Saturday Morning One Week Warning Links

by | Dec 18, 2021 | Daily Links | 203 comments

So Christmas falls on Shabbos this year, apparently. And it’s just a week from now. This would be a PERFECT time to go shopping… except for the idiot mask shit from our governess. Several of the surrounding counties have announced that they can’t possibly spare the manpower to enforce it. Our county is awaiting guidance (theoretically) from the Health Department, which is like one guy. He is wisely keeping quiet- the county legislature met last week to get a report from him and he didn’t show up. They all sighed with relief and adjourned. Maybe there is a small corner of sanity in this work.

What’s not sane? Yep, birthdays, totally irrational. But today’s include a guy who was ratioed; a guy who showed the Kennedys what’s what; a short story master who was amazingly prescient; the patron saint of the New York Times; truly the most maligned baseball player of all time; the true father of radio; the guy who gave Sun Ra his start; a jaunty sort of fellow; million dollar legs; someone who, surrounded by pieces of shit, managed to be the vilest piece of shit; a hero to SP, Spud, and me; a guy who will outlive Twinkies; a wise guy who makes stupidly mediocre movies; a guy who is a vastly underrated actor; some chick who’s famous, but I wouldn’t recognize her or any of her songs; and a chick who has parlayed “vacant and self-obsessed” to an empire.

Links are next.

 

A long read, but worth it. It’s hard to decide which action of W Bush was his most horrible one, but I’d nominate the creation of DHS. 

 

Covfefe. Impeach!

 

NY tries to out-idiot CA.

 

Evil garden gnome is evil. And our governess, may she fry in Hell, is right behind him.

 

Speaking of our governess, the Fuck You Kathy is spreading.

 

Return to monke.

 

This is a good article, but the photographer should be charged with Second Degree Felonious Cliché. 

 

Old Guy Music is perfect for these surrealistic times.

 

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. Wait, wrong book, I'll find something else.

203 Comments

  1. The Late P Brooks

    Time flies when you’re having fun.

    • Fourscore

      Fun flies when you have the time.

      • C. Anacreon

        Fruit flies like a banana.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.

      • MikeS

        The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        If you don’t like my principles…

    • Ted S.

      Or as one frog said to the other, “Time’s fun when you’re having flies.”

  2. UnCivilServant

    Is there a good source for which counties have opted not to obey?

    So far I’ve just been going about without a mask and daring anyone to stop me. No one has tried.

    • Jerms

      Same here. Only had one lady ask me if I had a mask but I said no and kept walking.
      Gym owner told me I just had to wear one when I walked past the desk upon entering and keep one in my pocket while I worked out in case someone asked me to put it on. I asked for a refund for the 2 months I paid for in advance. He said the best he could do was pause my membership—I told him Im going to find a new gym, and I did.

  3. The Late P Brooks


    During a Friday appearance on CNN, Hochul accused the renegade county executives of violating their “oath of office, which we all take, which is to protect the people of our state.”

    WRONG.

    • Sean

      Where was that during BLM riots?

      • Chafed

        Conviently forgotten.

    • UnCivilServant

      Why do I ever expect people to see their error and go “I was wrong, we’re stopping the stupid.”?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        You’re made of finer clay?

      • Sean

        Are you saying he’s a golem?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        (Confidentially, mac: I, uh, never read or watched LOTR.)

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Aw heck, is my face red.

        UCS isn’t (((chosen))), is he?

      • UnCivilServant

        Nope, Protestant Irish/English

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        See? you didn’t go to Hebrew school either.

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        Golems are Prague-able something to Czech out!

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        ;-D

  4. Ted S.

    But today’s include a guy who was ratioed;

    Happy birthday Fibonacci!

  5. SDF-7

    Morning, OMWC. Sorry to OT out of the box, but the 6th Circuit just decided to be the Grinch this year. I’m obviously not a lawyer — because I don’t see how a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals can *override* another one. And yeah — bring it back 2 weeks before deadline over Chirstmas, assholes. Sure that won’t screw everyone up.

    I’m sure it isn’t precedent — but one would think this would be the sort of time when the Nazgul could just take up the cross-rulings quickly, given the mixed messaging, obvious huge impact to the country, etc. Which means there’s no chance of that — it would make too much bloody sense.

    Returning to on-topic — I missed on all my birthday guesses — figured the last one was a Kardashian.

    Federal agencies use every spying database they can at a whim? No one ever predicted that… (Yet another reason to get rid of the entire intel establishment and salt that ground for a while — there’s no Firewall or methodology that will rein these jerks in at this point).

    No one can out idiot California, unfortunately.

