Friday Morning Links

by | Jan 10, 2020 | Daily Links | 562 comments

I hope I got this right today. I’m going outside ESPN, so there’s a decent chance. Your NHL winners yesterday were Boston, Edmonton, Tampa, Florida, NYR, St Louis, Nashville, Calgary, LA, Dallas, and San Jose. Detroit got what feels like a win by not playing.

Go Wichita State!

On the hardcourt, MSU continues to impress, Oregon does as well, with a big win over Arizona. Gonzaga continues to not play anybody worthwhile. And Wichita State didn’t exactly shock Memphis, although they did win the game. I was actually surprised Memphis was still ranked, although I don’t think that’ll be the case anymore this year.

Let’s hope to see this tomorrow.

Big goings-on in the EPL this weekend, with Liverpool facing off against a Kane-less Spuds. I wouldn’t be shocked to see an 8-1-1 formation out of Mourinho. Just to be a dick and play for the 0-0 draw. I’m also anxious to see how Everton do against Brighton and to see how my prediction from a few weeks back continues to play out if they win. Also curious to see Arsenal face Crystal Palace behind them in the table this late in the season for the first time in a long time.

Legend.

Revolutionary War hero (not sure if affiliated with the furniture company) Ethan Allan was born on this day. So were founder of AME Zion Church James Varicick, John Dalberg (Baron Acton), outlaw Frank James, peanut genius George Washington Carver, Swiss clown Grock, actors Ray Bolger, Bernard Lee, and Paul Henreid, music producer Jerry Wexler, “the clown prince of baseball” Max Patkin, historian Stephen A. Ambrose, Canadian hockey legend Frank Mahovlich, baseball HOFer Willie McCovey, actor Sal Mineo, musical genius Jim Croce, crooner Frank Sinatra Jr, other musical genius Rod Stewart (whose show in Houston this summer I will be buying tickets for today!), Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, kitchen gadget pitchman George Foreman, singer Pat Benatar, actress and hockey wife Janet Evans, real-estate developer (((Jared Kushner))), and football legend Jake Delhomme. Nice, music-heavy list there.

Looking forward to the Rod Stewart show outdoors at the end of summer. Sure he’s old as shit, but I’ve never seen him. And time is always running out. He was never gonna be forever young. And with that, I present you…the links!

Sure he’s got the look. But can he turn left?

Jackson Pollock, eat your heart out. Ugh. I mean…nevermind. I guess it’s a solid grift for his parents. I also see he’s mastered Blue Steel. I wonder if he can also do Magnum or Le Tigre.

Just in case you’ve been saying CES was a waste of time, you may have shot that take off a bit early. Hey, I’m as surprised as you are.

I’m sure this will be considered impeachable by talking heads before the day is out. There’s still time for Nancy to add it to the list she still hasn’t sent to Cocaine Mitch.

This should come as a surprise to exactly nobody. It’s also curious how the word “crossfire” became so prominent in the media over the last 12 hours.  I guess the Journolist 2.0 is alive and well…somewhere. Well here’s a newsflash: it’s not crossfire when only one side is doing the firing, dumbasses.

Here is a nice tale about bravery. No, seriously.  These kids are badasses and I wish they’d become more prominent fixtures in the news.

Grifters. (Stock photo)

More stupidity from the Chicago government. But hey, it’s nice work if you can get it.

He seems nice. Christ, what an asshole.  I still see no grounds for a lawsuit, free association and all that, but Jeez this guy is a prick.

Those who can afford above-ground rent in the Bay Area.

I always took them to be like the Eloi, but I guess San Francisco has room for Morlocks too. But I’m not so sure they’ll be too keen on the price.

Just in case you needed to get your blood boiling this morning. I mean, sweet fucking Jesus.

You’re getting three songs today. Song #1.  Song #2.  Song #3.  (No Croce, sorry. I only play him spontaneously when I feel like someone needs to have their spirits buoyed.) Hope you enjoy.

Now go have a great Friday and an even better weekend, friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

562 Comments

  1. SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

    I can see the craftsmanship in some abstract art. Pollock’s? Not really.

    • UnCivilServant

      Anything that’s within my meagre talents to replicate cannot be art. *side-eyes Mondrian*

    • UnCivilServant

      Also, I find the comparison of the 7-yo with Pablo insulting. Picasso had proven himself with realistic works early in his career, so the distorted crap was a choice.

      • sloopyinca

        His daughter does some lovely jewelry, by the way. Understated and lovely. (no snark)

      • Festus

        No called Pablo Picasso’s daughter an asshole…

      • sloopyinca

        I bet Rafael Lopez-Cambil has.

      • Swiss Servator

        I know I sure turn the color of the avocado…

      • Tres Cool

        When you drive down the street in your El Dorado ?

      • Drake

        Every 7-year-old does string paintings in school. These brilliant parents found rich idiots to pay for it.

      • Lackadaisical

        Sadly Picasso ‘wasted’ his talent making junk that people would pay a lot for. I like his realistic work much better than what he’s famous for.

    • Fourscore

      Zoo monkeys hardest hit

      • Festus

        There’s an opinion that I could set my watch to! Serious lol.

    • Nephilium

      A local neighborhood does art shows, drink/food specials, local craft booths, etc. once a month. On the list for artists at the various bars/restaurants was this blurb:

      Kylie (7 years old) started painting this past summer. She has experimented with acrylic and pour paints.

      Queue the eyerolling, and then you get to the end of the blurb:

      One of the A Special Wish kiddos, Kylie, wants to be an artist when she grows up! Her artwork will be on display and for sale at the Treehouse throughout the month.

      Fuck… now I feel like an asshole, and may have to buy something.

      • Pope Jimbo

        As a true libertarian, insist on having an oncologist you trust review Kylie’s lab reports before you buy anything. Be upfront with them too. “Hey, the only way this shoddy artwork is going to appreciate in value is if she croaks soon.”

      • Festus

        This. This is why I became a Glibertarian.

      • Tundra

        I’m just here to meet chicks.

      • Agent Cooper

        Mythical chicks.

    • wdalasio

      My problem with a lot of modern art is that it’s more about making a statement or expressing an insight than it is about beauty or achievement. I get it. But, that really only works the first time you make the statement or express the insight. When you keep saying the same thing only in slightly different ways, there’s really not much reason for me to pay attention.

      I’ll use Pollack as an example. He noted his work as a “pure expression of his subconscious”, something akin to automatic writing. Okay. But, past a certain point, I’m not so sure it’s art and not just Pollack’s personal therapy. And as someone who isn’t Jackson Pollack, that isn’t and doesn’t need to be something of interest to me.

      It may be art. But, that doesn’t mean it’s good art.

    • sloopyinca

      ::retches violently::

      • Festus

        She’s just so WRONG and these people don’t feature the fact. Mystifying.

    • Atanarjuat

      Hollywood has been going after the foreign box office recently, I wonder how well this one will do in Libya?

    • beer league keeper

      If Citizen’s United had gone the other way, would the FEC have the power to prevent Hulu from streaming this? For Dems, anyway, the 2020 election started long ago…

    • A Leap at the Wheel

      Guest narrated by Bill Weld?

    • WTF

      All the streaming services want me to cancel!

  2. sloopyinca

    My older daughter is here for a couple days before she heads back to school. That means I’ll be making pulled pork tacos and charro beans. The entire house will reek of fart in a couple days, but it’ll be worthwhile.

    • Festus

      Daughter farts are the worst but you kinda miss them when they’re gone.

    • AlmightyJB

      Some pork butt sounds really good.

      • Tres Cool

        Said Kermit

      • Animal

        Rainbow Connection?

      • Not Adahn

        Goddammit, Alphabet has done an excellent job of disappearing “Der Regenbogen Anschluss”

    • AlexinCT

      In some cultures farting and burping are signs of appreciation…

    • Brett L

      Mmm. I need to make some charro beans. Good call, Sloopy.

      • pan fried wylie

        Stewed pintos, liberally slathered atop a pair of bigass titties.

        Cuchi-cuchi!

    • Gadfly

      The entire house will reek of fart in a couple days, but it’ll be worthwhile.

      This time of year it should be cool enough to open a window, so you should be fine.

    • Agent Cooper

      I’ll be over soon. For the tacos and beans, not the farts.

  3. The Late P Brooks

    You don’t need to literally open your computer

    Like with a prybar?

    • UnCivilServant

      Typically with a screwdriver. But I have used a drill to open machines before.

      Prybars are a bad idea, you’ll end up breaking something you want to keep intact.

      • Festus

        Fucking Ben Stiller is a funny and talented fellow. He got me perma-banned from Huffpo.

      • cyto

        I am not aware of that story…. what happened? Did he only halfheartedly support Hillary?

      • Festus

        I made a (((joke))) not knowing the audience. The reaction was swift and assured. I laughed.

      • UnCivilServant

        Look on the bright side, at least it wasn’t a }}joke{{.

      • Jarflax

        So he did you a solid.

      • cyto

        Yeah, I still have a small part of me that resents Balko for dragging me over there. what a cesspool.

      • JR Robble Dobbs

        You’re not. I still make jokes that reference this. Oh wait, where are they?

      • Tundra

        Still funny.

      • AlmightyJB

        I’ve never seen Zoolander or Zardoz.

      • Festus

        I’ve never seen Zardoz but at this point, what difference does it make?

      • Swiss Servator

        Zoolander, OK…I can see that. But Zardoz?!!! Come on, man!

      • Not Adahn

        Hey, Zoolander has the greatest gasoline fight in cinema!

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        +1 Yougoogly

      • Rebel Scum

        You probably never learned to read good and do other stuff good too.

      • Nephilium

        It means the Paper Cartridge (PC) is out of letter sized paper. It’s not like they had a lot of characters to display that info. Now you just get a blinkenlite.

      • Jarflax

        or that the absurdly cheap spring on the arm that senses the paper has lost tension and can no longer detect paper.

    • Rebel Scum

      It’s where the files are, obvs.

  4. Festus

    I ain’t puttin’ nuthin on my taint ‘cept Gold Bond iffn I can get past my balls…

    • Fourscore

      I can not recommend Ben Gay for similar applications. Damn!

      • Festus

        Tiger Balm.

      • SugarFree

        Old Bay

      • pan fried wylie

        I didn’t realize SF was from MD.

      • Mad Scientist

        Axe

    • Count Potato

      I knew this rave crew who used to pour Gold Bond on their balls.

      • Count Potato

        They were college and grad school age.

    • A Leap at the Wheel

      Corn starch yo. Aint you never worked in food service?

  5. The Late P Brooks

    Bogan — of Eatontown — never went back to work at the pizza place because he was “deeply shaken and did not feel safe returning,” the court papers say.

    His lawyer, Armen McOmber, said despite the fact that Bogan didn’t go return and didn’t offer an explanation, no one at the pizzeria ever called to see what happened or to apologize.

    How traumatizing.

    • Fourscore

      I had my apartment burglarized when I lived in Eatontown, circa 1972. I was traumatized to the point of keeping some self protection close by afterwards.

      • Festus

        Me and a buddy lived in a high-rise. The little monkey downstairs climbed up from his balcony to ours to steal a gram of hash. We were on the 11th floor. That’s dedication. That fellow should have been in the Special Forces.

      • sloopyinca

        You lived above a monkey? Was Jason Alexander involved somehow?

      • Festus

        He was short and bald. The rest I’ll leave to your imagination. One of the smaller men that I’ve actually been afraid of. 130 lbs of catastrophe.

      • Ted S.

        See, I thought Sloopy was referencing “Shawon Dunston Checks In”.

      • Festus

        *gets it finally*

    • Rebel Scum

      There’s a wood fired oven joke in there somewhere.

