Wednesday Morning Links

by | Sep 4, 2024 | Daily Links | 122 comments

Two Americans in the mens semifinals of a Grand Slam? Is this the 90s again? And the White Sox haven’t won a game in over two weeks and now face the daunting task of going .500 over their last 22 games to not break the all-time record for MLB futility. At this point, I think the Bears might win as many games in September as the Sox do. This is amazing. Now on to the links!

This is what it takes to get fired in the Navy? I guess they don’t like the ridicule.

I remember when the court would have told the Feds to pound sand. Looks like federally mandated speed limits and other central planning bullshit will be back on the menu.

I guess victim-blaming is back in fashion at the White House. Maybe this dumbshit should just go back on vacation for the rest of his term.

What the fuck? No seriously. This is completely crazy.

Double What the fuck? I suppose the feds will call this bullshit. But since they cleaned the crime scene in record time (something cops never do) and cremated the body right away (ditto), we’ll never know.

I’d like them to explain “potential for violence” here. It almost sounds as if they’re saying some people on campus won’t be able to control themselves over a harmless, non-partisan activity that’s like those that have been done for some time.

This sounds like complete bullshit to me. Is it the taxicab rackets, or is it the government trying to make sure they get paid tax money? Either way, it’s retarded.

Here’s a fun little tune. One of many from these guys. And here’s another. That’s one of my favorite from that whole generation. Enjoy them both.

And enjoy this lovely Wednesday, dear friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

122 Comments

  1. SDF-7

    Two Americans in the mens semifinals of a Grand Slam?

    That sounds more like Congressmen in a Denny’s bathroom with a wide stance to me…. probably too much dreading of SugarFree corrupting my mind.

    Morning, Sloopy! Morning, all!

  2. SDF-7

    Looks like federally mandated speed limits and other central planning bullshit will be back on the menu.

    After the dipshit “You can censor as long as it is just by saying ‘Nice social media company you have here… shame if anything happened to regulate it…” ruling, my confidence that the court will help trim back the Feds is at an ebb… so not surprised.

    Less bitchy take — Roberts, being the very political animal he seems to be — may be playing his cards close to his chest until the election, not wanting to give Chuckie and Kamalamadingdong another excuse to pack the Court and all. I think he’s wrong in that — if they win, they’ll slam through the “Code of Ethics”, as many Justices they need, etc…. but that’s my gut on his thinking…. “No more controversy for a while, chaps!”

  3. Ownbestenemy

    This sounds like complete bullshit to me. Is it the taxicab rackets, or is it the government trying to make sure they get paid tax money? Either way, it’s retarded.

    Not just the taxicabs now; ride-shares have their own cabal now too.

  4. SDF-7

    Is it the taxicab rackets, or is it the government trying to make sure they get paid tax money?

    Very much “The Power of AND” there. Limiting the marketplace, driving up the profits if you get Government Permission — so the government can charge more for said permission. Like the tizzy over Uber and whatnot especially in California… apparently the last thing the government wants is folks using their own resources in their own way and all.

    Flipping permission society indeed. Sigh.

    • Ownbestenemy

      If they could, they’d bust teens requesting ‘ass, grass or gas’ to take friends out to lunch.

    • sloopyinca

      Will a lack of mens rea play a role in her trial? Does it matter in any trial, for that matter?

      • SDF-7

        It certainly matters for Reasonable Prosecutors — but on the lower tier of our Justice system, “Ignorance of the 500,000 page law is no excuse!”

      • Nephilium

        The last time I heard mens rea being mentioned it was to explain why no reasonable prosecutor would go after Hillary Clinton for her email server.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Maybe we shouldn’t have laws/regulations that shield agencies and allow them to make statements like:

      “they could not disclose the number of people who were hit with the sting, how long the sting was on for, or when it started.”

      or

      “Ultimately, people that engage in commerce of any kind must be knowledgeable about what is required to operate legally . . . the onus falls on the individual to be informed and in compliance”
      or

      have such a regulation that states “the NTA isn’t allowed to just give a warning. They are required to cite an individual and impound their car for noncompliance, even on a first offense”

      • WTF

        Maybe we shouldn’t have millions of idiots voting for this shit, but I have no idea how to fix that.

