Sloopy couldn’t make it in this morning, so I will be defiling his links page in his absence.
- First up, SPORTS update, my local team served batting practice for the Marlins. Wow, that Ozuma ball got out of there in a hurry. In much better news, the Firstros continue to embarrass the hated Rangers. Nothing will be said of the NBA. NOTHING! Also, apparently the Orioles and BoSox are having some sort of rivalry. Earl Weaver thinks the current O’s manager is a pansy.
- God save the Queen! Because we don’t want Charles.
- Athletic endurance in a pill? Yes please. I will be doping and winning the local Turkey Trot. Even if they disqualify me. They can keep the medal, I’ll keep the pictures (proof!)
- I am betting on Republicans crapping the bed in today’s healthcare debate. These guys could fuck up the procession at a single car funeral.
- A great article about a bunch of spy organizations and their trainees (all grown men — yes it matters — you’ll see) getting taken by a con artist. It will surprise no one here, that the con has Florida ties. My doubt at the CIA’s ability is certainly coming to a middle.
Not that Mark Levin
- Today, the Puerto Rican independence movement gained steam in the continental US.
I think the musical choice took care of itself.
Sloopy’s account was hacked!
And it changed as I posted that… Darn edit fairies
Blame Comey.
It’s hacks all the way down! Or I’m just an idiot.
It was probably those friendly Russian edit fairies.
ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES.
TWAS NOT ZARDOZ THAT DID THE DEED.
I’m still frightened of the edit fairies. *glances around nervously
Who’s afraid of
Naomi Wolf: The Resurgence of Blatant Sexism
The only reason there is a political debate on the matter is because people are running around in pink knit cat-ears screaming about their anatomy.
If you have the misfortune of reading the whole article it comes of as a long, wailing screech. And yes, the pink knit caps are mentioned.
As long as the government is involved in financing something there will be political battle. Why is this so difficult to comprehend?
A sexist and misogynist population failed to elect the most enlightened leader of our time, the one true leader and bringer of hope to women everywhere. Of course they deserve our derision and enmity. Why is that so difficult to comprehend?
You guys had me at voting rights and lost me at “and pay for my ride to the booth”.
They had me at “vagina.”
An lost you 3 minutes later?
10 seconds, tops.
“Practically unattainable” to the tune of 700,000 per year (or so…I might be wrong)
The reason that “fights that appeared to be over—Title IX protections and the basic fight that won Roe v. Wade, for instance—have been reawakened” is that feminists kept pushing after they won. It’s not enough that abortion is legal. They want late term abortions (which few countries allow) and make other people to pay for it. They’ve expanded Title IX so much even the people who wrote that “Dear Colleague” letter admitted they didn’t have the authority.
Listen, assholes, “access” does not mean “paying for your shit”. I am not denied access to beer just because I have to pay for it myself.
I always like to ask this one:
If employers are “denying access to abortions” by refusing to pay for them, are they also denying my 2A rights because they don’t have some kind of program by which they pay for my firearms as part of the compensation package? Are they violating my rights by just giving me money with the implication that I should go buy the guns myself if I want them?
It’s pretty hard to argue that employers must directly subsidize one kind of right but not another.
Gee, it’s like no one ever told the feminists that they should be careful about government power because the pendulum has a habit of swinging back.
It’s like they fight their own wars….in their minds.
“Wolf-whistle politics”? Are you serious? I’m 38 years old, and I’m pretty sure that by the time I’m 40 a woman will berate me for opening a door for her. I’m sorry, I know that literally Hitler, but in what sense is there a “frenzy of public sexism”? I see periodic mobs of unpleasant socialists screaming about vaginas and wearing silly, tasteless costumes, and I see people trolling them, but that’s about it. See, the thing is, sometimes, if you have to convince people that there’s some kind of imminent, catastrophic problem (climate change, lookin’ at you here) it’s because it’s not immediately obvious, which, oftentimes, means it isn’t actually a thing.
“by the time I’m 40 a woman will berate me for opening a door for her.”
I’ve planned out what I will do if this ever happens to me: I’ll say, “I’m sorry for demeaning you. Let me rectify this horrible injustice that I’ve committed” and slam the door in her face.
yay sports
Canada recalls double strength Bombay Sapphire gin after production mistake
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/04/canada-recalls-gin-alcohol-level-found-77-percent/
If I was in Canada, I would welcome the extra antifreeze.
Four other provinces soon followed, warning Canadians not to consume the gin, sold in 1.14 litre bottles.
Yeah I’m sure that warning will work.
Sounds like the world’s best marketing ploy.
Hey, 40% ABV is a minimum standard for gin.
To be fair I tried stroh 80 rum and it is strong stuff
151 has lead to Bobarian’s body running around doing things for 2-4 hours, while Bobarian’s brain goes into a vegetative state.
The stories were often glorious, but I never believed them until the photos emerged.
Damn….too late to head North for some?
Canucks have all the luck!
(I recall being in Utah one year, and because of their crazy-ass liquor laws, the price of Rip Van Winkle was something ridiculously low. I wasn’t able to get to the store in time to grab some before it was announced on the news for all to hear)
That’s as much an issue of how Pappy’s allocate supply for international markets.
Apparently it’s been a bone of contention for distributors here in the US for a while. That and the (arguably) ridiculous cachet associated with the product.
Massage not necessarily good for what ails you
It moved
“Svetlana barked questions I suspect were aimed at getting to the root of my ailments, but were understood as – “Is blue the color of water in Maine?” and “Does the pot work best in Thailand’s middle court?” – to which I confidently answered “Yes” and “No”, respectively.”
What?
I’m trying to come up with contract clauses for a Journeyman Wizard in a fairly standard-issue mideval fantasy setting. They’re negotiated by a third party who holds most of the debt for his training. I’m looking for ideas for things that would be covered (and some clue as to what they might require of the parties involved)
So far I’ve come up with these:
-Rent is paid in full. Any Rip Van Winkle Shennigans where fairies let a man sleep for 100 years in one night. The fairies owe 100 years of rent.
And none of that spinning straw into gold crap. Fairies are arrested for kidnapping until they can make bail.
Are taxes and levies charged by the local gov’t covered as part of his invoicing, or does he have to pay out of pocket?
