Saturday Morning Opening Links

by | Mar 1, 2025 | Daily Links | 185 comments

“Well, blow me down!”

At long long last our little family business is open again, caffeinating the masses. We have a barista named Liberty, which gives me a warm glow. I will be off at a side table babysitting The Youngest Glib while 10b0t cooks breakfast sandwiches and WebDom challenges her healing incision. I can’t decide if the kid looks more like Edward G. Robinson or Popeye. At the end of the day, I’ll reward myself with a trip up to Arcade (a little town about halfway between Buffalo and Alfred) and a nice Indian dinner with Prime.

Birthdays today include (but are not limited to) a bullet we thankfully dodged;  a guy who didn’t get fooled again; a guy whose brother relished tranya; a politician who honored the term “vegetable”; arguably the second best James Bond; a pretty decent trombonist; the black H.G. Wells; a guy who would definitely get you mad; a guy who really should have been firmer about his most famous divestment; and a perennial candidate for dumbest guy on TV, a very tough contest.

Links, however, are not tough. And I’m even deliberately leaving out the astonishingly hilarious Best Press Conference Ever from yesterday. Feel free to comment on it, though.

Scene from a Glibs meetup.

I’m sure it was racism.

They’re still revving up the smoke machine.

I’m struggling to choose a punch line. There’s sooooo many…

“We can’t be overdrawn, we still have checks!”

Final Boss level trolling.

NPR tut-tuts are the best tut-tuts.

Time to implement the OMWC Plan.

Bill Burr, Bob Odenkirk, Michael McKean… this might actually be good.

Sometimes, The Old Guy doesn’t spin up challenging or innovative music, just chilling out to well played classics by musicians who are clearly in the groove. I particularly like the trombone playing.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. Wait, wrong book, I'll find something else.

185 Comments

  1. Pat

    We have a barista named Liberty, which gives me a warm glow.

    You’re recruiting from Sloopy’s brood?

    • SDF-7

      I knew that name rang a bell.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Lord, what year is it?

      • Ted S.

        What calendar are you using?

      • UnCivilServant

        Lord, what year is it?

        25M3

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        😠

        I remember from TOS.

      • UnCivilServant

        Glibs is roughly 8 years old.

      • SDF-7

        Sheesh folks…. that was a 3 year old tee-ball of a setup for a good pun sub-thread and y’all just start waxing on about how we’re all getting old. Our tarnished memories aside, I’m not going to just stand here like a statue and not admonish you.

      • UnCivilServant

        Maybe we have more depth than a pack of lab dogs.

      • Pat

        Sheesh folks…. that was a 3 year old tee-ball of a setup for a good pun sub-thread and y’all just start waxing on about how we’re all getting old.

        They cracked under the pressure.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Quel drag it is. 🎶

  2. Pat

    Indian dinner

    Is that where they serve you the food, and then come around 10 minutes and take it back?

    • SDF-7

      I thought it was where if you pay with a twenty, they have to deliver to Oklahoma.

      • Pat

        Lol, nicely done.

      • Tres Cool

        No pun about reservations?

        I haz disappoint

      • Fourscore

        A blanket statement…

  3. UnCivilServant

    I want to know who was briefly the world’s richest person before the bank error was corrected.

    • SDF-7

      I wouldn’t expect it to be one person… usually the bank error in your favor is from the community chest.

    • Ted S.

      I’ve never even gotten a $200 bank error in my favor.

      • The Other Kevin

        50k would do it for me. That’s not even a rounding error on a USAID program.

    • Gender Traitor

      An ambitious teller with just enough experience to think they could pull it off, but not quite enough to actually cover their tracks?

      • Ted S.

        I figured you were going to say banks make errors; credit unions don’t. 😉

  4. Pat

    a guy who didn’t get fooled again

    Happy birthday George W. Bush?

    • Pat

      a politician who honored the term “vegetable”

      Happy birthday Woodrow Wilson?

    • Pat

      arguably the second best James Bond

      Happy birthday Timothy Dalton?

      • UnCivilServant

        PEople have argued that for all the Bonds.

        Except Craig, he’s the worst until Amazon Bond arrives

      • Pat

        Connery>Dalton>Craig=Brosnan>Moore>Lazenby

      • UnCivilServant

        You have terrible judgement.

