Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (4/25/17) Terrific Tuesday Edition

Quotes of The Day

Quote I

Leadership rests not only upon ability but upon commitment and upon loyalty and upon pride and upon followers...Leadership is not just one quality, but rather a blend of many qualities; and while no one individual possesses all the needed talents to go into leadership, each man can develop a combination to make him a leader.Vince Lombardi

Quote II

Civilization, in fact, grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.H.L. Mencken

Quote III

You know, you put more value on every minute...I mean, I always thought I kind of did that. I really always enjoyed myself. But it's more valuable now. You're reminded to enjoy every sandwich, and every minute of playing with the guys, and being with the kids and everything.Warren Zevon

For years the Right has been claiming there has been voter fraud. President Trump reiterated that statement shortly after his election. Hundreds of illegal votes in a swing state.

The post-election audit report, released by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), an independent and bipartisan agency that oversees elections in the state, found hundreds of illegal votes, including votes cast by felons and non-citizens, double voting, voter impersonation, and irregularities that affected mail-in absentee ballots.

The audit uncovered 441 cases where suspected active felons voted during the 2016 elections.

Everything important in life requires ID. It's about time that an ID is required to vote. States can provide assistance to those who claim they are "disenfranchised". You know who is disenfranchised? 441 legal voters and their votes in N.C.

A flying vehicle may be coming to a lake near you.

As engineers tinker away at perfecting self-driving cars, Google co-founder Larry Page is preparing to release a personal flying vehicle.

An ultralight aircraft called the Kitty Hawk Flyer has been unveiled in a YouTube video that shows it zipping over a lake while commandeered by a single rider.

The electric, propeller-driven prototype is the work of Page’s Silicon Valley startup company, Kitty Hawk, which announced that the vehicle will go on sale later this year.

The obligatory jet-pack song.

1 truck. 12 tons of food. 5 days. Delivering food from Yakutsk, Russia to Belaya Gora, Russia. Not a trip for the faint of heart. This gives new meaning to the phrase "Road Trip".

Cult movie 'This Is Spinal Tap' made only $179 in 22 years. Not so fast says the members of Spinal Tap.

Shearer launched legal action alone at first, asking for $125 million and accusing Vivendi of having “fraudulently under-reported the revenues owed.” But the stakes rose when Guest, McKean and Reiner added their names to the lawsuit earlier this year and demanded $400 million.

April 25, 1977, Elvis Presley made the last recordings of his life during a concert at the Saginaw, Michigan Civic Centre. Three songs from the show appeared on the posthumously released Presley album, 'Moody Blue'. via thisdayinmusic.com

1982, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Ebony And Ivory.' This was McCartney's 24th No.1 hit single as a songwriter. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say "black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony folks!". It was later named as the tenth worst song of all time by Blender magazine and in 2007 was named the worst duet in history by BBC 6 Music listeners. via thisdayinmusic.com

It wasn't very good, was it?

How did Venezuela become such a disaster?Nope, The USA is not to blame.

It used to be a stable, prosperous, and reasonably efficient state structure. How could a country with so many natural resources be unable to feed its people? What happened? How did it all unravel? And what lessons can we draw from the drama?

To blame it all on abstractions like “socialism” is too simple. We need a comprehensive, nuanced explanation of how the country was plunged into its present state. These are the major reasons:

One man's fishing bait is another's pollution control agent. Wax worms eat plastic bags.

The wax worm, a caterpillar typically used for fishing bait and known for damaging beehives by eating their wax comb, has now been observed munching on a different material: plastic bags.

No math quizzes here. Just a music quiz. Can you name these 70's songs?

Over the weekend your humble Cob heard a radio advertisement. The ad was for a bus trip to see Billy Joel at Lambeau Field. The price wasn't bad, but Billy Joel at Lambeau? Da Fuq?!

How does Joel continue to sell out stadium concerts?

ut Joel’s dominance doesn’t end at the terminus of the Hudson River Line. The MSG residency, with help from a methodical regimen of packed stadium shows across the United States and beyond, has turned Joel, who was all but retired just a few years ago, into the music industry’s fourth-highest paid performer in 2014 and 2015 (the most recent years for which data is available). Another way of putting it: Despite having not released a new pop album since 1993, Billy Joel is outearning the likes of U2 and Adele.

Another story of the inmates running the asylum. Scripps College coddles special snowflakes. And it isn't cheap.

According to Mann, most of the resident advisers are African-American or Latina. They receive free room and board worth, which is worth almost $16,000 a year.

Yet, they feel (or claim) that their “labor” is worth more. According to Mann, who attends Scripps, that “labor” largely consists of opening dorm doors for residents who forget keys, asking students to turn down music on weekend evenings, and so forth.

Not to be outdone by Scripps College for ridiculous employment practices. Pomona College joins the fucking nuts fray. Students demand to be the HR Department. Yes, the wet behind the ears brats want the power to hire teaching staff.

In an open letter to Pomona College’s Sociology Department, Dean of Academic Affairs, and President, an anonymous group of 128 students, alumni, and “allies” of the Sociology Department demand that the college rescind its offer to hire “racist” and “unethical” Dr. Alice Goffman as a sociology professor and turn over control of future hiring to students.

I learned how to make my own bullets. And it was harder than I expected.

Married. Girlfriend. Terrorism. Never a good mix. Genius Award Winner.

Creative thinking leads us to Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by girls that shouldn't meet Mom.

Notice: Posted with permission by AceCorp, LLC. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of The ONT. However, AceCorp, LLC shall have no liability of any kind for such errors. Mis. Hum. is a different story altogether.

posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:54 PM

| Access Comments