Thursday Afternoon Links

by | Nov 9, 2023 | Daily Links | 258 comments

Relevant tune for links reading.

STRANGE BLOBS IN DEEP MANTLE ARE REMAINS OF ANCIENT PLANET: Researchers have long hypothesized that the Moon was created in the aftermath of a giant impact between Earth and a smaller planet dubbed Theia, but no trace of Theia has ever been found in the asteroid belt or in meteorites. This new study suggests that most of Theia was absorbed into the young Earth, forming the [blobs], while residual debris from the impact coalesced into the Moon.

FEMINIST WEBSITE JEZEBEL SHUTTERED: I mourn the loss of some of the best comedic fodder for us Glibs.

NASA WANTS TO EXTRACT WATER FROM LUNAR SOIL: While we know there is water ice on the Moon, presumably great tracts of it nestled in the perpetually dark craters in the polar regions, there is something to be said for researching ways to produce water in other regions. Archived article about water content of moon rocks.

BEAVERS MAY EXACERBATE CLIMATE CHANGE: Stop laughing, this is serious.

EUROWEENIES WANT A MANNED SPACE PROGRAM: The European Space Agency, which is not an appendage of the EU, are aspiring towards a space station, and an orbital cargo launch program which they hope will transition into a crew launch program. I wish them the best, although I hope India beats the pants off them. The last time this column covered the ESA, NASA had just booted them from the Mars Sample Return mission for which ESA was supposed to provide the sample return rocket.

 

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.

258 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    That sounds exhausting. Fun, but exhausting.

    • SDF-7

      The beavers? Probably.

  2. Common Tater

    I’m starting think astrophysicists just get high and make shit up.

    • The Other Kevin

      There are few of us who would notice.

  3. Mojeaux

    BEAVERS MAY EXACERBATE CLIMATE CHANGE

    Duh.

    • SDF-7

      And my questions to said research:

      1) Are said beavers new to the ecosystem and if so, was there previously a species which filled their role?

      2) If something did have said role — then isn’t this part of natural cycles? So how much of climate change is normal cycling versus your estimation for anthropomorphic climate change?

      3) And given that the methane the beavers are releasing (so uncouth of them) from the permafrost is from ranges not originally frozen, how does this cycle differ from prior cyclic changes of the climate, or in short… and why should I care since I don’t assume as you apparently do that time stopped when you were born?

      • Pat

        Stop noticing things and just fucking panic!

      • Mojeaux

        Well! That’s what I said!!!

        Aren’t we coming out of a little ice age or something thoroughly natural and cyclical?

      • Suthenboy

        1. Yes, as long as that niche has been here critters in that niche.
        2. 100% normal cycling
        3. This cycle does not differ from prior cycles in any measurable way.

        When this scam has played out the warmistas will be like the Nazis. Any given one of them will deny they were part of it. “Yeah, but it wasn’t me!”

      • Fourscore

        …but I can still get the vaccines, flu and covid, at the local pharmacy. Some never forget…

  4. Common Tater

    Womp, womp.

      • R.J.

        Fuckers still require COVID vaccination.

      • rhywun

        OFFS.

        And I can read between the lines well enough to spot the no white males policy.

  5. The Late P Brooks

    BEAVERS MAY EXACERBATE CLIMATE CHANGE

    Beavers make me hot.

    • juris imprudent

      It’s that luxurious beaver fur.

      • creech

        Hasn’t Q provided evidence that beavers are going extinct?

  6. SDF-7

    The ESA had better contract with someone other than Voyager Space for the return capsules though — otherwise it will take at least 7 years (revised downward from the initial 70 year estimate) to get home. 7 of 9 astronauts concur.

    • Pat

      The ESA had better contract with someone other than Voyager Space for the return capsules though

      MASA?

  7. Common Tater

    “To find out if this was true, the team tapped into NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment program to conduct the research.”

    NOTHING LEFT TO CUT!!

  8. The Late P Brooks

    That’s Bear. Florida Bear.

    A fast-food loving bear stole a $45 Taco Bell order from the front porch of a home in the Orlando suburb of Longwood moments after the Uber Eats driver delivered it, an Orlando television station reported. The criminal was a black bear estimated to weigh 300 to 400 pounds, WOFL-TV reported.

    The caper happened Friday, and it was captured on the home’s Ring camera. The video shows the beast sauntering up to the front door and grabbing the bag in its mouth. Then, a short time later, it comes back to steal the drinks.

    Next time, answer the doorbell.

    • Pat

      You know inflation is rampant when a Taco Bell order is $45.

      • Sean

        How much of that is Uber fees?

      • R.J.

        Realistically about $18. On top of that most restaurants raise prices for items that are getting home delivery. So inflation and high service fees all over the place. If you are an idiot and tip on top of that…

    • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

      It should have been reported by ROFL-TV, am I right?

    • UnCivilServant

      Delivery drivers don’t ring the bell anymore, they send an easily missed text notification from an impersonal server that might not even make it to your phone.

