¡Martes por la tarde!

by | Feb 9, 2021 | Daily Links | 208 comments

People rag on Facebook, but without it I would’ve looked like an ass forgetting somebody’s birthday.

Now for links!

Puerto Rico opens their schools.  Which means had they been a real state they would still opened the schools before Cuomo.

Yeah, they’re right to worry.

They said if Trump were elected, relations between the US and typically friendly countries in the region would be strained to the breaking point….wait a minute

Mexican version of the House passes legislation against funding for beaty pageants as they can be seen as sexist.  Specifically they wish to avoid:

“Promoting the competition among women based on their physical attributes promotes sexist and ‘macho’ patterns that stigmatize, objectify, and minimize the role women play in our society,” says the bill’s text.

Which means if this passes the Mexican senate, it will forbid wet t-shirt contests in Cancún during spring break.  Which is a damn shame.

Who built the cages, Joe?”

100 million down, just 7.7 billion left to go!

Cuba goes for the “China Model”.

 

Here, have some tunes.  If you must know, the singer looks something like this.

 

About The Author

mexican sharpshooter

mexican sharpshooter

WARNING: Glibertarians.com contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. https://youtu.be/qiAyX9q4GIQ?t=2m22s

208 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    “MIAMI (AP) — The Biden administration turned down a meeting request with El Salvador’s president on an unannounced trip to Washington last week, as criticism of the Central American leader mounts among Democrats, three people with knowledge of the decision said Monday.”

    Well, at least politically, most of the hispanics in Miami aren’t known for being particularly fond of Salvadorans.

    • Count Potato

      “Bukele insisted that the trip was private and that he didn’t request any meeting with Biden officials.

      What “president in the world will go to a trip with his wife and baby girl to sit down in Washington and ask for random meetings to be held immediately? That doesn’t even make sense,” he said in a text message.

      The three people didn’t say how the request for a meeting was made. But they said the decision not to meet with Bukele was deliberate.”

      So this whole story could be complete bullshit.

      • C. Anacreon

        I’m guessing it was more “Hey Biden team, were you aware that the El Sal prez is in town? Won’t you be embarrassed if he suddenly decides to stop by and ask to say hello? We recommend you get out in front of it, and say he’s not welcome before he even considers it. Make up something about how and why it happened this way.”

  2. The Other Kevin

    I popped over to CNN for a second. They haven’t been this excited since they filmed tracers from their balcony in Baghdad.

    • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

      About?

      Oh, right, you’ve got some sort of peach thingy going on down there in Canada’s underpants. Should be over soon, and CNN will continue to lose market share regardless.

  3. Tundra

    I wonder why the singer hates her dad so much.

    Thanks for the lynx, señor! Nice to know we haven’t hogged all the bad news here in the good old US of A!

    • Lazer

      I know you’ve linked that podcast before, but thanks for doing it again. I looked it over and will start listening to it; with the episode about MovNat being the first one. Going to start incorporating that into my workouts/hikes.

      • Tundra

        The AoM one? Glad you liked it. I tend to geek out on that stuff, so let me know and I’ll inflict more!

    • Not an Economist

      Cindy Lou Who has grown up.

  4. Count Potato

    “Which means if this passes the Mexican senate, it will forbid wet t-shirt contests in Cancún during spring break. ”

    Good thing for Tijuana, donkey shows aren’t speciesist.

    • Aloysious

      Donkeys in wet t-shirts? blech.

  5. Tundra

    Coronavirus World Map: We’ve Now Passed The 100 Million Mark For Infections

    So what?

    • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

      Yeah, there’s nothing special about the number, but the innumerate (and sadly, some numerate as well) continue to assume it’s “meaningful” somehow.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      Its like an odometer. After 100 million infections we need a take it into the shop for a new filter and radiator flush.

    • rhywun

      Do you even grim milestone, bruh?

      • Sean

        Every day.

      • Tundra

        ^^This^^

  6. Count Potato

    “In a memo sent to Wilkinson on Sept. 11, 2017, Stern’s superiors said he was not adequately performing his duties because he was “very concerned” about cases in which he was asked to prosecute an immigrant parent who had been separated from and did not know the whereabouts of their child.”

    Don’t worry, he is probably out running guns for your boss.

    • R C Dean

      an immigrant parent who had been separated from and did not know the whereabouts of their child

      I wonder where and how they were separated. When the parent left home? By coyotes on the trip? Or by the border patrol?

      I also wonder if the parents and child were even related.

