Monday Afternoon Links

by | Aug 14, 2023 | Daily Links | 177 comments

The littlest one slept until 5:30 this morning and it was like getting a day off. I’ve decided every day he gets up before 5am, I’m going to pick one of my retirement accounts and pull 1% of the beneficiary payments out and assign it to one of his brothers. Even with Florida Meth, I can’t keep up with him. He’s lucky he’s cute, or I’d be selling him to human traffickers.

I don’t quite get what role the Mountain Dew was supposed to play, but hey, it’s Florida Woman.

I had a pretty fancy restaurant add a 3.5% credit card surcharge to my total after the bill was presented. I assume that was posted somewhere, but I also thought they were a nice enough place to raise their prices by 5% and nobody would complain.

Suck it dark matter believers.

Florida Lawyer runs classic ponzi scheme.

Have a little SRV

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.

177 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    At least the movie didn’t bomb.

  2. Common Tater

    “Less than two hours later, police said they spotted a barefoot Maks with blood on her leg and ripped shirt outside a Krystal restaurant in the nearby community of Holly Hill. ”

    Is that a restaurant that serves meth?

    • Common Tater

      “After she was read her Miranda rights, Maks told detectives that she never entered Cerasoli’s bedroom and only set foot on the second floor of their shared apartment to “feed her spiders.” ”

      Perfectly normal.

      • Tonio

        I don’t know if this is journo BS or not, but if it does establish the state’s duty to somehow protect us against climate change, then surely the state has a duty to protect us against clear and present dangers, ie the duty of cops to act.

      • Tonio

        Dammit, threading fail.

    • Common Tater

      “A recent study from North Carolina State University indicated that sucralose – a common artificial sweetener also known as Splenda and found in Diet Mountain Dew and other sodas – can break down the genetic material that makes up DNA.

      While researchers found that the sweetener could put people at risk for disease and wear down the lining of intestines, it is unclear whether dousing oneself in soda would actually eliminate forensic evidence.”

      SCIENCE!!!

      • Bobarian LMD

        Maybe it washes off neck tattoos?

      • rhywun

        lol

    • Bobarian LMD

      Krystal == White Castle of the South

    • Fatty Bolger

      Tiny burgers. They can be addictive, though.

  3. The Late P Brooks

    Rolling Stone is on the case

    During closing arguments, the assistant attorney general derided the trial as a “week-long airing of political grievances that properly belong in the Legislature, not a court of law.” As Rolling Stone noted, the plaintiffs and lawsuit faced similar political attacks in the lead-up to the case. State representatives even suggested the youths were being exploited by out-of-state special interests, and that they were exaggerating their anxieties about climate change.

    Just because it was completely and obviously true doesn’t give them the right to say that.

    • The Other Kevin

      “Won’t somebody think of the children” dialed up to 11. But I don’t think their anxieties are exaggerated, the Left is great at giving people anxiety to the point of suicide.

    • rhywun

      Clown courts.

      The children shall lead us… to an early grave.

  4. Rat on a train

    Maybe Florida Woman thought brominated vegetable oil acts like bromine.

    • Common Tater

      They took it out of Gatorade, don’t know about Mountain Dew.

      • Rat on a train

        It looks like they removed from the Dew. Now where are people going to get their daily bromine?

  5. Common Tater

    “Craig Sherman, former town attorney for Bay Harbor Islands Town of Bay Harbor Islands”

    That must be a very old picture.

  6. Shirley Knott

    Thanks for the science link! Dark Matter has always seemed too ad hoc for me to simply accept it. This was cool research.

    • John Nerfherder

      Chae explains, “From the start, it seemed clear to me that gravity could be most directly and efficiently tested by calculating accelerations because the gravitational field itself is an acceleration. My recent research experiences with galactic rotation curves led me to this idea.

      Is that what we’re calling Lizzo concerts these days?

    • kinnath

      Not the best copy of this video that I have seen, but it will do.

  7. Mojeaux

    It is 73F, low humidity, and a sweet breeze flowing through my house. I feel positively spoiled.

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

      95* and climbing here.

    • The Other Kevin

      It’s August and I’d like to use my pool, but it’s been in the low 70’s the last few days too. We went to Six Flags yesterday and it was comfortable all day.

    • rhywun

      87 and rising humidity here. Feh.

    • Animal

      64 and partly sunny. Leaves are starting to turn.

