While Marc Marquez had locked up the championship earlier, and will be out due to the Bez caused injury for the rest of the season, second and third were open until this weekend where second place has been clinched by his lil' bro, Alex.
A rough practice saw Bagnaia enter into Q1, make the cut with Fermin Aldegeur into Q2, where Aldegeur placed back of second row and semi-circuit specialist Bagnaia proceeded to demolish the competition and secure pole position. Bagnaia positioned himself as the clear favorite for the sprint and race to come.
Bez' hot streak ended as no Aprilia rider made it into Q2 and he started from 14th on the grid.
In the sprint Bagnaia got the hole shot and pulled out a second over the first three laps. He would increase his lead to double that margin over second place finisher Alex Marquez, who started in the same position he ended. Acosta bumped Morbidelli out of the way early on to secure third where he would stay for the rest of the race. Bagnaia looked, once again, like his old self with the confidence to come through a tough Friday and set hot lap times under pressure. Fermin Aldegeur cut through the pack with a phenomenal showing to take third place ahead of Pedro Acosta. Or, he would have except for the tire pressure penalty which relegated him to 7th and put Acosta on the podium. I understand the rule is for safety's sake and it has spoiled a couple of race results and caused strange management to occur mid-race by riders. Just seems like a mess to me.
The race saw a bit of a shuffle with Alex Marquez passing Bagnaia on lap 2 and managing the race to the end for another MotoGP victory. Bagnaia was in the fight with Pedro Acosta for much of the race and looked to have second place in hand until a tire puncture or failure deflated his weekend, slowed his pace enough for Acosta to pass, and eventually caused a DNF as it would have been unsafe to continue on.
For the championship: After the sprint Bez and Bagnaia were tied for points. The race DNF from Bagnaia puts Bez back ahead for third by 5 points. There's still a chance for Ducati to lock out the championship medal standings or for Bez to put Aprilia into bronze.
There was a horrific crash in Moto3, on the sighting lap. Noah Dettwiler was cruising and was struck from behind by Jose Rueda. Dettwiler was nearly killed, it now looks like he'll survive. These guys are just kids.
Lots of punditry about the sighting lap procedures (and lack of a warm-up practice on race day for Moto3). Neither rider was doing anything illegal, unsportsmanlike, or uncommon.
Totally pisses me off when they cruise during a session, but during the sighting/warm-up lap lots of guys cruise, some to save fuel, some to be one of the last to the grid (I used to come in late and do a stoppie for fun and to fuck with the guys around me).
Dettwiler could have easily been further off line, and Rueda should have been more heads-up. I really feel for them both, especially as it was completely avoidable.
Just yesterday I heard Michael Lewis of Moneyball, Big Short etc. fame make the claim Indian Premier League Cricket is the fasting growing pro sports league on the planet. He has money invested in a team.
Have you considered reallocating your daily hours spent on hating India(ns) toward something productive? Will you rejoice when AI usurps them (and all other humans)? Or pivot to hating AI too?
"Will you rejoice when AI usurps them (and all other humans)? Or pivot to hating AI too?"
He doesn't need to worry about that, because it's not going to happen. We are already seeing the real-world limits of "AI". It's great at making videos of famous people doing embarrassing stuff. That's about it. No sane person would let it fly their plane or even cook their food. You'd end up with soap in the pizza.
Are those the ones where the Ghettoville PD pulls Tyvequious over in his Altima, which smells like weed and he doesn't have a license, leading to a citywide chase because apparently it takes Hemi Chargers and Police Interceptor Explorers 50 mikes to run down a four-cylinder shitbox?
Verbatim text from a friend whose firm laid off a bunch of junior / execution people this week:
“As a partner the AI operating leverage is music to my ears…”
To say nothing of the major white collar layoffs:
-So-and-so got paid $100K to push paper around and attend meetings
-We can replicate that person’s work with some AI agents (that cost, say, $20K / year) and a few remaining human “prompt specialists”
-Whether it works or not, the money has been spent on OpenAI software instead of payroll; it would be easier to move heaven and earth than it would be to revert to outdated human labor
So it’s a “real” (by which I mean UNreal) job (to you) when it’s a white collar job where people get awarded an E for effort … but when I make the same observation about make work JERBS it’s, like, totally different?
You confuse jobs that would be cheaper to do elsewhere with jobs that contribute little to nothing. It takes x number of discrete steps to made a muffler. If the muffler is made in the USA, the "make work" portion of it, in your eyes, is that you can't force someone to live on the factory premises and net out even every month after they pay their rent and meal charges to the factory store.
By contrast, the middle managers, HR people, and so on at the average corporation are either unnecessary or sorely underworked. The muffler can be made without them, for YEARS.
"So-and-so got paid $100K to push paper around and attend meetings"
Probably a bad time to be employed "to push paper and attend meetings" but how is AI going to refinish hardwood floors or replace a person's brake pads?
Exactly, it won’t and it can’t. These positions being eliminated are likely largely worthless job anyways, so what is the loss, other than the the person who lost the job, and must go find gainful employment doing something actually useful.
They're called associated. Eventually those associates ideally learn something and become managers. You fire the pipeline and eat the seedcorn. The accounting industry has basically done this with outsourcing
-Labor is fungible. The paper pushers will be downwardly mobile and present competition for people who refinish hardwood floors or replace a person’s brake pads.
-Robots. Why do Sora and Veo 3 and Grok Imagine and so on exist? World modeling.
I've been looking at the robots thing. Issue (only at this very instant!) is cost. It's just cheaper to get a human if the robot needs to move around independently a lot.
If Tesla delivers a humanoid robot that can change a brake disc, AND for less then that all-in cost of a human mechanic inclusive of maintenance... that would definitely be bad news for wage earners. That would be the endgame, at least for a while
I can verify that we’re at the “wow, this AI stuff makes my job much easier!” Stage for associates still. We’re not quite at the “I lost my job to AI” stage in my neck of the woods. It’s still making shit up now and then, it’s still requiring human oversight and ticking and tying, it can’t read a IS/BS/SCF properly yet let alone give me a decent analysis. But this type of stuff, to me, always has 4 phases: 1) this is worthless professionally but fun to mess with 2) this is helpful for streamlining certain tasks but needs some prodding ***you are here*** 3) wow, I have so much free time now that this is automating so much 4) HR meeting on a Friday at 4 pm
It’s no promise we get to stage 3 or 4. But right now definitely at stage 2.
The reason this stuff has always had four phases before is because it's always been deterministic. When I write a program to do something, it gets better as I refine it, but it will always behave the same way, whether that way is right or wrong. Which is why every successive version of Call of Duty handles physics a little better.
AI is non-deterministic. You can improve its output by training it, but you can't guarantee the output. It will ALWAYS need a check.
I heard an interesting story on NPR yesterday. Apparently, China wishes to capitalize on the USA’s desire/intent to restrict H-1B visas. They’re offering “K-Visas” to attract educated entrepreneurial types to start businesses in China. India is trying to capitalize on this by sending professionals to work there. This has caused much consternation in China (which has an 18% or so youth unemployment rate). Social media posts liken securing employment to gladiatorial combat or The Squid Game. Btw, the percentage of immigrants in China is 1/2 of 1% of the population.
Actually, I got the number wrong: the percentage of immigrants in China is less than 1/10 of 1%. The authorities claim there is a shortage of 30 million skilled workers, so they need to recruit from outside. There is a lot of anger in China about this, perhaps not expressed as openly. One could suggest corporate interests supercede the government's, even in a peoples' republic.
"The authorities claim there is a shortage of 30 million skilled workers"
I'm told that the German version of that ("Fachkräftemangel") has become a meme, used seriously by politicians and sarcastically by Germans.
