If you don't want to go to an event don't say "I bought you two tickets because that was the offer and I figured you could take a friend."
You need to add "plus I really wouldn't enjoy it and you don't want to spend a couple of hours with me at an event I really am not going to enjoy. We could very easily go to an event that we both enjoy, another time."
That way you don't spend your Saturday looking like a grumpy asshole while you suffer through an event that's about as much fun to you as watching paint dry. Woo.
Apparently I need to work on my communication skills.
According to Wikipedia: Hegseth was raised in Forest Lake, Minnesota,[20] and attended Forest Lake Area High School.
He graduated in 1999 as valedictorian.
WTF? He did nothing but grift and kill people after that. There are hints that his parents were crazy wingnuts. (Father coached basketball throughout Minnesota. Why? Couldn't keep a job? Mom was trainer for a fellowship and leadership program for Republican and center-right women)
One of the stories I read a while back noted that he did way better in Ivy League academia which he purports to detest than he ever did as an enlisted "whatever".
Last week Starmer was being castigated for trying to join a war that was already won, after preparing to send a warship to protect UK interests, now Trump's begging him, and other countries, for help. After already saying they are, a couple of sentences before.
This is deranged, even by his standards.
======
Love how he starts by saying many countries will be sending warships to help us, and then two sentences later says well hopefully they will
the UK is not happy about this. They were lied into a war by Blair and now Starmer. He is already a weak PM. This will finish him off. Nish Kumar ( Pod Save the UK) was commenting that he is just a PM waiting to be replaced now
HuffPost: "Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeated a similar claim on Friday in a rage-filled appearance on Fox News. “As the world is seeing, [Iran is] exercising sheer desperation in the Strait of Hormuz, something we’re dealing with," Hegseth said. He added that it's nothing to worry about. "We have been dealing with it and don’t need to worry about it," Hegseth said."
I actually do. I am UK born and raised although I have lived in the US longer than the UK. Starmer had fucking carte blanche when he was elected and he has pissed it all away. If the Greens had more folk in parliament I think they would be the ones to worry about. Farage doesn't have many in parliament but he does have the bombastic shite that Trump spouts and so many Brits love the bully.
"Mr. Secretary, when you say 'No Quarter', are you directing American troops to not accept the surrender of Iranian troops and to kill them all regardless?" asked no journalist at all.
Seriously. We've already seen what this "No Quarter" policy looks like. Blowing up innocent fishermen off the coast of Venezuela and then blowing them up again so they don't get rescued.
My daughter's sister ( weird family dynamics) lives in Dubai. I chatted with her a couple of days ago and she told me that the building 2 blocks away was hit during the night. She teaches EFL there and is not the wealthy tax dodging kind. They have pets they refuse to leave and they have been rescuing those that have been abandoned. She and her partner are good people caught in the crossfire of men who do not care.
OT: Gas in my area went up $.25 yesterday. It was $4.46 when I dropped my partner off at work and when I picked him up last night it was $4.70 (and the mid-grade at $5.00something).
Goddamn these stinking fucking chuds. No forgiveness for them. None.
I filled up this morning, because I will likely be snowed in for several days, and it was $3.399. Interestingly, the next station down the road, which is usually twenty cents lower, is now $3.499. I expect changes before the snow melts.
It is bad here in rural E WA. Today it is $4.82 and set to go up. My only upside is the MAGA fuckers who drive their big trucks everywhere are feeling the pain. Of course, they are blaming the Governor rather than what is happening somewhere far away
It's like that older Canadian standing in front of me in line at the grocery store blaming Carney for rising grocery prices. The goal isn't just to bitch about something; the goal is to blame a liberal for it.
OT: in my job I run into a lot of interesting names. Now, obviously I can't share any of them with you. But last night I had a little old lady (high 90s) with a GREAT name, on the order of 'Aura L. Greathead'.
She either had a really good, or a really hard time in high school.
At my old job, I did a lot of international emailing, and used to collect names that amused me. My favorite? Well, you know how some Asians with give themselves an Americanized first name for ease of communicating with us dumb USAns? I give you one of my Canadian engineering contacts - Tiger Wang.
Why yes, I am twelve.
I also worked regularly with a South African with the first name "Bongokile." We corresponded for years before I realiized I didm't know if they were male or female. It didn't really matter, so I never asked. I was just going to Google it, but decided it was more fun not knowing.
