Thursday Afternoon Partially Holiday-Themed Links

by | Dec 16, 2021 | Daily Links | 237 comments

Gay holiday tune.

 

HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS: Zombie novel with CDC as villains. Ammo. Air guns (thanks, Zwak). Tuttle Twins books.

FLORIDA WOMAN: A Florida woman told deputies she gave her boyfriend “just enough” poison in his lemonade to shut him up and then called law enforcement “so he wouldn’t die,” according to a police report.

 

CDC EARLY PANDEMIC FAILURE REVEALED: The distribution of faulty test kits, at a time when no other tests were authorized, set back health officials’ efforts to detect and track the virus. The bigger lesson, Butler-Wu said, is that the responsibility for developing diagnostic tests should be distributed more widely during a public health emergency. Rather than relying on the CDC to be the sole test developer, officials could also enlist clinical and commercial labs to create and deploy tests. Notice how, despite all the puffery about learning from mistakes, that we’re just learning about this now, almost two years after the fact.

‘ROCKET DICKS IN SPACE’ BUTT-HURT CONTINUES: FAA Ends Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program. The advent of regular, space tourism fundamentally broke certain people. Granted, most of these people are not pilots or mission specialists, but this is obvious political pandering. Also granted, there is nothing to keep a private industry group from doing this on their own, and there is nothing special about government recognition. Your author is available to serve on the board of such an enterprise provided a free trip is part of the compensation.

BIDEN/HARRIS ADMINISTRATION WOKIFIES NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL: In – climate change, laughable STEM education theater, government apparatchiks. Out – industry experts who actually design, build, and operate spacecraft and launch vehicles. At this meeting, though, the panels consisted exclusively of council members themselves. Industry was even excluded from the audience at the meeting, held in the atrium of the U.S. Institute of Peace near the State Department, with the room filled instead with government officials.

NUTPUNCH/OVARY-TAP of the DAY: California medics refuse to enter care center to help man in cardiac arrest due to ‘some COVID-19 law.’ An investigation into why ‘responders failed to act to our Fire Department’s expectations’ is underway, the chief said. Was that wrong? Were we not supposed to do that?

BONUS HOLIDAY NUTPUNCH/OVARY-TAP: Man penalized by government for having car verifiably stolen; insurance company claims it just happened to downgrade his coverage several days before.

About The Author

Tonio

Tonio

Tonio is a Glibs shitposter, linkstar (Thursday PM, yo), author, and editor. He is also a GlibZoom personality and prankster. Tonio is a big fan of pic-a-nic baskets. His hobbies include salmon fishing, territorial displays, dumpster diving, and posing for wildlife photographers.

237 Comments

  1. Shpip

    A Florida woman told deputies she gave her boyfriend “just enough” poison in his lemonade to shut him up and then called law enforcement “so he wouldn’t die,” according to a police report.

    First rule of poison club…

  2. Count Potato

    “Deputies with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said Alvis Parrish, 54,”

    That’s a rough 54.

  3. The Bearded Hobbit

    Gay holiday tune.

    I thought it was going to be this.

    • Ted S.

      I would have guessed this.

    • Rat on a train

      I’m not following. That could be Wham.

    • Tonio

      OMG, I had never heard that. It’s like a modern Allan Sherman. Hilarious. Thank you.

    • DrOtto

      Brings me back to Sunday evening as a kid tuning in Dr. Demento.

      • slumbrew

        Dr. D was my introduction to Kip Addotta – Wet Dream, specifically.

      • Nephilium

        The fine Dr. Demento used to be a regular at a convention down in Columbus. He would also routinely come to the parties that were thrown by the group I was with that threw one of the more… wild parties.

        Nice guy, usually walked around the party night in full pajamas and giant fuzzy slippers.

  4. Count Potato

    ” we’re just learning about this now, almost two years after the fact”

    Scott Gottlieb posted about it on twitter a long time ago.

  5. Scruffy Nerfherder

    I thought the CDC’s role in the total failure of testing early in the pandemic was pretty well known.

    I guess it’s been approved for wider distribution to the masses now, probably as a distraction from their even bigger failures.

    Kind of like when cops misbehave break the law and it’s just a failure of process, procedure, and training.

    • Count Potato

      It was a combination of the FDA and CDC.