      • Rat on a train

        Your doorbell could have cooties.

      • UnCivilServant

        Don’t be silly.

        It has Rabies.

    • SDF-7

      Next time, ask the bear what it wants and have its bag on the side of the porch. Don’t forget the drink, apparently.

      • UnCivilServant

        This. Is. Florida!

        You’re supposed to snort bath salts, grab a beer bottle and challenge it to a bar fight for the food.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Taco Bell is only meant to be shame eaten in the parking lot.

    • rhywun

      Florida has bears?

      • juris imprudent

        You’ve never been to Key West, have you?

      • SDF-7

        Guess KK should get the RV rolling down south from North Carolina to warm the iced up beavers….

      • rhywun

        lolno

      • Tonio

        Yes. The swamps and woodlands make great habitat for my sort (Ursus americanus).

    • Tonio

      Damn, I missed that. Excellent link, Brooks, even though you are a heathen savage wrt threading.

  9. R.J.

    Jezebel shutters:

    Well, bye.

  10. Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

    Pickle Ball? For reals?

    My neighbor, who is my age (50+), is a very serious tennis player, and the level of vitriol that she has for PB is… entertaining, when she has a few cocktails in her. HOLY JEBUS, does she hate, hate, hate that new hula hoop craze, er, sport that is taking over.

    • KK, Non-Man

      Last year our cruise ship boarding was delayed because someone on the previous cruise got injured playing pickleball and had to be dropped off on the way back to Lauderdale. So I’m not the biggest fan, either!

      • Suthenboy

        How does one get injured playing pickle ball? I thought that was the whole point – safe tennis for old people.

      • Common Tater

        Anything can injure if you are old enough.

      • KK, Non-Man

        Go on a Holland America ship…whole place is hip fractures waiting to happen

      • R.J.

        Heh!

      • Nephilium

        I managed to hurt my knee sleeping last night, and I’m not even that old (yet).

    • Certified Public Asshat

      People are actually outside doing something physical. Pickleball is fine.

      • rhywun

        This.

        And it looks a lot easier than tennis. Tennis is hard to play well.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Nancy, my 50ish neighbor, is in extremely good health, great shape (va-va-va-voom) and has been playing tennis since the seventies.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Exactly. I have a similar reaction to e-bikes. I first look at them with disdain, then I think, if that’s what it takes to get people outside doing stuff, so be it.

      • Tonio

        That’s exactly my take on e-bikes, at least the e-assist sort where you have to be pedaling for the bike to move; as opposed to electric motorcycles which don’t even have pedals.

        I forsee a coming struggle between the HPV/E-Assist* ppl and the low-powered electric vehicle crowd.

        (*)Human-Powered Vehicle, not Human Pappilloma Virus.

      • Mojeaux

        LOL I transcribe for an OB/GYN. I did a spit-take.

      • Shpip

        Humor like this is why I love Glibs, warts and all.

    • SDF-7

      So she’s not tickled by the pickle, hmm?

      • The Other Kevin

        She just can’t dill with it.

      • Common Tater

        It wouldn’t be kosher.

      • juris imprudent

        This kind of article is her bread and butter.

      • Mojeaux

        I relish these puns.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        She is more of a chip off the old block.

    • R.J.

      Pickle ball isn’t safe for the pickles. People for the Ethical Treatment of Pickles will be on this shortly.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Pee-top?

    • Tonio

      4 reelz, yo.

      Yeah, tennis players has a sad because most Parks and Rec now building PB courts at the expense of tennis courts. And even worse, striping “their” tennis courts so they are also usable for PB. Fuck off, elitist snobs.

      PB is a silly game, but it’s easier for old (and young) ppl since the courts are small and the ball is slow and minimally bouncy. Unlike the PB grannies. I think it’s ridiculous that either PB or DG has professional orgs/players/circuits, but there you are.

      • Nephilium

        Once I saw professional cornhole on television, I knew that people would watch nearly anything.

        I mean, they still won’t watch the WNBA.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Oh, it isn’t me, oh great and wise one. I’m handicapped, so going to the dog park is my “adventure with cane.” No, I do .22 target shooting for my physical activity, which takes a surprising amount of bodily control and physical effort. Well, that and riding my adult tricycle.

  11. Dr. Fronkensteen

    This new study suggests that most of Theia was absorbed into the young Earth, forming the [blobs],

    So you’re saying the Earth has space herpes?

    • R.J.

      Mmm… I need to post that.

  12. KK, Non-Man

    I wish I could have some hot bear sex 😭

  13. Brochettaward

    I have 99 problems, son, but being second, that aint one.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      I assume a woman ain’t one of them either.

    • SDF-7

      Now now… Poe Day was a bit ago. (Figured that one was coming, though 😉 )

      Jezebel — they wanted to leave.

      • kinnath

        It’s never too soon for more Poe

    • rhywun

      Too many words.

      • R.J.

        Typical of leftists.

