Roundup
(1) The Minitrue comes for Willy Wonka. This ex-post-facto woke bowdlerization is a travesty. If you want to write a bland book for children, write your own and leave someone else’s alone.
(2) Biden goes to Ukraine. Why? After all, it’s not as though anyone doubts he’s supporting Zelensky. It’s a photo-op, of course, and a distraction from other issues. I suppose it’s also meant to show Biden as strong and vigorous. I don’t think it moves any needles for anyone.
(3) This piece about the current grocery store checkout experience is spot on. It’s not quite as bad as that where I live, but it’s bad enough. I refuse to use those self-checkout lanes. If that’s all there is – as sometimes happens late at night – I get someone to do it for me. The gray hair helps.
(4) Republicans in the House give Tucker Carlson the January 6th videos. Good. The left had its chance, now it’s the right’s turn.
(5) Biden puts Susan Rice in charge of implementing “equity” outcomes throughout the federal government:
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity are now the policy of the federal government.
Even if you buy that diversity, for diversity’s sake, is a good policy (you’ll love living in Yugoslavia — wait, it doesn’t exist anymore — or Rwanda) and that inclusivity as an end makes sense, the notion of equity, which is that unequal outcomes are caused by systemic racism, should strike you as bizarre. Life isn’t equal…The bald-faced assertion that a lack of equal outcomes is due to “communities” (whatever the hell that means anymore) being “underserved” by the government is balderdash. “Communities” have different outcomes because they are different. The intellectual bankruptcy of the DIE stupidity lies in the fact that it sees 100% of all problems as racial.
I partly disagree. It’s not actual stupidity. It’s the triumph of ideology over reality. They no longer even pretend that meritocracy is a goal. If it conflicts with equality of outcome, merit must go out the window as another white supremacist plot.
I might be in the minority but I much prefer the self-checkout lanes and will always use them if given the option. I’m relatively old (62) and am not particularly tech savvy but I find the self-checkout easy to use and it reduces the time I have to wait in line. I hardly ever engaged in small talk with the cashier so that’s not part of the shopping experience that I miss.
I really don’t like the self-checkouts and rarely use them either. I am not sure what my aversion is; but there it is. Of course, you can’t use them anyway if you are buying wine. I don’t suppose that more sophisticated people buy their wine in grocery stores; but cheap wine serves me just as well as moderately expensive ones.
Biden rushed to Ukraine, and Trump is rushing to Ohio. That’s what they do. DeSantis is going to pro-police rallies in Blue venues.
“DIE”. I had to laugh at the construct. I assume it was intentional in the piece you quoted although the Woke have now shuffled the original wording of their mantra to read, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”. Doesn’t matter what they call it, it is still DIE; i.e., “Divisiveness, Inequality, and Excrement” as far as I am concerned.
Good for McCarthy. So far, he seems to be bolder than many expected. Unfortunately, whatever Carlson does with the 1/6 tapes will be little more than “singing to the Choir”. I think the damage has been done, and few minds can be changed at this point. Still, if McCarthy’s adaptation of JPJ’s quote is “I have not yet begun to fight– but will do so from now on”, rather than “I have not yet begun to fight–and have no intention of doing so”, that will be a step in the right direction.
From the Zerohedge article on the Jan. 6 video footage:
“Kevin McCarthy Gives Tucker Carlson 41,000 Hours Of Jan. 6 Footage”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/kevin-mccarthy-gives-tucker-carlson-41000-hours-jan-6-footage
Opening grafs:
‘House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has given Fox News host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from January 6th, 2021, according to Axios, which reports that excerpts will begin airing in the coming weeks. [Emphasis mine; Barry M.]
