Wednesday Afternoon Links – The Blood Beach Horror

by | Aug 7, 2024 | Daily Links | 145 comments

Look. It thinks it’s helping.

No, Hillary, you supercilious twat, people are making fun of him for putting tampons in the bathrooms of grade-school boys. You know, the people, who like you, don’t have periods and have no use whatsoever for a goddamn cooter plug.

Is this widespread act of playing dumb expected to work? Is this going to be your main argument go forward, Democrats? “Uh, durr, why people object to this strawmans I built?”


Flamingos are white. They turn pink because of their diet.


Willie Brown was 61 years-old when he began fucking dating a 29-year-old Kamala Harris, later helping her become California’s Attorney General as reward for her, um, diligence.

Remember this the next time a feminist complains about who Leonardo DiCaprio is dating.


Until this, I had never listened Bon Iver. I mean, I knew I probably wouldn’t like him, but holy mother of fuck is it insipid. He sounds like something wet dying in the bottom of a trash barrel. His big “hit,” Holocene, is the soundtrack to a gauzy maxipad commercial.

I’m not linking to it. I love and respect you all for too much (well, most of you) to subject you to it. Don’t seek it out. Your testicles will literally fall off; your vaginas will dry and become as unto panty dust.


Make Movie Lesbians Attractive Again

Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith in The Vampire Lovers (1970)

Christ, Bon Iver is like chewing on menstrual clot, old iron and rot. I need a palette cleanser.

About The Author

SugarFree

SugarFree

Your Resident Narcissistic Misogynist Rape-Culture Apologist

145 Comments

  1. Translucent Chum

    So the Dem play is to have a quick speech at someone’s concert so they can claim a crowd showed up for them.

    • SDF-7

      And apparently let Vance have a press conference outside their plane (see Dead Thread). He should definitely keep doing that.

      • The Other Kevin

        Perfect play. Keep hammering home that Team Trump will talk to reporters while Team Kamala runs away.

      • Drake

        Has she released even one policy position yet? Aql question about the Middle East, Russia, spending, the deficit… any of them would absolutely stump her.

        When they debate, Trump should exploit this and be very specific versus her vague nonsense.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        The media will frame that as a display of toxic masculinity by Vance, like when Hillary’s opponent for Senate crossed the stage during a debate.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        OMG, JD is stalking Kamala. That’s so weird! Ugh, I can’t even.

      • bacon-magic

        He also dinged Tampon Tim on his stolen valor. This dude is a vicious little pit bull with eyeliner.

      • Old Man With Candy

        He also dinged Tampon Tim on his stolen valor.

        Coach did, too. Pointed out that his victories were not from esteemed college football states like Texas or Oklahoma or Iowa or Ohio. And zero SEC championships.

      • ZWAK angry at the world, and the world doesn’t care.

        Well, if The Nations says so… I mean, they are read by EVERYBODY!

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Even faster than I expected, even if it is only The Nation.

  2. SDF-7

    Holy crap — is Ingrid Pitt Lindsey Stirling‘s mom? At least in that picture — the resemblance is uncanny.

    Or maybe it is just me.

    And please, Shrillary. Please keep talking on behalf of the Jackasses. The people love you so much, especially in the swing states — your insight will certainly sway those voters….

    Afternoon, all.

    • SDF-7

      At Chik-fil-a?! Working there? I have to confess I’m surprised… wouldn’t think they’d deign to provide labor for such a degenerate establishment. Plus poison frog hair apparently…

      And being a cracker — I don’t have his options.

      • Mojeaux the Lazy Yenta

        Did you notice the dude looked like the dad from Good Times?

      • Tundra

        John Amos was terrific.

      • SDF-7

        Sorry. Barely watched / don’t really remember Good Times.

      • The Other Kevin

        I loved Good Times, and What’s Happening. Hey hey hey. They were dyn-o-mite!

      • Tundra

        I liked Thelma

        But yes, Good Times, Sanford & Son, Barney Miller, Chico and the Man. Great TV

      • Drake

        James!