I can't find really good sources on this, but in August Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV b.1980) proposed a bill to study whether there was, in fact, a "skills shortage," and, if so, what skills are short:
I think part of the issue is how one defines "skilled," and the evolution of "skills." The top tier of the US educational system (at least before AI: https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-coming-ai-cataclysm/) does about as good as anywhere in terms of basic skills, and I think it also does far better than most at major-specific "skills," like accounting, engineering, or computer programming.
"One huge problem with white-collar work is that with sufficient IQ you can do any desk job, yet hiring managers still search for people with extremely narrow experience/skills/tools."
I liken it to airline pilots: the type ratings of today are not the same as the type ratings of yesterday: the DC-9 passeth away, the A220 entereth. Without a union, the airlines would simply fire all the DC-9 pilots, even if they're EXCELLENT PILOTS in their 30's or 40's, and hire people with A220 ratings.
3. What is reasonable for employers to expect in terms of pre-existing skills versus "smart, well-educated, learn on the job?"
4. What SPECIFIC skills, if any, do H-1Bs (>70% from India) get at "University of Mumbai" (unranked) that Americans don't get at, say, UT Austin (#65 GLOBALLY, despite NOT being anyone's first thought in terms of academically elite), or is it just an excuse to get indentured servants at lower cost?
Hard to say. "Desk jobs" is a bit pejorative in some cases; not everyone can be a good engineer.
There is a middle ground between "we need to import skills because first-world people are retarded!" and "anybody can do any job." It takes some aptitude and some education, and then there are detailed skills that can be learned on the job, and employers should expect that.
0-It is likely that race control was a bit spooked after the (unseen on the broadcast) incident with Lawson and the marshals, hence the overly conservative VSC that robbed us all of a Verstappen-Leclerc showdown in the final laps.
1-Both Haas and Ferrari overperformed in terms of pure pace in Mexico because the Ferrari turbo arrangement loses less at altitude compared to the other Power Units; presumably the same would’ve applied to Sauber.
2-Podcast alert! Motoman is an interesting cat. He and I had a memorable, IRL conversation over cigars about 3 years ago in Atlanta.
Someone has to do the Sisyphean tasks around here while the Trump voting MAGAt central planners are preoccupied with determining which JERBS are “real” and “not real.”
Now I have another podcast episode to listen to - hurrah!
I got the Autopian email a day or two ago as well. It sounded desperate - thanks for the perspective on it all. I had no idea that David Tracey had reproduced.
I’ll second this. I was like Jack, and not the biggest fan of podcasts. However with my new 30 mile/55ish minute commute, I’ve found them a great way to pass the time in the car when I’m not taking calls.
I can't stand podcasts but I'm never in a spot where a podcast is better than reading or video. The kids are too loud at home and I can't focus on anything I'm listening to at work. I could definitely see them if I had a commute
Yeah, that's when I listen to them as well. Listened to about half of this one on the way home tonight. Jack's as pithy and well-spoken on video as he is on paper.
They've been a gamechanger for me in recent years on long solo drives, particularly when I'm doing long drives in my old, noisy Bronco.
There are good podcasts out there that are not just two or three guys yammering on about…. Whatever the hell they are talking about. Nearly all of that style suck. But, there are a few good ones hidden among the junk
None of them, however, are hosted by Alpha Male Podcast Bros pontificating on the virtues of getting up at 4 AM, taking cold showers and giving 110% because second place is the first loser.
Doubt it. They (PAG and by extension PCNA) are over a barrel from a corporate POV anyway.
MB USA HQ is also in Atlanta, and Rivian has a sizable office opening imminently (if not already) on the Beltline.
Prior to the creation of Stellantis, Groupe PSA had plans to open an office in Atlanta; there IS a Stellantis financial services office near the Braves stadium.
I forgot about MB, I still think of them in Montvale down the hill from BMW. I know several folks who moved down from Jersey for that (and others who get laid off when they didn’t move).
I was kidding about Porsche, I know it’s been a rough year for them. I don’t envy the friend who went to run their financing business.
The GM press release was doubleplusgood weasel speak in trying to make the EV related cuts sound temporary. Sure.
When total US EV sales go below 5%, is anyone left besides Tesla? What’s the incentive for US companies to keep producing them? It appears that much of the US EV ecosystem is going to unravel.
Makes me worried to see what happens down in Spring Hill with the old Saturn campus that’s supposed to be a battery plant next year. A lot of money went into that, and it’s tied to a lot of good jobs in Middle TN.
They are down to 1 shift and it isn't 70 cars/hour
They have extended the XT5 cause that's the only gas vehicle they make. They got the Honda EV pulled from them. Left with a Lyriq and Optiq. They're screwed.
Congrats to MDG who did some serious driving over the weekend! The dope, who almost took out the safety vehicle, should be banned for life or possibly longer. Maybe he has a death wish but i'm guessing the driver of the safety vehicle wasn't planning on dying this past weekend.
That 100 mph contact. I would have put him in the weeds. And screwed myself. Baruths bonus daughter has a cool head. Hope she can find a way to move up.
For the first time in a while, I watched the F1 race from start to finish, so I feel like I can make an "informed" comment...
...which is basically to agree with Jack. Max is brilliant. Everywhere. But on top of it is the evident work ethic... he fights for every position, and I don't just mean in tenths of a lap...
His tire strategy was to start on med, saving the softs for later. Almost everyone else makes an initial charge on the softs... halfway through the strategy, MV is the in P1 (briefly) on meds. He boxes and comes out P5 or P6 on softs, setting up his charge for P2...
The point is, Max had to work just a bit harder to make a tire strategy work that, probably, wouldn't have worked with any other driver. Yes, he was denied P2 in the end... but all of that work was ready to deliver.
In the end, MV shrugs post-race and says "sometimes the VSC works for you, sometimes it works against you..."
What struck me all the way back in practice 1: Verstappen and Norris had each handed their cars to rookies. Verstappen was on the pit wall studying what his rookie was doing. Some time later Norris was pulling on a headset and slinking over to his own pit wall, as though someone on his team was watching F1TV and gave him a scolding for not taking his role seriously.
This is what nobody wants to say about GG shoes, maybe because it takes away some of the "prestige" appeal, but...
They are the cheapest European-made sneakers out there that you can actually try on and see for yourself. Diadoras are just as good, and half the price, but I have never seen a set of Italian Diadoras on a shelf.
They're fun. My wife has several pairs, wears them for work. The customization and all the crystal stars and whatnot. It's silly whimsical. The opposite of the Louboutins, which say "I'm a whore but I'm also a difficult person."
Really? I never realized they were made in Europe. It makes the price slightly more justifiable, even very one that I’ve seen is way too worn or flashy.
Another brand to check out is Novesta that is also EU made, and quite a bit lower in price. I’ve been eyeing a pair now that my OnCloud’s are basically dead.
I started buying them after I got fed up with Vans social justice posturing while torpedoing that HK dissident artist at the behest of the Chicoms that reminded Vans of where they source their shoes.
You don't NEED them for track driving, but if you don't have a suitable shoe for it, they're pretty good. I've had trouble-free service from the pair I bought about 6 years ago.
'even very one that I’ve seen is way too worn or flashy.'
The pre-worn aesthetic is a bit iffy but if you're going to travel with them it makes sense; airports are filled with people who step on your shoes. When I wear grown-man stuff, like cordovan Aldens, it infuriates me.
For the record, I have two sets of GGs and neither is the pre-worn type. Also, for some reason, it's the front of the upper legs that wears out on my canvas pants. I think because I'm always trying to push/shove/carry things around!
