Saturday Morning Slowly I Turned Links

by | Jan 7, 2023 | Daily Links | 206 comments

I’m only around briefly- heading up north to go to Niagara Falls with NPR Lady. I know that SP winced when she took me there, knowing what was going to come. But I am 98% certain that the Slowly I Turned classic routine is as absolutely foreign to NPR Lady as is Hayek or Spooner. Which gives me an easy way to annoy her unexpectedly. This may be fun…

Speaking of fun, birthdays today include the most memorable of all US presidents; arguably the greatest black female writer in America (and a deep thinker); the exception to the “Christ, what an asshole!” rule; a guy who foisted on us both a remarkably shitty novel and a remarkably shitty movie; a guy who rivaled Yoko Ono for ruining the most music; a guy whose presence in a movie means it will be wonderful or horrible, never anything in between; and a guy who’d better get that contract signed soon.

Oh yes, before I forget… Links.

 

If only we could have had this go on forever. Well, a guy can dream.

 

Some small good news for civil rights.

 

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure those Jews stay out of their temple.”

 

In today’s pig boner news.

 

Well TBH, it’s all kind of arbitrary anyway.

 

Let’s face it, the software IS smarter than the kids. And the teachers.

 

Odd this kind of thing doesn’t seem to happen with Country & Western or jazz.

 

Old Guy Music is just fucking insane picking. The chord changes are equally insane, yet these guys…

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.

206 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    “About half of all humans with penises experience some form of erectile dysfunction between the ages of 40 and 70.”

    “humans with penises”

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      No kidding, the bullshit speak is worming it’s way in everywhere. I think they meant men.

      • Penguin

        Cool BṎC avatar, Stinky

    • Fourscore

      So, the other half of the half don’t suffer ED? Post 70 are back on the playing field?

    • Chafed

      +1 strap on dildos

  2. Count Potato

    “Well TBH, it’s all kind of arbitrary anyway.”

    That’s the bullshit with “biomass”.

  3. Fourscore

    Mornin’ OM

    Enjoy your outing today, though Niagara Falls visits had a symbolic meaning in the old days.

    McCarthy wins, now we’ll watch and see, I’m guessing it’s back to business as usual.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      He sucks but they did manage to wring some concessions out of him. Whether those concessions will be followed through on or were meaningful remains to be seen.

    • Raven Nation

      Probably although I suspect he’ll try to punish some of the dissenters

    • Sean

      More money for Ukraine! 🙄

      Spend, spend, spend.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Well, my last wedding was in Las Vegas, so it would fit the stereotype.

    • juris imprudent

      Expecting very little out of Congress is a pretty safe bet.

  4. Rat on a train

    GOP leader McCarthy elected House Speaker on 15th vote in historic run
    Fourth place and only 118 short of first.

    • juris imprudent

      That was back when there were some real disputes.

    • DrOtto

      Bro has a sad

  5. Gender Traitor

    Cinnamon Carlarne, the Robert J. Lynn Chair in Law at the Ohio State University

    Mommy and Daddy don’t seem to have dreamt of a career in academia for their little darling.

    I suspect she’s bitter. Unless he’s a guy, in which case he’s probably REALLY bitter.

    • UnCivilServant

      I leave open the possibility that this person chnaged names to Cassia.

      If not, what kinds of parents sabotage their children like that?

      • Shirley Knott

        Well, the father’s name is Sue…

      • Gender Traitor

        Silly Names: The Forgotten Form of Child Abuse by Paige Turner

      • juris imprudent

        My grandfather with the initials A B C would agree.

      • Aloysious

        Alexander Bonaparte Cust?

        Agatha Christie fan, perhaps?

      • Penguin

        My parents named me a somewhat common name for a human with a penis; I’ve always been fine with it .Not too common, so it’s completely bland and not rare enough to be odd. Also, it doesn’t rhyme with anything. No, I’d give them 100% on the name thing. My brother got a good one, too.

      • Penguin

        “…NOT completely bland…”

      • rhywun

        My parents did well except they chose to call me by my middle name.

        Parents out there, don’t do that.

      • Gender Traitor

        My boss has a now-uncommon, old-fashioned first name and insists on being addressed by his much more common middle name. You don’t call him by his first name as you value your life.

      • Ownbestenemy

        My brother and sister and myself got family names, except my brother which was named after some steamy movie according to family lore. My kids though, if I gave a unique first name (not crazy unique, just not common) I made sure they had a traditionally strong middle name like Edward, Michael, James, etc.

