Saturday evening links

by | Apr 27, 2024 | Daily Links | 138 comments

Get the damn blooming over with, would ya?

Yep. It’s that time of year. We don’t have a really long growing season, so blooming comes with a vengeance. I spend my days feeling like someone punched me in the face. I do have a pair of mallards nesting in my willow tree, however.

 

Links?

 

Thoughts and prayers to our midwest Glibs. I hope you’re not in the danger zone.

 

Kristi wrote a book. And probably took herself out of the running for VP.

 

Information I’d rather not know, and a new grift.

 

Cuba is turning to a cashfree economy.

 

So there’s enough rocket booster retrieval that there’s an industry standard for injuries?

 

Shenanigans continue unabated. It is good to know the media is paying a lot more attention than most students are.

 

And lastly, something new for you fashion mavens in the crowd.

 

Alrighty. Think I’m going to go see a movie. Peace out, Glibbies!

About The Author

Spudalicious

Spudalicious

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

138 Comments

  1. The Late P Brooks

    Long lines outside banks and ATMs in the capital, Havana, and beyond start forming early in the day as people seek cash for routine transactions like buying food and other essentials.

    Why don’t they just pay with debit cards and phone apps?

    • Suthenboy

      Why dont they just pay with the wondrous prosperity that communism always ushers in?

      • R C Dean

        Cuba is communist. Why do they have to pay at all?

  2. robc

    The realistic 3-way relegation race in the EPL became actual today. Everton and Brentford are safe, Sheffield United are relegated.

    Its a 3-way between Nottingham Forest, Luton Town, and Burnley, with two of them joining SU in the Championship next year.

    • rhywun

      How ’bout knocking off a few points from Luton and Burnley, The FA? Yes?

      • Ted S.

        You mean Man City.

      • robc

        If “by a few” it means 450 pts, then yes.

      • rhywun

        Yeah them too

  3. creech

    I gather the pro-Hamas students are demanding universities divest any investments that benefit Israel. Or else what? We will not enroll next semester? Or we will cause trouble on campus? If the latter, university officials should have the disrupters arrested and expelled. That should sort out the faint of heart and larpers from those who really want death to Jews.

    • Shpip

      When the latest kerfuffle kicked off in the middle east, the usual suspects at Big College started their usual agitations, and the university president noted that “Our Constitution protects the rights of people to make abject idiots of themselves.”

      And when the same folks got a notion to copycat their anti-western compatriots at Columbia and put a tent city on the campus quad, the administration laid down the law.

    • DrOtto

      They’re calling them students, and they may be, but nearly half of them recently arrested at UT weren’t from here and weren’t attending the school, just the protest. This seems like more typical left wing shit stirring.

  4. The Late P Brooks

    Building off Reuters’ prior reporting on more than 600 previously undisclosed SpaceX worker injuries from last year, these figures are troubling enough on their own. But they also, as former OSHA administrator David Michaels told the outlet, could be “an indicator of poor production quality.”

    Now an occupational health professor at the George Washington University, Michaels told Reuters that “NASA should be concerned about the quality of the work” if SpaceX’s injury rates are this high.

    Because fishing spent rocket fuselages out of Davy Jones’ locker is exactly the same as robot-assisted assembly line processes in a factory.

    • Sensei

      It’s likely using fucking workers’ comp classifications.

      So an iron worker in NYC should have the same as one in Idaho, for example.

  5. The Late P Brooks

    em>When asked about these figures, SpaceX, naturally, did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

    Not even a poop emoji?

    Disappoint.

  6. juris imprudent

    So Cuba needs a helicopter load or two of dollars? That could be amusing.

    • Suthenboy

      I bet it leaves a bitter taste in Obama’s mouth that he cant take direct credit for propping up another evil totalitarian regime with American taxpayer dollars.
      I will be surprised if his puppet doesnt bail them out.

