Thursday Afternoon Links

by | Aug 17, 2023 | Daily Links | 173 comments

 

SCHOOL CHOICE WORKS: Arizona has full fledged school choice. Texas does not.

FIRE UP THE WOODCHIPPER: “With wildfires ravaging West Maui on Aug. 8, a state water official delayed the release of water that landowners wanted to help protect their property from fires. The water standoff played out over much of the day and the water didn’t come until too late.” Of course this person will never suffer any negative repercussions for their actions, and will probably retire with a fat pension.  If only they had had a true conversation about equity with the bureaucrat.

SIRENS? WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING SIRENS: Hawaii government officials defend not using “robust” emergency warning system. “Even if people receive the warning, they may not understand it, nor have the means or mobility to evacuate.” Remember, folks, government has no duty to protect or intervene, but you damn sure have a duty to pay for their emergency warning system jobs program for worthless pudknockers.

NOBODY TO LIKE LINK: Mystery Manchester (NH) drone operator drops eggs and water balloons on homeless gathered outside shelter. You know the feds are going to get involved since FAA claims jurisdiction over drones.

OFT-DELAYED STARLINER CREWED LAUNCH DELAYED YET AGAIN: Seriously, Boeing? Seriously?

HOUSEKEEPING: Thanks to OMWC for doing the links last Thursday, it was much appreciated.

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.

173 Comments

  1. Shpip

    “This is the world we live in,” said Wright, who has a residence but was homeless for nearly 10 years. “Housed people pretend to be the victims just for having to see homeless people exist, or harmlessly witnessing victimless drug offenses or basic infighting amongst homeless people….”

    Or, y’know, harassment on the street, theft, rampant littering (including with their feces)… y’know, harmless stuff like that.

  2. DEG

    “This is the world we live in,” said Wright, who has a residence but was homeless for nearly 10 years. “Housed people pretend to be the victims just for having to see homeless people exist, or harmlessly witnessing victimless drug offenses or basic infighting amongst homeless people. While we watch housed people constantly victimize the homeless just for being homeless. With slurs, punches, kicks, eggs, paintballs, pellets, BBs, rocks, firecrackers…and now drones. All while we wonder how long before they resort to actual bullets, or real bombs.”

    That’s some authentic stupid.

    • Tonio

      I’m going with pants-soiling hysteria.

    • rhywun

      we watch housed people constantly victimize the homeless just for being homeless. With slurs, punches, kicks, eggs, paintballs, pellets, BBs, rocks, firecrackers…and now drones

      OK, I’ll buy the drones since, well, that’s the point of the article.

      Calling BS on all of the rest. Why? Because most people recognize that “the unhoused” are often deranged and violent. Normal people don’t poke that bear.

      Oh and take your activist lingo and shove it up your formerly-unhoused ass.

      • Common Tater

        No idea why it’s “unhoused” rather than “homeless” other to make everyone learn a new word.

      • Ted S.

        It should be “residentially challenged” anyway.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Bum

      • The Other Kevin

        “Homeless” has some negative views attached, so they make up a new word that means exactly the same but doesn’t have negative baggage. Yet.

      • rhywun

        This.

        I was thinking of this phenomenon the other day when it occurred to me that you can’t say “sex change” anymore.

      • Brochettaward

        This is the stated intention and a bit of truth to it for some.

        The real intention for those who create these terms is the policing of language gives them a power-boner. It is a form of power to force everyone else to use your terms or face DE platforming or cancellation. It makes the weak minded who want to be in the in-group question their goodness if they don’t use the term or weren’t aware of it, and gives them yet another tool to signal they are right thinking people.

        And as you said, the term will shortly have all the same old baggage and be changed again. And rinse and repeat.

      • Shpip

        Bloom County covered this thirty-five years ago.

      • Rat on a train

        “dehoused” sounds more activist

      • rhywun

        That makes me hear “deloused”, lol.

      • Tundra

        Good idea! The drones can drop DDT!

      • Ted S.

        I was thinking Zyklon B.

      • juris imprudent

        Jeez Ted, couldn’t just go with an interim solution?

