Today you get a merry, carefree little show tune.
This all began with Timeloose on the Zoom last weekend. He said something which I’m paraphrasing here: “We all read a lot of the same feeds and news sources, we all know about the bad, nut-punchy, things going on in the world. Glibs is our refuge from the suck, a place where we come together.” Timeloose is a big, imposing dude, and the last person you’d expect to play Little Mary Sunshine, but the man was on-point. Now, I’m not going to turn this column into Good News Network, or Grit, but I am going to attenuate some of the notoriously nut-punchy, ovary-tappy, content you’ve all come to fear and loathe. And away we go…
LATEST BIZARRO RUS-UKR WAR PROPAGANDA: Russian soldier using bow and arrow during Ukraine war mocked online. Points added for using what appears to be a wooden recurve bow instead of one of those newfangled things with pulleys; points deducted for using what appears to be a target point instead of a bladed or barbed point.
WE’RE SHOCKED; SHOCKED, DO YOU HEAR: Government advisory panel begins ass-covering operations, expresses surprise that government, industry witheld data on efficacy of taxpayer-funded vax booster. Delicious quote in which they let us know how they really feel about anyone questioning their narrative: “It’s not a group of children. We understand how to interpret these results.” GFY.
GLORIA LIU, HACK JOURNALIST: During the past year or so I’ve noticed a lot of news articles using variants of the phrase “there’s no such thing as a healthy amount of alcohol.” Latest example here, from Jan 1, 2023. Yet, as recently as August, 2019, Ms. Liu was touting the joys of the post-ride beer. She’s really just jumping on the temperance bandwagon here, following a very similar article published in Runners World.
OHIO SENATE INTRODUCES BILL TO LEGALIZE HOME DISTILLING: Granted, SB13 has only been introduced in one chamber and is still in committee. The bill also can do nothing to keep the federal BATFE from busting up your still. But we are hopeful that we will see a slow, nationwide move towards legalization at the state level, and that the feds sit on their own hands as long as the state laws are followed — just like marijuana.
NETFLIX RENEWS, THEN CANCELS INSIDE JOB: (SPOILERS) Many of you may remember my gushing about Inside Job, a wonderful animated TV show in which every conspiracy theory you’ve ever heard is true all at once, even the contradictory ones (ie, flat earth and hollow earth). NetFlix originally ordered a second season, only later to cancel it. There are some wonderful callouts to libertarianism, which might have something to do with Netflix decision to cancel a show with appeal to a problem demographic [rustles tinfoil]. Just to clear up some confusion, there is only one season of Inside Job, Part 1 (ten episodes) which dropped in 2021, and Part 2 (eight episodes) which dropped in 2022.
Showtunes?
Who am I, Howard Bracket?
On the entertaining side, the girlfriend just got a postcard that appears to indicate Bicycling magazine will no longer be printed and distributed (she signed up for at some point, and doesn’t remember when or where).
/will continue riding up to breweries and riding with teams that are linked to breweries
Are they moving to being a chain letter now?
No need for Swiss.
* Narrows gaze *
These changes tend to come along every other cycle. They Bi-cyclic.
I liked Inside Job. Mrs OBE left the room so I can “watch my cartoons with not cereal but beer”
Fermented cereals.
I’ll have to check it out. I’ll be finishing Vox Machina (which I am enjoying) tonight. Didn’t really have anything lined up next.
Well, the second season of Vox Machina starts soon. But Inside Job was entertaining enough.
Because they don’t want you to know, obviously!
Thanks for the links, Tonio… have to say they’re only somewhat attenuated given we’re still reminded of the Great Eastern European Cash Sink, that the Progressives are returning to Thou Shalt Not Give The Plebes Any Joy (prohibition) and all. Good on the Ohio Senate, though… maybe someday we can return to anything produced for in-home consumption is none of the government’s (at any level) business….. I crack myself up…
The bill has only been introduced, not passed yet. So good on the guy for introducing it (although it’ll most likely die there).
I was very surprised to find that one state had passed a similar bill – Missouri. West Virginia and New Hampshire have also introduced similar bills but did not pass them.
I’ll support any effort to legalize victimless crimes. BUT, if Ohio has a law banning home-brewing, then I would much prefer they just revoke/rescind/immolate said law. Same with legalizing drugs. Stop passing complicated laws and just repeal the ones on the books.
I don’t understand. How can you add pork to a rescinded law?
Was it the lobbyist or congresscritter that asked first?
Home brewing is already legal in Ohio. In my lifetime the legal ABV for beer has moved from 6%, to 8%, to 12%, finally where we are now: no ABV limit (percentages are approximate from memory, with the exception of the 12% cap).
Gloria Liu was published in Rimmers World?
I did not know there was such a thing…
whoops. *Runners* World. Sorry. My bad.
What a smeghead.
Lest anyone need context.
“The First…” ???
Now you’ve done it. You’ve urinated the Bro.
I can’t tell if that’s intentional.
Did that mistake leave a bad taste in your mouth?
Speaking of… I just finished watching the three “new” seasons, plus the new movie length special, which I didn’t even know existed. They were awesome, right back to what made the originals so good. I had assumed the show was dead forever after that awful season in 1999.
Given that the last experiment with banning alcohol came during the Progressive Era, I can’t say I’m surprised. Progs are some killjoy motherfuckers.
Carrie Nation should have been laughed out of town, or locked up for destruction of property.
She was, many times.
Carrie Nation shared a trait with the progs that she spawned* – a complete lack of shame.
* – not literally.
The original Karen. To this day she is the template for shrieking harpy white chick Democrats.
Yep. In KC, she was arrested as soon as she got to town, thrown in the drink, and the judge told her to pay a $5 fine and get out and never come back or she wasn’t going to like the consequences. She didn’t come back.
No real Karen would ever give up that easily. I assume she wrote a bad review for city hall on Yelp at least?
