Wednesday Morning Links

by | Dec 27, 2023 | Daily Links | 270 comments

Liverpool are back on top of the table. ManUre finally found the back of the net…three times in a much-needed win. Anana still sucks though. And the bowl season is finally starting to heat up. And that’s it for sports. So now on to a very freshly-sourced edition of…the links!

Milei making non-Argies feel like this.

More! More! More! I can’t wait for this guy to really get down to business. The number of heads exploding will rival OMB.

Ho-lee shiiiiiit. This is certainly a pleasant surprise. A federal court following the constitution and slapping down the feds? Its a Christmas(time) Miracle!

OK, this would be a good law. A better one would be to let homeowners or a proxy shoot people who have invaded their property. But this is at least a start.

It’ll happen one day.

Quit complaining. You knew what you were getting into. It’s Spirit Airlines. Getting to the correct destination is always a crapshoot.  But seriously, don’t they let the guardian of an unaccompanied minor go all the way to the gate? They used to let us do that 15 years ago when the TSA and everybody else was even stricter over a lot of stupid shit. Anyway, I think “we want answers” is paraphrasing “we want money.” But maybe I’m just being cynical.

I ain’t trying to victim blame here. But that second ho might have been foolish to mock a john that can’t perform. That doesn’t seem very wise.

Dramatization of a Boston teacher

Wait a second. Did I read that right? The story said “that’s when adults in the room responded?” Adults…as in plural. And they demand more staff? How many people on the taxpayer’s dime do they want/need to keep a kid from sticking his hands down another kids pants in a classroom? Useless…

This is not surprising. The only green in these green states are the dollar bills lining the pockets of state-enforced monopolies.

I feel bad for this guy. Apparently the police don’t.

Let’s get that blood pumping. That ought to do it. And this will take it to the next level. Enjoy them both.

And enjoy this lovely Wednesday, dear friends!

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

270 Comments

  1. UnCivilServant

    A federal court following the constitution and slapping down the feds?

    I’m shocked. How long until the Feebs begin putting the pressure on the judge’s family?

    • sloopyinca

      The feds have used this kind of venue-shopping bullshit for some time now and have really ramped it up lately in politically-motivated cases. I hope the courts view this as a precedent and force them to cut it out. I’m not optimistic that will happen but it sure would be nice.

      • Ownbestenemy

        The original judge should be admonished for not even catching it. Standing apparently is always available when government is doing the shopping.

      • UnCivilServant

        I want to start with a few changes – All interviews are recorded. An agent’s notebook is assumed to be a biased source, no more than the direct testimony of the agent. There is no penalty for laying outright to the FBI. Agents lying to citizens or other agencies is a felony with a mandatory ten years in prison for the agent.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Agreed. Unless under oath in a court of law, I do not see how lying to law enforcement during an interview is a crime. Unbecoming of a representative sure, but that is a civil matter for the citizens they represent.

      • Not Adahn

        It’s a crime because it’s printed in the book o’ laws.

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

        And that should be struck down just as quickly. Bull shit like that is unconstitutional, and is half the reason we are where we are right now.

      • R C Dean

        I have yet to hear a good explanation of why the FBI doesn’t record all interviews, much less prohibit interviews from being recorded.

      • Not Adahn

        It reduces the leverage that the Fidelity Bravery and Integrity boys have on criminals. Whycome you love terrorists?

      • Ted S.

        I don’t love the FBI.

      • sloopyinca

        They don’t record them so they can use their narrative of what was said rather than the actual transcript. And the jury is gonna believe whatever the agent on the stand says because most people reflexively believe whatever a cop is willing to say under oath.

        They do it deliberately. And it’s retarded.

      • R C Dean

        I said, a good explanation.

      • Ted S.

        It’s not retarded; it’s evil.

      • Brawndo

        “And the jury is gonna believe whatever the agent on the stand says because most people reflexively believe whatever a cop is willing to say under oath.”

        I’ve seen potential jurors struck from a jury pool for saying they wouldn’t believe the word of a cop more than a citizen.

        Pet peeve of mine is seeing otherwise like-minded government haters doing every trick to get out of jury duty, when it’s people like that that have the best chance of preventing a citizen from getting fucked by an unjust law. Play dumb during jury selection folks.

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

        Brawndo is right, you have one good chance to be the last line of defense, and everyone tries to skip out on it.

        Take that chance!

      • WTF

        The voir dire questions are designed to weed out constitutional-minded suspicious-of-government folks, and if you lie to get past them you can be charged with perjury.

      • R C Dean

        What Brawndo said.

        As far as perjury goes, don’t be stupid and you don’t need to worry. Don’t blurt out your sovereign citizen soundbites and you should be 90% of the way there.

        Were the potential jurors actually asked “Do you accept police testimony without question?” Or maybe “Do you give police testimony more credibility than other testimony?”

        If the system is really so corrupt and rigged that it actively and overtly screens out people who aren’t rubber stamps for the prosecution, then, yeah, you’re probably screwed.

      • Brawndo

        @RC Dean. I can’t recall exactly. This was over 15 years ago in Suffolk county court (Boston). I think it was worded similar to how you said; giving more weight to a LEO’s testimony. Most libertarians would, I hope, realize that’s essentially the same thing. Has a LEO ever been charged with perjury for lying in court? It’s probably exceedingly rare.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Brady list should mean automatic termination and permanent rehiring ban for any leo.

        That DAs maintain such lists speaks of the flaws in the system.

      • UnCivilServant

        That behavior tells me they’re engaging in shenanigans. All the more reason to force them to record them all, and let the interviewee make a separate recording.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        A strategic transcription error goes a long way and they’re a bunch of dishonest and unethical bastards? How’s that?

