Wednesday Afternoon Panic! Links

Hi guys, sorry for the quick hits here, but we have a crisis of our own making at work.

Matt Taibbi is all out of bubblegum when it comes to the media and Russian collusion.

In fairness, some large number of the engineers have student loans, but I doubt many of the welders and electricians do. It pays really good to work in O&G,

Yesterday we spoke about hangry wives, today we find out “happy wife, longer life” is not just a reason to stop looking at porn (or other women) because she done told you she’d kill you if she caught you again.

You guys will have to handle the rest, I have a panic to avert.

Comments

195 responses to “Wednesday Afternoon Panic! Links”

  1. Spudalicious

    Never watch porn when your wife is home.

    1. Spudalicious

      Unless, of course, she’s watching it with you.

    2. Tonio

      …unless it’s of her (presumably alone or with you).

    3. Pope Jimbo

      Uffda. What else am I supposed to do in the park while I wait for my kid to get done with his play date?

      1. db

        Get to know the date’s mom better.

        1. Pope Jimbo

          If I wanted to talk with wimmen, I could have stayed back at home with the wife.

  2. Chipwooder

    Never would have guessed Matt Taibbi would have some of the most sensible takes on the collusion hoax

    1. Neither would I – I have no idea who Matt Taibbi is.

      1. Juvenile Bluster

        Taibbi is a rapist, and also is part of the “OMG KOCH BROTHERS” brigade.

    2. Suthenboy

      Same here but the first few paragraphs are just a long winded ‘To be sure’

      1. grrizzly

        Taibbi is a confirmed leftist; I expect plenty of disagreement with him. To be sures are annoying when they come from supposedly ideologically-close sources.

    3. Stinky Wizzleteats

      He was on Scott Horton’s podcast re this stuff and it was a pretty good one:

      https://scotthorton.org/interviews/4-19-19-matt-taibbi-on-this-generations-wmd/

      Link to audio at bottom if interested.

    4. A Leap at the Wheel

      1) He’s a much better opinion-journo than most opinion-journos.
      2) Don’t forget, he lived in Russia for a while. Probably made him a little less blinkered about the issues.

    5. R C Dean

      The obstruction parts of the report make him look like a brainless goon and thug, but the absence of what Mueller repeatedly calls “underlying crime” make his ravings about an elitist mob out to get him look justified.

      I like the way he calls Trump’s validated complaints about a witch hunt “ravings” that “look justified”.

      There are two competing narratives here: (1) Trump is a Russian agent who obstructed justice so successfully that he couldn’t even be charged with obstructing justice or (2) The Clinton campaign and various members of Obama’s administration, law enforcement agencies, and intelligence agencies spied on a Presidential candidate and then tried to remove him from office with manufactured evidence.

      It sounds like Taibbi probably believes the second one, since he reaches a pretty unqualified conclusion that the whole Russia thing was a complete hoax. If so, it will be interesting to see if he follows up with some more pieces laying out the case for it.

    6. Tonio

      “We’re not trying to be right more often than Trump — we’re trying to not be wrong, ever. It’s a standard, not a competition.”

      That’s pretty searing. And old-school.

      Good to see that RS is having a rare moment of political clarity.

      1. The Other Kevin

        Do they even teach that in journalism school anymore? From what I’ve seen, “advancing your cause” is the current standard.

        1. Tonio

          It all started back in the seventies with “advocacy journalism.” Kids coming out of good J-schools like Missouri earnestly believed that papers were forces for good and should take “stances” on major issues. You can’t both do that and claim the mantle of truth and impartiality.

      2. Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s only Taibbi. He’s the lone voice of sanity there and has been for a long time.

      3. Too bad they weren’t right about Jackie Coakley.

    7. Rhywun

      Yeah, he’s been a relative straight-shooter as long as I’ve noticed him; I guess it was on Bill Maher’s execrable show I saw him the most.

  3. Fourscore

    Happy Wife, *Longer* Life!

    Even if its your neighbor’s missus, make her happy but you are your own

    1. Fourscore

      Ad an ON in there somewhere

    2. I was expecting that link to point to another “Wife murders husband” story.

      1. Fourscore

        Only if she catches you at your neighbor’s house

      2. leon

        Me too

  4. Fatty Bolger

    So a study found that fit, active, and non-poor men have happier wives and live longer?