    • sloopyinca

      Heaven forbid they would have called her when they read her CL ad and said “sorry, but you’re not allowed to do this under state law” instead of setting up a sting to bust what was clearly an unwitting lawbreaker.

      There’s no fun in helping someone comply with the law, I guess. No rush of adrenaline. No chance to draw down on some rube. No chance to brag about how you took somebody to the ground and chucked them in your cruiser. No chance for an erection.

      • WTF

        You forgot to add the medals and commendations.

      • Suthenboy

        It is about money. They clearly state that no individuals are allowed to have any kind of interaction, no matter how small without the govt getting their beak wet. It is extortion plain and simple.
        This could be answered by the question “Can you explain to me how this government operates differently from an organized crime syndicate?”

  5. SDF-7

    It isn’t fun — but this is still my favorite of theirs. I think I’m just a fan of melancholy or something… I mean, this is one of of my favorite garbage tracks, after all…

    • Ownbestenemy

      My first lap dance I ever got was in Montreal while at a CAN/AM hockey tournament was to the Garbage song #1 Crush.

      • SDF-7

        Better than Stupid Girl….

    • sloopyinca

      That’s a great song too.

    • Tundra

      Yep. My favorite as well.

  6. SDF-7

    What the fuck? No seriously. This is completely crazy.

    ….

    ….

    ….

    slowly backs away from that article…. too nuts for this hour of the morning…

    • Ownbestenemy

      And I thought the casual conversation between my urologist and his assistant was bad while getting snipped.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Never trust anyone in a bow tie.

  7. WTF

    Double What the fuck? I suppose the feds will call this bullshit. But since they cleaned the crime scene in record time (something cops never do) and cremated the body right away (ditto), we’ll never know.

    I guess the local cops weren’t in on the plan to let it happen.

    • sloopyinca

      At least one appears not to have been.

      Either way, expect the new head of the USSS and the FBI guy to come before congress and question the patriotism of members who lend credence to this report.

    • SDF-7

      That article says “seconds” between the local cop shot to disable the rifle and the USSS one to kill Crooks…. have to say my tin foil sense are wondering “How many seconds” versus “How many seconds would it take to realize the stoolie won’t be able to pull it off and we’d better silence him….”

      And if our supposed betters don’t want people thinking that way, they might consider having themselves and the government start to actually act in a trustworthy fashion again (to at least keep up appearances, unfortunately…..). The Millei method would be even better, of course — so it would matter so much less.

      • Drake

        I thought the same thing but was worried my tinfoil hat was too tight.

      • WTF

        Makes me wonder if they told Crooks they would let him get away if he did it, and he was stupid enough to believe them.

      • Ownbestenemy

        As much as I want the opportunity to wear my Tin-Foil Supreme Hat, I think this is what we get with an uncritical media and unaccountable agencies. Any media attention and digging into the 100s of FedGov agencies would show incompetence to a degree that is disgusting.

        The media has moved on, no care if things are being cleaned up, etc. The agencies all know they just have to weather a week or two, toss out a sacrificial lamb and go back to business as usual.

      • R C Dean

        I think once Trump was covered by the other SS agents, the snipers were free to tie up the loose end, myself. It’s one thing to have him shoot Trump, it’s another entirely for an SS agent to take a bullet.

        That this was a setup at some level is the most efficient explanation. The level of incompetence required simply beggars belief (no comms with local law enforcement, a blindingly obvious shooting position excluded from SS coverage, the shooter in plain view for minutes with a rifle and in no way resembling a cop, the delay in taking him down, the cremation of the body, the cleaning of the crime scene, it just goes on and one).

      • R C Dean

        Oh, and the guy in charge of it all getting promoted to run the whole department afterward.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Oh, and the guy in charge of it all getting promoted to run the whole department afterward. The biggest nut punch of the whole thing.