      • Penguin

        My mom & dad saved the family name thing for our middle names. Funny enough, my brother & I didn’t do badly even there. I could deal if my first & middle names were reversed, although I prefer it as is. (It just sounds better, for one thing.)

        OBE – that’s always good – they can always fall back on their middle if they don’t like their first. (Note: see rhywun’s & GT’s posts)

      • rhywun

        Just to elaborate… I like my middle name, I just hated having to explain the situation over and over my entire life.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        The women on my mothers side have naming convention; all daughters are named after the mothers sister in order of birth. So, my mothers legal name (not sure if it still is) is Jean, while she was never called that even by her mother, but used her middle names familiar version, Kathy.

        Which was great fun when I needed to get my birth certificate and had to play 20 questions with the state worker to find out my mothers legal name listed on the damn thing.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Also, I have never really liked my first name, but my middle is my fathers name, and I didn’t want to use if for that reason. Some things you are just stuck with.

    • Michael Malaise

      My middle initial is M. I ask people to guess what my middle name is often. If they respond “Michael” I instantly ghost them.

      (My middle name is Meredith)

  6. Grosspatzer

    Mornin’, Old Man. Niagara Falls sounds like a barrel of fun.

    Nice to see a wink and a nod to the Secretary of State in the links, our selfless public servants rarely get any respect here.

    • UnCivilServant

      The falls start out that way, but things go downhill fast.

  7. DEG

    “[There] is no mention of a shooter. The grammatical structure continuously points the reader back to the mechanics of the firearm,” the court said. “The statute does not care what human input is required to activate the trigger—it cares only whether more than one shot is fired each time the trigger acts.”

    John Roberts is warming up to create a bump stock penaltax.

    About half of all humans with penises

    “Humans with penises”? Fuck.

    “Characterizing natural gas as green energy is regressive and a fallacy,” said Cinnamon Carlarne, the Robert J. Lynn Chair in Law at the Ohio State University. “Natural gas is not green energy. The labelling is a little bit Orwellian.”

    Pepperidge Farm remembers when the Greens liked natural gas.

    Old Guy Music is good.

    Off to the gym.

    • rhywun

      The labelling is a little bit Orwellian

      “And believe me, I know from Orwellian.”

    • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

      And law professors are not scientists.

      Shut your Cinnabon hole, shyster.

  8. Grosspatzer

    According to the city’s education department, the tool will be forbidden across all devices and networks in New York’s public schools. Jenna Lyle, a department spokesperson, said the decision stems from “concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of contents”.

    Working tirelessly to maintain their high standards. The kids are in good hands.

    • rhywun

      You’d think they’d at least appreciate its ability to consistently spit out the correct answers to questions.

  9. UnCivilServant

    I had a question on property law that I wanted to post to you lot.

    Suppose you have a lake in a mountainous region whose drainage end is held in place by a glacial moraine. It has an irregular coastline and people have gone and built houses and farms along the shore. One year, there’s a flood that overtops the moraine and washes it away, so that when the water subsides, the lake is gone, having left behind a river formed by the confluance of the streams that used to feed the lake.

    Who owns the newly exposed lakebed, and how do you draw the property lines?

    Also, if a group wants to rebuild the lake by putting an artificial dam across where the moraine used to be, who has grounds to stop them?

    • Rat on a train

      I expect the property lines were fixed at the time of survey. A change in water level would alter them.

      • Rat on a train

        Edit button! A change would not alter the property line.

      • UnCivilServant

        But do the property lines extend into the lake currently? Or do they just get extended until they hit something when the lake recedes?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The lakebed remains with the previous owner.

        Ask me how I know.

      • UnCivilServant

        Who is the “Previous Owner”?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s either private or public. Either way, the property lines are fixed.

        There are historical cases where the deeds were written as such that it could be moved with the water line, but those days are long past. The advent of modern surveying ended them.

      • UnCivilServant

        Do you know about when the cutover point was?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        That I’m not sure of. Virginia has always used a metes and bounds system. There might have been a starting point feature like a tree, but chains and compasses were then used to define the area geometrically.

        The Brits were always pretty rigorous about surveying and deeds. I’m not as familiar with the French/Napoleonic system which is still present in most of the Global South.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Don’t forget that the Spanish system is still in effect in some South Western states.

      • R C Dean

        I think TX and OK have (had?) a long-running dispute about the Red River border in North Texas. It does tend to wander some, and I think some TX land wound up on the OK side of the river (or the other way around). Not sure exactly what the deal is, but at least somebody was arguing that the river itself is the border, and somebody was arguing no, it’s not.

