Saturday Afternoon Links

Wait, TWO presidents? I can barely handle one.

Here we go.  Final two minutes of the Wisconsin-Villanova game and I’m doing links.  That’s how dedicated I am to you people.

Trump reminds Germany of their NATO funding obligations.  Hey look, I am not a huge fan of big military spending, but if you sign a treaty you ought to honor the terms.

Democrats are struggling in their efforts to whip up opposition to Neil Gorsuch.  Maybe they realize how hypocritical they’ll look when its pointed out that every Senator currently in office that was there for his last confirmation voted to confirm him.

Lamborghini ( or Lambourghini to Canadians) releases a four door car. WTF?

Touching story about a 96 year old woman that gets to see her son’s conviction overturned after he spent 32 years in prison.

Accurate. Plus, no trademark violation!

Howard Schultz is stepping away from Starbucks. Rumor has it he’s priming the pump for a political run.  Which would be odd since profs tend to despise people that run businesses and then step into the political arena at a later age.  Unless, you know, they’re hypocrites.

And that basketball game is now over.  And Wisconsin managed to gut out a win and eliminate the first #1 seed and defending champ all in the same game.  Wisconsin should have been a lot higher seed than they were.

Enjoy the rest of the games or whatever else you’re doing.  Also, this song is apt today.

Comments

213 responses to “Saturday Afternoon Links”

  1. SP

    Fixed category. Again. You’re welcome.

    1. I’m prone to putting links up and then going back and doing housekeeping after the fact. Sorry.

      1. SP

        In that case, I’ll go back and undo my category and sidebar edits and let you do them. 😉

        1. I was actually getting ready to do just that.

          1. OneOut

            cat fight !!!!

          2. trshmnstr

            cat ass fight !!!!

    2. Pi Guy

      OMWC. He chose wisely.

  2. Hans Landa

    Lamborghini ( or Lambourghini to Canadians) releases a four door car. WTF?

    Looks slightly better than both Porsche SUVs and the hideous Panamera. These supercar manufacturers are becoming nothing more than the automotive equivalent of Chanel and Dior.

    1. OneOut

      I couldn’t tell from the text whether the pic was of the sedan pr the suv they referenced.

      It’s more SUVish I believe.

      zRegardless it is a hot looking ride.

    2. westernsloper

      We will all be driving a kia in the end.

    3. Rufus the Monocled

      Yes but….

      http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/16/13653818/alfa-romeo-stelvio-ferrari-suv-launch-la-auto-show-2016-photos

      “When Ferrari was spun off from Fiat, many wondered if the independent company would need to build highly profitable and highly in-demand SUVs to stay afloat. I don’t know if Ferrari will build an SUV (company brass insist it won’t), but now I know what that mythical Ferrari SUV would look like: the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, unveiled today at the LA Auto Show.”

      On my bucket list is to climb the iconic Stelvio Pass on my bike.

      http://thecolcollective.com/col-collection/col/Passo-dello-Stelvio-from-Bormio

    4. Gilmore

      Lamborghini is owned by VW group. Naturally they are going to try and replicate the success BMW + Porsche have had with these lux SUVs

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        But Lamborghini is a SPORTS CAR.

        If VW wants that use other brands to do it.

        No?

        1. Gilmore

          I wasnt endorsing the move just pointing out “that’s what happens when you get bought by German conglomerate”

          1. Vhyrus

            You know who else got taken over by the Germans?

          2. Rhywun

            Pennsylvania?

          3. Rufus the Monocled

            I don’t blame them but I don’t see the point.

            Porsche already does it.

          4. Gilmore

            Porsche already does it.

            And they make money hand-over-fist with them

            to wit =

            Porsche in particular has been a profit powerhouse for VW Group, generating nearly a quarter of its pre-tax profits in 2013 — on sales that were less than 2% of the Group’s total.

            This past week, Porsche reported that its global sales were up another 8% in the first half of 2014. In this short video, Motley Fool senior auto specialist John Rosevear digs into Porsche’s numbers to find what’s really driving its profitable run — and finds reasons to think that Porsche’s sales (and profits) could jump even higher soon….

            Porsche’s operating profit margin in the first quarter was 18%, just spectacular by auto-industry standards, usually we cheer if an automaker hits 10%. And the biggest single driver of Porsche profits looks to be the Cayenne SUV.

