Monday, Again, Afternoon Links

by | Jul 17, 2023 | Daily Links | 201 comments

Oh man, here it is a Monday again. The littlest one has decided sleep is for the weak and that 4am is the correct time to rise and fuckin’ shine. I’m not particularly shiny after the third of these. If he wasn’t so damn cute, I’d turn him out and let him fend for himself. We were at the beach yesterday, the water having reached my preferred temperature of above 80 degrees. It’s like a nice warm bath. Some places charge a decent amount of money to let you float in a warm salty tub of water. Anyhow, some sand was eaten, kids ran around, the little one still did not sleep until 4:15. I’m gonna make the little punk get a paper route or something as payback.

This fusion rocket is only 20 years away, and will still be there 20 years from now.

I wrote an article for a now defunct site about 15 years ago pointing out that euthanasia for the expensive is inevitable end of nationalized health systems. Yes, yes. Self-ownership. You want to kill yourself, go ahead. The government shouldn’t have an interest in making it easy for a doctor to kill you.

Dude looks pretty good for 2 months adrift.

This would be a good day at work.

This was paranoia 30+ years ago, now it is the government line.

About The Author

Brett L

Brett L

Brett set out to find America, the real America, the America of strip malls and serial killers, of butthole waxing and kelp smoothies, of cocaine and maggots. He sought it in the most American part of America—Florida: swamp gas and fever dreams, where love arrives on a rickety boat and leaves when it doesn't have the money for its fourth abortion. Oh, where has Brett gone? He’s drinking at the neck of America’s wang, chewing its foreskin and working its shaft. Brett is becoming legend. Brett can never die. Brett can never die. Brett is America, facedown in his own patriotic puke: the red his blood, the white his stomach lining, and the cold, cold blue his gas station slushie, spiked with coconut rum and tetracycline.

201 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    Maybe he’ll be a Kung Fu Wonder Child.

    • SDF-7

      I’ve always been an early riser. At a certain point, I just had time to get dressed, prep for school and still watch Superfriends on UHF before the bus came.

      Probably had something to do with one bathroom, 3 older sisters and all…

      But just get the kid to get his own bowl of dry cereal to munch on and let him pull up some cartoons, Brett… he’ll be fine until the rest of you layabeds get up.

  2. Common Tater

    “I’m gonna make the little punk get a paper route or something as payback.”

    Do kids still delivery newspapers?

    • SDF-7

      Only if they’re running the fiber optic for the network broadband, I’d expect.

    • Rat on a train

      Only if a parent is driving them around.

    • The Last American Hero

      Rarely. The business model with its dwindling subscribers has made the routes cover so much territory that you need a car to cover it.

  3. Common Tater

    “The government shouldn’t have an interest in making it easy for a doctor to kill you.”

    That doesn’t sound that polite.

  4. SDF-7

    JHTFC — just use Starship to get to orbit, and then build a MF’ing Orion. That’s how to do nuclear when we can’t sustain fusion, dumbasses. And you can haul a spare Starship for your landing craft and leave it there, plus the shielding will shield the crew as well (frankly, part of the shielding should be a big block of ice — radiation shield + water supply and all).

    • Ted S.

      Nothing’s gonna stop you now.

      • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

        They should build a city up there.

      • SDF-7

        Just check the seismics first — building it on rock and roll sounds all good at first, but really, we build this city on m’f’ing bedrock is wiser.

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        They should rebuild the cities down here.

      • R.J.

        Should we build it on Rock and Roll?

        I am not cruel enough to include the link.

    • Drake

      Build a space-elevator to get to orbit, then an Orion / nuclear pusher to go wherever you want in the solar system.

  5. SDF-7

    I wrote an article for a now defunct site about 15 years ago

    I know the Old Site should go away… but I certainly didn’t think it had… 😉

    • R.J.

      Nobody is Stevie Ray high. If they are, them’s need to share.

  6. Common Tater

    “The pair survived by drinking rainwater and eating raw fish as they waited for a miracle while adrift in the Pacific.”

    Surprised they could catch enough rainwater.

    • SDF-7

      In most cases you hear about these things, especially if the boat is disabled — they rig the sail to catch and funnel it to a container of some sort. Don’t know if that’s part of some stock survival training for oceangoing craft (but it probably should be).

      • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

        It is. If you’re out there for any extended period, you’ve definitely pondered how you’re going to survive.