I don’t know. Partly because I’m not certain what taxes would be applicable.
The Volkmund is loosely based on germanic fuedalism, and since his employers thusfar have been the local lord and a family with an alloidal manor, I’ve not thought about the tax schema.
What’s your angle on the character? Her personality could really drive some fun. Locking him into things he doesn’t like, comedic, etc? I suppose it could be all of the above.
A NDA would be really interesting because of the extremes you could play around with his need to keep secrets to live up to the contract.
I’ve not really had a plan, I’m just writing his jobs as ideas come to me.
One of his defining characteristics is that he’s working for the Obsidian Tower, despite preferring not being a wizard to being a part of that organization. (People mistake then for necromancers). And sloppiness with reading documents he’s not academically interested in (like contracts).
That sounds fun. I work with contracts everyday so bad ones can be either painful or really work in your favor.
There are two benefits to his lazy reading from a storytelling perspective – first, I don’t have to put legalese in the text. second, he gets surprised by the truth. One of the less serious subplots involves him avoiding people who want to talk about an “outstanding balance” because he thinks he owes them money when they’ve been trying to pay him…
I thought Drizzt Do’Urden had already destroyed the Obsidian Tower.
Who?
Continuance of compensation through entire length of any and all possessions, psychic infections or involuntary symbioses.
That actually sounds like a clause they’d have to put in.
Thanks.
And a Hold Harmless if he gets possessed.
well depends on the magic system I would assume.
NEEEEERDS!!!
+1 Ogre
No giant tanks involved…
Wow. You’re old school.
+1 GEV
Anyone want to get together and play some Car Wars? Or some Battletech?
I’m pretty sure everybody involved in such a discussion is familiar with monkey paw law.
Good luck finding anybody willing to deal with supernatural entities that stick to the letter, but not the spirit of the law.
The Wizards are still human, and the arbitrators are the Imperial courts. It’s effectively a contractor agreement in many respects.
Have you read the Dresden Files? It involves a Wizard trying to get one over on the fair folk, while trying to get the Chicago PD to pay him for his billable hours. neither venture goes well.
Dresden found the ultimate solution to all magical problems though. Just become a god. Problems solved.
Him, the Iron Druid, and Bob Howard for sure.
Thanks for the spoiler. ON THE 7TH BOOK NOW!
It’s been about two years since the last book came out. Not my fault you didn’t figure out Murphy was Harry’s long lost son from clues in the first book.
No. In most cases my answer to “have you read ___?” will be ‘no’.
And the fey do not appear in this work so far. His two employers have been Graf von Skraelkirk and the Sykora family.
Hello sire, have you read the Truth?
It’s just a fair warning. There is already a popular book series about a wizard constantly dealing with fairy contracts.
There are NO FAIRIES IN THE BOOK! Why do you keep jumping back to the Fey?
Which one Gortat, Beal
I’m afraid I don’t understand the question.
lou williams is more of a journeyman
I can only name 3 wizards. So excuse me for stretching the term Journeyman… Forgot Lou was on the team. That little guy deserves a made for tv movie. Rudy who
Frank Morgan?
For a bit of pre-Trump sanctimonious nonsense, check out this article about how texting while driving should be treated like a DWI.
Color me surprised that cops would want a law that allows them to fuck with people more. Likewise that there are big groups of busybodies out there that want to run peoples’ lives.
On the other hand, it is nice to see some simple old fashioned nannying where no one is called a nazi.
In related news, always remember that you will get a ticket if you drive around town with your cock out on your lap.
I suspect fowl play.
That got hawkward very quickly.
He was just giving him a ride to the other side of the road
So what’s the opinion on whether or not regulating a behaviour that makes you a danger to others on the road is within the remit of government? That’s the issue with drunk or distracted driving laws, as you are recklessly piloting a several ton object in a crowded area.
The absolute argument is that the state can outlaw actions (running red lights), but not states of mind (drunk, distracted). The problem with drunk driving laws is mission creep. They have lowered the BAC to an absurdly low level. There are these PSA’s on TV, “Buzzed driving is drunk driving”. Well, no, it isn’t.
I cringe Everytime I hear those PSAs. Doing three keg stands and hopping in the Tahoe is exactly the same as having a beer or two and driving
I think there should be a wider spread of penalties.
My idea is a point system with two factors.
Factor 1: BAC pts equals 100*(BAC-.07). Blow a .08 that is 1 pt, probably no big deal, just a ticket basically, Blow a .20, that is 13 pts and you may not be seeing daylight for a long while.
Factor 2: Repeat offenses. First time is a 1, second time a 2, etc.
Total = F1 * F2.
Penalties would start at a fine at 1 pt, increase in value, at some point about 5 pts we add on suspension of license, at 10 pts or so we move to misdemeanor and eventually to felony.
How about no prior restraint? You can drive drunk all you want, but if you hit something or someone and you’re over the arbitrary BAC limit then you’re hit with massive sentence enhancer.
That is the other side of the argument that I have taken at times too.
That’s the way it should be. No harm, no foul. Harm to person or property, major problem for the DD.
How about you can drive drunk all you want, but you can’t swerve in and out of your lane, drive over the speed limit, drive at night without headlights (which I’ve heard is the most common drunken offense), or any of things that are illegal to do sober?
Speaking of driving at night without headlights.
A few years ago I was leaving a bar (legal, but I wouldn’t want to have been stopped) heading home and as I got on the interstate, my headlights went out. I pulled over, tried a few things, turned car off, restarted, etc, but no go.
So I drove very carefully the few exits to my exit and got off, totally paranoid about both accidents and getting pulled over by cops.
As I am getting off the interstate, it occurred to me to try my brights, which worked just fine. So I drove the last few blocks home with brights on.
My wife (then fiance) called me a dumbass.
Probably accurate.
When you go to renew your drivers license there should be a driving obstacle course set up at the DMV. There should be stop signs, corners, cardboard cut outs of pedestrians, trees, etc. You take your car and twelve pack of beer.
You drive through the obstacle course and drink beer until a traffic violation is committed. At that point, the assessment ends and your BAC is taken. You now have a number. It is printed on your license. From that point forward, the number on your license is your legal threshold for a DWI.
