Thursday Afternoon Links

by | Jul 27, 2023 | Daily Links | 253 comments

Today’s music is dedicated to Boeing, for reasons explained below.

A PERSONAL NOTE: As some of you have heard, I now have a special gentleman friend. This is going to take my life in a new, good, direction. Stay tuned for tales and pictures. I’ve been particularly slack about my Glibs editorial duties for the past few weeks because of this. I let the ball drop on proofreading and editing, and apologize to anyone who I didn’t follow through with.

 

 

PROGS ROLL OUT BRAND-NEW VICTIM CLASS, “BANK TENANTS:” While this article is ostensibly about a county government quietly raising property assessments, as they so often do, the thing that struck me was the new-to-me phrase “bank tenants.” Home ownership has traditionally been the dividing line between the middle class and the working class. Now it seems people are seeking to redefine that; expect more shenanigans and class warfare.

BOEING TAKES A BATH ON STARLINER CREW CAPSULE CONTRACT: “Boeing took another loss on its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew program as the first crewed flight of that vehicle remains in limbo.” Never a good sign when the lead paragraph of a trade journal article uses that phrase.

HUNTER BIDEN TO BE DRUG TESTED AS A CONDITION OF PRETRIAL RELEASE: I finally found an article that speaks directly to the conditions of his pretrial release. While drug prohibition and unconstitutional infringements on 2A rights are both bullshit, it’s good to see a member of the political elite suffering some of the same consequences as regular people caught in the same circumstances.

NASA, DARPA PLAN 2026 TEST OF NUCLEAR ROCKET ENGINE: The DRACO Project engine is for deep space propulsion and doesn’t generate enough thrust to serve as an orbital booster. We should have had this decades earlier. Please note that SpaceX has a Draco (non-acronym) line of rocket thrusters and engines unrelated to this project.

 

 

LEGACY MEDIA SHITBAGGERY WATCH: Calling bullshit on that, Time magazine. Also, notice how they changed the apologia from “cannot catch a break” to “can’t turn the page.” Always remember, TMITE.

MOSCOW, IDAHO TAXPAYERS ON HOOK FOR SETTLING COVID LOCKDOWN LAWSUIT: “Moscow, Idaho has settled a lawsuit filed by three Christians who alleged the city violated their first and fourth amendment rights when they were arrested for taking part in a peaceful religious demonstration protesting Covid-19 restrictions.” That works out to about $11.79 per city resident. And none of the people responsible will suffer any personal consequences.

CHANDRAYAAN-3 NAILS TRANS LUNAR INSERTION: I really just wanted an excuse to link to this long animation of India’s Chandrayaan-3 Lunar lander and probe mission. Sorry, WION fanboys, but there are no MILF-y, sari-clad news presenters in this video. But here’s a special bonus tune just for you.

GLIBS CRUISE REMINDER: Shpip and KK are putting together a week-long Glibs cruise departing from Ft Lauderdale on Oct 21, 2024. Here’s a link to the details.

About The Author

Tonio

Tonio

Tonio is a Glibs shitposter, linkstar (Thursday PM, yo), author, and editor. He is also a GlibZoom personality and prankster. Tonio is a big fan of pic-a-nic baskets. His hobbies include salmon fishing, territorial displays, dumpster diving, and posing for wildlife photographers.

253 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    Fur trapping?

    • Tonio

      When a bear likes another bear very much…

      • Common Tater

        Oh OK, so a more romantic version of bear hunting?

      • Tundra

        What’s a non-bear called?

      • Nephilium

        Do you really want a deep dive into the gay taxonomy (NSFW)?

      • SDF-7

        Sounds like that would be a real Boo-Boo.

      • slumbrew

        I was hoping for this, but yours does a better job of explaining things.

    • SDF-7

      That sounds more on the L than the G side of the spectrum to me.

      But however you want to phrase it, congrats Tonio… hope y’all have a lovely time of it.

  2. Brochettaward

    First-in-timer!

    • Tonio

      Nope. And not even topical.

      Womp, womp.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      More ghey than Tonio.

      Also congrats Tonio!

    • MikeS

      Hahahaha

      Ha

  3. Sean

    Tonio’s getting laid!

    Good for you.

    • SDF-7

      Well thanks for putting this in my head now! 😉

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        ⬆️ What I was thinking.

      • slumbrew

        #METOO

  4. Common Tater

    “As some of you have heard, I now have a special gentleman friend. This is going to take my life in a new, good, direction.”

    Congrats 🙂

  5. John Nerfherder

    Biden had already paid a $100,000 tax bill back in 2021, and he is no stranger to counseling, having been in and out of rehab more times than he cared to tally in his memoir about addiction. A gun he owned had already been taken from him by his romantic partner at the time, clearing that up for him albeit complicating matters when it went missing.