    • Sensei

      Jezebel is to feminism what Fox is to conservatism and the Daily Mail is to news. There will always be a market in making people angry and frightened.

      Now do MSNBC

      • Pat

        That’s different! The things that make me angry and frightened are all totally real and sensible!

  14. Certified Public Asshat

    I like to suffer, so I listened to the Bill Maher podcast with Neil deGrasse Tyson. For an astrophysicist , Tyson is unbelievably retarded.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      ^eh, trying to respond to CT upthread.

    • juris imprudent

      Well Hawking is kinda slow too.

    • Common Tater

      He seemed OK on Adam Corolla. Haven’t listened to Club Random yet.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I heard Adam did a weak job pushing back on Neil’s covid claims.

    • Pat

      It’s a good reminder not to confuse a high degree of specialization with polymath genius.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        His comments on men vs. women sports are so dumb it makes you question how much he even knows about space.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yes, he’s a complete moron on that subject.

    • Suthenboy

      He is a political activist hack masquerading as an astrophysicist. Retarded is a requirement in that field.

  15. juris imprudent

    You linked a beaver story with a Jezebel story?

    Bad tonio, bad!

    • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

      There is a joke here in Oregon, in that when you get Beaver Fever., you head down to Coos Bay.

  16. KK, Non-Man

    Still waiting on Iceland to pop off. “They” believe this eruption will be very close to the Blue Lagoon

    • SDF-7

      Well, sure… a young Brooke Shields will do that.

      • Suthenboy

        Hell, she still does it.

  17. Suthenboy

    So first they are fuzzy and like to eat wood, now they are making things warm up?
    They are doing this on purpose, aren’t they?

    • Mojeaux

      They are doing this on purpose, aren’t they?

      That’s kind of like their raison d’être.

    • prolefeed

      Lotta double entendres, sir.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    Researchers wondered how growing beaver populations in northwestern Alaska were affecting the carbon cycle.

    ,/em>

    About as much as a sorority rush party at a medium sized state university?

    • KK, Non-Man

      😭

    • rhywun

      OMG MY EYES WTF close tab close tab

    • one true athena

      I really can’t wait until the septum piercing goes away. I always think it’s a booger at first. So unattractive.

      (and the rest of that… person, too, yikes)

      • Mojeaux

        Did you watch the whole vid? It seems “bear” is now defined as “flabby.” Methinks they’ve never seen Judas Priest.

    • Tonio

      Nope, not my type.

      • R.J.

        That’s not anybody’s type.

      • Nephilium

        Just remember the three words.

      • Aloysious

        Back to Homepage?

  19. Common Tater

    “Twitch star making beer with her own vaginal yeast: ‘They’ll probably drink it’

    At yeast, it’s all-natural.

    Kaitlyn Siragusa, who goes by Amouranth on Twitch and OnlyFans, is adding her own special ingredient to a beer she’s creating with Polish beer company The Order of Yoni’s: her own vaginal yeast.

    The company, which announced the collaboration on Oct. 30, promotes alcoholic beverages as a sensual experience in the form of beer. Each drink consists of lactic acid from vaginal bacteria to bring pleasure to every sip, the site reads.

    “It’s hilarious. People will buy it for sure,” Siragusa, 29, told Dexerto. “I don’t know if they’ll actually drink it, I mean, they’ll probably drink it.”

    The Twitch influencer has an itch that her vaginal yeast additive will give the beer a creamy but sweet taste.”

    https://nypost.com/2023/11/09/lifestyle/twitch-star-making-beer-with-her-own-vaginal-yeast-theyll-drink-it/

    No.

      • SDF-7

        That’s the moron I was thinking of, yup.

    • SDF-7

      If morons will buy whatever-was-her-name’s supposed bath water, I’m sure some lonely idiot will be separated from his cash for it.

      I was going to say my reaction was “Yuck.” — but then I remembered that’s my default reaction to beer anyway… so what’s the difference.

    • juris imprudent

      Give it to Mex for a review.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        “It’s infectious.”

      • Mojeaux

        🤢

      • juris imprudent

        If you like cheap Tijuana hookers, you’ll love this beer.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        As you open the can, you can’t help but detect a slight hint of donkey.

    • Sensei

      Let me ask my Japanese friends about this overseas market. It takes the beer and used panties vending machine market and combines them.

      Maybe we can do something like the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials.

    • kinnath

      lactic acid from vaginal bacteria

      Sour beer from bacterial culture, not fermentation from yeast.

      The article swaps back and forth between yeast and bacteria. The writer has no knowledge of brewing.

    • Suthenboy

      Is this the same one as before or a new one? I have seen this before.
      I have also seen weirdos that have a thing for getting other people to consume their bodily emissions/secretions whatever. The spit in your food type, sneak a drink from your glass – backwash sort.

    • Nephilium

      Rogue did the Beard Beer a while back, and this is at least the third vaginal yeast beer I’ve heard of. I don’t recall any of them getting positive reviews.

