Hastily Done, Shoddy, Scant, Emergency Links

by | Oct 27, 2023 | Daily Links | 200 comments

I’m barely awake and undercaffeinated, so this is what you get. And lucky to has ’em, you is. Lucky to has ’em.

Music relevant to the linkings.

Astroturfing for fun and profit.

Florida man contest (for reals, yo).

Big, brain-hurty article on neuroscience (courtesy of HM, of course).

Can’t talk to a psycho like a normal human being.

The weaponizing of Celine Dion.

Well, kids, that’s all I’ve got. Have a great day.

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.

200 Comments

  1. Sean

    Yay! AM links!

  2. UnCivilServant

    Emergency?

    Was someone injured?

    • Sean

      Call 911!

      • Rat on a train

        912?

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

        Poor man’s 911.

  3. SDF-7

    Huh… if we were going to have Poe around here, I expected this one.

    Morning, Tonio — thanks for the links… off to read them.

      • SDF-7

        Certainly always good — but for some reason my favorite is probably this one.

      • kinnath

        Nice

    • Timeloose

      Tonio made Mrs. Time happy with the Poe.

      By the way her brother wrote a insanity driven novel called “The House of Leaves” She referenced the book in her some of her songs.

      • SDF-7

        Yup — the “this one” I linked is mostly a passage from said book. The other (my probable favorite) has a line about “Here in November in this house of leaves I pray”, iirc.

      • Timeloose

        5&1/2 minute hall way.

      • Timeloose

        Mrs. Time gave the book to me to read when we started dating. She really liked the book. It made it on her book based tattoo sleeve.

      • EvilSheldon

        The House of Leaves was great.

        If you liked it, The Raw Shark Texts is of a similar nature. Very entertaining.

      • Nephilium

        House of Leaves made its way through a friend group quite a while back. It’s a prime example of a book that I can’t see working well in a digital format.

      • Timeloose

        I’ll let Mrs. Time know. I liked the book while she was/is obsessed with it.

  4. Ownbestenemy

    On the plane I was watching So I Married an Axe Murder. I realized Mike Meyers newish streaming show The Pentaverate was all based on his dad spouting off conspiracy theories in the living room.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Didn’t realize they were connected. I didn’t bother watching, I don’t think Myers has made anything himself that was funny in this century, so I figured it would be pretty bad.

  5. AlexinCT

    After a week of annoying class I finally was gonna be able to spam you Glibroni’s here, and the damn linkers show up late and throw a wrench into my plans…

    THE HUMANITY!

    • SDF-7

      Now they have taken control.

  6. WTF

    Can’t talk to a psycho like a normal human being.

    See also: politicians.

  7. Drake

    I once found myself working in a department run by a true psychopath. What an unpleasant experience. I transferred out of there as fast as possible.

    After I transferred, she wrote me a terrible job review (even though I never reported directly to her). I went from the highest evaluation score possible to the lowest. I complained to HR and they quietly tossed it out because they knew she was a psycho.

    • AlexinCT

      You would be surprised how carefully HR tippy toes around issues with psychotic women bosses because they want to avoid the disaster of exposing that women can be absolutely as bad, if not worse, than a male boss. No male boss would ever get this.

      • DrOtto

        I had exactly one male boss that was worse than any and all bosses I’ve ever had. And while women bosses have tended to be worse on average, the best boss I ever had was a woman. Thank God I’m self employed. Now all I have are multiple individual bosses in the form of customers. Thankfully, I have trained them well.

    • cyto

      I don’t know about psychopaths… but I have definitely worked with sociopaths. They often have strong narcissism to go with the sociopathy. Utterly unpleasant. Lots of taking credit and shunning blame goes with it.

      I had one higher up who had an assignment from the board. He had failed to get it done for over a year using outside resources (and lots of money). On Tuesday of Thanksgiving week he comes to me and says he is handing this project to me…. it is a big honor, you see, and he has told the board that I am responsible. He has confidence in me. It is due on Monday after the holiday.

      Well over a year of failure. He gives me a day on a holiday week to get it done from a standing start.

      He literally does the “put his hand on my shoulder and sincerely tell me that I have his full confidence”.

      So… I have to call in people and we work over the holiday. Of course, we got it done.

      I did make sure the board knew what happened. With all due facetiousness I told them how, after over a year of trying to prove that he could outsource things better, cheaper and faster than my team could do them, he had come to us in the 11th hour, and being the true team players they are, my guys got this year long project done in just a couple of days.

      Vindictive ass-hat kept coming after us. Probably cost me 8 million bucks in options and bonuses over the years as he preferred to burn it down rather than admit he was wrong, say thanks and move on.

  8. AlexinCT

    Astroturfing for fun and profit.

    I find it hilarious that people are surprised to find out that nothing on the left is really organic. The KGB thought these people well that you had to not wait for things to organically happen like the right believes, but that you should stage them all, because this is a valuable and powerful political tool.

    • SDF-7

      I considered posting a comment about the sheer amount of graft and corruption involved in lobbying / political “non-profits” etc…

      Then I realized that with a multi-trillion budget, any effort to manipulate the process has an immense ROI with only a tiny percentage of a kickback, so OF COURSE the pigherders would be lining up miles deep and the comment was stupid, obvious and pointless.