      • Fourscore

        “Homeless man arrested for feeding his dog raw fish and rain water”

      • Mojeaux

        “Homed woman collects rainwater off her own roof. Gets arrested.” /Utah

  7. SDF-7

    The government shouldn’t have an interest in making it easy for a doctor to kill you.

    I’m sufficiently black-pilled at this point after the last 3 years that my immediate thought is: “Don’t worry if you don’t want to go, they’ll have a Gain Of Function prepped to cull the pensioners soon enough…”

  8. Common Tater

    “These days, Pauli says, she weighs 92 pounds and may go days without eating solid food. She says she is too weak to carry groceries home without stopping for breaks.

    “Every day is hell,” she said. “I’m so tired. I’m done. I’ve tried everything. I feel like I’ve lived my life.”

    Have you tried eating?

    • Tundra

      Or a tank of helium and a bag. This isn’t difficult.

    • Fourscore

      Tried everything except eating

  9. Shpip

    A fossil hunter found a 450,000-year-old mammoth tusk while on a recent visit to a local quarry.

    I was recently tasked by Big College with helping to excavate a mastodon tibia from the bed of the Santa Fe river. We made a party of the whole excursion.

    It was quite the shin dig.

    • UnCivilServant

      I take it you never found its Humerus.

      • SDF-7

        There were signs the other bones were already carried off by Tusken Raiders.

      • R.J.

        That’s quite a tall tail.

      • Homple

        Where’s Swiss when you need him?

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      If you did it in China, it would be a Chin dig.

  10. The Late P Brooks

    Poor things, waiting to be spoon fed

    While tackling grunt work and hoping to learn a job via osmosis isn’t a great way to start a career, corporate America has left young workers with few other options. Over the past several decades, many companies have gutted training programs, neglected mentorship, and taken no responsibility for fostering workers’ development. Now, with the advent of generative AI, organizations are starting to automate many “junior” tasks — stripping away their dubious last attempt to “teach” young employees. It’s no wonder that several surveys have found that members of Gen Z are particularly concerned about AI’s effect on their careers; in a recent survey by the job-posting site ZipRecruiter, 76% of Gen Zers indicated they were worried about losing their jobs to ChatGPT.

    America’s young workers are headed toward a career calamity. They may be more comfortable using ChatGPT and other AI technology than their older coworkers, but the managerial obsession with artificial intelligence threatens to undermine their ability to launch a career. Management spent decades disconnecting themselves from the younger workers who are the backbone of their businesses. And if these executives already won’t train their junior employees, it’s no surprise they’re ready to get rid of them altogether.

    ——-

    Once young workers do finally break into the corporate world, they face another brutal reality: Companies have no interest in helping them move up the career ladder. Many companies have shown absolutely no consideration for fostering and developing workers’ abilities, leaving young workers to largely fend for themselves as they attempt to establish a career path. A 2014 study by Peter Cappelli, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, found that in 1979 “young workers received on average about 2.5 weeks of training per year” but that by 1995 it had fallen to just under 11 hours annually. Capelli also found scant evidence that things had improved in the years since.

    I do not doubt that this is in some part true, but I suspect a lack of (perceived) initiative plays a role.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Companies have no interest in helping them move up the career ladder

      Then develop some initiative in yourself and get cracking. If the company has no interest in training you beyond what your job is, either move on or fight for it.

      • rhywun

        Yeah… many, many companies provide all kinds of training.

        Look harder.

    • MikeS

      Companies have no interest in helping them move up the career ladder. Many companies have shown absolutely no consideration for fostering and developing workers’ abilities…

      Maybe because “job jumping” is so much more common now? Why put a bunch of time and effort into training when so many* younger people have no problem switching jobs after a year or two?

      *anecdotally speaking. Anyone seen any numbers on this?

      • Tundra

        I’ve seen it with my son. Every company he’s interned/worked for loses people like crazy. Corporate types better pull their heads out of their asses. It’s pretty easy to move and the stigma of jumping appears to be dead.

        I kind of feel bad for him. At his current spot his boss had mentor written all over him. Enter retarded management and the guy is leaving.

        So yes, the youngsters will jump, but I think it cuts both ways.

    • Name's BEAM. James BEAM

      Compare and contrast the above Business Insider article with this article from BI, published just 16 days previously.

      Journalistic masturbation on full display.

      • R.J.

        Yes. Not thinking and letting computers do you work means – nobody needs you.

