first world problems. Duly noted and humbled. Shutting up now.

      1. PieInTheSky

        Enjoy it while it lasts, global warming will destroy all oranges

        1. Nah, we’ll just grow them on vests, right next to the melons.

          1. PieInTheSky

            children will not know what melons are (next gen Q hardest hit)

          2. hayeksplosives

            Oh my.

  31. Lackadaisical

    It sounds like this guy might be involved in more than the Hannukah stabbings. And they’ll be painting him as a Trump supporter in 3…2…1. I mean, why not? There are already a lot of talking heads saying that Trump being so supportive of Jews is what’s causing people to lash out at them.

    No mention of his ideology or anything. I genuinely curious why, seems like he went out of his way to visit that particular place, just crazy?

    upstate New York town of Monsey

    Bullshit.

    the upstate town of Warwick

    More bullshit.

    1. leon

      Maybe it was a Judean People Front and Peoples Front of Judea thing…

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Innovative solutions? Not here. We’re Californians.

    Jonathan Warmund believes the Bay Area needs a “property option” that can help address the growing number of homeless men and women who are battling drug addiction and mental health issues.

    He believes that barges or houseboats could be set up quickly and adds that the “vessels can support the critical wraparound services necessary to assist with these complex issues, along with many other unique property features.”

    Getting it done, though, could be an uphill battle. Warmund said he’s tried reaching out to nonprofits and local government officials but hasn’t had much luck.

    “I suspect there’s fatigue with what appears to be an intractable situation but I’m sensing or speculating that there may also be resistance to new ideas from current folks on the frontlines,” he told Fox News.

    Wat? Racketeers don’t like competition? I never knew that.

    1. Pope Jimbo

      Houseboats and barges? Dude isn’t fooling me, he’s building the terrestrial version of Space Ark B

      1. Bobarian LMD

        We’re all gonna die from a telephone hand-set based illness.

    2. Not Adahn

      Nothing for nothing, but if I were a homeless guy that knew the government was looking for a way to get rid of me, I don’t think I’d agree to get on board a boat they controlled.

      1. leon

        Oops. Someone forgot to tie up the barge with all the homeless on it and now it’s drifted out to sea, carried away by the current. Rest assured we will get to the bottom of who forgot to tie up the barge.

        /doesn’t get to the bottom of it.

    3. The Last American Hero

      How does dumping buckets of human waste into the bay square with SF’s Gaia loving image?

    4. leon

      Solutions don’t keep the government money flowing.

  33. pan fried wylie

    @Trashy, RE: aquariums

    I got this lamp back in Dec15. Very pleasing white LED color rendition plus RGB emitters to adjust the flavor, 0-100% adjustable on each color channel (RGBW). 100% might be too strong for “low light” lovers like java fern; I’ve been mostly focused on Crypts and they’ve all switched from low-light to high-light form after planting. Single row of emitters which produces much crisper shadows/refraction than matrix layouts, kinda close to a pointlike emitter like a halide lamp.

    The timer isn’t as advanced as I’d like. It lets you set day/night presets to cycle through, but then it has a really abrupt transition between the presets that’s not ideal. The remote died about a year back, so I’ve gone to manual cycling rather than figure out how to adjust the timer via the limited interface on the box.

    Near the top of my Projects I Want To Do Someday list is a lamp made out of matrix of Neopixels that covers the whole tank surface, with full LED-display control, so I can simulate solar progression by displaying an illumination spot across the length of the matrix. I haven’t figured out how I would construct the heatsinking backing to mount the matrix to…suggestions welcome for sourcing a cut&drilled sheet of heavy duty aluminum.

  34. Lackadaisical

    But today it has a new problem. For all its forward-thinking companies and liberal social and environmental policies, the state has mostly put higher-value jobs and industries in expensive coastal enclaves, while pushing lower-paid workers and lower-cost housing to inland areas like the Central Valley.

    There may even be a correlation there… nah.

    1. PieInTheSky

      So you are saying it is not a bug but a feature?

    2. Lackadaisical

      There are increasing complaints in Oregon, Nevada and Idaho that rents and home prices there are being pushed up by new arrivals fleeing California. A recent election in Boise, Idaho, was seen as a referendum on California-style growth. And Oregon’s decision to essentially ban single-family house neighborhoods has been billed by lawmakers as a bold intervention to pull the state away from a California-like trajectory.