      • Not Adahn

        The FBI uses Magic Paper just like the Doctor. Whatever they write on it IS the truth, and if you disagree with it, you’re lying.

      • The Hyperbole

        Seems odd to go to Cali when they could have used DC, Nebraska I can understand them wanting to avoid but I thought DC was ‘spose to be just as big a proggy shithole as Cali.

      • Not Adahn

        Maybe the local Cali prosecutor wanted a turn at busting heads? Maybe they picked it for the weather or the restaurant scene?

      • Ownbestenemy

        $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire at a 2016 Los Angeles fundraiser

        I assumed this is why they thought California was a viable venue and in case it gets appeals the Ninth Circuit will surely carry the water when called upon. However, this ruling takes it completely out of any courts hands until the Feds retry him which they probably will.

      • juris imprudent

        If they had tried him on a campaign finance charge that venue would’ve made sense, but the conduct (lying) was in NE and DC.

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

        I am guessing that the original crime he was accused, campaign finance shenanigans, was BS but they went through with the lying just as they wanted to make a “point” and take a scalp.

      • prolefeed

        Apparently the big mistake was talking to the FBI at all. Did their lawyer advise them not to talk to the FN police?

      • creech

        Yep, an ex-FBI agent friend says you should refuse to talk to FBI without a lawyer present as even inadvertent
        mis-statements can constitute perjury if the FBI wants your hide.

      • R C Dean

        Or even perfectly truthful statements, if the FBI agent writes down (or another agent later edits) what they wish you had said so they could charge you. Or a prosecutor just lies to the court about what you said.

      • juris imprudent

        [Michael Flynn nods his head]

    • Brawndo

      *remembers Lincoln throwing judges in jail that ruled against his policies*

  2. Ownbestenemy

    Regarding the kid to wrong destination. I have a few questions I am sure we don’t get answers to. What was this child’s ticketed destination? If to his intended how does gate software not catch that error? I understand the old days of just paper tickets and the real possibility of boarding the wrong flight…but if a ticket was scanned and it cannot find a match for name on the intended manifest, then yes the airline screwed up.

    As far as a guardian accompanying the child to the gate. Yes you can but it is at the behest of the airline providing you a escort ticket and TSA not being dicks cause they don’t have to let you in. However, this here in the article doesn’t add up.

    “I ran inside the plane to the flight attendant and I asked her, ‘Where’s my grandson? He was handed over to you at Philadelphia?’ She said, ‘No, I had no kids with me.’”

    You ran inside the plane? At least grandma made the effort to be at the gate for him…

    I know parents that just will pay the fee to let the airlines handle their kids. They do it in all other aspects of the child’s life, why not here too?

    She then set out on a four-hour drive to pick up the six-year-old, sharing that the major mishap was one of the most terrifying experiences of her life.

    Meh, he was safe and had an adventure and with modern technology you had near instant contact.

    • DrOtto

      If that was one of the most terrifying experiences of her life, she should count herself lucky.

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

      I will buy that a misplaced grandson was an absolutely horrific experience, and a four hour drive in that terror was, indeed, one of the worst things in her life.
      People saying “meh, it was all fun and stuff” miss that absolute horror of a disappearing.

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

        Er, child disappearing.

      • R C Dean

        It was 40 minutes they didn’t know where he was. This “I was terrified the whole 4 hour drive” is utter bullshit – she knew he was fine because he called her and told her so.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yeah the initial shock sure. There are some unanswered questions to this thay I am sure either the parents and/of Spirit don’t want out so expect this to just quietly disappear.

  3. R C Dean

    “Steele’s bill would allow for the immediate removal of squatters by law enforcement if they can’t produce a notarized lease from a landowner or proof they are paying rent.”

    Easily circumvented, at least as described. Pay (nominal) “rent” to an associate, not the owner, and we’re back at square one.

    • rhywun

      the squatters caused $38,000 worth of damage, plus legal fees, including smashed walls and windows, cabinets off the walls, a washer and dryer missing, toilets broken, and fecal matter scattered throughout the home

      I guess I just don’t understand people. What the fuck.

      • Sean

        Drugs, I assume.

      • Not Adahn

        I have a feeling that “move into someone’s place and take it over” predates the existence of H. sapiens.

      • Brawndo

        Once they realize they’re eventually getting evicted, they just punish the landlord for daring to assert their property rights. Happens all the time, even when it’s not squatters.

    • sloopyinca

      Yeah, the only way notarizing matters is if the lessor is forced to provide documentation showing ownership of the property when they sign the lease docs. And again, most property owners are gonna use a manager for the property.

      This is a start, but the easiest solution would be for the sheriff to forcibly evict anybody the owner says is squatting and if they have a genuine lease the owner is breaking by evicting them without due process, they can seek relief from the courts.

      • R C Dean

        Have the owner provide a sworn statement that the squatters don’t have any right to be there, under penalty of perjury. That should be enough protection for people who are getting dicked over by their landlord. The whole thing should be over in a day.

      • sloopyinca

        Exactly. There’s a much simpler solution than just letting squatters stay until they’ve completely destroyed a property and then move on with little to no consequences.

        Who was that shitbag NY lady who had squatted for years before finally being evicted some time this past year or so? That case should have been the model for reform of squatting laws but to the best of my recollection they only got her out through some loophole she’d forgotten to go through one day and they caught it and finally got her out.

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

      Proof would be canceled rent checks deposited by the owner or licensed property manager, or receipts thereof. Just randomly handing money to some random drunken asshole isn’t proof that you paid.

      • R C Dean

        Apparently, a “lease” with some random drunken asshole gets you into the current loophole. Why wouldn’t a check to some random drunken asshole get you into the new loophole.

