Friday Morning Somber Links

by | Feb 5, 2021 | Daily Links | 473 comments

Yes, I know it’s Friday and all of You People™ are preparing for a weekend of frivolity. I will not. I will be absolutely serious because these are serious times with serious problems that need to be discussed seriously. No joking around, no frivolity. No references to my dick.

Birthdays today include the inventor of our favorite weapon; a perennial loser; a maker of really crappy cars including the infamous Deux Chevaux; a “comedian” who fits today’s theme; the greatest non-juiced slugger; an actually legal Alien; and a pioneer of the mockumentary genre.

Let’s get to news, seriously.

 

The outrage of letting people democratically elect their own representatives must be stopped! 

 

The party of blue collar America.

 

“Here’s a meaningless metric we made up and lookie! The US sucks compared to the civilized world!”

 

He recovered. Too bad. Maybe it’s worse than they’re letting on. One can only hope.

 

Assume we’ll all be living in an ASBO world very shortly.

 

Fun to make believe, but ain’t gonna happen.

 

I try not to do Twatter links, but you gotta see this.

 

Old Guy Music is from a band that is fun but not funny. Not at all funny.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. Wait, wrong book, I'll find something else.

473 Comments

  1. Rebel Scum

    Democrats Kicked Marjorie Taylor Greene Off Of Her House Committees. All But 11 Republicans Voted To Support Her.

    Team Red needs to grow a fucking spine. She hasn’t claimed to believe anything more crazy than several Dems in either the House or Senate.

    • Nephilium

      THaT’S DiFFeReNT!

      • Rat on a train

        Their conspiracy theories are fake but accurate.

    • Fourscore

      So why can’t we pay off all student loans and give those recipients a bonus of 10K so they can start life for a down payment on a car, the balance which can be forgiven later. It’ll jump start the economy.

      • Fourscore

        I rite gud

    • rhywun

      Someone noted yesterday that Dems kicking GOPers off their own committees is “unprecedented”.

      It’s heartening to see that the new administration is returning to the graceful norms that Donald constantly violated.

    • Idle Hands

      If team red had a spine they wouldn’t be team red.

  2. Sean

    Biden advisers have repeatedly said they prefer to seek congressional approval to forgive at least $10,000 of debt per borrower, a campaign promise. But Schumer is ramping up efforts to convince the White House to move more quickly and cancel $50,000 of student loan debt per borrower “with the flick of a pen” through executive action.

    JFC.

    These people are insane.

    • Sean

      But can the right find a federal judge somewhere to block it?

      Cuz, that’s how it works, right?

    • UnCivilServant

      Now I’m wishing there was an actual storming of the capital and we had to find replacements for all these stupid people. We’ve got no shortage of stupid people to replace them.

    • Rebel Scum

      with the flick of a pen

      Something something executive orders something something dictator.

      • Rat on a train

        But Biden has expressed doubt that he has the executive power to go further and cancel large amounts of student loan debt. “I think that’s pretty questionable,” he said in December.

        I recall someone else saying an executive action would be unconstitutional. That Congress needed to act.

    • Chipwooder

      So I’ll be getting reimbursed for the loans I paid off, right? RIGHT?

      • Fourscore

        I didn’t get any loans so I just get screwed? What’s up with that?

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Yup. As do I, the guy who just busted his ass to pay off his loans.

      • Festus

        You paid ahead, 4×20.

      • Tonio

        “Of course not,” Warren replied.

        Thanks, Rhywun, who originally linked this piece. It’s a really good article to share with anyone in your life who may be reachable because the author makes it clear that the problem is not the people signing up for free stuff, but the people offering that free stuff.

      • juris imprudent

        There is no such thing as moral hazard. /progtards

      • J. Frank Parnell

        No, and you’re a bad person for insisting that other people suffer just because you suffered.

    • rhywun

      I must be lacking caffeine or something but where on earth does the president get the power to “cancel debt”…?

      • Nephilium

        He’s the executive! He’s got a pen, a phone, and a pudding cup!

      • Fourscore

        You don’t really cancel debt, you just push it off onto someone else. In this case, the tax payer.

      • hayeksplosives

        And then tuition costs goes up even further while admissions standards fall further because even college deans are smart enough to do basic math.

      • hayeksplosives

        And then tuition costup rther while admissions standards fall further because even college deans are smart enough to do basic math.

      • Spartacus

        However, we *are* smart enough to only post once.

      • Spartacus

        PS–I wish I had just a little bit of say in either one of those. At my school, the legislature sets the tuition and many of the admission standards.

    • WTF

      I am trying to find the part of the constitution where the president has the power to nullify a loan contract with the flick of a pen.

      • AlexinCT

        Note that it is not the fucking colleges that are hotbeds of marxist indoctrination and rip people off by giving them pennies on the dollar of their investment, but tax payers, and especially the tax payers that had kids for whom they paid the full price of their college loans, that end up footing the fucking bill…

      • Grosspatzer

        Hmmm. The youngest patzer has a full tuition scholarship, but I’m still coughing up room + board. I’m thinking that the smart play is to take out a student loan of, say, $50K to cover those expenses. Effectively, free money since that loan will soon be forgiven by our magnanimous parents in DC. Am I doing this right?

      • AlexinCT

        You should. Right or wrong.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m thinking the same bad thoughts about the Alter Boys.

        Wonder how it would affect their credit scores? Probably be a net plus. They took $50K loans and didn’t stiff the banks.

    • db

      Can I have my loans that I finished paying off 15 years ago retroactively forgiven? With interest?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      What form do I fill out to get reimbursed if I was responsible and paid them back? I’d also like some kind of salary differential payment for choosing to go to a relatively affordable school with less name cache.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I’m already adjusting my financial plans for when the consequences of this hit us. Me thinks we have inflation, economic malaise, and massive tax hikes in our near future.

      • Rebel Scum

        I have outstanding student loan debt and I am still against this idea. I made the decision to incur the debt so taxpayer should not be on the hook for it. Something something principles.

      • Fourscore

        Oh, you guys are so ethical.

        Think of it as a retroactive scholarship and it’ll be OK.

      • invisible finger

        Exactly, trashy. Basically it’s borrowing money for college and making your children pay for it.

  3. Rebel Scum

    Maxim laid claim to inventing the lightbulb.

    Another cracker tryna take credit for the accomplishments of a black man.

    • AlexinCT

      Yup

  4. Rat on a train

    My favorite weapon is surprise.

    • Nephilium

      Not the spiffy uniforms?

      • UnCivilServant

        What about fear? Or Ruthless efficiency?

    • db

      I just like a nice comfy chair

  5. The Late P Brooks

    “The easiest way to do it is for President Biden [to do it] with the flick of a pen,” he said.

    Sure, why not?

    • Nephilium

      Well, I suppose Biden or Schumer could do it by breaking out their personal checkbooks. That just requires a flick of the pen…

      Why are you laughing?

    • Cy

      They have the house, the senate and the presidency. Why wouldn’t they just do it the way they’re supposed to?

      • Grosspatzer

        They need to get the military on board. I hear they are working on that.

      • cyto

        Don’t need to whip those 15 or 20 democrats who have a few principles into line.

        Can be simultaneously for and against it if you don’t have to vote.

        Takes no time away from impeachment.

        Basically, all upside and no downside.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m not sure it would be principles that make it hard to get all the Dems to sign on. I bet a bunch of them (especially from the poorer districts) know that they won’t get re-elected if they vote to give rich kids $50K.

        Self-preservation > principles.

      • Rat on a train

        I think they plan to follow Obama’s example. Biden will say it isn’t in his power. Push Congress to do it. If Congress doesn’t, Biden will decide it is within his power.

      • Fourscore

        Congress would pass legislation allowing Biden to refill his pen…

  6. Rebel Scum

    A COVID-19 conspiracy theorist has been banned from visiting UK hospitals — unless for emergencies and appointments

    Aren’t those the main reasons to visit a hospital?

    after filming empty hospital corridors to falsely claim the government was lying about the scope of the pandemic, according to reports.

    So who’s a “conspiracy theorist”?

    Also, would.

    • UnCivilServant

      In the UK “Emergency” doesn’t mean what you think it means.

    • WTF

      filming empty hospital corridors to falsely claim the government was lying about the scope of the pandemic

      So, the corridors weren’t really empty? Or maybe they’re just pissed she showed evidence to possibly contradict their narrative.

      • AlexinCT

        Yes…

    • Not Adahn

      In one video she posted from outside the ER at Queen Alexandra Hospital, a security guard shouts: “What are you doing here, Hannah?”

      She is heard answering: “I’m Hannah’s twin. I’m not Hannah” before claiming she is a journalist, prompting the guard to call the cops and order her to leave.

      Hhokay, that’s shifts her a bit more to the “crazy” side o’ the matrix.

      • Not Adahn

        Then again, if she does actually have a twin sister…

      • cyto

        That would invoke the well known exception to the “never in crazy” axiom, which is “unless they are twins and they live on a completely different continent”.

      • Festus

        Good answer! Good answer!

  7. rhywun

    Sorry, ING-Glibs. Your country is lost.

    But we’re catching up!

  8. westernsloper

    Anti social behavior oder? I…..Uh…..ok.

    But the cops beating people in the park is totally pro social behavior. The UK is nuts.

    • CPRM

      Do we need Swiss to whey in on this?

      • CPRM

        Damnit, meant to be a reply Shpip below! Why is this site against equal access for drunks!?

      • WTF

        Cheese puns? You’re a Muenster.

    • rhywun

      Yes, ASBO’s have been a thing for what… a couple decades? I know I sometimes forget that the UK has been circling the drain for a very long time.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        A Blair innovation.

  9. Shpip

    Hans Ruedi Giger (/ˈɡiːɡər/ GHEE-gər; German: [ˈɡiːɡər]; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images of humans and machines connected in cold biomechanical relationships.
    His work is on permanent display at the H.R. Giger Museum in Gruyères.

    No wonder his art seems so cheesy.

    • CPRM

      Do we need Swiss to whey in on this? (I fixed it! No edit button needed!)

      • Agent Cooper

        That’s a gouda dea.

  10. CPRM

    Greene said she no longer believes in the QAnon conspiracy theory

    He shall be dnied 3 times bfore the cock crows, and thus you will know he is Devine!

      • CPRM

        That’s where went with that soft ball?! I mean sure I spelled it wrong, but I’m drunk!

      • Grosspatzer

        Heh. I remember a bit from “Andy’s Gang” where Andy was showing us kiddies how to make scrambled eggs. It went something like this:

        Andy: “So you crack the egg…”
        Froggy: “And put it on your head”
        Andy: “And put it on your head… Confound it , Froggy!”

    • Drake

      I’m not up on the details of the theories, but don’t they claim that there are lots of pedos in power positions in DC? Like, you know, the Lincoln Project scumbag?

  11. Not Adahn

    So, the Singapore fab’s YPD tools have fallen down and gone boom. Being one of the world’s foremost experts on said machines (no really! The legal department wrote it down and everything!) I’m trying to finagle my way to get sent over there and fix them.

    Considering that when they hired me, they promised me six weeks in Singapore and six weeks in Dresden but never actually got aroud to that…

    Probably won’t happen, but a man can dream.

