Latewire

Latest News From the Gov't War on The Economy

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:35:35 GMT

SEC Says New FinReg Law Exempts It From Public DisclosureThe law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.CBO: Deficits will cause debt to rise to unsupportable levelsIn related news, 2+2=4, up is up, down is down, and you can't spend yourself into prosperity--no ...

"When Ideas Have Sex" And ReasonTV Interview (Video)

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:39:47 GMT

"When Ideas Have Sex" with Matt Ridley (TED conference)
This is a great talk about the evolution of technology in civilization.

This interview was with Reason Magazine:
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VID: Andrew Napolitano Gives Rousing Speech on Law & Liberty

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:56:03 GMT

(Ignore Glenn Beck at the beginning if you need to)
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Starcraft II

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:14:34 GMT

What is Sleep?
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The Worlds Greatest Love Story Ever Told Pt. 1 Urotsukidoji

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:45:18 GMT

Travel back with me if you will to a glorious time a year of greatness the taxes were low the drugs were good and the woman didn't give ya AIDS even if you put it in their butt. Surely the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty six was a year to best all years besides for 1985 which really was a kickass year in and of itself. Just ask William Gibson. Also I been shat out my mams hairy vagina that year so in a sense 1985 really was the crest of the wave as far as I'm concerned. But 1986 did had its moments, one of which will go down in history because Urotsukidoji was released that year ...

Lazy Chat Log (Nothing Real To Post)

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:24:44 GMT

Hank: what is hate? Cpt. F: that's just how it doCpt. F: That reminds me of the old stileproject game "JUNGLE COCK"Cpt. F: it was an RPG where you had tons of items, but the answer to every situation was to use the jungle cockCpt. F: "the door is locked, what it do?"Hank: hahaharCpt. F: "use key or JUNGLE COCK"Hank: JUNGLE COCKHank: the old internets sucked yet ruledCpt. F: ayeHank: new internets are 99.999999999999999999999997% gayCpt. F: yeah but a frilllion times biggerCpt. F: and scary tooCpt. F: I refuse to go to /b/ anymoar as I'm afraid of law enfoarcementHank: you fool, you aren't ...

Simple Explanation of US Healthcare (Video / Basic Econ)

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:48:15 GMT

This is basically what I said in my healthcare article--not a new argument, but new to most people for some reason.

In fact, Milton Friedman described the problem the same way. {HTML REDACTED FROM RSS FEED}

/b/ Explains Greek Fiscal Problem (?)

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:37:37 GMT

Moment of Zen

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:26:44 GMT

Speaker Pelosi weighs in on economic policy. In short unemployment checks create jobs, fast.

By that reasoning, why shouldn't every worker quit their job and take unemployment? It would supercharge the economy. {HTML REDACTED FROM RSS FEED}

The Hideous Evil of Snake Bebat, part 4

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:25:37 GMT

Chapter 6--Hisma Desert, southern Jordan – 1957A man stood naked in the sands, his skin badly damaged from the sun. He looked up at woman in a long dress standing above him on a dune. Her headscarf was undone and her long hair whipped about her face. “I never thought you’d take it this far!” he called with failing breath over the gritty winds. She said nothing. Behind her eyes burned a hot hate. She lifted up the shovel on which her right hand had rested and threw it at the man. It landed at his side, the blade grazing his ankle painfully. The man looked up at the woman again ...

Sex Banned on Int'l Space Station, Poindexter Applauds

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:48:29 GMT

"We are a group of professionals. We treat each other with respect and we have a great working relationship. Personal relationships are not ... an issue," said a serious-faced NASA Commander Alan Poindexter. "We don't have them and we won't."

Seriously.