When I worked early shift at UPS for a few years many years ago I found out a few things. Just for my own edification (Thanks to Miss Halcrow Grade 9 English teacher for making that word forever memorable and useful to me) Morale of the story: There is no thing (usually) as an unlisted address,
I will add to this that Yemeni Houthi's may well shut down the Suez Canal. Time to dig the bike out of the garage. My bad knee will just have to suck it up.
we had a Tesla for almost 10 years( I know)until it was totaled. We didn’t want to get another one due to Elon. It was the only EV at the time that had the mileage we needed. I refuse to pay for a Rivian that has the good mileage as they want stupid money for the base trim. We are hoping to get a Scout EV when they arrive later this year.
I'm trying to figure out how to get to work 75 miles round-trip without a car if gas is too much. It would take 4-1/2 hours by bus/subway/commuter rail. Eleven hours if I walk.
Yemen can't shut down the Suez Canal - at least, not without Egypt having something to say about that. It's also a fair distance away from Yemen.
There is a strait right by Yemen, but I'm not sure what it's called or if the Houthis are in the right part of Yemen to make that threat realistic or not.
But again, I was just pointing out that they can't fuck with the canal, because they're nowhere near it. A strait many miles southeast of canal is a different proposition.
It was paywalled for me, I don't know what to tell you. And again, I was just pointing out that that's not the canal. Because it's not. It's a strait many miles from the canal.
am really not trying to argue. The maps all show the straight being at the base end of the Suez Canal. This is why it is so important. The Houthi’s shut it down once before in 2022 and they may well do it again. The only drawback for them would be pissing of Saudi Arabia.
Iran’s allies, the Houthis in Yemen, are threatening to close a major trade route between Europe and Asia, according to intelligence sources in the region.
ITV News has been told there is real concern that an expansion of the war will see the Houthis engage and disrupt shipping through Bab el-Mandeb, which lies between Yemen and Djibouti.
I may be missing something, but just looking at a map, Yemen is nowhere near the canal. Its western coast is on a strait that the Houthis might be able to fuck with, but it's not the canal.
"What an asshole!" Bodega Caturday https://bsky.app/profile/bodegacats.bsky.social/post/3mgzpkwdi4s26
I beg to differ. That's a big boy in an 8-yo's suit. I saw those banned pictures.
'Fox News without the charm' LOL
Life lesson.
If you don't want to go to an event don't say "I bought you two tickets because that was the offer and I figured you could take a friend."
You need to add "plus I really wouldn't enjoy it and you don't want to spend a couple of hours with me at an event I really am not going to enjoy. We could very easily go to an event that we both enjoy, another time."
That way you don't spend your Saturday looking like a grumpy asshole while you suffer through an event that's about as much fun to you as watching paint dry. Woo.
Apparently I need to work on my communication skills.
Dutifully forwarded to all Kid Roc fansites.
Yep- he’s a psychopath
According to Wikipedia: Hegseth was raised in Forest Lake, Minnesota,[20] and attended Forest Lake Area High School.
He graduated in 1999 as valedictorian.
WTF? He did nothing but grift and kill people after that. There are hints that his parents were crazy wingnuts. (Father coached basketball throughout Minnesota. Why? Couldn't keep a job? Mom was trainer for a fellowship and leadership program for Republican and center-right women)
One of the stories I read a while back noted that he did way better in Ivy League academia which he purports to detest than he ever did as an enlisted "whatever".
Forest Lake, for the curious, is north of the Twin Cities in the 6th Congressional district (Tom Emmer, formerly Michele Bachmann).
Howzabout nickels and dimes, hickseth?
Or 'drawing and quartering'
Last week Starmer was being castigated for trying to join a war that was already won, after preparing to send a warship to protect UK interests, now Trump's begging him, and other countries, for help. After already saying they are, a couple of sentences before.
This is deranged, even by his standards.
======
Love how he starts by saying many countries will be sending warships to help us, and then two sentences later says well hopefully they will
https://bsky.app/profile/lebassett.bsky.social/post/3mgzqqcz7k22g
the UK is not happy about this. They were lied into a war by Blair and now Starmer. He is already a weak PM. This will finish him off. Nish Kumar ( Pod Save the UK) was commenting that he is just a PM waiting to be replaced now
I say let Larry the Cat choose the next PM.
HuffPost: "Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeated a similar claim on Friday in a rage-filled appearance on Fox News. “As the world is seeing, [Iran is] exercising sheer desperation in the Strait of Hormuz, something we’re dealing with," Hegseth said. He added that it's nothing to worry about. "We have been dealing with it and don’t need to worry about it," Hegseth said."
He's such a wet fish.
They really need someone with bones n shit.
