Meeting up with Prime in a place halfway between our home bases to do our usual, a nice walk or hike and chat, followed by alcohol and food. Ellicottville Brewing, most likely, a fine producer of beer. And they run a pizza place as well. We will eat unhealthfully and drink slightly immoderately. It’s been snowing, which will make the walk a bit more of an adventure. I will ignore today’s games, saving myself for The Big One. But thanks to an absolutely dreadful Steelers team, we ARE getting The Big One, and it’s the game that any true football fan deserves.
But we do need first to see who was born today. In history, that is, before they changed the water. For example, a guy who I have trouble finding words to describe; a guy who was needed; a guy who was the subject of one of my favorite short stories and movies; a physicist who fits the theme; a brilliant fat man; a climate activist with actual integrity- who paid dearly for that; one of the guys who ruined Major League Baseball; an embarrassment to Lehigh; the very best character on The Wire; and a guy who just needed to be a bit more quiet.
I shall not be quiet about Links.
I’ll take the under on 72 hours until the rockets start flying again.
Online dating news. And yes, I almost always let them message first, regardless of platform.
Face it, ladies, the grift has gone limp.
This was not my experience in shul.
If this is what it takes to get Tim Horton’s shitty coffee out of here, so be it.
This of course has nothing to do with the connected elite’s visceral hatred of Elon.
OK, we need a sign for our café, and I will only buy it from this guy.
One more memory from The Old Guy’s younger days dredged up. I was lucky enough to see MJQ at least half a dozen times and they were always this great.
a guy who was needed;
That’s not a guy.
That pizza looks good. There’s a local joint I’ve been wanting to try. Might use that for inspiration.
I was a little surprised to see beer on the OM menu for today.
I’m a wine guy who can drink beer, she’s a beer gal who can drink wine, so we take turns.
We all bow to the god of best.
I can drink beer, wine, liquor, mouthwash, handcleaner…
The men who attend Kay’s gatherings go on journeys of self-discovery and connection with themselves and God. They do this with a tool all people have: Their breath.
“Tools of Breath” is the name of my new prog-rock band.
Happy birthday Roy Scheider?
Happy birthday Jackie Gleason?
William Conrad
Happy birthday Robert Durst?
“Happy birthday Roy Scheider?”
Well played, Pat.
whaddup doh’
whats goody yo
TALL WEEKEND CANS!
Incoming Tall Cans!
I would totally buy a sign from that guy, as well.
the very best character on The Wire;
Happy birthday Philippe Petit!
I was thinking Rainier Werner Fassbinder.
I wouldn’t be overly upset if the Israelis collected the handful of dead hostages Hamas will ever cough up, and then said “j/k, fuck you” and carried on obliterating Hamas.
👍👍👍
You’d almost think such drugs were used for spiritual purposes for thousands of years before they became integral to boomer culture.
They were in some areas (I’m thinking mushrooms in northern Eurasia), but I’m not sure there was anything in the Middle East.
See: Oracle at Delphi. Peyoti. Mushrooms here and SA. Betel nut. Himalayan psychedelic honey….those are just off of the top of my head. Altered consciousness has been thought of all over the world throughout all of history as a means of seeing a reality we are ordinarily blind to.
There is also the theory that binding skulls was also for that purpose – to create people that were a conduit to the supernatural.
It’s true that alcohol was the drug of choice in the middle east, whereas psychedelics were more common in the far east and Americas. It’s just amusing to see modern people getting hip to what tribal nomads figured out 10,000 years ago.
Unfortunately, I just learned that our local Steak ‘n Shake has closed.
I hope McD’s follows their lead.
https://www.fox5ny.com/news/steak-n-shake-beef-tallow
I thought McDonald’s stopped using beef tallow because Indians (dot) complained.
Perhaps in India, but here in the states it was the ’80s low-fat craze after the prior 2 decades of scaremongering about animal fats. They switched to hydrogenated vegetable oil, until the trans fats the health Nazis insisted we use to replace the animals fats in our diets became the next health scare.
I think it was the Center for Science in the Government Interest that bullied McDonald’s into not using tallow.
