Thursday Afternoon Links

by | Oct 26, 2023 | Daily Links | 188 comments

NPR TURNS ON SINGLE MOMS: Amirite, OMWC? Except this is “turning on” in the sense of turning against, not in the sense of sexual arousal. Sure, the article talks about two-parent households being better for kids, but single dads with custody are extremely rare and generally occurs only in the case of widowing. Note the use of the bullshit term “privilege” in the book title.

THE STORIES WE TELL ABOUT GUNS MUST CHANGE: Time magazine ponders how to make gun-grabbing propaganda even more pervasive and insufferable. Note the velvet Orwellian creaminess of “fact-based narrative.” [h/t to Warty and SugarFree for the phrasings]

FAUCI TO RECEIVE ETHICS PRIZE:  “Dr. Anthony Fauci, a physician, immunologist and infectious disease expert, has been selected as the winner of the 2024 Inamori Ethics Prize by the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence at Case Western Reserve University, the university announced Wednesday.” The one thing I have learned is that these awards often go to the worst, least-deserving people — Kissinger winning a Nobel Peace Prize, a local shitbag journalist winning a Pulitzer, and now this. Please add your own examples in the comments.

THE DOPPLER EFFECT AND THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE: The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) will likely be sped up thanks to new results that narrow down how alien radio signals would drift in frequency as a result of the Doppler shift caused by their home planet’s orbit around its star.

REGULATORS DINGED BY SPACE BIZ WITNESSES AT CONGRESSIONAL HEARING: “The five witnesses argued that not only is the current regulatory framework not achieving its ideal goals, but it is stifling growth and innovation in the commercial launch market.”

About The Author

Tonio

Tonio

Tonio is a Glibs shitposter, linkstar, writer, and editor. He is also a GlibZoom guest host and prankster. Tonio is a big fan of pic-a-nic baskets. His hobbies include salmon fishing, territorial displays, dumpster diving, and posing for wildlife photographers.

188 Comments

  1. Rat on a train

    Obama’s Noble Peace Prize

    • slumbrew

      Arafat’s Nobel Peace Prize

  2. Common Tater

    Yay, Tonio is back.

  3. Common Tater

    “In reality however, a gun at home makes families less safe—not safer.”

    Their link is broken.

    • Rat on a train

      How many have guns because they are less safe?

      • Nephilium

        You expect causality and not correlation?

      • Rat on a train

        Only if is supports the narrative.

    • R.J.

      Who says home should be safe? That’s not preparation for the real world. I expect my children and orphans to be able to identify and disarm trip wire traps by age 5.

      • R.J.

        “where there are fewer guns, there are fewer gun deaths”
        Think about the absurdity of that.
        “Where there are no cars, there are no hit and run accidents”
        “Where there are no helicopters, communists will not fall from the sky”
        “Where there are no toilets, you will have San Francisco”

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yes, when there aren’t guns available, people use other methods to kill themselves. Because when they say “gun violence” instead of murders, that’s what we’re talking about.

      • R.J.

        Yep. I was rambling there liked a drug-addled leftist. My apologies.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Dead is dead. And considering the stabbyness, poison-ness, burnyness, etc-ness that goes on in other countries, I could give a shit weather some one is shot vs anything else that leads to dead.

    • Tonio

      “THEIR link is broken.”

      Whew. For a second I panicked and thought it was MY link. I’ve been bad about that lately, but you people are here to help.

      • Fourscore

        Did you get my email last week, Tonio?

      • Tonio

        Yes, I just now saw that. As noted elsewhere here, I’ve been terrible about editorial duties and correspondence.

        I’m getting the “D” on the regular. Don’t hate.

      • Fourscore

        If I scrolled down I’d have known. No hate, my friend.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.
  4. Mojeaux

    I think I’m going to go practice my bread-making skills.

      • dbleagle

        Wow. I’m impressed that book is still being printed decades after it first was published. I owned a copy and found it helpful.

      • Tonio

        Me, too.

        I owe you a reply. I’m behind on my editorial duties and correspondence.

      • Mojeaux

        Took one look at my kitchen that XY messed up for bfast and noped right out.

        I found a video that was simple. I do better when being shown.

      • Mojeaux

        I actually have made bread before, but it wasn’t very good and I’m prepping for Tryptophan Day.

