Afternoon fill in links of… third thing?

by | Apr 17, 2024 | Daily Links | 161 comments

Welcome all to another substitution.  If you don’t like it, feel free to request a refund.

Let’s start with something fun.  Slate knows the real story about the issues at NPR.

Go ahead and find a bad guy in this story… I’ll wait.

Wait… that’s right, I can’t go off topic.  So, some spoilers behind here to understand one of the major reasons I have issues with the Fallout TV show (for those who only played FO3 and FO4, there’s nothing to see there).  And yes, yes they did wipe it out.  The bastards.

It’s a different format you idiots.  The writing for games has been a draw for over 30 years… go back and read through the story for things like Ultima IV, Wing Commander (the whole Kilrathi saga really), and Star Control 2 (I’m being strong and waiting until release).

You had one job…

The past couple of weeks have had me going to some shows and running into people I haven’t seen in decades.  So, this seems an appropriate song.

Let’s see if anyone can find a reason to complain about this cocktail variant:

Clover Leaf

  • 1/2 ounce Chambord liqueur or Pomegranate Grenadine
  • 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
  • 1 egg whites or 1/2 ounce half-and-half
  • 1–1 1/2 ounces gin

Put them all into a shaker, shake until cold and frothy, strain into a coupe glass.  Garnish with some mint if you would like.

About The Author

Nephilium

Nephilium

Nephilium is a geek of multiple types living in the vast suburban forests of Cleveland.

161 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    “If you don’t like it, feel free to request a refund.”

    I’d settle for getting a third of my screen back 🙂

    • Sean

      Fair.

  2. Aloysious

    If you don’t like it, feel free to request a refund.

    I would never do that. Instead, I demand to speak to the manager.

  3. The Late P Brooks

    Hockey story- good job, dude.

    Haven’t there been a few similar baseball stories? Line drive foul balls…

  4. The Other Kevin

    I didn’t get two paragraphs into the NPR story. Can anyone summarize?

    • trshmnstr

      NPR is filled with good thinkers and if anything they’re not woke enough, and that shows sometimes in the organizational mess and biases they have.

      /got about 5 paragraphs in

      • rhywun

        I stopped at “too many journalists of color have left”.

    • Drake

      1. That Uri guy sucks, don’t listen to him.

      2. You suck, don’t question your betters.

    • rhywun

      Me neither. What fucking tedium.

      I have never listened to that outfit in my life – isn’t everything there like that?

      • trshmnstr

        Yes. The core audience is the same people who listen to classical music not because they like it, but because it makes them feel like they are better than you.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yep. As somebody here has often pointed out (sorry, I forget who), they just love to “remind” their listeners how smart they are, and the listeners lap it up.

    • Common Tater

      I read the whole thing.

      You made the right choice.

    • bacon-magic

      NPR is in full panic mode.

      • Sensei

        Procedures were followed.

    • RBS

      Lost me at the intro.

    • Homple

      I got this far, “NPR, the great bastion of old-school audio journalism….”, because I listened to old school audio journalism from Fulton Lewis Jr., Gabriel Heatter, Edward P. Morgan–even Paul (gawdhelpme) Harvey and such. NPR sucks at every aspect of audio journalism from material, presenters’ voices to the bleeply tweedly music they play as background noise while the uptalking simps of both sexes deliver their gibberish.

    • whiz

      I liked the part where she said that NPR was too timid to follow some stories (like Hunter’s laptop) until the NYT or WP went after it. That NPR tried to hit the middle ground of elite opinion and called themselves objective. Of course, what she completely misses is that the middle ground of elite opinion is way left…

  5. Drake

    “the organization’s very real, powerful enemies could exploit it…”

    You admit to hating my guts, while spending as much of my money as you can get your hands on. So, yeah, you are my enemy. I’m real but not very powerful.

  6. trshmnstr

    Let’s start with something fun. Slate knows the real story about the issues at NPR.

    I believe about 1/3 of what is written in that article.

    • prolefeed

      I believe about a third of the words, too. They are all words of four letters or less, such as “the”, “a”, “and”, and “this”.