That’s fair enough. But I’ll flag two things: one, pretty sure project commons are cheaper and made in Italy. Probably the same caveat applies. Two, my comunity made, “crafted in DTLA” (I call them communist mades) have been great, and I had them refurb for $175 from the manufacturer since they went from $185 when I bought them to….. wait for it….. $425 in under 3 years. The refurb took months, and when I checked in, the owner got back to me and said ICE raids have halved his labor force and his workers are scared to come in :( so this will be the last pair I buy!
Are you sure they're actually fully made in Italy?
Italy has some of the loosest origin regs. A lot of expensive bike frames (and other parts) were "Made in Italy" but really were only painted there, which allowed them to claim "made in" because painting was a higher value add than actually laying the carbon in China.
"For our footwear collections, we rely on 16 shoe factories, all located in Italy. Based on our product designs and technical specifications, they manage the overall production process and source raw materials from our preferred suppliers – with the exception of certain materials provided directly by Golden. In 2024, we sourced these materials from 42 raw material suppliers, all based in Italy.
Meanwhile, our ready-to-wear collections involved 57 raw material suppliers – nearly all Italian – providing fabrics, production accessories (embroidery, buttons, zippers, belts, bands, etc.), and packaging, and 13 garment manufacturers entrusted with realizing our finished products, all located in Italy, where the deep-rooted manufacturing heritage guarantees high technical expertise and adequate production capacity.
As regards accessories – bags, belts, fragrances, and jewelry – in 2024 we worked with 12 Italian finished product suppliers and 7 raw material suppliers, most of whom were also based in Italy."
If they are using 16 separate factories, that suggests a lot of work being done. If they had one big place that "made" all their different shoes, I'd suspect a final finish operation.
That's really thorough for a public statement. I'd be with you in betting on it. Great to see a major luxury type brand actually going for local quality, not just marketing it nowadays.
I'd stay away from light twins. They're a real handful to fly if anything goes wrong, and the maintenance on them is just expensive. Buy something like a great lakes biplane and just go have fun.
He just had a USAFA interview with one of the flight test pilots for the F-15E. According to his mother, the interview was supposed to be 30 minutes but went on for over an hour. I assume that was my son grilling the fellow about the F-15E.
Allegedly in the years after moving from my hometown and before meeting my wife, I could vouch for every line of this.
I wonder how much the lack of fucking among the younger crowd comes from the lack of drinking.
I would never say alcohol is a net positive, BUT it does lower inhibitions… idk. As a guy with some degree of social anxiety, it surely helped me get over that to talk to women.
I'd suggest alcohol in moderation for most European derived people is a net positive. Obviously if your ancestors couldn't handle the fire water, you probably should stay away.
I've got the elder millennial side of the spectrum covered. Although, after the last month, I'm trying to go dry until thanksgiving. We'll see how long that lasts.
OTOH alcohol also makes a witty reply less likely, and makes strategizing about unexpected situations more difficult / impossible.
EDIT: Removed distracting parenthetical, and responses to arguing about it.
Regardless of my original phrasing or example, the idea that men trying to meet women should keep their drinking zero or very moderate in order to keep their wits about them did not originate with me, and was basically a consensus at one time.
how often do you have multiple hot girls fighting over you? also, how is that a problem? the answer, presumably, would be, "ladies! ladies! there's enough of me to share!"
I don't know if this still holds true, but my understanding from the kids is that the dating apps - in the way most tech super-charges something already there - took the natural imbalance in the dating pool (say, the top 20% of guys get 80% of the women) and poured a drum of gasoline on it.
Well yeah cause now you can make sure your app doesn't show you anyone who doesnt meet your arbitrary standards. Then you can also wonder why the men who do meet your standards consider you to be a last resort.
The secret to dating apps is ask every single woman you match with out. No one asks anyone out. Stop fuckin chatting and just suggest meeting up for a drink. If you get absolutely zero matches, something is seriously wrong with your profile. I know plenty of ugly people who met on tinder
My experience 10 years ago was that many women didn't want to meet. They desire to chat for months but do not want to spend 30 min together in person. Huge waste of time for me to do that.
That's why it works. You don't waste your time chatting. I was going on 3-5 dates per week. Now, I was handsome but the theory still holds. I still mostly got flaked on. 90% still said no or ignored
Prior to 10 years ago the rule of large numbers reigned supreme on the dating apps. Cast a wide net and separate the wheat from the chaff within the MATCHES. Then for the ones you are interested in, the quicker you get to an in person date the quicker you will know if the match is worth your time or not. I never understood people painstakingly reviewing profiles and passing over people based on 300 characters and highly curated photos. If you're using the apps to truly find a partner then you want to cycle through as many matches as possible to create the shortest time span between starting and finding the right one.
Disclaimer, I've been out of the dating pool for 10 years so your mileage may vary.
In this new series The Chair Company, starring that skinny guy from the "you sure about that?" meme gifs, there's a teen boy who discovers drinking in moderation is actually relaxing.
I saw a board about the show where some kids were talking about that very thing and how they just binge drank until they "discovered" only having one or two, or four if they have a good liver, and how revelatory it was.
The only reason anyone really has sex for an hour is they're hopped up on cocaine and/or a bottle of whiskey. Normal people, under a certain age, just have sex multiple times.
At the risk of actually getting an answer, is that an out of dick in box thrusting? Or does that include foreplay? I’m no Dirk but I’ve never needed an hour to get my partner off. About 10 minutes should do it. After that she generally is sick of me plugging away at her.
Ask and you shall receive. New relationship energy mixed with somewhat youthful fitness. I never had "whisky dick" in the conventional sense and I count the amount of times I have done cocaine on a meatpacking plant workers hand but both of those things make it extremely difficult for the Y chromosome partner to, for lack of a more appropriate term, finish. So on certain occasions after consuming way too much alcohol, things took longer than usual. I'm too old for that shit now. We weren't some tantric yoga sex couple that made a habit of it. 10-15 minutes a couple times a day pre kids was more than enough.
I swear to god every time I read an article related to anything dealing with Gen Z "culture" I spawn a pair of overalls, a bardahl mesh cap and become an eighty five year old man.
In the pre-internet days my favorite part of G. Gordon Liddy's show was when he would read newspaper articles to the audience and then comment on them.
I remember when a caller asked Mr. Liddy about what kind of ammo should he use at the range for paper targets and then what to use for actual shooting. He said to use a such and such grain bullet that would pierce the paper cleanly so he could see exactly where it entered but for actual shooting he told the guy to use a such and such hollow point "for maximum wounding power," with particular emphasis on that part.
Podcasts and most cable tv news shows are basically talk radio with the commercials in different places.
Porn fucks up men and dating apps fuck up women, but there's validity in the argument that gooning is a sort of societal antibody response to dating feeling like a sick game of disarming explosives for the chance to win a used rental car.
Men have their brains rewired to only get turned on by super-refined versions of whatever they're into, which no real woman could ever be. Women get hammered by the message that no matter what she brings to the table, Mr. Triple-6 is hers if she swipes right enough times.
Everybody loses. Normal human beings can never be enough.
No mo' High Life? Well, what kind of joint is this? How come no mo' High Life? Look, Doctor, this ain't Korea or China or wherever you come from. Get some Miller High Life in this fuckin' joint! You asking a lot of a man, make him change his beer.
Every time I see a photograph from before 2005 or so, let alone 1990s or earlier, I really do yearn for a time machine or at least a monkey's paw. Not that I have rose colored glasses or misguided nostalgia, I just hate the goddamn internets and camera phones.
"dating feeling like a sick game of disarming explosives for the chance to win a used rental car"
Excellent description of most of my 30s. Fortunately for me in my late 30s I found a beautiful low mile example. Best not to take that metaphor too much farther.
