One More Before The Holidays
December 18, 2018
An open thread, that is. Now share links and bicker ye. I have things to do. I will, however, set the ball rolling with, via Damian, a polite notice of note, and some festive bathroom scenes.
If the cravings are too much, you can always poke through the reheated series and greatest hits.
some festive bathroom scenes.
That's what I look for in a woman.
Posted by: Mike | December 18, 2018 at 10:45
"Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sent beard shavings to Azealia Banks so she could make an amulet to protect him from ISIS"
https://twitter.com/NME/status/1074952674758537216
Posted by: Mags | December 18, 2018 at 11:22
I am not sure why she is upset, though, what with all the privilege she'll get with that certificate.
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 18, 2018 at 11:30
#WokeJoke
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 18, 2018 at 11:48
I am not sure why she is upset, though, what with all the privilege she’ll get with that certificate.
Impurity detected, weeping ensues.
Posted by: David | December 18, 2018 at 11:54
Impurity detected, weeping ensues.
So much for things being "socially constructed..."
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 18, 2018 at 12:06
Bargain.
https://twitter.com/DamCou/status/1074973639777443840
Posted by: Clam | December 18, 2018 at 13:46
This.
https://twitter.com/OrwellNGoode/status/1074993325256650754
Posted by: Joan | December 18, 2018 at 13:55
Pertinent to a discussion we had on these pages some threads back, specifically with respect to the reverence showed to public safety institutions, a reverence which might not be necessarily deserved. At the time, I noted the lack of legal liability for even a willful failure to safeguard the public. Stated differently, there is no legal duty for taxpayer-funded public safety institutions to actually keep the public safe. (N.B. I say "institutions." There is no doubt that individual first responders have been and will be heroes. Their individual heroism is more profound given their insulation from legal liability if they fail to perform.)
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 18, 2018 at 13:58
This.
Heh. I see Zoe imagines that children are somehow unselfish, which I suspect will be news to many parents, and says that she and her six-year-old son are “aligned” politically. She then cites her son’s belief that houses and food shouldn’t cost money. “This way of thinking would have been quite useful,” she says.
In utterly unrelated news, the Guardian hasn’t made a profit in about twenty years.
Posted by: David | December 18, 2018 at 14:16
This.
With respect to Orwell, it's not that children share adults' political views. The problem is that adults admire the political views of children.
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 18, 2018 at 14:52
O/T, (probably more suitable for Friday Ephemera) but this is too good not to share. Over engineered glitter bomb anti-theft package of note: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=498&v=xoxhDk-hwuo
Posted by: Captain Nemo | December 18, 2018 at 15:01
Sorry, that link starts in the middle. This link starts at the beginning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoxhDk-hwuo
Posted by: Captain Nemo | December 18, 2018 at 15:03
says that she and her six-year-old son are “aligned” politically.
Six year olds don't understand economics. And Zoe writes for the Guardian.
Posted by: Rafi | December 18, 2018 at 15:16
Bargain.
Depends on the wife, I should think.
Sorry, that link starts in the middle.
Come on, Nemo. Get it together.
Posted by: David | December 18, 2018 at 15:54
I am not sure why she is upset, though, what with all the privilege she'll get with that certificate.
She'll probably start voting for Trump.
Posted by: Steve E | December 18, 2018 at 15:55
Every year the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) sent out his famous home-made Christmas cards, and every year his friends wished that he wouldn't.

Posted by: Monty James | December 18, 2018 at 17:05
I am not sure why she is upset, though, what with all the privilege she'll get with that certificate.
She'll probably start voting for Trump.
And discover a long-hidden love for ice hockey.
Or Dressage

Posted by: Boatswain's Mate | December 18, 2018 at 17:52
She then cites her son’s belief that houses and food shouldn’t cost money. “This way of thinking would have been quite useful,” she says.
I believe that human beings should be able to soar like birds, and that I should be an astronaut. Belief is cheap*. Houses and food, on the other hand, require effort and materials to be expended in their production. They are expensive.
How does someone who can't think get a well-paid job writing think-pieces?
*Usually. Try believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. That could cost you more than a house.
Posted by: Sam Duncan | December 18, 2018 at 17:54
Good news, everyone ! He is risen !
Godfrey Elfwick is back among the living here tackling the thorny problem of comedy.
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 18, 2018 at 17:57
she and her six-year-old son are “aligned” politically. She then cites her son’s belief that houses and food shouldn’t cost money. “This way of thinking would have been quite useful,” she says.