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

        If you don’t have a legal document of some sort, like I said lease agreement on file, cancelled checks to an deeded owner or their legal rep, then you should get zero recourse, and not even 30 days to vacate (that is only good for an eviction of someone with that paperwork). Also, any damages done need to be paid back within 60 days or jail time to work it off.

        I own rental property, it is my livelihood, I have zero tolerance for this shit.

  4. Rat on a train

    How many people on the taxpayer’s dime do they want/need to keep a kid from sticking his hands down another kids pants in a classroom?
    The unions would like at least one per child.

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

      I think the teachers union would create work rules that say they are the only ones allowed to stick their hands down student pants, and are looking for shop stewards to ensure that other kids don’t take this away from the union members.

  5. Not Adahn

    But that second ho might have been foolish to mock a john that can’t perform. That doesn’t seem very wise.

    Some women just don’t have what it takes to be a successful prostitute.

    • Common Tater

      ENB hardest hit?

      • Not Adahn

        I think she managed to choke down her first attempt.

  6. Not Adahn

    Mesquite must have really changed since I left TX. Not that the cops were better then, but there’s no way that “too muddy for a wrecker” would have prevented that truck from getting removed.

    • sloopyinca

      I can see them waiting until the gas from the busted line dissipates until there’s no risk of a spark igniting the whole thing into a fireball.

      But if it’s gotten to the point that a claims adjuster is coming out to take pics, it’s probably to the point a wrecker can do the tow.

    • R C Dean

      The truck left no muddy ruts or anything in the yard, so I call bullshit.

      Plus, I’ve never seen a tow truck without a winch. If the ground really is too soft for the tow truck, winch the damn thing out. I had exactly that done to a mail truck that died in my driveway a few months ago, and the tow driver didn’t want to go on my driveway (pavers) in case his truck damaged it.

      • Not Adahn

        And you aren’t in prison for tampering with Federal property? You really are a good lawyer.

  7. R C Dean

    Yeah, this thing pubsecs do, where something terrible happens that they are responsible for preventing, and their response is to demand more money, is getting really fucking old.

  8. Stinky Wizzleteats

    What a rookie mistake, every intelligent whore knows that a guy who can’t get it up is just an easy payday but mocking him isn’t a good idea. Few things will get you killed quicker than making fun of a guy’s limp noodle.

    • juris imprudent

      every intelligent whore

      Lighting the signal for Winston’s Mom?

  9. DEG

    A Russian ‘maniac’ beheaded a prostitute and then killed a second who mocked him because he could not perform in bed during a visit to ‘de-stress’ from the first murder, according to reports.

    “de-stress”? That’s what kids are calling it these days?

    • DrOtto

      Hunter calls it ‘Hydro-colonic therapy’.

      • Brawndo

        Is that what “bidet” translates to?

  10. sloopyinca

    I’m curious how y’all are receiving my new set of links sources. Sure, I kept the NYPost and Daily Fail, but those sites are usually a goldmine of derp. Dumping the others, especially CNN, NBC, and ABC was something I’ve considered for a while.

    • Not Adahn

      I try to use the OG sources when I find a story on an aggregator, so I approve of this. I know your lovely wife likes to use an alternatively-partisan slate and that’s fine sinve it’s not every links and we’re exposed to the mainstream-partisans anyway.

      • sloopyinca

        I tend to stick with mainstream sources and she does her alternative ones as a counter to each other. It gives everybody a variety from day to day and keeps things fresh. At least thats what we tell each other.
        I just thought it was time to put many of those sources to bed because they’d gotten stale. Not that the ones I’m moving to are much different, but at least the generally partisan framing will have a new writing style attached to it.

      • Chafed

        I like what you’ve done. Hell, I appreciate the fact you are doing it
        Use whatever news sources you want.

    • rhywun

      I guess it depends on one’s tolerance for more extreme derp.

  11. rhywun

    Adults…as in plural.

    Special ed.

    • sloopyinca

      I can see two teachers having a hard time maintaining quiet in a room full of 30 sped kids. But I can’t see how one could get his hand down another’s pants without at least one of them noticing.

      Fire everybody who was in the room and everybody in charge of the people in the room. They failed in a way that can never be explained away by “understaffing.”

      • Not Adahn

        If I read the article correctly, the plural adults had the normie kids in one room and the special ed ones in another one (or a partitioned off part of the main one.)

      • rhywun

        I get it but I just don’t think we’re getting a clear picture here.

      • Ownbestenemy

        As intended /signed journalist.

      • Brawndo

        Maybe I missed part of the article, but it says that when he put his hand down her pants, teachers intervened. I would definitely support firing (and maybe criminal charges) if it was ignored and allowed to happen, but it didn’t seem to say how long it took them to intervene, or what punishments, if any, were doled out to the assaulter.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m wondering how this came to light?

        You’d think the teacher and the two helpers would have shut up about it.

        Maybe one of the special ed kids fingered the teacher?

      • rhywun

        /eeeew

      • sloopyinca

        Speds are apparently honest to a fault, or at least school admins believe their honesty is beyond reproach, as I can attest to from a high school incident.

        Ok, so I’m in the lunch line and I get dared to pee onto the milk cartons in the cooler. Bring a dumbass 18 y/o, I take the bet. So I take my whiz and keep on moving down the line. The next day, I get called into the principals office and he makes the accusation and says I’m to be suspended. I ask him what evidence he has and he says “(unnamed sped) told me.” I say he’s a liar and the principal says he doesn’t understand the concept of deceit and that he believes him. I demand an investigation and then we negotiate for me to serve ISS for the five days and that I won’t have it reflected in my permanent record and that I won’t miss any athletic practices or games during the suspension.

        It was bullshit. Sure I did it, but still…

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I prefer the Roger Daltry edition, the kids are alright (some of them anyway).

