Saturday evening links from occupied territory

by | Sep 3, 2022 | Daily Links | 148 comments

A tale of two cities.

Yes, I am here in Portland on a family matter. I’m staying in a beautiful house overlooking Portland,  and I can’t wait to get out of here. WAY too many people for me.

Anyhoo, let’s see what Labor Day weekend links we can scare up.

 

Failure to launch. Srsly, NASA just needs to get back to Muslim outreach.

 

Mississippi Man shows Florida Man how it’s done.

 

I’ve got some ammo from Argentina. I better go check it out.

 

Out of Africa.

 

Better than a pumpkin.

 

Stay in the plane.

 

Okay, enjoy your communist barbecues this weekend.

Tell all your friends.

About The Author

Spudalicious

Spudalicious

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

148 Comments

  1. Zwak. who's suit is as ragged as his nerves.

    Yeah, I was in Portland yesterday. Bunch of flat-earthers in that town.

    • Spudalicious

      I know Portland well, but I still feel like I’m in a foreign country.

      • Zwak. who's suit is as ragged as his nerves.

        It’s sad because it was a nice, small city. But it is just so fucked at this point. Trash and homeless people everywhere, junkies nodding off during the daytime in full view, shootings, car theft rings…

      • Gustave Lytton

        That could also describe Portland in the 80’s and early 90’s. Except there wasn’t the insane left then.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Me too. I hope you’re not one of those that wrecked yesterday afternoon. Took 3 hours to drive from Ridgefield to Salem.

  2. The Late P Brooks

    Idaho sucks

    101 degrees in Pocatello right now.

  3. Sensei

    Nothing like quality reporting.

    Pardazi, a philosophy student at the University of Toronto, had opened her parachute too late during her dive.

    Skydive Toronto said in a statement posted to Facebook that Pardazi “released a quickly rotating main parachute at a low altitude without the time/altitude required for the reserve parachute to inflate.”

    Maybe reading between the lines – she either had a failure or screwed her main parachute and waited too long to ditch it and pull the reserve. I’ll leave it to some of our Airborne Glibs.

    • Sean

      I don’t know why her AOD didn’t activate. Do Canadians not use them for students?

      • Sean

        The terms are interchangeable, but I didn’t want to confuse peeps with the link I provided.

        *shrug*

      • Bob Boberson

        The media is notorious for misreporting skydiving incidents and reporters can’t seem to be bothered to learn the most basic facts about how modern parachutes work. Assuming their isn’t anything I factual about their statement; I’d guess she attempted to correct a malfunction until she was well below her cutaway altitude, at which point she released the main canopy without sufficient altitude for the reserve to fully deploy.

      • Bob Boberson

        * there
        *unfactual

      • Sensei

        Anything firearm related goes without saying.

        It really is interesting how poor reporting is on most subjects that you know well.

        On the business beat for the majors some specialize in certain subjects and do much better.

      • Bob Boberson

        I listened to a podcast with Mike Cernovich in it talking about hanging around with the White House press core.

        His summation was that they act, talk and thing one the level of in-crowd high schoolers, with all the same unwarranted sense of superiority and condescension.

        Sounds spot on based on the quality of reporting .

      • Sensei

        For example Leslie Scism has covered insurance roughly as long as I’ve been in it. She generally gets it.

        https://www.wsj.com/news/author/leslie-scism

        Friend of the family was an attorney and hated it. He covers the Supreme Court for Bloomberg.

        You’ll note both are specialized in what they cover.

  4. CPRM

    Goelz said the FAA and Department of Homeland Security would likely examine the incident and issue guidance focused on tightening up security, a potentially costly prospect.

    “For an airport like Tupelo, for them to crank up security for Saturday morning at 5 a.m., when their tower doesn’t open until 6 — that’s expensive,” Goelz said. “They’re not going to have the funds unless the feds are going to provide it.’’

    Muh Sekerty!

    • Seguin

      The stranglehold tightens some more. They won’t be happy until we live like medieval serfs, never straying too far from the manor.

