Expert Thinking

There is a piece up at Spiked by Wilfred Reilly about why the experts keep getting it wrong.

And if you are keeping score, The Babylon Bee has a better record of predicting future events than many experts do. Pretty good for a satire site. Ditto Titania McGrath.

Wilfred Reilly:

One of the most intimidating things about being a 'heterodox' thinker is having to constantly say that 'the experts' are wrong.
If, online or at a cocktail party, you point out something as obvious as the fact that very few black Americans are fatally shot by police, you can expect to be deluged with citations to articles bearing titles like 'Know their names: black people killed by police in the US' and 'How unjust police killings damage the mental health of black Americans'. Best-selling and critically acclaimed books on race in America have titles like Open Season: The Legalised Genocide of Coloured People.
More broadly, if you express doubt about the idea of 'systemic racism' - perhaps because six or seven of the 10 most financially successful ethnic groups in present-day America are not white - you will no doubt be reminded to read famous books arguing that severe racial oppression is everywhere, like Ibram X Kendi's How To Be An Antiracist or Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility.
Similarly, should you criticise modern gender theory or the bizarre idea that human biological sex is complex and hard to define, you will inevitably be referred to an authoritative-sounding article, packed with data and infographics, like this one in Scientific American.
While I write from the centre-right, the same fate awaits those who ask difficult questions from the left.

Following comes an involved discussion of "monocultures". Then:

People with PhDs are surely at least as intelligent on average as the normal American citizens who find much of what they say to be insane. So here, I propose a specific mechanism by which 'experts' trapped in monocultures come to advocate for the absurd and nonsensical. My thesis: most truly bizarre theories arise when smart people adopt a premise that sounds plausible, even if it is factually incorrect, due to factors like peer-group pressure, and then reason forward correctly from that premise.
Reams of evidence for this claim await anyone reviewing the more implausible famous theories of our era. The idea of systemic racism - at least as defined by Ibram X Kendi and Robin DiAngelo - emerges from a single specific claim: any gap in performance between racial groups must be due either to racism or to actual 'inferiority' on the part of one of the groups. Thus it follows that, unless you're a literal racist who believes racial minorities are inferior, you must see all struggles or failures on the part of people of colour as evidence of racism.
The core claim of gender ideology is at least as simple and eloquent: 'gender' (roughly speaking, how masculine or feminine you feel in the context of current social norms) is a thing entirely different from biological sex. This argument is the entire underlying basis for the claim that a biological male with a nine-inch penis can 'become a woman', and thus that they can ethically compete in collegiate or professional sporting events against women.

Read the whole thing for challenging comparisons to faith, etc.

FOLLOWING, some issues in which the input of experts seems to have made a real difference:

Gretchen Whitmer "Kidnapping Plot"

The FBI is full of experts:

Verdicts In In Gretchen Whitmer Fake "Kidnapping Plot" Trial: Two Defendants Found Not Guilty, Hung Jury On Other Two Defendants

Julie Kelly:

Defense attorneys had argued--successfully, it would appear--their clients were entrapped by the FBI; at least a dozen FBI confidential human sources and undercover agents working out of numerous FBI field offices were deeply embedded in the plot.

The more experts, the better . . . . .

Conference on Disinformation and Erosion of Democracy

Okay, I'm not a big fan of Charlie Kirk or Ben Shapiro, but this is really how they made names for themselves. "The Experts" from the Regime Media cannot come close. Sad.

Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro have made an entire genre out of outsmarting college kids who ask adversarial questions. The literally “best of the best” from regime media got 3 tough questions and melted down. That’s why one side wants to censor and the other welcomes debate.
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) April 8, 2022

This is a sample of the student journalists' challenges to "the experts":

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to attend a fire prevention speech delivered by an arsonist? Or perhaps a child safety seminar led by a pedophile? Well, that's exactly what it felt like Wednesday during the University of Chicago's "Conference on Disinformation and Erosion of Democracy," featuring some of the greatest promulgators of disinformation and illiberalism in American history.
Former President Barack Obama had the nerve to help open the event, although his administration famously spied on the Donald Trump campaign with a secret court warrant backed by the Hillary Clinton campaign-funded Christopher Steele dossier which, in an ironic twist, was the product of Russian disinformation. Democrats used this disinformation to repeatedly smear President Trump and undermine the integrity of the 2016 election.
Former chief advisor to the Obama administration David Axelrod moderated two of Wednesday's discussions. To this day, Axelrod still has the gall to repeat the debunked Russian collusion hoax. He even repeated it Wednesday. . .

See Ace's post yesterday for the brilliant response from The Atlantic's Editor-in-Chief to these students. America's Best and Brightest in journalism.

War in Ukraine

There were a lot of experts who got things wrong here. Why did the former chancellor of Germany celebrate birthdays in Russia? Why was he appointed to head up Gazprom just weeks before the invasion? Why did so many people think that Putin was bluffing when he had SO MANY troops on the border of Ukraine? Did Putin's experts give him bad information?

Texas to Secede?

I am surprised that Sensing Online is the primary source for this story back in March, since it sort of actually makes sense, in a certain way. Or maybe that's why it makes sense:

President Joe Biden today begged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to lead Texas to secede from the United States a second time, promising that this time the secession will not be met with military resistance.
In a phone call late Tuesday afternoon, according to White House press agent Jen Psaki, President Biden explained to Gov. Abbott that because he has promised the Green left wing of his party never to allow increased oil production in the United States, his administration has been forced to beg Iran and Venezuela to sell oil to US refiners.
"Furthermore," said Ms. Psaki, "even Democrat members of Congress were willing to force through a vote mandating a ban on importing oil from Russia over the president's objections."
Unable to authorize increasing domestic oil production, and finding no foreign producer would sell (or sell more) oil to America, the president had no choice but to create a new foreign producer who would provide additional oil capacity to American who are shocked by record-breaking pump prices.
Hence the call to Texas Gov. Abbott, begging him to energize secessionists in Texas to re-establish the independent Republic of Texas and begin immediately to increase Texan oil production and sell directly to American refiners. . .

Music

Where did Western Swing come from? Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys remembrance with Merle Haggard:

Hope you have something nice planned for the weekend.

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Serving your mid-day open thread needs

Posted by: K.T. at 11:12 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 First so will get them

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 11:14 AM (2JoB8)

2 could have been first.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 11:14 AM (bVYXr)

3 Woke hurts.

Good morning K.T.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 11:16 AM (GXTIi)

4 Whatever happened to that fake (fbi) "conservative" group that would mysteriously show up with everyone dressed in khakis and masks, march around a bit and then leave in vehicles with the license plates taped over?

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 11:17 AM (bVYXr)

5 Okay, I'm not a big fan of Charlie Kirk or Ben Shapiro, but this is really how they made names for themselves.

Ben Shapiro I understand but why Charlie Kirk? No dog in the fight, just curious.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 11:17 AM (II3Gr)

6 4 Whatever happened to that fake (fbi) "conservative" group that would mysteriously show up with everyone dressed in khakis and masks, march around a bit and then leave in vehicles with the license plates taped over?
Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 11:17 AM (bVYXr)

Patriot Front? It's a put on.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 11:17 AM (II3Gr)

7 Joe would love to see the breakup of the United States

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 11:18 AM (2JoB8)

8 TX to secede...

Don't say it if u don't mean it...I can handle only so much blue balls.

Posted by: TryHardNeckBeard at April 09, 2022 11:18 AM (b9WvM)

9 You can do very well in life by simply doing the opposite of what experts tell you to do.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:18 AM (Bh76f)

10 hiya

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 11:19 AM (arJlL)

11 Hiya K.T. !

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 11:19 AM (arJlL)

12 Zelenskyy had an Azov with him during his teleconference with Greece. Not well received. I suspect they're in control.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 11:20 AM (ONvIw)

13 Experts said eat a well balanced diet full of bread and carbs. And then the experts were shocked to find everyone got fat over the next 30 years.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:21 AM (Bh76f)

14 Ben Shapiro I understand but why Charlie Kirk? No dog in the fight, just curious.

Posted by: Insomniac
--------------------
Turning Point is the latest GOP oriented yute college organization and was founded/headed by Charlie Kirk.

Posted by: whig at April 09, 2022 11:21 AM (Iq9dF)

15 could have been first.
Posted by: Mister Scott

If you identify as first, it's really the same thing.

Swearies.

Posted by: Tonypete at April 09, 2022 11:21 AM (Msys3)

16 I am sure the Glowies a) got caught, b) the Democrats Propaganda Ministry couldn't use it because of a), c)Democrats Propaganda Ministry ran away never to mention them again.

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 11:21 AM (2JoB8)

17 Is the Uke war still a thing?

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:21 AM (Bh76f)

18 Turning Point is the latest GOP oriented yute college organization and was founded/headed by Charlie Kirk.
Posted by: whig at April 09, 2022 11:21 AM (Iq9dF)

Right, but I'm asking about the "not a big fan" part.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 11:22 AM (II3Gr)

19 I remember when black folk and white folk got along with each other, like James Brown or Junior Walker, or Percy Sledge concerts.

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 11:22 AM (gktX6)

20 I remember reading something like more people died drowning in backyard pools then Black people killed by the po-po every year.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:23 AM (Bh76f)

21 Experts said eat a well balanced diet full of bread and carbs. And then the experts were shocked to find everyone got fat over the next 30 years.

Posted by: Joe XiDen

And animal fats are no good for you!

What a bunch of asshoes.

Posted by: Tonypete at April 09, 2022 11:24 AM (Msys3)

22 It is hard not to be skeptical about any so called leader of the right since so many of them are charlatans.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:24 AM (Bh76f)

23 I've got joy joy joy joy down in my heart!

Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid
@JoyAnnReid
Unreal...so in America in the year of our Lord 2022, you can plot to kidnap a Democratic woman governor to stage a show trial and hurt her or worse, because you don't like COVID restrictions and walk, as long as you're a white, right wing extremist. Holy jury nullification, Batman

-
Cry more, Joy!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I am not a biologist at April 09, 2022 11:24 AM (FVME7)

24 I have heard, but without a radio in truck over a year so not much recently, Charlie and Ben often. Most what they say seems OK by my standards, often here someone brings up they are bad but I don't run into that so they are not on my naughty list.

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 11:25 AM (2JoB8)

25 Good piece on experts. Thanks KT.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at April 09, 2022 11:25 AM (K/ea9)

26 Patriot Front (the Glowies) will return when the white supremist boogyman is needed again.

#twoweeks

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 11:26 AM (BFigT)

27 Hence the call to Texas Gov. Abbott, begging him to energize secessionists in Texas to re-establish the independent Republic of Texas and begin immediately to increase Texan oil production and sell directly to American refiners. . .

-It's a TRAP!
--A. Ackbar

1) Texas declares independence.
2) Biden's handlers declare a 2nd civil war to 'save the republic'.
3) TX ends up 'conquered' and under permanent DOJ (i.e. oBatears lib judiciary) control.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 11:27 AM (GXTIi)

28 Can't ya get a radio at a junkyard ?

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 11:27 AM (arJlL)

29 Upshot: When you see or hear the word 'Expert', the needle on your BS detector should begin to twitch.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 09, 2022 11:27 AM (DMQdU)

30 LIke anything else experts come in all different qualities. Fauci sucked, Didier Raoult was pilloried, but was correct and is a field based expert, now labeled charlatan by our media and government.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 11:28 AM (ONvIw)

31 Skip @24-
I want 'republicans' to stop asking me for money.

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 11:28 AM (gktX6)

32 Hiya CN the First !

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 11:28 AM (arJlL)

33 There are several distinct and separate Black cultures.

1) Middle class. Often live in suburbs like Mt Vernon, where Denzel grew up. Mostly traditional family units.

2) Working class. Often live in Black neighborhoods in the city. Mostly traditional family units.

3) Black lower class. Nearly all single moms. Mostly live in projects, where the worst element sets the tone for the rest -- also for the local GenPop schools.

4) African immigrants from places like Ghana and Nigeria. e.g., there's a large Ghanese neighborhood in The Bronx. There's also one for Albanians, and they're more alike than different. Every year around this time the NY Post will have a headline about how a single Black kid got into all eight Ivies and Duke. When you read the story the kid's parents are always immigrants, often from Nigeria.

4) Caribbeans from the DR, etc. Most have been here longer than #3, and typically fall in between #2 and #3.