  6. The Late P Brooks

    “Bogan suffered additional mental anguish and severe stress due to the fact that Defendant Di Rinaldi’s comments were made at a time when anti-Semitic violence has been undergoing a worrisome resurgence throughout the world,” the court documents say.

    “People nowadays are really violent. Him saying something like this to me, I don’t know what he is capable of doing,” Bogan said. “I felt threatened by the comments.”

    Jackpot!

    [insert money-spewing cash register gif]

    • sloopyinca

      Close enough…

      • pan fried wylie

        Close enough? No, Brooks straight got the machine wrong. What cash register is capable of spewing cash? It’s the exact opposite of the purpose of a cash register. ATMs dispense money, registers collect it.

  7. The Late P Brooks

    The child’s talent was reportedly discovered when his dad gave him a canvas and some paint for his fourth birthday.

    Yeah, and if his daddy had given him a pot and a wooden spoon, he’d be the next Ringo Starr.

    Grandiose self-promoting douchebags make me weary.

  8. Idle Hands

    Can someone explain to me the appeal of Kristen Stewart? How does she continue to get roles?

    • UnCivilServant

      I don’t know. There seems to be a trend in hiring actresses with the emotional range of a 2×4 these days.

    • Count Potato

      She has a name. She is pretty. She can act. Although she isn’t good at picking roles.

      • sloopyinca

        You’re batting .333 this morning. Which would be good if you were a second baseman.

      • Count Potato

        I aim for the fences.

      • Agent Cooper

        I think she can be pretty.

    • Suthenboy

      Ever hear the term ‘casting couch’?

      • Festus

        Followed quickly by “using a walker” at trial. I think she very pretty but then again I did grow up with rednecks and trailer trash.

      • zwak

        Using a Walker? Talk about climbing the shoulders of the dead…

      • Agent Cooper

        AT-AT is the preferred nomenclature, please.

    • Pat

      She got cast in one of the most popular teen flicks of last decade and then came out as a dyke.

      • Festus

        Don’t care, still wood.

      • cyto

        She was perfect for that role. She had a blank, expressionless face the whole time… which was perfect for a blank, expressionless movie.

        I had it down as my worst movie of all time. Not because there are not objectively worse movies… but because this on aspired to be something and did not even achieve awfulness. It was just… nothing. Not good, or bad, or even inoffensive. It somehow managed to out bland oatmeal without having the calories. At least shredded cardboard has the flavor of paper. This thing was not even that flavorful.

        Lucky for them, the Ghostbusters reboot came along. Although I still don’t know…. Ghostbusters was pretentious and truly terrible. And preachy at the same time. There were loads of jokes that didn’t land at all….. all while the press kept telling me that I’m sexist for not acknowledging the greatness of this film. Which probably makes Twilight worse. Because at least Ghostbusters managed to move me to an emotion – I mean, pissed isn’t the emotion you want in a comedy, but at least they got a reaction. Twilight didn’t even manage that.

      • Idle Hands

        Ghostbusters is the worst movie of the last 15 years. Easily and it’s not particularly close.

      • Festus

        I’ve never seen any of those movies, Dagnabbit! I never will!

      • cyto

        Do you remember an MTV series called “the Hills”. I think they had another one called “The OC”.. They were semi-reality shows.

        They had a particular affectation. They would have a character say something… like “Linda really said that?”.. and then they’d show 5 or 7 consecutive reaction shots…. people just staring at each other in this weird, unnatural way. It was kinda the majority of the time in the show…. just people staring back and forth.

        That was Twilight.

      • Count Potato

        Not one picture?

  9. robc

    Have you seen what is going on at Everton since the loss in the FA Cup? Fans showing up at the practice facility demanding to confront the players over their lack of effort in the Derby? Ferguson (who is assistant now) ripping into the players in the dressing room? Senior players blaming “tactics”?

    Ancelloti has some work to do. I have want to see a half dozen high wage guys benched, make it clear they will be off the team as soon as some sucker is willing to take them. We shall see.

    If they win tomorrow, your prediction is looking good, but it can still go the other way.

    • sloopyinca

      It was a bold prediction, to be sure. But so far so good. Brighton, West Ham and Newcastle on the horizon should get 6-9 points.

      Or like you said, it could all go to shit.

  10. The Late P Brooks

    “The contentious part is these below-grade sleeping pods,” said Elsey, who started the company with his twin brother and has projects around the country. “When you’re building something, the plans have to be approved by the Planning Department and the Building Department. These below-grade sleeping pods meet the building codes, but there’s this perception from the Planning Department that it’s not something any human being should be exposed to or allowed to do.”

    John Wayne slept out under the stars, motherfucker!

    • Suthenboy

      They are sleeping underground to be safe in the unlikely case there is an earthquake in San Francisco.

    • Shirley Knott

      Something about sleeping underground in San Francisco seems like a very shaky idea.

    • Drake

      Maybe they want the full Gulag Archipelago experience?

    • Pope Jimbo

      When I was working in Tokyo back in the late ’90s I loved sleeping in the capsule hotels. For the first few months I slept in regular hotels (my company was paying) and it was boring. You’d go back to your room at the end of the day and just sit there by yourself. (I wasn’t making enough money back then to go whoop it up in Tokyo on a regular basis).

      Then I discovered the capsule hotels and had a blast. In addition to your coffin that you sleep in, they had a beer machine and a common room with a TV playing some crazy sportsball game. So I could sit around with some drunk Japanese salary men and work on my horrible speaking skills. Way more fun.

      • pan fried wylie

        Right? Easily a third in NoDak.

      • Pope Jimbo

        All the good places keep kicking us out.

    • Rhywun

      it’s not something any human being should be exposed to or allowed to do

      They know better than you. Really, it’s for your own good.

      • prolefeed

        My first reaction to the article was, “Hunh. SF govt might do something libertarian to help poor or homeless people get affordable shelter.” Then I read that quote.

        Why do so many liberals hate poor people while pretending to be their champions?

      • JR Robble Dobbs

        All they want to do is control the Overton Window.

  11. The Late P Brooks

    Close enough, indeed, Sloop.

    thx

  12. Rebel Scum

    The taint band-aid consists of a battery connected to electrodes that send mild electrical impulses to the area it is attached to.

    I am sure there are better ways than putting electrodes on your taint.

    • UnCivilServant

      There are alternatives, but they are… worse.

    • straffinrun

      What kind of a dingleberry came up with that idea?

    • Atanarjuat

      I’ll try anything at this point.

      • Festus

        Accupressure. It was all the rage back in the 70’s but I’m pretty sure it was just a grift for “feet guys”.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Yeah, seems like they are rushing this product to market too soon.

      • Pat

        In sales, if you’re not first you’re last.

    • pistoffnick

      “…putting electrodes on your taint.”

      THAT’S MY FETISH!

    • Brett L

      Just buy a TENS unit. My wife’s lab teacher in physical therapist assistant school was kind of a character. She made sure to mention that “as much as the guys might think it is a good idea to apply to their genitals, it is not.” But what does she know?

      • Spartacus

        I think we have one around the house here somewhere. BRB

      • Pope Jimbo

        Way to other some of us who might be more base 2 kind of guys (if you know what I mean)

  13. Tundra

    Good morning, Sloop!

    Nice lookin’ lynx there, but the Hong Kong one wins. Brave kids, indeed.

    As of December 19, police had arrested 6,127 people in connection with the protests, and nearly half of them were university and secondary school students.

    Currently undergoing a whole new education, unfortunately. China is asshole.

    Enjoy the time with your daughter!

    • Festus

      Indeed! They get so busy that you hardly see them at all. They go from pains in the ass to missed opportunities in no time. I wish I would have been a better Step-Dad to my girls. Cherish it, Sloop!

  14. Atanarjuat

    “Obviously people don’t like it when people come home drunk and belligerent,” he said. “And no pod sex.”

    Ok, if $1300/mo for a 50 sq ft box with a curtain facing an open-air courtyard wasn’t bad enough, they enforce celibacy on you to drive the point home that you are a drone.

    • Tundra

      That is truly the stuff of nightmares.

    • UnCivilServant

      In a place where the streets aren’t paved with shit, you can get a really nice house for that kind of money.

      • Nephilium

        Or you can get a decent house for half that price.

    • Festus

      Sometimes tearing off a piece under the radar is extremely hawt. Sometimes.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Wonder if those pods are going to be regulated like apartments when it comes to making a certain percentage available to people who can’t pay the $1300/mo. Every 10th pod needs to be subsidized and given to some guy who can only pony up $50/mo?

      I’m sure the other pod dwellers will be so happy that they are helping to deliver social justice.

      • cyto

        $1300 per month for a fancy version of a bunkbed in the basement? Yeah, that’d better come with a complementary happy ending….

  15. Rebel Scum

    He was standing outside the pickup truck when one officer shot through the windshield, police said. The man is currently in surgery but is expected to survive.

    Police said the officer believed the man was going to pull out a weapon, but no weapon was found on the scene. Police did not go into detail about the surveillance operation, but the wounded man did not appear to be a target for law enforcement.

    Cops seem to constantly violate the rules for proper use of firearms. But they are the only ones that should have them, as I am told. And I am sure there would also be no consequences for me if I shot someone because I merely “believed” someone was going to pull a weapon on me.

    • Festus

      It’s the “us vs them” attitude that has crept into policing in the last four decades. Every cop sees himself as a Hatfield and we are the McCoys.

      • Pope Jimbo

        My dad blamed the TV show Cops.

        He said that before those yahoos got on the tube and were always drawing their weapons that none of the cops he worked with would ever draw their weapons. Once that show came out, they all thought it was totes cool to draw their weapon too. (and shaved heads and oakley sunglasses too)

      • Tundra

        Now they can grow beards. Tactical as fuck, man!

      • A Leap at the Wheel

        *general angry sounds*
        Haven’t had caffeine yet

      • Gustave Lytton

        And tattoos that a gangbanger would have been wearing twenty years ago!

  16. Count Potato

    “It’s also curious how the word “crossfire” became so prominent in the media over the last 12 hours. I guess the Journolist 2.0 is alive and well…somewhere. ”

    I’m sure of it. Although it’s not just journalists. Look at all the high-level accounts that tweeted “Easter worshipers”.

    • leon

      It’s not even a conspiracy. If you assume that 1. Journalists are Lazy, and 2. Humans seek to confirm their biases, then what happens is that journalists are just mindlessly repeating the talking points coming from the mouths of politicians they agree with.

      • Count Potato

        It’s not a conspiracy. It’s organized coordination.

      • sloopyinca

        Exactly. They got caught coordinating before when Journolist got outed. It’s not far-fetched to think they’d do the same exact thing.

        You don’t see 100 Dems and media talking heads use the exact same word within minutes of each other, that hadn’t appeared in the news about the topic before, and not deduce that’s its coordinated. Not after they’ve already been caught doing it.

      • cyto

        Yeah, I started noticing that way back in the early 90’s. Back then CSPAN outed them because they’d play the DNC and RNC briefings. And they would use some key words…. like calling some plan by Newt Gingrich “extreme” or “motivated by hate of the poor”. Then the next night Tom Brokaw and Sam Donaldson would use that exact turn of phrase.

        With the drone strike / retaliation you saw the modern version. I mentioned one of them the other day…. at least a half-dozen outlets using the phrase “Iran offered the US an off-ramp”. That is a very specific phrase. No chance they all thought of it independently… and it takes a special sideways view of the situation to say that Iran was offering the off-ramp, in light of Trump’s repeatedly pulling back from more forceful responses to acts of war by Iran. One single, very targeted shot was definitely not the escalation from rocket attacks on our troops and mob violence against our embassy that they want to make it out to be. So picking that phrase was definitely the product of some think tank.

