It’s Saturday morning, I’m coffeed up, and I’m thanking Amazon for their delivery of high quality toilet paper, of the sort that Venezualans can only dream of. But enough of that, there’s Links afoot!
Never let a likely-contrived “incident” go to waste. If you’re a showboater, this sort of thing is GOLD. The good general is assured of a steady supply of cocktail parties, and that when inevitably this turns out to be fake, he will be spared embarrassment by WaPo burying that little detail.
If this is true, I can forgive Trump for all the other really terrible stuff he’s done and his remarkably awful appointments (I’m looking at YOU, Jeff Sessions). TW: Salon, but the moaning and gnashing of teeth is worth it.
This conservative push hasn’t just been in accordance with economic orthodoxy, it’s a political power move. As Newt Gingrich once put it, if you dismantle unions, you destroy the Democratic Party’s “army on the ground.”
I call “feature,” not “bug.” And the writer inadvertently makes the case against compelling union dues by acknowledging that these are actually political contributions.
The dog’s breakfast is being prepared, and there will be extra Milk Bones. I’ll lay odds that there’s never, ever going to be actual reform of the horrifically awful tax system so beloved of rent-seekers, regulatory captors, and redistributionists. Nor will the ratchet ever work in the other direction.
This is actually good. Of course the best thing would be to eliminate that department entirely. Not that this will ever happen- we still have the Department of Education, HUD, DHS…
I wasn’t going to even do a FF this week since there wasn’t much to talk about, but I’m sitting here at work not wanting to work so I figured fuck it, let’s go for it.
The big story: D.C. will officially be ‘shall issue’ come next week. Unless of course they try to weasel out of it, which they will, so don’t hold your breath. Interestingly not a single judge on the panel voted for En Banc. A sign of the times?
The big non-story: The SHARE act did not come up for a vote this week (at least not of this writing). So a big fuck you very much to congress, who once again can’t do shit that everyone wants. No link, cause how can you link to something NOT happening?
The PMag is now authorized for requisition by the US Army at a unit level, putting it one step away from mass adoption as GI equipment for the entire US military. Yes, I know how unimportant this is in the broad scheme of things. It’s a slow week.
Bass Pro Shops officially closes the deal on the buyout of Cabelas for $4 billion dollars. I always liked Cabelas more than Bass Pro so I don’t have high hopes for this one.
Finally today, I leave you with a sad bit of news. It is with deep emotion that I announce that CarnikCon is officially dead. The channel and all of the videos have been officially removed from Youtube by the creator, Dugan Ashley.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84WcNJNkU0Y
Goodnight, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Luckily someone was smart enough to archive all of the videos for posterity. Some heroes don’t wear capes.
Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash is one of the great unadapted novels of modern science fiction, right up there with its granddaddy in the cyberpunk genre, William Gibson’s Neuromancer. Given how screen-ready some of Snow Crash’s most famous sequences are, though—most notably, the high-speed, action-heavy pizza delivery chase that opens the novel—it’s honestly kind of baffling that directors have never managed to get a handle on Stephenson’s world of katana-wielding pizza guys, nuke-toting motorcyclists, and virtual reality paradise. The closest Hollywood’s gotten to date is Steven Spielberg’s upcoming Ready Player One, especially since Ernest Cline’s reference-addicted original novel cribs heavily from Stephenson’s virtual worlds.
That might all be about to change, though; Variety reports that Amazon has started development on a Snow Crash TV series, with Ant Man writer Joe Cornish and Back To The Future producer Frank Marshall shepherding the show to the screen.
I mean, I already had to suffer through years of worrying about Hayden Christensen fucking up Neuromancer with his terrible acting and dead doll eyes–not to mention the highly questionable casting choices of the upcoming Netflix adaptation of Altered Carbon–so the garbage that could be wrung out of Snow Crash is worrying.
Gawker Media… Oops… Splinter? Univision Media? Whatever. The Part of the Flock of Shitbirds that Weren’t Sued Off The Internet has started up a new nest just for Nature and Gaia and Global Warming Climate Change Alarmism.
Earther’s mission is to write impactful stories about how humanity is affecting life on Earth, and what that means for our future. We love geeking out over the weather, sharing the latest conservation success stories, and reminding you that climate change is very real. We strive to make Earther a friendly, inclusive site for everyone interested in the future of life on the Blue Marble, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
Kelly says: “People call me a lesbian a lot … I’m not a lesbian… I’ve heard that multiple times. I guess it’s something to try to get under my skin, but at the end of the day I know who I am.”