I read a story about, I think it was Marlene Dietrich maybe, watching him take his back brace off (mind you, faults aside, he was literally a war hero) and thinking to herself "oh lord, am I going to have to get on top?"
Cute story, thanks. She would have been at least 60 years old (born 1901).
Before PT109, JFK shared a mistress with his father. The Navy hastily reassigned JFK because the woman was perceived to be a Nazi intelligence asset--Inga Arvad. JFK's pet name for her was "Inga-Binga." Unusual for a Scandinavian journalist, she was granted three interviews with Hitler, and was a guest at Göring's wedding. Ouch. Here's an example of her "Hitler Fangirl-ing":
In her article, a description of Hitler was later translated into English: "You immediately like him. He seems lonely. The eyes, showing a kind heart, stare right at you. They sparkle with force."
Yecch. Of course, JFK's father was a terrible antisemite.
In 1938, Germany's former Ambassador to the UK told Berlin "Kennedy fully understood our Jewish policy."
Kennedy supposedly was instrumental in denying ships carrying Jewish refugees from docking in America. There's an Urban Legend that a British Rabbi cursed all of Ambassador Kennedy's descendants.
MotoGP in Sepang.
While Marc Marquez had locked up the championship earlier, and will be out due to the Bez caused injury for the rest of the season, second and third were open until this weekend where second place has been clinched by his lil' bro, Alex.
A rough practice saw Bagnaia enter into Q1, make the cut with Fermin Aldegeur into Q2, where Aldegeur placed back of second row and semi-circuit specialist Bagnaia proceeded to demolish the competition and secure pole position. Bagnaia positioned himself as the clear favorite for the sprint and race to come.
Bez' hot streak ended as no Aprilia rider made it into Q2 and he started from 14th on the grid.
In the sprint Bagnaia got the hole shot and pulled out a second over the first three laps. He would increase his lead to double that margin over second place finisher Alex Marquez, who started in the same position he ended. Acosta bumped Morbidelli out of the way early on to secure third where he would stay for the rest of the race. Bagnaia looked, once again, like his old self with the confidence to come through a tough Friday and set hot lap times under pressure. Fermin Aldegeur cut through the pack with a phenomenal showing to take third place ahead of Pedro Acosta. Or, he would have except for the tire pressure penalty which relegated him to 7th and put Acosta on the podium. I understand the rule is for safety's sake and it has spoiled a couple of race results and caused strange management to occur mid-race by riders. Just seems like a mess to me.
The race saw a bit of a shuffle with Alex Marquez passing Bagnaia on lap 2 and managing the race to the end for another MotoGP victory. Bagnaia was in the fight with Pedro Acosta for much of the race and looked to have second place in hand until a tire puncture or failure deflated his weekend, slowed his pace enough for Acosta to pass, and eventually caused a DNF as it would have been unsafe to continue on.
For the championship: After the sprint Bez and Bagnaia were tied for points. The race DNF from Bagnaia puts Bez back ahead for third by 5 points. There's still a chance for Ducati to lock out the championship medal standings or for Bez to put Aprilia into bronze.
Next week MotoGP will be in Portugal.
Thank you for these recaps.
I don't know how I missed this race. My hulu makes finding moto gp hard. I thought it was an off week. :/
Motogp.com/en/calendar
I typically check and probably just got my weekends mixed up.
There was a horrific crash in Moto3, on the sighting lap. Noah Dettwiler was cruising and was struck from behind by Jose Rueda. Dettwiler was nearly killed, it now looks like he'll survive. These guys are just kids.
https://youtu.be/UXoCmE9yih8?si=mUbJMsKOKmb-5--d
Lots of punditry about the sighting lap procedures (and lack of a warm-up practice on race day for Moto3). Neither rider was doing anything illegal, unsportsmanlike, or uncommon.
Thank you for this; I don't normally watch Moto3 and I'm glad to hear these young men are going to live.
This puts people being angry in the other classes when someone cruises on line into perspective.
Totally pisses me off when they cruise during a session, but during the sighting/warm-up lap lots of guys cruise, some to save fuel, some to be one of the last to the grid (I used to come in late and do a stoppie for fun and to fuck with the guys around me).
Dettwiler could have easily been further off line, and Rueda should have been more heads-up. I really feel for them both, especially as it was completely avoidable.
"and do a stoppie for fun and to fuck with the guys around me"
💯out of 10 cheekiness, salute your shorts
Easy to judge in hindsight and slow motion but shouldn't you see what's in front of you?
Were I to apportion blame I'd probably start there.
Oh man as a guy who has ONCE fallen off a bike that is suuuch an extreme wreck... you can see for much of the roll he is totally unconscious.
All plz pardon the ignorance, but why are they not wearing airbags? Wouldn't that have mitigated somewhat (for either rider?)
All classes have been required to have a functioning airbag system since 2018. They're not always super obvious when they go off.
*Edit* And sometimes they don't go off...
If you're not independently wealthy, or have a friend or family who isn't:
Read: https://go.wnd.com/outsourcedamerica/
https://issuu.com/wnd19/docs/whistleblower_--_october_2025_36aecaaad0b7bb
Comment ("complete termination"): https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/24/2025-18473/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b
Celebrate (from FL): https://xcancel.com/EricLDaugh/status/1983536756524802401
* if you don't want to give your real address, you can use trashmail.com
Whatever the issuu link is has died since you posted it.
D'Oh; sorry. Edited with the original, thanks.
It may have been a cloud outage; back up at https://issuu.com/wnd19/docs/whistleblower_--_october_2025_36aecaaad0b7bb
Yeah, that's been happening a lot lately. Broke my Wordle streak....
Just yesterday I heard Michael Lewis of Moneyball, Big Short etc. fame make the claim Indian Premier League Cricket is the fasting growing pro sports league on the planet. He has money invested in a team.
Podcast alert: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/indian-premier-league-cricket
Have you considered reallocating your daily hours spent on hating India(ns) toward something productive? Will you rejoice when AI usurps them (and all other humans)? Or pivot to hating AI too?
"Will you rejoice when AI usurps them (and all other humans)? Or pivot to hating AI too?"
He doesn't need to worry about that, because it's not going to happen. We are already seeing the real-world limits of "AI". It's great at making videos of famous people doing embarrassing stuff. That's about it. No sane person would let it fly their plane or even cook their food. You'd end up with soap in the pizza.
AI art can be quite amazing as well, but as long as you can't copyright it because there's no human creator, there'll be a market for proper artists.
Besides, I'm not a big fan of running my stuff through the internet just to see what happens to it.
the mlk jr sora edits are pretty funny however
Really the only thing, besides the “deadass Altima” videos, of any value.
Are those the ones where the Ghettoville PD pulls Tyvequious over in his Altima, which smells like weed and he doesn't have a license, leading to a citywide chase because apparently it takes Hemi Chargers and Police Interceptor Explorers 50 mikes to run down a four-cylinder shitbox?
OKAY SIR going to need a link not going to search for that
NEED LINK PLZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfEEibdqGhk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyAluiQ-z14
some overlap between the two
It’s literally happening as we speak.
Verbatim text from a friend whose firm laid off a bunch of junior / execution people this week:
“As a partner the AI operating leverage is music to my ears…”
To say nothing of the major white collar layoffs:
-So-and-so got paid $100K to push paper around and attend meetings
-We can replicate that person’s work with some AI agents (that cost, say, $20K / year) and a few remaining human “prompt specialists”
-Whether it works or not, the money has been spent on OpenAI software instead of payroll; it would be easier to move heaven and earth than it would be to revert to outdated human labor
-Mag 7 stonks go up
-Donald Trump crows about the economy
These guys are gonna save 80k to lose a 5mm lawsuit when AI fucks up.
That doesn't mean AI is doing anyone's jobs.