      Then I said “fuck it” and put it here anyway, it seems. Happy Friday! 😉

      • AlexinCT

        A system tat not only encourages but rewards astroturfing will just cause a lot more of it. And to the left this shit is organic as hell, because as you point out, th rewards are just to great to pass on.

  9. AlexinCT

    Big, brain-hurty article on neuroscience (courtesy of HM, of course).

    These euphemisms go over my head. I will read this in more detail, but nowhere did I find any references to eating ass being a linguistic skill.

    • Ownbestenemy

      It strengths the tongue muscle to better support annunciation.

      • Grummun

        Useful when making proclamations to the Virgin Mary.

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

        As long as your toilet is so clean that she would be proud to shit in it, you are golden.

  10. SDF-7

    Can’t talk to a psycho like a normal human being.

    Hmm… seems like it would be a rush to judgement. Shouldn’t be too trigger happy there, HR Jack.

  11. PieInTheSky

    Big, brain-hurty article on neuroscience (courtesy of HM, of course). – stop pretending you can read

  12. PieInTheSky

    Well, kids, that’s all I’ve got. Have a great day. – if that is all then I want my money back

    • UnCivilServant

      There is a $50 service charge to process a refund.

  13. DrOtto

    I hate speed bumps. I drive way above the limit on Interstate, but respect speed limits in residential neighborhoods. If you put speed bumps in, you get my windows down and Shade 45 turned up to 11 as I slowly roll through your hood. Maybe I should be playing Celine Dion up to 11 instead?

    • UnCivilServant

      Hey!

      I didn’t put any speed bumps in. Why am I getting punished?

      • DrOtto

        The social contract or something?

    • SDF-7

      Just play it near, far… wherever you are.

    • cyto

      You wouldn’t like our area.

      We don’t have speed bumps. We have massive humps. Some are 6 or 10 feet wide. Some are over a foot high.

      On major cut-through roads, they might be every 100 or 200 feet.

      Bonus, our betters in the city government are taking out lanes on the main road and building super wide sidewalks… thereby forcing more traffic onto these side roads.

      Genius.

      • Rat on a train

        You are supposed to respond to the pain by switching to public transit or cycling.

      • rhywun

        I can haz speed bumps on my street?

        Sadly it is a state highway that runs through downtown and it is the only through route from west to east so every asshole and their brother sails through at all hours of the day. I have grown a healthy disgust for motorcyclists in particular. Every single one of them.

      • Sensei

        I may be in the minority, but I think speed bumps are worse from a noise perspective. You hear the braking for bump and the acceleration after the bump. The changes in the sound is more annoying to me.

      • UnCivilServant

        Speed bumps are not just annoying, they have been statistically shown to kill people by disrupting the ambulance response times.

    • Rat on a train

      The realtor took us to a home in a neighborhood full of speed bumps. It was a no.

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

      I live a block from a hospital, and I would kill for some speed bumps. You might be good in residential areas, but most people are assholes.

  14. AlexinCT

    When I saw this, I immediately went to thinking about how the FBI would be to busy chasing Christians and Trump supporters to dedicate any man power to this stuff.

    • cyto

      The observation that we have reached banana republic status is kind of inescapable at thus point.

      Watching the press struggle with their allegiances over this Israel/Hamas conflict has been entertaining. With so many of them being Jewish or embedded in Jewish areas, they natively want to support Israel. But their cultural home is with the radical left, who support Palestinian resistance unconditionally.

      So they waffle back and forth between propaganda narratives, seamlessly, never even acknowledging that they are changing sides and perspectives.

      Hopefully this is an actual wakeup call to the center of the democrat coalition.

      Unfortunately, I fear it is too late. The country watched the DNC rig yet another primary, this time driving Kennedy to run as an independent. They watched the press and social media instantly ghost him. And yet? They don’t even notice.

      • TARDis

        It hit home for me when I saw what happened to the J6ers. The Dem/Rino Uniparty slogan should be, “If you like your banana republic, we’ll keep your banana republic”.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Hopefully this is an actual wakeup call to the center of the democrat coalition.

        1) cognitive dissonance is a healluva drug

        2) to realize not that your just wrong but your beliefs are part of the problem is a bridge too far for most and a mental breakdown for some

        3) still note voting for an icky Republican, even if they’re left

      • juris imprudent

        Ruy Texiera who was responsible for the emerging Democratic majority (by way of demographic eclipse of white working class) has been arguing against his creation, and that the identitarian focus is going to kill them.

      • rhywun

        The banana republic is bad enough but more alarming is the totalitarian shithole we are turning into, complete with roving gangs of brownshirts shitting all over everything and itching to get violent.

      • Nephilium

        I’m more concerned by the complete and utter disregard for rule of law for rule of man.

      • Rat on a train

        Rule of Top Men™.

      • juris imprudent

        They’re really more like guidelines, and we’re quite fond of changing them so you don’t know what they are.

