Monday Morning Links

by | Apr 4, 2022 | Daily Links | 220 comments

Well…bye!

Some amazing basketball was played over the season, and it all comes to an end tonight. Fortunately, Duke was already sent home in an epic game Saturday night. So no matter what happens this evening, it won’t be the worst possible outcome of Duke and Coach Ratface winning it all on the way out. Tiger is a “game-time decision” on playing the Masters this week. And across the pond, Liverpool and Man City keep separating themselves from the pack as their showdown this weekend looms large in the race for the PL. And that’s sports.

Well this sure would be nice. Fingers crossed.

This, on the other hand, doesn’t bode well. And lest we forget they’ve got nukes.

Seems legit.

It’s one thing to open the floodgates. This is different. This is deliberately moving people around the country secretly. On our dime, I might add.

Now take it over. And burn it to the fucking ground (or fix it).

Still wondering what exactly happened here. My guess is gang initiation.

This is so freaking sad. Welcome the foster care system.

Sorry for your troubles.

Uh, you’re not exactly alone. Every licensed “professional” in the state has a continuing education requirement. Some of us have to do it every year. And no, we’re never paid for it. Oh, also you had nearly four years to get it done, two of which you had extended periods of time sitting at home on your ass. Why didn’t you just do it then?

Here’s an underplayed song by a great band. They were finally getting into doing videos then as well. And here’s a masterpiece (without a video). Enjoy them both.

And enjoy this lovely Monday, dear friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

220 Comments

  1. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh’

  2. AlexinCT

    Well this sure would be nice. Fingers crossed.

    What’s Iran gonna get from this truce? Cause that’s the only way a truce happens…

  3. AlexinCT

    It’s one thing to open the floodgates. This is different. This is deliberately moving people around the country secretly. On out dime, I might add.

    With the left’s hard shift leftward into stupidland, I suspect that team blue will suddenly realize the tactic of importing people coming for free shit, and thus helping team blue in future elections (a future that comes sooner if they can force a change to allow anyone to vote in elections), is now defunct and done for, and then they will suddenly demand the border be closed.

    • Drake

      I keep hearing people complain about the rising cost of housing without noticing the millions of people being dumped across the country and housed by Uncle Sam. The laws of supply and demand apply to housing as well.

      • AlexinCT

        First law of economics: Scarcity sets prices.
        First law of Physics/Human nature: Actions have reactions & consequences.
        First law of leftism; Use the power of government to ignore and override the 2 above items, then blame everything but the fact you are stupid enough to believe you can impose your radical marxist driven will on reality, when shit goes wrong. That and demand to be allowed to double down on overriding reality by doing more of the same stupid.

      • juris imprudent

        I think your 2nd and 3rd laws have a problem.

        Now go sing the Morning Song or there will be no rain.

      • AlexinCT

        They are never directly negatively impacted by their policies, and if you are, that’s just a bonus to them cause that should remind you you better never piss them off…

  4. AlexinCT

    Now take it over. And burn it to the fucking ground (or fix it).

    How do you fix a shit sammich? even if you scrape the shit off the bread, and cover it with condiments, you still will be eating shit.

    • Ted S.

      How do you fix a shit sammich?

      You ask Elizabeth Nolan-Brown to fix it for you.

      • AlexinCT

        She would just ad her own turd to the pile, and tell you now it is extra special…

    • Not Adahn

      Compost it and use it to grow a cabbage?

  5. AlexinCT

    Uh, you’re not exactly alone. Every licensed “professional” in the state has a continuing education requirement. Some of us have to do it every year. And no, we’re never paid for it. Oh, also you had nearly four years to get it done, two of which you had extended periods of time sitting at home on your ass. Why didn’t you just do it then?

    Working in IT, I point out that the day I stop learning new things is the day I will be forced to quit being technical and go into administration/management where the people that have let their knowledge go obsolete pretend to add value. Not picking on you Glibronis that do management in IT, but you know what i am saying..

    • UnCivilServant

      *quitely lowers Alex’s evaluation a few points*

      • AlexinCT

        Looks like I will then need to start paying attention to all those “we have a work opportunity” emails I get from the various recruiters out there then… Cause I make sure that I know shit that lets me do that sort of thing.

      • UnCivilServant

        On the plus side, all the meetings vacated today, so I don’t have to talk to as many people.

    • Rat on a train

      I am currently doing the CE for Security+. At least it isn’t every year. The every year tends to be bullshit HR training that is on the clock.

      • AlexinCT

        The HR mandated shit isn’t about learning anything as much as it is about the company being able t say “It was his/her fault” and not ours during the lawsuits….

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Speaking as someone who managed engineers, this is mostly true. There’s practically no way to manage technical staff and stay fully current. Your job becomes making certain that they do their jobs and make money for the company.

      I became better at quick reviews of problems to decide if my reports were on the right track or not, but if you had asked me to perform what they were doing it would have taken me three times as long. You have to be simultaneously humble and assertive in order to be effective.

      • Timeloose

        I agree. I have to maintain knowledge about the latest and greatest tools and technologies my team uses, but at a very high level. I don’t have the bandwith to become an expert at any of it. I rely on my team to maintain the depth of knowledge on a subject. I help them to make the right decisions and troubleshoot issues when needed, but usually I would need to spend two to four times the effort to do what they do.

