Wednesday Morning Links

by | Feb 24, 2021 | Daily Links | 418 comments

Good morning my Glibs and Gliberinas!  And what a beautiful morning it always is!

 

Democrats are still batshit crazy.

 

Yup, still crazy.

 

Good start.

 

States set for clash with Biden over allowing dudes to play girl sports.

 

Tiger Woods recovering after sustaining serious injuries in a car crash.

 

That’s all I got for today.  I’ll be spending the next few days moving into a house that took forever to close on thanks to an underwriter who tortured us for weeks.  I’ll leave you with a song and move along with my back-breaking day.

About The Author

Banjos

Banjos

Wife of sloopy, mother to three bright, curious, and highly active young girls. Perpetually exhausted.

418 Comments

  1. rhywun

    States set for clash with Biden over allowing dudes to play girl sports.

    There isn’t enough popcorn in the world for watching this unfold.

    • juris imprudent

      And this is precisely why it is significant that there was no blue wave in the last election. Had the Dems made gains at the state level, this resistance would not materialize. This gives the Republicans the opportunity to both re-affirm the relevance of the state level against federal encroachment, and to oppose this insanity – which will be popular with the vast majority of Americans. Of course those who suck the tailpipe of CNN and Twitter will still insist that THEY represent the great majority of the American people. Such stupid fucks are soon to get bitch-slapped by reality.

      Go harder and faster left oh sanctimonious stupid left-tards – your holy cause demands it! Really, you can drag everyone along with you kicking and screaming – they’ll eventually see the utopia you promise! No pay no attention to ANY warning signs – that’s just the devil trying to trick you!

      • AlexinCT

        This gives the Republicans the opportunity to both re-affirm the relevance of the state level against federal encroachment

        Good luck with that.. The team red establishment will make a lot of noise, but they are not blocking what team blue wants, cause they want it too.

      • SDF-7

        Yup… first thing that entered my mind — “What, like the Georgia Secretary of State?!?”

      • juris imprudent

        You seriously think Team Red Establishment is down with this insanity? I mean, there’s plenty of stupid there I’ll grant you – but THAT kind of stupid?

      • Bobarian LMD

        You can always count on Team Stupid to actually support Social Conservatism, vice the tepid support of Fiscal Conservatism.

  2. Timeloose

    Morning all. The great thaw is beginning. No more snow please.

    • Nephilium

      We’ve still got some snow predicted in the 10 day forecast, which is as accurate as political polling.

      • Timeloose

        It’s supposed to be a chance of snow on Sat, but it will likely be rain. Highs in the 40’s.

      • Nephilium

        Monday is when we’re supposed to get snow, high in the 30’s. On the bright side, it may actually be dry and warm enough to get a ride in on Sunday. Highs in the 50’s, just rain on Saturday morning.

      • Timeloose

        I usually get what you get about 24 hours later.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Sorry about the herpes.

      • Timeloose

        I hear it’s like luggage, you keep it forever.

      • Bobarian LMD
  3. Old Man With Candy

    Gas crossed the $3 mark here yesterday. Thanks, President Biden!

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I imagine a fair amount of that increase is refinery shutdowns from the ice storm in Texas. But Biden certainly ain’t helpin’.

      • R C Dean

        It started going up long before the storm.

      • Old Man With Candy

        In Tucson, maybe, their gas comes from Texas. Phoenix gets its gas from California refineries.

      • AlexinCT

        My gas prices in the People’s Republic of CT steadily climbed up some 35 cents from December 2020 to the end of January 2021. It jumped another 20 cents this past week because of Texas. It will keep going up as the green energy people do their thing and get us back to the Obama days where they tell us you can’t drill your way out of energy dependence on OPEC and other entities that hate the US. My move to buy a bunch of fossil feul stock back when I saw the election was basically fortified for Biden, seems to be a good move.

      • Drake

        NJ is up about 50 cents a gallon this year.

      • Old Man With Candy

        We’re up close to a dollar.

      • R C Dean

        National average 11/09: $2.18

        National average 02/22: $2.71, an increase of $0,53 or 24%.

        Grain of salt: national average a year ago was $2.55.

    • Swiss Servator

      Wha? OK, fat. *cancels pipelines and fracking*

      • juris imprudent

        Hunter assured him that pipes should only be used for cracking.

    • DrOtto

      I went long on Valero (VLO) beginning in March when it was in the low $30s and gas was cheap. When Biden got elected, I started buying even more aggressively despite friends saying I was nuts. It’s at $75 now. Same reason Gore was in Occidental oil when he was banging the drum loudly. Not exactly Gamestop returns, but I’ll take it. This is not financial advice and I am not a broker. I like the stonk.

    • juris imprudent

      Talk about who is serving Putin’s interests! Higher oil prices aren’t benefiting us.

  4. Festus

    Fucking Dems. Trumpario Est Delenda. Do they really mean to salt the earth? Sorry Banjos, I’ll read the rest of the links just now. Fuck.

    • Festus

      Mornin’ to you!

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Sir F, your weekend replacement sounds like a doofus. That door code excuse shouldn’t have happened twice, let alone four times.

      • Festus

        TOG! Thanks for remembering! Yeah, she’s a contractor so she gets paid regardless. It’s all bullshit but we can’t find good workers that can pass the smell test. It pisses me off to no end that I need to run around after her cleaning up her messes no matter how charming she seems. She’s like one of those girls from high school that really needs the answers for the quiz and bums a smoke in the the pit. I’m a sucker for ego-strokes. Always have been, and when it comes to the ladies, always will be. Good God I hope I die before I need to be put in a care home.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Paid regardless, eh?

        Unkie Milt, tell me the story about moral hazard again?

      • Surly Knott

        Paid regardless? How the f*k does that work?
        Whenever I was a contractor I got paid by the hour and my time accounting was monitored. Or is this ‘contracted’ as in ‘you pay us this much, we send you warm bodies’?

      • Festus

        Yep. Really sloppy. They ignore me for months at a time and then everything is under the microscope. It has more to do with turnover at the top end.

  5. Scruffy Nerfherder

    I had similar but not as serious injuries as Tiger had at a much younger age. He’s got a long road to recovery in front of him. I’d say his pro golf days are over.

    • Festus

      I loathe him for his lack of sportsmanship but I don’t wish that on anyone. Jack is kind of a cunte, too.

    • bacon-magic

      Were you headline news for 2 days over it?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I made the blotter, does that count?

      • bacon-magic

        Double dipped white blotter?

    • The Other Kevin

      If Seabiscuit can do it, so can Tiger.

  6. l0b0t

    Good morning Banjos. Thank you for taking the time to bring us links when y’all are facing such a n unpleasant task. I hate moving. Everytime I do it, I swear “this is the house I’m gonna die in”, but it never is.

    • Swiss Servator

      Well, shucks, if that is your goal…it can be arranged. *slaps scope on rifle*

      • Festus

        Swiss narrows gaze.

      • l0b0t

        I really, really want one of these FG-42 reproductions with the brass scope – https://youtu.be/-IEvPXof9UY

  7. Rebel Scum

    Democratic Senators including Elizabeth Warren and Mazie Hirono introduced the “Anti-Racism in Public Health Act of 2021,” which would establish a Center on Antiracism at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    They are the party of racism, after all.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Imagine being locked in a room with those two.

      *shudder*

      • UnCivilServant

        That depends, will I be prosecuted for enacting vigilante justice?

      • Rat on a train

        Stage a mostly peaceful protest.

      • AlexinCT

        You will be made to “service” them ladies UCS.. With your tongue.

    • Festus

      I’m a late middle-aged white man with reasonable English skills and I can’t parse that sentence. So the virus attacks melanin? Everybody overdose on Vitamin D? I’m about done with this, folks. Howsabout you?

      • Rat on a train

        Shouldn’t the FBI be the agency prosecuting COVID for its disparate impact?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        It means they’re going to screw over white folks to level the playing field. You’re Canadian, certainly you’re familiar with “The Trees.”

    • Nephilium

      Shit I remember some story that was talking about systemic racism and referencing items such as heart rate trackers that used LEDs. Since darker skin was harder to read the pulse through, the data wasn’t as good, which of course was the fault of the manufacturers.

      • Nephilium

        Better off Ted was taken before its time!

      • Agent Cooper

        “Since darker skin was harder to read the pulse through, the data wasn’t as good, which of course was the fault of the manufacturers.”

        Well, they should’ve actually tested in on different shades of skin. I mean, that’s actually a big deal with respect to how the product functions.

