Gripped in a frigid polar vortex, people have to come up with ways to cope with the bitter cold. In a video which has gone viral, a woman outside of an Ohio coffee shop flings hot coffee into the air, and it freezes into coffee snow and blows away. It's an exuberant moment in the midst of a trying time, and it rightfully became popular. Of course, lunatics can make everything suck... the 'chemtrail' conspiracy theorists have glommed onto this video. Just wait until they figure out what the queers are doing to the soil.
It's getting so a guy can't even enjoy freezing his ass off these days.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
The Vortex Hath Arrived
Checking the weather app on my workplace cell phone, I see that it is 4F (-15.5C) outside, with wind chills making it feel like -15F (-26C). Yep, the polar vortex which has been gripping the Midwest has finally arrived. Needless to say, I have put on multiple layers of clothing, including a pair of flannel lined jeans which are tailor made (heh) for nights such as this. I also plan on limiting my exposure to the elements. While my work tasks involve some outdoor time, on a night like this, I can slack off on these to some extent for the sake of personal safety.
Earlier today, there was a brief snow squall which led to whiteout conditions on the roads throughout the Northeast, and not the good kind:
Luckily, this squall hit hours before I had to leave for work. All things told, though, I can't complain about the cold- I am well-equipped to deal with it. Besides, I've been getting regular updates from my old college roommate, who lives in St Paul, Minnesota. The cold snap we're having here in New York is positively balmy compared to the Twin Cities.
UPDATE: Went out to handle some tasks in the one o'clock hour, and the temperature was, according to the workplace cell phone, a flat zero degrees Fahrenheit, with the wind chills making it feel like minus eighteen. Needless to say, I didn't tarry outside for long. Ginger, I am happy to say, is happily ensconced on one of the radiator covers in the building in which she spends nights that are sufficiently cold to require something 'stronger' than her heated bed in an unheated building.
Earlier today, there was a brief snow squall which led to whiteout conditions on the roads throughout the Northeast, and not the good kind:
Luckily, this squall hit hours before I had to leave for work. All things told, though, I can't complain about the cold- I am well-equipped to deal with it. Besides, I've been getting regular updates from my old college roommate, who lives in St Paul, Minnesota. The cold snap we're having here in New York is positively balmy compared to the Twin Cities.
UPDATE: Went out to handle some tasks in the one o'clock hour, and the temperature was, according to the workplace cell phone, a flat zero degrees Fahrenheit, with the wind chills making it feel like minus eighteen. Needless to say, I didn't tarry outside for long. Ginger, I am happy to say, is happily ensconced on one of the radiator covers in the building in which she spends nights that are sufficiently cold to require something 'stronger' than her heated bed in an unheated building.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Two Grifts for the Price of One
Rick Perlstein's The Long Con article in The Baffler is required reading for anyone attempting to understand the current state of American conservatism. There are various forms of the grift, and I think I found my favorite iteration of the form, a sort of twofer that combines stolen valor militarism/toxic masculinity and religious-based xenophobia... behold, Tactical Tea:
It's guaranteed to be sourced from countries which aren't dominated by Sharia law, and it's TACTICAL, like an overpriced flashlight or camo-cargo pants. Plus, it's not politically correct, which means I shudder to see what they call black tea, which is tea grown on the Democrat Plantation.
Well, I'm off to Tuesday Night Bar Trivia, and I have to tell you that Rudy's had better have Tactical Beer on tap!
“politically incorrect tea”
— Brandt (@UrbanAchievr) January 28, 2019
ITS FUCKING TEA WHAT THE FUCK IS POLITICAL ABOUT TEA pic.twitter.com/X7zOV3eEfz
It's guaranteed to be sourced from countries which aren't dominated by Sharia law, and it's TACTICAL, like an overpriced flashlight or camo-cargo pants. Plus, it's not politically correct, which means I shudder to see what they call black tea, which is tea grown on the Democrat Plantation.