      • rhywun

        I call BS on that entire article. AI is not a button you press to write your emails. I bet he spends more time fiddling with it than he would just writing a fucking email himself.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yeah emails? If you can’t collect your thoughts for an email, maybe you aren’t the person for the job. Now I used it to help with a package, but mainly had it do many different drafts and I used it so fill in some spaces I couldn’t quite put from brain to paper.

      • rhywun

        I’ve gotten pretty good answers to technical questions a couple times. Stuff that a regular web search couldn’t handle.

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        I would be willing to bet that tech questions will be an easy fill for AI, while making actual legible art will be a long time coming.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Huh. Couldn’t be the fact that the insufferable little snots have no interest in shutting up and learning. Nope, but evul capitalists at work.

      One of the Altar Boys just started his first professional job and has encountered this. He asked me how to make friends at work. All his colleagues are in their 40’s and 50’s. I told him to never whine, never snitch and be polite. They’d come around.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Even here in FedGov. Trying to find my replacement among my peers and its just…no drive, no initiative, no go get em attitude. Just sit back and be told what to do and then complain they get no other training or mentorship.

      • R.J.

        I am landlocked by such people. I cant get anything done. I should just retire and watch it all go to hell.

      • Tundra

        My son is finding the same thing. My first job out of college was with a small finance company. We were all close in age and spent a lot of time together socially. It seemed pretty normal at the time.

      • Pope Jimbo

        My first job out of college was Andersen Consulting and we all hung out a lot. It was a weird (but fun) place to work.

        One of the reasons we hung out a lot is because they were the ones who understood the cult-like atmosphere. I still meet more ex-coworkers from that place than in all of the other jobs I have had had.

      • Tundra

        Yeah, my boss and I are still friends almost 30 years later. We weren’t in a cult, but going public and being on the front lines of a small cap is a bonding experience.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I also think that it was from a period of your life that was when you were proving yourself (to others and your own self) and that makes it special. Anyone around was probably doing the same so you all feel the same about that era.

      • rhywun

        how to make friends at work

        lol I remember those days.

        Tell him to wait 20 years and he won’t care about making friends at work.

      • Fourscore

        Tell him to join the Glibs and he’ll have friends he doesn’t even like and vice versa.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Yeah! Fuck them assholes!

      • SDF-7

        STEVE SMITH FIND YOUR PROPOSAL…. ACCEPTABLE.

      • rhywun

        HOPE YOU ALSO “ACCEPTING”

    • R.J.

      It’s a cute moose. Too bad he got fired.

  11. Pope Jimbo

    For all you Glib Foodies:
    Homemade Sausage Enema Pretty reasonably priced too! (SFW)

    • The Other Kevin

      Who’s going to make that small a batch of sausage?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Cocktail weenies?

        After a few cocktails, my weenie is sure to come out!

  12. The Other Kevin

    I also prefer to swim in 80+ degree water. Unfortunately we’re having cooler nights so the pool’s not getting that warm.

    • UnCivilServant

      Isn’t that fifty degree too warm for hockey?

      • Grummun

        Hey did you hear about the tragedy with the Polish* hockey team? They all drowned in spring training.

        *When I was a kid, ethnic jokes were aimed at either the Poles or West Virginians.

    • SDF-7

      Audrey thanks her.

      • Spudalicious

        Audrey…two!

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      And I shit in my yard. Big whoop…

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      It’s what plants crave.

      • Rat on a train

        Feed me, Seymour!

  13. MikeS

    While tackling grunt work and hoping to learn a job via osmosis isn’t a great way to start a career

    Says who?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Culmination of decades of feeding the lie that a college degree makes one qualified. This is the tail result I suspect.

    • Pope Jimbo

      My entire Lots Notes training was my boss handing me the Developer’s Guide one day and assigning a bunch of new features for our project’s app to me.

      My development path started with “I have no idea why this code snippet works, but it does and I have a deadline” to actually becoming a pretty widely acknowledged expert in it (at least amongst my company).

      And Lotus Notes wasn’t the only language I learned that way. I think the only formal training I ever got was in C and Pascal. All the rest was just getting a book and learning as I go.

  14. The Late P Brooks

    You might assume organizations would try to foster mentorship in the workforce as a way to make up for the lack of rigorous training. Not so fast. While mentorship is associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, a 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that only 44% of Americans workers had one. And while formal mentorship programs exist, they’re often voluntary. A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that voluntary mentorship programs led to worse outcomes than mandatory ones and that those who most needed the help of a mentor were less likely to join these types of programs.

    Sounds like a self-correcting problem.