‘Last week, Carlson’s producers were on Capitol Hill to begin reviewing the trove – which includes various camera angles from around the Capitol complex. [Emphasis in original]
‘The archive was previously reported at ‘just’ 14,000 hours. [Emphasis mine]
‘ “[T]here was never any legitimate reason for this footage to remain secret,” Carlson told Axios. “If there was ever a question that’s in the public’s interest to know, it’s what actually happened on January 6. By definition, this video will reveal it. It’s impossible for me to understand why any honest person would be bothered by that.”…
‘…Carlson, meanwhile, railed against Washington’s “regime of secrecy and deceit.”….’
14,000 of film footage vs. 41,000 hours of film footage?
Right, heh. Sure.
OH! I GET IT—it was a typo! Someone switched the 1 and the 4.
Right? Heh. Sure!!
To sum up the domestic news:
Marjorie Taylor Greene:
We need a national divorce.
We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government.
Everyone I talk to says this.
From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done.
It’s for the best. We can still be friends.
But Susan Rice! A known liar with no integrity. Is that failing up, or a job requirement?
A Ukrainian view of Brandon’s visit, not an unbiased opinion.
Preempts Vlad. Feb 20 is anniversary of Yanukovitch forces shooting Ukrainian protestors (4:20).
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN in KYIV! And why it is SO IMPORTANT! Vlog 301: War in Ukraine _ Anna from Ukraine
She doesn’t recognize Brandon’s flaws, but then Brandon isn’t bombing Ukraine.
Jan. 6 tapes, continued…
Julie Kelly:
“If what’s reported here is true, DOJ has lied for 2 years in court filings that Capitol security system captured 14,000 hours. Further, DOJ subsequently claimed only 7k hours were relevant to Jan 6.”—
https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/1627687772424224768?cxt=HHwWgIC-iffZ2pYtAAAA
H/T Jeff Carlson twitter feed.
Seeing that the DOJ is “Biden”‘s muscle, and that “Biden” ALWAYS lies, then why exactly shouldn’t the DOJ be lying?
(There must be a syllogism in there somewhere…)
+ Bonus:
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1627735580233863168?cxt=HHwWgMDUgdu48JYtAAAA
For the most part I like the self checkout. Yes there are issues at times, which are mostly my fault as my Wife will point out. The chit chat at the lines would really irk me. I want to check out too and go home, not wait while you discuss world events. There haven’t been baggers for a long time although occasionally at King Soopers there will be one. Bags here in CO now cost a dime then in 2 years they are completely banned. WalMart beat them to the 2 years by not having any bags for your usage. Got to save that environment you know. We a lot of bags in reserve which use when I clean out the cat boxes every night. So for us they are not “single use”.
So Obama finally got Joe to really mess everything up by appointing Rice as the leader in destroying Fed Govt.
Biden to the Ukraine, good then he at least can’t do damage here at home for a few days.
Did Kevin give Tucker the videos because he knows that Tucker will milk it and really make a disaster of the review? Should have given them to Elon. At least more people would find out about them.
I use the self-checkouts when I have only a few items; much faster, except when there’s some inconsiderate customer trying to buy a whole cart full of groceries there because she doesn’t want to wait for a cashier.
I don’t like the self checkout method. I’m not getting paid to be a cashier. If the stores offered a discount for using the self checkout lines, you’d see me there all the time.
I worked several years as a grocery store cashier (and previously as a bagger). I don’t recall carrying on long conversations with customers. As a bagger, I did, because I wanted to know how the customer wanted their items. We mostly used paper back then, and I tried to load their groceries to make it easier when they arrived home. If they let me load the car, I would set up the bags left to right from what needs to go in immediately to what could wait in the car longer, so they would know what to grab first if multiple trips were needed. As a cashier, I simply wanted to get my scan times down and remember all the various produce codes.
I don’t agree that more money is a solution for better employees. Generally, this is true, but I in my local area, the schools are producing a far less capable workforce. I had to figure out change in my head, but I’ve seen cashiers unable to make change beyond what the computer screen told them. “Hey, I have a nickel” will just blow their mind. And while I do prefer a cashier at the grocery store, I’ve given up using a cashier at a fast-food restaurant. It is much easier to order by app, than to do this face to face. I’ve found my favorite places for food, grocery or restaurant, are the ones that employ people over 40 to work the front end.