    • DEG

      I’m catching up on all the music links Don posted on his mid-day post while trying to wrap up my work day.

  5. R.J.

    Tonio has a tan?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Interesting, what’s that a euphemism for?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        And misthread…I’m going to bed.

      • Tonio

        It actually works in this case since it IS a euphemism for something kinky.

      • rhywun

        He is noticeably darker now than a couple decades ago but whatevz.

      • R.J.

        That is what I thought too. An older reference photo was used.

      • The Last American Hero

        That’s why they waited so long to make Black Adam

  6. The Late P Brooks

    “The five witnesses argued that not only is the current regulatory framework not achieving its ideal goals, but it is stifling growth and innovation in the commercial launch market.”

    Mission accomplished.

  7. robc

    Todays featured matchups, * means American, first listed is white:
    One point group
    1. Caruana* (2786) v Niemann* (2667)
    2. Bacrot (2669) v Rapport (2752) — Rapport is Romanian…well, he is Hungarian playing for Romania federation
    3. Aronian* (2742) v Cheparinov (2658)
    4. Predke (2656) v Duda (2726)
    5. Yu (2720) v Shirov (2655)
    9. Sevian* (2698) v Aravindh (2649)
    1/2 point group
    17. Sadhwani (2641) v Nakamura* (2780)
    28. Karthikeya (2611) v Shankland* (2698)
    31. Nguyen (2618) v Xiong* (2693)
    32. Akobian* (2582) v Grandelius (2689)
    Zero point group
    47. Santos Latasa (2650) v Mishra* (2592)

    Updating from morning links.
    Caruana won, he is now 5-0-0 all time in classical vs Hans.
    draw.
    draw.
    Duda lost.
    draw.
    draw.
    draw.
    Shakland won.
    draw.
    Akobian lost.
    draw.

    • robc

      Caruana is on a roll. He won the US Championship earlier this month and with today’s win he is over 2800 in the “live” ratings. Official ratings come out monthly and since this tournament goes into November, I don’t think it counts for the November ratings, so he won’t be officially over 2800 until December, if he holds on to it. But he is one of two current players over 2800 now.

      I think no one would be surprised if Caruana is world champion next year. He played Magnus for the title in 2018 but lost in tiebreakers.

  8. creech

    Hillary Clinton, Freedom Medal 2013 from National Constitution Center.

    • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

      Hillary Clinton, US Senate.

  9. The Other Kevin

    “The Stories We Tell About Guns Must Change”
    How about this story? After two years of planning, an Iran-backed terrorist organization poured over a border and tortured, raped, killed, and kidnapped at will, livestreaming the whole thing. For two years our southern border has been wide open and we could easily have ten times as many of those terrorists among us.

    • rhywun

      I waded into Reason for the first time in months and one of today’s top stories was basically “don’t worry your pretty little head about that and besides we desperately need all that cheap labor anyway”.

  10. The Late P Brooks

    Kearney finds that this arrangement hurts children, widens inequality and ultimately damages society. She is ringing the alarm bells, and she wants people to hear them and start thinking of solutions. Judging by the book’s reception, she has managed to achieve at least the first part of that.

    “I’ve done exactly what I wanted, which was to start a conversation,” Kearney tells NPR. “But I get frustrated that a lot of the initial reaction is an initial knee jerk reaction.”

    Kearney’s argument that children who grow up in unmarried households are fighting the odds has progressives miffed and accusing Kearney of stigmatizing single mothers. Conservatives are celebrating her findings as validating their support of marriage.

    Why does she hate liberated women?

    • Rat on a train

      inconvenient truths

    • kinnath

      What’s the solution? Forced marriage? Mass sterilization of unwed women? The state taking possession of the children of single-parent households? The state taking possession of all children and making them even?

      • Rat on a train

        I know a certain group likes the last option.

      • Nephilium

        Well, obviously if two married parents are better than one, we need to step up to mandating plural marriages for all.

      • rhywun

        There is no solution to a problem that has existed for decades, everyone knows it has existed, and everyone knows why it exists. All you can do is keep repeating this same obvious stuff that everyone has known for decades and hope it wins a few minds. Even though everyone knows it won’t.

      • juris imprudent

        The state taking possession of all children and making them even?

        Nanny-statists keel over in convulsive orgasms.