5) Elites. This is growing because of affirmative action, and because our de facto quota system is based on a denominator that sums 1, 2, 3 and 4. The uber-elite vacation on Martha's Vineyard, where Obama has a home.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 09, 2022 11:28 AM (i0slg)

34 Mrs. Wrecks, school district speech therapist, says that often the gifted and talented kids are socially awkward and just out of touch.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I am not a biologist at April 09, 2022 11:28 AM (FVME7)

35 20 Joe would bet easily. Statistically it's about 9 supposed unarmed Black men killed in a year, we are at 17 policeman killed by firearms already.
Just looked up drowning deaths, 3,500 -4,000 per year in US, 350,000 year worldwide

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 11:29 AM (2JoB8)

36 Upshot: When you see or hear the word 'Expert', the needle on your BS detector should begin to twitch.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 09, 2022 11:27 AM (DMQdU)

How about the word " Subject Matter Expert" LOL, because that is what I am considered in my little part of the DOD LOL

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 11:29 AM (Irn0L)

37 It really does come down to the monoculture. Western institutions used to be very argumentative within themselves, but after several generations of subversion by the bureaucrats they are now echo chambers in thrall to process and policy. So they don't know what's going on anymore, and crucially, they don't care what's going on because in the bureaucratic world reality is whatever the system needs it to be.

Posted by: CppThis at April 09, 2022 11:29 AM (UewuT)

38 I want 'republicans' to stop asking me for money.
Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 11:28 AM (gktX6)

Can't be done. I pulled myself off all their mailing lists. Now they're sending shit to my address with the name "John Q Stetson". Assholes, all. Not one penny, especially for anti-Trump voices.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 11:30 AM (ONvIw)

39 "Ben Shapiro I understand but why Charlie Kirk? No dog in the fight, just curious."

Both are brave enough to engage in debates with college kids. The "regime media" can't do what they do.

Ben Shapiro seems to attract more violent opposition for some reason.

Posted by: KT at April 09, 2022 11:30 AM (0ghg2)

40 Hello, JT.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 11:30 AM (ONvIw)

41 How about the word " Subject Matter Expert" LOL, because that is what I am considered in my little part of the DOD LOL
Posted by: Nevergiveup

Whooo !

Do ya have a hard time finding a hat to fit ?

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 11:31 AM (arJlL)

42 SME lol. Yep.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:31 AM (Bh76f)

43 the needle on your BS detector should begin to twitch.
Posted by: Mike Hammer

'should peg on FULL of it'.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 11:31 AM (GXTIi)

44 Will there be any spotted dick in clam sauce on this thread?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I am not a biologist at April 09, 2022 11:31 AM (FVME7)

45 One of the issues that 'conservatism' has is that there is no unifying principle. Formerly, the principle was anti communism but since the Wall fell, that is a non-starter today. So, you have the corporate GOPe people like Mitch etc. claiming that true conservatism is allowing corporations and the wealthy donors free rein to indulge their fantasies which is low taxes and social liberalism. This element dominates the GOPe establishment.

Another group insists that we are a nation unlike others and are unified by principles--not blood and soil as in Europe etc.

Next, the libertarian element which has split over the years, insists leave me alone is the premier value with personal autonomy as premier.

Then social conservatives insist on some measure of community, cohesiveness, tradition, etc. and insist on right to life and free exercise of religion in public places.

Posted by: whig at April 09, 2022 11:31 AM (Iq9dF)

46 AZ deplorable moron @ 27-
It's called 'reconstruction' . Ask anyone born, raised, and educated in the South.

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 11:31 AM (gktX6)

47 How about the word " Subject Matter Expert" LOL, because that is what I am considered in my little part of the DOD LOL
Posted by: Nevergiveup
-------

Ah! You see, I seem to have this receding gumline problem...

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 09, 2022 11:32 AM (1vynn)

48 I worked with some of those "experts." A bunch of PhD's and the like.

Stupid fuckers, one and all. Not one had a pair of shoes with laces. Couldn't figure out how to tie 'em. But they were absolutely positive how much the earf had warmed in the 3rd century due to mankind.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 11:32 AM (BFigT)

49 African immigrants have virtually nothing in common with American born black people. It would be like comparing off the boat Italian immigrants with 5th generation Italian Americans. Sure they have common ancestry but other than that separate worlds.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:33 AM (Bh76f)

50 Imagine Texas successfully seceding, then fencing and patrolling the Mex border as Hungary does its border.

Imagine AZ doing the same.

The illegals would be forced to come through NM and CA, which of course they would, further destroying their blue socialist societies.

Posted by: Mr Gaga at April 09, 2022 11:33 AM (KiBMU)

51 There was a discussion on the twats about Front Row Kids that sort of leads into the experts thing. The reality is that the Front Row Kids, the 110-120 IQ midwits who are smart enough to generally grasp complex concepts and regurgitate them on demand, are the ones who most often rise through organizations. This is because they are smart enough to learn what they need to work within the system 90% of the time. At the same time, they aren't so smart that they don't need to try, instead they have to work their asses off, which both creates a culture of constant hustling as well as makes them much more visible. The also learn to game the system, and play the politics necessary for advancement.

You get organizations filled with people just smart enough to pick up the current popular thought and regurgitate it on command, but aren't necessarily good at any in-depth dissection of those same ideas. Combined with interpersonal politics, and you end up with an echo chamber.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at April 09, 2022 11:33 AM (wmDcS)

52 It's called 'reconstruction' . Ask anyone born, raised, and educated in the South.
Posted by: Eromero
-------

Not seeing the problem.

Posted by: Carpet-bagging locusts at April 09, 2022 11:34 AM (1vynn)

53 Right, but I'm asking about the "not a big fan" part.

OK. He's improved. Used to display some sort of juvenile qualities that still affect his "aura". I don't have really big ideological disagreements with him. It's just a style thing, I think.

Posted by: KT at April 09, 2022 11:34 AM (0ghg2)

54 Do ya have a hard time finding a hat to fit ?
Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 11:31 AM (arJlL)

Ah! You see, I seem to have this receding gumline problem...
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 09, 2022 11:32 AM (1vynn)

LOL, my work for the Navy is 99% Administrative. Hat fitting? Well it is nice often to be the final word on things.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 11:34 AM (Irn0L)

55 49 African immigrants have virtually nothing in common with American born black people. It would be like comparing off the boat Italian immigrants with 5th generation Italian Americans. Sure they have common ancestry but other than that separate worlds.
Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:33 AM (Bh76f)

Totally agree. The ones I know who are recent immigrants are hard working, and keep their kids from the home grown types.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 11:34 AM (ONvIw)

56 A question I woke up wondering about this morning; is it better for us, politically, if Biden were to throw in the towel and resign now, or for him to stonewall as much as he can, hang on no matter what, and suffer the death of a thousand cuts every day until election day?

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 09, 2022 11:35 AM (9FeWk)

57 I need to see proof of 'expertness'

If I see a beautiful piece of custom handmade furniture, I assume the person who made it is an expert

Chuck Yeager- expert pilot
Emmitt Smith- expert NFL running back

but a line of words on a page telling me someone is an expert- no

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 11:35 AM (geLO8)

58 56. Probably, the latter.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 11:37 AM (ONvIw)

59 The msm conflates doing a lot of something with being an expert at that something.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:37 AM (Bh76f)

60 Critical race theory says that Blacks have less collective wealth than Whites, which is proof of racism, so give them a lot of money.

Meanwhile, the statistical differences in collective Black outcomes can be statistically explained by illegitimacy and IQ.

But not all individual Blacks grew up in dysfunctional families and many are smart. Go figure.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 09, 2022 11:38 AM (i0slg)

61 I want 'republicans' to stop asking me for money.

Posted by: Eromero

I still keep (and have in a cheap frame) the letter from Nancy asking for money, and it was on paper, not an email. How the hell did her campaign get my address. Is she running for reelection this year?

Posted by: Colin at April 09, 2022 11:38 AM (YVx1O)

62 It would be a lot of fun to see California placed under a Reconstruction regime for the next 10 years.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 09, 2022 11:38 AM (9FeWk)

63 It's called 'reconstruction' . Ask anyone born, raised, and educated in the South.
Posted by: Eromero
-------
Not seeing the problem.
Posted by: Carpet-bagging locusts
--
Those C-B-L were the bane of 'reconstruction' but now they'd use HI judges.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 11:38 AM (gTBe2)

64 A question I woke up wondering about this morning; is it better for us, politically, if Biden were to throw in the towel and resign now, or for him to stonewall as much as he can, hang on no matter what, and suffer the death of a thousand cuts every day until election day?
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 09, 2022 11:35 AM (9FeWk)

Us as a Country resign now. Us on the right, hang in there joe and keep making a fool of yourself. At least that is how I see it

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 11:39 AM (Irn0L)

65 A question I woke up wondering about this morning; is it better for us, politically, if Biden were to throw in the towel and resign now, or for him to stonewall as much as he can, hang on no matter what, and suffer the death of a thousand cuts every day until election day?
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 09, 2022 11:35 AM (9FeWk)

The age old question of is the devil you know better than the devil you don't know.

Posted by: Napoleon XIV at April 09, 2022 11:40 AM (AiZBA)

66 KT brings the long read thinking pieces. *shakes fist*

This being my screw-off day. Thanks, KT.

This argument is the entire underlying basis for the claim that a biological male with a nine-inch penis can 'become a woman', and thus that they can ethically compete in collegiate or professional sporting events against women.

Whoa. After many NCAA wymyn swimming titles, this boy has a bright future on PornHub. Unsure on which holes might get plundered.

To quote David Bowie -- "Well hung, with a snow white tan."

Posted by: GnuBreed at April 09, 2022 11:40 AM (F0YaR)

67 That item about Senile Joe begging Texas to secede is satire, right?

Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh at April 09, 2022 11:40 AM (eGTCV)

68 56 A question I woke up wondering about this morning; is it better for us, politically, if Biden were to throw in the towel and resign now, or for him to stonewall as much as he can, hang on no matter what, and suffer the death of a thousand cuts every day until election day?
Posted by: Tom Servo at April 09, 2022 11:35 AM (9FeWk)

Slow Joe sucks, but I don't see Kamala or whatever DS cipher shortly replaces her being any better.

To wit: vax mandates failed because the powers that be are inept. Imagine how much worse things would have been if they had an Obama or Clinton running the show.

Posted by: CppThis at April 09, 2022 11:40 AM (UewuT)

69 One of the issues that 'conservatism' has is that there is no unifying principle. Formerly, the principle was anti communism but since the Wall fell, that is a non-starter today.

I go back to my "Triangle Model" of politics, where the US has three dominant principles: "equality," "stability," and "personal freedom." These roughly correspond to "progressivism," "conservatism," and "liberalism/libertarianism." Most people fall somewhere on the edge of the triangle between these three, balancing two while disregarding (or at least heavily discounting) the third. As a result, the left/right political spectrum is actually an arc that runs from "equality" past "stability" to "personal freedom." The Right consisted of an anchor of classical liberalism, but reaching up to appeal to white-collar conservatives through liberty focused arguments on social issues, as well as on issues such as trade and regulation. The Left was anchored by progressivism, but reached up to appeal to blue-collar conservatives through issues such as the social safety net, public schools and anti-big business attitudes. Both sides were at least publicly anti-communist.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at April 09, 2022 11:41 AM (wmDcS)

70 If you take 2 people, one white one black, of the same age, same education level, same family structure growing up, there is no difference in wealth on average.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:41 AM (Bh76f)

71 Did I read that out of 18 people involved in the plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, 12 were FBI agents?

Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh at April 09, 2022 11:42 AM (eGTCV)

72 You get organizations filled with people just smart enough to pick up the current popular thought and regurgitate it on command, but aren't necessarily good at any in-depth dissection of those same ideas. Combined with interpersonal politics, and you end up with an echo chamber.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile
---------------------
I would agree. Military has studied this and basically line officers should be no more than 20-30 iq points greater than their troops. Otherwise, they simply cannot communicate effectively.

College professors, example, have an average of 130-135 iq, the last time that I looked. So, college classes should be roughly 110-120 iq students for comprehension.

Posted by: whig at April 09, 2022 11:42 AM (Iq9dF)

73 Tom Servo @ 56-
When FJB cashes in his chips, except that one coin due Charon, the funeralization will be....epic. Like Cleopatra's barge crushing lesser corpses like mccain, reid etc. Olld bastard will be right up there so high that umama will want to crawl in the casket with him.