            Porsche sold 37,200 Cayennes in the first half of the year, or 42% of its total. The Cayenne shares its architecture with the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7, they’re all built in the same factory although Porsche says the Cayennes are finished at Porsche’s facility. But the price is a lot different, where the Audi Q7s tend to be priced in the low-mid $60,000 dollar range, Cayennes can easily be optioned up well over $100,000 dollars and often are.

            The idea of a Porsche SUV still rubs sports-car purists the wrong way, but it has been a spectacularly profitable product for the brand. And they’ve recently started building on that success with the Porsche Macan, a smaller SUV that shares a lot of parts with the Audi Q5 SUV.

            And the Macan has already been a wild success. It went on sale in May and it’s already sold out for the year. Porsche Cars North America said recently that U.S. customers looking to buy a new Macan will be waiting more than six months for delivery, it won’t arrive until 2015….

          5. Rufus the Monocled

            I wonder if they can pull that off with Lambo. I could be wrong but the sort of person who buys a Lambo is going to say ‘well, if I want an SUV I’ll buy a Porsche’ but for my sports car I want a Lamborghini.

            Bah. They probably know what they’re doing.

          6. Gilmore

            I wonder if they can pull that off with Lambo.

            I don’t think so.

            I agree with your basic point about what the actual Lamborghini-buyer is looking for in an ‘exotic’.

            Porsche is a performance brand, but has never really been an exotic-car company.

            Lambo has a special italian magical-something in its brand-DNA which is the essence of “over the top exotic”

            (*and yes i know they made the lambo-SUV in the 1980s)

            The reason people buy lambos is to be ‘obnoxiously different and hyper stylish’. Its not a brand that can compromise its identity and still retain its essence. You can’t cookie-cutter an SUV template and fit Lambo inside it.

            I also think the lux SUV segment is saturated already.

          7. Gilmore

            The Cayenne as a municipal service vehicle.

            lol that’s for when Oligharchs gold-plated yachts have an accident with their flaming sambuca-shots.

          8. Rufus the Monocled

            Cant’ disagree with any of that you bring up.

          1. Rhywun

            The image showed up on his personal Instagram account, with a text saying “On my way to another session”.

            I’m surprise anybody noticed. Who follows that shit?

          2. Gilmore

            Who follows that shit?

            Asshole corporate-marketing people justifying their existence

          3. Rhywun

            Their jersey literally has a giant VW logo on it front and center. You would think the dope might have remembered that before posting his tedious routine.

      2. Rufus the Monocled

        Your comment reminded me of this interview with Harald Wester head of Maserati:

        http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/1504-an-interview-with-maseratialfa-romeo-ceo-harald-wester/

        On a side issue, when asked about Ducati, the German CEO responded along the lines of ‘I’m not going to disrupt their design process’.

        Good move.

    5. DEG

      Looks slightly better than both Porsche SUVs and the hideous Panamera

      So…. still ugly?

  3. Hans Landa

    Howard Schultz is stepping away from Starbucks. Rumor has it he’s priming the pump for a political run.

    Rumor has it he thought Hillary was unbeatable. Bernie Sanders nearly beat her without even trying and with the DNC against him. Schultz has no political instincts and will fall flat on his face, probably after spending tens of millions.

    1. OneOut

      but it will be tens of millions of OPM so he doesnt care.

      Those 10s of millions are investments of course so they are also deductible in the event he loses.

  4. John Titor

    “Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defence it provides to Germany!”

    Because the last time someone told the Germans they owed them a bunch of money it went so well.

    1. Brett L

      See, I think the US should just move their tanks further or closer to Russia depending on how much Germany pays.

      1. Playa Manhattan

        That means our tanks should be in the South Pacific right now.

      2. peachy rex

        “Your mandated 2.0% gets you tanks on the Oder. 2.5% is the Vistula, 1.5% the Elbe, 1.0% the Rhine.”

      3. John Titor

        *Merkel raises an eyebrow*

        “And how much, theoretically speaking, would it take to get tanks into Poland?”

        1. juris imprudent

          How much did you spend last time?

        2. LT_Fish

          Well…technically they’re already in Poland. (Or did you mean German tanks?)

          1. John Titor

            I used to work at a factory that made armour for German APCs. Most of which were sold to Poland.

            There were a lot of ‘German tanks rolling into Poland’ jokes.