  6. Yusef drives a Kia

    Do they have global Warmening in Space? Do we care?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        That never gets old.

        NOT THE BEES!

    • Sensei

      Or, alternatively, they don’t want to be asked a bunch of Omicron related questions that they are unable to comment on yet.

      Essentially, they have a pretty good idea now that it is mostly useless. However, if they say anything slightly positive there they can expect a shareholder lawsuit within days of releasing the poor results of the studies.

      That’s my bet as both person that worked at a D&O carrier and as an analyst on WS.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Well, given the legal protections, why not just out-and-out lie and fabricate?

      • Sensei

        That applies to recipient only. Not stockholders.

  7. Fourscore

    ‘Your author is available to serve on the board of such an enterprise provided a free trip is part of the compensation”

    I’ll go too, if there is handicap parking

  8. Lackadaisical

    Notice how, despite all the puffery about learning from mistakes, that we’re just learning about this now, almost two years after the fact

    A close friend who works in immunology (but studying cancer) couldn’t understand why we didn’t have good tests almost immediately. Apparently due to government incompetence.

  9. DEG

    Deputies with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said Alvis Parrish, 54, put a psychotic drug in the lemonade of William Carter, with whom she had been living with for nine years, on Dec. 7. She then called authorities.

    She seems nice.

    The faulty coronavirus testing kits developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the early weeks of the pandemic were not only contaminated but had a basic design flaw, according to an internal review by the agency.

    Ummm….. where’s my shocked face?

    Not only will the owner of the car not be seeing any money from their insurance, but they’re being told to pay for the crash cleanup.

    Ouch.

    • Sean

      Not only will the owner of the car not be seeing any money from their insurance, but they’re being told to pay for the crash cleanup.

      How’s that legal?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Probably just seeing if he’s stupid enough to pay it.

      • Sean

        Probably just seeing if he’s stupid enough to pay it.

        Well…he did own a BMW out of warranty…

      • Lackadaisical

        And spend 8k on after market parts for it.

  10. DEG

    WE’RE GOING TO DIE!11111!!!!1!!

    An adult from Hillsborough County recently died of influenza, the first such death announced this season by state health officials.

    There have been no pediatric deaths yet this season, officials said.

    PANIC HARDERER!!!1!!!11

    • rhywun

      OFFS. Are we really going down this road?

    • cyto

      I wonder how many of the covid deaths are actually influenza deaths…. Because it seems remarkably absent.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        Influenza deaths went to zero because the same masks that apparently are 100% effective against influenza don’t work against Covid. That’s Science.

      • DrOtto

        The flu virus is absolutely dumbfounded when confronted with an obstacle course, the Covid 19 virus, it learns and adapts. It can work it’s way through an obstacle course and also knows to attack the unvaccinated.

      • Spudalicious

        Influenza is spread through droplet contact. That’s where the six foot spacing came from. Because of the larger size, the mask actually does have some impact.

      • Enough About Palin

        Covid is nothing like influenza. Unlike Covid, vigilance against contracting influenza requires multiple vaccinations in perpetuity.

        Why isn’t the world BDSing the CCP?

  11. DEG

    I was browsing GunBroker today, and I stumbled on the auction for the rifle featured in this Forgotten Weapons video.

    • Tonio

      For to show Johnny Turkey that John Bull wins the day!

      • DEG

        And sometimes Johnny Turk uses John Bull’s rifle as his own.

  12. Sean

    Hackers reportedly obtained the personal details of a nurse in the French city of Nantes and used this data to create 54,000 working vaccine passes. Meanwhile, the French government says it’s detected 110,000 such fakes to date.

    Awesome.

    • DEG

      🙂

    • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

      It is awesome, but five years in prison if you’re caught with a fake?

      I don’t think “hate crimes” in France normally carry that severe a penalty.

      • Tonio

        Imagine being that guy on the cell block with all the father rapers and mother stabbers and you tell them that you’re there for forging a doctor’s note.

      • Animal

        They’ll all move away from you on the Group W bench.

      • The Hyperbole

        and creating a nuisance.

      • Lackadaisical

        Probably none of them would want to associate with you, unless you also created a nuisance.

      • Ghostpatzer

        And littering!

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        It’s almost as bad as cutting the label off a mattress.

  13. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    Thonio Thorsday!