    I’ll just go pound my head on the wall or scream at the clouds for a bit or something… so tired of this crap, really wanted to just not think about it for a couple of weeks.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I assume the Supremes will take it up now. The resolution might not be to our liking but at least it’ll be settled.

    • Tonio

      “I don’t see how a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals can *override* another one.”

      It’s not an override since each court’s opinion is only binding withing the geographic boundaries of the circuit. This is called a circuit split, and is noted by Stinky is a virtual guarantee that SCOTUS will take this up. Resolving circuit splits among lower, co-equal courts is perhaps the best justification for a single, supreme court.

  6. Ted S.

    the true father of radio;

    Reginald Fessenden?

  7. The Late P Brooks

    If those monkeys find out about machetes, India is fucked.

  8. rhywun

    except for the idiot mask shit from our governess

    I don’t know about your town but nobody is paying any heed to that in southern Brooklyn.

    • rhywun

      only Westchester County has said it will crack down on violators

      Yes, that is exactly the sort of place I would expect it.

    • Old Man With Candy

      In the town itself, only the pharmacy is enforcing it (TBF, they’ve had a mask mandate for a while because of their sick and elderly clientele, and the pharmacist is happy to run my meds next door, to where I am, in exchange for a cup of coffee), but the Progs have fully embraced the fear, making enforcement moot.

      Walk one foot outside of town and there’s zero enforcement. Lots of obedience, though.

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        Yeah, that is how the little college town one over is. Well, Home Depot don’t care, and a lot of businesses NOT frequented by the wolk are similar. But! All the little coffee shops and art stores really do want you to stay safe (at the point of a metaphorical gun)

    • l0b0t

      Yep. I’ve seen a smattering of new signs posted in businesses, but I have yet to be asked to wear a face diaper.

      • Ted S.

        Yeah; the building where I work put up signs sometime after work on Monday, and the grocery store had signs up too.

        The ones on the work building were issued by the State and have the Orwellian “we’re all in this together” bullshit.

  9. Stinky Wizzleteats

    “A move to redefine the term fully vaccinated as three shots of Pfizer or Moderna is “on the table”
    Yeah, no…I’ll pass on the myocarditis. Thanks.

    • Festus

      Ugh. I am scheduled for my second dose of poison this afternoon. I should probably take the night off but that would break my streak. Fuck the world, this is a challenge, now. I’ll take my medicine good and hard and report directly to work. If you haven’t worked 33 days in a row, Bro, you will never be a Firster! Disclaimer – when I did camp work, 33 days was not much to crow about but I was young then and not a soldier. Not varying from my normal routine in the slightest. Bring it on!

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        You’ll probably be alright, I got a low fever for a day after my second and felt a bit tired and that was it. There’s some risk but the odds are with you.

      • Festus

        This I know but I’m already played out, as it were. I normally never get bad colds or flus. I am getting very tired, though. We’ll see what we will see. Fingers fucking crossed!

      • Brochettaward

        If you haven’t worked 33 days in a row, Bro, you will never be a Firster!

        I’ve gotten up to 38.

      • Festus

        I’ve done 6 weeks when the money was right. Nobody was shooting at me (mostly) and I lived in primitive conditions but the Festus will always abide.

      • Festus

        Your toilet was the hole that you dug in the ground. 50 bucks an hour. Worth it just to live that way.

      • Aloysious

        Not bragging, because I was poor and retardy, but my personal best was 52 days straight, 8-10 hrs a day.

        I cracked like a plumbers backside.

      • westernsloper

        Fucking pikers. If you haven’t worked 3.5 months straight while living in a shipping container in a war torn country you are weak.

  10. Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

    NY vs. CA. What, is OR chopped liver?

    • SDF-7

      Plywood or salmon tartare I would think.

    • Old Man With Candy

      OR is our third decimal place.

  11. westernsloper

    It’s hard to decide which action of W Bush was his most horrible one, but I’d nominate the creation of DHS.

    Absofuckinlutely.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    Because Nanny said so

    “It is difficult to imagine what more OSHA could do or rely on to justify its finding that workers face a grave danger in the workplace,” said the opinion. “It is not appropriate to second-guess that agency determination considering the substantial evidence, including many peer-reviewed scientific studies, on which it relied.”

    President Joe Biden unveiled in September regulations to increase the adult vaccination rate as a way of fighting the pandemic, which has killed more than 750,000 Americans and weighed on the economy.

    Overwhelming incontrovertible evidence. STFU and OBEY!

    • Fourscore

      Death while wearing seat belts and totally vaxxed including booster

  13. The Late P Brooks

    Friday’s ruling was 2-1 with Judges Jane Stranch, appointed by President Barack Obama, and Julia Gibbons, appointed by President George W. Bush, in the majority. Judge Joan Larsen, appointed by President Donald Trump, dissented.

