ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES. ZARDOZ SEES MANY BRUTALS PREPARING FOR THE BRUTAL HOLIDAY OF CHRISTMAS. ZARDOZ UNDERSTANDS IT INVOLVES GIFT GIVING. THIS IS GOOD, IF THE GIFT IS OF THE GUN! THE GUN IS GOOD.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, ZED!
ZARDOZ IS IN A GIVING MOOD NOW. THEREFORE, CHOSEN ONES, RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE LINK! ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.
- ZARDOZ NOTES THAT BRUTAL EXTERMINATOR ALLIANCE IN YEMEN IS CRUMBLING. AND THEY HAVE RECEIVED THE GIFT OF THE GUN. ZARDOZ IS DISPLEASED.
- THIS, HOWEVER, AMUSES ZARDOZ. ZARDOZ WOULD ADVISE HIS CHOSEN ONES TO AVOID INVESTING.
- HOW MANY TIMES MUST ZARDOZ REMIND YOU THAT THE PENIS IS EVIL!
- ZARDOZ WISHES ALL BRUTALS DROVE LIKE THIS.
ah, the gift of the car crash.
I feel like I know this game…
“First Comment”?
well, that too.
arcade game?
Road Rash.
ahhh, was that it?
Google image search says I’m wrong. Cruisn’ USA.
Its also printed on her shirt.
Got to spend several hours helping direct traffic on local roads trying to handle the aftermath of this.
Do you throw shoes?
Dumb question, but how long would it have taken the liquid oxygen to turn gaseous?
That’s only about 10 miles (16 km, for those of us in the metric system) north of me.
Which side of the Mason-Dixon? Hyperion isn’t all that far to the south.
South, near Pretty Boy.
So who’s the angry lady who threw a shoe at you? Do you live in York? I have a couple of co-workers who commute down here from there.
While smoking a cigarette?
No shoes were thrown in my vicinity, but there were plenty of cranky people. Sheesh, something shuts down an interstate and it really puts a kink in people’s colons. [I can say that only because I wasn’t one of the sorry bastards trying to get anywhere between Baltimore and Harrisburg.] We got paged mid-morning – they called all the fire companies for many miles around for fire police (volunteer traffic cops). I was working traffic in Shrewsbury – not anywhere near the actual incident; I have no desire to be around haz-mat (they got paged early that morning).
I give my mark of approval to the Trader Joe’s Audaciter. Solid Abbey Blonde at a low price point.
Would like a gift of the gun…your floating headness…Sir?
seconded.
My brother wants one as well. Not sure what he thought of my ppq. I think we’re going up to the gun store at some point to get his hand on a few. M&P seem high on his list.
Zardoz does requests?
I’ll take a Sig P245. Nickel Finish.
His Headness If you please
In news that should surprise no one, FBI and DOJ remain firmly loyal to the Dems and have been stonewalling Congress, refusing to provide requested information. It’s like Obama never even left!
ZARDOZ, James Levine is in trouble because of the penis – you don’t need to remind us that it is evil.
[Wonders to self, if ZARDOZ is repping for whacked-out feminists.]
I don’t think this is very feminist…
https://youtu.be/EwZhKGgmoUI
Baptist and bootlegger alliance?
The man told police he last spoke with Levine in 2014. At the time, he said, Levine said he wouldn’t send him money anymore.
Not really a sympathetic character.
They did bury the lede, didn’t they.
No kidding! Sounds like a transactional relationship to me. This is turning into the Salem Witch trials writ large.
If I’m getting the timeline correct this has been going on for decades. Sounds consensual to me.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/henrygomez/libertarians-are-still-looking-for-the-next-thing?utm_term=.nj3804Mlv#.vfxlpq124
http://www.justanotherpoliticalblog.com/2017/06/21/the-libertarian-moment/
Uh huh.
I’m sorry, but what the hell was Trump? What does this even mean? The party apparatus is incompetent and continues to yearn for respectability. So it recycles Republicans who have maxed in the Republican party, for the most part. Then wonders why it can’t inspire voters or attract media attention. Media only covered Johnson this time around because they thought it would steal votes.
Being controversial and petty was a pretty big reason for Trump’s success if not the entirety of it. Plenty of Americans were angry about the two things he made a point of attacking early. But he did that attacking in a colorful fashion that was all about being anti-establishment. Libertarians gave us Johnson-Weld. Then…
Who the fuck is Sarwick and what has he ever been right about? Trump considers Rand a friend at this stage. He has an issue with one libertarian leaning member of his party that is even particularly noteworthy. But this asshole thinks there’s going to be some rift if Trump attacks libertarian leaning Republicans? Libertarian leaning Republicans who, frankly, weren’t even elected because people associated them with libertarianism? He completely has this backwards, anyway. The party will drift more towards Trump. Voters in a few districts with the rare libertarian leaning conservative aren’t going to revolt as much as they’ll probably go with it.
What the libertarian party lacks is leadership with a brain. Or passion. Or actual commitment to principles of any kind. They’re milquetoast cunts who are on their own gravy train. They’re professional hacks swimming in a small pond, and they don’t seem that energized to really rock the boat. I don’t know if pure libertarianism can sell, but I know they’re strategy sure as fuck isn’t working.
Also, fuck that yeasty cunt Weld. I can’t repeat that enough.
The notion that libertarian Republicans will have any influence among the Dens or GOPe after a schism is laughable.
Milquetost is right. How exactly at are you supposed to undermine the duopoly by claiming things are fine? Said status quo was caused by the duopoly by the way.
Oh, Matt Kibbe. The guy who was at least partly responsible for this masterpiece.