      How to prevent becoming like California: ban/overregulate building new housing, too bad California never tried that, would have saved a lot of heartache.

  35. Pope Jimbo

    I’m a little disappointed that the Bears scored with no time left on the clock.

    Altar Boy 2 and I were giggling about the prospect of the Vikes second stringers going out down by a point with a minute to go and simply taking a knee.

    And can I say how pathetic is it that the Vikes played all their scrubs and Trubisky still looked overmatched?

  36. PieInTheSky

    Today I learned: Colin Cowherd daughter is kinda hot

    https://www.statepress.com/article/2019/11/specho-liv-cowherd-on-unintentional-internet-fame

    His NBA analysis is still often full of shit though

  37. Count Potato

    “Apparently it’s a white nationalist’s dream to…

    *Squints*

    Protect the safety of Jewish people”

    https://twitter.com/TheLaurenChen/status/1211303398756306949

    That’s some screen shot. Also, could you knock it off with the “Latinx” nonsense?

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder

        Shooting people isn’t the solution and it never will be.

        You know who else… ahhh fuck it… too easy.

        1. Actually, it’s pretty darn effective if you get the right targets.

          The hard part is target identification.

        2. R C Dean

          Isn’t it a final solution?

          Just more of the “violence doesn’t solve anything” idiocy. Sure, it sucks that sometimes violence is the only/best solution, but it has damn sure solved a lot of problems (even if it has also caused a lot of problems).

          1. Scruffy Nerfherder

            Dude, we just need to start a conversation with these people who hold enough animus towards Jews to justify stabbing or shooting them. They need a free education in minority studies at your local institute of higher education.

            Any other solution is simply an expression of white supremacy.

      2. A Leap at the Wheel

        https://twitter.com/MarisaKabas/status/1211149341194407936

        Its like an incantation for some people. (people who failed at the Never Forget lecture)

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          Same idiot

          I was with my two younger cousins tonight on the train from Long Island to NYC. By the way they dress, it’s pretty clear they’re Orthodox Jews. When we parted ways, I felt scared. The thought of anything happening to those girls makes me sick. It shouldn’t have to be this way.

          The Israelis have a pretty good way of dealing with people who mean them harm.

          1. l0b0t

            To be fair, one of the more recent attacks up here was perpetrated upon some vacationing IDF soldiers on the subway. Two young ladies from Israel were Tasered, beaten, and robbed at a Midwood subway stop a few weeks ago. Where’s your Krav Maga now, Flanders?

    1. Count Potato

      “PHOTOS: Orthodox Jews seen open carrying rifles in Rockland County, NY following a string of anti-semitic attacks in NYC, including last night’s stabbing attack inside a synagogue in Monsey, NY that left 5 stabbed – 1 in critical condition.”

      https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1211395543982886912

      1. Gustave Lytton

        Are those NY compliant mags?

        1. Those aren’t even unSAFE compliant grips.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      AIUI the authority on Spanish in Spain has rejected Latinx completely, and something like 98% of Hispanics hate it or have never heard of it.

      Yet, twenty something single white lesbian vocal fried uptalking females on NPR insist that is the only proper way to refer to Hispanics.

      1. vocal fried uptalking females

        I uptalk other females when I don’t want to appear too threatening with my resting bitch face, but I never fry my vocal cords.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          sksksksksksksksk…..

          1. An’ I oop. Save the turtles!

      2. l0b0t

        How is it meant to be pronounced? Is it Latin – eks or Latinks?

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          Pretty sure it’s La-ti-neks

          1. R C Dean

            My pronunciation identifies as La-tinks.

      3. Rhywun

        Yet, twenty something single white lesbian vocal fried uptalking females on NPR insist that is the only proper way to refer to Hispanics.

        Well, they are America’s foremost authorities on “communities of color”.

    3. leon

      WaywardRobot
      ‏ @Wayward_Robot
      22h22 hours ago
      Replying to @TheLaurenChen

      Why the hell they gotta make my ethnicity sound like a cleaning product?
      3 replies 1 retweet 55 likes
      Joshua Bell
      ‏ @CoachCrazy
      21h21 hours ago

      Social justice demands it.