      • Grumbletarian

        Scottish Jamesh Bond ish the worsht Jamesh Bond.

      • Pat

        That’s true, but not relevant to my objectively correct ranking of Bond actors. Although arguably Lazenby should be above Moore, depending on the weighting of the latter’s output across his 37 year stint in the role…

      • UnCivilServant

        You misspelled “Obviously Wrong”

      • juris imprudent

        Austin Powers is the true representation of Bond, the Bond of Fleming is the joke. English super-spy? English intelligence agency not run by double-agents?

      • The Last American Hero

        Moore was fantastic in Cannonball Run.

  5. Pat

    I’m sure it was racism.

    Unrelated to the story, but I didn’t realize Reason’s Rico Suave had moved over to The Hill.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Fruit sushi doesn’t necessarily sound bad: which fruits?

    • SDF-7

      Presumably with no flat tires on the move then.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        He has AAA?

    • B.P.

      He’s been doing The Hill’s “Rising” video show for years.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      He has moved to, but also works for. He still does TOS stuff too.

      He’s been good. The Irish fucker with him most of the time is annoying though.

  6. Pat

    IN a medical anomaly, a teenage girl without a vaginal opening became pregnant via oral sex after a series of bizarre events.

    It seems Isabel Shaw is a non de plume for SugarFree.

  7. juris imprudent

    we thankfully dodged

    Like McConnell, the one redeeming act of Teddy’s entire Senate career.

  8. Pat

    Federal employees have received a second email from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management asking them what they did last week even as those demands are currently facing legal scrutiny.

    Measuring performance is an illegal act of… SOMETHING OK?!?!

    • juris imprudent

      Musk’s stunt was actually on the dumb side; even if the responses are even dumber.

    • SDF-7

      Everyone knows an employer is never ever allowed to check on the status or accomplishments of the employees. Total autonomy, zero accountability — that’s how employment works!

      • juris imprudent

        Sure, some random dude says “respond to me or be fired” – as opposed to someone in my actual management chain.

      • Pat

        Technically he doesn’t have any authority for hiring and firing, so it’s more like “Tell the Bobs what you did or Lumbergh will recommend your termination.”

      • SDF-7

        I thought the mails came from OMB, JI — so this is the equivalent of HR sending out periodic status requests.

        I don’t know about where you work… but yeah, HR still needs to be paid attention to outside of your immediate management chain. (Granted, I’d be checking with said immediate management, but you ignore Corporate at your peril).

        Calling it “some random dude” is more than a little disingenuous.

      • juris imprudent

        came from OMB

        Ah, I hadn’t heard that, so that does make some difference. But no authority over other cabinet agencies, so no not quite like HR. There are HR functions in each agency and not one over-arching one.

      • Gender Traitor

        Was the email from OMB or OPM? Don’t know if that makes a difference in re the legal status of the email, but the latter would seem to be more pertinent to the recipient’s employment status.

      • R C Dean

        Does it really matter whether it comes from the CFO or the CHRO?

      • SDF-7

        Yeah, I think it was OPM. Sorry my brain skipped a gear there. TMA (too many acronyms)

      • UnCivilServant

        HR should not have a C-level officer.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        He isn’t some “random dude”, he is the presidential appointee in this matter.

      • juris imprudent

        He isn’t an appointee, he is part of a kitchen cabinet – an unofficial adviser.

    • R C Dean

      Incredibly, apparently a judge has ruled that the email constituted a federal regulation that has to go through the full rule-making process. Same with the directive to fire probationary employees.

      • UnCivilServant

        That stretch gave me a hernia just trying to follow it. The judge must have ripped in half.

    • rhywun

      Good grief just cut ‘n’ paste your time sheet and be done with it. Y’all have work to do, right?

  9. Pat

    Bill Burr, Bob Odenkirk, Michael McKean… this might actually be good.

    Never saw the play (because it’s a play), or the first screen adaptation (because Alec Baldwin has been an insufferable twat since long before he became a lefty tool), but I like the cast.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Put aside personalities- Baldwin was awesome in the movie. And it was a great, great movie.

      • Pat

        Everybody raves about it, so I suppose I’ll have to suck it up and watch it eventually.