YouTroll, 06/27/10

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:17:50 GMT

Today's entry is in regards to the G20 protests turning violent.It comes from what is quite possibly a source of banal commentary equal to YouTroll itself, Yahoo News comments. This comment section was particularly putrid with unabashed antisemitism, racism, and mindless anti-"Corporatism" (which ironically is pro-corporatist) in other words the usual stink of modern Anarchism. I decided to pick an argument I got involved in:**[Note, Yahoo comments are wonky and display with newest comment first instead of oldest in the various sub threads. I moved the comments about to put them in ...

The Mac Pro is a Silly POS

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 20:19:50 GMT

The Mac Pro (not to be confused with the similarly-named "Macbook Pro") is probably the one Apple product that you haven't heard of, as they haven't released a commercial overhyping it in about four years.Like the Macbook Pro is supposedly just a Macbook with better specs, the Mac Pro is supposed to be an Apple desktop with better upgradability and specs than the Mac Mini or iMac. In those respects, the Mac Pro is still better. However, Apple has been steadily reducing the frequency at which it updates the Mac Pro, which has lead the products current irrelevance.Unfortunately, even as the ...

The Hideous Evil of Snake Bebat, part 3

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:13:28 GMT

Chapter 4---Halfway across town, a man pulled up to the Circle K in an old black Buick and got out of the car. His lean legs carried him into the store, where he very purposefully picked out a bag of Doritos ‘Spicier Nacho’ flavor chips, a big Snickers, and a gallon of water. He strode up to the counter and paid for these items, along with two packs of Camel Wides. One of these he slipped in the side pocket of his jacket, the other he opened. He pinched a cigarette out and lit it before he had reached the store’s doorway. Once outside, the man looked around in every direction. He ...

The hideous Evil of Snake Bebat, part 2

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:53:14 GMT

Chapter 3--Sue woke up with a nasty pain in her left deltoid and a foul mood in her heart. “Oh great,” she thought carelessly, “I’m probably having a heart attack or something.” She didn’t want to get out of bed, so she laid there until the last possible second that would avoid tardiness to her first meeting. Then, she laboriously raised herself and padded into the kitchen to make some coffee. The black sludge from her French press tasted like ‘Raid’ and she wished she’d bought better coffee. What, she mused, is the point of having a fancy French press if you’re drinking ...

Court rules that Congress can yank ish from public domain!

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:13:38 GMT

So you know that whole First Amendment thing where it says that Congress "shall make no law" abridging the freedom of speech? Like, the one that's designed to protect citizen interests against the interests of the government? Well, it seems that a Federal appeals court doesn't think that stuff is very important, compared to the concerns of well-funded lobbyists from the RIAA and other publishing industries. In fact, the court specifically says that the reasoning behind its decision is that there is a "substantial or important government interest" in violating the First Amendment. The ...

Cake City : The uneventful saga of Hape Shapley, part 5

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:19:25 GMT

In the end, Hape’s presentation won Danny over. After some price haggling (Hape, as was his wont, budged only two percent, saying that “cost is through the roof on carbon fiber”), it was agreed that Danny’s Sports Authorities would carry the presented Head product, minus most of the apparel, which Hape conceded after Danny showed him a spreadsheet indicating that 70% of the previous year’s line had been sold at clearance prices due to lack of demand. Hape printed out the contract that they had edited together on Hape’s computer, and Danny signed it. Danny had made no ...

the music of Elysian Fields + the limitations of music crit

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 06:31:12 GMT

Though I am one of the very most far-gone of the music freak species, I very rarely write music reviews. This is mainly because music moves me on a very id-type level, a visceral nad mojo vibration thing that is very difficult to put into words.When I put on some records, I just get totally enveloped by their atmosphere. I’m one of those people who will listen to a new LP on repeat for a few hours and just stare at the cover art, consumed by the environment that the record creates. You can probably tell by my references to ‘records’ and ‘LPs’ that I’m from a generation, probably ...