    But when you’re a Biden, nothing is ever that easy. And when you’re Hunter Biden, it’s doubly complicated. Even that courthouse where Hunter Biden tried to take responsibility was named for the three-term Senate incumbent his father ousted back in 1972. In Delaware, being a Biden is everything. And having profited from the family name for much of his life, Hunter Biden is now finding it hard to escape it.

    *adds that author to the list of people who should end up on the gallows*

    I’ve been feeling rather French lately.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      “A gun he owned had already been taken from him by his romantic partner at the time”

      Wasn’t that his sister in law?

      • creech

        Doesn’t the Old Testament countenance the marrying of one’s brother’s widow? Then again, did the kanoodling start before or after the widowing?

    • Common Tater

      I’m no historian, but pretty sure it was guillotines, not gallows.

      • John Nerfherder

        Guillotines are too messy.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Matter of opinion. The Guillotine is quite a bit more consistent.

        The Gallows can be quite messy as well. Drop too far and the head pops off, not far enough and there is a lot of kicking and struggling.

      • MikeS

        And pooping.

    • Fatty Bolger

      It’s hard out here for a political pimp.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Noreika also poked enough to reveal a misunderstanding between the prosecutors and defense about whether this closed the door on future cases involving firearms, Hunter Biden’s business dealings, or his potential foreign lobbying. Biden’s lawyers thought so, but prosecutors didn’t share that view. Frustrated with the holes being poked in their deal, Biden’s lead lawyer sniped across the courtroom to his government counterpart: “Just rip it up.”

      When Noreika asked prosecutor Leo Wise if he knew of any precedent for such an open-ended immunity in perpetuity, he was candid: “No, your honor.”

      Just can’t catch a break!

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Hunter Biden’s consulting services drew millions to his family’s bank account, stood to make him rich, and give him a measure of independence from his broader family that can be overwhelming with its unconditional love and endless scrutiny.

        Wow.

      • SDF-7

        Everytime he thinks he’s out…. they pull him back in!

      • John Nerfherder

        Dude didn’t just blow Hunter in that article, he went for the rimjob and fondled the balls.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Salads were tossed.

      • Sensei

        Speaking of sexual favors

        Why Kamala Harris Is A Better VP Than You Think

        she’s been assigned to head up specific policy areas, like abortion and reproductive rights, voting rights and immigration, as well as some other foreign policy assignments

        Yeah, she’s knocked them out of the park. Well, maybe the voting rights…

      • B.P.

        Remember that time that the U.S. invaded a country that had fuck-all to do with anything, and everyone had a big laugh at that Baghdad Bob guy saying the Iraqi military had everything under control?

    • Raven Nation

      “Even that courthouse where Hunter Biden tried to take responsibility was named for the three-term Senate incumbent his father ousted back in 1972”

      Seriously? That’s an added problem?

    • juris imprudent

      But when you’re a Biden, nothing is ever that easy.

      I am happy that this person is not within reach of my fist (or open palm – whatever is most appropriate).

  6. John Nerfherder

    a week-long Glibs cruise departing from Ft Lauderdale

    You can’t fool me. That’s a one way ticket to their blood diamond mines in Africa.

    • Tonio

      “How to Serve Man”

    • Nephilium

      For the Glibs?

      The coca fields would be a more likely destination.

      • Bobarian LMD

        They do have cruises with multiple stops. I hear the slave markets in Libya are nice that time of year.

    • SDF-7

      I thought they were just distracting folks while stealing their stock of orphans… and the orphans go to the blood diamond mines…

    • TARDis

      No worries. There will be a huge fire started over an IPA beer argument in the aft lounge. The ship will sink and the slaves shall be freed.

    • SDF-7

      Well, they say “write what you know”… I guess “Be a Minister of what you know through personal experience” apparently applies…

      TL;DR — Clown World. (honk honk)

    • Raven Nation

      “acronym”? So, she’s not actually coherent in English?

      • John Nerfherder

        “Dimwit” appears to be her major qualification.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Not only is she the Minister of Mental Health, she’s also a client!

        The Canadian Sy Sperling.

  7. Common Tater

    He’s the First Crackhead. I’m sure he can get someone to take the test for him, bribe the lab, etc.

    • Tonio

      “First Crackhead” for the win.

    • KK, Non-Man

      If Johnny Dirtbag From the Block can figure out how to fake a pee test, so can FCOTUS

      • KK, Non-Man

        (pronounced Fuck-Otis)

      • SDF-7

        Whatever secures your ladder there, KK… I think if I weren’t married I’d be more into Miss Tessmacher (in her prime), but if Otisburg appeals to you and all…

      • KK, Non-Man

        Perry White is the only Superman character I’d fuck, tbh

      • SDF-7

        Which Perry, out of curiosity? Lenny? (Smallville), Morpheus? (Man of Steel) or are we just talking Mr. Cooper here?

      • KK, Non-Man

        I’ve only ever seen the Reeves movies, so that guy. But I could be persuaded if the others are just as curmudgeonly

      • Bobarian LMD

        Kevin Spacey was a LL, as well.