Another massive explosion in Ohio.
“Explosion Rocks Ohio Metal Plant, Sending Large Plume Of Black Smoke Into Sky”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/explosion-rocks-ohio-metal-plant-sending-large-plume-black-smoke-sky
Looks like there will be several casualties.
– – – – – – – –
And WTH is this?
“18 Inch Pipe Bomb Discovered Near Conrail Tracks In Northeast Philadelphia”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/18-inch-pipe-bomb-discovered-near-conrail-tracks-northeast-philadelphia
Yeah.
Some people are removing all the “insulting” words from Willy Wonka, + other books by Mr. Roald Dahl.
These are descriptive words like: dumb, and fat.
Way to make dull books no kids will read.
Here’s what stories + books- with no [conflict or insults, or arguments, in them], sound like:
Charlie moved into Willy Wonka’s house.
They ate food, they talked, they bought new clothes, they had fun, they did chores, + they slept.
And everyone lived happily ever after.
The End
I mostly use self-checkout. Oldflyer, I purchase wine at the grocery store (in boxes!) and yes, someone has to come over and scan my driver’s license (I’m 66, ffs!), but it’s not really a bother.
I like a bit of chit-chat, but I seem to ALWAYS get in a line that, while it looks short(ish), ends up having someone with a problem, so for the most part, I do it myself.
Leland. The article omits “scan time”, which is a metric measuring a cashier’s efficiency. You need good scan time to do well–promotion, raise, better shift.The conversation had better not extend the scan time and if the groceries run out before the subject, the latter will be shut down pdq.
Such conversations are for the small stores where…you don’t buy much at all because it’s expensive and you’re there for the specialty. And the cashier does the bagging and NOBODY carries out your stuff anywhere any longer.
I recall the learning curve when everybody was trying to figure this out. Pretty much smooth since then. I do have to have someone authorize the purchase of booze, sometimes even carded which, given my apparent age means there’s a story there.
I am certainly all for releasing the videos, have read 5 books on the 2020 election now. I would trust Tucker, and most importantly a group who can handle thousands of hours of videos and not get lost in the weeds. But do still worry it could be sabotaged if only one group gets it.
Hopefully contents can be used for defense of the Ralliers.
Barry. At what point does probability theory cease being equated with Occam?
I’ve heard there is a way to sabotage tracks electronically–will not repeat my understanding of it–which has been found in the Northwest.
An “unknown” powder substance is probably a low-order explosive which requires confinement–see pressure cookers–to generate something near its maximum available energy. Not sure if PVC would do it.
Certainly hope Tucker can zero in on video of cops beating people, undercovers leading and creating mob.
Make the murder video mainstream, most people have never heard of Ashly Babbit or seen her execution.
SHIREHOME,
I too use the plastic grocery bags for our felines’ scoopable cat litter and go the self checkout route for that reason. If I place anything close to heavy in a bag I double bag it with another just to be safe (and, maybe, just maybe, as an excuse for an additional cat litter receptacle 😉 ).
gwynmir writes:
“…I purchase wine at the grocery store (in boxes!)”
We already knew that, gwynmir. 😉 After all, you comment at neo’s place where sobriety is frowned upon.
I don’t mind self-checkout for a few items, but for a lot of stuff, I prefer an experienced checker who can work a lot faster than I can, especially with produce & other items that can’t simply be scanned.
Also, there are a lot of differences among the quality of self-checkout systems from a user standpoint. Some of them are like a science fair project done by a not-too-bright kid who ran out of time to finish it properly.
Richard Aubrey…”The article omits “scan time”, which is a metric measuring a cashier’s efficiency.”