Cake City : the uneventful saga of Hape Shapley, part 4

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:41:28 GMT

Hape cracked open his portfolio to reveal a sleek laptop, which he opened to Danny’s dismay and started the presentation. This was his ace in the hole. He’d helped put this thing together, and it not only briskly revealed the technological superiority of the FlexTelligence E line, but broke the news that Head had bought no less than three super-high-profile endorsers away from rivals : Gil Fisher, Ainsley Chong, and the apparently unbeatable Ricky Phil Stiller. Stiller was widely expected to sweep the Grand Slam this year on the strength of his terrifying serve and shrewdly evil ...

Greenspan Starts Making Sense - Emphasizes Fiscal Restraint

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:29:26 GMT

Now that Greenspan is no longer working for the government, he's once again turned into a capitalist.In a rant he recently wrote for the WSJ, he said “The United States, and most of the rest of the developed world, is in need of a tectonic shift in fiscal policy ... Incremental change will not be adequate.”He went on to say that “Perceptions of a large U.S. borrowing capacity are misleading,” and current long-term bond yields are masking America’s debt problem. “Long-term rate increases can emerge with unexpected suddenness,” such as the 4 percentage point surge over four ...

Cake City : The uneventful saga of Hape Shapley : part 3

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:36:50 GMT

“Hape, I gotta be straight with you," confided Danny. "The Head stuff just isn’t moving like it used to. Last cycle, the Wilson product was outselling you guys almost two to one.” “That’s interesting; nationally, we’re seeing the reverse trend,” Hape fibbed. “Think that display placement could be a factor?” Hape was already thrashing in the waves. Maybe this guy was in fact a vampire. “You’re joking, right? Your stuff is right in there with everybody else’s. I think that what we’re really looking at is that Wilson has better endorsements, better graphics, and ...

Cake City : the Uneventful Saga of Hape Shapley : part 2

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:02:12 GMT

As Danny led Hape around the store, Hape noticed that as usual, most of the store’s patrons looked like they hadn’t played sports in quite a while. It seemed to be a nearly universal phenomenon : these big athletic chains attract dilettantes who will buy the most costly gear and have it gather dust in their closet, or, in the case of high-tech clothing, will wear it to any occasion save that for which it was designed. Folks who are serious about a sport, Hape found, would usually seek out a small specialty store like Runner’s Galaxy or Lacrosse Barn, where the employees tended to give ...

Eats and Eating : Observations on radical self-imposed diet

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 08:35:12 GMT

Two years ago this month, I made some radical changes in my diet. I abruptly stopped eating meat and all products made from dead animals, all foods with preservatives or other chemical ingredients, all foods containing ingredients that I know for a fact to be chemically processed (e.g., texturized or isolated soy protein and soy lecithin), corn syrup and its derivatives, alcohol, and artificial flavors and colors. Because I don't like pesticides or having too much money left after each paycheck, I also started eating mostly organic foods, averaging maybe one to two non-organic dinners per week ...

The Hideous Evil of Snake Bebat : Part 1

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:10:25 GMT

Ch. 1The icy October wind lashed at Sue’s cheeks as she made her way across the parking lot to her car. An unseasonably cold evening in which was planted the spore of an unseasonably hot romance. She had caught a glimpse of him from the coffee shop and tried to go out to him, but by the time she’d reached the threshold, he was already gone – evaporated into the gloaming. In the brief magnetic instant that she’d seen him, he appeared loping purposefully down the sidewalk, his head turning slightly from side to side as he observed everything. His eyes were concealed behind a big ...

Wargaming #1

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:10:34 GMT

I've been working on an "after action report" or AAR for the Paradox Interactive wargame Hearts of Iron 3. In brief the game is a build/manage/fight game set from 1936 that covers unit production and movement, military and civilian research management, international diplomacy, and internal policy. For this game I will be playing the Kuomintang faction of the Republic of China which is fun and relatively short to play. Nerdiness to follow:_______Game: Hearts of Iron 3Country: Nationalist ChinaVersion: HOI3 1.4Settings: Normal/NormalNo mods.____________"Make a simple plan, and stick to it ...