        “Dodged a bullet” was also a very popular phrase the same morning, across many outlets.

        There is no question that they are getting briefings from the same source.

        Of course, they also all read each other – and they are happy to steal a phrase if they think it works too….

  17. Rufus the Monocled

    Did that narcissistic fool Justin grow a beard?

    • UnCivilServant

      I think he glued it on because he’s unable to actually grow one.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        Even when he pretends to be serious he looks even more unserious.

        A total goofball. I don’t know who’s a bigger goofball him or Canadians who voted for him.

        And it’s not like his deputies are any better. Chrystia Freeland’s success is a totes mystery to me.

        Like Michelle Obama, I can’t handle her speech and diction.

        And don’t get me going on the smug prick Bill Morneau.

      • Festus

        Michelle “Dimples” might run for leader of the Tories. I lurve her but she’s probably too regional. She flings shit like nobody’s business on the House floor, though.

      • straffinrun

        Dunno about that. Have you seen his dad?

      • UnCivilServant

        Can we even be sure who that is?

      • Count Potato

        Zing!

      • Not Adahn

        Based on the bead, not Fidel.

      • Rufus the Monocled

        Someone needs to send Newman to get a swab of his DNA.

      • straffinrun

        *Sigh* It was a Fidel joke.

      • Not Adahn

        I should have refreshed.

    • Festus

      I think her name is Sophie Gregoire.

    • SugarFree

      Makes it harder to put on brownface when he’s “sleepwalking.”

  18. Rebel Scum

    Not only is the mask off, it has been torn, stomped and incinerated.

    “Yes, this plan would affect the NRA, we also think it will save lives,” Helmer, D-40th, said about the bill in an email Tuesday.

    Helmer, a West Point grad and U.S. Army veteran elected in 2019, said his bill, HB567, is aimed at keeping Virginia workplaces safe in the wake of numerous workplace mass shootings throughout the country, including a mass shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building in May 2019 that killed 12.

    “This bill would make sure that we don’t have people bringing large quantities of firearms and ammunition into office buildings,” said Helmer aide Noah Bardash. “This bill would likely impact the NRA’s indoor range.”

    People get mowed down at gun ranges. It is known.

    • Suthenboy

      “…we also think it will save lives…”

      Liar.

      Liar convinces people they should be unable to defend themselves for their own good. What could go wrong?

    • Pat

      “This bill would make sure that we don’t have people bringing large quantities of firearms and ammunition into office buildings,”

      Why not just cut to the chase and make shooting large numbers of people illegal? Jesus guys, use your head.

    • leon

      You know who else graduated from West Point?

      • Gustave Lytton

        Every fucking ringknocker?

    • Rhywun

      Look out, Cuomo – if you’re not careful Virginia might steal the mantle of PROGRESSIVE CAPITAL

      • Rhywun

        “from us”

        Pre-mature posting

      • Sensei

        There will be an electronic device to prevent that available soon!

      • pan fried wylie

        Whenever you go to hit Post it zaps you on the taint and drugs fall out your ass?

      • R C Dean

        Err, what kind of drugs?

        Asking for a friend.

      • R C Dean

        *cancels shopping cart*

      • Not Adahn

        Do natives realize how transparent the proggie-envy of NY is? Every time CA or someone else passes a stupid law, NY has to immediately one-up them.

        And it blows my mind how instantaneously legislation gets passed here.

      • UnCivilServant

        Used to be there was an opposition in the legislature.

        The last dregs of that died out of late.

      • Rhywun

        Do natives realize how transparent the proggie-envy of NY is?

        Yes.

        But really this is just Cuomo riding the wave. He doesn’t really have any principles of his own other than getting elected.

      • UnCivilServant

        Just the text description in that article made me laugh derisively at Andy.

  19. Rufus the Monocled

    “An undercover Houston police officer on Thursday shot a man who approached an unmarked pickup truck occupied by officers conducting surveillance, police said.
    The man reached inside a backpack, saying “I’ve got something for you.”

    Not to say nothing but that’s a pretty dumb thing to say to police, no?

    • Count Potato

      He probably didn’t know they were cops.

    • sloopyinca

      An undercover cop, sitting in a parked car. Perhaps he was going to give him a local newspaper, which people on street corners in Houston do with some frequency.

      No way to know this was a cop. And no expectation for a cop sitting out of uniform in an unmarked car to not be approached.

    • UnCivilServant

      Handing out pocket constitutions is dangerous work, man.

    • Rufus the Monocled

      /slaps forehead.

      Right. The key word is ‘undercover’.

    • sloopyinca

      Aaaaand it’s done.

      Looks like a shooting nearby prompted the very short lockdown.

    • Brett L

      My brother lived down there 3-4 years ago. Like, in among the shitty off-base four-plexes that catered to poor enlisted folk, and other poor folk. Color me unsurprised that there was an active shooter in that part of Tampastan.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    Altogether, the project near the 16th Street BART station has the potential of adding nearly 500 bed spaces. Elsey said it could take at least two more years for the plans to get approved and then another 18 months to build.

    “We’re in it for the long haul,” he said. “There’s a limited amount of land in San Francisco,” he said. “By allowing these below-grade units that are 100-percent building-code compliant, you’re making the best use of the land. I can see this living arrangement isn’t for everyone. But we want a diversity of housing stock. Not everyone can afford to pay for their own studio apartment in San Francisco that’s going to run you upward of $3,000.”

    We’ll all be dead in three years, because Public Enemy Number One will have started WW3 by then.

    Also- “Nobody should have be allowed to live like that.” Five thousand square feet and granite counter tops or GTFO.

    • Suthenboy

      No one should be allowed to live like that.

      Allowed to live as they choose. Not allowed.

      That’s right. I am qualified to tell you how to live, you aren’t.

      I hardly know what to say about that.

      • Rhywun

        Nobody should be allowed to live in a high-rise.
        Nobody should be allowed to live without a parking spot.
        Nobody should be allowed to live in a boarding house or SRO.

        It’s almost like cities have a lot of practice with this position.

  21. chipping pioneer

    You know who else couldn’t turn left?

    • Rufus the Monocled

      Milton Friedman?

    • Suthenboy

      Progressives?

    • sloopyinca

      Anybody on Broad Street in Richmond, VA?

      • Rebel Scum

        ^

      • Sensei

        Anyone taking many roads in Northern NJ?

    • sloopyinca

      That fuckhead sitting in front of me yesterday with a green light and no oncoming traffic who was glued to her goddamn phone?

      • Gadfly

        Two seconds of green without movement = horn. Short curt blast at first, escalating as needed.

    • straffinrun

      Clyde?

      • AlexinCT

        Right turn Clyde…

        WHACK!

    • Trigger Hippie

      Dale Earnhardt Sr?

      • straffinrun

        Sick burn. Ouch.

      • MikeS

        Too soon!

  22. chipping pioneer

    “The majority of victims on that plane were Iranians,” Trudeau said. “That is something that binds us together in our grief.”

    What the actual fuck?

    • UnCivilServant

      Trudy is a well-known idiot. Don’t expect subsequent sentences spumed forth from his gob to be consistant with each other.

    • Rufus the Monocled

      There aren’t enough sexual positions in the Kama Sutra to describe how much of a remedial spazz buffoon he is.

      • Agent Cooper

        “We are Remedial Spazz Buffoons and we are here to rock you!”

    • Festus

      Canadian Fredo. The best part of his dad was swept into an alpine lake in an avalanche, never to be seen again.

  23. Rebel Scum

    You mentally ill children wanting your rights respected.

    So it was not an accident or an oopsie when Marsden said in a radio interview on Wednesday that the people who were “emotional” about losing of their Second Amendment civil rights were “mentally ill.”

    “I’ve been having this experience for weeks. I’m getting calls day and night,” he said. “Obscene, vulgar, threatening phone calls. I mean, we’re not talking a couple, well over a hundred.”

    He was asked if he’d regretted sending a letter to constituents who had written him about the gun rollbacks saying “too many of your members appear to have mental health issues.”

    “But, but there are very unstable people and this is worrisome. What I was telling people was that the responses from people who show the signs of having mental health difficulties.”

    Marsden said, “They were disturbing and indicative of mental health issues among many 2a supporters.”

    • Pat

      It’s a good thing he just deleted those voicemails and texts and didn’t alert the authorities to the attempts on his life. So selfless. So brave.

      • Rebel Scum

        Yeah, I am not inclined to believe a word of it. It also sounds like some Stalinist crap. “You believe in rights? Well you are clearly mentally ill.”

      • Suthenboy

        Yep. That’s what he is saying.

        I wonder if any of these scum have ever bothered picking up a history book. Keep it up shitheads.

      • AlexinCT

        Why would they pick up a book? They know that they know what is best, and that is to disarm the rabble so they are not going to face an armed mob when they really get jiggy and start fucking people over hard…

      • Pat

        It also sounds like some Stalinist crap. “You believe in rights? Well you are clearly mentally ill.”

        That’s exactly what it is, but at least the Soviets had the common goddamn decency to fabricate a piece of evidence before they frogmarched you to the gulag.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Oh, no. I’m sure once all those shiny new gun control laws are passed, he will be forwarding the names of everyone who contacted him with those scary hate-filled texts, emails and voice mails to the local cops with special instructions in making sure their guns are confiscated.

    • Rufus the Monocled

      This is more troubling than one may care to admit when you ponder it deeper.

      Notice how increasingly they denigrate those who speak in defense of free speech and the 2A. Calling them ‘mentally ill’ sets the tone and path to taking those rights away.

      This time, I submit there is no good intention. Their unintentional thoughtless blithering self-righteous babbling paves a path to hell.

      • Festus

        They know exactly what they they are doing, mon frere.

      • Suthenboy

        And if you think about it what makes red-flag laws so insidious is that they are aimed at the 1A as much as the 2nd. How long before the proposition is made to involuntarily commit people who stand up for their rights? It won’t stop here.
        Demand a warrant before a search? Refuse a breathalyzer? Criticize Dear Leader? Dont worry, it isn’t jail, it is just a hospital.

        Stalinesque is exactly what it is.

  24. Pat

    See if you can guess the source before clicking the link

    If Iran Shot Down the Ukraine Jet, the U.S. Government Deserves a Little Blame

    Both U.S. and Canadian officials now believe it is likely that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which crashed near Tehran on Wednesday, killing everyone aboard, was shot down by Iranian forces.

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau believes this tragedy may have been unintentional, as it came about in the middle of Iran’s mostly ineffective counterattack on U.S. coalition forces in Iraq. It’s impossible to state for certain at this point, but it seems possible that during a heightened state of alarm, Iran might have mistakenly believed the plane posed a security threat.

    Regardless of why it may have shot down the plane, Iran is primarily responsible for the deaths of those 176 passengers. But it is not absurd to assign the U.S. some responsibility, given that Iran’s combat offensive was prompted by the Trump administration’s decision to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike.

    • Rufus the Monocled

      Oh, I was ahead on that one. I knew they were going to spin it back to Trump.

      • Pat

        The only time I ever read anything there anymore is when my smartass friend sends me articles like that to shame me for having gifte him a sub to the magazine several years ago. Mission accomplished.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      OFFS

      Now entire countries are lacking in agency. Trump is the wunderkind of agency-sappers.

    • Suthenboy

      “But it is not absurd to assign the U.S. some responsibility”

      Absurd is exactly what it is. It is also mendacious as hell to say that. It is a lie by omission. They have been attacking and killing Americans for decades and we about to again but we are the ones that provoked them. Right. It is the old ‘Look what you made me do!’ horseshit. “You made me mad by defending yourself so it is all your fault that I killed people.”