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 11:43 AM (gktX6)

74 12 were fbi. Of the other 6, 2 were DEA, 3 were ATF and one guy was there cuz he thought it was bingo night.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:43 AM (Bh76f)

75 Since the end of the Cold War, the arc has shifted, with the "center" now over "personal freedom" and the "right" now over "stability." This is because with the end of communism, the left embraced free trade and the computer revolution as a means of building a global technocracy of tech companies, NGOs, and government agencies. Meanwhile, libertarians have shifted to supporting the left on social issues such as gay marriage, abortion, etc.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at April 09, 2022 11:44 AM (wmDcS)

76 That item about Senile Joe begging Texas to secede is satire, right?
Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh at April 09, 2022 11:40 AM (eGTCV)

That's what I thought---but I was expecting a confirmation either way.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 11:44 AM (mR6Gs)

77 It would be a lot of fun to see California placed under a Reconstruction regime for the next 10 years.
Posted by: Tom Servo

How would it differ from what they have now?
1) screwed with anti business laws.
2) screwed with environmental handcuffs (fires and water).
3) screwed with infrastructure failure (roads and water again).
4) screwed with low wage illegals who send all earned money in remittances and overload the schools and hospitals.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 11:44 AM (gTBe2)

78 >.That item about Senile Joe begging Texas to secede is satire, right?

it's from the Bee

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 11:45 AM (geLO8)

79 Low wage illegals arent so low wage anymore. They are still cheapER than Americans. But they are not cheap.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:45 AM (Bh76f)

80 Low wage illegals are not the only people coming over to benefit from EMTALA laws.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 11:47 AM (ONvIw)

81 I don't see Biden making it to 2024. So POTUS Kamala is in our future.

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 09, 2022 11:47 AM (i0slg)

82 I would agree. Military has studied this and basically line officers should be no more than 20-30 iq points greater than their troops. Otherwise, they simply cannot communicate effectively.

I'm gonna be honest that I'm a warmonger in part because I think constant small conflicts are good for the military. It prevents them from getting complacent and becoming obsessed with interpersonal politics. Competent officers and NCOs are given a chance to demonstrate their abilities through actual combat, and it prevents the growth of crackpot theories.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at April 09, 2022 11:47 AM (wmDcS)

83 I wish FL could secede. A local bigwig in the D party, in response to a visit by DeSantis, said, "he won't be Governor much longer..." I think our D supervisors of election have a game plan to oust him. In my County, there's a 102 yo "active voter" who has been dead for 5 years and has his ballot sent to NJ. Nothing suspicious about that.

Posted by: EveR at April 09, 2022 11:48 AM (EZeuH)

84 CN @ 80- No ID, no insurance, no ingles.

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 11:49 AM (dgTcG)

85 *checks in*
Now to read the post & links

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 09, 2022 11:49 AM (lCui1)

86 College professors, example, have an average of 130-135 iq, the last time that I looked. So, college classes should be roughly 110-120 iq students for comprehension.
Posted by: whig at April 09, 2022 11:42 AM (Iq9dF)

It's been awhile since I was in college, but I don't believe for a second that college professors---outside of advanced mathematics and the HARD sciences, and those who study languages-- have IQ's of 130-135, on average.

Maybe 50 years ago, not today.

My IQ is no where near 130, and I can more than hold my own with college professors discussing certain subjects

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 11:49 AM (mR6Gs)

87 You get organizations filled with people just smart enough to pick up the current popular thought and regurgitate it on command, but aren't necessarily good at any in-depth dissection of those same ideas. Combined with interpersonal politics, and you end up with an echo chamber.
=====

Really smart kids know that there are much smarter people around, and not necessarily in academe.

Posted by: mustbequantum at April 09, 2022 11:50 AM (MIKMs)

88 How about the word " Subject Matter Expert" LOL, because that is what I am considered in my little part of the DOD LOL

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 11:29 AM

I used to be one of those back in the day. Even got to sit in meetings at Pensacola and write advancement exam questions.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 11:50 AM (bVYXr)

89 I have a little different theory on why experts are wrong about certain things: The inability to say, "I don't know."

As an expert, you are expected to know the answer. But when you don't know the answer and don't have the ability to say so, you instinctively fill in the gaps in your knowledge with modeling data or speculation or your own particular bias, and there you go, offering up opinion under the guise of fact.

If a non-expert has an expert tell them "I don't know." he's not going to say, "Okay, thanks for saying so.". Instead he will seek out another expert. Because people are not able to hear "I don't know."

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 11:50 AM (m45I2)

90 And I would walk 8,500 miles and I would walk 8,500 more just to be the man who walked 17,000 miles with Chairman Xi to answer one question about how I would describe America.

-FJB

Not as catchy as the original.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at April 09, 2022 11:50 AM (qnVBz)

91 Nevergiveup,, that's my conclusion. And any rational democrats would have to reaching the same conclusion. Do they do nothing, and die with him, or do they try to save themselves by sacrificing Biden early?

Since we win either way, we can just enjoy the popcorn, and let them make the choice.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 09, 2022 11:51 AM (9FeWk)

92 >That item about Senile Joe begging Texas to secede is satire, right?

it's from the Bee
Posted by: DB

Based on prior Bee prognostications it is then completely true.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 11:51 AM (gTBe2)

93 I wish FL could secede. A local bigwig in the D party, in response to a visit by DeSantis, said, "he won't be Governor much longer..." I think our D supervisors of election have a game plan to oust him. In my County, there's a 102 yo "active voter" who has been dead for 5 years and has his ballot sent to NJ. Nothing suspicious about that.
Posted by: EveR at April 09, 2022 11:48 AM (EZeuH)

No doubt they'll cheat if they think they can get away with it, but no way in Hell does DeSantis lose, and if he does, no one would believe it

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 11:51 AM (mR6Gs)

94 How about the word " Subject Matter Expert" LOL, because that is what I am considered in my little part of the DOD LOL

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 11:29 AM

I used to be one of those back in the day. Even got to sit in meetings at Pensacola and write advancement exam questions.
Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 11:50 AM (bVYXr)

It's nice to sit in the rooms with Flags and other's gunning for Flag and be able to tell them, about their big ideas, "A yeah, NO that will not work" LOL

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 11:52 AM (Irn0L)

95 Low wage illegals arent so low wage anymore. They are still cheapER than Americans. But they are not cheap.

Posted by: Joe XiDen - I miss Delta Variant at April 09, 2022 11:45 AM

Around here the illegals have "unionized" and won't work for less than a guaranteed $200 a day. And they absolutely hate the illegals coming in now because they will undercut everyone on day labor rates.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 11:52 AM (bVYXr)

96 Good thin g the Gretchen kidnapping BS plot trial was in Michigan .. if it had been in DC, death sentence for everyone. (or at least guilty verdict, but prosecutors would have free rein to up the charges in DC)

Posted by: illiniwek at April 09, 2022 11:53 AM (Cus5s)

97 So, as an example, when Americans sought expert opinion on COVID, they did not want to hear "Well, there are several different compounding factors regarding how best to mitigate thiis type of respiratory virus..."

They wanted to hear, "If you don't stand six feet apart and wear a face covering both you and your grandmother will die."

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 11:53 AM (m45I2)

98 You get organizations filled with people just smart enough to pick up the current popular thought and regurgitate it on command, but aren't necessarily good at any in-depth dissection of those same ideas. Combined with interpersonal politics, and you end up with an echo chamber.

Such people are also "smart" enough to be born with the right family and social connections

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 11:54 AM (mR6Gs)

99 Old story but again, vastly vastly over-determined and even sort of silly over-analysis of hallucinogenic "thinking"* by the various racist and enviro-totalitarians.

It's simple. A false premise is not the basis for any actual analysis. Obviously. And paper intelligence is irrelevant if not applied, as in these cases (though there is no reason to think the leading figures in these areas are actually very intelligent - just grifting power-mad weirdos).

Facts and logic are all that matter. If "social pressure" leads one to pretend to believe 1+1= 7.9, then one is owed no more notice or regard than the mentally ill "homeless" guy pushing his shopping cart full of trash and mumbling about the hummingbirds that control his brain.

* nod to Goldhagen

Posted by: rhomboid at April 09, 2022 11:54 AM (OTzUX)

100 So, as an example, when Americans sought expert opinion on COVID, they did not want to hear "Well, there are several different compounding factors regarding how best to mitigate thiis type of respiratory virus..."

They wanted to hear, "If you don't stand six feet apart and wear a face covering both you and your grandmother will die."
Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 11:53 AM (m45I2)

This^

People no longer trust their own instincts and demand "answers,"

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 11:55 AM (mR6Gs)

101 When I was working in government one of the most annoying buzzwords was "subject matter expert - SME." You just had to have one or two on your "team" if you wanted any legitimacy.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 11:56 AM (BFigT)

102 Alex,
I would agree that those principles are probably universal among societies but how they are expressed in a political system is much more complicated. What unifies the left is MOAR--more government jobs, more spending, more regulations, more immigration, etc. Government money and related jobs are the essential lubricant that keeps the left in line.

Posted by: whig at April 09, 2022 11:56 AM (Iq9dF)

103 84 CN @ 80- No ID, no insurance, no ingles.
Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 11:49 AM (dgTcG)

My hospital used to get people from Europe and Canada, and China of course. Plenty of ID, spoke English, wanted care for free that they would have had to wait for back home, or procedures unavailable there. We called their consulate or embassy and sent them home in most cases. Canada has a great policy of sending a "Medical escort" to assist.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 11:57 AM (ONvIw)

104 Facts and logic are all that matter. If "social pressure" leads one to pretend to believe 1+1= 7.9

Then that's how you get a man with a 9-inch penis competing in women's sports

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 11:58 AM (mR6Gs)

105 82 I'm gonna be honest that I'm a warmonger in part because I think constant small conflicts are good for the military. It prevents them from getting complacent and becoming obsessed with interpersonal politics. Competent officers and NCOs are given a chance to demonstrate their abilities through actual combat, and it prevents the growth of crackpot theories.
Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at April 09, 2022 11:47 AM (wmDcS)

We tried that in the 31st century. Unfortunately, getting rid of petty politics turned out to be a lot harder than expected. But at least we got some really cool mecha out of the deal.

Posted by: The Clans in Battletech at April 09, 2022 11:58 AM (UewuT)

106 The main reason I have contempt for experts is because I was one of those who figured early in life (due to adolescent pride more than anything else) that I should NEVER say "l don't know" even if I had to make up ridiculous bullshit to answer. And I was astounded at how many people would automatically buy into whatever I said, even though I knew it was all ridiculous bullshit.

So when I see these "experts" like Tom Nichols, I immediately think "you asshole, that's my old trick!"

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 09, 2022 11:58 AM (9FeWk)

107 People no longer trust their own instincts and demand "answers,"
Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 11:55 AM (mR6Gs)

They demand magical talismans, NOT answers.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 11:59 AM (ONvIw)

108 Muldoon, no doubt about the craven and pathetic ignorance and fear of Americans (and, apparently, most of the world's population) with the virus.

But the comprehensive, stunning collapse of any real science - that there is such a thing as "mitigating" a prevalent highly transmissible virus, when research and history provide zero evidence for same - suggests a hollowness in institutions and professions that is sickening.

And there is no reckoning, no recognition of reality, no hint of a return to actual science. You have a few outliers (Sweden, Florida, South Dakota) who generally followed scientifically-based approaches, and of course the outcomes there are undistinguishable from everywhere else (as is to be expected). Haven't checked in a long time, but wonder how the Ioannidises and Kulldorfs and other actual experts are dealing with the widespread collapse of their discipline.

Posted by: rhomboid at April 09, 2022 12:00 PM (OTzUX)

109 A question I woke up wondering about this morning; is it better for us, politically, if Biden were to throw in the towel and resign now...
------
I don't think Joe is in charge of anything. The same cabal of socio-politically-driven Progressives would only proceed apace with their 'plans'.

It *might* have the impact of a de facto 'Boy, are we screwed up' admission, but I doubt it.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 09, 2022 12:00 PM (AytXr)

110 Off to the range with MAE!

PNWMoMe June 4! Left sidebar!!!!
Be there or be square!

Posted by: nurse ratched at April 09, 2022 12:00 PM (U2p+3)

111 I group 'experts' with 'influencers' and 'thought leaders' now

you can't tell because this is a blog, but I'm making that familiar jerking gesture to underscore my disdain

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 12:00 PM (geLO8)

112 ...I remember when black folk and white folk got along with each other, like James Brown or Junior Walker, or Percy Sledge concerts.

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 11:22 AM (gktX6)

This is one of the BIG THINGS (BFDs) about the South and black/white relations. I live in the largest black population state in the US (38%), MS. Personally, I would rate our mutual tolerance of each other as a '10'. Our politics may differ, but we know how to 'get along'. Is this bad?