Well, I'm off to Tuesday Night Bar Trivia, and I have to tell you that Rudy's had better have Tactical Beer on tap!
Monday, January 28, 2019
What Did We Learn?
It is tempting, and not unreasonable, to think that the government shutdown was called off because a 'sickout' on the part of the air traffic controllers led to the ground stop of LaGuardia Airport. All told, the government shutdown is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to have cost the US economy eleven billion dollars. Trump is running the government like he runs his businesses... in a really shitty manner.
The one lesson to take away from this shutdown shitshow is that workers have more power than we believed we have, even with union participation being abysmal in the United States. Six sick air traffic controllers were able to throw a huge proverbial monkey wrench into the nation's transportation system. The head of the flight attendants' union even called for a general strike if the shutdown weren't ended. It's an idea that has gained quite a bit of traction in the last couple of weeks, and if there's another shutdown in three weeks, it just might happen.
It would be ironic if the guy whose trademark line was 'you're fired' turned out to be the guy who revived the labor movement in the US. He's long be a shitty boss, and a hypocrite when it comes to immigration. Back in the 1980s, he hired undocumented workers to handle demolitions work when he transformed the old Bonwit Teller building into his original Manhattan Trash Palace. Currently, his organization is firing dozens of undocumented employees of his Westchester County, New York country club... conveniently, during the winter slow season.
Trump has never engaged in a fair fight before- he has a history of stiffing contractors and employees who didn't have the means to pursue legal action for long- he would just 'run out the clock' on his plaintiffs and 'win', if that's what you call stiffing people. Now, he's up against a determined opposition and he's getting his overinflated head handed to him. While the House of Representatives can investigate him and block his agenda, the real lesson is that the general public has the power to fight back, not only against the current maladministration, but against other bad actors in the corporate world, we just have to remember how to flex our muscle.
The one lesson to take away from this shutdown shitshow is that workers have more power than we believed we have, even with union participation being abysmal in the United States. Six sick air traffic controllers were able to throw a huge proverbial monkey wrench into the nation's transportation system. The head of the flight attendants' union even called for a general strike if the shutdown weren't ended. It's an idea that has gained quite a bit of traction in the last couple of weeks, and if there's another shutdown in three weeks, it just might happen.
It would be ironic if the guy whose trademark line was 'you're fired' turned out to be the guy who revived the labor movement in the US. He's long be a shitty boss, and a hypocrite when it comes to immigration. Back in the 1980s, he hired undocumented workers to handle demolitions work when he transformed the old Bonwit Teller building into his original Manhattan Trash Palace. Currently, his organization is firing dozens of undocumented employees of his Westchester County, New York country club... conveniently, during the winter slow season.
Trump has never engaged in a fair fight before- he has a history of stiffing contractors and employees who didn't have the means to pursue legal action for long- he would just 'run out the clock' on his plaintiffs and 'win', if that's what you call stiffing people. Now, he's up against a determined opposition and he's getting his overinflated head handed to him. While the House of Representatives can investigate him and block his agenda, the real lesson is that the general public has the power to fight back, not only against the current maladministration, but against other bad actors in the corporate world, we just have to remember how to flex our muscle.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Old Friends, Old Times, Old Jokes
I’m headed down to Manhattan to meet up with some old college friends. It’s funny how the years drop away under such circumstances. Old jokes remembered, cryptic references to decades old shenanigans... it really is remarkable how easy it is to become a nineteen year old again.
It’s just too bad the body doesn’t regress to that earlier time along with the mind. I don’t recall having to take long, scalding showers just to be able to move after a workout back then.
It’s just too bad the body doesn’t regress to that earlier time along with the mind. I don’t recall having to take long, scalding showers just to be able to move after a workout back then.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Bad Day in MAGAland
Put succinctly, today was just bad for MAGAts. This morning, I woke up to answer the 'call of nature' around 7AM and made the mistake of checking out the news. Upon finding out that Roger Stone was arrested, I had a hard time trying to get back to sleep, but eventually crawled back into bed so I could get some sleep before working a double overnight shift. I woke up just in time to hear Trump giving his speech about caving on both government shutdown and border wall... GOOD TIMES!
