Stoic Friday

by | Jan 6, 2023 | Advice, LifeSkills, Musings | 218 comments

The Daily Stoic

The Practicing Stoic

How to Be a Stoic

If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness)

What I’m currently reading:

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius: Robertson, Donald J.: 9781250196620: Amazon.com: Books

Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.

 

Meditations was my introduction to the Stoic philosophy. According to Amazon, I bought this on January 31st 2020, so I half-assed studied it for 2 years before I actually tried to seriously incorporate it into my daily life. This book along with The Daily Stoic really helped me to control my anger and deal with outside forces more successfully.

This was not planned to be published by Marcus Aurelius, it was more of a personal guidebook. In it he talks of his struggles and has useful exercises to overcome them. He was not born to be Emperor, but he was adopted by Hadrian’s heir, Marcus’s uncle Antoninus Pius, and became co-Emperor with his adoptive brother Lucius Verus in 161.

Early in their co-reign the Parthians invaded Armenia(a Roman client state). Lucius was sent to deal with this while Marcus remained in Rome. Apparently, Lucius spent most of his time drinking and gambling and the war turned into a disaster. In 166 Rome won, mostly due to the generals and not either of the Emperors.  The returning soldiers brought a plague with them and it is believed that this is what killed Lucius in 168.

In 161 or 162 while the Parthian war was being fought, Germanic tribes were also invading Roman territory. Marcus got actively involved in 169 and his first engagement was a defeat for the Romans. After reorganizing and changing tactics, they forced the tribes back and signed a treaty with the major tribe in 175 and Marcus assumed the victory title “Sarmaticus“.

Whether or not he had intentions of carrying the fighting to the remaining tribes is unknown, because at this time he had to deal with a rebellion by one of his Generals, Avidius Cassius. Cassius was claiming Marcus was dead and trying to make himself Emperor. Once the Legions learned Marcus was alive many rallied to him. While he was preparing to go to war with Cassius, a centurion of one of Cassius’ legions murdered Cassius, sending his head to Aurelius as proof.

It is believed that during these turbulent times, Marcus wrote the bulk of Meditations. I can imagine it was difficult for him, having no military experience and learning on the fly while dealing with the normal pressures of being Emperor.

Marcus died at the age of 58 on 17 March 180 and in spite of probably being a great Emperor and a great philosopher, he might not have been a good father as his son Commodus became Emperor and became a dictator until he was assassinated in 192.

The book is broken into different phases, but not necessarily chronological.

I enjoy this book because it is not written in a flowery way, but more straight forward and simple. Some of my favorite quotes:

Be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds; it stands fast while the churning sea is lulled to sleep at its feet. I hear you say, “How unlucky that this should happen to me!” Not at all! Say instead, “How lucky that I am not broken by what has happened and am not afraid of what is about to happen. The same blow might have struck anyone, but not many would have absorbed it without capitulation or complaint.”

— IV. 49
This one is a reminder that whatever unfortunate event happens to me, could happen to anyone. Using that perspective, it is easier to not complain about the unfairness and simply deal with what I control. I think no matter how my life goes, I have the knowledge and ability to not let it break me. I wish I would never have to test myself in this regard, but eventually something will happen to me or someone I care about, there is no way to change that.

Does the light of a lamp shine and keep its glow until its fuel is spent? Why shouldn’t your truth, justice, and self-control shine until you are extinguished?

— XII. 15
Here we have a lesson in perseverance and not allowing the outside world to change my inner self. I will do my best to be a good person regardless of my external circumstances.

[Before making a decision] The first thing to do – don’t get worked up. For everything happens according to the nature of all things, and in a short time you’ll be nobody and nowhere even as the great emperors Hadrian and Augustus are now. The next thing to do – consider carefully the task at hand for what it is, while remembering that your purpose is to be a good human being. Get straight to doing what nature requires of you, and speak as you see most just and fitting – with kindness, modesty, and sincerity.

— VIII. 5
I am struggling with this one now. I want to push my 20 year old son to get a job and start his own life. My wife is (rightly) concerned that I will blow a fuse and the conversation will end with him out of the house. She is reminding me that our daughter once ran away to get married at 18 and was divorced by 19 BUT is currently happily married and working as a Popeye’s manager. I need to keep in mind that we don’t know the future and try to be understanding, while figuring out how to get him moving. It is difficult for me to relate to him, I have been working steadily since I was 13 on a dairy farm so I definitely need kindness and modesty.