    Fucking Trump, he politicized the judicial system.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      *This is what some people actually believe

    • Festus

      You misread me, Miss O’Grady. I’ve yet to stick a needle in my arm. Fun was fun but some things were taboo, even back then. No fucking way.

  14. l0b0t

    I assume the expanded polystyrene ban is for the State, as NYC banned it a few years ago. Science has yet to come up with a suitable disposable hot-drink cup.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      b0t, did you see my vintage Banana Republic link the other morning? If not: https://www.secretfanbase.com/banana Care for a cardboard jeep with only light silverfish damage?

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        OK, that is awesome. I remember some of that and the romance of their stuff. Boy, did I have a weird childhood?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I think J. Peterman is still around…

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        Yeah, but Elaine worked for him, so it’s a no-go.

      • rhywun

        My only memory of them from that era is “clothing I can’t afford”.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        If you don’t mentally double the prices to keep up with inflation…

      • l0b0t

        I did, and promptly lost a good part of the day reminiscing about what a clotheshorse I was in high school. Thank you for that. I still have a (graffitied, torn, and battered) Israeli Paratrooper Briefcase and a Safari Vest.

        J. Peterman was another fave, and yes, they are still around. I was flouncing about in their Thomas Jefferson Shirt (getting teased about being a pirate), about a decade before Seinfeld mainstreamed puffy shirts.

      • mindyourbusiness

        We still have some of their stuff in our closets and most of it gets regular wear. Their clothes just don’t seem to wear out, do they?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        My mother must have thrown out the outgrown clothes, but I’d still wear them. A few accessories and catalogs (and the jeep) survive.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      That’s the truth, I had one of those cardboard coffee rings that goes around a paper cup come apart on me a couple weeks ago and the whole deal went in my lap while I was driving. Thank god it wasn’t that hot but it was quite the surprise.

      • Old Man With Candy

        I see $3MM in your future.

      • Ted S.

        That would be $3µM

    • Festus

      The answer is your calloused, cupped hands. There is so much scar tissue from grain-slavery that you could dip into a pot of boiling water to pluck out an egg ala Blade Runner.

    • Old Man With Candy

      How will we be able to get cheese or truffles shipped to us? The ban has a carveout for meat and seafood, but not stuff WE eat.

      • Not Adahn

        Nettle Meadow Farms
        Consider Bardwell Farms

        Both ship good cheese in cardboard with shredded cardboard insulation and ice packs.

  15. Festus

    Thanks for the tasty links, Old Man! Going back now for perusal.

  16. Brochettaward

    Rambo is still furious at the bar for giving Watkins his credit card receipt. “Who owns that place? They gave her my personal information,” he fumed.)

    The irony.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I’d take surly drifter PTSD Rambo over snitch Rambo any day.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    Something different to worry about

    The team of drillers had been sent by Helium One, a startup founded in 2015. Of the 30 or so companies exploring for helium deposits around the world, Helium One’s mission has the greatest potential to hit it big. That’s because the company believes the Rukwa Basin may be the site of one of the largest accumulations of helium the world has ever known—with a market value of as much as $50 billion, enough to satisfy global demand for around two decades. Helium exploration is such a nascent industry that there is no blueprint exploration strategy, so the chance of success is low, and the gas is especially hard to mine because of its containment problem. But the project has the potential to bring stability to the world’s helium supply and define how and where the world looks for helium deposits.

    ——-

    Today, the global supply chain for helium is fragile, and that makes the gas a volatile commodity, which in turn can hamper scientific research and industrial production. While I was writing this story, Algeria’s Skikda Plant and the National Helium Reserve temporarily dropped offline, shutting down around 25 percent of the global supply. Cliff Cain, president of a consultancy group for industrial gas, told me his clients were forced to suddenly scale back their manufacturing, and scientists had to delay research dependent on helium. In 2012, a more serious shortage famously forced Tokyo Disneyland to suspend the sale of their Mickey Mouse–shaped balloons. End users don’t have reserves to dip into, because helium is extremely difficult and expensive to store.

    Next year, the BLM is expected to finally complete its sell-off of the National Helium Reserve. After that, prices are likely to soar and the US government will have to source helium from the private sector. (The other major source of helium in the US, ExxonMobil’s LaBarge field in Wyoming, may be vulnerable to environmental policy because the gas composition is 65 percent carbon dioxide.) Without new, large-scale sources of helium, it’s a probability that increasing global demand will rely on Qatar, whose antagonistic neighbors have previously blocked exports, and Russia, where new production is slowly coming online. In the short term, Russia’s production is likely to produce a temporary oversupply of helium—but when natural gas production winds down, demand for helium is sure to catch up. “We’re walking into a world where the West has no control over one of the most valuable strategic commodities,” Cain says.

