Tuesday Afternoon Mostly-Self-Service Links

by | Jan 14, 2020 | Daily Links | 392 comments

Our dear friend from Europe arrives today, so I am extremely pressed for time attempting to get the house in an order that will meet his tidy preferences.

(Oh, who am I kidding? He knows we’re slobs who own too much stuff with which we pursue all our various avocations and vocations. But I can at least try.)

And Brett seems to be somewhere in the air flying over flyover country, so, you get to mostly do links yourselves. Which, if we’re being honest, is what you really want anyway.

 

I’ll believe this when I see it.

This is from last week, but I hadn’t seen it.

Apparently, several of the PHX Glibs are lining up to do this. Silly kids.

 

You know what? Having rubber gloves and Bar Keepers Friend is almost like having a super power.

Later, friends.

 

About The Author

SP

SP

I've got an idea! How about we just stick to the Constitution as written and then the government can leave me the fuck alone.

392 Comments

  1. Florida Man

    Thanks for the Lynx, little miss can’t be wrong.

  2. SugarFree

    I could see McConnell starting it soon. The impeachment trial sucking all the media air out of Iowa and New Hampshire results would suit Mitch just fine.

    • invisible finger

      If the results show a widely divided party the DNC might prefer the air getting sucked out.

      • Tonio

        The party is widely and viciously divided. Ideological purists with a watermelon agenda on one side, a coalition of realists and party hacks on the other.

    • Count Potato

      Some people say Nancy is timing things to favor Biden, who is not a senator.

      • Ted S.

        So a presidential candidate with dementia.

      • Tonio

        Not the first, and probably not the last.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Birds of a feather?

      • leon

        I’m not even sure which candidate for the dems is the “Biggest Looser” when it comes to the Impeachment. I guess if it is a total flop then maybe Tulsi would be the winner, but at this point she is a non-entity.

      • SugarFree

        She has been sitting on the impeachment for a while. Warren and Sanders would have to return to Washington to sit the trial. And Nancy knows she can push Biden around.

        Sounds like a win-win-win for Nancy, Mitch and Gropey Joe.

    • R C Dean

      Starting Tuesday, per Drudge.

      Looks like no dismissal; not enough votes.

      So, witnesses. Go long popcorn.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Not dismissing is the smart play for the Rep side. Take it seriously, don’t grandstand (yeah, I know), and subpoena everyone even remotely involved with this fiasco.

  3. Ted S.

    This is from last week, but I hadn’t seen it.

    The correct terms are Small Oil and Big Government.

  4. Chipwooder

    The Spin Doctors…..now that really came outta left field

    • Ted S.

      He’s taking the case to the point of know return.

      • invisible finger

        But there will be peace when he is done.

      • Rhywun

        I assume the wife will fight fire with fire.

      • Bobarian LMD

        In the end, all we are is dust bloody bits of eviscera in the wind?

    • Raston Bot

      trial by combat! YES!!

    • J. Frank Parnell

      He seems like kind of a bastard, but that broad probably isn’t much better.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Your rapier wit did not go unnoticed.

  5. Tonio

    Then I won’t feel guilty posting this so early.

    Tard Tuesday: Explaining Privilege to a Broke White Person (without seeming like a total douchebag).

    Just kidding about the d-bag part. I know the article is over two years old but apparently Medium just picked it up (though I can’t link there since it requires registration). Originally published at something called Feminist Breeder. LOL

    • A Leap at the Wheel

      Page called Good Men Project. Article written by a women, telling men what to do.

      Feminism, Fuck Yeah!!

      • leon

        I do think it’s funny that the Women who are most likely to use “Mansplaining” are also the most likely to talk about the experiences men have in our culture and how that create “Rape Culture” and “Toxic Masculinity”. When do men get to say, you know what, “You’ve never been a boy and never had the experiences of a Teenage Boy among other Teenage boys so maybe you should shut up”.

        Sure it might not be a valid argument, but it is fun to throw their own rhetoric back in their faces.

      • Tonio

        “You’ve never been the cabin boy on a sailing ship.”

    • Chipwooder

      But luckily my college education introduced me to a more nuanced concept of Privilege; the term Intersectionality.

      I cannot possibly roll my eyes enough.

      That college education didn’t teach you the rules governing capitalization though, I see.

      • SugarFree

        my college education

        Even if it was free, you paid too much.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Not even worth your time.

      • Mojeaux

        For emphasis!

        Seriously, though, that used to be a thing, capitalizing nouns to emphasize them.

      • ChipsnSalsa

        Read original Winnie the Pooh. Tons of additional capitalization.

        Seriously, read them. They are funny.

      • invisible finger

        Does Microsoft’s dictionary still flag “internet” if it’s not capitalized?

      • Mojeaux

        That one, I hate. Really hate. There was never anything capitalization-worthy about the word “internet.” It’s like capitalizing “computer.”

      • Caput Lupinum

        The argument was that it should be treated as a proper noun since it is usually referring to a specific idea, and should be left uncapitalized if used as a generic; standard rule for English. I don’t particularly agree that it should be treated as a protest noun, but there was at least some reasoning behind it, flimsy as it may have been.

      • Rhywun

        I remember when it was always capitalized. I think with constant usage people just stopped doing it.

      • Mojeaux

        Like the Enlightenment kind of idea?

      • Caput Lupinum

        Like the Enlightenment kind of idea?

        Pretty much, yeah. When you write “enlightenment” it is just a general noun, but when you write “Enlightenment” you’re referring to a philosophical movement and lighting the Just Sayin’ signal. Similarly you could use internet to refer to any network of a specific topology, the word is usually used to denote a specific network, the world wide web and it’s related ideas. Since it is ring to a specific thing it would normally be a proper noun and capitalized.

        That’s the argument for it, anyway.

      • DEG

        Yes.

      • Tonio

        Nouns are still capitalized in German.

      • Bobarian LMD

        You know who else liked to capitalize nouns?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The Order of Saint Clare?

        oh wait, you said nouns…

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The article is a historical timeline of her progression from enlightened to useful idiot.

  6. Count Potato

    “We’re either in serious danger from climate change or we aren’t. Our leaders need to figure out the answer and respond accordingly.”

    We aren’t. See, isn’t that easy? And I never even went to law school.

  7. Count Potato

    “Apparently, several of the PHX Glibs are lining up to do this. Silly kids.”

    Was it SugarFree’s idea?

    • SugarFree

      I get blamed for everything.

      • Sean

        You & Trump.

      • Mad Scientist

        Not true. Most things are Los Doyers’ fault.

      • SugarFree

        He’s really more of my Zwarte Piet.

      • Florida Man

        It’s coal dust, not racism!

      • Bobarian LMD

        If it’s turning black, it could fall off.

  8. leon

    The California plaintiffs have not yet formally responded to the ExxonMobil countersuit claims, though a few of their representatives have been quoted saying they won’t be intimidated or or dissuaded by the company’s “attempted end-run around the California courts.”

    • Rhywun

      Is this the same ExxonMobil that was just completely exonerated in the same kind of fraudulent suit that was being pursued by New York? Why yes, I believe it is. Have fun, California taxpayers.

      • R C Dean

        Next up:

        Exxon buys CA bonds, sues CA by doing a global search and replace of “California” for “Exxon” in the complaint.