    • Sensei

      When the Justice Department Spied on Congress
      https://www.wsj.com/articles/department-of-justice-congress-spying-jason-foster-empower-oversight-f2d6235e?st=8ig7g7c99kpulzd&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

      The Justice Department’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation is the fiasco that keeps on giving, and look no further than this week’s revelations of abuse of power. The latest news is that Justice snooped on the Congressional investigators who dared to conduct oversight of its snooping on the 2016 Trump campaign.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Needs a trendy name like Abscam.

      • AlexinCT

        If you need to keep the congress critters in line and obedient to the machine, you need to spy on them as much as possible. How else will you know when they are doing something dangerous like looking out for their constituents instead of what the people that actually decide what happens want? And you need blackmail material for those that get uppity too, so yeah.

    • UnCivilServant

      Ford going Electric never made sense – their electrical systems have always sucked. I’m a long-time Ford owner, and the mechanicals were always sound, but the electricals were always shit.

      • Sensei

        We always bought Fords. I traded my last planned Ford purchase on an Acura (aka Honda) this year.

        I’m done with them.

      • UnCivilServant

        My C-Max is paid off. As long as I can keep it going, I’m not in the market for another.

        One of my off the wall ideas if getting the power train ripped out and pure gas crate engine installed with something less complex connecting it to the wheels.

      • Sensei

        You are in upstate NY – are you sure the chassis isn’t rotted through?

        I’d get an independent you trust to inspect well inspect it for everything else before putting that kind of money into it. I’m shocked at how even current cars rust out in places with heavy salt usage.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Sadly that is here now. The whining from the Califucktards who have flooded this place have led the state DOT and others to reverse their longstanding no salt policy.

      • juris imprudent

        Wut? With all the known environmental damage? Unpossible!!!

      • UnCivilServant

        Right now there’s no rusting through. But you don’t just have to take my word for it.

        Had the mechanic spotted any during any of the previous work or the annual inspection, they would have loved to try to get me to pay for it to be addressed.

    • R.J.

      And they just dramatically increased union wages. Woot!

  15. SDF-7

    A little early off-topic time wise, sorry — but I do need to start paying attention to actual work and all… Still not a great day, had to turn on hints on the main game before I saw some that should have been more obvious.

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 10/27:
    *25/25 words (+1 bonus word)
    🎯 Perfect accuracy

    I played https://squaredle.com 10/27:
    51/51 words (+5 bonus words)
    🎯 In the top 5% by accuracy
    🔥 Solve streak: 69

    • Sean

      I played https://squaredle.com 10/27:
      51/51 words (+7 bonus words)
      📖 In the top 32% by bonus words
      🔥 Solve streak: 5

      I played https://squaredle.com/xp 10/27:
      *25/25 words
      🎯 In the top 27% by accuracy

      • rhywun

        I must be losing my mind because it takes me all day to do these now.

  16. waffles

    Hi everyone. I feel like things are rapidly changing. And glibs is, as ever, an island of sanity. Happy Friday.

    • SDF-7

      Plus les choses changent, plus Sugarfree nous terrifie.

    • cyto

      Ditto.

      Which means we are definitely on a list.

  17. Pine_Tree

    Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train” includes a character (the bad guy) who is psychologically a dead ringer for the most NPD/psychopath co-workers I’ve had. Externally charming, smart, persuasive, high-performer type, but a plain corporate psychopath underneath.

    It’s also a good film-noir classic, so go watch it.

    • cyto

      If you have never gone on a Noir binge, it is absolutely worth it. All of the film noir classics are fantastic. And it works best if consumed in binge fashion, so the tropes and idioms become natural.

      • CatchTheCarp

        Totally agree with this…. I caught the film noir bug 6 or 7 years ago and that genre is now my favorite. I love watching Eddie Mueller’s Noir Alley where he provides all sorts of interesting nuggets and back stories in the making of these films. What I found Interesting was how the makers of these films had to navigate thru the restrictive production codes of the era. Plus occasionally I discover a new term – like “McGuffin”.

      • thrakkorzog

        Oh yeah, the film version of The Big Sleep is a big mess because of trying to write around the codes of the time.

        (Basically, the client’s daughter is an ax crazy nympho being blackmailed by a porn ring. Something I feel zero shame in spoilering since it is a 70 year old movie, and good luck figuring that out from watching the actual movie.)
        It’s a fun movie, but geez it’s a mess when given deeper thoughts.

      • rhywun

        I don’t have TCM anymore. 🤬

        But yeah, I love noir. Strangers on a Train is right up there. The tennis player also starred in Rope. And the villain is the dad of Charlie X, my favorite Star Trek episode.

      • Not Adahn

        STEVE SMITH LIKE—

        –OH WAIT, YOU SAID ROPE

    • Timeloose

      I had the opportunity to see The Birds last Sunday in the theater.

      I thought I saw the movie before, I was wrong. I think if you see clips and references too many times, you begin to believe you saw the movie. The movie was horrifying in the right way. The back story was entertaining enough that I forgot that it was a suspense/horror movie.

    • KSuellington

      Strangers on a Train is one of Hitchcock’s best and that is indeed saying something. Love me some film noir. When myself and the wife first moved back to the States one of the first things we bought was a projector. We used that instead of a tv for visual entertainment for the first 8 years and so watched hundreds of movies, including lots of classics and film noir. Also love Rope as a classic Hitchcock noir.

