Open post – Spud’s a bad boy

by | Mar 14, 2024 | Daily Links | 158 comments

I’ll be in the corner, cranking the hog.

Yep, I’m out there in the yard, picking up dog shit, blowing leaves around, generally enjoying a sunny day.

So I’m sitting on the patio, enjoying the fruits of my labor, when I open up the laptop and see “are you still doing afternoon links for Tonio?”. Yeah, apparently not.

So feel free to chat amongst yourselves. I may toss in a tune here in a bit.

About The Author

Spudalicious

Spudalicious

Survey says I’m a Paleolibertarian bitches. That means I eat “L”ibertarians for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Soave tastes a little fruity. Wait a minute, that doesn’t sound quite right…

158 Comments

  1. The Other Kevin

    Whew, good news. I thought we’d gotten caught up in that TikTok ban.

    • R.J.

      Not yet. It’s probably coming though.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Can we raise enough money here to buy TikTok? I’m in for a few bucks.

      • Chafed

        If it keeps its keystroke logging capability, it will pay for itself.

  2. Aloysious

    blowing leaves around

    You were toodling away on your sax, weren’t you.

    • Spudalicious

      That’s next. I’m working on this

      • Aloysious

        I love Dire Straits.

        My favorite version of Brothers in Arms. No sax, but still.

      • Shpip

        Here’s mine. A capella.

      • Aloysious

        That is one deep voice.

    • SDF-7

      He’s going to invite over a string quartet… so he can have some Sax N Violins.

      • pan fried wylie

        I understand Spud is cleaning up the yard to make space for a temporary nursery, his next trip to visit OMWC will include a gift of 100 gums and 200 clips (from various species).

    • R.J.

      Oooo! Didn’t see that one coming.

      • SDF-7

        It would be nice to revert that whole slew of New Deal era decisions.

        But I don’t seriously think it will happen. I certainly think they’re right, though… the Fed has absolutely no business messing with most things after all.

      • R.J.

        If it does get heard, chances are a narrow decision applying only to certain actions. I would still take that over nothing.

      • Spudalicious

        Amazon and SpaceX have jumped on the bandwagon as well.

    • Sean

      I’ll side with TJ’s if they bring back my parsnip chips.

      • pan fried wylie

        Schnips brand parsnip chips, “They won’t go straight from your lips to your hips!”

    • robc

      I like Trader Joes. Now even more so.

      • Chafed

        Me too.

      • prolefeed

        Considering their client base seems heavily proggie, I wouldn’t be surprised if TJ finds itself being boycotted over this insanely sensible legal action.

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      Picking up where John Mackie left off when he sold out to Bezos?

      • Chafed

        That’s Whole Foods.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        Yes.. which was sold to Amazon

    • Nephilium

      I seem to recall that’s the same case that has Amazon and Tesla/SpaceX involved in it.

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

      College towns split in half, mentally.

    • rhywun

      It’s hard to read between the lines of all the agitprop to get to something meaningful to a non-lawyer such as myself – surely an oversight on their part.

  3. Tonio

    Previously unrecognized volcano, with possible water ice glacier discovered near equator of Mars. This is the least inhospitable area of Mars where the temperature sometimes goes above 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Water ice is a raw material for drinking water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel (the Liquid Hydrogen / Liquid Oxygen variety).

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/scientists-find-long-sought-giant-volcano-hidden-in-plain-sight-on-mars/ar-BB1jTKzm

    • The Other Kevin

      With that successful test this morning, we’ll be on Mars within a month.

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

      And Tonio from the top rope, bringing in actual linx.

      Houda thunk, on a Tursday?

      • Tonio

        While I’m on vacay, too!

      • bacon-magic

        Dedication.

      • Chafed

        No wonder I admire you.

      • Swiss Servator

        We all do, Chafed. We all do.

    • prolefeed

      For all those progs who argue that Venus has runaway global warming due to greenhouse gases – tow it out to the vicinity of Mars, and it would be inhospitably cold instead of inhospitably hot.

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

        Sometimes breaks my brain when people use logic to explain to proggies some basic fact. I will hear it, and be all like “what, someone doesn’t know that?” And then I remember who they are talking to.