    • Ted S.

      A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that voluntary mentorship programs led to worse outcomes than mandatory ones

      Who’s forcing me to be a mentor?

  15. Shpip

    Dude looks pretty good for 2 months adrift.

    He’s a grown man. Fishing’s not that hard.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    With no training and no real professional development, young workers in recent years have been left with only one way to learn the ropes on the job: grunt work. In theory, these small jobs were meant to allow young workers to familiarize themselves with simpler processes and prove themselves competent enough to take on more challenging work. But they often resulted in young workers feeling a lack of purpose at work because the work didn’t feel like a meaningful contribution to the company or a way to actually progress to the next level. But with the advent of generative AI in the workplace, the jig is up.

    So what you’re saying is those are jobs which should not exist.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Yeah, you should never have to start out with the simple jobs and move your way up. Nope, just jump right to the top of the heap!

      Every company has shit jobs to do. The way of the world is that the new guys get to do them. In theory, after a while there will be better job opening up and you can move into them and the new new guys can start doing the shit jobs.

      “I don’t like being a recruit in boot camp! I don’t feel like I’m making a contribution to the Corps. Why can’t I be Commandant instead?”

      • Ownbestenemy

        Teen #1 got a $1.25 raise at Harbor Freight within a month at his new job. He got it because he takes the shit shifts, makes an effort to learn beyond his duties and seeks out additional tasks to take on. It isn’t a hard concept. A company will reward you if they see you are worth rewarding.

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        Many, many, moons ago, back when I was just a driver, I saw that there was going to be a week were there wasn’t really a dispatcher, due to vacations and what not. So, I stepped right into the boss’s office and said I would be happy to help out, in addition to my normal route. All of the oldtimers couldn’t believe that the boss said OK, and that two months later I had the job permenantly.

        Initiative! What’s it good for? Absolutely everything, say it again!

      • Pope Jimbo

        Wait! You took control of your own career and advocated for yourself?

        No, no, no, no. You are supposed to wait for HR to approve you for a promotion.

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        Well, they have DEGREE’s! That should count for everything, no? And another thing, where is that 100k they were told they would be making with that degree? Times awaisting!

      • Ted S.

        I hope that if they have degrees, they know how to use an apostrophe correctly.

    • Pope Jimbo

      This also reminds me of what happened in fast food with the minimum wage laws. In the Olden Dayz, a manager at a fast food joint would just hire extra teens to make sure everything got done. They were cheap and with enough of them the chores would get done.

      Then the dogooders started raising the minimum wage. That mob of teen agers was no longer possible. So the managers started doing things like adding sensors to everything and monitoring the kids. And since they were being monitored, it was possible to get along with far fewer of them.

      I’m still not a bit believer in this AI shit yet, but seems like the same thing. If it does work, it is making it possible to automate a lot of jobs that used to go to the green beans. Less job opportunities for them.

      • Raven Nation

        “fast food with the minimum wage laws.”

        My sense is that a lot of kids don’t work much until they leave college. And I suspect that trends gets more solid the higher up the status pole someone goes. It’s pretty hard to imagine the kids of the elites working at Harbor Freight or Costco, or McDonalds. A lot of the kids I teach do work, but they work because they have to to pay the bills. The idea of working for pocket money or socializing seems to be disappearing. Johnny can’t work because he has to be involved in sports three nights a week, etc.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Debby can’t work because she has to “volunteer” at some trendy place so her college application looks good.

        All my kids were forced to get jobs. The older Altar Boy ended up getting a job offer at his job as a cashier at Cub because he was working hard. The manager at a Kohl’s told him he was impressed at how fast his line was going and talked him into being a cashier at his store.

      • Raven Nation

        Yeah, I had my first job within a week or two of being legally allowed to. I don’t remember it ever really being discussed, you just did it.

        And, yes, I should have added the volunteer thing. Some schools also require some “volunteer” things to even graduate. It’s not mandatory here yet, but there are rumors that students will be required to take a class that has a public-facing component (we have a different term, but I’m trying to keep things vague). Since I teach some general intro history courses, I offered to teach such a class where students would learn about the Revolutions from 1787 to 1848 by attempting to sack and burn the main administration building on campus. Strangely, there were no takers.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Vegas schools require ‘volunteer’ work to graduate HS. Tin-foil hat me says its to funnel teens into progressive enclaves which is exactly what my one son did. He didn’t buy into it, just that they were flush with money cause they would send an Uber to pick him up and drop him off for his volunteer work.