    2. Suthenboy

      I dont know why they cant just use that pile of cash they saved with their green energy program to pay it off. Nothing to it, right?

  5. The Elite Elite

    “That’s how dedicated I am to you people.”

    Not dedicated enough to give us morning links, however.

    1. Brett L

      Sloopy was practicing his cultural appropriation. Like a good Irishman he got too drunk last night to make it to work on time this morning.

      1. I thought getting up at 5:30 every weekday was enough.

        ::kicks pebble::

        1. I get up at 4:30 every morning. I don’t want to hear you complain. 😉

    2. ::sigh::

      Now people want links to read after ignoring most of them all week.

      1. OneOut

        ignore them Sloppy.

        they are just jealous they’re not a member of the in crowd like you

      2. Pi Guy

        I read all of the links but that post with un-bear Jesse hugging a 2-meter wooden dick (this has to be Europe – ammirite?) freaked my girlfriend’s mother when she walked by and saw it.

        Unfortunately she recovered. *sigh*

  6. Agent Cooper

    What do you mean “you people?”

  7. Agent Cooper

    Sometimes I look at the header and it says “Gilbertarians” which would be those who believe in the principles of Gilbert Gottfried.

    I wonder if Scott Adams would be open to a subset of Libertarians called “Dilbertarians”

    1. No love for the Beaver’s stupid-ass friend?

      1. Agent Cooper

        I would think those would want to be Lumpytarians.

        1. Clarence “Lumpy” Rutherford was Wally’s friend. Gilbert, Larry Mondello and Whitey were the Beaver’s friends.

          1. Agent Cooper

            You’re right. And I’ve seen every episode of Leave it to Beaver.

        2. or Whiteytarians, remember the kid named Whitey, he was grrrr…wait a sec….OMG!…The Beavs an Alt-right nazi!!11!!

          1. If there was a nazi on there it was Richard Rickover.

            But he was suck a retarded fuck, I can’t imagine him being part of a master-anything.

          2. Eddie, not because he hated jews and blacks, but you just know he’d be ‘Sieg-heiling” and loading train cars if it meant he got the primo swag that went with being a good nazi.

          3. Old Man With Candy

            Judy. I’m sure she went into “public service.”

    2. CZmacure

      Gilbert Gottfried is an American treasure. Him and Bobcat Goldthwait, I swear when I was a kid I didn’t realize how much of their public personae was a put on.

    3. Jefe Hayek

      Gilbert and Norm Macdonald for an hour

      Gilbert is my favorite comedian with norm a close second. That clip is my personal favorite

    4. Gustave Lytton

      Come November, it’ll be Gibletarians.

    1. Huh, I was told it’s because air is free.

      1. Heroic Mulatto
        1. Leave it to the Chinese to steal shit. That’s close to a shot for shot scene out of Spaceballs.

    2. OneOut

      mid east and africans nerded big noses because they could breath through their mouths in a sand storm.

      dud.

      errey body nose dat

      1. Los Doyers

        Needs more dindu nuffin, you cunt.

    3. Rufus the Monocled

      It seems every time I see a portrait of a figure from the Italian Renaissance they all have a hooked nose.

  8. westernsloper

    Also, this song is apt today.

    That just made me want a cigarette. I may be triggered.

  9. Heroic Mulatto
    1. Vhyrus

      Sing it together now…

      Would!

      WOULD!

      WOOOOOUUUULLLDDDD!!

    2. DEG

      Yes

    3. Warty

      Oh. Yes.

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      I once heard a conspiracy theory that he owed his fame to some white dude named Marty McFly. Weird guy. Apparently he claimed to be a time traveler.

    2. Survived by his wife of 68 years.

    3. Pi Guy

      Brought R&B to the pop music rotation. Just made mi novia listen to No Particular Place to Go. And she just found My Dingaling. Tears ensued.

    4. DEG

      RIP

    1. Rhywun

      Trump-induced insomnia stalks blue-state America

      Too bad the peak derp post is dead.

      Sometimes I wonder what the media thinks it has to gain by endlessly pushing this red-state/blue-state horseshit like we’re two separate countries or something.

  10. Pat

    FBI identifies man arrested over seizure-inducing tweet to Dallas journalist Kurt Eichenwald

    The FBI has arrested a man accused of sending Dallas reporter Kurt Eichenwald a tweet that triggered an epileptic seizure.