      • Tonio

        Personal responsibility. Don’t get pregnant, or impregnate someone else, until you are ready for a multi-decade commitment with someone who is also ready for that commitment.

      • Fourscore

        First comes financial responsibility from the baby’s daddy. You father a kid, you pay. If there’s a refusal try about 60 days in the slammer, then 90 days, then a year. I can do this all day. When the mothers understand that there ain’t no free lunch they may have second thoughts.

        In today’s world of DNA fatherhood should be easily determined.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Shaming women who are unwed mothers, shaming men who father children and don’t marry. Also, don’t give welfare to people based on the number of children they have.

        Both ideas would go a long way to helping end this.

      • R C Dean

        Of course, none of those absurdities. Perhaps we should look at the conditions that obtained when single parents were more rare, and more kids were raised in nuclear families. It’s a social/cultural thing, so it won’t happen overnight. Just as the trashing of the nuclear family didn’t happen overnight. Zwak has a good piece of it. Of course, getting rid of the state’s financial support of single mothers would also be helpful.

      • Social Justice is Neither

        Isn’t at least part of the solution to stop rewarding and subsidizing single motherhood and especially having multiple children while single.

  11. Aloysious

    Fauci receiving an ethics award of any kind is enough to set my hair on fire just like Tonios port-a-potties.

    • The Other Kevin

      Same. I don’t think anything that man has ever done would be considered ethical, and that includes tying his shoes and brushing his teeth.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Funding gain of function research in China because it’s banned here via the fungibility of money isn’t ethical? Well blow me down!

      • juris imprudent

        Science will not be denied!

    • Aloysious

      Jesus H. Christ fucking a panda I can’t make it through that article.

      • Nephilium

        Since it’s local to me, I can help you if you want more… I mean, FFS, headline today:

        Northeast Ohio will bestow a much-deserved honor on Anthony Fauci for keep[sic] us safe from COVID

      • The Other Kevin

        He couldn’t even keep his own ass safe from COVID.

      • Aloysious

        *engages in deep breathing exercises*

      • Nephilium

        Would you like me to get a ticket so that you can meet the great Fauci yourself?

      • Aloysious

        If I ever met him I would give him a combined turban and whirling wedgie, just like in Dilbert.

      • rhywun

        *projectile vomits across room street town*

  12. JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

    “Note the use of the bullshit term ‘privilege’ in the book title.” Calling it the Single Parent Handicap would have been punching down and two-parent normative.

    • Fourscore

      Seems to me a Single Parent household may be related to why having a gun in the house makes the kiddos 17 times less safe.

  13. The Late P Brooks

    Most single mothers start from behind; they’re less likely to have a college education or a high income.

    This absurd obsession with “college education” is really starting to grind on me.

    Let’s stop pretending there are no qualitative distinctions to be made.

    • Drake

      Some start on top then get flipped over?

      • juris imprudent

        C’mon, that’s not even a euphemism.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Krugman winning the Nobel Prize. Yeah, some people say he deserved it, but he should have it rescinded for what he’s become.

    • Tonio

      [golf clap]

  14. rhywun

    I shambolically played https://squaredle.com 10/26:
    44/44 words (+9 bonus words)
    🎯 In the top 27% by accuracy
    🔥 Solve streak: 39

  15. DEG

    The economist Melissa Kearney has been both vilified and praised for her new book, The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind.

    “Two Parent Privilege”. I tapped out here. I shouldn’t have bothered because it is NPR, but I said, “You should know what the enemy thinks.”

    In reality however, a gun at home makes families less safe—not safer.

    I tapped out here. Go fuck yourselves.

  16. DEG

    Manchester, NH PD is kinda shady

    Upset that state Sen. Keith Murphy, R-Manchester, voted against bigger pensions for cops and in favor of legalizing pot, Manchester Police Officer Kyle Daly allegedly targeted Murphy for removal.

    “The police are sick and tired of Republicans going off the reservation, and we are going to take them out one at a time,” Daly reportedly said.

    That’s the claim Murphy’s legal team is making in a new court filing seeking evidence they say will link Daly, who is also the chief Steward with the Manchester Police Patrolman’s Association, to an effort to oust Murphy following his arrest for simple assault.

    • R.J.