      • one true athena

        haha, if only. I’m so tired of these greenmail lawsuits.

  9. ChipsnSalsa

    He knows we’re slobs who own too much stuff

    You are American, no?

  10. Count Potato

    That’s some expensive cleanser.

    • robc

      Is that a PUA strategy?

    • Ted S.

      He learned it from the police.

      • Ted S.

        E.g. this, although I know I’ve read stories of cops using it to look up hot chicks they want to pick up.

      • invisible finger

        At least cops know there are are cop groupies that might get off on such a thing. An airline employee? Pilots have groupies, but I can’t think of any other airline employees that do.

      • Ted S.

        Stewardesses?

      • invisible finger

        I have not heard of stewardesses stalking chicks.

        Maybe at Aer Lingus.

      • Ted S.

        No; I was suggesting that there would be male groupies of stewardesses. Or at least a hell of a lot of guys down to fuck with the young ones.

      • R C Dean

        Of my last 3 – 4 flights, there was one, maybe 2 stewardesses who were . . . interesting.

      • Bobarian LMD

        It would be a cunning strategy.

    • JaimeRoberto Delecto

      Should I not have done that?

  11. Mojeaux

    I bought 2 boxes of BarKeeper’s Friend today! But rubber gloves? Pffft. Pansy. ?

    • SP

      Would YOU want to clean OMWC’s house without them?

      • Mojeaux

        As I said, I can be persuaded.

        I am persuaded.

      • Mad Scientist

        OMWC does things to his house that are so foul, even Heroic Mulatto won’t visit.

      • SP

        Fake News. HM has in fact visited us.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Has he been back?

      • Spudalicious

        I heard he refused to sit on the furniture.

      • Old Man With Candy

        His tongue scared Wonder Dog.

        Don’t ask.

      • Spudalicious

        Oh HM, that’s a step too far.

  12. Count Potato

    “Teen missing for three weeks is found dead after getting ‘trapped’ inside the chimney of a vacant house across the street from his home

    Harley Dilly, 14, went missing December 20 and was discovered dead Monday after police decided to search a summer home that was under renovation across the street from his Ohio home.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7886911/Teen-missing-2-weeks-dead-chimney-vacant-house-street-home.html

    At least he learned that Santa wasn’t real.

    • leon

      Dang…. I guess the moral is if you are going to go down a chimney, make sure its of a house that is inhabited?

      • ChipsnSalsa

        Hot take guess here. Was trying to access unoccupied house upon a dare or egging on by friends. Then he could open up the door and let his buds in.

      • leon

        Was trying to access unoccupied house upon a dare or egging on by friends.

        But then why didn’t his friends tell anyone he was stuck? I mean i could see being embarrased for a few hours but to leave him there for weeks?

      • ChipsnSalsa

        ohh, perhaps he did it solo that he would be able to provide open house party later on.

      • Tonio

        Nobody wanted to call the cops for fear of accessory or trespass charges.

        Someone said he’d call the cops, but didn’t. When it became obvious that he was still there after a day or so nobody wanted to call because of possible manslaughter / negligent homicide charges.

      • Rhywun

        Imagine having that on your conscience for the next 65 years or so. Enjoy hell, lad(s).

      • Raston Bot

        kid sounds a bit odd. reported that he would spend the night outside the house when he was upset. and video showed him alone. me thinks he was just making a really bad decision.

    • Raston Bot

      died from dehydration, i assume. that is fucking tragic.

      • R C Dean

        Could be suffocation, depending on how tight the fit was.

      • Raston Bot

        just read through.. 18 degrees so possibly exposure.

      • Raston Bot

        9″x13″ but he was 4’9″ and 100lbs.

      • Tonio

        Ultimately a gruesome combo of the three, plus starvation. Normal incremental dehydration is exacerbated by cold, presumed yelling for help. Cold temperature accelerates burning of fat, then muscle to maintain core temperature. At some point you just become too tired to hold your head up, or if your head is flopped back you slip into coma.

        About once a year you read about a chimney body, though usually been there much longer. Always attributed to attempted use of chimney as entry point for burglary.

  13. R C Dean

    Apparently, several of the PHX Glibs are lining up to do this. Silly kids.

    We are sorry the page you are looking for cannot be found. Back to home

    • Not Adahn

      JY is not trans fat in the least. Genuine, bona fide 100% real cis fat.

    • Rhywun

      “Jessica Yaniv is proof that trans fats are bad.”

      *snort*

    • Tonio

      Moar.

      Not shilling for them, but they seem to have a good background on the whole thing.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Where does he get the money to continue these shenanigans?

      • Not Adahn

        From suing people.

  14. The Late P Brooks

    We’re either in serious danger from climate change or we aren’t. Our leaders need to figure out the answer and respond accordingly.

    Just what a science denier would say.

  15. leon

    Don’t even talk to crazy…

    Soffe said an officer responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle parked behind an IHOP about 3:30 p.m. Monday. After the officer spoke with the driver, Soffe said, the woman tried to run him over as he walked back to his car.

    The officer avoided the woman’s vehicle, Soffe said. She then turned onto 800 West in Woods Cross and drove off at a high speed.

  16. Not Adahn

    His filing says the U.S. has never explicitly banned trial by combat. Her attorney asked the judge to reject the request.

    The judge says he won’t be issuing any decisions soon, citing irregularities with both sides’ motions and responses.

    So you’re saying there’s a possibility you might grant the request? Bitchin’.

    • leon

      I’ve heard a judge can do whatever he wants in his own court room.

      Or was that in his chambers?

    • R C Dean

      Three words:

      Pay

      Per

      View

      • Not Adahn

        Oooh! And you could use the proceeds to pay for Public Defenders! That’s a troll on par with “Islam is right about women.”

  17. Pope Jimbo

    Proto-SF? (SSFW)

    From a site that was totally devoted to pictures and fiction revolving around women in cars getting stuck in the mud. Different twists for different folks I guess.

    *Sadly SFW

  18. Q Continuum

    As much as it pains me to do so, Titty Tuesday will indulge Glibs who support the itty bitty titty committee.

    http://archive.is/cStCO

    Never let it be said that I don’t suffer for my art.

    • Count Potato

      Some of those look pretty big.

    • The Hyperbole

      Seems like a lot less ink than the usual suspects, coincidence? Or do big tits lead to bad tattoos?

      • Not Adahn

        Causality arrow is the other way — tattoo ink causes hypermastotrophism.

      • R C Dean

        I’m going with Hype on this one, on the theory that big ‘uns divert blood flow from the brain.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Big plastic boobies and bad tattoos.

        Two great tastes that go great together!

      • Rhywun

        One bad decision leads to another.

    • creech

      Nine is fine and twenty is plenty.

    • DEG

      Never let it be said that I don’t suffer for my art.

      You’ll live. Not a bad collection.

  19. Not Adahn

    Our dear friend from Europe arrives today

    And you didn’t let them do the links?

    • SP

      He isn’t here yet. And lest the Glibertariat worry that we wouldn’t admit knowledge of this site to him, he has met several of TPTB, and apparently liked them. He and Swiss especially hit it off.

      • R C Dean

        Has anyone ever not liked Swiss?

      • Not Adahn

        Probably some Afghans.

    • JaimeRoberto Delecto

      Friends don’t let friends do the links, because therein lurks Steve Smith.