        And it sounds like he’s available…

        *shudders*

    • Not Adahn

      Pish tosh, they’ll use the FBI Crime Lab! The paragon of professionalism!

      • Common Tater

        I think I saw Pish Tosh play with Yellowman.

  8. Not Adahn

    This is going to take my life in a new, good, direction.

    He’s a navigator?

    • Tonio

      A navigator, you say?

    • slumbrew

      I’m not familiar with all this gay slang.

      • SDF-7

        Wait until Tonio starts bringing up his stoker and his black gang….

  9. Tundra

    NASA, DARPA PLAN 2026 TEST OF NUCLEAR ROCKET ENGINE:

    “So what would you say you do here?”

    Other than eat SpaceX dust, of course.

    • Drake

      Not a nuke pusher / Orion. More of a constant low thrust design using a heated propellent.

      • SDF-7

        Yeah, and a really small proof of concept / test bed from the sound of it.

        Small enough to be carried by a Falcon 9 — just the reactor and a cryo tank of hydrogen. Which will be the limiting factor (short term) for engines like that if you stick with hydrogen for the heated propellant gas… once you’re out, the reactor isn’t going to do you much good. Which is why I’m all in favor of using a (real) Orion once (not much worse than the bomb tests of the 1950s), loft enough to set up a serious Lagrange point station and/or Lunar base with actual industry, loft reactors for power as well, and get to cracking water for the hydrogen you can then build your interplanetary engines like this with if need be. Once you get a quicker trip to the asteroids and/or Jupiter, resources shouldn’t be an issue — using the Orion for all of it probably isn’t feasible (I haven’t done the math) just because we don’t have that many ready bombs.

        Never going to happen, but bootstrapping a real space industry sector that way seems to me what needs to happen. Plus you can carry enough shielding to be feasible and all (so your people don’t croak long term).

  10. Drake

    “Let the ball drop”

    We still doing phrasing?

  11. Rat on a train

    I assume “bank tenants” is a step toward a campaign to cancel home loans.

    • slumbrew

      I think it’s safe to assume that.

      “Cancel mortgages! The president can just do that by executive order!”

    • Nephilium

      I think we would need to nationalize the mortgage markets more first. Then make them guaranteed, and non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.

      After that, we can set up Student Home Loan forgiveness programs.

      • Drake

        Like an idiot I just used our savings to buy a house with cash.

    • Fatty Bolger

      The way things are headed, it wouldn’t surprise me.

      • SDF-7

        From each according to xer’s ability… to each according to xim’s needs….

        Second verse… same as the first.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    But when you’re a Biden, nothing is ever that easy. And when you’re Hunter Biden, it’s doubly complicated.

    Boo fucking hoo.

    • Drake

      Go cry in one of your mansions purchased with your bribes and grifts.

    • Raven Nation

      I guess my broader question is, “who is Time’s audience”? MAGA fascists are going to be persuaded. I can’t imagine a lot of hard-core progs need to be convinced. And I’d doubt more people who aren’t team players, don’t care one way or the other.

      So, just another piece of journalism written to other journalists?

      • The Other Kevin

        Maybe it’s like Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein. Someone bet the author they couldn’t make a vile, privileged person sound sympathetic.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Hunter: The Modern Day Prometheus.

      • B.P.

        Are you kidding? Me! That shit is comedy gold.

  13. The Late P Brooks

    He fathered, with a former assistant at his consulting firm, a child no one in his family has ever met.

    They kept a stripper on the payroll? Or is that another one?

  14. Derpetologist

    I’d go on the Glib cruise, but I’m pretty sure the FBI would be tailing me the whole way.

    Today I learned about a the American 180, a .22 LR machine gun.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQEb6DPPVtU

    ***
    The weapon operates through a conventional blowback mechanism. It uses an open bolt with a flat pan magazine. It fires at a very high rate of fire of approximately 1,200 RPM. The American-180 was purchased mostly by private parties prior to the American ban on production of machine guns for the US civilian market. The A180 was adopted by the Utah Department of Corrections to arm correctional officers.[5][6]

    Despite the low power of the .22 LR round, testing demonstrated that automatic fire could penetrate even concrete and bulletproof vests from cumulative damage.[citation needed] However, the target would have to remain still for some amount of time to allow the cumulative damage to amass in the same area to achieve this.[citation needed]
    ***

    • kinnath

      Gun Jesus did a video on that weapon. Very cool.

  15. Fatty Bolger

    https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1684576244745256961

    CNN @CNN
    Heat waves in three continents have driven the planet’s average temperature in July to levels not seen in 120,000 years, scientists say

    I doubt it’s even the hottest in 120 years, but OK. It’s cute how they think they can know this with such precision.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Show me the records over that period of time.

    • Nephilium

      Still haven’t even brushed up against 100 up here, which isn’t uncommon during the summer.

    • Rat on a train

      They’ve been keeping time travel secret.