Where’s Cytotoxic?
https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2017/12/03/poll-suggests-majority-of-canadians-backs-outright-ban-on-guns-in-urban-areas-2/#.WiSDHcuvCBb
Canadians are total fucken retards when it comes to guns.
I spent most of the day Saturday running the wire for the new outdoor light. I took some photos and planned on writing up a submission, in case anyone found my first attempt at running pvc to be entertaining.
Anyway, conduit run, wire pulled, light attached but not wired yet. It’s getting dark but the actual wiring is the easiest part and I can do that with a flashlight if needed. I barely wiggle the light housing to make sure it’s secure before wiring up and the damn thing snapped clean off with the base still bolted on the pole. Fuck.
The company is closed on weekends so I’m hoping to get a new one sent under warranty tomorrow. I don’t think I over-tightened the bolts, but that shouldn’t cause the housing to snap clean off. In the meantime, my front yard looks like Cletus the redneck with loose wires hanging down, though I did try to thread them back behind the pipe. At least I was able to redirect the flexible pipe down so water shouldn’t get in if it rains.
in case anyone found my first attempt at running pvc to be entertaining.
One of my summer side jobs was helping my electrician father run wire through conduit. Sorry, but it wasn’t entertaining at all.
The only entertaining time was when Dad was doing a renovation for some lefties, and as I was perusing their library I noticed they had a 30s book called “Production for Use”. Yes, it’s a derpy idea. (It’s the opposite of “production for profit”.)
Exhibit #2524546804376 of why Mueller is going to take Trump down
Armageddon porn, from the economics desk
With a potentially far-reaching dimension, elements in both the House and Senate bills could constrain the ability of states and local governments to levy their own taxes, pressuring them to limit spending on health care, education, public transportation and social services. In their longstanding battle to shrink government, Republicans have found in the tax bill a vehicle to broaden the fight beyond Washington.
The result is a behemoth piece of legislation that could widen American economic inequality while diminishing the power of local communities to marshal relief for vulnerable people — especially in high-tax states like California and New York, which, not coincidentally, tend to vote Democratic.
You-know-who hardest hit.
“They’re trying to distort the economy by undoing our favorite distortions. Not cool, brah.”
“Marshal relief” the new euphemism?
This isn’t a state rights issue. It’s about local versus state. It’s about the fact that they know full well that the voters even in the bluest of blue hellholes will only take so much of their wealth being siphoned off.
Also getting real sick of the tired line about how red states take more tax dollars than they give. It’s misleading bullshit. It doesn’t actually show which party’s voters are getting the federal dollars (hint – most of the red states that “take” more have very high populations of blacks, and Democrats use welfare at far higher rates) and it includes military spending.
Glibs, I need your help. As of yesterday, I have a new puppy. (Mighty Zardoz, I appeal to your greatness to favor us with a photo.)
The little guy is 9 weeks old and doesn’t have a name yet. We are leaning towards any of Spike, Monza, Tank, or Tonka. Suggestions appreciated.
I finally signed up at Imgur so I could share photos online. I feel dirty.
Not Imgur, but his photo is still up on the rescue’s site.
Cute dawg. Chick magnet on walks.
Congrats! What breed?
He’s a mutt, but appears to have very strong Rottweiler influences. Pics coming…
Breed?
Chulainn.
Go with “The Jacket”. “Jacket! Stop humping my NYT.”
*narrows gaze*
Cis-shitlord.
Right now, he’s an Elmo, but there’s no guarantee that would make sense in a year.
Frederick. Call him Freddie.
(almost all my pets have had people names, except my pet rat Foofur.)
“Frederick, like Frederick the Great? Are you royalty? I don’t like the name Freddie, only rock stars and horror movie villains are called Freddie. I’ll be watching you!”
/Gunny Hartman
F.A. Hayek. Just sayin’.
I only use people names too. But of the suggested choices Spike is the clear winner for me.
well congrats first.
My favorite dog was Tag. I’ll always miss that border collie.
Wilbur.
That’s a good one, but especially for inherently pathetic looking doggies.
That is the cutest dog pic i have ever seen. I’ve just overdosed on cute and might go into shock.
“Tank” is a good name.
I’m not normally one to SQUEEEEEE! But this little guy is absurdly cute. We weren’t planning on getting a new dog until January, but when my wife found this guy I agreed based on his photos alone. We drove 8 hours each way to pick him up this weekend. Cute power!
You could name him Sherman Tank and then decide as he matures whether his is more Sherman, Tank, or Shermy. He does look destined to become a bit of a load.
Embrace your inner Nazi and call him Panzer.
A friend of mine’s dog is named Panzer.
I think you should call him Tank or Keg.
He looks like an Arthur to me.
Royston J. Edmonstone-Peel III.
I like Monza, but in keeping with the theme Tazio or Fangio would be good too.
ZARDOZ is the obvious choice in naming. Either that or Kitty.
When I was a paper boy one of my customers had a Doberman named Kitty. It was a great dog.
I liked that Data on ST:TNG named his yellow tabby “Spot.” That was before I realized what a socialist utopia piece of immature crap ST:TNG was. Still a good name for a tabby.
I got an 11 month old calico from the humane society shelter. She was named Socks. She has no “socks” at all; she’s basically solid white on her legs and underbelly and then the usual big Calico patches of orange, white, and black elsewhere. I don’t know if she was named Socks by idiots or children. We renamed her Molly McCalico on the adoption paperwork.
Zed, obviously
Name him “Lifesaver” but call him “Shithead.”
Yesterday we had the funeral for the Russian mom of a dear friend of mine. That old Russkie had a tabby she called by a cute Russian name that everyone thought was charming. Only a few of us knew it was Russian for “Shithead”.