  8. The Late P Brooks

    That language, however, did not prevent the state from embracing a litany of energy projects, especially the construction of two coal-fired power plants in the 1980s. In the early 2000s, as concerns about climate change grew, the fossil fuel industry successfully lobbied the state legislature to adopt rules that not only promoted fossil fuels to the state’s energy policy, but prohibited permit reviews from considering the effects of climate change. It was those provisions that the youth-led lawsuit targeted, with the plaintiffs laying out the ways climate change had impacted their physical and mental health.

    Let’s indulge in a bit of time travel, shall we, and explore the legitimate available options in the ’80s.

    Also, let’s re-phrase that as “prohibit permit reviews from being larded up with astronomical bogus conjectural costs” and see how it polls.

    • rhywun

      Let’s indulge in a bit of time travel, shall we, and explore the legitimate available options in the ’80s.

      “Living in squalor” has always been an option.

  9. cyto

    The MONDS article raises a couple of red flags. MONDS has been tested several times and has always failed. Every time they tweak what their model is to accommodate the failure. So MONDS has a fairly high bar.

    Then this article comes in with “inclusive evidence” right there in the title, and they repeat the claim several times.

    That is a pretty bold take for one set of observations that hasn’t even been through the wringer yet.

    • Not Adahn

      Sabina will do a video on it I’m sure.

      • cyto

        Yeah. Looking forward to it.

  10. DEG

    A blood-smudged Florida woman suspected of murder accrued additional charges after she asked police for a soda, then “poured it all over herself” in an attempt to scrub forensic evidence from her body, Daytona Beach police said.

    Neck tattoo. Checks out. Tapping out of the article here.

    The Redditors’ spreadsheet even includes a photo of a receipt from the restaurant, which notes that the 4% surcharge “is not gratuity” and can be removed upon request.

    Oh how nice of them. Though, on the other hand, it is reddit so I am suspicious of the whole story.

    Stevie Ray Vaughn and BB King. 🙂

    • Gustave Lytton

      Yeah, the quote about wanting to emulate Europe is particularly telling. Mandatory service fee tacked on is common.

      • rhywun

        I have definitely heard of the “health/wellness fee”. It’s basically a bit of virtual signalling they use in place of just raising their prices, so you can see how much they care.

  11. Not Adahn

    My diner and another place I go to have been adding CC surcharges on the bills now.

    • rhywun

      All the convenience stores around here started doing it since the vid.

      I pay cash now. I won’t stand for that BS.

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

        The reason they all went to cash and credit cards was that they loved when people could spend more without thinking, and now they just killed that option.

        Morons.

  12. Shpip

    Nichole A. Maks, 35, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder on July 1, as well as evidence tampering and resisting arrest for pouring soda on herself in an attempt to scrub forensic evidence from her body, police said.

    Nothing screams “stable, level-headed responsible citizen” like a bevy of neck tattoos.

  13. The Late P Brooks

    “Concerned” “Scientists”

    Below is a statement by Dr. Delta Merner, lead scientist at the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

    “This court ruling is a step toward climate justice. I’m greatly encouraged to see a judge uphold people’s constitutional rights to a healthy environment. Thanks to this order, the State of Montana must now take into account climate impacts when considering fossil fuel permits.

    “This case is a clear win for climate science. Throughout the trial, climate science, the role fossil fuel emissions play in climate change, and the harm being caused to Montana’s youth were irrefutable.

    Aaaaand done.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      “the State of Montana must now take into account climate impacts when considering fossil fuel permits.”

      My preferred legal remedy would be for the claimants to be prevented from using any petroleum or petroleum derived products.

      • The Other Kevin

        Just tell those kids that in their green utopia, there won’t be enough electricity to charge their phones and tablets. That will put and end to this shit asap.

    • one true athena

      Notorious anti nuke fearmongerers in the 80s. They found a new grift.

      • kinnath

        China Syndrome

  14. Sensei

    Best account I’ve read about the retired FBI agent who started influence peddling with Russia and Eastern Europe.

    Basically got posted away from his family, started and affair and alcoholism. There is more to it as I’d like to know what he needed such large quantities of cash for and where it went. He has no hard assets to show for it so there is more to this story.

    Fast Living and Foreign Dealings: An F.B.I. Spy Hunter’s Rise and Fall

    Now, Mr. McGonigal, 55, appears set to become one of the highest-ranking F.B.I. agents ever to be convicted of a crime. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in New York on Tuesday for a possible guilty plea in the case involving Mr. Deripaska, and is in talks to resolve an indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Washington.

    • rhywun

      of the highest-ranking F.B.I. agents ever to be convicted of a crime

      That is a shame. There ought to be more, and at all levels.

      • Sensei

        The proverbial “good start”.

      • cyto

        We already know that Comey suggested that he could have his agents frame Flynn for a crime by going to an interview before White House counsel was ready. We know that both Biden and Obama were there, Biden made other suggestions, and Obama signed off on it.

        Not sure that “president said it was OK” is a get-out-of-jail-free card on a crime this serious. They all should be in prison – not only for framing an innocent man, but for interfering with the peaceful transfer of power. You know, the thing that Trump didn’t actually do and is being prosecuted for, and that they actually did do with a great deal of success and are being celebrated for.

      • rhywun

        Every new indictment seems to be something they are already guilty of.

        It must be nice to have all the institutions in your back pocket.

  15. Common Tater

    “The youths, aged five to 22, did not seek a payout following a win but wanted defendants to ‘bring the state energy system into constitutional compliance.'”

    Because a five-year-old could understand such things.

    • Common Tater

      “Now the ruling is in the hands of the state Legislature, which has to determine how to bring the policy into compliance.

      That leaves slim chances for immediate change in a fossil fuel-friendly state where Republicans dominate the statehouse.

      Montana has the nation’s largest recoverable coal reserves – over 74 billion tons – nearly one-third of the US total, according to MBMG Coal Program.

      The state also ranks sixth in coal production, with about 30 million tons produced annually from 6 mines.

      In 2022, coal generated 42 percent of Montana’s in-state electricity generation, but the resource supplied more than half until 2016.”

    • Gustave Lytton

      Deport the children and their legal guardians.

    • John Nerfherder

      ‘bring the state energy system into constitutional compliance.’

      I don’t even know where to start with that one.

  16. Tundra

    Maui again. Sorry.

    Hawaii Wildfires: Just 3 Percent of Affected Areas Have Been Searched with Cadaver Dogs

    Over the weekend, when the death toll remained at 89, Pelletier explained the difficult road ahead in identifying the victims and their families.

    “Realize this. When we find these, our family and our friends, the remains we’re finding is through a fire that melted metal. We have to do rapid DNA for data filing,” he said.

  17. UnCivilServant

    Well, I only had to drive sixty miles more on my commute, but I got my 99% isopropyl. Now I have to open the box on the printer.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’ve got the darn thing levelled.

      The instructions which came with the machine are crap.

      • UnCivilServant

        😁

        My test print is printing. The windows are open and the fans are going.

        Oddly enough, it eas easier to breathe in that bulky mask than a surgical face diaper.

      • MikeS

        Is it an owl?

      • UnCivilServant

        No.

        Why would I print an owl?

      • MikeS

        As I understand, many machines come with a small owl already loaded for your first print. And in watching some videos on line it seemed like somewhat of a thing to do. So I did.

      • UnCivilServant

        I didn’t grab their USB drive out of the box, so I don’t know what the delivered test print was.

      • MikeS
      • Common Tater

        Sounds like a hoot.

      • Gender Traitor

        So what did the test print turn out to be?

      • UnCivilServant

        I was going to do the Cones of Calibration (a test shape), but decided to ignore all advice, throw all caution to the wind and print This dude. The price was right.

      • Gender Traitor

        Cones of Shame not an option?

        That model is cool, though! Seems as if it would be a true test of the detail & precision possible from the machine.

      • MikeS

        Wow. That’s a quite a jump. How many hours will he take?

      • UnCivilServant

        Lychee Slicer said five hours.

        I’m going to guess Five hours.

      • MikeS

        If it’s anything like Cura I’m gonna guess 5.5-6

      • UnCivilServant

        Okay, technically Lychee said 4.something, I rounded up.

        Either way, it’ll be after 10pm

      • UnCivilServant

        The frustrating part is that the print plate is just barely rising above the resin pool, so I still can’t see how it’s going.

        I don’t know if a single thing is even on that plate yet, and even then it would just be supports.

      • MikeS

        Which is why small test parts are typically printed first…

      • MikeS

        …just sayin’.

      • UnCivilServant

        Resin printers print a whole slice in a single exposure, so the time is really based on the height and thus number of slices. A flatter test piece would print faster, but at this point, it would still be in the pond.

      • Gender Traitor

        the resin pool

        the pond

        A shame your test piece couldn’t have been The Lady of the Lake.

      • UnCivilServant

        Fun fact, resin printers print upside down, so I’d have to invert the model when setting up supports to get the visual of the figure rising from the gray goo.

      • rhywun

        New toy?

        Nice!

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m impatient to see what the first print looks like.

        I know how long it’s supposed to take, and I expect to be able to wait out future prints with more decorum

      • MikeS

        another reason for starting small. 😏

      • UnCivilServant

        He is small, he stands about 40mm tall.

        😛

      • MikeS

        Ah! Your first pic didn’t have a banana for reference, so I had no idea.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    My preferred legal remedy would be for the claimants to be prevented from using any petroleum or petroleum derived products.

    Don’t stop there. No iphone. No computer. No tech. No heat. No A/C. No car.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      All of which use or are products derived from petroleum in my book. Basically they can only use any technology from before the 1700’s.

      • Common Tater

        These are Democrats. Do that, and they’ll be owning slaves in a week.

    • The Other Kevin

      Some enterprising person who is smarter than me could figure out how much energy all those iPhones and iPads use up, and their climate impact. Then introduce a law in all 50 states limiting their use to 1 hour per day. Hit them right in the tech addiction. I’m sure Gates and Zuck would get behind that too, right?

    • KK, Non-Man

      Wut

    • Ownbestenemy

      So…..being normal with an edgy look? I see we have made it back to the late 80s/early 90s

    • The Other Kevin

      I don’t get it, did they just make up a name for not wearing makeup and eating snacks? They’re really not even trying anymore.

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

      Killing the cringe? What the heck does that mean?

    • rhywun

      I want the 15 seconds I wasted skimming that trash back.

    • Gender Traitor

      Coming soon: rat dental implants. (::shudders::)

  19. Bobarian LMD

    The mugshot in that Florida Woman link?

    That is how I envision every FLORIDA WOMAN.

    The Ur Florida Woman.

  20. KK, Non-Man

    Dark Matter alway seemed like one of those things they came up with to make theory fit observation. Like the “ether” of olden times

    • Fatty Bolger

      No question, it’s a fudge factor. There’s never been any real evidence that it exists at all.

      • KK, Non-Man

        I think progress in physics will need to include a complete reconceptualization of what gravity is. That seems like the sticking point if the last 50-60 years

      • The Other Kevin

        I heard they found a lot of dark matter around Uranus.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Time to see a doctor at that point

      • Fatty Bolger

        My inner child laughed.

    • Grumbletarian

      See also: Dark Energy.

  21. Ownbestenemy

    First day back in Vegas and laid into a lady who apparently felt she didn’t have to wait like everyone else when picking up some veggies at market. Just shouldered her way past two of us waiting for previous customer to get what they wanted.

    Loan paperwork out…counter offer on house sent. I’m ready to move

  22. Drake

    I’ve had the cc surcharge at a fancy expensive restaurant. I found it annoying and haven’t been back.

    • kinnath

      Pay cash; tip cash; tip big.

      CC fees are invisible to me.

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

        Yeah, I need to get back in the habit of this. I know what I am gonna spend, just withdraw it and be cool. I don’t need to be putting up with fees to make their life easier.

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

        Or, ooh, maybe start carrying paper checks!

      • rhywun

        My new landlord has an online pay option. There’s a fucking fee to use it whether it’s linked to a CC or a bank account.

        Fuck off. I’m hoping I can just drop off a check – their office is on the ground floor of the building.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    I don’t get it, did they just make up a name for not wearing makeup and eating snacks? They’re really not even trying anymore.

    Are you not influenced?

  24. Common Tater

    “On August 11, law enforcement officers conducted a raid on the Marion County Record, seizing computers and raiding the home of co-owner and publisher Eric Meyer. His mother, 98-year-old Joan Meyer, who is also a co-owner of the paper and lives with her son, died after the raid on their home, reportedly being “stressed beyond her limits.””

    Damn.

    • Common Tater

      “The raid occurred after police were reportedly “tipped off” that the newspaper was in possession of evidence that revealed a prominent local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, had been convicted of drunk driving but continued using her car without a license. Meyer decided not to publish an article based on the information, but instead alerted the police.

      After police had received a report from Meyer, officers reportedly notified Newell about the situation, who then publicly complained about the allegations during a city council meeting, which prompted the newspaper to “set the record straight” in an article published on Thursday. Officers arrived at Meyer’s house and the newspaper office on Friday and presented a search warrant alleging identity theft and unauthorized computer use.”

      https://thepostmillennial.com/kansas-cops-blasted-by-american-media-for-chilling-raid-of-local-newspaper-in-violation-of-first-amendment

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Our love for democracy is infinite

    The U.S. on Monday announced a $200 million security assistance package for Ukraine, providing Kyiv with another round of munitions and tactical vehicles for use in the fight against Russia.

    The latest package places total U.S. security assistance to Ukraine at roughly $43 billion since Russia invaded in February 2022, meaning the remaining funds for Ukrainian forces is fast approaching their limit.

    The Biden administration unveiled the critical assistance for Ukraine in the midst of a major counteroffensive operation.

    The package includes more munitions for advanced weapons systems coveted by Ukraine, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and Patriot missile defense systems.

    “Air defense, anti-armor, and munitions will keep the Ukrainian armed forces in the fight to defend their country’s sovereignty, territory, and people,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote Monday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

    What else would we do with it?

      • Bobarian LMD

        How many millions actually made it to Ukraine, do you suppose?

        The m is not a typo.

      • Tundra

        Most of the money never left the country.

    • Tundra

      Clowns. Lots of clowns.

      • MikeS

        And contortionists.

      • Grumbletarian

        But enough about the prosecution…

    • rhywun

      about to destroy the Trump campaign

      Not only is this preposterous, but allowing cameras on Trump? Are they fucking insane?

      • Bobarian LMD

        Let’s see… Same tactic, expecting different results…

        Yep, checks out. Nuttier than squirrel shit.

      • cyto

        They will undoubtedly be looking to provoke a confrontation that can allow a contempt charge. These folks really do think that “the people” are behind them.

        My problem? Too many of “the People” are so easily lead by the nose that they are all for anything that means their team wins. Even if that same something is going to turn around and eat them tomorrow.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Nancy Grace live-streaming a Trump trial. I’m gonna need a bigger can of popcorn.

  26. Tundra

    They never learn, do they?

    • Tundra

      Lol. Meant as a reply to Rhy

  27. MikeS

    Are the server squirrels eating comments again? It got awful quiet all of a sudden.

    • R.J.

      Been like that for a while.

      • MikeS

        It’s just you and me, RJ. What do you want to talk about?

      • Gender Traitor

        I just got home from work and settled down at my laptop (and the cat settled on my lap, natch.)

      • MikeS

        I’m wrapping up some WFH. Then out to do the brakes on my truck.

      • Gender Traitor

        Cute lettered sign currently up at a local car repair joint: “We fix it so it brakes.”

    • MikeS

      You’re more likely to experience extreme weather right now than at any other time of year. That’s because the U.S. is in its “danger season,” the period between May and October when North America experiences its worst climate impacts, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

      Haha. OK, grifters.

      • John Nerfherder

        UoCS is strangely silent on COVID vaccines. Gee, wonder why that is.

      • Common Tater

        Strange like NOW being silent about Bill Clinton.

    • Tundra

      The summer, so far, has been brutal. June was the hottest month on record for the entire planet until July broke that record, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, a program organized and funded by the European Union, member states and related agencies.

      Lol. Fuck off. We set records for cool and wet in June.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Our temps were a little warmer than average, but well within a single standard deviation.

      • rhywun

        The planet is variously cooking, boiling, melting, and/or burning. Why do you hate the planet?

  28. Evan from Evansville

    Well. It looks like I really do have that Kroger gig. Have to figure out a schedule w that and my outpatient, which is to start in like 2-3 weeks. Confusingly, the per week for outpatient is between nine and 20 hours. That’s a lot of variation. But I’m not sure how close I am to my orientation/training at Kroger yet. My background check for Hamilton County is the only thing that still needs doin’. It’s being processed and I talked to the Kroger folk today. Expecting another step towards finalization tomorrow.

    Not sure how I evaluate my level of progress, currently. Better than before, but glaring wholes. Side gig and outpatient are great steps but not fully accomplished. Structure and accountability are closer. Those are tremendously positive influences. So that’s legit, solid progress. At the door early for my appointment. Just gotta be patient for a day or two.

    My life is legitimately strange in a variety of ways. Boring, mundane and uneventful, it ain’t. A pretty equal mix of positive and negative.

    Well. Life ain’t supposed to be easy. Eat or get eaten. So far, at least, my existence and character are interesting outliers in our social primate societies.

    • Derpetologist

      In Arabic, they say a hair pulled out a pig is a gain. In Swahili, they say grain by grain, the sack is filled. In Irish, they say brick by brick castles are built. In Chinese, they say a journey of a thousand miles begins with 1 step.

  29. Derpetologist

    My car broke down again, but at least I know what the problem is. The mechanic told me the trouble codes and everything. It has a bad turbine speed sensor and the ECM needs to be reprogrammed. Also, my book is past 37,000 words.

    For your viewing pleasure, some proof that I have not been hallucinating weird things:

    https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2023/08/more-weird-glitches.html

    • Gustave Lytton

      Why would the ECM need to be reprogrammed? Has it been modded?

      • Derpetologist

        The mechanic said it had code C0232. They were able to clear it with their gizmo, but they said if the same problem happened again, I’d need to go to a dealer.

        https://www.engine-codes.com/c0232_subaru.html

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Subaru? I didn’t know you were a thespian.

      • R.J.

        Well, there was a terrible fire. And then it was stolen. No officer, I didn’t see what the thief’s looked like. Can I get a report for insurance?

  30. The Late P Brooks

    And contortionists.

    High wire acrobats!

  31. The Late P Brooks

    They were able to clear it with their gizmo, but they said if the same problem happened again, I’d need to go to a dealer.

    Looks like some sort of wheel speed sensor issue.

    • John Nerfherder

      That’s hilarious.

      If it weren’t for RFK, they would have already arranged for Joe’s exit and Newsom’s entry. Harris is a non-entity.

    • MikeS

      Funny how he gives Harris’ poll number , but not Joe’s.

    • rhywun

      She has been a terrific senator with lots to be proud of

      😂🤣

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Sure, blame the black woman.

  32. The Late P Brooks
    • UnCivilServant

      Let me guess, none of those “key indicators” are freedom? In fact, I’d wager they’re all leftist narrative points.

      Massataxes is no place I’d want to move to.

    • Ted S.

      I assume the error is in closing HTML tags?

      • MikeS

        The error is anyone giving WalletHub clicks.

    • cyto

      Those of us who read the Reason article about how education rankings are done know that the sole reason for Mass. to be anywhere near the top in education is because the number 1 criterion (40%, IIR) is money. Just straight “how much do you spend”. Not even regionally adjusted. Which is entirely irrelevant, unless you are the teacher’s union or the administration lobby.

      In fact, the best state would probably be Florida, with this analysis. Florida definitely moves ahead on education, not sure what they use for health, but Florida collects all of the old folks from Mass, so that would likely skew the numbers on both ends. Safety and economy? Not sure you are beating Florida on the Economy, but safety? Hmm…. very location specific. But Florida man exists, so I’ll give them that one.

      • Gender Traitor

        “But Florida teachers can’t say ‘gay,’ so they rank last in education!”

      • cyto

        Fair point. We need our 4th grade teachers to integrate gender theory into the math lesson. Otherwise, how will anyone grow up to be a well-adjusted transgender pansexual?

    • rhywun

      NYC already has that. Do try to catch up, MA.

    • Grumbletarian

      Top states by category:

      Affordability: Alabama
      Economy: North Dakota
      Education & Health: Massachusetts
      Quality of Life: New York
      Safety: New Jersey.

      Definitely compiled by a team of leftist nitwits.

    • Ted S.

      Wurtsboro isn’t upstate. You don’t get upstate until you get past the 845 area code.

      • Gender Traitor

        I get the impression that some people consider Yonkers “upstate.”

      • UnCivilServant

        There are two lines. The long Pennsylvania border extended east is the border of upstate, the Tappen Zee is the border of downstate. The midstate region sits in between.

      • Gender Traitor

        ::consults map:: That’s a lot of upstate!

      • Ted S.

        It used to be the case that people out OMWC’s way considered themselves western New Yorkers, not Upstate, which was more the Capital District.

        Ulster County is in a weird spot where neither the Albany nor the NYC TV channels really cover anything that goes on here.

      • Ted S.

        We’re the Hudson Valley, and the Catskills on this side of the Hudson. I’ve never heard the term “midstate” used for us.

      • UnCivilServant

        To be honest, I coined it a few minutes ago to cover that ambiguous midsection.

    • rhywun

      He looks pretty sharp-dressed, at least.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Harris is a non-entity.

    NPC, or set decoration.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Affirmative Action hire.

  34. Animal

    Hey, could I ask a favor of someone with Godlike edit powers? On my five-parter that just was scheduled yesterday, could someone go in and append my usual “A Glibertarians Exclusive:” in front of the titles, just so I stay consistent? Should already be there in the text in each post.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Animal-

      I polished off “Terra Roma II” in three days. Love your work.

      • Animal

        Thanks!