    • Sean

      120,000 years

      GTFO

    • Shirley Knott

      Yeah, we’ve had thermometers for barely 300 years. Those were, shall we say sparsely, distributed across a small portion of the planet for the great majority of that time. I call shenanigans, redundantly.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Shirley! Great to hear from you. Some folks around here (including me) had wondered about you.

        I thought of you when we passed through Lansing last month.

    • juris imprudent

      with such precision.

      If I remember correctly one economist said you can tell economists have a sense of humor when they use a decimal point in their estimate.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        I think Russ Roberts has made that comment on Econtalk.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I get so tired of people saying “99.999999% of the time…” Oh, you have that many instances?

  16. The Late P Brooks

    So, just another piece of journalism written to other journalists?

    There are dozens of on-the-fence moderates in dentists’ office across the country who are liable to be moved by this sympathetic portrayal of a troubled boy in search of an identity all his own.

  17. KK, Non-Man

    There’s a post in the forum in the Meetup section about the Glubcruise. We’ll use it for info and roommate matching as needed.

    • John Nerfherder

      Glubcruise

      Unfortunate titling there

      • KK, Non-Man

        I dunno – I think it may be an a propos typo

      • SDF-7

        A real trip of Titans?

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      “We’ll use it for info and roommate matching as needed.”

      You’re not just going to throw room keys in a big, beautiful, white USA hat?

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      From Utah. That’s like 3 Pr0nHub genres in 1.

    • Rat on a train

      Did he charge the men $20 each?

    • Sensei

      Do you how you can make even more money dating even more men?

    • Pope Jimbo

      Does math……

      That makes her a $5 whore?

  18. John Nerfherder

    Ahem…

    https://twitter.com/BoltzmannBooty/status/1684324789161189377

    In 1954 while the CIA was engineering the banana coup, Guatemala’s government announced it had learned of the plot. Coup headquarters in FL sent a telegram to CIA’s station in Guatemala w/ advice on suppressing the info; one strategy was to seed flying saucer stories in the press

    • SDF-7

      Ow…. no wonder they kept it short, that had to hurt after a little bit.

    • John Nerfherder

      Christine LaGarde haz a sad.

    • Sensei

      Learning Japanese Through Banking

      タンス預金

      “DANSU yokin”

      Literally, shelf deposit. It means depositing the money on your shelf instead of a financial institution.

      This could possibly end if people get paid for deposits.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      A friend of mine got a red meat allergy from that when he was in his late 30s. He does fine eating just chicken or fish but says he’d kill to be able to eat a steak once in a while.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Moloko Milk Bar second-hardest hit.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      It’s happening all around me. Several close neighbors now have alpha-gal from tick bites and can’t eat red meat.

      What a nightmare to give up burgers, steak, and brisket. I bought 27 guinea hens to clear the yard around the house and have stopped heading into the woods during summer.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        I remember some globalist ass clown who wanted to infect people deliberately.

        After Covid, it wouldn’t surprise me if alpha-gal had been made in a lab and deliberately released.

      • robodruid

        Do you have a news letter I could read?

      • John Nerfherder

        See Plum Island and Willy Burgdorfer

      • Tundra

        Wild. Are you in Virginia?

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Yep, southwest VA. One neighbor has even set up several rabbit hutches for meat.

      • Tundra

        Damn.

        I could probably get by, but I eat many pounds of ground beef/steak a week.

    • John Nerfherder

      wipe out microbes crucial to our planet

      Robert Reich breathes easier.

    • R C Dean

      The number of people who have a hard-on for another pandemic is just disturbing.

      And those archaic pathogens? They are way, way behind on the whole evolution thing. I suspect they are about as likely to cause a pandemic as a Chevy Belair is to win NASCAR.

  19. Fatty Bolger

    Viral New Superconductivity Claims Leave Many Scientists Skeptical

    If rumor has wings, extraordinary scientific claims have a jet engine. Within hours of appearing on the preprint server arXiv.org, two papers by a team of scientists in South Korea generated enormous viral buzz. The researchers’ extraordinary claim is that they have discovered a room-temperature ambient-pressure superconductor, a material that can conduct electricity perfectly under everyday conditions.

    Supposedly it’s pretty easy to replicate, so we’ll know pretty soon if this is real or just bullshit (the latter seems more likely). If it’s real, then this could be one of those transformative discoveries that change the world.

    • slumbrew

      That’d be a huge breakthrough.

      It’s probably bullshit.

    • KK, Non-Man

      Sounds like John Galt’s static electricity motor

    • Not Adahn

      Nope, it involves lead, so it will be banned in California. And without the California market to sell to…

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM

        From what I’ve seen on X this afternoon, it’s already been demonstrated that the results of the initial report cannot be replicated.

        Room-temperature nuclear fusion from the 1990s, anybody?

      • LCDR_Fish

        Saw some comments that a few folks were planning on getting their teams together for some weekend work. Sounds like something OMWC could test in his lab too.

      • Grumbletarian

        WARNING: Cheap, efficient energy contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.

