I hope everyone’s day is going well. I’m killing it here today as both my children are still at school as of this writing. Also, it is the end of my penultimate day at this job. I may be a little hard to find in the afternoon for the next several weeks as I negotiate with the new masters. I’ll be doing tech stuff that will take me up to Dearborn about once a month. Should be a fun couple of years. Also, I will not be parenting my children alone this weekend as my wife’s step-father has seen a rapid improvement and they don’t need her help. Everything’s coming up Brett. I should buy a lottery ticket.
If you saw The Shape of Water and wondered exactly how the plumbing fit together, good news. This sex toy maker has you covered. h/t SugarFree (to nobody’s surprise)
Wow, this Russia-probe is boomeranging back about as hard as the #metoo thing. Trump is the luckiest guy in the world. Nobody would believe this shit if it were the plot of a book.
I have had my attention drawn to a post in Defense One (No, not the Defense version of Police One) about the current situation in Afghanistan. Please go read it. If you don’t, you will not necessarily understand some of the points I am going to make. Go on, I’ll wait…
…
Back? Good.
This a familiar theme – “This time for sure.” Surges, drawdowns, you name it. It has all been done. So this is completely the same, right?
“Hey Rocky, watch me pull a victory out of my hat.”
Well…not quite. There are a couple of changes to the rules that will make US forces more effective. The US is bringing in some forces that have been noticeably absent on the Air side of the house. Also, the Afghan National Army (ANA) has been through a fairly tough time that has winnowed out the weakest links, and the Afghan Air Force has come into somewhat useful form. Will this help – sure. Is it enough…probably not.
Why not? As I have previously harped upon… the Pakistani element in Afghanistan’s problems is quite large. Have they received the warning shot (or warning Twitter as the case may be) over the bow needed to get them to slow down helping or tolerating the various insurgent groups? That would take the other Pakistani State apparatuses, most notably the Army, to decide US aid is more important than the ISI’s fixation on Afghanistan. Probably not happening at present. However, there is a new factor coming into play. A big source of money and assistance for the ISI and their insurgent backing came/comes from Saudi Arabian sources. Pakistan is pretty muchpals with the Kingdom. With the big shakeup in Saudi Arabia – Prince Mohammed bin Salman seemingly taking the reins and taking steps toward reforms – the money spigot might be turned off. There are two reasons bin Salman might cut off the ISI /insurgents;
1) A desire to concentrate Saudi efforts against Iran, not on some Pashtun border squabbles that yield nothing for Saudi Arabia, and
2) THEY ARE RUNNING OUT OF MONEY. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal wasn’t hanging upside down in a posh hotel room because they were shaking a few loose Riyals out of his pockets. Allegedly, a whole bunch of money has been beaten out of, er…recovered from the “corruption crackdown“. The “welfare family living on a lake of oil” is running low on cash, thanks in large part to greater US production. They don’t have lots of money to throw at the Pakistani insurgent machine.
Is that enough to turn the tide? Possibly…maybe even a coin flip of a chance.
HOWEVER, the single most important remaining factor is the Afghans themselves. Are they content to suffer the corruption, at levels that would make a Chicago Alderman blush, that saps their slim resources? Do they want to fight on, or suffer under creepy theological rule again? Do they care enough about “Afghanistan” or are they solely concerned about their home village, district or province? THAT will be the main determinant. That is my greatest fear as well – a fractured nation and a non-cohesive society cannot stand off a determined and foreign supported invasion of phanatiques.
…
I was often asked, when I came home from Iraq, some version of “will they make it”? My reply was always the same – we gave them their chance, it is up to them. Despite my personal feelings for the people and the area, I would say that it is time to say the same for Afghanistan. Maybe with a little bit of (unwilling) Saudi restraint, Pakistani hesitation, US pressure and the Afghan backbone, the whole mess can wind down to the dull background of squabbling and occasional gunfire that was Afghanistan’s past.
