Your taxes at work:

https://mobile.twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1206046224714829824

The curse of being the eldest sibling:

https://mobile.twitter.com/abbygov/status/1206607668091215873

Another eldest sibling curse -this one applies for men- is that if mom gives birth to more boys, they're all going to be taller than you.

In a remarkably prescient comic strip, the late, great Charles M. Schulz shows us the flaws behind the "Believe All Women" movement.

Regarding the eldest sibling curse, I've shared this before but there is a "fraternal birth order effect." Basically, it means that the more older brothers a man has by the same mother, the more likely it is he will develop a homosexual orientation. The theory goes that a woman's female body releases H-Y antigens while carrying a male fetus. The more boys she has, the more adept her body becomes at this process. It has been surprisingly accurate at predicting the number of homosexual males based on fraternal birth order.

And speaking of eldest siblings, mine suffered a fatal heart attack yesterday. R.I.P. Susan.

Condolences, Patrick.

I'm sorry for your loss, Patrick. I know that feeling pretty well. One of my sisters passed away this October after a long battle with cancer.

Something fishy about falso positives:

https://mobile.twitter.com/axbom/status/1203314828426829829

I don't know about you but I'm sick and tired of the media making the President's wealth a news item.

It's none of our business where he got his money for his real estate deals.

A morning of gruesome revelations about the intrusions of tech... And then this.

> Your taxes at work:

If Amy follows one link today, Six, let it be yours!

The Glowing Technicolor Splotches of Color... I will never let her live it down.

I am so sorry, Patrick.

I am really impressed with Sixclaw's post's big, saggy boobs. They look natural, not like implants at all. Like the all-natural, corn-fed boobs of a stout lady. I am impressed with what hormones can do.

Patrick, so sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your family.

Dear Peleton Lady

You're doing it wrong. Try this:

https://nypost.com/2019/12/16/porn-site-debuts-vibrating-bike-seat-for-peloton-soulcycle-riders/

My condolences, Patrick. And that was interesting about birth order... I didn't know that. I wonder if there is a reverse effect for girls.

Condolences on your loss, Patrick.

Well, so much for the charter school black mom vote, Quid Pro Joe.

‘And so the point is, if I’m President, Besty DeVos’s whole notion, from charter schools to this, are gone’

https://news.grabien.com/story-joe-biden-if-im-president-charter-schools-are-gone

Sous-vide BBQ?

He asked me to make 4 tri-tip roasts for him. That would be no problem the question was how would I cook them?

If it was summertime certainly cooking outside would be a possibility but because it was December and there was a chance of rain and it was cold I had to cook them indoors.

It was time to break out my SousVide Supreme to make a sous-vide tri-tip and then char it on my grill outdoors when they were done.

https://www.bigrick.com/post/hey-big-rick-make-some-tri-tip

Florida + Neckbeard + Handgun + Cheap Sandwich:

A winning combo!

Sorry, Patrick. May your happy memories sustain you.

Hi Jen. Just in case you missed my last post in another thread...
___________________________________________

Not to mention that while "Charlotte's Web" will, deservedly, never go out of print, that doesn't change the fact that after a few years, kids who are actually going to keep moving up in school very much WANT to read realistic novels about people, not talking animals, plus books about people they can "relate" to - and who can blame them? If they never get to read even one book that they can relate to more than 50%, why wouldn't they demand more?
__________________________________________

Speaking of which...it's important to remember that even in the days before video games, there were compelling obstacles for MANY young people when it came to learning to love reading.***

What could those obstacles possibly be? How about living with poverty and crime - and living with adults who don't like to read or can't read?

From Jim Trelease's "The Read-Aloud Handbook" (1979, chapter 3, pp 52-53):

"...I remember the remedial-reading teacher who told me about her frustrations in trying to find the right book for the worst class she'd ever had. This happened to be a sixth-grade class but the lesson applies to all grade levels. First she tried 'Charlotte's Web'; they thought it was corny. Then she tried 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'...half the class liked it, half didn't. At last she struck upon 'J.T' by Jane Wagner, the story of a black boy straddling the edge of delinquency. The class loved it so much that half of them found extra copies and finished it ahead of her.

"The teacher admitted her mistake was in not tailoring her first selections to the kind of class she had - a group of restless, nonreading, street-wise, inner-city kids. Make your INITIAL choices for a group like that something they can relate to win their interest, catch their hearts and ears. A few selections of this kind and you'll have won their confidence, after which you can broaden the scope of their reading and introduce them to other times and other places than their own."

(end)

Note: Yes, that author, Jane Wagner, ALSO wrote the Broadway hit "The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," 17 years after writing "J.T."!

More on "J.T." - it became a TV movie in 1969:

http://www.lilytomlin.com/wordpress2/jane-wagner/j-t/

***So today, of course, teaching kids to enjoy reading is a much more delicate process - almost like building a tall house of cards. You can't order them to love books - or even just order them to read in their "spare time" when they're already working 60 hours a week or more on schoolwork, housework and paid work combined.

Thanks, everyone.

If it's not terrible to suggest this (and if it is, my therapist has opined that I'm a high-functioning autist, so the social skills aren't what they should be), I am at least grateful that Susan timed her exit well.

As a favor to her son, she was picking up her granddaughter Riley from school. She arrived at the school, parked the car, but never exited. When she was found in her car, she was unconscious. An ambulance was called, and she was briefly revived, but pronounced dead at the hospital.

Had she had her heart attack while en route, her out-of-control vehicle might have endangered others on the road surrounding a public school just as school was getting out. Had it happened later, she would have been driving home with Riley in the passenger seat.

At the very least, I'm grateful this happened in a way that endangered no one else.

"So, we have no bridge anymore?"

"Fuuu...."

Women aren't like normal people.

A long read, but worth it.

The dude's neither a radical feminist nor a religious fundie.

BTW, Patrick, I'm sorry for your loss. May God bless and keep you and your remaining family through the New Year and beyond.

Condolences to you Patrick, and to you as well SixClaws.