    • R C Dean

      “Marketing guns to children”

      Is not what’s going on. ProTip, White House: kids can’t buy guns. They are marketing to parents.

      • Not Adahn

        “they can’t afford them because of child poverty!”

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

        “They live in a Gun Dessert!”

      • Pope Jimbo

        Can the Gun Dessert also be used as a floor wax?

        (Sorry to be a spelling nazi. I’m just jelly because I was gonna make a Gun Desert crack too)

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

        Hey, kids love gun shaped snacks!

    • DEG

      I don’t see the problem.

    • juris imprudent

      Meh, just freshening up the timeline on A Christmas Story.

  12. DEG

    Teacher Elyse Vlahos was in her classroom with two other paraprofessionals when the incident took place, according to teacher testimony at the meeting. After the incident, Vlahos was let go.

    Teachers in the Georgetown Education Association crowded into the Dec. 14 meeting to advocate for their former coworker.

    Union members said the situation could have happened to any other teacher given that the school district is understaffed and unsupported, especially when it comes to special education instructors.

    Five teachers spoke in support of reinstating Vlahos; each testimony ended with a round of applause from the packed room. Vlahos sat next to her supporters silently as they gave their testimony.

    Joe Pittella, the president of the Georgetown Educators Association, spoke first, saying Vlahos is a “valuable” educator and was unsupported in her role.

    “We feel Elyse Vlahos has been scapegoated and terminated for this unfortunate incident that everyone in our union feels horrifically bad about, but could have easily happened in any other teacher’s classroom,” he said.

    During her testimony, the mother of the girl who was assaulted turned around to face the room full of teachers. One person clapped at the end of her testimony.

    I quoted the best part of the teacher story.

    I looked up Georgetown, MA. Its part of a state senate district represented by a Republican. Its state representative went from Republican to Democat..

    • sloopyinca

      So there were actually three adults in the room. And that’s even worse.

      Lazy scumbags.

    • Not Adahn

      but could have easily happened in any other teacher’s classroom

      That he can say this without shame is the problem

      • R C Dean

        “So, Mx. Pubsec, your position here is that all of your colleagues are so incompetent that sexual molestation can easily be committed in their classrooms, and for that reason we shouldn’t fire any of them? Do I have that right?”

  13. Not Adahn

    Bezos is asshoe.

    Apparently Prime video is going to have ads now.

    • UnCivilServant

      So on top of having no reason to use it, they’ve added a disincentive.

    • sloopyinca

      Are they ads before shows/movies start or during? Because one I can live with but the other is gonna suck.

      • R C Dean

        And if its during, you know the ad-free version is going to have a hiccup where the ad should be.

        Narrator: the ads will be during the show, if not at the start, then before long.

      • Not Adahn

        We are writing to you today about an upcoming change to your Prime Video experience. Starting January 29, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements. This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time. We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers. No action is required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership. We will also offer a new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month* that you can sign up for

      • Not Adahn

        Fingers crossed, but they’ll totally try to have fewer than Freevee does!

      • Not Adahn

        I have been told that in the before times, one of the purported advantages to buying cable was that there were going to bbe no ads, since it was funded through subscription fees.

      • juris imprudent

        Poor starving content providers.

      • rhywun

        There were never “no ads” on cable.

        The no-ad thing was always only for “premium” channels like HBO.

      • Tres Cool

        See also: SiriusXM

      • DEG

        I’ll take a stab at a translation: “We lost a lot of money on ‘Rings of Power’ and need to make it back.”

      • rhywun

        All I hear is “streaming is for suckers”. Though to be fair that has always been my position.

      • Not Adahn

        Not much choice once the studios started yanking their property from Netflix.

        Prime has the advantage of having a search engine that will find shows/movies that are on other services as well.

      • UnCivilServant

        Prime has a disadvantage of being very difficult to browse when I’m unsure of what I want to watch… which is most of time when I decide to watch videos.

    • PieInTheSky

      why do you hate capitalism?

  14. DrOtto

    Same state at least, I’d call that a win for Spirit’s customer service.

    • Brawndo

      Sounds like she didn’t pay extra for the “arrive at your desired destination” addon.

    • R C Dean

      I can see cutting a teenager loose to find their own flight. But a six year old? That’s some crap parenting, there.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Depends if the parents paid for the unaccompanied-minor service.

    • Not Adahn

      That is NOT hotdish.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I have brought many clients from out of state to the 5-8 Club to have a juicy lucy. They are OK, but not earth shattering.

  15. juris imprudent

    Swear to god, I ever get subjected to an FBI interview, I will have only one response “I don’t really recall”.

    • DrOtto

      “Lawyer”

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

        This, and only this.

    • UnCivilServant

      Then they’ll charge you with perjury if you try to testify at trial.

      “Mr JI had forgotten as of the interview, he has clearly fabricated the testimony provided.”

    • Rat on a train

      “Don’t talk to the police. You will get your opportunity to provide your side at trial.”

    • Grumbletarian

      “I shall no longer be speaking, but please assume every response from this point forward is a single extended middle finger.”

    • R C Dean

      Just plead the Fifth.

      “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about talking to the FBI in recent years, it’s that doing so can get you charged with a crime no matter what you say. Therefor, I am exercising my Constitutional right not to testify.”

  16. DrOtto

    Ah Russia, where prostitutes look like they do in the movies.

    • Not Adahn

      The suspect had recently been released from prison after he was incarcerated in 2010 for the murder of two sex workers.

      And they say Russia isn’t progressive!

      • R C Dean

        That’s the thing, you know. You murder one hooker, and an hour later, you want to murder another. Killing one just isn’t, you know, satisfying.

        I’d be tempted to let whatever Russian mob was taking a cut, and let them know he will be, err, unsupervised in prison at a certain time. I know how some people are about the death penalty, but this guy needs killing.