  38. l0b0t

    Thank you very much for the morning music. That is my favorite Madness song. Also, Colgate’s, and Colgate Blue Minty Gel’s favorite as well.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    Nothing for nothing, but if I were a homeless guy that knew the government was looking for a way to get rid of me, I don’t think I’d agree to get on board a boat they controlled.

    “Look! the Navy is putting on an air show for us!”

  40. The Late P Brooks

    Oregon’s decision to essentially ban single-family house neighborhoods has been billed by lawmakers as a bold intervention to pull the state away from a California-like trajectory.

    How to prevent becoming like California: ban/overregulate building new housing, too bad California never tried that, would have saved a lot of heartache.

    That “ban” is actually a restriction on single use zoning, if I recall correctly, so they are attempting to “encourage” more housing units and greater density. It’s Oregon, so they’ll probably fuck it it up.

    1. Lackadaisical

      This is what I get for relying on journalists.

    2. Rhywun

      I swear they just dust off the same article and reprint it every couple months.

      zOMG climate change and rich people are ruining California!1!

    3. Gustave Lytton

      They’ve already fucked it up. Forty plus years of statewide land use planning, including urban growth boundaries has come home to roost. Everything about it sucks. Government has artificially limited the supply of buildable land, people who have bought homes or at least didn’t fight the zoning imposed on their home or neighborhoods are getting these mini homes shoved down their throats (with no added parking, so fuck all on street parking where again government hasn’t limited it already), and connected developers are salivating at being able to bulldoze perfectly good single family homes and replacing them with nicely profitable multi family shacks.

      Ending land use planning, allowing homes to be built on low cost land, and taking a pruner to the building codes is never discussed.

      1. leon

        The law is the law. If we just went around getting rid of laws, what do you think would happen? it would be like… Like…. Lawless. And only an idiot would think that. Don’t you remember learning in Government school that Government is necessary?

        1. Gustave Lytton

          *puts Schoolhouse Rock back on, and makes bowl of Corn Pops*

  41. Evan from Evansville

    Here we are. The last night we sleep at our Chiang Mai apartment. We move to an Air BnB tomorrow for a week or so. I fly to Chicago on January 9th.

    Seizures have stopped or gone away. So far. Boom. Had good job interviews but the one I thought was for us was rejected by Lady. The money was too low and location not ideal….but. Well. Yeah. Another interview this Thursday. Let’s go baby.

    Another problem is now on my ass. I started having bad blisters on my palms in Singapore in 2015 or so. Seemed like humidity was the cause. Now the outside of my thumbs and index fingers are fucked. Bleeding and split. Other fingers less affected. Wrists are completely ravaged and wrapped. Now the bottom of my feet seem to be developing the problem as well. That’s fantastic.

    My doctor appoint is at 6:30pm on Thursday, an hour and a half after my vital interview. This is a tremendous way to add energetic vigor to a presentation when said demonstration requires it. I no joke think that it will go great. I actually interview really well.

    I’ve read several personal stories here that have honestly touched me and made me melt out my condolences. It’s tough going, guys. I feel blessed, not in a religious way, to be responding to my hardships as “well” as I have. I have had a lot of help. I deeply love them and often feel like a soldier and they are the medic I need to save me. That’s a special person. Drinks on me.

    This planet ain’t looking after you. Be a mesmerizing mammal. FIght in your habitat and succeed and advance. Avoid or overcome painful setbacks. Go out there and kick ass. When slammed and broken against the wall, give it hell right the fuck back the best you can.

    I just smoked our last bowl here and am about to take a glorious shower. It’s going to be painful and ugly, but necessary. Happy New Years go all you guys and gals.

    1. What’s in Chicago?

      As for the skin condition, the first thing that came to mind was an allergic reaction to medication. But I’m no expert, nor even a doctor.

      Glad to hear the seizures have stopped.

      1. Evan from Evansville

        That’s my guess as well. They don’t want me taking the one that’s taken care of the issue for about years. They fear a dangerous interaction that I don’t see .in my google fu.

    2. PieInTheSky

      I was going to make a joke about “I started having bad blisters on my palms in Singapore in 2015 or so..” but decided against. Hope the next year is much better for you Evan. One step at a time…

    3. Evan! So glad you’re on the mend, notwithstanding those pesky blisters. Sounds like hell.

      Good luck on the job interview and safe travels!

    4. Count Potato

      I hope you are feeling better soon.