  20. Count Potato

    “Nearly 10 years after Australian camels (and their methane emissions) were identified as a factor in climate change, 10,000 of the country’s wild dromedaries now face a slaughter.

    The cull, which was scheduled to start Wednesday, comes as part of an effort to help conditions in fire-ravaged Australia.

    According to the Independent, the camels are drinking up valuable water and exacerbating the country’s drought.

    Citing The Australian, the outlet also noted that the camels are being slaughtered over their greenhouse gas contributions.”

    https://www.westernjournal.com/australia-slaughtering-10000-camels-combat-global-warming/

    How long until they ban human farting?

    • R C Dean

      So the eco-nutters are now exterminating wildlife?

      Did not see that coming.

      • Mojeaux

        Like PETA saves animals …

      • Not Adahn

        Look up “wild animal welfare.” There’s a… I hate to use the word significant but a noticeable faction in the Rationalist/Effective Altruist community that have determined (using actual math!) that euthanizing wild animals is more utilitarian than allowing them to be born, suffer and die.

      • Florida Man

        Don’t they cull reindeer for that reason?

      • Gustave Lytton

        Reindeer make excellent sausages.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Reindeer is excellent. I had some in Finland years ago and loved it.

      • Not Adahn

        One of the fancy-pants stores here (literally. They sell fancy pants.) sell reindeer leather driving gloves with cashmere lining. Oddly enough, I wasn’t all that impressed with the leather.

      • Ted S.

        Did you get a pair for UCS?

      • Mojeaux

        YOU ATE RUDOLPH?!

      • DEG

        YOU ATE RUDOLPH?!

        Yes.

        Reindeer and caribou are the same. I’ve had caribou steaks. Delicious.

      • Urthona

        Reindeer are better than people.

      • Bobarian LMD

        For eating or making gloves out of?

      • Mojeaux

        I have heard nothing beats the taste of human.

        I wouldn’t know, personally.

      • Rhywun

        But California can’t do proper water management because of smelt or something. What a world.

      • Bobarian LMD

        He who smelt it, delta it?

      • tarran

        So the eco-nutters are now exterminating wildlife?

        They have been for a long time. Most green policies are ecologically destructive and are intended to satisfy their primitive animist cult’s demand for sacrifices to propitiate their angry earth/sky-goddess.

    • Not Adahn

      *Beano’s legal department begins drafting legislation*

    • Raston Bot

      i assume they’ll be thrown on the barbie.

  21. Nephilium

    Stupid work getting busy all afternoon. Trashy, I really enjoyed reading your piece, and look forward to the debate I’m sure it caused.

    /currently agnostic, was raised Roman Catholic.

  22. Rufus the Monocled

    Third link is broken.

    Like my heart.

    • SP

      They moved the story after I had scheduled the links. They are losers.

  23. Q Continuum

    RE: Grandpa Bernie’s Gulags.

    I won’t post the video here since I’m sure someone has already posted it, but refusal of the MSM to cover that should, IMO, be interpreted as complicity. This isn’t just an off the cuff gaffe; this is a paid campaign staffer openly advocating mass incarceration and genocide.

    Can you imagine if a Trump staffer, even off the record, said “yeah man, once we win, we’re gonna kill all them Jooz and Messicans!”? Wall-to-wall 24/7 coverage until the election. Sickening.

    • creech

      The dude’s probably been fired already, right? Right, Bernie? Good question for tonite’s “debate.”

      • Rhywun

        tonite’s “debate.”

        Oh hell… really?

      • Not Adahn

        Yeah, that’s why Warren leaked the “Bernie hates wimmen” story.

      • R C Dean

        Hopefully, she’ll follow up with something about liberals being first up against the wall and gulags.

    • Sean

      paid campaign staffer openly advocating mass incarceration and genocide.

      Yeah, but they want to whack the liberals first. I’m kind of conflicted on this one.

    • Not Adahn

      It’s Project Veritas. It’s all fake. Probably Russian deepfakes from the darkweb. At the very least selectively edited. Definitely doctored video.

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        I don’t know why, but I believe you

    • Q Continuum

      Free helicopter rides?

      • R C Dean

        Free? Sounds commie to me.

        Nope. They should have to pay for them.

      • Not Adahn

        Diesel engines run on basically any kind of fat, right?

      • Rufus the Monocled

        You can’t be a student of history and at the same time treat this lightly.

    • Tonio

      Ooooh, check out the black leather jacket on O’Keefe. Who does he think he is, Nick Gilliespie?

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        The Nick Gillespie of investigative journalists?

  24. Mojeaux

    XY has a friend who, last month, attempted suicide and was in Children’s Mercy for a few days (a week? not sure).

    Today, said friend went up onto the roof of the school building. Lockdown commenced. XY got home and went straight to his room, where he is brooding.

    At least these two brushes up against the reality seems to have diminished my XY’s suicidal ideation.

    Glibbies, I gotta tell you. Mr. Mojeaux and I are at a complete loss as to how to deal with all this bullshit so as to help the tax deductions through it. I am not capable of homeschooling and we can’t afford private school (as if that would be any better).

    • Mad Scientist

      Just show him documentaries of lions culling the weak from a herd of gazelle. He’ll get the idea.

    • Count Potato

      Sorry 🙁

      Do you think it’s the school’s fault though?

      • Mojeaux

        Oh goodness, no. It’s his friend group. All a bunch of drama kings and queens. On the one hand, some of his behavior problems at home started to lessen when his friends started cutting him off (temporarily) for the exact same behavior he displays at home, and he is trying to improve and be a better person. OTOH, most of my son’s psychological issues (the ones that need therapy, not drugs) are because of his friends and all the freaking drama, not anything at home. I have reason to believe that home really is his safe space no matter how much tension and contention there is here.

    • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

      That sounds terrible.

      Why are kids doing this?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Kids are stupid and hormonal.

      • Florida Man

        No perspective. “That girl/boy I like rejected me. Bits the end of the world”

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Yeah. First time I broke up with a serious girlfriend, I was a wreck.

        Second time, meh….

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        But there is so much strange at a young man’s beckon call nowadays. How could you be depressed to be a teen and not have a girlfriend?

      • Gadfly

        How could you be depressed to be a teen and not have a girlfriend?

        Because a lot of times people don’t want a girlfriend/boyfriend, they want that girlfriend/boyfriend. Eventually people realize that there are a lot of similar fish in the sea, but it doesn’t always feel like that.

      • The Hyperbole

        Also crippling social anxiety and extremely low self worth, or at least that was my friend’s problem.

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        Disturbing

      • Rhywun

        Seems to rise and fall in waves. Wasn’t there a big teenage suicide (Don’t Do It!) panic in the 80s?

      • JaimeRoberto Delecto

        Heathers was prophetic.

      • Gadfly

        I’ve never investigated this, but is suicide more common among well off communities than poor communities? Because if so, my guess for the reason behind the rise in teen suicide would be too much luxury and not enough hardship.

      • Mojeaux

        too much luxury and not enough hardship

        I would agree with that. See my above comment about too much choice.

        They have the luxury of time to think about this stuff and fall in with it.

      • Mojeaux

        I have hypotheses.

        One of them is that with everyone being accepting of any and all identities and psychological issues clouds real issues.