To be honest, I don't even view a person's race here as relevant, unless they are gangbangers.

Nobody likes criminals. The divide here is not racial.

Posted by: GnuBreed at April 09, 2022 12:01 PM (F0YaR)

113 I group 'experts' with 'influencers' and 'thought leaders' now

The word "influencers" is so risible.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 12:01 PM (mR6Gs)

114 My hospital used to get people from Europe and Canada, and China of course. Plenty of ID, spoke English, wanted care for free that they would have had to wait for back home, or procedures unavailable there.
Posted by: CN

But the buses from Canada for Heart procedure patients were (are they continuing?) real. Those patients would have died waiting for Canadian healthcare. They paid out of their own pockets for their heart work.
Better to be poorer and alive than to wait in line for rationed Canadian healthcare.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:02 PM (irmgg)

115 The only thing worse than a subject matter expert is a thought leader.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:03 PM (II3Gr)

116 Several PhDs in my family. Seemingly brilliant in their specialized fields. Otherwise, they're regular folks but with well below average common sense or survival skills. They will be the first to surrender or be killed for lack of knowledge.

Posted by: Java Joe at April 09, 2022 12:03 PM (VsPm9)

117
But the buses from Canada for Heart procedure patients were (are they continuing?) real. Those patients would have died waiting for Canadian healthcare. They paid out of their own pockets for their heart work.
Better to be poorer and alive than to wait in line for rationed Canadian healthcare.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:02 PM (irmgg)

Paid out of their own pocket is OK. Demanding free shit is not. I have no issue with people paying, except for scarce organs, which should not be going to foreigners with money, or freebie foreigners, but of course, they are

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 12:05 PM (ONvIw)

118 There are real subject matter experts whose expertise can be useful. It all depends. Have seen excellent ones contributing to good decisions. Have seen poor ones being barely humored, then dismissed along with their suggestions.

Posted by: rhomboid at April 09, 2022 12:07 PM (OTzUX)

119 When I was working in government one of the most annoying buzzwords was "subject matter expert - SME." You just had to have one or two on your "team" if you wanted any legitimacy.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 11:56 AM (BFigT)

Yup, but looks great on your Fitness Report LOL. Like the word "Operational"

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 12:07 PM (Irn0L)

120 They will be the first to surrender or be killed for lack of knowledge.
Posted by: Java

And when the equipment dies there will be no one that understands the theory to get it working when the parts run out.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:07 PM (irmgg)

121 Self proclaimed experts are seldom that ... especially if on TV ...

Posted by: The Dark Lord at April 09, 2022 12:07 PM (5cMUX)

122 The Whitmer thing seems like a small win. And it is. But to me things like that, or the Rittenhouse thing, Musk raiding Twitter, the trucker strike, etc. are the *only stories that matter.* They're the ones that should get red italic headlines and flaming skulls.

Because these are stories about real people, big and small, having ENOUGH and FIGHTING THE POWER.

99% of American public life is an edifice of corruption and lies, a carefully curated and cultivated stage show. And utterly boring and predictable. Who cares about the latest sham investigation at the DoJ, or which repulsive gang of shitdicked geriatric motherfuckers gets committee assignments in a fossilized marble temple after the latest sham election? None of it matters at all.

These stories matter because this is how change happens. Not by voting harder, or by hanging on the every word of lying cops and bought off prosecutors. These stories are where hope lies, not in the rancid structures of our evil regime.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 09, 2022 12:07 PM (SKVme)

123 At #109 "A question I woke up wondering about this morning; is it better for us, politically, if Biden were to throw in the towel and resign now..."

I go back and forth on this. What could possible be worse? Not knowing who Harris' VP would be.

Posted by: Java Joe at April 09, 2022 12:08 PM (VsPm9)

124 It *might* have the impact of a de facto 'Boy, are we screwed up' admission, but I doubt it.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 09, 2022 12:00 PM (AytXr)

They NEVER admit they "screwed-up"--at least not publicly-- because that would mean we we right and they were wrong
As an example, watch if Joe Biden leaves because he's essentially senile. NONE of the write-ups in the MSM will mention that WE ( Trump-supporting right) questioned Biden's mental health before the election, nor will any major newspaper or network wonder aloud if the Democrats foisted a "damaged" man as the nominee.
Same as if he just up and croaks
No way

And if does leave because of Hunter or any of his own corruption, no one will be allowed to make the connection that Trump was right all along and was impeached over nothing

And if Biden goes

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 12:08 PM (mR6Gs)

125 My thesis: most truly bizarre theories arise when smart people adopt a premise that sounds plausible, even if it is factually incorrect, due to factors like peer-group pressure, and then reason forward correctly from that premise.

The author is partially right. The left has a narrative. Whether that narrative reflects actual reality is not a problem, and often it is better the farther it is from reality.

But he misses the point. The goal of a leftist intellectual is not to get a better understand of the world around us. The goal of a leftist intellectual is to advance the narrative, and thereby to advance the power of the left. And that's it.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 09, 2022 12:09 PM (ESjRY)

126 If nothing else, a PHD has been a Leftist Seminary Student for a longer time than most anyone else.

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 12:09 PM (2JoB8)

127 When I was working in government one of the most annoying buzzwords was "subject matter expert - SME." You just had to have one or two on your "team" if you wanted any legitimacy.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 11:56 AM (BFigT)

Yup, but looks great on your Fitness Report LOL. Like the word "Operational"

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 12:07 PM

Or "Forward Deployed", that was worth some serious points at selection boards.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 12:09 PM (bVYXr)

128
I am telling you that a higher academic institution is nothing more than another version of an ICBM base -- silos everywhere with no meaningful communication among them. The "siloians" are as insular as any inhabitant on a seldom visited tropical island. That they think they are "cosmopolitan" or "world-wise" is laughable. Recall their consternation when they were confronted with the simple query, "How many people do you know who own a truck?"

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 09, 2022 12:09 PM (pNxlR)

129 "African immigrants have virtually nothing in common with American born black people. It would be like comparing off the boat Italian immigrants with 5th generation Italian Americans."

On the whole I think American blacks have a higher IQ than Africans, certainly higher than the "Sub-Saharan blacks". But those that immigrated here recently are probably the smarter blacks from Africa. They come with money and seeking careers via college (in general, e.g. Obama's alleged father).

Maybe that is also true of Italian or other European immigrants, idk. China probably sends their smarter kids, Trump says Mexico is not sending their best ... and for the illegals, that is likely true, hard to say.

Posted by: illiniwek at April 09, 2022 12:10 PM (Cus5s)

130 Come on people, we have to drill down and peel the onion if we're ever gonna get buy in from key stakeholders! We have to utilize best practices to maximize throughput. Then we'll get that paradigm shift we've all been reimagining.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 09, 2022 12:11 PM (fsetr)

131 I go back and forth on this. What could possible be worse? Not knowing who Harris' VP would be.
Posted by: Java Joe at April 09, 2022 12:08 PM (VsPm9)

When Harris ascends to the presidency, the media will rely on the worn tactic of accusing anyone who disagrees with her as a racist misogynist.
They will also rely on the GOPe to give her a sweet "honeymoon" period and give her damaging political "victories" They probably also won't criticize her directly, and make it about the Democrats as a whole.

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 12:12 PM (mR6Gs)

132 I've worked with some seriously smart people with valuable engineering skills who have Ph.D's. Physics, naturally. And they weren't the sort of people to brag about it either.

Posted by: CppThis at April 09, 2022 12:12 PM (UewuT)

133 130 Mr Cliche?

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 12:12 PM (ONvIw)

134 130 Come on people, we have to drill down and peel the onion if we're ever gonna get buy in from key stakeholders! We have to utilize best practices to maximize throughput. Then we'll get that paradigm shift we've all been reimagining.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 09, 2022 12:11 PM (fsetr)

I'll get a blue-ribbon panel and tiger team assembled to optimize synergies. But at the end of the day, what's the ask?

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:13 PM (II3Gr)

135 Yup, but looks great on your Fitness Report LOL. Like the word "Operational"

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 12:07 PM

Or "Forward Deployed", that was worth some serious points at selection boards.
Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 12:09 PM (bVYXr)

LOL, I can see you wrote and edited many FITREPS and sat on many Boards.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 12:13 PM (Irn0L)

136 Trump says Mexico is not sending their best ... and for the illegals, that is likely true, hard to say.
Posted by: illiniwek at April 09, 2022 12:10 PM (Cus5s)

Mexico is NOT sending their best weathergirls or telenovela actresses....

Posted by: JoeF. at April 09, 2022 12:13 PM (mR6Gs)

137 that there is such a thing as "mitigating" a prevalent highly transmissible virus, when research and history provide zero evidence for same - suggests a hollowness in institutions and professions that is sickening.

Posted by: rhomboid

******

I may have chosen an inapt word when I said "mitigate". maybe "society's approach to a viral pandemic" would have been better phrasing.

My main point remains, that current society does not want experts to admit that they don't know. They don't want experts to discuss nuances. They want simple declarative talking points that they can easily parrot, so they can masquerade as knowledgeable. After all, 7 billion hastily formed and ill-founded opinions on a complex subject can't be wrong, can they?

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 12:14 PM (m45I2)

138 Maybe that is also true of Italian or other European immigrants, idk. China probably sends their smarter kids, Trump says Mexico is not sending their best ... and for the illegals, that is likely true, hard to say.
Posted by: illiniwek at April 09, 2022 12:10 PM (Cus5s)

China likes to send their mentally ill as well. I have to wonder how much you have to pay to get your kid sent here as a graduate student, when they are obviously schizophrenic and could not have passed the TOEFL

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 12:14 PM (ONvIw)

139 And you have to consider the leftist mindset as well.

Utopia is close. We have mostly abandoned religion and are not mostly "right thinking" at least among the left. We can literally make a heaven of the earth...if we reduce the population and make sure all the remaining people think...correctly. Whether by persuasion or force...and force is more fun.

So lying? For the greater good! Hypocrisy? For the greater good! Violence? For the greater good!

Posted by: 18-1 at April 09, 2022 12:14 PM (ESjRY)

140 Paid out of their own pocket is OK. Demanding free shit is not. I have no issue with people paying, except for scarce organs, which should not be going to foreigners with money, or freebie foreigners, but of course, they are
Posted by: CN

Absolutely agree completely.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:14 PM (irmgg)

141 We're providing a robust, best in class platform that furnishes real-time customer-facing metrics.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:14 PM (II3Gr)

142 Excuse me stewardess, I speak corporatese.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 09, 2022 12:15 PM (fsetr)

143 Thanks, K.T. Lotsa stuff to ponder.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at April 09, 2022 12:16 PM (Xrfse)

144 142 Excuse me stewardess, I speak corporatese.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 09, 2022 12:15 PM (fsetr)

I'm a Corporate Jive Black Belt.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:16 PM (II3Gr)

145 The schizophrenic grad students that arrived from China to end up in a psych ward an always had entire families who were willing to come over to "assist in their long term treatment".

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 12:16 PM (ONvIw)

146 Unless you have the ability to determine cause and effect, make logical comparisons and recognize cognitive dissonance, you are not smart. At best you are an idiot savant in one particular field.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 12:17 PM (towrt)

147 About what year did that Merle Haggard and the Texas Playboys vid come out? Parton and Haggard looked young. The Texas Playboys didn't. Late 60s, early 70s? What show was that. Looked through the comments, didn't see anything.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 09, 2022 12:17 PM (Hudry)

148 And I am sure that multiple FBI agents will be dismissed and facing jail time for-why are you all laughing so much?

Posted by: NR Pax at April 09, 2022 12:18 PM (BPhfN)

149 141 We're providing a robust, best in class platform that furnishes real-time customer-facing metrics.
Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:14 PM (II3Gr)

And while it's déclassé to quote oneself, to elaborate on this I reviewed a software agreement that basically said this is what the company was going to furnish. No other significant details to speak of. I'm like "yeah, that's fantastic but what the fuck are you actually going to DO?"

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:18 PM (II3Gr)

150 148 And I am sure that multiple FBI agents will be dismissed and facing jail time for-why are you all laughing so much?
Posted by: NR Pax at April 09, 2022 12:18 PM (BPhfN)

They ALWAYS get away with it.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 12:19 PM (ONvIw)

151 I'm like "yeah, that's fantastic but what the fuck are you actually going to DO?"
Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:18 PM (II3Gr

So was I. I said "I don't speak that language", tell me the real plan.