    5. Jarflax

      Stigmata! Glad to hear the seizures have stopped!

    6. straffinrun

      Always great to hear from the Evan. Don’t be a stranger, ya hear?

  42. PieInTheSky

    This deep simulation of space economics is surprisingly compelling

    https://www.pcgamer.com/this-deep-simulation-of-space-economics-is-surprisingly-compelling/

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Speaking of “:innovative solutions” to the housing shortage- remember that warehouse fire on the San Fran pier? The one which was an unpermitted art colony qua residential workspace? The principle was sound. The execution (rampant stupidity in the electrical grid) lacked finesse.
    But the city of San Francisco would never knowingly/willingly issue permits for something like that, I suspect.

  44. PieInTheSky

    What would be your outlaw truck gun?

    Ideally something with a reference picture, especially an iconic custom weapon.

    https://twitter.com/High_Lethality/status/1211491639492898819

    1. I’m not so sure that grip won’t interfere with changing the magazine.

      1. PieInTheSky

        scrolling through the pics I like the revolver which according to the comments is something called a Unica 6

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder

      Gotta go with circa 1985 MAC-10 for maximum LA gang-banger vibes

      And a hot pink bandana/do-rag

    3. Not Adahn

      Truck gun or minivan gun? Eh, will work wherever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U8850jgTwk

      1. A minivan must have a moon roof minigun. Fill the entire back end with ammunition and fire for days hours Minutes!

      2. Pope Jimbo

        Some people talk about jump shooting ducks, other people do something about it!

        1. When jump shooting, do you try to fire at the apex of your arc?

          1. Pope Jimbo

            Even when I was a young man, I barely had an apex, much less an arc.

            You would need to ask someone with a better vertical than mine what they do.

        2. I think you may be unclear on the concept.

    4. A Leap at the Wheel

      Need to keep the length down on a truck gun, so I guess I’d settle for this

      1. I just use an old H&R Topper 12 gauge with the barrel cut down to 18″. It’s right handy but a beast to fire, as it only weighs about four pounds.

        I’m not saying I’d shoot rabbits or birds out of the truck window; that would be illegal. But if I were to do so, that would be the perfect truck gun. We call it the Ditch Witch.

    5. R C Dean

      Very disappointed with the suggestions. Just go full technical, already.

      1. An old soviet antiaircraft gun then?

        1. Wait, sorry, An old soviet antiaircraft gun and a half dozen subsaharan tribesmen with kalashnikovs.

          1. Not Adahn

            Yeah, you really can’t leave a technical parked unattended or someone will run off with your hardware.

  45. R C Dean

    Head on over to the Bing homepage if you want to see what the view from Tucson looks like today. Its that thing where we have snow on the mountains, which is pretty cool. If a White Christmas means “I can see snow from my house on Christmas”, then we missed had a White Christmas this year, barely.

  46. Count Potato

    “In true dystopian nightmare fashion Facebook has begun deleting posts related to the whistleblower without notice to anyone

    I posted about a dentist named Eric Ciaramella and Facebook removed it, no warning, no violation, just straight gone.

    Never said anything about politics”

    https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/1211627015633174528

    1. Count Potato

      “Youtube has confirmed to me that regardless of whether the president of the United States tweets out the name of a publicly relevant figure, or if major cable channels talk about the person, you are not allowed to say the name on Youtube

      Welcome to the dystopia”

      https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/1211632385898401793

    2. leon

      Look this CIA Spook who everyone knows must be protected. Not because he’s in danger, but because if the media acts like he’s in danger i helps build the narrative.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        The thing that still gets me about Ciaramella is that he was fired from the White House posting because he was caught leaking and he gets to go back to his old job at the CIA?

        If that isn’t damning to the CIA, what would be?

        Shouldn’t keeping your mouth shut be an important prerequisite for a job at a spy agency?

        1. A Leap at the Wheel

          No, the job requirement is keeping your mouth shut strategically, not perpetually.

        2. Oh no, you see from the CIA’s point of view, he was spying on a hostile entity and delivering up information that entity wanted to keep secret was his job as an agency asset embedded in the entity’s organization.

        3. Not when your job is to help bring down your boss by hook or by crook.

        4. Akira

          If that isn’t damning to the CIA, what would be?