It was the health scare. I don’t think the dot Indians were a factor for much of anything back when it happened.
[golf clap] for “Center for Science in the Government Interest.”
And the Indians can still complain. Even with vegetable oil, their fries are not vegetarian.
Me, I don’t complain, I just avoid the place.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-settles-beef-over-fries/
“essence of beef”
🥴
Condolences on the loss of your Steak ‘n Shake. We lost the ones near home, so at last check the only one within reach is across town, but near my office. May have to make them my go-to lunch out at work instead of Timmy’s. (Also lost a bunch of the regional Big Boy franchise locations, which really breaks my heart! 😭)
They closed the Steak ‘n Shake near us a couple years ago. It was no big loss as I had a buddy that was doing food inspections on the place and said to avoid it as it was one of the dirtiest places he regularly inspected. Now it’s a Whataburger.
“I’ll take the under on 72 hours until the rockets start flying again.”
Same here. Although maybe Hez will get the party started from Lebanon this time.
This take seems as likely as any – the “deal” is shit, it will be broken before the ink is dry, and the meat-grinder will go on.
-1 for “Achille’s Heel”.
-2, really, since the H doesn’t need to be capitalized.
Poor Achilles
I won’t stand for any bellyaching.
/”People’s March” participant
Maybe people aren’t as gung-ho about communism this time around.
Any “People’s [whatever]” is decidedly not of, for, or by the people.
Yeah, I had to chuckle at that. They just can’t help themselves.
OFFS move on…. If they’re still clinging to that stuff, no wonder they’re past their sell-by date.
Now, 8 years later, the same complainers aren’t being groped by anyone.
Speaking of clinging to old/questionable stuff… the entire Gaiman uproar.
Makes an excellent point about the flexibility of agency for women when it really is pretty binary (either they have it or they don’t).
JI. Yes, amazing. Women have agency except when they choose not to have it.
Near as I can tell the whole metoo thing is special double agency. They can choose, experience the results of the choice and then retroactively change the choice if they regret it, often keeping the benefits of the choice.
Another possibility.
IOW, it’s a pep-rally and pity party. They are experiencing both demobilization and demoralization of their ranks. Good.
As Rhywun noted above, I think the drop-off in support has something to do with the ramping up of the commie nonsense during the Biden administration.
Note to self: Remind Mom no all-caps texts when she just wants her back scratched.
OK, we need a sign for our café, and I will only buy it from this guy.
Even better if you can get him to put together a video with it.
Making any kind of deal with Hamas is dumb. Incredibly dumb.
Online dating. Y’all are on your own.
‘The People’s March’ <—— We all know you are a bunch of commies.
Celebrity chefs should be deported.
Psychedelics are a common thing in religious history. Also, a clue.
Canada has gone down the same dark road as the rest of the anglosphere. I have no sympathy.
Maybe we should start deporting leftists too. As for the EU…fuck 'em.
Trump: easily the funniest and most entertaining president in history.
“I’ll take the under on 72 hours until the rockets start flying again.”
I’d be completely fine if those rockets were coming from Israel, give the Islamonazis a taste of their own medicine.
“Thanks for the hostages, now we’re gonna kill the rest of you. kthxbai!”
I’ve had Timmy’s bean bagged coffee – it is decent for the price. I’ve never been to their cafes but it can’t possibly be as bad as the donut flavored coffee from that other place.
I recall Tim Horton’s being good when I was a kid. Back then, behind-the-counter was staffed by older ladies maybe looking to supplement their income or just something to do. Doughnuts were baked in-house, along with cakes and pies. I remember a display case specifically for cakes and pies.
Now? It’s staffed largely by unskilled immigrants who missed the customer service training. Baked goods are manufactured off-site and frozen, and then thawed or re-heated in store.
It’s been a steady downhill, and markedly so when RBI took over.
That sucks, but damn that could describe the trajectory of so many food establishments – certainly franchises.
A chilly Silicone Saturday making nipples erect across the nation.
https://archive.is/saRCl
#20 has been posted before, but was well worth a second look.
