Well, we’re almost done with February. This weekend, the girlfriend and I are going to a brunch event, which last year was unlimited food, Bloody Mary samples (too bad neither of us like Bloody Maries), and two drink tickets for the bar (which did have a decent selection, if unskilled bartenders). But you lot don’t care about that, so let’s get to the links.
The X-Them? No one ever complains about the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
This should make some of you happy.
We don’t even let the franchises heal before we reboot them anymore.
Someone had far too much time on their hands.
This is the opposite of Correct Horse Battery Staple. [Reference.]
Hell hath no fury…
But… they’re nuggets!
A properly terrible compromise.
I’ve never been shy about my love of PTerry. If you haven’t read his stuff, check out this bundle. Nearly all (no Rising Steam, Where’s My Cow, and the graphic novels) of the books, for the price of $16.
The weather is starting to warm up, so I’m going to go basic bitch guy this weekend for the cocktail.
Manhattan/Rob Roy
- 2 part whisk(e)y (bourbon/rye for a Manhattan, Scotch for a Rob Roy)
- 1 part vermouth (Sweet for traditional, split between sweet and dry for a “perfect”)
- 1 dash orange bitters (optional, but strongly recommended)
This is a spirit only cocktail, so leave the shakers alone. Start by deciding if you’re going to be going up or on the rocks and put the appropriate glass in the freezer. Grab a mixing pitcher (or the base of a shaker if you don’t have one), fill it with your spirits and ice, and give stir it until combined and chilled. Strain into your glass (on a large fresh cube if you’re going on the rocks) and garnish with a brandied cherry if you would like.
With that, I hope you enjoy the weekend.
no links in the links
There were links, they were just hidden. Should be fixed now.
I can see them now. Thanks.
And most of them are opening in new tabs. Huzzah!
I just switch my password from ASCII-encoding to UTF-8 for security …
I already own all of the discworld novels except the last one or two after he got Alzheimer’s. I don’t have the graphic novels or the kids stories.
You pointed to a great deal, but I don’t need it. Oh well.
The Shepherd’s Crown is well worth getting. It feels like it was written earlier, with the plan to release it posthumously.
I don’t remember right off which was the last book I read. I remember thinking it was a well written novel, but it wasn’t really Discworld. I remember being particularly disappointed in the behavior of Vetinari in that story.
Why come no one wants to play my transgender coming out game!!!
You have to throw one of those “gender reveal” parties.
It’s Russian roulette with three loaded chambers isn’t it?
which last year was unlimited food
Tell me more.
Last year, each stand had 2-3 small sample size offerings as well as samples of Bloody Mary. You could take as much as you wanted from any of the stations. Most of the restaurants were also handing out coupons to visit them for an upcoming brunch. At the end you could vote on the best Bloody Mary and the best brunch bite.
Might take a while to eat enough…
Justice for the worker
Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted to ratify their first union contract Thursday, securing pay bumps, job protections and a rare win for the United Auto Workers union in the South.
It’s been a long road to this contract. Workers initially voted twice against joining the union before casting ballots in favor in 2024, making this VW plant one of the few to unionize in the South, and the rare one that’s not a member of the “Big 3” auto companies: Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. That was nearly two years ago and negotiations have dragged on since, with workers at one point granting the union the ability to call a strike if necessary.
But contract talks were resolved in early February when the UAW and Volkswagen struck a tentative agreement, which the workers have now voted to approve, with 96% of them voting yes.
“Today you showed the world Southern autoworkers are ready to fight,” UAW President Shawn Fain said to workers after the results of the vote came in.
Costs up, quality down. Look for the union label.
I’m hearing bad things about the new Tiguans & Taos.
And then he called his Rolls Royce dealer to put in another order.
VW wanted the union.
Silly Germans.
Why did the companies move to the south?
Right to work states and inexpensive educated workforce.
How is it, something as simple as ‘stop moving clocks forward/backward’ is complicated?
I view this as a statist flex to remind the hoi polloi that nothing is beyond gubmint control. Nuh-Think!
End the daylight time abomination!
So, permanent night?
DST forever!!
Whew…was sure over past 3 days we’d not know the outcome of the “boneless wings” case 🙂
Thanks for the Terry Pratchett link…he’s the man!
You know, delicate flowers could always just avoid Steam rather than assume that Steam is just there to protect your tender sensibilities.
Or, I suppose, they could just go fuck themselves along with the writers at The Guardian wasting out time with this crap.