    The impending helium shortage has long been anticipated. Ten years ago, while BLM was running down the reserve, demand for helium was climbing sharply. The private producers Congress expected to be online were delayed or never appeared, and prices shot up. As it became possible to drill for helium profitably, an assortment of explorers, entrepreneurs, and wildcatters—those who drill exploratory wells outside of existing gas fields—sensed an opportunity to earn a buck.

    What are the odds the Biden administration will ban helium capture because global warming?

    • rhywun

      If it will fuck over the little guy, 100%.

  18. cyto

    That long article about CBP and Watkins is interesting, but the underlying assumption of the author is laughable.

    Her base assumption is that Trump was working closely with Russia and his White House sent covert agents from the CBP to protect that information…. When exactly the opposite was true. Government agents were planting false stories about Trump administration officials to destabilize and undermine the administration and bolster a push for impeachment.

    It was a slog, and I gotta run, so I don’t know yet if she turns the corner later and talks about the cabal who was framing people and planting false stories… Apparently using Watkins to do it. But that is the real question here.

    Did he inadvertently stumble into one of the threads the Obama people were using and get burned? Or was he sent by them to prevent exposure because someone was about to tell a different story?

    The one thing we know didn’t happen? Trump sending out people to protect his secret ties to Russia through covert actions.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    This would never have happened in the Soviet Union

    Prison inmates, formerly incarcerated people and those simply out of luck were all welcomed at the Mayfield Consumer Products’ candle factory — a last-resort job for many in the unemployment line, several employees said.

    The work — packaging and labeling scented candles that wound up in kitchens and bathrooms across America — was easy, some workers said, if you didn’t mind the long hours, low wages and open-door hiring that allowed walk-ins and those previously fired.

    “It’s a sweatshop. We’re underpaid. I felt like they weren’t for us,” said David Hollowell, 28, who has been working at the factory for a year to provide for his two children. “Anyone can get a job there.

    The company’s labor practices and managerial decisions have come under scrutiny after a monstrous tornado tore through the building last week killing eight workers and injuring many more.

    Depraved indifference! Human Resources should have known the factory was going to be levelled by a tornado.

    And why weren’t their hiring practices more discriminatory?

    • rhywun

      Climb atop those dead bodies, TMITE. We expect nothing less.

    • cyto

      That really is astonishing.

      We live in a world where people will literally say anything that pops into their head and proclaim it as fact.

    • R C Dean

      Err, “the work was easy” =/= “sweatshop”.

      Ya feckin’ moron.

      • whiz

        Also, the wages are low precisely because anybody can do it.

      • Ted S.

        And there are non-monetary benefits like rebuilding your work history.

    • DrOtto

      Call in the Butcher, Baker and Candlestick Makers, local 101 and let them know you’re interested in forming a union.

  20. Fatty Bolger

    There aren’t two sides to whether the sun will set tonight or whether a ball will fall from your hand if dropped. Aspects of climate science fall into similar categories.

    lol

    • R C Dean

      Now, now. Rain falls to ground, just like the ball will fall from your hand if dropped. Also . . . OK, that’s all I got.

    • cyto

      That is true though…. There are aspects of climate science that are indisputable facts.

      “The world will end in 12 years” is not one of them.

      “Socialism/communism is the only solution to global warming” is not one of them.

      “There will be global famine if the earth warms 2.5 degrees” is not one of them.

      • whiz

        ^^ This

  21. The Late P Brooks

    A lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of some of the workers alleges the company showed “flagrant indifference” to them on the night of the tornado. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

    “Our managers acted heroically on the night of the storm. Their actions saved the lives of many of our valued employees and these claims are wrong and they’re offensive to the heroic managers,” company spokesman Bob Ferguson said Friday.

    Lawyers gotta eat, same as worms.

    • R C Dean

      Ya know, if my co-workers included a bunch of ex-cons and prison inmates, I’d probably think twice about trying to close down the company that employs them with a bullshit lawsuit.

  22. The Gunslinger

    “most maligned” baseball player of all time = Greatest baseball player of all time.

    • whiz

      Nope, try Babe Ruth, especially if you include his value as a pitcher.

  23. juris imprudent

    Sorry NY, but no one out stupids CA. FL is only in the running because of Florida Man (and occasional Woman).

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      I’ve read (possibly here or TOS) that the newsworthy ones hail from PA or upstate NY anyway.

