Leftovers & Links #60

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation wants you to know how to properly poop in the woods.

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“I always wanted to be Murray, but deep down inside I know I’m Ted.”

I was pleased with that mild wisecrack when I wrote it 27 years ago in [Pathetic Life](../Pathetic Life/PL-08#officer-frenzy), reviewing of a zine about the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and pleased again as I retyped it a few days ago, posting the old entry online.

So the next day, I typed that line again in a Skype chat with a long-time co-worker. Free wisecrack, right? No. She replied, “You mean Bill Murray?”

I said, “No, Murray from the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Ted...”

She said “Who from what?”

My co-worker is in her mid-to-late 30s, and she’d never heard of Mary Tyler Moore, Murray Slaughter, Ted Baxter, Rhoda Morganstern, Lou Grant, Sue Ann Nivens, or Phyllis Lindstrom. Truly, everything is temporary.

But she can name all the friends on Friends.

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Amazon makes more and more of its billions by charging sellers for selling there.

Quote: But today they must pay for ads to get their products in front of customers. This year, sellers will give Amazon an average of 4.6 percent of their sales revenue to pay for ad space, we estimate. That’s up from 3.4 percent in 2020, and 1.1 percent in 2016. This additional cost is not, as Bezos claims, a service; it’s a way to extract more from sellers. It’s price-gouging.

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Nude performance artist selling his police report for $13k.

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This seems interesting and optimistic, while also creepy and nightmare-inducing: Scientists think they’ve found a way to communicate with people previously thought to be in a permanent vegetative state.

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Virginia statue of treasonmeister Robert E. Lee will be melted down by city’s African American history museum.

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This fellow says he’s tweaked a hundred settings on his mom’s computer to reduce the QAnonsense she can access. That's unethical and I want to disapprove, but it seems to be working so it's cool by me.

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My problem is, and always has been, I don't want to eat one piece of pie. If I have one piece I want a second, and if I've had two pieces I want a third. I want to eat the whole damn pie. That's why I'm fat, and that's why I try real hard to resist buying pie.

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California plans to be abortion sanctuary if Roe overturned.

Quote: With more than two dozen states poised to ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court gives them the OK next year, California clinics and their allies in the state Legislature on Wednesday revealed a plan to make the state a “sanctuary” for those seeking reproductive care, including possibly paying for travel, lodging and procedures for people from other states.

For folks who can’t afford a vacation at the drop of a fetus,the best choice remains abortion by mail. If some women can make California a 'pop-in and get an abortion destination', like Nevada used to be for divorce, that could be a boon to the golden state’s economy, sure, but get real — even famously-liberal California isn’t going to pay for travel, lodging and procedures for people from other states.

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One-word newscast:

Good news:

• Art

Bad news:

• Kellogg

Stupid news:

• Circumcision

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UN wants to ban killer robots but US won't comply.

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Griffin Dunne talks about the making of After Hours, which, if you haven’t seen it (or if you have!) is one frickin’ terrific movie. Now I gotta see it again, and soon.

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This dude liked to dig tunnels, and cool and completely understandable obsession. More info at Wikipedia.

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Mystery links — Like life itself, there’s no knowing where you’re going:

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Sing along with Doug:
"I Got Life," from Hair
Sincere tip 'o the hat:
Linden Arden • BoingBoing
Captain Hampockets • Follow Me Here
John the Basket • LiarTownUSA
Messy Nessy Chick • National Zero
Ran Prieur • Vintage Everyday
Voenix Rising
Extra special thanks:
Clayton Barnes • Becky Jo
Name Withheld • Dave S.
12/9/2021
Leftovers & Links