      • Nephilium

        This wasn’t for hospital equipment, but Fitbits, Apple watches, and the like.

    • Akira

      Center on Antiracism at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

      Didn’t the CDC do a real shit job of handling this latest outbreak of infectious disease? Seems like the prudent course of action would be to find out why they failed at that so hard, not expand their scope to even more things that have nothing to do with infectious diseases (along with obesity, cigarette smoking, and gun violence).

      • Not Adahn

        Ah, but since antiracism can’t be disproved by empiricism, this enables CDC to do something where they will never be wrong!

  8. Tundra

    Good morning, Banjos!

    And congrats on the new casa. I fucking hate moving, so you have my sympathy. Our last was in 2007 and was only a couple miles away, but it’s still a pita. Good luck.

    Dudes playing chick sports is retarded and wrong. Does that make me a bigot?

    Looks like the Genesis SUV did a pretty good job. I lament the feds over-regulating vehicles, but there is just no doubt they are structurally safer all the time. I wonder if this is the end of Tiger’s career, though. Sounds like a nasty injury.

    Drive safely, peeps. And have a great day!

    • The Vacatious GT

      At my previous job more than twenty years ago, I supported engineers who designed airbags. Some were working on developing the leg & lower body protecting bags, and one I spoke to had been researching NHTSA stats about accident injuries & fatalities. I recall him mentioning that since the introduction of standard steering wheel and dashboard-mounted airbags, drivers were still suffering some severe leg and lower-body injuries, but before the original airbags had been introduced, those injuries didn’t matter so much because the drivers were also dead.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Why are you treating the corpse for a broken ankle?”

    • juris imprudent

      I don’t like moving and Mrs. JI positively loathes it. But I’m still working on her for us to abandon PA after I retire.

  9. Rebel Scum

    House Democrats push TV carriers to stop hosting Fox, OAN, and Newsmax, citing ‘misinformation’

    “Misinformation”, such as lying about Russian collusion for years, lying about the president calling ne-nazis and white-supremes “very fine people”, lying about the death of several different black people at the hands of law enforcement, lying about an “insurrection” that never happened, lying about the circumstances of the death of a capitol police officer…etc.?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Those are different…

      • juris imprudent

        The difference between fake news and The Narrative is who is pushing it.

  10. Scruffy Nerfherder

    It’s back…

    SJWednesday: All Your Dollars Are Belong To Us

    “Well, I’m conservative, but I’m not one of those racist, homophobic, dripping-with-hate Tea Party bigots! I’m pro-choice! I’m pro-same-sex-marriage! I’m not a racist! I just want lower taxes, and smaller government, and less government regulation of business. I’m fiscally conservative and socially liberal.”

    How many liberals and progressives have heard this? It’s ridiculously common. Hell, even David Koch of the Koch brothers has said, “I’m a conservative on economic matters, and I’m a social liberal.”

    And it’s wrong. W-R-O-N-G Wrong.

    You can’t separate fiscal issues from social issues. They’re deeply intertwined. They affect each other. Economic issues often are social issues. And conservative fiscal policies do enormous social harm.

    That’s true even for the mildest, most generous version of “fiscal conservatism” – low taxes, small government, reduced regulation, a free market.

    These policies perpetuate human rights abuses. They make life harder for people who already have hard lives.

    Even if the people supporting these policies don’t intend this, the policies are racist, sexist, classist (obviously), ableist, homophobic, transphobic, and otherwise socially retrograde.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      When equality of outcome is your primary concern this is the kind of dreck you’ll get. They don’t idolize the equal misery of Cuba or Venezuela for nothing.

    • Mad Scientist

      Even if the people supporting these policies don’t intend this, the policies are racist, sexist, classist (obviously), ableist, homophobic, transphobic, and otherwise socially retrograde.

      So leaving people alone is bad. Fascinating.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Leaving people alone means differential achievement and we can’t have that.

      • rhywun

        That’s because people are too stupid to make their own decisions.

      • juris imprudent

        You must tongue the right assholes.

    • robc

      Halfway thru, I was expecting a conservative who couldn’t support socially liberal positions, but surprise, surprise, it went the other way (I don’t know why I expected something else).

      This is part of why I hate when people describe libertarians as socially liberal, fiscally conservative. One, i find that people that say that usually will sell out the fiscal conservatism at the first chance. I prefer socially libertarians and fiscally libertarian. Which means, in some sense, I agree with that person, you can’t really split the two apart.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      You can’t separate fiscal issues from social issues.

      What does pro-choice really mean then?

      • UnCivilServant

        Murdering babies and protecting criminals.

      • juris imprudent

        What does pro-choice really mean then?

        I am not responsible for the consequences of my actions!

      • Festus

        ^^^ This. I had a few friends that had abortions when they were teens. Nearly all of them are pro-life now. Babbies!

    • Rebel Scum

      low taxes, small government, reduced regulation, a free market.

      These policies perpetuate human rights abuses.

      Economic freedom is racist. Better we have close collusion between the state and corporate America with strict social and economic regimentation of the population. I wonder if there is a term for that.

      • Rat on a train

        And governments never perpetuate human rights abuses.

      • rhywun

        I wonder if there is a term for that.

        “Democracy”, apparently.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      I’ll be waiting patiently on the explanation of how.

  11. KromulentKristen

    66 degrees forecast today. ????

      • Tundra
      • Tres Cool

        Well, when you’re hot

      • I'm Here To Help

        Forecast here has us hitting 90 this weekend. Way too early in the year for it to be that hot – we have 7-8 months of summer ahead for us, and I really don’t want to extend those to February/March as well!

  12. Jerms

    Congrats on the house and good luck with the move.

  13. Tundra

    I don’t remember reading anything about this story:

    Philip Haney Not Resting in Peace

    “The Amador County Sheriff’s Office is the agency conducting the death investigation mentioned below and should be contacted directly,” the FBI public affairs office replied in an email, which did provide one detail of significance. This was a “death investigation,” similar to the sheriff’s report that Mr. Haney was “found deceased,” as though he had died of natural causes or in an accident. As the Ledger Dispatch reported, Haney told friends that if he wound up dead “It won’t be from a suicide.”

    Somebody shot Haney dead, and as the Amador sheriff noted on February 24, 2020, “Unfortunately, there was misinformation immediately being put out that we have determined Mr. Haney’s death to be a suicide. This is not the case.” The sheriff was in possession of Haney’s vehicle and “the firearm located at the scene.” No information on the type of firearm and no customary designation of a “crime scene.” This type of evasion showed up in early reports on the case.

    Don’t cross the Emperor.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      The Democrats are just returning to form. How many did LBJ knock off?

      • The Last American Hero

        Are we counting SE Asian Adventure fatalities or just domestic ones?

      • Fourscore

        A lot of each…

  14. The Late P Brooks

    “Right-wing media outlets, like Newsmax, One America News Network (OANN), and Fox News all aired misinformation about the November 2020 elections,” McNerney and Eshoo wrote. “These same networks also have been key vectors of spreading misinformation related to the pandemic.”

    Henceforth all news will be provided by the Ministry of Truth.

    • Festus

      Nice pull, Banjos! That is a lovely song from a bloated double-album. Seems to me that Smashing Pumpkins did the same thing at the same time and after a flurry of listening we were all like C’mon, Man… Corn Pop was a bad dude!

    • Not Adahn

      “It only violates the first amendment if it is a law passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president!”

      -Twitter 1A lawyers

      • Festus

        Basement lawyers > Hi-rise lawyers > Trailer Park lawyers

    • Rebel Scum

      misinformation related to the pandemic

      Dr. Fauxchi / the CDC / the WHO / the CCP could not be reached for comment.

    • R C Dean

      Remember the morning after the election, when I think it was 150 “experts” immediately announced it was clean and secure? Before they could possibly know that? Like somebody knew in advance there would be questions and had the announcement pre-loaded? And it was run on all the DemOp Media outlets?

      Not misinformation, no sirree.

  15. Rebel Scum

    In preparation of the Biden administration passing potential anti-gun legislation, a county in Missouri passed an ordinance which would invalidate the federal government from infringing on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens.

    So what you are saying is that the county is run by anti-government, extremist, white-supremacists.

    • Festus

      Triple threat. So xer can act, dance and sing?

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Shoot, rebound, and dribble.

  16. Rufus the Monocled

    America is careening right off into a tree. Like Tiger Woods.

    Speaking of which, was he wearing a mask?

    People who voted for Biden to get rid of Trump used the same idiotic logic Canadians did with Harper. Now look at Canada. it’s a disaster.