  18. AlexinCT

    How much of this is social media (especially Chicomm psyops Tik-Tok) and low IQ marxist public school system indoctrination?

    • SDF-7

      I think much more the latter than the former. TikTok is busy making them superficial and shallow thinkers — the indoctrination of pseudo-Marxist claptrap like CRT (regardless of how they name it / wrap it) fostering the “all oppressed people are blameless” and “all Western Civilization is oppressive” frantically splooges all over that fertile ground to sprout these demonic ideals, ready for harvest as their generations of idiot Sturmabteilung so their elite betters can remake society to their technocratic pleasure (or so they think anyway).

    • rhywun

      Forty-eight percent explicitly said they support Hamas, not just “the Palestinian people.”

      What in the ever-loving fuck.

  19. R.J.

    My kid’s school has a a text channel for teachers to communicate important updates for the next day. Things like “charge your iPad” or “Math test tomorrow.” I have now gotten two messages reminding me to early vote for their damn bond issues. During registration, I had to sit through a presentation on why they need the bonds, I disagreed with all of it. My property tax is up 38%, the schools are funded out the ass, I will not vote for your damn bond issues. The district is already swimming in money here. No more. And don’t use a text communication channel reserved for student info to communicate your bond BS.

    • juris imprudent

      Dude, you’re in Texas, those middle schools need major college level football stadiums.

      • rhywun

        lol

    • UnCivilServant

      Do they also pull the shenanigans where they hold the vote on random non-election days at sites that are not normally polling locations, with no signs until after you’ve entered the building?

      The poll workers looked annoyed that I’d found the site.

    • Tonio

      IIRC, it’s illegal some places for govt employees to lobby for/against issues, particularly on the taxpayers’ dime.

      • DrOtto

        They get around that by not telling you to vote “yes” on the bond, just tell you to vote.

      • R.J.

        That’s exactly what they did. And I shall reward them, by going out to vote “No.”

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Works for me, the perennial No. Not enough to make any difference, though.

        I never had Civics classes, but it strikes me that parsing actual ballot measures would be a good lesson.

      • Gustave Lytton

        And sending out “informational” mailings to educate you.

      • juris imprudent

        But, but this is FOR THE CHILDRENZ!!!

    • Nephilium

      The local school board here is on their fourth or fifth attempt to pass a bond levy. This is in a community that’s aging, and already consolidating schools. It didn’t help that just before the first time they were pushing for the levy, there was “financial discrepancies” found in their accounting to the million dollar mark.

    • EvilSheldon

      No option to get up and walk out, just as a demonstration of contempt?

    • rhywun

      I looked at my “sample ballot” yesterday. There is a state judge, a county judge, the mayor, and two “alderpersons”. Since my only goal is to vote against Democrats, three of these positions will not be getting a look from me.

      Plus there are two proposals that read like gibberish so I’ll just vote “No” on both. They can’t be up to any good.

  20. juris imprudent

    Local media have reported on contestants — often people with family links to Pacific Island nations

    Right mate, out with that racism, just get it right out.

  21. robc

    Grand Swiss, Day 3:

    Current Standings

    Amusingly the order is right, but the tiebreakers listed are wrong. They left out TB1, put TB2 in TB1, and put TB3 in TB2, and left the TB3 column blank.

    Anyway, the standings are symmetrical, with 7 players having a perfect 2.0 pts and 7 with a perfect 0 pts.

    Todays featured matches(white first, * american):
    Two point group
    1. L’Ami (2627) v Caruana* (2786)
    2. Erigaisi (2712) v Sarana (2682)
    3. Esipenko (2683) v Predke (2656)
    4. Firouzja (2777, 1.5 pts) v Zhalmakhanov (2447) — Because of only 7 players on 2, Firouzja gets bumped up a group. Zhalmakhanov is an IM playing the tournament of his life. Well, two matches so far. Of the 114 players, something about 105 of them are GMs. An IM shouldnt be in the top group. I am sure Firouzja will put an end to his run.
    1.5 point group
    5. Giri (2760) v Bacrot (2669)
    13. Ter-Sahakyan (2618) v Sevian* (2698)
    14. Shankland* (2698) v Najer (2648)
    1.0 point group
    20. Nakamura* (2780) v Chopra (2634)
    29. Xiong* (2693) v Yakubboev (2616)
    35. Niemann* (2667) v Vokhidov (2578)
    0.5 pt group
    41. Donchenko (2676) v Akobian* (2582)
    46. Mishra* (2592) v Svane (2646)

    • robc

      106 GMs
      7 IMs
      1 untitled player (rated 2303, which would allow the FM title, but I guess he hasnt applied for it)

    • robc

      I left out 1 game:

      7. Sindarov (2658) v Aronian* (2742)

  22. The Other Kevin

    Thank you for doing the yeoman’s work of bringing us links, Tonio. It is not easy being on the front lines of the disinformation wars.

  23. Pine_Tree

    On neurobiology and Snow Crash: I believe that a person’s ability to think in certain ways, and even to grasp certain concepts, is partially dependent on their base language(s).