I recall an article some years back about one of the many side effects of rampant single motherhood: single mothers treating their young children like adult friends rather than children in an already unstable home environment. The example given, allegedly a true story, was a mother having a serious conversation with her 6 and 4 year old about a downturn in mommy's income affecting the household budgets for various things.
Although that article focused mostly on the impact on the children of having very adult concerns thrust on them by a parent seeking support and approval, articles like this one make me think there's a two-way process going on, in which single mothers who have projected their need for social support onto their children start affording those children the respect and consideration one normally extends to adult companions.
Posted by: Daniel Ream | December 18, 2018 at 18:45
She's in the US, no? So the one drop rule applies.
Tiger Woods is black, not Asian. Obama is black, not white. The other drops simply do not count.
Posted by: Chester Draws | December 18, 2018 at 19:03
Six year olds don't understand economics. And Zoe writes for the Guardian.
That's quite all right, neither to Guardian readers.
By channeling a six year old, she's just showing that she knows her target demographic.
The difference is that in 4-5 years, the six year old may learn something about the world, and update his/her worldview.
Posted by: Bill de Haan | December 18, 2018 at 19:43
Next up in the Guardian: "My cat is a socialist and that's a good thing.
Posted by: Hopp Singg | December 18, 2018 at 20:21
Wait, ‘before the holidays’..? They’ve already started! *uncaps whisky*
Posted by: JuliaM | December 18, 2018 at 20:54
...there is no legal duty for taxpayer-funded public safety institutions to actually keep the public safe. (N.B. I say "institutions." There is no doubt that individual first responders have been and will be heroes. Their individual heroism is more profound given their insulation from legal liability if they fail to perform.)
The increasingly common HEE-rows trope for the special class delivered to public servants tends to run afoul of the evident fact that would-be public servants with integrity may just refuse to serve Orwellian institutions.
Is it realistic to assert character only inside such a system?
Posted by: Ten | December 18, 2018 at 21:01
Lefties are so sweet the way they believe children share their own socialist beliefs and don't say any of this shit for adult approval.
Posted by: TimT | December 18, 2018 at 21:14
Lefties are so sweet the way they believe children share their own socialist beliefs...
They certainly share their bloodlust.
Posted by: Steve E | December 18, 2018 at 21:43
They’ve already started! *uncaps whisky*
Someone escort Ms M to the sobering centrifuge. 30 minutes should do it.
Posted by: David | December 18, 2018 at 22:11
Captain Nemo, that was SHWEEEEEET!!!! Wife was wondering why they pixelated the faces. Heh. Because they had to, of course, of course, of course. It would be wrong, wrong, wrong to show them. Of course, of course, of course.
Posted by: WTP | December 18, 2018 at 22:16
The festive bathroom scenes reminded me of the story of a journalist conferring with an editor as to how to get a toilet seat (which he needed at his house) out of the building without others noticing. Quoth the editor: "Put it over your head and say you're going to a fancy dress party."
Posted by: TimT | December 18, 2018 at 22:58
Not a parody account.
Posted by: lotocoti | December 18, 2018 at 23:14
“My cat is a socialist and that's a good thing.”
"From those that have cat food and petting to those that need cat food and petting"
Posted by: Watchman | December 19, 2018 at 04:23
James David Banker on Mao’s children of the revolution:
Then, quite quickly, the horror-show unfolded.
Posted by: David | December 19, 2018 at 09:30
Home-made arcade game.
Posted by: Lancastrian Oik | December 19, 2018 at 10:16
Home-made arcade game.
That wouldn’t get maddening at all.
Posted by: David | December 19, 2018 at 10:19
Dinosaur death-match.
Posted by: Lancastrian Oik | December 19, 2018 at 10:28
Dinosaur death-match.
Sort of explains the extinction, really.
Posted by: David | December 19, 2018 at 10:32
And finally, a spelling mistake of note.
Posted by: Lancastrian Oik | December 19, 2018 at 12:02
Then, quite quickly, the horror-show unfolded.
Sheds new light on the recent think-pieces about giving younger people the right to vote, doesn't it?
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 19, 2018 at 12:18
Sheds new light on the recent think-pieces about giving younger people the right to vote, doesn’t it?
It does, I think, have a contemporary resonance.
Posted by: David | December 19, 2018 at 12:25
It does, I think, have a contemporary resonance.
See, e.g. Lococoti's "not a parody" link above.
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 19, 2018 at 13:11
Poor Nia! I can’t imagine anything worse than finding out that you have European DNA.
Hey, wait a minute! Wasn’t DNA discovered by a couple of white guys? So, it figures that the DNA system has been devised to privilege whiteness and oppress POC.