      And then there is this: “it is Congress, not the president, that possesses the power to declare war. ”
      Imminent threat Robbie. War. One is not like the other. The President is specifically vested with the power to take action to defend against imminent threats and for good reason.

      There sure are a lot of people with the redass over Trump’s successes and trying to spin them as failures. What a bunch of douches.

      • Pat

        The President is specifically vested with the power to take action to defend against imminent threats and for good reason.

        In this case it’s not even really relevant since Achmed the Dead Terrorist was, uh, “vacationing” in Iraq with a half dozen other Iranian military officials and a couple of terror group honchos at the time of his most untimely passing. The action seems to me to fall well within the scope of the ’02 Iraq AUMF. It doesn’t really fit into the scope of the ’01 AUMF against AQ and affiliated terrorists, but they’ve also stretched that one to cover much more dubious military actions, like those in the DRC as well.

      • Suthenboy

        If a foreign army lands on US soil with plans to attack us the President doesn’t have to ask congress into session to get a declaration of war before taking action to defend the country. Having to do so is what would be absurd.

        This action was not on American soil but still in defense of American lives. Trump is in the good here, the people criticizing him for it just look ridiculous. I think they should keep it up.

      • Pat

        Right, I agree the president has authority to address an imminent threat without involving congress, it’s just that I don’t think you even need to lean on that authority in this case since congress already handed the president authority to kill military targets in Iraq… 18 years ago (fucking hell, how’s it been that long?)

      • Festus

        “To be sure…”

    • Certified Public Asshat

      My dad only hits me because sometimes I get in his way.

      • Shirley Knott

        Daddy drinks because you cry.

    • Aloysious

      That article was crap. The comment section turned into a dumpster fire.

      The only way it could have gotten worse is if Hihn checked in.

      • Not Adahn

        hat article was crap. The comment section turned into a dumpster fire.</blockquote.

        so… a day ending in -y?

    • Lackadaisical

      I thought it was gonna be shitka. Very disappointed Robby.

    • R C Dean

      ButTo be sure, it is not absurd to assign the U.S. some responsibility

      Might as well assign some responsibility for bank robberies to people who deposit their paychecks in a bank. If banks didn’t have any money, they wouldn’t get robbed, amirite?

  25. The Late P Brooks

    You know who else graduated from West Point?

    George Armstrong Custer?

    • Festus

      Last in his class. Hell, I’d wear that with pride, too!

    • creech

      Some argue Custer saved the day for the Union at Gettysburg on July 3rd. His Wolverines were some tough bastards up against Jeb Stuart.

  26. Rebel Scum

    Cocaine Mitch

    “And yet for weeks now, the House majority has blocked the Senate from fulfilling our constitutional duty. In a precedent-breaking display of partisanship, the Speaker has refused to let her own allegations proceed normally to trial unless she gets to hand-design various elements of our Senate process,” he added. “In other words, the House Democrats already spent 12 weeks undermining the institution of the presidency with an historically unfair and subjective impeachment… and now, for the sequel, they’ve come after the institution of the Senate as well. That’s where we are.”

    “Should future House majorities feel empowered to waste our time with junior-varsity political hostage situations? Should future Speakers be permitted to conjure up this sword of Damocles at will and leave it hanging over the Senate unless we do what they say?”

    “If the Speaker continues to refuse to take her own accusations to trial, the Senate will move forward next week with the business of our people,” he said. “We will operate on the assumption that House Democrats are too embarrassed to ever move forward.”

    Pwnd.

    • Nephilium

      Damn… It’s nice to see some of the Republicans have found their testicles.

    • Suthenboy

      They pawned themselves. I dont know what cards they think they have left to play. They are trying to pretend they have another ace up their sleeve when they never really had one after Nov. 2016.

      • AlexinCT

        They are desperate to remove orange man so the perps running the shadow state can stop all the investigations that will reveal the campaign of lies & deception that was necessary to cover the criminal and illegal behavior that was not just encouraged, but demanded by the Obama administration. They realize that they have painted themselves into a real dark corner if the facts come out, and they are beyond desperate to prevent that from happening. I suspect that the fact they are heading for a serious beatdown will only push them to do more desperate acts.

    • straffinrun

      That sword of Damocles would fit in a cocktail.

      • Festus

        Sword fight at the wedding reception with your brother!

    • prolefeed

      Would have been way better if Mitch invoked the Sixth Amendment’s right to a speedy trial, and called for the impeachment proceedings against any House members responsible for holding up the trial.

      Actually, Trump should be the one saying that.

      • Tundra

        I don’t think there is a lot of familiarity with Amendments in that town. Maybe drop them an email?

  27. The Late P Brooks

    “This bill would make sure that we don’t have people bringing large quantities of firearms and ammunition into office buildings,” said Helmer aide Noah Bardash.

    It’s about time somebody did something.

    • AlmightyJB

      Is the bill a magic spell?

      • Rebel Scum

        It’s as magic as a “gun-free zone” sign.

  28. Rebel Scum

    Caught in the cross-fire because of Bad Orange Man.

    Speier said, “I have been briefed on it in the Intelligence Committee. I’m not at liberty to say. But if what is being projected is true, this is yet another example of collateral damage from the actions that have been taken in a provocative way by the president of the United States.”

    She added, “The continued saber-rattling by the president doesn’t help us. I also feel strongly that by taking out General Soleimani, that that did not somehow rid us of any of the planning that the Iranians would be doing or that the Shia militia that is throughout the region is also engaged in doing. And we also have the leader of the Shia militia who was assassinated as well. That may be the subject of some efforts to seek revenge. This needs to be deescalated. The president needs to stop saber-rattling. He needs to find a way to use our allies to find a means by not just tamping this down but getting Iran to the table, where we can renegotiate a joint agreement on the use of nuclear weapons and move forward in a manner that is not as bellicose as the president has been as he addresses Iran. Iran has been a bad actor. Soleimani was a bad actor. There are many people who are bad actors. We have to find a way to live together and attempt to move towards peace.”

    Whereas appeasement is a tried and true tactic that definitely never resulted in a major war. And muslim theocracies definitely do not respect strength.

    • sloopyinca

      Iran has been a bad actor. Soleimani was a bad actor. There are many people who are bad actors. We have to find a way to live together and attempt to move towards peace.

      Tell that to the gays Iran publicly executed simply for living.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Rand Paul and Mike Lee seem to be the only rational critics of this action.

        Everyone else is causing me to defend Trump because of their idiocy.

      • sloopyinca

        Massie has maintained his consistency as well. I also noticed that Trump directly addressed Lee’s criticism in his press conference yesterday and said it was based in principle.

        I wouldn’t be shocked to see him use this as a means to pull everybody out of that mess by effectively forcing our “allies” to tell us we’re no longer welcome. He’s already floating the idea that somebody else do the heavy lifting.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I dare not hope that’s the case.

      • Gadfly

        I wouldn’t be shocked to see him use this as a means to pull everybody out of that mess by effectively forcing our “allies” to tell us we’re no longer welcome.

        The Iraqi parliament already voted to show the US the door, so that stage is set if he wants to take that move. A withdrawal to Kuwait would probably be a good compromise, extricating the US from the low-level conflict while still sending the message that the situation is being monitored and the US is capable of quick response if anyone in the area decides to do anything out of order.

      • Pat

        Iran has been a bad actor. Soleimani was a bad actor. There are many people who are bad actors.

        There were bad actors on both sides…

      • Festus

        Some people did some things.

    • straffinrun

      the actions that have been taken in a provocative way by the president of the United States.

      If she had said, “Presidents”, there would at least be a point.

      • AlexinCT

        Obama sent them pallets of cash! He wanted them to like him!

    • Suthenboy

      I have seen no mention of the fact that the missile that brought down the plane was likely purchased with the appeasement cash Obama gave to the Mullahs.

      • creech

        Fact? I think I saw some claim the Russian missiles in question were obtained in 2007.

      • AlexinCT

        Anti aircraft systems, especially modern ones, have distinct signatures. The report released by the Pentagon states the missile system involved is a Russian TOR system. While this is a system that has been around for more than a decade and is the same one they used when the Dutch plane was shot down in the Ukraine a few years ago, Iran just recently had these delivered by the Russians. And that happened because they finally were able to pay for it. I am willing to bet my ass they could afford them now because of the 1.5 billion dollars Obama sent them. Whether the money used was that money, or some other money they reallocated now that they were flush with dollars, is irrelevant.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Malaysian, not Dutch.

      • AlexinCT

        Correct. The plane was full of Dutch people.

      • Suthenboy

        I didn’t research it. Too lazy, too early.

        Still, weaponry, like money is fungible.
        /desperate attempt to save face

  29. The Late P Brooks

    The Weather Lady’s guess about “~1/2 of new snow” was off by a few inches. Oh, well.

    • Count Potato

      They are always wrong.

      • Suthenboy

        Dont sweat it, we will all be dead in 12 years anyway.

      • robc

        Just a bit under 11 years left.

      • Pat

        Chicks are always off by a few inches, amirite?

      • Nephilium

        Several female gamers I know have used the joke:

        “Why are women bad at miniature games?”

        “Because for years we’ve been told this”, holds fingers up three inches apart, “is six inches.”

        /in quite a few miniature games you have to commit to charges and firing without measuring the distance, if you fall short, the charge leaves you open, and the shots do no damage.

      • Not Adahn

        I only run mechs that have rangefinders.

      • UnCivilServant

        Die, Xenos Blueberry!

        *saturates table with artillery rounds, misses everything on scatter*

    • Nephilium

      Snow has melted here again, to be replaced by rain and wind with the temp in the 40’s. I prefer the 30’s and snow to low 40’s and rain. At least with the snow you can stay dry.

      • Not Adahn

        Yes. Thaws mean mud.

      • Nephilium

        Same here, but with rain predicted all day, and dropping from an expected high of 65 down to a low of 38 overnight into Sunday. Stupid rain, it would be nice to get a real ride in during January.

      • Not Adahn

        NOT looking forward to the pit on Sunday. Hopefully the rain will hold off until after five stand on Saturday though.

    • Festus

      We’re supposed to get a foot of snow tomorrow and the 30 below in moon landing degrees shortly thereafter. Pray for Festus and extra prayers for Wifey. She has to tend to me through this surgical bullshit on Thursday.

      • Gadfly

        …in moon landing degrees

        On this note, it should also be noted that in WWII the Axis and the Comintern were metric nations while the Allies (US & UK) used imperial units, so in addition to being moon landing units they are also freedom units.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Is the bill a magic spell?

    Look around you. Things which have been made illegal never happen anymore. Do they?

    • R C Dean

      ‘pathetic’ Democrats would have leaked plans for strike that killed him if he had informed Congress

      Well, last time someone had a kill shot lined up on Soleimani, it was a Democrat what leaked it to Iran, so this is plausible.

  31. Rebel Scum

    Ensuring the integrity of elections

    On Thursday, Senate Senate Democrats passed legislation that will automatically register all residents who obtain driver’s licenses through the New York Department of Motor Vehicles (DMVs). As of this year, illegal aliens are able to obtain driver’s licenses in New York, indicating that illegal aliens and non-citizens will only be excluded from the state voter rolls if they check the “opt-out” box before applying for a license.

    New York Democrats pitched the legislation as an effort to “reduce the incidence of voter registration fraud and voting fraud,” as well as to “prevent erroneous disfranchisement of eligible citizens, promote greater participation of eligible voters in elections…”

    • pan fried wylie

      War on Drugs -> flourishing black market for drugs

      Giving non-citizens the vote -> reduce the incidence of voter registration fraud and voting fraud

      do you even Logic, Broh?

