Archive of entries posted on 18th July 2025

Friday Night Open Thread: Job Titles

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Like all people, I appreciate a good job title.

Puts me in mind of a bit from the sketch comedy show “A Bit of Fry and Laurie”:

“No, not working for; more like working with. I’m more of an independently-targeted, highly-resourced free-ranging trouble-shooter.”

This one impressed me, in a recent article, and I’ll parse it here:

White House

Principal

Deputy

Press Secretary

Harrison Fields …

I loved him in Raiders!

But is there a Deputy Principal Press Secretary?

… Harrison Fields released a statement on the Bondi-Bongino clash.

“President Trump …

… blah blah blah etc. etc. etc. …

… pursuing justice for all,” Harrison Fields said.

. . . Harrison Fields said.

The author likes the name so much he, she, or it felt it profitable to state it at both the beginning and the end of the statement.

Harrison Fields Forever!

1

The Perpetual Come-On, Man

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On Friday,

… last week, that is…

Ashley Williams came in for questioning.

… by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, that is.

Williams was Biden’s deputy director of Oval Office operations while in the White House

… Joe Biden, that is, in case you’ve forgotten who he was.

and still works in his post-presidency office. She had — and has — a front-row seat to Biden’s decline and, like [Joe Biden’s White House Physician, Dr. Kevin] O’Connor, had firsthand knowledge of the White House’s coverup.

Williams did not take the Fifth. She did not have to. As luck would have it, Williams doesn’t remember anything about working alongside President Biden for the last five years.

According to a source familiar with Williams’ five-hour interview, the highly accomplished Ivy League-educated lawyer “could not recall”:

…if she spoke with President Biden in the last week,

if teleprompters were used for Cabinet meetings,

if there were discussions about President Biden using a wheelchair,

if there were discussions about a cognitive test,

if she discussed a mental or physical decline of President Biden,

if she ever had to wake President Biden up and

how she got involved with his 2020 campaign.

— The Biden Staff Coup Was The Biggest Conspiracy Against Americans In History
Federalist | July 16, 2025 | Rachel Bovard

I wish our interns were as lawyered-up and forgetful.

1

Guys, Beware

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Below is a photo.

Former ’16 and Pregnant’ star Whitney Purvis charged in man’s death
ktla | Jul 12, 2025 | Jeremy Tanner

A woman who appeared on MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” was arrested Monday in Georgia on charges including involuntary manslaughter related to a man’s death by fentanyl poisoning earlier this year.

Whitney Purvis, 33, was being held without bond in the Floyd County Jail in Rome, Georgia, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of Atlanta, according to online jail records.

The photo was posted by some random commenter.

Supposedly, it shows the perpetrator.

If it is true — if, that is, if — then God help us all.

See the problem, for a guy out at the bar to have a good time?

Can girls really leap from a 2 to a 10 that easily?

1

Straight Line of the Day: Russia’s Going To Scrap Its Aircraft Carrier. What Use Could It Be Put To?

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Humiliation for Putin as Russia ‘looks set to SCRAP its only aircraft carrier after seven years of failed repairs’
Daily Mail | 7/11/2025 | Olivia Allhusen and Will Stewart

Vladimir Putin’s only aircraft carrier – the hulking Admiral Kuznetsov – is poised to be scrapped after seven failed years of repairs, say reports.

Work on the jinxed ship, the largest in the Russian navy, has now been suspended despite the efforts to get it back in the water.

News outlet Izvestia cites sources saying the vessel is likely destined for the scrapheap.

Putin’s ‘Ship of Shame’ is languishing in dock in grim Arctic port Murmansk, and has played no role in the war against Ukraine.

2

Bond Girlathon Friday : Results for 7/11/2025 : New Matches for 7/18/2025

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Pulling double duty, being in one Bond Girlathon and hosting today. Silly World.

Results

Tania MalletNo PreferenceIzabella Scorupco
107098

Famke JanssenNo PreferenceNadja Regin
165127

New Matches for 7/18/2025

Match 1

Margaret Nolan (Dink) vs Serena Gordon (Caroline)

ContestantRecordTotal Scores
Margaret Nolan0 – 2 – 0163 – 1 – 336
Dink

Actress:Margaret Nolan
Nationality:English
Bond Movie:Goldfinger (1964)

Synopsis:

Margaret Nolan played the Golden Girl in the title sequence and the pre-release advertising for Goldfinger. However, the producers eventually choose Shirley Eaton to play Jill Masterson, and Nolan was given the much smaller role of the pool-side masseuse Dink. Dink is shown massaging Bond, but has to leave when Felix Leiter arrives for some “man’s talk.”

Margaret Nolan

VS

Contestant RecordTotal Scores
Serena Gordon0 – 2 – 0107 – 6 – 281
Caroline

Actress:Serena Gordon
Nationality:English
Bond Movie:Goldeneye (1995)

Synopsis:

Caroline was a psychological evaluator working for MI6. She was sent by M to evaluate Bond, who took her for a drive in his Aston Martin DB5. Bond drove very fast and engaged in a race with Xenia Onatopp, making Caroline very uncomfortable. After screaming at Bond to slow down, Bond came to an abrupt stop, and seduced Caroline with a bottle of Bollinger champagne hidden in an armrest. The two proceed with a “very thorough evaluation.”

Serena Gordon

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49 votes · 49 answers
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Match 2

Claudine Auger (Domino Derval) vs Michelle Yeoh (Wai Lin)

ContestantRecordTotal Scores
Claudine Auger1 – 1 – 0221 – 3 – 241
Domino Derval

Actress:Claudine Auger
Nationality:French
Bond Movie:Thunderball (1965)

Synopsis:

Domino Derval was the mistress of SPECTRE agent Emilio Largo. Bond discovers that Largo had killed Domino’s brother, and thinks he can use that fact to get her on his side. They meet underwater as Bond untraps Domino’s flipper from the coral, and Bond manages to convince her to plot against Largo.

Claudine Auger

VS

ContestantRecordTotal Scores
Michelle Yeoh1 – 1 – 0157 – 3 – 247
Wai Lin

Actress:Michelle Yeoh
Nationality:Malaysian
Bond Movie:Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Synopsis:

Wai Lin was a Red Chinese agent, and had the same mission as Bond to investigate media magnate Elliot Carver. Carver had been suspected of causing tragic events so that he could get exclusive coverage on them and increase his ratings. Wai Lin was intelligent and worked more cleverly than Bond on several occasions. Eventually they teamed up together and stormed Carver’s stealth ship.

Michelle Yeoh

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51 votes · 51 answers
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