    Biden is worse than Justin. There. I said it.

    • DrOtto

      After the Keystone pipeline cancellation, Justin may agree.

    • Festus

      Funny, Trudeau lies by omission and Biden lies straight to your face. He comes out of his lair every morning and “wood-chucks” his complacent media machine and then some underling pops up in the afternoon to explain the situation. We’re fucked, muppet.

  17. Rebel Scum

    A similar piece of legislation entitled the ” Mississippi Fairness Act” was passed by the Mississippi state Senate the same week. Under that law, all state primary schools and universities would be ordered “to designate its athletic teams or sports according to biological sex.”

    There can’t be anything more fair than allowing men to run roughshod over women in competitive sports.

    • Rat on a train

      Compete with whom you like. Scores aren’t recorded. Everyone gets a first place trophy for being the best they can be.

      • Agent Cooper

        Actually I favor just having 3 divisions: mens, womens, and open. Open is what it says it is — open to anyone who wants to compete against anyone else.

      • Rat on a train

        You only need two. Open and womens.

      • Hyperion

        Sounds racist to me. Everyone should also get a trophy for being the worst they can be. And also a trophy for just not giving a shit.

      • Animal

        And also a trophy for just not giving a shit.

        I’d ask where we can enter that competition, but, meh.

      • Rat on a train

        No need. Everyone gets the same trophy regardless of level of participation.

      • Hyperion

        I see many shitlords at the top of that category.

      • Tres Cool

        Jesus H. Koresh. Its like someone captured Steve Smith and shaved him down.

      • Agent Cooper

        That woman is 50 years old. But that story is also from 8 years ago.

      • Hyperion

        That’s Marilyn Manson on steroids.

    • juris imprudent

      Listen to the TERF here!

    • The Last American Hero

      I have the opposite take. The train has left the station, so we need to just eliminate women’s/men’s sports distinctions and let the left choke on the giant shit-sandwich they’ve promoted.

      • Not Adahn

        Is Title IX cool with that?

      • R C Dean

        As written?

        “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

        I don’t see a problem at all. In fact, Title IX was passed in order to address the discrepancy between men’s and women’s sports, and is nothing more or less than trying to make “separate” into “equal”. Get rid of “separate”, and “equal” is automatic.

        As applied? No freaking way.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    This looks like a job for the Ministry of Plenty

    President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday to review the global supply chains used by four key industries in an effort to avoid the shortages in medical equipment, semiconductors and other goods seen as critical during the pandemic.

    China reliance targeted: Biden’s order will institute 100-day reviews of the global producers and shippers for: computer chips used in consumer products; large-capacity batteries for electric vehicles; pharmaceuticals and their active ingredients; and critical minerals used in electronics.

    The reviews will seek to determine whether U.S. firms in these sectors are relying too much on foreign suppliers, particularly those in China, a senior administration official told reporters. They will also consider other vulnerabilities, like extreme weather and environmental factors.

    “Clearly we are looking at the risks posed by dependence on competitor nations, but that is only one of a range of risks we are looking at,” the administration official said.

    The order will also direct yearlong reviews for six sectors: defense, public health, information technology, transportation, energy and food production.

    I could swear some other President was talking about bringing strategic production home. I wonder what ever happened to him.

    • DrOtto

      Hunter is being put in charge of “pharmaceuticals and their active ingredients”.

    • Tejicano

      Great! So can I suppose he’s gonna help with the ammunition supply chain so we can start seeing lower prices on ammo? That would come under “defense” wouldn’t it? Come on, help a brother out over here.

    • Hyperion

      Except that the other president was serious.

      Chiney Jo is going to do exactly what his CCP masters tell him to do.

  19. db

    Kids expelled from Catholic School because of their mom’s OnlyFans. It’s not even X rated.

    Reportedly she’s pulling in $150k per month.

    I don’t have a problem with a church/school policing its members according to its principles. Seems like poor judgment on her part, but $150,000 a month buys a few private school tuitions, I imagine.

    • Mad Scientist

      The mother says she will continue to post on her OnlyFans and seeks to enroll her kids in another Catholic school, one that’s less “judgmental.”

      Uh……

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        She needs to claim it’s a racial justice issue. There are plenty of Catholic schools that have bought into that.

      • Nephilium

        Maybe she can get super-Catholic Biden’s endorsement for a good solid Catholic school, I mean, look how his kids turned out…

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Expelling the kids seems pretty shitty although she was apparently trying to monetize the controversy and I can’t blame them too much for wanting to cut ties.

    • Tundra

      Lol. Jealous ugly moms.

      Also wood.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        She seems like fun.

      • Festus

        1/2 second glance, you betcha!

    • AlexinCT

      Fucking anti-capitalist cuntes in Rome…

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      At $1.8m p.a. gross, surely she could afford tutoring.

    • juris imprudent

      She’s got a stripper name to boot!

  20. robc

    Big baseball birthday date: HoFers Honus Wagner and Eddie Murray. Then Wilbur Cooper, Mike Lowell, and Bronson Arroyo. Arroyo surprisingly has 23.4 WAR.

    Wagner is over 130 WAR, which is enormous. His five year peak (1905-1909) is 49.2 WAR.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Eddie was terrific, but for whatever reason, never got the Orioles fan love that people like Brooks and Frank did.

      • robc

        Both Robinsons were better players, but Brooks was close enough they should have been on reasonably equal levels. Frank was just on an entirely different level than either.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Hmmm, I’d disagree. Brooks’s batting was very good, occasionally great, but not top tier, but… his fielding put him in a different class than just about anyone.

        Frank, of course, was Willie Mays good.

        Other players that fans there just plain loved more were Rick Dempsey and Boog Powell. I was a big Davey Johnson admirer, as were many other Orioles fans, and Angelos firing him ensured the succeeding decades of mediocrity.

      • robc

        Eddie was a better hitter, but Brooks was a much better batter.

        WAR says Brooks 78.4 total, 47.7 offense, 39.1 defense (sum doesn’t add up because positional adjustment is in both).
        Murray is 62.2 off, -11.6 def, 68.7 total.

      • robc

        s/batter/fielder/

      • Jerms

        As far as hitting goes i would bet Eddie is closer to Frank than Brooks.

      • Jerms

        Eddie never got the love because he hated the media and never paid much attention to them. Ken Singleton says he was the best teammate he ever had.
        Id take Eddie over Brooks any day.

      • Jerms

        Robc what MLB team do you root for? Do you do any fantasy baseball?

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Special bonus to that “production review” article: Ballgag Joe, alone at his desk, pen in hand, wearing a mask.

    You can’t be too cautious. That virus is wily and determined.

    It

    will

    get

    you.

    • Not Adahn

      The lining of his mask if made from the hair of an eight year old girl. He never takes it off.

      • invisible finger

        The mask is to hide the symptoms of his stroke.

  22. Rebel Scum

    Unity/Healing/etc.

    Hayes continued, “Lots of people immediately noted that the use of guns that way as props and the implicit threat that comes with them has a long and not necessarily great history for those around the globe. Osama bin Laden for one, liked to pose in front of his bookcase with a gun prominently displayed. The Irish Republican Army would display guns in its propaganda posters and murals. Cuba revolutionaries posed with guns all the time, too. No single side of the spectrum has a monopoly on this aesthetic. You can see it all over the world. It is unquestionably the aesthetic of armed struggle, of revolution or insurrection.”

    He added, “A movement or faction who puts images of guns, the celebration of guns front and center in its political aesthetic is a movement that is engaging in something that we would not call the normal rhetoric of elected democratic politics. You can’t escape the meaning of it. It communicates that they’re committed to or at the very least open to the possibility of violent overthrow of the government or the existing order. Now in the Republican Party, it seems like it’s becoming common and unremarkable. You’ll remember Marjorie Taylor Greene posed with this gun in her campaign ads next to governmental members of Congress.”

    Gun-owners are terrorists and American gun culture is terrorism. It is known.

    • juris imprudent

      That’s it LEFT-tards, don’t you let up for a second – double down, triple down, scream the message at the top of your lungs. That’s how you will lead all of America to the promised land!

    • Tejicano

      OK- got it. I’ll get a package of Depends to hand out to those for whom my lifestyle is triggering.

      Next issue!

    • Animal

      OK, there’s the wet-pants faction heard from. Next?

      • R C Dean

        I believe the filled-diaper faction is next on the agenda. Followed by clutched-pearls and can’t-even.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      That’s…. an astute observation.

      • UnCivilServant

        Obvious in hindsight.