With those two big news stories foremost on the radi-adi-o, I decided to check out what the MAGA people were saying, and it was pure comedy gold. There were accusations of Trump being a wimp, accusing Trump of consuming soy products, whining about Pelosi winning twice in one week, and experiencing religious schisms over the divinity of their God Emperor. The Schadenfreude is exquisite.
Personally, I believe that the government shutdown was ended because LaGuardia Airport was shut down. Trump really isn't interested in what the rubes who voted for him want, but he sure would love to be accepted by the Manhattan glitterati- with one of the three major airports serving New York City closed, the shutdown was starting to impact the Wall Streeters and 'swell set' whose love the Dotard yearns for. Sorry, Red Staters, he's just not that into you.
With those two big news stories foremost on the radi-adi-o, I decided to check out what the MAGA people were saying, and it was pure comedy gold. There were accusations of Trump being a wimp, accusing Trump of consuming soy products, whining about Pelosi winning twice in one week, and experiencing religious schisms over the divinity of their God Emperor. The Schadenfreude is exquisite.
Personally, I believe that the government shutdown was ended because LaGuardia Airport was shut down. Trump really isn't interested in what the rubes who voted for him want, but he sure would love to be accepted by the Manhattan glitterati- with one of the three major airports serving New York City closed, the shutdown was starting to impact the Wall Streeters and 'swell set' whose love the Dotard yearns for. Sorry, Red Staters, he's just not that into you.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Gonna Start a Tab at the Stop and Shop
Oh, dear, in a 'Marie Antoinette in MAGAland' moment, the Dotard is suggesting that government employees impacted by his shutdown start running tabs at the grocery store:
“When they go for groceries, they will work along. They know the people. They’ve been dealing with them for years. And they work along.”
I do know the people at the grocery stores in which I typically shop, and if they set up a tab for me, somebody from corporate would fire them. It's not like the old days, when my eight-year old grandmother could stop in a local tavern, have the publican fill her parents' growler with beer, and put it on the monthly tab.
This idiocy is a follow up to Wilbur Ross' advice that furloughed workers take on debt in order to make up for their lack of pay:
“The banks and the credit unions should be making credit available to them,” he said, noting that the government would give federal employees back pay. “There really is not a good excuse why there really should be a liquidity crisis.”
“True, the people might have to pay a little bit of interest. But the idea that it’s paycheck or zero is not a really valid idea.”
I can't think of a more perfect Republican 'disaster capitalism'- create a problem and then use that problem to extract money out of the hapless proles affected by it. Forget the Dow and the NASDAQ, the smart money lies in investing in tumbrel futures if this sort of cruelty continues.
“When they go for groceries, they will work along. They know the people. They’ve been dealing with them for years. And they work along.”
I do know the people at the grocery stores in which I typically shop, and if they set up a tab for me, somebody from corporate would fire them. It's not like the old days, when my eight-year old grandmother could stop in a local tavern, have the publican fill her parents' growler with beer, and put it on the monthly tab.
This idiocy is a follow up to Wilbur Ross' advice that furloughed workers take on debt in order to make up for their lack of pay:
“The banks and the credit unions should be making credit available to them,” he said, noting that the government would give federal employees back pay. “There really is not a good excuse why there really should be a liquidity crisis.”
“True, the people might have to pay a little bit of interest. But the idea that it’s paycheck or zero is not a really valid idea.”
I can't think of a more perfect Republican 'disaster capitalism'- create a problem and then use that problem to extract money out of the hapless proles affected by it. Forget the Dow and the NASDAQ, the smart money lies in investing in tumbrel futures if this sort of cruelty continues.
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