        There are a few areas where I have to go deep when needed, so I try to maintain competency. These areas are general problem solving, failure analysis, and risk assessment and minimization/mitigation. Here I mainly facilitate and challenge their base assumptions and ask questions to ensure they are not missing anything important.

      • UnCivilServant

        Hell, my technical skills have long since gone to shit. I’m at least a decade behind on anything. The only skill I bring to the table is troubleshooting. No one else seems to think through the symptoms and how things interact, or how to narrow down the cause of issues.

        I guess I’m ready for management.

      • AlexinCT

        I have found it to be a rare thing that people in the younger generation have the ability to logically think through issues. Maybe it was because I started out as an AE/EE engineer and then went into IT, that I always was surrounded by logical thinking people, or maybe people just learned that ability as part of life/education, but these days I find that the ability to logically walk through things to solve problem is severely lacking in the younger crowd. Yes, it could just be the younger crowd I now work with is biased in that direction and the problem solvers are all elsewhere, but I am hearing similar complaints across the board. It almost feels like this group has been forcibly kept from ever having to develop that ability.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m wondering if this is really the case, or one of those perrennial “Kids these days” complaints that have persisted since time immemorial (If I had time, I’d find that quote from ancient greece)

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        There is no doubt in my mind that the engineering old-timers had a much better understanding of fundamentals than later generations. This was true for my generation as well.

        Modern software tools can make up for a lot of missing engineering theory knowledge, and they lower the cost of design revisions so that you don’t pay as much attention to detail.

      • waffles

        I’m guessing the latter. But I’m getting to the age where I can “kids these days” with the best of them. Like most things there’s a shred of truth to both sides.

      • Tres Cool

        “never change 2 pieces in a broken system at once- it may work but you’ll never know what fixed it”.

      • juris imprudent

        “who cares, it’s working now”

      • Timeloose

        IT seems to move a lot faster than electrical engineering and manufacturing. There are new devices and technologies that have to be understood, tools that improve, and techniques that change/improve. We don’t see much of a fundamental shift where your skills are obsoleted, just some new designs, materials, and or tools that need to be learned.

        I also have to be open to fundamental changes in the skill set of new engineers vs old timers. A lot of EE degrees are combined with computer science and programming skills that old timers never had or needed.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I was habitually out of date on EE design and modeling software.

        I just didn’t want to commit the time to understanding the ins and outs of the new versions. I preferred lab and production work instead. As such, I got better at solving product failures, but was lousy at getting things out of the modeling design phase.

        I guess that’s why I eventually moved over to management.

      • db

        It’s a lot easier and cheaper to update a piece of software than it is to alter capital equipment. Especially when you have to consider environmental permitting regulations for even the smallest process changes.

        The decision-making process for capital modifications to a traditional manufacturing process is way different than for software. Also, for more traditional chemical manufacturing vs. something like microprocessor production, the technology changes much more slowly, partly because all the low hanging fruit is already picked, and the returns on R&D are lower. Eventually you’d think the constant tightening of die sizes and such with microprocessor production, but who knows when? It seems like that industry is constantly on a plan–there’s always something new in the pipeline as compared with more traditional manufacturing, where we deal primarily with optimizing decades-old processes for best economy.

      • AlexinCT

        I landed in IT because I was one of the first AE engineers to focus on modeling (new vector thrust exhaust concepts) because none of the old timers wanted to deal with anything other than their slide rules back when. After the fall of the USSR and the general exodus from tech companies working mostly for the military, with the writing on the wall, I simply went to doing It work at another company modeling shit and writing software using my EE discipline. After that leaving engineering to just do IT in “The People’s Republic of Connecticut” (my ex didn’t want to leave because of her family) was a given. I do it for the paycheck.

      • juris imprudent

        So about the changes in the IT field. Not as much as the vendors make it out. After all, they profit from it, so they have much incentive to exaggerate (or lie).

        Oh sure, tools change, but the fundamentals still go back to The Mythical Man Month. Every step away from that ends up just creating a bigger mess (and there is profit in that for the consultant that can dig through the crap).

      • AlexinCT

        These days you don’t do man months cause it is sexist. Instead you do female months, and then your manager demands you get the 9 month job done in one by putting in 9 people to do the work, leading to the whole make that women produce a baby in one month by assigning the work to 9 of them…

      • rhywun

        Your job becomes making certain that they do their jobs

        Exactly why I don’t want to do that.

        I have enough of it already but for that to be my main job function… well, in addition to making my boss look good… ugh I would rip my hair out.

      • Timeloose

        I do a fair bit of making sure that my team is doing their job, but I’m not micromanaging them or on them daily. There are a few exceptions, like a Sr. engineer who got too comfortable working from home during COVID lockdowns and forgot that the lab is where he needs to work most of the time.

        I’m surprised how often I need to give assurances to keep someone happy, let them know they are valued, and or provide a buffer between two that don’t get along. I managed a manufacturing site for a while and that was much worse. There was so much High School level bull shit I had to deal with. Engineers are easier to manage in a lot of ways, but there are a lot conflicting factors and personalities that make it a challenge sometimes.