    • Tonio

      We need to recruit this guy. I bet he has some great takes on things.

  3. Tundra

    I’m too old to wear it now, but I had the coolest DK logo t-shirt. And that is such a great song.

    I’ve heard the panty dust guy and you have actually been kind in your description.

    Vance should get Megadeth.

    • Tonio

      WTF do you mean, “too old?”

    • SugarFree

      Yeah, I don’t wear my old Exploited shirt any longer. 🙁

    • bacon-magic

      Wear it with pride…kids don’t even know who these old bands are anyway.

      • Timeloose

        My death cult tshirt was a goner after HS

  4. The Late P Brooks

    Common sense period control includes puberty blockers, right?

    • SDF-7

      Well, I suppose that would block them…. you’ve got that point.

      I can’t help but keep thinking that this is all part of the Malthusian Cult’s depopulation drive. If you can’t get people to abort, sterilize them. What puzzles me is that it is the self-described “elite” that is pushing it who’s children are most likely affected. You’d think they’d keep Frat Boy Johnny and Susie Sorority carefully in the clear so they can inherit the Earldom and what peasants are left…..

  5. The Late P Brooks

    And apparently let Vance have a press conference outside their plane (see Dead Thread). He should definitely keep doing that.

    Kamala’s people trying to shoo him away will be must see teevee.

    • Tonio

      Damn, the balls on that guy. He may be a bit sanctimonious, but nobody is perfect.

      • juris imprudent

        And how dare he butter up the media!

  6. Certified Public Asshat

    When you’re having painful menstrual cramps, just remember Tim.

  7. DEG

    Remember this the next time a feminist complains about who Leonardo DiCaprio is dating.

    I just keep in mind that the feminist is jealous.

  8. The Late P Brooks

    “yo fruity ass”

    Awesome.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Damn, the balls on that guy. He may be a bit sanctimonious, but nobody is perfect.

    Just imagine four years of Team Don’t-Give-a-Fuck in the White House.

    • SDF-7

      I’m just befuddled that this is on a mostly-serious news site. Strap in — going to be a wild last few weeks up to the general….

      • Evan from Evansville

        I don’t know how serious Town Hall is, but a sincere thanks. DAMN. Funniest bit of my day so far:

        “FACT CHECK: Despite Viral Rumor, No Evidence Tim Walz Had Sex With Traffic Cone
        Despite viral online posts and rampant rumors, Townhall Media’s Fact-Checking and Counter-Misinformation Team finds no concrete evidence that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — tapped to join the Democratic presidential ticket on Tuesday — has had sex with a traffic cone.”

      • juris imprudent

        Speaking of real news sites… the Bee

        Despite making headlines and helping Kamala Harris surge in popularity following accepting a spot as her running mate, Tim Walz backed out of the VP nomination after learning vice presidents sometimes have to deploy to dangerous places overseas.

      • rhywun

        I just love that pic of Grumpus that is everywhere.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        The Bee is an augury site at this point.

      • creech

        “vice presidents sometimes have to deploy to dangerous places overseas.” Even lowly cabinet members are targets.
        Remember when the Sec. of State had to land on a bomb-pocked runway while fighter jets strafed her plane?

  10. SugarFree

    There is no incitive whatsoever for Vance to not be the person the Democrats are desperate to portray him as.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      Yes. Go full shitlord…. he already follows ShoeOnHead and other assorted ner-do wells on the Twatter, he might as well lean into it.

  11. Tonio

    WORDPRESS ALERT: FYI for Glibs contributing writers — Hitting [Enter] in text block no longer gives you the next paragraph block. You have to open the sidebar (which automatically closes afterward) and manually click that you want another paragraph block.

    • Sensei

      Seriously? I’m sure this makes sense to whoever wrote this.

      And apologies if it was webdom putting things together solo…

      • juris imprudent

        I’d think that is platform, not site code.

      • Tonio

        That’s my assumption, too, JI, since it just randomly happened. WebDom usually says something when she makes changes.

