Hijack This Thread

[John Thomas8]

Everybody here is invited to participate in a sportsball thingy we have been doing for 14 years, picking the winners of NFL playoff games.

viewtopic.php?t=2418

No money involved, just bragging rights.

[Flatpoint High]

This just in: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/sp ... r-AA1mF5ot

Special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the prosecution of former President Donald Trump in two federal cases, was the target of an attempted swatting at his Maryland residence on Christmas Day.

According to two law enforcement sources, someone called 911 and said that Smith had shot his wife at the address where Smith lives.

Montgomery County Police dispatched units toward the home but were called off when the Deputy U.S. Marshals protecting Smith and his family told police that it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

[Foggy]

According to two law enforcement sources, someone called 911 and said that Smith had shot his wife at the address where Smith lives.

Montgomery County Police dispatched units toward the home but were called off when the Deputy U.S. Marshals protecting Smith and his family told police that it was a false alarm and that everyone inside the home was safe.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

Wow, Smith obvsly murdered his wife and the federal marshals are helping him cover it up. Very concerning.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... 0s-suspect

A small-time fisher who died in 2017 has been linked to three cold-case murders in Virginia from the 1980s, including two that were among a series of unsolved killings of couples known as the Colonial Parkway murders, officials have announced.

Virginia state police identified the suspect as Alan Wilmer Sr but offered few details about how he is tied to the killings – which occurred in 1987 and 1989 – or when he became a suspect. However, authorities said Wilmer would be charged if he were alive.

“Part of the cold-case philosophy is to go back over and start relooking and going back through all the witness statements, all the evidence,” a Virginia state police spokesperson, Corinne Geller, said at a news conference. “And it’s a very time-consuming, very complex, but a very effective way.”

Investigators said they legally obtained Wilmer’s DNA after his death. Wilmer was not a convicted felon, which meant his DNA was not in any law enforcement databases. Two of the three victims were sexually assaulted.

The Colonial Parkway murders involved the deaths of three couples and the suspected death of a fourth couple whose bodies were never recovered. The killings occurred between 1986 and 1989 on or near a scenic drive that connects Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown in south-eastern Virginia.

[MsDaisy 2]

Well I finally got my computer back from the shop. They “updated” a bunch of crap while they had it. No telling how long it’s going to take me to figure all that shit out. ( my computer is 11 years old and has never been updated to my knowledge.

Meanwhile east coast blast has just killed the electricity but luckily we have a nice warm fire burning in the library. So here my ass sits in the library with a toasty warm and Trudy (senior cat) as usual by my side.

[raison de arizona]

[Sam the Centipede]

Well I finally got my computer back from the shop. They “updated” a bunch of crap while they had it. No telling how long it’s going to take me to figure all that shit out. ( my computer is 11 years old and has never been updated to my knowledge.

Meanwhile east coast blast has just killed the electricity but luckily we have a nice warm fire burning in the library. So here my ass sits in the library with a toasty warm and Trudy (senior cat) as usual by my side.

Always good to burn a few banned books, eh?

[Foggy]

my computer is 11 years old and has never been updated to my knowledge.

The Fogbow community will be 15 years old on January 23.

[northland10]

I think that makes me 14 on Fogbow. I joined the original one in January 2010, IIRC.

[Foggy]

[neonzx]

I think that makes me 14 on Fogbow. I joined the original one in January 2010, IIRC.

You Newbie.

[northland10]

I think that makes me 14 on Fogbow. I joined the original one in January 2010, IIRC.

You Newbie.

I'm a late bloomer.

[Foggy]

The ancients knew seven metals, and the Latin names give us their atomic symbols on the Periodic Table.

Ferrum - Fe
Aurum - Au
Argentum - Ag
Cuprum - Cu
Hydrargyrum - Hg
Stannum - Sn
Plumbum - Pb

I wonder how many inventions went uninvented because plumbing pipes were made of plumbum, which causes drain bamage in Earthlings.

[bill_g]

It's also why we call it plumbing.

[MsDaisy 2]

Talk about a pain in the ass! I just discovered this computer update I just went through has erased every single password on everything that has a password AND I have a blood pressure appointment in an hour and a half.

[RTH10260]

A case to start fresh over with a secure password manager.

[pipistrelle]

Talk about a pain in the ass! I just discovered this computer update I just went through has erased every single password on everything that has a password AND I have a blood pressure appointment in an hour and a half.

They’re not in iCloud?