      • Social Justice is Neither

        This counterstory seems just too perfect for the opponents of the official narrative to be true. Local hero at ground level charges the sniper’s position and takes a difficult shot to disable the sniper gun only to have the evil fed silence their patsy. It’s just too on the nose.

        Given their actions over the last 8 years I can fully believe that rogue or not so rogue elements of the govt/admin were behind this both directly and indirectly but I always have a hard time with perfect stories.

  8. UnCivilServant

    Are there any dangerous gas station gaps along I-80 between Salt Lake and Reno?

    • SDF-7

      Dangerous? No — but you’ve got a pretty solid 2 hour gap at a guess from SLC to the Nevada border / Bonneville salt flats. There’s a town (can’t remember the name) about 3 miles in on the Nevada side, so if that’s your range you’re fine.

      I typically stop at a Love’s about 100 miles into Nevada, then again at one that’s about 100 miles before the NV/CA border (so about 90 miles before Reno). That fits easily within the 500 miles per tank mileage of my car, without even being too near a quarter of a tank as I recall.

      • SDF-7

        Ok… first one must be in Wells.

        Second in Fernley. There are some in Winnemucca halfway between there, but I never need to stop that early.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Not Wendover?

      • SDF-7

        Yeah, that town I mentioned just on the NV line appears to be Wendover. Thanks, OBE… again, I doubt you’ll need to stop that early, but if you need to — that would probably be your first best option once your out of the SLC area. Bonneville salt flats has a rest stop with a plaque (which if you are interested in the history of the area you can stop at) — but not much for gas station options.

      • UnCivilServant

        The practical range for my car is about 450 miles per tank., but I prefer not to stretch it past 400 when in unfamiliar territory.

        I just have gone into fretting mode because things went poorly on the previous leg and I really don’t want to be stranded anywhere.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Wendover, Wells, Elko, Winnemucca, Lovelock, Fernley

        Plenty of places you can stop if needed and fill up.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      That is one of the major highways across the country, and that stretch is driven by thousands every day. Yes, there are gas stations, truck stops, and even small towns! Look at a map before you go, if you are worried about this, it will show you plenty of places to stop along the way.

      The worst thing is that it is boring ASF. But, you could head out the 50, just south of you. The Loneliest Highway in America! (still has gas stations, though)

      • UnCivilServant

        The route that takes 50 is longer. I’m already looking at over seven hours on the road today, I don’t want to add more just because.

    • UnCivilServant

      Well, it’s time to pack up and hit the road.

      I wanted to be moving by 8 local.

    • KSuellington

      If you think of stopping in Bonneville for gas realize that the gas in East Wendover (Utah) is going to be significantly more expensive that West Wendover (Nevada). They do have some cool Bonneville Salt Flat tshirts tho.

      • DrOtto

        The channel is “There I Ruined It” but the reality is it’s now tolerable in this case.

    • SDF-7

      Ugh… mangled those copying them, but if you need them you can hover and get the addresses. Happy driving, hope your coolant issues are settled.

      • SDF-7

        :pounds head against desk and decides to just get some more coffee and start real work… hoping he won’t make stupid errors there too…: Obviously meant one thread up.

      • UnCivilServant

        I did top up the coolant for both the engine and the inverter, they were both low. Hopefully this is all it needed, but I won’t know until I climb some mountains.

    • Ownbestenemy

      That was an amazing read!

    • Sean

      “No Irish need apply.”

    • WTF

      Independent congresswoman Carol Nolan believes the book is attempting to undermine the cultural identity of Irish children

      Of course that’s the goal.

      • sloopyinca

        Ireland isn’t even close to the stereotypes portrayed in the book.

        If they were, their country would be better off.

      • Pine_Tree

        She should offer to fight them herself.

    • Suthenboy

      Wow. That’s what you get when you let the ruling class create shit-tons of brainwashed commiebots.
      That is amazing. No sane person could believe a word of that.

  9. Pope Jimbo

    What did you expect from the commander of the USS McCain? Competence? The crew should be happy that they weren’t all taken prisoner by the Iranians.