Never regard something as doing you good if it makes you betray a trust or lose your sense of shame or makes you show hatred, suspicion, ill-will or hypocrisy or a desire for things best done behind closed doors.

— III. 7
I believe this logic 100%. At work, I hear conversations about hiding things from spouses and people say they have passwords on their phones so the spouse can’t see. My wife knows pretty much everything I do and neither one of us has a password on our phone. Does this mean I have never lied? No, but I do try not to and I don’t keep secrets.
Disclaimer #1: This is a very simplified telling of history, so don’t go all “Well, actually…” on me.
Disclaimer #2: I don’t know 100% if Marcus Aurelius was a good person, or just an evil one that liked to write philosophy. I asked Pie, but he says he was not living in Rome at the time, so I couldn’t get a first hand experience.
Music this week is the Galactic Cowboys. they are a little weird, but have some really good songs on their first 2 albums.

This one is from 5 years ago, I just heard it for the first time:

About The Author

ron73440

ron73440

What I told my wife when she said my steel Baby Eagle .45 was heavy, "Heavy is good, heavy is reliable, if it doesn't work you could always hit him with it."-Boris the Blade MOLON LABE

218 Comments

  1. DEG

    Meditations was my introduction to the Stoic philosophy.

    #metoo.

    I don’t remember when I got a copy. It was a PDF someone sent me. I’m not sure where he got it.

    I knew about Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics long before I read “Meditations”, but never dived into Stoicism until I read “Meditations”.

    • ron73440

      I knew about Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics long before I read “Meditations”, but never dived into Stoicism until I read “Meditations”.

      #metoo

      Honestly my first intro to Marcus was Gladiator, but that’s not exactly an accurate portrayal.

      It is still one of my favorite movies.

      As far as the Stoics, all I knew was the adjective use of it.

  2. PieInTheSky

    Be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds; – are you saying I’m fat?

    • Tundra

      Big boned.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Husky.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Pleasingly plump.

      • Sean

        Thîcc.

    • ron73440

      I thought vampires were slender?

      Or have the movies lied to me?

  3. DEG

    I have been working steadily since I was 13 on a dairy farm so I definitely need kindness and modesty.

    I’ve met you. I’d say you have kindness and modesty.

    Thanks for continuing the series.

    • ron73440

      Thanks, it is difficult though dealing with an aimless 20 year old, especially when a lot of his aimlessness was caused by a combination of his mother spoiling him and the lockdowns that came at exactly the wrong time for him.

      • juris imprudent

        This society isn’t encouraging them to become responsible young adults either – so it isn’t just some personal failing.

  4. UnCivilServant

    I found it much easier to keep my calm now that there’s an end in sight for the significant aggravations. Listening to other people almost get into a shouting match over something that is, arguably, quite insignificant is quite draining. But I take solace in the fact that by the end of February, it will no longer be my problem.

    I feel for Marcus, it can’t have been easy, any of the jobs in question are stressful enough.

    • R.J.

      “ Be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds; it stands fast while the churning sea is lulled to sleep at its feet.”

      Fourth day back at work since New Year’s break. I am feeling some tidal erosion.

      • juris imprudent

        Stupid is relentless.

      • ron73440

        Stupid is relentless

        Yes, yes it is.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Corollary: As soon as you make something idiot-proof, along comes a better idiot.

    • Sean

      I didn’t congrats you on the last thread.

      Congrats, UCS.

      • R.J.

        I missed that. May you have continued success in 2023!

      • Tundra

        Yes, congrats! I hope it’s a good move!

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, the new manager is someone who actually talks to me and with whom I can share a joke as opposed to my current management who shares so little that he managed to not reveal the fact that he has two more direct reports I’d never heard of until he asked that they be included in the knowledge transfer. So that alone is a positive change. It’s a larger team and more of a management role, which I’ve found I’m actually not bad at. I was surprised most of all given I’m a highly introverted, highly technical person.

      • Tundra

        That all sounds extremely positive. I’m happy for you!

      • UnCivilServant

        Thank you. Hopefully my impressions are correct.

    • juris imprudent

      end in sight for the significant aggravations

      I thought you had a new job, not that you were retiring. [Said flauntingly with just under 5 months of worklife remaining]

      • UnCivilServant

        There are always the lesser aggravations.

