Sunday Morning Back At It Links

by | Mar 10, 2024 | Daily Links | 135 comments

I go away for a few days and shit has piled up. I have lectures to write, tests to write, practice problem sets to write, recommendations to write… there seems to be a pattern. Oh, and do some actual research work for a grant so I can actually get paid.

Zoomers had a visitor last night. The fallout should be interesting…

Birthdays are a bit sparse today but include the prototype for self-destructive musicians; a fascinating sexual dynamo; a three name guy who may well have been a patsy; the most powerful flat picking acoustic guitarist I’ve ever heard; a man who launched a thousand jokes; a hero of the anti-colonialist Left; someone who taught us all the proper way to cross our legs; someone who got famous reprising Popeye’s theme song; and someone SP either called Bouncy Girl or Strutty Girl (I can’t remember which one was which).

As long as I’m here working, may as well do some Links, no?

 

The mask didn’t slip, they don’t even bother wearing it.

 

Wait a minute, I thought meddling in democratic elections was a bad thing? Or is it only bad when it’s Democratic elections?

 

Well, that’s one way to break up.

 

Bumfight.

 

This is your duty as a citizen.

 

What could possibly go wrong?

 

Old Guy Music features a birthday boy and is just… so great on so many levels. Yes, and that, too.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. Wait, wrong book, I'll find something else.

135 Comments

  1. SDF-7

    self-destructive musicians

    Happy Birthday King David!

    • Ted S.

      The Kirk Douglas movie Young Man With a Horn is loosely based on him. Very loosely based, since the Kirk Douglas character survives at the end.

      • SDF-7

        I’ll be disappointed if that didn’t become Young Horny Man in at least one foreign translation.

  2. SDF-7

    reprising Popeye’s theme song;

    Boooooooo! 😉

  3. Ted S.

    a fascinating sexual dynamo;

    My birthday isn’t until June.

  4. SDF-7

    Wait a minute, I thought meddling in democratic elections was a bad thing? Or is it only bad when it’s Democratic elections?

    If Israel comes to realize US politics means we can’t be a reliable ally and they need to make sure they can stand on their own and be as immune to political pressure from us as they (presumably) are from the UN, that will at least be a silver lining.

    TL;DR: CWAA.

    • Chafed

      I think I read they are planning to produce their own howitzer ammunition and thousand pound bombs.

  5. juris imprudent

    An IG – a whistleblower? That’s his whole freakin’ job!

    • SDF-7

      “The difference is if my boss wants to actually hear my reports or if I have to leak them to Congress!” is all I can figure.

      • juris imprudent

        Raskin and Bennie Thompson are the complainants, so that tells me everything there is to know.

  6. SDF-7

    Well, that’s one way to break up.

    Their relationship had gotten a bit off track, and with his mind derailed a little from the subject he was trying to get back on his train of thought.

    • juris imprudent

      “Dear, what would you think if I did a train?”

    • creech

      There are other ways to sever a relationship.

      • Gender Traitor

        Just push her on the track, Jack.
        In front of the train, Wayne…

  7. SDF-7

    What could possibly go wrong?

    Well, this leaps to mind right off… but who knows what’s really the truth just now, so that could be propaganda too. Certainly wouldn’t surprise me if this wasn’t a way to back door fund plus increase smuggling opportunities at this point.

    • Suthenboy

      Stop giving aid.
      “The UN has warned that famine in the Gaza Strip is “almost inevitable” and children are starving to death.”
      Fuck the UN and fuck the children. I am long past sick and tired of teary eyed ‘for the children’ bullshit to emotionally black mail people into leftist evil.

      • prolefeed

        “The UN has been warned that the refusal of Hamas to admit they’ve lost and surrender is causing their subjects to starve.”

  8. Gender Traitor

    Zoomers had a visitor last night.

    I’m sure all the Glib participants were on their best* behavior.

    *for some admittedly very low values of “best”

    • Ted S.

      My best behavior is not being there.

      Well, I don’t have a suitable mic or webcam to do Zoomshit anyway.

