News Roundup

But never mind all that unseemly laughter, let’s:


…and the reaction from non-Californicators and non-Oregonads at the prospect of losing San Francisco, LA and Portland:

Some good things from


...one more time, add a zero to that total so we can get really happy.


...weren’t the Boston cops going to RESIST! or something?  Oh no, wait, that’s on the Left coast:


...I thought she was about to retire, the poor old addled thing.  Anyway, let’s see how that resistance/arrest thing plays out.


...do we have a similar ROE Over Here?  If not, why not?

And in Sporting News:


...yes, Mr. Blaine, I am shocked — shocked!  — to discover that there’s gambling on professional sports.

From The Great Cultural Assimilation Project© :


...I’m just curious as to when the German voters finally say, “Genug!”

In Lawn Ordure (International) News:


...at least she didn’t post hateful words in social media.  (Update:  they’ve since dropped the charges.  Sadly, the fear of tar and feathers did not seem to be a factor.)

And let’s have some decidedly non-linky

And a new feature, Headlines That May Be Just A Little Inaccurate:


...once again, no man should.


...although I wouldn’t be all that surprised if it was actually true.

Lastly, on our leisurely saunter down :


...Keely who…. oh wait, that one:  800-meter Olympic gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson:

 

And that’s a nice end to the news.

It’s Not Just Beds

While I was tempted to headline this post with “Smart Beds, Stupid People”, there’s a much bigger issue at stake here.

You see, as much as we might laugh at the idiocy of people who would depend on something as fragile as the Internet to operate their frigging beds (FFS), just stop and think about how much else is dependent on SkyNet:  communications, banking, traffic systems, logistics, security systems, even mapping services and cars (don’t get me started)… the list goes on and on, ad nauseam.

And yet people like me, who rail against the vulnerability of this encroachment on basic daily functions are patronized (“There there, Gramps, just take your pill and go to bed”) and called Luddites.

What about this much-lauded artificial intelligence thing?

An artificial intelligence system (AI) apparently mistook a high school student’s bag of Doritos for a firearm and called local police to tell them the pupil was armed.

Taki Allen was sitting with friends on Monday night outside Kenwood high school in Baltimore and eating a snack when police officers with guns approached him.

“At first, I didn’t know where they were going until they started walking toward me with guns, talking about, ‘Get on the ground,’ and I was like, ‘What?’” Allen told the WBAL-TV 11 News television station.

Allen said they made him get on his knees, handcuffed and searched him – finding nothing. They then showed him a copy of the picture that had triggered the alert.
close up of hands using a laptop keyboard

“I was just holding a Doritos bag – it was two hands and one finger out, and they said it looked like a gun,” Allen said.

Yeah, it’s all funny and stuff — until one day we discover that A.I.-generated police ROE training allows for lethal shooting at suspects “to eliminate the threat”.  Oh wait… you think robot cops are just a figment of Hollywood imagination?  Given that cops are facing staff shortages (#ThankYouBLM) and falling recruitment numbers (#ThankYouWokeCityGovernments), does anyone care to bet against me about this scenario?

Here’s the thing.  Try to write a story that has an unbelievable premise about the baleful effects of technology on a distant-future society, and I’ll show you:  tomorrow.  Bloody hell, the most prophetic form of hostile future technology that you can imagine is probably being beta-tested somewhere as we speak.

Even Blade Runner  is starting to look like a near-future dystopia rather than some far-off eventuality.

Having your bed controlled by SkyNet is the least of our problems.

News Roundup

Ah, the good old days when we could unashamedly use  !BOOBS!  to sell products.  But now:


...Florida, Texas brace for impact of still more YankeesFFS.  Still… okay, quit hogging the popcorn, y’all.


...actually, the opposite:  the deportations aren’t unpopular, and everyone who’s MAGA is united behind them.  Other than that, it’s quite true.
#MSNBC


...funny, we were just about to say the same about the Democrats.

Some International News:


...remember, it’s all part of The Great Cultural Assimilation Project©.


...like we care what the fence-sitting, speed-hating chocolate makers do.


...just to remind everyone:  it took until 1975 for Seffrica to get broadcast television.

In the Lawn Ordure Files:


...what pisses me off is that he actually got two sentences of 18 years for each offense, but the asshole judge decreed that they be served concurrently instead of consecutively.
#JudicialBullshit


...and still no mention of weekly floggings, castration or flaying.

In Business News:


...that just gives ol’ Elon more reserve stock for his Mars colonization plans.


...says the retail organization who pretty much caused the whole “off-shore production” activity.  I’ll believe this bullshit statement when 80% of Walmart merchandise is made in the U.S.
#NeverGonnaHappen

From the Dept. of Education:


...she was saving her vag for the highschoolers’ trip, no doubt.

And in the usual

         

And speaking of that lot, as we drive headlong down :


...first thought:  because she’s an attention-seeking slut, like the entire Kardashian coven?  I report, you decide:

Amazing;  after all that surgery and such, she’s still less attractive than the average Moscow street prostitute.