      • juris imprudent

        Hoping for you they are vastly less and best wishes with it!

      • UnCivilServant

        Here’s hoping.

        And good luck on your retirement plans.

      • juris imprudent

        Yeah, it will be nice to look forward to what the day has to offer.

    • Gender Traitor

      Current work mode:
      – Work on month-, quarter-, or year-end tasks.
      – Pause to address something our payroll processor apparently screwed up.
      – Resume working on month-, quarter-, or year-end.

      I need to read up on this Stoic stuff when I get some time.

      • UnCivilServant

        From what I gather it’s about controlling your reactions to events.

    • UnCivilServant

      You know what’s funny? Yesterday afternoon and through the night I was going back and forth about taking the transfer and was honestly undecided until this morning when I talked to my coworker and you lot about it. I was still hesitant to commit upto and including the point where I was typing out the official acceptance. I had to force myself to hit send on the message. But now I’m actually quite optimistic about things and not second guessing the choice at all.

      I know there’s some formal term for that. I just don’t remember it.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Congratulations on the new role. Sounds like the right move.

      • UnCivilServant

        Thank you.

        All evidence points that way at the moment.

    • ron73440

      Congratulations on the new job, hope it works out for you.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Congratulations, UCS, you have earned it.

      • cyto

        Did he though?

        Because I think Obama might take issue with that.

  5. The Late P Brooks

    Sorry, Ron.

    Decidedly not Stoic

    To rewind a bit: The lack of a National Guard response on Jan. 6 is one of the major subjects of lingering finger-pointing two years after the insurrection. Was this Trump administration malfeasance? Poor law enforcement planning? Opinions vary, but the issue is front and center again with this week’s publication of Sund’s memoir, Courage Under Fire.

    In the book, Sund is sharply critical of numerous figures he says were responsible for the failure to deploy federal resources to back up the outnumbered police as they battled the mob. He recounts meetings with congressional staffers in the days before the insurrection in which he was told that then-speaker Nancy Pelosi was “never going to go” for deploying the Guard, and meetings in the midst of the crisis when Pentagon brass said they didn’t want to take responsibility for the unprecedented spectacle of the military rushing the citadel of democracy.

    “It was sickening,” Sund told me this week. “I’m sitting here watching my men and women fighting, you know, defend every inch of ground. … I get on the call with the Pentagon to find that they’re really [more] concerned about the look of having the National Guard up at the Capitol than they are about my men and women and their asses handed to them. That’s sickening.”

    Those pussies at the Pentagon didn’t want to re-enact the Battle of Bunker Hill, except with an unarmed leaderless rabble as targets? What a bunch of cowardly dogs.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      the look of having the National Guard up at the Capitol

      They weren’t concerned about that for Biden’s inauguration.

      • cyto

        One wonders if the FBI sent agents over to discuss issues like how things might look and maybe even a pre-game analysis that said Trump was planning to use violence to discredit the military and police.

        Kinda the same way every metro police department figured out that stopping BLM and Antifa rioters was something they really didn’t want to do.

    • juris imprudent

      Nancy Pelosi was “never going to go”

      Hmm, this seems to have been under-reported in the 2 years since. Why wasn’t she dragged before the Jan 6th Commission? Where was Liz Cheney to demand answers from her?

      Fucking charade.

    • Rebel Scum

      Was this Trump administration malfeasance?

      Trump literally offered more security and Pelosi/Bowser declined.

      watching my men and women fighting, you know, defend every inch of ground

      It was a warzone, obviously.

    • R.J.

      Shipping is unholy. $2,000.

      • juris imprudent

        So will be stacking all of it! 100k+ rounds? Sheesh. I never handled that big a shipment even when I worked for a retail gun shop.

      • R.J.

        You could always leave it wrapped on a pallet in the middle of the living room and nibble at it every weekend. Put a doily in it like it’s an end table.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        End table? Shit, that is a work of art, and needs to be the focus of attention to all who enter!

    • UnCivilServant

      What caliber? (Gun sites are blocked from work.)

      • R.J.

        9MM

      • R.J.

        Here is the entire listing title:

        9MM SAR USA NATO Ammunition – 124gr – – 108k Rds Pallet

      • UnCivilServant

        So, a good weekend’s worth then?