Of course, this also means that you will have to have someone drive you home from the DMV unless you wait some number of hours until your BAC is legal again.
Not the biggest obstacle.
If you finish the 12 pack and don’t have an accident do you win anything?
Use of the restroom.
another 12 pack?
What if I have a Constitution greater than 14? And do dwarves get a racial bonus?
Actually dwarfs have an impediment – their baseline BAC is typically .05
Recklessly driving down the road is bad and should cause you to be pulled over.
The problem is that “recklessly” is hard to quantify so that they come up with laws that also end up nabbing people who aren’t being reckless. Driving down the road just fine, but hit a checkpoint and blow .08? DWI for you! Look at your phone at a stop light? Distracted driving ticket for you?
Drive down the road weaving in/out of traffic and tailgating everyone? No ticket for you.
must pay the Vig
interesting fact about Michigan – we don’t have DUI checkpoints even though the Supreme Court said they were legal
In Montana, there’s actually a legal minimum of 0.010.
That’s eating an overripe banana.
Its split. We had these arguments many a time on the old site.
I think I have taken both sides, depending on my mood that day.
My final solution:
Fully autonomous cars makes the issue moot.
As long as the autonomous car let’s me shift gears I’m happy
You mean depending how many beers you had?
Ugh. So, I’m a big fan of punishing harm, not actions, and on that basis I’d say that if you can drive drunk without harming anyone, bully for you. If you hit someone, drunk or no, you begin by owing whatever it takes to make them or their family whole, and then, depending on the severity and nature of the incident, some sort of criminal penalty would come into play. On the other hand, as you say, hurtling down the street in a multi-ton steel battering ram when you’re seeing double is at least equivalent to firing off a gun in semi-random directions in an urban area. Maybe it’s gross negligence, maybe it’s the notion that if the action you’re performing is reasonably certain to cause harm to someone you’ve already established the intent to cause harm whether you’ve actually done it or not, and it’s not really any different than pulling a gun on someone with the intent to shoot them but being stopped before you can pull the trigger.
I’m not sure how doctrinaire this is, but as my daughter gets older and the wife and I talk about having more kids and we get settled into middle-aged respectability, I find I take the reckless behavior of others much more seriously. To the point of near-vigilantism, to be honest. At this point, thinking about the kids walking around the neighborhood, I tend to see someone driving like an asshole as effectively the same as a crazy person running around swinging a machete.
There are a lot of little kids in my neighborhood. Seeing a speeding driver down my street – usually the a big bro truck or a teenager – gets my vigilante dander up too.
And yes, I did a lot of stupid things as a teenage driver, including driving too fast in residential neighborhoods. But at that age you just don’t think of the consequences.
I’ve always said that texting while driving should be no more illegal than driving with a small dog on your lap.
Fuck You!
Idiots who text or talk SLOW DOWN on the freeway, every time. I’m about to go spend 2 hours watching idiots text and attempt to drive, so No It violates my NAP,
Fuck off Slaver
B
A cell phone turns a driver into an Asian.
‘Round these parts, Haitian.
Here too, but I had no clue that Quebec had a Haitian immigrant population.
So does that mean that amongst our winter guests we have Quebecois Haitians?
Big community. One simple reason: Catholic and French-speaking. That’s two reasons.
this
Zika is no longer scary what disease can we drum up?
YES, Feminism Is Damaging To Marriage — But That’s Not A Bad Thing
“Without feminism, the women who didn’t divorce would probably get beaten and live miserable lives with men who have no gumption to make things better. Without women getting equal rights, men could skate along in mediocrity. Without women being able to leave, men wouldn’t appreciate everything women offer them.”
And they say Feminists don’t hate men.
And they wonder why sex-bots are increasingly seeen as an attractive option. Ladies, you’re about to be outcompeted by Rubber Doll v2.0. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
The feminists will simply lobby to have that shit outlawed.
And I’ll lobby to make sure any such laws are broad enough in scope to include vibrators.
Thanks to the left’s dominance of the media and the educational institutions, the feminists will win and you will lose.
Holy fuck. Actual equal rights would mean both parties can walk away with all possessions and wealth they brought to the marriage, and sharing of any assets acquired during the marriage pro-rated according to the percent contribution of each party to obtain it. And strict equality regarding child custody and support. Men generally don’t want divorce even from a crappy marriage because they get raped in the family court system.
For me, getting raped would have been an improvement. Rape ends quickly, my alimony is for life.
Exactly.
Behind every great man is a hairy arm pit bitch second guessing his every decision?
You know, that’s sort of the vibe I got off that article. The references to “skating along in mediocrity” or “gumption to make things better” make pretty clear that she sees guys as something to be fixed by female demands. The only question I have is “What the hell do you bring to the table?”. My experience is that, with women like that, very, very, little.
“What the hell do you bring to the table?”
Vagina.
Yes, all those mediocre men before women received equal right without equal responsibility. Women like this can go fuck right off. She and other women like her are going to completely destroy marriage. Men are wanting to get married and have families in increasingly smaller numbers, because a woman can end the marriage at any time for any reason and completely destroy the man’s life with no consequences to herself. When marriage is almost no existent because men would rather live with a sexdoll than a woman, women will have no one to blame but their fellow women like this.
Without women getting equal rights, men could skate along in mediocrity.
You mean like all the technological and cultural advancements produced by men throughout history? Really?
Thank God women now have equal rights, so we can finally get an advanced civilization.
Search your feelz, you know it to be true.
Life’s too short to share it with a nagging bitch who can destroy your life whenever she feels like it.
Why I love Prince Philip.
But Philip is often better known for his colorful — and controversial — language, which sometimes landing him in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
He once told a group of British exchange students in China that if they stayed much longer, they’d become “slitty-eyed.” During 1995 visit to Oban in Scotland, he asked a driving instructor: “How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?”
He did not appear to tone it down in later life. When he was 90 at an event in London he told a disabled man in an electric wheelchair: “How many people have you knocked over this morning on that thing?”
Hey, that wheelchar one was funny.
The man is a national treasure.
linky
Prince Philip continues to be awesome.
Why, he’s Trump but in Houndstooth!
Gold!
*takes a swig from a bottle of Oban*
Its no enough we hae all these jokes…but from a Prince too?!
