About The Author

Banjos

Banjos

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

475 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    “Bill introduced to repeal Bidenā€™s war powers.”

    They’ll still do more wars anyway.

    • Nephilium

      Theyā€™ll still do more wars/police actions/airstrikes/pinpoint bombins kinetic actions anyway.

      FTFY.

      • Rat on a train

        “defensive kinetic military actions”

      • AlexinCT

        All you need to see to know you can’t trust the media cuntes, is what they do to pretend these fucking democrats are not warmongering globalist shitheads.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      Sure.

      But if we can be rid of the abysmal AUMF(s), thatā€™s a good thing.

      • Ownbestenemy

        While good..part of Bidens reasoning was under UN law “authorized” him to strike.

      • juris imprudent

        Biden – reasoning? Oh, you mean the justification his handlers gave him to mouth.

      • Ownbestenemy

        JI yeah, maybe not the best word. Yes

  2. Count Potato

    “There was bipartisan support against the bill and only partisan Democrat support for it. The vote was initially passed with 219 Democrat votes and 1 Republican vote with 210 Republicans opposing it and 2 Democrats opposing it.”

    That doesn’t sound very “bipartisan”.

    • Count Potato

      “However, the lone Republican that voted for it, Rep. Lance Gooden (TX), announced that he accidentally voted for the bill and that he changed his official record to vote against the bill.”

    • invisible finger

      “bipartisan support against”

      Another sub-100 IQ journalist writing like shit.

  3. Cy Esquire

    Good morning! Anyone else wake up and step into a giant pile of shit?

    • rhywun

      I’m about to wander over to my office… does that count?

      • Swiss Servator

        Yes. I mean, if yours is like mine.

      • rhywun

        Yup. Giant pile of shit confirmed. I’m so glad my boss is taking off Mon. and Tue. so I get an even bigger pile next week.

      • Cy Esquire

        That was it… that was my big pile of shit. How’d you know?

      • UnCivilServant

        You really shouldn’t be using your office as a latrine.

      • Fourscore

        Another step away from winter, it’s a great, I say, great day! OTOH I don’t have to go to work just yet.
        I really like this global climate change crisis.

      • Nephilium

        We’re dealing with another cold snap here, back down in the 20’s until next week at the earliest. But then we may hit the 60’s again. Great Lakes Brewing is opening up their restaurant again on March 17th (for some reason…) with reservations required and going online here in about 90 minutes. A quick search hasn’t shown that the other local breweries are planning anything special for the day yet.

        And Great Lakes is right by a large selection of other bars and restaurants…

      • Swiss Servator

        But you know I love Great Lakes.

      • Nephilium

        Just pulled up the reservation page… and noped the hell out. They want $35 per person (minimum of two) for the Irish Breakfast (minimum 20% gratuity already added). What you get for that is:

        Fried eggs, beer brined English bangers, bacon and black pudding
        Grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, Irish baked beans and bubble & squeak
        Irish soda bread with marmalade and butter
        A pint of Conway’s Irish Ale and a souvenir cup
        Coffee & tea

        The lunch and dinner specials are all under $20 each.

      • Fourscore

        Free reservations here, Neph. Did you get a Forum email?

      • Nephilium

        Swiss:

        There’s too many other options right around that area at much more affordable breakfast prices (even in the expensive places, you can get a meal for $15) and that’s without holiday specials. I do plan on stopping in to attempt to grab a pint at the minimum. If I can’t get in there, there’s about a dozen other breweries in walking distance from there.

      • Nephilium

        4×20:

        Yep, and replied in the forum.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Mid-80s here. Fuck.

      • Mad Scientist

        It’s almost warm. Won’t be too much longer and you’ll be able to come out of hibernation.

      • rhywun

        Same here. Low 20’s. Where’s that fucking groundhog.

      • Not Adahn

        it’s supposed to hit 60 in the next few days.

      • Sean

        Grilling weather. Woohoo!

      • rhywun

        Yeah, next Thursday. Hmph.

      • Count Potato

        Your mayor killed him.

      • l0b0t

        It hit 58Ā° here at the beach just yesterday. I had the heater off and all the windows open. Right now, it’s 28Ā° and I want to move back to Florida.

      • rhywun

        It didn’t feel warm yesterday because I was indoors all day and got the full blast of windy Canada air in my 6th floor home office.

    • Festus

      Sounds like every second or third day, lately. Sorry for your troubles.

    • Tonio

      The cat threw up on the train table.

      • l0b0t

        Sorry to hear; that’s a common event around here. They each had/have their own special area to which they like feel entitled to vomit or cough up hairballs regardless of the objects currently occupying said space. The worst was Morgana Jones (our elderly lady cat), she would, when upset about something, climb onto my chest when I was prone and promptly pee on me.

      • Festus

        Hah, I had one of those. she got out and was promptly pan-caked on the street. She was a sweet cat but pissy.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Named after the kissing lady?

      • Tulip

        Yikes, that’s got to be a pain to clean.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Almost literally. Production has a problem where large amounts of unknown goop are forming in the mixes and clogging up the filters. Guess who gets to scrape it out, rinse it with various solvents, and try to determine what it is?

      The goop is disgusting and smells like a lesbian locker room.

      • UnCivilServant

        When you figure it out, will you let us know? Now I’m curious at what horrible thing is happening.

      • AlexinCT

        That guy that retired from the Budweiser plant that used to piss/jerk off in the vats and lost his retirement when he told people he had done that, now works at OMWC’s place?

      • Not Adahn

        You too? ERT encountered “pink slime” under a plater, ans they’re refusing to clean it up until we tell them what it is.

        I have $20 on “algae.”

      • Old Man With Candy

        Algae would not grow in this environment. I’m thinking some polymerization of one of our starting materials, with a nice dose of amine catalyst to give it that delicate bouquet.

      • Timeloose

        Yeast infection?

      • Mad Scientist

        UTI?

      • SDF-7

        Get this cheese to sickbay?

      • Tres Cool

        Trichomoniasis

      • Tres Cool

        I used to help a buddy out with apartment maintenance. There was a rule that, in a unit with the power off, you never open the fridge until it was moved outside (kinda like the movie “backdraft” and “DONT OPEN THAT DOOR!”)

        I’m not sure if there’s a particular bacteria that likes to munch on decaying pork, and exhausts ammonia or amine in the process, but I stupidly opened a door once, and the rush of ammonia-esque funk had both of us running to the door, on the verge of heaving.

        As I recall the odor threshold for ammonia is in the ppb range, so a little goes a really long way.

      • Festus

        That needs to be distilled into a cologne. “For the man that wants what he will never have!” Don’t go chasing Lesbians.

      • Bobarian LMD

        smells like a lesbian locker room

        Rule 34 tells me if you bottle that, you could make a fortune.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Naming it will be important though.

        ‘Lesbian Locker Room’ might be too on point.

        Bouquet Sweate’?

        Vestiaire?

        Salade de Thon?

        L’odeur Corporelle?

      • bacon-magic

        Eau de Scissor

  4. robc

    Baseball birthdays today is a deep list of the Hall of Very Good. Starts off with HoFer Sam Thompson, who I think fits better at the top of the HoVG instead, but not a big deal. Following him is Lu Blue, Elmer Valo, Del Crandall, Paul Konerko, Kent Tekulve, and Jeff Tesreau.

    • robc

      Kyle Schwarber is top active player at #16. I could see him ending up ahead of Jeffery Hammonds, Steve Ontiveros, and Brian Hunter who are 11 thru 13.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Tekulve was fun to watch. Except in the World Series.

      I have an odd fascination with sidearmers.

      • Festus

        My team-mate back in 1978 had the same delivery. He could make that ball dance.

      • Festus

        Meaning that neither of us knew what the pitch was gonna do. Signals meant nothing to him. Throwing side-arm left everything up to the wrist. He cost me at least one toenail catching for him. The strikeouts were pretty epic, though.

