STEVE SMITH HOPE FUNNY GLIBERTARIAN PEOPLE HAVE GOOD WEEKEND. STEVE SMITH HAVE GREAT ONE. TWO TOUR BUS STOP AT WOODS. DRIVERS TAKE SMOKE BREAK, AND STEVE SMITH GREET THEM AND PASSENGERS. BY GREET, MEAN RAPE.
THIS GIVE STEVE SMITH TIME MAKE LINKS. SO HERE LINKS. THAT STEVE SMITH MAKE!
FREE CASCADIA!
Upon leaving work one afternoon, I heard the most annoying sound in the world. What is that noise? I asked myself as I put on my seatbelt. So I checked the messages.
Stupid Chrysler product and their stupid defects. Time to go to Wal-Mart.
This is my review of Brady’s Barrel Aged Irish Whiskey Coffee.
Later that evening, while I was showing my son how to use the electronic tool to lookup the proper lamp for a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee, the thought occurred to me. It isn’t a particularly difficult item to replace, nor is it prohibitively expensive, yet people neglect to change these out in a timely manner. If people were more responsible, perhaps a cop wouldn’t have to pull people over when their tail lights are out. Then again, I’d hate to see the creative lengths small towns would go through to replace the lost revenue.
Sure enough, the boy found the lamp number: 3157. Wait…red or amber? I never look at the back of my car, so I don’t know off the top of my head. But I bet if I look it up…Here we go, Jalopnik says:
the US (and Canada, but they’re just piggybacking on our regs) is the only place in the world where the rear turn indicator may be red, instead of orange/yellow/amber. Up front, indicators need to cast an amber light to differentiate from the white headlamps, but out rear you can actually just use one red-shining bulb for stop/tail/turn functions, as many cars do — especially trucks and jeeps and other vehicles that use off-the-shelf cheap trailer-type lights.
Okay so red is okay, right? Lets make sure and hit the next link.
American regulators, alone in the world, have dismissed the idea that there might be something wrong with trying to convey two very different messages with two (or just one!) identical red lights. So automakers play “now it’s amber, now it’s red” with rear turn signal color in the American market: amber this year, red next year, back to amber at the next facelift. Even imports have red rear signals in America, sometime because stylists will use any tool at their disposal to differentiate this year’s model from last year’s.
You’re not helping…
Some of the problem goes away if the two identical red lights, the brake light and the turn signal, are widely separated from each other. It’s instructive to look at the ECE regulations, used just about everywhere but in North America. They don’t allow red rear turn signals, but they do require two bright red lights in the back: the brake light and the rear fog light, an extra-bright tail light activated by the driver when it’s foggy, so following drivers can still see the car. They look similar to each other, just like the American red brake and red turn signal, so the ECE regulations say their closest lit edges have to be at least 10 cm (4 inches) apart. That way, drivers have no problem seeing and discerning both functions. But there’s no such separation requirement for brake lights and red turn signals in American regulations.
This is ridiculous, red or amber? At this point my son was wondering what I was up to.
Shortly after releasing their tentative and preliminary 2008-09 findings, NHTSA opened a public docket requesting comment on the matter. Naturally, there are opinions on both sides. But it’s interesting to see how many ordinary drivers, with no ulterior motive or axe to grind, strongly urged NHTSA to please require amber signals.
Perhaps it’s time to think about taking a deep breath and moving the American turn signal regulation boldly into line with what the rest of the world has known since before the Beatles.
I don’t care what the &@#*% nannies in the rest if the world think they know. Red or amber!
“Dad. Right here. 3157W.”
White. A white lamp will work.
I found this coffee at a tourist shop in Galway (H/T Swiss). It looked interesting enough but seemed a tad steep for what I paid for it. Now they take green beans and store them in old Irish whiskey barrels. Once it ages for the time they want it to age they roast the beans in-house. The result is a product thst smells nothing like coffee.
In the end though, its not very acidic, and seems meant to add a particular ingredient; I’ll let you guess what that is. In the cold brew setup it winds up tasting like muddy water, but it smells like something you probably shouldn’t take to work. Good luck finding it.