Raise a Vodka for Gloria Grivna!
Igor or eye-gor.
Spike or Tank. Equally wonderful.
I ALREADY TOLD YOU HIS NAME IS PORK CHOP
Clutch was the name of my favorite dog.
Zardoz, Zed, Tabernacle, or Vortex
Tonka !
As a good libertarian, I suggest “Minion.”
“There’s a Christmas-tree aspect to the bill,” said C. Eugene Steuerle, a Treasury official during the Reagan administration and now a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. As an example, he cited the provisions in the House bill designed to appeal to the religious right.
“People want to add certain things, and if they don’t cost a lot, it’s a way to buy in agreement,” Mr. Steuerle said.
Completely unprecedented. Only in Trump’s America could this this sort of pay to play wheeling and dealing happen.
Damn did anyone else see Katherine “fake it until you make it” Mangum Ward article about how much the NYT lurves Reason? I can’t imagine why the NYT would give some space to libertarians while a Republican is the White House and their editorial board loathes libertarians and would never support their actual ideas.
That last sentence was sarcasm by the way. Libertarians are useful to the left as a stick to beat the Republicans with.
No. And if you’re going to talk about Reason, get specific and provide a link. Enact the fucking labor.
http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/30/when-the-new-york-times-tells-the-presid
It baffles me that they think attention from the NYT’s is going to motivate their readership to donate.
This is proof of the libertarian moment obviously. Not that the NYT is giving ink to them because they oppose Trump and will safely ignore anything actually libertarian they will say.
An unsigned editorial about one about one thing they agree with libertarians on. And they oppose the wall because Trump supports it rather than anything else. Not like they will ever endorse Welch’s views on taxes or Healthcare…
The “alt right” (I’m using it the way the left uses it) is succeeding because they’re irreverent and funny. Reason is failing for the same reasons the Libertarian Party fails. It thinks it can win respectability by playing the same game as its respected colleagues in DC. They just get laughed at behind their backs and occasionally used as minor play things.
GayJay’s Aleppo moment shows you what “respectability” will get you.
And what do libertarians offer the elites? Nothing. Loss of money and power and ceding territory to the Sanders/Warren types.
The LP needs to kick over the apple cart and actually put someone front and center who believes in and can articulate libertarian ideas. Their current middle of the road approach and putting forth national candidates who have flunked out of the two major parties will never get them anywhere.
ZARDOZ WISHES ALL BRUTALS DROVE LIKE THIS
ZARDOZ, I have better Trucking Cleansers for you!
http://www.chch.com/something-never-seen-life-multiple-fatalities-fiery-hwy-400-crash/
Geez, that’s awful. So much heat that they will have to repave the highway??
RIP those who died, and Godspeed to the injured.
I made this little meme up for posting on Facebook next time one of my friends goes whole-hog RUSSIANS HACKED THE ELECTION!! or other such crap.
Yeah, I’m not that good with photoshop.
I’m conflicted on it. Very funny, but you’ve covered the hair. That could cause a rift in the time-space continuum.
Yeah, you could just about put the soviet/russia pin directly on his hair and get the same effect.
I figure by now most people know who he is. What I can’t figure out is how he is on the *history* channel. Seems debatable, but then again I am not an Ancient Astronaut Theorist.
I enjoy looking through the listings to see some of the shows the repulsively-named “American Heroes” Channel (the former “Military Channel”) has on. I know I’ve seen Mafia vs. KKK, and there’s something like Destination Nazi: Blueprint for Evil coming up tomorrow. I didn’t know the Nazis were American heroes.
My brother used to call the History Channel (the version about 10 years ago) the Hitler Channel because it was pretty much WWII nonstop. I like to watch American Heroes Channel (especially now they finally went widescreen HiDef) but it is weird that they have so many Nazis (please read in Inglorious Basterds Brad Pitt accent).
I just find it appalling that the “History Channel” is full of Curse of Oak Island, Forge Contests (I can’t remember the real name), Ancient Aliens, and other such completely ridiculous (as in, worthy of ridicule) crap.
DO NOT SAY BAD THINGS ABOUT FORGED IN FIRE!
When the fans burn down a couple dozen buildings, I’d say that yeah, there’s a problem.
It’s not a bad show, but History? That’s a stretch. How about creating the Manly Arts Channel and putting it over there?
Then show me some freaking history on the History channel.
hayeksplovies: It sounds like you just want a Ron Swanson channel. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
Manly Arts=Ron Swanson.
Sure, that works for me!
At least the Velocity channel has mostly stayed about cars and fast shit and not worried about getting a “correct” proportion of female hosts and commenters.
“My brother used to call the History Channel (the version about 10 years ago) the Hitler Channel because it was pretty much WWII nonstop.”
“Ah, The Luftwaffe. The Washington Generals of the History Channel.”
LOL
Well played and very topical
Kind of like how Discover got taken over by Ghost Hunters and SyFy got taken over by wrestling.
I thought the Discovery channel director or president or whatever said just 2-3 years ago that he was going to revamp the content and bring it back to documentaries rather than “reality” crap. Doesn’t seem to have happened.
No idea. I haven’t watched that channel since the end of MythBusters.
The shitiness of the photoshop adds to its charm.
Why thank you!
<>
Um, I meant to have *blushes* there, but apparently using too many “less than” and “greater than” signs looks like an HTML tag fail.
Reason says its almost half way to its goal. Have they been pimping what said goal is this year like the last few? Do they give an actual dollar amount they’re trying to achieve?
Moar.
I certainly hope we’ve hurt them in their wallets – it is the libertarian way.
KMW said that you have to fake it until you make it…
She was referring to orgasm, Winston.
So Elaine?
Sally Albright was the journalist.