    The agency announced that John Rayne Rivello, 29, of Salisbury, Md., was arrested Friday morning in Maryland on a cyberstalking charge.

    Eichenwald tweeted that the man who “assaulted” him also is expected to be indicted by the Dallas district attorney on different charges in the next few days.

    Eichenwald’s attorney, Steven Liberman, told Newsweek that “What Mr. Rivello did with his Twitter message was no different from someone sending a bomb in the mail or sending an envelope filled with anthrax spores.”

    Eichenwald, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and a senior writer at Newsweek, first said in December that a Twitter troll sent him a flashing video with the message, “you deserve a seizure,” which triggered an epileptic episode.

    1. CZmacure

      Some relevant details :

      1) Per Eichenwald’s own account, autoplay was disabled, and he deliberately clicked on the video in question, though the twitter message it was attached to mentioned seizures. Pretty stupid, but if someone killed you with a package accurately labeled “bomb, do not open, will explode” they would still be liable.
      2) The “attacker” made repeated statements establishing Mens Rea, that he intended to harm, wished to do significant harm, etc.

      For my part, I can see deliberately strobing someone you know is photosensitive as fitting into the crime of assault. It’s an odd case, philosophically, because, unlike say blowing peanut dust on a severe allergic, it requires only the (technically still “physical”) contact of photons…

      1. Gustave Lytton

        Sending a harshly worded letter to someone who suffers from migraines, or low self esteem?

    2. __Warren__

      And do we know if Eichenwald is telling the truth about having seizures? He could be faking his condition.

  11. cyto

    Don’t know if you guys have covered it, but if not get ready for another nutpunch:

    The guys who cooked the mentally ill inmate to death by locking him in a scalding shower for two hours are officially absolved of any criminal wrongdoing. And they got shiny promotions too!

    They are talking about it over at reason.

    It is filled with lots of cover-up stuff, but this one is good:

    Dr. Emma Lew, Miami-Dade’s medical examiner, was emphatic, however, that Rainey did not suffer burns of any kind, and there was no evidence of any trauma on his body, according to the state attorney’s report issued Friday.

    However, a never-released preliminary report written the day of the autopsy refers to “visible trauma … throughout the decedent’s body.”

    A nurse told the Herald early on that Rainey’s body temperature that night was so high it could not be measured on a thermometer.

    One fact is undisputed: Rainey’s skin was peeling off his body when he was pulled out of the shower.

    But, not a cover up. Nothing to see here. Move along….

    1. Pomp

      So thanks for that. I was having a much better day before I read that. ::hat tip::

      1. CZmacure

        ^^ what they said

      2. leonadasiv

        It’s moments like this that I’m grateful I believe in eternal rewards, because that’s all Justice we can hope for sometimes. 🙁

  12. Warty

    So I’m glad that the people I bought my house from were morons, because they drove down the value of the house by a considerable amount.

    But.

    What the fuck kind of fucking idiot uses fucking crown molding as chair rail??? What the fuck kind of moron nails unsanded 2x8s inside the doorframes and then just paints over it???

    Fucking Christ.

    1. Rufus the Monocled

      We had a visit for our house today. They opened every cupboard. I wanted to punch them.

      1. Warty

        The floorboards had their finish worn off in a lot of places, so the wood was gray. That’s fine, that’s fairly standard slovenliness. I can deal with that.

        But what made it harder to fix was that all the floorboards were bowed up in the center. That means they were wet on top and swelled. How? Did these idiots have a habit of having water balloon fights in the house? Did they leave the windows open for every thunderstorm?

        And let’s not even talk about the shitty laminated floor they glued on top of the entrance hall floor instead of fixing the floor. Christ.

        And let’s really really not talk about the DIY wiring.

        1. Suthenboy

          DIY wiring….I see. I see your future. You will die in your sleep. At home.

          I hope that is some comfort.

          1. Pomp

            Hey Preet!!!! Oh LOL wait, he got shitcanned. nm

    2. I always sand my inside door frame 2×8’s, that’s woodworking 101 right there.

    3. Lachowsky

      You’re supposed to use unsanded 2x8s, everybody knows that.

    4. Old Man With Candy

      One of my British friends refers to the previous owner of his house as “Captain Silicone.”