    • Mad Scientist

      This is CNN.

    • KromulentKristen

      (in b4 pedants – they’re probably referring to gliding ability compared to other aircraft. But it’s still fuckin hilarious & very, very CNN)

      • Cy Esquire

        Well after years of Obama and now Biden running on the power of hope, instead of pesky things like reality, I could see why a lot of their viewers may be confused.

      • UnCivilServant

        If they don’t make it clear that they’re talking about glide profile, we still get to pick on them.

    • robodruid

      laws of physics extremist

  23. robc

    Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium gets unanimous approval from the Liverpool planning committee.

    I am sure absolutely no one else cares.

    • Mason

      I care robc, I care. And that looks like an amazing stadium.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    But how the White House will prod companies remains to be seen. If the risks are dire, the Biden administration could use the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era emergency law, to force companies to produce certain goods domestically. Or the president could work with Congress to fashion incentives and worker-training programs to get suppliers to relocate to the U.S. or allies.

    That could never devolve into a cronyist free-for-all.

    • juris imprudent

      Absolutely not any kind of free-for-all – the graft will be doled out with exquisite care to detail.

    • juris imprudent

      Can I guess his skin color and constituency? Let me go all Helen Keller on this.

      • juris imprudent

        Granted, there is nothing particularly racial in he may be a corrupt asshole, but he’s our corrupt asshole.

      • Nephilium

        I’ll give you partial credit in that the party of the esteemed corrupt asshole is not mentioned once in the story. But the rest of the council is STUNNED, STUNNED they say:

        Members of Council were stunned to learn the extent of the charges. Johnson remains on the panel, as he only has been accused of the charges. If he is convicted, he would forfeit the seat.

        “The most important thing right now is that the residents of Ward 4 receive proper representation and all of the proper services from their city,” said Kevin Kelley, Council’s president, who had been in budget hearings much of the day.

      • R C Dean

        Of course. Still voting, still cashing checks. One wonders how the residents of Ward 4 are receiving proper representation from somebody who is at least arguably representing his paymasters, not his constituents.

      • Animal

        Steal a little and they throw you in jail
        Steal a lot and they make you king

        – America’s Songwriter.

    • PieInTheSky

      it does not matter what you steal but what you get caught stealing. One of the most prominent politicians in Romania stole an estimated billion but went to jail over some thing he did to get a million or so of donations to his party

  25. The Late P Brooks

    The order comes as automakers around the U.S. reel from a global shortage in semiconductors — the computer chips in everything from cell phones to SUVs — forcing manufacturers to halt auto production for weeks.

    Risks to the battery supply chain are also apparent. Ford and Volkswagen recently told U.S. trade authorities that they would have to delay production of their new electric vehicle lines if their battery supplier — Korean firm SK Innovation — was blacklisted for intellectual property theft. The International Trade Commission subsequently blocked those batteries from entering the U.S., but gave the automakers a grace period to find new suppliers.

    Those situations both came on the heels of widespread shortages of masks and other medical protective gear early in the pandemic, which affected hospitals and average consumers alike. The White House says it aims to get out in front of those issues next time around.

    “We’re going to get out of the business of reacting to supply chain crises as they arise, and get into the business of getting ahead of future supply chain problems,” one of the senior administration officials said.

    I trust them. We all know how nimble and future-focused the federal government is.

    • Not Adahn

      Korean firm SK Innovation — was blacklisted for intellectual property theft.

      /begin nationalistic stereotyping

      Never let your Korean “parners” visit your site with prybars, becasue then they’ll steal the things that are nailed down too.

      /end nationalistic stereotyping

    • R C Dean

      This is just the setup for the ChiCom payoff. If the Biden administration doesn’t threaten them with something, there is no reason for the ChiComs to pay off the Biden administration.

  26. Not Adahn

    Ian McCollum was having a postal match. I thought this was a great idea and was going to bring the stage to my club while we still have snow.

    Then I watched it and noped right the fuck out.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4PbOnC_A8k

    • Tundra

      Are you kidding? That looks awesome!

    • Sean

      Pass.

    • l0b0t

      I concur with Tundra; adding the physical strain of throwing the weight really changes the dynamic and looks like a great deal of fun. Ian looked positively smoked after only 180 seconds.

      • Not Adahn

        It’s less to do with the exertion but rather the going prone while carrying enough 10 round mags to make it through that stage.

    • db

      That is awesome. Maybe we’ll set it up tomorrow evening.

      At our matches we often do things like requiring lifting, running, etc. One match we had competitors carry an ammo can filled with 30lb of lead from station to station. Usually we have a Halloween match in which we stretch the normal rules a bit and require even funnier stuff. Like an alien invasion stage where the shooter starts bent over a table with a satellite dish right behind them and has to get away from the table without letting the “anal probe” touch them.

    • EvilSheldon

      Ian is very big on combining shooting with physical-fitness-type challenges.

      Personally I like my shooting to be shooting, and my working out to be working out, but I do understand the attraction.

      • db

        I set up a two-gun run and gun stage once, that required about 300 yards of downrange movement, engaging targets along the way. Handgun and shotgun. I got so many complaints from shooters, but I laughed them off, because I got at least an equal number of compliments.

      • Not Adahn

        Biathalon is a thing.

      • R C Dean

        If you are simulating/training for a high-intensity gun fight, being acquainted with shooting while under physical stress seems like part of teh package.

        My shooting has a ways to go before that will be a value-added thing.

      • Suthenboy

        Rubber bullets, bring your friends and choose sides. Have gun fights.

        If you don’t have or cant find rubber bullets buy canning wax. It comes in slabs 1/2″ thick and about 3 by 5 inches.
        Use primed brass, no gun powder. Press brass into the wax cookie cutter fashion to make plugs that will stay in the brass. They will shoot through a cardboard box with just the primer for power. That is a pretty good substitute for rubber bullets. Inside 50 feet they will make you jump and leaves a substantial welt. Be sure everyone has goggles and turn everyone’s pockets inside out before you start to be certain no one stupidly shows up with live ammo. How is that for physical stress?

        That used to be my idea of weekend fun.

      • l0b0t

        As irresponsible teens only a couple of us had access to real firearms, but BB gun wars were always fun. It was meant to limited to a single pump but I did get the back window of my old Rabbit shot out during one battle. For indoor combat, black peppercorns make fine BB gun ammunition; they’re light enough to not break stuff and they generally break apart on impact.

      • Akira

        A friend who worked at Goodwill sorting donations found a bulletproof vest that somebody dropped off for some reason, so he “requisitioned” it. One night we put it on and shot each other with a BB gun (the CO2 powered kind).

        Ah, to be 16 and fucking stupid as hell.

    • Not Adahn

      I also haz a sad that the KP15 lower/WWSD 2020 rifle is illegal in NY.

      • l0b0t

        Statewide? That’s disappointing. I can just assume that any and all things that are good and fun are banned here in the Rotten Apple but, I had hoped the remainder of the state was somewhat saner.

      • UnCivilServant

        Don’t forget, downstate controls the legislature and all the statewide offices.

      • Not Adahn

        Detachable mag + pistol grip = killer death machine.

      • DEG

        So…. what you’re saying is, is I should buy some killer death machines?

    • DEG

      I just finished the video.

      My back cringed at his form tossing that kettlebell around. I also chuckled when it looked like the kettlebell was going to hit his cameraman.

      It looks like a fun match. I can’t do that at my gun club. Also, I should probably hold off from tossing kettlebells until after I’m able to squat and deadlift with a barbell.

  27. robodruid

    Does anybody have any good recommendations for history books of south and central America?

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Economic freedom is racist. Better we have close collusion between the state and corporate America with strict social and economic regimentation of the population. I wonder if there is a term for that.

    Look, everybody knows some subgroups of the human species are not as capable as others. They need help; a thumb on the scale of life, as it were. It’s not their fault. That’s just the way it is. It is the duty of enlightened white advocates and politicians to raise the inferior races out of the mire of helplessness and despair.

      • l0b0t

        Stupid babies need the MOST attention.

    • PieInTheSky

      Economic freedom is racist. – I mean everything is racist. why should economic freedom get a pass?

      • AlexinCT

        FREEDOM IS SLAVERY!

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I’m pleased that everyone else is making themselves the guinea pigs in this grand vaccine experiment.

    • Not Adahn

      WAP > WEF

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Alex Jones, whack job or prophet?

      • Rebel Scum

        Yes.

      • Suthenboy

        Performance artist.

      • R C Dean

        Well-paid and successful performance artist.