Totally not spongeworthy.
Huh. I just skimmed the website looking for that info and couldn’t find it including KMW’s first post about the webathon. The amount was the sub-headline to the first post last year.
there was a moment where they said they were on a better pace than last year a few days ago.
That’s too bad.
Their bar graph doesn’t appear to have actual numbers on it. They’re about 45% of the way to…. something.
Has Trump driven the last nail in the coffin of the American Dream?
“This is a repudiation of the social contract that Franklin Roosevelt announced at the New Deal,” Joseph J. Ellis, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian, said of trimming benefits for lower- and middle-income families to finance bigger rewards for the wealthy. Health coverage would shrink under the Republican plan while multimillion-dollar estates would not have to pay a penny in taxes.
You mean people will get to keep more of their own money!? Deplorable!
I don’t even know where to begin with this one.
Last comment for a while. Can’t even.
Oh, THAT’S when I signed my Social Contract! During the Roosevelt Administration.
You would think repudiating the new deal is a good thing given that it extended the depression.
Mad Scientist- name that dog Adolph.
Names are subject to be approved by my wife. She already nixed calling him “Zardoz,” much to my disappointment.
Still leaves “Zed”
Has potential…
Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_Oz_(character)
Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez, known as “The Rat?”
Has she vetoed “STEVE SMITH”?
Hang on I’ll check…..Based on this bruise I’m going to say yes.
How bout Peanut? Those cute little brown eyebrows look like peanuts.
I already have a motorcycle named Peanut.
You could go the other way, and name the dog “Pookums”.
Tiny.
PSNI delete ‘seasons greetings’ mistletoe rape tweet warning after backlash
The PSNI faced a Twitter backlash and was accused of “trivialising rape” in a tweet warning people of their behaviour over the festive season.
On Saturday evening the force sent out a tweet saying: “If you bump into that special someone under the mistletoe tonight, remember that without consent it is rape.”
Never ever back down, just hold your ground until the drooling mob moves on to the next target. How is it that people don’t realize that yet?
nice avatar, Pappy.
Wait, I am not a lawyer, but I am pretty sure forcible rape is a very different thing than an unexpected kiss.
At worst, an unwanted and too forward kiss might earn a slap or a “fuck off!”, but a rape attempt is going to earn some copper and lead.
Or an accusation decades after the fact that could get you fired following/followed by a public shaming campaign.
You gotta figure the pendulum will swing back at some point. That’s why we need to stick to the justice system (not the Netscape guy must resign! and the NFL commish will punish you even after the cops say no basis for charges, and certainly not the Campus review and punishment). And stick to the freaking statute of limitations, which should be pretty short if the “victim” is adult.
We are in witch trial territory here, and it’s hurting the wrongfully accused now and will hurt the real victims later.
No good can come from it.
Sing it, sister!
It won’t swing to people ignoring accusations, it will swing to a societal change of avoiding the allegations.
The pendulum will swing to having chaperones and men and women being friends becoming untenable.
It will once again become common wisdom that women are too fragile to handle crass things like a workplace.
I fear you are correct, sir. I have been thinking the chaperone thing is inevitable, but it will have to be 2 chaperones, one to rep the man and one to rep the woman. Like mediators, they will be licensed.
So much for sexual liberation. Heck, we might get back to arranged marriages springing from meetings negotiated through families and religious orgs. Very weird indeed.
I have a gay male coworker who complained (to HR, not to me) because in his 2nd week, I brushed a doughnut crumb off his face 2 seconds before he was about to go in and present to the Navy. I thought I was doing him a quick favor, but he thought I harassed him.
More like seconds in a duel.
this week’s worst political cartoons
3rd place
I laffed.
So what I got out of that is the fetus is into consensual pedophilia.
Name that kid Oxymoron.
2nd place
I didn’t laff.
1st place
They’ve got that backwards.
ok that does deserve first.
Toles can out-derp almost anyone.
honorable mention
Tomorrow will be interesting. I’m going to get on Bmore’s public transportation for the first time ever. My wife is starting her new job at BWI and the drive from here is pretty brutal, I mean can be at times. So I did research and my best guessed plan at this point is for her to take the MARC from Penn Station. It’s not the only option, there’s the Light Rail which is even cheaper, but slow as a fucking turtle and passes through some sketchy areas, so we’re passing on that for now. It’s a shame because there’s a Light Rail station in walking distance from here. It’s a 13 minute drive to Penn Station and a 2 way ride from there to BWI is $5 both ways. Not too bad, with a monthly pass it’s going to only be about $4.50 a day both ways. I’m going with wifey in the morning even though I’m working from home, just to make sure everything is smooth, safe, and that she knows the process.
If there’s any MD Glibs here familiar with the systems, I’d appreciate any tips.
My experience with it is dated by 25 years. Good luck.
My experience is only based on watching The Wire. So unless you’re going to set up an experimental red light district, I’m of no help.
Heh, that already exists. I drove right by it today when wife and I left the inner harbor to get on 83 north. There’s a church on one corner of that street, on the other corner going down is all the sex shops, and on the other corner is the police station for that district. That would be Baltimore and Gay street.
Thanks, SN, but that’s ancient history, too much has changed since then. We’re just looking for some details, like is it safe for wifey to take the Light Rail from Penn Station to Mt Washington. I’m pretty confident that the MARC is fine since there are no shady stops between Penn and BWI and lots of BWI employee commuters, at least I think.
Does she carry?
In the People’s Republic of Maryland? That is one of the reasons I settled north of the Mason-Dixon (even though work is in MD).
listening to this guy tonight
it’s actually this song, now.