  4. The Late P Brooks

    Tragedy

    A sand dune that cost homeowners on a Massachusetts beach more than half a million dollars to construct has washed away after just three days.

    An affluent group of beachfront property owners in Salisbury, Massachusetts – a coastal town 35 miles north of Boston – are mourning the loss of their investment after a safety measure they took to protect their homes failed.

    The dune, made of 15,000 tons of sand, was meant to keep dangerous tides from encroaching on to the shore and damaging beach houses. The dune had just been completed in February but was gone within 72 hours.

    ——-

    As oceans around the world get warmer, sea levels rise due to thermal expansion and weather patterns get more extreme, boosting coastal erosion.

    Salisbury has suffered from rising sea levels, stronger winds and severe storms in recent months, including two in January, that have battered the area.

    ——-

    Now, the homeowners have asked the state to step in and provide assistance.

    Local news outlet Fox59 reported that the Republican state senator Bruce Tarr was working to secure $1.5m in state funding to replenish the sand.

    Tarr, noting that a more permanent seawall was not an option because hard structures like these are not allowed on Massachusetts beaches, said: “We’re managing a natural resource that protects a lot of interests.”

    I’m pretty sure that ocean has always been there. Water does whatever the fuck it wants to, in utter indifference to the wishes of puny humans.

    • The Other Kevin

      Maybe a giant worm knocked it over.

      • Swiss Servator

        Bless the Maker and his passing…

    • Sean

      *points & laughs*

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

      Salisbury, huh. I bet they thought they had a steak in this!

      • bacon-magic

        They did, then the water took the dune to a watery gravy.

      • The Other Kevin

        Now they have a real beef with mother nature.

      • Spudalicious

        The ocean put that dune through the grinder.

      • pan fried wylie

        Destroying a truly heroic effort of submarine hoagineering.

    • slumbrew

      Eh, I’m happy for private citizens to tackle that vs. public funds for their private benefit (which they’re looking for now).

      Looks like ~ 150 owners kicked in $4k each. Good chance that storm would have done more than $4k damage to at least some of the houses.

      If there had been time for the grasses to start growing and immobilize the dunes it would have worked out even better.

      • Chafed

        Completely agree. But now it’s time for a public-private partnership. I say they should pay to have John Kerry’s jaw anchored offshore to blunt the waves.

      • slumbrew

        Woah, woah, woah – we don’t want to blot out the sun.

    • R.J.

      SEA SMITH NOT LIKE ARCHITECTURE. NOT MATCH NEIGHBORHOOD. SMASH WITH PEE PEE STREAM.

    • Sensei

      hard structures like these are not allowed on Massachusetts beaches

      Are we not doing phrasing?

      Structures like that only change where the erosion occurs, they won’t generally stop it in any meaningful way. So you just exacerbate the issue for your neighbors if they are close by.

    • Aloysious

      SEA SMITH did put in an appearance this morning. Coincidence? I think not.

    • pan fried wylie

      Only $1.5m tax dollars to replace $0.5m worth of sand.

      • slumbrew

        Digging around, the $1.5MM is not just the sand but also the streets and sewage that have gotten jacked up by the storms in that area.

      • pan fried wylie

        Well, as long as those cash-chuckers are getting the most for their otherpeoplesmoney.

    • R C Dean

      It would take a heart of stone not to laugh.

  5. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    This week I told a man I think about him e every time I take a shower

    • Gender Traitor

      Mr. Moen?

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Mr. Pfister.

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

        So, you’re saying something is dripping?

      • R.J.

        Mr. Clean?

      • Spudalicious

        Johann Vesling?

      • Tres Cool

        Hey Culligan Man!

      • creech

        Alfred Hitchcock?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “Have your wife dry-cleaned.”

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        Alfred Hitchcock made two cameos in NxNW

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

        And none as SxSW!

  6. The Late P Brooks

    The grocery store chain is arguing that the federal agency prosecuting it for unfair labor practices — including giving union workers worse retirement benefits and barring workers from wearing union pins at work — is unconstitutional.

    I assume that means unionized workers are strictly subject to the terms of the union contract, and the non union workers get a more generous deal voluntarily arrived at by management without the assistance of union goons negotiators.

    • prolefeed

      Trader Joes has about 530 stores, of which only four have unionized.