Throw out that DNA “test”! It is just one more way for the Man to control you and mess with your mind.
Posted by: Adam | December 19, 2018 at 15:35
I did not know that dinosaurs could laugh. Those two are definitely laughing.
Died of laughter, most likely
Posted by: Adam | December 19, 2018 at 15:38
https://quillette.com/2018/12/18/confessions-of-a-soulless-troglodyte-how-my-brooklyn-literary-friendships-fell-apart-in-the-age-of-trump/
Rtwt. Another self-rescue describes the swamp he escaped.
Posted by: Fred the Fourth | December 19, 2018 at 18:50
Then, quite quickly, the horror-show unfolded.
As I said upthread, "They certainly share their bloodlust."
A world without consequences will be ruled by the sadists among us.
Posted by: Steve E | December 19, 2018 at 19:56
Re the Quillette article: “Jamie’s wife put her own ambitions on hold blah blah blah blah...”. So he could write while she took care of the baby.
Have none of these people ever heard of divvying up the work? “He’s asleep! Quick! I’ll clean the bathroom, you work on your book!” Then the next time, they swap. Even the fussiest baby does not cry 24/7 (I know, I had him). You work together, around the baby. The people in articles like this never sound like human beings in a family. They sound like billiard balls, rolling blindly around on a table, occasionally caroming off one another. What kind of childhood turns human beings into billiard balls?
Posted by: Pogonip | December 19, 2018 at 20:57
Hey David,
What’s this December’s strange kitchen object? I’m still waiting for the flamethrower to get used. Now that I think about it, no one has submitted a small appliance report in months. We still have Advanced Toast Technology, thank God.
Posted by: Pogonip | December 20, 2018 at 03:20
What kind of childhood turns human beings into billiard balls?
Helicopter parents who then send their lambs off to be educated by the public school system on how to be human, with, umm... mixed results.
Posted by: Spiny Norman | December 20, 2018 at 04:08
Helicopter parents who then send their lambs off...
Then there's children of helicopter parents who are now parents themselves who haven't seemed to master the most basic of skills.
I was at my town's Christmas parade a few weekends back and witnessed first hand a twenty-something father with his four-year-old son attempt to take the wrappers off of candy canes and lollipops. It became obvious that the young father, having been raised by helicopter parents, had never had to remove a candy wrapper for himself. It was repeated by the father's friend--also a twenty-something father of a four year old--who demonstrated the same ineptitude.
The unlearning is progressing at a rapid rate.
Posted by: Steve E | December 20, 2018 at 05:38
When zoos get woke...
https://twitter.com/CountDankulaTV/status/1075547955254431744
Posted by: JuliaM | December 20, 2018 at 08:29
There otter be a law!
Posted by: Pogonip | December 20, 2018 at 09:14
...children of helicopter parents who are now parents themselves who haven't seemed to master the most basic of skills ... The unlearning is progressing at a rapid rate
The generation of men who are now bringing up young children are, despite gender equality and paternal leave, on the whole less comfortable than their fathers and grandfathers at dealing with children, less trusting of their own instincts and more likely to be soppy-stern than say the baby boomer generation of parents.
The baby boomer generation of fathers was brought up in larger families, with older siblings learning how to care for the younger, and the younger siblings becoming uncles and aunts in their teens. Even if they didn't start having babies in their twenties, they would have become accustomed to babies through their circle of friends. And for better and for worse, men had more opportunity to have playful interactions with neighborhood children without second-guessing or suspicion.
In this generation, it's quite likely that when the IVF registers a hit at the age of 41, the new father is holding a baby for the first time in his life (if he's the younger of the 2.2 children his parents had), or for many decades (if he's the older sibling). That's a shocking amount of unlearning compared to previous generations.
Posted by: Norval | December 20, 2018 at 10:23
Reluctant rescuee.
Via Dicentra.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 11:27
Not a parody account.
Democratic socialists, San Francisco division.
Also this.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 11:45
PG&E no more greed!
We should own our energy!
Again, the rhyming thing. Or not.
Posted by: WTP | December 20, 2018 at 12:29
Also this.
Of course, what they refuse to acknowledge is that the states idiotic environmental regulations for the last 40 years have prevented the infrastructure improvements necessary to prevent the things which agitate them. Not to mention, the moment government takes over is the moment that electricity starts to disappear. See, e.g. Venezuela and petroleum.
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 20, 2018 at 12:35
Again, the rhyming thing. Or not.
And were I to see someone with hammer-and-sickle tattoos on their fingers, I’d regard it much as I’d regard someone with teardrop tattoos on their face. I.e., as a sign of something gone horribly wrong.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 12:37
Again, the rhyming thing. Or not.