One of my favorites
Mine too. I hung out with the singer of this band in a bar in Ireland who does a great cover. we were pretty drunk and he just stands up and belts it out.
Moondog’s up next. Bobby bland or Herbie Hancock after that.
good news
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/12/03/commander-of-taliban-special-forces-killed-in-afghanistan-officials/23295444/
***
The commander of the Taliban’s “special forces” branch, known as the “Red Unit,” was killed last week in Helmand province by Afghan forces, according to Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said Mullah Shah Wali, also known as Mullah Naser, was killed in an air operation in Helmand.
The province is a Taliban stronghold in the heartland of Afghanistan’s lucrative drug trade.
Wali became the commander of the Taliban’s “Red Unit” as well as deputy shadow governor of Helmand province three years ago and was directly involved in Taliban offensives, the statement said.
The “Red Unit” is thought to be equipped with advanced weapons, including night vision scopes, 82mm rockets, heavy machine guns and U.S.-made assault rifles, according to the Afghan military.
***
They’ll never get another one of those.
“U.S.-made assault rifles”
Must have gotten them from Indiana.
Anyone can just drive there and pick them up.
today in you-gotta-be-shitting-me
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/03/567602293/what-living-on-100-000-a-year-looks-like
***
What Living On $100,000 A Year Looks Like
On paper, $100,000 a year is well-off. But for several households around the country, it often takes just one major expense for that to not feel like enough: student loans, childcare or housing costs.
…
And the middle class is already struggling. The median household income is roughly $59,000 a year. But around the country, even six-figure salaries for some single-person households don’t necessarily furnish financial security.
***
I wouldn’t mind making $100k a year.
Neither would I.
Look at Johnny Depp 65 million a year isn’t enough to make ends meet.
Ok so now NPR wants us to think of people squeaking by on 100k a year. It’s obviously just news for rich people, cut all their funding.
Hold your horses! It’s also news for *stupid* people.
I like NPR, although the political bias is obvious in everything they do.
But they are at least calm and nice about it.
But I like certain shows. Like Radiolab. I love Radiolab — especially the science episodes.
So… the median income in Ohio was $46,093 back in 2011. I would be ecstatic with making six figures. If it’s that big of an issue, find a cheaper place to live.
*head explodes*
If there’s any one thing that signals the triumph of leftist thinking, it’s the widely accepted belief that money belongs first to the state.
That is the line that stuck out to me as well. My money is not your claim and likewise I have no claim on somebody else for their earnings.
Also not doing a very good job, the to 10% pay about 80% of taxes.
I think it depends on where you live. I used to live in Manhattan with a decent salary and I felt pretty poor. My money just went down the drain.
Now, I live in Texas and live in what New Yorkers would consider to be a mansion. And it was cheaper than my place in New York. And I have cars now.
Relative deprivation is a bitch.
Also depends on your priorities. I don’t want a mansion or cars at this time so NYC works for me. I notice the whinger in Seattle doesn’t actually complain about his lifestyle, but rather mouths a few leftist platitudes instead.
I lived comfortably in Chicago on about $1500 a month. I had a car and a cheap apartment. In college, I lived about $700 a month with the same set-up.
How did I do it?
I drove a used car- no monthly car payments.
I didn’t have a cable bill or a fancy cellphone.
I didn’t eat out very often.
When it got cold, I put on a sweater. When It got hot, I put on shorts and a tank top.
I had no debt and rarely used credit cards.
I bought little and a lot of it came from thrift stores or big box retailers.
It doesn’t take a lot to live comfortably, but there are certain sacrifices you must make. Many people are unwilling to make them.
Sounds like my childhood through my thirties. I’m doing better now but that stuff stays with you.
Oh, and we always had a Christmas tree. I like the lady who can’t afford Christmas. How much you wanna bet every member of that family has a smartphone?
“It doesn’t take a lot to live comfortably, but there are certain sacrifices you must make. Many people are unwilling to make them.”
First world problems. How can you possibly live comfortably if you don’t drive the right car, have the latest iThiny, or be seen often at the right restaurants and bars? It’s very possible to do so and not give a fuck. You just can’t be one of the cool kids or be invited to all the good cocktail parties. But if you’re a libertarian, you can just top caring about that now since it’s not happening anyway.
OMG the best parties I ever went to were during my first few penniless years in NYC. I don’t think these were the “right” parties, though.
Yeah. When I was younger I loved NY.
Actually I still do.
Just not necessarily to live there all the time.
If I ever became extremely wealthy maybe I’ll spend half the year there and half the year in the country.
I make a bit more than I did in California, but now have quite a bit of discretionary income and savings each month; out there we lived almost paycheck to paycheck. Have a nicer house, and my electric bill in the summer (with the air running) is lower than my winter bill was in San Diego. Other than a few places to eat, and a number of people, I don’t miss it.
Let me say that I am not that fucking whiner Hugart from St. Paul (even though I have a family of 5). I would never work in St. Paul. Wrong side of the river.
Also, my wife has been a stay at home mom for our entire marriage. We wanted our kids raised the way we wanted. Also, by the time you get done paying for child care your wife’s job needs to be pretty good to make the numbers work.
My guess is that a lot of those chumps bought a McMansion when things were booming and have such a big mortgage that they can’t absorb any bump. We have a few friends like that. Their houses are beautiful, but they are one layoff away from complete financial ruin. My wife and I have been living in the same modest house for the last 20+ years.
I will be the first one to admit I’m horrible with money, but I’d be smarter than these chuckle heads.
Yeah, I’m thinking there are a lot of bad choices they’re not telling us about.
I’m close to that bracket (just under 90k) and so are most of my friends. Most people spend more than they can afford. A $2000 a month 30 year mortgage, two $500+ per month cars, a motorcycle, new furniture every few years, etc. And of course zero saved for retirement.
