The week’s will be modern versions, saving the classics for the last Sunday.
Brit-lady belts out Brit-carol. Some of the harmonies/instrumental arrangement would qualify as “early music” in a different context, but in any case, they’re appropriate for the age of the carol so I give it a bonus point for being historically informed. Something about the “comfort and joy” being sung in a minor key always hit my irony spot. The clarity of the lyrics are well appreciated, as was her choice to keep the lyrics gendered.
Sagittarius’ good times continue to roll. While Mars moves out, depriving them of some potency in their affairs, they gain the Moon which has it’s “good luck” attribute emphasized by Venus remaining, so good luck is doubled up with Mercury. Sagittarius’ loss is Capricorn’s… also loss. Mars was only a good thing coupled up with Venus and she ain’t here, so the sea goats just get the (rather violent) downsides. For the rest of the population not born in the cold and/or upside down, you get a fun three days of “try it, it’ll probably work out” from Monday through Wednesday. (During this time Venus will be covering up for Mars). Oh and there will be more meteors than usual starting atthe end of that run of good luck. Those are considered bad, but they’re pretty.
A bit of a novelty act, but it works for an Aeolian mode/Latin text.
Sagittarius: 10 of Swords – In the spirit of the planets, let me come up with a silver lining to this card — whoever did this to you doesn’t consider you a threat anymore.
Capricorn: The Hierophant – -Marriage, alliance, captivity, servitude, mercy, goodness, inspiration.
Aquarius: 3 of Cups reversed – This card warns of the consequences of overindulging, especially in drink.
Pisces: Page of Coins reversed – Someone you give money to will lose it. It doesn’t say whether or not this should concern you, but the implication is yes.
Aries: Judgement reversed – This says your initial judgement is going to be sub-optimal. See also: Aquarius and Capricorn.
Taurus: 2 of Coins – parties or “fun” activities you really don’t want to attend. Fake the enjoyment.
Gemini: 3 of Coins – Trade, skilled labor, renown, recognition.
Cancer: Knight of Cups – Spreading the good word, arrival, approach, advances, proposition, demeanor, invitation, incitement.
Leo: King of Wands reversed – Good, but severe; austere, yet tolerant. A Fudd with a bug up his butt.
Virgo: The Hanged Man – Wisdom, circumspection, discernment, trials, sacrifice, intuition, divination, prophecy. Drawing this near a major holiday has additional meanings, but the mostly boil down to “as above, but BIGGER!”
Libra: 10 of Cups – Contentment, repose of the entire heart; the perfection of that state; also perfection of human love and friendship. Overall, not bad.
Scorpio: 6 of Coins reversed – Giving to someone who really doesn’t deserve it. The implication is you’re being snookered, but maybe you’re just being generous.
An actual new song! And while totally popped-out/overproduced, not obnoxiously maudlin and self-regarding in the way most pop carols are. It’s just fun. Probably the best modern Christmas song of my lifetime (damning with faint praise indeed!)
Trying to figure out if this means one or both of my sisters – the one who constantly needs to be bailed out (not literally…so far) or the one who keeps bailing the other one out. 🤔
My property theft (tax) comes due on the 21st.
They like to stick it to you right before Christmas and quarterlies.
Virgo.
BIGGER.
I am eight feet tall and 500 pounds after all.
UFC heavyweight last night had once weighed 500 pounds, had that loose, saggy skin – looked like a sharpei, but he damn sure could punch.
My Siamese has a bunch of extra skin.
She can turn herself around inside of it. Catching and holding onto her if she dosent want you to is almost impossible. I bet that guy has that going for him too.
My father had two half Shar-pei, half lab beasts. Man were those guys strong, and at 80+ each, more than a handful of skin.
Good, but severe; austere, yet tolerant. A Fudd with a bug up his butt.
Holding back sufficient shit is a fool’s errand.
The book ‘Nudge’ (2008) by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein was an influential bestseller that shaped public policy interventions around the world.
So do ‘nudges’ work?
Nope, according to this new synthesis of 14 meta-analysis, covering 1,638 studies including a total of 30 million subjects. Adjusting for publication bias, typical effect of a nudge is as close to zero as you can get.
https://x.com/primalpoly/status/1999554345705308576
Shorter: Why won’t people accept we know what is best for them?!
I had never heard of this so did some basic research. On the surface, it sounds like a relatively benign form of parentalism from elites. Let them think they’re pushing people to make their preferred choices. It’s probably not effective and it’s preferable to just forcing behavior outright.
The Wikipedia page is scant on specific policies or “nudges” that were implemented by various governments, though when you look at who and when it was employed, it doesn’t speak well of the concept. Used during Covid, by Obama and his ilk. But they don’t give specific instances so it’s hard to judge.
The book was very popular among a certain class of Technocrat Progressive back in the Obama administration days.
Reason and the Marginal Revolution crowd were all over that shit 15 years ago.
Or twenty, i guess. Where does the time go?
So I guess it’s time to stop “nudging” and just start forcing people to do what’s best for them.