It means those jobs were daycare, and now they are gone. They weren't real jobs.
Go ask Google Gemini ten questions to which you already know the answer. Then decide if it can "replace" anyone.
So it’s a “real” (by which I mean UNreal) job (to you) when it’s a white collar job where people get awarded an E for effort … but when I make the same observation about make work JERBS it’s, like, totally different?
I am criticizing you for the sin of myopia.
You confuse jobs that would be cheaper to do elsewhere with jobs that contribute little to nothing. It takes x number of discrete steps to made a muffler. If the muffler is made in the USA, the "make work" portion of it, in your eyes, is that you can't force someone to live on the factory premises and net out even every month after they pay their rent and meal charges to the factory store.
By contrast, the middle managers, HR people, and so on at the average corporation are either unnecessary or sorely underworked. The muffler can be made without them, for YEARS.
"So-and-so got paid $100K to push paper around and attend meetings"
Probably a bad time to be employed "to push paper and attend meetings" but how is AI going to refinish hardwood floors or replace a person's brake pads?
Exactly, it won’t and it can’t. These positions being eliminated are likely largely worthless job anyways, so what is the loss, other than the the person who lost the job, and must go find gainful employment doing something actually useful.
They're called associated. Eventually those associates ideally learn something and become managers. You fire the pipeline and eat the seedcorn. The accounting industry has basically done this with outsourcing
-Labor is fungible. The paper pushers will be downwardly mobile and present competition for people who refinish hardwood floors or replace a person’s brake pads.
-Robots. Why do Sora and Veo 3 and Grok Imagine and so on exist? World modeling.
I've been looking at the robots thing. Issue (only at this very instant!) is cost. It's just cheaper to get a human if the robot needs to move around independently a lot.
If Tesla delivers a humanoid robot that can change a brake disc, AND for less then that all-in cost of a human mechanic inclusive of maintenance... that would definitely be bad news for wage earners. That would be the endgame, at least for a while
I can verify that we’re at the “wow, this AI stuff makes my job much easier!” Stage for associates still. We’re not quite at the “I lost my job to AI” stage in my neck of the woods. It’s still making shit up now and then, it’s still requiring human oversight and ticking and tying, it can’t read a IS/BS/SCF properly yet let alone give me a decent analysis. But this type of stuff, to me, always has 4 phases: 1) this is worthless professionally but fun to mess with 2) this is helpful for streamlining certain tasks but needs some prodding ***you are here*** 3) wow, I have so much free time now that this is automating so much 4) HR meeting on a Friday at 4 pm
It’s no promise we get to stage 3 or 4. But right now definitely at stage 2.
The reason this stuff has always had four phases before is because it's always been deterministic. When I write a program to do something, it gets better as I refine it, but it will always behave the same way, whether that way is right or wrong. Which is why every successive version of Call of Duty handles physics a little better.
AI is non-deterministic. You can improve its output by training it, but you can't guarantee the output. It will ALWAYS need a check.
We’ve been here before:
https://olegov.substack.com/p/ai-bubble-explained
Right. In sept someone put out a paper claiming they got an LLM to behave in a manner that was not stochastic but deterministic:
https://thinkingmachines.ai/blog/defeating-nondeterminism-in-llm-inference/
If this paper is true and if I skimmed the meaning right... it is possible to create deterministic AI.
If that is so...
At least the pizza would be clean. I did not use an AI to write this response.
Have you considered reallocating your daily hours listening to podcasts toward something productive? Like talking to a girl
I heard an interesting story on NPR yesterday. Apparently, China wishes to capitalize on the USA’s desire/intent to restrict H-1B visas. They’re offering “K-Visas” to attract educated entrepreneurial types to start businesses in China. India is trying to capitalize on this by sending professionals to work there. This has caused much consternation in China (which has an 18% or so youth unemployment rate). Social media posts liken securing employment to gladiatorial combat or The Squid Game. Btw, the percentage of immigrants in China is 1/2 of 1% of the population.
Yeah that 0.5% really burns!
India wants to export its poverty & unemployment EVERYWHERE
EVERYWHERE is rejecting India's poverty, unemployment, and behavior/culture.
Actually, I got the number wrong: the percentage of immigrants in China is less than 1/10 of 1%. The authorities claim there is a shortage of 30 million skilled workers, so they need to recruit from outside. There is a lot of anger in China about this, perhaps not expressed as openly. One could suggest corporate interests supercede the government's, even in a peoples' republic.
"The authorities claim there is a shortage of 30 million skilled workers"
I'm told that the German version of that ("Fachkräftemangel") has become a meme, used seriously by politicians and sarcastically by Germans.
I can't find really good sources on this, but in August Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV b.1980) proposed a bill to study whether there was, in fact, a "skills shortage," and, if so, what skills are short:
https://www.visaverge.com/news/moores-h-1b-amendment-implications-for-u-s-stem-workers/
As far as general skills like "literacy" and "computer skills," "US Asian" and "US White" are always near the top:
https://cis.org/Report/US-Immigrant-Performance-International-Tests
https://cis.org/Report/ForeignEducated-Immigrants-Are-Less-Skilled-US-Degree-Holders
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-potential-individual-visa-global-universities-list
https://educationworld.in/india-opts-out-of-pisa-2022-prudence-or-cowardice/
I think part of the issue is how one defines "skilled," and the evolution of "skills." The top tier of the US educational system (at least before AI: https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-coming-ai-cataclysm/) does about as good as anywhere in terms of basic skills, and I think it also does far better than most at major-specific "skills," like accounting, engineering, or computer programming.
But this recent Tweet makes a good point:
https://xcancel.com/InquisitorZeal/status/1984113939337376138
"One huge problem with white-collar work is that with sufficient IQ you can do any desk job, yet hiring managers still search for people with extremely narrow experience/skills/tools."
I liken it to airline pilots: the type ratings of today are not the same as the type ratings of yesterday: the DC-9 passeth away, the A220 entereth. Without a union, the airlines would simply fire all the DC-9 pilots, even if they're EXCELLENT PILOTS in their 30's or 40's, and hire people with A220 ratings.
So the question is:
1. Is there a shortage of educated people: NO
2. Is there a shortage of people with vocationally-relevant education: NO; schools have pushed STEM for decades and students have responded, to the point that liberal arts majors are being shut down: https://www.ohio.edu/news/2025/08/ohio-university-will-suspend-future-entry-11-academic-programs-comply-advance-ohio
3. What is reasonable for employers to expect in terms of pre-existing skills versus "smart, well-educated, learn on the job?"
4. What SPECIFIC skills, if any, do H-1Bs (>70% from India) get at "University of Mumbai" (unranked) that Americans don't get at, say, UT Austin (#65 GLOBALLY, despite NOT being anyone's first thought in terms of academically elite), or is it just an excuse to get indentured servants at lower cost?
i bet the number of people with an iq high enough to do those desk jobs is far greater than the number of those jobs available
Hard to say. "Desk jobs" is a bit pejorative in some cases; not everyone can be a good engineer.
There is a middle ground between "we need to import skills because first-world people are retarded!" and "anybody can do any job." It takes some aptitude and some education, and then there are detailed skills that can be learned on the job, and employers should expect that.
Better the commies than us!
0-It is likely that race control was a bit spooked after the (unseen on the broadcast) incident with Lawson and the marshals, hence the overly conservative VSC that robbed us all of a Verstappen-Leclerc showdown in the final laps.
1-Both Haas and Ferrari overperformed in terms of pure pace in Mexico because the Ferrari turbo arrangement loses less at altitude compared to the other Power Units; presumably the same would’ve applied to Sauber.
2-Podcast alert! Motoman is an interesting cat. He and I had a memorable, IRL conversation over cigars about 3 years ago in Atlanta.