Cake City : the uneventful saga of Hape Shapley : part 1

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:23:42 GMT

On a brilliant, natural morning in the spring, Hape Shapley set down his enormous green coffee cup, languidly browsed his email, and checked his calendar. Today’s regimen of tasks, uncharacteristically, held one that promised a glimmer of amusement.The job at hand was to successfully woo the franchisee of three Sports Authority retail establishments; this sort of thing was totally usual. The spark of fun flickered behind the name of Hape’s quarry : Danny U. Dracula. Well, Hape thought, I’ve closed deals with bloodsuckers before. At least Danny’s upfront about it.Hape pulled his ...

Vim cheat sheet for cro-mags!

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 09:15:04 GMT

After about four years of using TextWrangler to write HTML/CSS and other basic code, I got tired of it this week and wanted to move to something a little hipper and, ideally, open-source. I wanted to install Apple's own Xcode program, but the damned thing takes up 2.37 gigs of hard drive space, which is more than I have free on my Mac. So I downloaded the highly-lauded yet daunting text editor called Vim, which takes up a grand total of 30 megabytes. Vim is a modified version of vi, which is one of the classic editors for hardcore coders, hackers, and nerds. The other real classic is ...

Time Does Not Exist : Fun, Philosophy, and Physics

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:31:53 GMT

I was talking last night with Chris Young from Integrum; the discussion turned to spirituality and Zen practice. Young has been doing Zen for a while and is a Buddhist. I became interested in Zen in college primarily because of Zen koans, which are short questions or dialogues whose apparently irrational answers are designed to make one conscious of one's own mind and the way our habits of perception influence, and indeed distort, our ability to experience truth. I mentioned to Chris that I was kind of thinking about experimenting with some other aspects of Zen even though I don't agree with ...

Bernanke Confused As People Ignore His Phony CPI Numbers

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 03:31:34 GMT

Bernanke Puzzled by Gold Rally (wsj) Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says he’s a bit puzzled by surging gold prices. The 30% rally from a year ago, on top of gains in previous years, ... Gold is seen by many investors as a hedge against inflation risk.Mr. Bernanke notes that the inflation signal isn’t confirmed by movements in other asset classes.That's because the CPI is complete BS, and everyone knows it (with the possible exception of Bernanke). Of course he's also leaving out such asset classes as "Food" and "Energy" (apart from Oil). Plus his whole "reflation" strategy is ...

Calling All Dawns

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:58:58 GMT

Calling All Dawns is an album of orchestral and choral tracts written by the film, game, and television music composer Christopher Tin. The album is divided into thematic sections of "Day", "Night", and "Dawn" or as he writes "life, death, and rebirth." The album falls into the "world music" category, with each track sung in a different language. Already I know I've lost readership there and possibly a man card but for the most part the album isn't exotic for exotic's sake. As a side note the studio album does use a very large range; pianissimo can be almost inaudible where as fortissimo can ...

Dentist (part 2) - a narcodrama

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 08:25:40 GMT

A penetrating fear gripped me as I stared at Doctor Cartwright's face, now twisted with cruelty. It was a fear that in other circumstances might be called 'paralyzing,' but I was utterly unable to budge even a single muscle. Unfamiliar sensations blanketed me – why does it feel like there's a crunchy layer of tissue paper underneath my dermis? Suddenly, the nurse Edie wheeled back into my field of vision with a motion like a door swinging. Her nostrils pulsed as she spoke. “I'd definitely say this one's ready to go, Doctor,” she sneered as Cartwright slithered his long hands into a ...

Apple's New Products June 7

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:38:05 GMT

I just took this screenshot of the "Mac Pro" website... apparently they haven't updated even the website in a year, either.