      • juris imprudent

        Baldwin is typecast, so it isn’t like he’s acting. Second best performance after Team America.

      • rhywun

        Yes, see it.

        His part is brief but it was the part he was born to play.

      • slumbrew

        “His part is brief but it was the part he was born to play.”

        More than you know: that role wasn’t in the original play and Mamet wrote it for the film, specifically for Baldwin.

    • DrOtto

      His role called for insufferable twat, he nailed it.

    • The Last American Hero

      Needs to sell tix for Broadway?

      This does explain Burr’s recent shift in worldview.

  10. Gender Traitor

    Mazel tov on the Grand Reopening, and thanks again for the adorable Baby Glib pics.

    • UnCivilServant

      How do we know what philosophy the child wil adopt?

      Ideology assigned at birth?

      • mindyourbusiness

        Anglo-Conservative, because the young’un looks like Winston Churchill. All newborn babies do (h/t John D. McDonald).

      • Gender Traitor

        With any luck, his adolescent rebellion into progressivism will only be a passing phase.

      • SDF-7

        I remain very disappointed that my son did not opt to rebel against the hip-hop and rap domination of the music industry via polka. It was a wonderful dream….

      • UnCivilServant

        As a rule the rebellion is against the parental figure.

        You want Polka? Well, you’re not getting it.

  11. rhywun

    “united in horror” 😂🤣

    OFFS

    • SDF-7

      Yeah — our forced conscription was much classier back in the day.

  12. cavalier973

    What I find interesting is that Trump decided to have his meeting with Zelenskyy on camera. I suspect he didn’t want to be burned by Zelenskyy coming out of a closed-door meeting claiming that Trump did or said something.

    “Trump agreed to give us another $200 billion!”

    Or

    “Trump said that he wants to ship all the black people to Ukraine!”

    The inclusion of Vance is also fascinating, as well as Trump allowing Vance to speak and argue with Zelenskyy. Is Trump doing one of those Japanese boss things, like what Michael Crichton wrote about in Rising Sun?

    • SDF-7

      I was thinking of this… but that’s probably my own preferences coming to the fore.

      I thought this was meant to just be a more symbolic presser before the mineral deal signing rather than a true meeting that turned into arguments.

    • Old Man With Candy

      He’ll continue to position Vance for 2028.

      • R C Dean

        Yeah, it’s almost like the image we were given of Trump as stupid, impulsive, egotistical, and short-sighted might not be 100% accurate.

        Weird.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Yeah, it’s almost like the image we were given of Trump as stupid, impulsive, egotistical, and short-sighted might not be 100% accurate.

        99% accurate. But certainly smart enough to understand how to cement his legacy.

      • R C Dean

        I don’t find his massive, meticulously planned, surprise assault on the federal bureaucracy and NGO complex to be something a stupid, impulsive, and short-sighted man would do.

      • SDF-7

        Between how the 2020 election went (I personally still think it was hinky… I would not be at all surprised if he still thinks it was stolen), the lawfare of 2022 onward and then the assassination attempts — he may just be an embodiment of this saying. Normally he might be easy going, egotistical and distractable — but the Deep State made it very clear they’re at war with him… and that’s going to focus anyone on top priorities.

      • Pat

        He’s surrounded himself with a much better class of advisors this time out, that’s for sure.

      • Old Man With Candy

        I don’t find his massive, meticulously planned, surprise assault on the federal bureaucracy and NGO complex to be something a stupid, impulsive, and short-sighted man would do.

        I’ll disagree on the “meticulous” descriptor. I think the plan was general ahead, fairly ad hoc after that, and very much as Musk’s accusers state: “Move fast and break things.” Which, frankly, as a former tech entrepreneur, I approve of.

      • R C Dean

        There’s more going on than DOGE. For example, they identified the sub-Cabinet positions that can effectively run agencies, and identified the people to put in those positions, to start the counter-revolution on Day One. They also got their Senate approvals of Cabinet-level positions done within a month, which is virtually unheard of. They are attacking regulatory overreach on multiple fronts. Putting this together in advance was a huge project, and one they managed to put together in a way that achieved strategic surprise rivaling the massing of the Nazi armies in Poland prior to Barbarossa or the D-Day invasions.