      • rhywun

        I’m not built for that kind of “people” work.

        And thankfully my work is purely online, no labs or anywhere else I need to be.

  6. The Late P Brooks

    Now take it over. And burn it to the fucking ground (or fix it).

    Fire all the “fact checkers”.

    • AlexinCT

      Agreed, that’s one of the first things that needs to be shitcanned. Fact checking is basically a bullshit excuse for the marxists to spin shit in their favor.

      • Rat on a train

        It is narrative checking.

  7. AlexinCT

    So my company now has us going in 3 days a week and working from home 2 days a week, and the thing seems to not be jelling because most people are using the giant loopholes to have the daily checking system tell them to stay home. My company seems to have spent millions of dollars upgrading the space in the buildings they owned, cancelling the leases they had on other building was supposed to mitigate that, but damn the spend looks insane, and has implemented an open seating system with a check-in app, but everyone except for the leadership types (which have been told their prospective promotions depend on pretending to want/need/like a return to the office and tell you that is so) and people that have too many distractions at home (annoying wives or kids) seems to hate the idea.

    I hate the thing cause I now have to pay for gas to commute, parking, and viands, also have to fight traffic, which always feels like I am wrestling with retards looking for cake, and most importantly am unable to visit you bastages in the AM to comment like mad on the daily happenings.

    • UnCivilServant

      We’re at 50% telecommute, but on the days I’m in the office, it feels like my team is the only group in the building that follows the policy. It’s still very empty.

      The security guards are there, having been in-office the whole time. They finally took down the useless plexiglas barriers around the security desk.

      • AlexinCT

        How do you feel about your productivity on your days in? It has only been 3 weeks of doing this shit, and I have already seen a pattern where I get about 50-60% of the amount of work I do when at home due to the in-office distractions (even with less people in). Already let my boss know I have no plans to go back to working into the late hours of the evening like I used to before we had the Kung Flu lockdowns and my productivity during the day doubled by working from home stopping that from being a necessity. He was not too happy about my revelation and choice (he is one that wants to go in all 5 days to avoid his wife) but he had no counter argument. Especially since I am not the only one that pointed this out and made the same decision about now needing to do extra work.

      • UnCivilServant

        It depends on what I need to be doing whether I’m more productive at the office or at home. There are certainly some tasks I do better at the office,

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        It has only been 3 weeks of doing this shit, and I have already seen a pattern where I get about 50-60% of the amount of work I do when at home due to the in-office distractions

        My boss’s boss has embraced this. Thankfully we’re only looking at being required in-office half a day every two weeks. He wants to make it a breakfast and brainstorm sort of thing for process improvements and cross-department discussion of various shared issues. I can’t complain too much about that plan… well, except for the fact that I’m not allowed in the office due to vaccine status….

      • Not Adahn

        I’m the opposite. My home is optimized for my own comfort and entertainment.

      • AlexinCT

        yeah, even with this site distracting me in the Am when I am home, I get more done in the PM hours when the meetings are mostly done & over with when at home. My home being optimized for my own comfort or not, when I need to go heads down to do work, it is easier without the distractions at the office.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Why not both? My home is optimized for my comfort. My home office is optimized for my productive comfort. My kids are trained to leave me alone when the door is shut, and I have better amenities in my home office than my company could dream of providing me in their building.

      • UnCivilServant

        Like monitors large enough to actually use?

      • juris imprudent

        You ask someone working inside govt about productivity? Bwahahahaha

    • Rufus the Monocled

      All over a….virus…..where under 1% of people regardless of vaccination status are hospitalized……and a global survival rate of about 99.985%.

      • Not Adahn

        Rufus!

      • Rufus the Monocled

        /Vaudeville dance.

      • Not Adahn

        Looks like I’ll finally be able to get back into MTL mid-June. Alas, the woman I’ll be with is a vegetarian Francophone, but I’m sure I’ll have fun in spite of that.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        Why finally? Isn’t the border open ….to the vaxxed anyway.

      • Not Adahn

        Personal scheduling since they reopened the border. Though when they were requiring a recent negative test too, that was also effectively closing it.

    • Ted S.

      Brown-bag it.

    • rhywun

      going in 3 days a week and working from home 2 days a week

      That’s the policy at mine. I haven’t been in since last summer and have no plans to do so.

      I am much more productive and happy at home.

  8. Brawndo

    So they’re going to stop killing each other during Ramadan, then go right back at it when Ramadan ends? Got it.

    • UnCivilServant

      Well, that’s unfortunate, because Ramadan is when they’re most violent from the fasting.

      • AlexinCT

        You just take out your frustration on your cattle then… Rape the camels & goats, and beat the women up…

        Bad joke, right?

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Yemen has been fasting for a long time now.

  9. Not Adahn

    On the same day as the filing of the SEC document, Musk challenged Vladimir Putin to a fight on Twitter and posted a meme about supporting current trends.

    XOMG! He posted a MEME!

  10. hayeksplosives

    Can we quit calling them “migrants”? Migrants, like migratory birds, come and go seasonally; traditionally this meant the agricultural workers who planted then reaped then returned home in the off-season. Repeat annually, and always done by people willing to do hard work.