    1. MikeS

      Don’t mansplain to me, white man!

      1. Fatty Bolger

        As a full blooded Hobbit-American, I’m offended by your comment. For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I’m tired of it, and every single Hobbit in this country should be tired of it.

        1. frankly, I’m tired

          Oh, just like a hobbit to want to lie down and take and afternoon nap.

          Way to live down to stereotypes.

          /selective quote-mining

          1. Fatty Bolger

            How dare you, sir! How dare you! Though now that I think about it, a little nap before dinner does sound good…

          2. Jarflax

            Nap before Dinner, Nap before Tea, Nap before Supper, Nap before Midnight Snack, sleep till First Breakfast, Nap before Second, Nap before Elevenses, Nap before Lunch, makes a Hobbit health and wealthy and wide.

    2. pistoffnick

      *Looks at gut*
      *Opens empty wallet*
      I’m fucked!

      1. MikeS

        I’m fucked!

        That’s the important part!

    3. Fourscore

      A lot of impediments right there. If I had all that going for me I’d be on the street and not worrying about living longer.

  5. Fatty Bolger

    I’m not sure what to think of this. They found Clinton’s emails in the White House – wouldn’t that be normal? Unless these were emails that Clinton had deleted to keep them out of the public record.

    Judicial Watch: FBI Admits Hillary Clinton Emails Found in Obama White House

    1. R C Dean

      Those emails were never on a US government server unless someone sent or received one from a .gov email address*. Now, that may be most of them, but even so the questions are, why did the White House have a copy, who gave it to them, what did the White House do with/about them? It also raises the question of when the White House knew she was using a private email server.

      *other, of course than the NSA and why hasn’t anyone asked the NSA what they have and know about this?

      1. Fatty Bolger

        They could just be emails sent to and from the White House. Whatever that means. Cabinet officials? Chief of Staff? Obama himself?

        1. R C Dean

          Its puzzling what is meant by “found in Obama White House”. That makes it sound like these weren’t just emails from herself that people had received in the ordinary course. It sounds like the White House had a specific trove of her emails. If, so that raises the questions above.

          Regardless, anyone who got an email from her private server, or sent one to it, knew she wasn’t using a State Department account for official business, knew that was against the law, and did absolutely nothing about it.

          There is no innocuous reading of that reminder/revelation.

    2. Spudalicious

      To Obama’s alias account, from her private server, that he learned about when he saw it in the news.

    3. Banjos

      Her email address would have to have been whitelisted in order for her emails to have gone through. In other words, Obama knew.

      1. Tonio

        ^This. But if not the Prez, then someone high up. Chief of Staff, probably; those people exist to take the fall for their elected officials.

      2. Spudalicious

        There were also e-mails from Obama’s alias account on Hillary’s server.

      3. Fatty Bolger

        Well, a flunky probably handled that. Not that I ever doubted that Obama was lying about first hearing about it on the news, but that’s hardly an earth shattering revelation.

        1. Raven Nation

          “first hearing about it on the news”

          Serious question: did he ever get called out for using that line? If memory serves, he deployed it a few times.

          1. Drake

            How’s your 2008 health insurance plan doing? Do you like it?

          2. Fatty Bolger

            Hey, PolitiFact called him out for the health care plan lie. 5 years later. After he’d been safely re-elected. See how unbiased they are?

        2. Spudalicious

          A President using an alias account to correspond with the Secretary of State on a private, unsecured server is not something that would be delegated to a flunky.

      4. Drake

        Funny – I just sent somebody a thank you email for an interview. The email was bounced back with an explanation that I don’t have permission to email that account.

        1. Tonio

          Hopefully it’s just some sort of automated corporate HR bullshit to prevent candidates from trying to bypass corporate HR.

          1. Drake

            I had a marathon 4-hour interview series with 5 different people. The damn thank you’s went through to everyone except the hiring manager.

  6. Tonio

    It pays really good to work in O&G,

    Good for them. It’s dirty and dangerous work.

    1. A Leap at the Wheel

      OGs always get paid. Always. Its what makes them OGs.

      *leans head to the side, gets some whispered advice*

      I may have misunderstood the link.

    2. mexican sharpshooter

      Stop that. OSHA makes is safe.