    • cyto

      I wonder how many lists that would put you on….

  6. Gustave Lytton

    The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Oregon Constitution guarantee defendants who are facing jail or prison time the right to an attorney, even if they can’t afford one. But the founding documents offer no clear guidance about what should happen when the government can’t find available public defenders to take on the job.

    🤦‍♂️

    The stupid, it burns.

    https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2023/01/locked-up-with-no-lawyer-this-is-the-reality-for-77-defendants-in-oregon-today.html

    • juris imprudent

      I seem to recall that the local Bar could impress an attorney/firm to do this, as part of the privilege of membership in said Bar.

      • Swiss Servator

        The Federal Courts make that a condition of getting licensed to practice before them…or at least they did in the Northern District of Illinois, back when I bothered with them.

      • R C Dean

        The vast majority of lawyers are utterly unqualified to be criminal defense attorneys. And I absolutely include myself in that majority.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Doesn’t seem all that complicated. The State provides one and has ji alluded to, adheres to the bar.

    • Gustave Lytton

      This is total Washington Monument strategy to sidestep that the state has one of the highest public defender budgets and does almost zero means testing.

      • juris imprudent

        If the accused doesn’t wish to spend their own money on a defense lawyer, that is their choice (unwise as it may be) – it shouldn’t be only for the indigent.

  7. Hyperion

    I’m just curious, in case I want to join the Stoic club.

    Since I gave up alcohol, exactly how many drugs and what type does it take to remain a Stoic?

  8. Tundra

    Does the light of a lamp shine and keep its glow until its fuel is spent? Why shouldn’t your truth, justice, and self-control shine until you are extinguished?

    Demoralization. I largely checked out while I was on vacation and it was striking how optimistic I felt. A few days of news and narrative and it’s wtf?

    • ron73440

      I know that feeling.

      I have been working my ass off lately and was able to ignore most of the current stupidity, then I had a vacation and chose to continue ignoring it.

      As much as I love hanging out here, sometimes the relentlessness of the tyrants is disheartening.

      • Swiss Servator

        You could always just read SugarFree’s…. wait, never mind.

      • ron73440

        Actually the last couple weeks, I’ve only read Joemala and R.J.’s movie threads.

        My work should be back to normal now, so I’ll be around more.

      • Tundra

        Remember Leap? I texted with him at Christmas and he indicated that he has pretty much dropped offline completely. Seems very happy.

        The challenge for me is that You People are my friends (as sad as that may be!).

      • ron73440

        I haven’t seen that movie in at least 30 years, but immediately read it in his voice.

      • UnCivilServant

        I wondered why he stopped coming by.

        Mentally, I need this outlet for my ranting, blathering, and all around venting. There aren’t too many people in meatspace that I talk to, and most of the time, I am the one providing them with support.

      • Timeloose

        The unfortunate/fortunate part is when you get most of your news and discussion from Glibs, it will not be filled with a lot of feel good rah-rah good for our team kind of stuff. The problem is that because of the space we are in, there will be little to cheer or feel good about.

        But, the articles, stories, and discussions make up for the negativity of the rest of the content (reality).

        Please don’t take this as a critique to the news and links, I don’t want a candy coated clown version of reality. It is just that sometimes a person requires a break from the world around us and focus on family, friends, and stupid distractions.

      • slumbrew

        I’m nobody’s supervisor, but it’d be nice if the links posts included at least one ‘daily ray of sunshine’ (which I miss – his holy-ness has been slacking scarce).

      • juris imprudent

        It wouldn’t exactly hurt the lot of us to pick up that slack.

      • juris imprudent

        I don’t want a candy coated clown version of reality.

        TV news provides that.

      • R.J.

        This is why I started movie nights. And GlibCar. You folks need cheering up.

  9. LCDR_Fish

    Great music choice Ron. Galactic Cowboys were one of my favorites back in college. Saw them live with Kings X in Chapel HIll back in ’99. Got all the CDs but haven’t listened for a while. Thanks for the reminder.

    Sent you an email about a visit in a couple weeks.

    • LCDR_Fish

      Yeah…if they have a new album from the last 5 years, then I definitely haven’t seen that one yet.

    • ron73440

      I have their first 3, but didn’t really like the third one.

      That “new” song sounds more like the first 2.