  5. The Late P Brooks

    Peter Goelz, former managing director at the National Transportation Safety Board, said the vulnerability of small airports, which cater to small planes and corporate jets, has worried security experts for years.

    “If you’ve got a trained pilot who can get in and grab a business jet, you’ve got a pretty lethal weapon there,” he said.

    Yes, yes, of course. Ban private aviation before the skies are filled with domestic terror kamikaze raiders.

  6. Not Adahn

    Greetings from the USPSA Area 7 Championship just outside the bustling metropolis of Bangor ME.

    The more I visit this “city” the less impressed I am.

    The match itself is going well. My stage leads the match in DQs handed out, so that’s nice. I shot it like shit. I seem to do very poorly if I’m feeling good about myself, and I thought I did really well at the NYS championship a couple of weeks ago and was more than a little ambitious, and I also have to work on my trigger pull more. I also notice that the last two matched, I finished with bruised part of the support hand palm, right where the life line forks, whatever that means.

    But even though the provided hotel is a roach infested shithovel, and I can’t hit the broad side of an A zone when I’m in Maine, the swag and random drawings here are quite nice. So far, I’ve won/received a free set of sights, a gift certificate from Red Hill Tactical, numerous bits of cleaning gear (including a Hoppe’s .45 bore snake, a Sig P320 X5 Legion, lots of pretty cool stickers and a really nice Ruger hat.

    • Zwak. who's suit is as ragged as his nerves.

      So, when do you start the Glib’s shooting Team, also known as the ‘Squatches?

      You are going to captain it, no?

      • Not Adahn

        Evil Sheldon is a much better shooter than I am.

      • Not Adahn

        I will say there was a group? Team? Today that had an excellent logo. Looking them up online finds nothing, but basically it was an old-tymey cannonball type bomb wearing a jester hat and a manic grin.

        But as to your idea: STEVE SMITH SAY THAT ALPHA!

    • Sean

      Bangor?

      I don’t even know her!

      • Not Adahn

        I am disappointed in you.

      • Sean

        *kicks pebble*

      • Not Adahn

        I’ll tell you why next time I’m on.

      • Not Adahn

        Unless someone else figures it out.

      • Sean

        Congrats on the pick ups.

      • Not Adahn

        I did a good job of burying the lede. I’m guessing it’s the second biggest prize so far (Colt donated a Python).

      • UnCivilServant

        You expect anyone to actually read your comment?

      • Not Adahn

        *Kicks Sean’s pebble*

      • Homple

        Jamaica?
        Of course not. She was only fifteen.

  7. Nephilium

    To prevent the Old Man from panicking again, here’s the holiday open Zoom/Happy Hour/Liver Abuse link. It should still be up and running, and will continue through Monday.

  8. UnCivilServant

    In Video Game design, I don’t get the point of an unlockable that can only be obtained after the game is over. I finished the game, it’s useless, no matter what the effect is, unless it unlocks more plot.

    • Not Adahn

      Eh, in MMOs it enhances the replay value by letting you skip some of the tedium you had to grind through to get to the end.

      • UnCivilServant

        I don’t play MMOs, I just rage quite Black Flag because I found out the last collectable to unlock the thing I’d been working on was literally behind the end game location, so I’d wasted all that effort.

      • Not Adahn

        And now you need a new game to play! Good job of the designers to make you dump the game you’d already paid for.

      • UnCivilServant

        That I paid for… nine years ago (and already finished at least once)

      • Not Adahn

        If it would run on a modern machine, I’d STILL be playing Wing Comander II. If I had time to be playing video games I mean.

      • Nephilium

        You mean like this?

      • rhywun

        GOG rules.

      • Not Adahn

        Not everything on GOG is actually playable. System Shock comes to mind.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Uppity peasants

    An estimated 70,000 people protested in Prague against the Czech government on Saturday, calling on the ruling coalition to do more to control soaring energy prices and voicing opposition to the European Union and NATO.

    ——-

    Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who leads the centre-right, five-party coalition, told CTK news service on Saturday that the protesters did not have the country’s best interests at heart.

    “The protest on Wenceslas Square was called by forces that are pro-Russian, are close to extreme positions and are against the interests of the Czech Republic,” he said.