      • Plisade

        Answering your questions would require the existence of a curiosity that is obviously absent from journalists’ DNA.

      • C. Anacreon

        Also, why does anyone in the press never ask “if you hadn’t illegally crossed the border, perhaps you wouldn’t have any issues at all?” Nope, it’s always America’s fault for doing something bad to these complete innocents, as if they were just walking by and our country reached out and snatched them in.

      • UnCivilServant

        Because the press hates america.

      • Plisade

        “ they were just walking by and our country reached out and snatched them in.”

        KKKaptialism is a KKKruel temptress.

  7. Tundra

    Apart from hundreds of thousands of small farms, Cuba’s non-state sector is composed mainly of small private businesses run by artisans, taxi drivers and tradesmen. Around 600,000 people, around 13% of the workforce, joined the private sector when the opportunity arose.

    Man, it’s almost like the desire to control and profit from one’s own labor is a universal one!

    • C. Anacreon

      And this is why the Ds in Congress just re-introduced the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO) Act”, which is intended to eliminate gig economy jobs like Uber and DoorDash. Because no one should be able to set their own hours or work part-time when they wish.

  8. Endless Mike

    “Which means if this passes the Mexican senate, it will forbid wet t-shirt contests in Cancún during spring break.”

    Wet T-Shirt contests in Mexico are government sponsored? Maybe socialism isn’t such a bad idea after all…

    • Tundra

      Are you crazy? Letting the freaks of intersectionality determine the contestants?!?

      Oh look, here’s one now.

      • Endless Mike

        Well, sure Ze’s not much to look at, but the Mandalorian is AWESOME

  9. DEG

    For nearly 17 months, the Trump administration tried to deport the mother and daughter from El Salvador. The Biden administration may finish the job.

    Meet the new boss…. same as the old boss.

    Last month, prosecutors in the same case filed motions saying Honduras’ president took bribes from drug traffickers and had the country’s armed forces protect a cocaine laboratory and shipments to the United States.

    Manual Noriega redux?

    Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies approved a measure this week that if approved by the Senate will characterize beauty pageants and other such gender-based competitions based on appearance as symbolic violence against women.

    “Symbolic violence against women”? Go fuck yourselves.

    On a population adjusted basis, Belgium has the worst death toll from the disease — 1,791 per million.

    How is this possible? Belgium locked down!

    • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

      Re-posted from Marginal Revolution:

      https://twitter.com/davidwdowdy/status/1358992725677395973

      It’s . . . an okay explanation, but I still have trouble with the almost reflexive desire amongst all of these commentators to say that lockdowns work, although this guy in particular at least mentions that more-or-less free human behaviours absent government meddling still led to decreases in infection rates/cases. It’s a start, I guess.

      • DEG

        He shoots himself in the foot with his claims that lockdowns work.

    • Count Potato

      They’re waffling on the numbers.

      • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

        It’s a mere truffle.

    • one true athena

      A while back I read that in the beginning of the pandemic, Belgium was terrified of “overloading the hospitals” and being a national healthcare country ordered that younger patients be given priority for treatment. As a consequence, a significant share of elderly covid patients died untreated/left in the halls of hospitals so the hospitals could have space (for a wave that never arrived).

      so “death panels” basically is why a tiny country is a dumpster fire by the numbers.

  10. Fourscore

    I guess the Mexican beauty contests are a form of white slavery, women are forced to compete based on talent and appearance.

  11. Count Potato

    “New US President Joe Biden – who was Barack Obama’s vice-president”

    Did you Brady and Gronkowski played together for the Patriots?

    • Fourscore

      They played with each other?

      Who did Biden play with? Obama? Obama who?

  12. kinnath

    Love the tune

    • kinnath

      This lady is going to cost me hours of chasing videos on youtube.

  13. The Late P Brooks

    So what?

    So what?

    So let’s dance

    • Tundra

      It was truly a magical time.

  14. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Looks like Courtney Love and Avril Lavigne had a kid. Good for them…

    • juris imprudent

      Wasn’t there some other Momsen, heavy metal rocker – I figured they’d be related but apparently not.

  15. grrizzly

    Survey: 3 out of 4 people in U.S. will continue wearing masks after pandemic

    If this turns out to be true, I’ll be living somewhere else.

    • DEG

      Fuck

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      Re-written: 1 in 4 Americans will point and laugh at the other 3 once the pandemic ends.

      At least it’ll be a useful market on who to avoid.

      • DEG

        Before I ditched dating apps and sites, if a woman posted pictures of herself wearing a mask I passed.