      • Tundra

        I made mine work retail. No better way to a thicker skin.

        Both did really well, even my son at Fleet Farm during the covid fishing/firearms/ammo debacle.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Johnny can’t work because he has to be involved in sports three nights a week, etc.

        Which is weird. Or maybe my upbringing was weird. We were by no means wealthy but not struggling growing up but I maintained my own money, bought my own hockey gear, worked a job and went to school.

        My teens? “Hey did you do this thing that takes 30 minutes?” “I HAVE TO WORK TODAY DAD!!!” WTF?

      • The Other Kevin

        Exactly like my youngest.

      • Tundra

        My daughter gets that way. However, she’s in college, works, plays in a band and is an avid climber, so I tend to not get too pissed.

      • Raven Nation

        I have no good answer to that. But I wonder if more parents believe Johnny is going to the big leagues as a meal ticket?

      • Tundra

        No, those are a tiny minority. I think the biggest thing is FOMO. If Johnny can’t participate in every extracurricular he’s gonna be sad.

        And that’s too much to bear.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Getting into college without a huge debt?

      • Raven Nation

        Yeah, that’s a better point than mine – as is Tundra’s.

      • Tundra

        The amount of money that some parents spend on mediocre athletes, properly invested, will give the kid one hell of a nest egg come college time. ANd not even mediocre ones.

        True story: I know a dude who’s son was a no-shit hockey phenom. Just better than everyone. Dad sent him to all the right camps, he didn’t play with his buddies, but rather a AAA stud team. First couple years of high school hockey were lights out. Then, just as his senior season was starting he told his dad he was done. To my knowledge the kid never played again.

        Dad figured he dropped more than 100K.

    • Shpip

      But they often resulted in young workers feeling a lack of purpose at work because the work didn’t feel like a meaningful contribution to the company or a way to actually progress to the next level.

      “I don’t have to pay my dues and learn the ropes. I went to Bryn Mawr.”

      And now you’re being replaced by a robot, sweetie.

  17. Rebel Scum

    The 47-year-old has wrestled with the eating disorder anorexia for decades; she says she has had a warped relationship with her body since age 8.

    These days, Pauli says, she weighs 92 pounds and may go days without eating solid food. She says she is too weak to carry groceries home without stopping for breaks.

    “Every day is hell,” she said. “I’m so tired. I’m done. I’ve tried everything. I feel like I’ve lived my life.”

    Eat a cheeseburger.

    • Sean

      Eat a bacon cheeseburger.

      Live a little.

      • Fourscore

        I heard fentanyl gives a person an appetite, haven’t seen any endorsements though

      • Common Tater

        Maybe try weed first?

  18. The Late P Brooks

    Then develop some initiative in yourself and get cracking. If the company has no interest in training you beyond what your job is, either move on or fight for it.

    And this reminds me of several people I have known who worked at Walmart. They did quite well for themselves, and they all said the same thing: if you were willing to do more than just stand around with a dumb look on your face all day, you would be given more responsibility (and raises) in short order. One of my friends (after his previous business got torpedoed by a partner) started in the teevee department t a local store and got moved up and up until he was part of a team which specialized in opening and running new stores while hiring and training the long term local staff.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Opening Statements
      Defense: “Who here is reading [insert current popular novel]?”
      Several jurors raise hands
      Defense: “This is how it ends and here is the twist, thus you must acquit”

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      That tells me they know exactly what they are doing, and that the idea of being a woman is just so much bullshit.

    • The Other Kevin

      But Antifa is fun and trendy! Check out the shirt!

      • Gender Traitor

        The Che shirt for a new generation!

    • The Last American Hero

      It’s just an idea, man.

  19. robc

    TPTB: article submitted, so whoever needs to make it work, have fun!

  20. Rebel Scum

    Hard hitting story.

    Former President Donald Trump was caught on video hitting a terrible golf shot, shanking the ball way right of his intended target.

    In the video posted on Twitter, the person filming can be heard saying: “Trump’s shooting right now. Let’s see if he can hit the green.”

    Despite being a few feet from the putting green, Trump takes his swing and sends the ball flying away from the hole and into the rough.

    “Oh, he shanked it,” the commentator said in the video, filmed at the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, and started laughing.

    • R.J.

      Is that all they have on him now? Stalking him at a golf green?

    • Pope Jimbo

      Now show me the actual videos of Obama shooting hoops. And I mean the videos, because we were constantly told how great he was and it didn’t match up with any of the videos I ever saw of him actually playing.