    5. Your house, your rules.

    6. Suthenboy

      My brother bought a house like that. The previous owner could tear a car or a tractor down to the last bolt and put it back together with a blindfold on, but my God, the chickenshit, mickeymouse, bass-ackward abortions he shit out in house maintenance just leaves me speechless.

      1. Pi Guy

        …the chickenshit, mickeymouse, bass-ackward abortions he shit out in house maintenance…

        Classic.

    7. Brett L

      Don’t worry. The house I’m buying replaced their roof and deliberately made sure not to get the rafter wraps that keep the insurance down. I might slap the owner if she comes to the closing.

    8. Hyperion

      Heh. I bought an old Italianate style home once. It was in rough shape, but beautiful after I spent almost 10 years fixing it. One of the more interesting things was that it had all of this beautiful oak trim, about 6″ wide around all the doors and windows. Over the years, people living there thought it a good idea to put nails in it, to hang stuff on I suppose. In the main room on the lower floor, they had a window air conditioner and it wouldn’t quite fit, so they just chopped some of the wood out with a hatchet.

      1. Suthenboy

        That made me cringe.

        I also love when people paint over oak. Or mahogany. Or teak. Or best of all, walnut.

  13. Rufus the Monocled

    Sloopy really has problems with Canadians.

    ZED.

    1. Everyone has problems with Canadians.

      1. Pomp

        Nuh uh!

    2. John Titor

      They’re just still butthurt that third quarters of their audience is Canadian.

      THE FLAME OF LIBERTY BURNS BRIGHTEST IN THE NORTH.

      1. Heroic Mulatto

        Mark Steyn wishes that were true.

        1. John Titor

          It’s sort of a marrano scenario, need to keep yourself hidden until our time comes to pass.

      2. Suthenboy

        The less liberty people have the more they pine for it.

        I am not really joking. People in the US take far too much for granted.

        1. Hyperion

          “The less liberty people have the more they pine for it”

          You haven’t met any Europeans or Australians, have you?

      3. Rufus the Monocled

        Proportionally, we have the strength of SPIDER-MAN.

      4. Hyperion

        Yeah, there must be about 30 libertarians in Canada, and all of them are here on this site.

        1. John Titor

          According to the last election, there’s at least 16,000 of us.

          1. John Titor

            My mistake, 37,000. Read the wrong end of the chart.

          2. Rufus the Monocled

            Wow. We almost fill a baseball stadium.

    3. Mike Schmidt

      Zee!

  14. Rufus the Monocled

    Whenever I see Ferrari and Lamborghini enter a market not in their DNA I think of Primo on ‘Big Night’. Are they compromising their essence when they do this? Why not leave it to Lancia and Fiat? Or maybe Maserati and Alfa?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLWy9Wp_RWY

    God bless people like Primo.

    1. Gilmore

      God bless people like Primo.

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        Was he true to his craft?

        1. Gilmore

          Yes

          his fri night radio show has 25million listeners.

    2. Gilmore

      BTW “Big Night” is one of my favorite movies.

      its a perfect little film, & shaloub+tucci were a genius of casting/performance

      my parents also enjoyed it greatly since the film sort of captures a lot of the sort of post-war NY ‘cultural-conflict’ they grew up with, as more and more immigrants expanded out into the burbs and Long Island.

      1. dbleagle

        I agree with you Gilmore. Shaloub and Tucci were spot on. The dinner scene reminds me of family dinners at my grandparents place. They immigrated from southern Italia and great granddad continued to make wine almost until he died.

        I never understood how good I was eating until I became an adult. Despite my best efforts I have never touched the greatness of her cooking.

  15. “Maybe they realize how hypocritical they’ll look when its pointed out that every Senator currently in office that was there for his last confirmation voted to confirm him.”

    I’m totally with Gorsuch being confirmed, but I disagree with this point.

    When an appeals court judge gets to the Supreme Court, there’s a distinct chance (s)he will say, “you mean I don’t have to follow those idiotic Supreme Court precedents anymore? I can vote to overrule them! Finally!”

    1. Pat

      When an appeals court judge gets to the Supreme Court, there’s a distinct chance (s)he will say, “you mean I don’t have to follow those idiotic Supreme Court precedents anymore? I can vote to overrule them! Finally!”

      Considering the quality of Supreme Court precedents, this prospect doesn’t upset me much. Deference to shitty rulings isn’t commendable.