    • UnCivilServant

      I thought they were in danger of being taken prisoner by the Kazakhs.

      • WTF

        The commander would have shot at them, but they looked really far away.

    • The Other Kevin

      Thankfully my son in law is not in that carrier group.

    • Sensei

      My first thoughts too…

    • Tundra

      Insulin, por favor.

      Nice, Holiness.

    • Fourscore

      Thanks, Jimbo. Another example of people being good.

    • Drake

      Why would it ever end?

    • Fourscore

      Hah! It starts in July

    • PieInTheSky

      do they have fir trees in Venezuela?

  10. SDF-7

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 09/04:
    *19/19 words (+3 bonus words)
    🎯 Perfect accuracy

    I played https://squaredle.com 09/04:
    *40/40 words (+8 bonus words)
    🎯 Perfect accuracy
    🔥 Solve streak: 528

  11. Sean

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 09/04:
    *19/19 words (+13 bonus words)
    đź“– In the top 1% by bonus words

    I played https://squaredle.com 09/04:
    *40/40 words (+13 bonus words)
    ⏱️ In the top 10% by speed
    🔥 Solve streak: 577

  12. The Other Kevin

    I was helping with a roller derby scrimmage last night so I missed Jimbo’s excellent post. When we met early this summer he was in full wild man mode. I don’t think I’d recognize him now. 🙂

    • Fourscore

      Sometimes you get lucky, TOK.

    • PieInTheSky

      mopping blood?

      • The Other Kevin

        No blood this time. I was helping keep score.

      • PieInTheSky

        keeping score is heteropatriarchical capitalism and should stop

    • Pope Jimbo

      Full Wild Man Mode got me an invite to hang with you and your team.

      When I was all respectable in previous years, you guys ghosted me after the games were done.

      • The Other Kevin

        That really was fun. I think the difference was this year we actually planned something after the game instead of just going to the hotel and texting each other for an hour before we decided where to eat.

  13. PieInTheSky

    The death of free speech in Britain

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-death-of-free-speech-in-britain/

    In Michel Houellebecq’s satirical novel Soumission, the French elite submits to Islamic rule rather than accept a National Front government. Nine years after its publication, submission seems more imminent on this side of the English Channel.

    My American friends are surprised to learn there’s no equivalent to the First Amendment in Britain. They have forgotten a free press was one of the things their ancestors rebelled to establish in the US. Free speech is a much more recent thing in the UK. If it was born in the 1960s, it seems to be dying in the 2020s.

    Are americans really that surprised? And was it ever born?

    • Nephilium

      Some Americans may be surprised, but those are the same people who think the Constitution is just an old document written by a bunch of dead white guys that gives a bevvy of rights and powers to the government.

    • creech

      Many Americans were taught about the great Magna Carta, about Britain standing up to Spaniards, Huns and Nazis, and admiration for Queen Elizabeth II. They believe the Revolution was about a small tax on tea and nasty redcoats, not political ideas. So many are shocked to learn our English cousins don’t revere the same rights we do.

      • Suthenboy

        We do?

        Paraphrased: “All of the social media allows everyone to say what they want without regulation or oversight. This has to end.”
        – Kamalamadingdong

  14. PieInTheSky

    Lack of competence in the US armed forces makes me worry they will not be able to do the main duty of defending Romania

    • Drake

      You hitched you wagon to a failing empire. Be ready unhitch it quick and either make friends with the Ruskies or defend yourself. We’ll be busy collapsing and fighting among ourselves.

  15. PieInTheSky

    Rutger Bregman
    @rcbregman
    Devastating review of the degrowth literature (561 studies):
    –> ‘few studies use quantitative or qualitative data…’
    –> [those that do] ‘tend to include small samples or focus on non-representative cases’
    –>’large majority (almost 90%) are opinions rather than analysis’

    Alice Evans
    @_alice_evans
    A map of academics who write about ‘degrowth’.

    (Further commentary seems unnecessary..)

    https://x.com/_alice_evans/status/1831230771509510626

    • PieInTheSky

      England Germany and Spain which have the world’s highest number of Degrowth “academics”, are also not growing much.

