Time to get back to work, you damn dogs. Well, after you check your bracket to see how you’re stacking up. I can officially say that I’m not doing too well. Anyway, the links are why we’re here. Not to gloat over Duke going down or to bitch about how the officials all but handed a few big favorites their games. So let’s get down to business.
Rand Paul speaks some wisdom. Let’s see if Paul Ryan and the rest of the GOP listen.
Confirmation hearings start today for Neil Gorsuch. And Team Blue are looking for every possible way to Bork him. Good luck…especially those of you that voted to confirm him last time around.
Are illegal aliens voting? They sure seem to have been in Frederick County, MD.
Wisconsin Department of Justice gets one right. Predictably, the police unions are not happy.
Sheila Jackson-Lee does what Sheila Jackson-Lee’s gonna do. Which, in this case like so many others, means she’s going full retard.
Artist (claims she was) threatened with death over Trump billboard in Arizona. Of course, she probably won’t get thrown onto a hate-crime watch list like people depicting Obama in a negative light did by the SPLC. But I’m sure there’s no double-standard there.
And now, The Police!
Comments
323 responses to “Monday Morning Links”
Oddly I spend too much time here and not enough time here.
I miss half the threads I want to participate in because of when they drop, but I sae a jeep in my rearview mirror over the weekend and the first thing that came to mind was “DOOMco”
How dare we be treated like the civillians we are!
Saying Sheila Jackson-Lee went full retard implies that she doesn’t have a permanent residence there. She’s like the Kansas of the Congressional stupidity tournament.
“We have martial law. What that means – and my colleagues know what it means – is that you can put a bill on in just minutes.”
Sheila Jackson Lee, October 7, 2013
Those words. I know what they mean, but together… I’m so confused.
in the very article you linked to =
“Y’all just can’t talk shit like that” is now a criminal-charge, according to legal-ninja SJL.
Politicians lying? Stretching the truth? Bending reality? Shocking. Just unbelievable.
“Don’t condemn the gangbangers, they’ve got guns that are trafficked, that are not enforced, that are straw purchased and they come into places even that have strong gun laws. Why? Because we don’t have sensible gun legislation.”
Sheila Jackson Lee, April 9, 2013
Challenging Maxine Waters for the title of stupidest person ever elected to congress.
“I stand here as a freed slave because this Congress came together.”
Sheila Jackson Lee, February 13, 2013
Who says she wasn’t committed? Oh, sorry, they say she wasn’t committed to a mental hospital.
“You know that I’m going to, first of all, denounce the utilization of this intrusion of Wikipedia, through the Russian intrusion. That’s what this is about.”
Sheila Jackson Lee, October 21, 2016
Sloopy, too much Derp exposure can cause lasting damage. Are you all right?
Yeah, I almost flew too close to the derp sun there. My wings were getting hot, so I flew away after that one.
Is this all we’re gonna hear for the next four to (maybe) eight years?
That they’re gonna call for his impeachment?
Trump clogged the toilet bowl with his purple shit! IMPEACH HIM!
Team Blue congressmen actually held mock impeachment trials for GWB.
Purple? Are you saying he shits bipartisanship?
12) Former White House staffer during Obama administration “https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2017/03/19/hollywood-is-making-a-rom-com-about-the-obama-white-house-staff/”> signs seven-figure book deal. This, on top of the allegedly $65 million deal Obama signed for his book.
As a writer, I know I’m supposed to consider celebrity book deals as what makes the good books possible. Because they are almost guaranteed to make publishers money, no matter how dumb they are, it’s the celebrity books that let publishers take chances on the unknown authors, the literary books, the professional mid-listers who are trying to make a living on their writing. Never mind that a celebrity gets millions and new writers are lucky to get a $10,000 advance, that’s just how the game is played.
But these recent Obama deals really strain my credulity. I mean, even if it’s the best thing since Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, can Obama’s next book(s?) really make back $65 million? Is that possible? To think that, you would have to believe the musings of a mostly-failed, not especially active ex-president will still hold the interest of tens of millions of people a year or more from now. Even less likely is that the staffer’s inside account of the administration will generate any widespread interest.
Am I wrong? Is there really that much potential for book sales here? Is this a hard-headed business decision? I mean, I guess Penguin Random House hasn’t made it this long without knowing their market, right? Or is this some kind of social signaling on the publishers’ part? Who cares about the shareholders, so long as the editors and company officers still get their invites to the best soirees in Manhattan?
Pretty much my sentiments. For $65 million he’s going to have to do better than Marcus Aurelius, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Weber, Madison, Jefferson, von Clausewitch and whoever else COMBINED.
And from what we know of him, he possesses a shallow, superficial intellectual mind. To this day, I have yet to read a single thesis or essay or vision from this guy. Except, of course, for his penchant to say insipid things.
Speaking of which, how strange for a guy who said ‘you didn’t build that’ gets $65 million for not being productive not only in the private sector but where intellectual writings are concerned. What exactly has this guy built?
What you guys don’t realize is that Bill Ayers has been working on the book for 8 years already. It’s his magnum opus.
Criminal rat ass bum is all he is to me.
These book deals are the Obama version of the Clinton speaking fees. Basically it isn’t much more than some form of money laundering. I doubt that book dealer will make a penny of selling these books, and that was never the point anyway. Someone should investigate where the money they paid Obama for this book which very likely, based on past cases, will be bought and put into storage by special interests, came from in the first place…
“You didn’t build that” was one of the more honest things BO ever said. If you’ve lived an entire life of having people hand you power, money and success, of course you would fail to understand how people actually build things from the ground up.