  32. Pat

    Bipartisan bill would give parents more power to protect their kids online

    House lawmakers have introduced new legislation that attempts to modernize the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Dubbed the “Preventing Real Online Threats Endangering Children Today,” or PROTECT Kids act for short, Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Bobby Rush (D-IL) sponsored the bipartisan bill.

    If Congress enacts the bill, online services, websites and apps will need to give parents the ability to delete any personal information related to their children. That’s a power that COPPA, in its current form, doesn’t provide parents. The legislation also aims to raise the age at which companies can collect data from an individual without parental consent from 13 to 16, in addition to broadening COPPA’s protections to include mobile apps, as well as geolocation and biometric data. When it comes to sites such as Facebook, this means kids won’t be able to create an account until they’re 16 or older.

    • sloopyinca

      If a minor can’t enter into a contract, how can they accept TOS that say a company can collect their personal data?

      • Gadfly

        It was explained by one of the lawyers on here the other day that it’s not that minors can’t enter contracts, it’s that a contract cannot be enforced against them. So you can sign a contract with them all day long, and they can abrogate it without consequence at whim.

      • R C Dean

        Yup. If a TOS gives you permission to harvest and sell their data, you’re good. Even if they are six years old. If memory serves, they can enforce the contract against you, but you can’t enforce it against them.* You acting in accordance with a TOS gives them nothing to enforce against you.

        *Caveat: this is going way back.

      • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

        That’s a specific example where a targeted law was passed. Generally, you can contract with whatever you want. Good luck enforcing it against a 6 year old or a cow.

    • Nephilium

      Fortnite hardest hit.

    • straffinrun

      Love to see what contraption Florida Man came up with.

  33. sloopyinca

    Just in case any of you needed more reason to be jealous of me…I watched Gleaming The Cube last night. It was freaking AWESOME, as usual. Christian Slater giving a masterclass in the art of acting.

    It’s on Prime, by the way.

    • Festus

      Oh you mean “Jack Jr.” That cunte?

    • Nephilium

      Why watch that on Prime when B5 and the Expanse are there?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      You know, I was just thinking about how much I missed movies about vengeance seeking skate rats.

      • Festus

        Hearty LOL!

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Christian Slater giving a masterclass in the art of acting.

    Now you’re just making shit up.

    • Festus

      I’ve never watched any of his flicks wherein I found him likable.

      • Brett L

        He gets shot at the end of True Romance.

      • Tundra

        Blows up in Heathers.

      • Not Adahn

        Is the figment of a psychotic’s imagination in “Mr. Robot.”

      • A Leap at the Wheel

        Shot in the hand in Robin Hood.

      • MikeS

        +1 “Arkansas” Dave Rudabaugh

      • Sean

        I dunno, I liked Hard Rain…

  35. Pope Jimbo

    Speaking of ball related tech Samsung unveils “Ballie”.

    WTF? The only reason this makes any sense is I married a Korean and sort of understand the insane thought processes that those heathens have.

    “Ballie is an interesting concept,” Ben Wood, an analyst at market research firm CCS Insight, told CNBC. “I fully expect domestic robots to evolve quickly over the next decade. Some consumers are already embracing devices such as robot vacuum cleaners so concepts such as Ballie are a logical next step.”

    “It is hard to believe a rival such as Amazon does not have future plans to evolve its Echo product line — for example a domestic robot that could potentially be called an EchoBot,” Wood continued. “However such devices will be lightning conductors for privacy concerns and I expect Samsung’s demo to result on deeply polarised views with those who like the concept and those who loathe it.”

    • Tundra

      I’ll go with ‘loathe’.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Ballie is watching you masturbate.

    • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

      Combine sex robot technology with robots that vacuum technology and watch the birthrate plummet to obscene proportions

      • Pat

        Rosie the Robot had some junk in the trunk…

      • "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

        I hope they do a tad better than Rosie on attractiveness. Jetson’s wife will do as a prototype.

      • UnCivilServant

        Jane bought that model on purpose. I mean, even without distraction, there was almost a decade between their two children.*

        *later retconned to a shorter span but more than half a decade

      • Count Potato

        The Chinese already sell a robot that can suck your dick.

      • Gadfly

        I will contradict your prediction. Given how far the birthrate has already fallen, I think a sexbot revolution would have little effect. Most people these days only have kids because they want to have kids, not because they want to have sex. Although when the Amish outbreed everyone else and take over this country, I have no doubt that the sexbot will feature prominently in their morality tales about the decadent past, so future generations will probably believe the story you predict did indeed come to pass.

      • Pope Jimbo

        The Amish will never beat the Mormons.

      • Jarflax

        Amish, Mormons, Fundamentalist Christians of all sorts, and Hispanics. The future will not be cancelled due to lack of attendance.

    • Festus

      “However” That’s a spicy meataball!

  36. Pope Jimbo

    Uffda. I’d vote several times for Trump if he’d seize this opportunity.

    BEIRUT — In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi asked the United States send a delegation to Iraq to set up a mechanism for U.S. troop withdrawal from the country, a statement from the prime minister’s office said Friday, Jan. 10.

    The request followed a vote by the Iraqi parliament to expel thousands of U.S. troops, a direct consequence of a U.S. drone attackthat killed senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and nine companionsin Baghdad a week ago.

    Trump should one up them. “Not only will we create a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, we’ll put that plan into action immediately”

    • creech

      Why not? And take any portable equipment with us that we paid for, or sell it to Iraq (cash, no credit). If it ain’t portable, and they don’t want to pay for it, and may be of use to any future unfriendly regime, then make it inoperable to the extent possible. Considering that it is already “sunk money,” then just getting the hell out is probably o.k. too.

      • Brett L

        Victory parade to the transports. Last one out turn off the lights.

  37. The Other Kevin

    Anyone see that Bloomberg commercial that starts with Trump trash talking Obamacare? I feel like that’s going to have the opposite effect. Who besides a few die hard lefties thinks Obamacare was great?

    • UnCivilServant

      I have thusfar managed to avoid commercials for Nanny Bloomers.

      • pan fried wylie

        UCS: “Ok, Bloomer” *dons remote flicking glove* *changes channel*

      • R C Dean

        Krugnuts gets “OK Groomer”

        Bloomberg gets “OK Bloomer”

        I’m liking this meme highjack. Who else can we hang it on?

      • R C Dean

        While McCain was still around, we could have gone with “OK, Tumor”.

      • MikeS

        When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie; that’s amore

        OK, crooner.

      • MikeS

        “Beep! Beep!”

        OK, zoomer.

      • Gadfly

        That is an impressive feat. His ads have been all over not only the TV but Youtube as well. If you watch anything with commercials, you’re guaranteed to see one of his ads (and I’m in TX, so not even one of the states that a Dem primary candidate should be advertising in right now). Maybe he thinks New Yorkers already know him well enough he’s skipped advertising in your state?

      • UnCivilServant

        No, I’m just very good at avoiding commercials (No TV, extensive ad blocking, etc)

      • Rhywun

        I’ve seen it several times.

    • Drake

      I saw it. I assumed he was going to agree with Trump and propose scrapping the whole thing. Instead he starts talking about how everyone ought to have healthcare. It’s a weird commercial.

      • The Other Kevin

        So it’s not just me. I also thought having a nurse back up his health care policy fell flat. Because everyone knows nurses know a lot about health care policies and complicated insurance issues right?

      • Festus

        Sure. Just like teachers and property taxes, right?

      • Pat

        Shit, get a medical coder in there for the endorsement. The nurses and doctors are as fucking clueless as you are when it comes to billing.

      • Rhywun

        I too was baffled. My only explanation is that it must be targeted at tru-believers who get rabid when they see Trump.

      • Gadfly

        Well, ads at this stage are targeting Dem primary voters, so yes?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Nurses are like teachers.

        They are unassailable tragic figures that sacrifice themselves for the children.

    • AlexinCT

      I saw it last night of all things. I had the exact same question you had…

    • sloopyinca

      Is it the one with that nurse who appears to be unfamiliar with dental hygiene?

      • The Other Kevin

        Yes. And then he simply HAD to mention abortion as part of health care.

      • Grummun

        Blood and souls for my lord Arioch Progressivism?

    • cyto

      It is on continuous loop in Florida.

      And yes…. it is chock full of “Oh, that’s BS” moments.

      Equates Obamacare with healthcare with access to doctors with tossing dying kids out in the street. Luckily, Boomberg is the bestest ever. He increased life expectancy in NY!

      Really. It claims that Bloomberg personally increased life expectancy.

      It is almost something that could have been done by OpenBordersLiberaltarian.

    • Drake

      Ha!

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Solid hit

    • Tundra

      *applause*

    • Sensei

      That’s great.

      Any idea what he initially did?

  38. pan fried wylie

    I only play him spontaneously when I feel like someone needs to have their spirits buoyed.

    Is it spontaneity when it’s in response to something?

    • Festus

      Sure! Behold spontaneity!

    • sloopyinca

      adverb
      as a result of a sudden impulse and without premeditation.

      So…yes.

      • Jarflax

        I’m going with wylie here. Spontaneity needs to be impulsive and responses to a need are purposeful.

  39. prolefeed

    My wife read an article that said that 48% of the years of my life, the U.S. federal government has been involved in wars.

    Me: “That doesn’t sound right.”

    PF (Prole’s Wife): “Well, there’s the Vietnam War and the Iraq …”

    Me: “No, I mean, that percentage sounds way too low. Unless you’re using a really tight definition of war that excludes lots of fighting.”

    PF: “Just use major stuff like armed conflicts.”

    Me: “Armed conflicts is a lower threshhold than wars.” * Googles it * “Five years in my life that Wikipedia says there were ‘no major wars’. And three of them were in the late seventies when some of the shittiest cars ever were built, which ought to be grounds for a shootin’ war.”

    PF: * rolls eyes *

    • Festus

      *puts a warm blanket over Prolefeed’s shoulders, offers him a nice cuppa*

    • Tundra

      You and I must be the same age.

      My daughter is at 100% (born in 2002).

      Fucked up.

      • prolefeed

        I’m approx. 60 y.o.

        That number feels kinda surreal. But, these are by far the best goddamn years of my life, so I’m good with it.

    • Pat

      In my lifetime I can think of Panama, Gulf War I, Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, but I’m sure there were others as well. We’ve been in a continuous state of war since before I obtained my first driver’s license.

      • Pat

        You son of a bitch

      • Tundra

        *bows*

      • AlexinCT

        You missed the war on poverty….

      • Fourscore

        Hey Kiddo, you missed Grenada, when the med students were waiting while the airborne rescued them, before the end of the semester and finals, luckily for some.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Ahem. That was Clint Eastwood and his scrappy platoon of Marine Recon that done saved those kids. There is a documentary out there all about it if you don’t believe me.

      • Private Chipperbot

        Swede, Swede, Swede!

      • Pat

        Urgent Fury was a few years before the beginning of my lifetime. Although I have seen the documentary reference by Pope Jimbo.

      • Not Adahn

        Yeah, that’s the thing that pegs The Umbrella Academy as being set in 1991. The idea that someone in their 20s could be too young to be a veteran is nonsensical now.

      • Gadfly

        1991 is right after Gulf War I, which minted a bunch of young veterans, so I’m thinking that doesn’t work for the setting, either.

      • Not Adahn

        Huh, I thought it started in 1991. Back up the date to 1990 then.

    • Pat

      This is kind of depressing

      Not all of those would really rise to the level of “armed conflict”, let alone war, but shit.

    • Suthenboy

      Empire has a price

    • Suthenboy

      Jesus, the replies.

      Brits: “We hate you Americans”

      Us: “We know and we dont give a fuck”

      • sloopyinca

        Oh no! Not the British hating on us.