      • juris imprudent

        and an hour later

        Wouldn’t that only be true for east of the Urals?

      • Tres Cool

        “Call girl”
        They’re hookers when they’re dead

      • R C Dean

        Well, I was referring to the deceased kind.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Maybe he transitioned and got a spot on a WNBA team?

        Ruskies always let WNBA players walk.

  17. The Other Kevin

    Obama flat out said energy prices will necessarily skyrocket. And they did. And now people are surprised. People are dumb.

    • juris imprudent

      People are dumb., panicky, dangerous animals.

    • rhywun

      Joe said he would reverse everything Donald did – and he did.

      Joe also said that anyone who crawls over the border gets free medical care – though, to be fair, all the Dem candidates did.

      • WTF

        Joe also said that anyone who crawls over the border gets free medical care paid for by the chumps who are American taxpayers.

  18. R C Dean

    I saw Claudine Gay’s official Harvard pic, and I noticed she has that head tilt that is seemingly mandatory for leftist women. Why is that?

      • WTF

        Doesn’t matter, she is unfireable, Harvard isn’t going to back down at this point.

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

        I can see her resigning, as “she doesn’t wish to keep this controversy that affects students blah, blah, blah…”

      • juris imprudent

        I would assume she has some golden parachute available.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        A diverse focus group determined that a head tilt conveys empathy and emotional availability most likely.

    • PieInTheSky

      it strikes a blow to patriarchy

    • Gender Traitor

      Not quite “confused dog” head tilt. (Probably fighting it.)

  19. Sean

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 12/27:
    *22/22 words (+5 bonus words)
    📖 In the top 13% by bonus words

    I played https://squaredle.com 12/27:
    *38/38 words (+10 bonus words)
    📖 In the top 11% by bonus words
    🔥 Solve streak: 94

  20. Mojeaux, font of all evil

    Husband in preop prep for his shoulder surgery. Yay getting it done before the end of the year!

    • UnCivilServant

      Hope it fixes the problem and he recovers quickly.

    • Gender Traitor

      Awwww! You haven’t really lived until you’ve tried to sleep in/on chairs in a hospital waiting area on New Years Eve.
      Glad he’s getting it in by year end, and hope all goes well!

    • Sean

      <==

    • Tres Cool

      Best wishes for Lazlo. Shoulder surgery is something Ive been putting off for quite some time.

      • Mojeaux, font of all evil

        Doooooo eeeeeet. I waited too long and had worn away a lot of tissue I needed for the anchors to bite into. My ortho was mad.

      • Tres Cool

        Well, my financial best options (free) are to let the VA do it, or their assignees at Wright-Patt AFB.
        For now Ill keep wrapping myself in lidocaine patches and slathering on the Voltaren.

    • DEG

      Best wishes!

    • Mojeaux, font of all evil

      The hospital is sort of back on its feet again, but everything is paper and so is taking twice as long.

      • R C Dean

        We used to drill on no-EMR, paper-only. It generally took about an hour to cut over. Of course, part of the protocol was cancelling “elective” surgeries (like Mr. Moje is getting).

      • Mojeaux, font of all evil

        That is what got canceled last Tuesday, 2 hours before his scheduled check-in. We were praying it would get done before the end of the year.

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

      All the best for Senor Mojo, I hope everything is smooth.

    • Pope Jimbo

      preop prep

      Hmmmm….. Wouldn’t they work on something other than his shoulder for that?

      Seriously, hope everything goes great for him.

    • Common Tater

      Hope he gets well soon!

    • UnCivilServant

      RadioPanda looks creepy.

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s really the knobs for eyes that get to me…

        It’d be generic cute otherwise.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        That’s what I find cute about it.

      • Tres Cool

        Agree. It looks like its going to kill someone.
        How I dont know. But its creepy.

  21. creech

    “heads exploding ”
    Probably his: odds seem to be pretty steep that Milei manages to avoid assassination. They do have helicopters in Argentina?

  22. Common Tater

    “The suspect had recently been released from prison after he was incarcerated in 2010 for the murder of two sex workers.”

    Lots of people have hobbies.

  23. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Damnit YouTube, I don’t want to watch Lex Fridman…I DON’T WANT TO WATCH LEX FRIDMAN!!!

    Every video gets followed up with the guy and thumbsing down does not help. Man, you can really tell who the establishment’s favorite semi moderate quasi intellectual is right now.

    • UnCivilServant

      Turn off autoplay.

      Don’t let an algorithm pick anything for you.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Gen X in the mist

    Culture wars are nothing new for Gen Xers — the generation that coined the term “political correctness” — but the current debate over when and how to police speech is particularly unpopular with them. “Gen X really prides themselves on being tough, and based on their upbringing and childhood and their adolescence, there’s just a lot of pride in being able to roll with the punches and being able to have conversations with people you disagree with,” said Twenge.

    Gen Xers are not as culturally conservative as boomers — the generation that preceded them. But they’re also not as culturally progressive as millennials and Gen Z.

    Sean Trende, senior elections analyst for RealClearPolitics and himself a Gen Xer, described it as “almost like a cultural libertarianism.”

    OMG, not cultural libertarianism!

    You can’t just let other people think as they please, that’s crazy.

    • R.J.

      That is the biggest dog’s dinner of an article I have read this year, and it is end of the year. Thank you for reminding me why I don’t support PBS, ever.

      • rhywun

        NPR;DR

  25. Pope Jimbo

    When the Altar Boys were 16 and 14 we sent them to Switzerland for the summer to live with our old neighbor. (They had two boys the same age and were thick as thieves when they lived next door). Mrs. Holiness insisted on paying extra for unaccompanied minor services.