No, she should have been shot when she started going into a screaming fit with a hatchet in hand.
I’ve seen teetotaling coming more from the right in recent years.
During the past year or so I’ve noticed a lot of news articles using variants of the phrase “there’s no such thing as a healthy amount of alcohol.”
This is more or less true. Not an argument for banning it, but there’s no reason to pretend a beer is healthier than a glass of water.
It’s really not. Or at least, the evidence is less than compelling.
Some good info on alcohol’s effects and benefits. I think some of his stuff is not really applicable in the real world – his ‘sleep cocktail’ sure as hell didn’t work for me – but does provide a lot of mechanistic details to inform the question.
Longitudinal studies suggest otherwise.
Its hard to tweak out all the variables, but the basic one is that people who drink moderate alcohol live longer than drunks or teetotalers.
I don’t care if I am more likely to get disease w, x, y, and z, if I live longer *AND* enjoy my years more.
Its hard to tweak out all the variables, but the basic one is that people who drink moderate alcohol live longer than drunks or teetotalers.
Right, because one problem is people with various health problems are most likely to quit drinking, for obvious reasons.
But as part of a longitudinal study, they should show up as both. And can be separated out.
If someone abuses alcohol for 40 years, then quits, then aren’t a teetotaler.
Well…
With the way the water infrastructure has been in some of these cities, we might soon be back to the question of “Beer? or Cholera Water?”
Welcome to the Flint, Michigan brewery.
“From the land of leaden waters, waters.” Doesn’t quite have the ring to it.
“Our unique, mineral-rich formula”
That’s pretty good marketing for a bureaucrat.
I sideline as a wordsmith.
At first, I read that as “swordsmith” and thought “Dang, UCS’s smithing is really coming along”.
That’s on the “to-do” list, but I’m not to that point yet.
(I had the opportunity to do so this year, but the finances didn’t add up,)
She’s really just jumping on the temperance bandwagon
Get on board or get run over.
The literal origin of the phrases “on the wagon” (not drinking) and “[fallen] off the wagon” (drunk).
I’m naming my Mary Sue protagonist in my next script Temperance Bandwagon!
I have, for some years, thought of introducing a character into some story or another who was the product of a German father and a strong-willed Korean mother, who insisted on naming her son after her grandfather.
So the boy ends up named Ho Lee Schitt.
Oh, and my other one was the son of a Swedish father and a Syrian mother. His name? Yassir Youbetcha.
It’s nice how all the talking seals in the media start clapping their flippers in unison…
“NO hEalTHY AmouNt!!1!”
“ReThiNK Yor relAtiONShIP!!”
You’re tiresome. Go bother someone who enjoys it.
Then of course, when I drink, it’s “mindful drinking”. When you drink, it’s unhealthy and should be stopped.
My drinking is always mindful. When my brain stops working, my drinking comes to an end.
Given that the alcohol excise tax isn’t the money-spinner it was in the 1780s…
The State of Illinois very much enjoys the large amount of tax munniez they get from teh demon rum…
The way it spends, it better encourage alcoholism.
Oh, I suspect the government in Illinois is doing plenty to drive its subjects to drink.
That is one thing California hasn’t fucked up.
Yet.
But we are hopeful that we will see a slow, nationwide move towards legalization at the state level, and that the feds sit on their own hands as long as the state laws are followed — just like marijuana.
If the Morlocks wish to sedate themselves, who are we to interfere?
Speaking of alcohol, I have me a six pack that I am going to violate with extreme prejudice tonight. You know. In honor of that scold whatshername.
points deducted for using what appears to be a target point instead of a bladed or barbed point.
It should have a flaming rag soaked in whale oil on the tip.
Only if you’re besieging a castle or trying to ignite the thatched roofs of a town prior to sacking it. Flaming arrows are not good anti-personnel weapons.
[Furtively hides miniatures squadron of Byzantine medium horse archers.]
He also loses points for the lack of a sword.
https://allthatsinteresting.com/mad-jack-churchill
Gotta have a sword. Especially if you are gonna be sticking some Redcoats.
What’s the Ohio equivalent of an orange ’69 Challenger?
A rusted out orange ’69 Challenger?
Assuming that it started out as a black Challenger and the orange is the rust.
😂
” Government advisory panel begins ass-covering operations…”
To those of us who pay attention, this is transparent AF. “Oh we were against Big Pharma this whole time!”
So it looks like taking more Moderna boosters makes you more likely to catch covid. At least we still have that sweet Pfizer vaccine.
Mrs. TOK does those obstacle course races. They drink ON the course. But don’t tell any of those Karens who write articles.
/covers Sean’s ears
There’s a place in Ohio that does a Tour de Donut, which is a timed race. Each donut eaten (and kept down), deducts 5 minutes from your final time.
I read somewhere about a marathon race in Bordeaux, where they fill you up with exotic cheeses, ice cream, charcuterie, quiches, and around three bottles of wine, during the race. Oh, and you also do the run in costume.
Leaving aside pursuit by the cops, this may be one of the only things that could get me into running…
Is it really running if you just have to keep ahead of the wide arm of the law?
No interest in a Beer Mile? We’ve also got a Christmas event that happens in December that’s a 0.1 mile run/walk/stagger/crawl with the participants dressing up as either Santa or the Grinch.
That actually does look kind of fun.
I don’t like that a filthy Canadian is the world champion, though.
Time to start training then!
I would need a lot of practice, both the running and the beer-chugging part. I’m terrible at chugging beers.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/marathon-du-medoc I assume.
On my wife’s bucket list.
God gave me the means to distill beer wine and hard liquor. I shall do so no matter what some earthly government says.
*He says as another Glib Glub is submitted.
^This guy is a machine. Big Glibs shout-out to R.J. who is turning into one of our more prolific writers. Also, a wonderful human being…
https://www.hotels.com/
Nice.
lol
…and scheduled my good fellow!