      1. Actually, I’m *hoping* Gorsuch takes the axe to a bunch of these precedents, which he wouldn’t be able to get away with as a lower-court judge.

        But that’s why they oppose him so much despite supporting him for appeals court. So you see there’s not necessarily inconsistency.

        1. Pat

          I’m picking up what you’re putting down.

    2. Either someone is qualified to sit on any bench or they’re not. Sorry, but saying “you’re good enough to sit on a federal appeals court bench hit I draw the line at allowing you on the Supreme Court is absolutely fucked up seeing as the Supreme Court reviews such a small percentage of appeals court rulings.
      Same applies at the district level. Same should apply at every level.
      Sorry, but the confirmation hearings should consist of the following questions:
      Did you graduate from law school?
      Do you promise to follow the constitution?

      That’s it. They shouldn’t get to ask anything beyond that, as those are the only qualifications that matter. The rest of it is addressed in the constitution where it says the president may appoint anybody and the senate shall confirm them if they’re qualified (advise and consent. Don’t like it? Win more elections.

      1. Pat

        Law school isn’t a legal requirement for the office, so I’d eliminate that one too. A clever fellow from any number of other academic disciplines could just as easily sit in judgment of constitutional issues.

        1. Robert Jackson, IIRC, was the first Justice not to go to law school. He had some good opinions. Just as interestingly, he wrote well, not the argle-bargle legalese that passes for prose nowadays.

          1. Sorry, the *last* justice not to go to law school.

      2. Suthenboy

        “Did you graduate from law school?”

        Answering yes would be a disqualifier, right?

    1. Heroic Mulatto

      I’ve been shouting “REAEAEAEAEAEAEAEAEAEAEA!” for 2 weeks now.

      There has also been some talk of producing a Big Man Tyrone video for Glibertarians.com

      Jus’ sayin’

      1. John Titor

        I hope there’s at least some debate over going with him or Rog.

    2. Rhywun

      I have no idea what this is supposed to be.

      1. John Titor

        Shitposters are now an ethnic minority.

    3. Rufus the Monocled

      Can we get a backstory?

      1. John Titor

        Essentially, people on the internet who hate identity politics are an ethnic minority who hate/parody identity politics. Since you can just made anything up and self-identity as it, the nation of Kekistan has been born, to fight against normie oppression and lead the Kekistani people to true freedom.

        1. Mythical Libertarian Woman

          Kekistan is too obvious thanks to all the overt Pepes/”Praise Kek” on social media. They should come up with something really obscure, they could probably fool everyone and get all the SJWs falling all over themselves to signal their solidarity. It would be lulzy.

    4. Pomp

      Pepe channeled as Perler beads.

    5. Hyperion

      “IT BEGINS”

      You like so totally stole that from Drudge Report.

  16. juris imprudent

    It is a burden for Wisconsin – carrying the whole conference on their backs.

  17. quincy

    I haven’t smoked a cigarette in a week.

    1. Brett L

      Congrats

    2. Rhywun

      *slowly backs away, closes door quietly behind me*

    3. Suthenboy

      I am very happy for you quincy. Really, I am. Also jealous.

      *lights a smoke*

    4. I haven’t either.

      Then again, I’m a lifelong non-smoker.

      1. Pat

        Same. It’s why I could never be an Objectivist.

        Seriously, WTF was with Rand’s smoking fetish?

        1. quincy

          Because nicotine is awesome.

          1. Juvenile Bluster

            I haven’t smoked since college but I know I’d weigh less and be less stressed if I still smoked. I mean, I wouldn’t start again, but I know why people do it.

        2. Phallic cigarettes are a rape tool?

    5. Pomp

      How about you, John Titor? Have you been able to resist the sweet sweet caress of Mistress Tobacco, and the feeling of a delicious cancer stick?

      1. John Titor

        Urge to kill Pomp…rising…

        1. Pomp

          Seriously, are you on a smoke-free streak or did you relapse?

          1. John Titor

            I’m still not smoking, but I always tend to last a month before I give in again. So I’m not celebrating for quite awhile.

    6. Hyperion

      Good for you. That stuff is so nasty and I’m very thankful I never picked up the habit. I remember back when I was maybe 14-15 and all of my friends started smoking, it was the cool thing to do. I started trying it and one day I guess I inhaled enough of it and gawd I was so fucking sick. That was the end for me.

