Glibertarians.com 2019 Archive

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  • Monday Morning Links

    Apparently, this is supposed to be Naomi Osaka

    Everton and Spurs were bounced from the FA Cup. The USMNT beat Panama in a match that was anything but a “friendly”. All of the officials involved in the horrible missed PI call that effectively put the Rams in the Super Bowl are from the Los Angeles area. Djoker and Osaka reigned down under. The Nashville Predators will travel to Dallas’s Cotton Bowl for next year’s “Winter Classic” outdoors game. And everybody’s favorite hockey player (ha!) Sid the Kid took home MVP honors in the NHL All-Star Game.

    If you’re looking for birthdays, these are some of the people born on this day: Saint Thomas Aquinas, typeface inventor (which was basically like a coder back in the day) John Baskerville, expressionist painter Jackson Pollock, man who knew nothing John Banner, insufferable actor Alan Alda, Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, Frog-with-an-Oedipus-complex Nicolas Sarkozy, German rocker Peter Schilling, golf great Nick Price, musician DJ Muggs, hobbit actor Elijah Woodand Backstreet Boy Nick Carter.

    The first of many appearances

    Some events that happened on this day include: a 9-year old Edward VI succeeded Henry VIII and did a much better job from day 1, pirate Henry Morgan took Panama City from the Spanish, “Pride and Prejudice” was first published, Sir Stamford Raffles landed in Singapore, work started on the Eiffel Tower, Preston Tucker was found not guilty, Elvis made his national television debut, Roy Campanella was in a car accident that paralyzed him, The Who made their first television appearance as well, OJ Simpson went first in the 1969 NFL Draft, and most infamously today is the day the space shuttle Challenger exploded and killed all 7 crew members.

    OK, now on with…the links!

    I wonder how many single black moms I can throw in jail for their kid missing a few days of school and still be considered a progressive champion…

    Kamala Harris kicked off her presidential campaign. I wonder how many people she threw in jail because their kid missed three days of school were there. Heh, its California, so there were probably a few cheering her on.

    This is a really sad story all the way around. We need to wean our kids from this technology addiction. Seriously, what the fuck?

    Just so I’m clear here, will the left tell us if we don’t attack Venezuela that we’re Putin’s puppet? Or if we do attack, is the attack a deflection from the Mueller witch hunt inquiry by the Trump administration? Heads we win, tails you lose, Mr President!  But seriously, I’m going to be quite unhappy if we’re sending anything more than words of support to the people trying to get that asshole out of office down there.

    Tom Brokaw says something logical. Now he regrets it after a blizzard of snowflakes attack him.  Jesus, people, this is pretty simple (opinion coming): those who assimilate to their adopted culture are going to be better-received and have a greater chance at success.

    Some crazy coonass killed his parents and then three other people. He was caught at his grandmother’s house in Virginia. Oh yeah, and morons on Twitter said he was a Trump supporter and that I have blood on my hands because of the NRA.

    “Forced”. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. But I expect the taxpayers to have money taken away and given to her.

    This seems to be hitting a lot of Page 2s, but the director of “Bohemian Rhapsody” has been accused by even more people of sexual assault of minors. Or as we like to call it in the real world, “child rape”. (I added that last bit because the original story on Saturday from NBC said he was accused of “sex with minors”.

    Anyhoo, two artists I like with birthdays today from different ends of the spectrum. So you get an eclectic mix of two songs. Here is the first one. And here is the second.

    Have a great day and a great start to your week, friends.

  • STEVE SMITH SUNDAY NIGHT LINKS

    STEVE SMITH HELPFUL!

    STEVE SMITH HOPE ALL FUNNY GLIBERTARIAN PEOPLE HAVE GOOD WEEKEND. YOU KNOW WHAT MAKE WEEKEND END GOOD? STEVE SMITH LINKS!

    SO HERE ARE LINKS FOR FUNNY GLIBERTARIAN PEOPLE:

    • STEVE SMITH NOT SURE THIS GOOD IDEA.
    • HIM LET GO, ONLY AFTER GET WORSE FROM SAUDIS THAN STEVE SMITH COULD DO?
    • STEVE SMITH LAUGH AT ENGLISH HOOMANS. 4 INCHES, OH NOES!

    FREE CASCADIA.

     

  • IFLA: The Bifurcated Edition of the Horoscope for Jan 27

    I didn’t buy a new Tarot to use for you all, since my local witchcraft store was closed due to the snowpocalypse.  Yes, you can buy decks on Amazon.com, but they don’t give you valid results unless the cards are sufficiently permeated by nag champa.