  12. Evan from Evansville

    It’s all stupid because it works. Simplicity. Parsimony. I don’t think it’s really because PEOPLE are inherently stupid. They’re BUSY. Life is still good enough (for most) to just keep working and having families and being social primates. It is not a pleasant thought.

    I STRONGLY implore all to listen to MY favorite version of Too Drunk to Fuck. French ‘jazz’ duo w covers of (mostly) 80s New Wave, etc. Different chanteuse for each song, IIRC. I coulda done so much more w that gal, but she was my first High School Sweetheart. She got lots of fun, but oddly, didn’t reciprocate. I didn’t even know to go for it, or anything. I was 15/16, she 14-15.

    We got CAUGHT once. During the 2004 Presidential Election! Of all things.

    “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” her mother shrieked. Katie was shocked into unnerving teenage submission, but still a spark of dissent burst out:
    *I’M* NOT DOING ANYTHING!!

    I quietly sat without a word, fingers soaked in teenage love. I believe I just left. I actually don’t recall. Her mother wasn’t mad at me. Hilariously I ran into my _____ a few weeks later at Schlotzky’s, my teenage gig and still my Last Meal request. She told me she wasn’t really angry at what we were doing, but kinda ‘how we were doin’ it’ manner. I think she was pissed we did it fucking living room of her house rather than Katie’s own damn bedroom. Honestly, that’s some nerve of us. Idiocy. We all reek of it.

    (Sorry for typing so much. I have one thing to put in, that link to add, then I simply can’t stop. But hey, I’m havin’ fun, kinda on vacation time til work starts. Might as well share.)

    • ZWAK angry at the world, and the world doesn’t care.

      Excellent version, Nouvelle Vague is always fun.

      • Evan from Evansville

        I need to listen to more. I only know their debut.. “Nouvelle Vague.” Extremely interesting covers, all in their up-tempo jazz, somehow fitting the mood of the original song. And sexy, sexy French gals singin’ English is sexy.

        Legit, great music. That album will always be tied to those memories, a profound and lovely space in my brain.

    • SDF-7

      And you thought we didn’t have lese majeste persecutions!

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Honest mistake. It’s such a common name. TSA probably got confused with someone else.

    • bacon-magic

      She reminds me of Lobster girl.

    • Tundra

      You warned. I didn’t listen. Am now mad,

  13. SDF-7

    We beat Medicare! (to fund the Green New Deal Redux)

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      We beat Medicare, like a rented mule!

  14. juris imprudent

    In the ongoing saga of JI and Zwak, Zwak sez No, the point of the gov’t is to keep us all from killing each other.

    Oh you lovely Hobbesian bastard. Fine if you want a monarchy, but our govt was laid down more in accordance with Locke’s Enlightened principles, plus some reference to Roman history. The English Tories certainly would have agreed with you, but not the Whigs.

    Where it has gone from bad to worse of course is with reference to dear Rousseau.

    My tongue was rather in cheek with both uses of more equal, and that neither was particularly plausible.

    • SDF-7

      Normally my reply to such all day arguments would be “Get a room already, you two!”

      But around here? Y’all probably already have….. takes all the fun out of it.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      No, the point of the gov’t is to keep us all from killing each other.

      Oh no, I hope that was sarcasm.

      • ZWAK angry at the world, and the world doesn’t care.

        Nope, that was and is the whole point of the enlightenment. Remember, Europe and the British Isles had just gotten through a shit ton of religious wars, and were trying to thing their way out of it happening again, what with that schism thing.

    • ZWAK angry at the world, and the world doesn’t care.

      Well, I would say that “No, the point of the gov’t is to keep us all from killing each other” is the complete opposite of a monarchy, as the whole point of keeping as all from doing each other in is that we are all equal, and no one gets that right., or any other rights above any other man? IE that each man is created equal, and no man is above the other. The rules presented are to ensure said equality, that you get as much as I get. The fact that some want to expand that above what the constitution implicitly allows allows is no matter; we all get to read it, and read into it.