  20. Certified Public Asshat

    That Times writer has been on a retarded roll this week: Why Even Democrats Are Going Wobbly on Trans Rights in Sports

    Put another way, many Americans seem to think the issue of which jersey to don looks more like a question of competitive fairness than civil rights. After all, majorities have said clearly they are against discrimination against trans individuals. Pew’s number from last year finds 64% support for nondiscrimination laws protecting trans individuals’ rights to housing, jobs, and services.

    But on the soccer pitch, these respondents are looking at their kids and wanting a fair shot. It’s not that they’ve bought the bogus and hateful notions that trans people are so-called “groomers” or are looking to invade locker rooms for sexual perversion. But as Reeves put it, there’s a sense that their kids are getting a raw deal.

    • Sensei

      …there’s a sense that their kids are getting a raw deal.

      Now do affirmative action.

    • Rat on a train

      “I support the policy but didn’t expect I would have to pay for it.”

    • creech

      Yes, ask “Do you support transgender privileges and are fine with it being your daughter who gets kicked off the team to make room for trans person?”

    • R C Dean

      “a question of competitive fairness than civil rights”

      I’m so old, I can remember when making sure girls had their own teams was a civil rights victory.

  21. KK, Non-Man

    The RV park owner just ran over a campsite spigot with a backhoe.

    Hope that doesn’t affect my water pressure

    • KK, Non-Man

      (campsite was empty)

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Yeah, we’ve had thermometers for barely 300 years. Those were, shall we say sparsely, distributed across a small portion of the planet for the great majority of that time. I call shenanigans, redundantly.

    Tree ring denialist!

    • The Other Kevin

      Don’t forget, they have ice cores from the south pole that show the exact temperature for any day in history.

    • KK, Non-Man

      Very unsatisfying ending

      • Sensei

        As somebody who take NJ Transit trains three times a week I’m OK with that.

        When you get a pedestrian or car strike it delays thousands of people for hours. It also happens just on my line at least 6 to 10 times or more a year.

        The suicide by train people are euphemistically referred to as “trespasser incidents”.

      • KK, Non-Man

        I used the DC Metro for 32 years. There aren’t any street crossings but there are plenty of jumpers.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “Person under a train” in Britain.

      • R.J.

        Indeed. I need some smashy smashy today.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      That’s what she said.

  23. Pope Jimbo

    Will, schmill. Museum decides to break up collection of Native American artifacts een though the guy who gave them the collection stipulated that it shouldn’t be broken up. But what does that old dead half-Indian guy know about virtue signalling?

    “We’ve had these items for some time and of course the law has been in place for some time,” she said. “But the will that Mr. Morrison left regarding the items and how he wanted those items to be treated put restrictions on us about being able to follow NAGPRA guidelines.”

    Basically, Morrison said the collection could not be broken up.

    Last year after consulting with area tribal members the historical society secured the help of a Twin Cities law firm and a consultant. And in an unprecedented move, with help from volunteers and the county, they successfully argued in court to amend the will, allowing the repatriation process to move forward.

    “We put forth the right argument regarding why we wanted to make the change,” Thabes recounted. “Because it’s a significant thing to not follow a will but it is a more significant thing not to follow the rights of Native American people.”

    • Pope Jimbo

      I like the precedent that this sets.

      After Bill Gates dies, I think that a good team of lawyers working for the American people can amend his will and take all of his money and spread it around.

      • rhywun

        Maybe middle-aged, overweight white dudes will be on top of the victim stack that day. 🤞🏻🤞🏻

    • R.J.

      “ According to the Screen Actors Guild, 87% of the guild’s actors make less than $26,000 per year.”
      If so, why the fuck would anyone pay these idiots dues?

      • LCDR_Fish

        Adam Carolla had some good comments on his podcast yesterday – when he was younger looking at acting…you’re only doing it a few days a week – get a job! Do something on the side so you’re not relying on something that may or may not happen.

      • R C Dean

        I think most studios won’t hire anybody who isn’t union for writing, acting, etc.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    They’ve got him now

    Former President Trump is not expected to be indicted Thursday in connection with the federal investigation probing his efforts to block the transition of power following the 2020 election, according to a court official.

    The official said no indictments were returned and none were expected for the remainder of the day in D.C.’s federal district court, where the grand jury has been meeting to review evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s probe.

    The grand jury met Thursday, and jurors appear to still be inside the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington behind closed doors.

    It remains unclear when the grand jury would convene again. It has tended to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

    The SWAT team will frog march him into the paddywagon momentarily.

  25. Pope Jimbo

    Special K is out there proving she really doesn’t understand the job of a Senator

    Sen. Amy Klobuchar has reignited her voting and election reform campaign, inspired in part by changes Minnesota made over the years to its voting laws, in a newly introduced bill that would set national standards for certain voting laws.