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 12:20 PM (ONvIw)

152 In my opinion, to be an expert requires these things, in varying measure:

Intelligence
Knowledge
Instincts
Experience
A moral core
Humility

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 12:21 PM (m45I2)

153 I probably see more illegals or barely legal at work than most of you. Doubt illegals are sucking up office jobs, or even low management. They are not brightest, and mostly for me lack of communication skills of not understanding English is frustrating.

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 12:21 PM (2JoB8)

154 It's time to reject the Secessionist government that has installed itself via "democracy."

Posted by: Erik In Texas at April 09, 2022 12:21 PM (E0Qtv)

155 And Wisdom

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 12:21 PM (m45I2)

156 And this ashtray.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 09, 2022 12:22 PM (fsetr)

157 Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 09, 2022 12:11 PM (fsetr)

Mission Statement generator?

LoL

Posted by: Somewhere South of I-80 at April 09, 2022 12:23 PM (1DgE4)

158 And this paddle ball game.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:23 PM (II3Gr)

159 Muldoon

Wisdom comes from correct actions which comes from effort, and is underpinned with mistakes you analyze. Mistakes are an important part of the process, I tell myself.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:24 PM (u82oZ)

160 How perfect would that Bee pic be if it were a tire iron?

Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 12:24 PM (SH2Zi)

161 Recall their consternation when they were confronted with the simple query, "How many people do you know who own a truck?"

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 09, 2022 12:09 PM (pNxlR)

Gabe Malor owned a truck. Ahem.

Posted by: GnuBreed at April 09, 2022 12:24 PM (F0YaR)

162 Wisdom comes from correct actions which comes from effort, and is underpinned with mistakes you analyze. Mistakes are an important part of the process, I tell myself.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:24 PM (u82oZ)

This is what I teach my boys. The struggle to get them to move past and learn from mistakes is real.

Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 12:25 PM (SH2Zi)

163 We need J.J. Sefton on Sirius Radio Brietbart channel, and "Improve a Democrat's Thinking" Insom brand tire iron.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:25 PM (u82oZ)

164 In my opinion, to be an expert requires these things, in varying measure:

Intelligence
Knowledge
Instincts
Experience
A moral core
Humility

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 12:21 PM (m45I2)

If only that were widely held.

Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 12:26 PM (SH2Zi)

165 flounder,

Fistbump

Now talk to my wife, please.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:26 PM (u82oZ)

166 How in the hell is EVERY software platform "best in class"? The class must be defined as that specific software package because everybody says that. It's also robust and stable...until you ask for a 99% uptime guarantee (excluding scheduled downtime for routine maintenance).

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:26 PM (II3Gr)

167 Hiya EveR !

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 12:27 PM (arJlL)

168 162 Wisdom comes from correct actions which comes from effort, and is underpinned with mistakes you analyze. Mistakes are an important part of the process, I tell myself.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:24 PM (u82oZ)

This is what I teach my boys. The struggle to get them to move past and learn from mistakes is real.
Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 12:25 PM (SH2Zi)

Nah. If you make a mistake you're a complete loser and a failure as a human being, and should quit before you further embarrass yourself and bring shame to your forebears.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:28 PM (II3Gr)

169 Sad. You could always look for wisdom from the older folks back in the day.

Now?

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at April 09, 2022 12:30 PM (K/ea9)

170 PNWMoMe June 4! Left sidebar!!!!

-
Speaking of the sidebar, that new Jack the Ripper suspect looks pretty good for it. Of course, we haven't heard a good defense attorney tear it all apart.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I am not a biologist at April 09, 2022 12:30 PM (FVME7)

171 Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker.

Well, there are some even here that believe that. I do not.

May you have a sunnier day, and hopefully no one will try and improve you via lots of consensual mating attempts. Its a trap, I tell ya.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:30 PM (u82oZ)

172 It's also robust and stable...until you ask for a 99% uptime guarantee (excluding scheduled downtime for routine maintenance).
Posted by: Insomniac

Those systems are expensive. We had a hardware w/OS solution at Motorola and very few were willing to pay for the hardware.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:30 PM (ICsR9)

173 Nah. If you make a mistake you're a complete loser and a failure as a human being, and should quit before you further embarrass yourself and bring shame to your forebears.
Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:28 PM (II3Gr)

Time to drag out one of my favorite quotes again.

'You fail all the time but you aren't a failure until you blame someone else'

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 12:30 PM (towrt)

174 Every hour of every day, I'm learning more
The more I learn, the less I know about before
The less I know, the more I want to look around
Digging deep for clues on higher ground...

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 09, 2022 12:31 PM (R/m4+)

175 Sad. You could always look for wisdom from the older folks back in the day.

Now?
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory

Yhey're dead.

The Jane Fonda Workout kilt 'em.

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 12:31 PM (arJlL)

176 Mr Aspirin Factory

I've gone from being a very messed up kid to a font of wisdom for grade school and high school students in my dotage. They do ask that I not sing, however. So they are getting smarter.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:32 PM (u82oZ)

177 Meanwhile, the statistical differences in collective Black outcomes can be statistically explained by illegitimacy and IQ.

But not all individual Blacks grew up in dysfunctional families and many are smart. Go figure.
Posted by: Ignoramus at April 09, 2022 11:38 AM (i0slg)

To be more specific, and to hopefully arm people with the information that helps change the argument, the prevalence of trauma in childhood, and even more specifically, developmental trauma, is the root cause of almost all outcomes that are later shown to demonstrate disparities in social groups.

In other words, if you take a white baby, and forget to feed him for 3 days, and/or expose him to violence, he's going to be just as messed up as a black person who is so exposed. And then if you continue to expose him to abuse and neglect, this child is going to grow up to be a menace to society, if he/she ever grows up at all. Color ain't got nothin' to do with it.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 12:32 PM (zVb98)

178 Texas seceding is satire but I wish. Texas is purple at this point.
It's funny how all the people who moved here during Covid are shocked by the traffic in Austinistan now that people are back in office. We've also have had relatively mild and wet summers the last two years. It's looking like a drought year and a hot summer. Hope it will make people want to leave.

Posted by: lin-duh at April 09, 2022 12:33 PM (UUBmN)

179 "So here, I propose a specific mechanism by which 'experts' trapped in monocultures come to advocate for the absurd and nonsensical."

The things these "experts" are advocating are only absurd and nonsensical if your goal is to create a strong, healthy, functional society. If your goal is to subvert, undermine and destroy a society, then promoting these ideas makes perfect sense.

It's not intellectual peer pressure; it's fucking malice.

Posted by: BunnyFooFoo at April 09, 2022 12:33 PM (0Uf+z)

180 Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 09, 2022 12:31 PM (R/m4+)

You guys are reminding of quotes today. From Rumsfeld.

Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 12:33 PM (towrt)

181 BurtTC

True. Nurture is very powerful. Being on welfare of any kind is hard to overcome.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:34 PM (u82oZ)

182 Wisdom comes from correct actions which comes from effort, and is underpinned with mistakes you analyze. Mistakes are an important part of the process, I tell myself.
Posted by: NaCly Dog

Joe is gonna be a super genius!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I am not a biologist at April 09, 2022 12:34 PM (FVME7)

183 Now talk to my wife, please.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:26 PM (u82oZ)

"Listen, woman. Salty is a good egg. Calm down, and make him a sammich."

Done.

Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 12:34 PM (SH2Zi)

184 Good on you, Salty.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at April 09, 2022 12:34 PM (K/ea9)

185 Anonosaurus Wrecks, I am not a biologist

Nyah. He has not analyzed his failures, ever. He repeats failures, which is a tell.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:35 PM (u82oZ)

186 It's not intellectual peer pressure; it's fucking malice.
Posted by: BunnyFooFoo

Go fuck Malice
When she's ten feet tall......

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 12:35 PM (arJlL)

187
135 Yup, but looks great on your Fitness Report LOL. Like the word "Operational"

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 12:07 PM

Or "Forward Deployed", that was worth some serious points at selection boards.
Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 12:09 PM (bVYXr)

LOL, I can see you wrote and edited many FITREPS and sat on many Boards.
Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 12:13 PM (Irn0L)

What happened to "outstanding"? That was to go-to word when I was in the military.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at April 09, 2022 12:35 PM (Qhnrt)

188 You guys are reminding of quotes today. From Rumsfeld.

Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 12:33 PM (towrt)

That was a simple, yet profound statement of the obvious. And the mouthbreathers were backslapping each other at how buffoonish they thought it was. Take note of these people.

Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 12:36 PM (SH2Zi)

189 flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur

Prints your quote. Heads towards wife.

*To be Continued*

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:36 PM (u82oZ)

190 The first time I heard of Bob Wills was when Merle Haggard did a tribute album for "The Best Damn Fiddle Player" in 1969 which led to a resurgence in popularity for the legenday Texas Swing bandleader. Obviously I had some catching up to do.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at April 09, 2022 12:37 PM (y7DUB)

191 And what exactly is a "Consultant"??? I see lots of very wealthy people around here and they are "Consultants". But I'm at a loss about what it is they actually do and why they make so much money????

Posted by: lin-duh at April 09, 2022 12:37 PM (UUBmN)

192 We'll, it was nice having Salty around.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 09, 2022 12:37 PM (fsetr)

193 Nah. If you make a mistake you're a complete loser and a failure as a human being, and should quit before you further embarrass yourself and bring shame to your forebears.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:28 PM (II3Gr)

Because, kids are resilient.

Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 12:37 PM (SH2Zi)

194 The consultants are experts.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at April 09, 2022 12:37 PM (K/ea9)

195 Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 12:36 PM (SH2Zi)

Yes I always thought it was brilliant in its simplicity.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 12:38 PM (towrt)

196 What happened to "outstanding"? That was to go-to word when I was in the military.
Posted by: Pork Chops

That was the grade, the elaboration was what was needed to justify the grade.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:38 PM (8TQ1K)

197 NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:25 PM

J.J. has a great radio voice, doesn't he?

Posted by: KT at April 09, 2022 12:38 PM (0ghg2)

198 The consultants are experts.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory
----
What does that even mean???

Posted by: lin-duh at April 09, 2022 12:38 PM (UUBmN)

199 Biden and the Obamaist dregs have taken Martin Luther King's admonishment to judge people by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin and set it on fire, and are laughing at it while it burns. They've reintroduced an era of rampant and socially approved racism. If racism is evil, then it is evil for all. It must not be evil, and nothing more than a tool on the path to undeserved power.

Posted by: Erik In Texas at April 09, 2022 12:38 PM (E0Qtv)

200 Recall their consternation when they were confronted with the simple query, "How many people do you know who own a truck?"
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 09, 2022 12:09 PM (pNxlR)

Where I live too many people own trucks. And drive them poorly.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 12:39 PM (zVb98)

201 Prints your quote. Heads towards wife.

*To be Continued*
Posted by: NaCly

Dibs on his armory!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:39 PM (8TQ1K)

202 flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur

Prints your quote. Heads towards wife.

*To be Continued*

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:36 PM (u82oZ)

Can I haz your stuff?

Posted by: GnuBreed at April 09, 2022 12:39 PM (F0YaR)

203 And what exactly is a "Consultant"???

-
I could be a consultant. I consult them to straighten up and fly right.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, I am not a biologist at April 09, 2022 12:39 PM (FVME7)

204 >>Who cares about the latest sham investigation at the DoJ, or which repulsive gang of shitdicked geriatric motherfuckers gets committee assignments in a fossilized marble temple after the latest sham election? None of it matters at all.

-------------------

This is pure poetry, and pure truth.

Posted by: Bigsmith at April 09, 2022 12:39 PM (MmeK7)

205 Then, the experts consult people.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at April 09, 2022 12:40 PM (K/ea9)

206 Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:39 PM (8TQ1K)

Dammit, AZ, you.... looter.

Posted by: GnuBreed at April 09, 2022 12:40 PM (F0YaR)

207 Where I live too many people own trucks. And drive them poorly.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 12:39 PM (zVb9

I would own a truck if I could fit it in my garage.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 12:40 PM (towrt)

208 Dammit, AZ, you.... looter.
Posted by: GnuBreed

Faster connection.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:41 PM (8TQ1K)

209 Look, I even made two sammiches for my husband this week...

Posted by: lin-duh at April 09, 2022 12:42 PM (UUBmN)

210 Re: experts--I've seen a couple of studies, at least one in a book by Nicholas Taileb, showing that throwing darts at a board is almost as accurate in predicting the stock market as the top-ranked investment professionals.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh at April 09, 2022 12:42 PM (eGTCV)

211 I probably see more illegals or barely legal at work than most of you. Doubt illegals are sucking up office jobs, or even low management. They are not brightest, and mostly for me lack of communication skills of not understanding English is frustrating.