    3. Not Adahn

      Just yesterday a friend of mine was complaining about the guys matching up with her on a dating app:

      “Just look at this guy, there’s no way he’s my age!”
      “It says he’s a retired oilfield tech. To say he’s seen ‘weathering’ would be an understatement.”

  7. Enough About Palin

    Those evil oil companies!

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/typical-workers-pay-nears-200-000-at-oil-refiner-11556103600?mod=trending_now_1

    Oil and gas drillers and refiners had some of the highest-paid median workers in the energy and utility sectors in 2018, according to The Wall Street Journal analysis of annual pay disclosures by hundreds of big U.S. companies.

    Houston-based Phillips 66 paid its median worker $196,407, the highest of any company in the sector. Phillips was followed by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. APC +11.60% at $183,445. Oil giant Exxon Mobil, which has roughly 72,600 employees, according to its latest proxy, had the third-highest median worker pay with $171,375.

    Phillips 66 and Anadarko both boosted their 2018 median pay by about 15% in 2018 compared with 2017. Exxon raised its median pay about 6%. Oil-and-gas companies typically pay their workers better than many other sectors because they have fewer low-paid retail jobs and must compete in a tight labor market driven in part by the shale-oil boom.

    Phillips 66 and Exxon declined to comment beyond their proxy statements. Anadarko Petroleum didn’t respond to requests for comment.

    1. The Other Kevin

      Destroying the environment while exploiting their workers at the same time. Shame.

  8. … This world is Parody.

    There is a Pro-EU CUK party in Britain.

    1. Stinky Wizzleteats

      It’s a simulation and the programmers are fucking with us.

  9. Rhywun

    It pays really good to work in O&G

    Meh, that’s peanuts compared to working for the Long Island Rail Road, especially in the year you’re retiring.

    1. Mad Scientist

      Caputo is “one of only a few people” who can operate an “advanced track-geometry car,” which examines the rails for defects.

      Seems like it would almost be cheaper to just replace the rails than pay this guy to measure them.

      1. kinnath

        “one of only a few people” who can operate an “advanced track-geometry car,”

        Because the gate keepers won’t certify any new people to run the car.

        1. Mad Scientist

          Bingo

        2. I’ll bet you he’s responsible for certifying trainees too.

      2. Tarek justified the megasized paychecks by saying the agency has been working on major upgrades recently, and claiming it is often cheaper to pay an existing employee overtime than to hire another person for the same work.

        Bullshit, this guy costs four workers worth of payments. Even hiring one more would save more than the cost of training them.

        The problem is, if hiring for the MTA is anything like hiring at the state, it’s a decision made by people who conclude an FTE is an FTE, and fewer is cheaper in all situations.

        1. Gustave Lytton

          I wouldn’t be surprised if only a fraction of the pay remained with the named payee.

    2. Timeloose

      O&G work, it’s not as dangerous as food processing.

      https://wnep.com/2019/04/22/worker-killed-after-falling-into-meat-grinder/

      1. kinnath

        Already posted in the last thread. Gotcha.

        1. Timeloose

          I thought it might be too local for me to post.

          Excuuussseee Meeeee! in my best 1979 Steve Martin voice.

          1. Timeloose

            In case it’s not evident Sarc alert.

          2. kinnath

            We’re good.

  10. commodious spittoon
    1. Tonio

      Well, infants are already subject to GM, so why stop there?

      1. MikeS

        Only half of them

        1. Rhywun

          It varies around the world.

    2. BakedPenguin

      Rogan has common sense, at least. Also, he’s in his wheelhouse discussing strength training.

  11. deadhead

    I don’t think this was the exact video that I got caught watching that pissed my wife off, but you get the idea.

    SFW, ’cause it’s in German and nobody who speaks German …

    and yeah, I used to be into something similar (much bigger, much slower, and in Central Park), although there were some things I’d only do when I had been drinking.

    1. Private Chipperbot

      I used to be into something similar (much bigger, much slower, and in Central Park

      I assume the one on the right…

      1. deadhead

        I got out of the sport before the knobbies became popular, but I did have a custom made 36″. We’d take it to Central Park and play follow the leader. You’d make a run and if you didn’t wipe out, the next person was obligated to attempt the same run.