        It’s the curse of choice. How many choices do you have to be whatever you feel like at the moment? You feel like a girl? Yay! You’re a girl! You feel pansexual? Yay! You’re pansexual! (“Cut the bullshit. It’s bisexual.” “No, pansexual is not the same as bisexual. You’re old.” “There are girl parts. There are boy parts. There are very few both parts. There are no no parts. Pansexual is bisexuality with new branding and less meaning.”)

        So instead of getting through puberty with the two options you have, boy or girl, you’re given an alphabet soup of things you could might possibly be and how awesome is that!

        Add in trying to figure out a future occupation or underlying mental health problems (my kid is ADHD and OCD) getting through the next test with a C or any home problems with parents who are wishy-washy, and it’s a tangle of options and possibilities and you cannot capture any clear direction. The kids with wishy-washy parents come to school with attitudes and freedoms the other kids don’t get, but without guidance, they’re foundering too and it infects the other ones.

        I give my kid a kind of freedom his friends don’t get, but he has to not fuck up to keep it.

        So the way I see it is that suddenly, there’s too much information, too many possibilities, all of them are valid, they can’t figure out which foot to put in front of the other, and they just go with whatever garners the most validation.

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        I like your thesis. It’s interesting to consider.

        I also liked your comments at the end of the last thread regarding legalism and religion.

      • Mojeaux

        Oh, thank you! I came to the discussion late because I was at Walmart.

      • Mojeaux

        When I say “valid,” I don’t mean actually valid. I mean, they are being validated everywhere (peers, teachers, maybe some parents) so that their fragile egos aren’t crushed. I don’t know whether the adults do this with a roll of the eyes and an under-the-breath, “When is this phase going to end?” or if the adults really think this is a good move.

        Mr. Mojeaux and I try to keep the bumper pads in the gutter and just pray they don’t get pulled out while he’s rolling down the lane.

      • Gadfly

        Pansexual is bisexuality with new branding and less meaning.

        Pansexual ought to mean one who likes men, women, and other…with other being potentially very broad. Like the god pan. (link may be NSFW, but in a classical statue sort of way)

      • Not Adahn

        Not a Calphalon fetishist?

    • Florida Man

      Have you spoken to the school counselor for resources? Usually there are pay by ability therapist.

    • Raston Bot

      sorry to hear this. is therapy an option?

    • RAHeinlein

      I’m sorry, Mojeaux. I can from personal experience with one of my XY’s during HS that therapy was beneficial, although suicidal thoughts weren’t among his issues.

      Regarding homeschooling – is the concern that you are not emotionally prepared to deal with the option?

      • Mojeaux

        I am financially and temperamentally and logistically incapable of it. In short, I am a crap teacher and I mangle everything.

        There’s an episode of Happy Days where Fonzi is hired to teach shop in the high school. So the first day, he rolls in, has everybody stand around while he disassembles a carburetor. Then he puts it back together again in a flash. Then he points to a kid and says, “Now you do it.” Kid can’t, obviosly, and Fonzi is truly flummoxed why he can’t.

        That’s me. That’s the way I teach.

        And I have to work.

      • Gender Traitor

        Are there any charter schools in your area? Maybe even a statewide online charter school?

      • Mojeaux

        I can look.

        I’m not sure taking him out of school will help. I am at once wanting to protect and shield him from stupid shit and from doing stupid shit, but ALSO I want him to learn how to deal with the world on its terms because the world will most certainly not deal with him on his.

        I look back at the stupid shit I did. It was fine for ME. But I look at him and think, “Little Dude, WTF are you DOING?!”

      • DEG

        I think Gender Traitor’s suggestion is good.

        Also, about homeschooling, from the homeschoolers I know some have set up networks where they help each other out with teaching topics.

      • Spudalicious

        Sorry to hear that Mojeaux. My boys teen years were “difficult” also.

      • Mojeaux

        Thanks, Spud. I thought XX was going to be my drama princess and she is in a way, but XY keeps so much of himself to himself I didn’t think he had any drama in him, much less how much.

        XX had drama. Lots of drama. It was over the course of about four months. That burned her so much she wans zero drama ever again and keeps herself aloof enough to get friend time but also mostly drama free except for small irritations.

        You have a lot going too, and I want you to know I think about you and pray for you.

      • Spudalicious

        Thank you. I need all the help I can get.

      • Old Man With Candy

        That’s because of their Uncle.

      • Shirley Knott

        How did your parents handle you? Did it work?
        What would have worked?
        You’re not your parents, but abstract that out as much as you can — gives you at least 1 thing with data behind it.
        My childhood was such that I don’t have much useful to say other than that.

      • Mojeaux

        I didn’t have 25% of the opportunities to be stupid as he does and I have no way to restrict those opportunities other than taking all his electronics away and locking him in his room.

        I’m not trying to evade the question. There is really no extrapolation possible from what worked for me and what might work for him. He is a lot like me, but he’s far more headstrong, ambitious, driven, and clear-headed about what he wants to do in life and I admire that. I wish I’d been like that.

        I LIKE that he is the way he is with his headstrong-ness, but MANAGING it in the meantime (wrangling it, more like) is a constant challenge.

        The rest, all this drama– I just can’t even. It’s 1000-fold worse with social media, and that is with his severely restricted social media and nanny guards and everything.

      • R C Dean

        Changing up his “friend” network seems to be what is needed. Which is really tough without moving to a different town.

        A different school might do that, but might not. Homeschooling probably wouldn’t.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      My classmate’s older brother committed suicide when we were in high school. She found him hanging from a tree. Everyone was stunned… he was probably one of the last people anyone would suspect. One of my best friends was killed a year later in a car accident. I don’t think there’s really anything you, as a parent, can do to help your teenager deal with the death or attempted suicide of a friend. My way of dealing with it was to be there for his mother and sisters. I sent his mother flowers on Mothers Day for several years afterwards.

      Anyone can homeschool who has a desire to do so. There’s many free online programs that can help in any areas you might be deficient in. In your son is miserable in school, you might want to seriously consider homeschooling. My wife homeschool’s our children.

      • Mojeaux

        he was probably one of the last people anyone would suspect

        I happen to think this kid is doing it for attention, but I made the mistake of telling XY that boys who threaten (or try and fail) aren’t serious and boys who never say a word succeed.

        So he now points to this kid and says, “You were wrong,” and I go along with it and say, “Yes, I was wrong,” because I don’t know where that line is between threatening and doing it, and I don’t want to make my kid afraid to come to me. I have no pride. I’ll tell him he was right all day long as long as I can keep him talking to me.

        Now is not the time to express any skepticism or disapproval.

        There was a kid in a different stake (Catholic diocese) who was a star student and athlete, getting ready to go on his mission. He went missing a few days before he was leaving for his mission. They found him hanging in the woods a week later. Nobody knew.

      • Mojeaux

        stake* = in my church, some ways away, in a different geological boundary

    • Tonio

      Ugh, so sorry to hear that.

    • DEG

      Sorry.

      He has his business. A job helped me through some unpleasant times in high school and knocked through my thick skull the reality that high school and high school drama are only temporary.

      • Mojeaux

        Yes, he has an occupational goal. It is lofty, but he’s got it mapped out and I have no doubt he can do it—if he stops spending all his money on junk.