    On the way home the Swiss Neighbor decided they were old enough to make it home by themselves and didn’t bother checking the boys in with their adult minders. So the boys flew home by themselves. No problems with the transfers or getting through customs.

    They were literally at the top of the stairs to leave the secure area of the airport and meet us when some panicked airline people grabbed them and made them wait an extra half hour or so while they tried to figure out how they had gotten there. The airline was worried about the fact that the minors they were supposed to have been watching had escaped and made it all the way back. They finally just let them go. I told the boys that they should have started yelling “AM I BEING DETAINED?”

    • WTF

      … they should have started yelling “AM I BEING DETAINED?HELP! HE’S GRABBING MY CROTCH!!”

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

        Only teachers are allowed to stick hands down pants!

  26. KSuellington

    | the squatters caused $38,000 worth of damage, plus legal fees, including smashed walls and windows, cabinets off the walls, a washer and dryer missing, toilets broken, and fecal matter scattered throughout the home.

    I have seen some insane shit at evictions/squatter situations. The most crazy was this one four unit building I named the “Santa Thong Squat” as when I went there one time with the young, demure real estate agent had some drugged out white dude with dreads, wearing only a pair of Santa Claus thong underwear, try to gyrate on said real estate agent. She was obviously horrified, and I got in between them and told him to cut it the fuck out. Then his little Latino buddy saw an opening and tried every way he could to provoke me into a fight. He almost succeeded, but I knew exactly what they were up to. They had made up a fake rental contract after looking up tax records of the old owner (crafty little druggies) and were angling for any lawsuit or payoff they could get. We ended up doing a couple of sheriff evictions there, and in the end the remaining punks (including Santa dude and his buddy) were handed a check for 22 grand in front of me to get out. They had made tens of thousands in damages to a couple of the apartments. The one massive four bedroom loft unit I had secured with a bunch of locks in one of the earlier evictions, they ended up gaining access to by installing climbing gear to the side of the building and entering and existing through a third story window. The front, back and side entrances, I’m not shitting you, they piled up literally thousands of pounds of detritus behind so it took me over an hour just to gain access by a side window that only had cyclone fencing and hundreds of pounds of material behind. The front door had an elaborate pile of glass, metal, and construction debris lag bolted, nailed and screwed behind it that was almost ten feet thick. Fucking meth heads.

    • juris imprudent

      Couldn’t find some hitmen to get them out cheaper?

  27. The Late P Brooks

    On the other hand, Gen X Democrats like Piccolo point their disgust at conservative efforts to curb speech, particularly in schools and libraries. “You can’t change history. They want to modify history. They want to ban books. And they wanna do all this stuff that’s like, yeah, you’re tipping towards fascism,” he said.

    Totally different than tearing down statues and re-naming buildings and institutions in order to reimagine history.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      If you don’t let illustrations of adolescent blowjobs into school libraries fascism is right around the corner. From one Gen Xer to another, fuck off.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Those evil Republicans and their PMRC trying to censor music!

    • creech

      Ignore history or even lie about it. Yesterday, columnist Steve Roberts came right out and said that Trump “banned Muslin travel.”

      • creech

        Not the cloth, the Muslims.

    • rhywun

      Let the propaganda flow through you!

      • juris imprudent

        Well, you wouldn’t want it getting stuck on the way out your ass, that’s for sure.

  28. Pope Jimbo

    Another Food Controversy? How long can you leave butter out on the counter?

    When it comes to storing food, many of us simply follow what our parents and grandparents did. Who cares about reading the package instructions when grandma left her butter in the butter bell all day, every day, right?

    So, maybe your butter’s home is on the counter in a dish. Or if not on the counter at all times, perhaps you leave your butter sitting out overnight to soften before baking.

    But, should you really leave butter sitting out, unrefrigerated? And, if so, how long can it be on the counter before it becomes unsafe to eat? We asked the experts at Land O’Lakes to put the debate to rest once and for all—and, some of you might not like the answer.

    Even though room-temperature butter likely won’t make you sick, Land O’Lakes recommends storing butter in the fridge when you’re not using it. But, if you’re in the heat of baking and forget to put the last little knob back in the fridge right away, that’s ok—just so long as you don’t let it sit out for a few extra hours.

    “Do not leave butter at room temperature for more than 4 hours,” says Engen. “Always return any unused butter to the refrigerator and be aware that butter left outside refrigeration may become darker in color and have the flavor affected.”

    *Narrator: We leave ours out all the time. Never put it in the fridge at all (except during the summer when it is super hot)*

    • UnCivilServant

      I leave it in the fridge because I find it heasier to handle when it retains some shape.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      A fine cover your ass answer from the company that disappeared a native American woman from their products holds no sway over me. The only thing worse than hard butter is hard margarine. I leave mine out all of the time once a stick’s in use and I live in the ridiculously hot south.

      • Not Adahn

        Before that brou-ha-ha, I never even knew the Indians made good butter.

      • UnCivilServant

        More like long lard.

    • juris imprudent

      Like butter keepers are not a thing.

      • Not Adahn

        Are you your butter’s keeper?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        👏

      • juris imprudent

        I always keep a peeper on the lookout for a better butter keeper.

      • Tres Cool

        Betty Botta bought some butter; “But,” said she, “this butter’s bitter!

        If I put it in my batter It will make my batter bitter.

        But a bit o’ better butter will but make my batter better.”

        Then she bought a bit o’ butter better than the bitter butter,

        Made her bitter batter better. So ’twas better Betty Botta bought a bit o’ better butter.

    • Gustave Lytton

      I grew up in the excessive food safety era. Took me a while to accept leaving butter out. Wouldn’t go back. Or to oleomargarine.

      Best by dates are not expiration dates either.