Then I ask if they wanna golf on a weekend and they say they have to wait until payday. It’s enough money that you don’t need to live paycheck to paycheck but no matter the income some people always will.
My sister took a stay-at-home situation for the early years of her kiddos’ childhood when she realized they were getting the day care workers’ accents and grammar instead of hers.
My husband’s favorite book and required reading “The Millionaire Next Door”:
http://www.thomasjstanley.com/publication/the-millionaire-next-door/
That was an eye opening read for me.
I’m guessing it’s a lot of “be frugal” and such. Which is kind of how I am by nature. But a lot of people want to enjoy life now, dammit. I can’t really blame them. It’s a trade-off. Hell, sometimes I wonder “what if”.
I haven’t read the book, but long term planning is important, as are long term goals. Live in the now, run out of money now.
I know that when I’m on my death bed in 2050-2060ish, I’m not going to say “Thank god I leased that Range Rover back in 2015!!!!”
I’m pretty well off, and one of the biggest factors is decades of making the right choices.
State school. Work in college. Move in with the girlfriend to save on rent. Drive a car until it doesn’t run anymore. Travel in the off-season, if at all. Take the job that pays the most, even if you aren’t going to “actualize”, snowflake.
I hear my neighbors bitching about this shit, and it’s incredible. I have one neighbor who complains about never having enough money, and in the garage are 2 leased His and Hers Range Rovers. I want to say “What the fuck is wrong with you, man?”, but I just shake my head and walk away.
From Playa’s school of personal finance: If money is tight, do not lease 2 $80,000 cars.
Oh, and trash goes IN the trash can people. I can’t stress that enough.
yeah, anyone who complains while leasing that (twice?!) is an idiot.
even a used Audi makes more sense and wouldn’t lose the entire look they are clearly after.
I read/lurked with interest the thread on favorite trucks/cars/SUVs the other day.
It’s odd, but I still think of my 2000 Ford Expedition as “new”. It was the first car I ever bought new from the lot. Even configured it online and waited for it to made as I wanted (V8, 5.3, burgundy, etc etc). Has a freakin’ cassette deck, for Pete’s sake! It just hit 115 miles last year ( I have a great commute).
It is starting to rust here and there but I kind of want to get it rest-o-modded rather than change to aluminum or something non-Ford.
OK, that’s of course 115,000 miles. I don’t work in my closet.
Pfffft. I’ve got 207,000 miles on my 2011 Prius.
That’s only 20,000 Ford Expedition miles.
Hah! Part of the reason for my low mileage is that for the last 10 years, I have lived 2.4 miles from my workplace. Also contributing are that I couldn’t drive for about a year after I utterly destroyed my leg (right foot at 180 degrees from normal–not good, and never gonna be normal). Then I had the fun epilepsy diagnosis that parted me from a driver’s license for about 6 months until the doc said (quite correctly–) “yep, she is just fine on Keppra. Give her back her damn license.” He has to say so every year and is quite amiable about it, even when the state Effs it up.
I used to drive to Oklahoma to see fam every year (1000 miles from Minnesota home) but now I just fly.
The Expedition might end up outlasting me. I love it.
I’m conflicted. I have an ’07 minivan. Still looks great, but there’s an alignment/suspension problem that can’t be fixed. I’m going through a set of tires every 18 months, and I’m getting really tired of it. I was expecting to drive it for another 5 years, but I think it’s time to trade it in. Just bought 4 new tires today.
I’m not sure if I want to go with another minivan, or an SUV. I’m browsing cars.com right now.
When you take out huge college loans and then decide you’re going to just work a part time job, you have no business complaining about the results of your bad choices. Working a part time job and your salary is stagnating…no shit, Sherlock. That’s kind of how part time work is.
I read recently that combining parts of 2 plans instead of going with one or the other often leads to something which combines the worst parts of both plans.
Thoughts?
With Congress that’s basically a guarantee.
I’m going to make a cake or a pie. I’ll take half of each recipe and mix them up and see what happens.
Let’s see if we can come up with the worst parts of both plans and predict what they’re going to do.
There’s a reason ‘generate hybrid alternatives’ should come before ‘evaluate the alternatives’ in your decision making process.
This one’s a doozy.
SERVICE WITH A SMILE
Are restaurants inherently unjust?
by NATHAN J. ROBINSON
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/12/service-with-a-smile
***
I have always been uncomfortable in restaurants. I don’t like them. There’s something about being served that feels instinctively wrong. Why should I sit there doing nothing while somebody makes my dinner for me and brings it to me? Why should they have to clear my plate away? Shouldn’t I contribute in some way? My server is a total stranger to me. It’s not like they invited me over for the pleasure of my company. Not only do they have to serve the whole meal, but they don’t even get to sit and eat it with me. This doesn’t feel like the way meals should be conducted.
…
For the socialist, it’s not enough that people are equal “in the eyes of God” or at the ballot box. In fact, for most socialists, it wouldn’t even be enough for everyone to have equal amounts of material possessions. There also needs to be a kind of interpersonal equality in which people feel like each other’s comrades, or at least recognize each other’s equal humanity.
…
The nature of a lot of restaurant work is miserable, at least according to the anarchist pamphlet “Abolish Restaurants.”
…
The first thing I think we have to agree is that as long as the person serving is doing so only because it’s the work that is available to them, rather than because it’s the work they’d like to do, we should be uncomfortable. Second, of course, everyone needs to be making good money and working reasonable hours and operating in clean and comfortable conditions. But then, of course, there’s that interpersonal aspect: customers should feel much more like visitors than customers, and they shouldn’t have any kind of actual power and should always be expected to behave well. To me, the fact that you can go to jail for possession of cocaine but not for being rude to a waiter is clear evidence of a society with warped values.