      • PutridMeat

        achieved strategic surprise rivaling the massing of the Nazi armies in Poland prior to Barbarossa

        Glorifying the NAZI invasion of Poland. NAZI sympathizer confirmed.

      • R C Dean

        And Putrid smacks the hanging curve over the center field wall!

    • UnCivilServant

      Off Topic, but the first time reading Rising Sun, I had difficulty maintaining my suspension of disbelief. I think it was because I was trying to fit it into a real world framework.

      In more recent years, I listened to it as an audiobook. (I don’t know why I decided to given the first go round). For whatever reason, this time my mind interpreted it as a proto-cyberpunk universe where the tech hadn’t advanced too far yet. It worked better in that mindset.

    • Drake

      Rubio was there too. I really think they were serious about getting him to the peace talks table with reasonable expectations.

      It went well for about 40 minutes before Zelinsky blew it up.

    • rhywun

      the first woman, first African American and first Asian American in both offices

      Breathtakingly qualified.

    • Pat

      I don’t doubt she’d win.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m willing to bet bragging rights that she doesn’t make it past the primaries.

      • Pat

        Wouldn’t be the first time that happened. If she does get the nod though, CA will do the vote blue no matter who, and the party may put her up there just as a thumb in the eye to Trump.

      • SDF-7

        If Weasel Eyes can lie to everyone for 4 f’ing years (“Trump is a Russian Stooge! I have proof! No, I won’t show it to you!”) and get bumped up to Senator… nothing in CA politics is too stupid to happen.

        I expect them to push that asshole Weiner onto the national stage soon too.

      • Sean

        Didn’t Weiner just get booed at his last public appearance?

      • SDF-7

        I hadn’t heard — but here’s hoping.

      • rhywun

        See also: your next mayor of NYC, Andrew fucking Cuomo.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      I’m sure she can afford expensive wine by the magnum.

  13. Pat

    The plot thickens in the curious case of Gene Hackman.

    • UnCivilServant

      Admittedly, given the limited fact set of “two adults and a dog found dead, no visible foul play”, CO poisoning was a reasonable possibility.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        ‘Tis a puzzle.

      • juris imprudent

        Until you find out they were in 3 different rooms.

      • Gender Traitor

        CO would have been confined to a single room??

      • juris imprudent

        I assumed they may have died in their sleep, and yes, CO throughout the house means a LOT of CO.

  14. Drake

    Bill Burr – what a typical Hollywood disappointment. Enjoyed his comedy back when he was a Massachusetts townie telling stories I could identify with.

    Last week he was on the late night circuit defending Newsome and Bass. Just embarrassing.

    • Pat

      Last week he was on the late night circuit defending Newsome and Bass. Just embarrassing.

      That’s disappointing. I used to like some of his standup, but admittedly I haven’t seen anything of his in several years.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      He’s just a working man comedian who owns and operates a helicopter for the fun of it, something that many blue collar people do. Funny back in the day but he’s gotten physically fat and intellectually lazy and he loves flapping his gums on things about which he has no fucking idea.

    • rhywun

      Most people really ought to just stay in their lane.

    • SDF-7

      What was his defense? I can’t think of much beyond “They can’t help that they’re fundamentally corrupt idiots!”

      If it was “It wuz Big Oil wut dun it!” then he should have been booed off the fucking stage. (That’s the current set of paid for fucking ads in California, by the way… never fails. Assholes.)

  15. Sean

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 03/01:
    *20/20 words (+9 bonus words)
    📖 In the top 1% by bonus words

    I played https://squaredle.com 03/01:
    *39/39 words (+15 bonus words)
    📖 In the top 7% by bonus words
    🔥 Solve streak: 604

    • SDF-7

      Oh sure… post the day I screw up and try for a bonus word and hose my accuracy. Pbbbt!

      I played https://squaredle.com/xp 03/01:
      *20/20 words
      🎯 Perfect accuracy

      I played https://squaredle.com 03/01:
      *39/39 words (+4 bonus words)
      🎯 In the top 7% by accuracy
      🔥 Solve streak: 721

      And I thought you were up around 800+ on your streak from various bonus puzzles….