    Anyway, the skies are speaking out of both sides of their metaphorical mouth this week.  Kind of appropriate, I guess for the month of the two-faced god.

    The first bit of seeming contradiction (because of course, there isn’t really any contradiction where the Celestial is concerned) are the two planetary alignments.  We have Mars-Terra-Luna (waning) = “strife at home.”  And we also have Terra-Sol-Mercury which means “good news from/about home.”  Obviously the skies are speaking to two different groups of people.  If you’re born between Libra and Aquarius (both signs that feature prominently this week) then you get the good news.  Leo through Aries… I’m sorry, especially since I’m in that group.  Pisces or Virgo?  I have no idea I mean, “your destiny is cloudy and difficult to discern.”

    The second non-contradiction is having the moon in Libra while Venus and Jupiter are in Sagittarius.  We’ve talked about these before —  having such a powerful change sign in the place of balance leads to instability and things generally going amok.  While Sagittarius, when empowered by the two brightest planets brings about things going  well.  The clue here is that Sagittarius isn’t a lucky sign as much as it is a karma sign.  Doing right this weeks brings great rewards, while cutting corners (in a metaphysical sense) subjects you to the pique of irritated stars.

    Beyond that, we have Saturn in Capricorn making people act like doofuses (anything like that happen last week when this sign was also up?) and Mars in Aries giving its buff to getting buff (hit the gym, hit it hard).  We also have something new — The Sun and Mercury are in Aquarius.  This is a good omen for prosperity, return on investment, financial windfall, rewards for effort, crop yields and the like.

    Taken all together, this is a very rewarding week if you show some self-discipline.  Enjoy it.

  • Sunday Morning Slapdash Links

     

    The Wonder Dog knows that something isn’t right. “There was no Saturday night post! What is WRONG with you humans???” Well, where do I start? In any case, without SP’s steady hand, things will be a bit weird for the next week. But we’ll be back. And there’s still Sunday Morning Links.

    And there are still birthdays. Besides being the 51st anniversary of my bar mitzvah, January 27 is the birthday of my inspiration and one of my favorite poets, Lewis Carroll; songwriter extraordinaire Jerome Kern; Jimmy Carter’s mentor and likely source of his antisemitism Hyman Rickover; TV mom Donna Reed; former chemist Jerry Buss; psion discoverer Samuel Ting (Morticia: “Thank you, Ting!”); the entertainingly unhinged Keith Olbermann; and the rapturous actress Mimi Rogers.

    Those are the headlines, now the rumors behind the news.

     

    More proof of collusion with Russia. Or something like that. Right?

     

    Don’t kiss hedgehogs. Or Dr. Hedgeh. Gotta play it safe.

     

    BUILD THAT WALL! Oh, wait…

     

    Well, this is one way to term-limit.

     

    Conclusion not supported by data, even the limited data in the article. Admit it, there’s far more to worry about from the Left and their pets.

     

    Team Blue speaks out yet again for liberty.

     

    “My complications had complications.”

     

    Isn’t it ironic?

     

    Don’t tell Q.

     

    When badly roasted and overpriced coffee isn’t good enough, here’s an alternative.

     

    Those Frenchies, they have a different word for EVERYTHING!

     

    Trump supporters attack the press.

     

    The science is settled! World “leaders” pay careful attention to a dull teenager. Because she feels things that we can’t.

     

     

    Old Guy Music is a great version of a song penned by today’s birthday boy Jerome Kern. This take features Wes Montgomery showing how guitar is meant to be played, and a sentimental favorite for me, Harold Mabern killing it on piano.

     

  • Nerd Beer!

    My local Kroger had something interesting in the cooler.  Not only was it a reasonably priced Barleywine, it had a cool looking wizard or something on the label.

    This is my review of Ninkasi Critical Hit R&D:

    Typically, this is where I go off on a tangent and explain something I researched from a trigger on the label.  Unfortunately, I am not really a gamer so the best I can do is this:

    Research and Development

    There are two basic R&D structures that have emerged in companies throughout the commerce spectrum. One R&D model is a department that is staffed primarily by engineers who develop new products, a task that typically involves extensive research. The other model involves a department composed of industrial scientists or researchers, all tasked with applied research in technical, scientific or industrial fields, which is aimed at the facilitation of the development of future products or the improvement of current products and/or operating procedures.

    I don’t think that’s right.  Somebody correct me on this one.

    Critical Hit

    A critical hit means that you roll your damage twice (adding to each roll all your usual bonuses, including any additional damage from special abilities) and then add the rolls together to determine the damage dealt.

    That appears more relevant.