      But, to get back to your original argument, that the enlightenment is what is leading us to this crossroads in gov’t failure, no where to you show your work. And so I repeat the question:

      What is the mechanism for equality leading to equity as a fundamental aspect of the enlightenment?

      • juris imprudent

        Well talk about putting the assertion in as baldly as possible…

        that we are all equal

        On what basis? Where exactly is that decreed? In Protestant theology? Natural rights (which nature doesn’t afford to any other species)? Oh, it was the Enlightenment that postulated this thing!

        What is the mechanism for equality leading to equity as a fundamental aspect of the enlightenment?

        Equality was already pretty warped before equity made it’s play. Harrison Bergeron was written long before any pointy head first scrawled equity on a whiteboard [and yes, that is a very deliberate allusion].

      • ZWAK angry at the world, and the world doesn’t care.

        You are trying to do an end run around the whole point of law, trying to figure out what makes us equal: nothing makes us equal, we just are. It is the whole point of our system of law, why we have check and balances, why no one class or person is sorted out: equality is the point of the system. From how it works to how it plays out. No, smart people aren’t above the law, and no, tall people aren’t below the law.

        And, once again, I will ask: What is the mechanism in the enlightenment that moves Equality to Equity?

      • juris imprudent

        we just are

        Except of course we aren’t, or Trump wouldn’t have 34 felony convictions on his name.

      • Tundra

        Y’all motherfuckers need Jesus.

      • ZWAK angry at the world, and the world doesn’t care.

        That doesn’t make him any less equal, only persecuted. And, yes, I realize that there is unequal application of the law, which we have set up to address this, as the law is managed by humans. And I have full faith that this will either be addressed, or added to the list of actions that precipitated a… righting of balance, so to speak.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    Keep hammering home that Team Trump will talk to reporters while Team Kamala runs away.

    She wouldn’t even do an interview with the black journalist gang, and that would have been the ultimate safe space for her.

    • juris imprudent

      They would have asked her questions, even easy questions, but questions none the less. No teleprompter.

      • SDF-7

        Questions that require us to come up with answers. Answers to the questions in our lives. Questions that need responses today, in the past and going forward into the future. The future full of uncertainty, where we have more questions.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        “Significant questions. Questions that are significant and timely. Significant like the passage of time. Speaking of the passage of time how much time do we have left? I’m trying to run out the clock like I tried to run up the word count on my high school essays. And that’s significant.”

  16. Derpetologist

    Today’s drama

    I was let go halfway through my 2nd day at the Christian school. It is now my new record for the shortest period of time I’ve held a job. But they did pay me $500 for 12 hours of work, so there’s that. Here’s what happened: during the interview, I was honest about being non-religious, and they were OK with it. My first day on the job, I was helping paint a classroom, and one of the volunteers asked me about my faith. I again replied honestly that I was non-religious but I wasn’t going to rock the boat. Well, turns out she was or is friends with a board member and they found my lack of faith disturbing, as Darth Vader would say. The guys who interviewed and hired me were on my side told me go to the school I rejected an offer from and said they’d give me references because they liked my math teaching demo.

    Also, I made $34 today from my online AI job. Really hoping I can turn that into a full-time gig somehow.

    So the guy at the other school said they haven’t made an offer yet to their #2 choice, so if that guy turns down the job, it will got back to me. What a day. And I got fingerprinted again two hours before I got fired by the people who sent me to have that done.

    I strongly support freedom of religion and association. Not sure whether I’d bother with another Christian school.

    This poor guy decided to live like an atheist for 12 months and…

    ***
    Bell’s “intellectual experiment,” which began January 1, has already borne dramatic consequences.

    In less than a week, he lost two jobs teaching at Christian schools near his home in Los Angeles. He’s 42 and has been a pastor or in seminary for most of his adult life. Now he faces the prospect of poverty and taking odd jobs to feed his two daughters, 10 and 13.

