Monday Afternoon Links

by | Oct 30, 2023 | Daily Links | 137 comments

Yes.

Year-end rush is on at the Big Swiss Machine. I will be overloaded until late December, when all of Switzerland is on vacation, and most of the US and Canada as well. So, these links reflect madness and rushing. Sort of.

  • Oooh, I’d be in a hurry to get one my kids into this school. Not. Or this one. Nope.
  • Wonder what Nike and other firms’ stances are on this?
  • Hit yer translate on this one. Whycome Swiss and Euros can send booze easier than here in the US?! Grrrr.

Music…did someone say Madness?

About The Author

Swiss Servator

Swiss Servator

Currently serving at the pleasure of a Swiss multinational. Previously a Soldier, rugby player, lawyer, bouncer, bartender, substitute teacher, risk manager, and cubicle mushroom. Will work for raclette.

137 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    I haven’t seen that movie in ages.

    • The Last American Hero

      One of the greatest films ever made. Especially because the characters react exactly as real people would.

  2. Common Tater

    Well, you didn’t go to the Columbia School of Journalism.

  3. The Bearded Hobbit

    You’re missing a “Mad”.

    • UnCivilServant

      Things have calmed down a bit

  4. Common Tater

    Remember when that guy tried to get “sweatshop” on a pair of Nike’s?

  5. SDF-7

    “In our view, the student statement aims to recontextualize the events of Oct. 7, 2023, pointing out that military operations and state violence did not begin that day, but rather it represented a military response by a people who had endured crushing and unrelenting state violence from an occupying power over many years,” they wrote of the brutal terror attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis, most of them civillians.

    Aaaaaand… fuck you and the ivory tower you perch upon, Columbia professors.

    Is it part of a larger conflict? Of course.

    But unless your military ethic guidestone is Attila the fucking Hun, that was no “military response”. And if you consider it one – then you’re revealing your own barbarity and you certainly shouldn’t be shaping “young leaders”.

    • Common Tater

      “‘These egregious forms of harassment and efforts to chill otherwise protected speech on campus are unacceptable,’ Monday’s letter reads.”

      LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

    • Ted S.

      Let’s look at the root causes that would lead Israel to treat the Palestinians the way it does.

      And the root causes that lead Arab states not to want to integrate the Palestinians.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      I don’t have a problem with them expressing their opinion, and I don’t think they should be punished for it. But the same should go for anyone with an opinion to the right of Lenin as well. And the administrators should come down hard on anyone trapping people in libraries or disrupting events hosted by groups they disagree with.

      • rhywun

        Yup and yup.

        Let the professors embarrass themselves in the court of public opinion. Makes it easier for kids with their heads screwed on right to avoid them.

      • Suthenboy

        In the same way that the Arab militias cannot be reasoned with, neither can the leftist radicals here. They are irrational, violent and completely dishonest. The only way. you can sway them is to punish them for bad acts. In the case of HAMAS that means death. In the case of our radical left that means legal sanctions that cost money.
        We cannot compromise with people who do not understand compromise beyond seeing it as a way to advance their agenda one step at a time.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      I may be an outlier here in thinking it’s a military action. In my mind at least, calling it a terrorist attack lessens the seriousness of it and puts pressure on Israel to respond as of it was from a few isolated individuals instead of an act of war by an enemy state.

      There are no ethics involved in calling it a military operation. Rather it points out that these attacks were carried out by the trained military of a state actor, under orders from that the state, and funded by that state. Just because the state is evil and their military intentionally designed to blend in with civilians does not make them terrorists. But it does mean this state is on par with the morality of the worst sort of terrorists. All the more reason to remove Gaza from civilization.

      • SDF-7

        Nope, sorry. I’ll agree that the perpetrators are the supposed military of the Gazan government — but hostage taking, rape and murder including children is not a military action. It is terroristic barbarism. Again – if you want to hold their military to the level of rampaging Huns or the Rape of Nanking, you can call it whatever you want… but that’s not a term I accept here.

      • Ted S.

        Terrorism carried out by a military.

      • J. Frank Parnell

        In other words, a war crime.

      • Suthenboy

        Also, terrorists use terror to political ends. In this case there is no political end, only annihilation of a state and its people, i.e. genocide.

    • Suthenboy

      I am unaware of any case of Israel acting aggressively, of initiating any violence. Everything, as far as I know, has been in response to Arab aggression.
      The evil fucks are arguing as if we have forgotten that and lost count. I haven’t.

  6. R.J.

    Yeah. The sending booze thing is tough. Texas, for example, just got home delivery a few years ago. State by state rules are tough.

    • Nephilium

      Put the blame on the aftereffects of prohibition and its repeal.

      • R.J.

