Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (12/19/23

Quote I

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. Frank Zappa

Quote II

“They left us out in the open while they have gone into hiding. The people are the ones who got screwed." Ahmad Kahlot, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital

Quote III

"AGA has attempted to work with the Department of Energy to address the rule’s profound impacts on consumers and homeowners with a solutions-oriented approach to energy conservation that protects consumers and ensures continued availability of low-cost, low-emission natural gas furnaces. Unfortunately, our 114 pages of comments have been summarily ignored." AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert

It is never too early to have a: Genius Award Winner.

Aholiday traveler was arrested Sunday for initiating a false bomb threat at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, causing part of the airport to be evacuated.

The culprit was identified as 27-year-old Tyler Baeder of Rhode Island by the Broward Sheriff's Office after they responded to the alleged bomb threat on the upper level of Terminal 1 around 5:30 p.m.

According to the sheriff’s office, an airport employee called authorities after Baeder reportedly said “Call the cops, I have a bomb in my bag” after becoming disgruntled with the kiosk machine while checking in for his flight.

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.”.

The Worst National Park Reviews of the Year
There was nothing to do, I didn’t see a bear, and that snake harassed me

Visitors come from across the globe to set foot in our national parks. But some people are simply unimpressed.

The internet gives these people a place to air their grievances. Some now-classic bad national park reviews have made their way further, into illustrations, T-shirts, and needlepoints. “There are bugs, and they will bite you on your face,” they say. Or, “Trees block view and there are too many gray rocks.” “The water is ice-cold,” someone griped about Acadia National Park in Maine, making it onto a poster made by Subpar Parks, which documents bad reviews.

The complaints keep coming. I searched Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google for the best and worst reviews of our national parks in 2023. To be fair, most of the complaints were about excessive crowds, traffic jams, and new reservation systems. But some visitors had, uh, more nuanced grudges regarding lackluster scenery or were shocked by the lack of amenities. Here are my favorites.

Perhaps pastry chefs could design a product that would toughen up the skins of LEOs.
LAWSUIT: Vermont man sues after being arrested for flipping off police

A Vermont man was arrested on trumped-up charges after a state trooper took offense to his use of profanity and a middle finger during an illegal traffic stop.
The First Amendment squarely protects Americans’ right to criticize law enforcement, even in ways that individual officers find profane or insulting.
Now FIRE has joined Bombard’s legal team — and is releasing for the first time video showing his arrest was illegal retaliation for protected speech.
MONTPELIER, Vt., Dec. 18, 2023 — Gregory Bombard was driving through his hometown of St. Albans, Vermont, enjoying a coffee and a cigarette. He committed no crime — not even a minor traffic violation.

Twenty minutes later, he was sitting in a jail cell.

Now the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, in collaboration with the ACLU of Vermont, is asking the Superior Court of Vermont to recognize Bombard’s First Amendment rights were violated in February 2018 when he was interrogated, arrested, and cited by a state trooper.

I bet the Horde will have all the answers. Why do Tesla drivers have the highest crash rate.

Just days after Tesla was forced to recall nearly every car it ever made over safety issues involving its Autopilot system, a new report alleges that Tesla has the highest accident rate of any automotive brand. LendingTree, the auto loan and mortgage giant, didn't go any further into its analysis other than to look at crash numbers. The report doesn't explain why Teslas crashed at a higher rate than any other brand, only that it does.

According to LendingTree, between Nov. 14, 2022, and Nov. 14, 2023, there were 23.54 Tesla accidents per 1,000 drivers. Only two other brands had more than 20 accidents per 1,000 drivers, Ram (22.76) and Subaru (20.90). That accident rate also helped it earn the second-highest incident rate, 31.13, behind only Ram (32.90). The difference between accident rate and incident rate is that the latter also factors DUIs, speeding, and any other citations.

Famous last words......."It will never happen to me."

It's a Genius Award move, amirite?

Polly wants a Genius Award Winner.

ELBA, Fla. - An Alabama man has more of a ‘Florida man’ story to tell after explaining to deputies he was high on mushrooms when they found him in a truck on a panhandle road with a parrot on his shoulder.

According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, on Friday, deputies received a call about a man pounding on the front door of a home and a vehicle sitting stationary nearby.

Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

Woman plans to celebrate her 105th birthday by watching football and drinking Fireball

CINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) - An Ohio resident is getting ready to celebrate a milestone birthday this weekend with a few of her favorites.

Florence Hackman says she loves the Cincinnati Bengals, firefighters and whiskey.

This Saturday, she will be celebrating her birthday with the Deerfield Township Fire Department and some Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, as she watches the Bengals take on the Minnesota Vikings.

Hackman was born in Cincinnati on Dec. 16, 1918.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by the Kris Kringle Range.

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire & AceCorp, LLC. No artificial flavors or colors used in the production of The ONT.

posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:54 PM

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