Typical. Rural, GOP, self-hating woman tries to pass a bill that totally discriminates against our wonderful recent immigrants.
“an illegal procedure to which some cultures still cling”
Some cultures?
Probably the fucking Swedes. They are willing to do anything to keep their women from running off with the handsome Norwegians.
It looks like their women are going to face some competition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBm3Gwx38Po
Uffda!
Those eyebrows! ARE HUGE!
You Bet Your Life!
Good lord! It’s like I’m looking at my grandfather after a sex-change operation!
I think she’s beautiful. Anyway, your grandpa must have been in great shape:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seRuExOJps0
What is the point of that?
Hey! Watch me work out to some vapid pop music!
With the Model 3 Coming, Tesla Grapples With Quality Control
The reckoning is coming.
Earnings release yesterday. Wasn’t pretty. That Solar City merger was beyond retarded.
Luckily for Musk, though, so are the marks.
YOU PEOPLE DON’T GET IT. TESLA NOT JUST A CAR COMPANY. IT’S A STATE OF MIND AND MUSK IS FORCING US TO SEE THE LIGHT! HE’S CHANGING EVERYTHING! YOU HAVE TO THINK BIG AND LONG-TERM SMALL MINDED NIMRODS!
Lol.
And in other automotive news:
Ferrari races to new high
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3263604?source=ansh $RACE
Huh. Maybe there’s more to this whole car building thing than we thought…
Tesla is a battery company that happens to make cars.
Tesla fanboys are the worst.
I wanted to buy 300 strike puts, but it seems the drop was already mostly priced in.
reckoningwreckoning ftfyThe company insists its record is comparable to that of any other automaker, and it considers reports of excessive complaints overblown.
Brett reads: Our market cap should be proportional to GM or Ford not equal to it.
No discussion of the competition getting EVs to market, either. There’s only a small group of buyers for those cars in the first place. Market share erosion plus a loss of those awful ZEV credits they’ve been extorting can’t be good.
If Tesla turns out a shitbox that middle class people can afford and the car is a lemon they’ll never rehabilitate their reputation. How can Musk, a visionary genius, be so damn stupid?
His main vision is in how to get people to give him money.
It is not in engineering.
Damn you Canadians and your metric system!
Have the Canadians ever been to the moon? huh? *pokes random Canadian in the chest*
related
The closest they got was Warren Moon
Manitoba is supposed to be friendly?!??!!
And this ticket was clearly payback for the ticket that Minnesoda gave Canukustani lead foot.
Two words:
Dumb.
Ass.
How To Explain Feminism To A 5-Year-Old
No. In fact, perhaps if you let her socialize normally, she won’t turn out as maladjusted as you. Let a kid be a kid.
No, it isn’t you stupid twat.
“Your hair would be pretty…if only it was just a little bit longer.”
Wait, I thought all the youngsters were shaving it clean. Is there hope that Bush is Back?
I laughed and laughed…and felt dirty about doing it.
Similar joke.
HR: Joe we’ve brought you in for a talk because there has been a complaint.
Joe: What? I didn’t do anything.
HR: Mary complained. She said you made a comment about her hair smelling nice.
Joe: Huh? What is wrong with that?
HR: Joe. You are a midget
and some girls in her class are already telling her, “Your hair would be pretty…if only it was just a little bit longer.”
This is bullshit. Never happened. Kids don’t talk like that. My daughter has never been told anything like that, and she’s quite the tomboy.
Nor do they ask questions that allow them to determine what it means to, “be a ‘girl’ in this world.” One thing I like about kids is when they ask questions, they are genuinely interested only in the most basic of answers. They aren’t looking for an contrived answer with deep, social impact that will change their lives over the question of whether or not you are somebody’s boss.
That level of stupid requires an adult.
Yeah…. right…… I believe that….
That fake assassin/spy story is fucking awesome. Ok ok so you believe this guy is an intelligence community power broker. But when he says you have to let him give you a prostate exam and then take a shower with him no warning bells went off at all? WTF?
He also told like hundreds of people he’d killed 38 people. Sounds like a pretty shitty spy to me.
Always good to be reminded that America’s intelligence community is populated be infantile retards.
With modern technology vis-a-vis pregnancy, what are the odds we get a non-violent transition of power to another Royal house in Britain?
Kind of sad that 1) a bunch of filthy Germans are in charge and 2) we won’t get to see the political jockeying that would occur if there was no heir
Isn’t Phil a Greek?
I believe he was born in Greece, but the House of Glücksburg from which he descends is Danish
I prefer to think of them as Scots instead of Germans.
James VI is the head of the family.
I’m all for a Jacobite re-ascension. Let’s make it happen *scrawls manifesto on forearms*
More likely that Charles will be forced to abdicate almost immediately.
So are we going to get another Charles II type situatin?
A second Glorious Revolution? Probably not. There’s kind of two strands to it: Charles sucks and no one likes him plus a lot of poms still blame him for Diana’s death (why, I don’t know). Constitutionally, he’s divorced which technically means he can’t lead the Church of England.
I have a tiny bit of sympathy for him. I mean, he’s obviously a dick but his entire purpose in life has been to wait for his mother to die.
One of Charles’ biggest problems (to which I am not sympathetic) is that his mother has created a model for monarchy in which The Crown’s social activism is carefully curated and constrained, to the point where even committed anti-monarchists find it hard to complain very much.
This balancing act requires a deft hand and a certain degree of stage management – the handling of Diana’s death was a notable failure – which requires a number of actors to work in unison. Charles just isn’t that bright, as his history demonstrates. Nor does he seem to be very interested in maintaining that balancing act, which bodes ill for the British Monarchy in the decades to come.
I hear lots of (very poorly informed) people wonder why he couldn’t just be “skipped over” as though the monarchy is like the management of a small college or private business, and then wonder if he couldn’t be “forced/encouraged to abdicate” as if that were at all likely, given that by definition, it would make Charles an oathbreaker, having been crowned in accordance with ancient tradition.
The very real crisis of the British Monarchy is simply that we’re seeing what happens when a savvy intellect with good people skills is superseded by a very mediocre (to be generous) personality with poor people skills.