#4 is wearing my favorite color. Really gets the old noggin’ joggin’.
I’ve always enjoyed noting how income inequality rose after Curt Flood won his case.
You don’t have ADHD – you’re just annoying
There are people who think we can fix criminality with drugs.
Who knows? Maybe they’re right.
I’m pretty sure if you gave my cousin meth/heroin, he’d quit stealing to buy it, so maybe?
Well that is one way lolsnort
They are…depends on the drug.
And there’s always that lethal injection thing.
I’m willing to cut a lot of slack to mental illness. I have plenty. My family is lousy with them. It’s one reason my daughter doesn’t want kids.
However, you MUST learn some coping mechanisms. You CANNOT always assume your meds will be available.
I have always told my kids the meds are there to help you learn some coping mechanisms.
Time blindness CAN be mitigated easier now than ever if you have a phone or watch with multiple alarms.
I do have ADHD, *and* I’m annoying.
I don’t have ADHD, I’m just annoying.
“Bonnie, whose real name is Tia Billinger, later bragged on social media that she had sex with 1,057 men in 12 hours”
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/i-queued-up-1000-others-34490562
More than one per minute?
We’re apparently in an arms race in which we will soon reach the physical limitations of how many men a woman can fuck in a day. Like the 100m dash we’ll reach a point where the record creeps up by tiny increments. Will we count just the tip? Is it cheating to recruit other orifices? I mean, she could triple that number immediately by opening up both ends of the alimentary tract.
I think I’m more squicked out by the guys able/wanting to get off in that sort of situation. I mean I understand we’re all pigs, but jeez. I pretty sure even at 17 yo, I’d be unable to look at that situation and think, OK sounds good, where do I put it?
I may be overly squeamish, low on testosterone, too socially inhibited, or some combination of the three, but group sex just doesn’t really appeal to me and never has. Even the classic two chicks at the same time setup is one of those things that sounds better on paper.
I crashed at some friend of a friend’s house after a night out. Everyone is settling down in various bedrooms. I’ve got a blanket and I’m ready to nod off on the living room sofa when our gracious host enters the room, pops in a porno and goes to town. Squick!
The only way that works is if they’re all lined up and working themselves in advance. She moves down the line and takes the nearest gentleman with a raised hand indicating he’s “ready”.
Someone (Riven, maybe?) actually researched this. No male orgasm required, there was a fluffer to keep the guys on deck ready, and there was a very short time limit. PIV only.
So, stick it in, maybe wiggle it a little, and then time’s up, move on?
Well that’s just cheating.
She’s got two hands, too, if we’re willing to stretch the definition of “had sex with” to include handies.
+2 foot jobs
Brings to mind Middle Out from Silicone Valley
https://youtu.be/0rhdOt9bOHE
I was waiting for the Silicone Valley reference.
I’m on the Bill Clinton list
“I did not have sex with that woman, Miss Quicky”
Sloppy seconds are bad enough…
CNN folded before damages went to the jury.
https://www.wsj.com/business/media/cnn-found-liable-for-defaming-u-s-navy-veteran-in-afghanistan-evacuation-story-619ed824?st=X8qKoo&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
No fucking way NYT. Everybody he is totally on board with what a great guy the orange man is.
Support for Trump’s Policies Exceeds Support for Trump
https://archive.fo/ocGKJ
He=here.
Some of us voted for him for the lolz.
Or out of spite.
Never cared for Trump’s whole persona during his entire pre-political public life. I was the contrarian who never even watched The Apprentice. But I’ve warmed up to it, only because of the level of insanity it induces in people I dislike. My salad days wasted on the early-ish internet inculcated an appreciation for trolling that I’ve still yet to grow out of.
that’s very normal here, but we should want much more in a candidate and office-holder;
also, we can’t really expect others to be attracted to our world-view when we tolerate bad behavior
with a principled, freedom-loving man, we should be able to have our cake and eat it too;
I continue to hold this view, hold out and hope for this reality, and invite everyone to join
+2
He was something of a mystery to me when I became aware he was going to run. Other than some unmemorable appearances on random television shows and tabloid gossip pages I didn’t know much about him at all.