          I’m still utterly baffled at how the Establishment got so many people to view the CIA – whose name is practically synonymous with undemocratic, underhanded conniving – as an agency with an unblemished record of honesty and integrity. Practically overnight, people did a total 180 and were then willing to believe the Russia hoax (a conspiracy theory that would make Alex Jones blush) on the grounds of “the CIA said so”.

          The fucking power of narratives, I tell you what…

    3. BakedPenguin

      I posted about a dentist named Eric Ciaramella and Facebook removed it, no warning, no violation, just straight gone.

      I wonder if CJ from TOS has been Facebook/Twitter banned.

  47. PieInTheSky

    While filming a new TV series in Papua New Guinea before Christmas, Zac Efron reportedly contracted an illness and was flown to a hospital in Brisbane, Australia, where he recovered, according to a report from the Australian Associated Press.

    Efron had contracted “a form of typhoid or similar bacterial infection” while filming the show “Killing Zac Efron,” The Sunday Telegraph reported, as quoted by The Independent.

    https://www.insider.com/zac-efron-flown-to-hospital-infection-papua-new-guinea-2019-12

    does this count as irony?

    1. Gadfly

      Filming a show called “Killing [myself]” in Australia is just tempting fate. He got off lightly.

      1. Raven Nation

        Well, he wasn’t actually filming in Australia.

  48. When a recipe says refrigerate overnight, how many daytime hours is that? I assume 8, but maybe it’s 12 or 24?

    Making that peppermint bark cheesecake today.

    1. Count Potato

      Eight, usually.

    2. I’m pretty sure once it reaches fridge temperature, there’s not a lot more it’s going to do. So 8 will probably work fine.

  49. Count Potato

    Page was flipping back and forth, now it’s stuck in grey mode.

  50. PieInTheSky

    So my mom made something using the alcohol soaked bitter cherries from my bitter cherry gin.

    400g butter, 50g sugar, 3 eggs, 100 g cocoa and a bunch of alcoholic bitter cherries and some whole roasted cocoa beans for decoration. Not bad at all. Sort of low carb I guess. Sort of huge calories count as well.

    1. PieInTheSky

      also roasted walnuts

  51. The Late P Brooks

    Making that peppermint bark cheesecake today.

    [insert drooling Homer Simpson gif]

    1. I’mma make a chocolate peanut butter one for Mr. Mojeaux’s barfday on Friday. Shhh. Don’t tell him.

      1. l0b0t

        That’s my favorite one! Mmm… chocolate ganache.

        1. Well, I hadn’t thought about a ganache, but then I haven’t scouted a good recipe yet. I make a particularly lovely ganache.

          1. Pope Jimbo

            The recipe isn’t nearly as important as is the way you make it. You have to cook it with confidence and a bit of theatrics. Panache ganache if you will.

          2. l0b0t

            You also must be wearing an ensemble by Oshkosh B’Gosh.

          3. l0b0t

            We would usually do a peanut butter cheesecake with a dark ganache enrobing. IIRC, both recipes came from either Alton Brown or ATK.

          4. Excellent! Will do.

  52. PieInTheSky

    Just for those that like Orson Welles, Winston Churchill, history, or just an example of good storytelling.

    https://twitter.com/Alex_Verbeek/status/1210465662042345472

    1. RAHeinlein

      “a hustling, semi-Armenian Russian” – priceless.

  53. leon

    Reposting this from yesterday: https://flowsmapper.geo.census.gov/map.html

    A few of you were arguing about internal migration. I went and looked for some data, and found that the census has a little thing to look at the data. I would do some data analysis, but why should i enact that labor for you.

    1. Gadfly

      Dallas County: people coming in from all over, people leaving to the suburban counties. Same pattern for Harris (Houston) and Bexar (San Antonio). Setting up a strong city/suburban split methinks.

      Also, the main sources of people moving to Los Angeles and San Francisco seem to be Chicago and NYC, so I’ll bet that things won’t be turning around in Cali any time soon.

      1. Rhywun

        So, the same pattern as for the last 150 years or so.

      2. KSuellington

        It has been that way for a while here. We get internal migration from NYC, Boston, Chicago and foreign migration from China, India and Central America. For those that vote among these arrivals the problems here are the result of too little government, spending and laws. That NY Times article is a perfect example of this idiocy.

    2. R C Dean

      why should i enact that labor for you

      1. R C Dean

        In order to write a post for your favorite blog?