Yo, TPTB. I submitted a post yesterday. May be too local, but at least it’s got a cocktail recipe.
Oh, and mad props to R.J. I wouldn’t mind a few more immigrants like him.
NETFLIX RENEWS, THEN CANCELS INSIDE JOB
I did the same thing for Netflix.
@Richard from dedthred:
It might be because the Kindle app is already installed on it somewhere, and the device’s name is “Richard’s Android Tablet.” Some Android devices come with the Kindle app preinstalled.
“Russian soldier using bow and arrow during Ukraine war mocked online. ”
The perfect image to reflect just what your $100 billion+ (so far) has purchased.
***Not pictured: all the yachts covered in hot Ukrainian refugee coeds that have actually been purchased with the money.***
Were the yachts or the refugee coeds purchased with the money? Is it truly “survival sex” if you are kept in luxury on a yacht?
They just come with the yachts. I don’t think any of the purchasers ask questions about their sourcing. Plausible deniability.
They are screened by being asked if they care more about the size of the boat or it’s motion in the ocean.
OHIO SENATE INTRODUCES BILL TO LEGALIZE HOME DISTILLING
Excuse me, I have been told nullification is racist. Pls edit problematic link pls
Horrifying
“What Exxon scientists found and what they communicated to company executives was nothing short of horrifying,” says Sokol. Given how science works, she says that should have prompted the company to raise an alarm to the public and policymakers.
“Imagine that world and the different trajectory that consumers, investors and policymakers would have taken when we still had time, versus now when we’re entrenched in a fossil fuel-based economy that’s getting increasingly expensive and difficult to exit,” says Sokol.
She says that provides “significant evidence” of the kind of deception and law-breaking that many of the lawsuits are based on.
No counterbalancing positive effects of reliable efficient energy for the modern world. Exxon only brought that oil out of the ground in order to poison humanity and destroy the environment.
Goddammit I despise the eco-Puritan cultists.
“increasingly expensive and difficult to exit”
I bet she’s one of the people who have been shitting themselves for years at the mention of nuclear.
Ugh, NPR so I really don’t want to click through and read it… but based on the headline – if Exxon’s climate predictions were accurate from decades back, that would be the first set of said predictions that were accurate at all. So I’m rather skeptical.
I’d like to see how those predictions stacked up to the models that are normally cited. 10 to 1 says the predictions were “climate change will be minimal at most” which is why they were accurate.
I…. did not consider that. Heh… you’re probably right.
It is all utter and complete horseshit.
Save your sanity and ignore it.
Exxon didn’t even offer us an “off ramp”! They are pure evil. Minnesoda lawmakers – pure as the driven snow – are showing the way.
So basically, “we are gonna pass some legislation that makes idiots feel good, but really won’t do anything because the PUC will grant waivers.” And I’m sure that the when those off-ramp waivers are granted, the Good & Decent among us will call them evil connivers.
By the way, I don’t remember a peep out of the DFL about doing something like this. So I have no idea what they are talking about when they say they heard “loud and clear” that people want this. I guess it was drowned out by the 24/7 ABORTION screaming.
By the way, I don’t remember a peep out of the DFL about doing something like this. So I have no idea what they are talking about when they say they heard “loud and clear” that people want this. I guess it was drowned out by the 24/7 ABORTION screaming.
It is known. Any win by a progressive is a mandate to enact any policies they wish, regardless of whether the policies are unrelated to anything they campaigned on. Any win by a non-progressive is a narrow permission to improve the execution of the policies previously enacted by progressives.
Who are you, who are so wise in the ways of politics?
Well, you have to know these things when you’re a king, you know.
The voters* of Minnesoda elected that rat bastard to a second term, even after all his tyrannical Covid nonsense. I’m pretty sure Walz feels like he can do whatever the fuck he wants.
* not me, I don’t play the voting game [sniffs haughtily]
Don’t forget that there is also a huge projected surplus that needs to be spent ASAP.
Party time at the capitol. No booze ’cause that’s bad, OK?
JFC so stupid.
I guess the Caribbean resort industry will enjoy all the billions that are going to be thrown at Dems’ “green” friends.
Since the DFL will oppose nuclear power, I can only assume this is designed to depopulate MN.
And punish the assholes in North Dakota where all their coal and NG electricity comes from.
I’d be happy as shit if Xcel just decided to cut Minnesoda off. “Sorry, you guys are too much of a pain in the ass to continue being a customer. Good luck”
Sure, I’d be cold and in the dark, but we deserve it.
* Extra bonus points if you do it before the Vikes embarrass themselves in the playoffs.
“Imagine that world and the different trajectory that consumers, investors and policymakers would have taken when we still had time, versus now when we’re entrenched in a fossil fuel-based economy that’s getting increasingly expensive and difficult to exit,”
The story tracks Exxon’s research from 1977 onward. I seem to recall fossil fuels being “entrenched” back then.
Now do pharma
“Attorney General picks Special Counsel to probe Biden’s handling of classified documents – as White House insists they were ‘misplaced’: Garland reveals garage batch was found on December 20 – and DOJ was notified of another discovery TODAY”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11628833/Attorney-General-Merrick-Garland-appoints-Special-Counsel-review-Bidens-classified-documents.html
Three batches? This sounds more like a hobby.
Hunter: Daaad… I need rolling papers!
Joe: Just take anything lying around….
Meanwhile….an oblivious Hunter is still trying to remember where he misplaced those “Christmas presents” for some of his special friends in the CCP.
Trump couldn’t be luckier to have this guy in his life.