National Signing Day was yesterday, and as much as ESPN tried to hype up their beloved SEC, only one of the top seven teams were from there. And maybe its just me, but I sure do seem to remember a lot of those 5-start ratings of Georgia signees being 4-stars a couple months ago. I’m amazed at how much better those guys got once they gave their verbal to Georgia. Whatever, I couldn’t possibly care less. Ohio State reloaded at all the positions they needed, they kept their Defensive Coordinator and they haven’t lost to TTUN in more than six years. They should walk away feeling happy as a pig in shit.
Speaking of Ohio State being happy, holy shit, did any of you catch that game with (#3) Purdue last night? Talk about guts. Don’t believe me…have a look for yourself by scrolling down to the game tracker and win probability chart. I had all but given up with about 10 minutes left, but decided to hang in there and see what happened. Let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised. No way does last year’s team finish games like that. Holtmann has to be seriously considered for coach of the year. Oh, and elsewhere, top-ranked Villanova also fell. Virginia came back to beat FSU. Texas Tech rolled. aTm took down Auburn. UNLV took down Nevada. And Miami was better than Wake Forest.
On the ice, just three games. Toronto took down the Nashville Predators. The Bruins throttled the Rangers in an Original Six matchup. And the Kings trumped the Oilers.
Olympics start today, I think. Who knows. If I see scores tomorrow morning, I’ll update them. Maybe. Hell, I don’t know. Tune in then to find out. But until then, enjoy this edition of…the links!
Charli Parker
A teacher imprisoned for a consensual relationship with a pair of students is fighting back. Good for her. Its about time that law went the way of the dodo. It violates her equal protection and diminishes the agency of the adult students, or those who have reached the age of consent, in her state. Let’s hope these laws are struck down across the country, although the occasional “hot teacher mugshot” will be sadly missed around these parts.
Remember when Obama said he hadn’t asked for, nor would ever ask for any information related to the Hillary Clinton illegal-email-server-with-classified-information-on-it-in-her-basement-and-secret-addresses-to-hide-it-from-FOIA-requests scandal? Yeah, so do I. Well, texts back and forth between two of the investigators who were sleeping with each other tell a different story. And it looks like Comey is gonna get a nice little invitation back to Capitol Hill to explain if he was quibbling when he said he had only talked to Obama three times while running the FBI, and was really giving them updates on the investigation throughout.
My hero and her two kids
You guys like the occasional piece of good news, right? Well try this on for size: its this kind of story that renews my faith in humanity. Seriously, it’ll choke you up.
Piece of human garbage George Soros is at it again. Maybe someday he’ll take his rightful place in hell rather than trying to undermine freedom across the globe to enrich himself. Hey, maybe he’ll see some of the Nazis there that he helped round up other Jews so long ago.
Small-government nonprofit Illinois Policy Institute appears to have been run by a con man. That’s just great. I can only imagine the headlines: small government advocates are all just trying to enrich themselves. Just look at the head of the Illinois Policy Institute! Thanks a lot, asshole.
This is what a failing newsroom looks like
Remember when Vice was a cool place to get news? Remember when they had takes worth reading and/or watching? Those days appear to be long gone. Look for them to go the way of Newsweek in the very near future as investors bail out. I guess there is only so much room out there for Neo-progressive hot takes. Don’t believe me? Look at their main page.
People tired of getting loads of free shit from Amazon. Hey, forward them to me! I don’t even care if some yahoo in China is doing it to write reviews of their own stuff. I’ll find a use for it.
Hey, guys, I’m sure this will get us labeled as a white supremacist group, but I didn’t want the URL to be wednesday-afternoon-links-44 and I’m out of good ideas. Which is pretty much why I do links instead of original content. Sloopy at least has Teh Sprotzball to fall back on in the morning. Although now that football is over, I can start focusing on spring training. And talking trash to Rangers and Dodgers fans. Suck it! One baseball related link — it seems that players and owners have a different idea of what free agents are worth. The way that baseball players are valued now, ageing “almost HOFers” just aren’t going to get the money they want unless a team really needs their particular skill to make a deep run. Look for a lot more players to find their salaries plummet as the new valuations make it all the way through the market. And now… the links!