    What is a barleywine?  A barleywine is a style of beer not wine.  The name harkens back to a time where beer was typically sold at 5-7% abv.  Being 10-15% abv, this style is more in line with wine.  While a stout or IPA sold at 10% is not unheard of today, a barleywine transcends both because unlike the other two where the flavor profile is dominated by hops or malt, this is meant to be balanced.

    This means the immense amount of malt is equally met with an immense amount of hops, resulting in a complex flavor profile—like wine.  Also like wine, it can be aged because of the high alcohol content. This is not one for the faint of heart.

    Ninkasi put out several others to market in my area that I liked. This one does not dissapoint.  Critical Hit R&D easily scores a 4.5/5.

  • Saturday Morning Links of Destruction

    Last night, we had our farewell dinner with Swiss, who volunteered to help me with boxing up the immense sound-producing monoliths that I love and SP hates. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for her, the process went more or less smoothly. But most important, Wonder Dog got to see her fren and he brought… PIZZA FOR WONDER DOG! Cue Lipizzaner dance and joy of the sort that humans can only dream about. And I got us some deep dish Chicago casserole, no pineapple, and started reducing the amount of wine we have to move. Three people should be able to drain a magnum of a 40 year old Bordeaux, right? We did, so I opened another magnum, this time a 30 year old Santa Barbara Pinot Noir. Damn, what happened to that, it was full a minute ago? Well, shit, better open a 25 year old Rhone Syrah. Fuck, it seems to have evaporated. I guess we’ll have to finish off this limoncello…

    So if I fuck things up here, you’ll understand why.

    There are quite a few interesting people born on this day, starting with “a dumb son of a bitch” Douglas MacArthur; “a smart son of a bitch” Frank Costello, who rose to power because of government interference with free commerce; pioneering aviatrix Bessie Coleman, whom I only knew because of the street named after her, but sure lead an interesting (if short) life; one of my favorite character actors, Charles Lane (who was born to play bank examiners); Maria von Trapp, who was far less hot than Julie Andrews; iconic jazz fiddler Stephane Grappelli; the pride of Cleveland, Polycarp Kusch; strongman and wine collector Nicolae Ceausescu;  my mother’s fantasy, Paul Newman; amazing writer Philip Jose Farmer; Jew-hater and pride of Team Blue, Angela Davis; and Most Boring Talk Show Host Ellen DeGeneres (whose standup back in the day was pretty funny).

    On to the news.

    What would we do without intellectuals?

     

    Speaking of intellectuals, The Los Angeles Times beclowns itself once again by running one of the most dishonest and (frankly) evil pieces I’ve ever seen. And this guy got a Pulitzer Prize, which is comparable to Obama and Arafat winning the Nobel Peace Prize. He manages to avoid using the word “kulak,” which is quite an achievement.

     

    When you lose Nixon, you know you’re fucked.

     

    Dershowitz thinks there’s a method in the show being put on to turn process crimes into essentially capital offenses.

     

    Commie Pope remains an embarrassment to the Catholic church. Maybe a tour of the former site of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem and consideration of the terrorism decline in Israel after the barrier was built might be eye opening. Well, probably not. (Disclaimer: the Trump border wall is a ridiculous idea, but not for any sort of reason that this dumb fuck dribbles out)

     

    Vegetables can kill. And WaPo being WaPo, it’s Trump’s fault.

     

    Richard Ojeda drops out of the 2020 Team Blue presidential race. The nation is aghast!

     

    “We’re looking at this very holistically and then empowering the store managers to make great decisions around customers.” Advice: short Starbucks.

     

    Just as I thought. And next week will be worse. The day we’re rolling out in our caravan, the wind chill is supposed to be -60. I’m also certain that this will be cited as evidence of global warming.

     

    One more reason that I will never move back to California.

     

    A plea for more First Amendment restrictions. Fuck off, slaver.

     

    Old Guy Music time! Today is also the birthday of brilliant composer Jimmy Van Heusen, whose output of jazz standards rivals Billy Strayhorn’s. Here’s a sweet and delightful version of one of his classics, Darn That Dream, with some superb Sarah Vaughan vocals with perfect backing by the Count.

     

  • ZARDOZ FRIDAY NIGHT LINKS AND ADVICE

     

    ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES. ZARDOZ HAS BEEN INFORMED THAT MANY OF THE CHOSEN ONES ARE IMPRISONED IN THEIR DWELLINGS BY EXTREMITY OF COLD. THEREFOR, ZARDOZ GIVES YOU A DOUBLE FEATURE TONIGHT.