Today in heart attack news
“TikTok star Waffler69 dies aged 33: Social media sensation – who shot to fame eating bizarre foods and boasted 1.7m followers – passes away from suspected heart attack”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11629169/TikTok-star-Waffler69-dies-aged-33.html
“Lisa Marie Presley, 54, suffers ‘full cardiac arrest’ at Calabasas home and is resuscitated before being rushed to hospital: Daughter of Elvis was seen at awards ceremony two days ago with mom Priscilla”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11629129/Lisa-Marie-Presley-suffers-cardiac-arrest-rushed-hospital-given-CPR-home.html
I have a sister named Lisa Marie who was born just a few days before Lisa Marie Presley. Just throwing out a little TOK trivia.
I really don’t want it to happen… but I really get the sinking feeling like we’re in that “Bizarre zombie like occurrences flash on the TV in the background of the scene” stage of things. Hope that feeling is wrong.
Should I hold off buying a house for a few months?
On that issue, absolutely
Yes. It’s going to get weird.
TikTok star Waffler69 dies aged 33
Great another syrupy story about somebody I don’t know dying too early.
“Russian soldier using bow and arrow during Ukraine war mocked online. Points added for using what appears to be a wooden recurve bow instead of one of those newfangled things with pulleys; points deducted for using what appears to be a target point instead of a bladed or barbed point.”
Absolutely none of the Western media’s coverage of the war in Ukraine is propaganda. Propaganda is only something commies do, not real democracies, like America.
+1 Ghost Pilot
NDTV is India-based, FWIW. Both sides propagandize, and world media picks it up.
What Tonio said.
A Babysitter Made A Red Wine Pasta Sauce For A Coworker’s Son. It Left His Mom Furious
Red wine pasta sauce is a gateway food to bicycling. It is known. Does this monster want the kid to turn out like Neph?
Oh FFS! The alcohol cooks off! Cripes people are idiots.
Yup… beat me to my reply of “Mom is a moron who doesn’t understand that alcohol evaporates in cooking”.
The mom did however thank her for giving the boy a sample pack of puberty blockers and purple hair dye.
Would I be a jerk if I concluded that Mom here is fit only for Chef Boyardee?
+1 aluminum taste
Usually not all of it, but enough that it would qualify as non-alcoholic in any other setting.
Not … completely.
Not an appreciable amount. From the article, it sounds like it’s not a religious thing, as the mom drinks, or an allergy, as the babysitter asked.
Well, technically it doesnt…entirely. But more than enough cooked off to avoid any problems.
Wow, third to the party on that comment.
Of course. But…
“Nice knowing you.”
Yes, and it’s typically only enough booze for flavoring, anyway.
Cripes people are idiots.
Reason #1 to embrace nihilism.
Don’t tell her what was in the brownies.
My friend got a care package from another friend one summer at camp. He distributed the chocolate chip cookies to each of the campers in his cabin. Then he read the letter…
When I was in college, some of my friends mixed up a batch of cookies with cannabis oil. Not having the right kind of kitchen implements, the cannabis was not evenly distributed (although everyone who partook knew what was in the cookies). Of course, one of the girls who got a cookie heavily dosed with drugs was someone who didn’t usually touch the stuff. She spent 20 minutes face down on the floor impersonating a vacuum cleaner (literally). Eventually, one of the guys loosely hog-tied her and put her in a corner so she couldn’t hurt herself.
I sure hope mom never uses vanilla extract.
I’ve started using “essence,” which is water-soluble, but not because of the alcohol. The “essence” is stronger. I got the peppermint for my cheesecake and WOWEEEEE was that strong. Awesome.
Sounds about right. Also sounds about right the chef felt compelled to put it on line too.
When I was a kid, the opposite happened. I was visiting a friend and his mom made spaghetti and I came home raving about how good it was.
My mom always made her sauce from scratch. With tomatoes that we grew on the farm. Anyhow, she asked Mrs. Engen what her recipe was and Mrs. Engen blushed and said it was just Ragu from a jar.
I wasn’t Mom’s favorite kid for a week or so.
I make my sauce from scratch.
Ragu would make me cry.
I’m making a red sauce with wine right now.
I cooked up 10 qts of sauce today, with a bit of wine in it. Good stuff.
Alcoholic!
Just don’t leave your kids with him
I would never feed my orphans what I eat!
On the home distilling front, I actually tried some local moonshine last summer. I was reluctant, having tried some of the commercial varieties that, to me at least, tasted pretty much like rancid corn. The home distilled stuff was orders of magnitude of orders of magnitude better. It actually tasted good. The friend of my neighbor’s who let me try it was kind enough to let me have the jar. I had to be helped home that night.
I have a source that shall remain unnamed who makes a plum moonshine.
It’s terrifically bad for my liver.
My great grandfather made grappa, in complete violation of the (unconstitutional) law.
It was really good.
At some point I’ll share photos of my armed kinfolk on their mules in front of their still.
Last time Tonio did happy links, something horrible happened with GlibFlicks. A’feared, am I!
*Clutches St. Christopher medallion
*Adjusts tinfoil hat
*makes sign of the Cross*
TIL that Orthodox peeps go right to left. Not like us Catholic splitters.
For you:
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2402111/?ref_=m_ttfc_tt
Nice. There are so many fine shorts and movies coming up! Tinfoil Hat Thursdays runs through the last Thursday of November with ZARDOZ. Then some serious schlock is needed to cleanse the palate.
Big Tits Zombie is still on YouTube.
Just sitting here listening to hail hit my roof while the rig rocks side to side.
Hold me.
😬
You’ll do anything to get that RV repairhottie to come on by, won’t you?
I will be climbing on the roof tomorrow to see if I may need “additional repairs”
And bringing a ball peen hammer with you?
Caulk that will be rock hard after a few minutes
Is Caulk a first name or last name?
All right, now, how big is this caulk?
Here’s hoping for an appropriate amount of damage!
Are we still talking about the RV?!?
I don’t think we ever were?
Good luck with the “repairs”
That’s gotta be phrasing, right?
