As today is this blog’s ninth birthday, it seems as good a time as any to have one of the quarterly fundraisers that keep this rickety barge afloat. If you’d like to help it remain buoyant for a while longer, there’s an orange button below with which to monetise any love for this low establishment. Debit and credit cards are accepted. For those wishing to express their love regularly, there’s a monthly subscription option top left. Additionally, any Amazon shopping done via this link or the search widget top right, or for Amazon US via this link, results in a small fee for your host at no extra cost to you. Now you can indulge your consumerist lust and feel saintly while doing it.
For newcomers wishing to know more about what’s been going on here for the last nine years, and in over 2,000 posts, the reheated series is a pretty good place to start. If you can, do take a moment to poke through the discussion threads too. The posts are intended as starting points, not full stops, and the comments are where much of the good stuff is waiting to be found. And do please join in.
Again, thanks for the support, the comments, and the company.
Ninth bday. Umm ya I'd abort that imagine the money from the parts!
Posted by: Shiggz | February 09, 2016 at 00:09
No little puppy of persuasion?
Cheers
Posted by: J.M. Heinrichs | February 09, 2016 at 00:25
Done. Thanks for the gum balls.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qyYghCaXSRo
Posted by: WTP | February 09, 2016 at 02:09
You've got a damn fine corner of the world wide web here Mr. Thompson and had I more to give I would do so.
Happy Blogiversary or whatever they are calling it these days.
Posted by: Tman | February 09, 2016 at 06:19
Happy to.
Posted by: Mr S | February 09, 2016 at 06:42
Tip jar hit. 9 more years.
Posted by: Sam | February 09, 2016 at 07:14
Making my way through your 'reheated' series. Have a drink or two on me.
Posted by: McN | February 09, 2016 at 07:35
I'm indulging my consumerist lust and feeling saintly while doing it. :-)
Thanks for many hours of entertainment (and education).
Posted by: G | February 09, 2016 at 07:54
Thanks to all who’ve chipped in so far. It makes a big difference to how much time I can idle away with you ne’er-do-wells.
Meanwhile, in the publicly funded arts, “water artist” Janet Laurence is “creating awareness.” So we should be thanking her.
Posted by: David | February 09, 2016 at 08:04
Two years of lurking is worth a few quid. Love the takedowns of academia, btw
Posted by: _ | February 09, 2016 at 09:01
Tim Worstall is understandably boggled by a Guardian column by Mr Paul Mason, a man who champions Laurie Penny as a thinker of the age, is a fan of Occupy, and who earns a living as the economics editor of Channel 4 News. Apparently, the most pressing housing issue is “How much space are people entitled to live in?”
Posted by: David | February 09, 2016 at 09:17
Apparently, the most pressing housing issue is “How much space are people entitled to live in?”
"Entitled"? Still amazed this man is C4's economics editor.
Posted by: sH2 | February 09, 2016 at 10:04
“Entitled”?
It’s an odd priority, and a somewhat loaded choice of word. Perhaps we should call it “doing a Monbiot.”
Posted by: David | February 09, 2016 at 10:09
Bullet dodged.
Via Damian.
Posted by: David | February 09, 2016 at 11:25
Thanks for keeping us entertained. Oh, and sorry for the wine stains over by the bookcase.
Posted by: R. Sherman | February 09, 2016 at 12:16
Oh, and sorry for the wine stains over by the bookcase.
Those aren’t the stains I’m worried about.
[ Surveys room, raises eyebrow. ]
Posted by: David | February 09, 2016 at 12:22
Bullet dodged.
Snork. Love monetized.
Posted by: [+] | February 09, 2016 at 13:12
Well, I finally figured out Paypal. The nice thing about paying stuff in foreign currency is that we all know it's not real money, right?
Posted by: R. Sherman | February 09, 2016 at 13:38
The nice thing about paying stuff in foreign currency is that we all know it's not real money, right?
Absolutely.
Posted by: David | February 09, 2016 at 14:09
Contribution made, albeit small. But every little helps, right?
Posted by: Watcher in the dark | February 09, 2016 at 14:43
But every little helps, right?
There are plenty of things I turn my nose up at. Money isn’t one of them.
Posted by: David | February 09, 2016 at 14:49
Via Ace O' Spades.
Posted by: R. Sherman | February 09, 2016 at 15:37
Thanks, David. Tip jar hit.
Posted by: John D | February 09, 2016 at 16:11
Ka-ching!
Posted by: sk60 | February 09, 2016 at 16:50
Consider it a wine voucher. :-)
Posted by: Joan | February 09, 2016 at 17:33
Happy to contribute, David. I've spent many hours reading your blog.