      • John Nerfherder

        Because “unhoused” sounds like someone else did it to them.

      • KSuellington

        Not only that, but that is our collective responsibility to give them housing.

      • DEG

        OK, I’ll buy the drones since, well, that’s the point of the article.

        Calling BS on all of the rest. Why? Because most people recognize that “the unhoused” are often deranged and violent. Normal people don’t poke that bear.

        I cannot think of a single incident in NH where someone not homeless attacked or harassed a homeless person in recent memory. Poking around online, I have not found any such incident.

        I can think of many incidents, some of which I’ve seen or been the person harassed, where homeless folks in NH harassed non-homeless people, especially those dining outside on downtown patios. I can find many incidents of homeless people assaulting each other – beatings, stabbings, etc..

      • DEG

        errr… except this drone incident. Assuming the person using the drone isn’t homeless that is, which is probable.

    • Red Pill Matt

      Once again, government is going to interfere with people charitably giving food and water to homeless people.

      • Rat on a train

        *applause*

  3. Shpip

    In 2022, two Maui senators, Gil Keith-Agaran and Lynne DeCoite, introduced a measure to push DLNR to allow fresh water to be used to fight fires and pointed to West Maui as being particularly vulnerable.

    The bill noted that “in 2019, West Maui suffered from an active fire season in which wildfires scorched twenty-five thousand acres of land.” It would have required DLNR to “cooperate with the counties and reservoir owners to develop protocols and agreements for the use of reservoir waters for fire safety purposes.”

    Wait… so west Maui had a full-scale wildfire dress rehearsal four years ago, and did nothing?

    / shakes head, mutters imprecations under breath

    • Nephilium

      I’m sure there was at least a junket, a fancy team building dinner, or a retreat that were paid for.

    • SDF-7

      I’m sure they learned well from California. Power company policies and all.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      And they had fires in 2016 and 2018.

    • Ted S.

      They locked the fires down during covid, and thought they could do that in the case of a real fire.

  4. Tundra

    Welcome back!

    I, too was on vacation last week and am ready to leave again. Where did you go?

    Advocate says someone with a drone is targeting the homeless

    I’m ok with this.

  5. JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

    I’ll play Devil’s Advocate regarding the sirens in Maui. The sirens are for tsunamis, so likely initially people would have headed for high ground toward the fire, at least until they saw a fire was bearing down on them. I’m not sure they would have done much good overall, though they may have forced people to go outside, see what’s going on and head out of town. A mobile phone alert system could have been useful though, but those things get wasted on Amber Alerts here in CA.

    • SDF-7

      Yeah, that’s what the article I read this morning (no, I’m not going to go dig it up… what are ya, my supervisors?) quoted from some disaster management guy over there.

      Apparently, they only use them to tell people to get to “the mountains” / higher ground (actually some Hawaiian word for ‘the mountains’ from what I could tell). And that’s exactly where the fire was — also that there were no sirens in said mountains. So his argument was that they couldn’t warn the people immediately in danger, and if they used the sirens — lots of people would have headed right into the fire.

      The article was all “Even if true he should have said it better! The vapors!” — but I have to admit the man has a point (if accurate).

      • rhywun

        Governor Josh Green blamed climate change

        🙄🙄

        Governor Josh Green is not a serious person.

    • Tonio

      They also have the ability to send a text message all cellular devices in the area. There was a famous incident a few years back when Hawaii bureaucrats sent out a bogus nuclear attack warning.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Good point. That would have been useful.

      • SDF-7

        I read this as they did:

        Chief Herman Andaya defended his decision to only send out alerts via mobile devices, radio and television, and the county’s opt-in resident alert system after his experience and qualifications for the lofty position were called into question during a press conference held by the governor.

        Honestly — this is starting to feel like the Texas school shooting. Lots of information the first couple of days… that ends up being completely wrong or misreported. I’m going to withhold judgement until a couple of months have gone by, personally.

      • Tundra

        We’ll know the truth when we see who ends up with the property and building contracts.