    • pistoffnick

      Thicc?

  14. Semi-Spartan Dad

    The distribution of faulty test kits, at a time when no other tests were authorized, set back health officials’ efforts to detect and track the virus.

    Relatedly, there are 6 people in my MIL’s office and every one of them have been double vaxed plus got boosters. 4 of the 6 people have just tested positive for Covid and are home sick. Probably true positives, since they are actually sick.

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      Am I a bad person for chuckling at that?

      • Sean

        Nope, you’re not. Neither am i.

  15. LCDR_Fish

    What up yo? Finally back from 2.5 weeks in Norfolk. Some good times/interactions on the waterfront. Will try and put out a few more relevant articles the next few weeks.

    Side note – re: some recent comments.

    1. The AAV being banned – as Drake said – it’s a legacy piece of gear that’s long overdue being mothballed/replaced (there’s a Marine unit at my local reserve center that has some – as well as a few Vietnam era predecessors in the motorpool). We still have the LCAC (ship to shore connectors), LCUs and other capabilities.

    2. The Zumwalt pic posted earlier – that’s almost nothing in terms of rust – it’s just more visible based on the ship size/shape. I saw almost no running rust/etc in those pics. In particular because IIRC most of the superstructure is actually covered with a different material to reduce radar reflectivity or for the actual radar – and it looked like some of those panels had been replaced or were pending replacement indicated by different colors. One issue (as always with new designs and stupid ideas) is that the manning on that class is fractional compared to the size (larger than an Arleigh Burke DDG) – like the “minimal manning” on the LCS where the contractors do a lot of technical work – it was a bad idea but will hopefully still let us do some good design work going forward (albeit probably too pricey) — like the Seawolf class Subs (only 3 of those).

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      The Zumwalt pic posted earlier – that’s almost nothing in terms of rust –

      I thought the idlers were up before dawn holystoning the decks each day.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Well…again, I haven’t been on one of those ships yet – maybe before I get out – but you’re never going to be on deck doing work like that while you’re at “Sea and Anchor detail” ie. pulling in. Normally that’s pierside work, although if you’re underway for a long time, you’ll have deck folks grinding, priming, painting if there’s nothing else going on. Very rarely will you have someone over the side working on the hull unless there’s literally nothing going on or you’re pierside.

      • slumbrew

        Being over the side while underway for that sort of maintenance sounds like it would be a bad risk/reward ratio.

      • LCDR_Fish

        If you’re not moving – for one reason or another – the CO might authorize it before you pull into a foreign port so you don’t look too shitty. We’d take time off sometimes (drive faster overnight to get ahead of “schedule” and then free up a few hours for any critical topside work).

    • Tonio

      Welcome back.

      Will try and put out a few more relevant articles the next few weeks.

      Grazie!

      • R.J.

        I just dropped Hebrew Hammer myself for the 23rd. Good Lord, this has been a crazy week. I will be pleased when the holidays pass.

      • Nephilium

        If you want something to cleanse your palate, I have seen that Hogfather (British two part miniseries based on a Terry Pratchett book) is on Tubi. Death fills in for the Hogfather (Santa Clause expy) so that people believe in the Hogfather so that the sun rises the next day.

      • Tundra

        I read it this time every year.

        Am I gonna like the movie?

      • LCDR_Fish

        We talked about that one a while back. I imported the UK dvd years ago….should probably watch it again at some point.

      • R.J.

        I do like that. And I am going to make an effort to read Terry Pratchett books in the new year. I have a small stack, all unread.

    • Drake

      Locked in the back of an AAV as it drops into deep water was one of my scarier experiences.

  16. LCDR_Fish

    I know my browser and laptop are acting the goat again…but all of a sudden my addons aren’t working – don’t recall seeing any posts about the “new post” button disappearing. Do I need to manually update monocle or something?

    • slumbrew

      No, some ongoing WordPress issue – that particular button was from WP itself, not Monocle.

      Maybe Trashy can whip up a replacement button in his copious free time.

    • Sensei

      Great version.

      Was wondering if it was going to turn out to be Bowie again… Not one my favorites.

      • Tundra

        No, his Little Drummer Boy with Bing was not good.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Nah, they’re trying too hard. Obviously gay.

      • Nephilium

        How is this gay?