Posted by: A | February 09, 2016 at 18:34
Tosses coin. Now clear orf or I'll 'ave the law on yer!
Posted by: Jonathan | February 09, 2016 at 18:35
Via Ace O' Spades.
They’re so… guarded.
Posted by: David | February 09, 2016 at 19:15
Via Ace O' Spades.
The Other Half is loudly amused.
Posted by: David | February 09, 2016 at 19:18
I've been reading your 'The Year Reheated' post. My husband wants to know why I keep laughing.
Consider your tip jar hit.
Posted by: Steph | February 09, 2016 at 21:44
Seven Alans and 1 anal.
Posted by: Flynpigranch | February 09, 2016 at 23:41
If you have not yet added this magnificent word to your vocabulary, YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST DO IT NOW: retromingent
It shouldn't make me so happy that such a word exists, but it does. Shows you what this world has come to.
Posted by: dicentra ن | February 10, 2016 at 02:21
Twitter turns into MumsNet.
https://twitter.com/Holbornlolz/status/697170552801357824
*kerching*
Posted by: Em | February 10, 2016 at 07:21
Twitter turns into MumsNet.
It’s the “speaking truth to power” bit that made me laugh - and which, I think, gives the game away. And so Twitter’s “Trust and Safety Council” features Anita Sarkeesian, a woman whose definition of “harassment and abuse” includes, indeed begins with, people who dare to point out when she’s wrong or telling lies.
It’s like hiring Laurie Penny as your Head of Factual Accuracy and Logical Rigour.
Posted by: David | February 10, 2016 at 07:54
Happy Nine! May it always have more!
Posted by: Quint&Jessel, Sea of Azof, Bly, UK | February 10, 2016 at 13:09
Happy Nine!
When I started doing this, largely because of being frustrated with the scope of freelance work, I had no idea I’d still be at it almost a decade later. I didn’t imagine there’d be a readership.
May it always have more!
Now there’s a mixed blessing.
Posted by: David | February 10, 2016 at 13:18
Tip jar hit. Thank you for providing a forum for my occasional curmudgeonly elucubrations and for otherwise informing us of the folly of the world.
And as small in-kind contribution, ponder this:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-10/why-does-the-government-pursue-student-debtors-in-prison
Posted by: Hedgehog | February 10, 2016 at 14:56
A nice illustration of what happens when the Progressives don't get their way.
http://www.weaselzippers.us/255999-huffpo-furious-racist-sexist-xenophobe-won/
Posted by: mojo | February 10, 2016 at 15:02
"It’s like hiring Laurie Penny as your Head of Factual Accuracy and Logical Rigour."
what he said.
Posted by: mojo | February 10, 2016 at 15:31
And as small in-kind contribution, ponder this
Ah, Cecily McMillan. Someone who spent $100,000 of taxpayers’ money on worthless degrees in leftist boilerplate with no regard for how that debt might ever be repaid. Because hey, she’s entitled, baby. And of course she’s an Occupier and a self-styled socialist. Oh yes, and someone who viciously assaulted a police officer, lied about it repeatedly, despite being caught on film, and then feigned shock at the consequences of her own actions, predictable as they were.
I’d say Ms McMillan has a habit of choosing poorly.
Posted by: David | February 10, 2016 at 15:46
I see Milo Yiannopoulis is making his presence felt on campuses across America:
Ah, the intellectuals of tomorrow.
Posted by: David | February 10, 2016 at 16:43
I’d say Ms McMillan has a habit of choosing poorly.
Undoubtedly. What really gets me, though, is not the antics of the felonious deadbeat, but the fact that an ostensible business publication (albeit one owned by a man who, in the words of one quipster, doesn't like any drinks that are taller than he is) uses her story to drum up sympathy for the cause of jailed deadbeats everywhere.
Posted by: Hedgehog | February 10, 2016 at 17:02
screamed, “This man represents hatred!” and then started smearing fake blood all over themselves.
Lol. Do they even get they're making his point for him?
Posted by: Mags | February 10, 2016 at 17:06
Do they even get they’re making his point for him?
That would require a level of self-awareness that I doubt the protestors possess. Still, I should imagine Milo’s having a whale of a time.
Posted by: David | February 10, 2016 at 17:10
Do they even get they’re making his point for him?
Oh good. There’s video.
Short version: Nasty non-leftwing man said we can’t handle unflattering non-leftwing ideas or even debate rationally, so we smeared paint all over ourselves and screamed so that no-one could hear what the nasty man said. Then we walked out, giving everyone else the finger. Because we care so very much about everything.
Posted by: David | February 10, 2016 at 17:32
Something for the quad bike fund...