    • Tonio

      IANAL, but the answer to the second question is the government. Probably the EPA, but also perhaps a state equivalent. Remember, government always has standing to sue the peasantry. And while you’d think that government would be all about wetlands restoration there is probably a “no new dams” rule or something equivalent.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Old dams are quite often grandfathered in. Any modifications to them past a set dollar amount results in the full application of the current regulatory requirements.

        I unfortunately have some experience in this area. The government effectively prevents you from making incremental improvements to earthworks to the extent that letting the dam fail is the only remaining option after you find out that bringing it up to code will cost millions.

      • Rat on a train

        Building a dam and creating a lake is a taking for property that will be flooded. Is draining a lake a taking for property that will no longer be waterfront?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Nope

    • creech

      How many gun collections were exposed when the lake drained?

      • UnCivilServant

        “We didn’t see any” – Resident.

    • Fourscore

      Corps of Engineers take control of all new property as flood plain. That’s the way things work. I have some river front property but the designated flood plain means I can’t use it, other than to walk on when it’s exposed. Set backs start from top of flood plain.

  10. Count Potato

    “EXCLUSIVE – PICTURED: Teacher, 25, left critically-injured after she was deliberately shot in chest ‘by boy aged SIX’ in Virginia elementary school classroom’: Victim begged kids to flee to safety after being struck

    Police confirmed a six-year-old student had been the one to fire the terrifying shot, but authorities are still looking into how the first-grader managed to get a gun.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11608763/PIC-Teacher-25-left-critically-ill-deliberately-shot-chest-boy-aged-SIX.html

    He bought it behind a strip club?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Whoa. That’s in my backyard. Hadn’t heard.

      There’s at least three Section 8 developments in that school’s district. If I had to take a bet on where the kid lived…

    • rhywun

      We they ARE easier to obtain than books.

    • Sean

      That’s a rough 25. Just saying.

      • Penguin

        Wheel her in, Sean. I’m not a picky man.

    • Old Man With Candy

      ‘Guns, that’s the biggest problem in this country,’ she told WTKR. ‘Why is there a seven-year-old with a bloody gun? … How does a seven-year-old have a gun?

      ‘I’m only here because my husband is in the military. Otherwise, I would not have chosen to come to this country.’

      We’ll be happy to see you leave.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s all about meeeeeee……

      • Chafed

        The woman was shot while teaching kids. She has every right to be angry even if she offers the wrong solution.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Don’t think that quote was from the woman who was shot.

      • Rat on a train

        How does a seven-year-old have a gun?
        They are probably plentiful in the neighborhood because that is how conflicts are resolved.

    • Tonio

      I look forward to the push in the Virginia legislature to require that all guns be locked when not being used as a result of this. Why punish a single negligent adult when you can punish everyone?

      • juris imprudent

        Adult? What makes you think there was an adult involved in the procreation of this child. $10 says if daddy is known at all, he’s in jail.

      • Ownbestenemy

        If it saves just one Tonio…

      • slumbrew

        Whichever “adult” the kid got the gun from is, of course, a stickler for laws and will promptly start locking up their guns as soon as the new law passes.

    • DrOtto

      She was left “critically-ill”? Did the bullet already cause an infection?

      • Ownbestenemy

        We will know that answer if they say she dies suddenly

  11. Count Potato

    “Wells Fargo VP Shankar Mishra fired for ‘urinating on passenger’ on plane

    Wells Fargo has terminated its vice president of operations in India after he allegedly urinated on a 72-year-old woman while they both flew business class aboard a recent Air India flight.

    He apologized to the woman and begged her not to file a complaint. Mishra’s tearful expression of remorse persuaded the woman not to have him arrested and charged, according to reports.”

    https://nypost.com/2023/01/06/wells-fargo-vp-shankar-mishra-urinated-on-passenger-on-plane/

    At least he was sari.

    • Grosspatzer

      Clearly a Trump supporter.

    • juris imprudent

      It was an incontinental flight?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        booooo……

        Depends on your ticket class.

      • Rat on a train

        livestock section?

      • juris imprudent

        Does cattle-car have the same connotation in India as it does here?

      • Count Potato

        Cattle cars aren’t used for dairy, so I severely doubt it.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Dysentery car just doesn’t roll off the tongue

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?

    • Michael Malaise

      I am not one to kink shame.

    • Michael Malaise

      Her fault for flying Watersports Airlines.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    In a tense showdown on the House floor in the middle of the 14th failed vote at around 11 p.m. ET Friday, McCarthy personally confronted GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

    Did he menace them with a walking stick?