      • Tundra

        Remember his first pitch at the baseball game? I can’t even bring myself to link it.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Looking through old videos…they’d just toss it out from the stands, if presidents must do it, I’d prefer that. Baby bush and Carter seemed to have good arms from what I saw.

      • Pope Jimbo

        All these guys did it better

        Also, I believe that Obama is a White Sox fan as much as I believe Hillary was a Cubs fan.

    • The Other Kevin

      That shows he’s physically incapable of being president again. Joe is an avid cyclist!

  21. Common Tater

    “Angelina Wiley, 22, was shot while waiting for a Lyft in Kansas City, Missouri, in January. In a TikTok from May that Kardashian reposted over the weekend, Wiley proclaimed that “Kim Kardashian saved my life” and said the Skims bodysuit she was wearing “was so tight on me that it literally kept me from bleeding out.” Wiley compared the shapewear piece to “body armor for women.””

    https://jezebel.com/woman-claims-kim-kardashian-s-skims-bodysuit-saved-her-1850648241

    Doubt.

    (TW: Jezebel)

  22. Rebel Scum

    There is only one way to resolve their differences.

    It’s no secret that the relationship between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert has never been worse. The two U.S. representatives yelled at each other on and off the House floor. Greene recently called Boebert a “little bitch” to her face. And Boebert supported Greene’s removal from the Freedom Caucus.

    But, lawmakers told The Daily Beast, the situation between the two is still even worse than most people think.

    “A fistfight could break out at any moment,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) told The Daily Beast.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Only if that fist fight is in a kiddie pool filed with Vaseline would I care.

    • Common Tater

      Bikini jello wrestling?

    • Ted S.

      What if Boebert is a little bitch?

      And why is the URL for this a Canadian sports site?

  23. The Late P Brooks

    Stakeholder capitalism

    Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the SEC to investigate Tesla and its board of directors to determine whether they violated securities laws after CEO Elon Musk took over Twitter last year.

    In a nine-page letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, the Massachusetts senator said Elon Musk’s long list of responsibilities, from owning Twitter to remaining Tesla’s CEO, “have raised concerns about conflicts of interest, misappropriation of corporate assets, and other negative impacts to Tesla shareholders.” Warren added that the electric car company’s board failed to ensure it has acted in shareholders’ best interests.

    Chief among Warren’s concerns in the letter: funneling Tesla (TSLA) resources into Musk’s Twitter takeover, conflicts of interest regarding advertising from other car companies, and possible labor law violations when transitioning some Tesla (TSLA) employees to Twitter.

    Warren is asking SEC chair Gary Gensler to conduct the review. Although former NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino took over as the new CEO of Twitter last month, Musk has retained significant control over the site.

    Some investors and lawmakers have grown increasingly concerned about Musk’s chaotic control of Twitter, which he bought for $44 billion. Warren wrote that that disorder has spilled over into Musk’s management of one of the most influential electric car companies in the United States. Oppenheimer & Co. downgraded its rating on Tesla solely because of risks posed by the billionaire’s ownership and management of Twitter in 2022. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Friday, tech investor Cathie Wood said she wrote down her Twitter stake by 47%.

    How many shares of Tesla does she own?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Shorter article “Our control over the Social Media giant has slipped a bit, we need to bring it back into the fold in time for 2024”

    • The Other Kevin

      I don’t know what the big deal is. I’m sure Warren writes nine page letters to the SEC about all kinds of companies.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Surely she has asked them to look into Disney and all the shareholder value they seem determined to throw down a rat hole.

    • juris imprudent

      How many shares of Tesla does she ownis she shorting?

  24. Pope Jimbo

    Speaking of youngsters and how insufferable they are….

    Tinder’s end-of-year review found that in 2022, “stances on social issues could make or break a match”. About 75% of singles required their partners to be “respectful of or invested in social issues”. Want to score a date? You better be willing to cough up your past voting history or the last time you went to a protest.

    Philippa Wilson, a 29-year-old from Kingston, Jamaica, went viral in 2021 after she tweeted a Google Form that asked potential dates 11 questions, essentially asking the men to “sell themselves”.

    Wilson ended up with about 700 responses from men all over the world. After weeding through some joke replies, she estimated about 300 were real contenders. “I got my girlfriends together, we cracked our knuckles and got to work going through all of them,” she told the Guardian. She narrowed the crowd down to 30 men. She ended up going on dates with about four of them.