Well, the Old Man is back from a week in Miami Beach and actually survived the experience. I don’t know which place I dislike more, Miami Beach, Atlanta or Las Vegas, so I’ll make that an “all of the above.” The exhibitors at the trade show I attended were probably 60% Israeli, the guy I was with is Israeli, so I spent hours listening to heated political discussions about the upcoming elections there, with the disputants flipping back and forth between Hebrew and English. All spoken rapidly and with, ummm, emphasis. They were all ex-IDF. It was exhausting. And it’s safe to say that there’s not much libertarian slant to their opinions, but I can say that they love Trump, they love Joe Arpaio, and they love to ask probing and personal questions (“So tell me what you think about abortion.” “Can we talk about deep dish and circumcision instead?”).
Birthdays today include decomplexifier Maimonides; the real Gomez, John Astin; Turkish delight Turhan Bey; and the very good but vastly overrated guitarist Eric Clapton.
The news awaits.
The Middle Eastern equivalent of, “Hey, y’all, watch this!”
This is just getting started. Holy fuck, we’re in for a lot of entertainment.
“Fuck you, cut spending” has not quite sunk in.
There are visuals you just don’t want.
And there really are some jobs Americans won’t do.
Sometimes, there actually IS good news in this world.
“See, you need the secret decoder ring.”
Some people really will fuck anything.
Say what you will about his idiot politics, this guy is a fucking genius.
And Old Guy Music is a classic with the masters. And really, who could ever combine brilliant composition with brilliant playing in a totally individual voice as well as Monk? No-one, that’s who.
Greetings!
Since a few of you discussed some of his articles without me in the links, I’ll take a stab at this one.
If you’re like me, you could use at least a brief break from talking about Donald Trump. So why don’t we talk about Ivanka Trump instead? You see, recently she said something that would have been remarkable coming from any Republican, but was truly awesome coming from the Daughter in Chief.
Let’s not talk about Krugman. Lets instead talk about Krugman’s wife. Tell me, does she still look at you while somebody else fucks her brains out?
Do you see why that is a ridiculous way to start a column? Probably not. But do continue.
O.K., this was world-class lack of self-awareness: It doesn’t get much better than being lectured on self-reliance by an heiress whose business strategy involves trading on her father’s name.
So what? So does every politician named Kennedy.
But let’s go beyond the personal here. We know a lot about upward mobility in different countries, and the facts are not what Republicans want to hear.
[…]
The key observation, based on a growing body of research, is that when it comes to upward social mobility, the U.S. is truly exceptional — that is, it performs exceptionally badly. Americans whose parents have low incomes are more likely to have low incomes themselves, and less likely to make it into the middle or upper class, than their counterparts in other advanced countries. And those who are born affluent are, correspondingly, more likely to keep their status.
You know where this is going. Because there must be somebody on Earth we can emulate…
Back to the “potential for upward mobility”: Where do people from poor or modest backgrounds have the best chance of getting ahead? The answer is that Scandinavia leads the rankings, although Canada also does well. And here’s the thing: The Nordic countries don’t just have low inequality, they also have much bigger governments, much more extensive social safety nets, than we do. In other words, they have what Republicans denounce as “socialism” (it really isn’t, but never mind).
Are they socialists or not? I’m pretty sure if I point out Cuba, Cambodia, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe as socialist helloles, you’ll start talking about Sweden. Pick one shit head.
But as to the question of upward mobility, here’s a fun snippet from OECD.
Intergenerational mobility reflects a host of factors, including inherited traits, social norms and public policies that may influence the individual’s willingness and ability to seize economic opportunities. These factors are difficult to unbundle precisely and, as regards norms and policies, to some extent reflect societal choices over institutional settings as well as differences in choices over redistribution and equity, which are likely to be valued differently across countries. Therefore, no “benchmark” mobility level can be identified in cross-country comparisons.
So comparing the country with the world’s largest economy to a tiny European ethnostate, is pardon my anglo-saxomisms, probably comparing shit to syphilis.