      • robc

        There was a lefty sidearmer in my Babe Ruth league. I sucked at hitting, but I could crush him (relatively). Everyone else struggled against him. He also hit me the hardest I ever got hit by a pitch. He had no control and it just came straight into me. I got my back turned, but that just meant a sore back.

      • Festus

        Ouch! Made me a very adept and quick with the glove player though. Also learned to catch with the mitt, not the hand.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        I love knuckle-ballers. Tim Wakefield made some really good hitters look silly and some mediocre hitters look great. I loved watching a 50mph pitch tie up Alex Rodriguez.

    • Swiss Servator

      Paulie was the very definition of Very Good.

      • invisible finger

        Hard to believe he’d be behind Del Crandall though. Maybe in a footrace…

      • robc

        positional adjustment is best bet.

  5. Tres Cool

    yo sup’ fam ?

      • Tres Cool

        I did 2 hours of OT (just finished the invoice- Subject: delay charges), which is typically no big deal unless you were in that nasty facility overnight, all night

        I cant get them down fast enough

      • Festus

        Sigh. Short cans yet again… I’m in a terrible rut.

      • Swiss Servator

        Tall Cans and/or regular bottles tonight!

      • Not Adahn

        Since it’s Employee Appreciation Day, we’re being gifted one (1) free coffee! (drip only).

      • UnCivilServant

        What about employees who don’t drink coffee?

      • Not Adahn

        Tea or a bottle of water may be substituted.

        Free water! And I guess f you wanted to you could take the bottle somewhere and get $0.05 for it. I wonder how you’d have to report that.

      • Festus

        Bosses get the Kuerig? That the way it is at both of my sites.

      • Swiss Servator

        So…you’ve been in my office building before TEH GREAT CLOSURE?

  6. Count Potato

    “Thatā€™ll show him.”

    That is some stupid petty shit.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Stupid and petty is a prog specialty.

    • Raven Nation

      They should get permission to dig up his corpse. Then they could burn it and scatter the ashes on a local river.

      • Rat on a train

        They should include a show trial. The ashes need to be scattered someplace secret to prevent the location from becoming a Nazi shrine.

    • Mad Scientist

      What is the point of the blue checkmark anyway?

      • rhywun

        They should change it to a blue donkey-shape.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        It used to be a verification that you were, in fact, the individual sending the tweet now it means that you are in fact the person and you have goodthink.

  7. Count Potato

    Petaluma has become what officials said is the first city in the country to permanently ban the construction of new gas stations, a move intended to signal a faster transition to zero-emission vehicles ahead of Californiaā€™s sweeping efforts to curtail climate change.

    The Petaluma City Council voted unanimously Monday to prohibit the creation, expansion, reconstruction and relocation of gas stations, encouraging owners to transition to stations that serve electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. Petaluma hopes to become carbon neutral by 2030.

    We need to do our part to help mitigate and adapt to our changing weather patterns that exist because of all the carbon we put in the atmosphere,ā€ Councilwoman Dā€™lynda Fischer, who spearheaded the initiative, said Tuesday.

    That’s just straight up retarded.

    [EF adds blockquote format to quote so less hurty on eyes]

    • rhywun

      It’s almost like they want to encourage more miles driven or something.

      • Tonio

        No it’s the slow ratchet towards banning private autos, first de facto, then de jure. This is just like Cash for Clunkers, road “diets” (closing lanes to “calm” traffic), and converting street parking to bike lanes. The truly rich won’t have private autos, per se, they’ll just setup a car service company with as many cars and drivers as the family needs.

      • AlexinCT

        In the USSR (and most places that set up governments on that model) only the “top men” got to move around semi-freely. Keeping the serfs in place and making it near impossible for them to travel, guarantees they are not able to see things being different elsewhere, and thus, accept the fate they are assigned more easily.

    • l0b0t

      ā€œCompanies like Safeway and Costco are putting very large fueling stations in front of their businesses with promotions of selling gas to get people to come and shop at their stores,ā€ Fischer said. ā€œThis legislation eliminates that possibility for the future and keeps certified existing mom-and-pop gas stations in business.ā€

      So the way they have to chosen to punish Safeway and Costco is to support the mom-and-pop enterprises like Exxon, British Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell, Amerada Hess, and Mobil?

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        Big Oil is gonna get that money anyways, because theyā€™re the ones who pumps it for Costco too.

        The owners of most gas stations are like McDonalds franchise owners. Hard working. Etc. And theyā€™re the ones who make the money off of any particular sale of gas to an individual. So if youā€™re looking to help the little guy with your gas purchases, independent gas stations are way better than Costco.

      • UnCivilServant

        If you want to support the franchisee, go inside and buy the overprised crap from the convenience store. They make better margins on that than on the gas.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        Yes. The gas is just a good way to get you inside.

  8. UnCivilServant

    A few evenings ago, I fretted over not being able to find a model and thought I’d accidentally thrown it out.

    This morning, I picked up a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, and what should be hiding behind it but the missing model.

    • Cy Esquire

      Any particular kind of model? Warhammer? Reaper?

      • UnCivilServant

        Warhammer. The sergeant from the Agressors easy to build box. I used them to test a different painting method for my color scheme. It is 90% done, but well past tabletop legal at something like 9+ colors.

      • UnCivilServant

        For the record, the new technique was not as good as the old method, but did impart a weathered look to their armor I’m not looking for. But I figured I could make it work for just this squad, since they are only armed with flamers and power fists.

      • Cy Esquire

        Nice! Do you get to tabletop a lot? It’s something I miss but I’d be lying if I said it was anywhere in my top 30 to do list.

        Thoughts on the new Sigmar stuff?

      • UnCivilServant

        I have not had a chance to play in so long I’m not sure which edition my last game was from.

        Shortly after they released the Primaris stuff becuase I deployed Reivers.

        Funnily enough, I prefer the AoS fiction to trying to figure out the game. I have some of the starter sets that I haven’t finished assembling, let alone painting.

      • Tonio

        “well past tabletop legal at something like 9+ colors”

        That’s actually a thing, now?

      • UnCivilServant

        Tabletop legal is three colors.

        9+ is how many are on the model.

      • UnCivilServant

        Unpainted minis are an abomination. I hate fighting gray plastic, so I wholeheartedly support the tabletop legal standard.

      • UnCivilServant

        Oh dear, this captain only has six colors.

      • Not Adahn

        rules like that are why I have never so much as opened a Warhammer rulebook.

        Battletech 4 lyfe.

      • UnCivilServant

        The sculpts on the battletech minis are almost always questionable to piss-poor, and it disappoints me every time I go looking for some to buy.

        And technically, the tabletop legal rule is not in the rulebook. It’s a tournament rule that a lot of local groups adopt because the gray plastic armies look terrible.

      • Not Adahn

        Considering that we poors always used the cardboard foldovers and/or “This Battlemaster is really an Atlas,” I have exactly zero patience for games that require a huge capital investment.

        *resumes searching online for ammo to feed his $1600 handgun*

      • Not Adahn

        Also, a big deal (at least in my circle of players) was playing your own designs, so there was never a mini for it anyways.

      • UnCivilServant

        Sheet, if I was going to run my own design, I could probably scuplt/kitbash a model that’s at least on par with the official work.

      • Not Adahn

        Honestly, the majority of the 3025 light designs are just terrible. There is never a reason to put an SRM2 on something that size in lieu of a medium laser.

      • UnCivilServant

        There is never a reason to put an SRM2 on anything.

      • Nephilium

        That’s why they changed the games to the irritating (to me at least) hardpoint system. Sure, it’s a light mech, but it’s got 10 missile hardpoints!

        /scraps mech

        /still enjoys the HBS Battletech video game

      • Nephilium

        Games Workshop has always held that the minis had to represent the army list, and models must be assembled and painted (with at least three colors) to be table legal. In their tournaments back in the day, one of the scoring criteria for matches was your paint job (IIRC, it was up to 10 points out of 75 or so, with another 10 in sportsmanship). So it was theoretically possible (and probably happened, but I don’t care enough to search for it) to win a match on the table, but get bumped out of the tournament due to painting and playing like a bitch.