      • Count Potato

        Faces are important.

    • C. Anacreon

      If this turns out to be true, I’ll be living somewhere else.

      but in all seriousness, where can one go? My wife and I have had this same discussion, and it doesn’t seem like there’s lots of options to head to where freedom reigns any more, at least places within reasonable temperature and humidity extremes.

      • grrizzly

        There’s no freedom anywhere in the world. But at least in my motherland most people know that it’s nuts to wear masks.

      • R C Dean

        Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Look past the paper freedoms we have here at the actual quality of life. By “quality”, I mean more than just material well-being, although that’s obviously a part of it.

        Are you under constant surveillance? Does the state actively try to interfere in your day-to-day activities? How much requires permission, and how much is prohibited? How much of your wealth/income does the state seize? And what’s the trend/trajectory?

        That kind of thing. When I ponder these unmeasurables, the US ain’t looking so hot, and other places may not look so bad.

      • UnCivilServant

        How are you measuring those other places when these metrics don’t seem all that well documented.

  16. Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

    “If the bill passes the Senate, contests, elections, competitions and other types of events that promote gender stereotypes and that evaluate the physical form of women or girls would be considered symbolic violence. As such, government institutions would not be allowed to distribute financial resources to nor publicize those events.”

    I don’t have a problem with preventing government money from going to beauty pageants (and other private events), but “symbolic violence”? C’mon, man, er, vamanos, hombres.

  17. juris imprudent

    Lincoln must be wondering what he did to have his name soiled thus – one of the greatest false flags in history.

    • C. Anacreon

      I think this is when the Lincoln name hit its nadir, though. Chicagoland TV in the late 1970s. 3 rooms, only $169 complete!

  18. Count Potato

    “BREAKING NEWS: At least 5 people wounded after gunman opens fire and detonates four homemade bombs at urgent care clinic in Minnesota as cops investigate possible explosive device at nearby hotel

    At least five people have been wounded after a gunman opened fire and detonated four homemade bombs at an urgent care clinic in Buffalo, Minnesota.

    A shooter opened fire at the Allina Health Clinic on Crossroads Campus Drive in Wright County late Tuesday morning.

    Just 30 minutes after the shooting, four homemade bombs then reportedly detonated inside the family medicine and urgent care clinic at the facility.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9242003/Up-5-people-wounded-shooting-explosion-urgent-care-clinic-Buffalo.html

    No word on motive yet….

    • Ted S.

      There’s your Minnesota Nice….

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Whatever his motivation, it must have been urgent.

      • Fourscore

        Or he didn’t care…

      • Fourscore

        Hmmm, I thought he bombed.

      • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

        He wasn’t going to let anyone buffalo him.

    • Tundra

      Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the situation an ‘unspeakable depravity’ and said the city was also sending in emergency responders to assist Buffalo.

      ‘There is an unspeakable depravity in doing harm to those who work to heal us. Those who have stepped up and risked their own health for ours,’ he tweeted.

      Fuck off, Frey. Where were the fucking responders when your storm troopers were burning and looting my city?

      Cunt.

    • pistoffnick

      Doesn’t Jimbo live up near there?

      • Tundra

        He and I are about 20 minutes away. Buffalo is a nice little town.

  19. Count Potato

    “Woman, 68, DIES of extreme cold while trying to get home from her next-door neighbor’s house after night of drinking in staggering -41.8F temperatures in British Columbia

    According to weather records, temperatures dropped to a frigid –41.8F early Sunday in Dawson Creek. The region remains under an extreme cold weather warning, with temperatures expected to sink as low as –49F.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9241413/Woman-68-DIES-extreme-cold-trying-home-door-neighbors-house.html

    WTF kind of weather is that? I don’t think I’ve been anywhere that was below zero.

    • Not Adahn

      Passed out in the yard? Or are we talking “next door neighbor” in a rural sense?

    • Endless Mike

      That kind of cold kills you really fast.

    • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

      It’s fairly typical for our entire region between the last two weeks in January and the first two-three weeks in February. January this year was unseasonably warm. About twenty or so years ago, a woman froze to death at an enclosed bus stop on Edmonton’s south side during a cold snap. Never did find out the details, but it was on a busy road that had decent bus service, so it’s possible she was passed out in the shelter and went unnoticed by passengers in buses and other traffic.

      And Dawson Creek’s kinda up there, so it’ll get even more extreme cold from the mother high pressure system that sits over the North Pole.

      And finally, you don’t make the best decisions after heavy drinking. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor, as the saying goes. In this case, thirty minutes of “floor” will kill you.