Posted by: witwoud | February 10, 2016 at 19:12
Oh good. There’s video.
A month or so ago, Milo Y tweeted something along the lines of "Europe's finished, I'm off to the US"
I wonder if he still feels that way.
Posted by: Henry | February 10, 2016 at 21:36
Ah, the intellectuals of tomorrow.
Do you imply that they are not already sagacious beyond belief? And by this reference to 'tomorrow' do you suggest that people should think of the future and plan ahead?
That's code, that is. And it could get you in the naughty book.
Posted by: Trevor | February 10, 2016 at 21:58
When I first found this blog I thought, "Y'know, this is funny and all, but aren't these academics and students kind of irrelevant?"
Ho ho ho. My mistake.
Posted by: BD Sixsmith | February 10, 2016 at 22:14
That’s code, that is.
That patronising farce was the handiwork of Dr Caprice Hollins, mentioned here previously.
Posted by: David | February 10, 2016 at 22:15
Ho ho ho. My mistake.
The Long March in action. And look upon its glory.
Posted by: David | February 10, 2016 at 22:27
And this just in. A Canberra university professor tells us that we are all hapless drones, too unsophisticated to withstand the heavy-handed persuasion of all those corporations that force us against our will to buy things that we don't need. The horror! Well, I suppose it keeps him in a nice job.
http://thisiscanberra.com/the-love-of-things-fix-and-make/
Posted by: brilton | February 11, 2016 at 05:20
"“[Rutgers groups] should not be inviting anyone like Yiannopoulos because what we stand for is inclusion and diversity,” student activist Nyuma Waggeh told The Daily Targum."
But surely Mr Yiannopoulos is the very essence of what Rutgers' students love: he is diverse from the perceived 'wisdom' of a small minded small sect and has views that include others.
Posted by: Watcher in the dark | February 11, 2016 at 09:39
The Yiannopoulos protest drama now has its own thread.
Posted by: David | February 11, 2016 at 09:48
*stuffs foldable drink voucher in tipjar*
Posted by: Don | February 11, 2016 at 16:21
The hazards of funding limitations . . . .
Posted by: Hal | February 11, 2016 at 19:39
Meanwhile, The Patriarchy's "Research Division" is keeping itself busy.
Posted by: R. Sherman | February 11, 2016 at 20:52
Meanwhile, The Patriarchy’s “Research Division” is keeping itself busy.
It’s hard not to be impressed.
Posted by: David | February 11, 2016 at 21:02
A few quid for making my commute bearable. :-)
Posted by: Liz | February 12, 2016 at 08:02
Tip jar hit. Thanks for lots of great reads.
Posted by: [a] | February 12, 2016 at 22:00
the reheated series is a pretty good place to start.
Spent the last hour reading (and laughing). Think I can stand you the price of a drink.
Posted by: T | February 13, 2016 at 08:58
Your tip jar has been hit, David.
the reheated series is a pretty good place to start.
I see I've a lot of catching up to do.
Posted by: Len | February 13, 2016 at 21:31
Retromingent and sacofricosis.
That's why I'm a subscriber.
Posted by: Lancastrian Oik | February 14, 2016 at 20:13
That’s why I’m a subscriber.
Please report to the VIP lounge for coke and hookers. Big Julie at the bar will arrange your usual.
Posted by: David | February 15, 2016 at 09:14
Thanks David. Tip jar hit.
Posted by: Mike | February 15, 2016 at 19:04
Please report to the VIP lounge for coke . . .
The soft drink can be perfectly fine, but might there be a ginger beer in some fridge corner or 'nother?
Posted by: Hal | February 15, 2016 at 21:43
Just before Christmas my dad saw me reading this blog and now he reads it every week.
I'm confused. Is reading it still cool?
Tip jar hit.
Posted by: Jacob | February 17, 2016 at 07:55
I’m confused. Is reading it still cool?
Um, yes.
But your dad is now cooler than you.
And thanks again to all who’ve chipped in, or subscribed, or shopped righteously via the Amazon links. I now feel all uplifted and beloved.
Posted by: David | February 17, 2016 at 08:06
Sorry to be late.
Tip jar hit.
Thanks for great blog, David.
Here's to another nine years.
Posted by: RY | February 17, 2016 at 18:28
Tipped, David. Thanks for some top blogging.
Posted by: AJ | February 18, 2016 at 14:32
Really enjoy the comment threads here (and the posts). Tip jar has been hit.
Posted by: James | February 19, 2016 at 21:24
Late contribution. Hope it helps. Great blog.
Posted by: Nu Here | February 22, 2016 at 17:52
Why have I only just found this place?
*tip jar hit*
Posted by: Ian M | February 27, 2016 at 09:18