      • Tonio

        FWIW many of us use the stuff built in to our computers, and some people use their cell phones.

    • juris imprudent

      OMWC just wanted to calibrate her sense of offensiveness?

  9. rhywun

    Ugh I just sort-of woke up from a series of fitful naps and looked at two different clocks.

    God dammit.

    • Rat on a train

      Abolish DST.

      • Chafed

        Amen

  10. Fourscore

    It’s OK for the US to bomb places like Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, Iraq or Afghanistan because our bombs are targeted and not indiscriminate.

  11. R C Dean

    Our rulers obviously want Israel to lose the war and the Palis to win. Other than just plain old Jew-hatred, I can’t figure out why. What advantage is it to the US if the Palis win?

    • Sean

      10% to the big guy?

      *shrug*

    • SDF-7

      If Israel wins to the logical conclusion (wiping out Hamas and getting a Palestinian government that at least has a pretense of peace and an actual two-state solution or just annexing it and kicking them all into Lebanon? I don’t have any idea what would actually work for an Israeli victory, honestly…) it might remove an Iranian puppet/proxy and build some peace back in the region?

      Whether the bigger problem is cutting down Iran’s power projection or just reducing the chance of arms sales (my money is on this one) is up to you.

    • Ownbestenemy

      What is even more baffling is American Jews are voting for them

      • prolefeed

        You underestimate the power ideology has to make people not think things through.

    • Old Man With Candy

      It’s a Team Blue thing. Their audience is ignorant Leftists and grievance studies academics, and this is exacerbated by the dep personal animus between Bibi and Obama (who is still pulling the strings).

  12. Sean

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 03/10:
    *25/25 words (+4 bonus words)
    ⏱️ In the top 14% by speed

    I played https://squaredle.com 03/10:
    70/70 words (+19 bonus words)
    📖 In the top 4% by bonus words
    🔥 Solve streak: 168

    • SDF-7

      I played https://squaredle.com/xp 03/10:
      *25/25 words (+5 bonus words)
      🎯 In the top 11% by accuracy

      I played https://squaredle.com 03/10:
      *70/70 words (+5 bonus words)
      🎯 In the top 6% by accuracy
      🔥 Solve streak: 277

    • Ted S.

      I played https://squaredle.com 03/10:
      70/70 words (+24 bonus words)
      📖 In the top 1% by bonus words

  13. rhywun

    James was invited to speak at the event to honor her friend, The Rev. Pamela Holmes, who was being sworn in as the department’s second female chaplain, and the first Black woman to hold that title.

    OFFS 🙄

    Meh, these guys know their role in this kind of performative theater. Be the obsequious White deplorable and zip your lips. They know the city leadership despises them (much like the cops) so act accordingly.

  14. rhywun

    Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping” says President Biden in an MSNBC Interview. He added a dramatic twist, expressing readiness to address the Knesset directly.

    Wow. I’d wind Joe up and point him in the direction of the Way Out.

    CWAA.

    • R C Dean

      They should take him up on his offer, but only if he does so in person. The jet lag and unfamiliar location might present more of a challenge than his pharmacist can handle. Even if they do manage to get him upright for the speech, the dosage will probably put him in Shouty Old Man mode, which is unlikely to play well. And, of course, who knows what he will say to further discredit himself.

      Really, there’s no downside for the Israelis.

      • prolefeed

        And get someone to translate his speech in live time from ProgSpeak to something that he actually means.

  15. Ownbestenemy

    What the heck is this line even mean by Biden. He said it in SOTU and is now repeating it in interviews.

    “With all due respect, justices, women are not without … electoral or political power…You’re about to realize just how much …”

    I get it he is saying that womenz are going to carry not only he, but all of Congress back to full democrat control and then what? Stack the court? Execute them?

    The funny part is, the first part is the speech as written and polling or focus groups liked electoral better than political. Only problem is Ole Joe since then has said electrical.

    • SDF-7

      It could come across as a shocking threat, yes.