    “There have been times, usually late at night and early in the morning, when I think: What have I done? It really undermines the whole structure of your life, your career, your family,” Bell said.

    But just as the man of God began to despair, he found help from an unlikely source: atheists.
    ***

    https://ktla.com/news/christian-school-teacher-fired-after-deciding-to-live-2014-as-an-atheist/

    And I’m sure vice-versa has happened as well. Few people are tolerant consistently.

    • Mojeaux the Lazy Yenta

      I’m honestly shocked a religious school hired someone who is non-religious. Hell, before my junior year, my church-sponsored school fired everybody who wouldn’t go to THAT particular church. It folded in 3 years.

      • Sensei

        I had a Protestant science teacher at my top rated RC high school.

        Even he wasn’t exempt from Wednesday Mass, but naturally no Eucharist.

      • Derpetologist

        The really funny part is the reason that Christian school was so keen to hire was because the other Christian school nearby imploded after a series of scandals involving horny youth pastors, coaches, etc.

        It’s almost as though good behavior can be independent of religion…

        Some Christian teacher in Commie-fornia got $360k for suing the district over trans-pretender policies. Good for her.

        As for me, the last thing I want to sue is a school. I just want to teach.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I remember being singled out by my 5th grade “science” teacher for believing in evolution. That sucked.

        Never said anything to my parents about it because I was taught that the teacher was the boss and my job was to learn.

        The best part of the whole fiasco was that when Mr. Burgeson was talking about evolution the first time, he was like “some people say that we are descended from apes” and he was obviously going to go into “isn’t that a crazy idea?”, but I was so excited that I burst out with my alternate theory that we were planted on earth by aliens. I had just read Erich von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods and thought that made as much sense as anything else.

        Mr. Burgeson was horrified. He kept after me for months until I finally admitted that the Bible was the only truth.

    • Evan from Evansville

      Wowza. I’d like to think I’d react the same as you, and likely, the same would’ve happened. I’m also shocked they hired you, but I can also see it with your acumen.

      There’s definitely $$ in online teaching, I’d say especially for math and English. The trick is how to sell yourself online. I’ve never done it, but know plenty who have. I only taught online during COVID in Korea… but only SOME of them. I had others in-person. No, I don’t know why. It was also 2020 and I was fuuuucked. Can’t believe I went back to work in six months after The Incident. I couldn’t be stopped, Mom says. I shouldn’t have been, but fuck. Predictably dumb.

      I confirmed with my new work the start date of Monday, Aug. 19, but she hasn’t gotten back. Brain’s worried, as it should be, but I know I’ll be fine.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        My nephew is an online tutor. He doesn’t make a ton of money, but he gets by and seems to be happy with it.

      • Evan from Evansville

        Yeah. It can be fine for a bachelor living single in Asia. I do know it’s a big market, for pretty much all subjects. I could never find one with a schedule, though I never investigated too far.

  17. Certified Public Asshat

    Since #TamponTim is trending I'll point out that in high school, any boy who casually was like "Oh you got ur period? I stashed a pad from the bathroom in my backpack in case one of my friends needed it" — that boy would be king stud. That boy would be drowning in prom invites.— Monica Hesse (@MonicaHesse) August 6, 2024

    I can’t believe the popular guys in high school were hiding this secret.

    • The Other Kevin

      I think that guy would be the gay best friend.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Or he is taking applications for beard.

    • Grumbletarian

      “Damn, girl, your bra strap broke? No problem, I have another one just your size in my backpack.”

    • rhywun

      Vote Dem: You Too Can Be Drowning In Pussy

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Vote Dem: You Too Can Be Drowning In Pussy*

        *credits will be transferred to your wife’s boyfriend without prior notice

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Very messy pussy, if he’s getting an immediate reward.

      • ZWAK angry at the world, and the world doesn’t care.

        As Tom Waits would say: I shot the morning in the back, with my red wings on

        Told the sun he better get back down

    • KSuellington

      High school girls often tell everyone around them that they are on their period in hopes someone has a spare tampon. Because they are in a tampon desert. And their savior is given the ultimate reward.