    Bringing in unskilled workers and strategically placing them in cities throughout the US to guarantee certain vote outcomes is not about “migration”. It’s about creating more communities dependent on Father Government.

  11. Grumbletarian

    I always thought teachers were salaried employees.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’d wager it depends on the school.

      Some may be ‘overtime exempt’ instead of salaried.

  12. Grumbletarian

    Daily Quordle 70
    3️⃣4️⃣
    6️⃣5️⃣
    quordle.com
    ?⬜⬜?? ⬜⬜⬜⬜?
    ?⬜⬜⬜⬜ ?⬜⬜?⬜
    ????? ⬜⬜⬜??
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

    ⬜???⬜ ⬜?⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ?⬜?⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜?⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜?⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜?⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜?⬜ ?????
    ????? ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      7️⃣6️⃣
      5️⃣8️⃣

      I used bad seed words today.

      • Grumbletarian

        I use ‘party’ and ‘house’, every day.

      • db

        I have been playing around with differnt ones.

        I started with CHODE and TWATS just for fun a while back

        Then I was using AMOUR and some others.

        Today I used TWAIN and GROWL, then FUMES

      • db

        I know repeating the W is dumb, I just like to mess around.

        It’s not a competition.

      • TARDis

        After reading today’s comments, I figured I’d double fail, so started with LOSER.

      • Ghostpatzer

        7 5
        8 9

        I used bad seed words today.

        #metoo. Miracle I actually finished it.

      • rhywun

        #metoo – today was rough

        6️⃣ 8️⃣
        4️⃣ 7️⃣

        Top-right… AYFKM?

    • Sean

      5️⃣ 6️⃣
      4️⃣ 7️⃣

    • db

      7 6
      5 4

    • Not Adahn

      Daily Quordle 70
      5️⃣6️⃣
      8️⃣7️⃣
      quordle.com
      ?⬜⬜?? ⬜⬜⬜⬜?
      ?⬜⬜⬜⬜ ?⬜⬜?⬜
      ??⬜⬜? ⬜⬜⬜⬜?
      ??⬜⬜? ⬜⬜⬜⬜?
      ????? ⬜⬜⬜??
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

      ⬜???⬜ ⬜?⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ?⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜?⬜ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜?⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜?⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜?⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜?⬜ ?????
      ????? ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
      *is ashamed for bowing to peer pressure*

    • Tundra

      7️⃣4️⃣
      6️⃣8️⃣

    • kinnath

      6️⃣7️⃣
      4️⃣8️⃣

    • TARDis

      5️⃣6️⃣
      8️⃣7️⃣

    • Grummun

      7 8
      6 5

      That top right one was BS.

    • Plisade

      4 9
      8 5

    • MikeS

      5️⃣6️⃣
      7️⃣3️⃣

    • one true athena

      5 6
      8 4

  13. Rufus the Monocled

    My morning routine has been completely disrupted these past many months. I just read the news about SP. I don’t know what to say. FWIW, Stay strong and my thoughts are with you. Comments seem turned off.

    • AlexinCT

      Being on the run from the law can do that Rufus! Stay strong brah.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        Tell me about it. A country of losers.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I’m putting together a care package of tin can lids for her to properly threaten OMWC. I’m not sure how rusty tin can lids would do going cross-border, but if you have a message you’d like me to put on one on your behalf, just send me an email: trashy-glibs at disengage dot co (yes, dot co).

      Offer is open to everybody who wasn’t able to send a can lid for whatever reason. I’m planning to start assembly later this week and ship early next week, so you have a couple days to get me that email.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        I was late getting mine out, sorry Trsh. It’s sent though and should be there early this week.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        No worries. I set the deadline with plenty of time for stragglers to get in. I won’t have the opportunity to assemble until next weekend at the earliest. My goal is to have it in the mail the weekend of the 16th.

    • Tonio

      Thanks. Comments are indeed off for that post.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Good to see you back, Rufus! Now I need to get back to work.

  14. The Late P Brooks

    I just can’t wait

    Former President Barack Obama will return to the White House on Tuesday for the first time since he left office to promote the Affordable Care Act in an event alongside President Joe Biden, a White House official said.

    The celebration of the 2010 health care overhaul will be their first joint appearance since they attended events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at Ground Zero in New York last fall, the official said.

    Vice President Kamala Harris will join them in delivering remarks about the expansion of health care benefits under the law, as well as Biden’s efforts to further reduce health care costs and expand access to care, the official added.

    Gibberish level: Extremely High.

    • hayeksplosives

      They are prepping us for Michelle Obama’s 2024 Presidential run.

      • AlexinCT

        I thought the constitution banned Wookies in politics?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      “Celebrate the ACA”

      The ACA has cost me tens of thousands of dollars. I know where you can take that bill and shove it.