Keeping with my unblemished record of never having voted for a winning presidential candidate until I gave up on voting entirely in 2020, I’ve never cast a vote for Trump, so I get to keep my obnoxious above-the-fray cred. Take a guy like Milei for example though. He’s no less brash than Trump, but far more principled, and much closer to my policy preferences. If it came to light that he spent his private time snorting blow off the ass of every hooker in Buenos Aires, I wouldn’t particularly care about his bad behavior, in all honesty. If I was hung up on decorum I wouldn’t be whatever varietal of “libertarian-adjacent” that I guess I am.
with a principled, freedom-loving man, we should be able to have our cake and eat it too;
Yes, I would prefer this as well, but since there hasn’t been such a candidate even in the primaries since Ron Paul it’s kind of a silly criticism of our choice. Libertarianism is a utopian world view. There is nothing wrong with that as long as one keeps in mind that utopias are not possible except as an aspirational goal.
“we should want much more in a candidate and office-holder”
Indeed, but you order from what’s on the menu you have, not the menu you wish you had.
“ a principled, freedom-loving man, we should be able to have our cake and eat it too”
I’d say there’s no way such a unicorn politician could make it in the US, but if one made it in Argentina, I guess it’s possible here.
with a principled, freedom-loving man, we should be able to have our cake and eat it too;
+1 write-in vote [mine] for Thomas Massie
It generally been the case for quite awhile now that the number of people supporting Dem policies falls well short of the number voting for Dem politicians, and the number supporting Repub policies exceeds the number voting for Repub politicians.
Of course, in both cases there is a bit of a gap between what the policies are and what the politicians actually do.
bit of a gap
Such as between the two rims of the Grand Canyon?
And water is wet. Not one single Trump supporter is on board with him on every single issue. That is true for every officeholder since the beginning of time.
What is also true is that large numbers of people are NOT on board with anything at all that the left’s pushes.
Panic! Mask up! Buy Pfizer and Moderna immediately!
What to know about ‘quad-demic’ of COVID, flu, RSV and norovirus in US
Only four headlines this AM with this newly created word.
So basically another one of those annoying winters where you have a hacking cough for months. Got it.
I still have some residual dry cough from whatever fucking virus took up residence in my sinuses pre Christmas.
What a shame, after 7 years of owning Pfizer, I just sold Thursday at a 12% overall loss. Good divs though, but I’m not retired yet.
Dang, man. I’m hodling PFE for the dividend. But I bought at $25.14
These idiots dont understand how fear works. Fear mongering has limits. You cant have the most dangerouser scariester mega super death virus every week. People stop paying attention. Then there is the issue of credibility…..
Just wait for the quintupledemic!
People stop paying attention.
Normal people notice that the fears are overblown. I’m just not sure what percentage of our populace can be called normal.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/dear-deidre/32779971/want-experience-orgasm-think-myth/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2S-O-OP9tk
Dear Miss Non Orgasm Lady,
Have you thought about trying the 1000 a Day Club? Maybe you just need your horizons expanded.
This guy had the nerve to unironically tell me & Straff (Vikings fans): “you don’t know the pain of being a Ravens fan”
We are too familiar with “so close and yet so far.”
Prime (a Buffalonian) is already fretting about how a Bills victory will probably end things between us.
Yet more nerve from the guy whose team has actually won a Super Bowl – TWICE
Well, I mean, if that’s all it takes …
I hope you didn’t express the same “woe are the Ravens, two-time Super Bowl champs!!” to the Bills fan
won a Super Bowl – TWICE – but nevermore?
So are we, so are we.
Yeah, my dream SuperBowl matchup was Minnesota vs. Buffalo.
And tell that to a LIONS fan. Fourscore’s probably the only one here who might remember THEIR last championship.
There are a few teams that can claim to be as woeful as the Vikings (Lions, Bills, Browns). The Ravens ain’t one.
Well, after the Vikings last minute killed my beloved Seachickens (and then showed how lame they were by doing the safety dance in the end zone) I will be rutting for the Ravens.
dicks outPours one out for the Oriels.“I will be rutting for the Ravens”
Zwak gets my nomination to host the Super Bowl party.