        Until then, does it really matter? Our governments are some combo of inept/corrupt, infrastructure is bad and getting worse, and the people that know how to make things work are dying off.

        Hang on, kids!

    • Fatty Bolger

      The nuclear power plant sirens in Miami can broadcast voice instructions as well, were these sirens not capable of that?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Hawaiian Pidgin would be hard to understand no?

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Git outta da town, bruddah.

      • Rat on a train

        “Flee from the wrath of Gaia all you sinners.” Sounds better in Hawaiian.

      • Spudalicious

        Yeah, but it takes about three minutes to say.

    • Fatty Bolger

      OK, quick before they scrub it: https://www.mauisirens.com/

      Hawaii has the largest single integrated public safety outdoor siren warning system in the world.

      The all-hazard siren system can be used for a variety of both natural and human-caused events; including tsunamis, hurricanes, dam breaches, flooding, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, terrorist threats, hazardous material incidents, and more.

      The sirens output is 121 decibels and propagate with a manufacture radius of 3400ft. This range may vary due to environmental and surrounding physical conditions. The sirens are battery-powered and use a photovoltaic charging system.

      The sirens are one part of the larger Hawaii Statewide Alert and Warning System (SAWS) which includes FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS) which used both the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to alert the public.

      When a siren tone is heard other than a scheduled test, tune into local Radio/TV/Cable stations for emergency information and instructions by official authorities. If you are in a low laying area near the coastline; evacuate to high grounds, inland, or vertically to the 4th floor and higher of a concrete building. Alerts may also come in form of a Wireless Emergency Alert.

      “The all-hazard siren system can be used for a variety of both natural and human-caused events; including tsunamis, hurricanes, dam breaches, flooding, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, terrorist threats, hazardous material incidents, and more.”

      So they’re full of shit making this excuse. I know you are all shocked.

      • Tundra

        Motherfuckers.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ya know, an actual press would have had that information handy and grilled the emergency team that briefed why they didn’t use it if one of the stated reasons was wildfires.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Look, it took me at least 10 seconds to look that up. You can’t expect them to put that kind of effort into doing their jobs!

        Here was the google search, which was the first I tried: maui tsunami siren voice alerts

        It’s the first result.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Same as he did in Vegas. What a POS

      • KSuellington

        I was actually wondering if they had voice alerts on the warning system this morning as I was seeing the protests from Maui officials. We have it here in SF. Every Tuesday at noon it goes off as a test and the prerecorded “this is the outdoor warning system… this is only a test”. You should be teaching journalism at an Ivy League school with that google fu.

  6. Tundra

    FBI has a good body count going this week.

    The FBI SWAT team was conducting an arrest operation in Henderson. They mentioned that the subject is deceased and that they take all of these officer-involved shootings very seriously.

    I hope each and every one of you gets dick cancer.

    • Ownbestenemy

      The increased use as actual law enforcement is the scary part. Shouldn’t local smokies be taking the lead in these?

      From their site
      “Is the FBI a type of national police force?
      No. The FBI is a national security organization that works closely with many partners around the country and across the globe to address the most serious security threats facing the nation. We are one of many federal agencies with law enforcement responsibilities.”

      Sure seems like you are acting like a national police force….

      • Tundra

        Precisely.

        Two in a week. You can’t tell me you can’t grab these guys as they are coming out of the bank or something.

        Executions. I just can’t figure out why.

      • SDF-7

        My money is either “Because we can” or “Because we want to send a message” (like the pro-life arrests did… honestly surprised they didn’t gun down whole families when they did those). We just don’t know who the message was to for this one.

        Cartman leaps to mind.

    • SDF-7

      Jesus… another flash bang, dawn raid. Almost as if they’re just looking for a way to get people disoriented and try to defend themselves so they can gun them down.

      Dollars to donuts we’ll find out 9 months from now whomever this was would have peacefully surrendered to a courthouse given a chance…

      I’ve never really been fond of the whole SWAT raid practice — but I used to assume it was only used when truly needed. The whole “baby burned and disfigured by flash grenade in raid for no reason” and other fun occurrences have dissuaded me from that way of thinking. Stop trying to be GungHo Joe the Warrior, assholes. Just be cops and stop thinking the rest of the populace are “The Enemy”. Or some day you’ll push too far and enough will be.