    • CPRM

      Butter is butter because it was a safe and effective way to store milk product before refrigeration. That is entire reason butter exists.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That is before times science. Today’s science is the correct science.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    I watched a movie last night called The Juggler. It’s on Tubi for aouple more days.

    It’s an interesting historical/cultural artifact, because it’s set in Israel in ’48, I believe. Also, it’s a pretty good movie.

    There was a scene in which a refugee settler tells his daughter who doesn’t want to rat out her friend, “Sometimes you have yo give up your friends to the authorities.” WTF?

    It got quite the laugh out of me.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    “Do not leave butter at room temperature for more than 4 hours,” says Engen. “Always return any unused butter to the refrigerator and be aware that butter left outside refrigeration may become darker in color and have the flavor affected.”

    Throw it away and go right to the store and buy more, says the butter peddler.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Yeah, Big Butter’s always about maximizing profits.

      • juris imprudent

        Profit margerines are known for being thin.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Well you have to always be improving. Can’t stand pat.

      • Sean

        We just gonna churn through some puns?

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

        Usually they live on the fat side of profits.

      • Gender Traitor

        Just trying to beat the spread.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ghee oleo! We are really going to be shortening Swissy’s squint meter today.

      • Ted S.

        You like Big Butter and you cannot lie.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I’ve never seen butter do that. Fuck right off

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Couldn’t find some hitmen to get them out cheaper?

    Maybe the building will get struck by (((lightning))).

    • juris imprudent

      Looks like I picked the right day for some greasy fried chicken for lunch, with pickles.

      • CPRM

        They could have led with saying it was Hockey announcing. I was picturing some weird niche youtube thing where they send announcers out to do play by play for actual avalanches.

      • Tres Cool

        Since you just had to say avalanche….

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Top notch economicsing

    Continued strength in the labor market is something economists expected to sweeten everyday Americans’ views of the economy. But because consumers independently decide how they feel, jobs may hold less importance in their mental calculations than inflation.

    No shit, Shirley?

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Today, in unintended consequences

    Multiple Pizza Hut franchises in California, collectively operating hundreds of stores, are laying off 1,200 in-house delivery drivers ahead of a new law taking effect in April that raises wages to $20 per hour

    PacPizza LLC, operating as Pizza Hut, said in a federal WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act notice filed with California’s Employment Development Department that the company has made a business decision to eliminate first-party delivery services and, as a result, the elimination of all delivery driver positions. Similarly, Southern California Pizza Co. has also announced layoffs, impacting about 841 drivers across the state.

    The decision impacts Pizza Hut locations in Sacramento, Palm Springs, Los Angeles and other areas.

    Multiple Pizza Hut franchises in California, collectively operating hundreds of stores, are laying off 1,200 in-house delivery drivers ahead of a new law taking effect in April that raises wages to $20 per hour

    PacPizza LLC, operating as Pizza Hut, said in a federal WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act notice filed with California’s Employment Development Department that the company has made a business decision to eliminate first-party delivery services and, as a result, the elimination of all delivery driver positions. Similarly, Southern California Pizza Co. has also announced layoffs, impacting about 841 drivers across the state.

    The decision impacts Pizza Hut locations in Sacramento, Palm Springs, Los Angeles and other areas.

    The drivers, who now face the reality of unemployment in the coming year, have voiced concerns about the impact on their livelihoods and the broader implications for workers in similar positions.

    Who could possibly have anticipated this?

    Don’t worry, folks, Governor Newsom has your back.

    • Ownbestenemy

      2024 California Legislative Session:
      We need to make a law that forces businesses to include delivery.

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

        2026 California Legislative Session:

        We need to make some businesses!

    • Sean

      “You can’t fire those people!”

      -NRLB

      • Sean

        *NLRB

    • kinnath

      40K per year. Fucking nuts.

      • rhywun

        “Why is everything so expensive here?”

    • J. Frank Parnell

      This is not the cyberpunk future I was hoping for.

      • UnCivilServant

        Most cyberpunk settings are dystopic.

      • J. Frank Parnell

        Yeah, but at least there’s high-speed pizza delivery.

    • juris imprudent

      Governor Newsom has your back

      MUCH LIKE STEVE SMITH, AND STEVE NOT LIKE COMPETITION FROM GREASY GOVERNOR.

  34. Not Adahn

    The Care Bears finally won, didn’t they?

    • Not Adahn

      So is Tom Smothers.

      You know, I never saw them in the same place at the same time…

      • kinnath

        Pat Paulsen for President!

  35. The Late P Brooks

    It’s a bumpy road to unlimited free clean energy

    There’s a lot riding on the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry: the ability to tap into a huge source of clean energy and reduce carbon emissions, the opportunity to create thousands of jobs, the unique chance to jumpstart a new domestic manufacturing industry.

    For these reasons, President Biden has made the success of the industry a pillar of his climate agenda. His administration has set an ambitious target of getting 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind power flowing into the grid by 2030, which is enough electricity to power 10 million homes.

    That goal is a long way off, and given the tumultuous year the industry just had, the future is anything but certain.

    ——-

    Other experts agree; meeting Biden’s 2030 goals is more a matter of “when” than “if,” they say.

    “I think we will see the continuous rise of offshore wind,” said Jan Matthiessen, director of the offshore wind program at The Carbon Trust, which advises governments and industry. “It is a young sector. We are scaling up, we are growing. And that also means you have some bumps in the road that you need to overcome.”

    Says the “expert” who doesn’t actually build or create any of those magical structures.

    Clap harder. Tinkerbell is barely capable of nap-of-the-earth flight.

    • rhywun

      NPR is trying valiantly to let their readership down gently. I don’t think they could handle the trust just yet.