    • UnCivilServant

      So, what do the machines do?

      • Not Adahn

        Strip off the glass layer that forms on silicon wafers exposed to air, and then rub them with a solution of your choice. You can also play around with them to etch into the bulk Si, add various accoutements to break down non-SiO films, and all sorts of other good stuff.

      • Not Adahn

        A German or Japanese machine costs between one and two million for a base model. A Chinese knockoff can be obtained for a third of that. The only US manufacturer is actually a Chinese guy brought over on an H1B by a German company that promptly wen’t bankrupt and fired him the day after he got here. Apparently if you’re bankrupt, you can’t sue people for stealing your patents, so the dude took all of his service manuals and started making his own Chinese knockoffs in Oregon. He has since made enough improvements that his tools are distinguishable from the (reformed) German company’s.

      • Not Adahn

        The machines are acutally pretty simple, the expense comes from having to make everything out of PEEK, PTFE and all of the sensors and multiply redundant safey features so you don’t release HF vapor into the environment.

      • Festus

        So you get to be Jame Gumm in Singapore and Dresden? Lucky!

    • rhywun

      I’d love to visit Dresden but I’m sorry six weeks in Singapore sounds horrible to me. Oppressive in more ways than one.

      • CPRM

        Is that because you like to spit on sidewalks or because you like sodomy? I don’t want assume.

      • Not Adahn

        Really? The food alone would make the trip worthwhile for me.

      • rhywun

        OK, there is one redeeming feature.

        And I’m sure the people are nice, too.

        But the oppressive heat and the oppressive government give me pause.

      • Not Adahn

        Oh, I wouldn’t want to live there, but a company-paid visit? Gimme!

    • CPRM

      Yeah, when I got hired last year for my second shift job I just needed to ‘fill in for a couple weeks on third shift’, that was right before ‘two weeks to flatten the curve’. Man these have been some LONG weeks…

      • UnCivilServant

        A couple (hundred) weeks?

    • Nephilium

      At my last place there was a training class I had to go to. There were two locations, a suburb of Indianapolis, or Amsterdam. Finagling flight times, hotel stays, and using PTO, I was able to get the Amsterdam trip to cost just under the Indianapolis trip. The director of the office I was supporting was on board, but my boss’s boss nixed it, “because it wouldn’t look good”.

      Fucking asshole.

      • Nephilium

        Other executives and managers was our guess.

        The director who was on board bitched out my boss for not just booking it, and using the lower cost as justification if the beancounters pushed back.

  12. juris imprudent

    You were right OMWC, that tweet redeems all of Twitter for at least a day or two. Real fine police work there Lou.

    • westernsloper

      I’m not sure it is true, but I sure hope it is.

    • AlexinCT

      This is the same FBI that had a lawyer falsify information to a FISA court, so they could follow the most corrupt and criminal president’s administration’s request they spy on his political opponents and enemies of all things, and then get 1 year house arrest probation and community service for that?

      Yeah, these people are evil AND moronic.

    • db

      I don’t get it.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Look carefully at the painting.

      • db

        I still don’t get it. Someone photoshopped a big naked guy into the report?

      • Old Man With Candy

        That was the image the Feds used in their court filing. Defense attorneys are going to carve the prosecution up into little bits.

      • db

        That’s pretty damn incompetent. Is this one of those falsus in unum things?

      • juris imprudent

        Look at the painting in the background (from the meme Wood sitting on a bed). That pic is doctored. And they submitted it as valid evidence.

      • db

        I don’t do social media so I didn’t know that was a thing. Was the picture really submitted that way, or was the digital copy of the report photoshopped?

      • Old Man With Candy

        It was submitted that way.

  13. Rebel Scum

    Meanwhile in France…

    New York Post
    @nypost

    81-person French orgy broken up for violating COVID-19 curfew https://trib.al/gDrKYfy

    So it’s a menage a 80.

    • UnCivilServant

      I was just reading the Bee, and I can’t tell the difference except for the color of the banner.

      Also the article doesn’t say how ugly the participants were.

      • Not Adahn

        It doesn’t matter — they were masked!

      • UnCivilServant

        “The event was in breach of the curfew, and there were also problems with masks and social distancing,” an investigator told the outlet.

        Apparently not.

  14. CPRM

    On the radio I heard the Grand Master of the Water Buffalo got transferred from a DC jail to a Virginia jail because he couldn’t eat any of the food at DC jail because it wasn’t Organic. Sounds just like a Right Wing Loon.

    • juris imprudent

      He’s falsely flagging as a leftie! /progtards still huffing Donald’s farts

      • Drake

        Seems more like an attention whore than any kind of ideologue.

    • Count Potato

      “Grand Poobah”

    • Rebel Scum

      He meandered into Congress peacefully after being let in. Clearly he should suffer whatever gruel he is fed.

      • Not Adahn

        At least gruel is vegan.

      • UnCivilServant

        What are you making your gruel from?

      • Not Adahn

        Spillage at the mill and whatever water is most convenient to obtain? Certainly NOT meat.

      • UnCivilServant

        Sheesh, I’ve been using top shelf grain and milk.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      That dude is screwed. He was the face of the “insurrection”, no matter what he did or didn’t do, he mocked the priests in their temple. They are going to hit him with both barrels.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    NYT headline:

    Biden freezes Trump troop withdrawal from Germany.

    Muh EMPIRE!

    • CPRM

      If we leave Germany, the Nazis win!

    • Raven Nation

      I’d be more impressed if Trump had pulled them out in 2018 or something so it could have been done before Biden could reverse it.

    • Rebel Scum

      “America’s back, baby!”

  16. AlexinCT

    If you still don’t see that this was done to help China win the space race, and thus win it all, then you don’t see what the new autocratic class’ agenda really is…

    • Tonio

      Not only that, but Musk wants to establish a private Mars colony independent of US Govt oversight. Can’t have that. Can’t have anyone escaping.

      • juris imprudent

        Ah, so now we know where Galt’s Gulch was going to be.

      • EvilSheldon

        Does Elon Musk have a copy of Kings of the High Frontier?

    • Tundra

      Lastly, Mr. Musk has been publicly supportive of the recent “GameStonk” controversy. A group of anonymous, individual investors on Reddit decided to engage in a little activism by inflating the stock price of Gamestop, a video game retailer. Melvin Capital, a storied Wall Street investment firm, was forced into bankruptcy by this move (they took the other side of the bet, attempting to short the Gamestop stock).

      The “GameStonk” event was so significant that the Biden administration is vowing to prevent something similar from happening again. Congress is even getting involved. Because of Mr. Musk’s prestige and his vocal support for the Redditors who helped to take down Melvin Capital, it is possible that the Biden administration was punishing Mr. Musk by canceling the Starship launch at the last minute.

      I wonder when the useful idiots’ buyers remorse kicks in?

      • Not Adahn

        My brother, who otherwise believes everything the TV tells him, was ranting about how stupid the MSM is wrt r/WSB since he’s part of that. I despair that he won’t apply that bit of evidence to his priors about the reliability of the MSM.

      • db

        If you haven’t already, point out to him the existence of Gell-Mann Amnesia.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        It NEVER happens.

        I know several regionally influential vape shop owners/juice manufacturers/distributors. All of them could clearly see the BS peddled by the media and government about vape products over the last decade, and particularly with that fake nicotine vapor disease that was actually caused by black market THC vapes, with both the media and CDC unwilling to admit what everyone else already knew until after they destroyed the social gains from a decade’s worth of hard fought advocacy, and dragged an entire industry through the mud.

        I told them, “You know this stupidity you’ve seen the media and government engage in. The lies, complete misunderstanding of what they’re talking about, and deceptions, all in an effort to stamp you out?

        Now it’s time to understand that this how how they present EVERYTHING. This is how they operate as a matter of everyday course, and shouldn’t be trusted on anything at all.”

        Of the 4, only 1 got it. Everyone else thought I was wearing my tin foil hat.

      • kbolino

        It NEVER happens. […] Of the 4, only 1 got it.

        I think you’re being overly pessimistic here. Most people don’t choose the red pill because it’s hard to swallow. But some do, and over time, their numbers grow. People don’t change overnight, but they can change.

      • kbolino

        I despair that he won’t apply that bit of evidence to his priors about the reliability of the MSM.

        Give it time. WSB could be another GamerGate moment for a lot of people.

      • AlexinCT

        Nobody will be allowed to ever again challenge the credentialed ruling class. EVAH!

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        a storied Wall Street investment firm

        It’s incredible how fast the vocal anti-Wall Street Dems and MSM have fallen in line to defend the hedge funds. It’s giving me whiplash. The pols are all just actors and prostitutes. Except maybe Rand.

      • juris imprudent

        Those were the words of the opinion writer, not any administration mouthpiece.

      • Agent Cooper

        Tell me the difference. ; )

  17. juris imprudent

    I came across this last night and thought it would interest those who were the most stoked up about the bellwether counties.

    The below comes right after a very good graphic.

    Arguably, it was 2016 — and not 2020 — when bellwether counties first showed signs of falling by the wayside, given their dramatic swing to the right in that election. A total of 35 counties voted for the winner of each presidential election from 1980 through 2012. Nineteen of these counties continued their streak in 2016 by voting for Trump, but the remaining 16 counties ended their bellwether streak by voting for Hillary Clinton. In other words, only 54 percent of bellwether counties from 1980 to 2012 kept their status in 2016.

    • AlexinCT

      Now do the pollster predictions of the 2020 election for us…

      • juris imprudent

        I thought the analysis pointed out why what some folks thought was so critical had flaws. I’d also note that those counties were only tracked through a relatively few elections. I wouldn’t be surprised if you couldn’t find different sets at different times that were also ‘flawless’ in their conformance to national results.

      • AlexinCT

        Cause what you fail to see is that the “irregularities” occur because of the fraud.

      • juris imprudent

        In the bellwether counties? In ’16 too?

      • AlexinCT

        If you still have not realized that problem in 16 was that there simply was not enough cheating to get the result the the ruling class expected, because the rabble showed up in numbers too large for the contingencies to overcome, and that our election system is designed for fraud that favors the ruling class’ ability to pick the real winner, then the issue is with you.

        No country would keep a system as broken and opaque as the one we have, so prone to fraud, around unless they had a good reason. And our élite ruling class has a good reason: they want the rabble to think their votes matter, but they want to make sure the rabble can be countermanded if they are not picking the right/approved candidate.

        The Trump win will not be allowed again. Why do you think they are so desperate to destroy the man and only want to do things that will make it even easier to steal elections when they talk about “fixing things”?

      • juris imprudent

        OK, I’ll accept that I am not a full blown conspiracy theorist. Totally okay with that.

      • AlexinCT

        Expected nothing less from you man. I ask again: why would we have a broken and opaque system, rife with holes and possibilities for cheating, and anyone that points that out or tries to fix it gets silenced with accusations of having nefarious motives, if there was no value to keeping the broken system?