One of Charles’ biggest problems (to which I am not sympathetic) is that his mother has created a model for monarchy in which The Crown’s social activism is carefully curated and constrained, to the point where even committed anti-monarchists find it hard to complain very much.
I share your lack of sympathy. The guy gets to live a life of unparalleled luxury and all he’s got to do is show up at a few public events a week and mouth “Yay Britain!” platitudes. If he wants to engage in social activism, leave the monarchy and run for the Commons.
No, plenty of healthy male sons (not brothers).
Charles seems to have mellowed out in later life and would probably be a decent enough King. Just too much negatively public perception for him to overcome. William and Kate have a Diana aura around them, so the transition should be pretty seamless
And if something happens to William and his Bastard Brother holds the crown?
Well, since no one has held legitimate claim since William the Bastard murdered the last King, Harold Godwinson, the question is one of financial inheritance.
William’s son would actually be next in line
I like Harry. He seems cool.
An attempt to put Harry on the throne would be *officially* problematic, what with DNA testing etc.
It would require pretty much the whole nation to conveniently ignore the 1700-lb gorilla in the room, although Australian anti-monarchists (at the very least) will make sure that nobody else can ignore it.
On the up-side, I doubt the plot of “King Ralph” will ever happen, and Harry can continue to lead what I think is a very enviable life for another 60 years or so. And good for him.
The older Harry gets, the more his tiny, too close together eyes and large ears really remove any doubt that Charles is his father. Either way, his life is enviable indeed
This picture: http://29secrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/prince-harry-1.jpg
Facial features just like Charles and also Prince Philip. He’s Charles’ son. He just looks more like Diana than his brother does. It happens.
Isn’t Elizabeth Saxe-Coburg (pronounced Windsor)? You mean more recent Germans?
Britain has been ruled by a German royal house since the Hanovers of the 18th century.
Scottish.
The Hanovers are descendents of James VI.
It is why they even had a valid claim.
The Winter Queen, Elizabeth of Bohemia, Was James Stuart’s daughter.
Her daughter Sophia married into the Hanovers, but it is thru her that the Hanovers have a claim to the thrown. In fact, the law of succession of whatever year, specifically names her (in order to exclude the Jacobites).
Plus, its more fun to taunt the limeys by saying they have a Scottish Queen than saying they have a German Queen.
The remaining Scottish blood in their body has been rinsed out by the Hanovers and Windsors over the past 300 years.
I’m agin em is what I’m saying
Stonehenge my fall over because of a proliferation of moles beneath it.
The moles are proliferating because of global warming.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3611827/Could-moles-really-end-toppling-Stonehenge.html
Ergo, if you don’t give up your standard of living, you’re an insensitive dolt–according to the UN.
I mean, obviously!
They can put a guy on the moon, and they can launch satellites that can detect minute changes in weather patterns. They can predict what will happen to the climate in the future and how that will ultimately impact the breeding rate of the moles below Stonehenge, too.
In Dubai, they recompacted the ground under an office building that’s over 2,700 feet high, but if you think your average geotechnical engineer is smart enough to figure out how to reinforce a complicated structure like Stonehenge, then you’re a stupid redneck–and your opinion should be ignored and you should be ridiculed and you’re an extremist who refuses to understand science.
Huh, my first thought was to inject concrete into the tunnels…
Of course not until all the moles are humanely removed.
Why? Just entomb them.
That was sarcasm.
My old model 82 sarcasm detector is not terribly reliable. Hard to find replacement parts that are compatable with it. Sadly my brain can’t fit an older model, and is too high voltage for newer models.
well duh. Do you REALLY want to be in charge of a blood sacrifice at Stonehenge? Hard pass.
Hat tip to Tom Waits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyrDfCSZJmI&t=147s
Just shore it up with some 2x4s and call it a day.
Is it in danger of being crushed by a dwarf?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyh1Va_mYWI
Save Stonehenge from moles? Simple, just do what I do — sprinkle ferrous sulphate on the surrounding earth once or twice a year. Moles hate the sulphur dioxide fumes that permeate the soil below the sprinkling, and bugger off to annoy someone else. (Sorry, neighbours.) Works a treat.
Man, some people really like overthinking problems.
Not welcome: Japan tough to crack for refugees
Why should refugees be resettled halfway around the globe? Wouldn’t as close as feasible to their homes be the better option?
it makes no sense. it used to be the being a refugee meant you only had the means to carry yourself on your own 2 feet to some neighboring country who had no choice but to let you in, and other nations gave them aid. If people subsequently resettled elsewhere, it was as emigres not refugees.
why Japan? If for some reason I needed asylum, Japan is probably the last first world nation I would choose. Who (other than straffinrun) wants to live in a super crowded place filled with bizarre racist aliens?
Not to mention the near-constant Godzilla attacks, and fights between magical girls and giant mecha.
If you get the right vantage point, you don’t have to spend money on entertainment!
Hey, if I’m gonna live with racists, I prefer to be a foot taller than them.
Vending machines?
“Here they do not pay for your studies, they do not help you to get bank loans, or give you social housing… we are left to ourselves, we have to fight alone.”
So, you have to take care of yourself, rather than the government forcing others to take care of you via taxation. I fail to see how this is a bad thing.
It’s a human rights crisis!
I don’t understand why anyone would expect the Japanese to completely rearrange their culture to accommodate refugees.
I don’t believe the Japanese have much in the way of social services for their own people.
Why would being accepted as a refugee entitle you to more than a Japanese citizen?
The people who expect this don’t understand that the Japanese do not share their pathological self-loathing and disdain for their own culture.
Anyone saying that the U.S. is suffering because we don’t allow enough immigration, should look at violent, impoverished, uncivilized hellholes like Switzerland and Japan.
Hey, pal… You just get caught up in a Rösti riot in Lausanne and see how you fare! The mean street of Luzern or Bern won’t take mockery!
Maybe she should talk to the zainichi Koreans about what sort of hospitality she can expect from Japan?
It ain’t much.
Is this supposed to trigger my standard issue white people sympathy gland? I guess mine is broken.
Mine was cauterized by too many attempts to trigger it for selfish reasons.
Yeah mine became overtaxed and fizzled out back in high school. I only have enough juice left for people I actually care about.