In her book The Good Jobs Strategy, Zeynep Ton discusses retail stores where the pressure on cashiers to do things quickly…combined with inadequate training for those cashiers…leads to incorrect inventory balances which lead to poor purchasing decisions which lead to lost sales & perhaps lost customers. The entire book is well worth reading:
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/60771.html
Rufus, what are you saying? Sobriety is actually frowned upon here?!? I’m sober almost all the time! What’s going to happen to me??
I avoid self-checkout lines as a rule because I like to have a little bit of human interaction with the cashier. I’m not always in the mood for actual conversation, but I like at least a small amount of it most of the time unless I’m in a real hurry (as I probably will be very shortly, seeing as I’ve just discovered that I’m out of parmesan and I’ve already got my pot going).
In many ways I prefer the self check out.
First, at my stores that have it there is ONE line waiting for the next available checkout. So, I don’t get stuck behind someone who has a lot of “problem” purchases and then I am wishing that I moved to another line.
Second, I get to see the price of the item as I scan it. Often times the check-out person will scan something too fast and I didn’t catch if it was the sale price or not. If something doesn’t come up with the sales price (or at least the price I expected) I can have someone come over to either give me the sale price or remove it.
Third, I bag items myself. I never did like the way some baggers would bag items – broken eggs etc. too many times.
While I realize that article was tongue-in-cheek, I have never had to go look for a manager. There is always someone there watching the self-checkouts. It is one person covering several checkouts; but, I only once in a while have to wait for their attention.
David Foster: Yeah, training is an expense, is it not? Still, you have to screw up pretty badly to have the store thinking they’re about to run out of pineapples when there’s a pallet in the back full of them.
Got a relation who works for Costco. I was surprised at the money he was making as a cashier, and the training he got.
Regarding National Divorce.
My thought has been for a while that you let that vote be by county, not state. Red county, blue county.
Texas will loose Houston and Austin, among others. But Red Counties in California and New York, without voter fraud, could be salvaged.
Of course, that would take a Constitutional Amendment to even make such a vote possible.
Rufus: “We already knew that, gwynmir.After all, you comment at neo’s place where sobriety is frowned upon.” Too true.
And I wish our stores still HAD the flimsy plastic bags! I used those for so many things. Alas, there are none to be found in California wanna-be Washington state. We pay $0.08 for each paper bag from the Kroger chain, or same price for really thick, biodegradable (supposedly) plastic bags from Walmart.
Of course I just bring my own bags.
Speaking of all things saving the environment, we needed to replace some flourescent bulbs in our garage only to find that beginning this year the sale of them was banned in Washington & Oregon (of course California as well). I had no idea.
I typically prefer self checkout. Maybe at one time, a checker was faster, but most of two decades ago, my daughter and I became masters at King Soopers and City Markets (both owned by Krogers)in CO. One would unload the cart, and the other would scan and bag. By myself, not quite as fast, but still fast. On the flip side, the lines with checkers can be excruciating slow. It’s where people with nothing but time go to talk to someone. At Walmart, you can be behind someone with 30-40 items in the 10 or 20 item line. The other thing there at Walmart is that most often, at those stores, the only manned (or womanned?) check stands typically open any more are the ones for buying tobacco and/or smaller quantities of alcohol). So, I go through that line when I am buying, say, 50 Vodka shooters for my wife. If you buy = 10, and they are 99¢ each. And they can scan one, put in the quantity, and boom! That’s it (I found out yesterday that regardless of price, Home Depot requires that each item be scanned individually). Full sized bottles of liquor, beer, etc, require age verification, but that is usually significantly faster at the self check, than at the full service stands. Kroger’s (Fry’s here in AZ) is somewhere between Walmart and Home Depot, with maybe 2-3 self service machines open for every staffed check stand.
Things must be getting wobbly in the West Wing if Susan Rice is warming up in the bullpen. Up ’till now, the post-Obama team has been satisfied to work remotely with his minions. Are Joe and Jill – or is it Jill-and-Joe? – starting to get a little too ‘freelancy’ or unfocused with their decision-making, and need a little more direct supervision?