Or they could just sell me the damn game on a disk they wouldn’t have to interact with my toxicity.
Wait..Steam has forums? /s Never been on one. I really don’t wanna discuss things with most people.
I use it for technical or support questions but I have no doubt that woke has shit all over a lot of them.
I tried the Dirty Manhattan(with olive juice) per your suggestion and it was delicious.
Now you need to try a “Dirty Sanchez”!
Your mom tried the Dirty Bacon and loved it.
My inner fourth-grader now really wants to come up with a Dirty Sanchez cocktail – probably some combination of tequila, dry vermouth, and pickled chili peppers.
Chocolate dusted glass rim.
Workers will immediately get a $6,550 bonus when the contract goes into effect Monday. They will also receive a 20% wage increase across the life of the contract, which ends in February 2030. By then, the top hourly wage for production workers will be $39.41, and $49.86 for skilled workers like machinists and electricians, whose jobs require more education and training. That top wage does not include cost of living adjustments that are also in the contract.
Promotions and raises based strictly on merit and performance, I’m sure.
X-Men rebranded Trans-Men?
Mxn.
I thought of you the other day Neph. For Mardi Gras I went to our favorite local joint with some in-laws. FIL had an Old Fashioned. He’s a big whiskey guy so he knows what’s up. We both agreed it was the best one we’ve ever tasted. Super smooth, zero burn. It’s amazing how good a properly made drink can be.
I hope this means that password tyranny is dying out. Imagine all the wasted hours we could get back.
Since LLMs will take over all jobs they will know all the passwords anyway.
No it’s not going away. It just means that AI tools are taking short cuts and using some very small subset of potential combinations of letters, numerals, and special characters. And that they repeat in a predictable way. So don’t use those AI tools.
For the record – it is perfectly fine to fuck around with the proportions in a mixed drink to accommodate one’s tastes. 2:1 in a Manhattan is way too heavy on the vermouth for me. I usually do 2.5oz rye and 0.75oz. sweet vermouth (although now I’m itching to stir up a few perfect Manhattans and see how they taste.)
I’ve advocated for modifying recipes to personal taste as well. But I feel like everyone should start at the original to get a baseline.
Agreed. Don’t start publishing your abstract art until you can draw a cow that looks like a cow.
I get 5 G&Ts from a single 5.07oz can of tonic water. I make them a little strong, my wife says.
This is the way.
I’m not adverse to drinking straight gin, depending on the brand…
Emotional support vehicles
An October study from Yale University and the National Bureau of Economic Research estimates Musk’s political activism cost Tesla at least 1 million vehicle sales between October 2022 and April 2025.
Another study published in Nature in July found Musk’s politics alienated liberal consumers and even impacted their interest in buying Tesla and EVs in general. Conversely, Musk’s support for Trump did not translate into a surge of interest in EVs among conservative voters.
Politics uber alles for progressives.
Say it ain’t so, Shirley.
Proving their tolerance for other opinions once again.
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34413/w34413.pdf
It’s the reason I despise modern financial and econometric research.
You look registration data by political affiliation. Regress historically on it. Use that as your forecast for the time period under consideration. Look at the divergence between forecasted and actual.
That’s the “Musk Effect”. Pay no mind to other variables such as the exponential growth of alternatives from other makers.
No shit.
It was supposed to? I’d really like to hear the justification for that.
Their lives revolve around politics. They think everyone else’s does too, and cannot fathom not making virtually every decision based on those politics.
I don’t understand the new Monocle at all.
Which posts are new? There is no differentiation between any posts . Why come when I try and view only new posts every post is gone?
Version 4.6.1? It’s working for me. 🤷 (I assume that by “posts” you mean comments, not articles?)
I have whatever the latest version is. I downloaded from GitHub this morning.
Yes. I mean new comments.
I can’t see any difference whatsoever between new comments and old ones. Trying to see only new ones gets rid of every comment.
I didn’t understand the old one.
Couldn’t figure out how to get it to work.
At this point, I just miss the page automatically highlighting the new posts since my last refresh, and auto scrolling to my last post after I hit submit and the page refreshes.
I’ve advocated for modifying recipes to personal taste as well. But I feel like everyone should start at the original to get a baseline.
Don’t put Hershey’s Syrup in it and call it a martini.
I’m pretty sure I’ve been clear in my disdain for %flavor%-tinis. At least the guy who created the Espresso Cocktail called it that, it was the people copying the recipe who changed it to a “martini”.