        /the girlfriend didn’t believe this was a real song at first

      • The Hyperbole

        Meh, it’s a song with the word ‘Christmas’ in it, there is nothing Christmassy about it, it may as well be any other AC/DC song*, at least The Kinks put it the jingly bells
        intro and reprise.

        *just like all Deadbeat Murry songs sound the same.

      • MikeS

        I can hear you coming down my smoke stack
        I wanna ride on your reindeer honey and ring the bells

        Not all AC/DC songs sound the same, either. Your incredible streak of being wrong is unbroken.

      • The Hyperbole

        Oh, there are so so many others to hate, damn near all of ’em.

      • Tundra

        Are you kidding? That’s a masterpiece compared to this ridiculously bad song.

      • MikeS

        That is the worst Christmas song ever recorded. Rage-inducing horrible.

      • Tundra

        Your gay.Not gay.

      • Nephilium

        Some others you may like Tundra:

        Reverend Horton Heat

        Los Straitjackets!

        I know I’ve linked them here before, but I’ve also linked the Bad Religion one. The girlfriend keeps saying that American Jesus isn’t a Christmas song… I just point at the fact it’s on a Christmas album.

      • Tundra

        She’s just wrong.

        Cute, but wrong.

        Thanks for the songs. I think we do this every year and I love it!

        Merry Christmas! Especially to Hyp!

      • The Hyperbole

        The Gays skin-suited camp decades ago, camp is now gay.

      • MikeS

        If Lemmy was still alive he’d kick your ass. Hell, he might still.

      • The Hyperbole

        If Lemmy were still alive.

      • MikeS

        Foiled again! Damn you Hyperbole!!!11!!!

    • Lackadaisical

      Easterbrook allegedly attached the images to emails he sent from his work to his personal account.

      What a maroon.

    • slumbrew

      I need to see some of those pics before I can declare them whoppers

  17. Count Potato

    “IDF on Instagram: “Shooting rockets at Israeli civilians is an act of terror”

    New Gawker: This meme “call[s] Arabs terrorists”

    The plague of complete, brazen full-of-shitness in a lot of outlets is getting worse”

    https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1470882015520202756

    TMITE

    • rhywun

      Worse than what? They’ve been completely full of shit for years.

  18. kinnath

    Critical Drinker on Cowboy Bebop

    As I said the other day, I enjoyed the show, but I have no prior experience with the anime.

    But, the people that made the new show clearly have no idea how to deal with the public and legitimate criticism.

    • cyto

      Well, they are dealing with getting cancelled, so there is that…

      • kinnath

        Watch the Drinker.

        Looks like a lot of the stupid shit got said before the show even aired.

  19. Gadfly

    Notice how, despite all the puffery about learning from mistakes, that we’re just learning about this now, almost two years after the fact.

    Reminds me of what a friend who works at a big company said to me the other day: “There’s a reason that the ‘lessons learned’ after each project are the same”. Bureaucracies are not peak efficiency.

  20. LCDR_Fish

    Ok…finally got in touch with the home warranty re: my fridge. Looks like there is an available one – apparently GE: GE-GFE26JMMES – a search at Lowes brings up a model that appears about equivalent – for a hefty price. So it seems like a good deal. Basically…as long as it’s the same size as my current one and will not die in 4 or 5 years…I’d say I’m coming out ahead. Apparently there’s no cost at this stage AND the folks bringing it will remove the old one….. win/win.

    Wonder if I can ask them not to hook up the water input or just ensure it’s turned off.

    Any tips/warnings on this model?

    • LCDR_Fish

      Ah shit. The measurements of that new fridge will fit in my house…..but NOT through the front door – unless I want them to pull the door off the hinges. Looks like I’ll need to call back tomorrow and see if there’s an alternate.

      • The Hyperbole

        Taking a door off it’s hinges isn’t a big deal, if that’s all that’s keeping you from getting the new fridge, go for it.

      • The Hyperbole

        I mean don’t let them ‘pull’ the door off it’s hinges, but popping out the hinge pins is no big deal.

      • UnCivilServant

        I hate to agree with Hyperbole, but if all it takes is to pull the door from the hinges, do it.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Does the fridge ship with doors off? I’d need to call either way to see if movers would pop my front door (not exactly keen on that for security purposes. That sort of thing wasn’t something I asked about before.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Let them do their job, Fridge movers are smart muther fuckers IMO

      • LCDR_Fish

        I mean…sure….if they don’t mind opening the box on the driveway and doing that. Just don’t want them to show up – see that there’s an issue and just leave the box there because it wasn’t in the contract to do anything extra.