      • Fourscore

        If they are serious about degrowth they need me to take care of their gardens.

      • Ted S.

        The one interview with a degrowth academic that I heard included him making an argument about the “worthless” jobs people were forced to take to survive, with the implication that enlightened beings like him knew what jobs were appropriate for everyone else.

        I found myself thinking that in the degrowth world, academics like him should be forced into ditch-digging.

    • Suthenboy

      Prosperity gives people options. Totalitarians hate that. They create poverty for a good reason.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    “If South Carolina University’s leadership values their Black students, it’s only right they shut this event down. Our nation’s schools must remain havens for learning, not platforms for hate. It is imperative that the university takes swift action in this matter and protects the campus community from patterns of divisiveness and degradation.”

    Good grief.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      This shit is so fucking tiring.

      Stay the fuck in your dorm if you do t want to hear it, and stop pretending words are harmful.

  17. PieInTheSky

    @Drewdacommie
    Me: Why does nobody want to date me?
    My average dating app conversation:

    https://x.com/Drewdacommie/status/1829898696294813796

    Great conversation in the comments

    “ I’m a Marxist and a Leninist but not any of the actual material benefits this created for mankind, I support the dork intelligencia fantasy version of the vulgarization of those ideas by a weasely little brown-nose loser Trotsky”

    “Trotsky defended the USSR and I do too. Those revolutions were progressive but incomplete. You don’t understand Trotskyism.”

    “Trotskyism is idealist nonesense that has never had tangible success in reality.”

    “you literally defend Lysenko and Haz I’m not gonna keep talking to you lol”

    “Yeah I defend ML. You know. The thing that works as oppose to fairy tales of professor brain larp like Trotsky.”

  18. The Late P Brooks

    “While the NAACP is a staunch advocate for, and defender of, free speech, in light of the advertisement used for the proposed event, the NAACP urges USC to cancel the proposed event, not because of what might be said at the event, but because of what already has been said and depicted in the obscene advertisement,” the NAACP’s letter reads.

    Of course. Now, if somebody wants to slander and vilify Trump, that’s okay, because he deserves it.

    • Sean

      Nazi’s aren’t people.

    • Pope Jimbo

      No one would ever say anything bad about Trump because he’s a straight white guy. It is known that they cannot be criticized here in Amerikkka.

    • Suthenboy

      “We believe in freedom of speech but…”

    • Sean

      Fashion Geese

      🙂

    • Tundra

      That’s awesome. My great grandmother had peacocks on her ranch. I hated those fucking things. Pretty but mean as hell.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    Now we have NPR spilling barrels of ink on behalf of “Evangelicals for Harris”. I’ll spare you the link. Yesterday, I was contemplating the various permutations of Republicans for Harris, and this is where it led me:

    A Judas goat is a trained goat used in general animal herding. The Judas goat is trained to associate with sheep or cattle, leading them to a specific destination. In stockyards, a Judas goat will lead sheep to slaughter[1] while its own life is spared. Judas goats are also used to lead other animals to specific pens and onto trucks. They have fallen out of use in recent times,[2] but can still be found in various smaller slaughterhouses in some parts of the world, as well as conservation projects.[3]

    Plenty of people are dumb enough to fall for it.

    • creech

      Fall for it? Of course they are. America is a wolf and two sheep voting “what’s for lunch?” and the wolf has assured one of the sheep that she will never be on the menu.

    • Suthenboy

      “I am a gun owner but even I think….”

      The ‘but’ rule. So tiresome.

  20. PieInTheSky

    In “Political Violence in Ancient India”, Upinder Singh makes a really interesting claim:

    Amid warfare, there was a concommittant rise in both hero stones and sati stones.

    This is a good example of glorifying sacrifice, just with distinct ideals for men and women.

    https://x.com/_alice_evans/status/1831252358824698129

    • EvilSheldon

      Okay, I need to get this off my chest.