      I will check email shortly.

  10. Ownbestenemy

    I am in geek mode right now. All alone working on a radar is so peaceful. Especially when you know the radar. It’s voice and it’s temperament. Almost like a good nurse with a patient.

    • UnCivilServant

      I don’t know radars, but I image it’s not unlike familiar servers whose foibles and eccentricities are second nature. A comfortable spot.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Same thing. You can walk into a room and immediately know something isn’t right before you even go looking for something.

      • Tundra

        So the opposite of a wife/girlfriend then?

      • juris imprudent

        [rim-shot]

      • Ownbestenemy

        I dunno…I’d say that was a swish from downtown

      • juris imprudent

        [tilts head] More of an uncontested lay-up. [look around, wonders why there are no libertarian women]

      • ron73440

        So the opposite of a wife/girlfriend then?

        What do you mean?

        I can tell instantly when she has the “your wife married an idiot” face on.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Really? I just get a muttered “you’re soooo good looking…”

      • Ted S.

        She’s always got it on, doesn’t she.

      • ron73440

        Not always, she is good at pretending she didn’t marry an idiot.

      • R C Dean

        Not really. You can walk into the room and know immediately something isn’t right, because that’s every time. The difference is, there’s no point looking for it. Whatever is your fault will be invisible to male eyes until it is pointed out in painstaking detail.

  11. R.J.

    I just found a free copy of Meditations in iBooks. I am pleased.

    • ron73440

      Cool, there are many translations out there.

      Also, I finally started Hebrew Hammer, the first 5 minutes had me rolling.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    So the opposite of a wife/girlfriend then?

    Something something ominous gloom.

    • R.J.

      “…darkness fills up every room
      My boom stick gives a mighty boom
      And deadites fall down to their doom”

      Perambulations, by Ash Williams

      • slumbrew

        Good, bad; I’m the guy with the gun.

  13. Scruffy Nerfherder

    I’m trying to be stoic about turning on the inventory module in my accounting software and creating a minor nightmare for myself, but I’m failing at the moment.

    • Timeloose

      I’m watching a spinning icon for over 2 minutes on the enterprise software I need to use to generate my reports. Need to get them done before the end of the day. Get frustrated and reload the application, same shit.

      Listening to Sonic Youth Day Dream Nation while I don’t work, wishing I could work……

      • UnCivilServant

        In that time, our users would have opened a dozen tickets that all just said “[Application] is broken”

      • Timeloose

        back to work. My spinning icon is now gone.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Unable to replicate Error, closing ticket.”

      • UnCivilServant

        Have you tried optimizing your queries?

      • Timeloose

        Fux Qikview. I’m just trying to enter drilldowns for a given report. I think the system is having an issue.

      • UnCivilServant

        Sounds like it. Especially if the report is supposedly already built.

      • juris imprudent

        Have you tried optimizing your queries?

        Oh look at Mr. Helpdesk here! He probably hasn’t even checked the thermostat.

      • UnCivilServant

        sqlplus / as sysdba
        > shutdown immediate;
        > exit

      • cyto

        This is why you need direct SQL access to the server. Write your own reports, I sez…..

        (A bit of an inside joke. We had some analyst in accounting demanding this access (for excel, no less). We gave her access to a copy of the data. She managed to write locking queries that blocked each other and locked up the server… With only one user. Can’t make this stuff up. Bonus… She got the wrong answer when I helped unblock the deadlock issue. )

      • UnCivilServant

        Impressive.

        Most impressive.

      • cyto

        Her name became an epithet, similar to “you SugarFreed the link”

        She was both crazy and an asshat, so we didn’t get the mirth of genial ribbing to go along with it, so it eventually died out.

      • Nephilium

        One place I worked at wanted to build 12 different queues for his department. The department had 4 people in it…

        His name became synonymous for trying to over complicate a system.

      • UnCivilServant

        “So if I call any of these numbers and choose any of these options, your phone will ring?”

        I can see a point to the more queues than agents if (and only if) the system was collecting relevant information on the way in that helped the agent do the task the caller was calling about – but I doubt that was the case.