    FIRST, ADVICE IN SUPERIOR MANNER TO THAT OF THE BRUTAL “DEAR ABBY“:

    Q: I’m a 28-year-old male who has never had a girlfriend or a meaningful relationship. I’m well-educated, nice-looking and have a good sense of humor. But I get shy and nervous around the opposite sex. Compounding that, I seem to have a serious “resting face.” People assume I’m frustrated or angry/grumpy when it’s just my normal expression. I’m worried it makes me unapproachable or appear to be unpleasant.

    I have overcome addiction, attend daily support meetings and have almost a year of sobriety. I avoid bar/club scenes where a lot of people my age socialize. I’m beginning to feel very alone and empty. I asked out a temp at my job, but she had a boyfriend and offered to set me up with a friend of hers. I declined because I was embarrassed.

    My friends tell me it’s a game of numbers, but it hurts being rejected all the time. I see beautiful, nice women with men who treat them badly, and I obsess over what’s wrong with me. My experience with women is limited. I’m not looking for a commitment, just some friends to share good times and laughter with. I’d love to have someone to spend time with before loneliness awakens previous bad habits. — ABOUT TO GIVE UP IN CONNECTICUT

    A: LOOK, BRUTAL, THIS IS SIMPLE. TAKE A LOOK AT ZED’S FATHER PUTTING THE SMOOTH MOVES ON HIS MOM:

    THINK YOU CAN MANAGE THAT? PROBABLY NOT, BUT IF YOU DO…

    THE BIG PROBLEM IS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT…

    AND THAT IS EVIL! SO KNOCK IT OFF AND KEEP AWAY FROM THE FEMALE BRUTALS. LOOKS LIKE A ONE-WAY TRIP TO LONESOMEVILLE FOR YOU. IF NOT…

    ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.

    …

    AND NOW FOR THE SECOND HALF OF OUR DOUBLE FEATURE….LINKS! GO FORTH AND COMMENT!

    • ZARDOZ EXPECTS MUCH SEPPUKU TO RESULT FROM THIS….ZARDOZ IS PLEASED!
    • I AM SURE THE BRUTAL MULLAHS ARE SHIVERING IN THEIR TURBANS…NOT.
    • NOW THAT IS HOW A MONARCH SHOULD BEHAVE! GOING OUT TO SHOOT…WAIT, BIRDS, NOT BRUTALS? NEVERMIND.
    • SPEAKING OF NIPPON…ZARDOZ SHAKES HIS STONE HEAD.

    ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.

  • Friday Afternoon Links

    Happy Friday afternoon. Here are some links. Too tired to do the chitchat thing.

    Hospitals are claiming that parents do not have right to review their minor child’s medical records well below majority. As young as 10-12. And saying it is Federal Law. I’d love to see RC Dean’s take on this. My own personal take is that, if nothing else, those records might contain evidence of negligence or incompetence that it is my legal obligation to protect my child from until they take over that duty at the age of majority. Now, I don’t think I would have a problem if a pediatrician asked me if they could talk to my 12 year old without me in the room.

    Trump says there’s going to be a temporary deal to reopen the FedGov. Sad. That’s for losers.

    The Republic of Macedonia is now the Republic of North Macedonia. And this being the Balkans, both the (North) Macedonians and the Greeks hate the deal.

     

  • What Are We Reading

    OMWC

    Hardly anything because, well, new job and moving. But my bathroom book for the past week has been Steven Weinberg’s The First Three Minutes, a short tome on the Standard Model of cosmology. Come prepared for some real mental challenge.

    While I was flying back and forth to Arizona, I indulged in a fantastically depressing and wonderful collection of stories, novellas, and a couple of complete novels by my favorite (((author))), A Malamud Reader. Although Malamud is usually lumped with contemporaries like Philip Roth, he really was a far better writer.

    One day, I’ll have time to read again.

    SugarFree

    I have retreated to childhood, reading Piers Anthony’s Split Infinity series for the dozenth or so time. I’m going to be honest: he’s not a great writer, but damn can he churn out enjoyable fiction, and the kind that gets creepier to read the older you get, which is an aspect I like. I started with the Xanth series when I was nine or ten, picking up A Spell For Chameleon–mostly off the Darrell K. Sweet cover, familiar from Ballentine’s paperback series of Heinlein Juveniles–at a bookstore going out of business sale. (My dad’s way of dealing with me over my parent’s divorce was to give me money and turn me loose in a bookstore.) I wandered away from Anthony in high school, around the time I realized was reading books about the panties of little girls in the Xanth books, and the rampant sister-fucking of the Bio of A Space Tyrant series got a little weird, and the Incarnations of Immortality ran out of steam. And, I’ll be honest, I was done with fantasy after, um, certain works were read (Seriously, fuck The Elfstones of Shannara,) and it took years for me to bother reading high or epic fantasy again.