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 12:21 PM

Some out of state real estate place bought the vacant lot next to my house and have been trying to build a house for over 2 years on it. There have been multiple crews over there at various times and not a single one of them speaks english.

We have called code enforcement nearly a dozen times on them. Once they put a stop work order on the place because they didn't have any permits.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at April 09, 2022 12:42 PM (bVYXr)

212 Look, I even made two sammiches for my husband this week...
Posted by: lin-duh

What good wife...
You must have taken a letter first.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:43 PM (8TQ1K)

213 I would own a truck if I could fit it in my garage.
Posted by: Anti doesn't matter

Just close your eyes and....BOOM ! you're in !

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 12:43 PM (arJlL)

214 Consultants are often recognized for outstanding performance in the field of excellence.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 09, 2022 12:43 PM (fsetr)

215 don't forget the 'unknown unknowns'

those things we don't know we don't know

those are the worst

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 12:44 PM (geLO8)

216 193 Nah. If you make a mistake you're a complete loser and a failure as a human being, and should quit before you further embarrass yourself and bring shame to your forebears.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:28 PM (II3Gr)

Because, kids are resilient.
Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 12:37 PM (SH2Zi)

Narcissistic parents do this a lot, because it's not about the kid learning something new through persistence, it's about how the kid immediately reflects on the parents.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:44 PM (II3Gr)

217 When I moved into town from the country had the pleasant thought that I would be able to put 'baby' in the garage and give a break from the weather.

Nice double garage that will house 'baby' if I drive in diagonally rendering the garage useless for anything else.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 12:45 PM (iam1O)

218 I probably see more illegals or barely legal at work than most of you. Doubt illegals are sucking up office jobs, or even low management. They are not brightest, and mostly for me lack of communication skills of not understanding English is frustrating.

Posted by: Skip

"Hammer da NAIL PANCHO !"

Posted by: JT at April 09, 2022 12:45 PM (arJlL)

219 experts--I've seen a couple of studies, at least one in a book by Nicholas Taileb, showing that throwing darts at a board is almost as accurate in predicting the stock market as the top-ranked investment professionals.
Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh at April 09, 2022 12:42 PM (eGTCV)

Brokers work on the self fulfilling prophecies technique. Freaking lemmings following each other's 'expert' opinions.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 12:45 PM (towrt)

220 it's about how the kid immediately reflects on the parents.
Posted by: Insomniac

That's not TRUE!
-Spaski

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:45 PM (8TQ1K)

221 Where I live too many people own trucks. And drive them poorly.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 12:39 PM (zVb9

Seems to be a thing lately. People buying large body pickups who have zero clue about how to drive them.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:45 PM (II3Gr)

222 Was The Expert Guy consulted in the writing of this post.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh at April 09, 2022 12:46 PM (eGTCV)

223 Narcissistic parents do this a lot, because it's not about the kid learning something new through persistence, it's about how the kid immediately reflects on the parents.
Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:44 PM (II3Gr)

See "midwits" above: many of these parents gamed the system and continue to game the system through their children.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at April 09, 2022 12:46 PM (wmDcS)

224 Narcissistic parents do this a lot, because it's not about the kid learning something new through persistence, it's about how the kid immediately reflects on the parents.
Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker.
------------

Got that. Kids are another accessory to be displayed at appropriate times.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 12:47 PM (iam1O)

225 We have to have measurable metrics that exemplify the quality of our systems.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at April 09, 2022 12:47 PM (K/ea9)

226 Who needs knowledge and experience? I've got OPINIONS, baby!!!!!

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 12:48 PM (m45I2)

227 Could these new truck owners be so young as to have never driven a full sized vehicle?

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 12:48 PM (iam1O)

228 Where I live too many people own trucks. And drive them poorly.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 12:39 PM (zVb9

Seems to be a thing lately. People buying large body pickups who have zero clue about how to drive them.
Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:45 PM (II3Gr)

Or why. Sometimes I see a nice pickup, all clean and stuff, and think "gee, I don't think he needs that for work," and then I see inside the cab... a woman. Putting on her makeup.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 12:48 PM (zVb98)

229 We're biologists. *hic*

Posted by: Suburban Wine Moms at April 09, 2022 12:49 PM (Xrfse)

230 Erik in Texas that's Critical Race Theory

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 12:49 PM (2JoB8)

231 Narcissistic parents do this a lot, because it's not about the kid learning something new through persistence, it's about how the kid immediately reflects on the parents.
Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker.

Bob's Burgers had a great episode on that phenomenon. Makes sense that BB is produced by same people who did King of the Hill.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 12:49 PM (towrt)

232 >>Seems to be a thing lately. People buying large body pickups who have zero clue about how to drive them.

Posted by: Insomniac

I call them 'dick trucks'
it's an arms race to see who can have the tallest fattest truck with the most knobbiest tires and the most bolt-on accessories that will never EVER see a dirt trail

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 12:50 PM (geLO8)

233 Get in the damned truck!!! *hic*

Posted by: Suburban Wine Moms at April 09, 2022 12:50 PM (Xrfse)

234 Or why. Sometimes I see a nice pickup, all clean and stuff, and think "gee, I don't think he needs that for work," and then I see inside the cab... a woman. Putting on her makeup.
Posted by: BurtTC
----------------

Let me guess. You're not from Oklahoma?

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 12:51 PM (iam1O)

235 222 Was The Expert Guy consulted in the writing of this post.
Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh at April 09, 2022 12:46 PM (eGTCV)

Many thought leaders died to bring us this information.

Just kidding! They didn't actually bring us any information

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:52 PM (II3Gr)

236 but I do see many genuine 4-wheelers

their trucks are scratched and dented and covered with dried mud, maybe some branches sticking out of the front grill, along with small deer parts

it's important to bring the mud home with you before you wash your truck, so people know

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 12:53 PM (geLO8)

237 Or why. Sometimes I see a nice pickup, all clean and stuff, and think "gee, I don't think he needs that for work," and then I see inside the cab... a woman. Putting on her makeup.
Posted by: BurtTC
----------------

Let me guess. You're not from Oklahoma?

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 12:51 PM (iam1O)

They don't have women in Oklahoma, or they don't wear makeup?

Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 12:54 PM (zVb98)

238 I like trucks but I have no intention of buying a full size pickup. They don't work with my short, fat body.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh. at April 09, 2022 12:55 PM (eGTCV)

239 It's like when I see a shiny new Range Rover, and the guy has added a snorkel to the engine

yeah, he's gonna drive his Rover across a stream

yeah right babe sure

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 12:55 PM (geLO8)

240 >.I like trucks but I have no intention of buying a full size pickup. They don't work with my short, fat body.

Posted by: N.L. Urker

see, I have a tall fat body. so I kinda have to

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 12:56 PM (geLO8)

241
their trucks are scratched and dented and covered with dried mud, maybe some branches sticking out of the front grill, along with small deer parts

it's important to bring the mud home with you before you wash your truck, so people know
Posted by: DB

I live on a route to an off-road area. Every Friday evening and Saturday morning we get a serenade of very clean 4x4s and razor types announcing they are going to go hit the dirt.
If there has been any rain they later go by, just as loudly, but covered in mud spray. I think they enjoy it.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:56 PM (8TQ1K)

242 They have plenty of good looking women in Oklahoma who drive pick ups.

Apparently this is a new thing in your neck of the woods.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 12:57 PM (iam1O)

243 I had thought about getting a big truck when I lived in Minnesota, as a winter vehicle. But I was living in an apartment and had no place to put it, and also no money to be buying something that expensive.

I'd be able to buy and store one now, but a foot of snow isn't a regular occurrence in TN so there's no pressing demand.

Posted by: CppThis at April 09, 2022 12:58 PM (UewuT)

244 ScreaminginDigital- we're scooting through Cheyenne as we speak. A quick breakfast at the r&b breakfast club and pointing it south. You live in a lovely part of the country!

Posted by: 496 at April 09, 2022 12:58 PM (T7y9I)

245 It's like when I see a shiny new Range Rover, and the guy has added a snorkel to the engine

yeah, he's gonna drive his Rover across a stream

yeah right babe sure
Posted by: DB

In downtown Phoenix.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:58 PM (8TQ1K)

246 It's like when I see a shiny new Range Rover, and the guy has added a snorkel to the engine

yeah, he's gonna drive his Rover across a stream

yeah right babe sure
Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 12:55 PM (geLO

I saw one of those snorkels the other day. Silliest looking thing I've ever seen. Sort of like the male version of the lady in the Volks Beetle, with the eyelashes on the headlights.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 12:58 PM (zVb98)

247 They have plenty of good looking women in Oklahoma who drive pick ups.

Apparently this is a new thing in your neck of the woods.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 12:57 PM (iam1O)

I'm sure. Except they're not putting on makeup, it's herpes medication.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 01:00 PM (zVb98)

248 240 >.I like trucks but I have no intention of buying a full size pickup. They don't work with my short, fat body.

Posted by: N.L. Urker
-----------------

Don't let that stop you.
My truck has electric seat that will raise and lower you and electric powered pedals that will bring them to your feet.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:00 PM (iam1O)

249 In downtown Phoenix.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 12:58 PM (8TQ1K)

Hey, there's always monsoon season.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 01:00 PM (zVb98)

250 Oh, and on that note, SUVs piss me off. Even I am old enough to remember when the platform was necessarily a rugged offroad vehicle, but most of what they're putting out now is just minivans with a different door configuration. Very frustrating if one is in the market for a vehicle that can properly handle the aforementioned mountains of snow.

Posted by: CppThis at April 09, 2022 01:01 PM (UewuT)

251 I haven't washed my truck in months. It's used around the property as well as a daily driver. It's got all the fancy shit too. The tailgate has two burn marks on it. We were on the property, burning some brush a couple years ago and the grass under the back of the truck caught fire. I was a bit slow to notice and move it.

There may have been Bourbon involved too.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 01:01 PM (BFigT)

252 Don't let that stop you.
My truck has electric seat that will raise and lower you and electric powered pedals that will bring them to your feet.

Posted by: Braenyard

Luxury! Mine had 3 on the column and a 10 gal gas tank.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:01 PM (8TQ1K)

253
I'm sure. Except they're not putting on makeup, it's herpes medication.
Posted by: BurtTC a-`
------------------

Maybe you'll feel better tomorrow.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:02 PM (iam1O)

254 Western swing is good times music.
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry!

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 09, 2022 01:02 PM (jTmQV)

255 Before the willowing, my personal thoughts on why "experts" are wrong.
Someone here once described education as being a spectrum that starts with knowing almost nothing about almost everything and end with knowing almost everything about almost nothing.
Hyperspecialization (I think I just made that one up) compounded by the ego gratification that comes with all those academic credentials causes people who should know better to stick their .02 where they don't belong. They get away with it because everyone loves credentials and Piled Higher and Deepers have that in spades.
So after a term of time where they get asked their opinions on things they're not expert in and having it be the final word because of their credentials, they start believing their own bullshit.

Of course, this is just one little aspect of why "experts" are wrong so often, but it shouldn't be discounted.

Posted by: OneEyedJack at April 09, 2022 01:02 PM (MFphb)

256 Oh, and on that note, SUVs piss me off. Even I am old enough to remember when the platform was necessarily a rugged offroad vehicle, but most of what they're putting out now is just minivans with a different door configuration. Very frustrating if one is in the market for a vehicle that can properly handle the aforementioned mountains of snow.
Posted by: CppThis at April 09, 2022 01:01 PM (UewuT)

I bought a Ridgeline last year, me and my son took it all over the place last summer. Lots of places that you can't go in a lesser vehicle.

Then I inherited a woman with three girls. So I traded the Ridgeline in for a Pilot. The Pilot is basically the same vehicle, it just seats more people. So I'm hoping we can drive on some dirt roads this year... if the silly little girls get over their motion sickness, that is.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 01:04 PM (zVb98)

257 My truck's covered in pine pollen, looks yellow but under that yellow it's like Black Cherry. Remember that one?

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 01:04 PM (gktX6)

258 Right on, Skip. People should understand the practical implications of what the current masters of Our Precious Democracy are doing. They are evil.

Posted by: Erik In Texas at April 09, 2022 01:05 PM (E0Qtv)

259 I'm sure. Except they're not putting on makeup, it's herpes medication.
Posted by: BurtTC `
------------------

Maybe you'll feel better tomorrow.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:02 PM (iam1O)

That would be nice.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 01:06 PM (zVb98)

260 My black truck is green.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:06 PM (iam1O)

261 Alcohol and fire go well together.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at April 09, 2022 01:06 PM (K/ea9)

262 Seems to be a thing lately. People buying large body pickups who have zero clue about how to drive them.
Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:45 PM (II3Gr)

I laugh at the kids who do that Carolina Lean to their trucks....