I guess landing two boosters on twin pads is easy, but making the correct burn to get to Mars is hard. My thinking based on the tweet and map is that they just burned all the fuel in the tank to see how far they could push the mass they had. Pillory me as a fanboi if you must
Black Lives Matter leader* fatally shot in New Orleans. *As I understand it there is no leadership or structure per se, but this guy was prominent in several actions.
You’ll be shocked to find out that the “bipartisan deal” to a 2 year budget agreement “adds billions to spending”. Fuck. Pull me up a chair and draw me a Glenn Beck chart. Who coulda seen that coming?
Joe Biden — Joe Trans-Am Biden! — would even advise Trump not to answer questions to the special counsel. Unless she was young and it gave him a chance to put his hands on her.
Things are not good in the Land of Lincoln and believe it or not, they’re only getting worse. Illinois already has the lowest credit rating of any state in the union (BBB- according to S&P and BBB3 according to Moody’s), along with having the dubious distinction of being the only state in the union to ever have a credit rating so low. Coupled with this, the State continues to run deficits (with its deficits representing roughly 10% of its total revenues), along with having a backlog of bills in the hundreds of billions (for comparison, the State’s total operating fund revenues total roughly $60 billion), and having several woefully underfunded pension plans (the liabilities are conservatively estimated to total $100 billion). Despite all this, though, recent news suggests that today may be remembered as better times in the State’s history.
Most likely future state of the State
The State is now floating an idea to issue $100 billion in new bonds in order to shore-up its pension plans. Essentially, the State is hoping that it can issue taxable debt (pension bonds are not tax exempt) and invest it in stocks and corporate bonds (which are the bulk of the underlying assets in a pension plan) and achieve a return greater than the interest payments on that debt. This is utter insanity.
At the State’s current rating category, the taxable bond interest rate on such debt would be roughly 4%, which is a lazy estimate and assumes that the issuance of such debt would not automatically trigger rating agencies to downgrade the State to ‘junk bond status’ (the State’s BBB- and BBB3 ratings are currently just one step above ‘junk’). More likely than not, the State will have to pay an interest rate well above 4%, particularly since such a large debt issuance would only attract a very small segment of the market (more supply than demand equals higher interest rates for the issuer). But, even assuming a 4% interest rate, the State will have to come up with roughly $4 billion in interest payments each year (again, this is a lazy estimate and does not account for several factors and the interest payment will likely be larger). Remember, the money from this debt issuance is suppose to be invested in its pension plans, therefore even if the returns on this investment exceeds 4% on a yearly basis (which is likely in the near term) that money is just reinvested into the plans- the State cannot access those funds. Additionally, the State is hoping that its interest payments will be less than the annual pension contributions that the State is required to make. At a 4% interest rate (which, again is a very conservative estimate) the interest payments would be slightly less than the required annual pension contributions, however the State will have no flexibility with regards to making these interest payments. With annual pension payments the State has the ability to reduce or not make such payments (which has occurred too often in the past and has resulted in the underfunding of the pension plans), but interest payments cannot be missed. So in order for the State to ensure adequate revenues to make regularly scheduled interest payments it must raise taxes.
Last time, we swear!
The State of Illinois just raised its income tax rate in 2017. The City of Chicago, the State’s largest municipality, has also been on a tax raising spree and will be raising taxes even more going forward. And on a completely unrelated note, I’m sure, while these tax increases have been occurring Cook County (the second most populous county in the country and home to Chicago) has been losing more residents than any county in America; the City of Chicago has been losing residents (more than any other major city in the country), and the State of Illinois has been losing residents (more than any other state in the country). People vote with their feet and they’re leaving the Land of Lincoln.
Many seem to take this road, lately…
Not to worry, though, while the State’s financial position spirals out of control Republican governor Bruce Rauner and the Democratic majority in the General Assembly have been focused on the important issues (cosmotarian moment!, because reduce government spending, but not woke spending) What’s the point of bankrupting a State if you can’t approve more spending on culture war issues? Somehow, I don’t think this spending will improve the State’s population decline.