It was a bit of a flub but I think it betrays a deeper misunderstanding on Obama’s part about the nature of wealth formation. His original sentiment is that successful businesses are fundamentally reliant on public infrastructure to operate. Fine, as far as it goes that’s true. In fact it’s such an obvious and prosaic observation that only a partisan like BHO could make it seem either profound or inflammatory. But Obama seems to think that things like roads and water utilities and court systems are granted from on high by beneficent deities, for whom he is their mortal prophet bringing the good word of government largess. That’s the really stupid part about his otherwise eyeroll-worthy sermon on infrastructure, that he gets it exactly backwards. Successful businesses built the infrastructure by dint of generating enough capital for government to pilfer to provide for the basic civil necessities, and also to undertake breathtakingly stupid boutique projects. The fact that the things government does that we rely on are so riddled by incompetence and corruption should be a lesson to men like BHO who make a living evangelizing for still more government spending, but of course in their world graft and waste are just part of what it takes to get your name on a public building.
Shit is a mystery, man. When I run into writer friends and acquaintances at cons and so forth one of the recurring topics of conversation is just what the hell is the deal with major publishers. Is it really just as simple as milking the Stephen King’s of the world for operating capital and then just taking a flyer on whatever else? God knows they’re not giving the money to horror writers that don’t hail from Maine, that’s for damn sure. But yeah, are they really selling enough romance novels and kid lit to throw $65 mil at an ex-president and expect to make that money back?
Although, I will say that when I worked a part-time gig at Starbucks a few years back (during that booming Obama economic recovery) everyone who worked there got a copy of Howard Whatshisface’s book for free. There was a box full of the things in the back. They might have just walked down to the Barnes and Noble a few doors down and bought the whole shipment. There are definitely companies where the result of some half-day meeting of middle management results in the purchase of a pallet full of motivational books for the grunts, so maybe that’s it.
I can’t say he’s a friend, as if asked about me will probably have no idea who I am, but I had several conversations with William King (British Fantasy Author) at a convention. Despite selling reliably, he has trouble convincing companies to publish his work because they are not blockbusters – ie they make money but don’t set records. It led into a discussion of how the traditional houses are chasing blockbusters and letting even just reliable income streams slide in favor of the next big hit. He’s since gone on to independant publishing where, as stated, his book still sell decently enough for him to live on. It was this meeting that led me to abandon my pursuit of the old gatekeepers and go into independant publishing instead.
Same thing happened in the record industry. There used to be stables of bands whose records would just crack gold but no more. Now all the studios are oriented around getting a Beyonce or a Bieber, and don’t really even know how to market or nurture the mid-range acts.
It’s a legal money-laundering scheme. The publishers know that his wealthy supporters will buy the books in bulk as a way of filling Obama’s coffers without making direct bribes in the millions of dollars.
Well obviously it’s a scam. Bribes become legal if you do them in the open. Like paying some connected person’s daughter $600,000 to pretend to be a reporter for a year. Or giving some Chicago politician’s wife $350,000/ year to be on the board of a hospital. Or selling said politician some real estate at below market, incurring a huge loss for some reason..
But why pay Obama $65 million now ? He’s out of office. Does he still have that much juice in the Democrat party ?
Why do you think he’s staying in DC and running a shadow government? Otherwise he might have to work for a living, and he has little in the way of productive skills.
My guess: It sends a message to other pols that if they play ball, they, too, can cash in upon their retirement.
Gotta remember that the politician you see is the puppet. The people pulling the strings play a long game. Holding out the promise of a lucrative “pension” of book deals and speaking engagements in exchange for cooperation today makes sense.
+$65M truckloads of pulped books
Gives new meaning to the term “pulp fiction.”
Damn, you beat me to it..
Engineer Creates Sex Robot That Needs To Be Romanced First
creepy photo
You can’t stop the signal, Mal.
That sounds like it would defeat the purpose of having such a robot.
“And the best part? …Is that she’s learning.”
How long until “not tonight, I have a headache” enters her vocabulary?
“Not tonight, I have a security patch to load”
I got your security patch right here baby
Sweet, will Version 2 bitch at me until I take the trash out?
there’s also the “buy me some flowers” patch, and the “get the dog between us” upgrade.
Oh, jesus, I’d pay for the downgrade to remove the “Ask the dog to get back under the covers, she thinks you’re mad at her” patch.
With the spray tan, botox lips, and fake boobs — she looks more realistic?
His first attempt to make a sex robot, and he makes it a tranny?
And there are guys out there who this robot will turn down.
Talk about a blow to the ego. Can’t even woo a sexbot.
Man accused of posing as dentist allegedly cooked meth in office
“The rates I got paid for dentisrty weren’t enough, so I had to make meth.”
You ever heard of “meth mouth”? He was just trying to create a few new customers.
Someone should have told him that Orin Scrivello, D.D.S was a fictional character.
Reuters continues the Red Scare…
Russian elite invested nearly $100 million in Trump buildings
Is there anyone from Russia with money to invest internationally that isn’t “politically connected”?
Given the manner in which they privatized, the answer is obvious.
Just because other people didn’t think to buy a billion dollar company for four bucks fifty does not mean the sale was crooked.
How much do wealthy Russians invest in the average US luxury development? Unless the rate in these Trump properties is highly disproportionate, this article doesn’t mean anything.
Weird. So, is Russia the new Japan of the 80s? Will there be some dystopian sci-fi where Russia has bought the Statue of Liberty and we’re all walking around buying things with Nurubles?
I’d be satisfied if they’d just buy their goddamn Lenin statue back.
Is that thing still around? Someone should dynamite it.
The key statement is that they are “Trump Branded”.
We should build a Trump Branded Casino.
The Trump Casino and Hotel in Tunica, MS.
FBI director to testify on Russia ties, alleged wiretap
I hope both sides take turns calling him a worthless fuck and meditating on whether he has the honor to resign.
Resign?!
*puts package with bottle of sake, ceremonial knife, rice paper, quill and ink back into closet*
If he had that sort of honor, he would already have solved the problem for us.
Would it be inappropriate to mail order him a couple of Samurai weapons?