  20. Mojeaux

    From dedthred re catching a significant other:

    UnCivilServant on November 9, 2023 at 3:00 pm
    I have neither looks, charm, nor personality. And not enough money to attract by that alone.

    This is an honest and sincere question: Do you actually want a significant other?

    • Certified Public Asshat

      He’s oozing confidence though.

    • SDF-7

      I don’t have any of the above either (and when I met my wife not a lot of money either). She’s crazy enough to think I actually do, apparently…. so my advice would be to be yourself, and be open to the idea that someone might actually find you appealing regardless of your self image. It can happen. (Though admittedly — I’d certainly avoid the current dating scene from all I’ve heard about it and the “apps” and whatnot… go someplace like church or hobbies you have an interest in that also might have members of the opposite gender…. given UCS’s painting… hobby/comic shop/conventions? Cons especially would have a lot of crazy to sort through — but seem more likely to find like minded folks. Too bad quiet non-Starbucks coffee shops and used book stores are a thing of the past… that would have been good if you’re into SF. Probably meet some in multiplayer video games if you’re into that – but also more than probably they’ve been hit on by so many uncouth morons they’re not going to be interested in discussions.

      Which can probably be all summed up with… “Eh… what the hell do I know these days? I got really, really lucky once and am glad I did.”

      • Mojeaux

        I would say, if one does not want a significant other, that’s okay. There are advantages to being unencumbered. If one does want one, then effort must be expended.

      • rhywun

        I’ve been happily single forever.

        But I know I’m odd that way. I’ve travelled around the world once or twice – that was good enough for me. Same with serious relationships.

      • rhywun

        PS. I went through a painfully tedious few years of constantly whining to my friends that I “wanted someone” before those serious relationships. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • Certified Public Asshat

        If a guy is mildly athletic, join a kickball league. You think the girls are there because they like playing kickball?

      • Fourscore

        There are a lot of country songs that reinforce the “someone for everyone”.

        At a certain point the widow ladies are looking for someone that can drive.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        For that one, start playing pickleball.

      • Pat

        be open to the idea that someone might actually find you appealing regardless of your self image

        I’ve been preaching this sermon to a dear friend of mine who has been persisting in an incredibly toxic relationship because, as he sees it, no other woman will have him. It’s painfully fucking sad to watch from the outside. “We accept the love we think we deserve” and all that, I guess.

      • Pat

        To be fair, I have a similar mindset I guess, but manifested differently. Knowing myself as I do, I don’t want to be with the sort of woman who would find me acceptable – she’d have to be pretty stupid or pretty damaged. But I’m also not really desperate for companionship; I’d much rather stay alone than enter into the kind of miserable relationship that would be. Although since the deaths of my parents, and as middle age drags on, I do sometimes wonder how I’m going to manage sickness and death by myself.

      • Mojeaux

        I don’t want to be with the sort of woman who would find me acceptable

        I dunno. I mean, the main attraction in my marriage is that we each find the other to be easy to live with. Now, I will tell you. I am NOT an easy person to live with, but according to my husband, I’m pretty okay. He thinks HE isn’t an easy person to live with, but he’s very chill.

        Also, we started watching Wheel of Fortune ironically. Until it stopped being ironic.

        The idea isn’t that she finds you acceptable, but that she finds you complement her. You zig, she zags in proportion to you.

      • Fourscore

        My son is a hard guy to get along with, opinionated amongst other things. He got married at 34, lasted 18 months. He never blamed his ex nor did I. He went through another 6 or 8 nice young women (except for one) but the relationships all broke down. He asked rhetorically “What’s the common thread here?” He knows and understands.

        He’s been with the latest 8-10 years or so but she too is unwilling to make the legal commitment. Seems to work. He lives in Austin, has his own website, works from his GFs home where he lives.

        If you see a cowboy looking guy with shoulder length white hair and a beard throwing darts and talking UT football you’ll know you found him.

      • prolefeed

        That description of your son ain’t a unique description here in Austin.

      • Shpip

        The lads at Despair hat a “demotivational” poster about that.

      • Pat

        Also, we started watching Wheel of Fortune ironically. Until it stopped being ironic.

        Wheel of Fortune is GOAT.

      • prolefeed

        My ex constantly tried to convince me that no other woman would be a better match. Then the relationship deteriorated to the point that her assertion became laughably wrong.

        Pat – you’re wrong about your assertion that a woman would have to be stupid or damaged to want you. Or, more precisely, pretty much everyone is damaged, so it’s a matter of finding someone where you like her specific type of damage, and vice-versa.

        Mrs. Prole had some childhood trauma that caused her to push away anyone interested in her. Until I came along, with crazy good objection management skills, and crossed the figurative crocodile filled moat and minefield she’d built.

      • Suthenboy

        Pat is wrong. He is forgetting a very important factor – if someone does want to be with you and stick by. you it is very likely to help repair much of what is wrong with you. You might then find that others who never would have looked twice at you are now finding you more interesting.