Whether these pension bonds are issued or not, the fact that the State is floating such an idea suggests that cost cutting reform is not being considered. This means that Illinois is irrevocably broken. No change in political leadership, whether in the legislature, or in the executive, can salvage the situation – this problem has long festered under both Republicans and Democrats. This is a tragedy of the State’s own making, more than anything. And though I fully expect Congress to discuss an ‘Illinois bailout’ within the next ten years, this misery should only be borne by the Illinois electorate and the poor decisions that it continued to make in the voting booth. Let this be a lesson to the rest of the country.
Its the middle of the week and the Patriots are still talking about the game. Oh, I think I have a pic of one.
Artists Depiction Of A New England Patriots Player Being Interviewed
I’m just kidding. That really was an entertaining game. And the best moment was the last moment. Expect the Patriots to be back next year, as their offensive genius of a coordinator decided to stay rather than become the Colts head coach. And they’re gonna get a new DC, possibly Greg Schiano (late the DC at Ohio State after maturing quite a bit following his humbling stint as an NFL head coach), who can’t possibly do a worse job of game prep than Patricia for the biggest game of the year. We shall see.
Plenty of games in college ball last night. Michigan State came back and beat Iowa (who choked). Xavier took down Butler. Cincy took apart UCF. Kansas bounced back and topped TCU. Tennessee beat UK, who simply has not gelled as a team yet this year. Northwestern beat TTUN. And Wichita State rolled to a 20 point win over Memphis. Buckeyes face off against Purdue tonight in a game I’m not really looking forward to.
Eleven games on the ice last night. Ducks beat the Sabres. Flyers top the Hurricanes. Senators over the Devils. Panthers beat the Canucks. Jets flew past the Coyotes. The Avalanche overwhelmed the Sharks. The Flames beat the Blackhawks. The MINNESODA WIIIIIIIIIILD put up 6 and gave St Louis the Blues. The Bruins beat the Red Wings. The Crapitals were a goal better than the Blue Jackets. And Pittsburgh beat Army.
Olympics getting closer. But nobody seems to care. So I’ll not do my pairs figure skating preview and will, instead, go straight to…the links!
Kenyon College goes full retard and becomes the latest liberal institute to censor art. Anybody remember when the left mocked the right for putting cloth on statues and trying to get books taken out of elementary school libraries? I sure do.
Look at the sign the girl is holding for a bonus laugh
I remember when a politician caught making racially disparaging comments caught on tape meant that politician was either disqualified or forced to beg forgiveness. Not so for an Illinois Democrat. A simple “I regret it getting out and I will sue the person who leaked it, and shame on my opponent for capitalizing on it” seems to have sufficed for the gubernatorial hopeful Pritzker. He was caught on an FBI wiretap discussing which black person to give the Obama senate seat to with Rod Blagojevich, who just so happened to go to prison for a long time for essentially selling the seat. Pritzker wasn’t implicated in that scheme. I guess some politically-connected families are more important that others.
With apologies to the late, great Percy Sledge: “Wynn a man loves a woman, can’t keep his eyes hands on nothing else. Cause Thinks that’s the way its s’posed to be.”
I say, let them eat cake Tide pods! We’ve got to winnow the herd somehow. And anybody dumb enough to eat a freaking Tide pod deserves their fate. But nooooooooo. We’ve got to legislate so the makers of them have to completely retool their packaging factory at what I can only assume is a considerable cost, in order to keep a few retards from doing something retarded. What’s next? Going after Owens-Corning for their sweet, delicious cotton candy, er insulation?
Don’t try to steal from a convenience store in Houston. (Note how they aren’t even considering charges or holding the clerk? That’s because the cops here aren’t stupid and at least care a little bit for defense of property, life and the life of others by gun owners who are being robbed.
Nu-male Smile, also known as the Soylent Grin, Nu-Male Face and Cuckface, is an internet slang term referring to a facial expression associated with men described as nu-male or Soy Boys who are photographed expressing surprise or excitement with their mouth agape.
So my son managed to attend a whole hour of daycare before getting sent home — oh, and he has to stay home tomorrow, too. Seriously, he’s fucking four. IDGAF if he says he feels sick. I took his ass to the doctor yesterday and the doc said he was cleared.