      Based on other things I’ve seen — a federal law overriding the states to “restore” Roe v. Wade is what I’ve seen — so “Re-elect me and give me a Congressional majority” (hmm… sounds a lot like ‘We’ll repeal Obamacare!’ that way… couldn’t be just a useful issue to drive voter turnout and graft *cough* donations, hmm?).

      So just a “seeking power” line, nothing too re-volting.

    • Old Man With Candy

      It means nothing, of course. The judges threw things back to the state-level electorate (where it belongs), so a convenient bogeyman for the NY-CA Blue Team is that “Those justices, especially the darkie, hate women, and when the electorate goes for abortion, it’s a way of poking them in the eye.” Don’t expect logic.

      I’ve annoyed people by pointing out that when they say “reproductive rights,” what they mean is the exact opposite of reproductive. “So, who has been stopped from reproducing? Other than the famous quote from your hero Oliver Wendell Holmes?”

  16. rhywun

    The Pentagon has said it could take up to 60 days to build the pier

    “So don’t stop fighting or anything.”

    • Ownbestenemy

      60 days…temporary ‘pier’ which by all readings is really a ferry system from Cyprus — Navy ship — floating dock.

      This little tidbit raises an eyebrow on the whole “No troops will be in Gaza”

      “…which will then be transported across a causeway into Gaza that will also be constructed by the US military.”

    • Cunctator

      —“US military ship heading to Gaza to build port”—

      WTF. Has the US Gov’t lost it’s mind. Now we are building ports for ACTUAL terrorists? Coupled with the US Gov’t’s support for cease fires, aid shipments to terrorists, it almost seems the Administration wants Hamas to win. That can’t be right, can it?

      • Ownbestenemy

        We realized that the Gaza Strip is one of the few places we haven’t left millions of dollars worth of military hardware and are committed to achieve that Guinness World record.

      • R C Dean

        That is exactly right. There is no other explanation for their consistent actions throughout this war.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        No, they just think the Israelis have gone too far and they’re also throwing a bone to the growing number of Muslims in the US who they obviously want to retain as a loyal constituency without pissing off the much more moneyed Jews. There’s nothing wrong with ceasefires or aid aimed at feeding starving people but putting personnel on a floating target like that over there is just stupid.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Put it in the lap of the UN then.

      • Tonio

        The UN is not to be trusted. They’d look the other way, if not actively abet, the spicing up of those aid shipments with arms. Which is not to be interpreted as justification for us becoming involved.

      • Grummun

        I wonder to what extent Israel will be allowed to inspect the “aid” moving through Cyprus.

        I also wonder who funds “World Central Kitchen.”

      • slumbrew

        I also wonder who funds “World Central Kitchen.”

        My wife, among other people. Plus the $100MM from Bezos probably helps.

        Andres is a knee-jerk lefty, of course, but they do good work feeding people and aren’t explicitly political.

      • Grummun

        My wife, among other people.

        Fair enough, thank you.

      • R C Dean

        I wonder how you distinguish between “the Israelis have gone too far” and “the Israelis are winning”. I get that they are pandering to Muslims for electoral purposes, which I suppose is one reason why they want Hamas to win and Israel to lose. And this is a war where, if Hamas survives, Hamas wins.

        Keep in mind, as well, that any “humanitarian” aid to Gaza is, first and foremost, aid to Hamas. So we are in fact pushing for aid to Hamas and Hamas’s victory.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I can already see it…Blackhawk Down Redux in 2025

      • creech

        “If Hamas survives” How is it possible they won’t (or at least the idea)? It isn’t like there is a list of card-carrying Hamas members that Israel can round up. Hamas’ aims will survive, even if carried out by another new organization. Hamas supporters will fade into the Pali masses to continue their “river to the sea” schemes, kids who lost their father fighting Israel will grow up and seek revenge. The Israelis will never be able to overcome all those who think “Jews must die.” They couldn’t even after the world reeled in horror at the holocaust, so how can they when much of the world today sees them as the evil genociders?