      • prolefeed

        Aka “the transitional woman”. Had one of those. Batshit crazy and vindictive, as it later turned out, but she got me out of the old relationship and thousands of miles away. Then it blew up and I had to reinvent myself.

      • Fourscore

        You and Prolefeed should be charging for this advice. Many of us limp along socially, wondering what the hell is up?

      • prolefeed

        I’d write a book about it, but it would maybe be 20 sentences long. Not a viable business model.

      • Suthenboy

        We are born that way Fourscore. You are rudely pushed out warmth and safety into a hostile confusing place, you look around and the first thing you think is “Where the hell am I and what the fuck is going on around here?” No wonder we cry when we are born, then spend the rest of our lives trying to get back to where we came from.

      • Pat

        pretty much everyone is damaged, so it’s a matter of finding someone where you like her specific type of damage, and vice-versa.

        That’s kind of the crux of it, I think, it just doesn’t seem worth it to go through the trouble only to find somebody with a matching pathology. That feels like such a sad form of settling. My parents’ complimentary dysfunction was the only thing that kept them together, and that’s the exact model of what I don’t want to do with my life.

      • rhywun

        I do sometimes wonder how I’m going to manage sickness and death by myself.

        #metoo

        I find myself noting the various old-age homes around town. I hope I will be able afford the nice one.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Alcohol solves most of those. Some for you, some for her.

      • SDF-7

        But not if she’s your Uber driver…

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Then, it is an extra $20 to get downtown.

    • The Last American Hero

      Go to Japan.. The news is full of stories about soy boys and lonely women.

    • rhywun

      No, people clicking on dumb-shit “lifestyle” articles like that is “the problem”.

      Stop it, people.

      • Mojeaux

        It was kind of sad/amusing, but one of the commenters on that post made the point that women wouldn’t be any more forgiving of a man.

    • Suthenboy

      I see the comments in the article about the comments in the tickytocky thing have sexual euphemisms as well.

  21. one true athena

    First of all, damn you for making me actually check if Everyday Feminism still exists with the news of Jezebel shuttering. Which it does. Kind of impressive when it’s been on the edge of bankruptcy for at least a decade. I guess a semi-subscription model actually works even if the audience is microscopic.

    Second of all, I can’t believe Jezebel would be the first part of the shambling corpse of the Gawker zombie to fall off. But lol that nobody wants to buy it.

    • R.J.

      The whole shebang is supported by socialist stolen money, it has never turned a decent profit. As Gawker falls, so falls the edifice of socialist drivel that has been blowing like an ill wind for decades. May we see others fall soon. Sooner or later all this shit-smeared media will run out of other people’s money and fall like a ripe cowpie in the grass.

      • Common Tater

        Shakesville, Pandagon, Broadly, and Feministing, all shuttered.

      • R.J.

        Now do Time magazine. I will be happy.

    • SDF-7

      No surprise California is in the “indefinitely” block of the chart… Of course only if you’re a wrong-thinker these days.

    • The Other Kevin

      Damn, there goes my idea for an all-baby crime ring.

      • Nephilium

        A very artful idea. Good thing you dodged that bullet though.

      • Pat

        Aren’t you a cheeky little dickens.

  22. JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

    I’m surprised Jezebel is closing given that they could pay their staff only 78% what they pay men.

    • R.J.

      Heyoooooo!

      • R.J.

        What do you want to bet that 2/3 of the staff were dudes with man buns or trannies?

    • KK, Non-Man

      I imagine I’ll be on by 8ish

      • R.J.

        Hmph. I shall repost for you at 7:00, even though I am showing an incredible two-part film tonight:
        “Beach Volleyball Detectives”
        Where the girls solve crimes such as an international terrorist ring while playing beach volleyball.
        I will join you later, after this enriching cultural activity has completed.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Why don’t we get drunk and Zoom.

      If Jimmy Buffett was a millennial.

      • R.J.

        “Zoom Meeting in Paradise”

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Wasting away again here on Instagram
        Searching for my lost filter of light
        Some people say an influencer’s to blame
        But I know, it’s Trump’s fault

      • Common Tater

        LOL

  23. DEG

    Each blob is twice the size of the Moon and likely composed of different proportions of elements than the mantle surrounding it.

    Uhh… The Moon’s diameter is about a quarter of the Earth’s. What size are they talking about?

    The news and commentary website Jezebel was indefinitely suspended on Thursday as its parent company G/O Media underwent major layoffs.

    🙂

    As beaver populations expand their range in the Arctic, they may also be causing more greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change.

    That’s as far as I’m going in that article.

    • R.J.

      “ Each blob is twice the size of the Moon”
      They meant Chris Christie’s twin moons. Those are pretty damn big.

    • prolefeed

      They may have gotten size confused with mass. The moon is 1.2% of earth’s mass, so two double mass clumps would make up 5% of the earth’s mass.

      Note that the core of the earth is way denser than the moon or the earth’s surface.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Second of all, I can’t believe Jezebel would be the first part of the shambling corpse of the Gawker zombie to fall off. But lol that nobody wants to buy it.