[neonzx]

Talk about a pain in the ass! I just discovered this computer update I just went through has erased every single password on everything that has a password AND I have a blood pressure appointment in an hour and a half.

They’re not in iCloud?

What is an iCloud? Oh, that is reserved for the Apple cult.

[raison de arizona]

They’re not in iCloud?

What is an iCloud? Oh, that is reserved for the Apple cult.

Hey, I think that is iCult.

[MsDaisy 2]

AND now she who has never been on any chronic medications in her 66 years (except flu & and spring allergies type stuff) is now being put on blood pressure meds, as well as meds for memory loss (AKA chronic brain farts) and is being referred to two specialists!

It does suck getting old, but it still beats the alternative!

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[keith]

Reminder: 10 years have got behind you; noboby told you when to run, you miss the starting gun?

Tim Minchin: 9 life lessons

[bill_g]

[moving my addition to the self-checkout threadjack from Moms of Liberty to here]

I have no commitment to either self checkout or staff especially since Covid. When they quit bagging if I provide my own bags, and instead charged me a nickle* for every bag of theirs I use, I started using the self checkout a lot more.

I have been a BYOB proponent for a long time, and I really love my folding carton bags. They have the hard bottoms and rigid sides that are strong enough to carry a lot of canned goods AND not smash the bread loaf stacked on top. The checkers seemed to intunitively know how to distribute the weight across several bags, and put the vulnerable stuff in last. Then covid happened, and suddenly no one wanted to touch my bags.

I could buy their bags for a nickle* apiece, or I could bag my own. I don't have an issue bagging my own, but most stores checkout counters are not ready for multiple people bagging their own groceries. They don't have the extra length and width to accommodate two sale orders - the current one being checked, and the previous one that is still sorting and bagging. In the regular checkouts you end up being rushed to bag a week's worth of groceries so the next person can proceed. I simply refused to pay until I got my bagging done, and then round the counter again to pay up. And I took my time smiling like an angel all the while. That stopped them from starting the next customer until I was done.

The object lesson I had hoped to make was generally lost on them. Instead it just pissed people off and invited hecklers to make loud comments. I would drop my glasses down my nose, give them a stare, and loudly thank them for bagging my groceries so well. By the time covid was over, self checkouts were everywhere, and they came with their own set of problems - a rant for another day.

* The State of Oregon passed a bag law similar to California intended to reduce retail non-recycleable bag use. They wanted to get rid of those thin plastic bags that every retailer used, and encourage either paper or reusable plastic. AND it mandated the stores charge five cents per bag at the time of sale. That was to encourage people to bring their own bags. That seemed to make the industry offer better bags in general. Both the paper and plastic sacks are stronger with better handles than the past. You can actually reuse these bags several times. You get your nickle's worth.

The hard part is convincing the idiotic shopping overseer in the self checkout lanes the bag you are using today with their logo on it was purchased previously. It not worth arguing with a child (anyone under 40) you are honest and would never consider ripping them off for a nickle until you brought it up you fucking idiot. That's the internal conversation which also includes a mental image of me pulling the bags over their head. Instead I just ask for the manager. Damn bags.

So, the new bags came with their own problems just like the self checkout. Social evolution is a wonderful thing. Bag my groceries for me, and all this would be behind us you twits.

[Maybenaut]

Love the cartons!

In Virginia the law leaves it up to the city or county whether to charge for bags. Some do, some don’t. Our county is poor(ish). No charge for bags. I don’t specifically recall our local grocer refusing to bag groceries in a bring-your-own during covid, but they may have. They bag them now, though.

The grocery store where I shop doesn’t have self-checkout. One of the things I’ve learned to love about small-town life is going through the check-out line. You have to wait while the cashier and the person in front of you finish their visit. There’s a lot of talk about family and the weather. Sometimes they include you in the conversation. And when it’s your turn, you get to visit with the cashier.

Since I didn’t grow up with these people we don’t have the same things to talk about. The cashiers will invariably ask me how I’m planning to prepare a cut of meat I bought or why I need so much flour, then we’re on about searing or bread-baking or whatever.

Coming from Northern Virginia, it took some getting used to.

[bill_g]

I'm glad I'm not alone.

None of the self checkouts I frequent including Costco have solved the where-do-I-put-my-cart problem. They are so close together, the carts block the walk aisle. You can't park your cart without crowding the person next to you. We have to endure bumping each other. It's insane. Thankfully most people are pleasant and polite about it.