        Too bad those bastards disarmed themselves. They might have been able to tell us to close our bases if they hadn’t.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    STICK TO THE NARRATIVE, DAMN YOU

    Climate change deniers are blaming Australia’s wildfires on arson, but experts say that the exaggerated claims are part of a widespread disinformation campaign and that arson alone cannot explain the unprecedented blazes.

    Theories pinning the wildfires on arsonists gained traction in recent days after police in the state of New South Wales announced that 24 people have been charged with deliberately lighting fires since November.

    But wildfire researchers say it’s unreasonable to think the actions of two dozen possible offenders could have caused such destruction, with 20 million acres already scorched and more than 120 fires still active across southeastern Australia.

    “Arson is a red herring,” said Mike Flannigan, director of the Canadian Partnership for Wildland Fire Science at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

    Red herring, he says.

    It were spontaneous combustion what dunnit.

    • Festus

      Tide comes in, tide goes out. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower. Fuck those assholes for terrifying our Grandkids! When I was a kid we had actual 50 below temps but thirty years earlier it was just like this.

    • Tundra

      “Arson is a red herring,” …

      No, actually, it’s a goddamn crime and should be punished appropriately. These people give cults a bad name.

    • Suthenboy

      Didnt they pull this same shit with the Amazon fires?
      God they are tiresome.
      “The worst fires ever!” is something I have heard every year of my life about bush fires in Australia.

    • Rebel Scum

      Climate change deniers

      I loathe this term. I know exactly zero people who deny that climate changes.

      • UnCivilServant

        Some day, we might even emerge from this ice age.

        Hopefully it won’t involve another glaciation.

      • Gadfly

        That’s the most ridiculous thing about it all, that the climate warriors are fighting to keep the world colder than normal.

      • Suthenboy

        No, they are fighting for international communism. What they are doing has nothing whatsoever to do with climate.

      • AlexinCT

        ^^^^THIS^^^^

    • leon

      But wildfire researchers say it’s unreasonable to think the actions of two dozen possible offenders could have caused such destruction, with 20 million acres already scorched and more than 120 fires still active across southeastern Australia.

      Clearly. It’s the actions of all Australians for being cruel to Gaia that is causing this.

      • R C Dean

        it’s unreasonable to think the actions of two dozen possible offenders

        I thought they arrested over 100.

      • leon

        I’m not up on the latest climate denial conspiracy theory, but i think they arrested 24 or so but had some 100 odd that were implicated/cited or some other thing.

      • R C Dean

        police in the state of New South Wales announced that 24 people have been charged

        Are there fires in any other state? If so, were any arrests made there?

      • Tundra

        From the cops

        Just fun with numbers.

    • Festus

      Is it just me? I find that entire concept repulsive unless it’s in a joking manner. All bets are off if you want a larf or two.

      • Agent Cooper

        It’s 2 different videos put side by side. The reaction video is to something other than the video on the left.

  41. The Late P Brooks

    My daughter is at 100% (born in 2002).

    We have always been at war with Eastasia.

  42. The Late P Brooks

    The politicization of climate change and the popularity of social media have provided fertile ground for misinformation. On Twitter, established networks of accounts seized on the arson claims, helping them trend on the platform.

    Richie Merzian, director of the climate and energy program at the Australia Institute, a Canberra-based think tank that conducts public policy research, said the arson theories are being used to deflect from discussions of climate change.

    We’ll do the fingerpointing, around here!

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      The politicization of climate change

      Obviously they had nothing to do with that.

    • Festus

      That’s like the tech companies deciding what is and isn’t propaganda.

    • Rhywun

      arson theories

      Theories.

      I guess all that dry brush lying around because the government punishes you if you try to clear it out is also a “theory”.

      • Suthenboy

        Wait, are you implying that the itensity of fires in the dry season follow the pattern of vegetation growth in the wet season? That is just crazy talk.

    • Festus

      Indeed, the best time-line.

      • Tundra

        LOL!

        “So far, everyone’s kind of been ignoring him,” said the puppeteer who controls Oscar the Grouch. “We’re genuinely all for inclusion on this set, but this honestly seems like a real swing-and-a-miss creatively. Seriously—what the fuck were they thinking?”

      • Suthenboy

        ““Don’t wipe with a handful of shredded cabbage leaves you stole from a salad bar at Sizzler. ”

        I needed that laugh.

      • Not Adahn

        “Being a puppet, I know all about things going up my backside,” Pooter said in a sing-songy voice.”

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Why was he arrested, if he wasn’t guilty?

    A lawyer for Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s former chairman who skipped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon, on Friday slammed a gaffe by the Japanese justice minister who said that Ghosn should “prove” his innocence.

    Francois Zimeray said in a statement addressed to Justice Minister Masako Mori that her mistake reflected Japanese justice, which goes against the human rights principle of presumption of innocence.

    Mori has apologized for the error and said she meant to say the suspect should “assert” innocence, not prove it.

    ——-

    Japan’s conviction rate is higher than 99%, and human rights advocates have long questioned the fairness of its judicial system.

    Ghosn has said it is rigged and unjust.

    Japan’s judiciary has come under the spotlight over Ghosn’s case and his harsh words earlier this week about how he was treated in detention, stuck in solitary confinement and grilled by prosecutors without a lawyer present, as well his bail conditions that barred him from seeing his wife.

    Mori has said Japan’s system upholds human rights, provides a fair trial and has made for a low crime rate.

    She accused Ghosn of “propagating both within Japan and internationally false information on Japan’s legal system and its practice.”

    “That is absolutely intolerable,” she said Thursday.

    You can’t just say true stuff about us. That’s not fair.

    Send in the ninja smash and grab team.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      That is absolutely intolerable,”

      There’s a tell.

    • Sensei

      straff – if you are still around do you know what word she actually used?

      • Sensei

        証す akasu – to prove, to verify

        証明 – proof, verification.

        They are too close for this gaijin to call. This is going to fall on usage and nuance well beyond my level. So this could easily be a tempest in a teapot.

    • R C Dean

      Impressive.

    • Tundra

      Terrific article.

      Thanks!

  44. Gadfly

    I wonder what sort of material this move from Subaru will provide for SF.

    • Festus

      Hopefully moar. Subaru Horror Theatre is my fave. That last one was award-worthy.

    • SugarFree

      Bow-chicka-wow-wow

  45. Festus

    So I rechecked the letter that I received from the hospital and it basically says just show up on the date and we’ll take care of the rest. No restrictions at all. Imma gonna walk in there long and proud, naked as a jay-bird, flop my peen on the desk and ask “Who’s Cuttin’?”

    • R C Dean

      I’m thinking there’s a backstory I missed, here.

      • Drake

        Joining the the **Tribe**?

      • R C Dean

        Or going tranny. One or the other.

        I mean, I guess it could be both.

        NTTAWWT.

      • Festus

        Nothing so drastic. Just hernia surgery. The Doc said it was the biggest that he’s ever seen, so I finally have that going for me…

      • robc

        I will be doing the same soonish. Probably March.

        The doc said “sometime in the next 5 years”, but I dont want to get to the emergency situation, so just going ahead and getting it scheduled.

        If everything works as planned, I will have it done on the Wednesday before the Hoops tourney starts on Thursday.

  46. Tundra

    Apologies if this has already been linked:

    Abandoned stores, empty homes: why San Francisco’s economic boom looks like a crisis

    At the beginning of this decade, one beloved block in San Francisco had a taqueria, a flower shop and a bookstore. Sparky’s diner, a favorite final hangout for night owls, queer teens and the blackout drunk, was open round the clock.

    Today, this block of Church Street just south of Market has the kind of abandoned storefronts that are usually a shorthand for declining mill towns, not centers of the tech future. But all those closed shops are emblematic of today’s San Francisco, where even in upscale areas, the city’s economic boom can look surprisingly like an economic crisis.

    What this represents is a strange, second-wave gentrification, in which an influx of well-heeled residents means not Blue Bottle coffee shops and Kinfolk-inspired interior design stores, but emptiness.

    Gee, I wonder why that is?

    • KSuellington

      Don’t worry, the city gov is on it. They started fining building owners for having unoccupied commercial space. That’ll fix it right up.

      On another note, SF, for being such a desired and expensive real estate market has a pretty large number of unoccupied homes and apartments. There are three or four empty houses within a few blocks from me that even in their crappy, dilapidated state would go for north of 1.2 million.

  47. UnCivilServant

    Another military hypothetical. In the Tarnished Sterling universe, the draft for powered individuals was separate legislation from the general draft, and was never repealed. Simply because the variation in abilities makes it an inherently more targetted process. As part of a potentially high profile operation, ATOM (the fictional anti-alien branch of the military) needs the abilities of certain selected powered individuals they’d drafted for it. As such, the brass in charge of the reluctant participants to sabotage the project through getting themselves kicked back out.

    If they told a known cooperative training instructor “don’t let them get away with anything, but try to keep their infractions off the official paperwork” that it would actually work when one of said conscripts is surly and resentful over being there?

    Also, if there’s nothing in the official record, does that mean the otherwise ineligable conscript would still be in the running for some of those training awards similar to the ones the air forces gives out like candy that otherwise require a clean record?

    • R C Dean

      Bureaucracies have an Iron Law of their own:

      If its not in writing, it didn’t happen.

      • A Leap at the Wheel

        And likely the paperwork would be very detailed in all sorts of useless ways.

        “On November 14, 2020, I did observe Trainee Johnstone be assigned three hours of Camouflage and Evasion Training (CaET). Based on my training and professional experience, which includes thirteen years as a military trainer and over three hundred classroom and practical hours of education, I determined that Trainee Johnstone completed the three hours of CaET. In due course, but no later than 24 hours later, a narrative details such completion was entered into Trainee Johnstone’s training record attesting to such completion.”

      • R C Dean

        *arrest record showing Trainee Johnstone was in a strip club snorting cocaine and throwing drinks on strippers on November 14, 2020 deleted*

      • A Leap at the Wheel

        What a fucking noob. You throw back the drinks and snort the cocaine off the stripper.

    • Not Adahn

      If their draft is specifically targeted, maybe their training standards are too? They could get excluded for some weird infraction based on mutant biology/physiology? Like heart rate too low, BMI out of spec, that sort of thing?

      • UnCivilServant

        My thought was, everyone gets started in the standard basic training unless there’s an extremem physiological deviance, and targetted speciality training happens after completion in the same time frame an ordinary recruit would undergo MOS training.

      • R C Dean

        extreme physiological deviance

        *lights the SugarFree signal*

      • Not Adahn

        Well then, it should be easy to include a poison pill training standard that would cause the trainee to wash out without triggering a BCD or the like.

      • UnCivilServant

        I may not have been clear.

        The brass wants the trainee to participate in the operation, because it makes it easier to succeed. Said trainee needs the surly slapped out of him, but they don’t want him to end up washing out.

      • Not Adahn

        Oh. I thought they wanted them to wash out of the real military so they could snag them for their program. My mistake.

      • Not Adahn

        In that case, are there psychic powers? Could there be an attitude adjustment course camouflaged as Mental Control and Conditioning or the like? Bonus points for holding it at a specific site with extra security measures.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m going to guess you didn’t read any of the books… (short answer, yes)

        But I hadn’t thought of that approach. But the risk with that is they turn into a vegetable if they break while resisting the intrusion. Or get really suspicious, and zap everyone in the area with lightning.

        That’s a high-risk tactic.

    • Fatty Bolger

      I’d say yes on both counts.

  48. AlexinCT

    Why is it that every time we find out about one of the major players in the shitshow trying to reverse the results of the 2016 election, we discover that they were part of the original criminal activity sanctioned by Obama’s weaponized bureaucracy?