  18. Pat

    I think I remember there being some indie fags over at That Other Blog. Anyway, James Mercer put out a new Shins album. It’s pretty good. Not classic Shins good, but better than Port of Morrow.

    I might go see them in June, if I can convince myself it’s worth the hour drive and paying 1/4 the ticket price for fucking parking since every venue on the Las Vegas strip charges now.

  19. Rufus the Monocled

    This N’western kid is gonna become a legend.

  20. DEG

    Beer to start tonight off.

  21. Warty

    My gym got a strongman log recently, so of course I’ve been cleaning and pressing it. Fuck that fucking log. Now I have to watch as many videos about it as possible to figure out how to do the shit. Fuck.

    https://youtu.be/OrrPuoEZSHs

    1. DEG

      Those look like fun.

    2. Hyperion

      Warty, didn’t you just earlier today promise a non-existent female libertarian that you’re gonna post pics of yourself pressing that thing nekked? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not encouraging that.

      It looks sort of dangerous, like someone could decapitate their self with it.

  22. Derpetologist

    Fun fact: if you pick a wikipedia article at random, then click the first link in it to another article, and repeat that process, you will eventually end up at the article for philosophy.

    So philosophy really is the basis of knowledge.

    Clicking on the first link in the main text of a Wikipedia article, and then repeating the process for subsequent articles, usually eventually gets one to the Philosophy article. As of February 2016, 97% of all articles in Wikipedia eventually lead to the article Philosophy.[1] The remaining articles lead to an article without any outgoing wikilinks, to pages that do not exist, or get stuck in loops. This has gone up from 94.52% in 2011.[2] The median link chain length to reach philosophy is 23. Notably, starting from the Philosophy article itself, it takes 6 steps to return to it as of March 6, 2017.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Getting_to_Philosophy

    1. Pat

      I wonder what the equivalent article is for Encyclopedia Dramatica.

      1. Juvenile Bluster

        Goatse?

        1. Pat

          Most likely Offended, now that I think about it.

      2. Would Wookiepedia eventually get you to midichlorians?

  23. Rufus the Monocled
    1. Pat

      Buckcherry still alive

      Life is suffering

      1. Pomp

        I fucking hate Buckcherry.

        1. Hyperion

          But he loves the cocaine.

    2. You’re supposed to ignore the articles. 😉

    3. juris imprudent

      I’m not worrying until Keith Richards dies. And Lou Reed of course.

      1. Rufus the Monocled

        At least we still have Lou Reed.

        I got to see Berry live for free at the Montreal Jazz Festival under the ‘Labatt Blues’ banner. My friend who was a death-metal guy loved every second of it.

      2. Juvenile Bluster

        Keith Richards will never die. You know all those dead ” 27 club” musicians? Keith Richards steals their souls to stay alive.

        1. Rufus the Monocled

          BUT if anything could extinguish him it’s Berry’s passing.

          https://twitter.com/officialKeef?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

          Without Berry and American rock’n rollers there’s not Beatles, Zep, Who, Kinks, Stones etc.

      3. Hyperion

        If you do enough heroin and it doesn’t kill you, you’ll actually preserve yourself, like salted cod fish.

    4. Grumbletarian

      I hope his cousin Marvin is okay.

    1. Derpetologist

      damnation- I hate it when I mix up link and blockquote.

    2. Heroic Mulatto

      Oh for fuck’s sake!

      Fictional Amazons would probably shave their body hair for the same reason any real Bronze to Iron Age culture did : To deal with body lice.

      1. John Titor

        There you go HM, bringing actual logic and history to a discussion about projecting modern ideas of grooming standards onto fictional cultures.

      2. thrakkorzog

        Well there’s also the issue that she is sort of mystical statue brought to life or something.

    3. Grumbletarian

      In fairness, the Slate article seems to have a problem in that her armpits look like they’ve been digitally filtered to be extra-smooth, not that Gal Gadot shaves or whatever.

    4. Hyperion

      When you are concerned that a fictional woman shaves her armpits, you have some very serious mental issues.

  24. Derpetologist

    file under: team purple

    Meet Jim Justice, my state’s governor.

    wiki sez:

    In 2015, Justice declared his candidacy for Governor of West Virginia in the 2016 election as a member of the Democratic Party.[5] He had been a registered member of the Republican Party until changing his registration in February 2015.[13] This was his first time running for political office.[14] In May 2016, Justice won the Democratic nomination for Governor and ran against Republican nominee Bill Cole in the general election.[15] On November 8, Justice won the election.[16]

    Justice was endorsed by the United Mine Workers.[17]

    He went to college on a golf scholarship, so there’s that.