#NoManShould

Sad Trend

I read this article with a great sense of sadness:

Founded in 1759 by the pioneering Josiah Wedgwood, the housewares brand quickly rose to prominence, earning fans in high places. Its elegant, often hand-painted china was used in Buckingham Palace, the White House, the Vatican, and even the Kremlin.

But fast forward to today, and once-prized porcelain pieces that were lovingly gifted at weddings, and saved for anniversaries and Christmas dinners are gathering dust, or worse, going for pennies on online marketplaces. 

The sparkle has well and truly faded for the formal dining crockery, pieces that once fetched hundreds of pounds are now struggling to sell at car boot sales, with some saying they can’t even ‘give the sets away’.

Why?

Expert and prolific author on ceramics and glass, John Sandon, who makes regular appearances on the BBC Antiques Roadshow, revealed the decline in demand for traditional porcelain is less about quality and more about shifting cultural attitudes. He told the Daily Mail: “Most people consider their best china and family inherited crockery is ‘old fashioned’, whatever that means. Most old sets are regarded as impractical for everyday use, and very, very few people want to use them.”

Reflecting on changing attitudes toward inherited tableware, John noted the growing disconnect between sustainability messages and modern family preferences. He added: “The much quoted ‘Antiques are Green’ message has tried to emphasise that old china sets are the ultimate recyclables. And Granny’s china sets should be used. But most modern families don’t want to.”

Highlighting the gap between appreciation and practicality, John pointed out that admiration for antique ceramics doesn’t always translate into everyday use.

“Not using your old china tea services and fruit sets is nothing to do with the reason people choose plain white from Ikea and The Range instead of very expensive Wedgwood.”

One of my abiding regrets about emigrating was that I couldn’t bring over my (inherited) dinnerware with me.  What was it?

It was Wedgwood Signet Platinum, and it was the classiest, most elegant dinnerware ever.

At dinner parties, even my rowdy, uncouth friends would comment on how lovely it looked, and how it set off the meal perfectly.

It’s profoundly sad, but not altogether surprising, that people nowadays would rather use cheap shit from Ikea or Walmart than bother to put out a decent table setting for their guests.  I guess that utility wins over style and grace.

I think I’ll go and eat some worms.  Off a paper plate.

News Roundup

Let’s start this thing off properly:


...two words:  THOUGHT EXPERIMENT So… apocalyptic nonsense.

But back in the real world:


...can’t wait to see the viewership numbers.
#CharlieSmiles

From the Dept. Of Health:


...get ‘er done.
#BlindinglyObvious

From the :


...not sure I agree with this one, unless these 200 kids are accompanied by a dozen or so Apache choppers (just to keep the fucking Arabs honest).  Then again:


...wonder why that is?
#NoMoreDEI #Warfighting

Some


...equipped with helipads?  No?  Pppppbbbbbtttt.


...amazing how the threat of using the National Guard spurs these IllyNazis to do their actual job.
#IllinoisStateCopsAreAssholes #AskMeHowIKnowThis


...quite the little over-achiever, ain’t he?  Let’s hope that Texas acts appropriately.

From the Dept. Of Government Shutdowns:


In Legal News:


...this has nothing to do with their having broken actual laws (unlike Trump).
#YouStartedTheLawfare #EnjoyTheRebound

In International News:


...you wanted it, you got it.  Enjoy the consequences.  But then, to show how it’s done:


ipse dixit.


...I’m not against the principle, but I am interested to see how they plan to implement it.


...ahhh Giorgia Meloni...


...coming soon to a California near you.

In !Science! News:


...because we enjoy the way it makes us feel?  See, and I didn’t even need a grant to tell you that.

And speaking of

 

 

And from the houses on :


...and MILFy she most certainly is:

 

News Roundup

And you’re gonna need a couple, after reading this lot.

Taylor Swift says it’s ‘shockingly offensive’ to claim this is her last album
...what’s really offensive is the thought that we’re going to have to endure still more of her assembly-line “music” for the next who-knows-how-long.

Next, some Backlash News:


...should have been fired for academic fraud long ago, but I’ll take what I can get.

...at least she wasn’t bonking a 14-year-old.  One hopes.

And in

 




...keep on truckin’, boys:  i.e. throw ’em out by the truckload.  Or something.

In International News:


...sounds about right.  And speaking of Jew-killers:


...like anyone cares.

From the Darwin Report:


...let’s just hope that her kids’ father(s) might have passed on a bigger helping of brains to them.

From Teh Meejah:

PIERS MORGAN: JK Rowling once called me an amoral celebrity toady
...truth hurts, dunnit?

And now it’s that time: 


...when a porno movie does halftime… oh wait, that’s BROWN Bunny.  My bad.
Oh, and Mr. Bunny:  I’m not going to learn Spanish just to try to understand your poxy lyrics.

And in our journey along :


...yes, I’m afraid it’s that time again.  Sorry.

After that, the news is kinda lame.