        Those rules were one of the big reasons that other mini games started picking up steam, where you didn’t have to pay attention to the fact that this mini you bought had a small grenade on his belt, and you better have it pointed out in the army list.

      • UnCivilServant

        I don’t know about tournament play, but the WYSIWYG rule is almost never invoked.

        I’ve never played tournament, since I so rarely have a chance to play tabletop. But I really like the models and the lore.

      • Nephilium

        I had some friends who were really big into the WH/WH40k scene for a while, including going to big sanctioned tournaments. Don’t think they ever made it deep though. But yeah, in friendly games, proxy and WYSIWYG is pretty much never enforced.

        I did a couple of Warmachine/Hordes tournaments back in the day, much lower capital investment.

      • l0b0t

        Also, us Ork players could get points for staying in Orky character throughout the tourney.

      • juris imprudent

        NERDS!!!

      • AlexinCT

        Was the model hiding from you cause you made fun of the fact it was feeling gendered?

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s plastic. It’s no more a he than the sororitas minis are she.

    • Festus

      That was either a tiny model or a huge vat of isopropyl. Was she still articulated?

      • UnCivilServant

        The model is two inches tall, has zero points of articulation, and it was a 32 oz bottle of alcohol.

  9. Mad Scientist

    Twitter Posthumously Strips Andrew Breitbart Of Verified, Blue Check Status

    This sort of thing sounds an awful lot like ostracizing Jenny because she wore the wrong shoes to school.

    • Tonio

      They were open-toed, the mark of the slut.

    • juris imprudent

      Matt Taibbi was writing about Gogol and mentioned his horrid death and then quipped about how today he would die with a body covered with Twitter trolls instead of leeches.

    • Drake

      Sounds like digging up Oliver Cromwell’s body and hanging him for opposing the elites.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        The Irish side of me would be on board with that,

      • l0b0t

        When Churchill was First Sea Lord (IIRC), one of his tasks was to name ships. He named one the Assiduous and another the Oliver Cromwell. His majesty was not amused and worried that Assiduous would invite ribald nicknames and that Cromwell was just too much. Churchill (who was related to Cromwell) fired back that one should never hesitate to name one’s warship after a man who made all enemies of England tremble.

      • UnCivilServant

        By that logic the HMS Adolf Hitler is in the running, since he made his subordinates tremble, and had parkinsons.

      • Rat on a train

        How about the USS Hitler?

      • slumbrew

        In 1914, Alois left Bridget and their son for a gambling tour of Europe.

        Alpha AF.

      • Rat on a train

        You know who else gambled on a tour of Europe?

      • slumbrew

        Genghis Khan?

  10. robc

    I pointed to the study form last fall, out of France, I think, covid is a disease of the rich, fat, and old.

    • Animal

      So, it’s the new gout?

      • B.P.

        I’m not fat!

    • Sean

      It couldn’t even take down Chris Christie.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Nor Trump who is the perfect demographic for this.

      • Swiss Servator

        Eh. He doesn’t have any other health problems than being portly.

      • Festus

        AND EVIL!!!!!!!!

      • Rat on a train

        and orange which helps with the immune system

      • rhywun

        He’s got special asshole immunity.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      That explains the lockdowns.

  11. Cy Esquire

    So that Springsteen write up last night was pretty cool! Glad I took a peak.

    • Festus

      Yeah, me too. My loathing of Springsteen runs long, deep and wide but I can appreciate a different appreciation of his music, especially when it comes to personal circumstances. I can’t stand Neil Young anymore but I was a huge fan for forty years. It was the Rolling Stone that set me on my Bruce hate when they wouldn’t cover the bands that I liked. Fuck that bellowing asshole, especially now.

      • Drake

        I missed it last night. Springsteen is the prototypical boomer asshole. Started as a radical kid, lucked into ridiculous wealth, never had a middle-class income in his life, and still thinks he speaks for the working-man.

  12. Tundra

    Good morning, Banjos!

    I’m happy to see congress trying to curb the war shit, but they tried before and Trump just vetoed it. I don’t think there are enough fuckheads who really want to take responsibility for that to override, but we’ll see.

    So the ‘vid clips people with metabolic disorders. I had no idea.

    “Investment in public health and coordinated, international action to tackle the root causes of obesity is one of the best ways for countries to build resilience in health systems post-pandemic. We urge all countries to seize this moment.”

    GFY.

    A little Madness to round out the week! Thanks for that.

    Happy Friday, people. Head on a swivel, though. It’s getting weird out there.

    • Sean

      Food shortages for everyone!

    • Nephilium

      So the ā€˜vid clips people with metabolic disorders. I had no idea.

      Good thing most states closed the gyms, we wouldn’t want those fatties to gather together, would we?

      • Tonio

        Comrade, Comrade, you’re supposed to sign up for a shift grubbing up root vegetables in the local communal garden.

    • SDF-7

      Yeah, constitutionally, I can wish that the power of Congress to approve or disapprove action explicitly was more clear on that. If a past Congress authorizes the Executive to do something in the military space, what the Executive thinks about the *current* Congress rescinding that shouldn’t matter — it is Congress’s job to authorize or rescind war (or “police action”), barring the obvious immediate reaction to an invasion. Which should also be clearly stated by Congress these days as “not because someone is moving somewhere near an embassy in Kurdistan”.

      Which is my long (long) winded way of saying that the President shouldn’t get veto power on such resolutions — it makes no sense. Like vetoing the Senate failing to confirm a nominee….

  13. Rebel Scum

    Kaine: ‘Congress has a responsibility to not only vote to authorize new military action, but to repeal old authorizations’

    Where has this cunte been for the past 10/20/30+ years? Fuck you, Tim.

    • Rat on a train

      Vote for open ended authorizations. Do nothing when the executive uses the military without authorization. It’s almost like Congress doesn’t want that control.

      • Mad Scientist

        Why would they? If the president bombs people you oppose, you can cheer him on and raise money for your re-election campaign. If he bombs people you support. you can raise money to campaign against him and remind everyone it’s not your fault.

      • juris imprudent

        Congress doesnā€™t want that control blame.

        That’s what they are avoiding – you can’t really hold us accountable for what we let the Executive branch do!

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Responsibility sucks man…

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      He’s been sucking Hillary’s dick.

      • DrOtto

        Ick, still tastes like Reno.

      • Rat on a train

        Texas smoked?

      • Festus

        ^This was seen and noted.

  14. Rebel Scum

    House Democrats passed a controversial police reform bill late on Wednesday evening that critics argue would effectively ā€œdefund the policeā€ by costing police departments across the country hundreds of millions of dollars that they say will force those departments to make cuts to their budgets.

    And what, exactly, should the feds have to do with local policing? These cuntes want to nationalize everything. The election “reform” (The For the People Leftist Politician Act) is wholly unconstitutional but I doubt a feckless Roberts court would bother to hear the dozens of inevitable lawsuits. And they intend to violate clear scotus precedent on guns by attempting to “ban” the ownership of the most common rifle pattern in the country. Who the fuck are the “fascists”, again?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      This has been a one way ratchet since the Civil Rights Act with a very slight interruption in the 90’s.

      9/11 sealed the deal. It’s never going to roll back. Osama may be dead, but he managed to precipitate our eventual downfall by realizing our weak point. We became too accustomed to wealth and security. When actually threatened, even in a non-significant way, we react by abandoning all of our freedoms to our masters.

    • Old Man With Candy

      The bill carefully avoids reducing union protections and power.

      /looks at Team Blue donor list

      Huh.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    Unity, or else

    “We believe these bills enjoy overwhelming support among Democrats, Republicans and independents among the American people,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said this week. “Frankly, we don’t know why that support, particularly in terms of Republican support, doesn’t translate to the members of the House or the Senate.”