      That’s a small enough number that making an example of them “pour encourager les autres” would make sense, however much it costs versus the profits of those particular stores. I remember some other chains that took a scorched earth approach and permanently shuttered most or all recently unionized stores.

  7. The Late P Brooks

    This looks like a job for the Clinton Foundation

    The Biden administration is discussing using Guantanamo Bay to process Haitian migrants if there is a mass exodus to the US amid worsening conditions in the country, according to a US official.

    For years, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, which is located about 200 miles from Haiti, has had a migrant center to hold and process migrants before returning them to Haiti or a third country.

    The center — which is separate from where terrorist suspects are held — has been used before. In 2010, for example, the US military prepared the site in anticipation of Haitians fleeing the earthquake-stricken country.

    But discussions to expand capacity at the site mark the latest sign of growing concern within the administration about people fleeing Haiti in droves as gangs attack government structures and social order is on the brink of collapse.

    First, we’ll have to build a ten billion dollar headquarters/office/processing center…

    • Drake

      They’ve done a great job there so far!

    • bacon-magic

      They can save money on feeding them by the Thunderdome rules: “2 will enter, one will be eaten”

    • The Other Kevin

      The Dominican Republic is not fucking around, they’re sending anyone who crosses the border back in a rather unceremonious way. Maybe we should hire them for our border.

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

      If only Obama Stalin knew…

  8. The Late P Brooks

    But amid the uncertainty in Haiti, Biden administration officials are bracing for a mass migration event at a time when federal resources are already strapped, and key immigration agencies are low on funds.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for example, has drafted contingency plans to cut detention capacity and release thousands of migrants unless they get additional funds. They would likely have to provide personnel who have already been diverted to assist along the US southern border.

    Nobody move, or the nigger gets it. That’s always a great negotiation tactic.

    • Drake

      Haitian barbeques coming to your neighborhood.

      • pan fried wylie

        Not authentic bbq.

        Nobody move, or the nigger gets it. That’s always a great negotiation tactic.

        I mean, it worked, didn’t it?

      • prolefeed

        Using the N-word here seems … gratuitous. And a non sequitur.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Take it up with Mel Brooks.

      • pan fried wylie

        For the record, I was referring to how the tactic worked in the movie, not for ICE.

      • pan fried wylie

        Couldnt be any near-er.

    • Sensei

      The only way to protect our border is give Ukraine money and fund various unrelated woke programs.

    • juris imprudent

      Hey look where we just discovered we could save a bunch of money in ICE!!!

    • rhywun

      release thousands of migrants

      Release them where?

      • creech

        Martha’s Vineyard, Bryn Mawr, Malibu.

      • rhywun

        I was thinking more along the lines of “on the other side of our border” but sanctuary destinations have a certain appeal, too.

  9. pan fried wylie

    morning thread’s: “It’s one of the first U.S. hospital systems to offer modesty gowns specifically designed for Muslim children.”

    ISTR that burkas and hijabs aren’t for children anyway, just for post-pubescent women.

    If the patient is insured, they’re children upto Age 26.

    Put burlap sacks on them.

    As someone who’s landed in the hospital a handful of times thanks to ketoacidosis, I’d have definitely preferred a nice, warm, one-piece burlap sack. Wtf, hospitalgowns, “Here’s a bib to wear for a few days.”

    • Urthona

      Weird. Most religions are big fans of the traditional hospital gowns where your butt shows.

      • Nephilium

        Christian Scientists hardest hit!

      • Spudalicious

        Especially Greek Orthodox.

      • R C Dean

        Just put it on backwards. There, now your butt is covered.

      • pan fried wylie

        Trust a lawyer to CYA.

  10. The Late P Brooks

    Anti-trade xenophobe

    President Biden pushed back against the potential sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan on Thursday, calling it “vital” for the company to remain domestically owned.

    “It is important that we maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers,” Biden said in a statement obtained by The Hill. “I told our steel workers I have their backs, and I meant it. U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.”

    Biden’s comments are the first time he has publicly weighed in on the topic since Nippon Steel first announced in December that it planned to buy U.S. Steel for roughly $14 billion. The planned transaction raised alarms among Pennsylvania lawmakers and steelworkers about what it could mean for outsourcing jobs, for union workers and for U.S. supply chains.