    It’s the same people that started spying on political opponents of Obama & Clinton and targeted their enemies (hey General Flynn, they sure want to destroy you for opposing the Iran deal), then decided they needed to promote a soft coup to hide that information, at all costs, and provided us with every twist and turn of the fabricated Russiagate hoax, only to move from there to the quid pro quo gate bullshit?

    • Festus

      My greatest fear is that they will win this time.

      • AlexinCT

        If they do, we can really kiss the republic goodbye. Once they decide they can control the outcome of elections through this criminal activity, we might as well dispense with voting.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      For me, this is why Trump has to win in 2020.

      If he doesn’t, all of this will be swept under the rug and the bad actors will be emboldened.

      If he wins, there’s a shred of a chance that some of them will be held accountable.

      • Festus

        I’m mortal. Keep the Republic alive for a few more years, if you please.

  49. Jarflax

    Mike Resnick died.

    • tarran

      The Democracy may have more ships than Santiago has bullets, but he fights on nonetheless.

  50. Sensei

    I’ve been assured there are no fat Japanese women.

    Ticket, Passport, Pregnancy Test. Flying to This U.S. Island Can Be Complicated.
    Immigration concerns in Saipan put pressure on airlines to screen their passengers

    Paywall

    HONG KONG—Japanese citizen Midori Nishida was checking in to a flight in Hong Kong in November to visit her parents on Saipan, a U.S. island in the Pacific, when airline staff made an unusual demand. She had to take a pregnancy test if she wanted to board.

    Ms. Nishida, 25 years old, was escorted to a public rest room and handed a strip to urinate on.

    The test was part of the response of one airline, Hong Kong Express Airways, to immigration concerns in Saipan. The island has become a destination for women intending to give birth on U.S. territory, making their babies eligible for American citizenship. In 2018, more tourists than residents gave birth in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, in which Saipan is the largest island…

    The permission form said it was for women who were observed to have a body size or shape resembling a pregnant woman.

    “It was very humiliating and frustrating,” Ms. Nishida said. The test was negative and she boarded the flight, she said.

  51. Mojeaux

    @l0b0t, from last night’s thread:

    the talent (for the most part) was nice but tend to vapidity

    I was thinking the other day about what extraordinary memories actors must have AND to perform what they’d memorized as as if it were natural and spontaneous. I really got to thinking about it and I was like, “I couldn’t do it.” Shit, I wrote a monologue that I used for an audition for a part that. I could barely memorize and I wrote the damned thing. (Left the whole place stunned and silent when I was done, if I do say so myself. I got the part, but I’m like Robin Williams—I can only “act” like myself.)

    So I think that if I had to stuff that many of other people’s words into my brain and perform them as if it was said be a real person and BE that real person, I’d keep my head empty, too.

    That is not a passive-aggressive swipe. I really am admiring of that ability.

    ____

    Mornin’ Glibbies.

    • DEG

      Mornin’ Glibbies.

      Mornin’

      • Festus

        Hi Mo! I lurve you!

      • Festus

        Hi Mo! I lurve you!

      • Festus

        Twice as nice not a stalker.

  52. DEG

    One of Mikail’s pieces, produced in collaboration with Germany and Bayern Munich football star Manuel Neuer, recently sold for $12,000.

    His work looks only marginally better than my fingerpainting work when I was five. Yet another bit of my life that I fucked up.

    At the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020, Morari introduced a one-use smart band-aid for the taint. The interesting bit here is that it can be controlled by the sexual partner via an app that could be installed on a wearable or device for prolonged satisfaction, Cnet reports.

    I wonder how many Dommes are lining up to buy it.

    But negotiations have faltered since the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in February last year, when the U.S. side rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.

    Don’t the North Koreans know what happened to Qadaffi?

    The man reached inside a backpack, saying “I’ve got something for you.”

    He was standing outside the pickup truck when one officer shot through the windshield, police said. The man is currently in surgery but is expected to survive.

    Police said the officer believed the man was going to pull out a weapon, but no weapon was found on the scene. Police did not go into detail about the surveillance operation, but the wounded man did not appear to be a target for law enforcement

    I’ll bet those cops are getting ribbed over not have their throw-down handy.

  53. DEG

    NH Legistlature insanity Part 1

    The House of Representatives voted Thursday to gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, which would be the first increase in 13 years.

    In an unusual move, the Democratic rank and file overruled their leadership by supporting $2 more per hour than the House’s policy committee recommended.

    If signed into law, the minimum wage would rise in six incremental steps to reach $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2025.

    The extra $2 an hour was approved 189-177 in a key test vote, before a 212-155 vote sent the final bill (HB 731) on to the state Senate for its consideration.

    • Rhywun

      In that case the MW in NYC should be like $30. I can’t wait.

      • Not Adahn

        He’s eliminating the tipped minimum wage too.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, there goes human waitstaff. Say hello to kiosks and robot servers.

  54. DEG

    NH Legislature insanity Part 2

    The New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a “red flag” bill Wednesday that critics say is a “gun grab” and advocates said would save lives.

    The House voted 201-176 to send the measure on to the state Senate, which is expected to embrace it. Both houses are controlled by Democrats.

    A spokesman for Republican Gov. Chris Sununu did not issue a veto threat but said there was no need for the measure.

    • Tundra

      So I guess it’s ‘or die’, then, huh?

      Stupid fucks.

      • Festus

        Step On Sneks!

    • Drake

      My dream of retiring to a free NH is fading fast…

      • DEG

        The push to turn New Hampshire into North Massachusetts continues.

    • Akira

      If Lefties think a red flag law for gun owners is so great, how about a red flag law for Muslims? There could be a program where anyone can call the FBI and report a Muslim who they suspect might be planning a terrorist attack. The FBI would then “temporarily” revoke their right to travel out of the country, fly a plane, or purchase a gun. Just common sense, right?

      If they’re so convinced that this program is Constitutional, that it would never be abused, that it would save lives, that the officials running it would be so judicious and fair that you would immediately get your rights back if you were found not to be a threat… What’s wrong with encouraging people to narc on Ahmed in accounting if he’s been a little angry about Israel lately?

      The principle behind red flag laws is “your rights can and should be revoked if the government thinks you are a threat”, so they have to carry it forward. You really can’t come up with an argument against red flag for Muslims but then turn around and support the same thing for gun owners.

      After all, radical Islamic terrorism has killed more people than mass shootings (unless you’re using those wonky SPLC statistics that mysteriously begin on September 12th, 2001).

  55. DEG

    NH Legislature insanity part 3

    The State Senate approved legislation that would raise the age for using tobacco to 21 to conform with new federal law.

    Gov. Chris Sununu declined after the 16-8 vote to endorse the bill, but he did not vow to veto it.

    Sununu has asked Attorney General Gordon MacDonald to work with the state’s liquor enforcement agency to determine how to best bring the provisions of the federal law to New Hampshire retail sales.

    SB 248 now heads to the House of Representatives.

    • Rebel Scum

      As if it would be difficult to travel outside NH to purchase tobacco.

      • Rhywun

        But how far they would have to go? I bet every state around them already has the same law.

      • Rhywun

        Them too I would bet.

  56. J. Frank Parnell

    Developer Chris Elsey of Elsey Partners in Manhattan, Kansas, has plans to build two apartment buildings in San Francisco’s Mission District that would each include two basement-level floors with 88 so-called “sleeping pods,” measuring about 50 square feet each, just a little bigger than a king-size bed.

    He’s really going about this the wrong way. What he should do is launch a startup called “WeSleep” or “Sleeprr” or something, and make an app to access the pods, then rake in a hundred million in VC funding and become a billionaire before anyone realizes this is a stupid idea.

    • Festus

      Ya know, things were much better before the gov shut down places like “The Itch Motel” and “Rooms”. Just sayin’…

    • Mojeaux

      In Fountainhead, Roark’s goal was to build high-rise studio housing that was efficient and cheap.The catch was, there was no income cap as to your qualifications to rent. If you could pay for it, you got in.

  57. DEG

    NH Legislature insanity part 4

    The House of Representatives Thursday voted to ban single-use plastic bags and force merchants to charge a new fee for consumers to buy recyclable ones.

    The bill would ban single-use bags and make retailers charge consumers 10 cents apiece, up to 50 cents per trip, for reusable, recyclable bags made of thicker plastic.

    The bill also would ban the use of paper bags except those that are made entirely from recycled paper.

    The vote on HB 559 was 205-158.

    In a related action, the House also passed a local control measure (HB 102) that would permit cities and towns to adopt their own ordinances on single-use plastic bags.

    Both bills now go to the State Senate for its review.

    • tarran

      Urgh. This implies that the Free State Project is not having much luck overwhelming the masshole immigration

      • Q Continuum

        Places like Mass, NY and Cali are like cancerous tumors; they reach a certain strength and then metastasize.

        I’m all for people voting with their feet; but that’s predicated on said people being smart enough to understand what’s driving them away. Such a wish has been in vain.

      • Sensei

        Son of gun… I said almost exactly this to my wife this morning including “cancer” and “metastasize”.

    • wdalasio

      I’m not sure how it works in New Hampshire, but a study on these bans was done in New York City. The interesting thing is that it concluded that a ban would actually lead to an increase in plastic consumption. The reason is that people regularly recycle the “single-use” bags as trash bags and food carriers (e.g. for lunch).

      • UnCivilServant

        I use a given grocery bag multiple times.

        Use 1 – Bringing food home from the store.

        Use 2 – Bringing my lunch into work.

        Use 2a – Bringing bottles with a deposit back home from work

        Use 3 – Bringing bottles with a deposit to the return.

        Use 4 – As a trash bag.

      • R C Dean

        Typically twice, for me.

        (a) Bring home groceries.

        (2) Pick up dog shit.

      • Rebel Scum

        5) cleaning the litter box.

      • DEG

        Same for me except for the bottle deposit uses.

      • Mojeaux

        Bottle deposits. Whoa. Childhood flashbacks.

      • UnCivilServant

        I blame New York. But those nickels add up.

      • Suthenboy

        The purpose of the ban is not to reduce plastic consumption.

      • Agent Cooper

        Reusable cloth bags also spread disease since they are not cleaned often enough.

    • Nephilium

      Here in Ohio, Cuyahoga county (the county Cleveland is in) has banned the single use plastic grocery bags. It’s made the lines at the grocery stores move twice as slow. Thankfully individual cities can opt out of the ban. Off the top of my head Cleveland, Strongsville, Brooklyn, and Independence have already exempted themselves from the ban while the state is discussing a law overturning the ban totally.

  58. DEG

    One last link… Wikipedia’s newest article

    “Epstein didn’t kill himself” is an Internet meme about the death of Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was a controversial figure with connections to several prominent figures, and his reported suicide generated numerous conspiracy theories about the nature and cause of his death. Gaining traction on social media, the meme speculating that the American financier and convicted sex offender was murdered soon gained widespread prominence.

    • Q Continuum

      Call it a “conspiracy theory” all you want; it doesn’t change how shady the situation is. Just like Seth Rich.

      • R C Dean

        If you were to intentionally try to create a narrative that he was killed, you couldn’t do better than what the prison has done. Guards not rounding, taking him off suicide watch, housing him with a dirty cop with cartel connections, moving the body before there was an investigation, deleting videos, not having videos backed up, etc etc.

      • Fatty Bolger

        It’s barely a conspiracy theory. It was widely predicted, it happened just like people thought it would, and cameras were inexplicably out, footage erased, patrols not made, and so on.

  59. Festus

    Sorry folks, I’m done. Gotta sleep someday. Best wishes to all!

    • DEG

      ‘Night!