        We’d play that sober, however, I also commuted to work but would only ride up curbs after a few beers. It’s super simple to do: you just ride toward the curb with a little bit of speed and follow through. The only problem is if you slowed down as you approached or if you hit but didn’t commit, you got thrown. Liquid courage, FTW.

        1. Tonio

          It’s always the commitment. I recently got skewled hard by a granny on a hardtail who totally nailed this obstacle that usually only full suspension people ride.

    2. Tonio

      That’s extreme af. Srsly. Those kids are doing things on fricking unicycles that I wouldn’t attempt on my mountain bike. And doing so carrying full pack with camping gear. Probably above the tree line. Those cycles are also equipped with pedals with nasty metal spikes which will lacerate the hell out of you.

      1. deadhead

        At one point I had five: two 20″ (one was a beater that I’d loan to people so they could learn), a 24″, the custom-made 36″ (diameter) and a 5′ (height) chain driven one. I didn’t do much extreme stuff, but I could do a walking step-in mount (I think only on my 20″), meaning the unicycle would be laying on the ground and I could walk briskly toward it and get my foot on the pedal and push in just the right way for the saddle to pop into place and I could continue forward riding.

        My friend who taught me to ride (and that trick) could pick up a dollar by riding in such a way where he’d make an extreme turn that would allow him to very temporarily lean his body over enough to grab the dollar.

        It is true that my wife did catch me eyeing mountain unicycle videos and/or gear and got pretty upset with me. This was after I met some mountain unicyclists up in the Sandias and I got to watch them. Looks like tons of fun.

        1. Tonio

          “I could do a walking step-in mount”

          Totes respect. I’ve never had a unicycle but have recently become fascinated by them.

          I’ve seen MTU riders at my local skills park doing some pretty good tricks. Granted they have hand brakes and what appears to be seatpost suspension, but they stop in place and do vertical leaps like a mountain goat. Incredible balance and bike control.

          1. deadhead

            I learned decades ago while I was at the university. I still own my 5′ but haven’t ridden it in a while. However, my daughter expressed interest in learning, so I bought one online from Walmart. She chickened out and eventually I lent it to a friend, so I can’t look up which brand and model I got, but it was certainly on the inexpensive side and it seemed like a fine one to learn on.

            I have never owned a mountain bike. I lack the self-restraint necessary to keep out of the emergency room. On the other hand, there is this finishing time that would be fun to break to celebrate turning 60 in a few years.

  12. Wheeeeeee

    It’s clearer every day that the extreme political climate in our country has only made our system of justice and the court of public opinion more unjust.

    It is why now, more than ever, we must stand together as a family. A family is there for us in good times and bad. It can cut through the noise and confusion to understand that there is a person in the center of all this who deserves nothing more than to move forward with his life. We understand that this show is a business. And that business matters to us as well.

    1. A Leap at the Wheel

      >It’s clearer every day that the extreme political climate in our country has only made our system of justice and the court of public opinion more unjust.

      Agreed. Some people can pay money to get out of punishment, if they have a public profile. The rest of us are fucked if we engage in premeditated crimes.

    2. Rhywun

      Really, we’re not worthy of him.

    3. leon

      Imagine the howling if a bunch of white workers quit because they didn’t feel safe working with Smollett.

    4. Ed Wuncler

      This is so fucked up.

      Lets say that the CPD was incompetent and evil as fuck (more than usual) and brought in two white dudes and charged them with assault and even worse a hate crime? Two people’s lives would have been destroyed based on a boldface lie. That bothers me because this could have turned into a huge miscarriage of justice and all for what? Simply to get a bigger paycheck and achieve the ultimate victimization cred.

      1. MikeS

        Sacrifices must be made, comrade.

        1. R C Dean

          And as everyone knows, the best sacrifices are those made by other people.

      2. Fatty Bolger

        Yep. And there’s zero chance he’d fess up to get them off the hook, either. His willingness to pin his DUI on his own brother proves that.

        1. Ed Wuncler

          Smollett is a total piece of shit but will never suffer the consequences because of our warped identity politics.

    5. Creosote Achilles

      Let’s just end it already. I’ve got the bondage gear and a wrangler and until the boating accident the arms and ammo, I can setup as a wasteland warlord toot sweet.

    6. Heroic Mulatto

      Bring him back and then kill off his character.