      These people are awash in delusion.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I think the high school (jr or sr) boy who was able to talk about periods without snickering and making gross jokes is imaginary. Or at least as rare as a true New Soviet Man.

      Any of my buddies who had a tampon or pad in their backpack only had one so they could use it to fuck with their buddies. I’ve seen more than my fair share of locker room hazing in my time, but the only time everyone was universally horrified was when one guy put some ketchup on a pad and decided to chase people around the locker room. We were all freaked the fuck out and the perp was ostracized for months.

      • creech

        Freaked out? Never had a woman go into her period while you were having sex? Imagine a guy trying to explain those sheets to your mom.

  18. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    I have a very, very classy mid-afternoon-on-a-Sunday date at Outback in a couple weeks.

    I’m-a bring Tupperware full of strawberry rhubarb crisp, too.

    • ZWAK angry at the world, and the world doesn’t care.

      Is that a crispy Rhubarb, or are you just happy to see me?

      • Tundra

        Strawberry rhubarb pie is one of the best things on the planet. Rhubarb crisp trails, but it’s still amazing.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        I would make a pie, but crisp travels better and the crust stays crispier

    • The Other Kevin

      “The raid came a day after Ritter, the former chief weapons inspector in Iraq, palled around with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,”
      “After resigning in protest in 1998, he became a vocal critic of US foreign policy in the run up to the Iraq War.”

      Makes one think.

      • Drake

        Yep – he’s a regular on Judge Nap’s show. Maybe Jeffery Sachs or Douglas MacGregor will get the raid treatment next.

    • Drake

      Ritter said he’s being investigated for violations of the Foreign Agent Act. The same act they are so upset Georgia (the country) just passed. They think Russia is paying him?

  19. Derpetologist

    from wiki

    ***
    Throughout high school, Kaczynski was ahead of his classmates academically. Placed in a more advanced mathematics class, he soon mastered the material. He skipped the eleventh grade, and, by attending summer school, he graduated at age 15. Kaczynski was one of his school’s five National Merit finalists and was encouraged to apply to Harvard University.[15] While still at age 15, he was accepted to Harvard and entered the university on a scholarship in 1958 at age 16.[17] A classmate later said Kaczynski was emotionally unprepared: “They packed him up and sent him to Harvard before he was ready … He didn’t even have a driver’s license.”[10]

    In his second year at Harvard, Kaczynski participated in a study led by Harvard psychologist Henry Murray. Subjects were told they would debate personal philosophy with a fellow student and were asked to write essays detailing their personal beliefs and aspirations. The essays were given to an anonymous individual who would confront and belittle the subject in what Murray himself called “vehement, sweeping, and personally abusive” attacks, using the content of the essays as ammunition.[22] Kaczynski spent 200 hours as part of the study.[23]

    Kaczynski’s lawyers later attributed his hostility towards mind control techniques to his participation in Murray’s study.[22] During the Second World War, Murray had worked with the Office of Strategic Services, a U.S. intelligence agency often referred to as the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where he conducted psychological experiments.[24] Some sources have suggested that Murray’s experiments were part of Project MKUltra, the CIA’s program of research into mind control.[25][26] Chase and others have also suggested that this experience may have motivated Kaczynski’s criminal activities.

    For a period of several weeks in 1966, Kaczynski experienced intense sexual fantasies of being female and decided to undergo gender transition. He arranged to meet with a psychiatrist but changed his mind in the waiting room and discussed other things instead, without disclosing his original reason for making the appointment. Afterwards, enraged, he considered killing the psychiatrist and other people whom he hated. Kaczynski described this episode as a “major turning point” in his life.[32][33][34] He recalled: “I felt disgusted about what my uncontrolled sexual cravings had almost led me to do. And I felt humiliated, and I violently hated the psychiatrist. Just then there came a major turning point in my life. Like a Phoenix, I burst from the ashes of my despair to a glorious new hope.”[35]

    ***

    His life shares many similarities with Terrence Tao. Ted’s story is a tragedy.