    Other examples in the article of women demanding that guys take questionnaires before going on a date.

    Yeah, sounds like a really normal thing.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Its Tinder..I thought that was a f-buddy site not a dating site…what information do you need other than if you are willing to throw down or not.

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      I bet she doesn’t even have huge tracts of land.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Stewart, who lives in Dallas, clicked on a Google Form the woman sent, titled “Dating Compatibility Q&A”. The woman wanted to “skip the small talk” and go right for the jugular. If Stewart wanted to go on a date with her – if he even wanted to get on the phone beforehand – he had to answer a series of 26 questions.

        First question: “Are you married?” Stewart (who, for the record, is not) thought that was fair enough. But then he clicked to the next page, and saw more. Was he in therapy? What was his love language? How does he position toilet paper on the hanger in the bathroom? Does he want kids? If so, what would he do if, hypothetically, a future child came out as gay? Oh, also, here are four sentences. Could he please identify the one that contains a homophone?

      • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)
      • Pope Jimbo

        If you call Batman on the Bat Phone, what would you expect when you picked up the homophone?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Hey, Granny had that model and color.

      • Rat on a train

        Could he please identify the one that contains a homophone?
        – know

  25. Common Tater

    “DEA held LGBTQ ‘immersive experience’ at gay bar for headquarters employees, four people attended

    The Drug Enforcement Administration recently sponsored an event for its Washington, D.C., headquarters employees at a bar and restaurant that largely caters to LGBTQ+ customers, to help the agency get what it described as “an understanding and perception of gay social culture” and that also was to include a drag show presentation.”

    https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/mon-sector-dea-held-lgbtq-immersive-experience-gay-bar-had-4-people

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      Did they serve some E?

  26. The Late P Brooks

    She narrowed the crowd down to 30 men. She ended up going on dates with about four of them.

    Did any of them call her back?

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      Just the stupid ones

  27. Rebel Scum

    I suppose the time limit provision doesn’t matter.

    Congressional Democrats are attempting to add the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution about 50 years after states failed to ratify it by introducing legislation stating that it has, in fact, been ratified, according to The New York Times.

    Congress passed the ERA in 1972 with a seven-year deadline for ratification, but only 35 states ratified it by 1982, falling short of the required three-quarters of states. Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Democratic Missouri Rep. Cori Bush will introduce a proposal Thursday which ignores the deadline, states that the ERA has already been ratified as the 28th Amendment and urges the National Archivist to certify and publish it immediately, according to the NYT.

    “For us, it is already done. The E.R.A. is the 28th Amendment. We just need the archivist to publish it,” Bush said, according to the NYT.

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      Thus showing that women won’t follow instructions.

      • juris imprudent

        Unlike Lia Thomas – those are cuntes.

    • Sean

      Brazen.

    • Rat on a train

      State of Illinois v David Ferriero held that the deadline was legal and the amendment rejected. They can appeal if they want.

    • rhywun

      I wonder what it does that isn’t already covered by “Title” this and that or existing law.

      • Gender Traitor

        Maybe they just want to get it into the Constitution so they can ignore it.

      • Common Tater

        LOL

      • Ownbestenemy

        “Title” whatever is at the mercy of courts and legislation.

    • Common Tater

      Are they forgetting that feminists were actually against ratifying it so they could complain about it?

  28. Tundra

    Well well well.

    This explains a lot.

    Private equity is a great way for founders to get out, but holy fuck does it mess up businesses.

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      On the bright side, private equity’s days are very numbered.

      Unless someone kills Jerome Powell

      • Common Tater

        “You’re terms are acceptable.”

    • Pope Jimbo

      What will really suck is when the bets that these private equity firms are making come up snake eyes. Instead of losing their money, they will get FedGov to bail them out and we’ll be the ones who get shafted.

    • SDF-7

      I think I have that one, yeah — though I think it is hard copy and probably at the other house.

      If I recall correctly, it was interesting enough at first but got pretty one note tonally by the end. That’s about the most I can say without finding and re-reading it just now, sorry.

    • Spudalicious

      Look for Human Smoke. You will need stiff drink handy.

      • Tundra

        This one?

        That brutal, huh?

    • rhywun

      No but the premise certainly rings true in what’s feeling like the runup to III.

    • Ted S.

      I assume Buchanan’s thesis is that Churchill should have joined Hitler in annihilating the Jews?

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Congressional Democrats are attempting to add the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution about 50 years after states failed to ratify it by introducing legislation stating that it has, in fact, been ratified, according to The New York Times.