      The periods are almost invariably believable, too, even if they end gibberish.

  7. kinnath

    I don’t care if they trash the cannon in your game so long as I enjoy the show.

    It’s all about me. 😉

    • Nephilium

      I understand, and am not trying to take anything away from those of you who are enjoying it. But I’m getting tired of all the articles claiming how faithful and authentic the game is when the person saying that has only played one (maybe two, at the extreme… 4 [FO3; FONV; FO4; FOS – mobile) of the games that make up that world (not even touching on the Fallout Bible).

      • kinnath

        Yes, I’ve watched many abominations that trashed IPs that I care about. So, I sympathize.

      • Drake

        Same. I know just enough about the game to recognize the basics. Not enough to get offended.

        I watched that Cowboy Bebop show and was entertained, then surprised at all the negative reactions.

      • kinnath

        I rather enjoyed the live-action Cowboy Bebop show. But again, I have no knowledge of the original anime. And, I knew nothing of the inflammatory comments made by the cast until after I had watched the show and was watching post mortems on its demise.

      • UnCivilServant

        I had a thought this morning that might explain Bethesda Fallout. And since they supposedly worked closely with the showrunners, I can say they had input on the development.

        Whoever works on it at Bethesda doesn’t grasp the concept of rebuilding or time marching on. In all of their first party titles, they are trapped in a setting that is five minutes after the apocalypse, regardless of the canon date. There are no tribals who’ve forgotten the past, there are no buildings not made from the bones of the old world, there is no organization beyond arm’s reach, why there are still stores with edible and unlooted food centuries after the last delivery.

        Two hundred years is a long time to be mired in something you’ve never experienced.

        So when tasked with looking at the west coast, they couldn’t grasp a setting that was not mired in five minutes after the apocalypse mentality. They couldn’t get their minds around “time marches on” and so they blew it up again to get back to five minutes after the apocalypse.

      • Nephilium

        And wiped out all the work I did to help get [REDACTED] up and running. One of the big complaints about the Bethesda era games is the huge time jump that wasn’t needed due to the setting change (and hyping up the BoS and putting various creatures in places they shouldn’t be).

      • UnCivilServant

        The part that is so frustrating is that there are only so many stories you can tell when stuck five minutes after the apocalypse. By clinging to that terrible design decition, you’re toomed to a treadmill of rehashing the same ground when there are new stories that could be told.

        I had been thinking about a way to set a game where you start as an ordinary member of the Enclave, and had an idea that would work. You would be born into the last remnant, say in that midwest site ED-E stopped at on his trip west. Looking at the situation, the acting pres goes “We’re taken too many losses to continue as things have been, we need covert operatives to go out and suborn disaffected groups amongst the squabbling statelets and tirbals, use them to build a new resource base, though they will never be equals to true members, and when the time is right, topple these local strongmen and potentates and restore order openly.”

        As a premise, your early-midgame safe harbor gives insight into a society not explored from a protagonist’s viewpoint, you can keep the more recent game mechanics for establishing outposts to control areas you’ve managed to take, and since you have to be believable as a common wastelander, you aren’t allowed to bring the advanced tech with you. (they might even disguise you as a vault dweller for consistancy). There would not be other returning factions, since you’re dealing with the locals, and being a new part of the map, it’s not retreading old ground as much

      • Nephilium

        Which is why it’s so infuriating after the progress and change that was shown in California through FO1, FO2, and FONV. FO1 has you basically helping to launch the NCR, FO2 (set 80 years later than 1) shows it starting to become a regional power, and FONV (set 40 years later than 2) shows the NCR starting to devolve into a bureaucracy.

        There were so many interesting stories that could have been told, instead, Bethesda just sticks with stasis.

  8. Common Tater

    “We went full-bore on “diner guy in a trucker hat” coverage and adopted the “alt-right” label to describe people who could accurately be called racists.”

    OFFS!!

    • Common Tater

      “Maybe the biggest head-scratcher for me in Uri’s argument is how it frames the lack of pursuit of the Hunter Biden laptop story as driven exclusively by politics. Uri said there was no follow-through because “the timeless journalistic instinct of following a hot story lead was being squelched.” In fairness, I left NPR for good in the spring of 2020, so I wasn’t there for this story arc. And the inappropriate statement, from a loose-lipped editor, that “it was good we weren’t following the laptop story because it could help Trump” sounds on-brand. But that killer instinct was regularly beat out of NPR journalists, regardless of the political mood or the president.”

      You assholes took the time to issue a statement, “We don’t waste our time on stories that are not really stories…” Even though there were two very real stories, the laptop, and the censorship over the laptop.

      • trshmnstr

        And the inappropriate statement, from a loose-lipped editor, that “it was good we weren’t following the laptop story because it could help Trump” sounds on-brand. But that killer instinct was regularly beat out of NPR journalists, regardless of the political mood or the president.

        Ignoring the fact that I don’t believe the last sentence for an instant, this is one reason why NPR should be groveling for coins from passing Subarus rather than pissing through filthy luchre seized from us. You can’t be bothered to do some investigative journalism? Fine, find your own funding.

    • Sean

      🙄

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Apparently the trouble with NPR is they’re just too darn fair and honest and even-handed.

    I think Berliner is a sap who honestly thinks NPR is the bestest thing ever and sincerely thought he was going to pull a Joan of Arc and rescue them.

  10. JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

    That NPR lady is the incarnation of Google AI. She’s so bad she’s awesome.

  11. Gustave Lytton

    Hilarious how the idiot NPR girl thinks history started with her presence. It was twenty years ago that they shanked Bob Edwards.

    • juris imprudent

      Hardly unusual though – damn few people have a proper appreciation of what came before them, because after all THEY weren’t part of the story then.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    My only contact with video game based content is probably Red vs Blue. I found it to be excellent.

    • Aloysious

      O’Malley was my favorite evil doing, evil bad guy in that series. He even had an evil lair.

  13. DEG

    Wait… that’s right, I can’t go off topic.

    We have topics?

    go back and read through the story for things like Ultima IV, Wing Commander (the whole Kilrathi saga really), and Star Control 2

    The FT article is behind a paywall and I’m not going to muck with it.

    I liked the Ultima series even with all the retconning. Ultima IV and V I never played. Huh… I still have my Ultima Collection. I wonder if I can get it running under DosBox on Linux and play those two.

    I played one of the Wing Command games.

    I never played Star Control 2, but I played Starflight and Starflight 2.

    On writing in older computer games: David W. Bradley’s writing in Wizardy VI and VII falls apart at the end. It’s a shame because he had interesting world and worldbuilding in both.

    • Nephilium

      All of the Wing Commander and Ultima games are available on GOG (DRM free, with adjustments to run on modern machines). Star Control 2 is available for free under the different name of The Ur-Quan Masters.

      • Nephilium

        And just checked… Ultima IV is currently free on GOG (for Windows 7-11 and Mac OS X 10.6.8). The graphics and interface are amazingly outdated at this point, but the story in the game is still there.

      • DEG

        Which includes DosBox stuff, which I remember I got working for Linux for the Quest for Glory series.

      • Fatty Bolger

        IV is excellent, probably the best, along with Ultima VII. That one was amazing for the time, like a 2D Oblivion.

      • Urthona

        I loved V

      • Common Tater

        Hot lizard women?

    • The Other Kevin

      Depends on how much money he had.

      • Sensei

        Legit LOL.

        It’s like you own a gym.

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      He looks like thing from fantastic 4.

    • Gender Traitor

      No.

      ::looks at second photo::

      Oh, so very, very, very no. 😖

  14. pedantic

    Not gonna lie, I liked the NPR article. Sure the author was absolutely part of that liberal blind spot, but her portrayal of a bunch of well meaning do-gooders who can’t own up to their own faults was interesting! I don’t think NPR set out to be Pravda, they just ended up there through their own monolithic culture of nice conformity.

    • Nephilium

      I try to only provide the lowest quality best in authentic frontier gibberish, glad it met your tastes. 🙂

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        *glibberish

  15. The Late P Brooks

    We hate “ordinary Americans”.

    Signed,

    “National”

    “Public”

    Radio

    • Aloysious

      I don’t mind, because they don’t matter.

      • R.J.

        We fund them to spew commie filth with no consequences to their reporters and editors. Pull the damn plug already.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Adams sounds racist.

    • B.P.

      “‘Black migrants, who are disproportionately harmed by every aspect of our immigration system, deserve language justice, dignity, and access to services,’ Office of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander wrote in a post on X.”

      A country so racist that people from Africa and Haiti are breaking into it. Imagine stationing your uninvited self in another country, with no plan, then demanding food, shelter, health care, “language justice,” “cultural competency” from government institutions, etc. Some of these people have to be thinking to themselves, “I can’t believe I’m at a protest doing this.”

      • juris imprudent

        Brad Lander, really white knight.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        ‘language justice’

        Go fuck yourself, learn English. That’s the only reasonable response to that.

      • rhywun

        That guy is notoriously lunatic left. A shoo-in for mayor, no doubt.

    • trshmnstr

      “Like” or “at”?

  16. The Late P Brooks

    I don’t think NPR set out to be Pravda, they just ended up there through their own monolithic culture of nice conformity.

    Earnest, well-meaning, and completely unselfaware.

  17. The Late P Brooks
    • Nephilium
      • Tundra
      • The Other Kevin

        Hey when did you get back? Been meaning to text you, our gym is still limping along thanks to a fat tax refund. We finally got our sign.

      • Tundra

        Looks like 4:09 😉

        I was thinking about ya’ll and thought I’d poke my head in for a couple minutes. Great news about the gym! Memberships going up?

      • Name's BEAM. *James* BEAM.

        If I lived near your gym, I’d buy a membership.

        Sadly, I believe I live several thousand klicks away from your gym.  :-/

      • kinnath

        welcome back

      • Tundra

        I hope all is well in your world. Did you guys have an easy winter like the boys in Minne (and CO)?

      • kinnath

        Yes, Pretty mild

  18. Common Tater

    “‘Non-binary, neurodivergent’ activist ordering psychiatrists to push ‘gender affirming’ surgery over therapy

    Goetz contends, for instance, that “gender diversity and non-binary genders” are common among indigenous people of color around the globe, what some call a “third gender.”

    Such terminology, however, warns Goetz, “is a violent construction of (white dominated) Western academic discourses and erases indigenous experiences and cultures.”

    Goetz drives home the point: “Binary gender norms” — men and women — “are fake news from European colonialism and white supremacy.”

    Why weren’t all the different genders among indigenous people of color recognized much earlier?

    “To maintain power (white) doctors and scientists argued that Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities were subhuman because men and women were indistinguishable.”

    https://nypost.com/2024/04/17/opinion/non-binary-activist-teddy-goetz-ordering-psychiatrists-to-push-gender-affirming-surgery-over-therapy/

    CWAA

    • Ted S.

      I didn’t realize Bernie changed his name.

    • Drake

      This person belongs in a mental hospital.

      • trshmnstr

        This. The fact that anybody is listening to them is a scathing indictment of our critical thinking skills as a culture.

      • Compelled Speechless

        It’s becoming more and more apparent that no one is listening to them, despite the corporate media desperately trying to make it seem like they do.

      • rhywun

        Goetz drives home the point: “Binary gender norms” — men and women — “are fake news from European colonialism and white supremacy.”

        Oh come on. This is a totally sensible opinion.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    Bad Orange Jumpsuit Man on the loose

    Former President Trump on Tuesday visited a bodega in Harlem after getting out of court for the day, highlighting how he’s seeking to balance his time as both a criminal defendant and the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

    Trump stopped by the bodega, where supporters had gathered and greeted him with chants of “four more years.” The former president used the stop to attack the judge overseeing his hush money case, rip Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s handling of crime, and suggest his campaign would make a play for the solidly blue New York.

    ——-

    While Trump is set to spend four days a week in court for the next several weeks, the stop at the Harlem convenience store reflects how he will seek to drum up media attention and get his message out even while he is on trial.

    Trying to steal black votes. Is there nothing he won’t do?

    • The Other Kevin

      I hope those people chanting realize they ain’t black.

    • kinnath

      I seem to recall him campaigning on “if they can do this to me, they can do anything to you”.

  20. R.J.

    “ Everyone did. It was an institutional joke that people who left for other jobs would find their way back, because the place was irresistible.”
    Replace irresistible with government funded. That removes a whole layer of fiscal responsibility for reporters so they can go hog-wild commie and not have to worry about the bottom line.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    What did “gender divergent” people do prior to neo-colonialist medicine?

    • kinnath

      We should ask the confirmed bachelors down at the gentlemen’s club during happy hour.

      • juris imprudent

        That is an interesting thought – who in our society is more fucked up: the woke gender morons or the Incels?

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        Woke gender morons, and it isn’t even close.

    • The Other Kevin

      Based on what experts say, every one of them committed suicide.

  22. Sensei

    I had no idea who the hell MKBHD was on YouTube. I hated the title stills he selected and refused to watch his videos despite YouTube’s algorithm shoving them at me. I blocked his channel.

    Only later did I realize who he was and his influence. I still haven’t watched a single video from him however.

    https://stratechery.com/2024/mkbhds-for-everything/

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      I have no idea who it is still. Thanks. 🙂

  23. The Late P Brooks

    Bored Orange Jumpsuit Man


    Did Donald Trump fall asleep in court?

    As the first criminal trial of a former American president commenced Monday, The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman delivered a stunning report from the Manhattan courtroom. Trump, she reported, “appeared to nod off a few times,” with his mouth “going slack and his head drooping onto his chest.”

    Haberman, it goes without saying, is in a class of her own when it comes to reporting on Trump. When Haberman reports news about the Republican frontrunner, readers can take it to the bank. And her observation about Trump’s apparent low-energy demeanor was corroborated by other reporters who confirmed that the defendant’s eyes were shut for lengthy periods of time.

    “He looked like he was nodding off and at one point in a pretty true tell that he was falling asleep, his head nodded down and then he sort of jolted back up at one point,” The NYT’s Susanne Craig also said on MSNBC.

    Contempt of court! They’ve got him now.

    • The Other Kevin

      This should give him a boost in the polls. Most people can identify with him, because the rest of us also find all this lawfare tedious and boring.

    • trshmnstr

      Haberman, it goes without saying, is in a class of her own when it comes to reporting on Trump. When Haberman reports news about the Republican frontrunner, readers can take it to the bank.

      The fact that you’re saying it means it doesn’t go without saying. It also means you’re probably lying.

      Trump’s apparent low-energy demeanor

      I, for one, thought he was incapable of sleep.

      Seriously, who is out there thinking up this line of attack? “We got him now! He took a nap during a tedious portion of a trial! Haha!”

      Anybody who has sat through a trial knows how much you want to curl up In a ball and go to sleep. If anything, this shows Trump’s lack of respect for the proceeding, which is red meat for the base.

      • juris imprudent

        I’m not the base and I enjoy it.

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

        A friend of mines Great Uncle was in the Wehrmacht, and fought on all fronts, at various times.

        Apparently, the dude could sleep anywhere, at any time. Nothing going on, he was gonna take a nap.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Nevertheless, the episode underscores the information vacuum that has been birthed by the lack of transparency into the case. The Trump campaign forcefully denying Haberman and other reporters’ accounts quickly created two versions of events for people at home to choose to believe: Trump or Haberman. And it’s a safe bet that much of the country would (wrongly) place its trust in Trump, despite his propensity to lie.

    I heard some bizarre conspiracy theory that news organizations are rife with bias and preconceptions. What a ridiculous thing to believe.

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      Such an interesting last sentence.

      You shouldn’t trust anyone you don’t know intimately, and even then…

  25. The Late P Brooks
    • Tundra

      Haha!

      I’m actually following that one, too! Land Cruisers are starting to bring pretty big money.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I like it. Just out of curiosity I wonder if it’ll outrun a T-Rex.

  26. The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

    ‘Clover Leaf’

    For once I actually have all the ingredients. BRB after I make it.

    • Nephilium

      Swap out raspberry syrup for the Chambord/Grenadine and you’ve got a Clover Club (the original drink).

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      Frothy, minty and getting strong herbal notes from the gin without the string taste of alcohol. The sweetness of the grenadine is barely shining through. It’s possible I under dosed on the grenadine and a little over on the gin.

      An interesting drink, though I probably wouldn’t seem it out, it’s inoffensive, especially as someone who usually doesn’t enjoy gin. 3/5.

  27. R.J.

    “ Eric Adams is blaming the Biden administration for not providing work for migrants.”

    Hahahahhahahahahahahahaha!
    Go suck a rock.

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      Hey, maybe they could go to work, somewhere in the countryside, kind of like a camp.

      • juris imprudent

        Fresh air, steady work, make sure that no one can interrupt their concentration…

      • R.J.

        Work is very freeing.

  28. Raven Nation

    May be the first time in my life I’ve wanted Real Madrid to win a UCL game.

    • Ted S.

      Nice to see the EPL teams all out.

      Poor US hipster bandwagon followers. What are they going to do now?

      • Raven Nation

        Well, I mainly follow English soccer, but I’ve been doing so since the 1970s.

      • Raven Nation

        But I am rooting for BM mainly b/c of Kane. And also b/c the other teams left, meh.

      • Ted S.

        I’ve got a friend who’s a long-time fan of Tottenham, and I joked that the reason BM have sucked this year is because they brought in someone from Tottenham. 🙂

        /Bayern fan since the 80s; my German relatives who came over for sister’s wedding in 1988 were astonished that I knew the name Franz Beckenbauer.

      • Raven Nation

        Same for me. Kane will be seen as a curse if they don’t win anything.

        Thanks for your response to my question a few weeks back. I saw it long after the thread died and wasn’t around much last week.

    • rhywun

      #metoo

      Go Bayern!

  29. The Late P Brooks

    “ Eric Adams is blaming the Biden administration for not providing work for migrants.”

    Are there no workhouses?

    • R.J.

      They are too big for orphan work.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Don’t bother to act surprised

    California spent $24 billion to tackle homelessness over the past five years but didn’t consistently track whether the huge outlay of public money actually improved the situation, according to state audit released Tuesday.

    With makeshift tents lining the streets and disrupting businesses in cities and towns throughout California, homelessness has become one of the most frustrating and seemingly intractable issues in the country’s most populous state. An estimated 171,000 people are homeless in California, which amounts to roughly 30% of all of the homeless people in the U.S.

    Despite the roughly billions of dollars spent on more than 30 homeless and housing programs during the 2018-2023 fiscal years, California doesn’t have reliable data needed to fully understand why the problem didn’t improve in many cities, according to state auditor’s report.

    Their job is to perpetuate homelessness, not end it.

    • R.J.

      It’s the government. They don’t have to prove anything. Now hand over your wallet to Mr. Newsome….

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      The people who run the NGOs and various government programs have homes, so success!

    • mikey

      “Despite”?. They misspelled “Because of”.

    • rhywun

      It’s a mystery.

    • Common Tater

      $24 Billion? They could have put the homeless on the moon.

  31. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Ohio Valleyish Glibs a’ight? I see some storm chasers in your neck of the woods today

    • Gender Traitor

      It was pretty blowsy in SW OH (Dayton area) and there were some power outages, but I think the worst was to the north and east of us. Teh Hype? Grummun? (And whoever else I’m forgetting?) Please report in, ‘kay? Thx!

      • Nephilium

        Up here by the lake, we’re coming out of a tornado watch, but none of the threatened hail has come through yet.

      • Beau Knott

        Mid-Michigan was hairy for a bit early mid-afternoon, but it blew through pretty quickly. Tornado sirens early on, but the shut down by the time the heavy rain & small hail started.

      • Grummun

        :tap tap:: is this thing on?

        There was a tornado watch called on the county south and east of me. I got one strong cell that went right over top of us, lasted maybe 10 minutes. Now partly cloudy, sun shining, no wind to speak of.

  32. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    I got beer flavored Jelly Belly beans as a free gift with my order of bag of just licorice beans. I’m skeptical.

    • R.J.

      Did they taste like beer?

      • R.J.

        I realize that is a wide variety of tastes. Budweiser? Ale?

      • Nephilium

        They do not.

      • R.J.

        Thanks. The suspense was killing me. Been sitting bored for an hour. A whole wasted hour.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        Haven’t tried yet

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      You’re lucky they didn’t send the barf flavor. Licorice is close though.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Republican state Sen. Roger Niello said the lack of accountability is troubling.

    “California is facing a concerning paradox: despite an exorbitant amount of dollars spent, the state’s homeless population is not slowing down,” Niello said in a statement. “These audit results are a wake-up call for a shift toward solutions that prioritize self-sufficiency and cost effectiveness.”

    They’ll jump right on that.

  34. Sean

    We’ve been invaded by aphids. 😠

  35. Tundra

    Since I’ve been MIA for awhile, I thought I’d share a couple of updates Two days before Thanksgiving we had to say goodbye to Kiki, who some of you probably remember. Amazing dog.

    We woke up on Wednesday, looked at each other and realized that we didn’t have a dog in almost 30 years. No bueno. So I got on the phone and started looking for a Border Terrier. Since we’ve always had big dogs, we decided to try a small dog that plays big.

    Meet Indie. She’s 100 pounds of bad-assery packed into a 15 pound body. I flew to Phoenix on January 4 and brought her back. Absolute 10/10. I’m officially on Team Small Dog. We’ve been doing a bunch of obedience work and she is kicking ass. Very smart but definitely has terrier brain. One of her best friends in the neighborhood is a 90 lb Bernese mix. Watching them battle is hilarious.

    Dogs are the best. I hope you all are well.

    • hayeksplosives

      Aww.

      I’m sure the life upgrade is mutual!

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      I’m sorry 🙁

      ANd congrats!

      Let’s see her on Zoom this weekend!

    • Gustave Lytton

      Outstanding! Been wondering how you were.

      We still have our puppy from hell who has slowly been turning into the puppy from heck. There may be hope! Week two of bleeding now.

    • Common Tater

      Welcome back 🙂

      Sorry, about Kiki.

      Congrats on Indie!

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

      Good to see you, Tun.

      Small dogs rock. My terrier mix (Jack, Pit, Rat, you name it) kicks all the ass, at a whopping 18 pounds.

  36. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Pretty neat video about the modern day Carthage area:
    https://youtu.be/w6sGwH-r_HY?si=wpHsZMeAked-cnus

    You can still see the harbor well and it looks pretty green. Guess the Romans didn’t use enough salt.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      They should’ve sprung for the three millennia warranty.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Well they both still exist so they can still finish the job but these are Italians we’re talking about here. Why finish off your ancient enemy when you can chill by the Med and drink wine all day?

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

        Answer: when you can make a stupid fast car that can’t stop for shit.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Looking at the map in that video I noticed there was a city of Hippo Diarrhytus just up the coast. Sounds like a pretty shitty place.

    • Urthona

      It’s sort of an historical myth the Romans salted all the fields. It would have been economically impossible considering how expensive salt was then.

      Most likely it was a ceremonial event of some sort, according to most historians .

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Yeah, I think so too…sort of a ritualistic cursing.

      • prolefeed

        It would have literally been destroying crops with a scarce form of money.

  37. pan fried wylie

    sry dedthreadding, RE: the impending CRE collapse…

    In a perfect world, developers would transform vacant office towers into apartments, which would help replace lost corporate workers with residents.

    The article goes on to focus on the cost of conversion. Where are all these new residents supposed to work? Commute from their downtown highrise 0.5bed/0.25bath to an exurb where there’s still viable businesses?

  38. The Bearded Hobbit

    I though the Bee was supposed to be satire.