  20. Derpetologist

    More musings

    Historically in the Middle East and even today, the only stable forms of government have been monarchy, theocracy, or dictatorship.

    In many countries, political parties end up being split along sectarian or tribal lines, which makes multiparty democracy untenable in the long run.

    You can get a high school diploma for having a pulse on graduation day. Colleges and the military only care about standardized test scores. Employers only care about years of experience. It’d be better to test students at a young age so they don’t waste their time in school. It’s stupid to spend 5 years in middle and high school trying to get someone who lacks ability/motivation to pass algebra.

    The only way to get students to do well on standardized tests is if they are taught by those who did well on standardized tests.

    • Tundra

      Isn’t that everywhere throughout history? I think the burbclaves from Snow Crash are truly the only way we thrive.

      • Derpetologist

        Chinatown, Little Italy, Harlem…

      • Tundra

        Yeah, but they were still subject to the king.

    • Pope Jimbo

      After talking to our old Swiss neighbors, I like their system of arranging apprenticeships for kids as part of their schooling.

      Seems like a good way to prepare students and give them some real world experience.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    It’d be better to test students at a young age so they don’t waste their time in school. It’s stupid to spend 5 years in middle and high school trying to get someone who lacks ability/motivation to pass algebra.

    What stone age nonsense is this? Why do you hate knowledge, Ogg?

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      If we must have compulsory education (you can choose not to have your kids educated, mine will be) it should be limited to primary/elementary schooling, there is nothing gained by forcing a 14 y/o to sit in class when he/she could be starting an apprenticeship in a trade that they are more suited for.

      • Derpetologist

        +1 run off to join the circus

  22. The Late P Brooks

    In the mythical one room schoolhouse past, a kid who didn’t want to be in school and just made himself a giant pain in everyone’s ass could be handed off to the blacksmith to work the bellows, or sent to the general store to sweep up and run errands. Girls? Apprenticed to the local seamstress, or the dance hall.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Kicking shit heads out of school lasted a lot longer than that.

      It was the late ’80s/early ’90s before it became forbidden to tell kids to get out of school if they were causing issues. I remember my dad (a probation officer) bitching about it. He wasn’t a juvenile PO, but he worked with and was friends with the ones who were. He called it “scouting the farm team” when he’d coordinate with them to find out who’d be on his caseload when they turned 18.

      In the Before Times, the PO’s would get the shithead out of school. Hopefully they’d get them some job digging ditches, working at the turkey processing plant, etc. But leaving him in school was bad for everyone. They fucked up the school, they prevented other kids from learning and they’d get frustrated being in there and act out and get in more trouble.

      Even if they couldn’t find them a job, at least the idiot wasn’t causing harm to the other kids.

      Then the Do Gooders came along and were horrified at the prospects that the delinquents faced because they didn’t have a HS diploma. They squealed and squealed about it. Nothing probably would have been done except they also made it financially lucrative to the schools to have those kids sitting in a seat by juking the way they paid schools. Kick the kid out and you lose money. Keep him in that seat and you get $$. Doesn’t matter if he learns anything or not.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I also remember that it was quite the scandal that a girl in my class got pregnant when she was a junior and still came to class. Didn’t matter that she married the guy (a senior).

      Just the fact that a teen age pregnant girl was showing up made everyone upset. A lot of parents were pretty sure that it would normalize being pregnant and there would be more. I know I got a talking to about being safe from both my mom and dad (at different times) about not wrecking my future by getting some girl pregnant.

      • R C Dean

        “A lot of parents were pretty sure that it would normalize being pregnant and there would be more.”

        Sounds like a lot of parents were onto something.

  23. Derpetologist

    Something interesting I learned from my AI/chemistry research:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendral

    ***
    Dendral was a project in artificial intelligence (AI) of the 1960s, and the computer software expert system that it produced. Its primary aim was to study hypothesis formation and discovery in science. For that, a specific task in science was chosen: help organic chemists in identifying unknown organic molecules, by analyzing their mass spectra and using knowledge of chemistry.
    ***

  24. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Just made a batch of Korean-style BBQ sauce – soy, honey, Gochujang, ginger, garlic, vinegar, brown sugar pretty much.