    • Sean

      euphemism?

    • rhywun

      It’s almost word-for-word identical to the version at the NY Post written by a different person.

      I think that chatbot is trawling Twitter and writing “news” stories now.

    • Michael Malaise

      I kind of like this crazy fucker.

  13. hayeksplosives

    Cleaning woman?? CLEANING WOMAN?!?!!!

    *commencing violent rage*

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Won’t you be my little reinemachefrau?

  14. The Late P Brooks

    Pepperidge Farm remembers when the Greens liked natural gas.

    If it combines with oxygen to make heat, it’s bad.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    All 212 Democrats have unanimously backed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies for each vote, except the 12th vote in which one member was out for a minor surgery.

    Of course they did. You can’t have democracy with people voting however they choose.

    • rhywun

      So we’re going to get that sanctimonious, lying prick the next time it’s their turn, unless they manage to find someone even worse. Nancy will look like the voice of reason in comparison.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The end of a global empire is never a pretty thing.

      • creech

        And GOP fundraisers will love him; always nice to have a devil or next Hitler to oppose.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    Unfortunately, subhumans with penises are taking up the slack.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    I’m only mildly surprised there weren’t any Republicans willing to vote for Jeffries.

    • juris imprudent

      Even Boebert’s not that crazy.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    Pete Bucher, interim president for the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) Action Fund, criticized the legislation as well, calling it an “egregious assault” on the public interest and our state parks.

    “The bill also furthers fossil fuel misinformation campaigns designed to brand natural gas as ‘green energy,’ a nationwide effort to delay climate action and the transition to a truly clean energy future,” he said.

    people will DIE.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      They will when they don’t have electricity or food.

      • Chafed

        So much this.

    • rhywun

      Meet reality, Pete Bucher interim president for the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) Action Fund.

    • juris imprudent

      Pete is of course an advocate for nuclear, right? Right?

  19. The Late P Brooks

    It’s a mystery

    A bomb cyclone hit California this week, knocking out power, downing trees, and dumping massive amounts of water.

    Some California residents are watching this precious H20 wash away and wondering, why can’t we save the water for times when we desperately need it?

    The state grapples with drought, but it’s not as simple as putting out a big bucket, says hydrogeologist and professor at UC Santa Cruz, Andrew Fisher.

    No mention whatsoever of the vast army of environmental advocates working tirelessly to destroy existing water storage capacity.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Crazy talk to think that over the past decade or so we work to ensure water capture is in place for when the drought might break or we catch some major storms.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        It would be almost like saving money “for a rainy day”

    • slumbrew

      Is CA one of those crazy states where it’s illegal to capture rainwater falling on your property?

      • Ownbestenemy

        No, Cali has no permitting rules or laws against it from my quick search.

      • slumbrew

        ISTR from the Corolla show that Ed Beigly(sp?) Jr wanted to put a huge cistern on his property for rainwater but couldn’t for some reason. I’ll dig into the archives if I get some time.

      • R C Dean

        Probably the excavation would have impacted the endangered coastal earthworm or some such.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Might be a relatively new law. Even a lot of cities it seems will give you a tax rebate if you install roof rainwater capture systems.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Huh…Nevada is regulated. Specific uses and has to be non-potable.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    Wreckers’ caucus

    The bare-knuckle political fight among Republicans over Kevin McCarthy’s run for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives could signal trouble ahead when lawmakers need to agree on bigger issues, like addressing the nation’s debt ceiling.

    Republicans captured a thin House majority in November’s midterm elections, breaking the hold of President Joe Biden’s Democrats on both chambers of Congress. But instead of moving quickly on their own priorities, a group of about 20 hardliners have prevented the House from getting started by forcing repeated leadership votes.

    ——-

    The biggest challenge facing the House in the coming months will be addressing the $31.4 trillion federal debt ceiling, which the U.S. Treasury is expected to reach later this year.

    Congress has come to the brink of default over the past years in standoffs over raising the debt ceiling, which is needed to cover costs that lawmakers have previously agreed to take on.

    And, of course, establishing meaningful priorities in order to get spending under control is a concept completely beyond our grasp.

    • juris imprudent

      …have previously agreed to take on.

      It is unthinkable to revisit those costs. They are sacrosanct and cannot be changed.

    • rhywun

      It’s like a game hot potato. Who will be caught holding it when it all comes crashing down?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Us, its always us

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The rest of us

  21. Ownbestenemy

    I haven’t worked a weekend in a long time. Kinda nice. No normal work to be done so I can catch up on other work that I have in the pipe. Should have just brought the XBox and fulfilled my position as a FedGov

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Other concessions, including one that would require 72 hours before a bill could come up for a vote, are likely to slow down House business.