    Those sneaky Japs are stealing our industrial base.

    • Sensei

      Which the U.S. incentivized by subsidizing domestic production.

    • R C Dean

      “outsourcing jobs, for union workers and for U.S. supply chains”

      You can’t outsource anything but laptopper jobs without closing the plant.

      New ownership doesn’t affect union contracts at all. The contract is with the company, not its owners.

      As long as the plant is still open, it’s still part of the U.S. supply chain, isn’t it?

  11. UnCivilServant

    What moron at Autodesk decided that in order to keep track of the current shape of an object, I can’t delete the object used in previous cut operations to create holes in it?

    I need it to not have the cylinder used for creating the holes, but every time I delete it, the main object errors into nonexistance.

    I shouldn’t have to figure out a way to hide the shape inside the main object.

    • UnCivilServant

      I erased it by merging into a solid part of the main object.

      I should be able to just delete it.

      • pan fried wylie

        I’m generally pretty unsatisfied by the usability of procedural objects in most modelers. 3ds ain’t bad, SolidWorks is the king.

    • R.J.

      “I shouldn’t have to figure out a way to hide the shape inside the main object.”
      Paging Q…
      Q to the white courtesy phone…

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

      Maybe the only shape it will give you is the shaft, and you just have to shut yo mouth…

  12. The Late P Brooks

    SCIENCE!

    An 80-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two felony wildlife crimes connected to his years-long efforts to create giant hybrid sheep using cloning and illegal insemination, federal prosecutors said.

    Arthur “Jack” Schubarth was creating the hybrid sheep as a target for hunters at private facilities, officials said. He violated both international and federal law, Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said.

    ——-

    “Schubarth sent genetic material from the argali parts to a lab to create cloned embryos,” prosecutors said.

    Schubarth provided a deposit of $4,200 for the cloning in 2015, according to the indictment, and received 165 cloned Marco Polo embryos on Nov. 22, 2016.

    “Schubarth then implanted the embryos in ewes on his ranch, resulting in a single, pure genetic male Marco Polo argali that he named ‘Montana Mountain King’ or MMK,” prosecutors said.

    Montana Mountain King’s semen was used to artificially impregnate various other sheep and create hybrid animals, all with the goal of creating larger, more valuable sheep for hunting, officials said.

    The guy should get an award.

    • R.J.

      “illegal insemination”
      Sheep rape?

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Sheep lie.

      • R.J.

        Gotta keep everything sheep shape in case the government comes poking around…

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        That’s true. Allegedly there’s a lost episode of Clarkson’s Farm where the livestock inspector comes around. He asks to speak with the animals to see how they are doing.

        “Speak?”

        “Yes, I can communicate with the animals.”

        Clarkson figures it’s BS so he lets the inspector roam the farm. A while later the inspector comes back. “So far so good. The pigs are happy. They are really like the food. The chickens were satisfied with the feed and shelter. The cow is happy with the grass it’s being fed. One last thing, I need to speak with the sheep.”

        Clarkson gets nervous and blurts, “Sheep lie!”

      • juris imprudent

        Isn’t that shaming the semen?

      • R.J.

        I thought that was shouting at sailors.

      • Tres Cool

        Heh….Shepherd’s pie

      • Shpip

        Last time I was out west, I saw the cutest little sheep. Just an absolute Dall.

      • pistoffnick

        Oh, ewe!

  13. Tres Cool

    Likely my favorite Dire Straits.

    *with girls on wheels

      • pan fried wylie

        Maneuvering the skates results in a lot of optimal calf poses.

      • slumbrew

        I would have been disappointed by any other link.

        That video is hypnotic (and I liked the song before I ever saw it).

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

        Ice Cream thighs.

      • pan fried wylie

        *pops a lactase tablet, or three*

      • Tres Cool

        This one is decent too.

      • Tres Cool

        (about half through)

  14. Shpip

    Florida Georgia Man, times two.

    Two men accused of bombing a woman’s dream home in Georgia also plotted to have a “python eat the victim’s daughter,” according to prosecutors.

    While a motive is unclear, NBC News reported that one of the men “had a prior relationship” with the woman, though the extent of that relationship was not disclosed.

    Some dudes just have trouble letting go, I reckon.

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

      and I’ll be… Wrapped around your daugh-ter”

  15. R.J.

    Not to freak anybody out or anything, but the movie for tonight is still pending.

    • Spudalicious

      Is it ready to go? 1855 server time?

      • Spudalicious

        Sorry, 1755.

      • Spudalicious

        It’s set.

      • R.J.

        I am overcome with joy!

      • Spudalicious

        My hair’s on fire.

      • R.J.

        Meh.
        “I sensed a disturbance in the Force, as if a movie post cried out, and then was silenced.”
        Or maybe it was just Chuck Norris’ birthday.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    Not to freak anybody out or anything, but the movie for tonight is still pending.

    I’m not suggesting it as a glibflick, but I watched an excellent movie last night called “The Detective”.

    Not Frank Sinatra.

    Alec Guinness

    • R.J.

      I just found it on IMDB.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    Heinous

    Six juveniles in Massachusetts were charged in a racial online bullying incident that involved “heinous” language, threats of “violence toward people of color” and a mock slave auction, the district attorney for Hampden County said.

    Students from Southwick, about 104 miles southwest of Boston, allegedly participated in a “hateful, racist online” Snapchat discussion between Feb. 8 and Feb. 9, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said in a statement on Facebook.

    Gulluni said he became aware of the incident on Feb. 15 and immediately called on the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit to investigate.

    Needs more Truth and Reconciliation commission. Neckties optional.

    • Ted S.

      Should have called people “stupid white bastards” and the media would be defending them.

      • R.J.

        I await more information. The color of the offending kids was not mentioned.

      • slumbrew

        Nagger, please. Only some kids are suitable for prosecuting double-plus ungood speech.

      • Ted S.

        I was referring to this story, which I’m enjoying for how the media is twisting themselves into pretzels to defend the behavior.

        The only thing better is if a black man had called someone a “stupid white bastard”, because you’d have half the sportswriters talking about toxic masculinity and the other half would be playing the race card.

        Also, a lot of the news stories don’t mention that Kerr is alleged to have vomited in the back seat of the taxi, just calling it a dispute.

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

        I saw Snow Roaches the other day. That was nice.

      • rhywun

        JFC this is so tedious.

      • rhywun

        It’s so ridiculous.

        And yet… if this shit is really happening, I find it more likely to be happening in [current year] than at any time in the last 40 years or so.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    The district attorney initiated forward-looking steps to “prevent future harm, encourage empathy, and build stronger communities free of hate.”

    They include a curriculum around hate and bullying being delivered to the Southwick school community and a partnership with the attorney general’s office to create a program that addresses and remediates the harmful forces of bigotry, racism and bullying in schools.

    Destroy those kids. Make certain they have no future.

    That should help.

  19. pan fried wylie

    @UCS

    Inspired by your stablediffusion article, I got myself a copy of ComfyUI running with sdxl-turbo and now perusing various other models on huggingface. We’re gonna need a bigger boat, git is rapidly filling up my 2TB drive. The full orangemixs repo is over a hundred gb, sheesh.

  20. Gender Traitor

    @KK – listening to Ryan Hall, Y’all right now, as there’s apparently a tornado three counties north of us. Love Ryan, but he doesn’t know how to pronounce the names of towns in west central OH. 🙄

    • R.J.

      There’s one a few miles away to the West right now. And baseball sized hail. I am hoping it all misses the house.

      • Gender Traitor

        Don’t know if hail is coming here, but this will be a good test of our one-day-old roof.

      • Gender Traitor

        Oh, yeah – and then there’s the cars, neither of which can be put in the garage because it’s a big storage locker. 😟

      • R.J.

        That is my #1. Garage stays clean. I work on it weekly to prevent such an issue. North Texas you have hail every year, guaranteed.

      • Tres Cool

        Honey, you’re my neighbor and I love you.
        Clean that shit out- your subbies will be happy. And someday I may need a place to stay.

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      Yep – on his livestream! Be careful all y’all!!

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      Reed Timmer said he was going to livestream today but he’s not as far as I can tell. But he is Tweeting.

      • R.J.

        Heh. Watch this:
        “REED TIMMER!”

        *Wife swoons