  7. Shpip

    β€œThere is money, yes, but not in the banks,” said PΓ©rez, adding that most of the cash is being held not by salaried workers, but by entrepreneurs and owners of small- and medium-size business who are more likely to collect cash from commercial transactions but are reluctant to return the money to the banks.

    Those darn kulaks are up to their old tricks again.

    • R.J.

      Those darned banks. They never give your money back if you like the wrong people.

    • R C Dean

      β€œreturn the money to the banks”

      Interesting phrasing.

  8. Beau Knott

    Bringing forward from the dead thread — it’s a damn shame that Wendy Carlos’s realization of The Wedding March (off By Request) is not available. I’d use it in a heartbeat, with roller skates at the right moments.
    Sadly, her entire catalog seems to be (regrettably, intentionally) unobtainium.

    • R.J.

      I noticed that.

  9. Gender Traitor

    Thoughts and prayers to our midwest Glibs. I hope you’re not in the danger zone.

    From the live stormchaser coverage I was watching last night, I know Iowa was particularly hard hit, so….kinnath? RU (and yours) OK?

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      Ryan Hall’s stream was crazy, as was Reed Timmer’s. Couldn’t decide which to watch at any given moment

    • Mojeaux

      Thunder has started rolling in just now a little. Tornado watch, but nobody takes anything seriously until the sirens start up, and not even then. Birds are still chirping, but they’re starting to settle in for the night.

    • Fourscore

      Looks like the tornadoes were in south western Iowa, Kinnath is in the east central, should miss this battch

      • Gender Traitor

        Thanks, 4(20)! πŸ™‚πŸ‘

    • Gender Traitor

      Also would love to hear from ‘bodru (robodruid,) as I believe he’s in OK, which appears to have a little bit of nasty weather, too. (And just because it’s always nice to hear from you!)

    • kinnath

      Just got back a bit ago from pouring homebrew at a charity event.

      I am in eastern Iowa. No bad weather yesterday.

      Bad weather is just starting up. We are under a Tornado watch which is not all that uncommon around here. Likely to have heavy rain and high wind (up to 60 mph) tonight. Similar forecast for tomorrow.

      Late April is a bit early for this shit to start up.

      Thanks for your concern.

      • Raven Nation

        We’re closer to yesterday’s trouble than you. Had sirens going off for about 2-3 hours: there was a series of warnings. Spent most of that time in the basement just in case. No damage here fortunately. Tonight seems to be a lot quieter.

      • kinnath

        The radar doesn’t look too bad right now. It looks like the worst weather is sliding to the south east of me.

        But it is definitely rumbling out there.

      • Raven Nation

        We’re supposed to get another round of t-storms after midnight, but they’ve been downgraded from severe to regular.

    • whiz

      Central Iowa here, but the closest tornados were about 45 miles south. We had pea-sized hail briefly today, but no real severe weather.

  10. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Got the RV warshed today. Disassembled and stowed the hammock. I really gotta put those tire valve extenders on tomorrow.

    Anyhoo…after all that, I probably won’t have anything to say tonight. And sloper stood us up with extreme prejudice.

    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87821224358?pwd=eW55MTRDbDNtQkh2aHd3M1Nmenlzdz09

    • Trials and Trippelations

      What kind of RV do you have?

      I have a 2021 Grand Design imagine 21BHE. The inaugural trip of the season went well next up is Oregon inlet at the end of May 😎

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        2012 Jayco Greyhawk 31SS…I live on her πŸ™‚

      • Trials and Trippelations

        πŸ‘ Nice.I always thought a class a or c would be fun to try some time

      • juris imprudent

        When a winning lottery ticket is in my hand, I’ll go for a Dynamax Europa 32KD.

    • Spudalicious

      Someone didn’t read the links. πŸ˜‰

      • Tres Cool

        Not too long ago, Tres Sr was doing his grocery shopping and a woman approached him and said “the light of the Lord has chosen you! Ill pay for your groceries!”
        He made it very clear that, while he appreciated her offer, he was capable of buying his own food. He recommended that she instead take her money and give it to some charity of her choice. Not to be daunted, she pestered him until finally he said, “look lady- Im an atheist. Take your money and give it to someone else.” She left him alone.