    This week, Democrats passed a sweeping package to overhaul election and campaign finance laws, as well as a bill to change policing policies that was originally drafted in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minneapolis last year.

    Last week, Democrats passed the Equality Act, which would explicitly ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Republicans were nearly unified in opposition to all three measures.

    Hoyer said that in the weeks ahead, Democrats will take up legislation to expand labor rights, as well as gun legislation to enhance background checks for purchases and to close the “Charleston loophole” to further tighten the background check system.

    ——-

    “You don’t have to be much of a mathematician to know, if you’ve got 50 on one side and 50 on the other side, getting things done is tough,” Hoyer acknowledged.

    Like a growing number of Democrats, Hoyer said he supports changing filibuster rules. “I personally believe that the filibuster is an undemocratic aspect of the United States Senate. At some point in time, the majority ought to be able to rule,” he said. “And we’ll see if, at some point in time, the Senate gets so frustrated that it repairs to having majority rule.”

    Bipartisan consensus, or subjugation by conquest?

    Whatever it takes to ram their pet projects through.

    • juris imprudent

      Well, when all you really care about is your side or their side, it isn’t surprising that you can’t do anything more than squabble about sides.

    • Cy Esquire

      Pulling out the gasoline while the storm rages and the ship burns.

    • CPRM

      At some point in time, the majority ought to be able to rule,ā€

      He continued, saying, “I mean clearly that shouldn’t be when the other guys are the majority, but we’ll make sure that never happens again, in a democratic fashion.”

    • Rebel Scum

      ā€œFrankly, we donā€™t know why that support, particularly in terms of Republican support, doesnā€™t translate to the members of the House or the Senate.ā€

      About half the House and exactly half of the Senate is comprised of Republicans. So you tell me.

      a Black man killed by police in Minneapolis last year.

      Except Fentanyl Floyd died of a drug overdose (not to excuse the knee on the neck, even though that is/was supposed standard procedure for the department.).

      which would explicitly ban discrimination

      The ability to discriminate is necessary for individual freedom, But continue…

      legislation to expand labor rights

      Right to work? //jk

      legislation to enhance background checks for purchases and to close the ā€œCharleston loopholeā€

      Didn’t that cunte pass a background check?

      I personally believe that the filibuster is an undemocratic aspect of the United States Senate.

      It is almost as if that is by design, seeing as the united States was never intended to be a democracy. Or I may have misread. It is unDEMocratic, as in it inhibits the desires of the Democratic Party.

      At some point in time, the majority ought to be able to rule

      Someone missed or disapproves of American history/gov’t 101. ///TyrannicalCunte

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      FTA

      Itā€™s hard to think of a less effective way to inform the American people about whatā€™s in a bill than by forcing an hourslong recitation of incomprehensible legislative language

      Incomprehensible legislative language is whatā€™s in the bill. I doubt the Senators themselves know what their aides put in the bill.

      • juris imprudent

        Ironically it was the Brennan Center for Justice website that confirmed how bad a bill HR1 is – that an ineligible voter must affirmative OPT OUT of being registered, and that stopping or interfering with ANYONE (including the ineligible) from registering is punishable by federal fine and/or imprisonment.

      • Swiss Servator

        So let us shine a light on that – everyone bitching about this should be asked, “So, you have already read the entire thing then?”

    • Certified Public Asshat

      So Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, for example, is going to offer an amendment that bars states that didnā€™t see a reduction in revenuesā€”which includes California, for exampleā€”from receiving any funds.

      No state aid would be better, but this is some decent push back I guess.

  16. Sean

    PSA: Fenix ammo is dropping 9mm ammo tonight at 8pm EST.

    • Tundra

      The owner of Fenix was on Rippetoe’s podcast last week. It was a good discussion and got into some of the supply chain challenges, as well as the Biden-voter exclusion on the website.

  17. Rebel Scum

    Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the lead Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., reintroduced the Protecting Retirement Savers and Everyday Investors Act after Democrats seized onto the GameStop trading frenzy to make the case for a financial transaction tax.

    MOAR. TAXES.

    I seem to recall a couple wars fought over taxation.

  18. Not Adahn

    Odd/old news: Cuomo falsified the nursing home death count!111!

    Yeah, everyone knew this, but it was just reported in the New York Times! now we can believe it!

    Kudos to the NYT for taking so much time to verify and confirm their sources before just printing some scurrilous rumor, like Cuomo had his nipples pierced by piss hookers, and Sandra Lee left him over his fecalphilia.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    Protecting Retirement Savers and Everyday Investors Act

    Abolish the Fed?

    • Tundra

      *applause*

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      Nah.

      Theyā€™re needed to hold down the interest rate as low as possible for as long as possible. Gotta encourage spending and fuck over people who save.

    • Mad Scientist

      I do appreciate that they still use the word Act in nearly every title, since that’s exactly what it is.

      • Tundra

        The ‘I Love Puppies and Rainbows Act’

        Sure, it authorizes drone strikes against Americans, but why do you hate puppies and rainbows, man?

  20. limey

    Morning, glibs. I’m going to ask if anyone can channel their inner Ted`S to help me compile a bunch of songs that spell things out in the lyrics. Mostly spelling out words, like for instance Faith No More’s ‘Be Aggressive’. Any genre, any style, any age; the more diverse the better. Acronyms spelled out is fine, but I’m steering away from just plain old acronymic titles. Thanks in advance for enacting my labor. I’ve got some long ass car trips coming up again and would like to make up some oddball-themed compilations/playlists.

    • Tundra

      Aretha, Respect

      • limey

        Of course ?

    • Mad Scientist

      This seems like a fun project, man. Respect.

      • Mad Scientist

        Comprehensive!

      • Timeloose

        How did I miss Joko Homo by Devo?

    • Timeloose

      Almost anything by KMFDM. Adidas by Korn, Hollaback Headhunter (Gwen Stefani vs. Front 242) https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhxcvm Spelling and numbered lists combined.

      Safety Dance, Your Dictionary by XTC, Saturday night by Bay City Rollers, Ramones by Motorhead, Method of Love by Hall and Oats, LOVE by Al Green, I’m a Man by Bo Diddly, Veloria by the Pixes.

    • juris imprudent

      long ass car trips

      in Britain???

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        in Britain???

        LOLOLOLOL

        Itā€™s about 10 hours (9h50m – 618miles) from Plymouth (SW corner of England) to Aberdeen in the far north of Scotland. Thatā€™s a solid dayā€™s drive.

        Which also means unless youā€™re just driving in circles around the entire country, thereā€™s no such thing as a long ass drive in England.

      • UnCivilServant

        In the US, fifty years is a long time. In the UK, fifty miles is a long distance.

      • Not Adahn

        It takes longer having to stop for flocks of sheep and lorries parked on one-lane streets.

    • CPRM

      Does it have to have been released as a single? Because off the top of my head one that wasn’t a single: Marcy Playground’s Death of a Cheerleader.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      R O C K in the USA By John Mellencamp

    • CPRM

      The Mickey Mouse Club House Theme?

      • Nephilium

        In that same theme… Moral Majority by the Dead Kennedys, and if spelling out a name works, you’ve also got the Jimbo Song from the Reverend Horton Heat.

    • Mad Scientist

      The Ramones – R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

    • The Last American Hero

      Bay City Rollers – Saturday Night.

    • limey

      Some excellent suggestions so far. Thanks, all. I guess I could have skimmed that list I posted and picked stuff I liked but this way I can bias it towards Glibs suggestions so the tracklist reflects some gliberty. I might move this over to a forum thread.

      I consider 5 hours to be a long-ass drive, or at least my ass does.

      • UnCivilServant

        Five hours is nothing. I aim for 6-8 for leasurely road trips.

      • limey

        Weird flex but okay. These aren’t leisurely roadtrips, but weekly commutes.

      • UnCivilServant

        Have you thought of employment closer to home?

      • UnCivilServant

        Or am I misreading that and that’s your total commute time?

