Link round-up for 20 October 2024

Various interesting stuff I ran across on the net over the last week.

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Cats are just gonna cat.

He finally got lunch, but it wasn't easy.

This is not the right place to flatten a beer can.

See the latest in idiot macho engineering.

Get off my back or I'll steal your pants.

Some truck drivers have a sense of humor.

This is what it means to "serve" an eviction notice.

Mom shows favoritism to that one kid.

Somebody wasn't paying attention in physics class.

Old cars encounter various mishaps.

He got round the corner, but was it worth it?

It's easy to see why these religious conversion efforts flopped so badly.

When at work, be careful not to damage any equipment.

Lamest alien invasion ever.

An exchange of a hostage for cash goes very, very wrong.

A police officer battles a giant pumpkin (found via Miss Cellania).

Here's an impressive Halloween display.

You can also do Halloween scares on the cheap.

The Manitou Springs skeleton craze continues; the Skeleton Times ace reporters are on the case.  More skeletons here.  And don't miss this Beetlejuice-themed bar.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Colorado.....

Dark Thoughts blog goes all in on the season.

Do you have a favorite horror film you'd like artist/blogger Pliny to Halloween-ize?

These decorations are for large budgets only.

Enjoy the Halloween art of Lewis Barrett Lehrman.

Then there's this graveyard, some of whose residents seem a bit too lively.

Boston looks nice in the Fall.

Why have a dog when you could have a table?

On a French beach stands this spectacular skeletal sculpture (NSFW blog, requires Blogspot login).

The mist concealed it until it was almost upon us.

There's a good reason why even stone-age people knew to cook meat thoroughly before eating it.  But see also this wide-ranging recall of meat due to listeria risks.  It's not easy to make eating parts of corpses genuinely safe.

Valentina Tereshkova flies, 1963.

NASA's Europa Clipper mission has been launched; its goal is to seek evidence of life-favoring conditions on Jupiter's moon Europa.  Official mission site here.

People are being idiots about nuclear energy.

This drone is easy to fly, shoots good-quality video, and costs only $200.  It's too noisy for effective spying on people, but you can see where this technology is going.

In Florida and nearby, watch out for this tiny but dangerous caterpillar.

Here's yet another reason to switch to Firefox.

Elon Musk's "AI" Optimus robot is pure fakery.

Witness the horrifying worship of The Thicker Man.

A gaming-convention attendee notices some positive developments.

Here's a song celebrating women voting independently.

Burr Deming is back online, with a post discussing the attack on his former blog Fair and Unbalanced.  Here's a link to the new blog's home page.  I gather this is somewhat provisional; I'll keep readers posted on any changes.

Read the remarkable survival story of Nicholas Alkemade.

After World War II, the French government enabled one of the biggest money scams ever by setting artificial exchange rates.

Don't try to dictate to me where I should live, asshole.

It's claimed that religion can make you happier, but even if true, is it worth it?

Right from the first words of the story, I knew that a woman didn't do this.

All people believe in freedom for themselves.

You can help Ukraine via these verified charities.

A nurse says that she and her team were pressured to go ahead with harvesting organs from a "dead" patient who was clearly still alive.

There are two different kinds of homophobia, conservative and liberal.

Applying for a job is nightmarish if you're homeless, but a librarian can help.

Those old Redbox kiosks can easily be hacked to reveal customers' private information.

Trump's hotel in Las Vegas doesn't say much for his ability to manage things.

The internet is being swamped with ads, antagonizing and alienating readers -- seriously, is there still anybody out there not using an ad blocker?

Three state governments are suing the FDA because they don't have enough teen pregnancies.  I am not making this up.

A gay conference in the UK was targeted with cricket terrorism.  But she who laughs last laughs best.  More here.

The Satanic Temple has opened a second telehealth abortion clinic, this one in Virginia.

"Still, we have a powerful ally, in the fetid wad of Adderall-soaked bologna rotting away between the GOP nominee's ears."

If people come on your property and steal your stuff, you can shoot them, right?

A belief in clear-cut falsehoods has become part of the Republican brand.

If you live in Texas, beware of this trick to stop you from registering to vote.

Who's that behind the shower curtain?

The richest oligarchs are donating big to support Trump.

"FanDuel Americans" are a growing new demographic -- mostly young and male, apolitical, optimistic, non-woke but not anti-woke, and more interested in entertainment than activism.

Elon Musk sees Trump as a tool to subjugate America to his ridiculous Ayn Rand fantasies.

Yes, it is possible to tax billionaires properly.  More here.

Women prison inmates in Minnesota are being terrorized by male prisoners brought in among them.

Harris has appeared on Fox and will appear on Joe Rogan, taking her case to supporters of the opposition, as Buttigieg has had some success doing in the past.  I am not holding my breath for Trump to agree to interviews by Rachel Maddow or Bill Maher.

Based on the pronouncements of several popes, government should prevent the practice of religions other than Catholicism, and punish or in some cases even execute those who oppose the Catholic Church.

Democratic candidates need to stop doing this crap.  It's a powerful incentive to not donate.

Medicare Advantage is ripping off the government.

I agree that this guy should be fired.  But vote for Harris anyway.  Discussion here.

The mainstream media's election coverage may come back to haunt them.

Annie Asks You blog is cautiously optimistic about the election.

Muslim voters in Michigan are firming up their support for Trump.

Trans ideology inherently implies the abolition of homosexuality.

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is a moderate Democratic congresswoman struggling for re-election in a slowly reddening district just north of me.

Trump does have one issue he can use to appeal to women voters.  Discussion here.

School vaccinations continue to drop across the US, increasing the risk of future disease outbreaks.

It's now the Republicans who are the party of welfare queens.

What does "trans rights" actually mean?

This crap is getting tiresome.  Take pride in Shakespeare FFS.

Let religious fanatics in, this is what you get.

Poland has appointed a new ambassador to Israel, ending a rift caused by Poland's previous, more hard-right government.

In 1994, Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for paper security guarantees.  It's now obvious that this was a serious mistake.  Some believe Ukraine is planning to correct it.

Besides "hunting" Ukrainian civilians with drones, Russian troops are now doing the same to dogs.

There's a genuine axis of evil at work in the world, and only one US party understands the stakes.

If ever a person deserved to die, it was this stinking pile of pig shit.  Civilized leaders seem to agree.  Biden's statement here.

Netanyahu has repeatedly ignored Western calls for self-restraint in retaliating for jihadist attacks, and the results achieved have vindicated him.  The same must apply to retaliation against the Iranian theocracy.

In Johannesburg, there's now a proposal to re-name the street the US consulate is on after a terrorist, as a calculated insult to the US.

More links at WAHF, and more here (they had so many they needed two posts).

My posts this week:  some truths and inspirations, and why the country needs a Democratic landslide.

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Only 11 days until Halloween!

The company I've been working at for the last few weeks manages facilities in cities all across the country.  Yet they're in the process of selling all those located in the Portland area and ending operations in our city, even though the corporate headquarters is here.  It's partly due to what they consider an unfavorable regulatory environment, but mainly due to crime, according to an interesting recent chat with my direct manager.  "It's not fair to our staff..... one of our maintenance guys downtown was stabbed recently..... we're spending a fortune on armed security guards....." (they are -- I've seen the bills).  Meanwhile, the ivory-tower jackasses continue claiming that crime is down.  Such claims are based on FBI statistics, which are pretty much worthless since they include only reported crimes, and many victims no longer see much point in reporting.  What we really need is fewer statistics and more cops.  There's actually a guy running for mayor on a platform of hiring one thousand new cops immediately.

[Image at top:  the Europa Clipper, image by NASA]