    “It’s all about empowering us to stop the machine in this town from doing what it does,” said Representative Chip Roy, a leading McCarthy opponent.

    “I am open to whatever will give me the power to defend my constituents against this godforsaken city.”

    Good gravy. What next? Demanding to know what’s in them?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Just pass it and you’ll find out.

      Get with the program dude.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Even 72 hours isn’t enough. Long form debate, debate back in your district, etc all needs to come back. It won’t, but that would be the better step forward.

    • R C Dean

      “defend my constituents against this godforsaken city”

      We only need 50 more Senators and 217 more Reps with this attitude.

  23. Scruffy Nerfherder

    It’s that time of year when I get to remind employees with company cars that the IRS considers that income.

    • Fourscore

      I loved the old days. That was a perk that I enjoyed. My boss said to “Drive it like it’s your own”
      And I did. OTOH, I spent many hours leaving home 4-5 hours early to be at work 250 miles away.
      I did not feel guilty.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Go ahead, dilute the brand.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I have been seeing “climate impact” incantations on some online food recipes. That battle is lost. You will be bombarded.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        I think it is the other way ’round. They are pushing it on everything as they are loosing ground on the whole Idea.

        So, yes, we will be seeing it on everything, no matter how ridiculous and tenuous to “climate change” it is, and it will further destroy peoples willingness to go along with it. Even my super liberal friend in SF thinks the bubble in that town is thick, and that they have no idea what the rest of the world thinks.

    • rhywun

      That’s retarded even if you believe in “climate change”.

      Until you consider its real purpose which is to shame the deplorables.

      • Count Potato

        If they are already eating Taco Bell, how much shame could they feel?

    • DrOtto

      Good, climate change is about to get prop 65’d into irrelevancy. When everything causes climate change, even if you believed it, you just shrug and continue about what you were going to do, because anything else you do is also going to cause climate change, so now what’s the point?

      • Chafed

        Exactly right. This is a sign of desperation.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Demonology 101

    In the “free state of Florida,” academics have plenty of freedom to contest the efficacy and need for COVID-19 vaccines, but they are muzzled if they question the belief that America is a color-blind society where systemic racial injustice doesn’t exist. This double standard is the inevitable result of a state government that handpicks the kind of speech that’s allowed at state universities and colleges. The same state government that, under the heavy hand of Gov. DeSantis, complains about “censorship” of conservatives by privately run social-media platforms, yet engages in the same tactics it decries.

    ——-

    While CRT is treated as the abomination that Florida must root out, our university system continues to bankroll Florida’s chief vaccine denier, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. Appointed by DeSantis in the midst of the pandemic, he has peddled debunked treatments for the virus, such as hydroxychloroquine, and describes the scientific community as intolerant to different points of view on pandemic response. It turns out the administration he works for lives in a glass house. Ladapo, a tenured professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine, recommended men aged 18-39 do not get mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. The guidance was based on a study by the Department of Health, which answers to Ladapo, on the health risks of the vaccines for men in that age group. A seven-page report authored by a committee of UF College of Medicine professors criticized the study, calling its research of “highly questionable merit” and relying on cherry-picked data to support an anti-vaccine hypothesis.

    ——-

    In the end, the real losers aren’t university professors who are often vilified as leftist indoctrinators. The real losers are students, adults who should have the option to take a college course on critical race theory. The state of Florida acts as if it’s protecting students from what DeSantis labeled “trendy ideology.” But it’s more like a helicopter parent who prevents their children’s exposure to perhaps uncomfortable truths. In doing so, Florida denies young people the tools to question their place in society and have their own beliefs questioned. Perhaps keeping them in the dark is exactly the end game.

    Critical thinking is only legitimate when it criticizes the right targets.

    • rhywun

      privately run social-media platforms

      Bzzzt! Wrong. Try again.

      I’ll ignore the rest of the screed after that whopper.