        Yep. Texas still has the irritating “Blue Law” which does not allow sales of anything other than beer or wine on Sundays. And no sales before noon, even then. Why?
        Our current governor did sign off on mail order and delivery, so we did at least get that. Drizly can drop off an entire liquor store within 30 minutes, should I desire, and relatives can ship me booze. Not that any of them do.

      • Unreconstructed

        Part of the problem is that the distributors (the middle tier in the three tier system) have so much money that getting any reforms through is damn near impossible, because they really like the existing system (for all the $$$ reasons).

    • rhywun

      I’ve never even bothered to look in my state; I just assume it’s banned by default.

      • UnCivilServant

        New York actually allows some delivery of alcohol direct to customers.

      • rhywun

        Huh.

        Though to be fair, I’m too cheap for that. Maybe when my body stops cooperating but for now I will fetch my own booze.

      • R.J.

        I work 60 hours a week, plus cooking, cleaning and child care. I need my home delivery.

      • rhywun

        Jeez, way to make me feel like a lazy sod.

      • UnCivilServant

        But it looks like Mostly Wine.

      • Sean

        The state of PA will ship hard liquor to my door step.

    • Don escaped Texas

      Texas, for example

      in theory, Texas is the greatest state in the Union

      in reality, it’s silly and law-happy and loves to mind your business, barely above average

      nothing demonstrates this more than the glacial retreat from gun laws: 51%, then campus kinda, then 30.06, then 30.07; a truly freedom-loving state would simply erase all the old stupidity and go full cowboy constitutional carry, but no; instead, it cuts off the spaniel’s tail an inch at a time as if that would save pain

      dear Texas: the Luby’s shooting was over 30 years ago

  7. LCDR_Fish

    which “one”?

    • Swiss Servator

      Cornell – fixed the link.

      • SDF-7

        I listened to this shortly before the links dropped (and it feels related, so linking it). Can’t imagine having the campus you attended chanting for a Jewish genocide. Not the good kind of Madness there.

      • rhywun

        I wonder if any non-Jew actorx will speak out.

  8. kinnath
      • Rat on a train
      • rhywun
      • Tres Cool

        I was wondering who was gonna do it.
        80s Terri Nunn…..YUM!

      • rhywun

        Good song, too.

  9. The Other Kevin

    I think all of us here would love to see those ivy league schools lose all their funding and students. But who would have predicted it would be because they literally adopted the platform of the Nazi party? While I worry about what will happen in the next election, there’s like a 90% chance that between now and then some batshit crazy thing will come out of left field that will change everything.

    • Common Tater

      Columbia has a huge endowment. They aren’t going out of business any time soon.

      • UnCivilServant

        “You’ve done your part for the reveolution comrade, now we’re reappropriating that wealth.”

    • SDF-7

      After 2022 I have zero confidence anyone will remember anything that should sway people. The thrashing the COVID Karen authoritarians should have gotten, the thrashing over the rampant waste and corruption and bailouts of blue states because they could, the hatred directed at half the country… none of it apparently mattered compared to the Moloch Sacrament being in jeopardy.

      The African American community being targeted as anti-vax, massively losing employment, being targeted for mass replacement for cheap labor and thrown to the gangs and thugs inside the cities? Didn’t matter.

      They’ll find something to distract those they need reliable votes from.

      • creech

        Two reasons: Trump and low unemployment.

  10. SDF-7

    Wonder what Nike and other firms’ stances are on this?

    Probably that Chinese slaves would be cheaper. My estimation of the moral fiber of our CxO class these days is, of course, pretty low.

    • rhywun

      Nah, China is yesterday’s news.

      But yes, something along the lines of, “Where’s the next country with the cheapest labor?”

      • juris imprudent

        I could give them a suggestion or two, but the result might be called blood sneakers.

      • rhywun

        I’m seeing more stuff made in places like Vietnam and Pakistan.

  11. SDF-7

    Music…did someone say Madness?

    Well.. that was one I hadn’t heard before… got a little too LSD trip for my liking midway through the video… I think they spent a little too much time in the House of Fun coming up with the plan for the vid…. but thanks in any event, Swiss.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      They have hilarious videos.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    Madness

    A federal judge on Monday granted Texas’ motion to temporarily stop the Biden administration from removing the razor wire at the US-Mexico border, pending a preliminary injunction hearing.

    The temporary win for Texas, which states the federal government shall not remove, disassemble, degrade or tamper with the concertina wire, comes with one exception, which allows the wire to be removed in the case of a “medical emergency that mostly likely results in serious bodily injury or death to a person,” according to the order issued by US District Judge Alia Moses.

    The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Texas, marks the latest chapter of the legal saga between the state and the Biden administration over border security during a migration surge that is straining local and federal resources.

    Migrants. Surging.

    • UnCivilServant

      “Oh noes that poor little illegal alien invader scratched himself on the wire, we gotta clear three miles in either direction to save him from this medical emergency!”