Back when the second-funniest lead in Dumb and Dumber made his big speech in Episode 1 of Newsroom about how America wasn’t great, I did a deep dive. I took every category he rattled off and created a database of where every country on earth ranked in each category. My hypothesis was that even if the US wasn’t number 1 in all (or any) of those categories, that they would have the highest average score overall. I was proven wrong.
The top-ranking country on earth was, in fact, Japan. So, the liberal definition of the actual “greatest nation on earth” don’t want your stinkin’ refugees.
I’d imagine the U.S. is pretty low on tentacle porn, which skews the results.
Earl Weaver was the awesomest manager ever. Here’s more proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWQbN0jFo_k
A bunch of people changed the lyrics to Sgt. Pepper, and turned Star Wars into a musical:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYD3QtyEGGM
It’s impressive how they got all the major plot points and all the songs to fit.
Happy Star Wars Day!
May the fourth be with you.
The link was impressive, will have to watch the other tracks later on.
Those are great.
So the GOP is about to potentially pass a healthcare bill that none of them read and that none of them understand, and will be using reconciliation to do it.
Sounds familiar.
It’s easier to get away with doing nothing when you’re the opposition party.
The bill that really changed things was rejected.
The real purpose of this bill is to project a united front. It’s a PR move.
See? We can govern. Don’t think we can’t govern.
If we fault them for not being able to pass anything, we probably shouldn’t fault them for passing the only thing that could pass.
I insist on two things.
1) Repeal individual mandate.
2) Kill Medicaid expansion.
Everything else is icing. If all they can pass is icing, then I’m thinking that’s the way democracy is supposed to work. I’m not sure the GOP is to blame if the country doesn’t want what we want. Ultimately, the blame for the American people not wanting what we want belongs to a) the American people and b) libertarians for failing to persuade the American people.
That’s okay. Rome wasn’t destroyed in a day.
I’d add to that they should kill the mandatory coverage requirements (maternity, rubbers, psychological, etc…)
Bu then you’ll be “denying access” to maternity, rubbers, psychological, etc… Because “access” means “somebody else pays for it”.
BUT WHAT ABOUT JIMMY KIMMEL’S BABY YOU MONSTER?!?
Jimmy makes more money than I do.
Possibly more money per episode than I do per year.
He can pay for his own damn kid.
That was my immediate thought. When he posited the question of “what if” Obamacare wasn’t there for him…. I guess you’d be paying for it because you can, asshole. And hypothetically if he couldn’t, is there anyone who thinks the hospital would have let the kid die? I want to meet that person and ask him how he convinced everyone that he represents the anti-Obamacare position.
It would be more likely that people could afford coverage for catastrophic events like that if they didn’t have to cover Suzie Rottencrotch’s IUD as well.
Or if medical care pricing wasn’t centrally planned by the AMA and Medicaid/Medicare.
How nobody ever makes this connection, particularly among some of the reasonably intelligent people I work with (like doctors), never fails to amaze me.
Almost every doctor I’ve ever spoken to is unaware of the AMA’s role in price fixing, many of them aren’t even aware that price fixing is happening. And these are often people who are quite knowledgeable about the system aside from that glaring omission.
I think the current bill does eliminate the individual mandate and medicaid expansion.
My understanding was that the requirement to pay for pre-existing conditions stays, which without the mandate will rather more quickly bankrupt the system, since really sick people get their shit paid for, while healthy people don’t have to buy in.
I don’t understand why they don’t remove the requirement and just add preexisting conditions to medicare that they have to pay premiums for if they wouldn’t otherwise qualify. Bill repayment plus interest plus can penalties if you dont sign up before you need care or within some grace period after the change is made. Waived for infants. Premiums based on average rates for healthy person per state. Must show proof of denial from private insurance. Takes the whole issue off the table.
My understanding is that they’re giving the states money to create high risk pools for people with preexisting conditions.
I should add that our present course leads us to hell in a hand basket, as well. We don’t need to solve all the problems at the same time. Get what you can and keep fighting. If ObamaCare falls apart because we improved the underlying system, then that really shows what a huge problem ObamaCare is.
Meanwhile, I’d like to remind everybody that the real cause of the problem is Medicaid and Medicare, especially Medicaid. To the extent providers are being squeezed, and hence squeeze insurers, it’s much more about Medicaid than the individual mandate.
The true purpose of the individual mandate was not to compensate for people with preexisting conditions. The insurers can charge everybody higher premiums to compensate for the costs of their own members. The purpose of the individual mandate was to compensate insurers for the costs associated with the Medicaid expansion. Insurers are gouged to the tune of 150% of cost by providers because of all the money providers lose treating Medicare and, especially, Medicaid patients.
Get rid of the Medicaid expansion, and the problem the individual mandate was meant to address decreases proportionately. Cut
Medicaid even further, and insurers are no longer “competing” to cover 150% of the cost of treating their members.
That sentence above should read:
“Meanwhile, I’d like to remind everybody that the real cause of the problem is Medicaid and Medicare, especially Medicaid. To the extent providers are being squeezed, and hence squeeze insurers, it’s much more about Medicaid than [preexisting conditions]”.
If they can get that passed, then, whatever else it lacks, it’s still a good bill.
If that’s true, ti’s worse than I thought. Keeping the pre-existing coverage requirement but losing the individual mandate would be worse than Obamacare.
1000 x this. People bitch about the Republicans talking the talk about smaller government and fiscal conservatism and then doing the opposite, but they also keep electing these same people. It’s not a coincidence. People think they deserve free shit, and they think someone else ought to pay for it. Neither party has done much to convince them otherwise. Hell, one party is pretty much based on the concept. Before we can even think about seriously influencing politics in this country in a meaningful, long-lasting way, we’ve got to win the cultural war. And the progressive left has had at least a century’s head start.
He’s correct that the Nazi’s were leftists, but fascism is neither left nor right.
http://dailycaller.com/2017/02/04/google-redefines-the-word-fascism-to-smear-conservatives-protect-liberal-rioters/
I’d say fascism is from the right.
I’d say authoritarianism is neither left nor right.
I had an exchange with someone yesterday about whether Le Pen is really on the right. He said she’s not.