      • Nephilium

        UCS:

        That was not the case. He wanted a queue for each agent, and then a backup queue for each agent, and then a tertiary queue for each agent. Then he would open tickets asking why a call went to a specific agent. The answer was always that the agent that the call was supposed to go to was already on the phone, so it went to one of the other queues.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m assuming these agents had the same job/training/responsibilities. In which case, that’s just plain stupid. (Ie, there was no practical reason another agent couldn’t pick up the issue and run with it)

      • cyto

        I love that stuff.

        I built a genesys based system that would build individualized queues for each call based on the customer. Number dialed, status of their file, etc and then using skill based routing the call would go where we wanted, regardless of how they called in.

        So a sales call for a customer in collections would bounce to collections first. And a call for a sale in progress would go to sales ahead of anything else, popping his screen with relevant details and options to shunt to a sales assistant or team member.

        Very sophisticated, also integrated both inbound ACD calls with direct line calls and outbound predictive dialer calls.

        You work in my call center, your ass is on the phone. As I used to say… I will make you tired, but I will make you money!

      • juris imprudent

        Definitely impressive, most people couldn’t do that if they tried.

      • Nephilium

        People who are trying to start up reporting for their group is the bane of my existence. They usually have no idea of what they want, just “reports and metrics”…

      • UnCivilServant

        Send them the most useless data in the infrastructure.

        “Ya’ll wanted ‘reports and metrics’, but you never said on what.”

      • Nephilium

        They’re the ones who are responsible for running their reports. We don’t do that for them.

      • UnCivilServant

        Oh that reminds me – Business Objects is now outside the scope of my job! I don’t have to support the reporting application anymore!

      • cyto

        Hahahahaha!!!!!

        I literally had this fight… A literal shouting match by the end.

        Our accounting team was led by a CFO who was not an account. His chart of accounts was a mess.

        He wanted to buy a new accounting package for the reports. I told him that

        A) the package we have will work with every reporting tool there is, including the one you want to migrate to an entirely new system to get.

        And

        B). There is no such thing as “the reports”.

        He angrily told me that i should make “the reports” then.

        When I told him we could make any report he could possibly dream of, but he would have to specify what he wanted… That is when the shouting ensure.

        So….

        He hired in a company to install a new reporting package (Hyperion) and get him “the reports”

        200 grand later… And 2 years… They started working on cleaning up the chart of accounts and specifying “the reports”.

        Meanwhile, we built an entire system to map their chart of accounts to a roll-up map so you could write a rational report. (400.1xx goes on this section of the Gal, but 400.2xx goes on a completely different spot. 400.31x is only for the board report, and 400.32x is never to be on the board report,but only for sales projections on the P&L statements).

        It was insane. It took 2 years to specify the reports. Another 3 months to design build and populate mapping software. One each for tax, board and regular financial reporting. Then another 6 months to a year for them to properly map the chart of accounts.

        I said “just redo the chart of accounts from scratch. It will be hard, but you do it once and everything for the rest of time is easy.

        Yeah… I lost that.

    • Gender Traitor

      Still cleaning up The Mess, I trust. ☹️ Best wishes!

      • juris imprudent

        I thought of Scruffy when Brooks made his comment about making the U.S. govt run on generally accepted accounting principles.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        This one I created on my own.

        Fixed now.

        The other one is still malingering. It will be a few more weeks. By then I’ll fully understand bookkeeping.

  14. Penguin

    I’ll listen to the Galactic Cowboys. I have to finish with Mazzy Star first.

    • Penguin

      They’re decent, but it’s kinda hard to ‘view honestly’ after listening to Slayer’s Angel of Death.

  15. Rebel Scum

    Gaslighting cunte.

    Biden: “We need more resources at the border but yet again extreme Republicans have said no. It’s time to stop listening to their inflammatory talk.”

      • juris imprudent

        Not disappointed.

  16. cyto

    From the earlier thread, the AP article about McCarthy with the outrageous second paragraph has been stealth edited.

    Previously

    The deadly attack was an unimaginable scene of chaos that shook the country when a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters tried to stop Congress from certifying the Republican’s 2020 election defeat.

    Becomes

    The showdown that has stymied the new Congress came against the backdrop of the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which shook the country when a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters tried to stop Congress from certifying the Republican’s 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.

    https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-us-republican-party-0938c7358f41c83759246f8949ac7c15

    • cyto

      According to the way back machine, this has been changed 6 times today. There is no acknowledgement of any edits on the AP site.

      Way back can show the changes, but it isn’t working for me now.