        Also why do we have such a manic campaign to not just silence, but punish, anyone pointing this and the way the 2020 election went down? You would figure that people that had nothing to hide and were certain their win was aboveboard would not only have welcomed transparency and getting the chance to not use technicalities in court to pretend all is well. You kill “conspiracy theories” not by demanding people be silenced and punished, but by showing them – with facts and logic, and not legal tricks and kabuki theatre – the error of their ways.

        After 4 years of morons telling us a Russian bot on faceplant that cost $100K stole the election for a KGB sleeper that the mandarinate had managed to maneuver as the opposition candidate to their criminal choice (hoping his negative numbers would overshadow hers), we now get told any and all attempts to question what clearly looks like a stolen election is nothing but insane conspiracy theories running rampant.

        BTW ask Bernie if he things elections are not rigged (in private)…

      • juris imprudent

        There is a difference between broken and designed for coordinated manipulation. Even if they produce similar results. The whole argument about ’20 has been coordinated manipulation – down the supply chain to the companies that make vote-counting systems. That assumes long-term, well-managed corruption.

        The point of the article I linked is that the bellwethers were “off” (if you accept the premise of their “normal” behavior) starting in ’16. I think Trump’s election then was something of a fluke, not a failure of a corrupt system to be sufficiently corrupt. I also don’t think even he really expected to win, which is why he seeded your mind (and others) with all of his talk about rigging. He never had a fucking clue about the actual mechanisms, he just wanted an excuse for the loss he assumed was coming. You now take that as gospel.

        And yes, I don’t doubt that Bernie and Trump supporters are closer than either would care to admit. Just like the Nazis and Communists of Weimar Germany were cut from the same cloth. It speaks a great deal to the human condition that people like that become the fiercest of enemies.

      • AlexinCT

        There is a difference between broken and designed for coordinated manipulation.

        Absolutely. But what we have is a broken system designed to allow a ton of coordinated manipulation is specific cases/places that are more than enough to fucking rig every election.

        And when you have that ability, why wouldn’t you?

  18. Nephilium

    So we’re at the stage where every state is going to retry their old has-beens, right? Looks, like DENNIS! is trying to return to his roots.

    • db

      They learned it from watching Hollywood, okay?

    • Old Man With Candy

      Talk about a guy who married up.

      • Not Adahn

        Considering the height of the average Ameircan worman, he’d have to try to not .

      • Nephilium

        He didn’t really have any other options. Man’s a midget (both physically and mentally). The local press was all abuzz when he announced his marriage.

  19. Ted S.

    Everybody’s favorite weapon? So it’s Hayeksplosives’ birthday?

    • WTF

      That would be his brother, Hudson Maxim.

      • Festus

        This was regarded and deemed worthy.

  20. Rebel Scum

    Who had Cicada swarm for spring of 2021?

    BILLIONS OF CICADAS THAT HAVE spent 17 years underground are set to emerge across large areas of the eastern United States, bringing swarming numbers and loud mating calls to major towns and cities.

    The periodic cicadas—bugs with strikingly red eyes, black bodies and orange wings—burrow underground as nymphs and suck fluids from the roots of plants as they grow, eventually bursting into the open as adults in mass synchronized events.

    • juris imprudent

      I take it the difference is that the Democrats don’t go away for 17 years after having devastated the country?

    • Cy

      Land shrimp!!! Yum!

    • Agent Cooper

      You know who else engaged in mass synchronized events?

      • Cy

        The French apparently.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      Ours will come in 2025.

      2008 was a bitch. So damn loud it sounded as if the sound were emanating from my head. Even inside.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    We’re back, baby!

    “America is back, diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy,” Biden said. “We will repair our alliances, engage with the world once again — not to meet yesterday’s challenges but today’s and tomorrow’s.”

    The president’s remarks were his first address to a government agency other than the White House and underscored his effort to turn the page on Trump’s “America First” agenda, which Biden has often criticized as leaving “America alone.”

    Biden also spoke of the need for foreign policy to advance U.S. interests domestically.

    “There’s no longer a bright line between foreign and domestic policy. Every action we take, and our conduct abroad, we must take with American working families in mind,” Biden said.

    ——-

    Biden also said that he is ordering a global posture review of U.S. forces to ensure that the American military footprint is “appropriately aligned” with national security priorities.

    Biden announced that he would sign an executive order to lay the groundwork for increasing refugee admissions to 125,000 persons, up from the 15,000 cap that was established during the Trump administration.

    And he announced he would further sign a presidential memorandum aimed at protecting LGBTQ individuals worldwide, as part of efforts promoting equity in the U.S. and abroad.

    The president last month signed an executive order reversing an order by Trump that instituted a ban on most transgender people openly serving in the military as well as an executive order on preventing discrimination of LGBTQ individuals.

    Biden’s speech, which had been delayed due to a snowstorm earlier this week, also represented an effort to reach out to State Department personnel and bolster morale among officials following a tumultuous four years under Trump.

    We’ll be putting our fingers in a lot more pies, from here on out.

    • Not Adahn

      There’s no longer a bright line between foreign and domestic policy.

      What’s good for General Motors China is good for America!

      • juris imprudent

        What’s good for General Motors China is good for AmericaDisney!

    • Ownbestenemy

      I expect him to remove troops in Afghanistan (a good thing) for the adoration and praise of the press (a bad thing) and that same press will say it was such a brave move and a humbling moment on America’s part to admit it failed to accomplish its mission.

      I also expect he will be nominated and win the nobel peace prize.

      • juris imprudent

        Did you see the weasel-word announcement on Yemen? We are no longer conducting offensive operations.

      • Rat on a train

        defensive kinetic military action?

      • juris imprudent

        I would never say such a thing! — F.U.

    • Rebel Scum

      diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy,” Biden said

      Aggressive diplomacy, aka diplomacy with bombs.

      we must take with American working families in mind,” Biden said.

      Which necessitates that we fund abortions overseas…

      he would sign an executive order to lay the groundwork for increasing refugee admissions to 125,000 persons

      American. Working. Families. In. Mind.

      a presidential memorandum aimed at protecting LGBTQ individuals worldwide

      Which is different than the Trump initiative how?

      bolster morale among officials following a tumultuous four years under Trump

      Trumps state department was a wasteland with no accomplishments. It is known.

      • westernsloper

        Trumps state department was a wasteland with no accomplishments. It is known.

        Awhile back I heard an NPR interview with some former state dept swamp dweller. The host (don’t remember which one) was leading him into explaining how the state dept had many unfilled overseas posts and it was sooooo dangerous to not be diplomatting everywhere. He then later admitted that all the mid east peace treaties that the Trump administration achieved did not come out of state. They went around them. The host was aghast that they left out all the professional Top Men.

    • Not an Economist

      we must take with American working families in mind

      Like when he made us more dependent on foreign energy by canceling the pipeline and fracking on government lands.

    • Swiss Servator

      Every action we take, and our conduct abroad, we must take with American working families in mind,” Biden said.

      Like pissing on Canada and hurting thousands of US “working families” by cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline, asshole?

      • Not Adahn

        Not those working families.

      • Not an Economist

        They will get better jobs* …. eventually.

        *As defined by somebody else, not them.

    • Agent Cooper

      Tara Reade says hello.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      also represented an effort to reach out to State Department personnel and bolster morale among officials following a tumultuous four years under Trump.

      Poor babies had teh sadz. It’s tough work raping taxpayers when there’s a BOM tweeting mean stuff.

  22. AlexinCT

    Anyone see a parallel with how the Vegas Shooting incident and many other bad events the left needed to use to push their agenda always disappearing from the news after they had peddled the worst possible version of events for their enemies disappears from the news – so the rabble wouldn’t get contradictory facts to what the people that wouldn’t want to let a crisis go to waste – and the whole Capitol insurrection are being handled?

    • CPRM

      I’m working on Part 16 of A Path To Wellness based on this very premise.

  23. Old Man With Candy

    Survey time: anyone from our SuperSPreader event last weekend come down with the Vid?

    No? Huh.

    • Nephilium

      According to a friend of the girlfriend, we’ll all be dead by next week, and even if we aren’t it was reckless and disregarded the risk to others.

      • Suthenboy

        Disregarding risks to others…a hobby of mine. I hope when you responded to her you spoke in extra-lispy, spitty pronunciations.

      • Nephilium

        This was on Facebook, where I have no account. I’m pretty sure I’m happier because of that.

      • CPRM

        My sister assured me back in March that I was become death, destroyer of worlds, because of where I worked…

    • Pope Jimbo

      SuperSPreader event

      I KNEW it was an orgy!

      • bacon-magic

        *toots alpenhorn

      • Not Adahn

        Those are quite impressive when payed on mountaintops. I’d heard them played on flat land and was very “meh.” But Whiteface had a group on the summit for Oktoberfest and they were fantastic, playing harmonies with their own echoes.

  24. Semi-Spartan Dad

    Bank of America Secretly Flagged Purchase History of Customers and Sent the Data to Feds After Capitol Riot
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/02/bank-america-secretly-flagged-purchase-history-customers-sent-data-feds-capitol-riot/

    Bank of America scanned through customer records to flag the following:
    Were they in DC between January 5 and January 6
    Purchased a hotel stay or AirBnB in DC, Virginia or Maryland after January 6
    Any purchase of weapons between January 7 and their upcoming suspected stay in DC area around Inauguration Day
    Airline related purchases since January 6

    It’s GP, but it’s not like the WSJ is going to report something like this. Sounds like Tucker Carlson may have touched on it.

    • juris imprudent

      Third party doctrine says no 4th Amdt problem here – we’re good!

    • AlexinCT

      We are not heading to a huge dystopian country: we are already there…

      And the people doing this evil shit are going along with it voluntarily. They WNAT to be a part of it. All the people that wondered how the Nazis or the commies got away with the horrible things they did should now realize that they did so because so many people actually not only went along with the shit, regardless of how over the top it was, but actively supported it. Everyone pretends they wouldn’t be part of something horrible like the Nazi or commie purges and acts, and that they actually would fight against them, but from recent events like this one we can convincingly ignore any of their claims their morality would allow them to recognize and block these things from happening again.

      • juris imprudent

        …and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

        Some old, dead white guy.

    • Agent Cooper

      “It’s GP”

      According to the commenters, Jesus will ride in on his dinosaur and re-install the rightful Trump as God Emperor President.

    • rhywun

      Yes, it was on Tucker last night.

      Combine this with the fact that anyone who questions government overreach is now a “domestic terrorist” and we begin to see where the country is very rapidly headed.

  25. Suthenboy

    The last time I had to visit a doc there was some punk kid in the lobby of the building. As I walked in he jumped in front of me and demanded to know if I was there for a doc’s appointment. There is nothing in the building aside from doctor’s offices.

    “No, I just come here for the fun of it. Get out of my way.”

    The cootie panic stupidity is starting to get under my skin.

  26. Not Adahn

    Man I hope we get enough advance notice on when this student loan forgiveness thingy is going to hit so I can cover the tuition/room/board at Taran Tactical.

    • db

      I should take out some loans to finish my commercial pilot certificate and ATP.

    • cyto

      Yeah, I wonder if it is going to be prospective in any way. I’d sure like to take out $50k in loans and get it forgiven in a month.

      Mmmmmmm…. free money….. /Homer Simpson Voice

    • UnCivilServant

      Oh, you know it will only be for approved programs from “proper” institutions, right?

