Dave Barry- 2023 year in review

It was a year of reckoning, a year in which humanity finally began to understand that it faces an existential threat, a threat unlike any we have ever faced before, a threat that will wreak havoc on our fragile planet if we fail to stop it — and it may already be too late.

We are referring, of course, to pickleball.

Real life putting Hollywood to shame.

Here's the US Secretary of the Treasury describing her hallucinogenic trip on shrooms in China.

On national TV.

By the way — the US Treasury plans to borrow $1.1 trillion before 2024, pushing total US debt above $33.5 trillion.

Our enemies are laughing.pic.twitter.com/HZ2uQISOXx

— Joe Consorti ⚡ (@JoeConsorti) August 15, 2023

Amsterdam is not a big fan of a certain kind of tourist:

Amsterdam has launched a campaign to discourage young British tourists from visiting the Dutch capital to party wildly, which often leads to excessive consumption of alcohol and drugs and creates nuisance and misbehavior.

As expected since late last year, Amsterdam launched a ‘Stay Away’ campaign this week aimed at addressing the nuisance caused by young tourists who come to the Dutch capital solely to engage in excessive partying with alcohol and drugs.

The campaign aims to make potential tourists aware of the negative impact their behavior can have on the city and its residents while also discouraging such behavior and promoting respectful and responsible tourism.

Styxhexenhammer666, who lives in Holland with his Dutch wife and their daughter, has thoughts.

Nick Johnson is a videographer who travels around America and captures real life that would rarely make the news. In this episode, he visits a small town in Iowa called Red Oak.

This is what you get when you ask the sports guy to come in to cover a blizzard in the morning show. pic.twitter.com/h0RL9tVQqg

— Mark Woodley (@MarkWoodleyTV) December 22, 2022

Open thread for our US readers currently enjoying our gift of Saskatchewan weather.

Innovative New Process Converts Plants Into Meat

h/t RL

Dear Abby,

I’m a Canadian living in America. I occasionally write for a Canadian blog that some might label as “conservative” but I just deem to be full of lots of common sense. This week I’m working remotely out of Chicago, staying at the home of a longtime friend. On Thursday I’ll be attending their Thanksgiving Dinner. I’m very grateful to be included. Attending will be her 21 year old niece, who has declared she is non-binary and uses the pronouns “they/them”. I believe she is mentally ill yet this “identity crisis” is fully supported by her parents and her aunt, all lifelong Democrats.

I don’t feel any obligation to be forced into using pronouns that I believe to be pure delusion. At the same time, I don’t want to offend any of her relatives.

How would you handle yourself in such a situation?

Sane Canuck

P.S. Related video

Honey, we already knew.

Soccer’s decision to come out of the closet ahead of the World Cup, and to live as its authentic self, was met with shrugs of “well, obviously” and “I always thought soccer might be gay since that time I caught soccer trying on my make-up and lipsyncing to Donna Summer.” The practice of “diving” in the sport — feigning being fouled to gain an unfair advantage usually accompanied by theatrical wailing and other histrionics — also never helped soccer’s heterosexual bona fides.

My experiences with AirBnb over the past several years has been remarkably good. In fact, except for one slightly less than clean place in Albuquerque, every other place has been perfect. My luck changed recently though when one pair of hosts in San Diego, demanded that “all unvaccinated guests must wear masks the entire time they step foot on the property, except when in the cottage in the back”. So effectively they are demanding to know each person’s vaccination status because if everyone complies with their insane rules then each person is revealing their vaccination status. This clearly violates both AirBnb’s non-discrimination and privacy policy. I’ve lodged a complain and we shall see if AirBnb’s policies are legitimate or just corporate double-speak.

Sharing my story with a friend, he shared this article with me:

If you’ve stayed at an Airbnb then you’re familiar with the basic list of things to do when staying in someone else’s space: lock the door, turn off the lights, and take out the trash.

Many would consider these tasks common courtesy; however, some hosts appear to be taking it to another level.

From doing the laundry to mowing the lawn, people online are mocking Airbnb listings with long lists of chores for their guests — on top of a cleaning fee.

“No, because I thought y’all were lying when you said Airbnb hosts sent you chores,” wrote one TikTok user who posted a video of a long list of things to do, including “organize the closet as you found it” and “throw away any and all the food items in the refrigerator and freezer.”

Some people clearly should not be in the consumer hospitality business. A smaller set should refrain from interacting with other human beings … ever.

“Itchy Boots” is the online moniker of a Dutch woman named Noraly Schoenmaker who rides her motorcycle around the world and documents her travels. This episode shows us all a port of Canada that most people have not been to.