        Later when he got home, he asked his wife “do I look homeless or something?”

      • Spudalicious

        Next up is puke stained shirts.

      • Tres Cool

        Tres Sr. is no Biden, or Pelosi. But he is quite financially stable. However, he is 85 and in constant need of a haircut.
        Since he hits the grocery at 0700 each Saturday, he likely did look disheveled.

      • Spudalicious

        I do like “do I look homeless?”.

      • Fourscore

        That’s why Mrs F lets (makes) me do the local grocery runs. She doesn’t want to be seen with me.

  11. Suthenboy

    Wow. Seriously dramatic footage of the twisters. Scary.
    My best to anyone affected.

    Yeah. Take on a dog it aint just about you. You adopt a kid, take in a dog….you have a moral obligation to see after the best interests of that child/dog. How a person treats a dog says volumes about their character.

    What did the fairy tale witch say to the guy wanting to know his future? “Everyone wants to know the future…until they do.”

    Once again socialism has dragged a society back to the Stone Age. Yay commies!

    In what way are the leftists today any different from the leftists of the past? Same ol’ shit all over again. The next generation of the bastards are going to vilify the current generation of themselves and swear they are different. Real socialism has never been tried but it will work this time. Then the rubes will gobble it up.

    No.
    I remember when it was trendy for black men to walk around in public sucking on a baby pacifier. Infantilization sucked then and it sucks now. Grow the fuck up people.

    • LCDR_Fish

      Dunno…Noem sounds a little cavalier about it but the context page shots from that book that I saw on twitter earlier included more information on the dog disobeying orders, attacking other people and not just killing neighborhood chickens, etc.

  12. Tres Cool

    You say your face hurts?
    Its killin’ me!

    • Aloysious

      It makes one wonder just where he’s been putting it.

      I bet it would be a great story…

      • Tres Cool

        + Eleanor Rigby

  13. The Late P Brooks

    Thunder has started rolling in just now a little. Tornado watch, but nobody takes anything seriously until the sirens start up, and not even then. Birds are still chirping, but they’re starting to settle in for the night.

    When the sky turns green it’s time to start thinking about worrying.

    • Mojeaux

      Yeah, that green sky is no joke.

      Rain’s starting now. The birds are in bed.

  14. Shpip

    Looks like the government is getting tired of vandalism in the name of making the weather gooder in fifty years.

    A climate activist who smeared paint on the protective case and pedestal of the Edgar Degas sculpture La Petite Danseuse de quatorze ans (Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, 1880) at the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, nearly exactly a year ago has been sentenced to 60 days in prison. Joanna Smith, one of the two protesters involved in the 27 April 2023 action, pleaded guilty in December to one count of β€œcausing injury” to an NGA exhibit. She had faced up to five years in prison and a fine of as much as $250,000.

    Two thoughts:

    1) About fucking time.
    2) Actual damage gets a shorter sentence than “parading” in front of the Capitol.

    • juris imprudent

      A cause that the priests accept as righteous versus one that is not.

    • rhywun

      Wake me up when any politician or patrician who is pushing to destroy the world economy in the name of this shit gets time.

      • Tres Cool

        Or tearing down confederate monuments by (left wing groups paid for by Soros) “outraged” people.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    More performative outrage from the cheap seats

    Animal welfare organizations decried Noem for killing the dog.

    Wayne Pacelle, the president of Animal Wellness Action, said: “There’s no rational and plausible excuse for Noem shooting a juvenile dog for normal puppy-like behavior.”

    “Raising and caring for a dog takes patience and kindness,” he said in a statement. “Tens of millions of Americans who know and love dogs have to wonder about a person who expresses hatred for a young female dog and kills her.”