      1. Pope Jimbo

        Don’t kill his character. Make his character stage a fake hate crime and then all the other characters can spend gobs of time asking him how he could be so stupid.

      2. Have him be beaten to death by a pair of Nigerian brothers. I wonder if there are any actors associated with that show who would take those roles.

    7. CPRM

      I can’t even.

    8. Winston

      Honesty and integrity?

  13. Pope Jimbo

    Amy Klobuchar shows off her Minnesoda Nice.

    Town Hall Audience Gives Amy Klobuchar Standing Ovation As She Lifts Chris Cuomo Up By Throat https://t.co/wavVPcgsiA pic.twitter.com/QEt2Zmp5Hl

    — The Onion (@TheOnion) April 23, 2019

    1. Chipwooder

      “you guys are supposed to cheer, ok?”

  14. Pope Jimbo

    I like Nick Cage (if for no other reason his role in Raising Arizona), but I have to draw the line at this.

    1. Rhywun

      “You want… my wang??”

      1. Stinky Wizzleteats

        I bought Raising Arizona off iTunes a couple of weeks ago because it was on sale. I had forgotten how great it was.

        1. Rhywun

          I was quoting a different movie, because I’m afraid I don’t remember Raising Arizona well enough to quote anything from it.

          1. Pope Jimbo

            Does your inability to quote Raising Arizona cause you to get the menstrual cramps real hard?

          2. Old Man With Candy

            “Her womb was a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase.”

            Great movie.

          3. Stinky Wizzleteats

            “H.I., you’re young and you got your health, what you want with a job?”

            It’s no Caddyshack or Jaws but there are a lot of great quotes.

          4. The Bearded Hobbit

            “Menstrual cramps” and “her womb” were the two quotes that I was going to mention but great quotes abound. Almost Bugs Bunny level of brilliance.

      2. SDF-7

        Purple Wang? Purple waaaang….

  15. AlmightyJB

    Great line:

    “More people have fallen off of roofs installing solar panels than have been killed in the entire history of nuclear power in the U.S.,”

    https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/stossel-green-new-deal-nuclear

    1. mikey

      Actually, I read somewhere the only death at a nuke plant was from a garden-variety forklift accident.
      As a former 16-year-old forklift operator, I can vouch that forklifts offer myriad opportunities to injure/kill oneself and others.

      1. Tonio

        No way.

      2. There have been some legit radiation burn deaths at nuclear plants. It’s pretty rare, though.

        1. Stinky Wizzleteats

          There certainly have been US rad deaths at weapons complex sites, I’m not so sure about power plants.

          http://www.abomb1.org/accident/critical.html

        2. Drake

          I don’t think there has been a radiation injury at a civilian plant since the 50’s, if ever. Were there even radiation deaths at Fukushima where everything went wrong?

          1. Not Adahn

            Japan has had at least a few. Tepco has killed it’s workers before, they had an indavertent criticality event with an unprotected worker.

          2. quincy

            That made me find new hate for the media.. A tsunami wipes most of a city off the map, killing more than 15 000, rendering half a million homeless. That’s a story. Yet the coverage is 24/7 footage from a webcam recording a nuclear plant puffing off hydrogen gas and *breaking news* man in the street interviews with idiot Californians swearing off fish because of the NUCULARS!

            It’s like 9/11 happened and the media are reporting about cellular service outages.

    2. wdalasio

      The bottom line is that any “Green New Deal” that isn’t serious about nuclear power simply isn’t serious.

  16. Tonio

    I hate f*cking hippies, part gazillion: When you agree to do something for them the request always, and I mean *always* morphs into something far more complicated than initially represented. In con artistry this is known as the “foot in the door” technique.

    1. Suthenboy

      I know the type well
      It’s as much about manipulation as it is about getting free stuff
      Making you dance

  17. Gustave Lytton

    Fist time I’ve seem a picture of Buttglug. He looks like a feral rat.

    1. AlmightyJB

      Don’t be so mean to feral rats!

    2. Spudalicious

      “Fist time” “Buttglug”

      Oy.

    3. grrizzly

      Really? He’s rather average looking.

      1. Heroic Mulatto

        He looks like Alfred E. Neuman.

        1. Rhywun

          Whelp, that image will be stuck in my head until he inevitably drops out.