My understanding is that our terms “left” and “right” ultimately derive from where different coalitions sit in the National Assembly. The communists sit on the far left. The Socialists sit more towards the center. The Nationalists sat on the far right. The Gaulists sat more towards the center. My understanding is that the National Front sits on the far right. They are literally on the far right.
You can argue about whether left or right is really about free markets and socialism. I think a lot of Americans who still associate unions and socialism with the left get disoriented when you talk about central planning and the right, but authoritarians on both sides end up with the government being in charge of the economy. Certainly, the right tends to be less ideological about government ownership of industry and the redistribution of wealth, but then Bismark introduced all sorts of social entitlement programs and Hitler made it so half the board members of any corporation of size had to be appointed by the unions. They were both on the right.
Right certainly seemed to mean “capitalist” more during the Cold War.
The terms have really lost any meaning outside of being pejoratives.
Fascism is a form of collectivism (origin from “fasces” illustrating that staves bound together are stronger than individuals) and a form of socialism that does not seek to own the means of production, like communism, but seeks to direct the means of production (as in Oskar Schindler’s factories). So it is a phenomena of the left, like communism.
Collectivism and authoritarianism are neither left nor right.
If fascism is a form of collectivism, it’s about strength through unity–especially as a nation behind a leader.
Yeah, that might describe both Stalin and Hitler, but that doesn’t mean Stalin was a fascist or that Hitler was a socialist on the left. That just means that totalitarianism leads to the same sort of anti-libertarian hell no matter which path you take.
Individualism vs. collectivism isn’t a left or right thing. It just seems that way, right now, after eight years of Obama and the progressives, who (like both fascists and communists) are all about using the coercive power of government to force individuals to make sacrifices for the “common good”.
You know who else had the slogan “Stronger Together”?
Mark Rippetoe?
“..Hitler made it so half the board members of any corporation of size had to be appointed by the unions.”
That *is* interesting, is there a study on National Socialist labor policy which lays these things out?
It would be useful to have examples like this as rebuttal material if some prog whips out the “right-wing fascist” meme.
The Von Mises institute has numerous scholars that delve into National Socialist economic policy and it’s deviations from the communism that inspired it.
Popper goes into Marxism and National Socialism both stemming from Hegal.
Hi, I’m Popper. This is Reason in History. Do you like reason? Do you like History? This is Reason in History. Would you like me to read it? I like reading. Would you like me to read it?
Ooh, check this out:
“In the 1930s, Hitler was widely viewed as just another protectionist central planner who recognized the supposed failure of the free market and the need for nationally guided economic development. Proto-Keynesian socialist economist Joan Robinson wrote that “Hitler found a cure against unemployment before Keynes was finished explaining it.”
“What were those economic policies? He suspended the gold standard, embarked on huge public-works programs like autobahns, protected industry from foreign competition, expanded credit, instituted jobs programs, bullied the private sector on prices and production decisions, vastly expanded the military, enforced capital controls, instituted family planning, penalized smoking, brought about national healthcare and unemployment insurance, imposed education standards, and eventually ran huge deficits. The Nazi interventionist program was essential to the regime’s rejection of the market economy and its embrace of socialism in one country.”
“is there a study on National Socialist labor policy which lays these things out?”
I’ve read the history of it in the past. The essence of it was that Hitler didn’t want strikes and labor disputes interrupting the production and supply of his war machine. This was the other side of his executing all the labor leaders. Now your labor union controls half the seats on the board. Fight it out in the boardroom–no need for labor disruptions anymore. Now, I need ball bearings, boots, tires, Panzers, and Messerschmidts, and I mean NOW.
Fascism is a subtype of corporatism. Corporatism (in its modern incarnation) was largely a response to Marxism that sought to preserve the social strata instead of overthrowing it while still achieving some of the goals of Marxism. Hence why the commies hated them so much, they were competing for the same converts.
Right, as with People’s Popular Front of Judea vs Popular People’s Front of Judea.
Like Mussolini.
Goat Yoga:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/04/28/pee-your-yoga-mat-goat-yoga-craze-sweeping-country/307495001/
STEVE SMITH YOGA CRAZE SWEEPING THE NATION.
AND BY YOGA I MEAN RAPE.
We really need that killer asteroid soon.
I refuse to be killed because some other twats were morons.
SMOD doesn’t discriminate. It only destroys….the just and the unjust alike.
*peers toward the heavens*
Corporate retards:
https://twitter.com/HtfdSteamBoiler/status/859790837844246532
(Btw, I used to work there. They don’t make boilers. They insure them.)
I bet they had a meeting to set that up. A Tiger Team was tasked to champion the effort and synergies were achieved.
+1 A3 report
Needz moar “Leveraging”.
Are they run by a first grader? My seven year old likes to wear mismatched socks and shoes, too. Clearly, she’s a prodigy.
Meaningless mindless virtue signaling bullshit. Welcome to corporate America.
I think I’ve found another perk to my job.
When someone proposes stupid shit like this I can say “No” to their face and not have employment repercussions.
I’m free to ignore shit outside of doing actual work. Which is nice.
What, you don’t want to wear mismatched shoes (who comes up with this shit?) which will end discrimination? You Nazi monster!
I don’t mind wearing mismatched shoes, but I’m going to need a better reason.
I own one pair of shoes. They’re a matched set. When I wear them out I will replace them. I don’t need more.
They’re wooden clogs, aren’t they.
Steel-toed sneakers.
Beige sneakers.
*applause*
“Hey, I just learned that the initiative was over a couple weeks ago. So why does that guy keep coming around to photograph our feet?”
The office hand sanitizer dispenser has been emptying at an alarming rate lately.
The replies are pretty good.
that’s pretty retarded
BOOO YOU HAVE MONEY POVERTY IS VIRTUE
I thinking more of
I’m now less confident that our pressure vessels are being inspected properly.
Quite a diverse group they have there to demonstrate their diversity.
But those are two different ugly dresses.
“Courage”
-Dan Somebody
So PR has “massive pension obligations” and now needs to declare bankruptcy huh? You would have thunk.