    Where is Steve jobs’ widow? she loves to rescue lost-cause lefty journalisms; the three legged one eyed dogs of the publishing world.

    • Common Tater

      Didn’t she buy The Atlantic?

  25. KK, Non-Man

    Douglas Adams fans will understand when I say this dog of mine must be from the planet Krikket.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Didn’t she buy The Atlantic?

    That sounds right. I couldn’t remember which one, off the top of my head.

  27. Suthenboy

    Blob story: When is this collision purported to have occurred?
    It seems to me enough time should have passed that any large amount of matter accreted to the earth would be homogenous with the material from the pre-collision earth by now.

    • prolefeed

      Early in the formation of the solar system, so several billion years ago.

      Yes, common sense makes one think that material would have homogenized by now. Except, the analogies drawn from our day to day experiences as tiny short-lived objects on the surface of the earth may not give a good understanding of the weirdness of such a collision. Think of how long it took for Pangeia to form and then break apart. But in cosmological terms, that happened in an eyeblink.

      Shorter – we already know the earth’s interior isn’t homogenized. So we have to throw out any common sense analogies that would conflict with the facts as we understand them.

    • SDF-7

      https://www.space.com/earth-magnetic-field-impact-ancient-history is an older article with a little info.

      The impact theory (if valid… though it sounds reasonable to me) is part of what makes me wonder if that’s a key part of the Drake equation for life as we recognize it. We needed to be in the Goldilocks zone, to have the magnetic field and plate tectonics (to avoid being Venus or Mars respectively), the large moon for the tides and sweeping a lot of incoming asteroid impacts, etc. That level of coincidence — then added to “and then need an impact to disturb the relatively stable ecosystem (dinosaurs/birds)” has got to push the probabilities pretty low. Not impossible — but then much more likely to be so far apart in the Universe we’d never detect another such civilization (especially if they move to hush up their radio emissions quickly).

  28. Suthenboy

    I am suspicious.
    Squeaky on Fox News is saying sensible things. Is her whole proggie shtick just an act? Does she actually have a brain?

    • Winston

      Squeaky?

      • Suthenboy

        I had to look her up to find her name. I always just call her squeaky. Jessica Tarlov.

    • rhywun

      I have been watching The Five on and off the last few weeks. So yeah, now I know who that is.

      FWIW, she’s Jewish and not a squishy Jews-for-Hamas one either.

      But yeah, otherwise, seems old-school Democrat. Her and that Ford person she alternates with are both intelligent except they believe stupid things. Not sure how that works.

      • Suthenboy

        Mentioned in the previous thread. Smart does not equal wise.

      • rhywun

        Wasn’t around, but yeah, a frequent refrain around here 🙂

  29. Winston

    https://archive.org/details/factscomments00spen/page/268/mode/1up

    Late Herbert Spencer. Interesting that he was an anti-vaxxer. The controversy over Victorian small-pox vaccines has been totally forgotten.

    Also he hated gymnastics. His pieces on the posthumous reputations of dead people is very ironic in light of his posthumous reputation. Apparently having book titles near the top or the corner is rebarbarization and Imperialism. Deckled edges is also a sign of rebarbarization.

    • Suthenboy

      Is all of academia inhabited by fartsniffers now?

      • Raven Nation

        *timidly raises hand*

        Not all

      • R.J.

        Bless you then.

    • rhywun

      I also like how everyone is masked up in the banner image.

      Could be a couple years old pic?!

      I see a lot of college kids and the mask rate is under 1%.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Could be, but it’s interesting that they haven’t thought to update it.

      • grrizzly

        Two weeks ago I stayed in a Hyatt hotel in Istanbul. Even now their confirmation emails stated very clearly IN CAPITAL LETTERS that face masks are required everywhere on the premises. I knew that masking was completely gone in Turkey, so I didn’t panic and nobody wore any masks at the hotel. But I was still enraged when I got those emails from that hotel.

      • rhywun

        I got the same email from a bus company a couple weeks ago. I decided not to travel after all, but the same company was not requiring masks in September. That must be a deliberate choice, one that I was going to fight if I hadn’t canceled my plans.

        OTOH, there is a liquor store that I pass on occasion. Their website says the require the feedbag. I was like, AYFKM? I walked by the other day and there was nothing about it in the window. So I figure they just didn’t update their website.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        So what’s it like in Istanbul these days? Any disruptions or nasty looks due to the stuff going on to the south?

      • grrizzly

        Istanbul was totally fine. I was preoccupied with touristy, sightseeing stuff. No problem whatsoever. No homeless people on the streets. Russian was probably the second most-spoken language in the touristy parts after Turkish.

    • Pat

      So much for STEM as the bulwark against the lunacy in academia.

      • rhywun

        I don’t think STEM figures in any of that.

    • Pat

      She got 10% of what she asked. After legal and expenses I hope it was worth it.