The first rule of business is be where your customers are. This girl gets it. h/t Webdominatrix
Hey guys, you’ll be totally surprised to find working class, union guys in Germany are moving from the Social Democrats to the, er.. Nationalist parties that are also pretty socialist? Trying not to Godwin the shit out of this. h/t Warty
Amtrak train separates at 125 MPH — which seems a little fast for the even the Express from DC to Penn Station. Survivors were dropped into Philly to complete Phase II of the Running Man game show.
Asshole infects 33 people with AIDS in India while posing as doctor. Hopefully, they find him murdered and fed to dogs on the side of a road somewhere.
We’ll see if SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy goes up. Update: Yep. All the rockets went all the way. See if they stick the landing. The two on the side sure to hell did.
This might be a backup theme song. Well, we have “Because Fuck You, That’s Why” for everyone and “My Sharona” for OMWC. Sloopy’s is in his handle… Okay, theme song contest for contributors and commentors!
TEMPORARILY ESCAPED ZARDOZ’S WRATH.RETURNS TO ADVISE THE CHOSEN ONES!
ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES. THE BRUTAL WEBSITE “SLATE” HAS VEXED ZARDOZ. THEY INSIST ON GIVING ADVICE THAT CAN LEAD YOU ASTRAY! ZARDOZ RETURNS TO INSTRUCT THE CHOSEN ONES, AND NAIVE BRUTALS TOO. RECEIVE THEN, THE GIFT OF ADVICE!
Q. Custody: I am a single mom, with one daughter, dating a man with two sons. We were on the road to getting married, but that has reached a screeching halt.
My boyfriend’s 14-year-old son is a Nazi. He is addicted to alt-right sites and uses white nationalist rhetoric. Worse, he has acted aggressively toward my daughter and me (my mother was Persian and my ex is South Asian). He was encouraged by his mother until he was suspended from school for stalking and threatening a girl.
Now my boyfriend is trying to get full physical custody of his son to “save” him. I don’t think it is possible, at least short of sending him to a boarding school. (His older son is at college and is a sweetheart.) My boyfriend works long hours, and a few hours of family therapy is not going to cut it with this kid.
My boyfriend tells me I am the love of his life and to trust him, but I am afraid. I don’t want to lose him, but I am not putting my daughter anywhere around this. Can you see any way through this?
A. OF COURSE ZARDOZ CAN SEE A WAY THROUGH THIS! DID NOT ZARDOZ RAISE THE CHOSEN ONES FROM BRUTALITY? DID NOT ZARDOZ GIVE THE GIFT OF THE GUN? BRUTAL, PLEASE.
THERE IS NO NEED OF SAVING OR THERAPY…YOU WERE PARTLY CORRECT WHEN MENTIONING “BOARDING SCHOOL”. A NEW SCHOOL IS IN ORDER. THE YOUNG BRUTAL MUST HAVE HIS AGGRESSION CHANNELED PROPERLY. PETTY STALKING AND THREATENING IS NOT ENOUGH! ZARDOZ WILL TAKE THE YOUNG BRUTAL, INTO THE CARE OF HIS CHOSEN ONES.
“TEACHERS” AND “MENTORS”
THE BRUTAL EXTERMINATORS CAN SERVE AS HIS “EDUCATORS”. HE WILL BE TAUGHT THE FINE ART OF CLEANSING THE WORLD OF THE FILTH OF BRUTALS, WHO ARE LEGION. ANY “NAZI” NONSENSE WILL BE BEATEN OUT OF HIM – FOR THERE IS ONLY ROOM FOR SERVICE TO ZARDOZ AND THE VORTEX!
INSTRUCTOR IN SERVING THE VORTEX.
ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.
Q. Socializing with dementia: My cognitive functioning (memory, language, comprehension) has been declining faster than average for my age (68). Recently, after a thorough work-up by a neurologist specializing in dementia, I was told that I have progressive dementia (probably not Alzheimer’s).
My problem is that I’ve become what I call “socially vulnerable.” At least, that’s how I feel. It’s hard to remember important things about people—not just their names, but the fact that their spouse is dead, for example. I begin to talk about something I’ve read or heard, then my mind goes blank. I say odd things because I don’t put two and two together, or fail to comprehend in the first place.