Damn. If you can’t trust a nice classy outfit like Duke to win who can you trust?
Can’t say how good I’m doing this being the first time I do something like this but I am going to go for not that bad all things considered
Who exactly is Goody?
A wizard, apparently.
Randy fetishist filmed ‘having sex’ with three MOTORBIKES after disgusted owners find holes cut in their seats
Is your motorbike, you know, a goer?
Don’t fuck with another man’s vehicle
I’m sorry but I’m going to have to get judgemental.
UCS is a bigot towards machine spirits.
You should not get your vile biological matter all over the sacred machine.
Don’t hate on people who are sexually fluid, but it’s fine to hate on people who get sexy with vehicle fluid… I see the double standards.
I told him he was welcome to the machine.
50cc? The dude’s obviously a autopedophile
“autopedophile” sounds like a child narcissist.
pedoautophile?
Mopedophile. Jeez.
Huh, how did I miss that?
“mopedophile”?
No, mopedophile means you like fat girls.
Yeah, it’s not really a longshot prediction he’s making. The Freedom Caucus hates teh Ryan bill, and there are a handful of R senators who will also vote against it.
“Are illegal aliens voting? They sure seem to have been in Frederick County, MD.”
See, I know this article is wrong, because it starts off “The debate over noncitizens voting was a hot topic a few years ago in Frederick County,”
A few years ago? I’ve read multiple times within the past year that there is no need to investigate illegal immigrant voting because there are practically no instances of it. How could national publications like the WaPo or the NYT overlook a problem with noncitizen voting–not in some flyover state, but in a county within the DC metro area? Simply not possible.
Please refrain from including Fake News like this in the future, Sloopy.
The argument I keep getting is “There’s no reason to look for evidence of illegal votes because we don’t see any evidence (despite not looking currently)”
I keep my doors and windows unlocked and open, and I don’t keep a running tally of my belongings. I’ve found there to be no evidence of burglary in my home., so no need to change my ways, right?
Well, the retort I’ve heard is that, sure, there might be a few instances of illegals voting, but it’s statistically insignificant. To which I usually reply, “No, the number of cases that have been _discovered_ is small. That’s like saying there probably isn’t a fire because you only see some smoke.”
Illegal immigrants can get driver’s licenses:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/maryland-law-expanding-drivers-licenses-for-illegal-immigrants-takes-effect-on-wednesday/2013/12/31/81cf605c-7245-11e3-8def-a33011492df2_story.html?utm_term=.bb8fb90bd734
And it looks like it’s very easy to vote in MD.
“go to an early voting center in the county where you live and bring a document that proves where you live. This document can be your MVA-issued license, ID card, or change of address card, or your paycheck, bank statement, utility bill, or other government document with your name and new address.”
One can also register online or by mail — with only a driver’s license.
So here’s what you need to get a license or state-issued ID in Maryland:
http://www.mva.maryland.gov/drivers/apply/sources-of-proof.htm
If you register to vote online, you have to provide the serial number from one of those forms of ID. Otherwise, you just send in an application to the board of elections, and they in theory verify the citizenship.
I’m not sure about other states, but in Maryland the quality of the people who work at the various county board of elections is about what you’d find at any county-level government bureaucracy, and they’re the people in charge of doing the verification. I don’t know how many people register to vote annually, or what percentage of those are paper registrations, but I can only imagine that clerical errors abound.
Besides which, you can always cast a provisional ballot whether you’re registered or not. It’s counted initially in a separate pile, and if the difference between the non-provisional votes is such that the provisionals would make a difference, they check them and add them to the tally.
Reason assured me that this is unpossible!!!
New Study In D.C. Finds That A $15 Minimum Wage Could Cost 1,200 Jobs
Totally worth it
Creating a permanant underclass one feel-good legislation at a time.
At least early progressive academics admitted the purpose of the min. wage was to freeze out cheap immigrant labor who were seen as lowering the wages for old stock anglo-saxons. It was done on purpose.
What’s the reason today? Oh, right they’ve fooled themselves into claiming it’s for ‘a living wage’. They can’t even keep to their own plot.
But the result will be the same – the squeezing out of a segment of the labor force.
Min. wage is evil.
It was also to force out blacks, and non-union workers.
It’s part of the new fad where everything (Healthcare, wifi, organic broccoli) is a “human right” and so if you agree to work for less than $15 an hour your employer is violating your rights as a person.
Paying less than $15/hour is exploitation of black bodies.
If it came from the DC bureaucracy. the number’s probably off by a factor of ten.
That is only missing it by a zero, and a zero is the same as not missing it at all.
/Prog Maths
The problem also is not only the lost jobs, but the new jobs that are never created. If I recall my Econ 101, that would be the exotic concept known as “opportunity cost.”
SJ-L may not be a sentient creature. Of course this Congress Critter may not be either. I have no idea how the Naval officer kept a straight face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7XXVLKWd3Q
Derp has got to derp.
Derp will always find a way.
“Those who survived the San Francisco earthquake said, ‘Thank God, I’m still alive.’ But, of course, those who died, their lives will never be the same again.”
-Senator Barbara Boxer
That was Admirall Willard who was my CO in the Navy. He was pretty good keeping a straight face.
One time, I had a guy working for me sent to Captain’s Mast (Non Judicial Punishment, or Article 15 for you non navular types). And while I was waiting for my guy’s case to be called, he adjudicated a case of a sailor who wrote three bad checks.
When the charges were read, we were dying, since every check had been written to a shop that purveyed adult “novelties”, and the items he had bought included things like “edible underwear” and lubricant etc. Willard kept a straight face as he questioned the guy, questioned his chain of command, etc.
Later that evening, I was standing watch on the bridge and I asked him how the hell he kept a straight face while handling that case. He smiled, gestured with his hands and said, “That is the hardest part of this job…” and he stared off into space shaking his head.
And knowing him as well as I do, I can assure you he was definitely suppressing laughter at that moment.