Biden went to Ukraine to pick up $100m in high grade diamonds.
Meanwhile in Ukraine,
Biden Babbles Before the World in Ukraine, Weirdly Grabs Man’s Bicep (mistaken for a small child)
The world must be almost as embarrassed for us as we are for ourselves.
Aggie—the War-War struggle has indeed revealed splits within the Oligarchy. Let me explain.
Team Biden (Blinken, Nuland) want war to end only if Putin gone. Gen. Milley did an interview with the London, Financial Times.
Milley revealed that neither side can win and that bargaining must begin, but he, apparently said so in a ham-handed fashion. I don’t know if this news got any traction in the US or not. But in Europe? Hell YEAH.
At any rate, the WH and IC (CIA) favor MOAR War. The Military has been calling out galloping mission problems with ammo and arms depletion. They say Now Way.
This struggle among the Oligarchs sets the scene for Biden’s longer than expected Europe tour.
The outcome? Istvestia and Pravda readers await official lies to know.
I presume Biden’s visit was intended primarily as a morale builder for the Ukrainians, and it was probably effective as such, the same as Bush’s surprise Thanksgiving visit to the troops in Iraq. I don’t suppose that visit “moved the needle” on anyone’s support for the war in Iraq or Bush himself, but I don’t recall neo carping at it on those grounds.
Never thought we’d be reading grocery check out line thoughts from the artist behind one of the great pop songs of the late 1990s.
Also the son of the great Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and BTO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ElORM9O-0U
TJ: “Milley revealed that neither side can win and that bargaining must begin, but he, apparently said so in a ham-handed fashion.”
Ha, someone in the government recognizes the facts on the ground. Well, it’s a start.
Biden didn’t go to buck up the Ukrainians. It was the first triumphant photo op of his campaign. And Cornhead’s quip may be true as well.
Sorry ’bout that for the citizens of East Palestine, Ohio. No photo ops for you!!
Under cover of his trip, Biden launched the “generational struggle” to eliminate meritocracy and replace it with EQUITY. Does Biden even know what that means? Pretty sure Susan Rice knows. It begins with an M.
How long before the LIVs recognize this for what it is?? Soon, I hope.
Today was my day at the grocery store. Got the young, fast checker. Quick and no small talk, just results. I like that. Self-checkout? I’d still be there if I’d tried that one. Ever watch any Mr. Magoo cartoons. Well, I’ve become Mr. Magoo in my dotage. Yes, it’s sad.
Miley continues to forget that he is not in charge of national policy, he is not the Commander in Chief.
He was not the Commander in Chief under President Trump (back channel calls to the PRC).
He is not the Commander in Chief under Brandon. Brandon and the Executive Branch set policy, not General White Rage Miley.
y81:
You call that “carping”? More like indifference – to most such visits, actually.
At one of my local grocery stores, in self-checkout, the machine asks how many bags I wish to purchase. I always answer zero, because while I did use a couple, I don’t wish to purchase them. At my other store, the machine asks how many bags did I use. That I answer truthfully.
For Elizabeth Who Packed My Groceries
Her gaze crosses
A little bit
Just so you know
She’s Down Syndrome
Here at checkout
Gauging the milk
Asparagus
And loaves of bread
She slips shapes snug
Instantly weighs
What mates with what
To fill the bag
Leaving no room
For anything
We need to live
Except her smile
Owen–
Thank you for that poem. I’ve had the good fortune to know several grocery store baggers who have Down syndrome, all of whom are cheerful as well as hard-working. They remember regular customers, too– at least by face. One of them always asked me about my cats in those long-ago pre-COVID days. I think the lockdowns did as much as the introduction of self-checkout machines to destroy the small pleasures of human interaction in the grocery store.