      Re birthdays, I love watching Jacques do anything with a knife. And my first glimpse of Brad Pitt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_BYzj4jQEM

    • Not Adahn

      NY desperately wants to be the proggiest most authoritarian state. Their horrific inefficiency and sclerotic corrupt bureaucracy prevents them from achieving their goals.

      • juris imprudent

        See, CA is too incompetent to do corruption well. I doubt they’ll ever get over that.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    NBC News interviewed seven employees and an attorney who represented former employees for this story. Some workers described the factory as being staffed primarily by temporary workers who are typically laid off toward the end of their probationary period only to be rehired days later.

    “It’s a place for the have-nots,” said Mark Saxton, 37, who has worked for the company on nine occasions. “If you can’t get a job nowhere, you can get a job at the candle [factory]. I can quit on a Tuesday and come back the next week. They take whoever. If you apply, you’re starting that day.”

    Saxton, who was previously incarcerated for drug and gun crimes, said he’s grateful the factory provides for gainful employment.

    Seven employees, hand picked by some “labor activist group” who just happen to have NBC News on speed dial?

    Coming soon, a massive fine from the Labor Department for paperwork violations. To be paid directly to SEIU.

    • rhywun

      While NBC complains that the workers don’t get a pension and four weeks of maternity leave every year and the smart set go “tsk, tsk”.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    John Caudill, a former assistant U.S. prosecutor turned whistleblower lawyer, said for years the company has recruited dozens of economically depressed workers from Puerto Rico.

    Oh, HORROR.

    Why should this candle company be allowed to offer Puerto Ricans a chance to improve their lot in life?

    • juris imprudent

      It’s almost human trafficking!

    • slumbrew

      “It’d be better if those people were unemployed.”

      That’s not what is intended, but that will be the result.

      • rhywun

        Or embraced within the loving arms of the State, and I think that is intended.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Our god is a vengeful god

    Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, who testified unmasked at a Senate hearing on Wednesday, has since tested positive for the coronavirus, the airline said in a statement.

    “Although testing negative multiple times prior to the Senate Commerce Committee Hearing, Gary tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home, experiencing mild symptoms, and taking a PCR test,” Southwest (LUV) said.

    “Gary is doing well and currently resting at home, he has been fully vaccinated and received the booster earlier this year.”

    Kelly testified at the hearing that he believes masks do not add substantial protection to airplane passengers and cited aircraft ventilation systems.

    Doomsday cultists gloat.

    • rhywun

      received the booster earlier this year

      So, not fully vaccinated.

      Jab harder, CEO’s.

  27. hayeksplosives

    OMWC, I’d never read “The Toys of Peace” before but clicked the link and did so moments ago.

    Good stuff; definitely could happen today, aside from the fact that these days the boys would be far less well educated on history. The aunt is a perfect busybody snowflake protector; unfortunately there are plenty of her type around these days.

    My freshman year I chose 20th century history as a humanities elective, with the thought “I’d like to know more details about WWI and WWII, plus Korea, etc. On Day one, my commie professor proclaimed that she doesn’t teach war, so don’t expect it. (By my sophomore year I’d transferred to a sane university.)

    Harvey retreated to the library and spent some thirty or forty minutes in wondering whether it would be possible to compile a history, for use in elementary schools, in which there should be no prominent mention of battles, massacres, murderous intrigues, and violent deaths. The York and Lancaster period and the Napoleonic era would, he admitted to himself, present considerable difficulties, and the Thirty Years’ War would entail something of a gap if you left it out altogether.

    • R C Dean

      No prob. “Some people did something” ought to cover it.

    • Old Man With Candy

      It’s a great story, but if kids read that and Harrison Bergeron, they might lose respect for their superiors.

  28. The Late P Brooks
    • rhywun

      LOL BusinessInsider. Hard pass.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    oops.

  30. Sensei

    Morning OMWC.

    Based on some measurements and recommendations I picked these up.

    https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/he400se.html

    I’ve always wanted a pair of planar headphones and these were finally priced right. Other planar headphones are crazy expensive.

    For everyone else, they are fine out of the box, but with just a bit of EQ are really amazing. You won’t be happy driving them without a headphone amplifier however. They take lots of current.

    Complaint would be they are big and heavier then my Sennheisers. But not a deal breaker.

    • slumbrew

      Like high end wine, I’m sure I’d enjoy those but doubt my senses are fine enough to really appreciate them.

      • Sensei

        In the headphone world you don’t have to spend crazy money.

        Speakers are another matter entirely.

    • Old Man With Candy

      I still just can’t get into headphones. I wear them when I’m hiking, but for entertainment at home, it has to be speakers. Pity, because I have a bunch of top-drawer headphone amps on the shelf.