He is a Cimmerian. He cannot laugh. So I will laugh for him.
Former Law Student: Gorsuch Told Class Women ‘Manipulate’ Maternal Leave
I suppose it’s immaterial that Gorsuch is correct, I’ve know many women to have done this over the years I’ve been employed. Incentives matter.
A friend of mine worked for a European company that gave 6 month maternity leave. He had a boss that had Irish twins then left the company at the end.
It can go as high as two years here.
As a former rep at my pay roll company once said of our extended mat leave, ‘you guys rock.’
Woo!
Right now the law in Romania is 2 years at 85% of your average pretax income over the last year of work. I have a friend which was on long term assignment in Vienna just before getting pregnant and she now makes in maternity leave about 4 times the average wage for Romania.
Good lord
Only 85% of male collegauges?!? Good lord, this income inequality is world wide!
How come they never interviewed Obama’s former students?
I would love to know what his ratings were on ‘Rate my teacher.’
Everybody that was taught by Obama loved him, duh!
Erdogan is dropping his mask. Maybe he’ll succeed where Mustafa Pasha failed.
So … crusade?
I’ve been wondering if the inevitable backlash is going to be more like the crusades, Vlad Drakul, or the third reich.
I got my money on post-Reconquista Spain myself.
D: The Reconquista took seven hundred years! It only finished in 1492. I don’t want to wait for 2717.
Alas impalement fell out of favor round here these last few years
There is always the classic of lining the roads with the crucified. Didn’t hear about many large slave revolts after the Spartacus revolt was put down.
Impalement is so 14th century, we have woodchippers now
Deus Vult, muthafucka!
I suppose ‘Non nobis domine’ doesn’t really work in this context…
Yeah, too wordy.
At least a healthy dose of Winged Hussars.
He’s just looking out for the Turks.
Taking a page from Senator Palpatine’s playbook, is he?
Why’s he plagiarizing every Muslim head of state for the last 800 years without citing them?
My Greek friends were right all along. Keep Turkey out of the EU. A leopard doesn’t change its spots and all that.
And yet Pan Zagloba trusts the new Turk, when his people were basically bred to kill the Turk.
Pretty sure the “Turkey in the EU” ship sailed a long time ago, and it ain’t coming back.
Turkey no, Asia minor, maybe if the Greeks reconquer it and push the Turks out.
Well, your Greek friend was probably biased by the 300 years of Ottoman (Turk) domination plus the Greek genocide of the 20th century. Although it does make one wonder at the audacity of a Turk to go calling people Nazis, when Turkey’s many genocides (which they refuse to acknowledge) served as an inspiration to Hitler.
It is totally not an invasion. Its just widows and orphans looking for their taste of the good life.
This fearsome beast is the biggest chicken you will ever see in your life – GUARANTEED
Was the photograph of bigfoot part of the page, or dynamic content?
Part of the page, methinks. Since I found it during my search for Bigfoot related news.
STEVE SMITH TAKE SECOND BILLING FROM NO ONE!
Global warming, obviously.
Oh jeez!!!!
Woody Allen warned us about this!!!
UK win + UL loss + Duke loss = Kentucky Triple
Arkansas’s ignorant hilljack asses were —><— that close to making it a grand slam
Is there a new Civil War going on or are people talking about S-P-O-R-T-Z ?
Umm…both?
Pensioner who ‘ruined view’ in Cotswolds village with bright yellow car restores order with grey replacement
What sort of humorless codgers are these bastards? That car does not damage the view, and it’s absurd they would abuse it for such a flimsy pretext.
What sort of humorless codgers are these bastards?
Englishmen?
Hey, I resemble that!
See you don’t have the right to pretty pictures in you American constitution.
It was a grevious oversight on the founders part.
I would’ve kept the yellow one and got vanity plates that read “FK OFF SLVR” or some variant.
If that is their most idyllic view they deserve a bright yellow car.
What kind of monster would paint a car like a banana? That is almost as bad as orange.
My wife has a yellow car – with black bumble bee stripes. Much fun!
It has to be the right car. Like a Jeep. I don’t mind an orange Jeep. Or are YOU AGAINST FUN and FREEDOM OF (COLOR) CHOICE!!!!??!?!?!??!!???
too low, but nice.
I am a UNC fan. My wife is a Duke fan (just to spite me). I told her Duke would be out in the second round, but she wouldn’t believe me. MUUHAHAHA!
Side note: We watched a UNC-Duke basketball game our first year of marriage…and have never done so again.
I vowed to myself I would not pick Duke to go deep – I wanted to go with Wisconsin. Alas, I am weak and took them. Worse, I opted for SMU as my sleeper over Wisconsin.
I too chose SMU as my sleeper and Duke to make it to the finals.
Thanks for fucking up my bracket Duke, may you rot in your own despair.
I’m an ArKansas fan and I’m seriously tired of getting beaten by UNC every fucking time we make the tournament. Good game yesterday. We almost had you.
Despite having picked Duke to return to their old form — a mistake I regret — I am still leading the bracket. And I desperately need someone else to take this from me. I don’t want to be Sloopy’s wife.
I don’t see you on the linked list
For some reason, Sloopy linked to the entire Yahoo sports board. Glibertarians bracket board.
Now I don’t feel as inadequate. I can’t believe there are people with 47/48 right out there.
Getting bounced in the first weekend when they are over-seeded /is/ their form.
Puritanism In fashion in Washington.
May be NSFW due to bikinis and pasties barely covering tits throughout story.
Some cuties on that link, fer sure
I picked a strategic location the the open space so no one can see my screen but me. I find it very unpleasant when I see other people seated in places where everyone can see their screens.
Honolulu has a coffee shop like that. Their coffee is pretty bad, but they stay busy.
We’re like two steps away from the Idiocracy Sex-and-Coffee Starbucks.