    We deem this ratified, because if people had voted for it, it would have passed.

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      In other new legislation, they’re passing a law that states Trump was never born.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Private equity is a great way for founders to get out, but holy fuck does it mess up businesses.

    The world needs more megacorps.

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      Mostly the PE firms just want to flip the investment. So they tend to strip out anything extraneous, and a lot of not, in order to boost profits. Then they sell it and walk away.

  31. Pope Jimbo

    Take a bath STEVE SMITH!

    MendoFever, a website that features articles about Mendocino Country, ran a story looking back at the sighting in 2022 – 59 years after it took place.

    Describing the moment the children came to close to Bigfoot, the site stated: “The children suddenly caught a whiff of a God-awful smell—a rank mixture of rotting deer carcass and skunk.

    “The crew followed the stench with their eyes and found themselves eye-to-eye with the legendary Bigfoot.

    “Standing near the treeline, the creature was eight feet tall and covered in brown hair from head to toe. The children had caught the wild man watching them play standing near the base of a redwood.”

    Sounds like someone has been spending too much time with Brandon.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Mostly the PE firms just want to flip the investment. So they tend to strip out anything extraneous, and a lot of not, in order to boost profits. Then they sell it and walk away.

    A lot of that stuff gets rolled up into bigger entities. They don’t go back to being mom n pops.

  33. Brochettaward

    Firsters don’t die, we multiply. Like Bebe’s kids.

    • MikeS

      I know. That’s where you came from. Son.

  34. rhywun

    The MTA lost an estimated $690 million last year to toll and fare evaders. The transit agency estimated the fare evasion on buses alone dented the MTA’s budget by $315 million – almost more than subway, commuter railroad and toll evaders combined.

    The obvious solution is to pick a ghetto in each borough where most of the fare-beaters are and make the bus free. Because equity. Whee! 🤪

  35. Brochettaward

    Zuckerberg’s Threads is an attempt by the intelligence agencies and the deep state to regain their strangle hold over social media. Not just a progressive freak-out to Twitter allowing something resembling free speech.

    Change my mind.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      No argument here.

    • Tundra

      Facebook came online just as a CIA project for hoovering information went dark.

      All SM is IC shit. I have no idea if Musk is really fucking things up, but they are sure going hard at him.

      • Common Tater

        Some coincidence Threads started almost immediately after Musk locked down Twitter.

      • Ownbestenemy

        And is a clone. Still not sure how Meta can get away with that

      • hayeksplosives

        Lawsuit is ongoing.

        But it’s not going to be about the intellectual property theft; it’s going to be about FEEEEELINGZ

    • one true athena

      I do enjoy some of the hypocrites who are all Musk is an EEEEVIL BILLIONAIREEEE and then toddling over to Zucks’ place, like the dude isn’t also a billionaire (and also a robot lizard person, but besides that).

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        I’m old enough to remember when Facebook was evil for letting Cambridge Analytica have some data to do the same thing that Obama’s campaign did which was praised as genius.

  36. hayeksplosives

    Ok, I gotta hand it to the idealistic commies with whom I work—they did a pretty good job of turning me into a meme (now my avatar).

    For those who can’t squint quite enough, it says

    CLAIMS TO HATE COMMUNISM.

    DESIGNS MARX BANK

    • Ownbestenemy

      Just sprinkle some Crack on em and get outta here

      I miss old Chappelle

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “And the baby did not look scared.”

      • Tundra

        I was at the barber shop the other day, engaged in an important debate about the best comic of all time. I took the Chappelle side against some pretty formidable arguments.

        I did not back down. He’s the GOAT.

        By the way, barber shop arguments are the best arguments.

      • Animal

        I never get in barber shop arguments. But then, my barber shop is in front of the garage. Upside: I get to flirt with the girl who cuts my hair (and even occasionally cop a feel) and not get in trouble.

      • Mojeaux

        barber shop arguments are the best arguments.

        My dad and grandpa decided to go to barber school when my dad was 20something. They worked at the same barber shop for a while, and I remember going there with him. There was always Juicy Fruit gum in the drawer and I could have as much as I wanted.

        There was a lot of breeze shootin’, but I don’t remember any of it.

      • Brochettaward

        You are that white guy who was laughing at his material for the wrong reasons and why he retired or whatever the fuck he went to Africa to do.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ok

    • hayeksplosives

      Damn, Bee!!

      🐝😆