      • limey

        At the moment I do part of the week elsewhere, so it’s five hours one way and then five hours back a couple days later. My previous job was half an hour each way five days a week, so overall driving time is about double, in two big(ish) chunks. It’s partly due to the route not all being motorway, so progress is a lot slower on them country roads, especially with the regular road closures in my neck of the woods.

    • Fourscore

      D-I-V-O-R-C-E

    • Cy Esquire

      Beer run – Garthbrooks

      • Cy Esquire

        It sucks we lost him this year.

    • CatchTheCarp

      Double Trouble – Lynyrd Skynyrd

    • NoDakMat

      Aerosmith – F.I.N.E.
      Jackyl – Dirty Little Mind (yeah, they spell it out incorrectly)

    • CatchTheCarp

      A few more off the top of my head:

      LoLa – The Kinks

      Blackberry – The Black Crowes

      Friction – Television

      • CatchTheCarp

        And two more…..

        Gloria – Them

        Fish Cheer/I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag – Country Joe and the Fish

  21. Rebel Scum

    Covid deaths 10 times higher in countries where 50% or more of the population is overweight.

    It is more than ten times higher when every death is counted as a convid death.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Pick a side

    “It’s only by working together as operators, employees, customers, and Texans that we can finally turn the page and rebuild out of this pandemic,” its statement said.
    In Mississippi, Greenville Mayor Errick D. Simmons told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that Gov. Tate Reeves’ decision to loosen restrictions was “premature and reckless.”
    “We are at a crucial moment in the fight against this disease and the path is unclear,” Simmons explained. “We cannot relax. We cannot loosen restrictions. We cannot lift mask mandates. We cannot let our guards down.”

    They really are setting us up for civil war.

    Vilify, dehumanize, isolate.

    • Tonio

      They are afraid of looking silly when states reopen and the hospitals and morgues fail to overflow.

      • AlexinCT

        ^^^THIS^^^

        The biggest fear our “expert” class has is that when things go back to normal people will realize that this lockdown charade was for nothing.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        Expect the emphasis on some heretofore unmentioned metric that means very little to start getting thrown around and used against places like Texas.

        ā€œSure, deaths are way down and will continue that way, but the Variant Differential number PROVES that REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR ABBOTTā€™s decision is horrible.ā€

    • Rebel Scum

      turn the page and rebuild out of this

      ///BuildBackBetter ///GreatReset

      We are at a crucial moment in the fight against this disease

      And what of all the other diseases?

      We cannot relax.

      *leans back in chair*

      Well, I can.

    • B.P.

      We shall fight on the beaches…

      It seems like every single day of the last 357 days has been a “critical moment.”

      • rhywun

        And every time I turn around there’s another GRIM MILESTONE.

  23. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Re: obesity-ā€œ He added: “This report must act as a wake-up call to governments globally.ā€

    Less obesity is good, government led calls to action, and god forbid action, arenā€™t. No sir, I donā€™t like it.

    • invisible finger

      The most obese thing in the world is government.

  24. Rebel Scum

    Hollywood Celebrities Rage at Gov. Abbott for Opening Texas, Lifting Mask Mandate: ā€˜GOP Is a Death Cultā€™

    Everyone is perfectly free to continue wearing a shame muzzle if they want to.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      What gets me is the people who went to Texas et al because the lockdowns in Cali/New York were too draconian for them railing against dropping the restrictions. Nobody made you go there you ungrateful twats.

    • AlexinCT

      They are really fucking worried that the serfs will get uppity. Especially since they know it is all a charade anyway.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      This just in!

      Californians whoā€™ve moved to Texas are pissed that Texas is not just like California.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Dr. Anthony Fauci said the decision by some states to do away with mask mandates and allowing businesses to open at full capacity was “inexplicable.”
    The US shouldn’t ease restrictions in place to prevent Covid-19 before the number of new coronavirus cases falls below 10,000 daily, “and maybe even considerably less than that,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Thursday.

    Come on, Foochy. Prove how effective that mask is. I’ll get the bear spray.

    • Tonio

      I’d like to spay him, if you know what I mean. [Note to NSA: with fresh bear urine, no mechanical devices of any sort involved.]

      • Festus

        Chert blades are non-mechanical.

      • UnCivilServant

        A wedge is a simple machine, thus mechanical.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Appropriate typo.

      • juris imprudent

        Tonio is on a roll.

      • Tonio

        Hoisted on my own petard, as it were. LOL

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        All you need is a rubber band to castrate hogs.

      • Tonio

        And the special tool.

      • Raven Nation

        I’d settle for him explaining why 10,000 new daily cases is an important marker.

      • Rebel Scum

        Especially considering that “cases” does not necessitate symptoms.

    • Rebel Scum

      Prove how effective that mask is.

      The explicit legal disclaimer that is on all of them when purchased is all you need.

  26. Rebel Scum

    Petaluma bans all new gas stations in push to curb emissions

    Because people can’t go to the next county…I’m sure limiting choice will do wonders for the consumers.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Driving farther to refuel…good for emissions?

    • AlexinCT

      DARPA is doing serious work on supersonic drone swarms using AI to coordinate saturation attacks…

      Some of this new stuff makes Skynet look like a pussy.

  27. Festus

    Joe Biden as President is like a little kid on one of those fairground rides who actually thinks the steering wheel does something.

    • Annoyed Nomad

      Maggie from the Simpsons.

  28. Count Potato

    “Capitol Police request National Guard stay in DC for another two MONTHS after unspecified ‘threat’ from right-wing militia FAILED to materialize on March 4 – the day QAnon believers thought Trump would become president again

    The Capitol Police have requested that members of the National Guard stay in Washington DC for another two months, after the unspecified ‘threat’ from right-wing militia failed to materialize on March 4.

    US Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman released a statement Thursday revealing she had formally asked the Department of Defense to extend the support provided by the guard troops just days before their deployment was due to end on March 12.

    Pittman has not publicly confirmed the length of the proposed extension but the Associated Press has learned it will be for a further 60 days through May 12 and will involve a reduced number of around 2,200 troops.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9326627/Police-request-60-day-extension-Guard-US-Capitol.html

    • The Other Kevin

      Until the next threat, and then the next. Kind of like how we were at terrorism level orange for 10 years.

    • Not Adahn

      April 15 is coming up, and then there’s Cinco de Mayo, and then June 14 when the continental army was created, and then July 4, and then…

      • juris imprudent

        August 8th, because 8-8.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Oh yeah, that was supposed to happen yesterday. Sounds like a big surprise that nothing happened.

      • Not Adahn

        It was going to happen, but then the Qtarded trumpalos started believing in a fake conspiracy theory that it was a fedgov trap.

    • Ownbestenemy

      And no reporter sought out to ask what this unspecified threat was? If unspecified, is it a threat? No reporter said…hey you requested a large bump in your budget based on this unspecified threat…

      That leaves the door wide open to remain a standing force in our Capitol. There is always a threat, but they have dropped all sense of reality and I would suspect it will be 4 years of it in some form or fashion.

    • Tonio

      I recall the quote yesterday said “on or about,” which is deliberately vague.

      Much as publicity-hungry psychics will often go on tv to say the missing body is “near water,” which term is later revealed to mean household plumbing, any sort of drain or sewer, fish tanks, etc.

      • Not Adahn

        Hey bub, they’ll yank your licence for spilling trade secrets like that.

    • Rebel Scum

      unspecified ā€˜threatā€™

      Curious, that is.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      ā€œCapitol Police request National Guard stay in DC for another two MONTHS

      The Heart Of Democracyā„¢ļø.

      after unspecified ā€˜threatā€™ from right-wing militia FAILED to materialize on March 4 ā€“ the day QAnon believers thought Trump would become president again

      ā€œFailed to materializeā€ presupposes that not only was an event possible, but almost certain to happen. And I think we all know thatā€™s a huge lord of horseshit. The threat was never about a threat, but about insisting there is an ongoing threat in a ruse to assure the troops stay. They initially were supposed to be 2 weeks. Then until mid-March, due to an ā€œarmed insurrectionā€ that never happened, and now mid-May due to an ā€œunspecifiedā€ attack that ā€œfailed to materialize.ā€

      Any bets on when the fences come down and the troops sent home?