3-What’s a Goon to a Goblin?
theres gotta be a brainrot remix of no church in the wild out there somewhere
hey! Sherman is back! hi, Sherman!
Someone has to do the Sisyphean tasks around here while the Trump voting MAGAt central planners are preoccupied with determining which JERBS are “real” and “not real.”
Relatedly: https://condenaststore.com/featured/i-can-do-the-investment-banking-tom-toro.html?srsltid=AfmBOoo6PrKkRjH1qH-RyKnd-OLWEXCVGy1fLareMtGea7Q4up_asBY9
Now I have another podcast episode to listen to - hurrah!
I got the Autopian email a day or two ago as well. It sounded desperate - thanks for the perspective on it all. I had no idea that David Tracey had reproduced.
I can also recommend George’s recent interview with Bob Lutz.
looks like hes also got one with dave coleman which ought to be good
I’ll second this. I was like Jack, and not the biggest fan of podcasts. However with my new 30 mile/55ish minute commute, I’ve found them a great way to pass the time in the car when I’m not taking calls.
I can't stand podcasts but I'm never in a spot where a podcast is better than reading or video. The kids are too loud at home and I can't focus on anything I'm listening to at work. I could definitely see them if I had a commute
Yeah, that's when I listen to them as well. Listened to about half of this one on the way home tonight. Jack's as pithy and well-spoken on video as he is on paper.
They've been a gamechanger for me in recent years on long solo drives, particularly when I'm doing long drives in my old, noisy Bronco.
There are good podcasts out there that are not just two or three guys yammering on about…. Whatever the hell they are talking about. Nearly all of that style suck. But, there are a few good ones hidden among the junk
None of them, however, are hosted by Alpha Male Podcast Bros pontificating on the virtues of getting up at 4 AM, taking cold showers and giving 110% because second place is the first loser.
Next ACF - your comments on the news today that GM is laying off 1700 workers at their EV operations in various states. Shocker.
This GM bad news is coming faster than I can blog about it. The design center burns down! More layoffs! More canceled vehicles!
They also closed some office in metro Atlanta this week.
The excreable GM subreddit has nice photo of it shooped with a "spirit Halloween coming soon" sign on it
Is Porsche hiring? I thought they were the only ones down there.
Doubt it. They (PAG and by extension PCNA) are over a barrel from a corporate POV anyway.
MB USA HQ is also in Atlanta, and Rivian has a sizable office opening imminently (if not already) on the Beltline.
Prior to the creation of Stellantis, Groupe PSA had plans to open an office in Atlanta; there IS a Stellantis financial services office near the Braves stadium.
I forgot about MB, I still think of them in Montvale down the hill from BMW. I know several folks who moved down from Jersey for that (and others who get laid off when they didn’t move).
I was kidding about Porsche, I know it’s been a rough year for them. I don’t envy the friend who went to run their financing business.
The GM press release was doubleplusgood weasel speak in trying to make the EV related cuts sound temporary. Sure.
When total US EV sales go below 5%, is anyone left besides Tesla? What’s the incentive for US companies to keep producing them? It appears that much of the US EV ecosystem is going to unravel.
Makes me worried to see what happens down in Spring Hill with the old Saturn campus that’s supposed to be a battery plant next year. A lot of money went into that, and it’s tied to a lot of good jobs in Middle TN.
They are down to 1 shift and it isn't 70 cars/hour
They have extended the XT5 cause that's the only gas vehicle they make. They got the Honda EV pulled from them. Left with a Lyriq and Optiq. They're screwed.
Maybe GM should move the Equinox EV and Blazer EV to SH.
If you work there you want to resmble Wentzville, not Mexico
You want gasoline products
They invested so much in that battery plant. Mary pivots every 2 years and it is vosting people's jobs and their free cash flow. They are running out.
Oshawa 2000 layoffs
CAMI layoffs 1200 layoffs
Detroit-Hamtramck 1200 layoffs
Ohio Ultium 1400 layoffs
Spring Hill 700 layoffs
Fairfax 900 layoffs
Tech Centre 200 layoffs
Georgia IT 300 layoffs
Congrats to MDG who did some serious driving over the weekend! The dope, who almost took out the safety vehicle, should be banned for life or possibly longer. Maybe he has a death wish but i'm guessing the driver of the safety vehicle wasn't planning on dying this past weekend.
That 100 mph contact. I would have put him in the weeds. And screwed myself. Baruths bonus daughter has a cool head. Hope she can find a way to move up.
For the first time in a while, I watched the F1 race from start to finish, so I feel like I can make an "informed" comment...
...which is basically to agree with Jack. Max is brilliant. Everywhere. But on top of it is the evident work ethic... he fights for every position, and I don't just mean in tenths of a lap...
His tire strategy was to start on med, saving the softs for later. Almost everyone else makes an initial charge on the softs... halfway through the strategy, MV is the in P1 (briefly) on meds. He boxes and comes out P5 or P6 on softs, setting up his charge for P2...
The point is, Max had to work just a bit harder to make a tire strategy work that, probably, wouldn't have worked with any other driver. Yes, he was denied P2 in the end... but all of that work was ready to deliver.
In the end, MV shrugs post-race and says "sometimes the VSC works for you, sometimes it works against you..."
That's a true champion.
After the race on the safety car "Sometimes it works for you, sometimes it works against you"
He's fun to watch.
What struck me all the way back in practice 1: Verstappen and Norris had each handed their cars to rookies. Verstappen was on the pit wall studying what his rookie was doing. Some time later Norris was pulling on a headset and slinking over to his own pit wall, as though someone on his team was watching F1TV and gave him a scolding for not taking his role seriously.
Exactly.
Golden Goose shoes...I thought those were for soccer moms in Escalades?
Commander is going to need twin-time at some point...$245/hr will seem cheap.
This is what nobody wants to say about GG shoes, maybe because it takes away some of the "prestige" appeal, but...
They are the cheapest European-made sneakers out there that you can actually try on and see for yourself. Diadoras are just as good, and half the price, but I have never seen a set of Italian Diadoras on a shelf.
Surprised they have a women and a mens section and not just 2 womens sections.
USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST
They complement your hair
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I’m guessing you’ve used that line before.
Just not on a man.
I use that line in reference to a woman’s boobs….
You learn something new everyday, even after visiting a Golden Goose store. I never knew they made men’s!
I walked through a GG store in Spain with my wife, because her cousin loves them and we never understood it. It was an experience to say the least.
They're fun. My wife has several pairs, wears them for work. The customization and all the crystal stars and whatnot. It's silly whimsical. The opposite of the Louboutins, which say "I'm a whore but I'm also a difficult person."
worst of both worlds
They were cool like 10 years ago on the coasts. Recently arrived in rural Ohio.
Dang. Those things will NEVER make it to the UP...
I saw some Diadoras on the shelf earlier this week, when I was coveting the Zebra hair on hide belt at Alejandro Mayorkas-approved Sid Mashburn.
https://shopmashburn.com/collections/sid-mashburn-sneakers
Really? I never realized they were made in Europe. It makes the price slightly more justifiable, even very one that I’ve seen is way too worn or flashy.
Another brand to check out is Novesta that is also EU made, and quite a bit lower in price. I’ve been eyeing a pair now that my OnCloud’s are basically dead.
I know they are a punchline here, but Pilotti makes a few non-dorky shoes in Portugal and the prices aren’t bad.
It really is a shame to tar Piloti with the brush of their most common customers. They do make some nice shoes.
I started buying them after I got fed up with Vans social justice posturing while torpedoing that HK dissident artist at the behest of the Chicoms that reminded Vans of where they source their shoes.
You don't NEED them for track driving, but if you don't have a suitable shoe for it, they're pretty good. I've had trouble-free service from the pair I bought about 6 years ago.