      • Ownbestenemy

        My guess large swaths are former Iraq/Afghan vets…they have been conditioned for two decades to operate that way and now that it is clear they view the American public as enemy #1, why not use those tactics?

      • The Other Kevin

        In a house we used to live in there was a SWAT raid across the street. The woman who lived there was a single mom and had teenage kids she left unsupervised all the time. The oldest boy was apparently dealing drugs out of the house. We didn’t really care, we never saw them and they never bothered us or the kids.

        One day Mrs. TOK got home and the street was blocked off by squad cars. The kid and his girlfriend were kneeling on the lawn with AR’s pointed at them. Mrs. TOK was livid because our daughter’s school bus would be there any minute. She told them they better wrap up quick because there was a bus full of kindergarteners due in 10 minutes. Do you really want them to see this? They actually complied and mostly cleared out in time. Of course that “dangerous” kid and his girlfriend were back home the very next day.

  7. Ownbestenemy

    Regarding the sirens they claimed its because people are trained to run to higher ground and if they were to sound the sirens people would have ran into the fire.

    • Tundra

      Higher Ground?`

      I’ll accept that. They still fucked up pretty much everything and destroyed lives.

      Like governments are wont to do.

      • kinnath

        RCHP is Ok. But I prefer the original.

      • Ted S.

        You only posted this version for the torsos, didn’t you?

      • Tundra

        Duh. It’s Tonio lynx.

    • Tonio

      Which is itself a flawed and poorly thought-out system. There are many types of disasters, natural and otherwise, and the only thing the sirens should communicate is “DANGER.” You immediately check your phone, or turn on the radio/tv to see the nature of the disaster.

      • R.J.

        Warning sirens are a social construct.

      • Nephilium

        You don’t want them to have a dozen different sirens (that of course would all need to be tested on a regular basis) that all indicate different bad situations?

    • Rat on a train

      I thought sirens drew people to rocky shores.

      • SDF-7

        Only if they’ve been on a real odyssey.

  8. Pope Jimbo

    At least she didn’t claim heat is racist. Just a tool of Capitalism!

    In San Bernardino, California, where retail giant Amazon has a massive warehouse and fulfillment center, daily temperatures reached triple digits for the majority of days in July and have been dangerously hot all summer. Workers with the Inland Empire Amazon Workers United (IEAWU) protested the dangerous conditions and complained to CAL-OSHA, the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. One worker, Daniel Rivera, told Fox11, “Amazon’s main focus is production. Safety is not the priority until it’s too late.”

    What we are witnessing with such increasingly common instances is capitalism-induced climate change intersecting with capitalism-induced labor exploitation. It’s a deadly combination and one that is being discussed in ways that obscure its causes and solutions.

    • SDF-7

      Right. Because labor exploitation is a relatively new invention that only capitalists use.

      Pull the other one… its got bells on!

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Or maybe if energy weren’t so expensive in California due to government diktats, it would be cheaper to run the air conditioning in those warehouses. That said, the article didn’t actual say what the temperature was in the warehouse, so maybe the AC was on.

      • SDF-7

        It is only expensive because those capitalists won’t pay their fair share! (Read as: Pay for their power and everyone who’s vote the socialist in question is wanting to buy’s power too).

        Well, they’re not there just yet. But they’re working on it.

      • Ted S.

        I have the Tagesschau app on my Roku to practice my German, and yesterday they were running a program on inflation where they had an economist actually claiming that lowering interest rates would cut inflation because it would make borrowing money to install windmills and other renewables cheaper.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Germany has been a fount of bad ideas for a long time. We should consider nuking it.

    • rhywun

      Fuck. Off.

  9. SDF-7

    Ah standing… once again to shut down cases judges presumably don’t want to deal with or don’t like the plaintiffs anyway.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thus, under the Constitution, they have not alleged the type of injury required to show standing.