“The City of Berkeley has floated the idea of setting up areas for “fencing with sponge noodles” or “laughter yoga” (among other things) and having “quiet conversations” with “anti-fascist” groups in order to stop violence.”
https://heatst.com/culture-wars/laughter-yoga-and-quiet-conversation-with-antifa-berkeleys-secret-plan-to-stop-violence/
That reminds me of a time when a bunch of fraternity brothers weren’t getting along and one group wanted to have a picnic to reestablish friendships. To which I responded, “I don’t think you get it, we think you’re all a bag of dicks.”
They should sponsor a sockhop for antifa as well. That should do it.
Well, at least they would have to take off their jackboots.
How about a dance off?
They should do a lock-in at the local rec center.
the police are preparing for the worst case scenario due to the threat from extremist groups heading to Berkeley. These groups believe the local police won’t stop their violence.
i think i see the problem.
Speaking of “Boilermakers”:
“Purdue prof calls pro-life fetal images ‘child pornography'”
http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9132
Child pornography does not mean “naked pictures of children”. If it did, every parent since the invention of the handheld camera would be imprisoned.
Christ. I’m in favor of abortion beinig legal, but … Christ. This says a hell of a lot more about the professor than the protesters.
We have a family picture of my brother and I at ~3 years old, post-bath, naked on the bed with my Pa. We laugh about it in the family, but in this day and age, that could send someone to jail.
Which is sad. It’s also a huge overreaction to what seems to be a largely imaginary problem. The biggest distributor of child is the federal government. And it’s been that way since the 80’s.
A construction laborer saying this would be irredeemably stupid. Yay tenure.
They’re like naked and stuff – we must cloth fetuses now!
i’m pretty sure that wasn’t a student, sadly. they’re not that bright
After he said that, my response (if I were the Pro Life side) would’ve been “Debate over. You’ve conceded.”
Bear in mind that this was part of a formal, organized debate, not an impulsive Twitter post about “omg those horrible prolifers amirite”
Also, note the implications of the remark – if pictures of unborn children are child pornography, then prolifers should be put in prison for showing such pictures.
Do you think that’s what many choicers want? Yes, I think so.
Taken to it’s conclusion, abortion IS murder…
Well yeah, because then they would be killing children.
Regarding the “endurance” pill, people tend to think of it as something to aid athletes but it would be a godsend for someone like me. Because of my radiation enteritis I can only eat one very small meal per day. I simply don’t get enough fuel to have any endurance at all. Simple tasks like household chores or going to the grocery store wipe me out. I get home from work at six o’clock and collapse in bed at eight o’clock. If a pill could keep me going long enough each day to feel like I’ve accomplished something or so I could maybe be active with my grandkids for even a little while I would at least feel human again.
It does look promising. What about something like Modafinil though?
I had never heard of Modafinil so I googled it. It could be helpful but my biggest problem is a lack of energy, not sleepiness. I’m seeing a surgeon in a couple of months and if I’m not a good candidate for surgery (I kind of hope I’m not) I’m going to talk to him about being fed through my port. I just need fuel and at this point I don’t care how I get it. On a sad note, my CFO has been battling cancer and yesterday he asked to speak with me. Among other bad news he had been given, he has to go back on chemo, he has been diagnosed with radiation enteritis. He said to me, “Will I ever be me again?” and it almost broke my heart. I gave him all the “tips” that I had learned through trial and error but the bottom line is that I don’t know if he or I will ever eat an actual meal again. I don’t know if either of us will ever know what it means to be pain free again. I don’t have any answers and after everything I’ve read about the disease I don’t think anyone has any answers.
It’s good for sleepiness and general fatigue in a sort of nonamphetamine like way. It may be worth at least asking your doc about. Anyway, I wish you luck.
Thanks. I will mention it and see what he says.
May the Fourth be with Dick Dale, on this, the day of his 80th birthday.
I missed seeing him about a month ago. Still kicking myself.
Yeah, I’m gonna miss his swing through Annapolis this year. Though I guess I could technically go see him, as I’ll be headed north to VT that evening. I’m just too fucking old and tired to go see Dick Dale, then drive another 3 hours to the motel in NJ.
Get a closer room?
Then I’ll have a longass drive to VT the next day. The key for me is getting as close to my destination as possible so I can actually enjoy myself when I arrive and not be exhausted. I don’t have massive amounts of reserve energy. I’m super low-key.
If I see DD, I’ll get on the road about 10:30pm. Arrive in Mahwah about 1-2am. It’s doable, I guess. Especially since I’ll be in no hurry the next day since I can’t check into the rental house til 3pm.
LOL..forgot I’m bring the dog to VT. So, there goes that plan. Can’t leave him in the car in late August while I see a 2-hour rock show.
Nominate him as one of those “Support Dogs” that people take on public transit.
Surely, one of our august circle lives near Annapolis, would be willing to dog-sit, and won’t harm, neglect or consume your dog?
LOL – more people are willing to admit they’re bad at sex than driving.
If their sex is worse than their driving they wouldn’t be able to tell one orifice from another.
Also, you should be on the Tweeters, if only for Justice Willett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZiwQnxSRUY
OK! Which one of you clowns tried this damn-fool stunt!?!?!?!
We urgently need common sense woodchipper control.
A local kid got eaten by an Asplundh type woodchipper here a few years ago. There is no feeder on those things, they just suck the trees down like Monica on Bill.
I’ve used them before and swore never again. There’s no room for error.
Are people who operate those things called Asplundherers?
So Juice, who’s at the top of your woodchipper list upon your triumphant return to civil society?
Obama endorses Macron in French presidential race (warning AUTOPLAY)
Obama, in the video, said Macron has “stood up for liberal values” and praised his vision for the role France plays in Europe and around the world.
Le Pen has been a fierce critic of the European Union, and wants to curb immigration. In a debate Wednesday, she reportedly blasted Macron as beholden to big business and called herself “the candidate of the people.” She also cast her rival as soft on Islamic extremism.
Obama said Macron “appeals to people’s hopes and not their fears … I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/04/obama-endorses-macron-in-french-presidential-race.html
I guess if the Russians are going to interfere with US elections, the Kenyans can interfere with the French elections.
*drops mic for you*
“Macron appeals to your hopes not your fears, unlike that fascist menace LePen.”
I guess British fit and healthy looking is like British hot?
“… for having been on this planet for 95 years.”
Vertical and ambulatory is pretty good for 95.
Incestuous!