      • Gustave Lytton

        That’s why we’re still fighting Nazis from the moon today.

      • Tonio

        If they can’t win, their backup goal is to force Israel into becoming the Apartheid state they are already accused of being. Permanent victimhood.

      • R C Dean

        So I guess the Israelis should just give up, maybe go all Jonestown and get it over with?

        Hamas the organization can be wiped out (I don’t consider a few holdouts in Qatar or wherever to be an issue). Jew-hate can’t, of course. But it’s Jew-hate weaponized by (quasi) governments that racks up the body count. So destroy the governments weaponizing Jew-hate, and you’ve done a lot.

      • juris imprudent

        Hell, I wouldn’t even think any intelligent Muslim in this country would support Hamas – nothing but the dipshit radicals, Muslim or secular. That’s your constituency? It has no voting power – just noise.

      • Ted S.

        How many of them are intelligent?

      • juris imprudent

        Same percentage as Christians or Jews I would imagine.

      • rhywun

        And notice how the message has been carefully constructed to not reveal this too quickly. Joe played a good game of “pro-Israel” for a few weeks, then the message was muddled for a few more weeks, and now… yes, to all appearances it is solidly pro-Hamas.

  17. PieInTheSky

    So what is everyone dri king 😀

    qvevri saperavi 2019. i like it. i had a good weekend for wine. Liked all i tried.

    • PieInTheSky

      As i mentioned before i judge American beer based on beers made by European brewers that have the word American in it. Today i had an American Sout which was quite good.

    • Old Man With Candy

      I need to get over there…

  18. Common Tater

    STOP CHANGING THE CLOCKS!

    • PieInTheSky

      Is someone sneaking into your house changing clocks? You should get a dog.

    • CPRM

      They’re makin the frickin clocks gay!?

  19. PieInTheSky

    This is your duty as a citizen.

    Tolls seem libertarian to me. Who uses pays.

    • rhywun

      I can’t read the article (paywalls are libertarian too!) but I tend to agree with this statement in most cases. Depends what they’re using the tolls for, I suppose.

    • Ownbestenemy

      It is in concept.

  20. Evan from Evansville

    My computer has been having emergency issues. A year old. Assuredly malware from my recent job searches/applications.

    Once died in the middle of typing a document. Not the day I needed this to happen. I would like to avoid a factory reset. Well. Step one I guess is to get a not-too-big hard drive and back everything up again for safety. Well. This will be an interesting day. Already was gonna be. Backup is to play a long YouTube vid at night. When the computer is busy it doesn’t seem to have issues. Overnight, the last 3 nights, it has delved into its own madness, adding to mine.

  21. CPRM

    We had a 2nd newb on the zooms last night. Mr. Suthen showed up just as I was headed to bed.

    • Evan from Evansville

      I would like to join tonight! In my notes of positive ways to begin an important week. My computer woes are making that more urgent…

      I’d like to join folk! It’s a key my life is missing in America. Doors await!

      • Tonio

        While the Zoom is open 24×7 the “official” zooms are Friday and Saturday nights starting at 8:00 PM Eastern. But who knows, maybe someone will be on.

      • PieInTheSky

        what an unreasonable hour…

      • Evan from Evansville

        Fingers crossed and I shall see!

        Time for lunch w Dad and add a Big Thing to fix my computer. It’s just easier and far cheaper than I thought to fix it myself. Then many more Big Things. At this point, I’m not positive I need extra wishes, but they wouldn’t hurt.

  22. PieInTheSky

    Does it count as undertipping if you tell the waiter to put 12% extra when paying by card and he puts like 8%? I only noticed after i payed

    • Gender Traitor

      Waiter: “I was told there’d be no math in this job!”

      • PieInTheSky

        The standard tip in romania is 10% but if you pay by card they tax it so i add a bit extra to compensate the tax

      • Ted S.

        That’s why the tip is in cash under the table.

      • PieInTheSky

        i forgot my wallet so no cash, I payed using my phone

      • juris imprudent

        I payed using my phone

        And use your wallet to make calls?