  31. Brochettaward

    Some will First, some will lose
    Some are born to First
    Oh, the Firsting never ends
    It goes on and on and on and on

    Don’t stop believin’
    Hold on to that feeling

    • Fourscore

      You need another 38 days off, son, you’re getting tired.

      • Brochettaward

        I’ve got 99 problems but being second ain’t one.

  32. rhywun

    English soccer dead in the water.
    Italy has live action and full stadiums.

    Kind of says it all, doesn’t it?

      • rhywun

        Not today. “Postponed”.

    • Raven Nation

      In a more traditional case, the Kilmarnock vs. Dunfermline Athletic match in the Scottish Championship has just been abandoned in the second half as “the fog rolls in from the Ayrshire coast.”

    • PieInTheSky

      The women he has been with aren’t even attractive. – lol

      • Q Continuum

        Sorry honey, I’ll be sure to fuck much hotter women next time.

    • Fourscore

      “cheap gold-diggers”

      A friend told me his experiences were not cheap.

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        My brother will attest to that.

  33. PieInTheSky

    Today is the day of Stalin’s birth! It was upon this day that comrade Stalin was born, and as such it is a day that we remember the great sacrifices, strength, love for the people, and intellect of the Soviets which Stalin personifies.

    Slava Stalin!

    https://twitter.com/Life_Indestruct/status/1472205389651496975

    • PieInTheSky

      Today marks the birthday of Joseph Stalin, the man who turned socialism into a superpower, and who in this process reinvented the Russian people, turning their country into a new centre of civilization. His legacy is virtually unparalleled in modern history.

      https://twitter.com/Persian_Darius_/status/1472169138437111810

      • juris imprudent

        There are always those who think themselves useful by tonguing the boots of a tyrant.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        What, give up show biz?

      • R C Dean

        His legacy is virtually unparalleled in modern history.

        He’s in the top two or three for body count, ’tis true.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        But he was a poet who loved his mother.

      • Ghostpatzer

        But could he paint an entire apartment in one day? Two coats?

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Workers of the world, unite

    U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders told a crowd in Battle Creek Friday that the ongoing strike against the Kellogg Co., which is based here, is sending a national message to business executives that working people want dignity.

    “In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, you’ve got to give workers a fair shake,” the independent senator from Vermont told hundreds of people who gathered outdoors, across the street from a Kellogg office building.

    ——-

    The national attention was on full display Friday with Sanders reading a letter from President Joe Biden to the workers.

    “My message to you is keep the faith,” Biden wrote.

    Members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union have demanded better working conditions and a fairer pay structure for employees while criticizing a two-tier system that pays some workers less. Sanders said he heard from Kellogg employees who told him they were on the job for 50, 60 and 120 days in a row.

    It’s slavery, it is.

    • rhywun

      Because it’s totally acceptable for the national leader to put his thumb on the scales of private business decisions. I wonder if there is a word to describe this.

    • R C Dean

      Sanders said he heard from Kellogg employees who told him they were on the job for 50, 60 and 120 days in a row.

      Naturally, he confirmed this claim before going public with it.

      • MikeS

        And naturally, the intrepid Journolist’s reporting his words are trying to get confirmation of that claim as we speak.

    • CPRM

      Sanders said he heard from Kellogg employees who told him they were on the job for 50, 60 and 120 days in a row.

      The way to solve this is to make it harder to hire extra people?

    • juris imprudent

      criticizing a two-tier system that pays some workers less

      Wait, let me guess – who negotiated and ratified that pay scheme?

    • Old Man With Candy

      I saw that. The interesting part was the origin of the name.

      • PieInTheSky

        I certainly hope you are not watching Italia Squisita unless I link it

      • Old Man With Candy

        It’s fun to watch it with SP translating. Do not ruin my fun, Dracula.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    His legacy is virtually unparalleled in modern history.

    A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.

  36. Not Adahn

    The snow has begun.

    Phone calls from people coming in: “Are we still shooting today?” “Yes. The name of the game is Winter Steel. Snow is to be expected.”

    • Ted S.

      Too warm here, although we might get a mix later.

      • Ted S.

        It’s raining and 37°, but the weather radar claims we’re getting a mix right now.

      • Not Adahn

        Who are you going to believe? Credentialed SCIENCEtists or your lying eyes?

  37. The Late P Brooks

    Florida man fights for justice

    A Florida man who was kicked off a United flight for wearing thong underwear as a mask tells WFLA he’s done it about 20 times before.