That’s not modifying. That’s being an asshole.
BTW, perfect Manhattans are…perfect.
2:0.5:0.5 ratio? Or did you stay with your modified ratio?
At some point I need to see if I can find any origins for the term “perfect” meaning a split between sweet and dry vermouth (or likely Italian and French vermouth considering how long ago it’s from).
2:½:½, just as the recipe demands. Rittenhouse, Dolin red, Dolin dry, and two dashes of Fee Brothers orange bitters. I may be getting fucked up tonight…
An aside – what’s the word on re-using the ice between cocktails? Mortal sin, venal sin, “I do it sometimes but like my other perversions, I don’t discuss it in polite company?”
ES:
I appreciate the fidelity. 🙂
Are you referring to the ice in the pitcher or your glass? In the pitcher means you’re going to water down the drink more as the ice will already be melting. I don’t think I’ve ever re-used ice in a shaker/pitcher (if I’m making two drinks, I’ll double up). If pouring into your glass, that was always taught to me as drinker’s choice. Some prefer to retain the same rocks between rounds, others want fresh.
If I reuse the ice in the pitcher (I have no qualms about discussing my perversions) I strain it into the sink, and maybe throw in a few fresh cubes before adding the ingredients. I also don’t usually stir it quite as long the second time around. That seems to keep things from getting watered down.
Maybe I should get some more ice trays, and not have to worry about it…
That’s the “Musk Effect”. Pay no mind to other variables such as the exponential growth of alternatives from other makers.
Did they consider people who bought used Teslas?
I didn’t check the study that closely. I assume new vehicle, but both are available.
Tesla makes minimal money on direct and third party used sales.
You look registration data by political affiliation.
How do you get that? Even in Marin County, not everybody is a Democrat.
Voter registrations are public data.
https://www.bucksindependence.com/watch-lockdown-at-quakertown-schools-friday-afternoon-after-canceled-walkout-leads-to-confrontation/
Local news.
Somehow I doubt the protests were truly student-led.
Of course not.
Maybe the shit at Phoenixville School District will hit fan later. The guy interviewed on the radio before me today says that a teacher in Phoenixville school regaled her classroom with so called excerpts from the Epstein files, telling the captive students that President Trump was a pedophile who molested 13-14 year old girls, one of whom says she was forced into giving him “oral sex” and that she “bit him.” Said guy played, on the air, an alleged recording of teacher telling the kids this in class. So far, the principal, etc. have not responded to e-mails asking if this is all true. Class was supposed to cover a unit on the Civil War, but teach decided Epstein file was a “current event” worth propagandizing to the kids.
Wow.
That’s straight propaganda too. Straight lies. To the extent he’s in there, it’s clear the 2 were not on good terms, and that Trump actively hated Epstein.
For a brief shining moment links were opening in new tabs.
They just did for me.
The last time I checked, multiple companies, including Target, Budweiser, and Gillette (and definitely the NBA) all lost substantial amounts of money and market share over embracing left wing political points. But suddenly it’s a huge mistake and a big deal when Elon Musk gets political, even though Tesla is still raking in money. I looked at a Tesla model X while I was at the mall a few days ago. Damn impressive what that thing can do, even though I won’t be in the market for a new car for several years, most likely.
Sadly Musk’s obstinance burned him here. The X is discontinued along with the S.
He should have developed the next X instead of the Cybertruck.
I’m likely going to replace my 8 year old Model 3 with another one however.
How do you like the 3? It seems like that would be the one to get for me as I’m much more a car guy than a fan of SUVs. The new 3 seems to be quite nice.
He’s dumped most of the development into the Y which was derived from the 3.
Because of this cadence the Y is his most advanced vehicle. Full refresh is likely over 1 year away, but because Y sales eclipse it, it could be longer.
I’m ok buying the most developed model from this generation as most of the kinks are pretty well worked out. If you are a sedan person like I am it is easy to recommend. Despite the hype mine, knock wood, has been almost completely trouble free and it was built late 2018.
(and definitely the NBA) all lost substantial amounts of money and market share over embracing left wing political points
You aren’t even considering the labor dispute of the WNBA players, are you? The season is AT RISK!!!
It’s going to be a wonderful day when the NBA shutters that money suck.
The WNBA took the greatest windfall in its history (Caitlin Clark/ and flushed it down the toilet. If they end up cancelling the season the whole league might go under, despite record revenue.