    • CPRM

      I saw it coming 20 years, that’s why I ain’t paid a cent on those ‘loans’. Haha, you idjits!

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Damn straight: Sign up, don’t go to class, rent extremely expensive house, eat nothing but filet mignon and drink champagne for a semester or two, get bailed out. Sounds like a plan.

  27. Rebel Scum

    Your Guide To The Gun Bills Introduced In Congress (So Far)

    Looks like some horseshit.

    Highlights:

    H.R. 130 – The first of several gun control bills on our list filed by Texas Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. The “Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act” would require all firearms to be unloaded and locked up in a gun safe with a trigger lock attached. Violations of the law could result in a fine of up to $100,000 and a 20-year federal prison sentence if a person’s unsecured gun was used in the commission of a violent crime.

    H.R. 127 – The Sabika Sheik Firearm Licensing and Registration Act is another special bill from Rep. Jackson Lee, and this legislation actually has received a good deal of media attention, at least in the 2A community, thanks to its absolutely insane mandates for a national gun license that would require psychological evaluations, sign off from former spouses and other character references, and 24 hours of training in order to legally own a gun.

    H.R. 135 – Another bill from Rep. Jackson Lee. HR 135 requires the director of the FBI to “report to the Congress semiannually on the number of firearms transfers resulting from the failure to complete a background check within 3 business days, and the procedures followed after it is discovered that a firearm transfer has been made to a transferee who is ineligible to receive a firearm.”

    • Suthenboy

      No separate 20-page registration form for each separate round of ammo?
      Slackers.

      • Not Adahn

        Each bullet must be individually serialized, recovered after firing, and taken to a proper disposal/recycling facility.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      The social contract you didn’t sign says you’re supposed to like this.

    • Animal

      Honestly, though, even the Dems ignore Sheila Jackson lee (Stupid Cunte – TX).

      • Pope Jimbo

        How is she still on any committees?

      • AlexinCT

        She has the “right” (meaning craziest leftist) crazy ideas, sexual organs, and melanin?

    • cyto

      If you missed the video of Sheila Jackson Lee speaking on her bill, you must run, do not walk, to your nearest youtube clip. In it she claims to have held an AR-15 and noted that “they are heavy. They are like as heavy as 10 boxes if you are moving.” And it shoots “.50 caliber bullets [sic]. “

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Snopes Fact Check (probably): She didn’t stipulate that the boxes weren’t empty. “Mostly True”

      • cyto

        This brings up my pet peeve and daily rant:

        What the hell was up with all of those reporters? You are a reporter. Presumably at least a couple of them have heard of an AR-15.

        Yet nobody chimes in with even a polite version of “what the hell are you talking about?”

        This crap is important. They are talking about a law that will directly restrict one of your basic constitutional rights – and she has the power to actually do something about it. And you just sit there and passively take in that nonsense, without even a small challenge? Don’t the people have a right to see just how well their representatives understand the issues they are addressing and the laws they are proposing?

        An AR-15 is heavy? Really? A rifle that is entirely designed around being light and using light ammo so that soldiers can carry more rounds. That’s heavy. And what does heavy even mean in this context. Does that mean dangerous? Is it sexist because she can’t lift it?

        Don’t know, because you didn’t ask.

        And .50 caliber. Really? A weapon entirely designed around having a lightweight round that has similar stopping power to an old M1 because the lighter bullet is designed to tumble. That’s the one that fires .50 caliber rounds. Does she actually know any of this? Is she even remotely qualified to comment on these issues? Or was she just confused because someone handed her a .50 caliber sniper rifle one time and she conflated that with the popular AR?

        Don’t know. Because you hacks didn’t ask.

        Is there not a single competent journalist in this nation?

      • Rat on a train

        The M1 fires 0.30.

      • Suthenboy

        0.308 or cast 0.309

      • Rat on a train

        The rifle was “U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1”. It used .30-06 (7.62×63).

      • AlexinCT

        Is there not a single competent journalist in this nation?

        That’s the punchline to a joke, right?

        Cause the people pretending to be journalists all seem to be leftist statist propagandists. I get more news from vloggers and bloggers, with more logic and facts, than I do from any “NEWS” entity these days…

      • cyto

        Sad, but true.

        I get that CNN and MSNBC are going to be all propaganda. Hell, even a few of the major networks.

        But isn’t there a single print reporter in the room? Not one radio guy who is trying to get the facts straight for his story?

        Not even a sycophant who says “did you really mean to say that?”

        Nope. Nothing.

        I keep saying it, but the guys at Pravda had more integrity.

      • Rebel Scum

        Stephen Crowder, for instance, is a comedian that does infotainment that is far more accurate than the “news” you get in the msm. And he has his biases that he is fully aware of and honest about.

      • AlexinCT

        And this is a phenom I find most people on the left struggle with. I suspect it is because leftists are prone to the mental disorder of believing “experts” regardless of how inept and moronically wrong those experts prove they are, which is why CNN, PMS-NBC, and so on can blatantly lie for 4 years and insult their intelligence and still remain credible to them. People that overcome the whole “believe the experts” lie, tend to develop skills that allow them to listen to people they know are biased and figure out what is likely to be inaccurate or tainted by that bias.

        In the mean time a large swat of people will keep listening to the propagandists and despite the evidence, continue to believe whatever they tell them, because these people are the self anointed “experts”….

      • cyto

        Holy crap.

        Full auto at a couple of bucks a shot? Ok, moneybags…

        And, did they just commit a felony by putting that franken-gun together? Or does the license follow the lower?

      • Not Adahn

        The lower is the only part that is a firearm. The upper might as well be a scope or a flashlight.

      • db

        There’s no license. It’s a tax-paid registration of the transfer of a firearm. Some part of the gun is the “registered firearm” part, and as long as it is present, it should be all good. There are some crazy “transferable” machineguns that were registered in the run up to the implementation of HR4332 in 1986–there are registered receivers, bolts, bolt carriers, trigger packs, sears, what have you.

      • Rebel Scum

        Rest the butt of an AR-15 on your junk. Then pull the trigger and tell me how powerful it is.

        Then do that with a .50*.

        *Disclaimer: Do NOT actually do that.

      • Rat on a train

        There were a lot of first-time shooters in basic. A drill sergeant fired an M-16 with the butt on his junk to alleviate their fears about the kick.

      • db

        The 5.56mm round is not designed to tumble in flight. That would make it rather inaccurate. The original 1:14 twist rate specified for the M16 caused bullets to actually tumble in flight due to inadequate gyroscopic stabilization, but later the twist rate was changed to 1:12 to prevent that tendency and improve cold-air stability. More recent improvements have twist rates in the 1:7 to 1:9 range to allow for much heavier bullets to be stabilized.

        The original 55 or 56 grain bullets (M193 cartridge) would tumble and fragment upon impact, but the M855 (with SS109 62 grain “penetrator tip” projectile ) is designed more for penetration than fragmentation.

      • cyto

        I never heard about tumbling in flight…. only that the geometry was designed to be unstable once penetrating flesh, creating a tumbling motion that amplifies the damage.

      • Not Adahn

        I really doubt that it was “designed” to tumble. All spitzer bullets will do so.

      • cyto

        The couple of documentaries on the history of the M-16 that I have seen definitely stated that the .nato bullet was designed to tumble to compensate for the reduced caliber. There were even movements to make it illegal because of that.

        Then I read Wikipedia because of your post.. and it says that any round will tumble like that, I suppose in a debunking effort?

        Anyway, I definitely watched experts tell me the other version, and that it was on purpose, and I watched “human rights activists” tell me that the wounds were almost impossible to treat because the bullet would take left turns in the body and just wreck everything, with no obvious bullet path for a surgeon to follow.

        It would be odd if the entire thing is a myth. Probably par for the course, but odd nonetheless.

      • db

        It’s been pretty well debunked for a while, but myths are forever, and truth finds hard ground to establish roots in.

      • db

        Also, at close to medium range, the bulk of the tissue damage is done by the shock wave of the bullet passing through the tissue. It can liquefy tissue well away from the actual wound channel. Tumbling is unnecessary.

      • Count Potato

        ” All spitzer bullets will do so.”

        Not all of them.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Is there not a single competent journalist in this nation?

        They’re all quite competent at their jobs. It’s just that their jobs aren’t what you think they are.

      • cyto

        This is the “sad but true” point of the day. Or rather, of the new millennium.

      • Rat on a train

        She didn’t say the caliber of the weapon was 0.50, she may be referring to someone shooting at 0.50 caliber bullets. -> Mostly True

      • Rebel Scum

        And it fires in FULL semi-automatic.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      The “Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act” would require all firearms to be unloaded and locked up in a gun safe with a trigger lock attached.

      Didn’t they already rule this shit unconstitutional in Heller?

      Like, literally this?

  28. Lachowsky

    Walked in to a mess this morning. Wheel bearing is locked up. Im at the wheel shop right now getting a new one.

    http://imgur.com/gallery/iXeN1Yq

    • cyto

      They have a store for train wheels? Or this is “the shop”, as in you guys have an entire workshop for wheels?

      ‘Cause I wanna go to the train parts store.

      • AlexinCT

        HOOT!

      • cyto

        Alex gets it.

      • Animal

        Well, here you go.

        I actually remember going to this place when I was a kid. Still a neat little local shop.

      • cyto

        Heh! When my dad moved into his assisted living apartment a year and a half ago, he gave me the old N gauge train set that I bought for us to build together some 30 years ago. We never got around to it, but he still had all the parts and the plans we drew up. I left the mounting board because it wouldn’t fit for the drive back… but now it can sit around my place for a few decades before I pass it on to my son…..

      • Lachowsky

        We have a shop for just about everything we work on here. Those are actually overhead crane wheels, but very similar to what would be on a train. Train wheels are not as thick as our overhead crane wheels. They aren’t designed to carry as heavy a load as the crane wheels.

        When we change a crane wheel, we pull one that we have rebuilt out of our warehouse and install it. The failed wheel goes to our mechanic shop and gets new bearings/wheel/ coupling/wheel hub whatever is wrong with it.

        We go through the same process with alot of our equipment. We have a team of 8 mechanics that work day shift in our rebuild shop. They refurbish all kinds of stuff for us.

  29. Pope Jimbo

    Tundra should recognize that classy painting in the twitter. Someone may have tricked him into looking at that. The person who tricked him was very clever (and extremely handsome).

    Tundra told me that someone texted him a link to “Gov Walz’s new shutdown order that would close liquor stores”. But the link wasn’t to any edict, but to that piece of art.

    • westernsloper

      Nice. I believe that is called Cock Rolling.

    • Tundra

      LOL!

      Yeah, the story was even funnier because of that!

  30. Chipwooder

    Has that Time article about the election “cabal” been discussed while I’ve been scarce? Because it’s shockingly brazen that Time actually published it.

    That’s why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information. They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it

    • leon

      They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it

      It’s not rigging, but lets also then not kid ourselves that Biden is anything but the President selected by Tech and Media Giants as a big FU to the right and the populist Left. That is my perspective.