        That does not mean he can’t ALSO participate in school drama, unfortunately.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Toxic work environment

    Abby Huntsman, who has co-hosted “The View” since 2018, announced on Monday that she was departing the popular ABC daytime talk show. The move came amid Huntsman’s complaints about a troubled culture at the show and recent tensions between her and co-host Meghan McCain.

    ——-

    Huntsman and McCain, both of whom hail from famed Republican families, were allies behind the scenes until recently, when there was a dispute between the two women, some of the people familiar with the matter told CNN Business.

    The conflict was over Huntsman’s on-air enthusiasm for her children, the people said. McCain, who wrote an op-ed in The New York Times about her miscarriage last summer and has continued to talk publicly about her fertility challenges, suggested to Huntsman that the child-centric chats were insensitive.

    Following one episode, McCain confronted Huntsman for bringing up her kids on the show. Word of the “baby fight,” as one person called it, quickly spread around “The View” and strained the relationship between the two women.

    “Abby was sick of being berated by Meghan for perceived slights,” one of the people said. “She ultimately decided she didn’t need this job and it wasn’t worth it.”

    I thought womynz were empathetic and supportive.

    • Juvenile Bluster

      I was hoping that once Mr. Maverick died we’d just forget the rest of the family.

      • Gustave Lytton

        From your lips to Gods ears.

        Unfortunately, Miss McCain doesn’t have anything else to fall back upon, so she’s be grabbing for the limelight as much as possible.

      • Not Adahn

        Tom Cruise died!?!?!?

      • UnCivilServant

        Decades ago. Some crazy scientologist has been making movies under his name since.

      • Juvenile Bluster

        Seriously. Look at pictures of him in Top Gun versus now. He hasn’t aged a day. It can’t be the same person.

      • The Hyperbole

        Jack Kelly or James Garner?

      • Not Adahn

        Oh I knew Garner died years ago. The renamed a street in Norman after him.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Best street is Gabby Hayes Way in Wellsville, NY. I only know about it because that’s where the liquor store is.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Was there ever any doubt that Meghan McCain was a narcissistic bitch with a persecution complex?

      • Chipwooder

        HOW DARE YOU INSULT HER FATHER!!!!!

      • Bobarian LMD

        Something about apples and trees.

    • Mad Scientist

      there was a dispute between two women

      There’s a first time for everything, I suppose.

    • Raston Bot

      womynz were empathetic and supportive

      reminds me of that scene with Michael Madsen in Species..

      scientist: We decided to make it female so it would be more docile and controllable.

      hunter: More docile and controllable, eh? You guys don’t get out much.

  26. Juvenile Bluster

    I’m not sure why anyone’s surprised about the gulag video, and you know he’s not the only one in Bernie’s campaign who feels that way. Campaign’s full of tankies, and tankies LOVE gulags.

    • UnCivilServant

      What is a ‘tankie’?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        In the tank for communism, particularly Stalin apologists.

      • leon

        People who thought Stalin was right to “send the tanks in”

      • leon

        With regards to the Hungarian revolution, i think…

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        But, he was right. Look at Hungary today. Without the Soviets, Hungary has democratically elected a man who doesn’t go along with Brussels. That’s literally fascism

      • Not Adahn

        ^This. People who were supportive when the USSR would militarily crush dissent in whatever Iron Curtain countries were having second thoughts about that whole “communism” thing.

    • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

      I am not surprised that any true believer in any candidate believes that the supporters of their adversaries should be locked in gulags. When people convince themselves that paradise can be created on earth, if only their candidates were in office, they always make excuses for genocide.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        As I commented before, political field workers are usually idealistic true believers. I don’t find the existence of that asshole surprising at all.

        What scares the shit out of me are all the grievance studies asshats that are filling up the bureaucracies and lower level elected positions.

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        You nailed what I was trying, but failing, to communicate.

      • Not Adahn

        I worked on Jerry Brown’s 1988 primary run. Not because I supported him, but because my nookie supply did.

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        Everyone is getting laid on a campaign, for the most part. You get a bunch of young twenty-somethings to work all day with little pay and suddenly the field director guy doesn’t look half bad and the volunteer coordinator girl is like an “Iowa eight”.

    • Rhywun

      I’m gonna apply the 48-hour rule on this one.

    • Not Adahn

      “capable”

      I’m really curious as to who made that particular calculation.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Well, the fastest shrapnel could land that far away…”

      • Bobarian LMD

        Well, the FBI probably built the bomb, so they had a pretty good idea of how effective it was.

    • Chipwooder

      500 yards?? What did they have, a fuckin’ MOAB? I’m gonna have to say I am skeptical of that claim.

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        Can we NOT gender bombs?

    • R C Dean

      I think 500 yards would be beyond the serious danger zone for a 500 pound Mark 82 bomb. So I am very skeptical.

      • Drake

        Rule of thumb from a Forward Air Controller – 1 meter per pound for “danger close”.

        So a 500 lb bomb (less than half is explosive) is dangerous but probably not deadly at 500 yards. A 1000 or 2000 pounder will kill you in the open at that distance.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Part of that rule of thumb also has to do with how precise the guy in the plane may be when dropping it.

        Bigger bombs have bigger CEPs.

  27. whiz

    Reminder, you no longer need a color TV to watch the Democratic debates

    The last line is pure gold: “The FCC will soon ask viewers to upgrade to color television in advance of the presidential debates this fall, as the incumbent will require televisions that display a brilliant orange hue.” (Well, gold is close to orange.)

  28. Count Potato

    “Supermodel Gigi Hadid among potential jurors for Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial”

    https://abc13.com/5845419/

  29. Florida Man

    The lead I’m wearing in cath lab smells strongly of cologne and I’ll I can think about is Hat & Hair and the Persian missile strike.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Holocaust!

    In a report released Monday, the Council of Regional Homeless Advisors is calling for an amendment to the California Constitution that would create a legally enforceable mandate to reduce the homeless population. The Legislature would have to craft the plan, which would then appear as a statewide ballot measure in November.

    If approved by voters, the mandate would allow the state to sue cities and counties — or even itself — if the number of people living outdoors in encampments and vehicles doesn’t decline.

    ——-

    “We’ve tried moral persuasion. We’ve tried economic incentives,” Steinberg said. “But all of it’s optional. Why should this be optional? It shouldn’t be. It mustn’t be. Thousands of people are dying on the streets, and people are telling us this is a priority.”

    Wait, what? Thousands of people are dying in the streets?

    • Mad Scientist

      The Legislature would have to craft the plan

      If we just had one more law!

    • Raston Bot

      GOOD! everyone junkie in North America will relocate to California.

    • Rhywun

      Maybe some sort of “hospital” for the ones with mental issues.

      One-way bus tickets for the rest.

      You’re welcome.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Relax zoning and open up affordable flophouses where drug enforcement is relaxed to nonexistent and all but the craziest bums will be happy to stay there. Maybe relax the liability laws for the owners a bit too.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Agreed, Bring back skid row. Flophouses, cold water flats, boarding homes, cage housing even.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      If thousands of homeless are dying in the streets wouldn’t that reduce homeless population in accordance with this legislation?

    • Gustave Lytton

      Opening the door to a massive blank check to the homeless activist industry.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    If we just had one more law!

    Abracadabra, bitchez!