    It’s on the margin – say that for any group of normal adults from any mix of cultures, maybe 80% of cognitive or conceptual ability is the same on average. But for maybe 20% of those functions, ability is driven by language. And that 20% makes a LOT of difference.

    Here’s why I say it: A person’s brain at birth has some level of structure and neural connections built-in. But it’s all obviously pretty baseline. Higher functions are built and learned, as biochemical neural networks are literally built over time into a processor. Well, as that processor is being built for ~20 years, the person is also learning and then heavily using a certain language. Sometimes more than one. So a tremendous amount of the inputs and outputs that are used to build and program that processor go through a language filter (speaking, hearing, reading, etc.). That MUST impact what the final product is. So that a person who grows up with Cantonese (say) will have a different processor than one who grows up with (say) Spanish. Literally.

    Again, for lots of processes there’s tons of commonality. But for some things, there’s not. Without me trying to parse out every little connection, this has got to be a very big part of why certain cultures do certain things (well, poorly, etc.). It’s physical and mental. It’s probably touchy as it’s “culture” and heavily blended with race, but y’all get it. Some things are inherent from birth (DNA and associated racial differences). And some things are plainly learned (ordinary teaching and cultural memes). But (the point of this post) – some things that matter a tremendous amount are almost certainly based on the language filter that’s in place. So that Cantonese can do things, can think things, that the Spaniard literally cannot think.

    Where are the lines? Dunno. How much of our common generalizations like “Russians sure are good at chess” comes from something like this? Others?

    • robc

      Russians are good at chess because they chose to be.

      The Soviets made it a part of early education, so they were able to identify talent early. If my school had taught chess and there had been competitive chess tournaments in the schools, I probably would have got involved. But I just fiddled around at home playing 2 games per year or something.

      • robc

        Just to be clear, I am not disagreeing with your premise, just than Russians/chess is not a good example.

      • Pine_Tree

        np. I could tell. Is it known why they made it part of early education, though? Wondering if the “Russians are good at chess” thing pre-dated that, so maybe they were just (logically) doing “play to your strengths”. An aptitude derived from my premise could set up a culture to have a feedback loop making sure they kept up the things they were good at.

        Either way, yeah it was just an example.

      • robc

        No, there was no clear case of Russians being best before that. It was a Soviet propaganda move to prove that the Soviets were smarter than everyone else.

      • robc

        Also, while the former Soviet bloc nations are still the top nations, its not as dominant as before. The US is #1, also primarily from poaching players from other countries. But that is the US way.

        Although the top 2 US players are native. Caruana was born in Florida, although he played for Italy for years, as he grew up in Europe. Nakamura was born in Japan to an American Mom and Japanese Dad. He grew up in the US after they divorced when he was really young.

    • thrakkorzog

      I think color is a better example. It’s fairly common to lump in red and orange or blue and green together in a number of languages.
      That doesn’t mean that people who speak those languages can’t see the differences, but it does make it harder for them to spot the differences and then articulate them.
      A feeling familiar to many guys stuck trying to hel pick out paint colors.

      • Fourscore

        Or the faces in the clouds

    • juris imprudent

      partially dependent on their base language(s)

      I believe that is a core contention of General Semantics.

  24. Gustave Lytton

    The weaponizing of Celine Dion.

    And that’s the way it is.

  25. DEG

    Among the contests planned for next February in St. Augustine, Florida, according to organizers, are the Evading Arrest Obstacle Course in which contestants jump over fences and through yards while being chased by real police officers; the Category 5 Cash Grab in which participants try to grab as much money in a wind-blowing booth; and the self-explanatory beer-belly wrestling.

    Beautiful.

  26. Sensei

    Hello Martha’s Vineyard!

    Mayor Eric Adams is ramping up efforts to fly migrants to the destination of their choice, figuring it’s cheaper than sheltering them for months on end. And he’s simultaneously warning that those opting to stay in New York may be in for a winter of sleeping outside with shelters full.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/26/migrants-nyc-plane-rides-00123778

    • The Other Kevin

      Does anyone remember when they passed Obamacare, and they knew a bunch of newly elected Dems would lose their next election but they sacrificed those people’s careers anyway? I’m reminded of that. Tough luck Adams, you will have to deal with this so we can realize the long term plan of having more dependent people who will reliably vote Dem.

      • juris imprudent

        They don’t need to vote Dem, they inflate the body count in already reliable Dem precincts. Don’t want re-apportionment to hurt our prospects.

      • juris imprudent

        Which immediately makes me think we shouldn’t be counting non-citizens in the census as more than 3/5ths of a person.

  27. DEG

    Latest from James O’Keefe

    ACTBLUE INSIDER: Mole inside ActBlue discloses secret conference held in Boston. Inside hotel, I question ActBlue on FEC money laundering allegations. The Boston Police were called and bodycam footage forthcoming…

    Months ago we found a handful of donors who donated small amounts to ActBlue, but when ActBlue reported the donations to the Federal Elections Commission, something didn’t add up. Unaware retirees, among many others, were reported having given tens of thousands more than their actual donation.