We’re also like two steps away from President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho.
Two? You need to get out more.
Owner Adam Lovejoy, who also has branches across the US, Italy and Chile, said their dress code was not sexual.
Nor is my 3 gallon a month Jergen’s lotion consumption.
All 4 attractive women in Spokane must work there
“I don’t want to pound on the “it’s for the children” argument, but that’s what it’s all about.”
Because children can drive cars and buy coffee with their own money?
And to complement that, why not brothels where you can have sex with ugly women while looking at delicious food you’re not allowed to touch?
Anyone have a fire pit?
Fireproof human skulls for your gas fireplace, barbeque or fire-pit
http://boingboing.net/2017/03/17/late-stage-capitalism-2.html
How well do they hold up to coal fires?
Goddammit. We just got some new glass chunks for our firepit (which aren’t cheap). I swear to Crom, if I’d known these were a thing, I would have gotten them. Of course, Mrs. Dean probably would have made sure my skull was the last on the pile, but still . . . .
Just the thing to motivate the new orphans.
What’s the point of decorating your house with skulls if they’re not the skulls of your enemies, personally collected by yourself?
Plausible deniability.
I consider it a form of stolen valour.
Alas, Poor Yorick. You didn’t know him well.
“Based on Musk talk, one would think that automobile manufacturers with much better reputation would also skip past beta testing phase and get to market more rapidly. But, as you can see from Toyota, that is not the case. New cars need to go through intense reliability and life time testing before they become production worthy.
If Toyota, which tops the charts on reliability and durability, needs to test then what makes a company like Tesla with sub-par reputation in reliability and serviceability think that they can skip testing and go straight to production?
We suggest two answers: staggering ignorance and hubris.”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4056331-tesla-bankruptcy-chances-increased-exponentially-capital-raise?ifp=0
That’s impossible. I have been assured by no less an authority than a guy who makes Internet comics for a living.
You know, that isn’t even funny. It just comes off as … you know… gloating
Full disclosure, I’m a fan of the guy, which is why I was so disappointed to read that. At one point he compares the car’s handling to a Ferrari. All I could think about was the Kat Williams bit where he says, “The Chrysler 300 looks just like a Bentley…until you pull up next to a Bentley.”
‘than most ‘car guys’.
The fucken arrogance. Gotta love these dopes who never cared much about cars suddenly think they know more about cars than guys who have all their lives.
I know a couple of jerk offs like that. Never cared to take part in auto discussions but now all of a sudden they ‘know everything’ because of Tesla.
Damn, that is a lot of stupidity from an otherwise funny comic. The left’s fetishistic obsession with electric cars is pretty much in line with their approach to just about every social concern whether it is health care, minimum wage or whatever. They obfuscate the symptom while expanding the distance between the underlying causes and themselves. Basically, they think they can solve global warming (or whatever it’s called this week) with just a long enough extension cord. Never mind that the power and energy storage for their overpriced toys is still primarily generated from materials extracted from underground. All that matters to them is that they don’t have to see it happening.
moral narcissism
the substance of these things – i.e. the reality of whether ACA heathcare outcomes are *better*, whether min-wage actually loses more jobs than it provides income-improvement, whether organic food is *actually* better for the environment or not, etc – is ultimately irrelevant. Because the purpose of these things has nothing to do with the underlying reality, and everything to do with in-group signaling and peer-approval.
Bam. It’s not whether or not the solutions are effective. The important thing is that embracing the solutions shows that you care. Dealing with something as tawdry and cheap as actual results implies that the caring bit isn’t the most important part, and that means you’re just looking for an excuse to throw cans in with the banana peels so that polar bears die.
I agree with this, but the difference is that these manufacturers didn’t have politicians and regulators running interference for them. These cars have killed people and the feds are all ‘meh’.
I’ve been in manufacturing most of my career. I don’t care how much testing you do, shit still goes wrong. Skipping testing seems like panic (and suicide) to me.
Despite the billions (conservatively) spent on computer modeling of real world devices, they always find something while testing. And then when in the real world they find stuff testing missed.
Tesla is betting the company will be covered by the government, the press, and various fan boys who will excuse any problem that crops up.
I’m not in manufacturing, I am but a humble web developer, but I know that there are two reasons you skip testing: either you know it will fail, or you don’t care if it works.
Toyota literally wrote the book on modern automobile manufacturing. Deviate at your own risk. Rule #1 of lean manufacturing is to eschew short term profit for long term success. This would fall right in line with how not to run a successful automobile company.
I suspect its carry-over from the tech business, where “beta” versions are released to the public for low-cost final quality testing. Which is fine, I guess, for software that you can just uninstall if it doesn’t work. A car is a different beast, though.
This model of having early adopters become beta testers is becoming prevalent in many aspects of private sector from firearms to video games and the bill is rapidly coming due. People are getting really pissed off when they buy the new whizz bang product and it turns out it gets recalled two or more times to fix issues that should have been obvious to the company. I know of several firearms released in the last 5 years that have been recalled across the board for safety or other issues and 2 companies that pulled the whole line completely after widespread QC issues. The quickest way to ensure that no one buys your shit is to put bad shit into paying customers’ hands. Once your brand gets tainted that shit takes a very long time to wash off, probably longer than you can remain solvent.
“or to bitch about how the officials all but handed a few big favorites their games.”
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
Arkansas played their heart out and had North Carolina on the ropes and got absolutely job bed by a fee late calls. The would have been our biggest win in a couple decades.
I can assure you after watching Virginia get humiliated: it doesn’t feel any better if you never had a chance.
I fully expected to get blown out. They got my hopes up only to let me down. Again.
You can’t put up links while I’m watching the new Walking Dead. I get control of the remote once a week for an hour.
It stinks!
Was there ever a point when the Walking Dead didn’t at least partially stink? From what I’ve seen it seems its quality ranges from bland and average to bloody terrible.