      • ron73440

        Maybe we were wrong.

        1984 actually is an instruction manual.

    • Tundra
    • juris imprudent

      At least it moved slightly toward honesty.

  17. KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

    Stoicism is hard to come by today. Reminder to call your friends. Tell them what they mean to you.

    https://ibb.co/0mx4Pn9

    • Tundra

      So sorry about your pal, KK.

    • ron73440

      Sorry KK, that’s rough.

    • slumbrew

      Sorry, KK.

    • Penguin

      Glad you have friends to go through this with. And sorry.

    • R.J.

      My condolences.

    • Sean

      Sorry KK.

    • Drake

      So you’re saying that the rebels are correct in demanding a return to normal debate and amendment rules in the House? Instead of a dictator controlling all the votes?

  18. The Late P Brooks

    From the earlier thread, the AP article about McCarthy with the outrageous second paragraph has been stealth edited.

    Orwell strikes again!

  19. Ownbestenemy

    Hey AP, you didn’t make it scary enough. You know, it will he a shame if we have to open an FCC investigation against you /FBI slack channel

  20. UnCivilServant

    Woohoo!

    Sometime last year I’d been working on a Visio mapping out the processes required to renew SSL certs on our legacy applications. I thought I’d lost it but it turns out I actually did save a copy. I don’t have to start over from scratch!

    • slumbrew

      On a related note, I’ve been playing with D2 a bit – it’s nice for process things like that:

      https://github.com/terrastruct/d2

      • UnCivilServant

        Guess what major code repository site is blocked by my work proxy?

      • juris imprudent

        The govt can’t risk unapproved (i.e. non-proprietary) software.

      • slumbrew

        What in the holy hell?!?

        That’s an insane thing to block.

      • Ted S.

        You’ve been playing with the Mighty Ducks?

  21. R C Dean

    In today’s test of Stoicism, an account of what happened in the Capitol on 01/06, by a journalist who was with Ashli Babbitt.

    https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2023/01/06/journo-shares-eye-opening-thread-about-what-he-witnessed-firsthand-on-j6-with-ashli-babbitt-footage/

    No matter how bad you thought it was, and how much you think you’ve been lied to, it’s worse. Taking his account at face value, of course. I see little reason not to – what’s in it for him to contradict the Narrative like this?

    • ron73440

      No matter how bad you thought it was, and how much you think you’ve been lied to, it’s worse.

      That seems to cover so many things these days.

    • slumbrew

      Hey, we just need to leave poor Ray Epps alone. You crazy conspiracy theorists, smearing this guy just because he was filmed inciting people to breach the Capitol.

      • juris imprudent

        The FBI surely has good reasons to completely ignore his existence!

      • cyto

        I have it on good authority (paid shills at ToS) that he testified that he had no relationship with the FBI and was only trying to help calm things down.

        So, lay off.

      • Timeloose

        He looks like someone out of central casting for “Older Trump Voter”

    • Hyperion

      It got us gulags. The media got us Pravda. We’re getting ever so closer to that utopia the Bolsheviks envisioned.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Sitting member of Congress that is on a committe to investigate what happened and he donated to that guy who shot her?

    • Drake

      They just arrested Ashli Babbitt’s mother for protesting.

      • slumbrew

        JFC. Of course they did.

      • Ownbestenemy

        For jaywalking…or at least that’s what the right-wing sites are saying

        So my guess is resisting arrest

    • Hyperion

      “today’s test of Stoicism”

      This is why I have to keep asking the question. Where’s the pile of drugs? So, back in the good old golden ages of Stoics, it was just a sprig of hemlock when things got to the level we are at now?

      • ron73440

        If you find these magic drugs, let me know.

      • Hyperion

        Fuck, at this point, I’m going to need the entire stash for myself.

    • creech

      Will new GOP majority have new J6 hearings or What difference does it make now?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Did we get rid of ACA and what was the result of Bengahzi again?

      • Hyperion

        “Did we get rid of ACA”

        The answer is: Penaltax is still on the court.

      • Drake

        Nobody asked where the missing 143 tons of Libyan gold went. That’s the result.

      • Hyperion

        Pocket change, scraps.

      • Drake

        patches on our jeans

      • Hyperion

        We get to learn after Lizzikins gets the speakership.

  22. Ownbestenemy

    “This procedure results in a computed value”

    What is the value I ask the engineers and how are you deriving it?