Do you really think that Farage has more chance than a snowball would have a chance in the Lago de Mar
I actually do. I am UK born and raised although I have lived in the US longer than the UK. Starmer had fucking carte blanche when he was elected and he has pissed it all away. If the Greens had more folk in parliament I think they would be the ones to worry about. Farage doesn't have many in parliament but he does have the bombastic shite that Trump spouts and so many Brits love the bully.
Hate to hear it. Alpaca but thanks for the heads up.
"Mr. Secretary, when you say 'No Quarter', are you directing American troops to not accept the surrender of Iranian troops and to kill them all regardless?" asked no journalist at all.
Seriously. We've already seen what this "No Quarter" policy looks like. Blowing up innocent fishermen off the coast of Venezuela and then blowing them up again so they don't get rescued.
They'll assume it's hyperbole until they massacre prisoners.
and then the NYT will do an analysis showing that all presidents have massacred prisoners at some point.
That Andrew Jackson did something should be a reason not to do it.
My daughter's sister ( weird family dynamics) lives in Dubai. I chatted with her a couple of days ago and she told me that the building 2 blocks away was hit during the night. She teaches EFL there and is not the wealthy tax dodging kind. They have pets they refuse to leave and they have been rescuing those that have been abandoned. She and her partner are good people caught in the crossfire of men who do not care.
Most of our immigrant ancestors came here almost exclusively because that's where the work was. Complications ensued shortly afterwards
Let us know how she's doing. I'll be thinking of her.
Iran demands reparations. I think I agree with them
https://p.dw.com/p/5A8Y0?at_medium=Webmails&at_campaign=Email&at_share_source=SharingButton&at_origin=Web
Patently ridiculous and fundamentally unserious are magic words — that make kegsbreath correct without evidence 🫠
Never stop whining about the libburul meeeeedia.
Interesting that fundamentally unserious should come out of the mouth of a man who is fundamentally unserious.
OT: Gas in my area went up $.25 yesterday. It was $4.46 when I dropped my partner off at work and when I picked him up last night it was $4.70 (and the mid-grade at $5.00something).
Goddamn these stinking fucking chuds. No forgiveness for them. None.
I filled up this morning, because I will likely be snowed in for several days, and it was $3.399. Interestingly, the next station down the road, which is usually twenty cents lower, is now $3.499. I expect changes before the snow melts.
Fortunately for my wallet, my county only has the second highest gas prices in the U.S..
It is bad here in rural E WA. Today it is $4.82 and set to go up. My only upside is the MAGA fuckers who drive their big trucks everywhere are feeling the pain. Of course, they are blaming the Governor rather than what is happening somewhere far away
So expensive they're now "idling coal."
It's like that older Canadian standing in front of me in line at the grocery store blaming Carney for rising grocery prices. The goal isn't just to bitch about something; the goal is to blame a liberal for it.
I have to work so hard to keep my mouth shut. I am outnumbered here and it would be unpleasant
Yesterday it went from 3.999 to 4.199 AS I WAS PUMPING IT. I got the full tank at the lower price but the next guy got the new price.
though... if anything will get through to MAGA, it'll be this.
OT: in my job I run into a lot of interesting names. Now, obviously I can't share any of them with you. But last night I had a little old lady (high 90s) with a GREAT name, on the order of 'Aura L. Greathead'.
She either had a really good, or a really hard time in high school.
At my old job, I did a lot of international emailing, and used to collect names that amused me. My favorite? Well, you know how some Asians with give themselves an Americanized first name for ease of communicating with us dumb USAns? I give you one of my Canadian engineering contacts - Tiger Wang.
Why yes, I am twelve.
I also worked regularly with a South African with the first name "Bongokile." We corresponded for years before I realiized I didm't know if they were male or female. It didn't really matter, so I never asked. I was just going to Google it, but decided it was more fun not knowing.
When the blackbird in the Spring,
On the willow tree,
Sat and rock'd, I heard him sing,
Singing Aura Lea.
Aura Lea, Aura Lea,
Maid of golden hair;
Sunshine came along with thee,
And swallows in the air.
The local police blotter is usually full of fascinating names.
When I worked early shift at UPS for a few years many years ago I found out a few things. Just for my own edification (Thanks to Miss Halcrow Grade 9 English teacher for making that word forever memorable and useful to me) Morale of the story: There is no thing (usually) as an unlisted address,
Maybe both?
You can either be a person who thinks unusual names are awesome, or that they're stupid. I think most people here are the former.
My first name is very boring -- I'm convinced that if I was named something more exotic, my life would have been more interesting.
Hear that. I was one of several of my trendy (non-exotic) name in school.
Better than Beatrice Toff, or Bea, for short.
That's great.
I love the first name "Aura." I've never seen that used as a name before.
I think it's a variation of Auralay.