      “sick and tired of Republicans going off the reservation”
      Odd. I used that phrase this morning. Maybe this universe is a simulation.

    • Tonio

      “off the reservation”

      Yeah, that totally highlights the difference between Republicans and libertarians.

    • Common Tater

      Any news on a motive?

      • kinnath

        He was under the spell of a scary black rifle.

  17. Common Tater

    “Female special education teacher, 24, faces 20 years in prison for sending nudes to 16-year-old student and inviting him over for sex while her husband was away

    The married mother-of-one faces six felony charges for allegedly pursuing the 16-year-old, sending him pornographic images and soliciting photos from him.

    Laughlin married Grant Laughlin, 23, in June 2022 and the pair have a one-year-old daughter.

    The teacher posts frequently on her social media accounts – where she has shared snaps of her spending time with her baby and husband, riding horses, posing with rifles and waving Trump flags.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12676121/rikki-lynn-laughlin-teacher-sends-nudes-teenage-student.html

    She should have sent him cake.

    • R.J.

      Dang! And that kid complained? Surely a parent found out.

    • The Other Kevin

      In those pictures she looks like six different people.

      • kinnath

        Variety is the spice of life.

  18. rhywun

    velvet Orwellian creaminess

    I really could have done without this image in my head.

  19. Sean

    A user on Reddit claimed they were a fellow classmate of the alleged victim. They said: ‘I go to St. James and honestly this shook me to my core, knowing there was a teacher involving themselves with students I know scared me. what if this happened to me or my friends?

    🙄

    • Sean

      Meant as a reply to Tater.

    • The Other Kevin

      Maybe it wouldn’t have been an issue if the teacher had first given him one of those “how to do anal” books from the school library.

      • rhywun

        I’m going to hell for laughing at that.

      • The Other Kevin

        Maybe I’ll be your roommate. I did write it.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    It’s likely that an increasingly ferocious gun industry and its lobbying groups played a role in this shift, as did a rise in public mass shootings. It’s also true that there’s more gun violence in pop culture now than there was two decades ago. One 2021 study in the research journal PLOS One looked at how regularly prime time dramas depicted gun violence in 2000 versus 2018 and found that scenes featuring gun violence had doubled.

    Regardless of the cause, the data around the effect is quite clear. As more people began to believe the myth that guns made them safer and chose to purchase firearms to address their fears, rates of gun violence increased too. More guns make us less safe.

    It’s likely the author is full of shit.

    • rhywun

      Of course, when she says “more guns” she means “more legal guns” and I’m not buying that assertion.

  21. Tonio

    “Baked.” His name should be “Baked.”

    San Diego Seaworld holds naming contest for newly hatched Emporer Penguin.

    Get your votes in now, people.

    And speaking of Penguins, please give a shoutout to our bro dawg, the occasionally Baked Penguin, and tell him how much you want to see a new cartoon from him.

    • Rat on a train

      I voted NOTA.

    • Grumbletarian

      Penguin McPenguinFace

    • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

      Lamont.

      • Beau Knott

        Perfection!
        Good to find another fan.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    At Project Unloaded, we focus our efforts on reaching young people with fact-based narratives about guns before they’ve made up their minds on the topic. We primarily work through social media campaigns on platforms like Snapchat and TikTok. On those platforms, we partner with Gen Z influencers to share the facts about how guns make us less safe without the partisan, polarized debate that often comes with talking about guns. So far, our results indicate this approach is working. We’ve reached over 3 million young people with our Safer Not Using Guns (SNUG) campaign.

    Unsupported assertion, shielded from contradictory input. That’s how you control the narrative.

    • juris imprudent

      She lives in Chicago apparently; I look forward to her success in removing guns from gang-bangers throughout the city. I’m sure she can persuade them, personally, to change their views.

      • The Other Kevin

        Nothing a few TikTok dances can’t fix.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      I took my daughter shooting last weekend. First time for her using a handgun. She did great and really enjoyed it.

      We also talk regularly about gun control. Both about the 4 rules of gun safety and the end game of those who want to disarm you. What happened in Israel, enabled by the Israeli government disarming their own citizens, opened her eyes in a way that defies all talking point claptrap like this.

      She should be well inoculated to this propaganda by the time she ventures out into the online world.