      • Sean

        It appears tracking is still borked when accessing my account from different devices.

      • rhywun

        I sent them an email about that and they never replied.

        They also couldn’t bother to notify me before charging another year on my credit card.

        I’ll play out the year I guess but I won’t renew. Their customer support sucks.

    • UnCivilServant

      Bad poses, bad ‘lingerie’, bad camera angles, too many tattoos.

      Other than that…

      • UnCivilServant

        Where’s the photographic artistry gone?

      • Pat

        UnCiv unironically reads it for the articles.

      • creech

        Most of the clothing looks super uncomfortable. Ladies, just take it off and feel relaxed.

  16. Q Continuum

    I must say that the Oval meeting with Zelenskyyy was an amazing sight to behold. No fake patina of diplomacy, no bullshitting, just “sign the deal or you’re on your own, and if you’re on your own, you’ll lose the whole country, not just Crimea and the East.” Incredible to see a politician being so bluntly honest in front of G-d and everyone.

    I get the impulse to say Russia shouldn’t be “allowed” to gain anything, that it would be “wrong”. The issue here is that statecraft, realpolitik and war are not about morality or justice; but our “post-War liberal order” (whatever nonsense is being peddled currently) has shoehorned in a dopey and infantile prog Manichean framework into what has always been the law of the jungle.

    I don’t know what Zelenskyyy hopes to accomplish. Whether he’s so deluded as to think he has a realistic chance of winning back the lost territory or if he’s just a pathetic grifter who wants to keep skimming billions into his Swiss bank account doesn’t matter; Trump is right on one thing, he doesn’t have the cards and if he keeps playing the hand instead of folding, he’s gonna lost everything.

    • Old Man With Candy

      My favorite part of it was the staging: Zelenskyy in the giant chair reminded me of a scene from The Incredible Shrinking Man.

    • rhywun

      I only saw the tail end where Trump was talking all over Z and using idiomatic English that Z clearly couldn’t understand.

    • Pat

      or if he’s just a pathetic grifter who wants to keep skimming billions into his Swiss bank account

      It’s this one, btw.

      The munchkin generalissimo got installed by our IC and probably thinks he’s got enough goods on enough people to keep the grift going indefinitely. Maybe he has.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        I think he did, up until Trumps reelection. As it is obvious that the “international community” hates Trump with the fire of a thousand suns, and it being clear that he is not part of their plans, all bets are off now.

    • PieInTheSky

      Error 1011 Ray ID: 91999193990591dd • 2025-03-01 15:08:15 UTC
      Access denied
      What happened?

      The owner of this website (www.powerlineblog.com) does not allow hotlinking to that resource (/ed-assets/2025/02/Screenshot-2025-02-27-at-7.50.30 AM.png).

  17. The Other Kevin

    Some on X are speculating that Nuland, Rice, and that gang are advising Zelensky and told him to be tough in Trump. That sounds entirely likely. Probably under the guise of some NGO.

    • Sensei

      See how well it worked!

      • The Other Kevin

        Never let a crisis go to waste. I truly believe they see this as an opportunity for regime change in Russia, to add to their string of successes. Only a few trillion and an entire generation of Ukrainians. Such a deal!

    • The Last American Hero

      Logan Act Logan Act Logan Act!!!!

  18. PieInTheSky

    There was a wine tasting recently near me I was not aware of which had a Viognier from Condrieu from 2000… I am sorry I missed it because I did not know viognier got that old and was still good. Would have been interesting.

    • Old Man With Candy

      It rarely ages well. I would have skepticism about a 2000. That said, in lean and unripe years (like 1993), they can age surprisingly well.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    “VP Harris has dedicated her career to the American people over the last several decades, and it’s clear she is not done serving,” a former Harris aide told The Hill.

    *ominous music*

    • creech

      You know who else dedicated a career to servicing the Volk?

    • Old Man With Candy

      2023 Cabernet Franc from Ria’s on Seneca Lake. It’s a happy, friendly take on CF, almost like a Gamay.

    • Nephilium

      About to get on the road to hit up a meadery for a club pickup, and will be stopping at a brewery along the way for something you definitely wouldn’t approve of.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    As part of a lawsuit that also challenges the Trump administration’s mass firing of probationary employees, a coalition of labor unions and civic organizations allege that the first “What did you do last week?” email, sent last weekend, violates federal law.