Poppy is very cute I love her that’s what makes her fun to watch because these ideas of hers are always new and exciting that’s what makes poppy the cutest girl ever I love you poppy☺????????????????????.
Man oh man, has the NCAA/FBI/Sports agents investigation turned into an absolute shitshow. The NBA will soon be posturing. And several players are dumping the agents involved, probably hoping to avoid some extra scrutiny of their youth “career” and the money they were given. Look for there to be bigger fish to fry than even Rick Pitino, who I just so happened to call out when the whole thing first started to unfold and who has been unceremoniously terminated, effectively anyway since the school has to formally fire him after 10 days and a meeting of the school admin.
Across the pond, they played the JV version of the European Championship. Everton continued to be unimpressive while Arsenhole have adjusted well to Thursday matches. Elsewhere, Bayern have shitcanned Ancelotti after his squad got demolished at PSG earlier in the week. I hope they don’t come calling on Klopp, because even though he forgot you have to defend the last third of the field, he’s brought some excitement to Anfield.
Texas beat Iowa State. How the hell did such once-great program get resigned to football on a Thursday? What strange times are these? Perhaps MENSA Tom will get things turned around soon.
The Brew Crew won and are now two games back of the idle Rockies with three to go. They have a series left with the Cards while the Rockies are facing the Dodgers. Unfortunately, neither of those teams have anything of substance to play for. Especially there Dodgers, who will be playing more to set their pitching staff up for the postseason rather than pad their stats. The Twinks fell to the Indians. And the Astros won to remain just one game back in the chase for home field and also one game from 100 wins, which would put three teams over the threshold in one season, which is a rather uncommon event. Yankees lost. Nationals won. Cubs won. White Sox won (for Swissy!). And thats about it. The regular season wraps up this weekend. Then its on to the sweet, sweet playoffs. Where the Dodgers will do their usual tank job and the Nationals will follow suit, leading to a Cubs-Indians World Series rematch, which I don’t necessarily want to see since I want my Astros there but which I expect because Cleveland are just toying with people now and the Cubs are relatively hot. But I’m wrong more often than not when it comes to picking sports, so we will have to wait and see.
OK, enough of that rubbish. On to…the links!
Looks like the left are pissed that Donald Trump’s DOJ have subpoena’d FB info on 6,000 anti-Trump activists. This is almost like weaponizing the IRS and then feeding donor information to interest groups in order to harm political activists that happen to be conservative and wish to remain anonymous in their giving. I was pissed at that and I’m pissed at this. Let’s see how Team Red and Team Blue react. Somehow I doubt it will be with any form of consistency.
Mel Reynolds: Tax evader, pederast, Democrat
Chicago politician Mel Reynolds found guilty for a third time on tax evasion charges. He’s also been jailed for being a pederast and for having some serious porn in Zimbabwe. His pederasty and one of the tax evasion charges were commuted by none other than Bill Clinton, which would pretty much tell you his political affiliation since the Sun-Times didn’t think it was important enough to mention.
Julian Assange understands how to use leverage. Sure, he’s become a grandstanding weirdo lately, but you’d do the same if you were stuck indoors in the same building for several years knowing you’d either get assassinated or black-bagged the minute you tried to leave.
Here’s a gift. I hope your librarian isn’t an asshole.
More social signalling bullshit. This time aimed at Melania Trump who dared to do something as crass as donating some books to a library. FTA (emphasis mine):
“Cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit are suffering through expansion, privatization, and school ‘choice’ with no interest in outcomes of children, their families, their teachers, and their schools,” she wrote. “Are those kids any less deserving of books simply because of circumstances beyond their control? Why not go out of your way to gift books to underfunded and underprivileged communities that continue to be marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos?”
Lolol. Sure thing there, dipshit. Its privatization and school choice that’s causing the suffering. No way its the systematic retention of shitty teachers and union-first policies that’s driven the school systems in those Dem-controlled cities for the last several decades. It’s all Betsy DeVos and her proposals that haven’t even been implemented there. My guess is the people in those cities’ school boards and local government hope this remains under the radar. Because if Trump gets wind of it, he’ll be hammering the real cause of the problems there: teachers unions, politicians who care more for donations than primary education, and more teachers unions.