    • DEG

      I’m almost done “The Great Reset” by Klaus Schwab (WEF founder) and Thierry Malleret.

      It’s… not well written or argued.

      It’s rather dystopian in my mind.

      I took a break to read Oglaf books.

      • UnCivilServant

        I thought “What are we reading” was the last friday of the month.

      • Not Adahn

        Pick up a copy of the Xxxenophile Big Book O’ Fun.

        Holy shit, they’re over $100 now? Good thing I’ve kept my Phil Foglio books in good condition.

  29. KromulentKristen

    My oldest friend just gave her boss notice & passed her background check. She’s now officially a Smithsonian curator!

    • UnCivilServant

      Tell me she’s at least half as pedantic as we are with regards to accuracy.

      • KromulentKristen

        I saw her big exhibition at her soon-to-be former museum. I’d say she’s pretty good at her job. She’ll have far less autonomy at the Smithsonian though

    • l0b0t

      YAY!! That’s really cool. I hope she gets to take you on all sorts of hidden parts of the museum adventures.

      • KromulentKristen

        Here’s the funny thing. She and I were separated when we were 14 on account of my Pa working for a company whose acronym stands for I’ve Been Moved. We haven’t lived in the same area since then (35 years).

        Pretty much right around the time she’ll be getting ready to move to DC (she’ll be staying in Santa Fe for the time being), I’ll be getting ready to leave.

        Just the universe being consistent! So no insider tours for me unless they force me to come to DC to get my work badge or some shit.

        I did get a tour of the Peabody back in the 90s, though. That was cool!

      • R C Dean

        You’ll be mobile. No reason you can’t park in range of DC, since location isn’t an issue. I mean, its not like you’ve been banned from coming within 100 miles of DC. Right?

      • KromulentKristen

        No reason you can’t park in range of DC

        But, why?

      • R C Dean

        To get your back-stage tour of the Smithsonian?

        Hell, I’d probably travel to DC from Tucson just for that.

    • PieInTheSky

      She’s now officially a Smithsonian curator! – sounds like treehugging hippie crap to me

    • Sean

      Neat.

    • Festus

      That is the best news that I’ve heard today.

    • DEG

      That’s cool.

    • Tejicano

      But not a snow leopard. Different thing altogether.

      • PieInTheSky

        yes. a black one has shit camouflage in snow. Could not catch a single deer.

    • pistoffnick

      Nice murder kitty!

      Would not want in my house though. That dog! I would take the dog any day.

  30. Sean

    Poor Joe.

    Nearly three dozen House Democrats on Monday called on Biden to relinquish his sole authority to launch nuclear weapons, in the latest appeal to reform the command-and-control structure so that no single person can initiate a nuclear war.

    “…Vesting one person with this authority entails real risks,” states the letter spearheaded by Rep. Jimmy Panetta of California. “Past presidents have threatened to attack other countries with nuclear weapons or exhibited behavior that caused other officials to express concern about the president’s judgment.“

    • Tres Cool

      Everyone was so worried about Trump doing it, and now they’re attempting to curtail Joe’s power.
      I wonder if they realized he maybe doesnt have all his marbles ?

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I guess enough of them watched the town hall.

      • AlexinCT

        They are worried Joe could just decide to nuke the moon or something…

    • Homple

      Makes sense given Biden’s cognitive deterioratiin.

    • juris imprudent

      Considering that the sole power to declare war rests Constitutionally with Congress – this isn’t as off as we think. We’ve all been raised since WWII to think of this as normal when it really isn’t.

    • EvilSheldon

      If the Democrats are putting this on the table, then you can take it as gospel that Biden’s condition is dire indeed.

      I knew the poor bastard wasn’t going to make it to the end of his term, but I did expect him to last more than a month…

      • The Vacatious GT

        What?? They don’t trust leaving the decision to DOCTOR Jill??

    • invisible finger

      I’m reading this as Democrats want “the authority to launch nuclear weapons” spread to unelected bureaucrats. A la General Jack D. Ripper.

      • UnCivilServant

        Give Me the authority to launch nuclear weapons.

        Oh, and be prepared for a little fallout.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I think there’s a number of ways you can interpret this.

        Empowering the unelected, permanent state even further is certainly one of them.

        But I think for them to suggest it implies that their confidence in his cognitive state is nil.

  31. Semi-Spartan Dad

    J&J’s Covid-19 Vaccine Is Safe and Effective, FDA Says
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/johnson-and-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-fda-review-11614118867

    In the company’s clinical study of about 44,000 patients in the U.S., South Africa and other countries, the agency said, there were seven Covid-19 deaths among patients getting a placebo, and none among those who got the vaccine.

    That is an unvaccinated mortality rate of 0.016%. I’d point out our economy has been shutdown and countless lives destroyed over a virus with a mortality rate of 0.016%, but of course the shutdowns, banning of gatherings, and masks have nothing to do with covid.

    It falls short of a full FDA approval. Yet the FDA has nevertheless required large clinical studies, as well as following study volunteers for a median of two months following vaccination.

    I’m not really clear what the writer is saying here, but I think they’re referring to a Phase 4 trial (post-marketing surveillance). It’s beyond farce that any new investigational drug could be declared safe after a 2 month surveillance trial. Those take years.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Damn it, calculated the mortality rate out of the whole sample and not the placebo arm. Make that 0.032%.

      Still negligible even after doubling. The whole thing is unreal.

    • Hyperion

      I’d make a wager with anyone who cares to take it, that if I have enough dollars to pay lobbyists, FDA crones, and to pay off congress critters, that I can sell heroin in vending machines at pre-schools and get it declared safe and effective.

    • R C Dean

      following study volunteers for a median of two months following vaccination

      This does not fill me with confidence.

  32. PieInTheSky

    Seeing all the lockdowns, Romania may be shithole but gyms opened in June and never closed.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Do you want a million vaccinations per day, or don’t you?

    A national health care provider has administered COVID-19 vaccinations to people deemed ineligible for the scarce vaccine by local health departments, including people with connections to company leaders and customers of its concierge medical service, according to internal communications leaked to NPR.

    San Francisco-based One Medical has been allocated thousands of vaccine doses by local health departments in some of the areas they provide medical services. Ineligible individuals with connections to company leadership were set up with vaccine appointments, and patients who were disqualified from receiving the vaccine were nonetheless permitted to skip the line ahead of other high-risk patients.

    The problems have occurred in numerous company locations across several states. The Washington State Department of Health, citing a complaint it received this month, told NPR it had halted COVID-19 vaccine distribution to the company. Other regulators have also received complaints or stopped providing the vaccine.

    ——-

    One Medical’s shortcomings take place amid broader anecdotal evidence that suggests patients throughout the country are skipping the line due in part to loose enforcement. The situation highlights a serious ethical issue: Determining who is entitled to a vaccine at a time of scarce availability and who is responsible for enforcing eligibility rules.

    Experts say an appropriate system for vaccine distribution focuses on first targeting those most at risk for serious consequences from COVID-19. “We’re trying to focus on those individuals who are most likely to develop severe illness or death, and to most likely be exposed to the virus,” said Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, who teaches medical ethics and health policy at the Baylor College of Medicine. “The overall goal is to save as many lives as possible, and with that we are not valuing any life over another.”

    Apparently not.

    We value chaos and incompetence and persnickety micromanagement of our snake oil distribution agenda too much to just let doctors and nurses roll up their sleeves and give it to anybody who walks in the door. We’d rather have delays and quibbling.

    • wdalasio

      How dare they let their customers jump in line ahead of the people the political class has decided gets to jump in line?!

      An acquaintance of mine is a teacher’s aide in NYC. She got her second shot about a month ago. She sits in an office in the DOE building (doing who knows what). About the only medical reason anyone could possibly decide she should get preferential treatment is the fact that she’s a fat f**k.

      • UnCivilServant

        People with comorbidities are at higher risk, so old and fat bastard are similar risk factors.

      • wdalasio

        If she got it because she was a fat bastard, I’d say maybe okay. She got it because she’s “an educator”.

      • Not Adahn

        In NY, a BMI>30 makes you eligible for the vaccine.

      • CPRM

        My ‘essential job’ makes me eligible for the vaccine, fine, they told me so at work. Then I get a text during the day that wakes me up while I’m sleeping for my ‘essential job’ to again tell me I’m eligible for the vaccine. I hate this reality, I want to go to the Berenstein Bears reality.

      • kinnath

        My younger sister got her first shot last week. She works in administration for the school district. So she’s essential.