    A video, which started making the rounds on social media this week, shows two flight attendants talking to Adam Jenne, who had been wearing the nether garments to cover his nose and mouth while he waited for his flight from Fort Lauderdale to Washington, D.C. to take off.

    One of the flight attendants can be heard telling Jenne he’s “not in mask compliance.”

    “You’re going to have to come off the airplane. We’re not going to let you travel,” he said.

    Another passenger, who had a mask hanging off his face, walked up to one of the flight attendants and asked if Jenne was being kicked off for wearing a mask. When the flight attendant asked the passenger to put his mask on, he said “I’m out of here.”

    Jenne told WFTX several other passengers walked off the plane in protest.

    “Thank you to them, because they saw something, an injustice, something that didn’t make sense, and they stood up,” he said.

    Jenne later compared himself to civil rights icon Rosa Parks, who refused to move for a white passenger on a bus in 1955, according to NBC News.

    Ooh, that’ll get the outrage ginned up.

    • rhywun

      Troll game: A+

  38. The Late P Brooks

    Jenne did not disclose his vaccination status in the phone interview with WFLA. “It’s none of your damn business,” he said.

    The man is a hero.

    • Raven Nation

      I’m getting daily ‘phone calls from my county “covid task force” since I tested positive. Apparently they want to do contact tracing.

      • CPRM

        I met with Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer…

      • R C Dean

        “But I don’t even wear contacts!”

  39. CPRM

    Sports analytics is starting to show the stupidity society has with statistics. On Thursday the Chargers went for it on 4th down instead of kicking a field goal 3 times. Overnight on sports talk CBS the host was kept defending that as good coaching. Because there is a 33% chance you make a 4th and short and score a touchdown…which is better than 3 points! It’s #Science! #Analytics!

    • rhywun

      ISTR they didn’t make any of them?

      I remember The Tom Brady Team in a recent game going for 2 points several times when there was no pressure to do so. I just assumed they were showing off or something. But yeah, probably “analytics”.

      • CPRM

        33% chance, 3 times, only a 1% chance they don’t convert! #Analytics!

      • LCDR_Fish

        On the show I watched yesterday, they said they were 2/5 on 4th down conversions – a couple of them were 1 yd gain positions.

    • Brochettaward

      Good rule of thumb for football coaches. If Belichick isn’t doing it, you probably shouldn’t be, either.

    • R C Dean

      Because there is a 33% chance you make a 4th and short and score a touchdown

      I would be very interested to see how many drives where the offense went for it on 4th down resulted in a touchdown. I bet its pretty far short of 33%, though.

      • CPRM

        Who are you to deny Analytics!?

    • whiz

      Don’t blame actual sports analytics for that stupidity.

    • Raven Nation

      I assume the thinking was that, since the Chiefs’ offensive is so explosive, you need to score as many points as possible. Problem with that is that, for the last few weeks, it’s the defense that has been winning games for them.

      • R C Dean

        Mahomes has been making his share of bad decisions and bad passes, that’s for sure.

      • Mojeaux

        He has a little bit of an ego, and he’s a showman. He can’t shake that.

      • Mojeaux

        it’s the defense that has been winning games for them.

        Helloooooooooooooooooo Martyball!

      • Raven Nation

        I gotta say. There’s something very KC about Arrowhead going into pandemonium when there’s a big defensive stand.

    • creech

      What kind of team that calls itself “professional” can’t make one yards in three tries, given they can surge on the snap-count?

  40. Tundra

    Good morning, Old Man!

    The styrofoam article is funny.

    Estimates for how long it takes for polystyrene to break down vary widely, from 500 to 1 million years, even across studies considering similar conditions, like in open water or landfills. Foamed polystyrene products have been estimated to take up about 30 percent of U.S. landfill space.

    So scienc-y!

    Eckenrode said that he’s found takeout containers made of sugarcane by-products that are better for the food his café serves, and are compostable under the right conditions.

    Aren’t you precious! And pretty much anything is compostable ‘under the right conditions’.

    People are weird.

    • CPRM

      And they use that ‘under the right conditions’ several times. Odd caveat, that, under the right conditions.

    • R C Dean

      takeout containers made of sugarcane by-products

      And I guarantee if these containers are widely adopted, there will be more sugarcane planted to meet the demand, and we will hear screeching from the enviros about the damage those plantations do. They can’t seem to make the connection between “renewable” (swoon!) and “requires the harvesting of crops”, which in turn requires turning land into cropland, planting, fertilizing, herbiciding and pesticiding, harvesting, and processing.

    • creech

      Isn’t burying plastics in landfills what is known as “carbon sequestration” and isn’t that supposed to be good for the planet?

  41. Evan from Evansville

    Article submitted about how weird/odd/normal it is to be living abroad! I hope the writing and art conveys it well!