It’s all relative. When these guys dominate the airwaves TWD looks pretty good. I almost miss Smap.
I still watch TWD, but hate myself afterwards. They certainly take their time getting to the point, which is perhaps the negative of many series. Even Game of Thrones suffers from this type of padding.
“Oh will you get to the big fight scene? Or the invasion from the north?” Nope… we will save that for the next season!
“Oh will you get to the big fight scene? Or the invasion from the north?”
To be fair Game of Thrones (which I don’t particularly like anyway) has to deal with pretty much catching up to their source material. They’ve got to do the anime thing where the manga is only half-finished so they have to pad the fuck out of it. Except they’re dealing with a writer who’s production times are way worse than most manga writers’.
The Walking Dead doesn’t have that excuse because it’s pretty heavily distanced itself from its source material (which is both good and bad, because the comic isn’t great, but what they come up with isn’t better).
Weekend thoughts:
I watched 75% of Hacksaw Ridge – will finish up tonight – and thought the battle scenes were a little unrealistic. Lots of people standing up in an open firefight so they can get shot when they could have been lying under cover. And why the bazooka use – and then a few minutes later the US solders are using a demolition team? Also no scouting?
My old high school friend stopped by so we could discuss audio, tubes, and records. Seeing this guy always makes me a little sad: so much potential wasted. He was a straight-A student, scored incredibly high on the ACT/SAT, accepted to U of Mich, and then ended up doing smack for years and years. His stories of those days are fantastic – what he got away with and experienced – but now he just spends his days mostly watching TV and obsessing over music. He lives on SS disability from chronic anxiety, in a condo bought by his fairly wealthy parents. He has one friend – me – and no GF – and spends most of his time with his parents.
I can’t bring myself to watch it after I heard the actor murder a southern accent in the trailer.
Does anyone NOT murder southern accents in films? Hell, even a lot of actors with southern backgrounds do it, I guess because they feel compelled to go over the top with it.
My best friend in high school was valedictorian of a class of 400. His dad was a junior high school P.E. teacher and ran his house like a tyrant. Beatings all around. The kid wound up just disappearing. None of us know where he is or what he’ doing now. Hug your kids. Don’t beat them. Help them grow up to be able to defend themselves. I don’t get how some parents don’t understand that simple formula.
This sounds like the backstory of Martin Blank.
Quick google gives me a playwright, a glass artist and the lead character form Grosse Point Blank. Which one?
Don’t you have Netflix or iTunes? You need to see that movie.
No. And I’ve never been to Walmart, Chipotle or In and Out burger. Toss me out of the tent if you want.
Jesus tap dancing christ man.. how are you reading this website? Does the stone age have wifi now?
It’s a very heart-warming movie that is surprisingly interesting. Usually movies about the violent conflicts surrounding unionization are not so funny or interesting.
IDK,
IDK, Act Of Vengeance is pretty good.
Waifu watched it on Sunday and was very disappointed, mostly over stuff unrelated to military tactics and hardware,
Me? I was reminding myself how schlocky Zardoz was, and musing on a 5 year run of ridiculous ageist-themed SF movies. Some, with Jenny Agutter in them.
I have a known weakness for Jenny Agutter
She actually got prettier as she aged. I trust you got to see the non-US release of Walkabout.
True fact: I was in a slightly-intersecting social circle when I used to split my time between London and LA. It was interesting to contrast her with (1) typical Hollywood natives and (2) some of the more typical UK acting expats. Hint: she was far more ‘normal’ than most of them.
From Alternet: Koch-approved free speech bill is anti-activist because it allows icky people to speak, penalizes those who attack speakers and riot to disrupt the speech of others:
The Goldwater Institute’s model bill allegedly ensures “the fullest degree of…free expression,” but it explicitly states that “protests and demonstrations that infringe upon the rights of others to engage in or listen to expressive activity shall not be permitted and shall be subject to sanction.”
Link?
Posting from my phone so this is as good as you get
http://www.alternet.org/education/right-wing-billionaires-are-funding-cynical-plot-destroy-dissent-and-protest-colleges
That article is retarded.
Anyway, the one point it doesn’t make is that these free speech bills are largely unnecessary, because assault and vandalism are already illegal.
Yes, it is. But is being taken seriously by people who should know better.
Citizens help themselves to beer after cases fall off truck
Bud light? I’d rather lap up the hobo piss after he drank it.
Shaken bud light. It will explode when opened.
I feel like the cost in terms of time and inconvenience would make it a net loss.
“None of us ran on this plan. We ran on repealing ObamaCare because it doesn’t work,”
Well, I hope there are enough like Paul to stop this idiocy. But, I’m not going to hold my breath. Paul and anyone else who votes against this will be labeled a traitor and purist. “How dare they not stand with their fellow Republicans!” If this crap passes and Obamacare isn’t repealed, that’ll be the Republicans first big step in giving the Democrats the mid-term elections.
I’m beginning to think all those votes the Republicans had to repeal the ACA during Obama’s administration were just for show. I’m also beginning to think pro wrestling is fake.
Yeah, it was a great “Get Out The Vote” campaign for the party when they didn’t have the numbers to do anything about it. “Hey, we’re trying to undo it. We just don’t have the numbers. Vote for your Republican candidate this year so we can get the numbers we need.” Now that they do, they want to do what Republicans do best. Nothing.
And incredibly stupid short-term thinking at that. I mean, they already had both houses of Congress, and since WW2 no party has held the presidency for more than 12 years straight so they were due to get it back either this time or next, so surely they should have seen this day coming.
They aren’t known as The Stupid Party for no reason.
If the Ryan plan passes Republican voters should take up arms and revolt. I’m only half-joking. That would constitute a wholesale betrayal of their constituents. The Republicans will never, ever have a chance like this again, and to abandon it is tantamount to treason.
There will be some hellacious primary battles next year. It would be fun if Trump threw his support in on an all-out Rino hunt.