  32. mexican sharpshooter

    Apparently, several of the PHX Glibs are lining up to do this. Silly kids.

    The hell we are. It would have more takers in Vegas.

  33. Raston Bot

    Sanders campaign exposing itself. Warren suiciding with a lie about Sanders. Booker out.

    I’m calling it: the Dem nominee will be Bloomberg

    • Rufus the Monocled

      The only good good commie or socialist is a dead one.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Rufus, you’re like a throwback to 80’s bumper stickers:

        Better Dead Than Red

        Kill A Commie For Your Mommie

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        Wishing death upon commies never goes out of style

      • Chipwooder

        Nope

      • KKK Kia and the Jets.....

        Better Dead than Read,
        Karl Marx

      • Not Adahn

        *applause*

      • Rufus the Monocled

        You’ll love this then.

        The other day some asshole stole all the salt from our bin at the daycare. After the snow company came back to refill it, my sister put a note in the bin saying ‘Do not steal. Shame on you. You’re jeopardizing the safety of the children’.

        I got more to the point. I uploaded and printed a ‘Kill a commie from mommy’ pic and wrote on a piece of paper: Don’t steal like a commie or socialist.

      • Mad Scientist

        Same thing with varmint poontang!

      • Urthona

        I’m a total pacifist.

        Also, we should kill all the commies.

    • Drake

      on TV at the gymn The Five are having fun with this right now. (Except for Juan Willoams, bless his heart)

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      That reminds me of this video I saw recently:

      https://youtu.be/NHxYXFH92JM?t=161

      If I saw that guy cooking my meal, I’d get up and leave.

      • AlmightyJB

        I agree

      • Rhywun

        If a white guy is cooking your meal in a restaurant these days, it’s almost guaranteed he looks something like that.

      • Not Adahn

        That was my only exposure to naked racism when I lived in Bryan, TX. A little old lady told me she only went to Chicken Express because you could see into the kitchen and “they have nice white boys working there.”

      • Rhywun

        LOL she probably hasn’t witnessed the freaks that work in the restaurant industry in hip cities.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    500 yards?? What did they have, a fuckin’ MOAB? I’m gonna have to say I am skeptical of that claim.

    Speaking of which…

    I saw a story earlier about some woman who made a BOMB while meandering around some Walmart store. With, like, nails and string and alcohol and a candle. I am not a chemist, but it didn’t sound to me as if it would even qualify as a functional Molotov cocktail. She was probably going to drink it, once she found the Sterno.

    But it was an excuse to panic the herd animals. Not to be passed up.

    • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

      Eh…I don’t know.

      You’re telling me that if you saw MacGyver at a store assembling such sorted items you’d think “Yeah, we’re good”. Maybe she was MacGyver in disguise

      • Mad Scientist

        Excuse me, can you tell me which aisle you keep the potassium nitrate in?

    • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

      True story- the Soviets accused people that they threw in the gulags of being ‘Nazis’, so they’re good too.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Of course that pajama boy writes for the NYT, The Nation, and New Republic.

    • Chipwooder

      And they believe everyone who isn’t a Communist is a Nazi.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    You’re telling me that if you saw MacGyver at a store assembling such sorted items you’d think “Yeah, we’re good”. Maybe she was MacGyver in disguise

    If it looked like she actually knew what she was doing, I might go to the sporting goods department and get a dumbbell to drop on her toe.

    • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

      “get a dumbbell to drop on her toe.”

      Do you even MacGyver, brah? That would never work

      • Florida Man

        My father in law loves McGyver, but is not a native English speaker, so for his screen name he put “McGayver”. His kids pointed out the spelling years later, but he kept it anyways because that’s how his online friends knew him.

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        That’s hilarious.

        My dad is not a native English speaker and throughout my childhood he always struggled to pronounce “Hamburger” as it always came out as “Humbooger”, which for some reason we thought was hilarious when we were younger.

      • Florida Man

        Hats off to anyone who can speak another language, even with a heavy accent.

      • Jarflax

        You speak yankee.

      • Florida Man

        Wicked Guud.

  36. The Late P Brooks

    I’m calling it: the Dem nominee will be Bloomberg

    And Tom Perez goes out and buys a new house.

  37. The Late P Brooks

    Natural causes. Good work LAPD.

    “It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes.”

    • Chipwooder

      What’s in the trunk?

      • KKK Kia and the Jets.....

        “I learned to make it as a kid…”

      • Florida Man

        Only what you see, pal.

      • Rhywun

        Junk?

      • Bobarian LMD

        “Oh… you don’t want to look in there.”

  38. DEG

    Our dear friend from Europe arrives today, so I am extremely pressed for time attempting to get the house in an order that will meet his tidy preferences.

    Pie is coming to America?

    • Urthona

      He should look for a bride. In Queens.

      Zany hijinks will ensue.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Oddly, this is a guy who was one of my favorite magazine article writers during my college days and for some years after that. Thanks to the miracle of the internet, we met ftf in Belgium about 16 or 17 years ago. They always say, “Never meet a writer or artist you admire, you will be highly disappointed.”

      I wasn’t. And we almost immediately became close friends. When I met SP, they hit it off as well, ditto WebDom. So he has separate correspondence with the whole family. We have some mutual professional interests, so we’ll be spending the next 2 months geeking out and writing papers about it.

      • DEG

        Excellent.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    Do you even MacGyver, brah? That would never work

    Well, I guess I could rig up some levers and pulleys and ropes and counterweights, and throw it at her, trebuchet-style.

    • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

      Now you’re thinking

    • leon

      It would be awful…. But there would be a bright spot in that dark future. The US Constitution would have an amendment repealing and amendment to repeal and amendment.

      • KKK Kia and the Jets.....

        Amendments For EVERYBODY!!!!

    • Rhywun

      A control-freak writing for The Atlantic? Get out!

    • Juvenile Bluster

      When my great grandfather (who ran with Meyer Lansky for a time and spent time in jail in the 30s) was alive, he once described something as being “as dry as a WCTO meeting”. Still makes me laugh to think of it.

      • Shirley Knott

        You knew your great grandfather? You are very fortunate, I only knew one grandfather, and he passed before I hit puberty.

      • Rhywun

        I vaguely remember a great grandma – we visited her in PA a few times and it was always a treat. She made it into her 90s.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I had one grandparent who wasn’t particularly interested in kids. The rest were already all dead.

  40. Grummun

    Having rubber gloves and Bar Keepers Friend is almost like having a super power.

    Preach it, sister. Bar Keeper’s Friend is the shit.

  41. Pan Zagloba

    Damnable meeting made me miss the excellent History of Church article and the attendant discussion, which made me sad.

    Tim O’Neill, whose review of Agora was my entry point to “no, most of the shit you think you know about The Church vs The Science is wrong, and our fellow atheists are at fault” series of articles on his old site, has a great in-depth examination of Tom Holland’s book on the topic, and Holland is generally an excellent writer (also an atheist). Disclaimer: I’ve not followed O’Neill’s new site, so there might be some stupid shit on it, too, I dunno, Trump and Trump-related derangements ruined the Internet.