  54. Pope Jimbo

    Well that was quite the deal.

    The entire team is remote today (or on vacation). So this morning’s standup was via Google Hangouts. While I was looking into the camera to give my update another person snuck into my cube and stole my coffee mug. I didn’t notice. After I gave my update I looked around for my coffee mug and couldn’t find it.

    According to the team, my look of confusion was pretty humorous. They let me think I was coming down with dementia for a few minutes before they started laughing out loud and I figured out I had been had.

  55. Pope Jimbo

    Mike gets nabbed by the MT cops.

    5% chance that is a real story, but it made me laugh.

    1. slumbrew

      The car’s speedometer was showing 20-30-40-50 MPH, but the car was still stuck in the snow, wheels spinning.

      That is not how speedometers work.

      1. A Leap at the Wheel

        Please do not DESTROY jokes with your FACTS and LOGIC!

        1. MikeS

          That’s how it’s worked in every vehicle I’ve ever owned. Wheels slip, speedometer jumps up.

          1. slumbrew

            Granted, I haven’t owned many vehicles, but my experience is the opposite.

          2. I hate to agree with MikeS, but my spedometer has always been a measure of wheel rotation, not vehicle movement. If the wheels were slipping, it read higher than the GPS said we were moving.

      2. MikeS

        Sure it is.

      3. CPRM

        It’s the way they’ve worked on all the cars I’ve owned.

      4. R C Dean

        I find it interesting that the GPS-driven speedometer on my map app consistently runs a 1-2 mph slower than the car speedometer.

    2. MikeS

      Wasn’t this in a movie?

    3. Gender Traitor

      Perverse me hopes the cop gave him a warning for “speeding” (assuming said warning didn’t go on the driver’s record.)

  56. The Late P Brooks

    I read that Vox thing about housing, and YIMBYS and NIMBYS and political polarization, linked by RAHeinlein, above. Now I’m suffering from some odd form of motion sickness from Matty Yglesia’s Chinese Acrobat school of argumentation. He’s agile, I’ll give him that.

    tl,dr; liberals good, conservatives bad

    1. leon

      That doesn’t seem like too convoluted an argument. It just get’s convoluted when you want to pretend to be unbiased.

  57. PieInTheSky

    Never.
    Work.
    For.
    Youtubers.

    THIS is what comes of the “exposure”.
    I’m CRYING XD XD XD

    https://twitter.com/SmooGoo/status/1210584020695896064

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder

      What an ass

    2. CPRM

      He told me he’d keep those messages private!

    3. That’s almost every design client everywhere.

  58. Enough About Palin

    “Bears”

    Kirk Cousins sucks ass. It is known.

    1. Pope Jimbo

      Amen. Zimmer should be fired for that move alone.

  59. straffinrun

    Watched Ad Astra tonight. A lot of critics gushed over it. Put me to into a semi sleep mode where I was dozing in and out during the entire movie. So now I’m awake at 1:30 am after sleeping for 4 hours. Ugh.

    1. straffinrun

      What’s so impressive about roller blading…. Oh!

      1. pistoffnick

        That’s what most of Minnesota was like this past weekend.

  60. The Late P Brooks

    Another bogus argument for a secret impeachment ballot

    Donald Trump will go down in history as the third US president to be impeached. Yet no president has ever been convicted and removed from office as a result of impeachment, and it appears unlikely that Trump will be, either.
    While no Republican senator has indicated he or she will vote for Trump’s removal, prominent members of the GOP like former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake claim that at least 35 would do so if they were allowed to cast their ballots in secret.

    ——-

    The idea of a secret ballot, however, is contrary to the norm of transparency that would be expected for such a monumental decision. And it raises the issue of just how accountable elected representatives should be to American voters.

    ——-

    blah blah blah Alexander Hamilton- what a genius

    ——-

    The emergence of the two-party system and the direct election of senators have dashed Hamilton’s hopes for an impartial body. Arguments for an anonymous jury can be seen as a means to capture the spirit of Hamilton’s arguments in Federalist 65. A secret ballot, though not what Hamilton was advocating for, would give the Senate what Hamilton described as “confidence enough in its own situation, to preserve, unawed, and uninfluenced, the necessary impartiality” to render a fair trial.

    Bullshit. Freeing Senators to vote their personal prejudices against President Upstart does not, in any way, shape or form, make the process impartial.