Which means once again, we have to point out the countries you are talking about have small, nearly homogenous populations, distributed among a few population centers. How small exactly? The United States has more millionaires than Sweden has people. Even then, the millionaires in Sweden appear to have inherited their wealth. Why does Sweden have the type of “income equality” that they do? Probably because their middle class pays most of the taxes, and if you happen to be a high earner you have incentive to leave….because the taxes there suck balls.
At any rate, here is a book I am sure you never read that explains how many of these so called “successes” are actually the result of free market reforms that have been put in place since the 70’s…when the Swedes figured out they were turning into what we now call Venezuela. So how do you conclude?
By contrast, progressive Democrats are calling for universal health care, increased aid to the poor, and programs offering free or at least subsidized college tuition. They’re calling for aid that helps middle- and lower-income parents afford quality child care. And they propose paying for these benefits with increased taxes on high incomes and large fortunes.
Yes, because Universal Healthcare is working out in Finland. If you need to find out how well that works out in the US, one simply need to look at how well the Veteran’s Administration is meeting the challenge of providing universal healthcare to 3-4% of the US population. Its particularly bad if you live in a rural area.
Which I assume an asshole like you is okay with fucking over the half of the country that doesn’t vote for your preferred politicians.
Brett requested assistance earlier this week for the links. I told him I had links. So lets do this…
Evidently, grievances over centuries old atrocities is not a uniquely American phenomenon. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent a message to King Philipe IV of Spain as well as Pope Francis earlier this week, demanding an apology for conquering Mexico. King Philipe’s response? No quiero.
Firing the first shots in what threatens to become a diplomatic row, the Left-wing Mexican leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced on Monday that he had sent letters to Spain’s King Felipe VI and Pope Francis urging them to apologize for crimes committed against the indigenous peoples of what is today Mexico.
“There were massacres and oppression. The so-called conquest was waged with the sword and the cross. They built their churches on top of the temples,” Mr López Obrador said in a video message.
He filmed the clip at a Mayan monument near the site of the first battle in which Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés fought indigenous people 500 years ago this month.
Norway returns artifacts taken from Easter Island to Chile.
The artefacts include carved pieces and human bones from the Pacific island. In 1947, Heyerdahl became famous for skippering a tiny balsawood raft, the Kon-Tiki, on a 6,000km (3,728 miles) journey from Peru to Polynesia. His expedition proved, he said, that ancient cultures could have sailed to, and populated, the South Pacific. Later DNA tests suggested that the islands were settled by migrant populations from South East Asia.
Venezuelan opposition leader banned from running for office. I am not going advocate regime change, but on some level there has to be somebody willing to put ricin in Maduro’s Shirley Temple.
The ban on the young opposition leader will last for 15 years, according to a statement made by state comptroller Elvis Amoroso. Amoroso, an appointee of President Nicolas Maduro, made the announcement Thursday on state broadcaster VTV. He claimed there were inconsistencies in Guaido’s personal financial disclosures and accused him of accepting gifts from foreign governments. Amoroso said Guaido had been staying in “luxurious hotels” without “justifying who was financing his exuberant accommodations” both in Venezuela and abroad.
Sounds like all those people wetting themselves over Trump’s tax returns…but as it turns out, there may be somebody crazy enough for that.
US CBP recorded the largest number of arrests at the border in 10 years. 3700. I guess they only had one pickup truck.
CBP is on track to see as many as over 100,000 apprehensions and encounters with migrants along the southwest border in March, making it the busiest month since 2008, commissioner Kevin McAleenan said Wednesday. Of the 100,000 expected to cross, nearly 40,000 of them will be kids, the agency expects.
But on that note, invasive species have begun to pop up in the Galapagos Islands.
When Carlton’s team looked underwater, however, they found a horde of invaders. “Now we have 53, which is a rather stunning increase,” says marine biologist Gregory Ruiz, who was on the trip. “It’s about a tenfold increase.”
He says there’s no question now: “The Galapagos has been invaded” underwater.
Ruiz says they found exotic species clinging to pilings, docks and mangrove roots. The researchers hung plastic plates underwater and all sorts of alien invertebrates latched on.
It’s hard to tell where the invaders came from, Ruiz says. But rising tourism in the Galapagos means more boats, docks and pilings — transportation and homes for invasives, wherever their initial source was.