    • Urthona

      You think you’re better than me don’t you?

    • Pope Jimbo

      You left out the details about the most important ingredient….

      What breed of dog? And how old?

      Sure puppies are more tender, but you gotta skin like 10 of them to make a decent sized batch of bulgogi.

      • Urthona

        I find that if you give the dog a steady diet of beer it’s more marbled.

  25. dbleagle

    Sorry to hear your news Derp. Good luck with the other school.

  26. Tundra

    Not trying to solicit birthday wishes, but I’m old as fuck today and my daughter and I were chatting earlier. About car stuff, believe it or not.

    Her: OK, I should be there by 6:30.

    Me: Why?

    Her: Your birthday!

    Her: Oh shit, mom said it was supposed to be a surprise.

    Me: I won’t tell.

    Her: Goddamit. Thanks Dad, love you.

    Best birthday present ever.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I remember one year I got two years older because my kids could do math.

      “Happy birthday Old Man, how does it feel to be 42?”

      “I’m only 41!”

      Then they did the math for me and I did end up being 42. Only upset me for about 15 minutes. Then I reverted back to being 19. That is the age I became legal to drink and I never cared how old I was again.

      So happy birthday Tundra. I hope you don’t let it bother you and go back to being however old you secretly think you are in you brain.

      • Tundra

        Haha! Thanks, Holiness!

        I really don’t fell that much different than when I was 18 driving across the river to Dibbo’s!

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      Happy birthday!

      • Tundra

        Thanks! Happy to be on the right side of the lawn.

    • Sensei

      That’s great that you have that kind of relationship.

      • Tundra

        She’s a remarkable girl. We haven’t always had the best relationship, but I think it’s because we are wired the same.

    • kinnath

      but I’m old as fuck today

      No you’re not. 4score reminds me that I’m not either.

      • Tundra

        Nah. 4 Score is my hero and I aspire to be like him. He’s just waaaaaaay more dialed in!

    • kinnath

      Welcome to middle age young man.

      Happy Birthday

      • Tundra

        From your lips to God’s ears. Thanks, kinnath!

  27. Sensei

    I’m watching a decidedly “mid” romcom anime.

    Koi wa Futago de Warikirenai
    Love Is Indivisible by Twins

    However, it may from a dialogue perspective be the most graphic anime I’ve watched on a normal streaming service. Very odd.

    That said I can guess with about 90% certainty whoever did the subtitles is both female and “empowered”. The lines the female leads say are translated in the least favorable way with respect to men and really don’t align with the more middle of the road normal meaning of the Japanese.

    OTH, the male sexual dialogue is just cringe. Too straightforwardly sexual. Yes, male friends talk about sex, but we usually do it slightly more circumspectly.

    It’s very odd. It’s either because my Japanese has improved to the point I know underlying Japanese idioms well or simply the translation really does suck that much. I can’t decide which.

  28. ZWAK angry at the world, and the world doesn’t care.

    ROBERT COSTA, CBS NEWS: Are you confident that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January 2025?

    PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: If Trump wins, no, I’m not confident at all. I mean, if Trump loses, I’m not confident at all. He means what he says. We don’t take him seriously. He means it. All the stuff about if we lose, there’ll be a bloodbath, it’ll have to be a stolen election. Look what they’re trying to do now in the local election districts where people count the votes. They’re putting people in place in states that they’re going to count the votes, right.

    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/08/07/biden_if_trump_loses_im_not_confident_in_a_peaceful_transfer_of_power.html

    • Sensei

      People are going to be “put back in chains” if I recall too.

  29. juris imprudent

    If Trump wins, no, I’m not confident at all. I mean, if Trump loses, I’m not confident at all.

    I think this may be one time that Joe is right.