      Just for reference, Count, two mornings ago I woke up to -35° Celsius (-31° Fahrenheit) on our back deck. It’s since “moderated” into the mid-to-low minus twenties.

      • Count Potato

        At least you have one of those fancy igloos with a back deck. Heating bills for those couple of months must be tough.

      • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

        Surprisingly not. NatGas prices are at all-time lows, just about, we have an ultra-high-efficiency furnace (97+%, IIRC), and we just put in triple-pane windows everywhere in the house. We’re good. (Although don’t get me started on all of the “fixed cost” components of our gas bills in recent years . . . )
        Mind you, we put in our new 80,000 BTU UHE furnace to replace a 1989 vintage, 140,000 BTU (!) mid-efficiency when we bought the place. That monster ate NatGas like it was going out of style, and it sounded like a 747 starting up.

    • Tonio

      “You wouldn’t last five minutes on the ‘creek.”

      • bacon-magic

        *banjo plays

    • zwak

      The year my parents moved to east WA, it got down to -40. Just a couple of California kids, driving a convertible, no idea what they were getting themselves into.

  20. Not Adahn

    Don’t you hate it when work-related inspiration strikes @ 4:30?

    • Gender Traitor

      If it ever happens, I’ll let you know.

      • Not Adahn

        I had really planned on leaving early what with the snow and all, but noooo, got to see if this idea works. Another 18 minutes left in the run.

    • The Other Kevin

      There was a famous artist (maybe Leonardo daVinci?) who said you should always stop working on a painting knowing what you will do the next time. That way you’ll never get stuck. So just write down your inspiration and you’ve given yourself a head start tomorrow.

    • db

      Starting drinking early helps tamp that likelihood down.

  21. Nephilium

    Alright guys, we’ve finally got proof of the racism inherent in the system:

    Study: 90% of Black Restaurant Workers Saw Massive Decline in Tips During the Pandemic

    A new report adds to the growing evidence that the pandemic is heightening disparities in the United States.

    Nearly 90% of Black restaurant employees report that their tips declined by half or more since the health crisis began, according to a new study by labor advocacy group One Fair Wage. By comparison, only 78% of restaurant employees of other races reported such a steep decline.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      Cue Mr. Pink.

    • Not Adahn

      Now do the ethnic ownership of the various restaurants shut down due to Governors’ orders.

    • Tonio

      by labor advocacy group One Fair Wage

      Totes legit source, bro. But the 12% difference is troubling, if it is replicable and verifiable. Declared tips being notional, after all. Also, would like to see a 2×2 study of patron race vs server race on this.

      The report also suggests that Black workers were more likely to be retaliated against with lower tips for enforcing COVID-19 safety measures. Nearly three out of four Black workers said customers withheld gratuities after they enforced such protocols.

      And the statistics on the Samoan workers is what, exactly?

      • Nephilium

        What? You mean there was most likely bias in doing this survey? That’s unpossible!

        I’m also sure they adjusted for the restaurants gross between the two periods, as well as the average cost per head.

      • C. Anacreon

        And the statistics on the Samoan workers is what, exactly?

        No matter how much the other races get, they always get Samoa.

  22. Count Potato

    “Step away from the omelette: Eating just half an egg a day increases your risk of DEATH by 7% – unless you ditch the yolks, researchers claim

    Researchers gave a questionnaire to more than half a million Americans between 1995 and 1996 and followed them for 16 years.

    Data from this study, published in PLOS ONE, shows 129,328 people who filled out the original form died.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9241937/Eating-just-half-egg-day-increases-risk-DEATH-7.html

    BREAKING: Study shows filling out FORMS can KILL YOU

    • The Other Kevin

      So everything else those people did for 16 years was identical except for eating one egg. Huh.

      • C. Anacreon

        So everything else those people did for 16 years was identical except for eating one egg. Huh.

        I’ve mentioned on here before that I often do peer review on research articles for several major medical journals. Obvious failure to minimize variables, as you describe, should be an automatic fail/rejection for a paper. But there’s so much effort to get publicity for some these days, perhaps the case with the Chinese team for this study, and researchers often will go with a low-quality, barely reviewed ‘publication’ to get a quick acceptance no matter what, just so they can start trumpeting their data to the mainstream press. This may be such an animal — it’s in something called PLOS Medicine, an online-only “open access” journal, which essentially means you can see all its articles for free without a subscription. So how can they keep afloat with such an arrangement? Simple, the people submitting the research article pay a steep fee to have it published. And so anyone paying full fee is almost never turned down in the shadier types of these journals; at best, they might be asked to revise some things here and there, but unlikely any reviewer would chide them as concisely as The Other Kevin did above. IOW garbage in, garbage out.