    We went to get some answers from ActBlue staffers on the inside at their secret meeting in Boston. When confronting ActBlue employees outside of the hotel, no responses were given.

    I was questioned by conference security and when they saw my OMG press pass, I was immediately asked to leave the hotel premises. Once outside of the hotel, things got even more heated and the police were called on our team.

    The video is about ten minutes.

    • WTF

      Clown world.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    That Aeabella thing looks kind of interesting, but it’s much too ling. Do they ever get around to mentioning dark money is directly created by our Byzantine election laws?

    • juris imprudent

      There is a reason you never hear the left complain any more about dark money – they’ve learned to play that game better than the right.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    The State Department said it was affirming a ‘commitment to promoting and protecting the human rights of Intersex persons globally’

    Where is our all intersex amphibious assault brigade?

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Boddy said corporate psychopaths are one of the reasons that we’ve had multiple financial catastrophes in the past few decades, from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, to Jeffrey Skilling’s role in Enron, to the bankers who contributed to the great recession in 2008.

    That’s funny. I blame 80% of what has been taught in business schools since 1980.

    • Sensei

      I much more blame DC for subsidizing downside risk through public bailouts while allowing upside gains to remain private.

      • EvilSheldon

        If there are psychopaths, and there are, you should probably build your system to be resistant to their predations.

        Obviously this doesn’t work if the psychopaths are in charge.

    • juris imprudent

      Speaking of schemers (Madoff), supposedly SBF is going to testify in his trial today. Apparently a last ditch attempt to salvage his defense.

      • thrakkorzog

        What’s the defense outside of he payed off the right teams?

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Boddy said that issuing more stringent hiring practices could be enough to weed out corporate psychopath candidates in the future.

    Make them do the Trolley Problem.

  32. KK, Non-Man

    Simon Lebon turns 65 years old today WTF

    • The Other Kevin

      I’ll save a prayer for him.

      • KK, Non-Man

        He’s still a wild boy, though

    • robc

      Thats actually younger than I would have guessed based on my age and when he was at his peak popularity.

      I was 14 in 1983, so he was 25…yeah, I guess that is about right.

  33. Rat on a train

    Younger generations willing to sacrifice jobs perks for 4-day workweek, study finds

    Well, interestingly enough, we did see that 20% of younger generations are willing to take fewer vacation days, or give up some vacation time for that four-day workweek as far as benefits go.

    What a sacrifice! Will they also sacrifice their regular monthly pay for $1 million per year?

    • The Other Kevin

      Give up some of their 15 vacation days to have 52 Fridays off a year is quite a big sacrifice.

      • thrakkorzog

        As someone who’s used to working with women big tittes applying for Friday night gigs, they’re still expected to work on Tuesday night jobs.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Shazam!

    Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions to support the conversion of high-vacancy commercial buildings to residential use, including through new financing, technical assistance, and sale of federal properties. These announcements will create much-needed housing that is affordable, energy efficient, near transit and good jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nearly 30 percent of which comes from the building sector.

    Office and commercial vacancies across the country are affecting urban downtowns and rural main streets. A new blog released today by the Council of Economic Advisers finds that office vacancies have reached a 30-year high from coast-to-coast, placing a strain on commercial real estate and local economies. At the same time, the country has struggled for decades with a shortage of affordable housing units, which is driving up rental costs, and communities are seeking new ways to cut emissions, especially from existing buildings and transportation.

    And then Joe reached into his magic hat, and pulled out millions of luxury apartments for the deserving unhoused masses.

    And they all lived happily ever after.

    The End.

    • SDF-7

      + How in the frak is that the job of the Federal Government (I laugh, I weep… I know FYTW)
      + 15 minute city attempts, anyone?
      + And if not that… I’m sure they’ll be modeled on those lovely Soviet brutalist apartment complexes… because public housing has historically been a wondrous boon for the surrounding community.
      + Last but not least, maybe you’d be better off getting your Federal Boot off the throat of the economy (cheap energy) to revitalize office usage, you commie bastards?
      + Also also… maybe letting your brownshirts burn downtowns willy-nilly decreases the likelihood of these New Soviet Man Spaces being anywhere near “good jobs” much less affordable retail.

      Assholes.

  35. Ownbestenemy

    We decided to pay packers. It is odd sitting around letting others go through your stuff and pack it up while sipping coffee

    • PieInTheSky

      I think the standard crass stupid joke in such cases is be careful they pack you fudge properly.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Get it in nice and tight, got make sure no movement when on a rough ride

      • juris imprudent

        Now that is some euphemisming!

      • Ownbestenemy

        I give all credit to KK, the master of euphemisms

  36. PieInTheSky

    The philosopher with a picture of Stalin above his bed opens the Frankfurt book fair

    https://reaction.life/the-philosopher-with-a-picture-of-stalin-above-his-bed-opens-the-frankfurt-book-fair/

    Žižek is one of those intellectuals who tend to express themselves in a confused, nebulous and unclear manner, and quite rightly hopes that some of his readers will reverently mistake his vague verbiage for philosophical depth. Žižek is not unclear, however, when it comes to making political statements. In his book A Left that Dares Speak Its Name, published in 2020, Žižek calls for a “new communism”: “What we need today is a Left that dares to speak its name, not a Left that shamefully covers up its core with some cultural fig leaf. And this name is communism.” The Left, he argues, should finally abandon the socialist dream of a more equitable and “‘just’ capitalism” and enact more radical “‘communist’ measures.” As a clearly formulated goal, he states that “the opposing class has to be destroyed.“

    I did not know Žižek was still a thing, I would have thought he is unfashionable these days.