Let The Games Begin: Austerity World Tour

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 02:08:53 GMT

Markets are panicking, Greeks are rioting, Hungarians are having conniptions, and the rest of the over-leveraged world is finally asking the question: when is it going to be my turn?Meanwhile, the economics enthusiasts here at Latewire/InflationHell, as well as some of the actual experts have been notably silent. You may be wondering why that is (or you may be wondering how water-activated growable sponge animals work, but we're not going there so shut up). I think even some of the more famous soothsayers (who we plagiarize unabashedly) have been a little quiet lately on the bad reports ...

94% of the Senate Bills Pass in Secret

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:37:26 GMT

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Don't Talk to Cops

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:46:09 GMT

A law professor and a police office go into great detail about how it's a terrible idea to talk to law enforcement without a competent lawyer at your side. Even then having "the fear" is quite justified.

Part 1:

Part 2:
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HP's outsourced customer service : a dangerous load of @#$%

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 08:54:08 GMT

Ever had a really great customer service experience with a technology company? Lord knows I haven't. That's why, for years, I didn't really care whether the blithering morpion on the other end of the line was located in Brooklyn, Botswana, or Bombay. I always just plain avoided dealing with customer service altogether. I figured that the level of service was uniformly awful and that, in fact, th' overall better math and science education in places like India (relative to the USA) would probably make for better tech service coming from those labor pools. I watched the comedy farce ...

Quarterly Reminder of ICP's Existence

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:56:39 GMT

In this episode, we examine the "Juggalo" culture. We demonstrate that this is not a hoax or a joke--these individuals do exist and they're likely operating heavy equipment, possibly in your area.

This documentary footage was of a "gathering" of ICP fans (who label themselves "Juggalos").

Best quote: "I just hope I don't get the HIV again."

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Piracy and PC Gaming

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:27:08 GMT

Captain Fantastic's article jogged my memory about a well written article by a small but successful software firm Stardock. In short he suggests making good software targeted at your customers, and while piracy no doubt hurts the industry it's far too often a scapegoat. [I can't find a link to the article directly, if any reader knows of one feel free to add it in the comments section.]___________________Piracy & PC GamingPublished on March 10, 2008 By Draginol In GalCiv Dev JournalsRecently there has been a lot of talk about how piracy affects PC gaming. And if you listen to game developers ...

Happy Memorial Day!

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 05:52:32 GMT

In celebration, a little blue grass ala. Iron Horse:

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Blizzard "Surrenders" To Piracy, Except Not

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:40:15 GMT

So a few weeks ago Blizzard, makers of World of Warcraft (as well as some games that aren't gay), announced that they weren't going to invest a lot of resources in preventing piracy of their new game, Starcraft II. They basically said it's a losing battle (can't win, don't try). This was met with a lot of press from the nerd communities who somehow think they finally have found a company that shares their idiotic view of the world that says that piracy has zero negative consequences, and that battling it is futile.The reason companies use copy protection is because it works. Nerds will use the ...

Ok Go "This Too Shall Pass" Alternate Video

Mon, 31 May 2010 03:42:27 GMT

The Trombone Snipers make this version superior to the other one {HTML REDACTED FROM RSS FEED}

Political Terminology Rant

Sun, 30 May 2010 20:42:02 GMT

I've just finished another discussion that ended up with the a pointless "is not"/"is so" political categorization debate.By now I've played enough terminological gymnastic to realize that the majority of political terminology is made up on the spot and cut to fit current political purpose. As such "definitions" are more often than not transitory, contradictory, and selective whenever it fits political expediency.Save the tap-dancing pedantism for inter-party partisan games, such nebulous (non)-descriptors are worthless aside from use as contemporary rhetorical fluff. And save your breath by ...

Haiku contest 2010

Sun, 30 May 2010 18:28:48 GMT

Orange blossom falls
The last one of the season
Life is so fleeting.

-----

A shard of remorse
Pierces my armored conscience
Many fallen leaves.

------

End of useful life
Nothing more now than a husk
Time to fade away.