      • Hyperion

        Well, without public school employees, how can we ensure that the kids stay stupid enough to grow up and vote democrat? Sounds essential to me.

    • R C Dean

      I was sure that was the Bee.

      • Agent Cooper

        It’s my own (not) well-read nor respected fake news creation.

      • Not Adahn

        The Heath Ledger? I’ve read that before, many times.

  34. PieInTheSky

    Question on religious freedom for the glibbies:

    In Romanian orthodox church, baptism implies stripping a baby naked and dunking it 3 times in a special tub of water (usually gold plated to signify the church not caring for material things.)

    Now usually the baby cries being dunked by a strange bearded man, but accidents are very rare. Recently, a 3 month baby died after taking in too much water during the christening. Died pretty painfully at that. Now there are calls for the church to change the dunking and do it more catholic like where the priest takes handfuls of water and pours it on the baby. But some say there ought to be a law. Overall few babies die of the process, on average one every few years. Less than one a year anyways. There are plenty babies left, so we are not going to run out of ’em over christenings. Still, a dead baby is a dead baby. So what it the religious freedom view over laws against dunking babies?

    • UnCivilServant

      It’s not the dunking that’s the problem, it’s the strange bearded men repeating the process.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Charging the priest with negligent manslaughter would be sufficient. We shouldn’t have laws that cover very specific situations.

      We could relate this back to DUI laws. DUI charges shouldn’t exist. Drivers under the influence should be prosecuted under existing laws, including manslaughter or even murder for repeat drinkers, as required.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        ?

    • bacon-magic

      #dunkdonutsnotbabies

    • Old Man With Candy

      How many kids die of circumcisions each year?

      • PieInTheSky

        probably not many. but plenty are mutilated in the process.

    • Suthenboy

      “So what it the religious freedom view over laws against dunking babies?”

      It is a ceremony, meaning symbolic. Stop dunking babies. I wouldn’t make it illegal but I would make it law that if you drown a baby, you get get drowned. I am fairly certain the catholic version of the ceremony would be adopted fairly quickly.

    • db

      Are the priests required to be trained in infant CPR and first aid?

    • PieInTheSky

      I never got baby baptism. Christians should get baptized at the same age Jesus did.

      • Not Adahn

        You obviously didn’t read your Dante.

  35. Ownbestenemy

    In my annual “all politicians are shit” family feud episode with my brother, in which you all gave me some ideas I sent him this:

    FDR interred Japanese-Americans, really caring.

    George Wallace was a peachy kinda guy that was looking to keep this country segregated and what was that one thing..oh ya Jim Crow laws.

    LBJ really cared for the Vietnamese and helped thin their population.

    Janet Reno really heated things up in Waco

    Our current vice president Harris did a bang up job as CA AG and really looked after her prisoner’s physical well being when her office argued to use them as prison laborers.

    It wasn’t looking kindly for Obama after a wayward American that caught the drone strike without any judicial proceedings.

    I could do the same for the Republicans if you want.

    As predicted, he whisked away all of them as “being from 80 years ago” to “Obama didn’t send the drone for the kid!”

    As I said, we laughed and drank afterwards, but man just believes if you have a D behind your name you are nothing short of a demi-god upon the Earth.

    • Hyperion

      If your brother is the typical lefty or just uniformed voter, he’ll see all those points you made as positives confirming his viewpoints, agree with you because of that, and never get a hint of the irony or cognitive dissonance.

    • juris imprudent

      As Ron White says “you can’t fix stupid”. And I would say the same if R was being shown the same blind, stupid loyalty.

  36. DEG

    The federally funded body would “declare racism a public health crisis and name racism as an historical and present threat to the physical and mental health and well-being of the United States and world” and “aim to develop new knowledge in the science and practice of antiracism.”

    Fuck.

    The ordinance would criminalize the enforcement of any federal law that infringes upon the citizens of Newton County’s right to keep and bear arms.

    Prediction: If any sheriff tries to arrest a Fed under this ordinance, the Feds will squish the sheriff like a bug. I know. I’m going out on a limb here.

    Lawmakers in over a dozen states are poised to trigger a legal battle with the Biden administration over whether biological male athletes can compete on female high school and college sports teams.

    Private schooling would solve this problem. In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the lulz.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      the science and practice of antiracism

      The fucking SCIENCE of anti-racism?

      GTFO.

    • KromulentKristen

      Just bought my first BTC this week. Also bought some Stellar at .39 for shits & giggles

      • Hyperion

        I buy some JFC every time I read the links here. I wonder if I will profit from that?

  37. Hyperion

    “Good start.”

    Then, can we just start arresting them all now? Because they’ve been doing it since the 90s at least.

  38. db

    Currently taking our new harrassment training. We have the choice of doing video, audio, or silent training. I chose the silent training because I can’t stand to be lectured. I’m about 1/3 of the way through, and every single situation of harrassment that has been presented has involved a white man targeting someone.

    • UnCivilServant

      At the very least we had diverse fictitious harassers in our harrassment training. We are an equal opportunity employer. Everyone gets a chance to do awful things.

      • db

        I just hit this slide in the training: “Harrassment is not just about men targeting women. Anyone can be a harasser and anyone can be a target or victim.”

        Picture: cartoon of a white male talking to a woman of color, who seems exasperated. Next slide: A bunch of white men talking to various others, even though the caption says: “And did you know that it can occur between people with the same characteristics, like gender, race, or age?”

        What’s hilarious is that by the definitions in this training, I’m being harassed constantly by my co-workers at the plant. I should file a complaint.

      • Mojeaux

        We were watching some hospital drama yesterday. Theme was discrimination in medicine, that black folk are treated more cavalierly. I can buy this. (I thought they were going to go for fat discrimination because the actor had some extra weight, but they didn’t. That would’ve been different and interesting, race and/or weight.)

        Anyway, the patient made the point to a black doctor that she (the doctor) got where she was because she’d spent her life making white people comfortable.

        Because no white people have ever spent their lives making others comfortable with them.

      • R C Dean

        Theme was discrimination in medicine, that black folk are treated more cavalierly. I can buy this.

        On a random or highly isolated basis, sure. Routinely, or more often than anyone else? Don’t buy it.

      • db

        Ooh, the training just specifically called out people who are “vocal about immigration.”

      • UnCivilServant

        It sounds like you are being harassed by the training department.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Being trained by the harassing department?

    • Old Man With Candy

      When we had ours a couple jobs back (at a Gigacorp), it was by video. The answers to the quiz questions were always, “Talk to your supervisor or HR.”

      I turned down the sound, invited my group into my office, and filled in the dialog. Trust me, my dialog was far more entertaining than the original.

    • CPRM

      Not more than 20 years ago Wal-Mart training videos had a lazy cow-orker who symbolized someone you should tell your management about. His name was Juan or some other ethnic Messican name, me and my Messican friend laughed a lot over that.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Amazingly, Mexicans work so hard that they take jobs away from Americans. And Mexicans are lazy.

        Orwell had a term for this.

      • UnCivilServant

        Americans are amazingly lazy?

      • invisible finger

        Juan could have been Puerto Rican.

      • juris imprudent

        Who are you kidding, no Rican would be caught showing up for a job.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        signed,
        Epstein’s Mother

      • CPRM

        It was a video. He was clearly an ethnic south of the borderin. I think he might have even been wearing a sombrero. It was a long time ago, maybe my brain just added that list bit.

    • Hyperion

      We had one of those a couple of years ago, it was video.

      After watching it, one of my immigrant Asian co-workers went around the room saying ‘I’m never talking to or going around anyone I work with, ever again!’.

    • db

      OK, overall, it was basically the same training I’ve had a bunch of times before. Basically fairly sane, “treat others with respect and abide by these rules and reporting requirements for managers.” So it definitely could have been worse.

      • R C Dean

        Well, except for the anti-white male bias, of course.

      • db

        That’s really not new but I’m used to it. I’ve adapted to the hostility I experience in my work environment.

    • Hyperion

      Why hasn’t this pandemic solved this harassment in the workplace? I mean, at least 5 out of 3 women will no longer be raped daily.

      • juris imprudent

        Those women are still be raped – virtually.

      • db

        That only ever happens if the accused is politically unfavored.

      • KromulentKristen

        By Toobin toobin’

  39. The Late P Brooks

    As predicted, he whisked away all of them as “being from 80 years ago” to “Obama didn’t send the drone for the kid!”

    As I said, we laughed and drank afterwards, but man just believes if you have a D behind your name you are nothing short of a demi-god upon the Earth.