    • PieInTheSky

      one of those is scientific debate the other political propaganda

    • Spartacus

      Well, rather than characterizations or scare quotes, let’s just go to the text:

      FL Statutes 1004.97 says, in part: “Expressive activities protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Art. I of the State Constitution include, but are not limited to, any lawful oral or written communication of ideas, including all forms of peaceful assembly, protests, and speeches; distributing literature; carrying signs; circulating petitions; faculty research, lectures, writings, and commentary, whether published or unpublished; and the recording and publication, including the Internet publication, of video or audio recorded in outdoor areas of campus. ” It goes on to add later: “A Florida College System institution or a state university may not shield students, faculty, or staff from expressive activities.” The entire section is long, go here to read the whole thing: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2022/1004.097

      On the other hand, 1000.05 says: “It shall constitute discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex under this section to subject any student or employee to training or instruction that espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such student or employee to believe any of the following concepts:” and then goes on the enumerate a list of eight things that shall not be endorsed, promoted, advocated, etc. Whatever those terms mean. Full text: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2022/1000.05

      Oh yeah, it also says in 1000.05: “Public schools and Florida College System institutions shall develop and implement methods and strategies to increase the participation of students of a particular race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or marital status in programs and courses in which students of that particular race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or marital status have been traditionally underrepresented, including, but not limited to, mathematics, science, computer technology, electronics, communications technology, engineering, and career education.” It has so far been unclear how this will be reconciled with cutting or eliminating DEI programs.

      You might be able to torture the words enough to make an argument that these two sections of law do not technically contradict each other, but it is sort of striking that these laws were enacted one year apart (2021 and 2022) by the same legislature and governor, and even with some of the same bill co-sponsors, one of whom is now the chancellor of the state university system.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      This says more.

      Zelensky has been putting me in a tough position lately, mostly because I agree with my colleague streiff that some investment in demolishing Russian military strength actually makes sense. The question for me has always been how much and with what accountability.

      Fuck off and die. Volunteer your own ass for the war effort if that’s what you actually believe.

      • Ownbestenemy

        So its keep building the invasion force with ‘accountability’. Right. Now where is that football that Lucy wants me to kick

      • rhywun

        Yeah, fuck that shit.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ugh.

        If it costs us $100 billion over two years to degrade Russia’s military capability and decimate its stockpiles (modern Russia is a third-world economy that can’t just replace everything), that’s actually a much better return on our money compared to what we normally spend on the Department of Defense.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Because degrading Russia’s military capability is a far better option than letting them sell gas to Germany and keeping Ukraine out of NATO.

      • Rebel Scum

        Reasonable solutions will not be tolerated.

      • Shirley Knott

        Which we’re going to continue to spend anyway.

      • robodruid

        But is Russia really loosing?
        At some point we have to admit that Ukraine is never going to be the same. While Russia may pay a high price, at the very worst their goal of neutralizing Ukraine is sort of successful.

      • R C Dean

        Have they neutralized Ukraine? Ukraine was never going to invade, much less conquer Russia, so that hasn’t changed. Ukraine is much more closely aligned with the West now, so that seems to be a move in the wrong direction, from Russia’s perspective, and kind of the opposite ensuring Ukraine’s neutrality.

        Of course, I’ve never believed the initial proxy seizure of Donbas, or the current invasion, were for any purpose other than, to put it bluntly, conquest and re establishment at some level of the Russian/Soviet empire.

      • Rebel Scum

        Except Putin stated the goals at the outset and seems to be sticking to them. Never mind the fact they started by deploying the jv team and only recently mobilized a portion of the varsity team. So we will see what happens.

        That aside, this is not our war. Ukraine is not a US/NATO ally. We should not be sinking hundreds of billions of dollars into futile attempt to “win” a proxy war that amounts to a Kievan Rus’ civil war.

      • R C Dean

        Sure, if you believe what Putin said early last year for Western consumption. He has said rather different things for domestic audiences, and their current recruiting push is more “re-establish Russian greatness” than “ensure Ukrainian neutrality”.

        They’ve always had front-line units involved, as well as more militia type units. Recall that it’s illegal for draftees (their lower quality troops) to be sent outside Russia. They are now using Putin’s private mercenary army, the Wagner Group, and recruiting from prison for troops to send, which doesn’t sound like their first rate units to me. And, of course, they began looting the newly conquered areas immediately, and have annexed a big chunk of Ukraine, which again sounds like conquest and empire-building, not ensuring neutrality.

        Of course, I agree that this is not our war.

      • Penguin

        Volunteer your own ass for the war effort …

        Or, at the very least send you own paychecks to fund it. It’s not as if you’re doing anything to earn them, anyway. (Talking about McCarthy, not Scruffy or OBE).

    • Rebel Scum

      That cunte can die in a ditch.

      I will personally fund every GOPe and Dem representative with a rifle, ammo and a few days worth of rations so they can go fight for whatever interests they seem to have in Ukraine.

      At this point I am pro Russia. They need to shock-and-aw and end the fucking conflict before the cuntes in charge in the west can escalate it further.