'even very one that I’ve seen is way too worn or flashy.'
The pre-worn aesthetic is a bit iffy but if you're going to travel with them it makes sense; airports are filled with people who step on your shoes. When I wear grown-man stuff, like cordovan Aldens, it infuriates me.
Do you also buy jeans with pre worn knees? All that farm work is going to wear them out…
For the record, I have two sets of GGs and neither is the pre-worn type. Also, for some reason, it's the front of the upper legs that wears out on my canvas pants. I think because I'm always trying to push/shove/carry things around!
I have a pair of (apparently discontinued) Velasca sneakers with which I am quite pleased.
Similar to these but in Nubuck: https://www.velasca.com/products/rodich-blsc
Made in Italy, with Chinese sweatshop craftsmanship! Do they come with a loosey and some rice on the side?
I didn't say they were made WELL in Italy. For that, you need Summer Walks.
That’s fair enough. But I’ll flag two things: one, pretty sure project commons are cheaper and made in Italy. Probably the same caveat applies. Two, my comunity made, “crafted in DTLA” (I call them communist mades) have been great, and I had them refurb for $175 from the manufacturer since they went from $185 when I bought them to….. wait for it….. $425 in under 3 years. The refurb took months, and when I checked in, the owner got back to me and said ICE raids have halved his labor force and his workers are scared to come in :( so this will be the last pair I buy!
Ah, the eternal choice for people selling $399 sneakers: do I have them made by slave labor overseas or illegal aliens here?
I do like the look of this:
https://www.comunitymade.com/collections/trending-now/products/mens-eastsider
i have a pair of those as well i dont wear as often because suede (and when im wearing suede you bet your ASS im wearing my gucci drivers)
but to paraphrase a tweet, if the dodgers were playing ISIS i'd be in the stands chanting in arabic. so, pick your poison.
Are you sure they're actually fully made in Italy?
Italy has some of the loosest origin regs. A lot of expensive bike frames (and other parts) were "Made in Italy" but really were only painted there, which allowed them to claim "made in" because painting was a higher value add than actually laying the carbon in China.
Impossible to say, for those reasons. But I'd bet they do more than, say, the Birkin bag people.
https://we.goldengoose.com/sustainability/our-strategy/we-craft/
"For our footwear collections, we rely on 16 shoe factories, all located in Italy. Based on our product designs and technical specifications, they manage the overall production process and source raw materials from our preferred suppliers – with the exception of certain materials provided directly by Golden. In 2024, we sourced these materials from 42 raw material suppliers, all based in Italy.
Meanwhile, our ready-to-wear collections involved 57 raw material suppliers – nearly all Italian – providing fabrics, production accessories (embroidery, buttons, zippers, belts, bands, etc.), and packaging, and 13 garment manufacturers entrusted with realizing our finished products, all located in Italy, where the deep-rooted manufacturing heritage guarantees high technical expertise and adequate production capacity.
As regards accessories – bags, belts, fragrances, and jewelry – in 2024 we worked with 12 Italian finished product suppliers and 7 raw material suppliers, most of whom were also based in Italy."
If they are using 16 separate factories, that suggests a lot of work being done. If they had one big place that "made" all their different shoes, I'd suspect a final finish operation.
That's really thorough for a public statement. I'd be with you in betting on it. Great to see a major luxury type brand actually going for local quality, not just marketing it nowadays.
Italians generally apply the same attention to detail you find in a frathouse bonfire.
i do all my best work drunk. i cant blame them.
I'd stay away from light twins. They're a real handful to fly if anything goes wrong, and the maintenance on them is just expensive. Buy something like a great lakes biplane and just go have fun.
I think the "light twin" he really wants to fly is the F-15EX.
Any of the F-15s would be amazing to fly.
He just had a USAFA interview with one of the flight test pilots for the F-15E. According to his mother, the interview was supposed to be 30 minutes but went on for over an hour. I assume that was my son grilling the fellow about the F-15E.
They were either talking about flying or racing. Possibly both!
That two-seater canopy always looked like ass. The F-15C is the hot sister of that family.
Huh. Wonder if there are any F-15 pilots on here at ACF...
Concur. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1ZkqWvgIsU
Recipe to have sex with a real life woman for more than one hour:
Ingredients:
1 Willing participant
1 pint of whiskey
1 Cialis*
Be somewhat in shape
0 children <---- I cannot emphasize this one enough
*If you're under 35 or so, you probably only need the pint of whiskey
If you are still having premature issues, add 1 line of cocaine
If you can't tell if she's enjoying, she is not enjoying it
All theoretical of course
Asking for a friend...
This friend has two birth control babies. Like jacks "friend", except it's me and not my, umm, never mind.
Why didn't he just pull out?
Youve got three kids. You know it’s not as fun
Yeah, but all three were on purpose with no contraception in between.
Birth control had worked for the previous 18 months before #1. Didnt think it would happen twice. Not chancing that a third time
Allegedly in the years after moving from my hometown and before meeting my wife, I could vouch for every line of this.
I wonder how much the lack of fucking among the younger crowd comes from the lack of drinking.
I would never say alcohol is a net positive, BUT it does lower inhibitions… idk. As a guy with some degree of social anxiety, it surely helped me get over that to talk to women.
I'd suggest alcohol in moderation for most European derived people is a net positive. Obviously if your ancestors couldn't handle the fire water, you probably should stay away.
Well. I mean, I’m certainly doing *my* part to bump up alcohol consumption rates among young millennials.
I've got the elder millennial side of the spectrum covered. Although, after the last month, I'm trying to go dry until thanksgiving. We'll see how long that lasts.
lol undergoing a similar drying out period right now, though a bit less ambitious in scope.
Trying to stay away on weekdays at least for the next little bit.
Nothing too bad. Just about ~8 pounds heavier than I’d prefer to be.
This time of the year, I probably won't make it all the way. It's aspirational.
OTOH alcohol also makes a witty reply less likely, and makes strategizing about unexpected situations more difficult / impossible.
EDIT: Removed distracting parenthetical, and responses to arguing about it.
Regardless of my original phrasing or example, the idea that men trying to meet women should keep their drinking zero or very moderate in order to keep their wits about them did not originate with me, and was basically a consensus at one time.
You should already be regularly banging the chick before applying advanced tactics.
updated to say that "it" is "alcohol"
On the other, OTHER hand, I never once had any of thoughts after drinking a couple.
how often do you have multiple hot girls fighting over you? also, how is that a problem? the answer, presumably, would be, "ladies! ladies! there's enough of me to share!"
You think too much. Try "you want to get our of here?"
That's it.
I don't know if this still holds true, but my understanding from the kids is that the dating apps - in the way most tech super-charges something already there - took the natural imbalance in the dating pool (say, the top 20% of guys get 80% of the women) and poured a drum of gasoline on it.
Well yeah cause now you can make sure your app doesn't show you anyone who doesnt meet your arbitrary standards. Then you can also wonder why the men who do meet your standards consider you to be a last resort.
Women have unrealistic standards, men lie about those unrealistic standards. It really is like the job market
The secret to dating apps is ask every single woman you match with out. No one asks anyone out. Stop fuckin chatting and just suggest meeting up for a drink. If you get absolutely zero matches, something is seriously wrong with your profile. I know plenty of ugly people who met on tinder
Just put together a profile that presents the most Looney Tunes version of yourself that being shitfaced will let you back up.
See what happens.
Ha!
My experience 10 years ago was that many women didn't want to meet. They desire to chat for months but do not want to spend 30 min together in person. Huge waste of time for me to do that.