Fun links, oh yeah! We have shaken up the batting order here today, so I am pitching in on links this glorious Fall afternoon. Here are some linkseses for you to ponder on the Tree of Woe Joy… consider it a little competition of fun, between media sources:
Our first entry is from the always reliable NY Post. See idiot punch sharks! Next time try that crap with some Great Whites or Hammerheads.
Next up the always amusing Daily Mail Fail! What did he say? OK, that wasn’t up to their usual standards. Does this one help? OK, not every paper can have a good day, every day.
So, maybe it is cheating to have Infowars provide an entry. The unintentionally amusing “Leave Alex Alone!” entry!
Reuters chimes in, for our last entry. Clearly this guy is a libertarian!
A very special note: Tune in tonight, at 6PM Central for something NOT fun.
Sloopy had to go to Oklahoma today, so he has his own hell to deal with.
Houston STEVE SMITH’s the Rangers, scoring 10+ runs for the 3rd game in a row. Last 4 games of the season are against the Boston CheatSox, who have a bit more to play for. A split gives Dallas Keichal and others from the 2013 squad the dubious distinction of having been on a 100 loss and a 100 win club. The Twins were unable to give Cleveland that one loss Houston needed to be tied for home field, but they backed into the playoffs. The Cubbies beat the Cards to get in. Dodgers win, Orioles and Nats lose.
I did not watch hockey or EPL if there was any. And now… The Links
Hugh Hefner dead at 91. Thanks Hef. I really did read some of the articles after I had, er, exhausted the pictures. At least in the early 90s when I was trading them with other guys too young to buy them, the writing was pretty good.
Trump gave a speech on the tax plan, and even the WaPo has to admit that the estate tax portion would radically reform the estate tax to the benefit of heirs.
Usually at Yosemite, people die by falling on granite, not vice versa.
Here’s a little something on theme for my little friends.
EDIT: Totally forgot to announce here: Tampa Bay area Glibs meetup this Friday at Mr. Dunderbak’s Negroni, his new bride and I will start day drinking sometime before 4:00pm and (at least I) will endeavor to stay until at least 10:00.
It looks like Negroni and his wife, our reptilian overlord Mr. Lizard and I will be meeting at Mr. Dunderbak’s in Tampa on Friday. I think Negroni and I will be arriving before 4:00. Come if you can.
WaPo on taxcuts
I love the WaPo’s idea that you somehow have to “pay” for tax-cuts. And by love, I mean hate. Motherfuckers, if we don’t have to figure out how to “pay” for free shit for people, we definitely don’t need to figure out how to “pay” for lowering taxes on taxpayers.
I like how the Afghan rebels waited until Mattis was safely gone before firing rockets at the airport. Probably afraid that he’d roundhouse kick the rockets right back to them.
FFS, so much wrong with this. I mean besides the tragic murder of two teens. Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation in the Bronx? A 3″ switchblade? The school’s fault for not having metal detectors? Why am I adding so many question marks?
Well half of the headlines on every sports website are about political posturing bullshit. And that’s even with a freaking HUGE FBI investigation leading to the arrest of four assistant college basketball coaches following a three-year fraud investigation. Louisville and Rick Pitino appear to be at the center (or close enough to it). So we’ve likely seen him coach his last game. I guess he can dedicate more time to banging assistant coaches wives and ignoring his other assistants planning stripper and whore parties for recruits. No offense to Louisville fans here, but you guys have great facilities and great boosters. Yet you also have two sleazy motherfuckers as the face of your two highest-profile sports. I don’t get it.
In baseball, the Rockies won as did the Brewers. Their wild card lead sits at 1.5 games with 4 and 5 games remaining respectively. The Cubs failed to lock up the division as they fell to the Cardinals. The Yankees won. Team Canada beat the Red Sox. The Angels won, but its too-little, too-late for them. The D-backs stayed hot. The Dodgers are getting warmer. And the Astros continued to sizzle as they chase 100 wins on the season. And the Twinks beat the Indians to all but lock down the last AL Wild Card spot.
In soccer, Sevilla won and Liverpool tied, again, to move into the top two spots in Group E. Man Shitty and Napoli are proving to be the class of their group. Real Madrid pasted Dortmund and Spurs beat Aepol to take control of Group H. And Porto and Beskitas won their Group G matches. More games today across Europe and I’m sure several of you Glibs will be tuning in.