      • PieInTheSky

        that makes no sense given the current technology

      • juris imprudent

        Well shoe phone would’ve been a really old reference.

      • Chafed

        Some of us would get it.

  23. Common Tater

    “Oakland’s district attorney has vowed to fight against the ‘hatred and racism’ as she faces a possible recall vote after just 14 months in charge.

    Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is under pressure over the soaring levels of crime in the dying Bay Area city.

    But she claims the campaign against her is being ‘financed by billionaires who have no interest in public safety’, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

    ‘I plan to push back against the hatred and racism that they have brought to Alameda County,’ Price said on Friday following a panel with other county prosecutors at the University of California, Berkeley.

    It comes after she was accused of regularly dubbing ‘the media and the Asians’ as her enemies in a bombshell $1.5 million legal filing….

    Oakland saw crime soar by 21 percent between 2022 and 2023. Robberies rose by 38 percent, while vehicle theft rocketed by 45 percent.

    The dystopian city saw 15,000 cars stolen last year – meaning roughly one in every 30 of its residents had their car stolen.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13177965/oakland-da-pamela-price-recall-campaign-crime-racism.html

    It’s the asians fault.

    • R C Dean

      I would not have expected members of the Mugger-American community to roll up in a Volvo station wagon. Good camo.

    • juris imprudent

      meaning roughly one in every 30 of its residents had their car stolen

      Enjoy what you voted for – assholes.

      • Chafed

        100% this.

    • Ted S.

      I assume the campaign for her was also funded by billionaires who have no interest public safety.

    • Chafed

      It’s hilarious hatred and racism is her best defense. She is in one of the proggiest cities in America.

  24. Shpip

    Police say the 29-year-old victim was struck by a 3 train.

    She was taken to a local hospital and was last reported to be in stable condition, but according to police sources, the woman’s feet had to be amputated.

    She’s definitely on his short list now. But I’m stumped as to his next move.

    • Tres Cool

      No more running after him for her.

      • Shpip

        “If you call me fat one more time I’m gonna break my foot off in your ass.”

        “Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that!”

  25. The Late P Brooks

    “I recommend they come forward. I have been told by the commissioner it will be better for them if they come forward and we don’t have to hunt them down,” he continued.

    Perfect. Turn yourself in and plead for mercy. Ask Big Sister for forgiveness.

  26. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Muh hangover

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      Antacid, Lactaid tablets, and Dunkin decaf for breakfast

      • Tres Cool

        Come back to bed….

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Aspirin? Ginger? Pedialyte?

      • creech

        Ginger? I thought everyone preferred Mary Ann?

      • Old Man With Candy

        Dude, you were shot down in an epic manner.

      • Tonio

        Caffeine is supposed to help relieve hangover. Something about helping the liver.

      • Chafed

        Lactaid?

  27. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    They will no longer be referred to as Hot Pockets…henceforth they shall be called “Sloper Wellington”

    https://ibb.co/D8Q5ZgJ

    • Gustave Lytton

      Tamales and calzone are the swarthy relatives?

  28. Tres Cool

    “Zoomers had a visitor last night.”

    Old Man was just showing off. She’s adorable.
    He’s an over achiever.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    More sunlight. Yay!

    • R C Dean

      No, exactly as much as before (leaving aside the 1-2 minutes a day of natural increase this time of year).

  30. juris imprudent

    Whither dissent?

    The Internet, in other words, was being transformed from a system for exchanging forbidden or dissenting ideas, like Samizdat, to a system for imposing top-down control over information and narrative, a GozIzdat. Worse, while the Soviets had to rely on primitive surveillance technologies, like the mandatory registration of typewriters, the Internet offered breathtaking new surveillance capability, allowing authorities to detect thoughtcrime by algorithm and instantaneously disenfranchise those on the wrong side of the information paradigm, stripping them of the ability to raise money or conduct business or communicate at all.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    They’re airlifting embassy staff out of Haiti. Are they going to leave the Marine guards there to defend the place from looters?