    Traitors. Enemies of the State.

    • rhywun

      The protest on Wenceslas Square was called by forces that are pro-Russian

      OFFS. Must be taking pointers from the DNC.

    • JasonAZ

      Energy prices are soaring in EU. Going to be shortages and people freezing. Who is pushing the extreme position again?

      Shits gonna get real this winter in EU.

  10. Playa Manhattan

    My internet is down.

    Does anyone have the CAL score?

    • Spudalicious

      7-3 Iowa.

      • whiz

        And Iowa didn’t score a TD — one FG and two safeties.

    • Ted S.

      Nope. Nobody does.

    • Chafed

      You returned for that?

      • Playa Manhattan

        So… you don’t have the score?

      • Ted S.

        Do you have the frequency, Kenneth?

      • MikeS

        No link? I don’t even know you anymore!

  11. hayeksplosives

    That Africa story— Is that real??? What would be the motivation for such barbaric acts?

    Maybe it’s best I don’t know.

    • westernsloper

      I highly doubt it is real. Smells too much of killing babies in Iraqi hospitals. Or was that Kuwaiti hospitals? Whatever. Some of the finest war propaganda ever.

      • R.J.

        I agree with you. Reeks of wartime propaganda.

      • Fourscore

        A friend of mine whose brother-in-law was a tourist met a French guy and he said….

    • rhywun

      If it sounds like ridiculous propaganda it probably is.

      • Sensei

        Unless it’s MAGA.

    • Homple

      Barbaric acts or “Good story bro”?

  12. The Late P Brooks

    I want a (fully assembled) speeduino, but apparently the only way to get one is on ebay.

    I fucking hate ebay.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      I fucking hate ebay

      I was on eBay just today. I was curious about how much my camera was worth.

      Who said film is dead? My Canon AE-1 is apparently worth more today than the day I bought it.

      • hayeksplosives

        U2 planes still use film cameras.

        The phrase I teach all of my interns: “Never send a digital circuit to do an analog circuit’s job.”

    • rhywun

      I’m not sure if that’s a tiny computer or a sexy swimming outfit – or both?!

      • R.J.

        Digital penis enhancement.

      • Zwak. who's suit is as ragged as his nerves.

        Racing Dachshund.

  13. hayeksplosives

    We are having a legit thunderstorm here in Pahrump. Nice flashies and rumblies.

    Hoping everyone is safe!

    • rhywun

      Boring late summer warmish and high humidity and wind coming from the wrong direction so I can’t get a cross breeze.

      👍🏻

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Thunderstorms are among the many reasons that I love the desert.

      My vision is that if/when I get to Heaven I get to run Their pulse power.

      • hayeksplosives

        You made that have competition for the eternal pulsed power job!!

  14. The Late P Brooks

    Sure, why not?

    President Joe Biden is asking Congress to provide more than $47 billion in emergency dollars that would go toward the war in Ukraine, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing monkeypox outbreak and help for recent natural disasters in Kentucky and other states.

    The request, which comes as lawmakers are preparing to return to Washington and fund the government, seeks $13.7 billion related to Ukraine, including money for equipment, intelligence support and direct budgetary support. Shalanda Young, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said that more than three-fourths of the $40 billion approved by Congress earlier this year has already been disbursed or committed.

    “We have rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their democracy and we cannot allow that support to Ukraine to run dry,” Young said in a blog post.

    The Treasury can just print it on rolls.

    Like toilet paper.

    • rhywun

      Meh, that war won’t extend itself.

  15. The Bearded Hobbit

    A tale of two cities.

    Portland OR and Portland ME?

    • slumbrew

      Portland, ME has its share of junkies but isn’t quite the slow motion disaster Portland, OR has turned into.

      • Grumbletarian

        Give it time. The people of Massachusetts have discovered Portland, ME.

      • slumbrew

        Long ago

  16. The Late P Brooks

    I’m not sure if that’s a tiny computer or a sexy swimming outfit – or both?!

    Arduino-based engine management system. It’s time to try something new and different.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Consider Smart Relay. Think “PLC Lite”.