      • Mad Scientist

        I’ll put 5 bucks on “not in my lifetime.”

      • Fourscore

        Guardsmen wanna go home too, they have another life, I betcha

  29. Certified Public Asshat

    Biden Narrows Stimulus Eligibility Ensuring Some 12 Million Wonā€™t Receive Payments Because Heā€™s a Punk

    For all of Bidenā€™s tough-guy bullshit, Biden got punked. Heā€™s been punked throughout this entire process. When Biden met with centrist Democrats a month ago and it was proposed that stimulus payments end at $50,000 a year, Biden was with this, tooā€”until backlash led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) forced him to change his stance.

    Where is the Biden who wants to take guys behind the bleachers and fuck them up? Where is the Biden who told a voter ā€œheā€™s full of shit and asked him to step outside after he said some shit that Biden didnā€™t like? Where is the Biden who faced down Corn Pop at the swimming pool?

    WTF, Joe?

    The punk couldn’t possibly be the voters, could it?

    • AlexinCT

      I thought democrats called voters bitches & hos?

    • creech

      Anyone else remember when “compromise” was a progressive meme?

    • Pope Jimbo

      My dream is that some voter takes Biden up on his offer to step outside. Biden then tells his Secret Service detail to stand down because he’s a real man and won’t need their help. Then gets the stuffing beat out of him by Fats the Voter.

      While that would be great, the better moment would be the hearings where outraged Senators demanded to know how the SS let their Presidementia get beaten so badly. Each SS agent would take the mic, smirk and say “He gave us a direct order to stand down and we obeyed him”.

  30. Rebel Scum

    Hillary Clinton
    @HillaryClinton

    My friend John Lewis said, “The vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society.”

    We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect it.

    The Senate must pass the For The People Act.

    I cannot begin to describe my contempt for these tyrannical cuntes.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      They always leave out the part about illegitimate votes de facto depriving people of their legitimate votes though. What they want is quasi democratic tyranny.

      • juris imprudent

        I kinda like how it advertises that the ignorant and apathetic are presumed to be Democrat voters.

  31. DrOtto

    For all the hand wringing in the local media regarding face masks in TX, you’d think everyone was against the coming mask mandate being dropped. But I was far from the only one at the local grocery store maskless yesterday, including some of the women, who as a group seem more compliant. And the mandate isn’t being lifted till next week. I suspect the maskers are going to be the outlier after the 10th when the mandate is lifted.

    • EvilSheldon

      I’m a raging optimist, I know, but I truly believe that most people wearing masks public are doing so just to avoid being yelled at by the Karen brigade.

      • Festus

        Yup. Plus we get to keep feeding our families.

      • Tonio

        Even worse are the people who comprise the Karen brigade, who wrap themselves in the righteous mantle of public health virtue but who are actually getting off on controlling the behavior of others.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s just common sense Tonio.

      • Rebel Scum

        But if you capitulate, the Karens win.

      • EvilSheldon

        Yeah, but you can’t really go around bitch-slapping them…

    • Urthona

      I think things will be no different sadly.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Disinformation campaign

    “The minute the pandemic hit,” says Linvill, “s*** hit the fan.”

    Instead of monitoring a wave of foreign disinformation seeking to sow mistrust in democratic institutions and elections, domestic sources doing the same thing surged instead.

    “I’m not even seeing [Russian disinformation] messaging much in English to the same extent that I’ve seen in the past, because they don’t need it,” Linvill said. “I mean, the GOP has taken the ball from them and run with it.”

    In the past year, Americans spent more time than ever online and got more of their information from unreliable or false sources. Even with the de-platforming of former President Donald Trump, experts say the way Americans communicate and receive information online remains broken.

    It’s a crisis that is ripping families apart and led to a violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol in January.

    A recent report about that attack from the nonpartisan Election Integrity Partnership concluded that while it was appalling to watch, it should not have been viewed as surprising considering what was happening all year online.

    If you disagree with the official NPR/WaPo narrative, you’re a traitor and seditionist. The spasm of disrespect at the Capitol was completely predictable. Politicians who think they can shit all over half the population with impunity need to have their understanding of DEMOCRACY recalibrated.

    You cannot allow the duly elected President of the United States to have unfettered access to channels of communication with the people who elected him. That’s crazy.

    • Rebel Scum

      I mean, the GOP has taken the ball from them and run with it.

      The Dems in 2016 could not be reached for comment.

      sow mistrust in democratic institutions and elections

      Democrats are current attempting to ensure that no reasonably intelligent individual will have faith in said items.

      a violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol

      When the fuck did this happen?

      need to have their understanding of DEMOCRACY recalibrated

      Dems are currently attempting to ensure Democracy forever.

  33. Certified Public Asshat

    officially opening a long position on the berenstain bears pic.twitter.com/W1J8vi2JiK— Jeremy Kauffman, Wolf of Wall Street Books ? ? (@jeremykauffman) March 4, 2021

    Not a bad idea.

    • Rat on a train

      I have a copy of Song of the South. What’s the bid for a NFT of it?

      • The Other Kevin

        10 years in jail and a $500,000 fine.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Iā€™ll trade it for my copy of The Five Chinese Brothers if youā€™re interested.

    • creech

      Can you image the “woke cut” version of “Gone With the Wind?” Cut out every reference to the old South, plantation society, enslaved folks, Confederate soldiers, greedy capitalist mill owners, violence against abolitionist bummers, etc. etc. and all you have left is the two minute clip where Scarlett is grubbing in the dirt for some rotten veggies and then pukes.

      • Festus

        HERSTORY!

  34. Rat on a train

    The Militarization of Government Agencies
    It seems instead of using a common facility security force, each agency establishes its own. Here are some agencies that bought guns, ammunition and military supplies:
    AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
    BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
    CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
    FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION
    FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE
    NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
    SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
    RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
    USDA, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
    USDA, OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Even the Smithsonian Institution now employs 620-armed ā€˜special agents,ā€™ up from zero officers (2008).

      WTF

      • CPRM

        Gotta stop Wonder Woman from stealing their jets.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Then being able to make it invisible, ’cause awkward fan service.

      • The Other Kevin

        They were completely unprepared and frankly quite embarrassed the last time a magic tablet brought all the exhibits to life.

      • Tonio

        Well, they do have lots of expensive art and jewels and stuff.

    • Count Potato

      Doesn’t the Department of Education have their own SWAT team?

      • Rat on a train

        It’s for when someone spots a gun in the background during virtual instruction.

      • juris imprudent

        Hey, you can’t come down too hard on those loan scofflaws and admissions cheats!

    • Tonio

      There is, or used to be, the Federal Protective Service which was GSA’s police force. GSA is the supply and landlord agency for much of the US FedGov. FPS, and GSA, were widely and rightly regarded as a clownshow by the rest of the federal civilian service. FPS was, I believe, rolled into DHS.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Yes, and FPS has big “police” emblazoned on their vehicles.

        I still think they should be security guards with jurisdiction limited to federal property only with no general arrest or other police powers. Call the local cops to arrest someone just like private businesses must do.

  35. Rebel Scum

    Oh, Kayleigh.

    ā€œIā€™ve said before and I mean it: I wish Jen Psaki all the best,ā€ McEnany answered. ā€œIt is a very hard job. But that being said, we took great pains in our administration to do hours and hours and hours of research beforehand, days sometimes, calling (former Secretary of Health and Human Services) Secretary (Alex) Azar sometimes, calling (former Department of Justice spokesperson) Kerri Kupec over at the Justice Department to get answers.ā€

    ā€œAnd the great thing about being in the Trump White House was I always knew where my boss stood,ā€ McEnany continued. ā€œUnlike other press secretaries that maybe didnā€™t have walk-in privileges to the Oval, I could walk in at any time. I always knew where he stood. Before every press conference, I would go in with a list of items that I thought the press would ask and go through one by one. I always knew where his head was at, so I didnā€™t have to do a ton of circling back because President Trump gave a lot of access to me.ā€

    I’m going to have to circle back because, for the meantime, I’ll be in my bunk.