    Also, as a third-generation Atheist Nobility who finds American Atheism so…quaint (OK, mostly I’m joking), what I want in my churchman? What Dave Mitchell plays here, and unironically so. Or as Terry Pratchett’s fifth greatest creation would say:

    “Now if I’d seen him, really there, really alive, it’d be in me like a fever. If I thought there was some god who really did care two hoots about people, who watched ’em like a father and cared for ’em like a mother … well, you wouldn’t catch me sayin’ things like ‘there are two sides to every question’ and ‘we must respect other people’s beliefs.’ You wouldn’t find me just being gen’rally nice in the hope that it’d all turn out right in the end, not if that flame was burning in me like an unforgivin’ sword. And I did say burnin’, Mister Oats, ‘cos that’s what it’d be. You say that you people don’t burn folk and sacrifice people anymore, but that’s what true faith would mean, y’see? Sacrificin’ your own life, one day at a time, to the flame, declarin’ the truth of it, working’ for it, breathin’ the soul of it. That’s religion. Anything else is just … is just bein’ nice. And a way of keepin’ in touch with the neighbors.”

    • Shirley Knott

      Granny’s only fifth??

      • Pan Zagloba

        1) Sam Vimes
        2) Death
        3) Moist von Lipwig
        4) Vetinari (would be higher, had he not been ruined by over-indulgence, fuck the end of Making Money
        5) Granny Weatherwax

        Believe me, I counted and she almost – almost – lost out to Tiffany Aching.

      • Shirley Knott

        Well, I can acknowledge the ordering without fully agreeing with it. I would put Granny above Moist, although it’s fractions of a point off from a flat out tie.
        And will once again get on my soapbox about Joseph Paxton: The Busiest Man in England by Colquhon. Worth it in its own right, but we’re looking at reality and fiction both doing the coming of steam.

  42. mikey

    Since “fairness” is the Word of the Week shouldn’t the Dem senators running for President recuse themselves from Donnie’s trial?

  43. Mojeaux

    Sent a question to my lawyer this morning. So the court wants to know about intellectual property. I’m like, well I’ve got plenty of that! Let’s start with the cross stitch patterns. So I had to explain about ancillary “assets” like domain names and ISBNs and having published other people’s books, not a lick of which I wrote myself, and that I have a publishing partner with whom I have a “gentleman’s agreement” that has worked for 12 years and…what do I do with this work that is not mine but I am responsible for?

    Her admin sent back: “Uh…I’m going to have to ask because that is not what normal people have.”

    • Shirley Knott

      “I run a small business where I edit and publish written works. I also provide services for supporting and creating author websites.”
      Don’t overthink it, don’t overdo it. I know, I’ve been there, and all the ‘gut instincts’ to disclose down to the last nickel are wrong and counterproductive. Talk again with your lawyer if need be, but lumping and generalizing are your friends, or at least they were mine. As are presentations that don’t necessarily elevate the potential value vs the niche nature of stuff. Ultimately, they’re looking for stuff that’s worthwhile for a conservator (or whatever in your state) can take and sell. I had electronic music gear and fine art lithographs (Dali, probably fraudulent) and they didn’t touch them.

      • Mojeaux

        Thank you!

        I did ask her how specific the list should get, but I have not gotten an answer yet.

      • Shirley Knott

        Oooh, you’re (kind of) in luck. Get cracking on lumping and joining and have something for her when she calls/emails*. Doesn’t have to be complete, so use it to at least manage the ‘worst stuff’.
        *It’s easier to make unreasonable demands of people before they’ve started than it is to make them undo or redo work they’ve finished.

  44. Cannoli

    Trshy, great article earlier.

    My parents didn’t raise us in the church because they thought it would be wrong to tell us what to believe at a young age, and we could make our own decisions when we were older. I understand their reasoning, but the result was that I didn’t know enough about religion to make a decision.

    I still don’t know what to believe (or not). I think that Ozy’s mention of the blind men and the elephant is exactly right. The questions religion wrestles with are the most important ones there are, and the answers are probably beyond what we can ever fully understand. But people smarter than me have been working on these questions for thousands of years, and I could easily spend a lifetime trying to understand what they’ve already figured out.

    I’m working on reading the Bible. I’ve also gotten a lot out of C.S. Lewis’s fiction and Jordan Peterson’s biblical lectures. Aquinas and Lewis’s nonfiction are on my to read list.

    I’d be interested in a church that serves theological meat instead of milk, but I don’t have the faintest idea how to find one.

    • Mojeaux

      There IS a purpose and time for milk. If you don’t have the basics, it’s hard to build a solid view.

      • Caput Lupinum

        To torture the metaphor further, it might be better to supplant milk for broth. Taking the big meaty questions and diluting them into something easier to digest is different to offering sweet platitudes to satisfy an underdeveloped intellectual palette.

        Ok, stretching that any further will end up in pun territory, so out of respect to our alpine guards I’ll stop.

      • Caput Lupinum

        Or supplant broth for milk, rather. I just got home, my brain hasn’t rebooted completely yet.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        What about curdled milk? Are we talking a clam broth or chicken broth?

        I’m so confused.

      • Cannoli

        A church that did both would also be good, but I don’t know how to look

    • DEG

      I haven’t read trshy’s article yet.

      My parents shipped us off to Catholic school when it was possible. We stopped going to Mass on Sunday at some point. I can’t remember when. If I remember correctly, my parents were pissed at our inability to behave during the Mass. However, we still got Mass at school.

      I really have nothing to do with organized religion any more outside of weddings and funeral Masses. I think my brothers are the same. My sister occasionally goings to Mass on holidays.

    • AlmightyJB

      Have you read Ethics philosophy or Evolution based morality?

      • Cannoli

        A little, but I’d definitely like to learn more in depth. Any particular titles you’d recommend?

      • AlmightyJB

        Well Michael Shermer has probably done the most that I’m aware of relating evolution/science to morality. While I really like Shermer, I find most attempts at this, including his, involve baking conclusions into the premise. As far as Ethics Philosophy goes, it’s an entire branch and most philosophers in history had something to say about it. I would look for a very brief overview of philosophers through history as a starting point. Or you could save years of studying theology and ethics with the realization that it’s all bullshit:) lol. I don’t mean to say it’s all without merit, just that there is no gnostic enlightenment waiting for you on the other side.

      • R C Dean

        baking conclusions into the premise.

        A universal problem, which philosophers are definitely not immune to.

      • AlmightyJB

        Yeah, it’s like, your logic is impeccable, only one problem. Lol.

      • AlmightyJB

        I have an older version of this book (Amazon is listing the version I have for $865. There’s a decimal mistake there:)) Very brief summary of Philosophers though history. Not going to go into any detail at all but nice overview of concepts. You might be better off with something specific to Ethics, I don’t know.

        https://www.amazon.com/dp/1465445641/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_T3LhEbPF442WF

      • AlmightyJB

        I’m sure there are newer editions.

      • Cannoli

        Thanks!

    • Jarflax

      I would call what you guys are referring to milk as the sales pitch and what you are calling meat as the actual product. “Jesus loves you he died for your sins so you can live forever in heaven” is sales pitch for a much more elaborate explanation that has to touch on subjects like the nature of creation, the nature and known purposes of the Creator, the necessity for, value of, and limitations to free will, as well as many more. If you can be satisfied with the sales pitch version it makes life easier in many ways, but it leads to those agonized crises of faith when you find yourself confronted with apparent contradictions like the existence of evil and the seemingly pointless pain we all suffer.