It is the polite form of stop resisting.
Nudge = iron fist poking
And yet Sunstein is the junior Hitler in his marriage with insane shitbird ideas. If there was any justice in this world, she’d be deported back to Ireland in a pine box. R2P is basically a justification for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Or would be if the international set abided by their nonsensical espoused principles instead of principals. Or that “international law” is just victors justice to give cover to whatever the Davos crowd wants to do.
Don’t forget how she is haunted by the failure of the West to intervene in Rwanda. There ain’t no end to the good-deed-doing of that wretched bitch.
Nudging is a polite way of saying “nagging” which is a form of abuse.
Cancer: Knight of Cups – Spreading the good word, arrival, approach, advances, proposition, demeanor, invitation, incitement.
I aint spreadin shit. I just want the next week to be done and go on winter break
Sagittarius: 10 of Swords – In the spirit of the planets, let me come up with a silver lining to this card — whoever did this to you doesn’t consider you a threat anymore.
I’m less of a threat and more of an obstacle these days.
“I’m less of a threat and more of an obstacle these days”
It’s always the other people that are the obstacles, whether it’s driving, shopping, fishing, they all seem to want to be ahead of me.
I think they’re paranoid.
Capricorn: The Hierophant – -Marriage, alliance, captivity, servitude, mercy, goodness, inspiration.
Aries: Judgement reversed – This says your initial judgement is going to be sub-optimal. See also: Aquarius and Capricorn.
Initial judgement of 27 years ago?
It*would* be time to watch my Bills lose to the new England pansies, but the NFL blows.
Used to be able to see all the games for free as long as people bought tickets to the game.. Now I’m not even in the area and it’s gotten impossible to find the game..bah humbug.
Free/illegal streams are pretty easy to come by with just a Google search.
Took me a bit to find it, used to just do NFL bites and find a stream there.
Now I’m happily watching my team get steam rolled.
I think I watched one game this year, and that was in pre-season.
Just not in me right now.
On that former “conservative” turned trannie comedian story earlier…
The dude was gay, couldn’t live with it and to cope they convinced themselves they were trans.
It’s a wonder that comedy is dead with young stars such as these.
Young people today (at least in that sphere) are indoctrinated, deeply insecure, and think they are defined by bedroom preferences and gender identities. Adopting these labels is how they cope with their broken sense of self.
Not effusively offering praise is even WORSE than bigotry. Do these people not realize what courage it took indulge in their most base impulses? To get married, have children, and then fuck the wife and kids up by cheating and drinking (which this puff piece glosses over)? To then deflect from their depravity and cowardice by hiding behind modern progressive dogma and adopt a make-believe persona that they felt made it easier to cope with what they had done?
PRAISE THEM!!!11
Dear mother of god…
Some school hired this broken husk of a human being to not just teach children, but the most vulnerable of children?
I made the mistake of responding to a them as “yes sir” and got back the ol’ “it’s ma’am” I just responded, “How about just ‘yes’ then?” So much for trying to be polite and fuck these narcissistic assholes.
It’s all about making you uncomfortable before you conform to their demands.
It’s a wonder that comedy is dead with young stars such as these.
Seriously – if you laughed they’d follow up with “oh, so you think that’s funny do you”?
“No. I’m laughing at you, not with you. I bet you get those confused a lot.”
A nation of chumps
With many federal student loan borrowers struggling to repay their debt, consumer advocates and financial advisors say it’s crucial that consumers know about the U.S. Department of Education’s affordable repayment plans and forgiveness programs.
Unfortunately, some don’t.
“Many borrowers end up paying more than necessary simply because they aren’t aware of the full range of relief options available to them,” said certified financial planner K.C. Smith, managing associate at Henssler Financial in Kennesaw, Georgia, which ranked No. 46 on CNBC’s Financial Advisor 100 list for 2025.
Pay what you owe? Nobody does that.
Bring back chain gangs, for not paying federal student loans.
Thell st least have marketable skills after a decade of digging ditches and turning big rocks into small ones.
Cancer: Knight of Cups – Spreading the good word, arrival, approach, advances, proposition, demeanor, invitation, incitement.
I definitely have a demeaning proposition. Giggity.
The customers that bothered them the most seemed to approach the counter with blank indifference.
“I don’t care who or what you think you are. Just try not to fuck up my order.”
So, even though this crime didn’t occur where they were performing, in that bastion of MAGA territory, the fact that it (supposedly) came up when he Googled that county means they are implicitly guilty.
Where did this crime take place? In some small town called Canandaigua near Rochester that is currently under Democratic leadership.
Without searching, wasnt Nordquist abducted and killed by her fellow quiltbag “friends”?
It was a weird case, and had little to do with their trans ness.