    But nobody gives a shit what the people who voted him into office think. We’re trying to salvage democracy.

    1. MikeS

      And it raises the issue of just how accountable elected representatives should be to American voters.

      Why is that an “issue”?

      1. R C Dean

        Because the voters, deplorable and irredeemable as many of them are, might vote for the wrong people or against the right people. Can’t have that. The people are supposed to be accountable to their masters, not the other way around.

    2. leon

      , prominent members of the GOP like former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake

      Prominent = Saying what i want to hear.

      I said it before. Agents have no right to act in secrecy from their principals.

    3. Rhywun

      at least 35 would do so if they were allowed to cast their ballots in secret.

      Bullshit.

    4. Akira

      If we’re going with this whole democracy idea, isn’t it pretty important for voters to know how their elected officials voted so that they can vote them out if they don’t like it? How is the system democratic at all if senators can remove a president from office and voters are helpless to vote them out if they don’t like that decision?

      1. What do the wishes of the voters have to do with democracy?

  61. Pope Jimbo

    Uffda. I give the fuck up today. Our product manager is back from her extended vacation and I’m trying to make the point that you can only have one TOP priority. You can have multiple HIGH priorities, but only one of them can be the TOP priority.

    I’m just going to stop responding.

    1. R C Dean

      There’s an Iron Law for that:

      If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.

    2. straffinrun

      Didn’t make sense until I realized you wrote “her”. Obviously she’s right.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        I like her personally, but as a product manager she gets too far down into the micromanagement. Constant IM’s asking about various Jira tickets and details for internal technical stuff.

        The big problem is that she thinks she needs to know all the details on what is going on so she can relay them to her boss. She lacks the confidence to synthesize the basics of what is going on and just give him a summary.

        1. pistoffnick

          Fucking Jira. My bosses boss has a hard-on for Jira as if changing the tool you communicate with is going to revolutionize the business.

          1. MikeS

            But the stuff they do in the demo video looks so cool!

          2. slumbrew

            Well, it was Bugzilla until we moved to Jira; I’m willing to say it’s a noticeable improvement.

        2. “We’re trying to work. You keep interrupting the work and causing slowdowns. Efficiciency improvement recommendations – stop interrupting the work for status updates.”

    3. Akira

      you can only have one TOP priority. You can have multiple HIGH priorities, but only one of them can be the TOP priority.

      Oh god, the boss at my previous position had that going on. She literally said multiple times, “Everything is top priority” and refuse to indicate anything that might be more important than anything else.

      if everything is top priority, you can work on whatever you want since anything you pick is bound to be top priority, right? Wrong. It turns out that when everything is top priority, whatever you pick is the incorrect priority, and you need to work on everything else because everything else is TOP PRIORITY.

      I’m so glad I moved into a job where there’s basically one big task instead of 20 little projects going simultaneously. Multitasking is overrated.

      1. I maintain there is no such thing as multitasking. It’s screwing up several things at the same time.

        1. Rhywun

          ^this x1

        2. leon

          Even if multitasking was possible, it would be no more efficient than doing one thing and then doing the next thing.

          1. slumbrew

            At best – the mental code-shift when you shift tasks guarantees that it’s less efficient.

          2. Absolutely. I can work on a project for as many hours as necessary or until I start making mistakes in one shot if I’m in the zone. I forget to eat. I forget to pee. I forget to sleep. I forget Glibs, email, FB, and Twitter.

            But shifting from my project to email or if I get a phone call or a text (I can turn off email but sadly, can’t turn off phone bc kids in school) and then going back again kills at least another hour or 2 and I’m just floating, forgetting which task I was supposed to be doing and where did I leave off?

  62. The Late P Brooks

    you can only have one TOP priority. You can have multiple HIGH priorities, but only one of them can be the TOP priority.

    “Just be ready for anything.”

    When you’re ready for anything, you’re probably completely unprepared.

    1. leon

      Expect, the unexpecatble.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        Why wasn’t there a plan for the unplanned outage last week?

        1. You should, at least, have a DR plan.

      2. Gender Traitor

        “Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens.” – “The Phantom Tollbooth” (my personal guide to life.)

  63. Shit. You people have held my interest yet another 3 hours past what I had determined. Glibs is a helluva drug. Stop being so addictive, dammit.

