Monday Overnight Open Thread (5/25/26)

"In most industries, swords just don't make any damn sense. In this particular one, it actually does." James Jacobs

It's Wisconsin humor, lighten up.

The question is how was your Monday? Pretty darn good compared to this!

As yours truly ages finely like a fine bottle of wine. I'm so happy to have The Fabulous at my side.

The warning signs have been there for decades. Back in 1983, American author Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a powerful book — The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment — arguing that a male revolt was underway. Since the 1950s, she suggested, men had begun rebelling against the breadwinner ethic, inspired by Playboy culture, the counterculture and a desire for personal freedom. They were rejecting the cultural ideology that had shamed them into tying the knot and becoming a good provider, lest they be seen as immature, irresponsible and less than a real man.

Ehrenreich understood that marriage was the mechanism by which society harnessed male productivity. Remove the shame and the yoke comes off.

Forty years on, the yoke has disappeared. In April 2026, the American male labour force participation rate hit its lowest level since records began in the 1940s, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics. One in three American men — roughly 33% — were not working or actively looking for work. The overall male participation rate for men aged 16 and over stood at just 67%, down from 73.5% two decades ago and from 87% in the postwar years when Ehrenreich’s story begins.

The trend is not confined to America. Similar declines — though less dramatic than in the United States — have occurred in the UK, Australia and Canada.

The marriage collapse runs in lockstep with the workforce data. According to US Census Bureau data, married-couple households made up 71% of all US households in 1970; today it’s just 47%. As University of Virginia sociologist Brad Wilcox documents in his 2024 book Get Married, the marriage rate has fallen 65% in the last half century.

Is it the ink that sets them off? Are my bionic knees the culprits? Is it the long hair and Duck Dynasty beard? Or is it the rotisserie chicken that grabs their attention?

TSA Says You Can Carry a Rotisserie Chicken in Your Carry-On: 'As Many as You Can Fit'
Exploring the TSA's quirky security rules that allow rotisserie chickens but restrict protein shakes.

If you don't know anyone or have a relative with Parkinson's Disease you are quite fortunate. Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

Breakthrough Parkinson’s Drug Targets Disease at Its Genetic Roots

I wonder if the dog's name is Murphy? Genius Award Winner.

Shortly after noon on Saturday, officers with the Scottsbluff Police Department responded to Short Stop, located at 2002 Avenue I, after receiving a report that an individual had been shot by a BB gun. While officers were en route, updated information indicated that the incident involved a shotgun.

Upon arrival, officers located a truck with an attached camper. The passenger side door panel of the vehicle had sustained damage consistent with a shotgun blast.

Through the preliminary investigation, officers determined that the owner of the truck had pulled into the convenience store to purchase merchandise. While the passenger of the truck was standing near the front passenger side door, a dog in the back seat moved from one side of the vehicle to the other. During that movement, the dog triggered a shotgun that had a live shell in the chamber, causing the firearm to discharge.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Case Examples.

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire & AceCorp, LLC. The ONT is solely powered by tanned and rested hamsters. None of the little rodents were injured in the production of this masterpiece.

posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:40 PM

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