    Her Freedom to Vote Act includes mandating at least two weeks of in-person early voting, establishing a national standard for mail-in voting, banning the dissemination of false and misleading information intended to discouraging voters from casting a ballot and establishing new, uniform rules for congressional redistricting aimed at ending partisan gerrymandering.

    She really doesn’t seem to understand that she is supposed to be representing the interests of Minnesoda. Not trying to give even more power to the central government.

    • Pope Jimbo

      And when I said the interests of Minnesoda, I meant primarily the interests of the state of Minnesoda. Not its dumb citizens. That job is for Ilhan Omar and her House colleagues.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        That went out the window with the 17th Amendment.

  26. KK, Non-Man

    Thoughts while baked:

    What word do y’all use to refer to a small running body of water? When I was a kid in VT I used “brook”. Then at some point I started using “stream”. Down here in SC I think it may be “creek” but not sure. In Northern Virginia it was “run” (NoVA is fucking stupid)

    • ron73440

      In northern WV/western PA we called it a “crick”, but it was spelled creek.

      • R.J.

        A brook. As in “Behold yon diminutive brook. Bring thy hobo fishing kit and bourbon and we shall wile away the hours and feast on catfish.”

      • Bobarian LMD

        A rill. In 12 grade english class.

      • rhywun

        lol

      • Tundra

        Clearly a muse for you.

        Hilarious!

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Animal! (and 61 North),

        We will be invading your land in Sep/Oct and would love to meet up with you.

        jemezhobbt at the protonmail which is a com

    • kinnath

      crik {Iowan}

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Creek or stream in CA.

    • Rat on a train

      It’s also “run” down here in Spotsyltucky. I don’t know how far that extends.

      • Rat on a train

        It looks like we have a mix of “run” and “creek”.

      • LCDR_Fish

        I think they’re all synonyms.

    • MikeS

      Creek or stream in NoDak.

      • Pope Jimbo

        You stole that from your educated neighbors in Minnesoda!

        But yeah, same answer from me too.

    • Nephilium

      There’s creeks, cricks, and streams. All three are different.

    • John Nerfherder

      A trickle

      No.. wait.. that’s the term I use when talking to my urologist

    • Bobarian LMD

      As a kid in Illinois, a creek (crik) was smaller than a stream and ran intermittently. A stream ran all the time but was small enough to easily walk across. Anything bigger was a river.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was the first I (teenaged) had ever heard of a crick.

      • Rat on a train

        That is too organized for Virginia.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Burn? if Scottish.

    • Pine_Tree

      Creek (GA).

      That’s if it’s pretty much always running. If it’s just the low wet ground (typically between fields, and too wet to be plowable) that flow to the creeks, they’re called a “branch”. The flow path through it is the “run of the branch”, and is intermittent depending on rainfall. When it’s flowing (sometimes for weeks on end depending on weather), it still doesn’t become a creek. Rather, the description is that “the branch is running”.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      What word do y’all use to refer to a small running body of water?

      In New Mexico? A River.

      There are places along the Jemez River that you can step across.

      To my thinking (by size):

      River > stream > creek (crick)

      I would put a brook as a slow-moving stream/creek that is bordered by overhanging trees and vegetation. “Shady Brook”

    • R C Dean

      In Southern AZ, it’s a “wash”. It’ll be dry 98% of the time.

    • rhywun

      If it has a name, it’s “______ Creek” (and pronounced “Crick” if you’re my mom and from PA).
      Otherwise, “stream” or “brook” will do.

      • rhywun

        *scratches brain*

        I’ve been in NYC so long where there are no such things, but now I recall that there is also “______ Brook” (named) and those things are smaller than creeks.

      • creech

        We have Runs, too, in Penna. which have names.

      • R C Dean

        “Yep, that’s Chipotle Run. You don’t wanna go there.”

  27. Rat on a train

    I had a weird computer issue on my work computer today. It was extremely slow even after a reboot. I noticed the CPU was pegged at the equivalent of one thread. It appeared something was messing up power management. I tried remedies from Microsoft’s support site. It resolved when I unplugged and plugged back in.

    • SDF-7

      Not a Windows kernel person — just assuming that the change in C or P states through ACPI forced a transition that signalled the stuck spinning thread to close down. Be glad the thread wasn’t spinning blocking interrupts. 😉

  28. DrOtto

    Trans Lunar Injection sound like a euphemism for pegging.

  29. Pope Jimbo

    Who cares about the Glibs Cruise when there is the potential for the Glib’s Zoom to crash this virtual event?!

    After a year and half on the beat, Ava Kian has established herself in the world of health equity reporting. Her work has recently been honored by the National Association of Black Journalists and the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists.

    Join Ava and Harry Colbert Jr., managing editor, for a virtual MinnPost Social where they discuss Ava’s work in health equity reporting and the impact of the work she has done.

    * I love the idea of the Glib Cruise, but I really love the idea of a drunken W. Sloper screaming and cursing at the other participants in a virtual meeting on health equity.

    • R.J.

      Holy shit yes! With his tiny head in the distance on Zoom!