      • R.J.

        You can remove the doors from the fridge and slide it inside sideways, then reattach the doors. The water line will have a sharkbite connector.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Yep. When we got our new fridge a couple of years ago, they had to remove the fridge doors and undo the hinges to the front door. Took ’em about five minutes.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Ok. I’ll call again tomorrow just to be safe.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        ^They should pop the fridge doors off no problem. It’s easy to remove and reattach. And they won’t hook up the water line if you don’t want them to.

        Of course I got the asshole delivery guy when buying a new fridge earlier this year. Refused to move because the doorway was 32″ and the fridge was 31″ without the doors. I pointed out how that’s a whole half an inch on each side and dude freaked out. Seriously not pleasant with this 6’+ guy yelling and swearing at me. It’s the only time I remember ever having to tell a grown man to calm down (wife was very close to loosing the dogs). He ended up waiting in the truck like a sullen teenager while his partner just did it by himself with no problem. I’ve since replaced the 32” door with 36”.

      • Mojeaux

        Sharkbites are of the Lord.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    California medics refuse to enter care center to help man in cardiac arrest due to ‘some COVID-19 law.’ An investigation into why ‘responders failed to act to our Fire Department’s expectations’ is underway, the chief said. Was that wrong? Were we not supposed to do that?

    Let me guess: no actual legal obligation to render aid.

    What did I win?

  22. Gadfly

    In – climate change, laughable STEM education theater, government apparatchiks. Out – industry experts who actually design, build, and operate spacecraft and launch vehicles.

    If they actually accomplished anything at their meetings, how could they justify future meetings to plan to accomplish things?

  23. tarran

    I’m only half way through the Dr McCollough interview on Rogan.

    I’m ready to start hanging people from their ankles from Esso station signs. Then we can bring in family members of those who died from Covid or the vaccines, the people whose finances were destroyed, the people who got cancers because screening tests were cancelled, etc all over for a fun game of pinata.

    • DEG

      I saw him on the Covid Revealed series. I wasn’t paying full attention as I was doing stuff at work. The parts I did pay attention to I was impressed with. He and Dr. Robert Malone were the two most impressive parts of that series.

    • Count Potato

      Any way to get Rogan without having to get Spotify? It’s no longer on YouTube.

      • tarran

        I posted a link to odysee

      • Count Potato

        Thanks, but I meant in general.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        You can get Spotify for free, just ads to deal with

      • PutridMeat

        Get dummy temp email account, sign up from behind a vpn. Done. Never need to get any mail from spotify, or check or anything, just sign in wiht the fake, now defunct email.

      • Count Potato

        Will it let you download videos?

      • PutridMeat

        No; you can capture the stream though.

        However, that episode is all over odysee and rumble right now. youtube-dl works with odysee.

        (I’ll look for you on a newer thread and repost)

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Tell me about it.

      This is our Chernobyl. It’s fully indicative of the rot at the center of our society and government.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        That’s . . . an excellent analogy, actually. Well done.

  24. The Late P Brooks
    • Mojeaux

      Gwen > Madonna

      Eartha > Gwen

      • Not Adahn

        Blossom Dearie?

      • Gender Traitor

        Not who I’d think of for sexy chick vocals, unless you can point to an example. Too high a vocal register for my taste.

  25. Sean

    Well, my gf is sick, but it ain’t covid.

    • DEG

      Hopefully she gets well soon.

      • Sean

        We’ll see how it goes for Saturday.

        She’s talking to her crazy ass mother on the phone right now. She seems animated enough.

      • DEG

        OK.

        I might visit a relative late Saturday morning before I head to the gun show. Snow in NH on Saturday into Sunday. I want to go to State College to pick up some stuff but I want to get up to NH before anything freezes overnight.

    • Count Potato

      Hope she gets well soon.

      • Sean

        Me too. I’m horny.

      • Q Continuum

        Presumably at least one of her usual orifices is still open for business.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Sorry about the herpes

  26. The Late P Brooks

    The distribution of faulty test kits, at a time when no other tests were authorized, set back health officials’ efforts to detect and track the virus.