…
It’s not clear whether being wealthy turns you into a sociopath, or whether sociopaths disproportionately pursue and amass wealth. But either way, wealthy people end up being more entitled, more unscrupulous, and less charitable than non-wealthy people.
…
What I’d like, and I know it sounds impossible, is a world in which nobody has to sell their dignity in order to make a living. That means the end to Service With A Smile, to anyone having to be false to somebody else because that other person is in a superior social position.
***
You do, you fucking nitwit! It’s called “compensating them for their labor by paying your bill.”
I must admit- as dumb as NJR is, he does make me laugh.
I’m just filled with rage.
reading his work in an exaggeratedly-phony english accent adds a lot to them.
How can anyone possibly be this stupid? My 6 year old understands the world better than this.
6 year old niece*
Pretty much everyone I was friends with in high school thinks somewhat like this. In highschool we mostly made jokes and talked about things like video games and movies, but it seems like everyone has gone from apolitical in 2015 to full prog TDS.
Y’know, I’ve visited a couple commie countries and would you believe it – they still have restaurants with waiters and shit!
My favorite part is that it’s obvious he’s never worked a menial job. That’s why he had to research what it’s like to work in a restaurant.
I hope his parents are proud. They raised a human-shaped hunk of jello.
Typical of the left media – none of them have ever done the jobs of the proletariat they claim to speak for.
And most of them couldn’t if they tried.
And the service was shitty.
On this topic, I prefer the model used in Europe and Australia (maybe others): that wait staff choose it as a career are good at it, and are well paid by their employers for it (hence the absence of tipping in these countries); contrast with our North American model, where wait staff are low skilled and thus low paid, and I, as the customer, am expected to top up the wages of the girl who does a shitty job because she’d rather be doing another job.
The only market-driven way I can see to try to effect this change is to not tip, but that seems futile, and I don’t want to be a dick to the server girl.
Some are good. Not enough, probably, but some really do seem to like the role.
Depends. Go to any diner in the NYC area and the waitresses are as skilled as you could possibly hope for & clearly enjoy their jobs. I have never had a bad experience. It is certainly not a job for everyone but you’re WAY off the mark here.
I don’t have any experience with NYC diners, but, you’re right, there are good ones. I can think of a couple here in my own neighbourhood who’ve been here since we moved here 12 years ago, and they are good. They’re older, and, AFAIK, they’ve been doing it their entire adult lives. But they’re the exception, rather than the rule. Most are early 20-somethings who are doing it until they figure out what they want to do with their lives.
To be fair, most of the places I think about aren’t like that.
I, in fact, tried it myself long ago – and I was terrible at it. So I quickly found something else to do.
I have trouble believing wait staff are not low skilled everywhere. The job simply requires very little skill and I don’t see any way to change that.
People skills are a skill. A valuable one, at that.
Sure but unlike something like sales where people skills are necessary to make money, in waiting it’s optional. When the customer enters the restaurant they intend to purchase something. That puts the skill requirement around clerks.
And when I lived in Germany waiting didn’t strike me as any more of a career there than anywhere else.
Thus, tips.
Good waitresses/waiters can make a ton of money.
There are a couple of places in Chicago I go to a lot because the waiter or waitress is really good. They make good suggestions, (at the Weber Grill restaurant one guy will bring you the high ABV% beer in an “adult” sized glass if you ask).
I usually tip very well for that type of service. Also when the German overlords are in town we try to steer them to one of those places and then waaaaaaay overtip on the corporate card.
If you eat out, you will see that there are levels of competence to waiting. Being able to remember everyone’s orders, make small talk and act like you are grateful for your customer’s trade are all skills that a lot of waiters don’t seem to have.
If waiting made much of a difference then there would be many restaurants adopting it. There’s more evidence a nice set of tits is better for the bottom line since several chains cater to that while very few if any bother with high end waiting as a gimmick.
You need to expand your dining experiences.
In a town like mine where restaurants are very competitive, it’s not a “gimmick”. It’s a survival technique.
At the bar and grills round here I notice that the eye candy girls have about a six month window before the regulars get tired of the shitty service and the poor girl finds out that ‘nice tits’ are plentiful and that ‘new tits’ are just as if not more appreciated. Also each of these establishments has a least one beloved ‘old timer’ who at one time may have been the eye candy but still works there, faded looks and all, she is undoubtedly the favorite of the regulars because she knew looks may have got her in the door but quality service is what pays her bills.
Everyone’s favorite waitress at our go-to 4AM restaurant in Buffalo was a crotchety old lady that knew how to handle us. She probably cleaned up in tips.
Hyperbole gets it.
Now that my hubby and I are middle aged, when we go into new bars, it’s a crap shoot. If the servers are millennials, they tend to assume we are old and uninteresting and not going to drink much or tip well (So so wrong). If they are older and more experienced, it goes really well.
My hubs is an ex bartender with over 25-30 yrs experience, so he does not tolerate crappy bartending. At all.
Seems to be getting worse with the Millennials–are they not trained or do they not see Middle Aged as humans??
One of the first things I noticed in Brazil my first few visits, is that the quality of service in all bars and restaurants is just unbelievably good compared to in the USA, and people there very rarely tip.