      The explanations of those contradictions have been attempted but you aren’t going to get them from Pastor Bob on Sunday, you’ll need to dig into some of the more complex writings of the past, and I suspect you will generally find better thought out answers in faiths with lengthy histories.

      • AlmightyJB

        1. Story.
        2. Wisdom conveyed by story.
        3. How you can apply that wisdom to your life (in a positive way).

        To me, that’s the best you’re probably going to get from a contemporary church. Except for of course, networking and hot chicks:)

    • leon

      Isn’t that called Mead?

      • AlmightyJB

        No, I believe mead is honey based. No milk involved.

      • DEG

        Correct. Mead is fermented honey.

  45. Stinky Wizzleteats

    An interesting church recommendation for anyone looking:

    https://youtu.be/-t4rYy8766k

    Faith only, no CroFab allowed, although it might almost be worth it for the music.

    • Rhywun

      Wooo – where do I sign up?

    • AlmightyJB

      There’s only one snake Ima handlin’.

      • Mojeaux

        *headdesk*

        I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT!!!

      • AlmightyJB

        Lol.

    • Sean

      Are you suggesting I should buy more stripped lowers?

      • AlmightyJB

        Yes, and quickly lose them in a boating accident.

  46. Q Continuum

    If Mojeaux is still around:

    How old is your son? If he’s 17, I recommend getting him a GED and putting him in the military. Family friend had problems on top of problems like your son. His mom pretty much dragged him down to the recruiter and signed him up. Totally turned his life around and he’s a happy, productive person now.

    • Mojeaux

      14

      I’ve thought about a boot camp, trust me. Can’t afford it, but if this is still an issue in 3 years, I will definitely talk it over with Mr. Mojeaux.

      Mr. Mojeaux was emancipated at 14, BTW. He got a CA certificate of completion when he was 16. The upper-class GED, I guess.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Send him here. SP will put the fear of Yahweh into him.

      • KKK Kia and the Jets.....

        I got that Cert when I was 16, send him to my place, fun, Heat and Work….

      • Mojeaux

        He would do well with you, Yusef, and I would trust him with you. I just can’t pay you. :/

      • Charles Easterly

        “… I recommend getting him a GED and putting him in the military.”

        I will not advocate this course of action, Mojeaux.

        It seems to me that this idea has been supported for a great many years before I was conceived.

        May I recommend that you research “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” and the number of military (and related) service members who have killed themselves in your own lifetime?

      • Shirley Knott

        +1

      • Ozymandias

        Charles, the numbers are 24.8/100K (AD), and 22.9 (Res), with Guard being 30.9 – which is weird, but the numbers aren’t far off from US suicide data as a whole by age. I know PTSD isn’t a perfect correlate with suicide, but they should generally track each other. If there is a difference, I suspect that might be more to endless war than to being in the military per se. So, I’m not sure that’s really a fair reason. Her son has a marginally slight statistical increase in his risk from the general population, but I imagine there are professions with worse.

        By way of other answer, I will offer a paraphrase from General Mattis – yep, everyone who’s ever served under him has a good Mattis story up their sleeve! Mine came when I was a defense attorney and if you check on military suicides you’ll find the numbers run something like 40-50% of the people in the military who kill themselves have an administrative or military justice (i.e. court-martial) “issue” going on. IOW, it was our clients killing themselves and it was taking a toll on our attorneys. When asked – in light of this – about PTSD among our clients, Mattis’ response was something like this:

        I am not here to blow smoke to any of you. In fact, I will tell you from personal experience that you are not the same after you have killed a man as you were before it. Period. And if you aren’t, there probably is something wrong with you. However, I will also tell you that my uncles and the older men in my neighborhood came back from World War 2 and Korea and they had seen things that were unfathomable. The came back, got to work, and rebuilt this nation.
        I will say two things about this: First, you get the behavior that you reward and we need to be careful about that. Second, why is it that we assume that war must break us? That we have to come back somehow ‘damaged’ a sa result of the experience? Why can’t it be that we come back with a renewed appreciation for the beauty and sanctity of life? The men I knew who came from the wars – most of them did.

        I say that as someone with firsthand experience of what you speak, but I’m not sure you’re asserting it as a reason to NOT join the military is really as valid as you seem to think it is. (What I wrote about the AVIP, however, would be a good enough principled reason to avoid it, in my mind. So there’s that.)

      • Charles Easterly

        Ozy: “Defense Department officials have released a report focused on prevention and analysis of service member and family member suicides.”

        I hope their efforts come to fruition.

        Unfortunately, many of our fellows will kill themselves in the interim.

      • Charles Easterly

        My opinion regarding “Mojeaux”s more recent situation stands

      • Mojeaux

        That’s a good thought.

        I’ve got 3-4 years to think about this.

        The thing that makes me hesitate is that he has his mind on a singular goal: To build a landscaping company. He’s got his little lawnmowing business right now and he goes out to shovel snow and makes decent money with that. This winter, his mentor is having hip replacement surgery, so XY will be taking over those shoveling duties. He put the Christmas lights up on the house and I told him that he could add that to his service list.

        He is a VERY hard worker and his clients love him.

        He wants to go to college and get a degree in landscape design. There is a local landscaping company, the son of a doctor that lives 2 doors down from us. It’s very successful. XY knows to the year, make, and model (not the VIN) of that fleet, how many other assets that company has, and he can extrapolate how much the owner brings home a year.

        He also gets good grades without having to be told…in fact, we don’t say a word to him about it. We don’t have to.

        He will be out the door the second he turns 18 because he wants to be out on his own. I respect that. If he wants to stay while he gets his GE requirements, that’s fine.

        So if he continues along this path, I will let it play out and see what happens.

    • Q Continuum

      Privacy’s great; until it isn’t. Deep State sucks; until it doesn’t.

    • Rhywun

      Yeah, Apple doesn’t have a “back door”, idiots. The only way to get in is via the cracker outfits mentioned in the article.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I didn’t realize they were so effective. It sounds like getting into your phone is a snap if they really want to get in.

      • Rhywun

        It’s a constant battle patching up security holes. These outfits hire sketchy kids who grew up breaking into shit.

        At the end of the day Apple and friends are never going to open the “back door” the FBI wants because that would be the end of their business.

  47. KKK Kia and the Jets.....

    Give a Prayer for Tres, Just sayin’

    • Mojeaux

      Oh no!

      Will do!

    • DEG

      Something going on?

      • Ted S.

        There seemed to be a new article up briefly if that’s what you’re asking.

      • KKK Kia and the Jets.....

        Hmmmm.

    • AlmightyJB

      I’m enraged! I have to go back and play those ZZ Top tunes again.

  48. KKK Kia and the Jets.....

    Bella and I went to Vegas today to see Wendy, She’s in great spirits but still very ill, we still dont know the outcome.
    Took the dog home and sat, alone, again, naturally….
    I did play 9 at the disc course and hooked up with a guy I met earlier, Kent is real good, has his own course etc. gave me great tips, and we are having a play date tomorrow,
    New Friends! YAY!

    • Rhywun

      ?

      Best wishes as always

    • DEG

      Best wishes!

    • Shirley Knott

      Excellent! I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again — Yusuf needs cared for too. I’m really glad you’ve got Bella and disc golf and a new buddy.