  23. Derpetologist

    And yet…the states, counties, and municipalities in the US with the highest rates of gun ownership do *not* have the highest rates of gun crime.

    ***
    Washington, D.C. with a rate of 24.4 homicides per 100,000 people
    Mississippi with a rate of 12.4 homicides per 100,000 people
    Louisiana with a rate of 11.4 homicides per 100,000 people
    Alabama with a rate of 10.9 homicides per 100,000 people
    Missouri with a rate of 10.8 homicides per 100,000 people
    ***

    ***
    The 5 cities in the United States with the highest murder rates (murders per 100,000 people) are:

    St. Louis, MO (69.4)
    Baltimore, MD (51.1)
    New Orleans, LA (40.6)
    Detroit, MI (39.7)
    Cleveland, OH (33.7)
    ***

    ***
    According to a 2021 study by the RAND Corporation, which surveyed adults who say they live with at least one gun, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which publishes a list of federally registered guns by state, the following states had the highest percentage of adults who own guns in their homes 1:

    Montana: 66.3%
    Wyoming: 66.2%
    Alaska: 64.5%
    Idaho: 60.1%
    West Virginia: 58.5%
    ***

    • Nephilium

      We’re not Detroit!

      • Derpetologist

        +1 hastily made Cleveland tourism video

      • Fatty Bolger

        Love that.

    • R.J.

      Bar, bowling and Applebee’s are all good things. I would not date a woman who had a problem with that.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Bowling is a great third date option. Movies suck as you cannot talk to each other, ditto nightclubs (those are to pick up women in). Bars are OK if you both drink, otherwise, coffee houses are the way to go.

        Most of those restaurants are family type, and that is not what you want when trying to woo someone. You want romantic, which doesn’t mean expensive, necessarily. A fun little ethnic food place, like Bosnian or Greek, something different, if they like food, or a midlevel Italian place. You are trying to be both open and memorable, and too keep the energy moving if you are interested in pursuing the whole thing. If you are a serial dater, then you probably want something more standard and high end, keep your rep up, as all you are is a meal ticket.

    • dbleagle

      Stay at home with your cats. Almost all of the NO GO locations are absolutely acceptable, and for those who are younger or less affluent great possible first dates.

    • Rat on a train

      The first date with my wife was a local Mexican restaurant.

      • RBS

        We went to Hooters for wings and beer.

      • Rat on a train

        Is that where she worked?

      • SDF-7

        Shoney’s for cheesecake and coffee after work at WallyWorld. Just a good place to talk and get to know each other should be all you need.

        Seriously, though… Chili’s? The Movies? Coffee Dates? Let me guess… these are women that think they are “queens” and demand $400 dinners and you pay for their rent before they put you on their “roster”.

        Play with your cats, jump in a lake… I wouldn’t care if I were still single.

      • Ted S.

        Something tells me that if men were that picky women would be bitching about Teh Patriarchy.

      • juris imprudent

        I wouldn’t care if I were still single.

        If I wanted that kind of abuse I’d just hire a professional dominatrix. It is a more honest transaction.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Vietnamese food.

    • Derpetologist

      Well, the list doesn’t rule out time travel, so that’s something.

      It also doesn’t rule out sushi, Indian, Greek, Thai, or Chinese. Probably because she doesn’t know what any of those cuisines are.

    • Sensei

      Or maybe it depends on the people involved and what the local options of places are.

    • Gender Traitor

      If I were single, I would absolutely accept a date to Cheesecake Factory. Every date could be to Cheesecake Factory, and we could have the wedding and reception there because cheesecake.

      • SDF-7

        Someone should open a Hooter’s equivalent for the other team called The Beefcake Factory.

        Yes, it could still serve cheesecake.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        The Beefcake, no 1 in middle aged female date destinations, with complimentary cheese cake served by buff young Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, and George Clooney impersonators, all with perfect hair.

      • The Last American Hero

        Cheesecake Factory also has a 400 page menu so everyone can enjoy something to eat. No, it’s not the best restaurant in the world but for a date early in the relationship and a budget, it’s fine.

      • Mojeaux

        Budget? Cheesecake Factory?! 😂

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Whenever somebody suggests government taking children under their wing for special schooling, I think of this.

    • juris imprudent

      Ah, I was thinking more of how well the schools for Native American children did.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Australian schools for Aboriginals.