Back in the day when music was still a thing taught in elementary school, there were things called "rhythm sticks" that taught rhythm, oddly enough. It appears they too have fallen by the wayside in the so-called education of these bozos. I suppose hitting sticks together was considered a violent act, or the sticks were weapons.
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 20, 2018 at 12:47
hammer-and-sickle tattoos...teardrop tattoos...a sign of something gone horribly wrong.
And a sign of someone that no sensible person wants in their neighborhood.
Posted by: pst314 | December 20, 2018 at 12:58
a) Exhibit A for lack of introspection;
b) Second the motion.
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 20, 2018 at 12:59
b) Second the motion.
That frock does nothing for her.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 13:02
Come on, Nemo. Get it together.
In my defence I've been unwell recently.
b) Second the motion.
If I were being unkind, I'd suggest humanity dodged a bullet there.
Posted by: Captain Nemo | December 20, 2018 at 13:34
there were things called "rhythm sticks" that taught rhythm, oddly enough
In college a fellow dormrat was a fan of Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Whenever I hear “rhythm stick”, which fortunately is not often, I am reminded of their supposed hit, “Hit Me With Your Rhytm Stick”. It is a pavlovian response. It is not pleasant. Oddly enough. I often suspected that such a device was used for corporal punishment in his Catholic elementary school.
Posted by: WTP | December 20, 2018 at 13:59
Today’s word is sway.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 14:19
Today’s word is sway.
Today's word is sway*.
*Cuidado por trabajo.
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 20, 2018 at 14:30
Farnsworth, not all of us read Spanish.
Posted by: pst314 | December 20, 2018 at 14:39
Today’s word is sway.
Good grief, where is that? Do I see tiles or masonry bricks?
Posted by: pst314 | December 20, 2018 at 14:44
Good grief, where is that?
Unsure. The Reddit thread in question doesn’t say.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 14:51
Farnsworth, not all of us read Spanish.
You do now...
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 20, 2018 at 15:00
@Farnsworth,
"Rebotar" might be more appropriate.
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 20, 2018 at 15:18
Today’s word is sway.
Someone missed the class on "Static Equilibrium."
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 20, 2018 at 15:24
How to insult a Viking.
Posted by: Monty James | December 20, 2018 at 16:28
Steve E
The unlearning is progressing at a rapid rate.
Heh. Yes, we live in the Age of the Great Unlearning.
Posted by: Spiny Norman | December 20, 2018 at 16:46
How to insult a Viking.
No go away or we shall taunt you a second time-uh!::snort::
Posted by: Spiny Norman | December 20, 2018 at 17:05
Tweet of Note
Posted by: Jonathan | December 20, 2018 at 17:30
'Tis the season to be Jolly......
Posted by: Jonathan | December 20, 2018 at 17:31
Woke backfire #2,006...
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/baby-its-cold-outside-cover-by-dean-martin-soars-to-no-10-amid-controversy
Posted by: Joan | December 20, 2018 at 17:41
Woke backfire #2,006...
Heh. Though I think the Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer version, linked here, is superior.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 17:49
Woke backfire #2,006...
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 20, 2018 at 18:06
‘Self-described feminist has obnoxious and spiteful personality’ shock.
Via Ben.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 18:39
Lefty transplant from Oregon with bad haircut who "...watched the elections at Union Pizza, where I saw my colleagues and friends slouched over in tears of dread and sadness when we realized that Trump would be our next president..." and thinks the local yokels "voted against their interests", suddenly has a sad because a German faux journalist made up stuff about the small town he is infecting.
It is interesting that this starts as a decent piece that outlines why none of the self-proclaimed elites have a clue about Flyoverlandia in that if what they find doesn't match their preconceived notions, they will, as usual, ignore the facts, but then the author goes off the rails turning his nose up at those same yokels who, evidently, don't appreciate the untold wealth, happiness, and veritable Utopia that his Herculean labors at his "...office at Springboard for the Arts..." will bring.
If only the German author had been able to sit down with our hero, then he would have:
IOW, I am guessing, the story of this clown and his wife.
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 20, 2018 at 19:00
It is interesting that this starts as a decent piece that outlines why none of the self-proclaimed elites have a clue about Flyoverlandia . . .
Yeah, I got that impression too. The authors want to make sure that their "equals" know they haven't "gone native." Were I a resident of Fergus Falls, I'm not sure I'd be more pleased with their effort at rebuttal than I would have been with the version in Der Spiegel.
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 20, 2018 at 19:31
These links make me sad. Sometimes I hate being stuck in the dumbest timeline.