    Good data might have allowed a few spoilsports to throw cold water on the “We’re all gonna DIE!” narrative. The last thing the model jockeys want is real world data to test their projections with.

  27. UnCivilServant

    Since this is a gay thread, what is the term for the vocal inflection that reads as stereotypically gay?

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Flamer?

      • UnCivilServant

        There’s a more clinical term for it, I’m sure.

    • Nephilium

      You mean the lithp?

      • UnCivilServant

        No, the higher pitched not quiet valley girl esque quasi-accent.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        sing-song?
        sssibilence?

  28. Trigger Hippie

    24 hrs later and still no power. Supposed to get down to the mid thirties again… tonight is going to suuuuuuuck.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      My shop is in the same situation, we expect many broken water lines,
      stay warm,,

      • Trigger Hippie

        That wind storm sweep your way as well?

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        still ongoing, definitely not Disc golf weather,
        no power sucks bad up here, stay warm, my friend,

      • Trigger Hippie

        You too.

    • Drake

      Hillbilly heating. I’ve seen similar with ceramic flower pot over the top.
      https://youtu.be/0vwONToPGXg

      • rhywun

        My mom used to heat bricks in the fireplace and stick them at the foot of our beds under the covers.

      • creech

        No orphans to do that for you?

      • rhywun

        Ugh more mouths to feed.

      • Trigger Hippie

        That was pretty nifty, thanks!

    • Mojeaux

      Dude, what? You’re in Midtown, aren’t you?

      • Trigger Hippie

        Nope. Haven’t lived there in five years.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    The surprising part is who published it

    I am old enough to remember the good old days when holiday-advice pieces were all variations on “How to Talk to Your Tea Party Uncle About Obamacare.” As Christmas approaches, we can look forward to more of this sort of thing, with the meta-ethical speculation advanced to an impossibly baroque stage of development. Is it okay for our 2-year-old son to hug Grandma at a Christmas party if she received her booster only a few days ago? Should the toddler wear a mask except when he is slopping mashed potatoes all over his booster seat? Our oldest finally attended her first (masked) sleepover with other fully vaccinated 10-year-olds, but one of them had a sibling test positive at day care. Should she stay home or wear a face shield? What about Omicron?

    I don’t know how to put this in a way that will not make me sound flippant: No one cares. Literally speaking, I know that isn’t true, because if it were, the articles wouldn’t be commissioned. But outside the world inhabited by the professional and managerial classes in a handful of major metropolitan areas, many, if not most, Americans are leading their lives as if COVID is over, and they have been for a long while.

    In my part of rural southwest Michigan, and in similar communities throughout the country, this is true not despite but without any noticeable regard for cases; hospitalization statistics, which are always high this time of year without attracting much notice; or death reports. I don’t mean to deny COVID’s continuing presence. (For the purposes of this piece, I looked up the COVID data for my county and found that the seven-day average for positive tests is as high as it has ever been, and that 136 deaths have been attributed to the virus since June 2020.) What I wish to convey is that the virus simply does not factor into my calculations or those of my neighbors, who have been forgoing masks, tests (unless work imposes them, in which case they are shrugged off as the usual BS from human resources), and other tangible markers of COVID-19’s existence for months—perhaps even longer.

    ——-

    Granted, my family’s experience of 2020 was somewhat unusual. But I wager that I am now closer to most of my fellow Americans than the people, almost absurdly overrepresented in media and elite institutions, who are still genuinely concerned about this virus. And in some senses my situation has always been more in line with the typical American’s pandemic experience than that of someone in New York or Washington, D.C., or Los Angeles.

    ——-

    But I am afraid that the future, at least in major metropolitan areas, is one in which sooner or later elites will acknowledge their folly while continuing to impose it on others. I, for one, would not be surprised if for years to come it were the expectation in New York and California that even vaccinated workers in the service industry wear masks, the ultimate reification of status in a world in which casual dress has otherwise erased many of what were once our most visible markers of class.

    After all, you never know how they spent their Thanksgiving.

    Presumably, the Atlantic put that on their website so the cognoscenti could tut-tut about the delusional hicks.

    • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

      They already have. I’ve seen one pearl-clutching article about this article, in the Washington Post (“Democracy dies in derpness”) over the last day or so. I’m sure there are others.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      I have seen more concern for the commie flu on this website than out in the real world, no one cares anymore,

    • rhywun

      The hysteria varies wildly within, say, New York, too. By neighborhood, age, class, education, ethnicity, and probably a few other pigeonholes you could put people into. Not to mention “political party”.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        If I see masked people in the stores, I avoid Them, and make sure they notice, scared ass sheeple,

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s weird to see masked people. I don’t typically.

      • The Hyperbole

        and make sure they notice

        Why?

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        So they see that They are the pariah, not me, public humiliation,
        Alinsky style,

      • The Hyperbole

        Seems odd to me. They’ve made a personal choice that you don’t happen to agree with, big meh. As much as I think that a grown man who chooses to wear a baseball cap looks ridiculous, I’d feel real stupid if I were to try to publicly shame him over his choice.

      • rhywun

        I just don’t look them in the eyes, unless it’s someone I have to deal with.

      • UnCivilServant

        If I remembered, I’d want to agressively stare at them to remind them that they are the weirdos.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        ^this, UCS, is what I’m talking aboot

      • rhywun

        I don’t do “aggressive stares” under any circumstance. *shrugs*

      • UnCivilServant

        I forget to a lot of the time.

        Mostly because I’ve got stuff to do.

    • Ownbestenemy

      And not a single person on that board give a flying fuck cause nothing will happen.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      JFC! Lampposts aren’t good enough, to the Feral Hogs they go,

    • MikeS

      Fucking enraging. And the teachers have the fucking gall to call CPS on the parents. It’s Bizarro World.

  30. Not Adahn

    A Florida woman told deputies she gave her boyfriend “just enough” poison in his lemonade to shut him up and then called law enforcement “so he wouldn’t die,”

    Not the worst plan I’ve heard.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Also in the Atlantic

    Rural America’s False Sense of Security

    People in rural America say things are back to normal, even though rural America is precisely where the pandemic is worst.

    ——-

    How can the rural population witness so much death from COVID-19 while simultaneously dismissing the pandemic? Tom Pyszczynski, a psychology professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, chalks it up to denial. Not everyone dies of COVID. “If you’re motivated to believe that COVID is not a real threat,” he says, “knowing someone who’s had the disease and recovered, or had a mild case, sort of validates that belief.” To those who want to believe, a few vivid stories of miraculous recovery will drown out an impersonal statistic like 760,000 dead.

    The other phenomenon is an attitude akin to fatalism. “In some places, there’s sort of a feeling that maybe there’s nothing that can be done, or it’s God’s will,” says Carrie Henning-Smith, a health-policy professor at the University of Minnesota who studies rural health.

    ——-

    When she walks into her patients’ homes, Fox News is often blaring. If a family member dies of COVID, her patients sometimes rationalize it by saying that person must have had other health problems. The attitude seems to be, “Yes, there are these deaths. And it’s very sad, that neighbor down the road died, but you know, I’m just gonna keep on living my life,” she said.

    OH

    MY

    GOD!

    How can these people not accept Leviathan as their lord and savior?

    • rhywun

      Stupid hicks in the mist.

  32. Q Continuum

    Overdubbing cumshot compilation videos with commentary from CSPAN.

    Genius or madness?

    • Sensei

      MSNBC…

    • R.J.

      Thew other way around might be more amusing.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    FOX News is killing people. Why won’t Comrade Biden stop them?

    Somebody should tell him.

    • UnCivilServant

      “We find you offensive.” -EA

  34. commodious spittoon

    Why on earth would you stop your pissing car right where you caused a minor fender-bender on a busy avenue, and get out to inspect the damage while traffic piles up behind you? You really couldn’t drive another fifteen feet with a busted headlight and dimpled door panel and gotten off the pissing road?

    • UnCivilServant

      *writes a ticket for leaving the scene of an accident*

  35. LCDR_Fish

    Clown world.

    https://twitter.com/sullydish/status/1471621609446387713

    “NEW: The Biden administration will offer bonuses to doctors who “create and implement an anti-racism plan” under new rules from the Department of Health and Human Services, which also reward doctors for “trauma-informed care.””

    ——

    all the special buttons are gone for links, etc? Man….

    • UnCivilServant

      I smell another lawsuit.

    • R.J.