If the RV is a-rockin’…
I’ve been on the Twitter a bit lately, and today it seems people are starting to surmise, as I did, that there is something fishy about the discovery of these Biden documents, and this might be the powers that be getting rid of him.
Unless you’re The View apparently… then you believe the Republicans are planting them.
No, seriously.
*Man at door, wearing costume procured from Professor Auguste Balls*
“Hello Mr. President! I’m here to work on your Corvette. Sweet car, those things. What’s that? Yes, you did indeed call me. Okay, if you can just show me where the car is…. huh? Oh, these banker’s boxes? Yeah. They contain, uh, motor oil.”
Has anyone seen Sandy Berger lately? Or maybe Hilary has been visiting again? Were the classified docs right next to some Whitewater billing records?
Well that’s just a big ol’ cherry of stupid on top of that sundae.
8 more days
This is actually kind of funny. If there are people behind the scenes trying to remove him, the MSM didn’t get the memo, and they’re still defending him. Unless the MSM is being kept in the dark to give the whole thing an air of legitimacy.
The co-hots of The View are just morons. They aren’t even fit for Journolist 2.0.
CNN has its talking points down just fine. They still want to try and differentiate Biden from Trump no matter how ridiculous because if the conspiracy is correct, they’d want to get both Biden (out of office) and Trump (prosecuted).
The shit doesn’t have to make sense regardless, The average prog NPC isn’t going to think too hard about how the arguments make no sense. Biden was somehow more responsible than Trump because he didn’t even realize he had taken classified material let alone where he put it. And they don’t care about double standards. When they grumble this may mean Trump gets off, they are admitting that they don’t believe in, or that there really is, equal application of the law in theory or practice.
Pt 2.
Even if they don’t prosecute Trump, it works just as well if not better. They can then paint the Republicans as reckless for backing a guy who mishandled documents while the party of Democracy cast aside ol’Joe over the same matter. They may not have enough to prosecute Trump, but they can give themselves a powerful cudgel against him if he makes it out of the GOP primary.
I think threading that needle is going to be harder than they may think (if they aren’t just using the special prosecutor to shut down a House hearing).
I believe it’s more of a threat – “Look, Joe, you need to step down. We can do this the hard way, or the easy way . . . .” He (well, Herr Doktor Mrs. First Lady) has probably “missed” a few “hints”, and this is just escalation.
I don’t think anyone involved in the administration needs to publicly announce an active investigation to dodge question from House Republicans. I’ve watched a number of interviews online of guys like Wray testifying before congress. The guy doesn’t answer anything unless he can make the answer completely self-serving.
It’s only slightly easier or at least more efficient to be able to give the same cookie cutter answer that they don’t speak on active investigations, but the end result is the same regardless.
I agree it’s a threat and Biden may be old and senile enough to call them on it.
Tweet
Whether TPTB want to get rid of Biden now or by 2024 remains to be seen.
Ah. Now this makes sense.
Got my publishing partner’s book read (627 pages in 4 days, yes I did, with comments). Got another (long) section of med coding read and a test taken (93% boohiss). Started out the day bleary-eyed and the only thing holding my eyelids open was the caffeine, but that too passed. I’m feeling particularly accomplished right now.
I vaguely recall that the industry standard for medical coding is 95% accuracy on submitted bills, for which there is often a second level of review of at least a sample. Depending on what kind of work you pick up, you’ll likely be working in a relatively narrow range of codes, too. 93% sounds damn good to me.
This was a pathophysiology test, so no coding.
So here’s the deal on grades at my school. They throw everything at us, and I mean everything. I feel as though I am not doing well on the coding part, and I certainly won’t be able to finish a 150-question cert exam in the 4-hr time slot. The grading scale is tight, 95-100% is an A, 90-94% is a B, and so on halvsies down the line. I have had to redo tests to get a decent grade, and I do all the extra credit they provide.
I was telling all this to my drug dealer (APRN, who rx’s my head meds), and she said, “That’s not how it works in the real world. We put in the codes ourselves and the coders/billers tell us what insurance will and will not pay for.” I told this to my unaffiliated therapist, who said, “Yep.”
I have a 93% overall in the course (I’m 3/4 done), and I may be able to actually do this job under those conditions, but frankly, I just don’t feel as if I’m doing well at all, and I’m scared about failing my certification exam (passing is 70%). I can do the cert practice tests just fine (got an 86% on one), but it also took me 4 hours to do a test that should have taken 1.5 hours. I have 2 practice tests left and if I must, I suppose I will buy the other bundle.
Yeah, having the provider do the initial coding is pretty typical. Each one usually only has to know a handful of codes. Our coders reviewed for accuracy, maybe inquired about opportunities to upcode (“if you can say the patient also had a fever, then this could be an ICD blah blah”). Not sure if our coders looked at whether insurance would pay – that strikes me as an odd one – if the provider is in-plan, then insurance pays anything “medically necessary”. Maybe she was saying that they review for medical necessity (which can be a box-ticking exercise based on what’s in the chart, but is also something of a professional medical opinion), and maybe go back to the provider and say “if you can confirm x and y, this will get paid”.
Speaking of machines… Mojeaux, that’s phenomenal.
Seconded.
Well done, Mo! You made up for me.
“A couple days later, my coworker told me that her son hasn’t stopped raving about the pasta dish I served him, and asked for the recipe, which I gladly gave her,” the Redditor said. “Upon reading it, she got really angry, and said that it was totally inappropriate for me to serve a child wine sauce.”
He might grow up to be a gondolier
My wife and I went to Venice and took a lovely gondola ride. Our gondolier was name Maximo and he was a fisherman. Helluva nice guy.
PSA for the guys: don’t talk fishing with your gondolier in Venice on your wife’s birthday.
Your welcome.
Haha. I can totally see you doing that.