      Sometimes it’s more about the principle of the thing, but it seems like a settlement would have been advantageous for both parties. He probably spent as much on attorneys as he’s having to pay her, and she’ll be lucky to pocket half after contingency fees and costs.

  30. KK, Non-Man

    Judging by how this KOA filled up this afternoon, it’s not just Feds that have the day off tomorrow. Unless this whole campground is Feds… 🤔

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      They’re on to you.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Serious journalism for serious people

    It’s not exactly a secret that Elon Musk’s luck at Tesla didn’t translate well once he took over Twitter. Ad revenue is down, users are leaving and it’s become mostly useless for finding trustworthy news sources. And apparently, those problems have hit Musk hard. Even harder than any of us might have previously guessed. Following the takeover, Musk began to “spiral down,” and at one point, it got so bad that Twitter employees considered calling for a wellness check on him because they were worried he might hurt himself, author Ben Mezrich claimed in a recent interview with CNBC.

    Mezrich, who previously wrote about Facebook in “The Social Network,” recently published “Breaking Twitter,” a look inside the social media company after Musk took over, told CNBC, “The Elon before Twitter and the Elon after Twitter are two different Elons. Elon didn’t just break Twitter. Twitter broke Elon Musk.” Mezerich also believes a big reason for Elon’s spiral is that for the first time ever, he finally had to face the fact that he’s an incredibly unpopular person.

    ——-

    According to Mezrich, Musk’s downward spiral really kicked off not long after he killed off Twitter’s verification system, causing many prominent users to quit using the social network. Anyone even remotely paying attention at the time could have told him that was a terrible idea, but he went ahead with it anyway. Predictably, as hate speech and conspiracy theories were more prominently featured on the site, advertisers began leaving in droves, too.

    The guy is clueless. It’s a wonder he’s not living in a cardboard box in the Mission District.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      He has a narrative, and he’s sticking to it.

    • R.J.

      So… cutting expenses by over 2/3 and equalizing the unholy monthly losses at Twitter was bad? Because that place was only buoyed up by Uncle Sugar.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        That is what cracks me up about the whole shebang. Twitter was a leftist money laundering cash hole. All the ads were BS and just dumped money into a fund to give to leftist “causes.” Elon comes in, cleans house and of course that cash is going elsewhere.

    • Pat

      According to Mezrich, Musk’s downward spiral really kicked off not long after he killed off Twitter’s verification system, causing many prominent users to quit using the social network

      I don’t think a single blue-check actually quit Twitter after that, anymore than anybody moved to Canada after every Republican in my lifetime won the presidency.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        They all went to Mastodon. Well, they tried to anyway.

      • R.J.

        Heh. Remember that? They got greeted with jeers.

      • Name's BEAM. *James* BEAM.

        My own experience with pre- and post-Musk Twitter/X is that a lot more average people with centrist-y opinions were finally *not* having their voices “de-amplified” by Twitter.

        This, of course, pissed off all the Leftoids.

        Fuck ’em.

        Every time I log on to X, I have to remind myself that only around 8% of Canadians even have an account, and significantly less than that actually use it. But Elon’s right about one thing: you can learn about stuff around two days faster than via the MSM, and that’s assuming that the legacy media covers what you’ve just learned about something *at all.*

      • Name's BEAM. *James* BEAM.

        By the by, does anyone know what the “reach” of Jalopnik actually *is*? If I hadn’t seen quotes from it on places like this, I wouldn’t even know it existed.

      • rhywun

        I think AV Club is way more known. They probably get some bleed from there.

        And of course what’s left of the Onion.

      • R.J.

        Funny about that. It was popular, a few years ago. Then the major contributors figured out they were supporting the whole shindig and left to form Autopian. Remind you of some other situation? Jalopnik spent far too much time with lefty talking points right before they left. I remember one guy wrote a 2 part piece about the sins of the oil industry. On a car site! That’s when I stopped giving them clicks. Good for Autopian, launching a new site with a minimum of communism. So far.

      • R.J.

        BY POPULAR MEAN…
        ABOUT 40 PEOPLE

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Hopefully, Elon can get some help in the near future because this is legitimately worrying news. Still, there’s no getting around the fact that his problems are entirely of his own creation. People would probably like him a lot more if he hadn’t shown himself to be a hateful bigot who amplifies antisemitism far-right propaganda and misinformation.

    Seek professional help.

  33. Shpip

    “There aren’t a lot of animals that are engineers quite like beavers,” said Ken Tape, a research professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “It’s one thing to respond to climate change. But to have an animal that is not just responding but then imparting its own changes on the landscape, that’s pretty unusual.”

    Beavers have nothing on their riparian carnivore cousins, who have managed to travel to otter space.

    • Pat

      There was a time when the social regulation of not wanting to be seen as the chump who had to go play with the girls would have prevented this sort of thing. So much for toxic masculinity I guess.

      • R.J.