I’m not gonna lament the whistle-happy NHL refs every morning. Especially today since I didn’t even see highlights last night as I was watching the A-Team fuck shit up and save the life of a former North Vietnamese prison cook who helped save their lives. Maybe tomorrow. But today’s sports update is done and now its time for…the links!
After Roy Moore trounced Luther Strange in the Alabama GOP primary yesterday, expect the wave of GOP retirements to begin. The former judge and fan of Trump’s populist rhetoric was the canary in the coal mine for establishment types. And the writing is one the wall. Trump, who surprisingly campaigned for Strange, will probably support every single outsider challenging incumbents now and we are looking at another 1994 or 2010 dead in the eye on the right side of the aisle. Team Blue are celebrating the loss of a candidate supported by the president. But his support was more an overture to the GOP establishment. You can expect that to stop now, after the Strange loss and the establishment screwing him over on Obamacare repeal promises they’d made for the last 7+ years. You think I’m crazy? Then tell me why Bob Corker just announced his retirement in Tennessee last night.
San Diego is a really cool place with a lot of hot chicks. But don’t hook up with the ones that are yellow. The city and county are blaming each other. As if government has ever been the cause of or solution to diseases (with apologies to conspiracy theorists who believe they invented AIDS for myriad reasons).
Remember that crazy Florida (Muslim) Man who killed a pair of his roommates because they ridiculed his new faith? Probably not, since it was treated as local news. Well his surviving roommate, who just so happens to be a National Guardsman and neo-Nazi at the same time, is expected to plead guilty today to storing bomb-making material in the apartment. Cops came across it as they were cleaning up the mess how former roommate made. So very, very Florida Extremist Man of both of you.
Harris County, TX has an ambitions plan. I, for one, don’t see how this could possibly be abused and think its good financial stewardship of my taxpayer money and is in no way rewarding people who refused to plan appropriately for a natural disaster while living in a flood plain.
It is Tuesday. I’ve been chugging along at work. It will soon be beer-thirty.
Last Chance: Tampa Bay area Glibs — if you have any desire in a meetup this weekend, say so now. Otherwise, I’ll just hang out with Negroni and talk shit about Charlie Strong and (now separately) Texas football.
Somehow India has a plan to supply power to 300M people for $2.5B, but Puerto Rico needs an unknown amount of money to return power to 1% of that number. I’m guessing more than $25M.
Its nice to see a patent troll friendly court get slapped around by a higher authority. (T/W boing-boing)
More chestnuts than a man can eat in this piece on the Ozone Treaty.
The California Angels did a little bit to help out the idle Twins last night by falling to the Chicago White Sox. The Twins have all but locked down the second AL Wild Card slot and should face the (hated) Yankees on the road some time next week to see who will play the Indians, barring them losing their 2-game AL overall lead to the Astros, who humiliated the Rangers last night. The Red Sox are on cruise control for the last week as they really can’t catch the Astros unless some crazy shit happens. They’ll probably just work on getting their pitching rotation down for the ALDS.
Over on the senior circuit, the Dodgers have played like a bag of shit for some time now but still managed to top to 100-win mark for the first time in over 40 years. They’ve got home field by the throat and will face the winner of the D-backs vs ?????. I can’t tell if anybody wants that second NL Wild Card spot, as the Rockies fell again last night while the Brewers were off. The Cards also fell to the Cubs to push those lovable losers to the brink of a division championship. The Nats won their division some time ago and will have home-field in their NLDS series with the Chicago squad.
I hope that sets you up for the last six days of the regular season.
Elsewhere, lots of preseason hockey was played. Lots of slashing penalties were called. And lots of empty seats were in arenas where all of this happened. And Arsenhole won a dreaded Monday EPL fixture. Oh, and its Presidents Cup week. So GO USA! Beat The Rest Of The World (minus Europe)!
Let’s try to take it up a notch and go to the wayback machine for a blast from the past in…the links!
Hey, man, its Oakland. What do you expect to happen? Its pretty damn irresponsible for a police department to not have a storage policy for all firearms left in a car. So I guess under the totality of the circs and the policy being unclear, this officer will not be held accountable for his negligence.
Sloopy had to go to 
Usually at Yosemite, people die by falling on granite, not 
And I guess I’m supposed to give you a link to a song.