      • Seguin

        Not intended for me, but thank you. I’m going to be converting (again, the motion controller that the first conversion was done with is no longer supported…hell, can’t even find the company any more) a Feeler FSM-59 this winter over to CNC. Might come in handy.

      • Seguin

        P.S. I’ll probably go with the CNC Shield. It’s got small NEMA motors, shouldn’t be a problem. Just doing brass fittings with this one.

    • R.J.

      I prefer to imagine it as a mankini with digital penis enhancement.

      • Zwak. who's suit is as ragged as his nerves.

        Digital? Analog, baby!

    • Seguin

      Sweet! You are doing a Speeduino!? My dad, brother, and I bought most of the components to build three out, but I’ve been too busy at work.

      • Seguin

        I’m actually going to have lunch with Dad tomorrow. I’ll ask him about the Speeduinos…maybe there’s enough parts leftover to build a fourth. I’m rusty, but my soldering used to be pretty good.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    My Canon AE-1 is apparently worth more today than the day I bought it.

    Sit down, Shirley, I’ve got some bad news. Your camera didn’t get bigger. Your money got smaller.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      I think that the point was that “film is dead” is not necessarily true, which was surprising to me. Along the lines of “vinyl records are dead” and there are turntables on eBay going for $300.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I have one of those, and a roll of Potsdam you can have. Good apparatus to learn on.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        (Er, to have learned on… Thingy is damned heavy, though.)

  18. The Late P Brooks

    Consider Smart Relay. Think “PLC Lite”.

    Haha, silly Hobbit.You obviously ave me confused with somebody who knows how to program a computer. I’m looking for a tool, not a lifetime commitment.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      I thought that you were looking for something something new and different. (shrugs).

      • Fourscore

        How are feeling these days? You’re sounding chipper.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Hmm, I’ve been feeling like I’ve been snippy lately.

        Improvements are baby steps. I’m better but not back to whole, which frustrates me.

        Also frustrating, we will have to miss the Honey Harvest again this year. Timing with taking Mom’s ashes to Montana to be buried next to Dad.

        And thank you for asking.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    I thought that you were looking for something something new and different. (shrugs).

    The end goal is not developing computer skills. Engine tuning is.

  20. EvilSheldon

    The long weekend has started off poorly. This afternoon, while i was stopped at a red light, a nice young lady ran her Explorer into the back of my truck at 35mph. Nuts.

    • slumbrew

      Gah – you OK?

      I’m guessing your truck is not.

      • EvilSheldon

        12thI’m fine. The Tacoma is a question mark. I did manage to drive it away, so that’s good.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Nice, as in has insurance and stopped to exchange info?

      Sounds painful to all involved; hope you’re all OK.

    • Chipping Pioneer

      Did she at least show you her boobies?

      • MikeS

        Comments like this is why I like it here.

    • R.J.

      Sorry to hear it.

      • hayeksplosives

        Get an MRI within the week. It might pay off big time for you if you have long-term effects. Won’t hurt the “nice young lady” financially but might make your health insurance pay for some treatment.

      • hayeksplosives

        I have no idea why this is a reply to RJ.

        Maybe it’s a sign from God that you need an MRI too.

    • Not Adahn

      She destroyed your Truck Nutz?

    • Shiny Nerfherder

      Oy. Sorry dude

    • Sean

      That’s a solid hit. Sorry dude.

  21. Chipwooder

    Gotta say, this working two jobs thing is already getting old and it’s only been a couple of months. Yay inflation.

    • Sean

      How is the man whore side gig working out though?

  22. creech

    What are the odds Western Europeans are going to freeze this winter? I’m thinking that all those nations that depend on Russian gas will end up capitulating after the U.S. elections but before winter sets in. They’ll tell Russia they’ll oppose NATO admissions for countries that border Russia, they’ll end military and economic aid to Ukraine, and they will do what they can to prevent aid from crossing their country or airspace. Then Biden’s sanctions will be seen to be total failure, but the U.S. taxpayer will be left supporting Ukraine “liberty” all by ourselves.