        +1 #Manbunmurderer

      • Suthenboy

        I am old enough to remember that so when this insanity started I thought it would be a self-solving problem.
        What kind of little skid mark would actually join and play on a girl’s team? “Look at me world! I am a big fat pussy with no pride or honor!”
        The guys that cant quite compete with his fellow males but refuses to give up and keeps taking the field then limping off of the field bloodied get more respect from me than the guys who bloodied him and the guys who won’t take the field at all.
        The turds that switch to the girls league are below contempt. Lowest form of life on the planet.

    • rhywun

      Yeah, field hockey is not a co-ed sport. WTF?

  34. The Late P Brooks

    So… cutting expenses by over 2/3 and equalizing the unholy monthly losses at Twitter was bad? Because that place was only buoyed up by Uncle Sugar.

    Don’t you get it? Twatter was their perfectly curated hive mind sandbox, and Musk ruined it!

    • R.J.

      I know. I hate those proggies so much.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Groundbreaking

    The US is getting its first commercial facility to soak up carbon dioxide from the ambient air for permanent storage, a nascent technology that’s been both lauded as crucial in fighting climate change and derided as a distraction that will delay the clean energy transition.

    The plant near San Francisco, built by Bay Area startup Heirloom Carbon Technologies, puts California at the forefront of the emerging carbon removal industry as a handful of so-called direct air capture (DAC) hubs are also slated to get underway. Heirloom’s facility, unveiled Thursday, will be capable of removing and storing as much as 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

    They should shoot it into space. Then we’ll be safe.

    • R.J.

      Don’t worry. It will go out of business in a few years. If it ever gets built.

      • B.P.

        I’m sure it will achieve its goal of soaking up grants and subsidies from the ambient federal budget for immediate storage in offshore accounts.

      • R.J.

        Amen!

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      “critics warn the industry will give oil producers an excuse to keep pumping crude”

      We can’t have that now, can we?

      • B.P.

        Yeah, the “distraction that will delay the clean energy transition” bit spells out that the goal is control, not finding solutions.

    • rhywun

      JFC we live in stupid times.

      I guess it’s always been stupid in one way or another but it just feels so much more stupid than I can ever remember.

      • Mojeaux

        What will the trees eat?!?!?!

      • R.J.

        Brawndo, the Thirst Mutilator. It has what plants crave. This is known.

    • Suthenboy

      Permanent storage.

      *face palm*

  36. The Late P Brooks

    That’s a pittance compared with bigger plants poised to come online in Texas and Louisiana, but it’s enough to serve as a milestone for a technology that’s likely to spawn a significant business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. are among the companies that have pledged hundreds of millions to buy carbon removal services, even as critics warn the industry will give oil producers an excuse to keep pumping crude.

    We must purge the heretics and sinners.

    • R.J.

      Do tell, how does this make money, outside of pure graft?

      • Pat

        Scarcity determines value, and if there’s not sufficient scarcity, you just get the government to create it for you.

      • R.J.

        Oh, I forgot that part.

  37. R.J.

    Oy Vey. Brave updated and added an AI assistant.

    • Name's BEAM. *James* BEAM.

      Yeah. I ain’t using it.

      • R.J.

        Tempted to try to train it with SugarFree’s stories.

      • R.J.

        Dang it. The update also made website refreshes go to the top of the page, instead of where I was. No bueno.

  38. Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

    So, this is going on at the local university:

    Another professor stands accused of being a “pretendian” who has falsely claimed Indigenous ancestry and passed themselves off as an expert in native culture and history.

    The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds, a watchdog group that works “to cease the activities of individuals and organizations falsely representing themselves as American Indians at every opportunity,” according to its website, says Qwo-Li Driskill (born Paul Edward Driskill), an associate professor of women, gender and sexuality studies and queer studies at Oregon State University, has falsely claimed Cherokee, Lenape and Osage ancestry. The group is calling for Oregon State to fire Driskill for academic fraud, or “at the very least” have Driskill issue a public acknowledgement that they are not in fact Native American and an apology for falsely claiming to be. (Driskill identifies as Two-Spirit Cherokee, which means they don’t identify solely as male or female

    https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/diversity-equity/2023/11/07/oregon-state-professor-accused-falsely-claiming

    • Sensei

      Look if you can identify as anything today, why not Indian too?

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      It turns out I’m distant cousins with the actress in the new DiCaprio movie. I should see if I can get a professor job somewhere. Between that and my 0.1% sub-Saharan African DNA my DEI bingo card is filling up.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Those look like fishing lures hanging from his ears.

      • R.J.

        Looks like Simon Pegg wearing guitar picks for earrings.

      • Suthenboy

        Yeah…but I am fairly sure they are fishing lures as Jaime said.
        JFC, we really do live in clown world. The clowns keep doing their acts and daring us to call them out.

      • R.J.

        No. Far more important and life-altering. So important, it is split into two 1 1/2 hour parts. And it’s subtitled, like all important films are.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Shouldn’t that be Beach Vorreybarr Detectives?

      • R.J.

        Touché!