My close friends know about my condition. I feel that they are distancing in a subtle way. Acquaintances look at me quizzically and exit the conversation. I know about suggestions made by various Alzheimer’s associations regarding memory aides. I’m still living independently and am able to take care of my finances. But I feel awkward and at risk whenever I open my mouth. I find myself avoiding social situations, which isn’t good for the depression I’ve had off and on most of my adult life. Do you have any suggestions on how to help myself with this?
A. ZARDOZ HAS PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE WITH THIS – WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN AGED AS PUNISHMENT, BY THE ETERNALS, YOU WILL HAVE THE SYMPTOMS YOU DESCRIBE. OBVIOUSLY YOU DID SOMETHING AGAINST THE SOCIAL CONTRACT OF THE VORTEX COMMUNITY. REMEMBER, IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO CRUSH AN IMMORTAL INTO A DODDERING OLDSTER!
GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED.
YOU MUST STOP TRYING TO GO TO SECOND LEVEL MEDITATION WITH YOUR OLD FRIENDS. INSTEAD, YOU MUST FIND OTHERS OF THE DEMENTED AND BAND TOGETHER. YOUR NEW TASK WILL BE TO MARCH AROUND THE VORTEX AND HOLD ABSURD CEREMONIES.
IF YOUR HANDS ARE TOO SHAKY, DO NOT CARRY A TORCH.
YOU WILL REMAIN AS A WARNING TO OTHERS TO NOT OFFEND THE ETERNALS! EVENTUALLY YOUR USEFULNESS WILL WANE, AND YOU WILL DISCARDED.
I wonder how Tom Brady feels today? Probably like the players at Michigan felt the final Sunday in November for 15 of the last 17 years and every single year St Urban has been in Columbus. LOL, bunch of bitch-ass bitches.
But I digress. There’s plenty other stuff to talk about in the world of sports. The Olympics are about to kick off, for one. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! Does anybody have a clue how the hockey is gonna play out? I know we have some Glibs that follow juniors, so fill us in on what to expect in the comments please. As for the other stuff, I know our alpine women look really tough to beat, but I’ve got no idea if the next Bode Miller is out there yet. And the bobsled? Do we have football players doing their thing again? Figure skating is a bit meh to me, although they have amazing skill. And I’m pretty sure the curling medals will continue to elude Americans, yet I’ll probably still watch. Well, that’s all I’ve got on that.
In sports that have already been played, the Big XII (with X schools) continues its wacky ride this season, with WVU topping Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Syracuse beat Louisville and Indiana beat Rutgers. And in soccer, Watford beat the shit out of…Chelski? Wow, that one’s a shocker. I’m surprised the refs didn’t hand Chelsea a few penalties late to get them back in the game. But I guess they only reserve that for one of the London clubs.
On the ice, just four games were played. The Maple Leafs put up a touchdown and beat the Mighty Ducks. The Predators beat the Islanders in OT. The Oilers greased the Lightning, And the Dallas Stars were a goal better than the New York Rangers.
That’s it for sports. Now…the links!
Devin Nunes: bombthrower
Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, takes his accusations a step farther. I don’t know how what he’s saying could be considered controversial. Her campaign did, in fact, commission a private intel company to work with Russians, many of them listed in the dossier as intel officials, to dig up opposition research on President Trump. That’s collaboration by any definition. Not that it should be illegal or anything. Just noting the hypocrisy. The House, by the way, voted to release the Dem’s response to his memo yesterday. I wonder why Schiff wasn’t praising that bit of bipartisanship.
all of these people have enormous egos and inflated senses of self-worth
he spit in her face and choked her because they had a close, trusting working relationship and he had more confidence in himself to get it right sooner than an actor or stagehand would
Uma Thurman probably needs to learn how to drive a car like 99.99% of American adults.
Newsom’s former wife.
Gavin Newsom gives a stunning and brave interview in which he waves off his marriage-ending affair from a decade ago and blames problems on “toxic masculinity” rather than, you know, individual responsibility. As a bonus, I never knew he was married to Kimberly Giulfoyle.
German frigate fails sea trials. You know who else…