    The complaint contends that the email constitutes a rule, and that the Office of Personnel Management failed to comply with rulemaking procedures, including providing a notice and comment period as required under the Administrative Procedure Act.

    The fleas have taken over the circus.

    • juris imprudent

      The APA – the uber-Constitution!

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Some on X are speculating that Nuland, Rice, and that gang are advising Zelensky and told him to be tough in Trump. That sounds entirely likely. Probably under the guise of some NGO.

    “We’re behind you 1000%.”

  22. PutridMeat

    And now for something completely different. For our medical and/or lawyerly types.

    Imagine, if you will, someone with what a approximates a ‘catastrophic’ insurance plan. Very high deductible plan with no vision/dental/extra drug coverage combined with an HSA for out-of-pocket.

    Further, said person has a medical issue that will require paying the deductible and insurance covering the rest. And this person also has cash flow/free cash to cover the deductible without accessing the HSA. My advice was pay the deductible out of your on-hand cash, NOT the HSA. Reason being the HSA allows investment of the bulk of the funds in low risk ETF or mutual funds and the gains on those investments are tax free so long as they stay in the HSA. That is obviously not the case with any cash on hand, making 4% or invested where the dividend payments are subject to tax.

    So sound advice, yay or nay?

    • Pat

      Not a lawyer or medical type, just a half-educated schmuck on the internet, but very situational, IMO. There’s not much sense in ballooning the HSA unless you’re anticipating similarly large medical expenditures in the future, since you’ll owe income tax and a 20% penalty on withdrawals for non-medical uses.

      • PutridMeat

        Good point.

        I have a similar plan as this ‘other person’ and I view the HSA as a store for as much tax free cash as possible while employed and on a plan. After retirement and/or job loss, I then have a chunk of change large enough to cover medical emergencies without having to pay through the ass for what passes as ‘insurance’ these days. Perhaps that’s not the right way to look at it.

      • Pat

        Doesn’t seem like an unreasonable strategy, I’d just keep in mind that the HSA is there precisely to cover medical expenses that are large enough that you don’t want to pay out of pocket. It would depend on your age as well, to some extent, as the 20% penalty only applies to non-medical withdrawals until you turn 65. After that it’s just taxed as regular income.

    • R C Dean

      Situational, but not a bad starting point. You don’t want to cash out of a fund when it’s down, for example. Depends on what your other sources of funds are. If you’re pulling a paycheck and have the money in a bank account of some kind, probably use that (unless you are going to want to use it for something else). If you’re pulling from retirement accounts, I don’t know that it really matters.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    Cue silent movie tragedy track

    The survivor’s guilt-stricken remaining employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are trying to “pick up the pieces” and figure out how to continue delivering life-saving information to the public, after the shock firing of hundreds of America’s foremost experts in weather forecasting and earth sciences on Thursday.

    “This is an enormous self-inflicted wound. This is a hard day,” said an employee at the National Weather Service, which is under NOAA. “It’s a bleak day and I don’t know what the solution is.”

    Hundreds of employees were terminated — potentially as many as 800, sources close to the agency said. Most divisions of the agency, which employs scientists and specialists in weather, oceans, biodiversity, climate and other research and planetary monitoring fields, were affected.

    The full extent of the damage wrought by the cuts is still coming into focus, but cracks are already starting to form. Scientists and politicians are sounding the alarm about its potential consequences on everything from keeping people safe to the economy.

    “We know you talk a lot about the weather, but what do you actually do about it?”

  24. The Late P Brooks

    “Ships will not be able to safely navigate through our waterways. Farmers will not have the data they need to manage their crops. NOAA’s workforce keeps people alive and provides communities with the scientific support tools to protect their families and grow their businesses,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, said in a statement. “This action is a direct hit to our economy, because NOAA’s specialized workforce provides products and services that support more than a third of the nation’s GDP.”

    Many of the impacted scientists and staff vented frustration, sadness, surprise and anger after losing “dream jobs” in civil service so suddenly.

    We’re gonna need a bigger fainting couch.