      “Although the Court has been inconsistent, it has now settled upon the rule that, “at an irreducible minimum,” the constitutional requisites under Article III for the existence of standing are that the plaintiff must personally have: 1) suffered some actual or threatened injury; 2) that injury can fairly be traced to the challenged action of the defendant; and 3) that the injury is likely to be redressed by a favorable decision.”

      I would say the practice absolutely is a ‘threatened injury” and can be “traced to the challenged action”

  10. John Nerfherder

    (*&#%*&&*%#^(!! hosted server companies

    They switched policies and now block all SMTP ports on new spinups. Only spent the last two days configuring the fucking thing to find out it’s unusable. I’ve been hosting with them for six years, no longer.

    • SDF-7

      The tin foil hat side of me wants to say that hostility to self-hosting not only forces you to use the services of the big companies for simple stuff like mail servers (drawing you into their ecosystems for whatever other services they can sell you) but ensures they have the appropriate channels preconfigured for the NSA. Have to make it easier for their IT department to hoover up your data, after all.

      • John Nerfherder

        I have no desire to host my own mail server. It’s a PITA

        But I’m off the majors, Google, Microsoft, etc….

        That said, this ERP email scheduler is now going on my local server.

  11. Mojeaux

    *looks at the day’s links*

    And you all wonder why some of us are black-pilled.

  12. Ted S.

    BTW, the question I asked in the AM Links thread about whether police forces should ban recruits with visible tattoos was in response to hearing this story in one of my podcast feeds this morning.

    What I found ironic was the biased stereotypes the female guest and the presenter had toward those who don’t like tattoos, while at the same time saying that the people who don’t like tattoos need to re-examine their biases. It also felt like a bit of “how dare you not appreciate my tats” narcissism on the part of the tattooed lady.

    • Ted S.

      That having been said, the guest in what should have been a fun chat piece about What should grandparents be called? was even more narcissistic: don’t call me “granny” because it makes me feel old!

    • John Nerfherder

      I literally had a conversation with a tatted artist that went like this.

      Her: I’m proud of my tattoos. (large visible tattoos on her ample and exposed cleavage)

      Me: What do those mean?

      Her: Why are you looking at my tits?

      Me: Are you serious?

      • SDF-7

        Her: No, really… That’s Chinese for “Why are you looking at my tits?”
        You: Ohhhh….

      • John Nerfherder

        LOL

      • Don escaped Texas

        nice

      • Fatty Bolger

        “Because they’re nice tits.”

      • rhywun

        Pretty tits.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m from the age when people only got tattoos to commemorate a bad decision. Like go to prison, join the military or a biker gang.

        So glad I somehow ended up not getting a tattoo when I was in Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children.

      • Rat on a train

        How about a tattoo of the 6th ID’s patch?

      • Don escaped Texas

        when I was a kid I saw troopers who had the 101 Screaming Eagle on their shoulders where it would go on the blouse: twas bitching

        but I always knew I was going to be a pale, flabby dude: any tat I got would look worse with every year

      • Pope Jimbo

        Dude, I was swinging with the Wing. No way I was out in the field with the 0311’s.

      • Rat on a train

        I loved it. Much more interesting than when I was a REMF.

    • Nephilium

      While I do appreciate well done tattoos on people, I also don’t want the government deciding what symbols/words/phrases/etc. are offensive/intolerant/firing offenses, so a blanket ban for government workers makes sense to me.

  13. Evan from Evansville

    Stepping forth!

    My orientation for my new job at Kroger is on Monday at 4. Seems like plan of 20-30 hr/week is easily done and flexible scheduling as well. Second shift seems most needed! Which is perfect for me in many ways. I did it for ten+ years. Mornings are silly. I’ll be working in the produce department. I used to work at a grocery store at IU. Fancy-pantsy liberal co-op. Mother fucker would buy lamb shanks and wine with EBT. Other shenanigans. Some of them mine.

    Today was confirmation of that, Important rung on the ladder. Gonna go out and get a haircut, the origin (and universality) is apparently one of the oldest written jokes we know of, from Ancient Greece.