“The seven suspects charged were Precious Arzuaga, 38; Jennifer Quijano, 30; Kyle Sage, 33; Patrick Goodwin, 30; Emily Motyka, 19; Thomas G. Eaves, 21; and Kimberly Sochia, 29, all from New York state.[18] One suspect, Patrick Goodwin of Rochester (born October 1994), was convicted of child sexual abuse in 2015 and released from prison in 2023. Another, Kyle Sage of Hopewell (born October 5, 1991), was convicted of grand larceny and distributing pornography to a minor, finishing his prison sentence in May 2024. Precious Arzuaga, was previously convicted of misdemeanor trespass and larceny, and in 2016, she was charged with animal cruelty to her dog, which was removed by authorities.[19][20][21] For their alleged involvement in Nordquist’s killing, the suspects were charged with second-degree murder with depraved indifference;[2][5] on March 5, the murder charges were upgraded to first-degree murder. Arzuaga was also charged with coercing two children, aged 7 and 12, to take part in the torture.[9][22]”
These were a bunch of sexual deviants and criminals doing sexual deviant criminal stuff.
Thanks, Lack.
Forget it, it’s MAGA country.
Yea, it’s a brutal case but they were in a relationship with a woman. Woman was abusive and controlling. They were planning to leave the woman and go home. Maybe that spurred the torture and abuse.
The story I’m reading claims there was an outpouring of love and support. Yea, from some corners. But the LGBTQ+ activists basically just wanted to weaponize the story and see it prosecuted as a hate crime to push their political agenda.
It was a fucked up situation with some real depraved individuals. You could question the cops and how they investigated, but I doubt small town cops are that used to lesbian domestic abuse situations. They interviewed Nordquist with the murderer present. They assured them everything was fine. They should have separated the two and talked to them, but women don’t tend to be viewed the same way as male abusers. They responded to the requests for welness checks multiple times and seemingly promptly.
Let’s not ignore this bit of stunning bravery:
Stunning. Brave. The show must go on.
“some right-wing media outlets had speculated that the alleged shooter was trans or dating a trans person”
Isn’t that true?
So. I’ve done a fair amount of research into the ‘practical’ side of how criminals select their victims*, including reading and watching interviews with criminal predators themselves. There are certain factors that come up over and over again:
– Abnormalities in gait are a huge prey flag.
– Pronounced lack of physical fitness.
– Looking disheveled, distracted, or ‘not put together’.
Now, do any of these factors sound like they might be common in the trans/’non-binary’ community?
* – If you’re interested in this kind of thing, some of the best privately available sources are the work of John Hearne (Two Pillars Training), and the late Dr. William Aprill.
Just asking for a friend, ES?
It’s pretty much a rhetorical question, Zwak.
The greater question is, are sexual minorities disproportionately victims of criminal violence because they are being targeted for their predilections? Or do they tend to look and act like prey, and thus get eaten by opportunistic predators?
Lol, clearly upset it wasn’t getting a rise or praise it expected.
Taurus: 2 of Coins – parties or “fun” activities you really don’t want to attend. Fake the enjoyment.
—
I did that successfully with dispensing today. My replacement was late or confusion got involved, so I did it for 2.5 hours. We were quite busy, so constantly going in and out. This was not fun. I did not want to attend the outdoors. But I was cheerful, cuz I kinda (sincerely) always am. But FUCK, that was cold. I had to take my borrowed gloves off to use the handheld, and by the end of it, my right pinky was barking in pain, and my toes were beginning to have a bit of a *real* issue. (They didn’t appreciate the warmth and loving support my $32.99 slip-in sneakers provide. (I’ll have a talkin’ with the toes later. Ungrateful bastards.)
‘Fake It til ya make it’ isn’t bad advice, or it hasn’t been for me. When things are novel and ya don’t wanna be noticed, a veneer of confidence influences the social primates around you, changes the energy and mood around ya.
“Persistently chipper” I call myself, and it goes way back. There’s no positive to *adding* negativity to situations. Now, it may be called for in *response* to something, but having it start with you is not a good strategy. Negativity is far too easy to sink into, and it only spirals downward. Constant positivity (not naivete), adds buoyancy.
It’s a good ‘habit’ to get into, I found.
re nature v nurture: That inner pos/neg mindset? I reckon the first ~6yrs of environment trumps the genetic draw. I’m not sure it can be ‘taught’ or ‘attained’ afterward.
Birthday dinner at this place tonight.
Bougie Hick Steakhouse
Im more interested in the bourbon and scotch menu than the food at this point. Though that pork shank sounds devine.
Let me know how it is.
Looking to maybe go to this place sometime this week….
https://blueheronsteakhouse.com/
Or maybe this joint….
https://www.themerrickinn.com/
So kid who asked Charlie Kirk the last question of his life…and made a compelling sob narrative post…somehow ends up at Mrs Kirk event….planned or kid isnt as non-invested as he proclaimed?
Maybe, just maybe, something in his brain clicked when he saw the (still continuing) gloating from the left.
Planned.
It’s what he does.
He’s a professional leftist.
Leo: King of Wands reversed – Good, but severe; austere, yet tolerant. A Fudd with a bug up his butt.
Remarkably accurate for the past few days.