      While nobody deserves pancreatic cancer, and my sympathies certainly go out to Paul’s family and friends, Paul Harrell was not a positive contribution to the gun culture in any way. He was the epitome of the low-information GunTuber influencer, and most of his advice was warmed-over 80’s gun magazine ‘wisdom’ – i.e. sometimes wrong, and invariably out of date.

      And unfortunately now, Harrell’s brand of bad information is going to continue to spread, because everyone speaking against it is speaking ill of the dead.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Innovative

    Vice President Kamala Harris is using a New Hampshire campaign stop on Wednesday to propose an expansion of tax incentives for small businesses, a pro-entrepreneur plan that may soften her previous calls for wealthy Americans and large corporations to pay higher taxes.

    She wants to expand from $5,000 to $50,000 tax incentives for small business startup expenses, with the goal of eventually spurring 25 million new small business applications over four years.

    Harris is expected to stop at Throwback Brewery in North Hampton, outside Portsmouth, and meet with co-founders Annette Lee and Nicole Carrier. Their brewery got support to open its current location through a small business credit and installed solar panels using federal programs championed by the Biden administration, according to the Harris campaign.

    Government as venture capitalist. What could go wrong?

    • Drake

      Then, write a check to the government for 25% of the business growth even if it was kept in the business and not cashed out.

      • The Other Kevin

        Makes total sense.

    • creech

      As Mencken observed, an election is an advance auction of stolen goods.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Harris has built her campaign around calls to grow and strengthen the nation’s middle class — and suggested that rich Americans and large corporations should “pay their fair share” in higher taxes.

    Soak the rich! It gets ’em every time.

    • Grumbletarian

      It’s not as if the rich can do anything about it, like move to another country. Nope, these money fountains will continue to sit there ripe for the plucking.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    Meddlers


    The Biden administration on Wednesday plans to accuse Russia of a sustained effort to influence the 2024 US presidential election by using Kremlin-run media and other online platforms to target US voters with disinformation, six sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

    It’s expected the US will make a series of moves on Wednesday aimed at addressing the Kremlin’s efforts including the White House publicly condemning the actions and the Justice Department announcing law enforcement action targeting the covert Russian campaign, the sources said.

    RT, the Russian state media network, is a major focus of the US announcement, the sources said. US officials see the Russian outlet as a key piece of Kremlin propaganda efforts.

    We don’t allow propaganda in these here parts.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    On Wednesday afternoon, Attorney General Merrick Garland will host a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force that will be attended by senior law enforcement leaders, including FBI Director Christopher Wray.

    They’re completely shameless at this point.

    • The Other Kevin

      In a sane world everyone in that meeting would be arrested, and the task force will have succeeded.

  25. Common Tater

    “Travis Kelce’s publicist is the master of the showmance! PR admitted helping celebs fake affairs to boost their careers and even wrote a book about it – as NFL star’s ‘contract’ with Taylor Swift leaks

    Yet while this contract is said to be ‘entirely false and fabricated’, Travis’ publicist Jack Ketosyan has admitted to setting up showmances before – even revealing how you can spot if a relationship has been staged.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13811053/Travis-Kelces-publicist-master-showmance-PR-admitted-helping-celebs-fake-affairs-boost-careers-wrote-book-NFL-stars-contract-Taylor-Swift-leaks.html

    “I’ve set up fake romances, but not this one!”

    • Ted S.

      He’s really having an affair with Patrick Mahomes.

      • Common Tater

        That would explain the mustache.

    • Suthenboy

      This is news? To whom?

  26. The Late P Brooks

    But any foreign or domestic attempts to sow discord during the US election and shape voters’ opinions don’t change the fact that the voting process is very difficult to tamper with and protected by layers of defenses. There is no evidence of successful efforts — foreign or domestic —to swing an American election by changing vote tallies.

    An estimated 97% of registered voters in the 2024 US election will cast their ballot in a jurisdiction with a verified paper record — adding to transparency around the vote, Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters this week.

    “Election infrastructure has never been more secure,” Easterly said.

    And when Kamala Harris wins by a landslide, doubters will be dealt with harshly.

    • Suthenboy

      And if Trump wins? *chuckle*