My memory ain’t what it used to be. That’s Detroit, as in MI, right?
With Lions, and Tigers, but no bears.
Re Dr. Behe and intelligent design. I’m no scientist but have always thought the complexity of biochemical structures was proof there was no intelligent design. Wouldn’t an all powerful designer have made things more simple?
There’s always the possibility that what we consider complex is, in fact, simple to an all-powerful designer.
One pipe for both respiration and nutrition may be efficient, or it may be lazy.
“Only a civil engineer would run a sewage system right through a recreational area.”/punch line of old joke
The concepts of ‘design’, ‘create’, ‘purpose’, etc are appropriate for human behavior. As for explaining the wider universe they are useless unless you want to consider that humans are the inevitable outcome of the universe.
These people are trying to fly a submarine and dont know it.
We’ve been using narratives to explain our place in the world/universe since the very beginning of language. Doesn’t mean we’ve got it right yet.
Why? If an eternal omnipotence decided to create wouldn’t complexity be more likely? If the artist is not limited by time or difficulty, what advantage would there be to simplicity?
Good question. What is the eternal omnipotence’s reasons for the creation; what is it intending to accomplish? I suppose we Glibs run the gamut from militant atheist to believers in more than one God, so this might be one discussion on which we will never reach any kind of consensus.
As, for example, the Recurrent laryngeal nerve.
Wouldn’t an all powerful designer have made things more simple?
What if he was a lawyer?
His son was Jewish, this could be a valid theory.
You’re a Jew if your mother is a Jew is my understanding.
Lawyers attempt to work around the law they’ve been given.
Or a politician?
with a principled, freedom-loving man, we should be able to have our cake and eat it too
You slay me.
“Bonnie, whose real name is Tia Billinger, later bragged on social media that she had sex with 1,057 men in 12 hours”
More than one per minute?
Three strokes and you’re out.
Reminds me of the purported exploits of Messalina, third wife of Emperor Claudius.
So you are saying…. We are writing a new mythology for the ages?
OK, we need a sign for our café, and I will only buy it from this guy.
i like the one I shared yesterday more
I went to Tweeter jail just now for wishing the door would hit Merrick Garland’s ass on the way out.
But I’ve been assured X is now pure anarchy!
Mitch McConnell may be an unprincipled piece of shit but one of the best things he did for this country was to keep that authoritarian off the Supreme Court.
If hell is real, he will escape it for that reason, and that reason alone.
True. I still like to make fun of him. Broken clock is right twice a day and all that.
Aye Aye, captain!
I wish 16 shells from a thirty-ought six would hit him in the ass on his way out, but then I don’t use X (the social media platform; I do use X the window system and display server).
I love how the message says “after careful review”, when I got the alert literally 1 second after I sent the tweet
Seems pretty tame, too, if those were your actual words.
https://ibb.co/0BfxyjM
Yeah, big deal. Probably some automation quirk. I like to think that a human would not have flagged that.
Romances with cheese wheels is new territory for romance novels:
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Cheese-Ellen-Mint/dp/B0CX21X5PH
I doubt it’s new territory.
Fromance?
Powerline,
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/01/the-week-in-pictures-two-days-to-go.php
A minor inconvenience
The fire that started Thursday at the Vistra Energy battery plant in Moss Landing, roughly 80 miles (about 130 kilometers) south of San Francisco, led to 1,700 people evacuating, closed part of Highway 1 and generated huge flames and significant amounts of smoke. The cause is under investigation.
Experts say lithium batteries are a safe technology essential for lowering carbon emissions and making grids more reliable. Still, residents near the fire expressed concerns about the impact.
That smoke is non toxic. In fact, it’s probably good for you. Lie back and think of society.
The billionaires are coming
According to the White House archives, Biden had not uttered the word “oligarchy” in the context of American politics until this week. And yet he made the influence of billionaires in U.S. politics a major focus of his final scheduled Oval Office address.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” Biden said with Vice President Kamala Harris and his family looking on. He pointed to “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.”