      • juris imprudent

        the right and the populist Left

        Fair point, the Bernie supporters have to have gagged on this almost as hard as our local Trump devotees.

      • R C Dean

        “Fortifying” it, or covering up the rigging?

      • Count Potato

        Needs more sugar.

  31. Pope Jimbo

    Uffda. This story from Minnesoda’s biggest paper is quite the deal.

    Carol Robertson attributes 105 years of life to clean living (minus decades of smoking), regular exercise and medical advances over the last century — including the COVID-19 vaccine that she received on Thursday.

    The St. Paul centenarian said she was relieved when her relatives found an appointment for her to receive her first dose at an East Metro HealthPartners clinic.

    “I’m 105 and three quarters,” she said. “At my age, you start counting the days.”

    Robertson was born just before the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919, but doesn’t remember it. The polio epidemic in the 1950s was another matter. Fears of her son suffering that disease gripped her.

    I’m at a loss at how to respond. Is there really nothing they won’t do to promote The Cure and scare us about the Rona?

    • Gdragon

      My anti-vaxxer neighbour actually just passed away at 104 and 7 months, story checks out 😉

    • Festus

      One of SNL’s darker turns before they became totally woke. Billy is not “funny” funny. I hate watched that season.

      • cyto

        Even my wife, who is perhaps the poster child for TDS, cannot take SNL.

        The very best joke she has made in our nearly 2 decades – I cracked a joke and she said “you’re funny… You might even be able to write for Saturday Night Live.”.

        Ouch.

      • Agent Cooper

        Every once in awhile they will slip up and do Black Jeopardy with Tom Hanks or have Dave Chapelle write some skits when he hosts.

        The Frozen 2 deleted scenes bit wasn’t that funny but they even had a joke that recognized it’s absurd in the name of diversity to have a black guy in rural 1840s Norway.

    • The Other Kevin

      Some of my favorite cast members. Is it true they ad-libbed a lot of this series of skits?

      • cyto

        They were a lot less “tight” back then, and most of the cast came from improv backgrounds with groups like the Groundlings and SCTV. So they would run short and need to fill 2 minutes, and just vamp on a bit. One famous one was the Steve Martin/Bill Murray bit where they look at something off camera and say “what the hell IS that?” for a couple of minutes. They literally got shoved out there, still dressed for other skits, and told to fill time. No prep. No warning. Just – “here, national TV. Go!”

        Coincidentally, I recently got sucked into a youtube wormhole about Bob and Doug McKenzie, of SCTV fame. The entire “Great White North” local cable show bit was improved, and they shot them in just a couple of runs. They didn’t even prep – they just came up with a topic and turned the camera on.

      • CPRM

        they just came up with a topic and turned the camera on.

        I could pull that off if I were actually an animated Hat and Hair.

      • KromulentKristen

        I would guess that would be the case with Guest. His movies are largely improv.

      • Festus

        Let me reiterate. it just seemed so dark and NYC-centric. Everything was as dank as the set of Barney Miller or Good Times. Cocaine is a helluva drug.

    • Suthenboy

      uh…..what the hell was that? The laugh track is timed but doesn’t match up with anything funny. That has to be the worst ‘comedy’ I have ever seen.
      I haven’t watched SNL since Mr. Bill was a feature.

  32. The Other Kevin

    Once at a White Sox game, I got into an elevator with Jesse Jackson. His two body guards were some of the biggest people I’d ever seen. The elevator operator said “Nice to see you Reverend” and that’s all that was said.

    • Swiss Servator

      I guess he couldn’t come out and say “knock up any more mistresses, ‘Reverend’?”

    • The Other Kevin

      My brother in law was with us. He’s not a fan of the reverend, to say the least. It was a very tense 90 seconds for him.

  33. Festus

    Dang that music was fine, OMWC! I nearly jumped up and danced a jig. Nearly.

    • Old Man With Candy

      SP made fun of me last night for liking them.

      • Festus

        Booo, SP! Booo I say! I dig that stuff and if the grandkids laugh at me I know that they’ll eventually come around. I’ll be long dead by then. I used to mock my Grandad for his love of the Hanks and Bob Wills.

      • Festus

        I love you even a little more, 4×20.

  34. CPRM

    Vice President Kamala Harris
    @VP

    US government account
    My mother was a cancer scientist. It was a shock when she herself was diagnosed with cancer. She passed away a year later.

    On this World Cancer Day,
    @POTUS
    and I are committed to supporting the scientists, researchers, and health care workers devoted to fighting this disease.

    You hear that!? She was a fucking Cancer Scientist! The most Scientist of all the Sciences! Because that is a for real occupation! Cancer Scientists work real hard and have important Cancer Degrees!

    • Festus

      It’s beyond parody.

    • AlexinCT

      It’s all about telling the fucking serfs they should listen to the credentialed technocratic oligarchy, and ignore reality. And unfortunately half of the country is dumb or mentally unstable enough to go along.

      • Festus

        Whenever I hear Tulsi speak she always seems measured and calm in her responses unlike poor Kamala who can’t get over choking on Willie Brown’s dick. Our first bukkake President! Rejoice!

      • juris imprudent

        Half? I’m afraid it’s a lot more than half.

    • creech

      Her mother was a cancer scientist? Really? My local newspaper said Harris was raised in poverty. Guess cancer scientists get paid even less than McDonald’s burger flippers.

      • CPRM

        Twas the Student Loans what led them to poverty?

    • Nephilium

      Dude… I think the technical degree is in Cancerology.

    • Rat on a train

      But not a lady-cancer scientist. That would have been included if it were so.

    • Chipwooder

      I saw someone post that and thought it was the Babylon Bee or something.

      • cyto

        That does look like a deepfake parody.

        I wonder if he actually posed for that? Horse tackle on his shoulder? Really?

      • R C Dean

        No kidding. I’d be fascinated to see someone knowledgable break down all the Photoshopping in that pic. Even teh background looks wonky. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to learn that there’s no Biden from the neck down, and the face is basically “based on a real photograph”.

      • The Hyperbole

        It’s all photoshopped, they aren’t even hiding it.

        we thought we’d give Biden the all-American makeover of his (but really our) dreams.

      • Festus

        “The boat was wocking! Up and down! Wocking. Wocking…”

      • Agent Cooper

        It’s all shopped. It’s GQ ‘reimagining” Biden in different types of fashion.

        It’s all sycophancy of the worst kind.

      • Festus

        Dig the “Bowie Bulge”!

      • rhywun

        I saw it on Not-the-Bee

    • Rebel Scum

      Good lord…

      Swagger-in-chief

      More like “shuffle-in-chief”, amirite?

      • Festus

        LOL!

    • Agent Cooper

      “The 46th potus is more than the saviour of the Union… He’s a true-blue style icon too”

      How does one write this and then not blow their brains out?

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Slurp slurp slurp

    It’s very early in Kamala Harris’ vice presidency. So early, in fact, that she still has not yet moved into the official vice presidential residence at Washington, D.C.’s Naval Observatory as it undergoes maintenance work, according to a White House official.

    But in her first two weeks on the job, the barrier-breaking first woman and first woman of color to serve in a job first held by John Adams has, so far at least, operated a lot like many of the vice presidents who came before her.

    Harris has mostly been seen standing at President Biden’s side as he delivers remarks and signs executive orders. She’s sworn in members of Biden’s Cabinet.

    All standard fare for vice presidents — at least when it comes to what happens in front of the cameras.

    But both Harris and Biden are prioritizing the work the vice president is doing away from the cameras. “Let me tell you something,” Harris told NPR shortly before taking office, “on every decision that we have made as an incoming administration, we are in the room together: Joe and I, the president-elect and I.”

    ——-

    Still, given Harris’ barrier-breaking place in the Biden administration — not to mention the open question of whether the 78-year-old Biden would run for a second term in 2024 — there’s a lot of focus on, and questions about, what Harris will do in public.

    Jessica Byrd, a Democratic strategist and the co-founder of The Front Line, told NPR she views it all with what she calls “a nervous optimism.”

    “I just know how complicated of a position she’s in,” she said, referring to the outsized demands often placed on women of color who are elevated to high positions, and the historic demands on Harris in particular.

    ——-

    Harris traveled to the National Institutes of Health last week to receive her second coronavirus vaccine shot, using the moment to boost public confidence in vaccine efforts. “I want to urge everyone to take the vaccine when it is your turn,” she said, after being injected in front of reporters. “It is really pretty painless, and it will save your life.”

    I’m so relieved all that deranged personality-cult-ism is safely behind us now.

    • creech

      “elevated to high positions”
      I was under the impression Harris got her start by assuming a low position.

      • Rebel Scum

        Her heels were elevated to high positions.

    • Nephilium

      Harris has mostly been seen standing at President Biden’s side as he delivers remarks and signs executive orders. She’s sworn in members of Biden’s Cabinet.

      At least six feet away, right? RIGHT?

  36. Rebel Scum

    I didn’t think it was possible for him to look like more of a d-bag.

    While criticizing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Hogg said, “We have seen one of the most remarkable and truly honestly a horrific change in the Republican Party over the past 30 years. I would say it really started in the ’90s, but you could even go back to the primary of Barry Goldwater and the New Conservative Movement way back in the 20th century, as I study my history classes in college. But it’s scary. It’s really scary because people used to think they’re mostly a group of good people that truly want what’s best for the country. Yeah, there is a fringe of people that may or may not be white supremacists, but that’s a very small minority of people.”

    He added, “But now what we’re seeing is there are actual conspiracy theorists and white supremacists that are becoming the party. And the fringe are those people that were originally, you know, believed to be the majority. It’s truly terrifying.”

    Studying history you will learn that those people are called “Democrats”.

    • CPRM

      But he was taught by The Best! The Brightest! He knows history better than those that lived through it! He was near a place once where people were shot!

      • juris imprudent

        Muh precious victimhood.

      • Not Adahn

        Tee hee. Like Davey goes to class. How is he supposed to have time to tweet, troll for progtail and run a pillow company if he goes to class?

      • Fourscore

        “Hogg said, “We have seen one of the most remarkable and truly honestly a horrific change in the Republican Party over the past 30 years”

        Hmmm, looks younger, like about 20 or so.

  37. The Late P Brooks

    My mother was a cancer scientist. It was a shock when she herself was diagnosed with cancer. She passed away a year later.

    She should have worn a mask or three. That would have saved her life.

    • Tulip

      The childish language is so condescending – “cancer scientist”.

      • db

        It’s both condescending and indicative of a lack of knowledge regarding oncology and medicine in general.

      • R C Dean

        I’ve seen “cancer researcher”, but no detail. She could have been washing test tubes in an oncology lab.

      • db

        ONCOWOGY!

      • Festus

        Legit LOL!

      • The Hyperbole

        From Wiki

        was an American biomedical scientist born in British India, whose work in isolating and characterizing the progesterone receptor gene stimulated advances in breast biology and oncology

        I guess they could have edited it this morning I don’t know how you check that kind of thing.

      • The Hyperbole

        From a 2009 obit

        Harris’s work in isolating and characterizing the progesterone receptor gene transformed the medical establishment’s understanding of the hormone-responsiveness of breast tissue. Her discovery sparked many advances regarding the role of progesterone and its cellular receptor in breast biology and cancer.

      • Festus

        Be that as it may, it doesn’t allow her dunderhead Daughter a free pass for using a term like “Cancer Scientist”. Did all the brains run down the slave-owners leg?

    • Rebel Scum

      Well that is a totally fucked situation. Dude executed them. Wtf?

  38. The Late P Brooks

    We have seen one of the most remarkable and truly honestly a horrific change in the Republican Party over the past 30 years.

    “WE”?

    You’re fourteen years old, right?

    • The Other Kevin

      He’s like Greta, someone is feeding him talking points. Look for him to mention “Ronald Ray Gun”.

  39. Pope Jimbo

    Snopes had better watch out. CNN’s Fact Checkers are gunning for the title

    CNN’s Fact Checkers call BS on Noem’s claim that SoDak got through the pandemic better than any other state because of their hands off approach.

    Facts First: Noem’s claim that South Dakota “got through it better than virtually every other state” is false with regard to public health: South Dakota has had the second-most coronavirus cases per capita and is in a tie with Connecticut for the sixth-most coronavirus deaths per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University data as of Thursday.

    Yup. According to public health figures SoDak sucked big time. More cases than every one. Sure they only tied for 6th in deaths, but cases is where it is at.

    Later they grudgingly added

    It is true that South Dakota has done better than virtually every other state on a key economic measure — its 3.0% seasonally adjusted December unemployment rate was tied for best in the country — but Noem didn’t specify on Fox that this is what she was talking about.

    Everyone knows though that economic data doesn’t count in a pandemic!

    • Rat on a train

      How dare you put the economy ahead of the crisis. We can’t think about people’s ability to earn a living when they could catch a cold.

    • Rebel Scum

      “Cases” is a meaningless statistic because it involves a bs test and does not account for the presence of symptoms.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    Noem’s claim that South Dakota “got through it better than virtually every other state” is false with regard to public health: South Dakota has had the second-most coronavirus cases per capita and is in a tie with Connecticut for the sixth-most coronavirus deaths per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University data as of Thursday.

    And health overall, especially mental health and “elective treatments”: do we have a measurement for such things, or do they not factor in?

    • Festus

      “No!” they explained.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Not respecting the govt’s authority is a very serious mental health problem.

      • juris imprudent

        Soviet psychiatry diagnosis.

  41. Festus

    So that top photo is what Orthodox 13 year-olds get to whack off at? It ain’t tube tops and hot pants but it will work for them in a Sears catalogue or TV Guide manner.

    • CPRM

      …but only on Sabbath when your parents can’t turn on the lights…

      • Festus

        *touches side of (((nose)))*

  42. Rebel Scum

    House Judiciary GOP
    @JudiciaryGOP

    ? HAPPENING NOW: @RepMattGaetz just requested that the Judiciary Committee recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each hearing.

    @RepJerryNadler said it was “unnecessary.”

    Why don’t Democrats want to say the Pledge?

    I am against forcing school children to recite the pledge, but it seems like it should be a ceremonial thing if you are in the US government.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Why don’t Democrats want to say the Pledge?

      If this doesn’t show how feckless the GOP is, nothing will.

      The pledge is fucking irrelevant, the only reason you’re bringing it up is to deflect from the real issues that make you and your party look like cowardly pieces of shit.

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Pledge allegiance to a symbol of racism and enslavement?

    That’s crazy.

    • The Hyperbole

      I thought it was written by a commie, or was it a flag salesmen.

      • Not Adahn

        A commie flag salesman.

      • Festus

        A libertarian flag salesman would sell the flags and then burn them in the public square, refunding the money and then go home to fondle his guns.

  44. Gdragon

    There was definitely a crossroads transaction involving Chris Thile. I find him a tiny bit annoying at times but oh my what a talent he is/has. And I especially love watching all three of them together, thanks for that.

  45. Lachowsky

    Student debt forgiveness…

    Another wealth transfer from the poor and working class to the self styled elites of this country.

    2020 was the year of fucking the middle class to enrich the wealthiest among us. 2021 is on pace to be another year of the same. The ruling class is doing everything in their power to make this country ripe for a revolution. Peaceful, hopefully.

  46. Pope Jimbo

    Kremlinologists will like this story about Minnesoda still trying to crack down on restaurants and bars.

    The Minnesota Department of Health has filed lawsuits against two restaurants that remained open during the COVID-19 pause that the state says are now operating without restaurant licenses.

    According to MDH, lawsuits against The Interchange in Albert Lea and King Sparrow Coffee and Soda Shop in Milaca were filed last week.

    The state says both restaurants were notified in December of pending suspensions against them. The owners were allowed 20 days to request a hearing on the suspensions but MDH says neither did, resulting in a suspension.

    But despite the suspensions, both restaurants have continued operations.

    The interesting thing to me – reading between the lines – is that both of these places kept open and operated during the second lockdown without the authorities forcibly shutting them down.

  47. The Late P Brooks

    2020 was the year of fucking the middle class to enrich the wealthiest among us. 2021 is on pace to be another year of the same. The ruling class is doing everything in their power to make this country ripe for a revolution. Peaceful, hopefully.

    Trump hollowed out the middle class!

  48. The Hyperbole

    Anyone watching the pillow guy’s 3 hour documentary? I can’t get OAN.

    • Festus

      Nope. They’ve set themselves up as the anti CNN. Don’t trust them at all. Nice spokes-babes, though…

    • Count Potato

      Search for its name?

    • Chipwooder

      Jesus, why would anyone watch that? His commercials are hard enough to get through and they’re less than a minute.

      • The Hyperbole

        Because it’s finally going to prove once and for all exactly how the election was stolen.

      • Not Adahn

        *smugly continues not watching television*

      • rhywun

        I’m interrupting this documentary to talk about GHEE-ZUH some more!!1!

      • The Hyperbole

        Looks like it, do me a solid and give it a watch and write up a summary, thanks.

      • Nephilium

        The other hour was just for ads for the pillows.

  49. The Late P Brooks

    L’etat c’est moi

    Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a new statewide mask order on Thursday, an hour after the Republican-controlled Legislature voted to repeal his previous mandate saying he didn’t have authority to make such a decree.

    Evers and the Legislature have been at odds throughout the pandemic but the latest moves created an unprecedented level of whiplash. Republican lawmakers last year persuaded the state Supreme Court to scrap Evers’ stay-at-home order and a state appeals court halted the limits he placed on indoor gatherings.

    As the Legislature moved to repeal the order, many cities and counties rushed to enact or extend local mask ordinances. Milwaukee and Dane County, where Madison is located, are among those with orders in place.

    The Democratic governor said in a video message that his priority is keeping people safe and that wearing a mask is the most basic way to do that.

    “If the Legislature keeps playing politics and we don’t keep wearing masks, we’re going to see more preventable deaths, and it’s going to take even longer to get our state and our economy back on track,” Evers said.

    I’m not saying he’s a depraved megalomaniac, but he’s a depraved megalomaniac.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Who does he think he is? Aaron Rogers?

    • hayeksplosives

      Fitting article to follow the one about the Chump Effect.

      Team red adhered to quaint procedures and laws of the state of Wisconsin while the Blue governor just plays dictator.

      All those pesky elected representatives are trying to cramp his style, and he’s not having it.

      Calvinball.

    • Not Adahn

      The Democratic governor said in a video message that his priority is keeping people safe and that wearing a mask is the most basic way

      He’s such a basic bitch.

    • Rebel Scum

      If the Legislature keeps playing politics

      Because they are the only politicians that play politics…

      • Ownbestenemy

        Well…playing politics is their job so not sure how that is wrong.

    • R C Dean

      The legislature should be able to repeal the new one in a day. If they don’t repeal the new one, you’ll know the first repeal was just kabuki for the rubes.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Osterholm says the worst is yet to come!

      Dr. Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease expert, warned Minnesota lawmakers Wednesday about the possibility of another ‘major surge’ in COVID-19 cases, as new variants of the virus start to spread in the United States.

      “I think the darkest days of the pandemic are yet to come, and I share that because of the new variants, these new mutated viruses that are surely causing a challenge,” Dr. Osterholm said during a meeting of the Minnesota House Health Finance and Policy Committee.

      I think they are hedging their bets. The Domestic Terrorist Scare doesn’t seem to be getting widespread traction. If it fails, the will have to go back to the Rona Panic to keep their grip on Emergency Powers.

    • Not Adahn

      Also for some reason, they say that you can only spread the virus for four days, when everyone knows that you’re contagious up to three weeks after being exposed and seven days before.

    • Lachowsky

      “Dr. Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease expert, warned Minnesota lawmakers Wednesday about the possibility of another ‘major surge’ in COVID-19 cases, as new variants of the virus start to spread in the United States.”

      There needs to be a separation of medicine and state clause added to the constitution.

    • R C Dean

      Don’t tell me: they have a model that shows it was 10 times worse.

      Not mentioned: the vast majority of cases that were not diagnosed were no worse than mildly symptomatic.

    • juris imprudent

      Um, they don’t realize that means it is spreading through the population that much faster, leading to…

  50. Festus

    I am a lone, lorn Creetur and everything goes contrary with me.

  51. Lachowsky

    I hope the Dems do pass their gun control wet dream bills. Mass noncompliance would be a good thing in this country.

    • Rebel Scum

      The inevitable scotus cases could finally put the last nail in the coffin of constitutionality (or lack thereof) of what gun-grabbers want.

    • Not Adahn

      Nope. Those felonies will never be quashed.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Or ranges shut down and gun manufacturers go out of business. Gun owners may be noncompliant, but you won’t be able to take your AR to the range or buy ammo for it. You’ll face felony charges and prison time if using it in self-defense.

      This is the opposite approach of outright confiscation. Make guns verboten instead. They won’t pass to the next generation. They can’t be used for practice or self-defense. No ammo for sale. No parts. It’s a decades long game, but they’ve already been playing a decades long game. I don’t think they have the patience to keep it up any longer and things would get hot fast, but regardless, I don’t see any benefit to gun control bills.

      • R C Dean

        Same here. And the potential silver lining that SCOTUS would strike them with robust decisions firmly establishing a broad RKBA is, well,. unlikely.

      • Lachowsky

        They have already lost the long game. There are north of half a billion firearms in this country. Home gunsmithing is an enormous industry. The more they squeeze the parts and ammo manufacturers, the bigger the black market for those things become. Many jurisdictions will refuse to enforce federal gun laws, pushing us closer to a more federalist country as the ability of the feds to dictates to states is lessened. The national government in the U.S. is running on printed money fumes and is going to run out one day. When that day comes, I want there to be as much separation between the states the and fed as possible, so that their collapse can have as little effect as possible. The more areas that are already in open defiance when that comes, the better.

      • Gustave Lytton

        You only have to look at auto weapons to see how false that is. Local police and ATF regularly arrest and courts convict criminals for illegal auto weapons or similar violations. No one is rising up to their defense, well, because they’re criminals.

        #Drillthethirdhole

      • EvilSheldon

        The progressive left is not a bunch of pacifists. They love guns that they control.

        Gun control legislation is less about reducing the number of guns in circulation, and more about breaking a microculture that the progs have so far been unable to skinsuit…

    • Festus

      They did it up here and all the Fudds and criminals kept their shootin’ irons. They did drive a friend of mine to suicide, though. Had one of his collection stolen and the RCMP were relentless. Drive-bys, following until they finally got him for an iffy DUI. Knowing that he had heart problems and wouldn’t be able to work anymore he gave away everything and then took his own life. He was my Mom’s Boyfriend. I was set up to find his body. Unpleasant.

      • Festus

        Sorry for the darkness.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Jeez, F, you’ve seen some shit. Condolences.

      • Festus

        Designated pallbearer too many times. I don’t know why I keep getting picked.

      • Count Potato

        Sorry 🙁

      • EvilSheldon

        That sucks. But it does illustrate my point above.

    • Not Adahn

      Unity!

      • Rat on a train

        Heeling!

    • R C Dean

      That McConnell is one shrewd operator. A master of Senate procedure, who can tie the Dems up in knots.

    • Nephilium

      /waits for the inevitable GWAR link

    • Urthona

      That $15 minimum wage should be devastating.

    • rhywun

      I bet there isn’t more than 1 of them that knows all of what’s in the fucking thing.

      Assholes.

      • db

        Indeed. I think it has to do with the general trend toward “expert worship.” The congresspeople don’t read or write the bills, they simply rely on their staffs to do that. The staffs, i.e., one wing of the deep state, are regarded as the “experts” in legislation, and the actual elected representatives just do whatever their staffs tell them.

        So, the donors and lobbyists make their requests, the reps tell the staffs what to do, the lobbyists probably talk directly with the staffs to help craft favorable language, then the staffs tell the representatives to vote for or against. I’d be surprised if more than five people in all of Congress really read or care to know what is in the bills they supposedly write and sponsor.

  52. Count Potato

    “Cornell law professor creates online database of 220 universities teaching critical race theory to help parents choose colleges that don’t make the ‘racist ideology’ mandatory

    Anti-racism does not actually mean what people think it means. It actually is very racist,’ Jacobson claimed during his interview with Carlson.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9226633/Cornell-law-professor-creates-database-universities-teaching-critical-race-theory.html

    Only 220?

  53. The Late P Brooks

    Calvinball.

    There is no such thing as cheating in Calvinball.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      There is if you aren’t Calvin.

  54. Count Potato

    “Tucker Carlson accuses Bank of America of treating customers ‘like Al Qaeda’ as he reveals it gave the FBI details of every customer who spent money on hotels or AirBnb, flights and guns in DC around time of the Capitol siege

    Bank of America searched through customer transactions to target people who may have been involved in the Capitol riot and handed information over to federal authorities, according to a new report.

    At the request of federal investigators, the bank identified 211 customers who fit the profile after making purchases in the D.C. area or spending money on flights or accommodation in the days around the violent riot, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson claimed on Thursday.

    Carlson reported that one person identified by their transactions was taken in for questioning but was found to have no links to the event, as he accused the bank of spying on its customers and sharing their private information without their knowledge.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9226315/Bank-America-handed-transaction-details-feds-investigating-Capitol-riot-report-claims.html

    WTF??

    • R C Dean

      And you people wonder why I am thinking about leaving this country. While I still can. I’m hoping it doesn’t come down to crossing into Mexico on a “shopping trip” and making our move from there.

      • Count Potato

        What makes you think another country will be better?

        Sure you can move to some corrupt country where cash rules, but the government won’t be any better, and the criminals will be way worse.

        If someone in Los Zetas decides he literally wants to eat your ass, you’re not going to buy your way out of that.

      • R C Dean

        What makes you think another country will be better?

        Probably a full post in it, but America is descending into a preening moral socialist/fascist anarcho-tyranny that, while not entirely unique, is made worse by the enduring belief among Americans that the government is legitimate and not merely a malevolent force to be scorned and avoided whenever possible. A country that has regards its government more honestly, as a collection of corruptocrats and useless timeservers, where bribery is traditional and gray/black market are normalized, could well be a better place to live. There are few countries with as pervasive a surveillance state as the US has now, and its only going to get worse. The Tech Lords developed China’s social credit system, and are itching to implement it here, as well.

        I’ve long said I’d rather get pulled over for speeding in Mexico than the US. In Mexico, I’d slip the cop a $20 and be on my way. In the US, I’d be hit with a fine that is multiples of that, it would be on my record, and my insurance would go up.

        Also, the cost of living would be lower, and if we go full citizenship/renounce our US citizenship, the taxes would be lower.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        I’d read an article about this. It reminds of the Robber Baron.

        Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

      • EvilSheldon

        This would be a good full post.

      • juris imprudent

        Ironically, I’ve been giving France consideration along the same lines. Oh, not because the govt is worth a shit there, but because the culture and people learned long ago to not really give a shit about the govt. Given that my horizon is limited enough, that just might work for me.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I was looking at French Guiana myself. Being from the South I’ll love the hot weather too.

    • Festus

      Tucker is a wind-bag but he’s been really solid regarding the latest bullshit and seems to be standing up for 1st amendment rights. Styx has been toying with YouTube, hoping that they ban him.

    • Not Adahn

      BoA used to prosecute their own customers when they got scammed by someone kiting a check, or when they tried to verify if a check was good or not.

    • Gustave Lytton

      I’m sure they’ve been doing the same with BLM/Antifa rioters.

      • Not Adahn

        Why would they do that? Antifa’s never killed anyone, whereas violent insurrectionist Qanon trumpalos violently murdered five innocent cops with violence!

    • Pope Jimbo

      I’m sure they had a warrant

  55. The Late P Brooks

    New research shows how official figures understate the U.S. pandemic: On any given day the number of infected people who are actively contagious is ten times that day’s tally of new reported cases.

    “research” shows that the pandemic is MUCH WORSE than we’ve been telling you!

    New research shows the cattle are not panicking hard enough. The stampede is losing momentum.

    *fires six shooters in air*

    • R C Dean

      Speaking of which, got my ammo for the revolver yesterday. Given what I paid, it should have come with a little velvet pillow for each round.

      • Festus

        Crown Royal?

      • R C Dean

        Hornady Critical Defense.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Wait. Remember when all this started and there were a few antibody studies that said the real number of infected were about 10 times higher than the case numbers would suggest? Which meant that the mortality rate was actually way, way, lower than what we were being told and maybe we didn’t need to panic and shut shit down.

      Remember when those people were called deniers and conspiracy nuts? And of course they were ignored and shit was shut down and emergency powers were being granted.

      Next you are going to tell me that hydrochloroquine is actually effective.

      • rhywun

        That was before we realized that a “case” equals “certain death”. Do keep up.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Uffda. I have to admit that I don’t have the mental agility required to make the sudden u-turns, flips, flops and twists required to participate in the intellectual debates of our times.

      • rhywun

        All part of the plan.

  56. Rebel Scum

    Onward to discovery!

    The voting company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News’ parent company Fox Corporation, as well as Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and Trump ally Sidney Powell on Thursday.

    Smartmatic accused the defendants of participating in a cynical campaign to capitalize off the election, asserting that each privately knew that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had won the election. The defendants, Smartmatic alleged, used the election loss as an opportunity to smear the voting company for profit.

    “In their story, Smartmatic was a Venezuelan company under the control of corrupt dictators from socialist countries,” the company’s complaint says. “In their story, Smartmatic’s election technology and software were used in many of the states with close outcomes. And, in their story, Smartmatic was responsible for stealing the 2020 election by switching and altering votes to rig the election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”

    “Defendants’ story was a lie. All of it. And they knew it. But, it was a story that sold. Millions of individuals who saw and read Defendants’ reports believed them to be true,” it continues. “Smartmatic and its officers began to receive hate mail and death threats. Smartmatic’s clients and potential clients began to panic. The company’s reputation for providing transparent, auditable, and secure election technology and software was irreparably harmed. Overnight, Smartmatic went from an under-the-radar election technology and software company with a track record of success to the villain in Defendants’ disinformation campaign.”

    • R C Dean

      *serves subpoena on SmartMatic that fills two three ring binders*

  57. DEG

    The recall could still fail to qualify. The deadline to certify is March 17, and the campaign is still operating on a shoestring budget by statewide campaign standards, relying on volunteers and some paid mail to collect the 1.5 million valid signatures they need. Proponents claim they have 1.3 million total signatures, still a ways off the nearly 2 million they will likely need to compensate for invalid signatories.

    This is worrisome. Pimpin’ the Website.

    • KSuellington

      Thanks for pimpin’. I think they will need at least a couple hundred thousand more than the 1.5 million as those signatures are going to be treated in the exact opposite way as mail in ballots. They will be scrutinized down to the upmost detail. I thought it was a longshot months ago, and still don’t think it is a shoe in, but it is highly likely to happen. If they can keep up the present rate it will happen.

  58. db

    The FAA published the first Presidential TFR of the Biden administration, for his trip to Delaware this weekend. Presidential TFRs have been a thorny subject for a long time, causing real disruption to people’s private travel plans as well as flight schools, FBOs, and entire small airports that see their businesses heavily curtailed anytime a President chooses to travel. They are particularly bad in the areas that Presidents call “home” because they tend to be rather frequent. Given Biden’s long time habit of commuting between DC and his home in Delaware, it’s expected by some that these will be even more frequent than under Trump and Obama.

    What was unexpected was the greatly increased scope of the TFRs, which is now revealed in the actual text: https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_1_1424.html

    Some highlights: These TFRs usually comprise a central “core” area which is essentially a no-fly zone for most private operators, 10 nautical miles in diameter, surrounded by a 30-nautical mile outer ring which is less restrictive, but still requires contact with ATC and discrete transponder codes. Both areas extend up to 17999 ft MSL. In these areas, all flight training, practice instrument approaches, agricultural flights such as crop dusting, mapping, and other private uses are prohibited or heavily curtailed.

    In Biden’s case, the “core” area has been expanded to 12 nautical miles. Additionally, new restrictions requiring all passengers and crew to have undergone TSA security checks (which is nearly unprecedented for private flights), and *banning* gift wrapped packages and all firearms, even in checked luggage, have been added.

    This is a major change to past FAA procedures for Presidential TFRs, and will cause serious disruption of private flying in the area around Wilmington, DE. The 30 nm ring extends well over a number of frequently used small and regional airports in the Philadelphia area.

    • rhywun

      Shouldn’t he be commuting on Amtrak One?

      • db

        Regardless of the mode of transportation, the Presidential TFRs follow them around. Usually, they travel by air and so the TFRs are centered on major airports or locations of speeches, visits, etc. that are close to the airport. Based on the fact that the TFR is centered on Wilmington and there is no TFR between there and the DC SFRA/FRZ, I’d expect he’s taking Marine One to Wilmington.

      • Not Adahn

        Oh God please let him get his own armored train.

      • Nephilium

        Speaking of that… there have been breathless headlines here that Amtrak may be adding up to THREE new routes in Ohio.

        I honestly had no idea where the hell the Amtrak station was in Cleveland, and I’ve lived here my entire life. I found it when I was contemplating trying to bike the GAP over the summer to use up vacation that was going to expire.