    • Ownbestenemy

      That was a gracious answer. Bunk..engage

    • Swiss Servator

      “Her boss is senile, and she is an unprepared and lazy hack.” in polite language.

      • Tres Cool

        +1 Bless Her Heart

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      Seeing her ritualistically humiliate the press was probably the most enjoyable part of the Trump administration. Also, would, vigorously.

      • Festus

        Like a piston engine would! Hell, Mazda if she preferred!

      • juris imprudent

        Festus is an eccentric!

  36. Rebel Scum

    Someone explain to this cunte how solar panels are made and from where the overwhelming majority of electricity necessarily has to come.

    “Yeah, I mean, first of all, joy, thanks for this question. I mean, Joe Biden has said when he hears the words climate change, he thinks of jobs, and the opportunity here for Americans in every pocket of the country to experience both the benefits of cost reduction as a result of clean energy as well as jobs is so exciting. Itā€™s why Iā€™m so honored to be part of this, because the mission here is about deploying clean energy and about creating jobs all over the country, all kinds of jobs for all kinds of people, and with respect to cost, I mean, just as one example, Joy, I mean, I drive a Chevy Bolt which is an electric vehicle. I donā€™t have to buy gasoline. The average person that gets an electric vehicle saves $600 a year because you donā€™t have to fill it up. I have solar panels on my house. So I drive on sunshine. Thatā€™s a fantastic technological advancement and thatā€™s what the Department of Energy is all about, is solutions like that.”

    • The Other Kevin

      The math works out. For just a $12,000 initial investment, you can save $600 per year!

      • Rat on a train

        Oh, but you can’t compare your less expensive car to the electric car. Even if you have a lower cost of ownership, you miss out on all the features you don’t care about. You can only compare it to a car of similar price. At least that is what I was told when I paid $20,000 less on an ICE car.

      • Rat on a train

        BTW, I actually hate many of Tesla’s features, like the door handles and table control system.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m unfamiliar with that those ‘features’ are or do. Care to elaborate?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I assume heā€™s referring to the fact that Teslas use a tablet mounted on the dash to control the carā€™s climate control, radio, etc
        https://i.insider.com/5a861ac9d0307255048b46d2?width=1800

        Menus and submenus for changing vent fan speed and the like.

      • UnCivilServant

        So what do the door handles do strangely?

      • Rat on a train

        The door handles retract to be flush with the body. They are supposed to flip out when they detect the fob. They don’t work well when you get a coating of ice over them.

        Tesla puts almost all controls and gauges on a tablet (where is the edit feature) in the middle of the console. You have to reach over and use a touch screen to adjust controls that are normally on the wheel, column or at least easy to find on the dash. They’ve had problems with the tablet malfunctioning so you can’t even see your speed.
        Tesla 3

      • UnCivilServant

        Sooo… Elon has never seen snow, nor driven himself?

        A mechanical control is safer because I can make the adjustment without having to take my eyes off the road. And I almost never have a passenger.

        Let me guess, the turn signal is behind six menus.

      • Rat on a train

        Model 3 Doors and Windows
        Note that you have to use the tablet to open the glove box.

      • UnCivilServant

        Do these designers not realize how error-prone computers are?

        Or do they simply not care?

      • Rat on a train

        Musk wanted sexy not functional.

      • UnCivilServant

        Functional is a pre-requisite for sexy. Without functional, it’s all ugly.

      • UnCivilServant

        *note this is a statement about cars and user interfaces.

      • UnCivilServant

        I like being able to heat the cabin using the waste heat from the engine.

        I like having the same range in subzero conditions as when the sun is beating down.

        I like a five minute recharge time.

        What features would I be gaining for losing all those?

      • Rat on a train

        I’m in a two car household. I would have bought electric for my use if it met my criteria. Tesla was too expensive and had so many bad features. They wanted sexy instead of a functional car with electric motors.

    • EvilSheldon

      I saw a Tesla the other day, with the vanity plate ‘COAL PWR’.

      That’s more of a sense of humor than I expect from a Tesla owner…

      • CPRM

        Either that car gets around, or live near some other glibs, because I’ve heard that one before.

      • UnCivilServant

        I was going to say the same thing, but I was too busy upthread.

      • EvilSheldon

        I’ve seen a few variants around the area. Also some bumper stickers, which makes me wonder if the car’s owner was even involved in the joke…

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        A dude I used to work with had a Mini Cooper with a “COMPS8N.” I thought it was amusing.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      ā€œI drive on sunshineā€
      Itā€™s magic: Zim Sala Bim…electricity

  37. Rat on a train

    I recently watched “Yes, Minister” again. It’s a good primer for how government operates.

    • l0b0t

      If you haven’t seen it, the Australian show Utopia is in a very similar vein – https://youtu.be/VTb57–Lcxk

      • Rat on a train

        Thanks. I will check it out.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    The math works out. For just a $12,000 initial investment, you can save $600 per year!

    Good enough for government work.

  39. Pope Jimbo

    I will come back to haunt my kids if they turn my death into a political ad. CWAA

    That was the last time Laurie saw her mother. Carol Lindeen, 81, died in her sleep on Wednesday.

    Her obituary celebrated her love for “her children and grandchildren, her cat, Sam, books, friends, politics, and Chardonnay.”

    It also noted her opinion of Johnson: “In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Ron Johnsonā€™s opponent in 2022.”

    “She just said she wished she had been more involved and outspoken to her convictions, so I figured this was my way of honoring that,” Laurie said.

    Laurie said that she’s gotten “a little blowback” over the obituary, but kept thinking of their last conversation.

    “She said, ‘I wish I would have done more’ when we were watching him,” Laurie added. “So I just had to put that in.”

    • EvilSheldon

      ā€œHer obituary celebrated her love for ā€œher children and grandchildren, her cat, Sam, books, friends, politics, and Chardonnay.ā€

      In life, as death, a total clichƩ.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    Double downer

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, again criticized other states including Texas that are loosening coronavirus restrictions and encouraged Californians to consider wearing two masks on Thursday.

    “We are encouraging people, basically, to double down on mask-wearing, particularly in light of all that I would argue is bad information coming from at least four states in this country,” Newsom said at a press conference. “We will not be walking down their path. We’re mindful of your health and our future.”

    “I’ll just note … that the positivity rate in those states is substantially higher than even here in the state of California,” Newsom continued.

    Come on, Gavin- give us a demonstration of how well that mask works.

    • Mad Scientist

      I’d prefer if he’d demo a ball gag for us.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I think he enjoys that, NTIAJWHDITB

    • Pope Jimbo

      Shouldn’t double masking be the Tuesday special? Or is he worried that Taco Tuesday already owns that day, so he has to go with Twomask Thursday?

  41. Muzzled Woodchipper

    Goddammit!

    A Franklin Circuit judge has granted a temporary injunction to stop the implementation of three bills that would limit Gov. Andy Beshear’s COVID-19 powers.

    State courts have bent over backwards to provide him with cover. Weā€™re fucked. Apparently we canā€™t even pass laws with a supermajority in this state. Even when we do, courts halt it.

    The woodchipper needs gassing up.

    https://www.lex18.com/news/coronavirus/judge-grants-temporary-injunction-on-bills-that-would-limit-gov-beshears-covid-19-powers

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      How temporary is temporary, they gonna hear the case tomorrow?

      • Rat on a train

        two weeks

      • Ownbestenemy

        *quiet applause*

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Yeah, thatā€™s too long.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Ah, I get it…need moar coffee

      • UnCivilServant

        Run! Rat’s head is about to explode!