    • KK, Non-Man

      I’m sure sloper could be persuaded to rant on a cruise, too

      • Pope Jimbo

        Yeah, but I would bet that the other people on the cruise would be a lot more resilient than those people voluntarily signing up for that meeting. They might even find him amusing.

        Sloper would put all of those Minnesoda proggies into the fetal position after the first 5 minutes of one of his rants.

      • R.J.

        Which is even better, really. Would he sit way across the bar from all of us and yell at a distance?

  30. John Nerfherder

    Proving once again, that Mitt is a cunte.

    * Romney stated “To say that no employee of the government from the president on down to that millions of people who work in the government can speak with a social media company or a Legacy Media Company and express their point of view that an article is wrong or that Avenue they’re going down is wrong, that would shut off free speech.”*

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-mitt-romney-argues-it-shouldnt-be-illegal-government-use-big-tech-censorship

    • R.J.

      Fuck that guy.

    • Sensei

      Yes he is.

      He knows the distinction between acting as a private citizen and on behalf of the government.

      Mind you government employees have more freedom on social media than I do working for a financial institution.

      • B.P.

        He also knows the difference between a government official speaking to a social media company or expressing a point of view and what was actually happening.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I don’t think that anyone is stopping Mitt from posting whatever he wants publicly on his Twitter feed. He can throw as much shade as he wants at any article he wants. What he can’t do is talk with the employees privately and tell them that an article is wrong and should be removed.

      Of course, he knows this and is just being a jackass.

      What he doesn’t like is the sunshine that comes with having to post his opinions in public, because it leaves him open to others responding to him.

    • R C Dean

      In their capacity as a private person, no problem.

      When acting as a government agent, big problem. Plus, government agents have no 1A rights, because the government has no 1A rights.

      What we need, and will never get, is a private right of action so anyone who gets bungholed by the Censorship Regime can sue both the media company and the government agents in their individual capacity.

  31. Mojeaux

    I WILL WEIGH IN ON THE JACKSON COUNTY TAX ASSESSMENTS.

    Yes, I am yelling bcause this sort of affects me and is a YUUUUUUGE deal here.

    My personal experience is thus: As my brother’s occasional admin, I have reason to know that last year he paid ~$4,000 tax on a tiny house in a not-great neighborhood. Because he is rich, he did not know this. What’s the problem? The year before, it was ~$400, and each preceding year a tidge less, as one would expect. I told him to get his lawyer on that appeal, but I don’t know if he did.*

    The tax assessment issue has been going on for 2 years now and Jackson County is letting people appeal this, but not doing anything about it. EVERYBODY is pissed. So if you think this little group is claiming victimhood wrongly, you’re wrong.

    *It’d be easier to be his admin if he kept me in the loop. Or, you know, let me do all his adulting for him.

    • Mojeaux

      Because what it really is is a county cash grab from people who don’t have any money, and therefore, a property grab. Jackson County is generally poor as dirt, except for downtown KC and a few chichi enclaves.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Not that you feel strongly about it.

        Come to CA, where Prop. 13 (1978) is unfair to everyone. Or maybe the Mr. has already told you.

      • Mojeaux

        Nope. Dude was happy to leave CA in his rearview mirror and happy to never go back.

        Fortunately, though we live in KC, we DON’T live in Jackson County.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Heh, not meant as a concrete invitation, but if youse ever do come back to his old homestead… (I don’t think I know where he’s from.)

      • Mojeaux

        Somewhere in LA, which I can’t remember at the moment. His dad lived in Baldwin Park. When he left California, he was living in Yucca Valley. We went when XX was 9 months old, so I could meet his family for the first time, who were scattered from San Diego to Santa Rosa. We drove up and down that state, and I can’t say it was one of my more wonderful vacations, in oart because I didn’t get to do the only thing I actually wanted to do which was to see The Price is Right live.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Oh, why didn’t you? Line too long?

        My dad worked there a long time. Once let me around about 25 years ago backstage before things got strict; let me spin the wheel. That thing is heavy!

      • Mojeaux

        We were on a tight schedule.

      • Ted S.

        Did your dad have any stories about Bob Barker sexually harassing the models?

      • juris imprudent

        Yucca Valley

        That’s a… unique… area.

      • Mojeaux

        Well, I mean … he left, so …

  32. John Nerfherder

    And now we know how desperate the banking situation in the EU is. This is LaGarde’s answer to Powell’s rate increase.

    https://twitter.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1684542274032508928

    “ OOPS! #ECB decided that going forward, the minimum reserves banks need to hold won’t receive any interest. In this way, the ECB could prevent the losses of the ECB and the national central banks from increasing too much.”

  33. Mojeaux

    Dude and I have discussed it. Because of various variables, and the fact that our life is in no way stable or predictable (also known as various variables), we are not going to be attending the Glibcruise. We can swing a deposit now. We don’t know if we will be able to swing the balance next year. And other various variables.