  25. dbleagle

    Presidential Medals of Freedom for: Donald Rumsfeld (1977), GEN T. Franks and Paul Bremer (2004), Bill Cosby (2002), Jean Monnet and George Meany (1963), John Lewis (1964), Ellsworth Bunker (1967), McGeorge Bundy (1969), Henry Kissinger and Lady Bird Johnson (1977), Hubert Humphrey and LBJ (1980), Mother Theresa (1985), Caspar Weinberger (1987), Dick Cheney (1991), Strom Thurmond (1993), James Brady (1996), Jimmy and Rosilyn Carter (1999), Jesse Jackson (2000), Anthony Fauci (2008), Ted Kennedy (2009), John Lewis (2011), Bill Clinton and Oprah (2013), Joe biden (2017), Edwin Meese (2019), Gabrielle Giffords, John McCain, Pink Haired Lesbian Soccer Scold (2022),…..

    Fuck. The entire list is too depressing. There are only a couple of people noteworthy for positive contributions to freedom.

    Depress yourself here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom_recipients

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      I read that list too quickly. I thought I saw Edith Bunker and Larry Bird Johnson. Edith probably deserves an award, but I hate the Celtics and the Lakers so the freakish love child of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson deserves no such thing.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Personal responsibility. Don’t get pregnant, or impregnate someone else, until you are ready for a multi-decade commitment with someone who is also ready for that commitment.

    Strangely enough, in the article they mention the expectations factor. Many/Some of the women interviewed expressed their (likely completely unrealistic) expectations of a man suitable for husbandhood. The fathers of their children, obviously, were good enough for fucking, but not for marriage. It seems they are missing something.

    • Beau Knott

      Well, birth control for one…

      • Fourscore

        Need a college education to use birth control, can’t go to college because have too many children.

        It’s circular. Even tougher is finding a husband when you’re bringing someone else’s kid(s) into the equation. My son said he had 2 off putting things when he was doing online dating. Smoking and kids. Now at his advanced age (close to OMWC’s age) his lady friend has a grown up kid that’s still lives with his Momma.

    • rhywun

      Sick. I thought the mass hysteria that BLM was able to stir up was remarkable but this shit is on a whole nother level.

      • juris imprudent

        BLM was at least about an alleged victim of state violence – not for the perpetrators of it.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Mmm… they are both about oppressors causing violence to the oppressed.

        Everything flows from that.

    • The Last American Hero

      What if you attend with an “Islam is right about women” sign?

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        A sign with the crescent of Islam with an + attached to the bottom?

  27. Winston

    Why did it take 60 years to realize that single motherhood might not be so wonderful? Is it because the bible-thumpers may have had some legitimate criticism of the Sexual Revolution?

    Also didn’t libertarians support single motherhood? Easier divorce laws, birth control, abortion, normalizing cohabitation outside of marriage, free love, women working, women politicians etc.

    Ironic that single women are the most unlibertarian group out there.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Yes, libertarians generally think people should be allowed to do what they want. But libertarians didn’t support the economic incentives that made single motherhood so prevalent. Quite the opposite.

      • Winston

        This is a long running problem. Libertarians support change but take it as a given that this change will not result in anything they don’t like. We saw this with Tom Paine who did not forsee that a group like the Jacobins would gain control of the revolutionary government.

        Or Mill. A lot of people gloss over the fact that when Mill supported freedom of speech, experiments in living and complained about the tyranny of custom he only meant for these to apply to “civilized” people and that they would only use to spread “civilized” behavior.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Sorry man, but I don’t see your point. I’m quite happy that my daughter can open a checking account, get any job she wants, divorce an abusive husband, decide when she wants to have children, and even run for office if she wants to (yuck).

      • Winston

        I’m saying that libertarians didn’t forsee “the economic incentives that made single motherhood so prevalent” happening or that single women would be so unlibertarian.

        I’m reminded of how Herbert Spencer supported female suffrage only to turn against it once he realized that those women weren’t going to be voting the way he wanted them to. What made him think those women were going to agree with him in the first place?

      • juris imprudent

        The economic incentives are govt based, which by definition is not libertarian. If libertarians were great advocates of foreign military adventures, and then shocked at the resulting MIC – you would have a point. But you don’t.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        No, he very much does have a point; namely that many of the libertarian ideas get turned into statist ideas when people see the initial advantage of them but apply their own ideas of how they work best. Which is always free stuff for votes.