    Colleen O’Brien, senior vice president at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), denounced the governor for “letting this rambunctious puppy loose on chickens and then punishing her by deciding to personally blow her brains out rather than attempting to train her or find a more responsible guardian.”

    Blah blah blah it’s a fucking crazy untrainable dog.

    She could have done the decent civilized thing and taken it to the Humane Society or PETA and let them kill it for her.

  16. LCDR_Fish

    TOK – just saw your comment in last thread. HT may be assigned to a shipyard for the moment, but he’ll definitely be in high demand for a deploying ship – as small as a DDG, as large as a carrier. Can’t see him being in the shipyard long unless he’s assigned to a carrier getting refitted. Even so…normal deployments only 6-7 months. Not sure about the Bremerton/Bangor area though. Everett was great.

    • dbleagle

      Bremerton is nice as well. Bangor has positive aspects, but the winters are much more WINTER than either of the Washington State locations.

    • The Other Kevin

      He’s assigned to the Nimitz, which they will start decommissioning in a year. After that, the Gerald Ford. But of course all that can change.

      • LCDR_Fish

        I think Ford is still stationed in Norfolk – hadn’t heard about a port-shift anytime soon.

  17. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Not sure if the dog stuff should be the thing that disqualifies her from a VP slot because sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do but good anyway. She’s a better gov than most I suppose but she’s also countryclub Republican cringeworthy and is pretty much a standard neocon.

    • juris imprudent

      Yeah, there are better reasons to not give her the VP slot than this.

    • Raven Nation

      She also tried to overturn the state ballot initiative which allowed recreational mj.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    Think I’m going to go see a movie.

    Nobody goes to the movies anymore. I seen it on the intertube.

    • R.J.

      Seinfeld said so.

    • juris imprudent

      Saw the other day that Dune, Part 2 is already available on pay per view. I remember when movies ran for months in theaters – of course that was when we wore onions on our belts.

      • R.J.

        Godzilla Minus One is still not out for streaming. I has a sad.

      • LCDR_Fish

        May pick up an import blu-ray soon.

    • Spudalicious

      We both felt like crap. The movie became napping on the patio.

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        …napping…

        Is that what you kids are calling it these days?

  19. Rufus the Monocled

    When we drove through Nebraska on our Rt. 66 trek and stopped a couple of times they gave the vibe they knew we weren’t from around there. Never felt that before, like, literally nowhere in North America or Europe. Maybe it was a bad day.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        Let me explain. On our way into California we did Rt. 66. On the way back home we went trough NV, UT, CO, NB and so on. We wanted to see that part of the country.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        We did see the Oregon Trail.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Did you get dysentery?

      • Rufus the Monocled

        No. Scurvy.

      • Don escaped Texas

        New Brunswick is definitely not on Route 66

      • Rufus the Monocled

        NE.

        Oops.

        Tough crowd.

  20. Rufus the Monocled

    The Canadian government froze bank accounts of truckers who broke no laws are letting Pro-Pally protestors get away with much worse.

    Words. No more. About the unprincipled jerk offs in power here.

    • R C Dean

      Word time is nearly done. Bullet time is getting closer. We’ve pretty much run through the other boxes.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Yeah, there are better reasons to not give her the VP slot than this.

    I think she’d be a fine ribbon-cutter.

  22. Shpip

    Damn, that was fast.

    (Note: For those of you who laughed, there’s plenty of room in this handbasket that I’m in. You’re welcome to join me.)

    • Sensei

      +1 Mitt Romney dog with diarrhea.

    • dbleagle

      I did laugh. Move over.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        No worries, I’ll save you both a seat at the bar when you get here

      • R.J.

        +1 Major and Commander.
        Let me get my bag of old silver coins and I’ll join you at the bar.

    • creech

      Obviously a horrible person. This is shocking and unacceptable in a politician compared to, say, a man showering with his pubescent daughter or inserting cigars into star-struck interns.

    • The Last American Hero

      Oaks and maples arguing about who gets all the light? Did you keep them equal with hatchet, ax, and saw?