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      Oh for fuck’s sake. I’m on call for our Press team today. * fires up the work laptop *

    • Chafed

      Nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Sore loser

    At issue for Trump has been Carroll’s allegation that he raped her during an encounter in the dressing room of a New York department store in the 1990s and then defamed her by calling her account a “hoax” and a “con job.”

    In May, a jury did not find Trump liable for the alleged rape but awarded Carroll $5 million after finding the former president liable for sexually abusing and defaming her.

    A separate case focused on similar comments Trump made about Carroll while in office and concluded he defamed her when casting doubt on her story. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said that case would be about determining damages — later adjudged to be $83.3 million — as the abuse was factual.

    Trump is appealing both cases.

    Why would he object to being dragged into court on thirty year old unsubstantiated allegations? Everybody knows it’s exactly the sort of thing he would do. She only came forward when she did to save the soul of the nation. She’s being victimized all over again.

  33. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    I believe TR and OMWC jumped off the Zoom just as I was saying something about “these fucking people and their fucking Palestine…” (complaining about the political discussion on Friday despite my mediocre efforts at keeping it light)

    • Old Man With Candy

      She has both strong opinions and zero actual knowledge about it. At least she admits the latter.

      • R.J.

        I am glad you found some food in New Orleans and managed to not be murdered by roving gangs of MAGA terrorists.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    It did not appear Carroll had responded to Trump’s latest denials of her story as of early Sunday.

    They can’t file the papers for the next lawsuit until tomorrow morning.

    I’d say at this point Trump can say anything he wants about her. He’s paid handsomely for the privilege.

  35. Common Tater

    “Temu, the Chinese fast fashion brand that has taken e-commerce retail in the United States by storm in recent months, was the biggest ad spender for Meta Platforms’ social media sites Facebook and Instagram, according to a report.

    Temu’s parent company PDD Holdings spent around $2 billion on ads with Meta last year alone, according to The Wall Street Journal.

    The $2 billion figure represents 10% of Meta’s ad revenue last year, which is almost double compared to two years ago.”

    https://nypost.com/2024/03/08/business/chinese-shopping-app-temu-spent-2b-on-facebook-instagram-ads/

    So expect more pro-Chinese censorship.

    • Chafed

      Anyone who thinks Facebook is an honest player is deluding themselves.

      • Common Tater

        It’s the same situation with Big Pharma buying ads on television news.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      None of that tawdry merch they flog appeals to me.

    • Chafed

      It’s England, so yeah.

  36. The Late P Brooks

    What a fantastic idea

    Author of The New Urban Order, Diana Lind notes “as commercial properties fall into foreclosure in 2024, cities could take steps to better shape the city they want in the future by actually investing in those properties themselves”. Reflecting on missed opportunities during the 2008 economic crisis, where cities stood on the sidelines as investors seized foreclosed properties, there is a growing realization of the need for proactive urban planning. By investing in distressed commercial buildings, cities can foster inclusive development.

    There are convincing reasons for the public sector to buy and repurpose properties. Cities can use repurposed offices to jumpstart innovation districts – clusters of research institutions, startups, and business accelerators. Concentrating knowledge activities downtown can drive economic growth and attract skilled talent. Keeping commercial property public means steering rents and amenities toward inclusive growth rather than maximum profit extraction. Acquiring vacant offices near public transit could also allow the development of affordable housing in prime locations. Buildings could also be converted into recreation centers, libraries, startup incubators, and other amenities that bring value.

    Ultimately, the mass shift to remote work has emptied offices and damaged city budgets and downtown vitality. However, the vacancy and uncertainties around the future of commercial real estate bring hidden opportunities. Cities that strategically invest in converting offices can promote equity, stimulate innovation, and shape urban landscapes for the future. With foresight and vision, the fallout from the “work from home” era can be turned into stronger, more resilient cities.

    What we need is more socialist boondoggles to get the urban economy booming.

    Heaven knows we can rely on academic urbanists and city councils to come up with innovative concepts which will transform society.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      The better with which to make 15-minute cities, my dear.