    A man goes into a barber shop.
    The barber asks, “How would you like your hair cut?”
    The man pauses. “In silence.”

    My special package arrived today. I know a guy through a gal who shared my office. She ran an herb and tincture shop. I just got a quarter of goooood, the best, mushrooms. A small, shamanistic ritual may occur this weekend before I officially start work. It will be good for me. It isn’t religious but it’s in the same ballpark. I have done it before big life changes, to think things over fully, for like 15 years.

    I will take the bigger dose on September 22, the four-year anniversary of The Incident. I consider that my real birthday now. (I think moms should get the “birth” birthday honors. They actually DID something.) I actually make efforts to make the 22nd a bit special.

    Onward, upward, always.

    • Don escaped Texas

      four-year anniversary

      hang in there

  14. The Other Kevin

    Any of you folks know about security cameras? We need about 8-10 for the gym. I’d like something that has recording capabilities, I’d rather not trust that to some cloud system we have to pay for. I found a few systems on the Costco site, but I see great reviews and terrible reviews for the same products. I have no idea which brands are good.

    I’m not sure if we want wired or wireless, I guess wired would be more secure and have less that could go wrong. I plan on getting a battery backup for the system so it keeps recording even in a power outage.

  15. KK, Non-Man

    Thanks to OMWC for doing the links last Thursday, it was much appreciated.

    That’s Dr. Evelyn to you

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead or actual events is purely coincidental.

    • Ownbestenemy

      How did that sneak past the national news?

      • John Nerfherder

        Mohammed….

        Nuff said

      • Pope Jimbo

        It has been barely on the local news. I think the problem is that the shooter had too many intersectional points to make a big stink about it.

    • Tundra

      Wow. That took a lot of rounds.

      Good shoot.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Extremely good shoot. The asshole shooter was on his way to a street fair when he saw that crash. He believed that shooting cops was better than shooting a ton of regular people so he pulled over and ambushed the cops.

        Especially good because the Altar Boy and his fiancé were at the street fair. Who knows what would have happened, but as a parent, I’m glad.

      • rhywun

        his cellphone records listed just five calls in a recent week

        *snort* That’s five more than me.

  16. Don escaped Texas

    Texas does not.

    Everybody has school choice: it’s just that excellent choices are expensive. In 1997 FirstWife’s dream came true: she moved us to Texas; we chose a nationally ranked school district to move to, and our spawn flourished (O/T: he’s as Texan as they come, but he only recently truly became Escaped Jr).

    literacy rates
    TX 71.8
    AZ 76.6
    US 80.7

    FWIW, I suspect this is a useful indicator of a population’s ability to help its kids do well in school. Because it’s dominated by the older population, it’s slow to change; I suspect AZ has been ahead of TX in most educational markers for quite a while and so it will remain.

    There are about 300M cars in the US; around 9% are red; a really good year for automotive production is 16M. If we had car production of 16M red cars a year, it would be the end of 2031 before half the cars were red, 2037 before red got to 80%.

    • The Last American Hero

      What proportion of Texas students are non native English speakers? What about the US in total?

    • Fatty Bolger

      That’s a Bee-worthy headline. Nice.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Otisburg?

      • KK, Non-Man

        LOL

    • Ownbestenemy

      No use of effective siren system – check!
      Water was restricted cause of reasons – check!
      Governor states, before rescue efforts are completed or bodies identified will buy up land – check!
      Maui police chief is same dude who botched Vegas – check!

      Cannot be a more perfect storm of insanity.

      • Drake

        Only 2 choices:

        Incompetence followed by evil, or just evil.

      • Drake

        And what are the odds with the Vagas thing?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Retread and obviously terrible at his job. Same with officer shootings. Just move to new town and start anew. Serial killers only wish they had such opportunities.

  17. Tundra

    In other cop news.

    Seriously, where do they find these dipshits?

    • Ownbestenemy

      It was wrapped carefully Tundra…carefully.

      • John Nerfherder

        Plaxico wrapped his carefully too, with his junk.

      • Tundra

        That was my favorite part of the story.

      • Drake

        Then it was obviously a malfunction, case closed.