    Ease him into an overt admission that all politicians are self-interested sociopaths (it shouldn’t be that hard). Then ease him into public choice theory. By then, with any luck, you’ll be off to the races.

    • R C Dean

      Mousetrap him by saying you promised a list of Repubs doing Bad Things. Make it a 50/50 list of Dems and Repubs. When he agrees those were Bad Things, let him know they were done by politicians, not just Repubs.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    Biathalon is a thing.

    Holy shit those guy (and women) are amazing. Being able to steady yourself enough to hit a target about the size of a quarter after doing a skate-ski sprint is nothing short of magic.

    • juris imprudent

      I remember a story about one of the Lakers trying to guard John Havlicek (yes, I’m old and going old-school here), and Elgin Baylor looked at the guy complaining and said “you could run like that if you had what he does”; and the guy asks “what does he have?” to which Baylor deadpan replies “three lungs”.

      • Tundra

        Awesome. The toppling tree was a nice touch.

  41. CPRM

    Had to stay 20 minutes late at work this morning, my knee is acting up and I’ve been using the cane since I got home. They called to see if I could come in early tonight. I really don’t want to. Said I will if the other guy that is available can’t. Being short staffed is getting old.

    • Old Man With Candy

      I’ve been using the cane since I got home

      Euphemisms.

      • CPRM

        Abusing ‘the cane’ is what I planned to do if I didn’t have to try to go to sleep so early…

      • Chipwooder

        What a man does with his cane in the privacy of his home is nobody’s business.

      • KromulentKristen

        Another toobin’ reference in less than 5 minutes? I can’t…

    • db

      “using the ‘caine?”

  42. Festus

    So fucking depressing. Whelp, at least I cut back my toenails. The cats still love me. unconditionally so there is always that.

  43. Hyperion

    “States set for clash with Biden over allowing dudes to play girl sports.”

    Then ain’t dudes! Them is theys! I mean Xes! I mean, enough of your racism!

  44. The Late P Brooks

    Ooh, the training just specifically called out people who are “vocal about immigration.”

    Just wait ’til you hear what they have to say about troglodytes who think the “best most qualified person” should get promoted.

    • Rat on a train

      That’s fine as long as the qualifications are intersectional.

  45. Cy Esquire

    In other news, Germany is getting Anti-Fascism… God and HARD!

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/germany-far-left-extremists-viciously-attack-political-candidate-street

    “Violence must never be a means of political debate: I am dismayed and appalled by the violent attack on the AfD candidate for the Landtag, Stephan Schwarz, and the destruction of the AfD’s information stand at today’s Schorndorf weekly market,” said Schorndorf Mayor Matthias Klopfer.

    You’re right Matthias, they don’t want to debate anything. They just want you to submit or die.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      It’s like they never really went away.

    • Hyperion

      Wait… wut? Didn’t the get the memo that there’s no such thing as a far left.. anything?

      • Not Adahn

        Not true. Anyone who wants to redistribute wealth away from the ruling caste is is obviously much too far left. Be reasonable.

      • Hyperion

        “reasonable”

        Just another racist term used by far right wing racists.

      • R C Dean

        There is only not far left enough, and almost far left enough. Never too far left.

      • B.P.

        It’s just an idea. Apparently an idea can dole out a pretty righteous shit-kicking.

  46. The Late P Brooks

    Jesus is a racist

    A coalition of evangelical Christian leaders is condemning the role of “radicalized Christian nationalism” in feeding the political extremism that led to the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

    In an open letter, more than 100 pastors, ministry and seminary leaders, and other prominent evangelicals express concern about the growing “radicalization” they’re seeing, particularly among white evangelicals.

    The letter notes that some members of the mob that stormed the Capitol carried Christian symbols and signs that read, “Jesus Saves,” and that one of the rioters stood on the Senate rostrum and led a Christian prayer. The letter calls on other Christian leaders to take a public stand against racism, Christian nationalism, conspiracy theories and political extremism.

    Whatever. Take your meds.

    • Hyperion

      There ain’t no meds can fix that.

      • juris imprudent

        Prescription strength cyanide?

    • Gustave Lytton

      The letter calls on other Christian leaders to take a public stand against racism, Christian nationalism, conspiracy theories and political extremismChristianity.

      Don’t stop. We all know that’s what you really want.

  47. db

    Wow, so I just got a totally new (to me) scam call recorded on my voicemail. Claims to be “an apology call” from my electric utility supplier stating that “a third party” charged me too much and that I’m eligible for a $50 refund and a 30% discount ongoing.

    This has to be related to the whole Texas thing, but badly targeted (I’m in PA).

    any other Glibs hearing about this?

    • KromulentKristen

      I listen to A LOT of scam calls (mostly on twitch.tv/scammerpayback), and the last couple days they had the typical refund scams, but they switched the script from “due to a server crash, you’re entitled to a refund” to “due to the snow storm, you’re entitled to a refund”.

      • The Vacatious GT

        The weird scam I’ve been getting lately is by e-mail – it’s supposedly an “order confirmation” from Amazon for a hideously expensive luxury item that’s being shipped to a total stranger (read “imaginary person”) at some random address. The e-mail gives a phone number to call. I check my rarely-used Amazon account. I check my credit card for mystery transactions. Seeing nothing, I delete the e-mail.

      • KromulentKristen

        Yep – very common scam. Much easier for the scammers than doing “virus” popups. But they’re all essentially the same scam (including the OG Craigslist check cashing scam) – you’re sent too much money and you need to send the difference back to the scammer. Basic scam whose script can be changed easily.

      • Chipwooder

        “We’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s warranty!”

      • Rat on a train

        I really wish every “final opportunity” warranty offer really was final.

    • Nephilium

      Nope. I’ve gotten those calls before. Just a standard scam call after either cold or hot weather.

    • KromulentKristen

      If any of you is interested in all the different scams and how they work, Scammer Payback should be live on Twitch later today, calling scammers.

      • Necron 99

        My favorite is Jim Browning, he goes the extra mile to try to get their victim’s cash back and reports them to the po po in India, where he is usually ignored.

    • The Other Kevin

      My boss and I were talking about those type of scams recently. The one he told me about involved the scammer taking control of the person’s computer. They got the person’s bank account information, and talked through depositing the refund. Then the scammer says, “Oh no, I accidentally transferred $500 instead of $50! This is going to come out of my paycheck! Can I withdraw the difference?” Meanwhile, they’ve remote controlled the computer to make the person’s bank balance look $500 greater. Then they take out $450 and fake the balance again.

      • KromulentKristen

        Yes – that’s the standard scam. It’s just the script that changes. They don’t “gain control” of the victim’s computer. They get the victim to allow them access via tools like AnyDesk, TeamViewer, Supremo, etc.

        And it’s not that sophisticated that they’re manipulating the bank account. The victim logs into their bank account on Chrome, the scammer blacks out the victim’s screen (or zooms out so it’s unreadable), then edits the bank’s HTML. All the victim has to do is refresh the page to see it’s not legit.

      • KromulentKristen

        And with difference is paid to the scammer in gift cards or straight cash mailed via FedEx or UPS to money mules Stateside.

    • Hyperion

      The next Biden cabinet member?

    • PieInTheSky

      what was the wine pairing?

      • Nephilium

        What flavor? I’m going to guess Electric Melon.

    • Not Adahn

      once they’re convicted, can’t you stop referring to them as a “suspect?”

      • R C Dean

        “Allegedly” convicted?

      • Fatty Bolger

        Kind of a misleading headline, he was released early from prison for something else, then went on his murder/cannibalism spree soon after.

    • Not Adahn

      Oooookay.

      Clicked through and read the article.

      I went to school with the entree.

      She was nice.

      • Not Adahn

        Note: we were not close, though I had some inappropriate thoughts about her, and we haven’t spoken in decades.

  48. Hyperion

    What is that?

    No, seriously, What even in the fuck is that?

    • R C Dean

      A crazy person, advocating child abuse.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        This

    • Creosote Achilles

      That is a troon and he-she is your new mastress. You better learn to lick the size 18 sensible shoes.

    • Mad Scientist
    • juris imprudent

      That was Gauleiter Wolf’s appointee as State Secty of Health. We had to sacrifice the country to save the commonwealth.

  49. The Late P Brooks

    Ministry of Unity and Healing

    Some of the House GOP’s freshmen — who haven’t had the opportunity to vote for any Covid relief measures yet — initially wrestled with whether to back the bill. But GOP leaders in both chambers have been firing up their messaging and whip operations against the package, which is expected to get a floor vote in the House later this week. Few, if any, House Republicans are expected to cross party lines and support it.