        Disclaimer — there are some truly terrific and scientifically rigorous (and difficult to get published in) open access journals out there, and this is not to malign them in the slightest. It’s unfortunate that there are too many other OAs out there that can give the whole industry a bad name.

    • Tundra

      Wow. That article is almost 100% garbage. Even for the Fail, I’m legit impressed!

    • Not Adahn

      Filling out forms has a 25% chance of killing you within 15 years is what I’m seeing.

    • Fourscore

      Try not filling the forms

      /IRS

    • DEG

      BREAKING: Study shows filling out FORMS can KILL YOU

      I wonder if that will help me come tax time. Surely the IRS will accept wanting to stay alive as my reason for not filling out tax forms. Right?!?!

    • rhywun

      I see that study and raise a dozen others that show eggs are great for you.

      • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

        Seriously? A dozen? {snigger}

        Just discovered today whilst shopping for food that a local egg producer (Braeburn Farms) sells “extra-large eggs” that are guaranteed to have at least 50% double yolks.

        It’s like they’re trying to instantiate democide all by themselves. Plus let’s face it, DOUBLE YOLKS!, am I right?

    • nw

      And here I thought the risk of death was 100%. Who knew?

      • Plisade

        Not (double) you.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    According to my model, my model is correct

    More than 8 million people around the world die each year as a result of breathing polluted air that contains particles from fossil fuels, a new study has found.
    Burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil produces greenhouse gases that trap solar radiation in the atmosphere and cause climate change. But it also releases tiny poisonous particles known as PM2.5. Small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, these particles can aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma and can lead to lung cancer, coronary heart disease, strokes and early death.
    Research has also found a link between higher levels of long-term pollution and more deaths from Covid-19.
    In a study published in the journal Environmental Research of Tuesday, researchers from Harvard University, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester and University College London, found that exposure to particulate matter from fossil fuel emissions accounted for 18% of total global deaths — almost one in five — in 2018.

    SCIENCE!

    • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

      Now include all the lives that are saved by having access to cheap, reliable power.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Now do wood,

    • rhywun

      I wonder if they differentiated between countries that have been dramatically reducing pollution from fossil fuels for decades and those that… don’t bother.

      • Gadfly

        Like, perhaps, China, which has 18% of the world population and therefor likely has 18% of global deaths, a large part of those which could be tangentially attributed to their horrible pollution problem (in addition to anecdotal reports of smoggy cities, China accounts for ~30% of global C02 emissions, and while that is not a pollutant it is the boogeyman of the zeitgeist, so if they are as carefree about that I imagine they are similarly carefree with more harmful substances).

      • C. Anacreon

        8 million people in China is around 0.5% of their population.

    • Fourscore

      breathing polluted air that contains particles or freezing in that same polluted air

      “If it ain’t one thing, it’s another”

      Roseanna Roseanna Danna

  24. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Setting up servers is fun.

    NOT

    Some days being a jack of all trades is a PITA.

  25. Tonio

    “Mexican version of the House passes legislation against funding for beaty pageants as they can be seen as sexist.”

    I thought the whole point was for them to be beat bank material for you straight guys.

    • Not Adahn

      Warren or Ned?

      • Agent Cooper

        Squeal like a pig?

      • Tonio

        You got a purty mouth, boy.

      • Tonio

        OMG…OMG…OMG…

        Thank you for that, bro.

      • Tundra

        The squeal ties it all together!

      • Tonio

        As it does in real life, Tundra.

      • Tundra

        Truth.

      • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

        The squeal ties it all together!

        Scrapple is miffed, and would like a word.

      • DEG

        That is awesome.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    “We can’t in good conscience continue to rely on fossil fuels, when we know that there are such severe effects on health and viable, cleaner alternatives,” she said in a statement.
    The scientists used a global 3D model of atmospheric chemistry developed at Harvard to get a better picture of pollution at a more local level.
    Traditionally, satellite and surface observations were used to estimate the average global annual concentrations of PM2.5 particles in the air. By using the 3D model, the scientists were able to divide the globe into a grid with boxes as small as 50 kilometers by 60 kilometers (31 miles by 37 miles) and look at pollution levels in each box individually.

    This allowed them to assess the impact of the pollution in places where people live and to distinguish between different sources of pollution.

    You bet it did!

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      I really dig the substitution of actually observing shit with models.