  25. Count Potato

    “A flood of groomers left Twitter in protest of Elon and went to Mastadon. And while the President of Groomer Island, @Esqueer_ still uses Twitter, Caraballo has also migrated to it.

    In an update that shocks no one, most content there is now child porn.”

    https://twitter.com/againstgrmrs/status/1611472670595350529

    “REPORT: Majority of content on Mastodon social media site is child porn

    In 2022, these two large child pornography communities were second and third on the fediverse leaderboard in terms of users, with only mastodon.social having more users.”

    https://thepostmillennial.com/report-majority-of-content-on-mastodon-social-media-site-is-child-porn

    • PieInTheSky

      I think this is getting too much like seeing a pedo in every bush… bit of a moral panic, not that pedos don’t exist

      • Count Potato

        There is more of it because more people are pushing it as acceptable.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      At least now we know where the feds went.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Right to the edge of the cliff

    The violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was part of a coordinated effort to overturn the results of a free and fair presidential election, orchestrated by former President Trump and his allies. The brutal assault on our democracy was a wake-up call to the extremism and disinformation those in power weaponized against their fellow Americans. These insurrectionists brutalized police and law enforcement officers and put our democratic system to the ultimate test.

    Thankfully, the 2021 insurrection failed. But, two years later, as our country heads into a new Congress, the threat to our democracy remains.

    Ban Republicans.

    • R C Dean

      They will need re-education. Probably best done in some sort of camps, where they can really concentrate on why they are so bad and wrong.

      • juris imprudent

        They can even be taught to enjoy a new diet of bugs and some occasional grain.

    • Rebel Scum

      a free and fair presidential election

      I wonder when we last had one of those.

      The brutal assault on our democracy

      Go fuck yourself and fuck your democracy.

      Ban Republicans.

      That’s the idea.

      • Penguin

        This is news? Biden has ‘no idea” about pretty much anything.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    They will need re-education. Probably best done in some sort of camps, where they can really concentrate on why they are so bad and wrong.

    And, as penance, they will be put to work doing things of benefit to society. Work will release them from their erroneous and delusional thoughts.

    • R C Dean

      Good point. One might say, work will set them free.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    seeing a pedo in every bush

    hang on…

    • PieInTheSky

      however you spell that there is enough redundancy in the language that you get what I mean. A nonce as the brits call it

  29. PieInTheSky

    Stalin is way better than Lenin even on a purely theoretical level. Stalin negates Lenin and synthesizes Marxism-Leninism. he put the theories of Lenin to practice, discovered which worked & which not, cleansed Leninism of its failures, and brought what was left to a higher form

    https://twitter.com/ArmenianStalin/status/1611165702744076290

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      And Jesus said “The malevolently retarded will always be with you.”

    • Rebel Scum

      he put the theories of Lenin to practice

      Mass murder of dissidents?

    • Penguin

      [Stalin] put the theories of Lenin to practice, discovered which worked & which not…

      Right. Which is why Stalinism was such a smashing success.

  30. PieInTheSky

    I salted my rib eye one hour and 20 minutes ago I don’t know if I should grill it or should wait 30 more minutes

    • Ownbestenemy

      Should be fine, but you do you boo

    • Penguin

      Ask yourself “what would Stalin do?”

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      How very regal.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    On Jan. 6 we were both in the Gallery of the House of Representatives with fellow members of Congress, staff and journalists, witnessing what we thought would be the historic certification of the 2020 election. Historic it certainly was.

    By early afternoon, we heard reports that armed members of Trump’s so-called Stop the Steal rally were swarming the Capitol. We had no idea they would soon overwhelm the officers protecting the complex.

    By 2:09 p.m., we were told we could not leave the building because the perimeter had collapsed. Until this point, we had no idea the mob was violently tearing through the barricades and beating their way past police lines directly into the Capitol.

    Over the next 30 minutes, the severity of our situation became more clear. There was no way out and we were trapped.

    We could feel the rumbling vibrations of he massive guillotines being rolled into place. We could hear the blood curdling shrieks of our noble defenders as they were impaled and hurled from the roof, one by one, to the voracious mob below. We all secretly prayed for a quick and merciful death.

    • Rebel Scum

      Historic it certainly was.

      Because Dems “elected” a geriatric pedophile. ///allegedly

      armed members

      Fake news is fake.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Prince Harry says he had a ‘frostbitten penis’ at William and Kate’s wedding

    That’s what he gets for wearing a dress.