    1. Pat

      Nice try. Jim Justice is obviously a made up name.

      1. Derpetologist

        It’s a popular name in them thar hills:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice,_West_Virginia

  25. Rufus the Monocled

    And James Cotton died March 16.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cotton

    Jesus.

    Back in my university days I was walking along Park Ave. here in Mtl. and me and girl I was dating stumbled upon the ‘G-Sharpe’ (I think it was that) blues club which was on its dying days. Montreal had its fair share of jazz/blues bars (my mother’s side of the family had a couple of degenerate (well, to the extent my mother recounts the stories anyway) musicians who worked along St. Catherine’s street playing alongside many a great American jazz musicians) and this was one of them. The place was perfect. Seedy, torn couches, poor ventilation, and outright packed with society’s forgotten. And there stood Hubert Sumlin. Among the best live performances I’ve seen. We had a blast.

    1. DEG

      RIP

  26. Derpetologist

    from heatstreet: People Are Actually Mad That Wonder Woman Gal Gadot Has No Armpit Hair

    When we look back at the great social justice struggles of 2017, surely, neigh certainly, the cause of putting armpit hair on fictional women will top the list.
    This week, Warner Bros. released the new trailer for Wonder Woman, and most problematically, the Amazonian warrior princess played by Gal Gadot did not have any armpit hair.

    Twitter exploded at the revelation, claiming women of the fictional matriarchy Themyscira would probably not shave their armpits. Some speculated that Gadot’s armpits were photoshopped to show a sheen, immaculate visage, unattainable by real women.

    Many woke, intersectional journalists were also angered by the lack of gross armpit hair.

    1. Derpetologist

      sorry double post- I got impatient.

  27. CZmacure

    OT: Example #9001 of how absolutely nothing can be cut from the Federal budget ever.
    Trots out the old standby that it’s too small to bother cutting. Left unsaid is why the Federal government should be in the business of supporting the arts, aka “professional artists.” Art can be made by non-professionals, so it’s pretty easy for me to see the professional artists making all of these arguments as simply saying “government should give money to me and my friends.”

    1. Juvenile Bluster

      I’ve been told that FedGov has to subsidize “science” because otherwise only “profitable science” will be given $.

    2. Pat

      I’m always perplexed by people who argue simultaneously that a given program is so minuscule that it doesn’t warrant discussion, but so vitally important that it can never, ever be cut.

      You will also note the total dearth of art produced between 1789 and 1965 when the NEA was created.

      1. Juvenile Bluster

        I still find it amazing that there was no public education in this country until the Department of Education was established in 1980.

        1. Rufus the Monocled

          And yet all I heat from progs is how stupid and ignorant Americans are/have become.

          Isn’t this an indictment of the DoE particularly since 1980?

          1. Pat

            Well, what do you expect when the Republicans cut all the education funding?

      2. CZmacure

        I mean, it sorta makes sense in that art is much less expensive an activity than, say, building fighter planes or caring for every citizen’s healthcare and housing from the cradle to the grave. Also, as they say, the funding is extremely important to those who receive it… it may not be (is not) that important to the nation…

    3. Derpetologist

      Sowell paraphrased: suppose a govt is tasked with feeding hungry children an putting up statues of Benedict Arnold. If the agency is threatened with a budget cut, they will complain that they will have to stop feeding hungry children. They will not mention the statues, because if they did, the voters would angrily demand why they are putting up statues of Benedict Arnold in the first place.

      1. quincy

        Young Thomas Sowell looks like Richard Ayoade.

  28. straffinrun

    Yuck. Not what I wanted to see upon waking up with a hangover.

    1. Pat

      That’s what you get for reading the web equivalent of Bridget Jones’s Diary.

      1. straffinrun

        I like slumming it sometimes.

    2. CZmacure

      How the fuck is a chocolate pancake filled with Oreo ice cream a fucking OREO TACO????

      1. Hyperion

        No one needs a chocolate taco. In Bernie’s America, these wouldn’t exist. See what we’ve done, America?

      2. Suthenboy

        It’s just a freakin’ ice cream sandwich.

        1. No, you are!