    • DEG

      Sheesh. Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to wipe it with a cloth? Like a server?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Just means we need to implement via regulation that facial recognition logins to all sites is required. /DHSFBIATFCIA

  18. Pope Jimbo

    Oh we are so lucky to be led by such a benevolent ruler like King Walz! He personally made sure the rebate of $260/person was released early. To help with back to school purchased.

    So the poors (of course the rich people who paid the taxes don’t qualify), can send their kids to school with fancy Keds. That rebate comes from only $1B of the $17B state surplus. The pols spent the rest.

    When the Legislature earmarked more than $1 billion for a tax rebate in May, DFL Gov. Tim Walz’s administration projected an early fall timeline for getting the money out the door. But internally, there was pressure from Walz himself to make the gears spin a bit faster.

    “Pretty ambitious, I said I’d like these to go out before school starts,” Walz said at a news conference Wednesday, standing next to a poster promoting the up to $1,300 giveback per family. “That’s when it makes a bigger difference. And that was the goal.”

    • Pope Jimbo

      But the extra money isn’t putting a smile on everyone’s face. Across social media, some are complaining that the rebates of $260 per person aren’t big enough, given Minnesota’s giant surplus.

      Republican lawmakers say the rebates are a letdown compared with what Walz proposed amid his re-election campaign last year. House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, considers it a broken promise.

      “Voters were being promised up to $2,000 checks — taxpayers were being promised that when it was campaign season looking for votes,” Demuth said. “Paltry? Yeah, $260 is very paltry.”

      Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said the rebates will get washed out by added taxes and fees on gas, vehicle registration and general sales taxes.

      “The discussion of today’s small refund simply pales in comparison to the higher tax burden Minnesotans will face in the years to come,” Johnson said.

      Senate Tax Chair Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, said the criticism overlooks other cost breaks approved by the Legislature, including reductions in Social Security taxes for some retirees to a move to make school lunches free for all students regardless of family income.

      She said the rebates were part of a complex puzzle of making sure various populations shared in the surplus.

      I guess I should have also thanked Duchess Ann Rest for her largesse as well.

      • Tundra

        At least The Body gave the money back.

      • Pope Jimbo

        The fact that they created all sorts of new govt crap with the surplus is what galls me. I’m sure the Red Star will dutifully point out that the size of govt doubled in 2 years when they start wailing about budget shortfalls and telling us we have to increase taxes.

  19. Brochettaward

    Just a friendly reminder that your comment WILL get caught in spam if it has more than 2 links

    I am working on a post that will contain three or more Firsts. I do not believe this has ever been done. I never saw it with my Third Eye, but I believe that it can be achieved.

    I hope that this will be not be blocked by a spam filter.

    • Mojeaux

      As long as they’re not links, you can have more than 2.

    • R.J.

      No spam filter dan block the power of your firsts.

      • R.J.

        Nor can they stop my mis-types.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    Nice thunderstorm here. The temperature hasn’t dropped as much as I expected.

  21. Mojeaux

    I graduated with an A in my medical coding course. I should get my cert in the mail next week. I feel like I just put one over on those poor saps.

    • Shirley Knott

      Congrats Moj! You worked hard for it, and I suspect you deserve it more than you think you do.

    • Sean

      ⬅ 🎉

    • R.J.

      Fantastic!

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Happy Dance. Congratulations

    • Gender Traitor

      You go, girl! This calls for another Official Frabjous Day! 😃🥳💃👯‍♀️

    • DEG

      Congratulations!

    • KK, Non-Man

      Woooooooot

    • rhywun

      LOL you had us all worried after that test.

      • Mojeaux

        Me too!

    • Nephilium

      Congratulations Mojeaux. I hope you find a job, and that it’s something that exceeds your expectations.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Are you going to go back to TOS and call out Robbie? Ask him if he has graduated from the Columbia School of Medical Coding?

      Even if success hasn’t already gone to your head, good job!

    • Tundra

      Fuck yeah!

      Great job, Mo!

    • The Last American Hero

      And a lot of women needing to have babies!