That's probably related to the French name downthread. It's beautiful.
I've never heard that. That is lovely!
It's pig Latin for Laura. I used to use it as an alias.
Tee hee!
ETA: It's still pretty! XD
I had a college friend named Aurelie. I thought her name was so lovely. It's basically the French equivalent of "Goldie."
OK, I have heard that one (a character in a book), but I've not know anyone with that name. It is lovely.
She was actually French
OT: Watchin' the world go by...
https://bsky.app/profile/liftforever67.bsky.social/post/3mgzkh2r2as2t
"I can do this all day."
Dum-de-dum-de-dum, hmmm let's see, who's due for a mauling today?
What fools these mortals be
Air biscuits, the cat equivalent of thumb-twiddling.
The paws LOL
I know, right? Love the air biscuits!
I will add to this that Yemeni Houthi's may well shut down the Suez Canal. Time to dig the bike out of the garage. My bad knee will just have to suck it up.
Or trade that gas car for an EV. Too bad the Feds got rid of the tax exemption though, huh?
we had a Tesla for almost 10 years( I know)until it was totaled. We didn’t want to get another one due to Elon. It was the only EV at the time that had the mileage we needed. I refuse to pay for a Rivian that has the good mileage as they want stupid money for the base trim. We are hoping to get a Scout EV when they arrive later this year.
Buy a used Tesla. Prices are good and Elon is out of the equation
we are discussing it
I'm trying to figure out how to get to work 75 miles round-trip without a car if gas is too much. It would take 4-1/2 hours by bus/subway/commuter rail. Eleven hours if I walk.
All I can say is check your tire pressure, remove any extraneous weight from the car and drive more slowly.
I try to stay within the speed limit, but I'll try harder.
40 round trip for me. I'll have to leave earlier and slow down and bit.
Yemen can't shut down the Suez Canal - at least, not without Egypt having something to say about that. It's also a fair distance away from Yemen.
There is a strait right by Yemen, but I'm not sure what it's called or if the Houthis are in the right part of Yemen to make that threat realistic or not.
Another article. I guess I should have stipulated where in the canal they could cause problems.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/iran-war-strait-oil-yemen-7374716e?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqd-4fNmMZM3TKeVGSn1xPjEHzPqNeyMF-UsW9QaMcd4VRbu5VAF2QB2tX3nXyk%3D&gaa_ts=69b59bbc&gaa_sig=rZ57ofkiv7-ZLduS8OHud7lyUtwJw-AlmTpvZga6uf6H2fKLpgPyrCy6dXPKv4VtTWnMkRfL9ulK-BOBzh7eIw%3D%3D
Paywalled.
But again, I was just pointing out that they can't fuck with the canal, because they're nowhere near it. A strait many miles southeast of canal is a different proposition.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=41073
cant be paywalled as I just read the whole thing.
here is a map of the potential conflict zone. Right at the tip of Yemen
https://www.britannica.com/place/Bab-El-Mandeb-Strait
It was paywalled for me, I don't know what to tell you. And again, I was just pointing out that that's not the canal. Because it's not. It's a strait many miles from the canal.
am really not trying to argue. The maps all show the straight being at the base end of the Suez Canal. This is why it is so important. The Houthi’s shut it down once before in 2022 and they may well do it again. The only drawback for them would be pissing of Saudi Arabia.
Iran’s allies, the Houthis in Yemen, are threatening to close a major trade route between Europe and Asia, according to intelligence sources in the region.
ITV News has been told there is real concern that an expansion of the war will see the Houthis engage and disrupt shipping through Bab el-Mandeb, which lies between Yemen and Djibouti.
https://www.itv.com/news/2026-03-10/the-houthis-irans-allies-threaten-another-trade-route-to-europe
Interesting. I was reading about this earlier and I got the impression the Houthi's could do this. I will read more today.
I may be missing something, but just looking at a map, Yemen is nowhere near the canal. Its western coast is on a strait that the Houthis might be able to fuck with, but it's not the canal.
It is the Iranian backed Houthi's in the area of Bab el-Mandeb who could close down this small area that would block entry and exit
https://www.barrons.com/articles/iran-war-strait-oil-yemen-7374716e?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqd-4fNmMZM3TKeVGSn1xPjEHzPqNeyMF-UsW9QaMcd4VRbu5VAF2QB2tX3nXyk%3D&gaa_ts=69b59bbc&gaa_sig=rZ57ofkiv7-ZLduS8OHud7lyUtwJw-AlmTpvZga6uf6H2fKLpgPyrCy6dXPKv4VtTWnMkRfL9ulK-BOBzh7eIw%3D%3D