    • Raven Nation

      Look forward to it. I can never quite remember when living abroad became normal and was living at home.

      • CPRM

        When you said ‘That is a knife, and also, this is a knife.”

      • Evan from Evansville

        You and me both. I don’t remember living in the US in any real way. I grew up there…but I’ve not lived there for 15 years. Never have had a real job/apartment/home as an adult. It’s a quasi-unknown. I live through it with my family and nephews. They are lovely. I’m sad that I don’t get to be a bigger part of their lives.

        Having said that…uh..fuck children. I’ve never wanted one and have always been involved with girls that felt the same. My life is being a performance artist for kids. I want to escape that when I come home. But…I absolutely acknowledge that that would change if they were my own to raise. I just have never felt any desire for such. I just want a dog. I haven’t even done that, yet.

      • R C Dean

        I just want a dog.

        Having an emergency food supply is only prudent.

      • Mojeaux

        Having an emergency food supply is only prudent.

        I LOLd.

      • Raven Nation

        I was 28 when I came to the states. I remember being a little surprised ten years after I arrived that I had now lived more of my adult life in the US than in Australia. I was kind of shocked a few years back when I realized I had lived more than half my life in the US. Obviously this is home now, but I do miss those detention camps.

      • Evan from Evansville

        We have a lot in common. I hope the article speaks to you. It’s mostly about language, but the experiences are germane and universal.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Are you sure about the dog? They’re easily borrowable too, at least over here.

      • Evan from Evansville

        More of a philosophical idea. I grew with dogs (and cats) and that’s probably my best love.

  42. The Late P Brooks

    Eckenrode said that he’s found takeout containers made of sugarcane by-products that are better for the food his café serves, and are compostable under the right conditions.

    Wasn’t somebody touting “biodegradable plastic” bags made of corn syrup, or some such thing?

    Unfortunately, the decomposition process requires sunlight, and burying the stuff in landfills negates whatever benefits might exist.

    • CPRM

      So you’re saying we should go to open pit dumps again? I agree.

    • l0b0t

      That’s why plastic refuse should go into the sea.

      • westernsloper

        +1 How Africa does it.

    • Sensei

      Yup. Do not buck the narrative.

  43. MikeS

    An in-depth, very cool tour of a rocket factory. It’s nearly an hour long, but if you’re a rocket/space/manufacturing nerd, you’ll like it I’m sure. The CEO, Tory Bruno, knows every technical aspect of the process and is an awesome tour guide.

  44. Ted S.

    Update on a story that made drugs fall out of everyone’s asses

    CATSKILL, N.Y. — The 29-year-old Catskill man who caught fire after he was tased by an officer inside the village police building has died, prompting the New York attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation to launch an investigation.

  45. Gustave Lytton

    Paywalled, but the summary tells it all

    https://www.oregonlive.com/data/2021/12/akin-to-a-war-zone-how-the-illegal-gun-market-is-thriving-in-portland.html

    Guns are getting into the wrong hands via straw purchases, social media sales and thefts from cars and homes. The proliferation has contributed to a …

    Maxine Bernstein is a hack, like all of her colleagues, carrying water for the antifa actual no shit insurrectionists, and now pushing the foundations for extensive gun control. All of the Portland crime narrative is being funneled into Portland has a gun violence problem.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Also, fuck the unconstitutional restrictions on gun ownership. Portland has a government problem above all.

      • rhywun

        I would add a cultural problem or two to the mix.

    • Not Adahn

      Maybe Oregon and Illinois could team up and conquer Indiana?

    • R C Dean

      “subscriber exclusive”, so I can’t read it.

      Does he actually detail the number and percentage of guns used in crimes that are acquired in ways that are currently legal?

      Does he go into the number and percentagae of such guns that are acquired in ways that are currently illegal, and how making it moar illegaller will stop this?

      • Gustave Lytton

        I’m not a sub either, so dunno. Also no doubt missing, any discussion of the race or ethnicity of either the perpetrators or the victims (or the victim’s involvement or association with criminal activities) despite the all race all the time of every other news story the rag has been running lately.

    • Not Adahn

      Guns are getting into the wrong hands via straw purchases, social media sales and thefts

      Have they considered banning the theft of guns? Or would that have a disproportionate impact?

      • MikeS

        Gun ownership is racists and classist. The thieves are merely fighting inequality.

      • R C Dean

        REPARATIONS!

        I mean, if a Gucci handbag is reparations, why not a sweet CZ?

  46. Chafed

    I just learned how JMS chose the name Alfred Bester for the psycop in Babylon 5. Thanks OMWC.