For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of meeting Tundra in real life, he’s a born salesman. He has carnal knowledge of the Blarney Stone.
Did you see how it was dressed? It was asking for it!
You’re only supposed to kiss it, not lick it.
Wait. I know this one. You don’t talk fishing on your wife’s birthday in Venice because it only reminds her that she is missing out on a good walleye bite. Right?
* I bet that after you got her mad, she probably got 2 sessions of B-day sex and what could you say?
You’re a fisherman. How the hell do you learn unfamiliar waters?
Last year we spent a month or so on Hilton Head Island in SC. I tried fishing from a dock near a boat launch one morning and didn’t get even a nibble. I wasn’t surprised because no one else was there either which is always a bad sign.
Later that day, I was driving by the dock and saw a big black guy down there fishing, so I wheeled in and went over to see if he could give me some pointers. Turned out that he was from New Orleans and had also not gotten a nibble. So much for getting local tips.
While we were chatting though, he said that while he was there a boat had landed and they had caught a dozen or so sheepheads. I rolled my eyes and said something, “why would anyone keep a trash fish like that?”. That started a huge argument between us about whether a sheephead is a trash fish or not. I said yes, he said it was a “poor man’s lobster”. Finally he said, he had a cousin who had moved to Minnesoda so he called him to see if everyone in Minnesoda agreed that they were trash fish.
The cousin was put on speaker phone and when we explained what we were arguing about, he started laughing and called us morons. According to him, fresh water sheephead and salt water sheephead are two different fish and yes, fresh water ones are trash and salt water ones are delicious. At that point we all started laughing. (They outvoted me 2-1 that Minnesoda weather is the worst).
You just gotta keep asking people. Hardest thing for me salt water fishing is you have to take into account the tide. Not just when the sun comes up or goes down.
HAHA! I would have argued to the death too!
I love that stuff. Down in Florida once I ended up fishing on a pier with a bunch of other dudes. They were all strangers, but from the shit talking and bragging, we might have been long time friends.
Fisherman are almost always great people.
I’ve got a bunch of neighbors here that fish. Very different in CO, of course, since there’s NO FUCKING LAKES. But it’s still fun to get out and catch some walleye, trout and salmon.
What? There are lakes all over Larimer County. I mean, most are technically reservoirs, not lakes, but they have fish.
Of course, most fishing I see is fly fishing on the drive up to Estes Park. I know people love it, but it seems like work to me.
People were ice fishing on Lake Loveland in late December. I could see parts of the lake weren’t frozen, so they were fucking nuts.
Jimbo and I are Minnesotans. I had 5 lakes within a couple miles of my house. It’s just a different culture and yes, I’ve fished plenty of resevoirs.
I love fly fishing, though. I guess it could be construed as work, but I find it wonderfully relaxing. I fished pretty much every species back in MN on a fly. Catching a decent smallmouth on a fly rod is still one of my favorite things!
How are you settling in up there?
An old buddy of mine once tried to teach me fly fishing. After a few attempts, he gave up, telling me that I looked like an old lady trying to kill a bat with a broomstick.
I went back to my spinning tackle. When I go fishing, after all, my goal is to actually catch fish. And then eat them.
12 mile?
I like to fly fish, because always something to do besides wait for the damn fish. Hitting a top water strike is also muy divertido.
Fly fishing can be hit or miss. Wrong fly, not a bite all day. Right fly, you are pulling them out of the water every few minutes. At least, when fishing for trout where there are a good number of them.
Electronics help a lot. If you can bring your own boat and tools, you can zoom around and find fish.
Don’t forget older analog technology either. Norwegian Fish Finders (aka binoculars) always work and are easy to pack. Just use them to watch the other fishermen and when you see them doing well, go horn in on the action.
Yeah, my kid is a wizard through the ice. I think I sent a pic to you of that huge laker he got. He just uses a simple flasher.
Gotta love the Norwegian Fish Finder, though. Have you ever fished McConaughy Lake in NE? We did a guided trip there in November and our guide laughed at how many people used just that!
Fish are always biting better/best on the other side of the lake.
/Old Latvian secret
Nope, I have never been over in that part of NE. I’ve pheasant hunted along the Missouri breaks on the east end of the state.
Fourscore, the catechism that every resort owner repeats over and over: “You shoulda been here 10 days ago. They were leaping into the boat.”
A cynic might suspect that the fishing is always so-so, but the evil capitalist resort owner is lying to trick you into giving him all your hard-earned money.
That is a ray of sunshine moment even without video!
Next thing you know, everybody will be suing the government
Although they call President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan “unlawful,” two university law professors are urging the Supreme Court to reject the legal challenges that have been brought against it.
“The standing theories that have been thrown at the wall in these cases are wrong, and many of them would have dangerous implications,” wrote William Baude, a law professor at the University of Chicago Law School, and Samuel Bray, a University of Notre Dame law professor, in an amici curiae brief filed on Wednesday with the nation’s highest court.
——-
Baude and Bray, in their brief, address the issue of so-called legal standing. The law professors say it’s supposed to be the party most affected by a policy that challenges it in the courts.
In their lawsuit against the president’s plan headed to the Supreme Court, six GOP-led states argue that companies in their states that service federal student loans, particularly the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, or MOHELA, would lose profits as a result of federal student loan forgiveness. But the law professors say that, in that case, MOHELA should have brought the legal challenge, not the states. The other states in the suit are Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina.
“Missouri is not the proper party to pursue relief for MOHELA’s lost loan servicing fees,” Baude and Bray wrote.
“Whether under modern doctrine or more classical terminology, the federal courts have the power to issue the requested relief only if it is being requested by the correct plaintiffs,” they wrote.
The legal challenges follow a trend that Baude and Bray say they find worrisome, in which states are too easily allowed to challenge a federal action they disagree with.