      • Derpetologist

        And designer manhole covers featuring prehistoric creatures!

        https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/DBAD/production/_128273265_img_6914.jpg.webp

        I think I found the problem: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63830490

        ***
        When I renewed my Japanese driving licence, the exquisitely polite staff shuttled me from eye test to photo booth to fee payment and then asked me to report to “lecture room 28”. These “safety” lectures are compulsory for anyone who’s had a traffic infraction in the previous five years.

        Inside I found a group of disconsolate-looking souls waiting for our punishment to begin. A smartly-dressed man walked in and told us our “lecture” would begin in 10 minutes and last two hours!

        You are not required to even understand the lecture. Much of it was lost on me. As it droned in to its second hour several of my classmates fell asleep. The man next to me completed a rather fine sketch of Tokyo tower. I sat bored and resentful, the clock on the wall mocking me.

        “What’s the point of it?” I asked my Japanese colleague when I got back to the office. “It’s punishment, right?”

        “No,” she said laughing. “It’s a job creation scheme for retired traffic cops.”

        But the longer you live here, even the frustrating bits turn familiar, even endearing. You start to appreciate the quirks – like the four petrol station attendants who clean all your car windows while they fill the tank and bow in unison as you depart.
        ***

  22. The Late P Brooks

    I graduated with an A in my medical coding course. I should get my cert in the mail next week. I feel like I just put one over on those poor saps.

    *throws confetti, toots horn*

    That diploma will look good on the refrigerator.

    • Mojeaux

      LOL!

      Reminds me … It took me 9 years to graduate from college. My dad didn’t think I’d do it at all because, to his mind, I was “not smart enough to get into UMKC.” So I finally was able to apply for graduation, and after it was signed, I slapped that fucker on the refrigerator. He died about 3 months after I did that.

  23. DEG

    Evergrande files for Chapter 15

    China Evergrande Group sought Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York on Thursday, a move that protects its US assets from creditors while it works on a restructuring deal elsewhere.
    The Chinese home builder’s Chapter 15 petition references restructuring proceedings being carried out in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands. Its Scenery Journey unit also filed for Chapter 15 protection, along with affiliate Tianji Holdings.
    International debt-restructuring deals sometimes require a Chapter 15 filing while finalising a transaction. Last year, Beijing-based developer Modern Land China Co. also filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy after filing to repay a US$250 million bond and saying it would go forward with an offshore debt restructuring deal.
    Evergrande has been working for months to wrap up an offshore debt restructuring plan. Evergrande in April disclosed it did not yet have the level of creditor support needed to implement the plan. In July, it received court approval to hold votes on the deal. Meetings are scheduled for later this month.

    • rhywun

      Are they the ones who built all those ghost towns?

      • DEG

        I poked around on wiki. Wiki claims Evergrande is the second largest property developer in China. Vanke and Country Garden are the other two big ones.

      • DEG

        Hit post too soon.

        So probably one of the builders of ghost towns.

    • Tundra

      This seems significant.

      • rhywun

        It does.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Erasurehead

    Teachers aren’t the only ones frustrated with the changes. Some Florida parents tell CNN they feel the new education standards for Black history – combined with the ban on the AP African American studies course – risk erasing Black history in classrooms.

    “I don’t care how they address it, how they put it, how they word it, there will never be a benefit for anybody to be put through the cruelty and everything that they put (slaves) through,” said Mildred Slocum, who is helping raise her granddaughter, Janiyah Spivey.

    Given the recent changes, Slocum said she feels forced to educate the 14-year-old outside of school.

    The pair took a Black history bus tour with Dunn earlier this year.

    So tell your granddaughter about slavery. Who the devil said you couldn’t?

    They’re never going to let that go.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Slocum said she feels the best way to fight back against these changes is to vote.

    Of course she does.

  26. John Nerfherder

    #@(*&#^%$(!! again

    rebooted the effing server and went home

    server did not recover so I can’t access it from here

    and I was going to sleep in tomorrow\

    • Sean

      Should have checked the thermostat.

      • juris imprudent

        He rebooted it without unplugging it I bet.