    • R C Dean

      If true, it casts doubt on the “Megan’s magic hoo-ha” theory.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I am going with the theory that she pegs him, no judgement though

    • creech

      Dress? It is called a kilt.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    By 2:30 p.m., we were assembled behind the railing of the House Gallery with gas masks ready, as dozens of our colleagues were rushed to safety from the floor of the House. We could hear the mob pounding on the doors to the Chamber. As the sound of a gunshot reverberated through the Chamber we knew the police were trying to hold the line. Many of us made calls to our loved ones not knowing if we would make it out.

    Suddenly, at 2:42 p.m., a brave U.S. Capitol Police officer directed us to evacuate, shouting “GO! GO! GO!” as we scrambled across the House Gallery, ducking under railings and dodging passed rows of seats. He risked his life to save ours, and for that, I will always be grateful.

    *outright, prolonged laughter*

    “Next time, on Drama Queen Story Hour, That Time I Was Stuck in Traffic Next to a Pickup Truck With an Empty gun Rack and a MAGA Bumper Sticker.”

    • Ownbestenemy

      Well it was their 9-11, Pearl Harbor, and 1812 all rolled into one that was more deadly and disastrous than all three combined. As Biden so told, July 6th is an event that we cannot possibly understand.

      • Ownbestenemy

        So it happened on March 1st of 1954 and they were given a speedy trial on June 4th of the same year. Ah, those were the times.

    • Tundra

      Neat!

      Thanks, Pie!

    • R.J.

      Nice. I enjoyed the Champagne jellies last post too. I am a heathen American who makes rummy bears for parties. You

  34. Aloysious

    Music selection absolutely kills it this morning. Love Tony Rice, RIP.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Thankfully, for the past two years, the bipartisan January 6th Select Committee worked tirelessly to investigate the attack, show the American people the truth, and ensure accountability. No one is above the law, and, as the committee’s work comes to an end, it is essential we do not allow anyone to discredit the reality of what happened that day.

    We also want to give thanks to the incredible police officers on the scene. More than 140 were injured — many of them suffered permanent, career-ending injuries — and tragically, some lost their lives. Their sacrifice will not be in vain.

    He who controls the past…

    • Ownbestenemy

      If you have to sensationalize and editorialize an event this much, its propaganda.

    • Rebel Scum

      many of them suffered permanent, career-ending injuries

      Like the ones that were suicided – uh – committed suicide in the weeks after?

    • R C Dean

      I think the only true statement is that the J6 committee is closing up shop.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Not before they ‘accidently’ leak out 2000 SS#s….oops, our bad.

  36. The Late P Brooks

    Ask yourself “what would Stalin do?”

    Kill everyone?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Better safe than sorry

  37. The Late P Brooks

    So it happened on March 1st of 1954 and they were given a speedy trial on June 4th of the same year. Ah, those were the times.

    They wuz railroaded!

    • creech

      Swift and speedy. I came upon a 1950s clipping about my great uncle and aunt being robbed and pistol whipped in their real estate office in Philly. Within three months, the perp was traced to Virginia, arrested, extradited, tried and convicted, and sent to prison.

  38. Tundra

    Good morning, Old Man!

    Good news on the bump stock. Bad news on the Speaker.

    Have fun at Niagara Falls!

  39. R.J.

    Son of a gun. ‘Blazing Saddles’ is on Tubi. I wonder if it has been edited? I must find this out…

    • R.J.

      It appears to not be edited.

  40. Evan from Evansville

    I’m taking the day off work! Usually either Sat or Sun becomes a day to get a front page story for the next edition, but I’m not finding much going on. I have the opposite problem as usual: I have plenty of “hard news” already written or ready to add onto, but I’m lacking a story with art. I can get around that.

    I need to get an apartment! The goal is to move in February. Pretty much decided that Kokomo is the place for me, outside of small town work and close enough to semi-cool shit. Hrm.

    Important question! About the apartment, I’ve read that spending 30% of your monthly income should be the max you spend on an apartment. How does that sound? I’m by myself, no pets or family. One year lease, though I wouldn’t mind paying extra for a 6-month that I can extend and pro-rate to a year-long lease…how easy is that to do? Possible? Likely?

    That will be a HUGE change in my existence. I haven’t technically had my own place since March 1 of 2022. Single 35-year-old living with his parents is…um. Yes.

    Today is a day purposefully without work. Tonight cooking lamb with Mom and continuing my Xmas present quest of watching The Wire with her and Dad. Dad can’t focus long enough. It’s too complicated because it isn’t clear who is Good/Bad.

    Hrm. So far so good.