      I have to say, I have posted here for a while and never seen any buttons to modify my text. Just a big empty box to type in.

      • Gender Traitor

        I suspect the good LCDR is referring to the features available if you install and use Monocle or Eyepiece, add-ons that you use with Greasemonkey or Tampermonkey. Trashy created them, PBUH. Gives you shortcuts for formatting text and doing fancy-schmancy links without having to type out all the HTML codes.

      • R.J.

        My talents end with writing crappy movie reviews. Someday I may explore this thing.

      • rhywun

        Be aware that the latest Eyepiece at that link is only partially functional with the current state of the site. In my case it was missing all buttons on the left side.

        Trashy later posted an update here that works mostly – only thing missing is the backwards and forwards buttons. Maybe he’ll flutter by and drop a link to it.

  36. UnCivilServant

    The hardest part about learning to delegate – not just doing the work myself.

    It’s simple tasks, which is why I’m having my direct reports start to do it. But since they’ve never done it before it’s taking longer, and I’m tempted to jump in and just do it rather than offer verbal reminders.

  37. The Late P Brooks

    It comes right out of a hole in the wall. What could be cleaner than that?

    In a landmark moment for the effort to combat climate change, the New York City Council voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to ban gas hookups in new buildings. The new law, which New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will sign, bans new gas stoves, boilers and heaters in new buildings and buildings that undergo gut renovations.

    “We’re making it clear that the next generation of buildings will be electric buildings,” Ben Furnas, de Blasio’s director of climate and sustainability, told Yahoo News. “We’re sending a message to the world that if you can do it here, you can do it anywhere.”

    Boobus Americanus strikes again.

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      Didn’t they just close down a nuclear power plant?

      • rhywun

        Shhhh!

        So, so stupid.

        Sorry, poor people.

  38. Tres Cool

    Has this been done ?
    Christmas with the Devil

    Health update- still feel like shit. Earlier temp 101.9º. Its been a full week now.
    Almost time for Nyquil and back to bed.

    • Raven Nation

      Yeah, I feel more tired today than I have for the last three days. Probably pushed it a little too much yesterday and stayed up too late.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    The bill’s supporters also characterized it as a victory for environmental justice, because it will reduce local air pollution, which is especially prevalent in lower-income and Black and Latino neighborhoods.

    “We are prioritizing people over profits and over properties,” said the bill’s lead sponsor, New York City Council member Alicka Ampry-Samuel, a Democrat from Brooklyn, at a rally before the vote in front of New York City Hall.

    No justice, no heat, motherfucker.

    • rhywun

      Well, yes it will help Black and Brown people by pricing them out of the city for good.

      Rejoice, Park Slope!

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      Heating with electric is generally more expensive than with gas. I don’t see how this is a victory for lower income neighborhoods.

  40. Mojeaux

    Dear Prospective Client: Did you just assume my currency?

    • UnCivilServant

      “I want a mix of crown gold, dogecoin, and pokedollars.”

      “One of those isn’t even a real currency.”

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      No dogecoin for you?

    • Gender Traitor

      Go old school. Insist on goats, sheep, and a first-born male child.

      • UnCivilServant

        It would take a lot of livestock to offset the costs of raising yet another child.

  41. The Late P Brooks

    WHAAAAAAA?

    The chief executive officers of two major airlines have questioned the need for mask mandates on planes — insisting that face coverings “don’t add much” to the safety of flying amid the pandemic.

    “I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment. It is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting,” the CEO of Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly, told lawmakers during a congressional hearing Wednesday.

    “I concur,” Doug Parker, the head of the country’s largest airline, American Airlines, added.

    Heresy! Lies! Blasphemy!

    • kinnath

      bailouts must be coming to an end

      • TARDis

        Bingo!

    • commodious spittoon

      Dems, realizing their covid policies are hurting their chances in 2022, are quietly asking major corporate CEOs to push back so they can blame evul corporations when they relax mandates in the coming months.

      /tinfoil hat off

    • rhywun

      It’s over, America.

      Get used to it.

  42. UnCivilServant

    I hate it when I procrastinate on a task because it looks insurmountable, but when I finally knuckle down and do it, the task turns out to have been dead easy.

    • TARDis

      Well I suppose a customer could catch fire and need to be hosed down instead rolling them around on ice.