And before you say it - no thanks to the credit notes. They smell of cheap potpourri. I don't even like expensive potpourri.
Posted by: Sam | December 20, 2018 at 19:35
The authors want to make sure that their "equals" know they haven't "gone native."
Nope they are just...
...except for the...
It is a testament to the tolerance of the normals of Fergus Falls that they put up with these pretentious twits (substitute vowels allowed). Of course that could be "tolerated" in much the same manner as a puppy soiling the carpet, a village idiot, or a freak show, but still...
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 20, 2018 at 20:08
"Can't get Trump? Indict his children. A great alternative! So says a former Watergate prosecutor, Carter administration official, and executive director of American Bar Association."
Because that totally doesn't sound like sheer lawfare nastiness. Nope, not at all. Justice being blind is just a dog-whistle for fascists, don'cha know.
https://twitter.com/ByronYork/status/1075733383194513413
Posted by: Boatswain's Mate | December 20, 2018 at 20:10
...got the story of Fergus Falls residents who proudly attended the women’s marches in St. Paul or D.C., and displayed Black Lives Matters signs in our yards or buttons on our jackets, people who mentor immigrants and refugees in the region, people who grow their own food and bike everywhere in order to protect the environment...
And why do you suppose they're winning?
Posted by: WTP | December 20, 2018 at 20:28
Can't get Trump? Indict his children. A great alternative! So says a former Watergate prosecutor, Carter administration official, and executive director of American Bar Association
From Wiki:
Lovely woman. The swamp is much bigger than even most conservatives want to believe. But don't try telling them that. They'll think your mad.
A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, "You are mad; you are not like us".
- Some hermit who lived in a hole in the wall in the desert.
Posted by: WTP | December 20, 2018 at 20:39
Polyamorous sex is the most quietly revolutionary political weapon in the United States
It can't be that quiet; I've been hearing them go on and on about it for years now.
Posted by: Damian | December 20, 2018 at 21:57
The Fergus Falls piece...
I would bet my house that those authors have never heard of the Gell-Man Amnesia effect.
Among their other educational deficits...
Posted by: Fred the Fourth | December 20, 2018 at 21:59
Polyamorous sex is the most quietly revolutionary political weapon in the United States
I suspect Tim Newman may at some point share his thoughts on that one.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 22:14
It can't be that quiet...
Described thusly: "But the attendees of Tableaux fit in with the rest of privileged, gentrified Brooklyn: They match the dark, tattered-glamor aesthetic of the room; wear dark-grey clothes and plenty of eyeliner"
From this observation (and a visit to a commune of less than two dozen people in Virginia) come the conclusion that Polyamory is the most, most, most "revolutionary" movement in all of these here United States. No, really. It says so right there.
Tim Newman needs to submit a rebuttal.
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 20, 2018 at 22:21
I suspect Tim Newman may at some point share his thoughts on that one.
There must be a way to see if someone else makes the same point while you're typing away at your own comment.
Posted by: R. Sherman | December 20, 2018 at 22:23
Polyamorous sex is the most quietly revolutionary political weapon in the United States
Posted by: Farnsworth M Muldoon | December 20, 2018 at 22:42
I regard wearing dark grey clothes as a bit of a sign that you're a person with a very negative outlook on life. People who wear primarily grey aren't just colorless, they're deliberately negating colour in their lives.
I own a few dark grey clothes. But I like them because them only to the extent that they don't intrude on the coloured ones I'm also wearing. A nice jacket doesn't need an intrusive shirt etc.
At least Goths, Emos, metal-heads etc know that black is a statement. Grey is a non-statement, a sign you think you're worthless.
Posted by: Chester Draws | December 20, 2018 at 22:48
Right, this week’s ephemera is compiled and should materialise in about an hour. I’m off to bed.
Play nicely. Use coasters.
Posted by: David | December 20, 2018 at 22:58
Play nicely. Use coasters.
I found these over by the cash register, so these must be what David has in mind . . .
Posted by: Hal | December 21, 2018 at 01:12
Grey is a non-statement, a sign you think you're worthless.
I happen to prefer drab colors in clothing — faded black, olive and (mostly light-to-medium) grey, and I can assure you I'm as megalomaniacal as the next fellow.
Posted by: Damian | December 21, 2018 at 01:45
Grey is a non-statement, a sign you think you're worthless.
I happen to prefer drab colors in clothing . . . .
Posted by: Hal | December 21, 2018 at 08:05
WTG, Hal.
Someone set the HTML Batsignal alight.
Posted by: Boatswain's Mate | December 21, 2018 at 14:23