Self checkout works well if you are accompanied by at least one kid who is still young enough to think that the scanner is cool. One scanner, one bagger, and its faster than the full service lines.
I’m not sure about the company as a whole, but for the 2 Publix in my area that we shop at, being friendly and helpful seems to be a requirement of all employees. They do have self-checkouts, and I occasionally use them if I only have one or 2 items. I never use them if I have produce as doing all the lookups is a pain.
I have come to really enjoy the social interaction with the cashier and the bagger. And no one in the line behind seems to get annoyed. I also note that, unlike other stores with self-checkout, they always have enough regular cashiers to handle the flow. If there starts to be a line, a register is immediately opened.
Maybe a good business model?? Anecdotal, but I know of one of our friends who literally drive 20 miles to go to our Publix rather than shop at their much much closer Winn-Dixie.
I agree with physicsguy about Publix. The friendliness is part of their business model. They almost always have a scanner and a bagger, and the friendly chatting doesn’t slow down the service. Plus, they offer to go to the car with you.
At the self checkout
balance is not everything
mass keeps watch for code counting ones and naughts.
Welcome valued customer chimes the daughter of Hal.
We use gift cards as part of a fund raiser. Problem is, our grocer requires each gift card transaction to be blessed by a clerk before completion. So, I go to a human operated checkout regardless of the number of items I have.
And yes, produce is a PITA.
I almost always have a good shopping experience at Market Basket. They are the price leader in New England and also have the happiest, most professional employees. Not the best selection, though, so I end up filling in at Trader Joe’s and, once in a while, Wegman’s. Trader Joe’s has the best flowers by far. Wegman’s is a lot of fun, but you can end up dropping a lot of money there on things like fancy cheese if you’re not careful. They have good prices on alcohol at Wegman’s (which you can’t even buy at most grocery stores in Massachusetts).
So Neo, when are you going to write a post about Dominion’s filing for a summary judgement against Fox News? Very interesting revelations from texts and emails from the discovery phase and from depositions from the likes of Tucker Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham, Lou Dobbs and other senior Fox execs.
@Barry Meislin
Good news. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and one of the reasons why 1/6 has been so devastating is that it has largely served as an amorphous label that could adjust to encompass whatever the Left wanted it to while excluding what it found inconvenient like Mr. Epps. Nailing them down to actual events will help us.
I have my disagreements wi th sticker on various matters but we are all conservative Americans.
Alas, one wonders at this stage whether it will matter…
Well, let us hope…
I don’t like self checkout but I will use them if I only have a few items, never for a full cart.
One of the annoyances of self checkout is the computer voice that gives the instructions for the next step is at a volume that is so low, I can’t hear it at all.
Agree with comments about the high quality of staff at Publix, but their prices are higher, too.
Winn Dixie is much better than they used to be, but still not top notch.
For a core set of produce, dairy, and a few meats, etc. we find Aldi’s to be great for price if you can live with their limited selection.
Main problem with self checkout is if you have too many items in your cart that you can’t use a wand, but must remove each item, scan it, and then place it on the exit tray/platform. And then bag it or put it back in the cart to take to your car.
Plus, as mentioned, if you are buying wine or beer you have to wait for a cashier to bless your (white haired) age as appropriate. Last Sunday I made the mistake of trying to buy wine at Aldi’s 20 minutes before 11am, when alcohol was again allowed to be sold. Had to put it back rather than wait. 🙁
I love self self checkout because i hate lines and usually go shopping in small slurts instead of big trips, so i dont generally have a ton of stuff. Old school express.checkout always had that one person who decided the 15 or fewer item rule didnt apply to them. Recentky, my store has installed a few self checkout stations with the long conveyer belt like the ones the cashiers have and…wait for it… they reintroduced baggers to those stations. On the days I have a full cart of stuff, i get to scan everything myself but they bag it for me. Best of both worlds imo.
As good a modern poem as many I’ve seen around.
om on February 21, 2023 at 9:32 am said: