Enlaces mexicanos por la tarde. ¡Martes!

by | Dec 1, 2020 | Daily Links | 391 comments

Exhausting day doing very little.  I’ll get right to it…

This is the weekly reminder the El Presidente has still has not congratulated Biden…it appears English speaking media dropped it.

Every generation thinks that.

Brazilian politician currently comatose due to complications with COVID…manages to get elected mayor.

Please Mr. Dictator…let him go.  Good luck.

An online pilgrimage seems to defeat the purpose of a pilgrimage.

Whats the over/under on Biden giving those retards more loans?

Cuban government agrees to hear out protestors.  Then Cuban government says “nah!”  Which can be seen as progress, since previous protestors were executed.

 

Here’s some real tunes, this time around,

About The Author

mexican sharpshooter

mexican sharpshooter

WARNING: Glibertarians.com contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. https://youtu.be/qiAyX9q4GIQ?t=2m22s

391 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    “An online pilgrimage seems to defeat the purpose of a pilgrimage.”

    OFFS!!

  2. Ownbestenemy

    Peru never had this as their anthem

  3. Count Potato

    “Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador avoided commenting on the U.S. presidential election results, in which Democrat Joe Biden-Kamala Harris is the virtual winner.

    “We are going to wait for all the legal issues to be resolved. We don’t want to be reckless, we don’t want to act lightly, and we want to be respectful of the self-determination of peoples and respectful of the rights of others,” he said from Villahermosa, Tabasco in line with what Donald Trump, who has challenged the results on several points, has said.

    López Obrador justified his position with the argument of respect for peoples’ self-determination and prudence, for which – he reiterated – he will wait for the official end of the U.S. electoral process.”

    Not to upset anyone’s tits, but it seems over:

    “AG Bill Barr says there ISN’T enough evidence of voting fraud to change election result after probe into Dominion systems – but furious Rudy Giuliani claims ‘there hasn’t been any semblance of an investigation'”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9006889/Barr-No-evidence-fraud-d-change-election-outcome.html

    “Donald Trump demands Georgia call off Senate runoffs and give seats to Republicans because November results were ‘fraud’ as he launches ANOTHER lawsuit to invalidate 220,000 votes in Wisconsin”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9005831/Trump-tries-invalidate-220-000-absentee-votes-Wisconsin-recount-confirmed-Biden-win.html

    • Drake

      If you don’t look for any evidence and purposely avoid noticing the obvious – then sure.

      Trump has a had a really bad run with AGs.

      • Hyperion

        “Trump has a had a really bad run with AGs.”

        Well, when you pick the wrong AGs, that can happen, probably will happen.

    • R C Dean

      the virtual winner

      Amusing, since “virtual” means “not real”.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Just being honest, but I’m kinda sick of their BS rhetoric. Put up or shut up, and the time to put up is quickly coming to a close. If “the Kraken” was just a bunch of affidavits from people claiming they saw silly business going on, this entire endeavor is over before it started. Getting at JI’s point, they better have a Trump card up their sleeve, because the “we have affidavits” schtick is wearing thin.

        Yeah, yeah, let them have their day in court. Agreed, but they’re either playing it really tight to the vest or they got bupkus.

      • R C Dean

        Haven’t watched closely enough to say for sure, but I suspect they have a gap between the big patterns their experts see and the on-the-ground affidavits. When you can say “We can prove activity X is going on, because we have eyewitnesses” and the experts can say “the statistical patterns we see are consistent with activity X on a broader scale” in a way that paints the picture from the micro to the macro levels, you’re doing well. Federal prosecutors feast on exactly that combination in medical billing cases. I suspect that case is in there somewhere, but Trump’s team has taken the “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach. Unfortunately, that leaves them with a muddled case and way too much to prove.

        And those cases are big cases that take time. I think this fraud was just too big to fail – it would take way too long to pull together the case.

      • mexican sharpshooter

        Supposedly, the FBI requested the data from one of the speakers at the cringefest in Phoenix yesterday.

        His was usual election fraud—dead votes, out of state votes and the like.

      • Jerms

        Agreed trash, all day i watch video after video of poll workers testifying, stories of missing USB drives, but are they getting anywhere with it? Im sure the media would ignore every bit of it anyway but i feel like its a lost cause.

    • juris imprudent

      Trump seems to have failed to notice (ha, big surprise) that only one Republican led a Georgia senate race. If you just want to hand those seats to the people that finished first in the election but didn’t cross the 50%+1 threshold, you get one R and one D.

    • cavalier973

      Barr said the FBI/DOJ didn’t find evidence of voter fraud that would change the election.

      He didnt say such fraud does not exist.

      Then he complimented his team, who were all wearing dark sunglasses, carrying white canes, and holding tightly to the leashes of their guide dogs.

      • Not Adahn
      • Chafed

        #MeToo

    • Ownbestenemy

      When the Government wants to investigate something, they sure seem to do so in a quick like fashion. One month (or less depending on when their investigation started) to wrap that up but how long have we been on other investigations? Years?

    • Jarflax

      What Trump said was if they properly audit the ballots the recount won’t be needed. That is a far cry from demanding Georgia call off the runoff. It would be lovely if they would attack people for what they do and say without making things up.

  4. The Late P Brooks

    America’s foremost busybody maiden aunt offers advice

    The COVID-19 pandemic won’t end until the “overwhelming majority” of people in the U.S. get vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Monday.

    With a rollout of safe treatments for the respiratory illness forecast to begin by the end of this year, the U.S. needs between 75 and 85 percent of the population to take a vaccine for the protection to be truly effective, the country’s top infectious disease expert said in a video interview with billionaire Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg.

    “I would like to see the overwhelming majority of the country vaccinated before we get to the end of the second quarter [of 2021],” he told Zuckerberg.

    “So when we get into the fall season the children can feel safe going back to school, teachers can feel safe they are not going to get infected, we get back to the economy being robust, restaurants can open… that’s what I would like to see.”

    I would like to see that bastard’s decomposing body hanging from a lamppost, with ravens using it for a shitter.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Fauci just, let me carry the one and multiply it by 2020 and, just yesterday said kids are okay to go to school. So Mr. Fauci (I refuse to refer to you as doctor) which is it?

    • B.P.

      Mark Zuckerberg is a journalist now? (Not that he’s any less qualified than most other dolts with press passes)

    • Urthona

      Don’t really see why anyone who gets a vaccine should not be allowed to go maskless and do as they please. That should be enough. Forcing a certain number of people to get it seems irrelevant.

      • R C Dean

        /German accent ON

        So long as they have the papers showing they have the vaccine, yes?

        /German accent OFF

      • Urthona

        That’s fine. I would of course prefer all those laws end. But I already have to do all this crap despite being vaccinated. Now let me carry around my proof to get out of them .

      • Urthona

        Oh it just occurs to me what a much better solution is.

        When the vaccine comes out, just repeal all the laws.

        If someone is worried about the virus, they can get the vaccine.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, there’s a problem, in most jurisdictions, no laws were passed, just illegal orders from on high.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      much needy so pathetic

    • But Enough About My Pulsating, Geriatric Pecs

      Wow. She’s not that old, but time has not been kind to her.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Because you said that I decided “fine, Ill check out the link”. You are not wrong. Juno=Cute. That pictured there looks like too many Hollywood parties when she was cute.

      • CatchTheCarp

        I’ll always remember her for Hard Candy. Juno was forgettable.

      • Brett L

        The roller derby one was fun.

      • Count Potato

        It was!

      • Nephilium

        Hard Candy… the best horror movie for OMWC.

    • R C Dean

      Hasn’t committed to a guy haircut, tho.

      • Drake

        She wants to be a gay guy?

      • Chipwooder

        Apparently not, since she’s not splitting up from the missus.

        Does that mean the wife is no longer a lesbian, since she’s now married to a self-proclaimed dude? (happy now, Just Sayn? No “bloke” this time)

      • grrizzly

        That’s what gender-fluid means.

      • Chipwooder

        But the wife isn’t genderfluid, is she?

      • grrizzly

        Both of them are.

        I’m just trying to find a little bit of logic in these terms but I don’t really care.

      • Jarflax

        I am old enough to remember when gay people wanted to get rid of labels and just be considered people because outside their bedroom it was irrelevant who they slept with. I miss those days.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That was before the ista-fame afforded by the Internet came around.

    • I. B. McGinty

      So she/he/they will drink beer, eat nachos, and watch football now?

    • Certified Public Asshat

      as wife of two years says ‘I support you’

      Are lesbians forced into liking trans-men now?

      • juris imprudent

        Maybe as long as the trans-man is still an innie and not one of those icky outies?

    • Brett L

      She got tired of being “the OTHER lesbian Ellen.”

    • Agent Cooper

      Umbrella Academy Season 3 should be interesting.

      Vanya is now Van!

    • rhywun

      My pronouns are he/they

      That doesn’t even make sense in woke terms.

      Unless he is he on some days and they is they on other days.

      • Gadfly

        No, it doesn’t. It should be either he/him or they/them or he/them or they/him, but he/they is the stupidest of the stupid bunch.

      • juris imprudent

        See how much attention you just paid to her/him? WINNING

  5. Kwihn T. Senshel

    “Online pilgrimage” due to disease fears. The irony, she burns (from an article about Virgen de Guadalupe):

    The devotion [to her] continued to grow, especially after Our Lady of Guadalupe was credited with ending a deadly epidemic of hemorrhagic fever that ravaged Mexico City in 1736–37

    Let’s make sure to prevent people from venerating a healer of disease because we’re afraid of…disease.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I thought that was one of the purposes of a pilgrimage. Sacrifice?

  6. Count Potato

    “Coronavirus was spreading in the US by December 17 – WEEKS before China admitted that people there were being infected by a new virus, antibody testing of donated blood finds

    Blood collected by the Red Cross between December 13 and January 17 was later sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be tested for antibodies to coronavirus.

    Testing revealed antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 in 39 samples from blood donated between December 13 and December 16. Those donations were made in California, Oregon, and Washington.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9006277/Coronavirus-spreading-December-17-study-finds.html

    • Kwihn T. Senshel

      I’m in WA, and nearly 100% sure that I had it back in mid-January. About 3/4 of my office had a weird flu with fever, terrible aches, loss of smell, and cough (of course those symptoms were different for various people).

      Said it then, even more sure now.

      • Ownbestenemy

        As a parent we know our kids ailing and illnesses generally, especially cold/flu. Both teens had flu like symptoms in Jan that were mild enough, but different coughs and they general appearance was “off”. I am sure our family went through it.

      • R C Dean

        There was a “really bad cold” circulating last fall and winter in a lot of places. I talked to a number of people who had it.

        Because I cultivate my immune system with poor personal hygiene, I didn’t catch it.

      • l0b0t

        Anecdotally, our house had what was diagnosed as FTI (Flu Type Illness) towards the end of November ’19. Wifey never really felt anything, kids were fine after a few days, I was hit hard for a week and had lingering shortness of breath and dry cough into the 1st week of January 2020. We’ve all tested negative since that became a thing here last Summer, but I still blame those yellow devils who massacred our boys at the Yalu river.

      • Chipwooder

        Yup. I was really sick for a few days in late January. Thought it was probably the flu, but with no congestion, which struck me as weird at the time. Major fever (spiked to 103 a few times), chills, body felt like I was 2003 David Carr getting sacked 100 times. After 4 or 5 days, got over it. I hadn’t heard the bit about losing the sense of smell before, but I have. I literally can’t smell anything anymore. It’s bizarre, all the more so because my sense of taste is unchanged, but it doesn’t matter what I’m cooking, how many candles my wife lights, or anything else – nothing registers.

      • Kwihn T. Senshel

        I got the fever and aches (for about 7 days) and that’s it.

        Co-worker who never misses work was out almost a week with the same symptoms, but also with a dry cough.

        Most of the rest of the office did the fever+cough+aches thing, with only 2 having smell (and kinda taste, which would be expected) affected at all.

      • Count Potato

        Really? It still hasn’t come back after all these months?

      • Mad Scientist

        A friend had it several months ago and says his smell and taste haven’t recovered yet. Some things he can’t smell at all, others he can smell but they don’t smell right.

      • Chipwooder

        Nope. I honestly didn’t even notice for a while. It’s kind of funny, but unless you’re like my wife and have to have scented everything, it’s not at the forefront of your mind. The way I noticed it was when our poor elderly dog started having accidents in the house – my wife would walk into a room and announce “It smells like poop/pee in here” and I could never tell. One time, she pissed all over my CPAP mask when I had left it lying on the floor next to the bed. I had to wash it off with bleach hurridly at 1 AM so I could get to sleep. Now, I have always hated the smell of bleach so I was really irritated about having to put it on that way, but when I put the mask on I couldn’t smell it at all. That was the moment I realized that it wasn’t just diminished, it was gone.

      • Mad Scientist

        My buddy specifically mentioned bleach as something he could not smell at all.

        He also said stuff that he knows is only a little sour tastes super sour now.

      • Count Potato

        Wow. I hope it comes back.

      • CatchTheCarp

        Wife had a bad URI/Flu like symptoms in late Feb 20. She was sick for a good week with a hacking cough. I caught it about a week later, no cough, runny nose and a feeling of malaise/achy. Right as rains since then.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Same here. Entire family came down with an exact match to Covid symptoms in late December 2019. We went to the doc thinking it was influenza and was told definitely not the flu but is some sort of respiratory virus.

    • DEG

      I knew it.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      Man, can you imagine if the ChiComs managed to keep that under wraps?

      “What an awful flu season.” -CDC, 2022

    • Agent Cooper

      No shit, Sherlocks.

    • invisible finger

      If the medical community – aka bureaucrats – discover a virus, in all likelihood said virus has been circulating for 12 months.

  7. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Every generation thinks that.

    “They messed with the wrong generation”

    Not Gen X

    • Ownbestenemy

      See above, we just sang pissed of pithy songs about it.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I just want my 80’s movies back.

      • Tundra

        My wife and I watched Sixteen Candles over the weekend.

        It’s still great. And couldn’t be made today.

        What the hell are you bitchin’ about? I gotta sleep under some Chinaman named after a duck’s dork.

      • Kwihn T. Senshel

        Sixteen Candles Molly Ringwald didn’t really do it for me.

        Breakfast Club Molly Ringwald, though…

      • Mad Scientist

        I have never understood why anyone found Milly Ringwald attractive in any movie. I mean, just look at her.

      • mexican sharpshooter

        She’s more attractive than Ally Sheedy. Putting that one in movies didn’t make any sense.

      • Shpip

        Nonsense. War Games-era Ally Sheedy was mad cute.

        And as anyone who watched The Breakfast Club can tell you, she cleaned up well.

        Of course, my high school girlfriend was a dead ringer for her, so I’m a bit biased.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        She’s more attractive than Ally Sheedy.

        There’s no accounting for taste, I guess.

      • Chipwooder

        Lea Thompson was definitely the most attractive of the Brat Packers.

      • Jarflax

        Howard the Duck agrees.

      • Tundra

        Not Molly.

        The answer is Haviland Morris’ breasts.

        Always.

      • l0b0t

        (Ed McMahon drunkenly leers) You are correct sir!

      • Kwihn T. Senshel

        Why ya gotta be so either/or, guy? Come on over to the both/and side!

      • Shpip

        Not to rain on anybody’s parade, but that was a body double. Stunt tits, so to speak.

      • Agent Cooper

        John Hughes was pretty awesome. Left Hollywood behind.

      • DrOtto

        I want my MTV (sung in a Stingesque falsetto).

  8. Drake

    A couple of months ago the owner of the local gun store predicted that he would soon have too many guns he can’t sell because there’s no ammo for them. Looking around today – he’s right. I bet gun prices will be dropping in a month or two and on sale by Presidents’ Day.

    • kinnath

      I just picked up a shotgun online.

      • l0b0t

        Ooh, what kind?

      • kinnath

        CZ USA 720.

        Hasn’t shipped yet.

      • kinnath

        I also found #3 Buck in 20 gauge which arrived yesterday.

    • Sean

      I went gun shopping on Saturday. The place I went to was cleaned out. Very little inventory left. Nothing interesting to me, so I left empty handed. *sad trombone*

      • Drake

        My local place and Bud’s has quite a few guns – zero ammo to run them with.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I’ve found 9mm here or there. 223 is harder to track down, even if you want to pay exorbitant prices and run steel cases.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        I have a case of 62 gr 556 on backorder at .40/rd We’ll see what happens but the seller will have a customer for life if they actually come through on it.

      • Sean

        I did fondle a CP-33. Meh, bulky and cheap feeling.

      • R C Dean

        My locals have guns on the wall, but not like they did.

        The ammo cases are almost completely empty. What they have are the oddball calibers.

    • Madhatter

      Bought 2 cases of .380 in Lakeland, FL. 2 cases was the max. They had a lot of 9mm, but we didn’t need any. Store was busy, busy.

  9. Ownbestenemy

    It has been an Ong Bak day on the TV. I dismiss the subtitles and just watch.

    • Count Potato

      I’ve only seen the first one.

  10. grrizzly

    comatose due to complications with COVID…manages to get elected mayor

    Too few politicians in office are comatose.

  11. The Late P Brooks

    Why we fight

    Jessica Lusk and Dylan Garcia are under what they call “unbearable stress.”
    Every second they worry that in trying to keep their youngest child safe from the pandemic, they might lose their home and hurt their other children. And it still might not be enough.

    ——-

    Fear is nothing new for the young couple, as Brandi has an extremely rare metabolic disorder that requires round-the-clock care and makes her vulnerable to any kind of virus.
    She’s already a walking miracle. Most children with her condition don’t live past the age of one.

    ——-

    “Any acute illness could be deadly for her,” said Dr. Luis Umaña, a pediatric genetic and metabolic specialist at Children’s Health in Dallas and assistant professor at UT Southwestern.
    “Covid is so contagious and so widespread, that is at the top of our list of things that she could easily contract,” said Umaña, who is Brandi’s doctor. “For other ones, I mean, she gets vaccines right now. We don’t have a vaccine for the coronavirus yet — at least available.”
    Umaña said fewer than 1 in 250,000 babies are born with CACT deficiency and it requires an “overwhelming amount of effort” to treat, even during normal times. “She will never be really out of the woods,” he said. “Any time in her life something could go wrong, and that could be it for her.”

    i see no reason why 330 million (mostly) healthy people should not be forced into slavery over this.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Modern America is all about making everyone else conform to your special needs.

    • Kwihn T. Senshel

      Any acute illness could be deadly for her

      … says every parent of a child with one of dozens of auto-immune disorders, cancers (treatment destroys the immune system), etc. While an incredibly difficult situation, it’s not actually unique. When a patient is in that situation – especially when a child – it’s tough, no question.
      And the thought that a COVID vaccine will keep this child safe is likely not a wise move.

    • juris imprudent

      You callous, heartless, selfish INDIVIDUALIST! Why won’t you give up everything for this one little girl?

      • EvilSheldon

        I already gave up everything for the last little girl. It’s your turn now.

  12. Dr. Fronkensteen

    You elected a comatose mayor?

    Yep. Best mayor we ever had.

    • Drake

      We just supposedly elected a comatose President.

      • Tundra

        I would live in a town with enough cynicism and scorn to elect a dog.

      • Mad Scientist

        Karen: “Hey, Fluffy! There’s a pandemic going around and everyone should be locked up in their houses!”

        Mayor Fluffy: stretchs, yawns, goes for a walk outside

      • Tundra

        *gives Mayor Fluffy a biscuit*

      • Jarflax

        Tundra jailed for bribery, film at 11.

      • Mad Scientist

        Fluffy accepted the bribe, but the DA refuses to prosecute.

      • robc

        I thought you were referring to the poster from TOS.

    • The Gunslinger

      Nope. Comfy and cute.

  13. grrizzly

    An update on the N.H. crash that killed 7 motorcyclists

    The National Transportation Safety Board plans to announce today a series of findings and safety recommendations stemming from a fiery June 2019 crash in New Hampshire that killed seven and led to the exposure of lax oversight by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.

    The truck driver, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 24, who had a litany of arrests and road violations, told investigators he consumed cocaine and heroin believed to be mixed with fentanyl on the morning of the crash, but believed he was “fine and okay to drive” when his pickup truck collided with a pack of motorcycles from the Jarheads Motorcycle Club in Randolph, N.H., at about 6:30 p.m.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      The scary part about motorcycles isn’t the motorcycle. It’s the idiots with cars driving around the motorcycle.

      • Mad Scientist

        That’s why I try to treat every other vehicle on the road as though they’re trying to kill me.

      • pistoffnick

        Yep, riding forces your to be a better driver – two wheels or four.

      • DrOtto

        They are.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Nothing on the road pisses me off when I make the attempt to respect the person on the motorcycle and then they ride like a jackass.

      • Nephilium

        You can insert cyclist into that statement as well.

    • B.P.

      Oof. Running over part of a motorcycle gang. That’ll keep your head on a swivel for the rest of your life.

      • R C Dean

        And “Jarheads” – I’m assuming they’ve got some Marines in there somewhere.

    • Agent Cooper

      “Volodymyr Zhukovskyy”

      I found the problem.

      • Mad Scientist

        Russian collision?

      • grrizzly

        Ukrainian. It was reported that he would be deported to Ukraine after serving his sentence.

  14. DEG

    His case is a vivid example of the reach of the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil, which has the world’s worst COVID-19 death toll outside the United States. More than 6.3 million people have been infected and nearly 173,000 have died from the virus, according to Health Ministry data.

    I thought Peru was worse? On a per capita basis, but not an absolute number. Absolute number doesn’t matter – places with higher populations will have more deaths. You don’t want to be called fake news, then don’t spread fake news.

    • Gadfly

      Yeah, but if you do per capita then you can’t blame everything on the US, or its soon to be ex-President. Gotta support the narrative.

  15. robc

    Followup on bottom of last thread. Marine has played 5 league games so far, some of their league have played as many as 9. I am sure there number is due to having played 7 rounds in the FA Cup so far. If they can beat Tottenham, they will tie the all time record of 9 rounds.

    • robc

      And I now see they havent played a match in league since October 27, so I guess the most recent strict lockdown is what was being referred to. Looks like their next match is scheduled for 12/12, so they are about to be allowed to play again.

      • Raven Nation

        Yeah, I should have been clearer on that.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      If they can beat Tottenham

      As a fan, I am well aware of Spursy. But come on, this would be bigger than Leicester winning the PL.

      • robc

        It wouldnt be the first tome a non league club beat a PL team.

        But yeah, it would be on the order of UMBC beating UVA.

  16. "Tulsi Gabbard Apologist"

    Los titties Mexicano

  17. Shpip

    When it’s suppertime and you can’t wait to get the boss off your back.

  18. Count Potato

    BREAKING: ITALIANS ARE WHITE

    “A student group at Brown is calling for the removal of statues of Marcus Aurelius and Augustus Ceaser. These emperors’ legacies represent some of civilization’s greatest virtues. I interviewed a student and a professor who want the statues to stay.”

    https://twitter.com/alessabocchi/status/1333802521106681857

    • Tundra

      Huh.

      That would have been pretty welcome news to my great-grandfather.

      • UnCivilServant

        Eye-talians ain’t white.

        We Micks have a better claim on it on account of all the anglo and scandinavian infusions.

      • Nephilium

        And the pasty skin…

    • Jarflax

      Marcus Aurelius was clearly a white supremacist battling to oppress the Marcomanni of color

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        wasn’t his son the Hunter Biden of our time?
        /Hideous to think it…

    • leon

      Was Augustus Ceaser really that great, He strikes me as one of those “Great Men = Very bad Men”

      • UnCivilServant

        You don’t run Rome, win a Roman Civil War, and establish an empire while being a paragon of virtue. I don’t doubt he had a whole crypt full of skeletons.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Back when to be a leader you better have skeletons in your closet otherwise you aint’ running anything.

      • R C Dean

        I don’t doubt he had a whole crypt full of skeletons.

        Literally.

      • Gadfly

        Isn’t that most great men, at least in the political realm? Even the ones who have real, actual laudable accomplishments and prove themselves as the best choice of all the possible options are usually terrible people. It’s almost like politics is a game that rewards vice.

    • Not Adahn

      Romanes eunt domus!

  19. The Late P Brooks

    Speak truth to power, get lynched

    An unnamed person familiar with the Biden transition process told the Associated Press Sunday about the former vice president’s plan to pick Tanden, the Center for American Progress’ president and CEO, for the influential OMB role. Tanden is a divisive figure among some Democrats and an outspoken critic of both Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump.

    If either of the two Republican incumbents—Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue—defeat their Democratic challengers in the upcoming Senate runoff elections, then the GOP will keep their majority and could determine Tanden’s confirmation fate.

    A spokesperson for Senator John Cornyn on Sunday evening invoked her past criticisms of Republicans in the upper chamber to insist that she’ll have no chance of securing the position with a GOP-led Senate.

    “Neera Tanden, who has an endless stream of disparaging comments about the Republican Senators’ whose votes she’ll need, stands zero chance of being confirmed,” tweeted Drew Brandewie, Cornyn’s communications director.

    The only reason they object to her is because she told the truth about what a bunch of monsters they are.

    • Mad Scientist

      They’ll also object because of misogyny.

      • DrOtto

        OMB = Orange Man Bad

    • juris imprudent

      And the Bernie bros are all on about how she is Bernie’s personal anti-Christ, and the DNC once again flings boogers in Bernie’s face.

    • DEG

      Pretty good.

    • Ownbestenemy

      21…Latina and freckles….

  20. The Late P Brooks

    Running over part of a motorcycle gang. That’ll keep your head on a swivel for the rest of your life.

    Especially in jail.

    • juris imprudent

      He becomes an on-going headache to Biden – whether he accomplishes anything more than Mueller or not.

      • Agent Cooper

        Won’t the new AG just shut it down?

      • leon

        Yes. Cuomo will shut it down, and get a Tony for it.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        The AG isn’t the personal lawyer of the President. He should recuse himself from any inquiries into the President’s business or those of his friends. That is the standard of the Democrats. right, right. Is this thing on?

      • Ownbestenemy

        So back to defending the “serving at the pleasure of the president” line I see.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Along with new president can overturn any EO he wishes.

        /HI federal judge

      • juris imprudent

        Nope – that’s the whole point of being a special counsel, they have to show cause to fire him, not just because they want to.

      • Floridaman

        The cause will be that, they feel in the interests of unity it is important that they stop trumps “”””unprecedented “””attempt at delegitimizing the new president. And the media will agree. And any who criticize it will be banned off social media.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Let the unpersoning begin

    While many health care workers have used social media to show Americans the harsh effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, one Oregon nurse is in trouble for doing the opposite.
    An oncology nurse at Oregon’s Salem Health was put on administrative leave Saturday after she posted a TikTok video in which she bragged about flouting her state’s pandemic restrictions, the hospital told CNN.
    The video, which has since been taken down, showed the nurse, wearing scrubs and a stethoscope around her neck, pretending to scream with a caption that read: “When my coworkers find out I still travel, don’t wear a mask when I am out, and let my kids have playdates.”
    The video, posted Friday, went viral, and at least one other TikTok user posted a version of it to their account — which has received hundreds of thousands of views.

    The video “displayed cavalier disregard for the seriousness of this pandemic and her indifference towards physical distancing and masking outside of work,” the hospital said in a statement posted to Facebook on Saturday.
    The hospital went on to distance themselves from the nurse’s comments, saying “We also want to assure you that this one careless statement does not reflect the position of Salem Health or the hardworking and dedicated caregivers who work here.”

    The hospital said the nurse will be on administrative leave until an investigation that “will thoroughly and accurately ascertain the facts in this case” is complete.

    Burn her! Burn the heretic!

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      it’s not a surprise, parts fell earlier this tear and it was decommissioned, going to scrap anyway, meh,

      • db

        Yes it was completely predictable. But it seems like a symbol for our government agencies that spend big up front and then can’t even do basic maintenance. As I said below, I can understand obsolescence etc. But they just let it collapse rather than properly decommission it or attempt to keep it relevant to scientific inquiry.

    • Ownbestenemy

      It seems Father Time and Mother Gaia are reminding Humans just who is at the top of the food chain.

    • db

      The National Science Foundation, the US Government agency that is responsible for overseeing the telescope operations, said:

      “NSF is saddened by this development. As we move forward, we will be looking for ways to assist the scientific community and maintain our strong relationship with the people of Puerto Rico,” the agency said on Twitter.

      Saddened. Saddened. The taxpayer funded agency responsible for the telescope’s upkeep is saddened to announce it has completely failed in its job to maintain a scientific instrument of historical significance in a condition that would allow its use for, you know, science.

      It’s really sad that they neglected it for as long as they did, that’s what’s sad. Now, I understand that it might not have been the greatest radio telescope, and its scientific usefulness may have been reduced in favor of other instruments, but perhaps the NSF had options here. Maybe they could have made the decision to decommission it. Or to sell it to a private concern, if any existed that could have used and improved it. Maybe they could have improved it themselves to it would have retained scientific utility.

      But no, they let it fall in on itself in a completely predictable collapse, and now they are Sad.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Seems their understanding of SCIENCE! didn’t help them keep it in good working order. I thought belief and good vibes were all the rage nowadays. I am sure there is some budget line item that Trump cut or something that led to the downfall.

      • Not an Economist

        I don’t think lack of maintenance was an issue at this point. From what I’ve read the problem may have the result of materials deficiencies during construction. They tested one of the broken cables and it was about 60% as strong as it should have been. And the strands of one of the remaining cables were breaking at a rate of one strand a day. So they were expecting it to collapse, just a couple of weeks from now.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      This is after the US government admits to having “off-world vehicles not made on this Earth.” The alien conspiracy continues apace.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Setec astronomy, on the other hand, is just flourishing.

      • db

        Seatecs Astronomy = Too Many Seacrests

  22. Ownbestenemy

    Dazed and Confused could be made today if you cut out all of the movie.

  23. leon

    The two leaders spoke about the economic situation in Latin America, bilateral relations and Pope Francis, who is from Argentina and met Biden, a Catholic,

    I’m surprised we didn’t hear about how he is planning to institute religious theocracy in the country.

  24. KOVIDKristen

    Mi amiga más antigua y más querida acaba de enterarse que obtendrá una entrevista de segunda ronda en el Smithsonian.

    I think the NMAI wants to expand south of the border – she specializes in pre-Inca cultures in South America.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    You’re not gonna believe this

    George Serafeim wants to revolutionize the way businesses calculate their success.

    Profit and loss aren’t enough, says the Harvard Business School professor. Serafeim aims to do what no one has done before: Put a dollar value on the impact of products and operations on people and the planet, then add or subtract it from companies’ bottom lines.

    Intel Corp. provides an example of both. Serafeim and his five-person team credited $6.9 billion to the chipmaker in 2018 for paying its employees well and for boosting local economies where it has offices. But they deducted $3.1 billion for what they said was a shortage of women employees, the difficulty of career advancement and not enough attention paid to workers’ health.

    “Without monetizing impacts, we’re left with the illusion that businesses have no impact,” Serafeim said. Companies that show big profits can have enormous negative effects on society, he said. “They’re just cheating because they’re operating in a context that doesn’t price all those impacts.”

    Serafeim’s research throws out the playbook of measuring business performance primarily by shareholder value, which was popularized last century by Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman. Besides providing an antidote to “good washing” — corporate happy talk without follow-up — his work comes as companies increasingly search for ways to help boost a society that, despite its wealth, suffers from woes that include racism, a widening chasm between rich and poor, and deepening damage to nature. The coronavirus pandemic has made that quest more urgent.

    Take that, Milton Friedman! They have a model which PROVES YOU WRONG.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Put a dollar value on the impact of products and operations on people and the planet, then add or subtract it from companies’ bottom lines.

      Funny how this comes up mere weeks after the same exact, to the letter, rhetoric started coming out of the mouths of the execs at my company (which is not Intel).

      Not that it’s a huge departure from what we were doing already, but the coordination of messaging is amazingly efficient.

    • leon

      Profit and loss aren’t enough, says the Harvard Business School professor. Serafeim aims to do what no one has done before: Put a dollar value on the impact of products and operations on people and the planet, then add or subtract it from companies’ bottom lines.

      NARRATOR:

      That didn’t go over well at his later Fraudulent Accounting Trial.

      • leon

        Sure we were operating at an “Accounting loss”, but Economically speaking we are generating 100’s of Millions of dollars in revenue. I don’t see how that is fraudulent to claim as part of our bottom line?

      • Jarflax

        Wokeness points 9000
        Stock price $.005
        Employees last year 100,347
        Employees this year 0
        Bankruptcy trustee fees earned $47,983,201.50

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        You do math Gud!

      • UnCivilServant

        Couldn’t even get over nine thousand?

        Sad.

    • limey

      his work comes as companies increasingly search for ways to help boost a society that, despite its wealth, suffers from woes that include racism, a widening chasm between rich and poor, and deepening damage to nature. The coronavirus pandemic has made that quest more urgent.

      It’s a quest?

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        I get to play the ranger, who wants to be the wizard?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Only if I can be a drow to be cancelled for wearing “blackskin”.

      • Nephilium

        I am Brutalitops! The magician!

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Serafeim is well-known in the world of environmental, social and corporate governance investing — in his words, he was “doing ESG before it was cool.” Growing up in Greece and observing problems in its government sparked his fascination with measuring performance.

    His analysis goes beyond the established work on measuring greenhouse gases or using carbon pricing. Keeping in line with the adage, “what gets measured, gets managed,” Serafeim’s goal is to value intangible, non-financial factors. By tapping machine-learning technology, Serafeim and his team evaluate products and services on factors that include how accessible and affordable they are, their health and safety, and the ability to recycle them.

    This means charging credit-card companies for the medical costs of depression connected to indebtedness, debiting airlines for the human toll of flight cancellations and making food producers accountable for health issues related to obesity. Their calculations also credit automakers for the safety of their vehicles and companies that hire in areas of high joblessness.

    On employment, the team assesses issues such as the quality of wages paid, the number of Black women in high-salary positions and the impacts of sexual harassment.

    Oh.

    • rhywun

      I guess this is how the left plans to shove a “social credit score” down our throats.

      • juris imprudent

        I have to admit, I am really beginning to wonder if I will leave this life before I end up killing someone.

    • Gadfly

      “what gets measured, gets managed,”

      And what seems to be going over his head is that “what gets mismeasured, gets mismanaged”. You can’t just conjure numbers out of thin air and pretend that somehow makes you a better manager or will lead to better success.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        You can’t just conjure numbers out of thin air and pretend that somehow makes you a better manager or will lead to better success.

        Can you tell that to my department head?

  27. Certified Public Asshat

    I finally got around to putting a hose clamp on my desk chair to prevent it from sinking. My rage meter has dropped significantly.

    • UnCivilServant

      Huh. I took the more difficult route of replacing the piston.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I want it to stay at the highest position, so I don’t need it to go up and down. Of course it’s only been on for 30 minutes so I don’t know if this will work long term.

      • The Hyperbole

        That’s how I fixed mine, it’s held for about 6 months now. just nowstarting to notice a minimal slip (1/2 inch) that seems to be in the piston below the one I clamped so I’m guessing a second clamp will fix that.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Drill straight through the the joining area, insert bolt and nut, done forever,
        /Hose Clamps? HAHaHaHa!

      • Gustave Lytton

        I like the way you guys think. I may have to do that to the sinker I’ve been putting off replacing the piston.

      • The Hyperbole

        Meh, I had a hose clamp and a screw driver on hand, had it fixed in less time than it would have taken to walk out to the van and get my drill. Also the hose clamp fix is much easier to adjust if for some reason I ever want to change the height.

    • db

      I tried that when my chair started dropping but I couldn’t tighten the clamp enough to hold it. And I only weight about 180lb. So much better when I bought a replacement cylinder (the chair itself was still in great shape so I didn’t want to replace the whole thing).

    • Agent Cooper

      Are we not doing phrasing?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Have we ever?

    • The Hyperbole

      You’re saying you need a hose clamp around your rage meter.

    • rhywun

      My chair is already at its lowest height.

      /short legs FTW

  28. Ownbestenemy

    If Californians don’t just start ignoring their betters, they are a lost cause of people that will infect the nation even more.

    https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/san-jose-mayor-ignored-health-protocols-in-joining-parents-others-for-holiday-celebration/2411207/

    FTA:

    “This is a private event – not public,” said Jim Reed, Liccardo’s Chief of Staff. “We are going to redraw the line between what is personal and what is public because that line has become blurred.”

    • leon

      “This is a private event – not public,” said Jim Reed, Liccardo’s Chief of Staff. “We are going to redraw the line between what is personal and what is public because that line has become blurred.”

      Last week, Liccardo urged his more than 33,000 Twitter followers to cancel “big gatherings this year” and noted the importance of following safety protocols, even with friends and family.

      Item 342 that has astounded me about the coronavirus epedimic: How blatant the politicians have been with the “Laws are for the Little People” attitude. Seriously, if it wasn’t happening you’d say it is the stuff of sophomoric distopian-fantasy.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ever persons response to their next edict for Christmas should be his words. “This is a private event – not public” and tell them to fuck off.

      • Gustave Lytton

        It’s been that way for the start. No way should they personally be inconvenienced by any of their pronouncements.

      • Urthona

        it’s not just hypocrisy.

        we can all very clearly see that none of these people actually believe the rules work.

      • juris imprudent

        It’s like they’ve decided to act out Ayn Rand’s fantasies of petty tyrants.

    • Nephilium

      This is why I could never be a reporter. I would probably get arrested for assault the first time I got an answer like that.

    • mrfamous

      This is a prototypical CWAA.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Of course it’s only been on for 30 minutes so I don’t know if this will work long term.

    If you have something around like heater hose for your car, slip a piece onto the piston and put the clamp on that for better grip than metal-to-metal contact.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Just do this, FFS!
      Drill straight through the the joining area, insert bolt and nut, done forever,
      /Hose Clamps? HAHaHaHa!

      • Pope Jimbo

        Look Yusef, I like the idea of a bolt, but I fail to see how masturbating after putting the bolt in will help. Do you have shoot your semen in a special spot to cement the bolt in place?

  30. leon

    From Ownbestenemy’s article:

    Other notable politicians have recently come under fire for failing to follow the very same rules and advice they’ve been asking the public to adhere to throughout the pandemic. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi faced criticism after surveillance video captured her walking without a mask inside a San Francisco hair salon, which at the time was supposed to remain closed in accordance with local restrictions that halted the operation of salons.

    Governor Gavin Newsom also faced harsh criticism for what some viewed as hypocrisy after it was revealed he attended a group dinner with people from multiple households at a Napa Valley restaurant. Newsom later apologized after photos of the dinner were published.

    I made a bad mistake,” Newsom said. “Instead of sitting down, I should have stood up and walked back, got in my car, and drove back to my house.”

    This “apology” actually has really struck me. I’ve been mulling about morality/virtue and the relation to being and doing (and knowing). Newsom here is saying “Look i made a mistake” except this wasn’t a “mistake”. A mistake (in leon’s book) is something where you intended to do the right thing but then messed up and failed. e.g. I intended to pour a little ketchup on your plate, but a whole lot came out. Mistakes are often simply forgiven by a me-culpa, because the person you are asking for forgiveness knows that you are a good person, who just failed to meet expectations.

    What Newsom did was not a mistake. It reflects his underlying character. He knew he had ordered other people’s restraunts shut down and not to go to them, but then went himself. This is a character defect. And requires more than a “i’m sorry, now forgive me”. It requires actual personal change.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      He made the mistake of getting caught, even the Wicked Witch isn’t that dumb, so far…

    • Gustave Lytton

      There’s almost no accountability for poor decision making in the public sphere today. Shame is gone.

    • Gadfly

      And requires more than a “i’m sorry, now forgive me”.

      A downside to the devaluation of religion in society is that there is no longer anyone with the authority to make kings do actual work for their absolution. In olden times people had to go on pilgrimages or wear sack-cloth and ashes or stand out in the cold for days to show that they were really sorry.

      • juris imprudent

        I think we should be looking to the east and not the west, Japan specifically, for how to deal with a great loss of honor.

      • Gadfly

        The only fault I find with your estimable suggestion is that most politicians do not start with any honor, and so could never lose any.

        But apology via tanto is a very good idea.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      The undervalued part of the story in the Bible about the adultress is that after dismissing the stoning mob, Jesus says “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

      As you’ve mentioned, apology without repentance only works when the offense was involuntary or accidental. Apology without repentance for a voluntary, intentional act is kicking sand in the eye of the person you’re apologizing to.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      oops,

    • Gustave Lytton

      Those were individual politicians who identify as Democrats speaking, “Democrats” as a group never officially said that.

      /fact check

    • leon

      When Joe Biden is inagurated, he will immediately be confronted with an unprecedented challenge … he’ll be the firts Modern U.S President trying to govern in the face of an opposition that refuses to accept his legitimacy. And no, Democrats never said Donald Trump was illegitimate, just that he was incompetent and dangerous.

      My understanding is that Krugman doesn’t understand that the internet is forever.

      • creech

        What planet has Krugman been living on? This guy won a Nobel Prize.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Planet Lying Asshole I think

      • Floridaman

        I would say Uranus, but I am pretty sure his head is shoved up his own butt.

  31. Pope Jimbo

    Behold the hard hitting political journalism that will be the hallmark of the Biden administration

    “In the chicken and the turkey example, they’re different from each other, but obviously in order to sustain those interactions, it’s because both parties are benefiting,” she said. “Maybe the lesson is that collaborating across differences is beneficial to all parties.”

    Surrounded by his chickens — and Ms. Perky — foraging all around him in the grass outside his home near Knife River, Eric Mead says the unusual interspecies friendship that’s unfolded in his backyard has, in a small way, given him a glimmer of something good in a moment of uncertainty.

    “There’s hope for the country coming together again,” he said, “and we’ll all, hopefully, pick up some of the tips from this flock here, and be accepting of people who aren’t like us, or think like us.”

    After all, his backyard proves it — birds of different feathers can flock together, too.

    Yup, Minnesoda Public Radio found a farmer where a wild turkey had joined his flock of chickens and the spin was all about unity. I’m glad for the turkey’s sake Trump didn’t win. MPR would have run a story about how the big bully turkey was killed by the chicken resistance.

    • Kwihn T. Senshel

      be accepting of people who aren’t like us, or think like us

      But the gud lawd hep ya if you don’t adhere to their version of unity.

    • rhywun

      OFFS.

    • Gadfly

      I wonder what will be the lesson when a fox tries to join that farmer’s flock of chickens?

  32. The Late P Brooks

    What Newsom did was not a mistake.

    The only mistake he made was “getting caught”.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Like I said^

  33. KOVIDKristen

    I canceled my ski trip for 2021 today. I have no idea how I’m going to ever mentally recharge, given ammo prices and no skiing. Maybe I should just go to the range and blow $300 in 40 minutes.

    • Jarflax

      $300 in 40 minutes

      so you are shooting a breechloader?

      • KOVIDKristen

        I treat my range time like a Japanese tea ceremony. I usually only shoot 5-10 rounds at a time. I can draw out a box of 9mm.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Rich people,
        /shakes head and walks away…..

    • EvilSheldon

      What in the world are you shooting?

      I mean, even in these trying times, $300 will get you around 500 rounds of 9mm, and blasting through 500 rounds of 9mm in 45 minutes? Unless you have a private Rogers range or a machine gun, that’s a load of shooting…

      • KOVIDKristen

        I’m only guessing $1/round for range prices, based on what I’ve paid online recently

      • KOVIDKristen

        You know what? My math is completely off. More like 150 rounds is what I normally shoot in 40 mins. So $150 in 40 mins. Still expensive for an hour drive and so little time.

        (I kind of forgot there’s 50 rounds in a box. Leave me alone)

      • EvilSheldon

        Nah. Some boxes do have 100 rounds. Some have more! I got a 250-round value pack of Aluminum-cased 9mm last year in a Secret Santa exchange. The past is truly another world.

        These days I’m doing one live practice a week, 200-300 rounds. It seems like a lot, but I’m used to shooting around twice that, even more if a big match is coming up.

        Fortunately, dry fire is free!

    • B.P.

      Bummer.

      The resorts now have a reservation system to ski due to COVID. I understand it’s a pain in the ass. I have a friend who is obsessed and spends a lot of time on websites trying to reserve a skiing spot. Prediction: Folks will get boxed out of resort skiing and will flock to the backcountry in droves, and since a lot of them will be amateurs, avalanches and deaths will abound. Another unseen shutdown statistic.

      • KOVIDKristen

        Yeah, I imagine lift tickets will go for crazy prices on the black market as the resorts sell out.

        Personally, I would have enjoyed the lack of crowds (I only ski non-holiday weekdays, so I wasn’t anticipating any problems getting tickets if I started reserving, like, right now. Bummer.)

    • Nephilium

      Sorry to hear that KK.

      I will say that I cannot fucking wait for the first punk show after all this bullshit is done. I may very well walk out of the pit a bruised and broken man, but I will feel so much better.

      • Mojeaux

        This bullshit will never be done.

        It is here to stay.

      • Nephilium

        Doesn’t mean there won’t be underground concerts. Fuck, I’d be surprised if they weren’t going on already.

      • Mojeaux

        Hello, 1920.

      • KOVIDKristen

        I’m nowhere near cool enough to get invited to shit like that. (not that I would go – my life is dedicated to crowd avoidance)

      • Nephilium

        Punk is for the uncool kids, the outcasts, the rejects, the losers… why do you think I like it so much? 🙂

      • Mojeaux

        If I looked good in any of that rockabilly pinup wear, I’d think about it.

      • Nephilium

        Rockabilly, where punks go to retire.

        If you have Amazon Prime, the documentary about the pinup competition at Viva is currently available for free:

        Bombshells and Dollies

        It’s much easier for the guys… bowling shirt/work shirt, jeans, boots… done!

      • Nephilium

        Oh, and unrelated to that, played the music you linked a while back and it reminded me of two bands:

        Caro Emerald (Liquid Lunch)

        Alien Fashion Show (Catwalk) – This one is much slower, and from back in the 90’s. Same band does a cover of Detroit Rock City called Detroit Swing City.

  34. Count Potato

    “A French chef has created a visionary pizza pie that contains 254 different varieties of cheese”

    https://twitter.com/NYMag/status/1333878756541337601

    “In Lyon, a French chef has spent the better part of this year making pizza history. Benoit Bruel, of Déliss’ Pizza, has officially set the Guinness World Record for “Most Varieties of Cheese on a Pizza” with a visionary pie that contains 254 different varieties of cheese.

    According to a dispatch from UPI, the pie in question in fact featured 257 cheeses — Bruel had added three more at the last minute to “round out the flavor profile” — but these impromptu additions are not included in the final tally, perhaps due to lack of required evidence.”

    https://www.grubstreet.com/2020/12/guinness-record-most-cheese-varieties-on-pizza.html

    • KOVIDKristen

      Full fat moz is all you need

    • Mad Scientist

      254 different varieties of cheese

      Where’s Barfman when we need him most?

    • But Enough About My Pulsating, Geriatric Pecs

      Other than as a stunt, this makes no sense, and is a waste of many, many good cheeses. I expect this chef to be executed by anti-aircraft cannon in the near future, if the République Française still cares about food.

    • Gadfly

      In Bernie Sanders’s America, no one needs 254 different varieties of cheese.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      ” Bruel had added three more at the last minute to “round out the flavor profile”

      Now there’s a true bullshit artist.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Put him in protective custody in the Presidential Suite at Gitmo

    When David Priess was a CIA officer, he traveled to Houston, he recalls, to brief former President George H.W. Bush on classified developments in the Middle East.

    It was part of a long tradition of former presidents being consulted about, and granted access to, some of the nation’s secrets.

    Priess and other former intelligence officials say Joe Biden would be wise not to let that tradition continue in the case of Donald Trump.

    They argue soon-to-be-former President Trump already poses a danger because of the secrets he currently possesses, and they say it would be foolish to trust him with more sensitive information. With Trump’s real estate empire under financial pressure and his brand suffering, they worry he will see American secrets as a profit center.

    ——-

    The president also may be vulnerable to foreign influence. His tax records, as reported by The New York Times, reveal that Trump appears to face financial challenges, having personally guaranteed more than $400 million of his companies’ debt at a time when the pandemic has put pressure on the hotel industry, in which Trump is a major player.

    “Is that a risk?” said Priess, who wrote “The President’s Book of Secrets,” about presidents and intelligence. “If it were someone applying for a security clearance, damn right it would be a risk.”

    The White House did not respond to requests for comment. The Biden transition declined to comment.

    These fucking people just cannot help themselves. President Cartoon Villain is the worst, man. The worst.

    • leon

      If they had the power they would etch his name out from history as president.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m giggling now thinking of the remake of The Mummy with Trump as the bad mummy and Biden as Brenden Fraser.

    • Pope Jimbo

      It would be funny (well not really) if Trump spent his last few months pardoning people, declassifying tons of stuff and bringing troops home.

    • Gustave Lytton

      “Is that a risk?” said Priess, who wrote “The President’s Book of Secrets,” about presidents and intelligence. “If it were someone applying for a security clearance, damn right it would be a risk.”

      Now do Joe Biden’s payoffs from the Ukrainians and others and Bill Clinton’s money.

      The little kernel there is that former presidents shouldn’t continue to be briefed or treated as anything other than private citizens. And that includes retirement security.

      • leon

        The whole presidential pension started because one of the presidents ( i can’t remember which, early on in the republic) died almost penniless.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Truman

      • creech

        Truman’s modest financials were the catalyst for the pension act in 1958 but Eisenhower was the first ex to receive one. I guess Harry couldn’t command the six figure speaking honorarium that today’s exs get to show up and regurgitate some happy talk pablum.

      • Gustave Lytton

        He could have gone back to selling hats.

      • juris imprudent

        Such indignity to the former imperial presence is intolerable!

      • Gustave Lytton

        He also wasn’t very good at it.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Pension is one thing. By retirement security, I meant the whole secret service package. Fuck them.

      • Shpip

        Presidential pensions became law in the 1950s. More info here.

      • Gadfly

        The little kernel there is that former presidents shouldn’t continue to be briefed or treated as anything other than private citizens. And that includes retirement security.

        This. It goes against the spirit of republican government, which is supposedly constitutionally guaranteed.

    • Ownbestenemy

      If Trump is what kills the fawning of former presidents, then great. But we know that isn’t what this is. As noted by Gustave, they should get nothing from the Federal Government the minute they are out of office.

  36. Sensei

    Just for Gustave Lytton.

    https://youtu.be/xCytzVgPO7o

    Asakusa. Too damn crowded for me, but quintessentially Japanese.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Nice! It’s that time of the year for Christmas lights too. Already starting to see them pop up in my subscriptions.

      Unrelated, I’ve been enjoying this guy’s tour of divey lunch spots around Fukuoka. One such place:

      https://youtu.be/IV_2I1GdOeI

      • Sensei

        For such an expensive place, good food can be really cheap in lots of the big cities.

        Also I love tonkotsu ramen!

  37. Pope Jimbo

    Yesterday King Walz had his usual press conference to chastise us all for not obeying his T-Giving edicts. He referred at least once to the “record” 101 deaths reported on Nov. 27th. Not one reporter challenged him on the spike.

    Even a journalo should see the problem when looking at the deaths.

    I can’t believe Walz is so negative. Why not focus on the positive news? That there were ZERO deaths on T-Giving!

    * For some reason Minnesoda uses the day that a death is reported to the state as the date it gets plotted on. Not the day that the death actually happened on.

    • leon

      Yeah, Utah does the same thing, they said “we will not be releasing data on T-Giving data”. weird, as you’d think that it would be easy to do…

      • Gustave Lytton

        Almost the same here as well. Released partial counts and then record high on Friday, coupled with lesser numbers over the weekend. Gee…

    • Mad Scientist

      For some reason Minnesoda uses the day that a death is reported to the state as the date it gets plotted on. Not the day that the death actually happened on.

      “Minnesotans sure do hate Mondays!”

  38. The Hyperbole

    Looks like it’s that time in the transition when the people who ignored the Mark Rich Pardon are gonna be outraged about Trumps pardons, and the people that were outraged by the Mark Rich pardon will ignore Trumps lame duck pardons.

    • leon

      Yup.

      And all the people who really deserve a pardon get fucked. I have 0 hope that Trump Pardons Snowden.

    • Jarflax

      If he pardons Snowden, Assange and Flynn I don’t care what corruptocrats he pardons along with them.

      • KOVIDKristen

        I’d like to see Ulbricht on that list.

      • Jarflax

        Forgot him. Yes, good addition.

      • EvilSheldon

        Ayo.

      • The Hyperbole

        Agreed on S and A, (Best I can tell F is a “live by the grift die by the grift situation”, I have very little sympathy there) , I’d add Ulbricht to the pardon list (or at least commute his lifex2 sentence).

      • Jarflax

        Flynn is likely actually innocent, but even if he did commit the crime alleged it is a completely inexcusable law to begin with and was applied to him over an investigation into another completely bogus crime. Maybe he is a grifter. I do not know. But no one should be imprisoned for lying to investigators while not under oath, and an incoming cabinet member cannot violate the Logan Act, which should not be law anyway.

      • The Hyperbole

        He may not deserve the fucking he’s getting (or that they tried to give him) but he also didn’t deserve hundreds of thousands of dollars for “consulting”, he was reaping the rewards of a corrupt bullshit system, he gets to take the lumps along with the cream.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I see. So if you’re a habitual speeder, it’s okay if you’re prosecuted for vehicular manslaughter instead.

      • The Hyperbole

        No, but if you run with pigs and eat at their troth I have little sympathy for you when you get caught up in the slaughter.

      • Jarflax

        Not even speeder. Speeding is against the law, consulting is not. It’s more like prosecuting guys with light bars and hydraulic suspensions for vehicular homicide.

      • The Hyperbole

        Now do Hunter Biden.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Then maybe you should be more concerned about what the prosecution of Flynn means for the rest of us who don’t have any political clout whatsoever. If they’re willing to hang him out to dry, what do you think they would to any of us if they had half a mind to?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Hunter wasn’t doing anything illegal, other than maybe a few lines of coke and some teenagers. Joe, on the other hand…

      • Jarflax

        I’d have to go back and check what I said about Hunter Biden to be sure, because I do shit post from time to time, but I don’t think I ever called for Hunter to go to jail.

      • The Hyperbole

        Flynn decided to play the game, I didn’t, sure they could drag me in and kick my ass, but that’s a bit different than a willing participant getting chewed up and spit out. He willingly took the risk, win and it pays off shitloads, but the losses can be a bitch.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        “Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.”

      • Jarflax

        So is there anything that could be done to a ranking bureaucrat or politician that you would object to? Oh yeah you were quite protective of Joe Biden when he was accused of straight influence peddling. I hate to do this but let me throw your comment above back at you:

        Now do Hunter and Joe Biden.

      • The Hyperbole

        Fair enough, it’s a problem with the hypocrisy bit, if I point it out in others I’m at risk of exposing myself to the same. I’m willing to split the difference and admit that they (the entire political class, Trump, Biden, Flynn, hell even Rand) are all assholes.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Isn’t he no where near the magnitude of pardons other presidents have given? Fuck all of them.

      • creech

        Trump has eight more weeks left to run up the score.

  39. Nephilium

    Grrr… first big snowfall in several years. Girlfriend tells me in the morning not to worry about it, she requested a plow in an app.

    /cut to 5 hours later

    “Hon, it’s still snowing here, and getting pretty bad. Would you like me to shovel?”

    “No, the plow guy is just running late.”

    /cut to 3 hours later

    “The plow guy isn’t coming, their plow broke down.”

    /observe the girlfriend trying to shovel the driveway to get her car in… send her in, and dig out enough for her to get her car in the garage.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      where is it snowing? we got some corn pop early today but no, storms, where is this winter you speak of?

      • Nephilium

        We got hammered for the first time in a while. This was ~5 hours ago, and it hasn’t stopped snowing. That tree in the background? It’s not supposed to be bent that way.

      • Nephilium

        And now there is supposed to be a plow coming.

        I give up.

        /goes and pours another beer.

    • rhywun

      We got a sprinkle of rain this morning. ?‍♂️

    • Tulip

      Aww, you’re a good boyfriend.

  40. Derpetologist

    today in outrage porn

    https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/sarah-silverman-says-lefty-comics-often-get-a-pass-on-offensive-jokes-were-liberal-so-we-can-say-anything

    Sarah Silverman says lefty comics often get a pass on offensive jokes: ‘We’re liberal, so we can say anything’

    ***
    Arnett agreed and essentially blamed “everyone who is not liberal” for ruining modern comedy.

    “Everyone who is not liberal is so serious and so dark and so real about their negativity or hate or racism, whatever it is, that it’s taken all of that away,” Arnett said. “I don’t even want to joke about a lot of things that are rough or maybe pushing boundaries because you feel like, ‘I don’t want it to be taken the wrong way because there are so many people who mean it.’”
    ***

    Ah, yes, of course – it’s those awful non-liberals who are overly serious.

    [head desk]

    • EvilSheldon

      By ‘everyone who is not liberal’ they specifically mean progressives and critical-social-justice scolds, right? Right?

      No? Then what-?

      Oh…

      That is just a whole new level of tone-deaf right there.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Made her bones being edgy and now condemns others for doing similar…she’s the worst. Well, not Sacha Cohen the worst but you know.

    • Jarflax

      Bitch made me beat her. It is her fault, if bitches would shut up we wouldn’t have all these rules against wife beating.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Like this?

    • juris imprudent

      I can only wish I could slam my head into my desk – but my damn head just exploded.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Too bad Will Arnett is an asshole.

      • Trials and Trippelations

        That is surprisingly believable without knowing anything about him off set

    • rhywun

      Classic progjection.

  41. The Late P Brooks

    “I don’t even want to joke about a lot of things that are rough or maybe pushing boundaries because you feel like, ‘I don’t want it to be taken the wrong way because there are so many people who mean it.’”

    Que?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Translation: Comedy should be geared towards stupid people who can’t tell a joke from a statement of conviction.

      • Derpetologist

        [Sarah Silverman furiously scribbles notes]

    • Gadfly

      I bet a hood would be even more effective than a mask.

      • Jarflax

        White to prove its purity.

  42. Derpetologist

    great moments in toxic masculinity

    A guy joins the army at 42 and stays E4 for 8 years, even though he was a highly-skilled engineer making 6 figures. Never said a word about why he joined until he gets discharged. Then he explains he was going through a divorce wanted the ex to get as little as possible.

    Toxic masculinity or toxic feminism/divorce laws?

    • Kwihn T. Senshel

      Now that’s commitment. I’m impressed. A little disgusted, but impressed.

    • juris imprudent

      That’s dedication to a cause I’d say.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I mean im 40 and I thought about it…

    • Gustave Lytton

      Don’t fuck with a sham shield.

    • Floridaman

      Why not, rules are there for a reason, be as petty as possible.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Why do you speak about yourself in the third person?

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Prediction: Folks will get boxed out of resort skiing and will flock to the backcountry in droves, and since a lot of them will be amateurs, avalanches and deaths will abound. Another unseen shutdown statistic.

    There was a thing in the Bozeman paper about that, not long ago.

    Why can’t people just do as they are told by the Ministry of Public Health and Safety?

    And- “Going skiing in the back country? Wear your mask!”

    • Kwihn T. Senshel

      Man, according to the intertubes, Bozeman has increased in population by 40% since the 2010 census.

      It’s been a long time since I’ve been there, and only the once, as I’ve spent most of my time in MT in the Bitterroot valley south of Hamilton, or above Missoula on the Blackfoot River. Need to get back there, although it seems the state’s COVID-panic is almost as bad as WA.

  44. BakedPenguin

    Hi guys, sorry I’ve been away awhile. I’d like to invite you to a short Zoom meetup if you’re into it.

      • Floridaman

        Hey Bakey, glad to see you, the link doesn’t seem to work, or you can’t access it from an ipad.

      • BakedPenguin

        See, this is the point where I wish I had tech skills.

      • Floridaman

        No worries, honestly I seem to find every bug that can exist with tech.

    • LemonGrenade

      Glad to see you back! I have parenting duties that prevent the Zoom, but hope you’re doing well.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        LG, I think on another you thread you mentioned playing Fallout 3 with your husband. How do you play co-op? I’d like to play with the wife but I couldn’t find any campaign mods in a search.

      • LemonGrenade

        We take turns. We’ll set up rules like, “you get three deaths, then I do” and then we make various decisions mutually. Which quest next? Which response should we choose? It ends up being a pretty fun mix, since without him, I’d *always* just play vanilla hero, and without me, he’d *always* go for maximum destruction.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Ahh okay, thanks. I was hoping you had discovered some new mod that morphed it into Borderlands. That sounds like a fun way to play though.

      • LemonGrenade

        Unfortunately, nothing that cool.

    • Mojeaux

      Can’t tonight, Bakey. Have my evening gig and have to start early.

    • straffinrun

      Was gonna pop by and say hi on my way to work. Hope your doing ok BP.

  45. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Looks like Project Veritas got several months of recordings of CNN’s morning conference call strategy meetings between Zucker and other CNN movers and shakers:

    http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=391513

    We’re cynical bastards so there probably won’t be anything unexpected but it should be interesting regardless.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Oh this should be good…

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Listened to a clip O’Keefe posted. It sounds like CNN received the same marching orders from both Dem and GOP shotcallers on to present the post-election fallout… 2 parties but 1 swamp.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        …on how to present…

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        That’s interesting, if that’s the case it might damage the Reps more than the Dems and deservedly so.

    • The Hyperbole

      The kid from Silver Spoons?

    • straffinrun

      I didn’t know he was half Flip. Looking back, it makes sense.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I figured he was a little Jew or maybe Italian.

      • straffinrun

        Half Jew, right?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Yep, Wikipedia says you are correct.

  46. commodious spittoon

    Real lockdowns have never been tried.

    Some Twitter rando, but I expect that’ll be the argument moving forward. There are still employed people around! We didn’t lock down hard enough!

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      The Chinese arguably did it and they, combined with basically stopping testing, did manage to kill the virus. It’s amazing what you can manage to not find when you refuse to look for it.

      • Gustave Lytton

        The Chinese model goes far beyond merely refusing to look for it.

      • prolefeed

        In the U.S., most any death might be attributed to COVID.

        In China, any death that could remotely be attributed to COVID becomes an acute case of lead poisoning, including anyone who doesn’t go along with the “zero COVID cases since March” narrative.

      • commodious spittoon

        No evidence of voter fraud!

  47. straffinrun

    All I know is that your racism and sexism is preventing you from empathizing.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Huh. Never thought of it that way.

  48. The Gunslinger

    I’m feeling powerless to do anything about the lockdown insanity here in Michigan. I’m still working and doing fine financially. But here’s my macro take on what’s really happening.

    We have millions of kids at home staring at chromebooks not really learning a damn thing. And why? To give a few hundred 80-90 yo grandmas and grandpas a few extra months on this side of the soil. It’s the damn baby boomers. The teenagers and young people are having their growth stunted by a group of elders that have already enjoyed 60,70,80 tears.

    Rant over.

    P.S. I don’t want anyone’s grandma to die. Life is hard.

    • rhywun

      It’s the damn baby boomers.

      Everything is the damn baby boomers lately. Have you noticed that every TV commercial is aimed at them now?

    • westernsloper

      PSA: Everyone’s Grandma is going to die. Granted if it happens now it will be attributed to Covid, but in the before times regardless of what a wonderful woman she was bitch had it coming.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I’m ready to push grandma of the cliff, Paul Ryan style.

    • LemonGrenade

      I’m callous enough to admit I honestly don’t give a shit about anyone else’s grandma if ‘caring’ means I have to stay home, keep my kids home from school, bow to the idiotic and hypocritical whims of a pretend-dictator and don a face panty. My kids’ grandma is an untreated diabetic in her late 70s with asthma, and she’s desperate for us to go visit her over Christmas. And we’re going to do it, because another year means very little to her if she’s not allowed to spend her remaining time doing the things she wants to do.

      I’m fed up enough with the lockdown nonsense that we’re working on voting with our feet. Northam has done it once, he’ll do it again whenever he wants, I’m getting the hell out of here as quick as we can manage (which isn’t fast enough for my tastes.)

      • Mojeaux

        You and me both, sister.

      • Trials and Trippelations

        I can’t speak to other cultures, but death has been removed from being a part of “life” in the US. In earlier times people saw death with a frequency. Siblings, parents, farm animals, critters.
        People cling to life here. There is a fantastical belief in the curative properties of medical care. You would not belief the number of 80+ year old full code patients I see. DNAR is the exception not the rule

    • EvilSheldon

      I visited my parents over the Thanksgiving holiday. Mom and Dad are both nearing 80.

      I’m not particularly worried about the Covid. I am worried about not being able to spend more time with my folks, who in the best possible case aren’t getting too many more trips around the sun.