    • DrOtto

      A friend of mine had colon cancer and was on Obamacare. He was told several times that as long as he had Obamacare, there was little that could be done for him treatment-wise. He dumped Obamacare and went for whatever program TX does for poor people. He ended up getting very good treatment and is now cancer free. He has socialist leanings and knows I’m a stark raving conservative, it pained him to tell me this.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yeah, I’ve read many accounts of this happening to people with major medical issues on an Obamacare plan. They can’t get treatments approved, and are told by providers that they would be better off with either Medicaid, or no plan at all. It’s bizarre. I don’t know if it’s an issue with all plans, or just the crappy “bronze” ones. But it seems pretty common.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        It’s probably because hospitals have to accept Medicaid patients, but I’m guessing there is no such law requiring them to accept Obamacare plans. Would be interesting to see RC’s take.

  15. Certified Public Asshat

    Alex Berenson has decided to piss off the remaining people who tolerate him:

    It’s as if the Russians want to make their Western apologists look as stupid as possible

    So the Russians are retreating from their attack on Kiev – leaving mass graves in their wake.

    This does not look good for either Vladimir Putin or the American conservatives who have been been foolish enough to fawn over him.

    Let’s review: back in February the Zs rolled over the border.

    Why? BECAUSE RUSSIA HAD TO, PEOPLE!

    • UnCivilServant

      Has it not occurred to people that a lot of us simply do not support any faction in that fight?

      • AlexinCT

        Binary asshats can’t accept that reality…

      • Not Adahn

        I saw the Binary Asshats open for the Raging Cocks at CBGB.

      • db

        That was the same weekend that Nostalgia Tongue played an incredible triple set, I think.

      • Fourscore

        I, OTOH, am supporting both sides in the conflict. I want to be on the winning team.

      • AlexinCT

        To really be on the winning team you need to sell arms & mercenary services to both sides, Fourscore.

      • Fourscore

        For a small 5 figure donation your name will be included on the Congratulatory Card.

    • Rufus the Monocled

      He’s done phenomenal work on the vaccines but seems to have lost that edge with his Russia takes and odd attacks on Malone and Ivermectin.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Berenson appears to be very prone to picking a side in an argument and never ceding any points, regardless of whether he’s correct or not.

      • juris imprudent

        Yep, he’s an unrepentant drug warrior, and an asshat about it to boot.

    • waffles

      I see a lot of attacks on purported Russophiles and Putin-lovers and yet I have seen no evidence that they exist.

  16. AlexinCT

    Still wondering what exactly happened here. My guess is gang initiation.

    My guess is someone felt dissed and decided to “Will Smith” some people.

    • Fourscore

      Outlawing “Weapons of War” aka AKAs will encourage those so inclined to switch to shotguns and buckshot as a workaround.
      There’s always that one guy…

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thought it interesting the president went straight to “ghost guns”.

  17. hayeksplosives

    Re: foster “care”:

    Follow the money. Sadly, foster “families” include some who are just out for the bucks. This has gotten worse since a family’s active participation in Christian churches became a non-factor, even a contraindication, to approving a potential foster family.

    • Tres Cool

      So true. One of the employees at work in his early 20s was telling me about growing up in a black foster family (kid is white) but also how he’s been on his on since he was 18. I didnt put the pieces together but Jugsy did for me, due to her vast knowledge of HUD, affordable housing and such things. I told her about him and she said, “so the foster parents put him out when turned 18 and they stopped getting checks. Happens all the time.”

  18. Tonio

    re: the Turpin siblings. In addition to the horrific abuse they’ve suffered at the hands of others, the article states that two are homeless and that there is supposedly a crowd-funded trust for the siblings which none of them can access. Even if the two oldest ones were adults at the time of their liberation, you don’t just dump people like that out into society. I don’t know what the better solution would have been. Ideally, the courts would have assigned them guardians for a one-year period during which they would have been socialized, educated, and set free. But we all know that once the state gets custody it is loath to let go. And why the Turpins, and perhaps the Olguins, are not sitting on death row is a mystery. (SLD about death penalty.)

    • rhywun

      And Perris CA, no less. I’ve heard stories.

    • Fatty Bolger

      I don’t understand why none of the funds donated to help them have been used. Maybe whoever is trustee should join the parents in jail for a while.

  19. l0b0t

    Wonderfully fantastic music this morning. Thank you Sloopy.

    My NYC public school teacher ex has required continuing education (NYC Board of Ed. calls it Professional Development) every single month. Sometimes it’s at school in groups, sometimes at home online. All teachers everywhere in the USA are paid for this because they are NOT hourly workers, they are salaried (those paychecks keep coming all Summer long as well, but nobody is bellyaching about that).

    Jumpin’ Jimminy! The upper right word was stupendously difficult.
    Daily Quordle #70
    6️⃣8️⃣
    3️⃣5️⃣
    quordle.com
    ⬜⬜?⬜⬜ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
    ?⬜⬜⬜? ⬜⬜⬜⬜?
    ?⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
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    ?⬜⬜⬜⬜ ?⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ????? ⬜⬜⬜??
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜??⬜?
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

    ??⬜⬜⬜ ⬜?⬜⬜?
    ?⬜??⬜ ⬜⬜?⬜?
    ????? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜?⬜⬜?
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

  20. The Late P Brooks

    Taliban seeks common ground

    The Taliban announced on Sunday a ban on the cultivation of narcotics in Afghanistan, the world’s biggest opium producer.

    “As per the decree of the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, all Afghans are informed that from now on, cultivation of poppy has been strictly prohibited across the country,” according to an order from the Taliban’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.

    “If anyone violates the decree, the crop will be destroyed immediately and the violator will be treated according to the Sharia law,” the order, announced at a news conference by the Ministry of Interior in Kabul, said.

    The order said the production, use or transportation of other narcotics was also banned.

    Maybe they’re ready to join the family of nations.

    • Not Adahn

      “If anyone violates the decree, the crop will be destroyed immediately and the violator will be treated according to the Sharia law,

      Which is what? Turning the farmer into fertilizer? Giving his livestock a chance to be on top?

  21. Tres Cool

    I did always love the album cover art for Candy-O.

    Damn redheads.

  22. rhywun

    Still wondering what exactly happened here. My guess is gang initiation.

    The cops speculated as much. I’m guessing the nature of the coverage this gets will hinge on the answer.

    • Gustave Lytton

      “Gun violence” no matter what.

    • waffles

      It’s interesting how little attention is being paid to the who or why and a lot to the how.

      • db

        That’s hoplophobia for ya.

  23. DrOtto

    Poor teachers, they can’t ever catch a break. *goes back to filling out qtr end 941 form and then figuring out how much owes state for qtr end sales tax on own, unpaid time. Writes state a check for said taxes*

    • AlexinCT

      Was the button in the stewardess, I mean flight hostesss’, pants and he was rubbing it furiously Tres?

    • db

      “CHECKRIDE EXAMINER EJECT”

      • Ownbestenemy

        “Leo DiCaprio Was Here” button gets em everytime

    • Not Adahn

      “Autocrash Enable?”

    • Ownbestenemy

      Did they even say what he pressed? My guess fire agent discharge cause other than that, there is not much else you can press that would be deemed that description.

      • db

        Might have been an engine ignitor or something in a startup procedure out of sequence or at an inappropriate time.

      • Ownbestenemy

        So basically he was scrolling reddit flight simulator and didn’t realize ctrl-alt-delete was not an official procedure

      • db

        Lots of pilots (even airline pilots) fly in their stocking feet. It can give better feel for the pedals and be way more comfortable.

    • DrOtto

      He took a fuel dump on the runway.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Serious journalisming, for serious people

    The uproar over Ginni Thomas and her actions in the run-up to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol left behind something of a puzzle: How did Thomas arrive at a state of such extreme agitation about the purported theft of the 2020 presidential election when that conspiracy theory had already been rebutted by the New York Times?

    Rebutted! By the New York Times!

    • rhywun

      LOL!

      They probably even have fact checkers!

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      From the gods’ lips to your ears, the NYT is the compendium of DC encyclicals.

    • juris imprudent

      Desperate people search for desperate measures.

    • Tres Cool

      “who couldnt use another redhead?” – my dick at all times

      • AlexinCT

        Both of my redhead experiences dissuaded me from ever trying that again. Bitchez be crazy dangerous.

      • Tres Cool

        In my experience, even when a seemingly normal, passive, woman, dies her hair red, she begins to embrace the nuttiness.

        Allyson Hannigan in “American Pie”….”and then this one time at band camp, I stuck a flute in my pussy”.
        *spit take*

      • Brawndo

        I like red hair on women. Unfortunately, there’s something about that phenotype where the eyes are often blank, soulless, expressionless. Psaki included. She does nothing for me

      • Ownbestenemy

        Cause they are soul eaters…

    • rhywun

      LOL, he’s still on his game.

  25. Tundra

    Good morning, Sloop!

    WWIII here yet?

    • Tres Cool

      I think we’re up to WW IV. I argue that the Cold War was actually WW III.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    “They need a redhead. They don’t have a redhead over there.”

    Diversitize!

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Ginni Thomas, of course, was radicalized during her husband’s 1991 Supreme Court confirmation fight over Anita Hill’s sexual harassment. To her mind, it showed how Democrats would do anything in pursuit of their agenda. The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee then was Joe Biden. The chief counsel of the committee was Ron Klain, now White House chief of staff, then immersed in the deliberations over how to handle Hill’s allegations. He tweeted in 2018 that he believed her testimony against Clarence Thomas. One of the foremost chroniclers of that episode was journalist Jane Mayer. That’s the same writer whose recent work for the New Yorker on Ginni Thomas’ political activism, and how this could be improperly intersecting with Clarence Thomas’ role on the high court, drew headlines earlier this year.

    If disinfecting American politics of its crippling contempt were simply a matter of exposing that Donald Trump is promoting lies about the election, or that Ginni Thomas is guilelessly falling for them, it would be simple. The genuine mania she summons on behalf of her distorted perceptions of reality shows it is a lot more complicated.

    Grotesque falsehoods. What sort of weakminded dupe would have anything but the highest regard for Joe Biden and the the rest of the loyal public servants whose sole motivating impulse was the reputation of the Supreme Court and the future nation itself?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      This is a whole new level of concern trolling.

    • rhywun

      Interesting how the same cast of swamp creatures is still in action decades later, performing nearly the same roles.

    • Ted S.

      To be fair, she’s not wrong.

  28. juris imprudent

    Winston signal part I

    You see dear fellow, this is about as tone deaf as your shtick.