That’s all for me. I’ll leave you with this. Have a good weekend..
Has it been a month already? Where does the time go? Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess. It’s been a fun 30 days or so, right? … Right?
I am currently reading Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. Compared to the first entry in his reboot of the Thrawn trilogy, Zahn does a better job with his characterization of Grand Admiral Thrawn. In the first novel, I felt that Zahn played up the ‘fish out of water’ angle too much and Thrawn’s rise read much more like the diary of an Imperial officer with Asperger’s Syndrome who took too much colloidal silver. With Thrawn: Alliances, we see a Thrawn capable of simple and routine social interaction without shitting his pants mid-conversation. That having been said, as a character, Thrawn now seems to suffer from competence porn syndrome. Zahn has yet to find the middle ground where Thrawn can demonstrate that he is the galaxy’s absolute master of military tactics and strategy while still having a realistic and suitable foible. In the end, it could be that despite having created the character in the medium of print, Zahn’s Thrawn cannot compete with the quiet menace of Thrawn as depicted in the Star Wars: Rebels animated series.
Andrew Mayne – The Naturalist (books 1-3). Ran through these on Audbile pretty quickly. They are easy enough procedurals although the second and third books lost some of the charm that the first book had because the main character had blossomed from a nerd to a thrill-seeking serial killer hunter by the second book.
Arkady Strugatsky – Roadside Picnic. I’d been chipping away at this for a while but had mostly stalled out. I’m glad that I took the time to finish it. The enigmatic ending was perfect for the story (although there’s still something that throws me off about Russian genre storytelling). The afterward by one of the authors is a delightful sampling of what it took to get a bowdlerized Roadside Picnic through the publishing process in the USSR.
I power skimmed a few the books in Humble Bundle’s Eat Like a Geek bundle. Nothing super exciting there. Ice Cube Tray Recipes was a good reminder that I have everything I need to make jello-shots, but a lot of the recommendations were banal for someone who frequently portions and freezes things like homemade chicken stock or caramelized onions in ice cube trays as is. Chinese Street Food looked intriguing. I’m waiting to hear back on a few books with recipes featuring a recently legalized “herb.” I mostly picked it up for the Medieval feasts and Edwardian cooking books, which I’m putting off until I have the chance to dig into them. I really enjoy modern takes on historical cooking such as The New Art of Cookery, A Spanish Friar’s Kitchen Notebook.
I’ve been super busy lately, but I am always ready to make time for my favorite author, Chuck Tingle. His latest works have really opened my eyes to the importance of continuous consent and learning to be comfortable with the occasional dry spell. Mr. Tingle is likely the most erudite commentators on contemporary sexual discourse and is absolutely probably not a pen name of SugarFree.
I read the Ray Electromatic series by Adam Christopher, a science fiction spin on the oft-imitated Raymond Chandler genre. Set in an alternate 1960s where robots–the clanking metal variety–were introduced and then rejected by the public, the lead character is the last of his kind and the only one programmed to be a private detective. Working in a cliched LA full of secrets, lies and sin, Ray untangles mysteries–when he’s not working his sidejob as a hitman.
Well, I haven’t been able to do much reading outside of investment/work-related articles, but I can tell you about what’s on my bedside stand! …Get your minds out of the gutter; it’s just a big stack of books. OK, it’s a small stack of comic books and two proper books. The first one is Black Jack by our very own Moriah Jovan. Not my usual sci-fi or fantasy, but I am looking forward to branching out while still staying in some familiar territory. (Jack is an “uncouth bond trader,” so maybe there’ll be some interesting finance-related subplot(s)?) I bought this book–and the next one–last August. So. Super busy, or at least too busy to sit down and read a paperback. This month, though! Maybe! The other book is The Very Best of Charles de Lint, which was recommended to me by jesse.in.mb. He had me at “crow girls.” I’m sincerely hoping I can get to each of these in the next month, and give you guys a proper review at the end of April. Wish me luck. Or don’t. You’re adults.