  23. R C Dean

    β€œYou fashion mavens”

    I miss Gilmore.

  24. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    We’re composing country songs by committee in here zoom

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      OK it’s mainly CPRM as we throw ideas at him

    • Gender Traitor

      I have a country song title (heard many years ago) in need of a song: “You Can Lock Me Up and Throw Away the Key, But You Can’t Keep my Face from Breaking Out.”

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      Subject matter: Kristi Noem

  25. pistoffnick (370HSSV)

    It’s been a good weekend for online deals this weekend:

    I bought a build-it-yourself beehive, a Stihl FS131 weed/brush trimmer, a Stihl MS251 chainsaw, and a drywall/panel lift. All at good prices.

    Keep watching Craig’sList and Facederp Marketplace, my dudes and dudettes.

    /Never pay full price.

    • Mojeaux

      Craigslist is next to useless here. Stalkerbook Marketplace works better for me now.

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        Why is Craigslist next to useless?

      • Mojeaux

        Full of scammers.

        THAT SAID

        My landlord posted our place on Craigslist and I was skeptical (because of aforementioned scammers), but contacted him anyway. When we got here, he said we were the only ones to answer his ad and he’d had it up a long time and didn’t know why he wasn’t getting any bites.

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        I have had better success with CraigsList up here. The scammers are pretty obvious.

        /Different strokes for different locations

      • NoDakMat

        +1 Clarence Carter

    • Gustave Lytton

      Hopefully with the bicycle handles?

      If you’re needing to clear blackberry vines or other brush, recommend Champion Cutter’s Brush Blender blade. And a harness.

      • Fourscore

        Don’t stand down wind from burning poison ivy vines

    • Fourscore

      We pick up bees from Mann Lake next Sat. Unfortunately full price.

  26. NoDakMat

    Any chess-loving Glibbs on? NoDakJr is showing some interest in chess. I’ve taught him the basic rules, but I never learned the game well enough to learn real strategies. Is there a good place online where he can learn strategy? He’s 12, so obviously I don’t want to let him get involved in an online place where there could be a lot of abusive language and shit like that. He wants to sign up for Chessly. Apparently, they give one lesson for free. Any recommendations?

    • dbleagle

      I’ll ask my son. As a grade schooler he went to Nationals a couple times and even brought home a huge trophy for speed chess and a smaller (but still almost 3ft) trophy for standard chess. He is teaching his daughter and I’ll ask what sites he recommends.

      Chess is great on teaching the importance of thinking ahead and there is no crying in chess. The game is implacable.

      At tournaments if you are a single male chess parent, you will be in demand by the chess moms. I was married at the time, sigh.

      • NoDakMat

        Thanks, db!

        Up here in the frozen tundra hockey is king. I’ve heard the same about single dads that coach travel hockey teams. No shortage of trim for those guys.

    • Gustave Lytton

      A little late for him but robc is the resident chess tournament follower, I believe.

    • dbleagle

      The last line, ouch.

      • Suthenboy

        I would think if the puppies were Jewish the Dems would be cheering her on.

  27. Suthenboy

    Sunday morning reading:

    Chai. I drink a lot of chai tea. I drink it but never thought about it much. This morning I became curious – what is chai exactly and how would I make it from scratch?
    Turns out ‘chai’ is the standard way to drink tea in India, the word chai means tea in Hindi.
    The base is nearly always Assam black tea. If you want to get fancy it might be a mixture of Assam and Darjeeling. Assam imparts body and color, Darjeeling imparts aroma and flavor. Another key ingredient is milk, that is, whole milk. A chaiwalla (tea maker) would think you are nuts for using less than whole milk.
    Sugar, a touch of salt and spices such as ginger, cinnamon and cloves are added. Of course we are all familiar with bergamot. The ol’ standby Earl Grey has the addition of oil of bergamot. Looking around I see a recipe with green tea, mango and cardamom.
    Of course what this means is that there is a whole universe of tea recipes that most Americans are not familiar with. Diving in could be fun.