      “We used to measure actual pollution, but this computer lets us play Sim City!”

  27. The Late P Brooks

    I thought the whole point was for them to be beat bank material for you straight guys.

    Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy

  28. db

    This song is pertinent to the links.

    • Tundra

      Nice.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    This place could use a good purge

    Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has taken initial steps toward reasserting civilian control of the military, in a drive to energize a group that saw its power drain under the former president.

    In his first weeks in office, the new secretary has installed a slate of well-respected national security professionals in his front office who are working to restore order to the Pentagon’s policymaking process. Those staffers are already making changes to ensure that civilian voices are included in policy meetings.

    ——-

    Austin, who retired as the four-star general overseeing U.S. forces in the Middle East just five years ago, takes the reins of the Pentagon as it reels from its worst crisis of trust in decades. In recent months, top generals have filled the void left by a succession of civilian defense secretaries who fell out of favor with President Donald Trump, putting those military leaders in the uncomfortable position of beating back notions that the former president might — or even could — deploy the military to hold onto power.

    And now, the Pentagon is working to tackle extremism in the ranks, after multiple active-duty troops participated in a Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of pro-Trump supporters protesting what they believed was a stolen election.

    There is a sense among the civilian staff that the joint staff has increasingly cut civilian leaders out of the decision-making process. At times they slowed certain proposals so they never reached the defense secretary; at others they refused to let civilians in on operational details.

    Trump’s personal Palace Guard, it was. We have wrested control from the junta just in the nick of time.

    Now we need to sweep out those whose toxic masculinity threatens to undermine our new, more enlightened, national security policy.

    • Tundra

      War!

      War!

      MOAR WAR!

    • Gadfly

      It’s hard to parse exactly what they mean when saying that they are reasserting civilian control of the military. Are they planning on firing the people who slow-walked Trumps withdrawal plans? Or are they trying to micromanage things more than usual? Civil government should have control of the military, but that means selecting the targets not dictating how to take them down. An organization does not work efficiently if everything is handled from the top – certain decisions have to be delegated to the people actually doing the job.

  30. Evan from Evansville

    @robc on the baseball posts:

    I absolutely love them. I think through ‘em and add my own baseball memories to the mix. It’s one of the big things in life that gives me a huge amount of pleasure–in the top tier of boxes. (Cubs all the way. Greg Maddux is my favorite player of all time, pitcher or otherwise. Kyle Hendricks is currently my favorite pitcher and Javier Baez for position player. *Gushes and swoons for so many reasons* )

    One of my weird moments in Korea was meating a US ballplayer who played for the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon for a year. Dana Eveland. A (not very good) lefty who played for like ten MLB teams. I was playing drums in my cover band at a bar called Yellow Taxi. He came along with others and afterwards he bought me a drink and we talked. We talked about the Brewers and how everyone on the team hated Ryan Bruan. Man, he was happy to talk about how openly they despised him.

    I love when weird expat stuff like that comes up. I’m upset with myself that I didn’t think to get an autograph. That woulda been cool for both of us. Oh, well. Live and learn.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    The insurrection at the Capitol helped convince reluctant lawmakers that Austin was the right pick, creating the crisis atmosphere that made “a man on horseback” — in other words, someone with military experience — look more appealing, Feaver said. Austin was confirmed with bipartisan support in the Senate, but he still needs to convince doubters that he will work to strengthen the civilian voice in the Pentagon.

    ——-

    “The safety and security of our democracy demands competent civilian control of our armed forces, the subordination of military power to the civil,” Austin said.

    How politically astute of him. He’s obviously the right man for the job.

    • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

      But they were totally cool with it when the Pentagon lied to Trump about troop levels in the Middle East.

    • R C Dean

      the subordination of military power to the civil

      Like when Trump ordered those military withdrawals, and they didn’t happen?

  32. Evan from Evansville

    Note: The chick in the pic is the lead singer of The Pretty Reckless (whom I have not heard of before)…and was Cindy Lou -Who in the Jim Carray How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Interesting.

    Think about it.

    • nw

      I just discovered them. Been giving a listen. They’re better than average,
      if you like that sort of thing.

  33. Tundra

    My son got a no-shit, real, paid engineering internship today. He’s pretty excited and I’m pretty proud of him

    (Thank you for indulging my respite from bad news.)

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Thats way cool, congrats to the young man!

    • DEG

      Excellent!

    • limey

      Heck yeah!

    • Tonio

      Congrats, and thanks for the good news.

    • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

      When I was an IT consultant, I really enjoyed working with engineering interns. All that bright, optimistic energy. My partners and I would make a point of taking ’em out for beers and nachos and explaining how the place actually worked, to keep them from becoming too jaded too quickly.
      There’s nothing like a large technical firm to take the spark of energy and youth and thoroughly water it.  :-/

      Good on yer boy!

    • Fourscore

      Getting paid is the good part for young people.

      I’ll loan you a couple not-so-young kids and you can lean on them for awhile.

      Good for you and your son, tree/apple/distance

    • Mojeaux

      *throws confetti*

      Congrats!

      • UnCivilServant

        AAAH! Glitterbomb!

        *hides under table*

    • Gender Traitor

      O Frabjous Day!

    • KromulentKristen

      Awesome!

    • Sensei

      Congrats!

    • straffinrun

      Good for him. Must’ve been hard getting hired with a name like Kaczynski.

      • Tundra

        Fuck, no one reads history. Just to be safe, though, I had him change the ‘i’ to a ‘y’.

        Thanks, all. Little victories are good enough for now.

  34. Suthenboy

    Keep in mind that whatever the left accuses its opposition of doing is exactly what they are doing. All projection, all of the time with them.
    All this talk of insurrection….uh huh.

  35. Count Potato

    “Lindell: Capitol Rioters Were Drugged By Antifa Sluts

    MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is fast becoming known as the nation’s kookiest conspiracy theorist. His latest theory takes the cake.

    In a post on social media dumpster fire Parler, Lindell produced a new spin on the real reason behind the Capitol attack.

    “The rioters were hypnotized by antifa temptresses who hid psychoactive drugs in their vaginas,” said Lindell. “If you look at the video, many of the rioters had crazed looks in their eyes.” ”

    https://thebiznews.org/2021/02/05/lindell-capitol-rioters-were-drugged-by-antifa-sluts/

    Fake news, but who cares?

    https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215079051#post3

    • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

      Uh, how did he post to Parler? Isn’t it still down? Is there a screen shot of his post?

      • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

        Ah, ok. It’s a satire site. My bad.

      • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

        As the saying goes, “yes.”

      • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

        On a side note, it appears that democraticunderground.com is hosted by Amazon. How is it that they still have a site but Parler doesn’t? I mean, I know how, but c’mon, man.

    • DEG

      WTF?

    • blackjack

      And then the drugs fell out of their vaginas?

    • R C Dean

      The rioters were hypnotized by antifa temptresses who hid psychoactive drugs in their vaginas

      *emails application to antifa*

      It’s a satire site.

      *frantically recalls email*

  36. The Late P Brooks

    My son got a no-shit, real, paid engineering internship today. He’s pretty excited and I’m pretty proud of him

    *toots horn, throws confetti*

  37. limey

    I find your lack of nipples disturbing.

    • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

      I find your nipple shaming disturbing. Some people are otherly nippled.

    • creech

      Obviously she’s not out in that -41.8 degree British Columbia weather.

    • Gadfly

      Do you really want to see mexican sharpshooter’s nipples?

      Oh, you meant you miss the soccer chicas. Carry on.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    Top Men

    President Joe Biden on Tuesday met with the chief executives of some of the country’s largest businesses in the Oval Office to discuss his $1.9 trillion Covid stimulus plan and the outlook for the American economy.

    Among those expected to meet with Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, Walmart’s Doug McMillon, Gap’s Sonia Syngal, Lowe’s Marvin Ellison and Tom Donohue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

    Though the exact agenda of the afternoon meeting wasn’t immediately available, the White House said that the group will review the “critical need” for Biden’s massive rescue plan that’s currently making its way through Congress.

    Agenda:

    Corporatist collusion.

    Division of spoils.

    • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

      The Gap is still around?

    • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

      Oh yeah. Here we go.
      {furiously pops popcorn}

    • R C Dean

      Police have arrested more than 200 people in connection with the riot that resulted in five deaths, including that of a Capitol Police officer.

      And the Narrative marches on, facts be damned.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    Yellen, a former chair of the Federal Reserve, has stressed the importance of acting quickly to flush the U.S. economy with more fiscal support even after the $900 billion bill Congress passed in December. Without it, the labor market recovery could take years instead of a complete rebound by next year, she said over the weekend.

    Though the U.S. economy rebounded sharply in summer 2020, that progress has plateaued if not partially reversed this winter as the hospitality, travel and food service industries continue to struggle under the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

    You’re going to have to muzzle publicly execute a few public health experts if you want the economy to come back any time soon.