If the justices side with the states and overlook their shaky legal standing, the professors write, the Supreme Court risks sitting “in constant judgment of every major executive action — which is not its constitutional role.”
Muh pen! Muh phone!
“ The legal challenges follow a trend that Baude and Bray say they find worrisome, in which states are too easily allowed to challenge a federal action they disagree with.”
One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
I always felt that federal laws should be more like suggestions the states could follow. Especially when said laws go outside constitutional bounds.
Anyone should have standing to sue the government to stop an action outside its authority, regardless of personal impact.
I’m just curious how often any part of the government has been denied standing to sue private actors.
What gives a local municipality the right to sue Exxon over climate change? These law professors can fuck off. If the state’s can’t sue over blatantly unlawful acts like this, they sure as shit aren’t going to endorse any of the hoi polloi having standing.
The law professors say it’s supposed to be the party most affected by a policy that challenges it in the courts.
Oh I wish – all those fucking NRDC and CBD enviro lawsuits would be crushed on filing.
“The law professors say it’s supposed to be the party most affected by a policy that challenges it in the courts”
Most affected? That’s just flat wrong. It’s a threshold that you have to clear. If you do, it doesn’t matter if there is someone more affected than you.
Oops. Clicked too soon. Under the “most affected” standard, there would be one (1) person or entity in the country who could challenge a statute or government action. And no way to know who that was.
Thanks for the shout out Tonio.
I didn’t expect any kudos for my semi- drunken rambling.
Two of your stories today inspired this image in my mind.
Boris and Luka Dudok are fighting the system one outhouse at a time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7ytBebmuq-c
“Old Jesse was always big on reconstruction.”
LOL
Your welcome.
Don’t wear it out, like you did?
Pedant bit never wears out.
Speaking of Your Welcome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61emb86-740
Summary: Dave Smith spends some time listening to Curtis Yarvin, despite Malice doing a pretty damn good job of wrangling.
Yarvin is obviously a smart dude, but like many smart dudes, he falls in love with his analogies and rides them to death. Government as a firm is my least favorite of them, so maybe I’m just biased.
Still probably worth a listen.
Curtis can be a longwinded dude.
I know I’ve mentioned this before but I met him in college. I had no idea he was Moldbug in the 90’s.
I might still dive in, but Yarvin did a debate vs. socialist Ben Burgess on Thad Russell’s podcast not long ago and it was absolutely excruciating. I found him really interesting at first because I’d never heard a lot of his arguments before. Now that I’m familiar with him and heard him rebutted, I just find him tedious. I do find it absolutely hilarious that the media paints him as some sort of dangerous white supremacist. He hates democracy just like literally everyone else, he’s just honest about it.
Haha. He actually talked about that.
Thank God this wasn’t a debate, though. I have reached my limit of those. It was as respectful as it could be (Yarvin is what he is after all), but I am starting to think that we are all mostly in agreement, but so fucking what? Our opponents don’t want what we want and couldn’t give a flying fuck about our arguments or strategies.
The pencil thing was … something.
Won’t anyone think of the poor illegal alien who can’t get a driver’s license?!?!
Local proggie outlet has a long story about how hard it is to be an illegal alien in Minnesoda because you can’t get a driver’s license. Hopefully now that the DFL controls the legislature and the gov’s office they can pass a new law that let’s them get a DL.
So sad!
If they went home, they could apply in their country of citizenship, where they belong.
He had insurance?
My big issue is we all pay for them with our UM/UIM coverage.
I worked in Property/Casualty insurance in the late 90’s to mid oughts. UM/UIM (when the state required it) was pissing people off then. I’m sure that premiums have doubled in the years since.
Que lastima!
Que Lastima – ZZ Top
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X7c_4H4oR8&ab_channel=ZZTop-Topic
Of course, with a driver’s license, you can register to vote. Driver’s licenses are proof of both identity and residency, after all.
And he’s been living here as an illegal for 20 effing years? Fuck him. Deport his ass.
Hopefully now that the DFL controls the legislature and the gov’s office they can pass a new law that let’s them get a DL.
They can just put them in the mail with the ballots.
SO who here has an FAA comment?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11628753/FAA-flight-grounding-debacle-stranded-tens-thousands-hours-caused-engineer.html
You know, one thing lost on me in the entire attempt to attack the oil companies for global warming is, if these companies were so convinced of climate change and knew actions would be taken against their product at some point, why wouldn’t they simply invest in green energy sources to begin with?
Exxon is an oil company, but it could just as easily make money off other energy sources if the money was there to be made. You could even argue that with their vast resources, reputations and experience in the field, they’d be best positioned to champion new energy sources and introduce them into the market. It falls apart because the green energy sources aren’t even remotely capable of replacing the fossil fuels and I’m going to wager that the executives saw no long term viability there. They would have been the one championing subsidies for themselves to make the switch if they really knew or believed climate change was some impending disaster.
The left’s arguments depend on the oil companies being not just amoral, but downright diabolical and stupid.
It’s always projection with the left.
I remember friends of mine back in the 90s who were convinced the oil companies had developed an engine that ran on water. But they’d filed patents then kept everything secret so they could keep making profits off oil. It’s hard to know where to start when you want to deal with that level of thinking.
The most convincing story revolving around that plot device was that episode of The Lone Gunmen where the oil company wanted the plans to the water powered car so that it could go into global production – driving up the demand for plastics and lubricating oils. For some reason they expected the audience to side with keeping it under wraps when it would massively improve standards of living worldwide, just because the oil company dude was willing to kill the protagonists, and third world countries wouldn’t be pristine shitholes anymore.
This one little trick. You need a new carburetor that injects moisture from the air, save 20-30% on your fuel bill.
/Hides JC Whitney catalog
And I bet those people are now hard-core climate catastrophists. Maybe it’s just in their DNA.