    • juris imprudent

      flowing into the grid by 2030

      Geez wouldn’t you know, if he could’ve eked out a 3rd term, it might have happened. I always love this shit – glorious thing to be accomplished after I’m out of office and probably dead. I guess we can thank JFK for that.

  36. Brochettaward

    A really, really stupid article from…guess the source. Why Section 3 Disqualification Doesn’t Require a Prior Criminal Conviction on Charges of Insurrection

    Who can spot the flaw in this logic?

    The same reasoning applies to Trump. The absence of a criminal conviction for insurrection doesn’t immunize him from civil proceedings arising from his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Disqualification under Section 3 is a civil issue, not a criminal one. It cannot result in a prison sentence or other criminal sanctions.

    Then, my favorite line!

    In addition to these general considerations about the structure of the legal system, there are also points specific to the original meaning of Section 3. None of the ex-Confederates who were adjudged disqualified during Reconstruction had ever been convicted of any crimes related to their roles in the Civil War. That strongly suggests the original understanding didn’t require prior criminal conviction for insurrection—or any other offense—before an insurrectionist could be disqualified.

    I addressed this retarded line of reasoning in my initial post on this subject. It was kind of obvious if you swore an oath to the confederacy or not, though you could probably challenge the validity of the ruling. Everyone who did that was de facto guilty of insurrection according to Congress and barred from office.

    Congress, on the other hand, specifically weighed the question of whether to convict Trump for insurrection and acquitted him.

    This argument is so fucking stupid that only a….well, you’ll just have to click to find out-writer could have come up with it!

    • Ownbestenemy

      Because the actions of a riot were the same as state seceding and forming their own government.

      From one of his earlier (he has a lot to say on Trump) articles

      Disqualification laws might be unnecessary if voters could be relied on to reject dangerously illiberal, anti-democratic, incompetent candidates at the polls.

      You peons won’t do it, so we elite must do it for you.

      • UnCivilServant

        I will not stipulate that anything that happened even rose to the level of Riot.

        The only violence was inflicted against the citizens by the authorities. It was at most an orderly tresspass at the invitation of those same violent authorities.

      • rhywun

        There was some breaking in. I have no idea how widespread it was given the MSM’s bias in showing the same clips over and over again.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Or who was actually doing it.

      • Brochettaward

        It wouldn’t matter even if it did. Congress voted on this very subject. The Colorado court decided to use a biased and partisan January 6th Commission’s reports over the actual vote taken by Congress on the same subject matter.

        The Senate acquitted. They weighed the issue of whether Trump could or could not run for office because of January 6th and determined that he could.

        This is the exact opposite situation from the Civil War. They are overruling Congress on a matter that they have no jurisdiction on, criminal or otherwise. Congress is clearly the final word on what is or isn’t insurrection, and if they are silent it’s the job of the federal courts.

    • DEG

      I guessed Vox then hovered over the link.

      Ah. Right.

    • rhywun

      “his role”

      Which role is that?

      Jesus, I only read a few comments and my brain is melting already.

      That writer has been rational elsewhere. I didn’t know.

      • juris imprudent

        Somin has a potentially terminal case of TDS.

  37. Mojeaux, font of all evil

    I was forced to connect my phone to wifi (becaise I wanted to post here—see what I do for you people), and my phone auto-updated. Broke my PowerAmp. It usually breaks because I keep the previous version because I like the skin and I hated the “improvements.” This time I can’t downgrade and the skin won’t load and I’m pissed.

    • Brochettaward

      When electronics try to prevent me from Firsting, I smack them against a hard surface until they cooperate.

    • UnCivilServant

      😧

      I hate when devices push changes I didn’t tell them to.

      • Mojeaux, font of all evil

        I keep my shit as UN-updated as possible because something I rely on invariably breaks. I didn’t update WordPress sites because of breakage but then it started updating itself and I have tried to turn it off and it just ignores that and does it anyway.

      • juris imprudent

        HEATHEN – DO NOT ATTEMPT TO THWART THE POWER OR TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS!

        fucking nerds

    • Not Adahn

      Do you have insight into the scheduling issue ongoing?

      • kinnath

        There is nothing scheduled for noon today.

      • Ownbestenemy

        So the world is ending. Got it.

      • Not Adahn

        Yeah. A single slip in OpSec and the ALA stuffs another body into the binding repair closet.

      • Mojeaux, font of all evil

        We don’t have much content coming in, plus holidays/vacations or end-of-year work rush. Got no afternoon links scheduled, but I assume someone will slap some together.

      • Tres Cool

        “slap some together” made me think of Bobby Brown for some reason.

      • juris imprudent

        Bitch links for the afternoon!

  38. The Late P Brooks

    I didn’t update WordPress sites because of breakage but then it started updating itself and I have tried to turn it off and it just ignores that and does it anyway.

    “That button there- it doesn’t do anything.”

    I have a computer on the floor next to me which has not been turned on in more than two years. It is newer-faster-better in every way than this decrepit laptop, but the OS is Win 10, and if I turn it on and connect to the intertubes it will do who knows what. I found my old linux sample disk. I need to see if it will boot off it, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. Because then I will have to re-learn how to partition, install, et c.

    • Mojeaux, font of all evil

      I have Win10. There’s a way to turn off updates (which I did) and to keep it from bugging you. I can’t remember how I did it, tho.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    NPR is trying valiantly to let their readership down gently. I don’t think they could handle the trust just yet.

    NPR and their readers are extremely reality-averse.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    This is not the cyberpunk future I was hoping for.

    Pizza delivery via ornithopter is only a few years away!

    • juris imprudent

      May be arriving in California sooner.

  41. Raven Nation

    Anyone here used privacy[.]com’s virtual credit cards? If so, any thoughts pro or con?

  42. kinnath

    New post up