    “A best guess but we are absolutely sure it is valid”

    Is there a way I can verify the value in the system? Hook up a RF generator and O’scope to see it?

    “We don’t know, but the procedures results are okay”.

    My fun geek time went away

    • cyto

      Flashbacks…

      Half of my business software existence was getting *exact* definitions of how to calculate stuff.

      Most people in sales wanted pulldown menues or radio buttons where they could manually decide. Easier to fudge numbers that way, I suppose. I warned them that they would not maintain it and it would be a waste of time and money. I was never wrong about that, but I still had to build the crap version about half the time.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Been there. I feel your pain.

    • Hyperion

      How many breeds of RINOs are there in this GOP? I’m getting confused. Are there like White RINOs, Wooly RINOs, 3 horned RINOs, WTF?

      • Drake

        Pirate RINOs, Cyclops RINOs?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’ll divide it into the ones who hate me and the ones who tolerate me.

      • Tundra

        I think JI has it right. They aren’t RINOs. The people who think the Repubs are the party of individual liberty are. You can’t take back a party you never had in the first place.

    • Rebel Scum

      I really loathe that cycloptic cunte.

    • Not Adahn

      If nevertrumpers are a thing, and PUMAs are a thing, I see no reason why nevermccarthyites should be invalid.

      • ron73440

        What is a PUMA?

      • Gender Traitor

        “Party Unity, My Ass!” I believe.

      • Rebel Scum

        Ah. Cycloptic Cunte is a disciple of Klaus Kunte. Likewise for McCunteface.

    • EvilSheldon

      Congratulations, you’ve successfully creeped me out.

    • Not Adahn

      In the tradition of the Taj Mahal…

      • Not Adahn

        Dammit! From the headline, I thought the guy had 2500 copies of his wife made.

        Reading the article is much less impressive.

    • R.J.

      If your dead wife looked like something from a Q posting, OK. I could see doing that.

    • R C Dean

      Sorry, no snark. That’s just very sad.

    • ron73440

      If my wife dies before me, I don’t know what I will do.

      I do know that I will not be doing THAT.

      • Tundra

        Mine keeps me on the straight and narrow. I’d probably be dead in six months.

      • Ownbestenemy

        ^^^ yep

    • Nephilium

      So is the lump on the giant bobblehead, or below it?

      • R.J.

        Probably doesn’t have a lump. That is a business opportunity to sell stick-on lumps for Fetterman bobbleheads. It would definitely be low volume. I can’t imagine selling more than 100 Fetterman bobble heads to begin with.

    • Hyperion

      good.fucking.gawd.

      • cyto

        So it has the Hyperion endorsement.

        I know what you are getting for your birthday this year….

  23. Rebel Scum

    To add insult to injury…

    Executed veteran Ashli Babbit’s mother arrested outside U.S. Capitol for protesting her daughter’s murder by Capitol cop Michael Byrd. Alleged charge was the never-enforced “jaywalking”.

    • R C Dean

      When they start finding Capitol cops face down with a bullet in the back of their heads, I won’t shed a tear.

      I wonder if they will throw her in the J6 gulag indefinitely, like all those arrested for the similarly trivial offense of trespassing in a public building.

      • cyto

        Look, burning police vehicles in downtown DC is not a crime. Using city funds to paint partisan political slogans on public streets is not a crime. Walking across the street at the capital holding a “don’t murder my children” poster…that we must use state power to stop.

      • ron73440

        Littering and creating a nuisance.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Im all for the rage, but we sure it was arrested for jaywalking or was she cited and in justifiable fit of rage struck an officer or taken in for resisting arrest…which again, all for it, just don’t like “OMG!11! she was just there and arrested!!!!!”

  24. cyto

    I recall the world we used to live in not so long ago. A world that valued freedom and where people who had a live free or die mentality were the real Americans.

    Stossel came along today to remind me of that world.

    https://youtu.be/R3IqHzd6Y-0

    Remember the quaint world when we were outraged that the government would come with guns to raid a small farm for the crime of making locally sourced cheese from unpasteurized milk to sell to a willing and informed customer?

    It is hard to imagine. But that wasn’t so long ago. Look how far the Overton window has moved.

    • Tundra
      • Tundra

        Holy fuck are those ugly. And SPENDY!