“But they’d filed patents then kept everything secret”
You can do one, or the other, but not both.
The thing the left never wants to talk about is that these companies already do invest billions of their own into alternative energy research. If they could get the patents on the next big energy revolution – whatever it is – the money they could make could dwarf their oil money. The problem is, even with untold billions in research from both private companies and governments across the planet, no one has come up with anything that doesn’t have downsides that derail the whole thing (except nuclear, but speaking it’s name is heresy).
The fact that they didn’t go in on green energy is also very telling. It tells me they don’t even believe in the long term viability of an energy source that will be well lubricated by the government.
If it isn’t economically feasible, it isn’t going to be politically feasible for that long, either.
What downsides do you mean? The fact that they are both intermittent forms of energy? That their lack of stability threatens the entire real grid since when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining because politicians have forced the fossil fueled grid has to adjust for the fantasy energy scam artist’s sake? Or were you thinking that the fact that they need to be subsidized, and even then their energy costs a lot more than, say natural gas.
Maybe it was that the minerals that are needed to build solar panels or massive windmills are dangerous in and of themselves. Of course, the NIMBYist jerks who squeal about the wonders of “renewable” energy are happy because the toxic Cobalt needed for solar panels is mined by hand by children, or that the neodymium mined in China is also done with near-slave labor and also leaves a toxic sludge of tailings in its’ wake. But they are NIMBYists, so as long as they don’t have to deal with the externalities
Or that these are “renewables” in more than one way. Solar panels and windmills have little longevity, essentially needing to be replaced about every 10 years, meaning the original installation costs will need to be paid once every decade.
I get inarticulate when I get pissed. Here’s another try at that 1st ¶
What downsides do you mean? The fact that they are both intermittent forms of energy? They produce no energy when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining and that threatens the entire real grid because politicians have forced the fossil fueled grid to adjust for the fantasy energy scam artist’s sake? The real energy industry has had to build “quick start” gas plants to fill in for the non spinning windmills and the solar plants in the shade. If the grid has too much demand left unfilled, blackouts are a very real possibility. Or were you thinking that the fact that they need to be subsidized, and even then their energy costs a lot more than, say natural gas.
Howdy, Tonio.
“Many of you may remember my gushing about Inside Job”
I’m gushing at your use of the possessive with a gerund. Something I was taught in grammar school but rarely see these days.
Catholic school here along with diagraming sentences.
Allow me to present the hell that is transitive and intransitive verbs. A rare distinction in English, but a real PITA in Japanese.
https://guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/in-transitive
Mind you in English we use passive for this, but in Japanese you can have passive intransitive. Makes translation hell too.
Transitive vs. intransitive isn’t *that*uncommon in English.
Fair point. You need to change the “particle” in Japanese.
Since you don’t in English you don’t generally don’t give much thought to transitive or intransitive.
The difference is whether you have a direct object or not.
Esperanto has one suffix for making transitive verbs out of roots, and a different suffix for making intransitive verbs.
Part of why I tend to be a grammar Nazi is that I find having a firm grasp of English grammar really helps when learning a foreign language.
Yes.
Learning Latin helped me learn Japanese.
Or if you don’t, it helps you learn English grammar.
One of my favorite Japanese voice actors who is cute as can be in some tight leather outfit and my first thought is:
“Is that a Hi Power?”
https://youtu.be/ia8_MVTYFHs
Wow. Japanese Emma Peel.
Best Emma Peel:
a) Honor Blackman
b) Diana Rigg
c) Uma Thurman
Go!
Yes.
Nice, but B is the only correct choice.
Gustave is wise.
Storms have passed. Whew.
Damn. Glad you are all right. That must have sucked in the RV. Checking damage in the morning?
Yeah…we’ll see how well the ladder repair worked tomorrow!
Hoping it needs a little “touch up”!
Well, not at the expense of my femur or tibia or clavicle
Feast your eyes on THICC Thursday! From luscious hamhocks to bodacious briskets, there’s something for every meat-eater.
https://archive.ph/yldBH
MikeS was missing in action when this story on South Dakota was posted. He is the Glibertarian inside man in the Dakotas. One of 3,798 people who live in those lands.
Noem was painted as one of the good ones for seemingly not caving into covid hysteria. Seems she is bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical industry.
It’s too cold to wear a skirt there. Who would know if your were trans?
NoDak just had a story break (and likely will quickly die) about a Sanford exec who also happens to be a state legislator that was placed on the board that oversees which health plan is choses for the state’s employees. Neither he, nor any ranking Republicans, saw this as a conflict of interest because his job at Sanford is in finance, and not in the heath side. 🙄 Supermajorities are always bad, no matter which team it is.
As for Governor Hottie in SoDak, she’s already had a few ethics faux pas that have been overlooked by voters because of which team she is on.
Dear TPTB:
May this cigar and old fashioned never end.
May we have a new year filled with snark.
I just dropped a new “lyrics-inspired” trilogy into the mix. If this one doesn’t provoke some… interesting discussion, I’ll be very surprised.
You wrote a trilogy based on the lyrics of ”Never Gonna Give You Up”?
Shh!
One can only hope.
I’ve been enjoying your books (as well as your serials). I bought the first Confederation book for a friend as a gift. The second took an unexpected turn (NO SPOILERS).
I’ll pick up Terra Nova 2 when it comes out.
Thanks! I’m hoping to get the third and final book in the Confederation trilogy done before too much longer.
(Yeah, I know, you’ve all heard that before.)
I thought that album looked familiar. I believe my grandma had it. She had a love for movie and musical albums. She bought me classical music from movies like, the godfather and the close encounters albums in the late 70’s
I used both as background spooky music in a haunted house we kids built. It was some real little rascals shit.
I’ve had a bad head cold for well over a week. This evening, I lost my sense of smell. Is there any practical reason to get “the test” and prove to myself what I already know?