    Riven

    Well, I’ve definitely slowed down some on the Dresden Files, but that shouldn’t be a reflection on the books/stories themselves. It’s my fault for not making time for the important things. I finished White Night, moved on to Small Favor, and then rapidly consumed four short stories set between Small Favor and Turn Coat: Day Off, Backup, The Warrior, and Last Call. I’ve been on the first page of the last short story between Small Favor and Turn Coat for a couple weeks now, but I’m confident that one day, eventually, maybe I’ll finish reading Curses.  … Probably. No promises.

    mexican sharpshooter

    Once again, the only thing of note that I read is a children’s book for my 4 year old.  Today’s entry is Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss.  Yertle of course, really is a turtle.  It is a story I particularly like, because Dr, Seuss explains to children how to deal with assholes, particularly the ones that declare themselves king.

    The story begins when Yertle realizes if he stands upon the shell of another turtle, he can see farther than he could if he stood on his own feet.  Why stand on another turtle’s back?  FYTW.  Yertle eventually declares himself king of all that he sees and continues to enslave more turtles in his quest to obtain more power.  Surprisingly, they all seem to agree to his terms.  Stand upon each other’s shoulders, and let Yertle stand atop them all.

    Except for one.  A turtle named Mack, protested and explained multiple times how much it sucked being at the bottom of the pile.  Yertle responded he was the king, so FYTW.

    Until Mack sneezed.  The entire stack of turtles came tumbling down with Yertle on top falling the farthest distance to Earth.  Yertle spent the rest of his days being king of the mud.  Honestly, this is probably the perfect allegory to explain 2016 to a child.

    jesse.in.mb

    Back in September 2017, I read Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing due to interesting roommate-related circumstances and the pending possibility of moving. My roommate successfully got a job outside of the country and so I figured I’d revisit themes of throwing away all of my shit as I make room for my boyfriend to move in. In that vein I finally picked up The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story. It’s probably a great way to introduce kids to the idea of keeping things tidy and letting go of stuff they don’t want/need. I didn’t really get anything new out of it, but my boyfriend realized most of his instrument collection no longer “sparked joy” and is only bringing his uilleann pipes. 

    The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan was a fun procedural drama set in Galway and its environs that tied together a few disparate stories in pleasing ways. It was an audiobook and the narrator (Aoife McMahon) did a superlative job jumping between different characters in a way that gave them dimension without getting in the way of the story.

    SP

    Inventories of household goods. Bills of lading. Real estate listings and leases. Insurance documents. Utility terms of service. Receipts. Checking account and credit card statements. Truck rental contracts. Google Maps. Hotel booking sites.

     

    Brett L

    It was a slow month for me. I read the latest of John Conroe’s Demon Accords novel. I can’t really understand why I keep reading them at this point, except that they’re fast, and they don’t take themselves too seriously. Oh, and he’s good a blowing up his fake worlds real good. This one was kind of… not mailed in, exactly, but he needed to move some players from A to B to write the book he really wants to write. Contrived is a better word. Still fun, although he did kind of Harry Dresden genocide most of an alien race. What else? Oh, I did a re-read of Stross’s Iron Sunrise. I’m still sad he couldn’t really salvage that universe, but totally see his point about it being irretrievably broken. And lots and lots of MS Azure documentation.

  • Friday Morning Links

    Good morning my glib gluttons, and what a glorious morning it is as the government is still partially shutdown.

     

     

    As he personally predicted, Roger Stone has been indicted by Mueller for witness tampering, obstruction, and false statements.  Still waiting for proof of collusion, which is still not even a crime.

     

    Digital media is dying as fast as print with recent layoff at Huffpo and Buzzfeed.

     

     

    Three year old who went missing found alive after two days being tangled in shrub.

     

    House Democrats upset that White House officials are refusing to be a part of their dog and pony show.  Why won’t these assholes let them mock them for hours on end with heavy-handed politically-motivated questions which sole purpose is to give their base a hard on?  Those bastards.

     

    The US patent office will have to cease operations after the first week of February if the shutdown does not end, the Trademark office has until April.  The USPTO is completely funded by user fees, but congress still has to appropriate the money the office collects.

     

    Trying to outdo her crazier leftwingers, Warren wants a wealth tax, a tax for anyone with net assets above $50 million.

     

    That’s all I got for today, I’ll leave you with a song, go clean up the puppy shit in the hallway (I really need to just leave him outside) and move on with my day.