      • Ted S.

        It’s Winston being a microdick and thinking he’s the One True Libertarian.

      • Winston

        As the One True Libertarian I hereby state that Deep Dish Pizza is the only real Pizza.

      • The Last American Hero

        So long as it has pineapple.

      • Derpetologist

        “Libertarians support change…”

        And here is where your argument falls apart.

        Unless you mean various “change it back” measures, like abolishing the Federal Reserve.

    • creech

      “Why did it take 60 years to realize that single motherhood might not be so wonderful? ”
      Murphy Brown showed them how wonderful it would be (if one made a seven figure salary as a newsreader and tv personality).

      • juris imprudent

        ♪♫ the bubble-headed bleach-blond… ♪

      • Suthenboy

        I used to live next door to her….the actress….she is not bubble headed. In fact, so much so that I was surprised she could pull that role off.

      • rhywun

        My mom and her were kind of twins. She was a knockout in her youth.

      • rhywun

        Murphy Brown showed them how wonderful it would be

        Crazy what a cultural touchstone that was. Back when there was such a thing.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    I took a girl to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on a first date once. That worked out pretty well.

    • pistoffnick

      Go on…

    • Fourscore

      First date with my wife was Carlsbad Caverns, then lunch/snack in the little tourist restaurant.

    • Derpetologist

      I have literally been on 50 first dates, and so far, no vomiting walrus.

  29. prolefeed

    Mrs. Prole and I were watching a very short “movie” that was about 12 minutes long last night, about a pregnant woman who was dying after an intruder broke into her house and murdered her fiancee and childhood sweetheart, and gave her a fatal wound. Except she could go back in time and change something in her life to prevent the killing.

    So the movie had her sabotaging the relationship with the love of her life to prevent the murdering.

    Mrs. Prole: “If that was me, should I throw our relationship away to stop that?”

    Me: “If it was me, I’d buy his and her shotguns and spend years training how to shoot first and kill the sumbitch.”

    Literally inconceivable concept for the movie makers, apparently.

    • Sensei

      Reminding me again why I generally don’t watch dramas as entertainment.

      • Sensei

        Many Seinfeld episodes as well.

      • Mojeaux

        This is why I decided not to update my books to make them “timeless” by taking the date stamps out. I’d have to completely rewrite at least 2 of them.

        I have one book an alpha reader said, “Um, hello? Burner phone?” Me: “Um, hello? Look at the date stamp? 1996?”

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Also, they are written in, and thus a part of, the time they were written. In other words, you can’t know what technology will become the next big thing for a modern novel, so all you can do is write the world as you see it. Even in speculative fiction, which is why everything looks like N+1 from when it was written. Slide rules? Dial phones? Those were supposed to be the future at one time.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Warning

    Federal law enforcement officials warned on Wednesday that Israel’s ongoing war with Palestinian militants could encourage more hate crimes in the U.S.

    In a public service announcement released Wednesday night, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it “has seen an increase in reports of threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities and institutions” and said that “recent events have increased the possibility of potential attacks against individuals and institutions in response to developments in the Middle East.”

    The FBI, joined by the Department of Homeland Security, also warned that foreign actors, including Iranian media outlets and Islamic jihadist groups Al-Qaida and ISIS, were using the conflict to stoke divisions and call for violent attacks in the U.S. and other Western countries.

    ——-

    On Oct. 14, a man repeatedly stabbed a 6-year-old Palestinian boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, in Plainfield, Ill. The murder, which authorities have labeled an anti-Muslim hate crime, sparked outrage and grief among Muslim Americans.

    Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League said Wednesday that “reported incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault increased by 388 percent” since the outbreak of the war in Israel.

    Biden has addressed antisemitic and Islamophobic violence since the war began, denouncing both antisemitism and Islamophobia during an Oval Office speech last week. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said in an Oct. 12 briefing that the “entire Biden–Harris administration” is “committed to doing all we can to protect against antisemitism and other forms of hate.”

    We should arm both sides, as an act of good faith.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    “We must all do our part and forcefully — forcefully speak out against antisemitism, and we must ensure there is no place for hate in America — not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against Arab Americans, not against Palestinian Americans, not against anyone,” Jean-Pierre continued.