That's why it works. You don't waste your time chatting. I was going on 3-5 dates per week. Now, I was handsome but the theory still holds. I still mostly got flaked on. 90% still said no or ignored
Prior to 10 years ago the rule of large numbers reigned supreme on the dating apps. Cast a wide net and separate the wheat from the chaff within the MATCHES. Then for the ones you are interested in, the quicker you get to an in person date the quicker you will know if the match is worth your time or not. I never understood people painstakingly reviewing profiles and passing over people based on 300 characters and highly curated photos. If you're using the apps to truly find a partner then you want to cycle through as many matches as possible to create the shortest time span between starting and finding the right one.
Disclaimer, I've been out of the dating pool for 10 years so your mileage may vary.
I think they drink less because they have less test. Same reason they have less sex. But the two factors could be compounding.
In this new series The Chair Company, starring that skinny guy from the "you sure about that?" meme gifs, there's a teen boy who discovers drinking in moderation is actually relaxing.
I saw a board about the show where some kids were talking about that very thing and how they just binge drank until they "discovered" only having one or two, or four if they have a good liver, and how revelatory it was.
It's bizarre people have to be told basic things.
define "somewhat in shape"
Looking like you aren’t a stranger to a gym goes a long, long way.
(Cheat code to this is to focus mainly on upper body while lifting)
You dont get winded after having sex for an hour
why am I getting visions of a timer on the nightstand? lol. "you wimp, you only lasted 57 minutes"
The only reason anyone really has sex for an hour is they're hopped up on cocaine and/or a bottle of whiskey. Normal people, under a certain age, just have sex multiple times.
At the risk of actually getting an answer, is that an out of dick in box thrusting? Or does that include foreplay? I’m no Dirk but I’ve never needed an hour to get my partner off. About 10 minutes should do it. After that she generally is sick of me plugging away at her.
At the risk of actually getting an answer:
Ask and you shall receive. New relationship energy mixed with somewhat youthful fitness. I never had "whisky dick" in the conventional sense and I count the amount of times I have done cocaine on a meatpacking plant workers hand but both of those things make it extremely difficult for the Y chromosome partner to, for lack of a more appropriate term, finish. So on certain occasions after consuming way too much alcohol, things took longer than usual. I'm too old for that shit now. We weren't some tantric yoga sex couple that made a habit of it. 10-15 minutes a couple times a day pre kids was more than enough.
Does 2 minutes of play and 58 minutes of cuddling count?
At your age? Yes
Still look human.
who is the cocaine for
In this case, the man
If they enjoy it they are more likely to fall in love with you. Be careful
THIS IS THE GOAL!
I swear to god every time I read an article related to anything dealing with Gen Z "culture" I spawn a pair of overalls, a bardahl mesh cap and become an eighty five year old man.
Same thing happens when I write about it.
except your coveralls and hat are high end, nicely tailored, and made in USA
Yelling at clouds.
“Honestly, I still don’t understand the appeal of the format. It’s just two people talking about stuff.”
They really aren’t any different from a talk radio show. How many people listened to Stern religiously? How many people listened to NPR?
Same shit.
I never did any of that.
I *did* listen to G. Gordon Liddy's show.
In the pre-internet days my favorite part of G. Gordon Liddy's show was when he would read newspaper articles to the audience and then comment on them.
I remember when a caller asked Mr. Liddy about what kind of ammo should he use at the range for paper targets and then what to use for actual shooting. He said to use a such and such grain bullet that would pierce the paper cleanly so he could see exactly where it entered but for actual shooting he told the guy to use a such and such hollow point "for maximum wounding power," with particular emphasis on that part.
Podcasts and most cable tv news shows are basically talk radio with the commercials in different places.
ball makes em fall
the trick is bring a shitload with you
Why waste good ammo on a bad target. Just use more ammo.
More fun.
exactly
magdump in them for good luck
REVIEW
AND
COMMENT
ON
THE
NEWS!
From Washington's quaint alternative newspaper, The Washington Post.
Radio Free D.C.
Porn fucks up men and dating apps fuck up women, but there's validity in the argument that gooning is a sort of societal antibody response to dating feeling like a sick game of disarming explosives for the chance to win a used rental car.
Men have their brains rewired to only get turned on by super-refined versions of whatever they're into, which no real woman could ever be. Women get hammered by the message that no matter what she brings to the table, Mr. Triple-6 is hers if she swipes right enough times.
Everybody loses. Normal human beings can never be enough.
Ban smartphones for under-21s. It’s the only way.
If we want people to have more sex, ban them for ALL women and most men.
If we want young adults to fuck, take the smart phone out of their hand and replace it with a nice, cold Miller High Life.
That’s my campaign platform.
I just Venmo'd your SuperPAC
Btw the Graydon-Jon bromance is dead, per Lachlan Cartwright. Graydon is exiting AirMail imminently (if not already).
That's wild. Graydon * is * AirMail!
I’m writing you in.
For all the upcoming elections.
want to see it on billboards across the country!
THE CHAMPAGNE OF BEERS!
No mo' High Life? Well, what kind of joint is this? How come no mo' High Life? Look, Doctor, this ain't Korea or China or wherever you come from. Get some Miller High Life in this fuckin' joint! You asking a lot of a man, make him change his beer.
Heineken? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!
Funny how Pabst almost died until the Wes Siler types “discovered” it.
PBR blows.
Every time I see a photograph from before 2005 or so, let alone 1990s or earlier, I really do yearn for a time machine or at least a monkey's paw. Not that I have rose colored glasses or misguided nostalgia, I just hate the goddamn internets and camera phones.
People were real, they were enjoying themselves, it wasn’t all a kabuki dance for the socials.
"dating feeling like a sick game of disarming explosives for the chance to win a used rental car"
Excellent description of most of my 30s. Fortunately for me in my late 30s I found a beautiful low mile example. Best not to take that metaphor too much farther.
The infotainment system doesn't constantly flake out on you, I hope.
Nothing witty to say, but, I enjoyed this read.
Does anyone in the family plan to participate in nationals / runoffs?
MDG likely will. I don't have a Runoffs competitive car any more and DG's MX-5 is maybe 80hp short of the Nationals comp.
80 hp? even after the built engine?
Well, the last subject called to mind actress Angie Dickinson, who said sex with JFK was the most exciting 30 seconds of her life.
There are lots of Irish jokes on that subject, I believe.
Norm Macdonald made one, in possibly the best talk show segment of all time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKmadR4Ye54
Imagine being Irish and your great grandad moved to quebec instead of chicago. Rough
Norm said that he was half-Scottish and half-Irish.
Funny!
I read a story about, I think it was Marlene Dietrich maybe, watching him take his back brace off (mind you, faults aside, he was literally a war hero) and thinking to herself "oh lord, am I going to have to get on top?"
Cute story, thanks. She would have been at least 60 years old (born 1901).
Before PT109, JFK shared a mistress with his father. The Navy hastily reassigned JFK because the woman was perceived to be a Nazi intelligence asset--Inga Arvad. JFK's pet name for her was "Inga-Binga." Unusual for a Scandinavian journalist, she was granted three interviews with Hitler, and was a guest at Göring's wedding. Ouch. Here's an example of her "Hitler Fangirl-ing":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inga_Arvad#Career :
In her article, a description of Hitler was later translated into English: "You immediately like him. He seems lonely. The eyes, showing a kind heart, stare right at you. They sparkle with force."
Yecch. Of course, JFK's father was a terrible antisemite.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_P._Kennedy_Sr.#Antisemitism
In 1938, Germany's former Ambassador to the UK told Berlin "Kennedy fully understood our Jewish policy."
Kennedy supposedly was instrumental in denying ships carrying Jewish refugees from docking in America. There's an Urban Legend that a British Rabbi cursed all of Ambassador Kennedy's descendants.