  60. The Late P Brooks

    He’s really going about this the wrong way. What he should do is launch a startup called “WeSleep” or “Sleeprr” or something, and make an app to access the pods, then rake in a hundred million in VC funding and become a billionaire before anyone realizes this is a stupid idea.

    Nice.

  61. Hyperion

    “I always took them to be like the Eloi, but I guess San Francisco has room for Morlocks too. But I’m not so sure they’ll be too keen on the price.”

    Don’t worry, they can sell for a higher price when an Elon tunnel goes right through there.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      They? Not if Headly Lamar chases them out and gets the land first before the train raises the value of the land.

    • leon

      The importance of John Bolton’s offer to testify if subpoenaed in the impeachment proceedings against President Trump cannot be overstated. In a single stroke, Mr. Bolton, the former national security adviser, elevated truth and transparency over political gamesmanship.

      When its what i want it’s not politics /Tribalist

      • Hyperion

        Look, it was the Stache of War’s right to kill that Iranian general. And just like the 2016 election, badorangeman stole it right away from him.

  62. Hyperion

    Also, in other news. Can we ban Harry and Meagan from coming here? Can bad orange man do something? Arrest them at the border as illegals and deport them to Guatemala? /secret wish list

    • Q Continuum

      I’d watch a porn featuring Meagan. That’s about all she’s good for.

      • Hyperion

        You can get that on that UK Dogging site, I think. No need for the Meagan to leave the UK. Asking for a friend.

    • Agent Cooper

      I thought they wanted to live in Canada.

  63. KSuellington

    So, a personal example of how SF creates shortage of housing. A few years back I found a fixer upper that hadn’t been lived in for almost ten years. The woman who owned it sold it to us and we fixed it up over several months. We wanted to hold onto it for at least a year for the better capital gains rate. I considered renting it out for just one year, with a specific contract that said after a year’s time I could ask the tenant to leave. You can’t have such a contract, well you can but it isn’t worth the paper it is written on. If after the year the tenant says, “ feck off, I’m staying put” they can’t be easily forced to leave. My real estate agent buddy who was going to sell the house for me said that we could expect 80k or so less for a tenant occupied home. So it sat vacant for the rest of the year when someone could have had a place.

    • Q Continuum

      ^^^Alt-right Nazi confirmed.

    • leon

      So it sat vacant

      SEE!!! The Market isn’t efficient, If it was then those houses would be filled but dumb landlords don’t know how to handle their own property/ DSA kid.

    • Tundra

      SO fucked up. Here’s some more:

      CA Democrat Revives Housing Bill That Would End Most Single-Family Zoning In The State

      Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat representing the East Bay Area who co-authored SB 50, said single-family zoning policies were deliberately crafted to exclude people “for economic and race reasons.”

      “We believe that SB 50 will help us achieve our vision for a California for everyone where nobody is shackled by the circumstances of their birth or bad luck,” said Brian Hanlon, president and CEO of a pro-development organization called California YIMBY, which is co-sponsoring the measure. He told the Sacramento Bee that the legislation would “help undo a century of race and class segregation.”

      *pounds head on desk*

      • leon

        “We believe that SB 50 will help us achieve our vision for a California for everyone where nobody is shackled by the circumstances of their birth or bad luck,”

        California is certainly on it’s way to learn about “Bad Luck”.

    • KSuellington

      Heh, heh. Indeed.

      I should mention that I was going to rent it for 3k a month, which was several hundred under market value at the time. So we forewent 36k just to make sure we didn’t get some asshoe who knew about tenant’s rights.

    • Hyperion

      The rent’s too damn high = you should pay other people’s rent = equality

    • R C Dean

      Could you rent to a corporation to use as temporary housing for transient/visiting workers?

      • KSuellington

        That was exactly what we thought about doing, but as it was clear across town from downtown it wouldn’t have been so desirable for those purposes. It would have been a perfect family house for someone needing temporary digs. But alas the city fucks it up.

        I could write a frigging book on all the ways that SF has created to mess with the housing market and create shortages and expenisve housing. If we had a contest here to think of all the ways you could do so I bet y’all couldn’t come up with half of what the idiot proggies here have done to make housing less affordable.

      • Hyperion

        “If we had a contest here to think of all the ways you could do so I bet y’all couldn’t come up with half of what the idiot proggies here have done to make housing less affordable.”

        I think you may be underestimating the ability of this group to predict prog stupidity.

      • UnCivilServant

        But Frisco has a forty year head start.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Yep, exactly the point I made the other day when the Oakland squatters were brought up. I know a lot of people who would like to rent their property, or buy houses in another location and rent them out, but it’s just too risky. I think that’s one reason Airbnb has taken off so quickly. The risk is lower, and if something does happen, the law is on your side.

      • KSuellington

        Exactly right.

        Got to run off to work to make some dollars to afford it here.

  64. Mojeaux

    Links? What links? Oh, wait, I see all those open tabs in my browser.

    @trshy

    I can see the craftsmanship in some abstract art

    Same. I also like some of the outré sculpture with everyday materials arranged in awesome ways. However, with the plethora of excellent artists on Etsy and elsewhere doing that, it doesn’t seem museum worthy anymore (*koffNelsonAtkins&Kemperkoff*).

    @UCS

    Picasso had proven himself with realistic works early in his career, so the distorted crap was a choice.

    Saw a Picasso exhibit at the Nelson a couple of years ago. It was awesome. I love his bullfight series the most (because of course). No, really, I do like that style of art, so the subject matter wouldn’t have made any difference. He and Hemingway hung out.

    @sloopy

    His daughter does some lovely jewelry, by the way. Understated and lovely. (no snark)

    I will have to check that out. I saw jewelry pieces on display at the art gallery too, but I think beautiful jewelry belongs in a store, not a museum.

    @Pontiff

    I loved sleeping in the capsule hotels

    I get the appeal. But just thinking about one of those makes me start to hyperventilate.

    @Rhywun

    Nobody should be allowed to live in a high-rise.
    Nobody should be allowed to live without a parking spot.
    Nobody should be allowed to live in a boarding house or SRO.

    FIFY

    @prolefeed

    I’m approx. 60 y.o.
    That number feels kinda surreal. But, these are by far the best goddamn years of my life, so I’m good with it.

    And you just got married this past year, no? I’m 51. You give me hope for my future. /nosarc

    cock rings

    *fans self*

    @Festus

    Good luck with your surgery!

    (Also, I giggled at your “fuck a duck” on Brooksing a comment last thread.)

    On to the links …

    Re: “officer-involved shooting”: And therein is my conflict with myself, lived experience versus the prevalence of this business, and good cops won’t say anything. You know, one good cop who stands up can be dismissed by everyone. You’d need a battalion of good cops to stand up and say “Enough.” And who’s going to put that together without being dismissed?

    Re: sleeing pods in SF: I watched that show with Capt Kirk, Bradshaw, Fonzi, and George Foreman. In some country, they have a setup JUST like that, with the tiny cubicles in plywood with stairs and a place to stand up/put your stuff. Or maybe that was a tiny house show on YouTube, set in LA. Maybe it was both. Youth hostels #FTW

    Re: pizza kid with asshole boss: “deeply shaken and did not feel safe returning” Don’t be a pussy. “He’s an asshole and I’m not going to work for an asshole.”

    Re: Hong Kong kids: How much longer can they keep this up before China starts thinking, “Hey, you know, maybe this isn’t a great idea”? Never mind. Chinese. Forever. We love you, Hong Kong Kids.

    Re: 7yo art prodigy: Eyeroll. You can find how-tos for that shit on YouTube and Etsy. Oh, and Pollock? Fuck you with an 8-inch burnt-umber-slathered sheetrock knife. Bob Ross is better than you.

    /fin

    • MikeS

      TL;DR

      • Mojeaux

        *sniffle*

        Meh, I vomited my thoughts. That’s all that matters.

      • Mojeaux

        I may just have to leave a.m. lynx fallow when I roll out of bed this late.

      • DEG

        Hateful.

        I read it.

      • UnCivilServant

        Youtube Link; Didn’t click.

      • MikeS

        Not for You; Don’t Care.

      • MikeS

        Only a little bit!

  65. Q Continuum

    “Prof calls college a ‘racket,’ blasts diversity hires”

    https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14191

    Except for a few fields, I’d say he’s right; and even those are being SJW-ified at a rapid clip.

    • leon

      It is essentially a way to extort tax monies from legislatures and students. Unis raise the tuition and then say “Oh tuition is going up because the legislature refuses to fund us”. Legislature get’s pressure to fund them, and money is then funneled to Administrative positions that spend days thinking of how to do activism.

    • Hyperion

      He’s absolutely spot on. The latest horseshit is the ‘health equity’ thing. IOW, we need to hire a health equity czar because who cares about advances in medicine or medical tech, all that is important is making sure everyone is equally healthy, even if that means equally sick. Bring back witch doctors and bleeding by attaching leaches to the poor sick soul. I hate these assholes with the passion of 1000 burning suns.

    • Tundra

      My daughter is finalizing her college plans. It’s interesting, to say the least, at how she’s been courted compared to my son.

      Pushing her to go to the same place as the boy. Seems waaaaaay less woke than most of them

    • Tundra

      OMG

      After a long, painstaking search, I finally got this one guy at the farmer’s market to guarantee me fresh orgasm eggs every week. We sealed the agreement with a verbal contract and a sweaty handshake. The cum eggs are $10,000 a carton, but quality, ethical products are never cheap. I’m sure it all goes to chicken welfare. I don’t know. I DO know that when I started buying eggs from this dude, he got a hover board and a new Lexus. But from what I understand, farming life is very lucrative. And I can relax knowing my eggs came from very happy chickens.

    • leon

      Truth is that if the US elected its presidents like every other civilized country, proportionally, George HW would be the only R in the pic.

      WAHHHH!!!!!!!!

      • Rhywun

        Authoritarian central governments are much more civilized than a federation of states, this is known.

      • wdalasio

        Actually, I’d have no problem with moving to a direct presidential vote

        iff

        the Constitution were amended to allow the peaceful and orderly secession of states.

        It’s a fun precondition to bring up to leftists demanding an end to the Electoral College. Because it really reveals that their goal is to rule over others.

      • UnCivilServant

        No direct presidential vote.

        Institute better mechanisms for getting rid of the rampant voter fraud we currently have.

      • Rhywun

        It’s a fun precondition to bring up to leftists demanding an end to the Electoral College.

        *files for future reference*

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Just another way that Trump is trying to destroy our democratic institutions.

      • Akira

        Truth is that if the US elected its presidents like every other civilized country, proportionally, George HW would be the only R in the pic.

        I get so sick of that stupid argument.

        The US is already subdivided into units which happen to be about the size of most other nations, and each of them elects their own chief executive called a governor. We just have this overarching federal government that was supposed to be very weak and basically tie the states together for little else besides national defense, shared commerce, and some basic enumerated rights.

        It boggles my mind how Lefties can complain so much about the effects of Republican presidents, but it never occurs to them to return the fedgov back to its Constitutionally authorized limits.

      • UnCivilServant

        But then they wouldn’t be able to rule the red states too!

  66. The Hyperbole

    Trigger Hippie and Grrizzly, The GlibDip game has filled and started, I should have given you a heads up sooner, but just realized as newbies you may have been waiting for a notification. Anyway get your orders in if you can.

    • UnCivilServant

      Where’s the “Hire Ninjas to assassinate Hyperbole” button?

      • The Hyperbole

        Ninjas, please. You better send more’n pajama clad wall climbers if you’re coming after the big dog.

  67. Agent Cooper

    The Saint (1962) TV show is now streaming on Prime. It holds up really well — intelligently written and pretty well acted. Roger Moore is great.