    • The Last American Hero

      Maybe the industry associations can pay for their own weather analysts?

      • Ted S.

        +1 Accuweather

    • Pat

      Ships will not be able to safely navigate through our waterways. Farmers will not have the data they need to manage their crops.

      Maritime navigation and crop management were invented in 1970 when Nixon gifted the world with NOAA, it is known.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        And to think, the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk in 1975.

    • Sensei

      6% RIF. Good Lord.

      • R C Dean

        And folks, this is why you need rate and count when evaluating something like this.

        “Hundreds” sounds like the blood was ankle-deep in the aisles. “6%” sounds like a pretty meh RIF.

      • slumbrew

        That’s what I was looking for – they’re always tossing around number cut and not “out of” or a percentage.

        We had a 6% RIF last year, I don’t recall the national sob stories.

      • slumbrew

        Or what R C Dean wrote.

    • R C Dean

      Just how many thousands of people does NOAA employ, anyway?

      • Sensei

        12k globally.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    You’re all fired- security will se you out

    President Trump on Tuesday will deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress since his reelection. While the speech shares many characteristics with a State of the Union address, this presentation is slightly different in nature.

    Trump’s speech to Congress is expected to outline his legislative priorities for the upcoming term and highlight the work his administration has accomplished since taking office.

    I can’t wait.

    • Pat

      I hope some day some iconoclastic president goes back to the tradition of sending a state of the union letter to congress.

      • R C Dean

        “There is no prospect of any state leaving the union. Sincerely, etc.”

  26. The Late P Brooks

    6% RIF. Good Lord.

    Every weathergirl is sacred.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      weather girls > weathermen

      • Pat

        weather girls > weathermen

        So true, king.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    I hope some day some iconoclastic president goes back to the tradition of sending a state of the union letter to congress.

    On a postcard. “Needs improvement.”

  28. robc

    States in which cops have given me a warning: GA, TN, DE ( this morning)

    States in which cops have given me a ticket: KY, IN, KY, KY, KY.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Warning: NC (sort of)

      Ticket: OR (3x)

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Warning: OR, NM, CA

        Ticket: CA, CA, NV.

    • Pat

      Got 1 of each in NV and 1 warning since moving to TX. Both warnings in both states were for allegedly not fully stopping at a stop sign in the middle of the night in my very meth-head-looking shitbox of a car, and both shortly after moving to the respective areas. I strongly I suspect I did make a full stop each time and they just wanted to run my unfamiliar shitbox up the flagpole.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      That’s more KY than Jesse’s garage.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      I’ve gotten 4 tickets since moving to KY 22 years ago.

      TN is my nemesis.

  29. Gustave Lytton

    a bullet we thankfully dodged

    Yes, Kennedy was much better.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Mystery

    If you look at all the published literature—not just the indexed articles on PubMed but everything that is published anywhere—probably 90% of it is not reproducible. That was shocking even to me. And probably 20–30% of it is totally made up.

    I didn’t expect the numbers to be that high going into this. It’s just absurd, but this is what I came to conclude.

    Just think about all the money wasted. And paper mills [fraudulent organizations that write and publish fake research] make several billion dollars per year. This is a serious industry.

    Another big shock was learning that the process of trying to do something about the reproducibility crisis—trying to clean up the literature, trying to identify bad actors—is not done by the establishment, by grant-giving bodies, by universities, by journals or by governments. Who is doing this? Private investigators, working on their free time at home, while worried about who is going to sue them.

    What kind of a system is this?

    I’d say it’s working as designed.

    • R C Dean

      “The purpose of a system is what it does.”

      “Foreseeable consequences are not unintended.”

    • R C Dean

      What are the incentives? Obviously, there’s a lot of money (and also career rewards) in publishing something, anything. What’s the payoff for testing and disproving someone else’s work? For that matter, what’s the payoff for doing actual, intensive peer review?

  31. Fourscore

    “Every weathergirl is sacred.”

    Mostly correct but DEI followers made some pathways, I’m sure

    • robc

      I like the odea that Masters Theses should be reproducing ( or disproving, most of the time) published research.

    • slumbrew

      Her professional video-gamer boyfriend broke up with her “to focus on his career”.

      “There’s always someone sick of her shit.”