Pretty much. The Republicans are in complete control. There is ZERO excuse to go for anything less than 100% repeal of the ACA.
It’s almost like they want to take ownership of awful bill away from Democrats so that they can get the blame for it. Stupid. Party. Check.
Yup, right now the government healthcare debacle is 100% on the Dems. The Repubs pass this, it’s now bi-partisan stupidity.
NY Times Lends Opinion Page Space To Conspiracy Theorist
I will gloat over Duke humiliating loss.
gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat
Coach K angry, pinched-face look is as good as Tom Brady sadface.
Gloating is bad for the digestion. I wouldn’t do so much of it if I were you.
SugarFree can only digest simple proteins.
I gloat, therefore I am.
I recommend a small glass of Armagnac before bet in that case
*bed. Or bet. Whatever works…
TDS in the Secret Service:
http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/03/19/secret-service-agent-who-said-she-wouldnt-take-a-bullet-for-trump-has-finally-learned-her-fate/
Probably just moved to the anti- counterfeit detail.
“Farting Is My Secret Feminist Weapon that Works Every Time
I fart in the grocery store to get the men behind me in line to back up a notch. I fart on the ferry to get men to take their goddamned arm off the back of my seat.”
http://www.xojane.com/fun/my-secret-feminist-weapon
Looking at her picture – a smile and a wink would work just as well at getting men away if she doesn’t have a round in the chamber.
It’s the ugly ones that are always going on and on about how men are being aggressive towards them. Of course, they take completely innocuous things and turn them into sexual advances, because they never have a real case of that happening to them.
~~~magic edit fairy~~~
Thank you magic edit dairy!!!
Post filed under ‘win, full of’.
One think I have found, though, with 100% accuracy, is all women named “Alison” or any variant thereof are certifiably, 24k batshit crazy.
She does look in her pic as though she’s FULL of gas.
What about Alison Brie?
https://www.pkbaseline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/alison-brie-8.jpg
Hey, some of them *looked* fine. Still utter bunny boilers though.
Although in the case of Ms. Brie, I’d need to do a study in person, IYKWIMAITTYD.
Did Shrek switch teams?
So, rather than politely ask for accomodation, she is deliberately crude?
Classy.Dumps her boyfriend with a queef?
What, her imaginary boyfriend? I’m pretty sure even HE stopped calling her after a week.
I thought she was a lesbian… what did I miss??/
Gah. She looks like STEVE SMITH’s sister, SERENA.
SERENA SMITH NOTHING LIKE BROTHER. PERFER HIPSTERS OVER HIKERS. EXTRA CYRING MAKE GOOD BACKGROUND NOISE
She looks like an uglier version of Lena Dunham. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have to worry about too much attention from men.
Hey look – it’s “Libertarian” Mark Cuban.
Mark Cuban: Amend U.S. Constitution to Make Healthcare a Right
Token libertarianisim. It’s like they say theyare libertarian to get some sort of cool guy street cred, when anyone who knows anything about it is that you are really supposed to be a crumodgeon with a top hat and monocle.
Also a house, food and Mavericks season tickets
He’s a libertarian because he wants an actual Constitutional amendment, not to just deem and pass. Only “libertarians” care about the stupid rules nowadays.
Norway unseats Denmark as world’s happiest country: report
Look at me! I’m making people happy!
How much cultural pressure is there to claim to be content when asked?
That’s racist, white people defined happiness, and it doesn’t apply to the world equally.
How does one conventionally measure a “healthy balance”? And why is low inequality a default requirement? Inequality in what? Because Denmark has pretty high wealth inequality. So many questions. If I were a more suspicious guy these rankings would seem like propaganda to me.
It’s typical leftist propaganda. They’re not judging happiness by whether people are happy or not. They’re judging happiness by what they feel it should be. It’s like ‘I’ll tell you if you’re happy! You wouldn’t know, I’m an expert and so I know best!’. Yep, leftist propaganda.
I made a point a few days ago about how “indexing” is one of the most popular forms of statistical mendacity. (or, like with the climate-change claims, “bundling”)
This is a case study. Its basically designing the index to reflect “what a prog thinks a good-govt should be”, and calling that “Happy”.
(never mind the fact that norway has 2x more psychiatrists per-capita than the US; that can surely be spun into something like, ‘but they have so many more opportunities to talk about their crushing feelings of existential dread’, ergo = happy, yo)
What that index really measures is ‘countries where the population clusters to a mean’. Which has nothing to do with ‘happiness’ other than Jeff Sachs says-so.
The U.S. currently has a shortage of psychiatrists. Although that doesn’t mean it needs twice as many.
(Does anyone still use feminine pronouns to refer to countries?)
Anyway, I agree that it’s statistical bullshit.
Mother Russia.
out of curiosity – based on what, exactly? Some ideal mean-ratio of people-psychiatrists?
I’d probably buy that Americans have less mental-health services than some EU countires because prozac has made the whole ‘Talky-therapy’ thing less-fashionable/less interesting a career for physicians to pursue. But i don’t think ‘fewer’ by-definition means ‘shortage’.
Regardless – my point was just to note that measurements of “Happy” that completely ignore things like the prevalence of suicide or depression, or the low marriage stats in nordic countries etc, are bullshit.
Yes, I agree they cherry-picked arbitrary criteria to define happiness. Which I don’t think is something that could be quantified, anyway.
I’ve heard a number of psychologists, general practitioners, etc. complain about the shortage of psychiatrists. Many insurance networks don’t have any shrinks available, and many medical groups offer pretty much every type of doctor except psychiatrists. It’s impossible for medicaid patients to find one at all in most places, and ACA patients are often put on ridiculously long waiting lists. Many patients can’t find one within a reasonable distance even if they can pay out of pocket (eg. there is no licensed psychiatrist in 72 Missouri counties).
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/across-the-country-serious-shortage-of-psychiatrists/
Right.
I was just curious if you had some number in mind that defined what “enough” is such that you can say that there’s an objective shortage.
**disclosure: I’m very aware of the dearth of psychiatric services in America; family member with severe mental illness, etc.
the reason i was asking for some definition of what the “right” amount is would be to see if that # were comparable with other countries.
I would bet that (with a few small-rich-country exceptions) that other countries are in most cases still “worse than the US”. Basically, that since the advent of SSRIs, that psychiatric healthcare has become an expensive luxury.
How about based on the difficulty of finding one?
I’m not so sure about the general case of psychiatrists but I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt there is a massive shortage of psychiatrists for adolescents
YouTube responds to complaints that its Restricted Mode censors LGBT videos
Dude, it’s like pornhub doesn’t even exist.
If they’re too dumb to get around YouTube’s restricted mode, they won’t get past the parental controls blocking porn sites.
Blaire White’s YouTube videos are mostly just her talking about politics. There is nothing pornographic about it. But apparently, three of them are now “restricted”:
https://twitter.com/MsBlaireWhite/status/843690324320968704
Probably talks about how she keeps her Johnson sparkly.
She doesn’t. It’s “SFW” stuff like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzZ-aRgjyVk
I’m familiar with her work.
I’m particularly impressed by her takedowns of transtrenders, and it’s interesting to see a ‘real’ transitioned (if only partially so) transsexual engage the mental disorder argument.
I will never understand why asexuals would go along with this crap. If I were asexual I’d be distancing myself from the LGBT community just as much as the straight community, because I’d find all their obsessions equally bizarre and not in my best interests. This is a good example. If youtube censors LGBT videos, asexuals are disproportionately not affected, because what the hell is an asexual youtube video? “Hi guys, I’m not attracted to anything, so here’s two hours of me playing Settlers of Catan”?
Ohh I’d watch that…. Errrr…. I mean….. Umm. What I’m saying is….
Who Am I?
QUILTBAG is The Breakfast Club for atypicals. “Are you anything but boring old normal? Welcome aboard!”
It’s really gays and lesbians that need to jump ship and leave the broken toys behind.
“Acronym of Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans (Transgender/Transsexual), Bisexual, Asexual, and/or Gay/Genderqueer.”
Yeah, I learned something. Can I fill it with live kittens and throw it off a bridge?
That’s what has always confused me. Homosexuality is a fairly straightforward thing – not much different from heterosexuality, just with partners of the same team. Then they start lumping in every freak show on earth and things start looking much weirder. I don’t really see what the gays and lesbians get out of it.
Also, many SJW are now excluding white gay men from LGBT because they have “white male privilege”. Although I haven’t read anything about white lesbians in that regard, “white feminism” is already a popular pejorative.
“Boring old normal”? Listen, sister, your obsession with vivisecting sexuality and sexual identity is what’s made sex borning. Heterosexual normies are getting along just fine.
because what the hell is an asexual youtube video?
Anything with Morrissey singing in it?
Have you ever seen ‘Girls’?
If that doesn’t make you asexual, nothing will.
The restricted mode thing was probably just a business decision, seeing as youtube is a global company and ~70% of the world’s population lives in countries that are apathetic/hostile to LGBT stuff.
Hihn’s been vomiting all over the Other Site, I’m not sure if he’s more medicated, or less. I mean, he’s slightly more coherent than he used to be, but he also manages to be more deranged at the same time. It’s impressive really.
Simultaneous Existence in two different states has already been proven by the nimble augmented mammal known as Agile Cyborg.
Hihn actually argues with Agile. It’s hilarious.
Old man yells at …
Mushrooms? Of the magical sort.
I suspect Hihn argues with his television set even more.
He really is “Old Man yells at clouds”.
Oh yeah? Well, if he’s the crazy one why do 91% of the American people reject you anti-gummint goobers then?!?!?
Yeah. I went over there last night and got into an Hinfected thread. Stood it for about three minutes and gave up. Sorry to see that. ot sure if I’ll go back.
BULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY!
Whoopsie.
The market apparently doesn’t like signaling (or burnt coffee, perhaps?)
It’s interesting, is like to look at the numbers and see, but anecdotally it seems that conservatives are way better at boycotts than leftists. Why is that?
It’s simple. They actually spend money.
That got a good laugh out of me. I was thinking in terms of principles vs principals. But conservatives aren’t the best on that front either, tho I’d say better than liberals.
Leftists ? If every minor social injustice sets you off, you’re gonna behave like a psychotic chihuahua, therefore minimal impact.
Conservatives? Less time on their hands (having jobs, etc) so they know the value of a targeted, long-term campaign.
Schultz in a letter to employees said the promise of the American Dream was ‘being called into question’ and that ‘the civility and human rights we have all taken for granted for so long are under attack.’
Nothing says American Dream like treating a bottom-rung job slinging coffee grounds like a union manufacturing gig.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18958516/tom-brady-stolen-super-bowl-jersey-found-possession-international-media-member
The FBI, Security and local law enforcement teamed up to spend thousands of tax payer dollars to find a jersey that cost $5 to make. Good job team!
Exclusive: Almost half of Canadians want illegal border crossers deported – Reuters poll
Make Canada Great Again!
Um… again? There was a first time?
From Rand Paul link:
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on Sunday dismissed the proposal for a clean repeal, arguing doing so would put “vulnerable people at risk.”
Well, if the great and honorable elected leader and legislator Tom Price dismisses it, I guess we should all just move on from this topic. Also it’s not suspicious at all that they just shoehorned this one line into the end of that story.
“If you do not have any proof and you have been saying this for three weeks,” Jackson Lee said, “then you are clearly on the edge of the question of public trust and those actions can be associated with high crimes and misdemeanors for which articles of impeachment can be drawn.”
I wonder what will happen if these morons do manage to pull Trump down.