——-
Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, described “a sense of whiplash,” suggesting that Biden is “desperate to placate” some billionaires while condemning others. Hauser said he wished that Biden’s team and its allies on the center-left were as pugnacious over the last two years.
It’s all fun and games until suddenly the boot is on the other neck.
I’m kinda surprised; the Dems had stopped bitching about dark money when they got better at it than the Repubs had been.
They used to have some sense of shame, too – sense enough to not be so obviously delusional. Now it’s anything goes.
Shocking
Not surprisingly, there was a lot of blowback to the notion that some wealthy people were hiring their own firefighters to protect their property: It struck a lot of folks as unfair and just crummy.
Turns out people can contract private firefighters, but it’s not cheap, as recent media reports have made clear. And it’s no guarantee that their properties will be spared.
But these fire protection services are mainly hired by insurers, as a standard part of homeowner policies in fire-prone states — and in California, they operate under state regulations.
——-
By providing these services, insurance companies are able to limit their losses due to wildfires. Offering this protection as part of an insurance policy can be a selling point, too, when people are shopping for coverage.
For example, the insurer USAA includes this kind of service as a standard part of their homeowners’ policies in 15 states.
Rebekah Nelson, Catastrophe Communications Director for USAA, said the company offers it because it’s the right thing to do for their members.
“When you lose everything, this struggle of having to find a new home and find a place to live and get new belongings, it’s terrible. And if we can save one home by offering this service, it’s a win,” she says.
She acknowledged that it benefits insurance companies, too — and said she wished everybody had this service on their insurance policy.
That’s un-American. Either nobody’s house burns down, or everybody’s house burns down.
My home not burning down is a human right!
The Leftist view of the world is that we have to shape our policy on the lowest curve.
Georgia spat resolved.
Speaker must’ve come to realize he wasn’t giving the party or the state a very good look.
LEAVE RICK BAYLESS ALONE!
Huh, wasn’t what I expected.
Italian house-hunt continued.
Yesterday I saw a nice, modern apartment, a renovated barn/farmhouse and a townhouse. Barn wouldn’t have been bad – all the houses for rent here have security systems, most of them have steel shutters, etc – but more isolated than expected (nothing really within a convenient walk)…
Today I saw about 10 “villas” (a couple were duplexes again) – although 1 was an apartment in a small “complex” with a pool – all owned by 1 guy. Some very nice beach views…some with full roof access, lots of balconies all around…1 I would definitely be interested in (originally lived in by landlord, not just built as NATO/US rental) – more unique fixtures, lots of installed cabinets, etc. Just got to talk to the Housing office again on Monday to see about the apartment I mentioned last thread…the location is awesome – much closer to mountains, walkable downtown – not what I would normally do…but in the context of this tour and the size of the apartment…I think it would work very well for me. Most of these villas are like 4 bedrooms, 3 or 4 bathrooms…probably at least 2x the square footage of my house in VA. A lot more than I need even for visiting guests…or an eventual family???
Pics eventually. You can go to http://www.homes.mil and search for Naples and you’ll see good examples of some of them – most of the pics are awful compared to zillow and give you no idea of the actual look of the place.
In other words, my grift isn’t over yet.
That bit about you can’t convince someone who’s salary depends on not understanding something.
That’s funny, I see compelling evidence that economic forces will continue driving “climate action” into the ashbin of history. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“There are tons of ethical questions because wildfires themselves are a very complicated issue,” says Brian Green at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
What does the Center for Applied Ethics have to say about government-enforced equal outcomes?
OMWC – speaking of Ollie…I posted about this flick a few years ago when it came out. A lot of fun…still need to pick up a copy.
Somewhere in Gaza
Just load up the Hamas returnees into a helicopter and then push them out over Gaza.
“as Yahweh as my witness, I thought terrorists could fly”
Lol
If I was the Israelis, I would warn that this is the last ceasefire ever and if we even get a whiff of a rocket hitting one of our cities, we’re going to destroy Gaza and the West Bank until we know that Hamas is gone. These ceasefires are nothing more than a breather for the terrorists to regroup and restart their fuckery.