    • juris imprudent

      Religious hermits never go out of style.

  37. PieInTheSky

    🚨NEW POLLING🚨

    The average man thinks he can throw a pumpkin 6.6m.

    The average women thinks she can throw a pumpkin 2.9m.

    https://twitter.com/chriscurtis94/status/1717607277819994184

    I am no pumpkinologist, but assume there is great variety in pumpkin size.

    • Ownbestenemy

      We taking pie pumpkins or carving pumpkins.

      • PieInTheSky

        can you throw either 6 feet like a man?

      • juris imprudent

        Did a European just confuse meters and feet???

      • PieInTheSky

        shit. I mean 19 feet.

      • PieInTheSky

        that was just a typo. 6 and 19 are next to each other on the keyboard.

      • UnCivilServant

        Mini desk pumpkins.

        Hurl it like a shot put

  38. The Late P Brooks

    The actions announced today build upon the initiatives in the White House Housing Supply Action Plan, which is lowering housing costs, boosting housing supply, and promoting fair housing, and the Administration’s actions to lower energy costs and tackle the climate crisis.

    Stop it. You’re killing me.

    • Fourscore

      Don’t even have to be refitted, just leave the doors unlocked, they’ll quickly fill up with low, low income people. Leave the heat on though

    • Ownbestenemy

      War by Twitter poll was inevitable

      • R.J.

        This is the sad truth. Any government that takes all their money for improvements, uses it to build rockets, buy guns and dig tunnels instead of improving the live of their citizens, is definitely not going to keep shooting after any imaginary cease-fire.

        Also there has been a lot of talk over labeling Hamas as a terrorist organization or not. They were voted in, they are a government. They have an army, supported by that government. They are not in any way following Geneva convention, and as such, the whole place could be wiped as clean as a parking lot. To me terrorists are not governments. Interested in others’ thoughts.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Our government is ordained by a constituon and it is a terrorist organization. Amazing how people equate ‘legitimate’ as being just.

    • R.J.

      Missing the point that China is a communist nation, uses slave labor and is actively trying to undercut and destroy us. Free trade can only occur with other free nations.

  39. PieInTheSky

    “The just and heroic struggle of the Palestinian people for the liberation of their territories seized and occupied by Israel is a fine example. Despite the fact that it is not led by Marxist-Leninists we support it. We support it since it is a national liberation, anti-imperialist struggle. In assessing their struggle we must appreciate their bravery in coping with countless difficulties against extremely strong powers, armed to the teeth, such as the American imperialists and the Israeli Zionists.

    https://twitter.com/DoomerPoster/status/1717324567675625755

    • R.J.

      Good Lord. Go read some history books.

      • PieInTheSky

        I am sure he read the complete works of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and probably every commie out there. Tankies often read a lot, just everything is the same nonsense. Fashionable non tankie commies don’t read much though.

      • juris imprudent

        Yeah, clearly not a Trotskyite.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    I say we have a twitter poll and Israel and Hamas should be bound to respect the results

    I’d be willing to go along with that, just as long as it involves killing all the losers. And then killing the winners.

    • PieInTheSky

      So you like Tim Dillon’s idea of kicking everyone out from the region and making it a theme park?

  41. PieInTheSky

    Sweden or Switzerland? Swedish tourist board launches campaign to explain the difference

    https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/10/26/sweden-or-switzerland-swedish-tourist-board-launches-campaign-to-explain-the-difference

    Sweden’s tourist board has decided it is time to make it clear that the nation is not, in fact, the same country as Switzerland.

    According to Visit Sweden, the two countries are constantly being mixed up.

    To dispel confusion, the tourist board has launched a humorous new campaign.

    Here’s how you can tell the difference between the two European countries.

    A study conducted by Visit Sweden in the US found that half of the respondents were not sure if there was a difference between the two nations.

    Even global leaders have made the blunder. During a NATO summit speech last year, US President Joe Biden erroneously referenced Switzerland while discussing Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance.

    ….for various definitions of global leader

    • juris imprudent

      ….for various definitions of global leader

      Putatively, an adult.

    • creech

      “Do I need a passport to visit New Mexico?”

      • UnCivilServant

        Yes, unless you’re sneaking across the southern border like an Illegal.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I had a girlfriend that thought that when I was stationed in New Mexico. Obviously didn’t work out

      • UnCivilServant

        You mean she wasn’t Canadian?

      • Ownbestenemy

        That one was a punk rocker who I’m sure was a dude. Thr young days of internet were shady as fuck

    • Gender Traitor

      In other news, in an effort to distance itself from ruthless totalitarians, Austria launches campaign to clarify that it is NOT Australia.