      • UnCivilServant

        Screw them. They get caught on the wire, shoot to kill. And if anyone tries to fetch their bodies, shoot them too.

      • juris imprudent

        You might need a name change, to HunCivilServant.

      • Suthenboy

        Check out the border between Thailand and Cambodia.
        Last I saw it was all razor wire and machine-gun towers.

    • SDF-7

      Wait, does that make Jon Lovitz his Dad?

      • rhywun

        No, his dad was Kathleen Turner.

    • RBS

      Sometimes I miss the old H&R. I wonder what Lone Wacko is up to these days?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I saw Ken S. on the WSJ comments recently.

      • juris imprudent

        Hopefully not late of the Maine National Guard.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Indeed. Where is ART-pog?

  13. Common Tater

    “Ohio social worker Payton Shires, 24, who is accused of having sex with 13-year-old boy she was counseling had been wedding planning with her fiancé, was a new mother and backed the DEATH PENALTY for pedophiles”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12689081/Ohio-social-worker-Payton-Shires-24-accused-having-sex-13-year-old-boy-counseling-wedding-planning-fianc-new-mother-backed-DEATH-PENALTY-pedophiles.html

    What the hell is wrong with all these women?

    • UnCivilServant

      Clearly it’s not Pedophilia when they do it.

      • DEG

        That’s because she is an Ephebophile.

      • DEG

        duh, read the article.

        Hebephile.

      • SDF-7

        Yeah, the nitpicky side of my brain thought about replying that way.

        I suppose the MAPs are doing us a favor? That would be a more all-encompassing term encapsulating the lack of consent, even though they’re tossing it out there to try to legitimize themselves. Queue the South Park Cartman’s “Older Friends on the Internet” videos….

      • rhywun

        Well, the definition of that went somewhere different from where I thought.

  14. The Late P Brooks

    Last week, a DHS spokesperson said they could not comment on pending litigation, but “generally speaking,” they said, “Border Patrol agents have a responsibility under federal law to take those who have crossed onto U.S. soil without authorization into custody for processing, as well as to act when there are conditions that put our workforce or migrants at risk.”

    They could stay on the other side of the border. That would reduce the risk significantly and eliminate the need for “processing” .

    • Tonio

      [starts dancing the “Time Warp”]

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      I’m shivering with antici…

    • SDF-7

      A trillion here… a trillion there… pretty soon, you’re talking real money (according to DC)!

    • The Other Kevin

      Sounds more like his old man every day.

  15. SDF-7

    Ok… I know I’ve compared Capitol Hill to teenage girl middle school dynamics and all…

    But — daaaaaamn…. That one’s got to leave a mark.

    • pistoffnick

      Heh!

  16. The Late P Brooks

    Historic

    Speaking at the White House, Joe Biden hailed the deals reached between the United Auto Workers and the three major Detroit automakers that are set to end a six-week strike at their factories.

    “They have reached a historic agreement,” the president said of automakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis as well as the UAW, who president Shawn Fain he spoke to earlier today.

    “These record agreements reward auto workers who gave up much to keep the industry working and going during the financial crisis more than a decade ago. These agreements ensure the iconic Big Three can still lead the world in quality and innovation.”

    Says the man who never did an honest day’s work in his life.

    • SDF-7

      Historic in the way September 1945 was historic for Nagasaki….

    • Urthona

      Don’t see the terms of the deal there.

      Workers appear to be celebrating a win on social
      media.

      • R.J.

        Go to Autopian. Details there. They are celebrating, since all of them are/were union.

      • Urthona

        So an average 25% raise?

  17. DEG

    Drinks.ch, einer der grossen Player im Schweizer Onlinevertrieb von Spirituosen und Zubehör mit rund 20 Millionen Franken Umsatz,

    That’s about USD 22,000,000. That’s not even real money.

  18. DEG

    Pfizer closing facilities

    Pfizer, the drug manufacturing giant and one of the Triangle’s largest employers, confirmed Friday it will shutter two Triangle area facilities as part of a broader $3.5 billion cost-saving initiative. The sites are the company’s Research Triangle Park office near Morrisville and its clinical manufacturing facility just outside the Park in Durham. Pfizer did not disclose how many jobs will be impacted. In an email to The News & Observer that “All job-related decisions will be made with transparency, compassion, and respect, and in compliance with applicable laws.” Under federal law, employers must file a WARN Notice 60 days ahead of closing a site that impacts at least 50 employees. Pfizer has not filed a notice of layoffs, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce website. The Durham closure comes only two years after Pfizer opened that site as part of $66 million investment by the company. The 85,000-square-foot facility focused on gene therapy treatments. This site was expected to add 50 jobs and relocate around 40 workers from Chapel Hill. On Oct. 13, Pfizer announced it would undergo a multiyear plan to save $3.5 billion, including $1 billion by the end of this year. The company also lowered its yearly revenue forecast due to lower-than-expected sales of its COVID-19 vaccine. Last year, Pfizer reported record revenue fueled by coronavirus vaccine sales.