I read an actual book during my vacation in Ireland. This time I picked 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann. Why would I do that? As it turns out most of the B&B’s I stayed in happened to have a TV, and quite frankly Irish TV is disturbingly British which means they must love their game shows…
At any rate, this book is thoroughly researched and suggests many of the lessons we were taught about life in Pre-Columbian America is, to be blunt, wrong. One of the myths that seems to perpetuate the most is that the Americas were an untouched, pristine wilderness when the first European settlers arrived. Not so. What is now postulated is the earliest Spanish explorers arrived in Florida and brought pigs with them. Why pigs? Because refrigerators weren’t invented yet and Spaniards like pork. Pigs often carry diseases and since they are mostly domesticated a plague could’ve jumped from humans to the pigs, or vice versa. Pigs escaped, became the invasive species they still are today, and came in contact with the Native Americans. The Native American’s, of course, had little immunity to these diseases and died in biblical proportions. The explorers left and decades later settlers arrived in time to find that nature had reclaimed most of the continent.
Its a thought-provoking point of view that if you are into history, I would certainly recommend.
Not really feeling it this morning. But, being uninspired should not be a reason to delay, or produce poor links. So, you get what I could muster up, from the absurdity of the world around us.
Music link of Feh mood.
ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES. ZARDOZ RETURNS TO BRING THE BEST ADVICE TO HIS CHOSEN ONES. FAR BETTER THAN ANY BRUTAL ADVICE COLUMNIST. TAKE THIS ADVICE TO HEART, AND GO FORTH AND COMMENT!
Q: I’m originally from El Salvador. I have been living in the U.S. for five years, have been studying English for four years and I have my GED.
I want to join the U.S. Marine Corps because it is my dream. I want to do it because I think that service to this country is the best thing I can do. I want to protect this country, and I want my family to be proud of me.
Here is the problem: My mom and my wife don’t want me to do it because they say it is dangerous. I love them both, but I want to achieve my dream. What should I do? — DREAMING IN HOUSTON
A: ZARDOZ WILL RUN AN EXAMINATION TO SEE IF YOU TRULY WISH TO BECOME PART OF A MILITARY ORGANIZATION. TURN YOUR VOLUME UP.
IF THAT APPEARS UNSUITABLE, THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE ORGANIZATION YOU COULD JOIN –
IF YOUR “WIFE” OBJECTS, THE BRUTAL EXTERMINATORS HAVE A WAY OF DEALING WITH THAT:
THE CHOICE IS YOURS. OR, ZARDOZ SUPPOSES YOU COULD BEND TO THE WISHES OF THE FEMALES, AND NOT JOIN EITHER. IF SO, PREPARE TO GO TO SECOND LEVEL WITH THE FEMALES, AT THEIR COMMAND.
ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.
Q: My husband and I separated last year and reconciled several months later. When we decided to get back together, he broke it off with his girlfriend. A month later she contacted him to inform him that she’s pregnant with his child. She’s due in a few months.
My husband and I disagree about how things should be handled when the child arrives. She says I’m not allowed to come to the hospital with him and meet the baby. I say that going without me is absurd, and any child that belongs to my husband is a part of my life, too. However, he says she is in charge of the situation. I’m worried that when the baby is born I’ll be at home alone with a broken heart. Where should I draw the line with my husband? — WORRIED WIFE IN THE SOUTH
A: ZARDOZ IS SEARCHING FOR A TERM…WHAT IS THE FEMALE EQUIVALENT TO “CUCK”? FOOLISH BRUTAL! WERE YOU NOT WARNED THAT THE PENIS IS EVIL? HOW MANY TIMES MUST ZARDOZ INSTRUCT THIS POINT?
NEW LIFE HAS BEEN CREATED, TO PLAGUE THE EARTH! YOU MUST AVOID ALL CONTACT WITH THE NEW LIFE AND THE PENISER. ZARDOZ SUGGESTS TURNING TO ONE OF TWO PATHS. FIRST, GO CATATONIC AND LIVE IN A LARGE PLASTIC ENVELOP IN THE VORTEX.
SECOND, IF THE CLOISTERED LIFE DOES NOT APPEAL, THEN STICK TO THE RUGGED OUTDOORS.
ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.