    • Ownbestenemy

      This is Mrs OBE and me too. We have the new job/move and boys to Japan. Now if they fail to at least turn in paperwork for passports by September, we have the dough to go

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Japan?? I must have missed something.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Grad gift. A week or so in Japan. Not moving there

    • KK, Non-Man

      Hope you’ll reconsider! Or finances improve!

  34. Stillhunter

    I’m not sure how much the *UFO thing has been discussed, but it seems entirely reasonable that it’s the update to the war on terror. Think of the money to be made to protect ourselves from the aliens. Between climate change and aliens, the grift could go on forever!

    * I know they call it something else now, but I’ve reached that age where you get to keep calling it what you’ve always known it as.

    • Tundra

      As a distraction/grift it’s ideal.

      But the update to the war on terror, I think, is the focus on white supremacy and domestic extremists.

      How’s things in God’s Country? I was just reminiscing with a friend about fishing Burntside.

    • John Nerfherder

      See my link up above.

      Even the CIA is out of fresh ideas.

      • John Nerfherder

        I might happily accept our new alien overlords if they promise to anally probe Krugman for centuries on end.

      • juris imprudent

        Now that’s the bargain – we can extend your life for centuries, but we’ll make you miserable the whole time.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Yeesh, sounds kind of like being a committed vegetarian. No thanks.

    • Pope Jimbo

      What will be wonderful is if aliens do make contact and then refuse to let us emigrate to their planets. Especially if the lead alien is wearing a red hat and tells us that they are building a wall at the edge of the solar system.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      It’s either the biggest con foisted upon the human race (my money’s on this but who knows) or the biggest catastrophe. If we really are being studied by these things from Omicron Persei Eight or wherever the fuck who expended more energy to get here than has been generated by all human endeavors on earth in the history of ever and they mean us harm there’s nothing, and I mean nothing, we can do about it.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Exactly. Point me to a moment in human history where contact with a higher-technology culture didn’t wipe out an existing culture. The natives in the Amazon who keep killing the folks trying to contact them have the right idea.

        “Kill them and eat them” is the only policy that can save humanity.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        On a sort of upside, if the movers and shakers try to use these revelations to increase military spending or crack down on civil liberties we’ll know it’s not real. Again, there’s nothing that could be done and the scientists and engineers informing these people would have made that abundantly clear so using this as a justification for policy changes reveals the grift.

    • SDF-7

      “We don’t give a shit what you actually think. Just provide your reliable rubber stamp already, lady.”

      • Ownbestenemy

        That was pretty much it…we are so fucked

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I actually feel bad for her. I’m a bit of a softie I guess.

      • R C Dean

        I don’t. I’m struggling to come up with the kind of suffering I would feel bad about, if it was inflicted on a professional politician.

  35. Evan from Evansville

    Cleaning the bathroom is unpleasant. I probably should have done this earlier.

    If I lived with a Lady, or anyone, this wouldn’t be THIS bad. (It isn’t shockingly horrible, my apt. Cluttered w clothes and paper, but not dirty-dirty. My bathroom should be cleaner. If a Lady were coming over, and after *swish*, I’d have more incentive. Well. Last-minute rush is the best kind of productivity.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Vilde chaya, I bet you would be interesting to hang out with. Many people can’t accommodate visitors well at home.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        That is, that’s what restaurants are for.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Or hotels. 😉

      • Evan from Evansville

        Are you trying to seduce me, Miss O’Grady?

    • R.J.

      Twice I tried to snark with Bob Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay. This site hates me right now.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Editor guy: Why are you capitalizing “lady”? And close your parentheses.

      Love ya; just looking after ya.

      • Evan from Evansville

        I’m stoned and wandering around putting my apartment together. This is Cubs baseball, chill w yall and eat for a bit time. I’m not at work.

        Lady is capitalized cuz it’s what I refer to a girlfriend or a romantically special female. Usually used to not use (newspaper Ev laughs at the sound of that) the person’s name but still denote status. Were I to have a new Lady around, I’d be much more put together. I have my eye on a gal in Minnesota. We met in Korea and came Stateside after over a decade in Asia a month apart.

        She won’t put up with my shit. And she’s just too good. But lord. She does have a fierce, legal personality at times. (Or just talkative.) Would make a nice Lady.

    • R C Dean

      “Cluttered w clothes and paper, but not dirty-dirty. “

      Except you can’t really clean something that’s cluttered.

      • Evan from Evansville

        I’m nowhere near being the vacuuming stage. Not much really in my life. I can just put it in bags, label which is which, and pretty much I’m good.

        Bed, desk, the chair I love…and an old coffee table. Small life.

  36. Ownbestenemy

    We fly out to Kentucky on a red eye tonight. Hitting up a summer in the Park type festival near by tomorrow and neighborhood shopping all weekend.

    • Gender Traitor

      Happy hunting!

    • KK, Non-Man

      What part of KY?

      • Ted S.

        The jelly part.

      • Ownbestenemy

        North near Cincinnati