      • UnCivilServant

        They launched a new invasion of Oceana with their crack Second Emu Corps.

  42. The Late P Brooks

    Speaking of schemers (Madoff), supposedly SBF is going to testify in his trial today. Apparently a last ditch attempt to salvage his defense.

    “Gosh, Sam. I hate to have to tell you this, but we need a sacrificial goat to make it look like we’re doing something, and that goat is you.”

  43. PieInTheSky

    eigenrobot
    @eigenrobot
    im entering my doesnt negotiate with terrorists era

    hanson is victor davis hanson, kind of a war on terror psycho in the old days

    i dont exactly remember what he really believed but dan carlin was into him and it might have been something about acting with incredible and sharp violence and using the threat of such to avoid chronic bloodshed over a longer period that might be even worse.

    _hostis humani generis_ is latin for Enemy of All Mankind, a label applied historically to pirates and later to slavers. the idea was that they were to be utterly despised and so cast outside the laws of all nations, each of which certainly had the right and possibly the duty where able to destroy such knaves with prejudice, even if they had not been harmed by such an enemy themselves.

    i believe terrorists ought to be so treated.

    https://twitter.com/eigenrobot/status/1717678268713681198

  44. The Late P Brooks

    Monster

    Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday evening that he is not sure if Florida’s red flag law is effective in removing guns from dangerous people and he wouldn’t sign one – or any gun safety measure – if elected president.

    Instead, in response to Wednesday’s mass shooting at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston, Maine, that has left at least 18 dead, the Republican presidential candidate said he would institutionalize more people with mental health issues against their will.

    Maybe we can turn some of those empty office buildings into loony bins.

    • EvilSheldon

      The pro-gun community buying into the obvious trap of ‘mental health’ is very disheartening to me.

      First, very few spree killers are mentally ill. Most are just huge assholes throwing tantrums.

      Second, who do you think those forced institutionalization powers are gonna be used on once the left takes charge again?

      DeSantis is either an idiot, or else he has a poorly concealed hardon for forcing medical treatment on the degenerates.

      • creech

        A “huge asshole throwing tantrums” that includes murder is mentally ill.

  45. Mojeaux

    Yanno (she said with irritation), there’s a generic links post in pending.

  46. The Late P Brooks

    Us People’s Republics gotta stick together

    “Divorce is not an option” when it comes to the world’s two largest economies, California Governor Gavin Newsom told CNN on Wednesday following his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

    In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Newsom said his meeting with Xi in Beijing had revived hope that the United States and China were at a turning point in their relations.

    “We’ve got to turn down the heat. We’ve got to manage our strategic differences. We’ve got to reconcile our strategic red lines,” he said.

    Newsom — the first US governor to meet with Xi in six years — is in China for a week-long visit to promote action on climate change. His trip comes as tensions between the two remain high, leading to export controls from both sides on critical technological supplies, such as semiconductors and the equipment needed to produce them.

    “Obviously, that was brought up and there’s anxiety in that space,” Newsom said of the restrictions.

    But Newsom said the fact that he was granted an audience by the country’s top leader was “indicative of a thawing.” The governor has also scheduled a slate of meetings with numerous other high-level Chinese officials, which indicates “that we’re entering, I hope, a new phase,” he added.

    We must do everything we can to ensure the success of our Pacific Rim Co-Prosperity Sphere.

    • R.J.

      It was indicative of Xi’s desire to take California first.

    • The Other Kevin

      Great idea, make another deal with China that you will stick to and China will completely ignore.

      • UnCivilServant

        The next trade deal should be a swift nuclear exchange followed by unrestricted submarine warfare against any ships trying to enter or leave Chinese ports.

  47. The Late P Brooks

    The trip already appears to have generated some goodwill, particularly after Newsom’s visit to the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen on Tuesday. The governor was seen cheerily taking a test ride in an autonomous SUV belonging to BYD, the top Chinese electric vehicle maker, during which he praised the company’s technology and was quoted as saying “I want two,” according to Chinese state media.

    His remarks were regarded “as a positive signal that at the level of the state governments, some people are willing to focus on practical cooperation, instead of the zero-sum geopolitical games,” Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times wrote Wednesday.

    Newsom’s administration has partnered with BYD in the past, with the automaker’s US arm sending California millions of N95 masks in the early days of the Covid crisis, helping the state reopen, according to a previous statement from Newsom.

    Making the world a better place, one existential crisis at a time.

    • Ownbestenemy

      They didn’t want to bring up that the BYD covid mask deal was a no compete and failed to meet standards? 1.5 billion dollar deal…or that BYDs electric busses fail? No? Okay.

  48. The Late P Brooks

    China is California’s biggest trading partner, with nearly $166 billion in two-way trade in 2022, according to official state data.

    The US state has outsize economic heft, recording $3.6 trillion in gross domestic product in 2022. If it were a country, California “would be the fifth largest economy in the world,” Newsom told CNN.

    It’s a goddam tragedy California is being dragged down by a bunch of pissant loser states like Montana and Wyoming and West Virginia.

    • Ownbestenemy

      3.66 trillion GDP, conditions worthy of near Somalia in cities