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Adrift in huge void
Beyond reach of any hope
Waiting for the end.

-----

It's Never Too Late On Latewire! PSA

Sun, 30 May 2010 15:18:00 GMT

Greetings, Latewire ViewersWe hope you are enjoying the quality and premium content our providers here at Latewire strive to deliver. Almost daily, sometimes once and while you may find a post that relinquishes exceptional value and everyday it is our dream to provide content like this in the future. On behalf of The Latewire Professional Staff of Professionals, I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for being a Latewire viewer and helping our community grow stronger everyday. Remember, it's never too Late on Latewire. Don't forget to buy your favorite Latewire accessories from the ...

Desert Bloom Phoenix 1

Sun, 30 May 2010 11:09:05 GMT

Desert Bloom Phoenix 1 : the first shot fired in the war against squarenessAt the tail end of the year 2009, after turning 30, buying my first house, and with a daughter on the way, the realization that life gallops past at a thoroughbred pace dawned violently on me. I'd spent that year and several before it highly focused on earning money, developing new skills, and pursuing social goals, but only doing my true and lifelong passion, music, in erratic spurts. That needed remedy, so I promised my soul that I would make up for that neglect, and then some. I declared to myself and whoever was ...

Producers of Hurt Locker Movie Attempt to Ruin My Day

Sat, 29 May 2010 17:50:29 GMT

So this month, the motion picture companies have been suing people who download movies. ~25,000 in all. The Hurt Locker was the latest on the "if you downloaded it, you wont be sleeping well for a long time" list. They're not suing for much, just their legal fees (thousands?) and an assurance that you deleted the offending files from your computer.Luckily, I don't download shitty movies so I've managed to avoid all the targeted files in the MPAA's latest hit-list. However, there may well come a day where I have to resort to proxies or tapping into unprotected wifi hotspots to get my movies ...

Magnolia

Fri, 28 May 2010 01:09:36 GMT

I hate films that suck but have a complicated plot where you don't know what's going on because you probably weren't paying attention, but you definitely don't care enough to google and find out.... so then someone asks you "what was this movie about" and you sound like an ass saying "I donno but DON'T SEE IT"

How to Copy VirtualBox from One Mac To Another

Wed, 26 May 2010 17:21:28 GMT

So I installed VirtualBox a few days ago and loved it so much I wanted to put it on my Macbook (and since it's FREE, you can do it without licensing issues unlike some other pieces of software..... f$#@ you Macworld). However, I have no desire to reinstall/reconfigure Windows. Therefore I decided to just transfer VirtualBox' configuration from one Mac to another as closely as possible. This method takes about 1 minute (plus however long it takes to transfer your hard drive image).I tried transferring the "~/Library/VirtualBox" folder over directly, and that didn't work (seems to be ...

Review of VirtualBox Review

Tue, 25 May 2010 04:24:45 GMT

VirtualBox is an open source x86 virtualization program. To put it simply what that is:I've been running into more and more reasons to boot into Windows lately, so today I decided to stop rebooting all the time and get a virtual machine program. I've been burned before when I purchased Parallels, so I decided to find a cheaper and better way.Parallels charges for every version, and each version EXPIRES when used with a newer version of OS X. The upgrade costs nearly as much as the program itself, so it's quite the motherfucker.So I googled, found VirtualBox, started downloading the 70mb ...

fuck zombies

Mon, 24 May 2010 07:45:22 GMT

what with the resurgence in interest in all things zombie related & the hollywoods & whatever else i just thought it would be a good goddamn time to set you fuckers straight on some straight up survival tactics to ride out the undead apocalypse & fuck shit up in the process what youre gonna need first & foremost is a motherfucking berserker someone who can weather the hordes & pack supplies to your posting spot when shit gets low cos yeah sniper mode is the way to rock it but sooner or later youre gonna need some fucking ammo & who the fuck is gonna trudge through the gutters with a useless ...