    Lets go back to the milk. Whole milk. Why do we designate ‘whole milk’? That implies there is less than whole milk. With some consumables we separate out components and dispose of others, presumably because some components are good and others subtract from that goodness. Distillation of spirits is an example.
    With milk we seem to separate out desirable components and dispose of them not because they subtract from the goodness of milk but because they add to it.
    What the hell is that? We separate out the good stuff and throw it away? Why would anyone drink less than whole milk? 1%, skim…etc. that is not milk. It is chalk water.
    Why do we do things like that? It is better for you? Is it? I think it stems from a puritanical mentality that believes suffering and deprivation are good. The road to heaven, enlightenment and so on is paved with suffering.
    I grew up in a culture where using a stool at a job where one had to stand on their feet for extended periods was frowned upon. God forbid that anyone should listen to music while working. I suppose this mentality can be found in all cultures in one form or another. Goddamned flagellants. Of course this means it must have survival value aside from annoying me. Preparation for times of non-self imposed deprivation such as drought, famine etc.?
    That’s my guess.

    *Takes deep sip of Chai made with WHOLE milk*

    • Fourscore

      Whole milk it is! We haven’t had the phony stuff in the house for many years. You can take a boy out of the country…

      I like wood heat, Fortunately I’ve been able to burn wood the past 2 years, still have 3-4 years’ worth in the wood shed. Unfortunately it’s getting tougher to
      carry it into the house. Winter of ’21 I had to use propane, broke my heart.

      Need to till the garden when the rain stops, in a few days. Lots of time left before planting though.

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, Suthen (and 4(20)!)

      Thanks for that information. Anyone who shows up here at this ungodly hour on Saturday or Sunday has heard too often that my weekend morning beverage of choice is chai latte. (My preferred base.) As it happens, today it’s regular coffee in anticipation of departing for a two-day road trip this afternoon, but otherwise it’s 7 oz. of mix heated up on the stove with 7 oz. of milk – just enough to fit in my favorite large mug!

      As for the milk, I was raised on 2%, but poor TT was raised on skim (by an otherwise enlightened and remarkably admirable mother,) so it’s just been recently that I’ve been able to lead him toward redemption. I believe it was by necessity, as the grocery was out of skim in half gallons, but his reaction to 2% was essentially, “Where has this been all my life??” Maybe one of these days, I can pretend whole milk was the only option available – “So sorry, honey! This was all they had!” πŸ™„

      • rhywun

        raised on 2%

        #metoo

        I think I got my habit of buying the 2nd cheapest of any thing from my mom. But holy crap when I discovered whole… I never went back.

        Kind of like when I discovered butter.

      • Gender Traitor

        Butter!!! OMG!!! Again, so far I’ve only been able to drag TT halfway there.

      • rhywun

        Yeesh. Yeah, I was raised on “Country Crock” lol.

      • Gender Traitor

        Our usual used to be the CC with calcium. It may actually have been the shortages induced by the plandemic that forced us to convert. (I love that our new brand rings up as “LOL BUTTER.” πŸ˜†)

      • Tres Cool

        I can’t believe it.

    • Ted S.

      Turns out β€˜chai’ is the standard way to drink tea in India, the word chai means tea in Hindi.

      It’s the same in Russian. So when I was in college 30 years ago and saw college town places start selling chai as trendyfood, I figured it was an overpriced scam.

      I don’t drink much tea, being a coffee person, but if I did it would be black tea, no milk or sugar.

  28. Beau Knott

    Mornin’ all!

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, Beau!

  29. Tres Cool

    suh’ fam
    yo whats goody yo

    TALL (216) CANS!

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, homey! You back up in the wrong corner of the state again already??

      • Tres Cool

        Not yet. Departing this afternoon so I can be at the office bright and early tomorrow with the 3 hour drive already behind me.
        Well, after breakfast with Tres V2.0 and cutting my grass….