    Liberalism’s decline is evident in the growing strength of autocracies such as China and Russia, the erosion of liberal—or nominally liberal—institutions in countries such as Hungary and Turkey, and the backsliding of liberal democracies such as India and the United States.

    Okay.

    In each of these cases, nationalism has powered the rise of illiberalism.

    Oops.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      OFFS

      I don’t know that their preconceptions and predilections for globalist management could be any more apparent.

      • juris imprudent

        Well it is Fukuyama, so apparently history is what he thinks it is.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        There may be literally nothing that Fukuyama has been correct about, but he still gets the funding.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    At first, I was angry at the Times. Perhaps the news organization’s decision to put so much content behind its imposing paywall meant that Thomas had been unable to avail herself of its democracy-illuminating coverage, which would have reassured her that Joseph Biden was the lawfully elected president.

    But that didn’t quite add up. Surely, as a board member or adviser to various conservative groups, Thomas could have submitted an expense account to be reimbursed for her Times subscription, or borrowed a login from her spouse, Clarence Thomas, who presumably gets his access subsidized by the U.S. Supreme Court. She could have relied on other responsible news organizations, including POLITICO, that don’t charge for political coverage.

    It all leads to a rueful conclusion: Thomas has seen the comprehensive and credible news coverage making clear that Donald Trump has no legitimate basis for his claims of a stolen election and simply doesn’t believe it. Well, now.

    Parody is dead.

    • rhywun

      its democracy-illuminating coverage

      I’m laughing so hard I can’t get past this.

    • juris imprudent

      Clearly she is in need of the kind of psychiatric treatment that only professionals from the USSR could provide.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Psychopathological mechanisms of dissent are all the rage these days.

    • EvilSheldon

      As much as I hate to admit it, the NPC meme was really on point…

    • Brochettaward

      A non-prog cannot go through life without being exposed to the prog point of view 24/7.

      A prog can go through their life every fucking day without having any exposure to the actual views of those who disagree with them.

      That’s how you end up with this drivel.

    • Fatty Bolger

      What the author refuses to acknowledge is that their coverage would have been the same, whether the election was stolen or not. See: Hunter’s laptop.

  30. juris imprudent

    Winston signal part II

    I’m feeling a bit like derpotologist, after this one and yesterday’s Jen Rubin link.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Applebaum? She’s perpetually stuck in 1956 and the Soviets are still crushing Hungary.

      • Sensei

        That’s a perfect description of her.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Elitist lunatic is another.

      • wdalasio

        Honestly, I think you’re too generous. I think Applebaum is a warmongering psychopath and an unmitigated hack. I think she has no qualms whatsoever in spilling young American boys’ blood if she thinks it’ll score points for Team Blue. And she’s has no hesitation to question the loyalty or patriotism of anyone who thinks that might be a problem. If I had my druthers, I’d ship her, Max Boot and Bill Kristol off with aging penknives to turn back the unwashed hoards they seem so willing to push war to confront.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        IIRC she still lives in Warsaw. If she gets her way, she and her family will be among the first to get vaporized.

      • wdalasio

        In her case, one can hope.

    • Gustave Lytton

      That was why neither Bill Clinton nor George W. Bush made much attempt to arm or reinforce the new NATO members.

      Ignore the whole PfP/NATO accession train up and the like. Or their own responsibility to operate an armed force and procure their own weapons.

      Only in 2014 did the Obama administration finally place a small number of American troops in the region

      Thanks again, asshat. Although really it’s the pentagon that wanted bases scattered throughout every continent.

  31. Sensei

    The Monroe Police Chief said seven police cruisers were hit during the chase. Seven officers from the Waterbury Police Department were transported to the hospital for treatment, where they were all listed in stable condition.

    Those Workers’ Compensation disability checks don’t write themselves people!

    7 police officers hospitalized after pursuit

    • Sean

      She seems fun.

    • Drake

      Reenactment of the Blues Brothers chase?

    • Fatty Bolger

      Very cool. Really well made, I wonder who directed it.

      I watched some WW2 combat training films, and they actually provided some very useful tips for playing Hell Let Loose.

      • l0b0t

        Directed by Anthony Asquith and Burgess Meredith; written by Sam Spewack and Burgess Meredith.

    • l0b0t

      Thank you. That was heartwarming. Also, FLOOFY DOG AT THE SEASHORE!!!

    • Tundra

      Wow.

      I’m gonna need an insulin shot. That was awesome, Holiness.

    • Fourscore

      You keep doing that, PJ, now I need another dose of curmudgeonness.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Go talk to Mrs. Fourscore about your roof. I’m sure that will top off your surlyness in a jiffy.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Much as we assembled the Department of Homeland Security out of disparate agencies after 9/11, we now need to pull together the disparate parts of the U.S. government that think about communication, not to do propaganda but to reach more people around the world with better information and to stop autocracies from distorting that knowledge.

    Good grief.

    • db

      So, propaganda?

      • AlexinCT

        But it is their approved propaganda, so that makes it the good stuff…

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Well yeah…transparent and easily identifiable propaganda at that.