I’m sneaking out to see the Rays-Astros game, so some of these may be stale by the time you get them. I’d love to care, but about the time you see them, Blake Snell will be hurling the first pitch towards home plate. Its about time we got back to that time of year where the final stanza of the national anthem is “Play Ball!”
Apparently, there’s a bridge in Scotland that dogs jump off of to their death or injury with startling regularity. Poor doggos.
40 years later, it’s still true that more people died at Chappaquiddick than Three Mile Island.
I was expecting knights in shining armor.
Cryptid spotted in DC! Okay, so it was just a mask. She better hope SWAMP SMITH approves of her work.
Be aware of what the people say! And interpret their slang so you feel, cool, and shit.
I get to hear and read a lot of slang in my line of work, so bear with me while I provide a guide to prison/ jail slang.
Snitch / Plant: One inmate trying to tell on another, in order to get a better plea deal. Advice to new inmates is often: be careful who you talk to, it could be a snitch.
Kite: a jail letter. This can be between inmates, or from an inmate to a department in the jail, or his or her attorney. If it’s a kite between inmates, its a tiny paper football, with tiny writing on it, that sometimes is “shot” between cells. Inmates also pass them to other inmates while they are walking to meals, etc.
If it’s a kite to a jail department, then it is usually about something the inmate needs to have done. For example “I kited a letter to accounting because I think they have my out date wrong. I should get credit for more good time.”
Out date: This is the date an inmate will be released. Inmates often write to their attorneys, the court, etc regarding their out dates.
Good time: No, this is not what the inmate did to get in jail. This is “credit” toward the out date. For example, a month in custody (with no incidents) usually results in 4 days “good time.”
Get a play, do a play: This means sell /buy some drugs.
Rillo, rello: These are the small cigars that party stores sell. Users often rip off the cigarello, and use the plastic tip that’s left to smoke a controlled substance.
On paper: This means on probation, or on parole. If you are on paper, don’t go posting facebook photos of yourself with money, guns, or drugs, as your PO will see that shit, and bust you for a PV.
PO: probation /parole officer. PV: probation violation, parole violation. Sometimes the inmate is PV, parole violator.
Trusty/ trustees. These are the inmates who get to 1. wear more comfortable clothing and 2. do jobs in the jail. The jobs can earn them more credit sometimes, or commissary. Plus the inmate gets a little more freedom, can sometimes leave the facility, as long as they report back at the scheduled time.
Color code (not a slang term) There’s also a clothing color code that goes along with inmate status. Low-level inmates are usually in the bright orange/ teal. Trustees get comfy brown scrubs to wear instead, or even a plain white tee to wear with the scrub bottoms. If you’re being transported to court, you might have to wear the traditional “stripes” uniform. If you’ve been caught fighting, then you might go back to orange/ teal and be put in lockdown /solitary. Sometimes called “greens.”
Lockdown: This is what it sounds like: the section an inmate stays in is “locked down” due to an infraction. Lock down means no activities, no phone calls – for the whole section – until the lock down status is clear. Infractions can be something dumb, like toothpaste on the walls, messy cells, etc. Or it could be fighting, or contraband in the cells.
Chore Boy: Users put this in pipes to smoke crack with. It keeps the crack in one place. So when users are arrested, the search often reveals Chore Boy in the pockets, vehicle, etc.
Bond! This is something set at arraignment, depending on the case. Typical bonds are between $1,000 to 100,000 or more. $1,000 might be set for a simple (non-aggravated) assault case, while $100,000 or more might be set for a rape/ CSC charge. PR Bond means “personal recognizance,” or the defendant is not a flight risk, and needs only to show up at court. PR bonds can still have an amount attached to them, so if Defendant no-shows at court, then the cash has to be paid. 10% bond means that the bond is set at $5,000 but the defendant can get a bail bondsman to guarantee it, so the defendant only has to pay $500. C/S is short for Cash/surety – defendant has to put up the whole amount.
Usually bond has other conditions. For example, a defendant can submit to SCRAM, tether/ surveillance or GPS monitoring to make sure conditions are kept.
Bid: this is the term or sentence an inmate has. 5 year bid = 5 year sentence.
Well, that’s all I got for now folks. Enjoy!