      2. Fatty Bolger

        He reminds me of Sheldon from Big Bang Theory.

  18. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Paul Joseph Watson shits on modern architecture for ten minutes-

    https://youtu.be/-lB5QbMxvac

    It looks like the modernists are setting their eyes on Notre Dame too.

    1. Winston

      Time for another Cult of Reason?

    2. Not Adahn

      Honestly, a stained glass spire would be pretty cool.

      The idea to make the roof glass “to let in natural light” is just insanely stupid.

      1. Suthenboy

        Part of why N.D. is so great is not just its beauty and an incredible architectural feat but that it has lasted so long intact. Whatevere crap they put on it to ‘fix’ it wont last 100 years. They should just replace the spire with neon lit golden arches.

  19. Chipping Pioneer

    Remember to always put a cover sheet on your TPS reports, Brett.

  20. Chipping Pioneer

    I am intrigued by this article on microdosing hallucinogenic.

    Does anyone have any … ummm … experience in this field?

  21. Chipping Pioneer

    I’m intrigued by this article on microdosing hallucinogenics that I came across.

    Does anyone have any … ummm … experience in this field?

  22. Chipping Pioneer

    I’m intrigued by this article that I came across.

    Does anyone have any … ummm … experience in this field?

    1. Chipping Pioneer

      That was just Patrick Swayze.

    2. what appears to be a head-shaped figure creeping up to the father’s bed

      Daddy should watch out for his penis, because I think ZARDOZ is the culprit here

    3. Stinky Wizzleteats

      There’s no other explanation, it’s totally a ghost. There’s no way someone under the covers could make sheets move like that.

      1. Suthenboy

        That’s right. I am now a believer myself. Saw it with my own eyes I did.

        Totally not fake.

  23. Pope Jimbo

    Uffda. What do you mean that I end up having to pay for this free shit? Lowest-income Minnesotans hit hardest by Gov. Tim Walz’s tax plan, analysis shows

    Gov. Tim Walz’s plan to increase taxes would hit the lowest-income Minnesotans the hardest, according to a new analysis by his own Department of Revenue.

    Minnesotans on the bottom half of the income ladder would absorb an average 9.9% tax increase. For every $100 they earn, these Minnesotans would pay well more than an extra dollar in taxes. The poorest 10% of Minnesotans would pay an extra $2.37 in taxes for every $100 they earn.

    The story – in an attempt to limit damage to our new gov – does mention that even though the rate of increase on wealthy bastards is smaller, they will end up paying the most in extra taxes.

    Thank doG for the GOP (where P stands for Pouncers):

    Republicans, who control the state Senate and aim to stop the Walz tax increases, pounced upon publication of the report late Tuesday.

    1. Pope Jimbo

      BTW, one of the big items in the new Guv’s budget is a $0.20/gal gas tax increase. This is desperately needed for various infrastructure stuff according to him. What the local news people never seem to bring up is that we had a $1B surplus from the last budget.

      Maybe fucking use that first before you gouge me on gas?

      It is one of the reasons, I am pretty happy with the recent spike in gas taxes. Make people howl at the rise at the pump and then ask them if they really think adding and extra $4 per tank is a good idea?

      1. Rhywun

        They will use it, but don’t be surprised if it winds up in pension checks sent to retired teachers and cops rather than infrastructure.

    2. Rhywun

      At least it’s honest. The idea that you can float a bloated bureaucracy on just “the rich” was always a fantasy.

  24. Chipping Pioneer

    Is it that having a happy wife makes you live longer, or that having an unhappy wife makes you die sooner.

    1. AlmightyJB

      Gives you reason to not want to die I guess.

  25. Winston

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14W4F7kzIcQ

    Mortal Kombat 11 is woke. So now they care about propriety?

    And Warner Bros. engaging in leftist propaganda? I mean all that New Deal Propaganda is one thing but going woke is beyond the pale…

    1. Winston

      It is interesting that Big Business is jumping on the woke train. Time for libertarians to get out of their Victorian, 1960s and 1990s fantasies…

      1. robc

        I dont even know what that means.

        1. Winston

          1990s: weed, mexicans, Ass-sex, NAFTA and the internet will bring us about the libertarian moment.

          1960s: we are Democrats on social issues and Republicans on fiscal issues.