    • db

      You see, when *we* do it, it’s making sure the truth is heard. In fact, we should be broadcasting it under a strong masthead. One that gets the idea across directly. Maybe just call it “Truth.” Yeah, that’s good. It’s a common theme in all cultures to respect the truth. Every language has a word for “truth.” Even Russian!

      • Brochettaward

        Same with election interference. Preemptive invasions. War crimes. And any and all general fuckery we engage in with regards to other sovereign nations.

    • wdalasio

      I’ve said it before, but the people claiming to be trying to “reach more people around the world with better information and to stop autocracies from distorting that knowledge” have been saying things that are observably and provably untrue. They’ve directly contradicted themselves. When cornered, they claim privilege (either under the aegis of official secrecy or straight out authority). If you want to stop foreign disinformation, the answer is to improve the reliability of your own information.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        And they refuse to debate at all, let alone in good faith.

        They are transparently totalitarian.

  33. Pope Jimbo

    I wonder if the people pushing NCAA women’s sports so hard have really thought things through. This piece from our local proggie outlet seems to think that only misogyny is keeping the ladies down.

    Among other things, the Kaplan Report revealed the NCAA spent $35 million more on the men’s tournament in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, than the women’s. It also found a startling discrepancy in rights fees it receives from TV networks for each tournament.

    This year, the NCAA will take in roughly $850 million from a men’s tournament deal with CBS and Turner, a figure expected to rise to nearly $1.1 billion annually from 2024 and 2032. But the NCAA lumped the women’s tournament with 28 other championships in an ESPN package that pays substantially less — $34 million annually.

    An independent analyst told Kaplan women’s basketball alone could be worth between $81 million and $112 million annually by 2025, the year after the ESPN contract expires. The current deal, signed in 2011, left millions on the table and looks exceptionally shortsighted given the rise in women’s tournament TV ratings and attendance. Seven of the eight Final Fours before the pandemic sold out, and NCAA officials expect this one to as well, with Hopkins High product Paige Bueckers of Connecticut as the hometown draw.

    Maybe ESPN is woke enough to pay $100M for the rights to the Women’s NCAA tourney, but I wouldn’t bet on it. My guess is that the NCAA will play along and give them a discount on the men’s tourney if they pay stupid money for the women’s rights. In the end ESPN pays the same amount for both, but the sjw’s will be happy because the women now are making more.

    Also, the real measure of a tourney’s worth for me would be what tickets are being scalped for. Not selling out or not. I had a buddy who was a Valpo alumn who sold his two Final 4 tickets for $15K. When college alumns are paying stupid money like that for the Women’s finals, I’ll be impressed.

    • db

      I frankly wouldn’t care if they zeroed spending out on both the Men’s and Women’s tournaments.

      I’m not even sure how they apply those words anymore anyway.

    • AlexinCT

      I am all for letting men demanding everyone pretend they are women not just compete, but beat the shit out of the ladies. in order to show them that dudes do it better….

      Fuck the marxists with their own shit.

      • Pope Jimbo

        The flood of tranx WNBA players will kill ticket sales with the lesbians. That seems to be their core demographic.

        I have been dragged to a few Lynx games and am amazed at how many seats are taken by gal pals. There aren’t that many dudes in the stands.

        *My dad was one of the people who dragged me to games. He loved the WNBA because they weren’t good enough physically to dominate on their own (like the NBA) and had to use passing and teamwork to generate buckets.

      • l0b0t

        For some reason, I’m reminded of the Always Sunny episode where the gang coaches basketball – https://youtu.be/fG_p2fqx8mA

      • waffles

        Will it kill ticket sales? I mean the level of competition may increase.

      • AlexinCT

        Meh, I think the WMBA is figuring out that if they lose the lesbian fans but get males to watch instead, they will make more money, and they are about to find out they will lose both and end up with another even shittier product.

      • robc

        so Juwanna Mann was prophetic?

      • Grumbletarian

        “They no can dunk, but have good fundamentals.”

    • wdalasio

      An independent analyst told Kaplan women’s basketball alone could be worth between $81 million and $112 million annually by 2025, the year after the ESPN contract expires.

      The deuce I dropped in the toilet this morning could be worth $1 billion if enough people were willing to pay to look at it. Somehow, though, I can’t seem to find any takers. Women’s basketball doesn’t generate the kind of money men’s basketball does. That shows up in pro ball just as clearly as college. Even the example they bring up involves a local “hometown hero” that’s a special case. And like you said, “sold out” isn’t exactly the same as “bid up in the aftermarket”.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Perhaps they’re factoring in 25% annual inflation.

      • Fourscore

        Do you buy the ticket for the thrill of the ride or the destination?

        If it’s destination all the tickets would be $20, same as downtown.

  34. Ownbestenemy

    I’m in a virtual class all week. It’s a new managers course and so far the curriculum is absent DEI….good it needs to remain that way

    • AlexinCT

      There is another course that is mandatory they will give you later after you pass this one….

  35. Sensei

    I need need one of these for the office to drive my coworkers nuts.

    https://poiq.sony.jp/

    (Video with Sora is partially English subbed.)

    I’m sure it costs a fortune however.

    • AlexinCT

      That’s a thicc vibrator, right?

  36. Sean
    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      And I was kvetching about the dozen or so dudes doing wheelies down the highway yesterday.