Lot of stoopid folks out there.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 09, 2022 01:07 PM (R/m4+)

263 So basically a monoculture is a 'bubble', right?

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 01:07 PM (m45I2)

264 >>Alcohol and fire go well together.

It is known.

Posted by: JackStraw at April 09, 2022 01:07 PM (ZLI7S)

265 here's another stupid thing stupid people do with their SUVs

they put those ridiculously low profile tires on enormous wheels and put them on the truck, then they're mystified when their supposedly 4WDer can't push thru CO snow

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 01:07 PM (geLO8)

266 My truck is rusting around wheel wells, I am going to fix it when it's not wet in freezing outside.

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 01:08 PM (2JoB8)

267 How does one inherit a woman and three girls?

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:08 PM (Vxu+H)

268 Then I inherited a woman with three girls.
Posted by: BurtTC

Sounds like that was an interesting will

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 09, 2022 01:08 PM (lCui1)

269 > Alcohol and fire go well together.

Most certainly.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 01:09 PM (BFigT)

270 268 Then I inherited a woman with three girls.
Posted by: BurtTC

You should have contested the will.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at April 09, 2022 01:09 PM (Qhnrt)

271 Chrome plated push-bars on a pickup seem silly. If you've ever gotten use them won't you scratch the hell out of that nice chrome?

Posted by: 496 at April 09, 2022 01:09 PM (T7y9I)

272 >How does one inherit a woman and three girls?

traded a Hawken gun for 'em

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 01:09 PM (geLO8)

273 267 How does one inherit a woman and three girls?
Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:08 PM (Vxu+H)

Being one unlucky sonofabitch? Doing something atrocious in a past life?

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 01:10 PM (II3Gr)

274 >.Chrome plated push-bars on a pickup seem silly

but it looks cool AF parked at Starbucks

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 01:11 PM (geLO8)

275 If she's a good woman I'd put up with the girls.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:11 PM (iam1O)

276 Dick trucks - oversize vehicles driven by people who don't know how to drive them. To fully understand this idea, drive Highway 7 on a Friday night between Crockett and Lufkin. You will quickly understand this idea.

Posted by: Erik In Texas at April 09, 2022 01:11 PM (E0Qtv)

277 >How does one inherit a woman and three girls?

Posted by: DB

Needed a sandwich maker available at all times?

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:11 PM (8TQ1K)

278 How much for the little girls?

Posted by: JuJuBee at April 09, 2022 01:12 PM (mNhhD)

279 277 >How does one inherit a woman and three girls?

Posted by: DB

Needed a sandwich maker available at all times?
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:11 PM (8TQ1K)

A panini press would've been much less expensive.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 01:12 PM (II3Gr)

280 When you don't have a truck you need more than one friend that has a truck. When you have 4wheel conditions you need at least F150 4X4 with 35" tires. Or a Subaru Outback. Diversity!

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 01:12 PM (gktX6)

281 A panini press would've been much less expensive.
Posted by: Insomniac

You can't operate and electric press from the pool float and when they bring the sandwich you can ask them to get the next beer too.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:13 PM (8TQ1K)

282 274 >.Chrome plated push-bars on a pickup seem silly
------------

There was a time in America that trim not chromed was not trim.

Anyway, those chromed bars will still give more energy back to that asshoe who runs into them.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:14 PM (iam1O)

283 Boy do I love Western Swing. God bless Asleep At The Wheel for keeping it alive to this day. I don't think there's been a western swing song on the country charts since maybe the '90s when George Strait, Clint Black, and Joe Diffie had hits with a western swing beat. ( "Right or Wrong" "Ace In The Hole" "One More Payment" "If The Devil Danced In Empty Pockets.)

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at April 09, 2022 01:14 PM (d9Cw3)

284 I would have the will contested, couldn't have been sound mind.

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 01:15 PM (2JoB8)

285 I'm not knocking trucks or truck owners- hell, I drive an F150

but there's purposeful, and then there's shiny do-nothing driveway trucks

but, it's a semi-free country- treat yourself

Posted by: DB at April 09, 2022 01:15 PM (geLO8)

286 drive Highway 7 on a Friday night between Crockett and Lufkin. You will quickly understand this idea.
Posted by: Erik In Texas at April 09, 2022 01:11 PM (E0Qtv)
------------

Hey, they know how to drive.......when they're sober.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:16 PM (iam1O)

287 Amazing Rythym Aces, Third Rate Romance.

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 01:16 PM (gktX6)

288 and then there's shiny do-nothing driveway trucks
Posted by: DB

Those are the ones that drive up the prices on the work trucks I desire.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:17 PM (8TQ1K)

289 When you don't have a truck you need more than one friend that has a truck. When you have 4wheel conditions you need at least F150 4X4 with 35" tires. Or a Subaru Outback. Diversity!
Posted by: Eromero

I had a Subaru Forrester. It would go anywhere. Even though it was kinda low to the ground, I drove that thing thru snow that was above the bumper and it didn't even bother that car. I drove right by that big honkin, gas guzzling 4x4 that was stuck in the snow. All wheel drive just works. As does knowing how to drive, which mister 4WD clearly did not.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:17 PM (Vxu+H)

290 2015 Ford Explorer with a large V6 and turbocharged. Best damn vehicle I've ever owned. And in the past I've owned the whole spectrum of vehicles.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at April 09, 2022 01:17 PM (Qhnrt)

291 Today's pick up trucks are the land cruisers of the '60's
and '70's.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:18 PM (iam1O)

292 MadamMayhem@289-
Amen, tell it all sister! Mrs. E learned to drive in Colorado.

Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 01:19 PM (gktX6)

293 When you have 4wheel conditions you need at least F150 4X4 with 35" tires. Or a Subaru Outback. Diversity!
Posted by: Eromero at April 09, 2022 01:12 PM (gktX6)

I think one of the reasons truck people hate Subies is that at the top of the mountain where "only trucks" can go will be 10 trucks and 2 Subarus.
Then they get the stink-eye like a Jap bike at a Harley bar.

Posted by: OneEyedJack at April 09, 2022 01:20 PM (MFphb)

294 Posted by: Madamemayhem

When we lived in the Sierras we had a Toyota Tercel Wagon.
Same thing, we were stopped by the CHP going to Tahoe once where everyone had to chain up. He looked at the car, at the tires, and said 'you're good to go'.
I think the 'chainers' hated us.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:20 PM (8TQ1K)

295 I love music which is immediately evocative of the place and the people who make it. Western swing is one of those.
It is so uniquely American sounding.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 09, 2022 01:20 PM (jTmQV)

296 Muldoon I was not dissenting a bit from what you said. Was just focusing on the stunning (and devastating) collapse of science in the public health/epidemiology field. Complete agree with your point as originally phrased (and re-phrased!).

Posted by: rhomboid at April 09, 2022 01:20 PM (OTzUX)

297 "4) African immigrants from places like Ghana and Nigeria. e.g., there's a large Ghanese neighborhood in The Bronx. There's also one for Albanians, and they're more alike than different. Every year around this time the NY Post will have a headline about how a single Black kid got into all eight Ivies and Duke. When you read the story the kid's parents are always immigrants, often from Nigeria."

My brother teaches math at a parochial grammar school in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. His pupils are almost all from the Horn of Africa - Somalia and Ethiopia, mainly - and he loves teaching them. They are bright, curious, and come from solid families. They will make outstanding citizens, assuming they don't get bent in high school or college.

Posted by: Nemo at April 09, 2022 01:21 PM (S6ArX)

298 All wheel drive just works. As does knowing how to drive, which mister 4WD clearly did not.
Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:17 PM (Vxu+H)

As does proper tire selection.

Posted by: OneEyedJack at April 09, 2022 01:21 PM (MFphb)

299 > Ford Explorer with a large V6 and turbocharged.
____________

My wife has a 2020 Explorer ST with the twin turbo V-6. Freaking thing is a 2 ton rocket. Turn off all the nanny gizmos, go into sport mode and manual shifting via paddles.

Weeeeee...

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 01:22 PM (BFigT)

300 Last few weeks truck having a intermittent starting problem, seems if doesn't start just give it some time, but as said very intermittent. Once started quick stop start isn't a problem so far.

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 01:22 PM (2JoB8)

301 AZ deplorable

Go to Build my Ford at ford.com.

You can build, you've got to tinker with it, an F-150 with a V8, suicide doors, and reasonable accessories for
under $40K.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:23 PM (iam1O)

302 I'm in southern Indiana and we don't see a lot of really deep snow. Maybe once a winter we get a snow storm that drop 4-6 inches. But my dad made me drive in that shit in a crappy old Chevy Nova that had more under the hood than common sense would consider reasonable. Touchy gas pedal caused much vroom!

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:24 PM (Vxu+H)

303 I have a Ford Flex, because I occasionally have to drive with musical instruments and various personnel along with those, plus luggage.
No worries.
I can comfortably carry 6 plus instruments and bags.
Is it inexpensive to operate these days?
Sadly, no.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 09, 2022 01:24 PM (jTmQV)

304 OK, I just read the book on "How to Fight Fascism With Violence" (which is why this comment is down here by the 300s), and I have a correction to offer:

Under COMBAT MOVES - The Hammer and Sickle it says Hammer the Nazis into the air, then reap their soul with the sickle of justice. As any student of history should know (cf Peter, Paul, and Mary) - "It's the hammer of justice", not the sickle of justice.

Posted by: LCMS Rulz! at April 09, 2022 01:25 PM (K58O6)

305 You can build, you've got to tinker with it, an F-150 with a V8, suicide doors, and reasonable accessories for
under $40K.

Posted by: Braenyard

That'd be what I'd like to do; but, now that I'm on a fixed income I have the sadz.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:25 PM (8TQ1K)

306 We live in a van. Down by the river.

Posted by: Experts at April 09, 2022 01:26 PM (Xrfse)

307 We live in a van. Down by the river.
Posted by: Experts

Soon. Please.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:27 PM (8TQ1K)

308 I like when guys get a dualie truck, then put extra wide dual tires on the back so that one of the tires is outside the already flared fender.

F-350 with 8' bed, but still wider than it is long.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at April 09, 2022 01:27 PM (qnVBz)

309 Where women are men, and clams are scared.

Posted by: Experts at April 09, 2022 01:28 PM (Xrfse)

310 I like when guys get a dualie truck, then put extra wide dual tires on the back so that one of the tires is outside the already flared fender.

F-350 with 8' bed, but still wider than it is long.
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy

Little tiny women driving those around here, pulling a horse trailer.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:29 PM (8TQ1K)

311 We live in a van. Down by the river.
Posted by: Experts

As you should. Now shut the fuck up and go slam your dick in the sliding door. It builds character.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:29 PM (Vxu+H)

312 It's the hammer of justice
It's the bell of freedom
It's the song about love between
My brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Posted by: Peter, Paul, and Mary at April 09, 2022 01:29 PM (q3gwH)

313 Posted by: Peter, Paul, and Mary at April 09, 2022 01:29 PM (q3gwH)

Piss off, hippies.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:30 PM (Vxu+H)

314 Someone explain the purpose of a short bed duelly. I see them off and on, they look... pinched. Not totally sure I like 'em or hate 'em.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 01:30 PM (BFigT)

315 Prints your quote. Heads towards wife.

*To be Continued*

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at April 09, 2022 12:36 PM (u82oZ)

Tell her that I am an expert.

Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 01:32 PM (SH2Zi)

316 Posted by: Peter, Paul, and Mary at April 09, 2022 01:29 PM (q3gwH)

Piss off, hippies.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:30 PM (Vxu+H)

I think they were more beatnicks/folkies.

Posted by: BignJames at April 09, 2022 01:32 PM (AwYPR)

317 Puff the magic fartclam.

Posted by: Experts at April 09, 2022 01:33 PM (Xrfse)

318 Posted by: Peter, Paul, and Mary at April 09, 2022 01:29 PM (q3gwH)

Piss off, hippies.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:30 PM (Vxu+H)

I think they were more beatnicks/folkies.
Posted by: BignJames at April 09, 2022 01:32 PM (AwYPR)

Didn't Peter or Paul have an issue with sex with minors?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 09, 2022 01:33 PM (Irn0L)

319 Might be just a prime mover for a trailer.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at April 09, 2022 01:34 PM (qnVBz)

320 I think they were more beatnicks/folkies.
Posted by: BignJames

So... Hippies then.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:34 PM (Vxu+H)

321 https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/08/
the-long-horrifying-history-of-groomers/

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 01:34 PM (2JoB8)

322 Someone explain the purpose of a short bed duelly. I see them off and on, they look... pinched. Not totally sure I like 'em or hate 'em.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at April 09, 2022 01:30 PM (BFigT)

Maybe for towing a fifth wheeler?