          Victorians: we are part of the inevitable forces of progress in which merchants, academics, urbanites, intellectuals and those repressed by society will lead to permanent victory.

    2. Urthona

      Summary?

  26. Fatty Bolger

    Latinx valedictorian was told she’d have to share the honor with 9 other students

    A teenager in California will become her high school’s first Latinx valedictorian after she allegedly had to fight for the distinction at graduation.

    Following an announcement that the school would be transitioning to having the top ten students honored at the graduation ceremony, rather than just one, Natalie Ramos pushed back against the change.

    Good for her for pushing back on this bullshit.

    1. Winston

      Left-hand doesn’t know what the right-hand is doing…

    2. Rhywun

      And of course it’s all about “racism”.

      1. wdalasio

        You know, I hate that she went there. Hell, the principal who pulled this nonsense on her (“Ramon Cusi”) sure as hell doesn’t sound like a WASP. That said, I’d be 100% behind her otherwise. She was the top student. Period. Full stop. Throwing a bunch of other kids who didn’t achieve that on the stage with her as some sort of participation trophy demeans her accomplishment. I just wish she had the integrity to make her argument about the merit she obviously demonstrated.

        1. Chipping Pioneer

          Agreed.

          (If) I were the top student in my class and they pulled this shit, I’d be irritated (regardless of my race).

          1. Rhywun

            I was #2 and hoo-boy was I relieved I didn’t have to get up on stage and mumble a bunch of platitudes. She sounds like more of a go-getter than I ever was, though.

      2. ???

        “ My transcript clearly states I’m #1,” she wrote. “I’d also like to add that no one has said anything about discrimination.”

        1. Fatty Bolger

          Except her Mom, lol.

          1. I think her mom was calling out the sexism.

          2. Fatty Bolger

            LOL! Nice try.

          3. A man hears his own dog whistles.

        2. Rhywun

          Good for her. Not so much everyone else around her.

    3. Chipping Pioneer

      the school would be transitioning

      Heh.

  27. Heroic Mulatto

    Fuck the Phillies.

    1. Chipping Pioneer

      I’ll just leave this here:

      https://youtu.be/-F5HwiGm7lg

  28. Chipping Pioneer

    I think the squirrels fed on my first linking of this, so :

    https://nationalpost.com/health/health-and-wellness/is-microdosing-lsd-a-solution-to-the-crisis-of-meaning-in-modern-life-new-canadian-study-may-provide-answers

    I find this intriguing. Does anyone else have any… ummm… experience in this field?

  29. B.P.

    Speaking of racism, there’s a Chipotle-esque burrito chain here in Colorado called Illegal Pete’s. During its expansion efforts, it keeps getting grief because the term “illegal” is, of course, racist. Even though the name is not a reference to anything remotely controversial.

    https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/delaware-wouldnt-grant-illegal-petes-an-llc-because-the-state-finds-their-name-offensive-court-documents/73-d5a0610b-d85e-496b-8521-a802fc1eeea2

    “In 2014, Pete Turner, Illegal Pete’s owner, made the trip up to Fort Collins to try and assuage locals. According to our news partners the Fort Collins Coloradoan, some at the community meeting he attended compared the name to a racial slur directed at black Americans, hanging a Confederate flag in their window or calling their place “Smoking Lynching BBQ.”

    A change.org petition from the time with almost 3,000 signatures pointed out to Turner that “to you, ‘illegal’ is a playful and meaningless descriptor that gives your restaurant a memorable name; it creates a ‘clever’ brand. We are here to tell you that no longer will you be able to claim blissful ignorance and profit from racism.””

    1. Chipping Pioneer

      ¿If it were racist, wouldn’t it be called Illegal Pedro’s?

      1. Rhywun

        He should change the name on the permission slip to “Undocumented Pete’s”.

      2. “No Legal-o Pete-o’s”

    2. Fatty Bolger

      “Undocumented Pete’s” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

  30. Not Adahn

    The CSA gave me some rapini, so I tried that.

    It’s actually quite good (or maybe that was the garlic and leftover ham I put in it) but I’m not sure I’m buying that this is some super delicacy.

    1. Jarflax

      Racist!

      1. Rhywun

        I’m still trying to figure out what (else) CSA means.