    1. R C Dean

      Endeavor to persevere.

      1. R C Dean

        Arrgh. Brooksed. Oh well.

        1. Gilmore’d is when you respond to the wrong comment.

          Brooks’d is when you quote a comment in a new thread.

          SF’d is when you botch a pretty link.

          Glibs is a helluva drug.

          1. slumbrew

            Who has pulled off the rare Gil-Brook-SF trifecta? Is that even possible?

          2. I think the gilmore and the brooks are mutually exclusive, as one is a reply, and the other the lack of a reply.

    2. MikeS

      “Only” 1 hour for me. ?

      1. MikeS

        …and counting.

  64. leon

    https://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/dis/census/tools/apportionment/

    Fun tool to play with, lets you see what congress would look like if they increase the # of representatives.

    Also let’s you see how close your state is to getting it’s next rep. Utah only needs the population estimates to be off by ~15% to get their next one!

    1. slumbrew

      Every time I see a clip from that movie, my instincts just scream “KILL IT WITH FIRE!”.

      It’s very off-putting.

    2. Gender Traitor

      For one thing, they waited far too long. Based on a TV production I saw years ago, there’s no plot to speak of, and the only song worth a damn was an afterthought.

      1. Heroic Mulatto

        A talent competition to decide who will earn the privilege of death is a plot!

  65. The Late P Brooks

    That is not how speedometers work.

    Most speedo cables are (have historically been) driven off the transmission. It doesn’t matter if the car is moving, if the wheels are spinning, the speedo works.

    *with the ever-encroaching electronic revolution, traction control, and drive-by-wire that might not be true anymore

    1. slumbrew

      Let’s go with “I was wrong”, then. Granted, I’ve literally never owned a car (long story), so you people shouldn’t listen to me about anything automotive anyway.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        I didn’t push back because I’m cartarded and could have been easily convinced that my lying eyes were totes wrong.

        After all any time I have to buy some part for my car, the guy at NAPA spends 25 minutes furiously typing and then tells me that my particular car was built by a shop class in Lower Slobovia during a J-term and because of that the normal part (which costs $5) cannot be used and I need to special order a custom part which will take 6 weeks to show up and will cost $200.

        Every single car I have owned. Also happens with home repair. (“Normally people used copper wiring for their electricity, but your house has gold wires and you can’t mix copper and gold, so we need to get you 112 feet of gold wire”)

  66. R C Dean

    Judge rules that Denver’s urban camping ban is unconstitutional

    Judge Johnny C. Barajas ruled that the ban violated the eighth amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment because it criminalizes homeless individuals for trying to survive on the streets when they have nowhere else to go.

    The ruling prohibits Denver police from arresting or harassing homeless people if they are not doing anything of criminal nature.

    I would think that “urban camping” is generally a trespass, which is a thing of criminal nature.

    1. Fatty Bolger

      So if they had somewhere else to go (shelters available with enough space) then it would be OK to give them the bum’s rush?

  67. The Late P Brooks

    Let’s go with “I was wrong”, then. Granted, I’ve literally never owned a car (long story), so you people shouldn’t listen to me about anything automotive anyway.

    No biggie. As I recall, some (mostly O L D) cars had a speedo cable driven off a front wheel, so no motion = no speedo action.

  68. The Late P Brooks

    I would think that “urban camping” is generally a trespass, which is a thing of criminal nature.

    Not being a Constitutional scholar, I would think some sort of “nuisance” test could be applied.

    Camping under an interstate bridge, where you are not impeding the normal business or pleasure activities of others? Not optimal, but permissible.

    Sleeping Shitting in a business/residential doorway? Aggressively squatting in and obstructing a public right of way? Not acceptable.

        1. JR Robble Dobbs

          Yes, a gazebo, if memory serves me correctly, they are in the same genus as a leppo.

      1. Rhywun

        In 2018 British artist Stuart Semple created a social media public awareness campaign encouraging the public to place identifying stickers on instances of hostile design in their environment.

        Stunning and brave.

  69. The Late P Brooks

    EXPECT THE INEXPLICABLE

    That just popped into my head.

  70. The Late P Brooks

    From RC’s Denver link:

    In May, Denver residents voted to reject Initiative 300, which would have overturned the camping ban. The vote against the initiative was 145,649 to 33,685.

    Democracy is broken.