Posted by: BignJames at April 09, 2022 01:34 PM (AwYPR)

323 it's about how the kid immediately reflects on the parents.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Hoarder. Wrecker. Honker. at April 09, 2022 12:44 PM (II3Gr)

There is that, but it is a small part. I'd rather they learn from their mistakes and move on, which, I am sure we agree, reflects even more positively on the parents.

Posted by: flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at April 09, 2022 01:34 PM (SH2Zi)

324 In case anyone missed it the Titania McGrath link in KT's post is quite good.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:34 PM (8TQ1K)

325 So... Hippies then.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:34 PM (Vxu+H)

proto-hippies?

Posted by: BignJames at April 09, 2022 01:35 PM (AwYPR)

326 In other words, if you take a white baby, and forget to feed him for 3 days, and/or expose him to violence, he's going to be just as messed up as a black person who is so exposed. And then if you continue to expose him to abuse and neglect, this child is going to grow up to be a menace to society, if he/she ever grows up at all. Color ain't got nothin' to do with it.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 09, 2022 12:32 PM (zVb9

ah, so that explains the Irish.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 09, 2022 01:35 PM (q3gwH)

327 Towing

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 01:35 PM (2JoB8)

328 Should get outside, some cleanup and get back on roof to clean gutters better

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 01:37 PM (2JoB8)

329 314 Someone explain the purpose of a short bed duelly. I see them off and on, they look... pinched. Not totally sure I like 'em or hate 'em.
Posted by: Martini Farmer
---------------

Pull a trailer. That sweet spot smaller than a tractor or a goose neck travel trailer?

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:37 PM (iam1O)

330 I should finish cleaning my house. I probably won't, but ....... I might.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:38 PM (Vxu+H)

331 Catch you kids later!

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 09, 2022 01:40 PM (Vxu+H)

332 Well, Skip, I think Madamemayhem killed the thread.

Posted by: Braenyard at April 09, 2022 01:42 PM (iam1O)

333 Garden nood.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:42 PM (8TQ1K)

334 A good comedy about the brief popularity of folk music is "A Mighty Wind".

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 09, 2022 01:42 PM (jTmQV)

335 a biological male with a nine-inch penis

So the actual reason the women are angry that he shows it off in the locker room is that they can't have it?

Posted by: Ian S. at April 09, 2022 01:44 PM (haMNq)

336
How does one inherit a woman and three girls?
Posted by: DB

Happens all the time.

Posted by: Mike Brady at April 09, 2022 01:46 PM (63Dwl)

337 So the actual reason the women are angry that he shows it off in the locker room is that they can't have it?
Posted by: Ian S. at April 09, 2022 01:44 PM (haMNq)

No. I suspect you're being snarky, but why be insulting?

Posted by: CN The First at April 09, 2022 01:46 PM (ONvIw)

338 I love music which is immediately evocative of the place and the people who make it. Western swing is one of those.
It is so uniquely American sounding.
Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 09, 2022 01:20 PM (jTmQV)

Bob was a uniquely American musician, always looking to expand influences by going to black clubs and catching what was going on there and incorporating it into the Playboys music. His whirlwind tours were legendary for how tirelessly he'd work the band and then afterward would go into the recording studios when they were dog tired to cut some promos for future tours, figuring the band was at its tightest. Bob owned a number of radio stations where he'd promote the band.

Bob loved the alc a lot. Whenever you hear him ad libbing in the middle of songs with his manic "ahh ha"s he was pretty deep in the bag. If you listen to Bear Family compilations of everything he recorded he'd sometimes disappear during a session to dry out while the band kept going.

Posted by: Captain Hate won't forget Michael Byrd Murdered Ashli Babbitt at April 09, 2022 01:48 PM (y7DUB)

339 I had a short bed duelly for hauling horse trailers

Posted by: Truck Monkey Report at April 09, 2022 01:48 PM (flINI)

340 Is Muldoon still around?

Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 01:51 PM (4XsZ/)

341 My sister wrote down and published the music of an Oklahoma Old Time Fiddler who played Texas Swing in dance bands across the state border. He was more refined than Bob Wills. Never learned to read music, though.

Posted by: KT at April 09, 2022 01:53 PM (0ghg2)

342 Nobody tell CBD about the maple syrup in the Gardening Thread.

Posted by: KT at April 09, 2022 01:53 PM (0ghg2)

343 Unless I am mistaken, Texas enjoyed an influx of German immigrants about 100 years ago. You can hear the lilt of some polka influence in Western swing. You can still hear some heavy polka influence in Tex Mex and Ranchero music.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at April 09, 2022 01:57 PM (jTmQV)

344 Nobody tell CBD about the maple syrup in the Gardening Thread.
Posted by: KT

I'm sure *no one* of the horde would ever consider ratting you out to CBD!
/s

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 01:57 PM (VFcF2)

345 PSA, have secured a good room rate for the TXMoMe.

Posted by: Ben Had at April 09, 2022 02:00 PM (algzW)

346 344 Nobody tell CBD about the maple syrup in the Gardening Thread.
Posted by: KT

It's not the French toast thread so you shouldn't have a problem.

Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh at April 09, 2022 02:03 PM (eGTCV)

347 Unless I am mistaken, Texas enjoyed an influx of German immigrants about 100 years ago. You can hear the lilt of some polka influence in Western swing. You can still hear some heavy polka influence in Tex Mex and Ranchero music.
Posted by: gourmand

All of Mexico was under the Germans, which included TX and SoCal at the time. Another example: Dos Eques is an Amber in the German lager tradition.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 09, 2022 02:06 PM (VFcF2)

348
That item about Senile Joe begging Texas to secede is satire, right?

Posted by: N.L. Urker, oops, I commented again. Sorry, eh at April 09, 2022 11:40 AM

At the very bottom of the article:

Please note that this is a humor and satire post!

It did seem plausible, though.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 09, 2022 02:09 PM (dQvv7)

349 Suggest it to Sundowner while eating his oatmeal and who knows?

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 02:17 PM (2JoB8)

350 I'm here off and on.

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 02:32 PM (m45I2)

351

While waiting for the Evening Joke, we present for your entertainment: Mick Jagger singing Fart Clam City while I sodomize a giant sloth...

Posted by: Harry Crouch at April 09, 2022 02:37 PM (gcAPD)

352 I'm here on and on, working on doll house repairs

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 02:42 PM (2JoB8)

353 Muldoon,

You are the person I think of when I think of clever poems and puns.

Any idea's for a punny name for a drink for a bridal shower? Signature cocktail? I haven't even chosen a drink yet.

Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 02:43 PM (4XsZ/)

354 Just watched Rogan interview David Mamet. It wasn't Rogan's best work, because Mamet is a whole lot smarter and more experienced than him, and it was confusing him, so he spent most of the time badgering him about why he became a dirty conservative. But as always, Mamet's fascinating.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 09, 2022 02:44 PM (SKVme)

355 Snorkeled trucks in Houston have the last word on being silly at least once a year. Unfortunately.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 02:45 PM (towrt)

356 Any idea's for a punny name for a drink for a bridal shower? Signature cocktail? I haven't even chosen a drink yet.
Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 02:43 PM (4XsZ/)

Bridal Shower - Cocktail

I'm going leave that one alone

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 02:46 PM (towrt)

357
Muldoon he claims is off and on
When truth be told it's dusk 'till dawn
Thesaurus in hand he can not wait
To place a rhyme upon our plate
A place oft heard 'get off my lawn'

/ self score C-

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 09, 2022 02:47 PM (dQvv7)

358 Any idea's for a punny name for a drink for a bridal shower? Signature cocktail? I haven't even chosen a drink yet.
Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 02:43 PM (4XsZ/)

That gave me a Deep Thought

I'm sure some bride has married a groom named Frank Stein.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 02:50 PM (towrt)

359 Found out Jor Rogan had James Lindsay on, would like to listen but haven't used Spotify since Joe caved in to Leftists

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 02:51 PM (2JoB8)

360 Any idea's for a punny name for a drink for a bridal shower? Signature cocktail? I haven't even chosen a drink yet.
Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 02:43 PM (4XsZ/)

Think of something cute based on the groom's name

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 09, 2022 02:54 PM (lCui1)

361 Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 02:43 PM (4XsZ/)

Look up honey flavored cocktail recipes and call it a Honey Do.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at April 09, 2022 02:57 PM (towrt)

362
Think of something cute based on the groom's name
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 09, 2022 02:54 PM (lCui1)

I like your idea!
I need to ask some of my friends to help me, I'm a terrible writer. The person that usually would help me with something like this is the bride.

Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 02:57 PM (4XsZ/)

363 361 Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 02:43 PM (4XsZ/)

Look up honey flavored cocktail recipes and call it a Honey Do.
Posted by: Anti doesn't matter a

That's a good idea too!

I am amazed at how quick and creative you guys are. I am not at all and I'm jealous.

Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 02:59 PM (4XsZ/)

364 Any idea's for a punny name for a drink for a bridal shower? Signature cocktail? I haven't even chosen a drink yet.

******

I would need some insights or context.

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 02:59 PM (m45I2)

365 Is this a gravy boat and cookware sort of bridal shower or a sex toys and lacy underwear sort of bridal shower?

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 03:02 PM (m45I2)

366 PETS NOOD

Thank you for coming today, try the fettuccine, it's fantastic

Posted by: Skip advising you of your Nood threads at April 09, 2022 03:04 PM (2JoB8)

367 Bridal showers are a foreign country to me.

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 03:04 PM (m45I2)

368
I would need some insights or context.
Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 02:59 PM (m45I2)

The bride is an aspiring writer and her fiance is almost done with medical school and for some silly reason she likes Harry Potter and for her bachelorette party they are going to get her a Harry Potter stripper? If you can come up with a Harry Potter named drink or a literature named drink she would love that. She wrote her thesis on Ulysses.

Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 03:07 PM (4XsZ/)

369 365 Is this a gravy boat and cookware sort of bridal shower or a sex toys and lacy underwear sort of bridal shower?
Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 03:02 PM (m45I2)

It's a nice luncheon with gifts for the bride a few games and cocktails. It's fun to have a chalkboard with a special drink named just for the occasion but I'm not clever enough to name it.

Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 03:09 PM (4XsZ/)

370 Yeah. Nothing occurs to me right off. I'll let it percolate.

Posted by: Muldoon at April 09, 2022 03:11 PM (m45I2)

371 The question isn't a drink name but something that looks like a potion, in color or steaming.

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 03:11 PM (2JoB8)

372
She wrote her thesis on Ulysses.

From Wiki on Ulysses: Departing, Stephen decides that he will not return to the tower that night, as Mulligan, the "usurper", has taken it over.

Drink name idea - usurper.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 09, 2022 03:15 PM (dQvv7)

373
Or maybe uslurper

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 09, 2022 03:16 PM (dQvv7)

374 373
Or maybe uslurper
Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 09, 2022 03:16 PM (dQvv7)

You guys are all so witty and fast!

Posted by: CaliGirl at April 09, 2022 03:20 PM (4XsZ/)

375 That is good

Posted by: Skip at April 09, 2022 03:24 PM (2JoB8)

376
Give Muldoon some time... I'm hoping for a strong second place finish.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at April 09, 2022 03:29 PM (dQvv7)

377 The bride is an aspiring writer and her fiance is almost done with medical school and for some silly reason she likes Harry Potter and for her bachelorette party they are going to get her a Harry Potter stripper?

**
From Harry Potter:
Amortentia - love potion
Felix Felicis ( Liquid Luck)
Kissing Concoction
Cupid Crystals
Beguiling Bubbles
Twilight Moonbeams

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 09, 2022 04:35 PM (lCui1)

378 Bob Wills is still the King, but Merle Haggard was a god in his own right. Played his own leads, did his own stunts. The Playboys HATED Bob's trademark 'A Ha!'. The only memory I have of my parents dancing was at the Texas Prison Rodeo, back in '67 or thereabouts.

Posted by: JC at April 09, 2022 05:55 PM (xDN0i)

379

Do Pisco Sours with Yuzu juice and call them "Hermione's a Cunt"

Posted by: Harry Crouch at April 09, 2022 06:26 PM (p3WPr)

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