    • The Other Kevin

      What’s a few hundred jobs for the little people. The mansions and yachts have already been bought by the important people with all the vax money.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      After reframing support for Ukraine as a jobs program, the politicians will probably start doing the same for mandatory vaccinations.

  19. KSuellington

    When I was at UC Berkeley in the very beginnings of the 2000’s they were just starting to really push the transgender thing. This was one of the women responsible for really getting it going.

    “Hamas and Hezbollah are social movements that are progressive and are part of the Global Left.“

    From a post today on. Powerline blog about David Horowitz.
    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/10/the-issue-is-not-the-issue.php

    • KSuellington

      I told a bunch of friends at the time that within a decade that the transgender thing would be huge and they’d be pushing kids into getting surgeries and hormones. They laughed at that then.

      • prolefeed

        Actual communists who actually want to overthrow the current government and replace it with a communist government – these are people who think nothing is off limits to gain that end.

      • KSuellington

        Hamas as a means to the end.

      • rhywun

        here’s Judith Butler, the Berkeley feminist who is one of the originators of trans-gender ideology and the dense jargon that accompanies “intersectionality,” describing in 2006 how Hamas and Hezbollah are part of the “progressive global left”

        I knew that name sounded familiar.

        I am so angry at how destructive a handful of Marxists are.

    • rhywun

      The issue is not the issue—the issue is revolution!

      That does help explain why the pro-Hamas demonstrations are so larded up with commies.

      If it wasn’t Hamas and the events of October 7, the revolutionary left would find some other excuse to agitate.

      It was exactly the same with George Floyd. The BLM Marxists were itching for a Summer of Love and they took full advantage.

  20. Brochettaward

    I wouldn’t even second most of you.

  21. DEG

    Judge tosses attempt to get Trump off NH ballot

    Former President Donald Trump’s campaign staff can rest easy now that Judge Joseph LaPlante dismissed tax attorney John Castro’s federal lawsuit to block Trump from the ballot.

    Castro, who on paper is a Republican presidential candidate, was trying to force the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office to disqualify Trump under the 14th Amendment. But LaPlante ruled Friday that Castro’s legal arguments and constitutional theories did not pass muster. Specifically, Castro could not prove that his obscure presidential campaign was harmed in any meaningful way by Trump’s.

      • rhywun

        I thought Biden was going to cruise to victory? Strange how desperate they are to kill him with a thousand cuts.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        They are saving Our Democracy!

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Well, Kamalamadingdong said it, so you know is is as clear as… mud.

    • KK, Non-Man

      Would

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Me too.

      • R.J.

        I shall find these things, and eat these things.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      The only proper flavors on chips are salt and BBQ.

      • creech

        Sour cream and cheddar!

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Wrong answer.

      • Don escaped Texas

        we seldom disagree

        but chicks dig flavors, so you gotta have the flavors

    • Urthona

      I didn’t even know there *were* spicy pineapples.

    • Suthenboy

      I have an empty bag for those right here on my computer desk..

      • R.J.

        I make that sometimes. It’s a good pizza.

  22. Suthenboy

    Links:
    First – Q1 – If Hitler were alive today who would he be supporting?
    Q2 – If Hitler were alive today who would you be supporting?

    Schools in question: A1 – HAMAS
    A2 – Hitler

    Second – They dont have a stance unless you count “Are we still making money?”

    Third – In spite of how much we drink here in the US the rest of the world is far worse. It is woven inextricably into their culture.

    Hmmmm….Mrs. Suthenboy’s spaghetti dinner was excellent. I foresee another serving in my near future.

    • SDF-7

      They’re in the finest tradition of New York liberalism like FDR, after all.

  23. KK, Non-Man

    Why did I think the clocks went back this weekend? I woke up this morning at my usual time thinking “I thought it would be way lighter outside”

    • DEG

      It used to happen last weekend.

      Then the government decided to alter the deal.

      • Rat on a train

        They are trying to alter it further.

    • slumbrew

      Those are always sweet.

      Given how much he’s freaking out over the fly-overs, they need to get to an airshow.

  24. Mojeaux

    Apparently, author Jodi Picoult said self-publishing was easier than traditional publishing. My writer tweeple are up in arms. 🙄

    • Sensei

      Thanks for that!

    • Ted S.

      Stuck behind a register wall.

      • rhywun

        And lol 12ft.io has been taken down. Oh wellz.

      • Ozymandias

        TL/DR – The “Palestinians” aren’t really a people. It’s marketing that the KGB came up with.