        1. Not Adahn

          community sponsored agriculture — basically a dude goes around offering to buy a farmer’s crop for $x, then sells it to y subscribers for a cost of $(x/y +P).

          1. Rhywun

            Ah. Carry on.

          2. Spudalicious

            Totes racist. Only wypipo patriarchy can afford CSAs.

          3. Not Adahn

            Pretty much. Totes a farmer’s market crowd.

        2. JaimeRoberto: Gentleman, Scholar, French Tickler

          I thought he was talking about the Confederate States of America getting rapey, like Slave Smith.

    2. Spudalicious

      It’s not in Italy. Blanch and saute with olive oil and garlic. Delish.

      1. Not Adahn

        Supposedly this is some sort of overwintered thing that is only available for a week or two or maybe never depending on the weather.

        It was definitely better than the broccoli rabe I’ve made before, but that could have been me.

        1. Spudalicious

          As you know, everything fresh is better than what you buy in the store. I only eat fresh tomatoes that came out of my garden for that reason. Broccoli Rabe is a single harvest vegetable, so availability is pretty short unless you live in a climate where you can plant successive crops.

  31. Winston

    https://www.cato.org/blog/liberalism-french-revolution

    David Boaz on the French Revolution.

    I do find it interesting that he glosses over the Reign of Terror, doesn’t mention the Vendee or Napoleon. He does bring up 1789 and Paine and Lafayette but ignores how those two mention fell from favor mere years later. He also blames the bad stuff on Rousseau who was not a true liberal which seems a bit No True Scotsmen to me.

    Interesting on how libertarian defenses of this Revolution default to “phony liberals” and “stop resisting!”

    1. Winston

      I like how Twain, Boaz and that other guy I posted yesterday like to gloss over the Reign of Terror. I mean the fact that “the progressives” are perfectly willing to engage in brutal repression when they themselves threatened (totally different from the ancien regime, right?) Is not something to be concerned about?

  32. Spudalicious

    Greeaatt. I’m experiencing my first ocular migraine in over a year. It’s like looking through an ever expanding broken hole in a glass window with the sun shining on it. Once it’s gone, I’ll have a moderate headache for several hours. I’m just going to drink my way through it.

    1. But Enough About Me

      Huh.

      A buddy of mine was diagnosed with ocular migraine about 15 years ago — only the diagnosis was incorrect. Turned out it was the beginning stages of adult-onset multiple sclerosis (which was made worse by moderate degenerative disc disease, brought on by his playing a lot of rugby when he was younger). I found it amazing that two things that are so unlike each other could be mistaken for each other.

      1. Spudalicious

        Similar symptoms, different cause. One of my neighbors was diagnosed and treated for depression, then she had a stroke. Turns out she had had dozens of mini strokes.

    2. The Bearded Hobbit

      I started getting them about two years ago after my dirtbike accident. Get them about every six weeks or so, on average. I, fortunately, do not get the follow-on headache. I find them annoying at worst (although the effect is kinda pretty), mostly just distracting. They usually are gone in 20 minutes or so.

      1. Spudalicious

        Yeah, it’s about a 20 minute process. The headache isn’t bad, but it is annoying and no medication makes it go away. My doc increased my bp meds the last time, and that took care of it. There’s been some extra stress this last week with the wife, so I’m really not surprised. Just annoyed.

        1. Akira

          I read a story about a guy who suffered from cluster headaches (among the most painful medical conditions in existence) and one of the only things that helped was taking magic mushrooms.

          It’s just too damn bad that we can’t research possible mechanisms of action in “illicit” drugs and perhaps isolate them from the hallucinogenic effects so that these people could live a normal life.

          Thanks, War on Drugs!

    3. I recently had a vestibular migraine. So weird. Like vertigo, no pain or headache. Just dizziness and a feeling of disorientation.

  33. Sean

    How is it only Wednesday? This week is dragging on. ?

    *pours a deep glass of bourbon*

    I guess I can cope…

    1. But Enough About Me

      Can’t do that for another 90 minutes (until after the latest showing of the house is over). Weekday showings are a drag — they always occur around dinner time, so you have to bugger off with the dog (so can’t really go to a resto), can’t do any cooking and can’t pour yourself a frosty libation to take the ennui down a notch.

      Blargh.