    • DrSeuss

      Thinking will be no major blow up. Chinese are buying RUSSIAN gas to then flip to EU. Brussels will print euros and buy gas. Subsidize it to the serfs. Russia and CCp make out like the bandits they are. Can successfully kicked down road

  23. MikeS

    This is the lamest Zoom chat I’ve ever been in

  24. Brochettaward

    The attempt to create boss girl characters in every property traditionally geared towards male audiences is the worst thing to have happened to females in fiction since…ever. Nearly all of these “characters” are two dimensional copies of one another. You can’t write a complex female character anymore in most genres. And their presence drags down the entirety of anything they are part of.

    • Seguin

      And yet, in the early to mid eighties, there were good, tough female characters everywhere. Ripley, Sarah Conner, etc. Hollywood simply can’t write any more. They’re awful at it.

      • Chipwooder

        Because Ripley and Sarah Conner were not intended to be anything but we’ll written, three dimensional characters. I’ll give you another example from a movie largely forgotten today that I enjoyed – Angela Bassett in Strange Days. She was tough and professional, dedicated to her job, never whiny or preachy. And she did it while still being feminine.

      • rhywun

        I love that movie and her in it.

      • slumbrew

        Agreed on both points.

        That movie is an under appreciated gem.

        (Although I find Juliette Lewis incredibly grating)

      • Chipwooder

        Always felt it was really underrated. Ralph Fiennes is our hero but is fairly inept and bumbling along the way, which is more entertaining that the standard super-competent hero. Angela Bassett is great. Tom Sizemore always nails sleazebag characters, as does Michael Wincott with villains. Not a big Juliette Lewis fan but she does ok too.

      • slumbrew

        Fichtner & D’Onofrio, too – tons of talent in that film.

        I had forgotten it was directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

      • slumbrew

        That voice, though…

      • rhywun

        Ralph Fiennes was hawt in that movie – there, I said it. Him and Angela Basset were great together.

        I don’t even remember Juliette Lewis being in it. Haven’t seen it in forever.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, finally cooling off here except the humidity is through the f’in roof again. *sigh*

      • Grumbletarian

        I’ve been doing a rewatch of Night Court, and all of the main female characters are strong and independent women in their own ways.

        Also Markie Post was smoking hot.

  25. rhywun

    LOL there it is, finally.

    Shouts of “Let’s Go Brandon!” at the US Open.

  26. Chipwooder

    In yet another sign of how significant inflation has been, I dropped by the ol’ gun shop today. They had a rack of old milsurp rifles, mostly Mosins, and none of them was priced lower than $399. Less than ten years ago you could easily find $100-150 ones.

    • Gustave Lytton

      At least they had a rack full. Doing better than two years ago.

      • hayeksplosives

        I forgot to go to the weekly VFW swap meet this morning. That’s where all the good off-the-books firearms and ammo transactions take place.

      • Sean

        I need one of those.

  27. hayeksplosives

    I just dusted my husband at poker with a straight flush.

    How come that never happens when real money is at stake?? This was just about who has to make breakfast tomorrow.

    • thrakkorzog

      Luck never happens when you want it to. I once rolled 12 7 times in a row playing craps. I was crazy unlucky that day.

    • Ted S.

      You weren’t even playing strip poker?

  28. Gustave Lytton

    The Transporter is twenty years old. Good lord.

  29. one true athena

    We’re in Paris for my sons grad gift/vacay. No obvious signs of unrest. US propaganda is functioning ok since our taxi driver seemed to think our economy was good. Covid stuff is over with only 10% wearing masks.

    Our rental has a small clothes washer that is also a dryer, which I’d only seen before in Japan at a laundromat 10 years ago, but is obviously common here or this flat wouldn’t have one. So who’s blocking this in the US? It’s so lovely not to think about swapping clothes.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      You can get those in the US. I was pricing one of them back in 2018 and they are rare (but there), expensive, and most importantly unreliable.

  30. Sean

    Good morning Glibs.

    I may have gotten a bit of sunburn yesterday.

      • Sean

        PLAY FREEBIRD!!!!!

  31. Tres Cool

    suh’ fam
    yo whats goody yo

    • Sean

      *waves*