    Except white Republicans. Everybody hates them.

    • creech

      And the race traitor black Republicans.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Except she could go back in time and change something in her life to prevent the killing.

    So the movie had her sabotaging the relationship with the love of her life to prevent the murdering.

    That makes way more sense than travelling back in time thirty minutes or so and blasting him as he is breaking in.

    • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

      It would have been more interesting if he refused to let her break up with him, or, assuming a shotgun, stood in the way due to pacifism.

      You cannot change the end results of fate.

  33. Ownbestenemy

    Off the cattle car and back on Vegas. Medical emergency on the plane but at least not a divert and lead to a quick expedited landing

  34. Winston

    So it’s looking like Argentina’s libertarian moment might be delayed indefinitely. Also considering how the Argentine military tried four military coups to crush Peronism what can Millei do about it?

    • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

      At least he could spell his name right.

      • Winston

        Oof.

        Well as the One True Libertarian I say that it is now spelt (not spelled!) with two Ls. 😝

  35. Evan from Evansville

    Pre-interview on Monday turned into interview today. Went well. I’m being moved up to the third tier. It’s for Community Liaison for a pre-k–> GED/adult career help.

    Roughly 10-7, Mon-Fri. No weekends. $50k/year. Roughly 50/50 in/out of office. A lot of responsibility. Will have to see how this proceeds. Will be paid for mandatory CPR/etc training online. Hrm. I have a habit of coming in too steep into the atmosphere and burning out.

    I also have an in-person interview with a more old-person-helping gig tomorrow. Only $16.80/hr but far less responsibility, but w old folk. Also had a prior Zoom with them.

    Many things to juggle. Who said life was supposed to be easy? (My loving, cozy family safety net is both, but arguably too much so. A blessed ‘problem’ to have.)

    • Derpetologist

      Huzzah!

      I applied for a teaching job near my parents. They’re both in their 70s and I’d prefer to be a short drive away.

      • Evan from Evansville

        They have teachers/ assistant teacher staff positions, both full and part-time. I’d kinda like to start part-time. I’m still in outpatient, after all. (Can be worked around.)

        I’d like to start part-time and transition towards more if it feels right. But. I ain’t risk-averse, often to my detriment (and advantage in certain ways). We shall see.

        Evan is nervous about being Evan on Evan’s own again. That will not occur for some time. Or it shouldn’t. Hrm.

      • Derpetologist

        Be nice to your skeleton so it doesn’t turn on you like that guy in SF’s story.

      • Evan from Evansville

        Superhero healing, yet Injury Magnet.

        Musk should study my specimen.

    • prolefeed

      Tens years after Hitler wrote a book saying exactly what he would do if he seized power, and two years after he actually seized power.

      Inconceivable!

    • Gustave Lytton

      Everyone involved in that should have been hanged in 1939.

    • Derpetologist

      It’s still going on:

      ***
      The other day, I witnessed a heartbreaking scene. The owner of a superb firearm, a sniper rifle from World War II, was virtually in tears as he hammered a bullet into the rifling at the breech end and then proceeded to fill the chamber with weld metal.

      Why? His three-year license was due for renewal, and the police said he was too feeble to go hunting or paper-punching anymore. So, logically, he couldn’t have any use for it, he had to sell it if he could or surrender it to the authorities—with no compensation—and it would be destroyed. The thought of this was intolerable to the old chap, hence the welding exercise. At least that way he could hang it on the wall and dream of days gone by.
      ***

      https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/an-enfield-destroyed-the-impact-of-british-gun-laws/

  36. Q Continuum

    “the velvet Orwellian creaminess of “fact-based narrative.””

    She continued stroking as thick ropes of fact-based narrative were launched into her zeitgeist.

  37. Q Continuum

    “The economist Melissa Kearney has been both vilified and praised for her new book, The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind.”

    I’ve been seeing a lot more of these “OMG, broken families are not really all that great! How could we have known?!?” navel-gazing, thinkology pieces from The Usual Suspects.

    Considering that NPR is literally the Establishment’s mouthpiece, I’d say The Cathedral is starting to get nervous about demographic collapse and what that means for their tax cattle revenue stream.

    • rhywun

      Yeah and their base are the least fruitful humans in history.