This is utter horseshit (along with everything else he says)
I waited tables and worked in bars/restaurants. it wasn’t the only work that was available to me: but it was the quickest cash with the most flexible hours.
when you’re working while studying in college, you take shifts where you are available, not on the arbitrary whims of the job. And you take home cash every single time you work: you don’t wait for a check.
e.g. take retail, for example (which i also worked). You usually need to be in the store whether they’re busy or not. And they have to pay you whether they’re selling lots or little. Its more-predictable income, but its not a better use of your time.
restaurants are where you get paid a lot if you’re busy, and if you’re not…. you can usually skip out and some other server will take the business.
its the fucking flexibility that makes it the appealing choice for actors, musicians, or students.
same here. Add decent to good people skills, and a better restaurant or ideally a bar, and the cash flow is perfect for the time.
If you’ve ever dealt with bartenders/waitstaff in the UK or France or (@!()#$) Italy…. you’d never say this.
Or i can’t believe you would.
What’s this “Good at it/skilled” stuff anyway? Its a zero-skills job aside from personality and attention to detail. ‘good’ means they’re attentive and friendly. Which the incentive of tips creates. Waitstaff in europe, in my experience, tend to treat you like shit they scraped off their shoes. Because they don’t care whether you have a great experience or a blah one.
I worked for a british company for ~9 years, and about half our US employees were shipped over from UK or the continent. Every single one of them who came over for more than a few months made about a dozen of the same “wow, something about America that surprised me”-comments, about 1/3 of which were related to ‘food’. In particular: utter amazement at the amount/diversity of foodservice available, the enormity of the portions provided, and especially the unbelievable degree of attention/friendlyness of waitstaff.
Tipping always had to be explained, and they tended to find it awkward (particularly at bars or cabs; “Tip every time? really?”) But almost no one bitched for long, once they figured out that competition for their $ kept nominal costs about 30% cheaper than in Europe.
Contemplate this on the Tree of Woe: As a PhD student in Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Robinson gets, at minimum, a $33,120 yearly stipend just for breathing.
Indeed, I agree. I lived in the NL for almost three years and I worked bar jobs for a good time of that. You do not make anywhere close to what you would make at a fairly decently busy bar here (I also worked at a couple Irish bars in and near SF). American service is pretty darn good, although there is of course a fair bit of variation. I didn’t find service in Europe to be very impressive. I will also agree with Hyp that service in bars and restaurants in Brazil is almost always exceptional.
“In fact, for most socialists, it wouldn’t even be enough for everyone to have equal amounts of material possessions. There also needs to be a kind of interpersonal equality in which people feel like each other’s comrades, or at least recognize each other’s equal humanity.”
There’s nothing like lining people up and shooting them to get you to understand the humanity of your fellow man, huh?
Little boy fancies himself the next Tom Wolfe.
No fancy facts, no jokes, just tits. Great group!
http://archive.is/3Rdp1
3, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15, 25… all the rest…
I’ve been passing your collections around to a few of my friends. The Tits are a Hit; thank you for your contribution here, comrade.
Comrade?
*eyes Gordilocks suspiciously*
*Eyes Chipping Pioneers Sarcasm Meter*
*zips up pants*
*Schoolgirl giggle*
Happy to be of service.
Do-it-yourself Derp
Here are my most common sources:
collegefix
campus reform
huffpo
fox news
vox
upi news
current affairs
the atlantic
jacobin
alternet
truthdig
slate
salon
thom hartmann
thinkprogress
everyday feminism
Vice was better when Gavin McWhatever was running it:
Dear White People, Please Stop Pretending Reverse Racism Is Real
It’s literally impossible to be racist to a white person.
https://www.vice.com/sv/article/kwzjvz/dear-white-people-please-stop-pretending-reverse-racism-is-real
As a long-time resident of various rust-belt cities, I have to laugh at this. It is not only possible but quite common.
You’re just not taking your own privilege and the intersectional power differential inherent in whiteness into account. Go watch some Farrakhan speeches and report back.
The most common kind really. And the only example supported by “institutions” and the government.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means
That Eddie Murphy skit where he walks around in white face was a documentary, literally.
Are restaurants inherently unjust?
by NATHAN J. ROBINSON
That was… special.
That person is too dumb to be used as fertilizer.
Here are my most common sources:
No Bill Moyers?
I am disappoint.
Bully Bush takes Trump to task and desperately tries to regain relevance. What a worm this guy is, par for the course for the Bush gene pool though,
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/03/opinion/billy-bush-trump-access-hollywood-tape.html
LOL what a saint.
Trump tricked him!!!!
Also, maybe he wasn’t thinking clearly.
He should write an expose on his ass grabbing uncle or grandpa or whatever HW is to him.
For you crazy kids
You might be the crazy one, but thanks for the late night/early morning share.
Wake up and smell the derp.
The wealthy should not be allowed to reproduce
http://star.txstate.edu/2017/10/08/20228/
***
It is unethical for the wealthy to have children, not because they may outstep some preordained boundary, but because the system that creates their wealth is fundamentally destructive. When a couple that benefits from this exploitative system decide to have a child, they are also reproducing the system itself.
The world, as we know it, faces imminent collapse. Suspending reproduction rights for the wealthy alone will not solve this problem, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.
— Brad Waldraff is a philosophy senior
***
Brad Waldraff, the glory of the TX St Philosophy Department,
Fuck off, slaver.
Also, suspect from his asinine ethical stance that statement that he is a…Kuntian…
Probably gonna get lost before the morning links but for Pan – “Marathon Family” just got back in stock at Small Serbian Shop so I ordered a copy for myself and a few extra copies to send to some other folks (as well as another copy of Technotise to send to someone else). I’ll try and get a review of it in for January.
Huzzah, ask me if you have any questions about it, and hopefully I can answer them – I’ve seen it too many times to count, and read the 70s play that came first.
The ending is unintentionally prophetic, I don’t think the director/screenwriter had any idea what was going to happen ten years later…
Someone wake sloop up!