    And drop the placebo Kabuki.

    • nw

      “acting quickly to flush the U.S. economy”

      Well, they’re certainly doing that.

    • Gadfly

      Fiscal support won’t do much if it doesn’t have productivity behind it. Throwing money around is a superficial, simpleminded, inadequate response. The way to get the economy going is to stop standing in the way of people making and doing stuff.

    • cyto

      I think we are headed in the other direction. I saw a story today that the South African strain of the covid-19 virus is not inhibited by one of the vaccines. So we have enough mutants out there in the wild that the vaccines won’t protect against this disease.

      I have seen another passel of stories about how immunity to covid-19 fades rather rapidly and you are not protected from catching it again, even after just a few weeks.

      Whether you think it is theater or sound science, get ready for the wall-to-wall fear to continue indefinitely.

      • creech

        I wonder why these other strains – UK Strain, South African Strain – are referred to by their “country of origin” name, but it is frowned upon in all the right circles if we call the original strain the “China Virus?”

      • Suthenboy

        Because China called and said “Stop calling it the China virus” and our establishment, up to their eyeballs in Chinese money and influence, dutifully obeyed.

  40. The Gunslinger

    For John Kruk’s birthday. I always think of this all-star at bat. The mind is willing but the ass just won’t stay in the batter’s box.

    https://youtu.be/DYXTV51GdUs

    • creech

      This is a good argument for eliminating the Designated Hitter. Make those pitchers who go head-hunting get in the batter’s box themselves.

      • The Gunslinger

        I hate the DH but it’s a moneymaker for the players so I don’t think it’s going away.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Just like sabermetrics.

    • Count Potato

      “Even if the First Amendment does not allow the government to criminally prosecute Trump for inciting the Capitol riot, however, that does not mean Congress cannot impeach him, not only for the reckless speech he gave that day but for his monthslong campaign to overturn the election results.”

      I don’t think the issue is whether they can impeach him, but whether they should. You can stick your dick in the toaster. It’s your dick, and your toaster. That doesn’t make it a good idea.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Roperites express surprise when it’s their turn against the wall.

  41. BakedPenguin

    China Uncensored has a new video out about Chinese building practices. Even if you don’t want to watch the whole thing (8min or so), definitely watch the first 30 seconds.

    • DrOtto

      Exploding man hole covers are nothing new. We discovered this as kids. The methane builds up in the sewer and an M60 will set it off. The real trick is acting like you don’t know what happened when the police show up.

    • commodious spittoon

      I really don’t want to hear about some firecracker blowing five man holes.

    • BakedPenguin

      Well, at least those kids have a job at Tosh.O when they grow up.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’m surprised the Three Gorges hasn’t failed yet.

  42. The Late P Brooks

    Go have a look yourself

    Haha, you slay me.

    • cyto

      Good answer

  43. ElspethFlashman

    Does she have avocados on her lady parts?

  44. Gustave Lytton

    Everyone wants to control other people in some fashion. They just disagree on the details.

    • Suthenboy

      Not everyone.

      Being in charge = everyone else’s problems become yours. That is at odds with my desire to be left the fuck alone.

      • rhywun

        Being in charge = everyone else’s problems become yours

        LOL do you even politician?

    • straffinrun

      Not Tears for Fears.

  45. Hyperion

    So, I hear that The Bucs only won the Superbowl because Brady used his super white supremacy racism again.

    Kermit seems very gracious. Too bad some people have to be such gigantic assholes.

    • rhywun

      Too bad some people have to be such gigantic assholes.

      That could be the motto of the 21st century so far.

    • C. Anacreon

      I think that got started by 4Chan types as a joke, with their usual effectiveness.

      But it is true that had the Chiefs won, it would have been celebrated widely as a triumph of the minority QB over the white supremacist Trump-fan Brady. Must have really pissed some of them off they never got to trumpet that one, I’m sure many woke columnists already had Monday’s piece ready to submit long before the game started.

  46. straffinrun

    The United States has far more COVID cases and deaths than any other country.

    ?

    • rhywun

      ?

      • straffinrun

        ?‍?

    • Sensei

      Just shut the bars and restaurants down at 8:00pm.

      Problem solved!

      ? no beans so closest emoji I could find.

  47. ignoreLander

    Fun fact, that singer is the little girl Cindy Lou Who from the Ron Howard Grinch movie. I bet someone has already said that. I’ll show myself out.

    • Tundra

      I feel like I’ve seen you around these parts, but just in case:

      Fuck off, Tulpa!