      • Count Potato

        Snowpiercer

    • pistoffnick

      I was on vacation in Hawaii a few years ago. I booked a flight in a glider. Then Obama decided he wanted to have a picnic with his family on the nearby beach. EVERYTHING was shut down. I at least got a refund, but the glider company lost out on a full day of paying customers.

      When Trump or Pence came to Doloot, the restrictions were just terrible. I work at the airport. We couldn’t be on the tarmac at all. During the time Trump was supposed to touch down, we weren’t even supposed to walk from our building to our cars in the parking lot.

      Just crazy. They are not kings.

      • db

        Exactly. It’s completely paranoid. A 30 nautical mile radius is an incredibly large area. Even 10 nautical miles is plenty of time to notice a private plane heading straight for a certain point, especially, if you know where to look. It’s entirely security theater.

      • Pope Jimbo

        In 2008 I was working at a job where the company offices were just south of the MSP airport. During the campaign season lots of our betters kept flying in to campaign and raise money (GOP and Dems).

        A road that I took to the office was often closed. The thing that really stunk was that there was no way to get off the road once you were on it or turn around. So you got to sit there for hours before they would open traffic back up.

      • Rat on a train

        I’ve been confined to an office because of a VIP visit. Confined included no restrooms without approval from the security manager.

      • UnCivilServant

        Nobody’s that important. Throw the security detail from the roof.

      • Rat on a train

        They were Congress critters.

      • UnCivilServant

        They’re not worth security details, they’re not even worth bothering spitting on.

      • Rat on a train

        Government office. We also had the agency head come to our office to speak. We had to clear a section for him. He had a security detail to keep the proles at a comfortable distance. He was an ass, so I understand the concern that one of the government employees might attack him.

      • Agent Cooper

        Very Insidious People?

      • Urthona

        Was he president? fine.

        i can’t handle how they get this kind of protection for life though. it’s ridiculous.

      • Rat on a train

        I don’t recall the year or who it was for, but the biggest WTF I experienced was a train stoppage. The VRE left Union Station on time. We stopped somewhere in DC for about 45 minutes for a VIP convoy. The convoy route went under a bridge we pass over.

    • db

      Oh, and not only are passengers and crew required to have TSA security checks, they’re required to be done at several predesignated outlying airports, so every flight into the TFR will have to make a stop outside the TFR. AND–TSA will not be staffing all of these airports continuously, so it’s up to the pilot to figure out when it’s possible to get checked, and possibly to have to fly far out of their way to do so.

    • Dr Mossy Lawn

      My usual route south is right over KILG, so I will see tomorrow where they are going to route my IFR flight plan. I often had to file or route around the Bedminster TFRs. The computer would spit out D-> SBJ D->. but when you called for your clearance you would get routed around the 30 mile border.

      The TSA security checks are not unprecedented.. (yes the 12 mile ring is new) They have been in place since 9/11. Gateway airports with full TSA screening were used for GWB, BHO, and Trump anywhere the covered airport was too big to shut down (PBI) (KMVI). Firearms have been banned, this is a first for gift wrapped packages… I’m surprised the X-ray isn’t enough.

      https://nbaa.org/aircraft-operations/airspace/alerts/pbi-businesses-severely-impacted-potus-tfrs/

      • db

        I saw a reply from you the other day about your Bravo. I have an older 201 that I’m flying these days. Great airplanes, the Mooneys!

      • db

        I have not seen these types of restrictions before, when, say Trump or Obama came to the Pittsburgh area. Is it simply because he maintains a residence in Wilmington?

      • Dr Mossy Lawn

        They have been standard for GWB during any NYC visit.. I don’t fly around TX so I didn’t watch the Waco TFR. BHO and GWB both messed up the NYC area with all of the UN speeches… The entire Class B was covered in the TFR. Then the Martha’s Vineyard TFR.. you had to gateway at Hyannis, or Grouton.

        PBI for Trump, and the Bedminster TFR didn’t have any exceptions because Solberg and Somerset were “too small to matter”. So they just shut them down.

        For 1 day events (like campaigning) they don’t give exceptions.. so PIT was closed to GA (other than the TwelveFive etc guys). They only have the exceptions for multi day vacations. ACG would be outside of the 10mile ring so it wouldn’t be closed.

        If you have a Mooney, do you attend the Summit?.
        https://www.mooneysummit.com/

      • db

        As far as I know, the regular travel TFRs in the PIT area have not included the TSA screening requirements nor restrictions on cargo or personal items. I’m guessing for some reason it has to do with the fact the VIP in question maintains a residence in the area and travels there frequently.

        I have not attended the Summit. I purchased my Mooney in 2019, and have considered it, but am not sure of the value of doing so.

      • Dr Mossy Lawn

        They don’t include screening requirements or restrictions because our GA is forbidden, no exceptions for the short term ones.

        I’m trying to find an old TFR for PIT or other places, but they delete them.

        The mooney summit is safety oriented with lots of useful round table discussions, and talks with people who had experienced issues.

        Talks on flying to Alaska,
        Traveling the Caribbean,
        Travel to Cuba.
        Dan’s Carbon Monoxide incident. https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/online-learning/real-pilot-stories/dan-bass-accident-photos#:~:text=While%20flying%20his%20Mooney%20on,in%20the%20bitter%20February%20cold.
        Life Jackets and rafts, from a competitive sailing expert.
        Test Pilot Bob Kromer, and M20J/K spin certification.

        Things like that. I find it useful, a nice trip and a good set of people to talk with.

        I’ve synced up on MooneySpace and flown down with others.

    • Rat on a train

      I remember the disruptions at Union Station when VP Biden took Amtrak. They would stop all trains, and block all platforms for at least 30 minutes. Delays like that caused crowding in the terminal and crowding on the first trains allowed to leave. It didn’t turn people against Biden. Most are government or contractors.

  59. Festus

    OK so it got ignored on the overnite thread, here’s a song that played on the college station last night that I really dig! https://youtu.be/BhhioIHjgEg

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Not ignored. I would have to be a really privileged trusty, though, to make time for all the links here. ?

      • Festus

        I like sloppy bands! Her dead-pan is cool and she plays it left hand.

  60. The Late P Brooks

    The coming war on independent contractors

    Marty Walsh may not seem like the person to overhaul the gig economy. He spent years advocating for construction workers and less time on the intricacies of on-demand work at billion-dollar tech companies.
    But now Walsh, a former union leader and the outgoing Mayor of Boston, is on the cusp of becoming the next US Labor Secretary at a pivotal moment for the industry and the broader economy. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs as the health crisis created an economic crisis. And many turned to working with companies like Uber, Instacart, and DoorDash as a backstop for their livelihoods. Instacart alone added hundreds of thousands of contract workers last year to meet demand for grocery delivery spurred by the pandemic.
    At the same time, these companies are pushing to defend a controversial business model, one in which they treat their workers as independent contractors rather than employees who would be entitled to traditional benefits and protections such as workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, family leave, sick leave, or the right to unionize.

    ——-

    While Walsh has yet to delve extensively into the issue of app-based gig worker classification, labor experts and friends who’ve known him professionally throughout his career say they are encouraged by his background advocating for workers in the construction field, which has long dealt with the topic of misclassification.
    “In construction, when contractors started reclassifying their workers from employees to independent contractors, it was just a scam to save money,” said Mark Erlich, a fellow at the Harvard Labor and Worklife Program who formerly served as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters and who has known Walsh for roughly 20 years. “What’s different now is it’s no longer [viewed as] a ‘scam,’ it’s [positioned by the companies] as beautiful scheme — a new conception of work in which you are your own boss, have flexibility scheduling — it is actually seen as desirable.”
    The companies have long defended their business model, which was popularized by Uber during the last recession, claiming that workers have more flexibility when treated as independent contractors than employees. But there’s nothing preventing companies from offering flexibility to employees. Rather, it is a business decision — and one that critics say exploits workers in an effort to keep costs low for the companies.

    Muh cradle to grave security!

    Once they finish destroying every small independent business in the country, they can really put their heads together with responsible corporations to put the country back on track.

    They just need a good name for it, and a catchy slogan.

    • Cy

      They’ve got to crush contractors to get more tax revenue, hamper anyone who doesn’t already have at least 50 employees and force the hourly minimum wages.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Maybe if someone hadn’t added so many regulations around regular employees….?

    • Rebel Scum

      They don’t want you to actually be able to watch it.

      • Count Potato

        Looks like it called Absolute Proof

        https://michaeljlindell.com/

        It’s misspelled on YouTube.

      • Count Potato

        Also, nothing on OAN’s page.

        And it’s two hours not three hours.

    • rhywun

      Maybe the Post’s editorial page will mention it. Their news department has been skin-suited by the DNC.

  61. The Late P Brooks

    In Biden’s case, the “core” area has been expanded to 12 nautical miles. Additionally, new restrictions requiring all passengers and crew to have undergone TSA security checks (which is nearly unprecedented for private flights), and *banning* gift wrapped packages and all firearms, even in checked luggage, have been added.

    You can’t be too careful. Domestic terrorism has reached epidemic scale.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Now that private flights are going to be chock full of TSA fun, how long before the Elite who have skipped the TSA bullshit by using private flights find a new “Exclusive Flights” mode of travel which also is TSA free?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Maybe pissing off those with money and power will lead to needed change in the right direction.

      • db

        As far as I can tell, it’s not all private flights, just those that will land at airports within the lateral boundaries of the Presidential TFR.

      • Dr Mossy Lawn

        Only KILG and New Garden… and that is new.. with the previous ones only the towered airport was allowed an exception.. The smaller airports were just shut down.

        But who pays the fees at Newark and Dulles?… Do I have to pay Signature $50 for the privilege of sitting on their ramp, or will TSA have their own ramp space?.

      • Dr Mossy Lawn

        I’m sad that we can no longer fly into DCA. I had done that two times in the past, and it was really nice to fly down the Anacostia take the metro and be on the mall in just a few minutes.

        I would like them to include gateway inspection and the DC3 rules to allow access to DCA.

        Now, you *CAN* do it… it just requires a full security screening, and hiring an armed security officer to sit in your plane.. to I suppose shoot the pilot? if you don’t follow the rules?

      • db

        That seems like…a tough decision for the officer.

  62. Stinky Wizzleteats

    More info on the FBI photo with the naked black guy in it. It’s a meme apparently, a photo of a deceased male porn star:

    https://youtu.be/JWaI0os4Wnw

    • Urthona

      You must not social media much (good for you) lol. that’s a really common meme.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Ah, gotcha. This site is as close to social media as I get.

  63. The Late P Brooks

    Now that private flights are going to be chock full of TSA fun, how long before the Elite who have skipped the TSA bullshit by using private flights find a new “Exclusive Flights” mode of travel which also is TSA free?

    You don’t think NetJets will get a wave-through?

    • Dr Mossy Lawn

      Netjets and their ilk are part of the TwelveFive security program. So they are exempt if they arrive from certain airports.. and not at others.

  64. The Late P Brooks

    Smartmatic accused the defendants of participating in a cynical campaign to capitalize off the election

    Whoa, whoa, whoa!

    You’re fucking killing me.