    “As more people find out what’s in this bill — and what’s not in this bill — they get more furious,” said Scalise, referring to things like a $15 hourly minimum wage, billions of dollars for pension funds and money for public transit and art. “Sunshine is the best disinfectant for liberal policies.”

    In the Senate, 10 Republicans sought a deal directly with Biden, but the president and Democratic leaders took an approach that can pass without GOP votes. To say those senators are annoyed is an understatement.

    Elections have consequences. MANDATE.

    Go for it, Demos. Make FUCK YOU, AMERICA! your battle cry.

    • Hyperion

      “Make FUCK YOU, AMERICA! your battle cry.”

      Like they haven’t already.

      What is going to happen is that while we’re busy turning all our boys and men into feminized freaks and destroying our own society, China and Russia are going to run roughshod over us. Without a shot. Nikita Khrushchev was a prophet.

    • Swiss Servator

      Keep it up Elon. I have 500 of them.

  50. The Late P Brooks

    No, seriously, What even in the fuck is that?

    In a just reality, that person would be an involuntary guest in a facility for the treatment containment of the criminally insane.

    • juris imprudent

      That person just about drove my wife nuts the past year – every freakin’ day on the TV middle of the day to make pronouncements about COVID. I predicted she’d get kicked up to the Biden Admin, but I was hoping Wolf would go too.

      • db

        I predict Wolf will get a promotion to the Federal level when it gets closer to the end of his term.

    • Nephilium

      You can take my bowling shirts from my static charged dead hands!

    • Agent Cooper

      Were the clothes in question subjected to any UV light at all?

      • Ownbestenemy

        The study used a model coronavirus called HCoV-OC43 which is very similar to SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19.

    • Akira

      So they showed that the virus can survive on the garments in idealized laboratory conditions. Now can they show that people can actually become infected through clothing?

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        From a future study:

        “Infection is possible if one were to hold the clothing in close proximity to one’s mouth for an extended period”

        /oops

  51. trshmnstr the terrible

    Hopefully this doesn’t come off as too snooty or a humblebrag. It’s just an observation I’ve made about various charities and non-profits. A contrast between good “customer” service and bad “customer” service.

    IJ, after receiving a donation: sends a handwritten thank you postcard, signed thank you letter and multiple ways to contact donor relations if we have any questions.

    Compassion International, after receiving recurring monthly donations for a few months: “It’s time to contribute to your sponsored kids’ Christmas presents!”, “This kid lost their donor, will you step up?”, “We know that Covid is hard on you, but it’s also hard on kids in 3rd world countries. Now’s the time to step up your giving.”, “It’s such-and-so’s birthday, will you fund a gift for them?”

    I got an email today from Habitat with the same theme of “you need to give us more money by the end of the month” because they have a matching donor lined up.

    One of my Alma maters is smart and advertises the cool stuff the donations do without doing too much begging or cajoling. The other one is much more on the “you owe it to the current students to help reduce the cost of their degree”. I don’t give to universities on principle, so they’re barking up the wrong tree.

    I don’t understand why it’s so hard. Be grateful. Show how you use the donor’s money for good. The begging and cajoling is a huge turnoff.

    • KromulentKristen

      I don’t know a charity that I could possibly love more than IJ. I really hope they stay the course and don’t succumb to the Big Charity Disease

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I’ve been nothing but impressed with IJ. In fact, they surprised me again when I turned on their Short Circuit podcast and the episode was right in my wheelhouse (robot law).

        I’m with you, I hope they keep doing the Lord’s work and don’t let it go to their heads.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Good to know. I think I designated them for Smile (for whom my $200 per year in Amazon purchases will make all the difference, I’m sure).

        I will be that jerk and say that the hostess of at least one of their podcasts has unbearable* vocal fry.

        *to me, obviously

    • Agent Cooper

      World Vision was pretty good. I sponsored a boy in Tanzania born two days after my son for several years. His name was not Ndugu.

    • R C Dean

      I can hardly wait to see what the “reasonable compromise” is.

    • Ownbestenemy

      That’s her pivot to when she was asked if migrant children still in ‘cages’ are okay now. She is claiming its okay because COVID and climate crisis. And no one followed up.

      I can get behind her on the DHS going away though.

    • juris imprudent

      Really? She is shilling for smaller govt? Or do all of the ICE and DHS folks become the commissars of the Green New Deal?

    • R C Dean

      Does it count if the webcam is pointed at the wall?

    • KromulentKristen

      If people want to pay to watch me never get laid, who am I to judge?

      • rhywun

        Yeah, that’s ridiculous even by NYC standards.

    • UnCivilServant

      That’s 13′ 9.5″ square.

      I could fit that apartment in my kitchen.

      • R C Dean

        I think I could fit it into Mrs. Dean’s closet.

      • R C Dean

        For some reason, I have a blueprint of our house at the office. It wouldn’t fit – I was misreading UnCiv. Her clost is just over 12′ by 7′.

      • UnCivilServant

        That is a huge closet.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, no. It would fit in my living room, though.

    • Chipwooder

      A studio with a bedroom?

      • UnCivilServant

        I suppose the alternative could be having the webcam in your bathroom.

        If you have a separate bathroom.

    • kinnath

      My master bedroom is 14 by 14, so 196 sq ft.

      • kinnath

        The tent I go camping in is 14 ft by 14 ft.

  52. db

    Ads for mouth guards started showing up in my Amazon suggestions. Is my phone listening to me grind my teeth while I sleep?

    • Tres Cool

      No, but they’re sending someone over to punch you in the face.

  53. Nephilium

    Reasons we need to increase our funding for schools number I lost count. The pictures… upset me.

    • rhywun

      I would be extremely upset if I was forced to wear the fucking totem all day.

      I know “essential” workers are doing it too but at least they get paid for it.

  54. UnCivilServant

    I was angry and close to ranting about my neighbors yesterday because I’d gone outside and found the lid open on the trash can and the interior full in the morning.

    Apparently there was more nuance to the situation than “asshole neighbor filled it up again.” Asshole neighbor merely tried to fill it up again, but it was still full because the garbage collection was late. Today the can is empty. My padlock is arriving today as well. With luck, it will still be empty when I lock it.

    • Pine_Tree

      You may have explained this before, but I just have to ask: what is causing this situation? Have they decided not to have (and pay for) any trash service, so they don’t have any trash can at all? If they don’t respond to a nice “don’t do that”, then does videoing them and calling the sheriff not work?

      • UnCivilServant

        The city provides trash services for all residents.

        The building next to me is a small (4 unit) apartment building. The residents cycle out with some degree of regularity. They apparently don’t seem to care that the building is allowed up to two cans per residential unit and doesn’t have that many, they just start throwing their remaining bags into any can in walking distance. since there’s only a 5′ alley between my house and their building, they come for my can often.

      • UnCivilServant

        Identifying the exact perpetrator has been impossible, and it may not even have been the same people every time.

      • Pine_Tree

        Got it. Thx. Hate it for you.

        Based on my (limited) experience with renters, I’d say it’s also entirely possible that some of the offenders are clueless that they’re doing something wrong, even if that seems ridiculous. They got told something vague, or nothing at all, and are thinking something like “oh I thought trash was a city thing”, oblivious to actual property lines or rights.

        Not excusing it – I just wasn’t picturing it in the apartment/renter context.

  55. The Late P Brooks

    Well well. It’s snowing. At least the flakes are drifting straight down, instead of whizzing past the window horizontally.

    It’s not supposed to do this all day. We’ll see.

  56. KromulentKristen

    Good episode of Finding Your Roots last night. Light on the SJW bullshit and heavy on the facts. I had no idea the Cash family had a “mixed marriage” controversy back in the day.

  57. l0b0t

    Well, my first stab at making Hot Dish turned out pretty tasty. I boned 4 chicken thighs, and seared them skin side down in a very hot skillet under a heavy weight.. Removed thighs to baking dish, removed skins and threw them in the oven for crispy snacks, deglazed pan with broth/wine mix. Returned thighs to skillet, added can of chicken chipotle corn chowder and heat until chicken was cooked through. Shredded thighs with forks and dumped everything into baking dish. Topped with freshly fried Tater-Tots and smothered that with cheese. Dotted cheese with these wee jalapeno chicken croquettes that were on sale at the market, and threw it under the broiler until cheese was melty and bubbly. Served in a bowl with a big dollop of sour cream. yummy!

    • db

      sounds good