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        Apparently the legislature needs to appeal to the state Supreme Court, which can likely take as long as they want.

        The State Supreme Court upheld him unanimously last year under the previous law. And the governor is using that decision to justify his lawsuit against the new law (ā€œBut the Supreme Court said I was not outside of my authority so how can they change the law to lessen my authority?ā€).

        These laws are dead. Weā€™re fucked.

        We need a fleet of woodchippers.

    • UnCivilServant

      So the judge wants to be impeached and removed from office?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Checks and balances against the people, instead of government.

    • Old Man With Candy

      “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”

    • Pope Jimbo

      The Minnesoda courts have also rubber stamped all the actions taken by King Walz. They say that the emergency powers granted to him do actually allow him to do whatever he wants.

      Would be nice if maybe they’d rule on what exactly an emergency is. Not sure how something that has been going on for a year still qualifies as an event that is so extreme that all checks and balances need to be suspended.

    • Rebel Scum

      Mass. Civil. Disobedience. Now.

    • juris imprudent

      The least the legislature could do is impeach that asshole.

  42. The Late P Brooks

    Apparently we canā€™t even pass laws with a supermajority in this state. Even when we do, courts halt it.

    DEMOCRACY!

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      When the left gets their way itā€™s democracy, when they donā€™t itā€™s folly.

      • CPRM

        When the left gets their way itā€™s democracy, when they donā€™t itā€™s folly FACSIM!!111!.

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Iā€™d prefer if heā€™d demo a ball gag for us.

    A scold’s bridle would also work.

    • Pope Jimbo

      The problem with that is that the shipping charges when you order one from Etsy are prohibitive. At least that is what a friend told me.

      • UnCivilServant

        Support your local blacksmith.

  44. Count Potato

    “QAnon theorists switch date to March 20 after no Trump inauguration, call the 4th “false flag

    As federal law enforcement agencies braced for QAnon conspiracy theorists to engage in potential acts of violence on Thursday, leading affiliates of the far-right extremist movement seemed to amend formerly held beliefs about the significance of March 4….

    Alex Kaplan, a senior researcher at right-wing media watchdog Media Matters for America, showcased the growing skepticism among QAnon influencers in an ongoing Twitter thread. The thread included screenshots of their posts to various chat platforms, such as Telegram, describing March 4 as a “false flag” constructed by mainstream news organizations and internal double agents to deceive true QAnon proponents…

    Some QAnon supporters seemed to rebrand the March 4 conspiracy in the wake of community suspicion. While two individuals affiliated with the false theories simply suggested that Trump’s inauguration would take place some time in the spring, one man, identified as Ken, told Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel that the former president “will be inaugurated again on March 20” in comments over the weekend. Ken also believes that “Trump is still in command of the military” and “Biden is acting as president as a ruse while the Pope and others are rounded up,” according to Weigel.

    The upcoming date will mark the 167th anniversary of the Republican Party’s founding. Former members of the Whig Party are said to have technically established the GOP during a meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin, on March 20, 1854.”

    https://www.newsweek.com/qanon-theorists-switch-date-march-20-after-no-trump-inauguration-call-4th-false-flag-1573871

    “one man”

    • Ownbestenemy

      Or, and stay with me here, that the ‘QAnon’ folks are actually pointing out that they never intended to have any actions on March 4 when they said it was a ‘false flag’ cause they were not pushing it, our own government was pushing it to get what they want; a permanent standing security force surrounding the capitol.

    • Pope Jimbo

      1) I’m still here. No one is gonna be rounding me up.
      2) This QAnon crap is either some DC LEO who is trying to rake up some extra cash by getting all this OT to stop an insurrection or 4Chan
      3) If it is 4Chan they should start a rumor that the secret white supremacist greeting in DC is to pretend to take a pic on your cell phone. I envision a Knights Who Say Nie scenario. As frightened lefties see someone trying to take a pic in the Capitol they will attempt to take a pic of the nazi only to have some other proggie take a pic of them striking the new white supremacist pose.

      • Nephilium

        Just make double or triple masking the sooper secret QAnon symbol of recognition.

    • CPRM

      Man, the 4-channers are playing these fools for fiddles it seems like.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Q Anon aka 4Chan is just leading federal law enforcement around by the nose now although, letā€™s be honest, the feds know this is all bullshit.

      • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

        Do they? I kind of think they really are that stupid.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Alex Kaplan, a senior researcher at right-wing media watchdog Media Matters for America

      ’nuff said…

      • Festus

        The Conservative pounced!

    • Not Adahn

      Dude, MM4A is the most unimpeachableist source evah!

      And how has Dave Weigel managed to not been beaten to death by now?

    • bacon-magic

      Fuck Dave Weigel.

    • Rebel Scum

      QAnon theorists switch date

      Q theorists, federal agents. Tomayto, tomahto.

    • juris imprudent

      Q – watch us make these assholes dance.

  45. Rufus the Monocled

    My God. Celebrities. When will natural selection kick in on that group?

    • Festus

      Smart people are unattractive? I’ve got nothing. Ahoy, fellow Canuck!

      • Not Adahn

        If I had a time machine, I’d got back to Hedy Lamarr and say “Hey babe, wanna go back to my place? It’s in the 21st century. I’ve got a time machine.”

      • UnCivilServant

        Why would you take a woman like that to a shithole like now?

    • Pope Jimbo

      Do you think that having Hollywood A-listers denounce your state as stupid actually hurts?

      Seems like the Texans would hear that shit and double down on opening. Fuck those west coast assholes, amirite?!

      Maybe it is a signal to the fifth column Californians who have snuck into Texas?

  46. Pope Jimbo

    Speaking of electric vehicles….

    Minnesoda lawmakers are doing their best to fuck things up

    In Minnesota, lawmakers are debating a host of changes to state law to prepare for the rise of electric vehicles. But so far in 2021, Republicans who control the Minnesota Senate and Democrats who have a majority in the House have found little common ground on how the state should react to the burgeoning industry.

    The GOP has focused on making EV owners pay a substitute fee in place of Minnesotaā€™s gas tax, which pays for road construction; they also want to remove Gov. Tim Walzā€™s power to set new auto emission standards. DFLers have proposed rebates for electric cars, and hope to prod state government to buy more EVs, fund the purchase of electric buses in the Twin Cities and to put charging stations in state parks.

    ā€œI think we all understand that EV transportation is on its way,ā€ said Sen. Dave Senjem, a Rochester Republican who chairs the Senateā€™s Energy and Utilities Finance and Policy Committee. ā€œItā€™s the new way, and it will be with us sooner than we think.ā€

    Or maybe you could just do nothing? Let’s see if electric cars really are going to be a thing. Metro users might love them, but I’m guessing that people living out in the boonies might be less than thrilled with the range of these cars (especially in the cold).

    • Rat on a train

      Virginia had special license plates for low-emissions vehicles. The plates let you drive in HOV lanes without the required number of passengers. They stopped issuing the plates and phased out the HOV exemption as the prices of the vehicles made them affordable to the middle class.

  47. The Late P Brooks

    Some QAnon supporters seemed to rebrand the March 4 conspiracy in the wake of community suspicion. While two individuals affiliated with the false theories simply suggested that Trumpā€™s inauguration would take place some time in the spring, one man, identified as Ken, told Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel that the former president ā€œwill be inaugurated again on March 20ā€ in comments over the weekend. Ken also believes that ā€œTrump is still in command of the militaryā€ and ā€œBiden is acting as president as a ruse while the Pope and others are rounded up,ā€ according to Weigel.

    Tune in tomorrow; same time, same channel, for another edition of “Scary Campfire Stories”.

    • Tres Cool

      I did kinda wonder about the Pope’s visit to the mideast. But oh, well.

    • Mad Scientist

      I will laugh my ass off if the QAnon guys just keep coming up with another date a week or two out, and another, and another, forever. We’ll have National Guard troops hanging around bitching about per diems and metal shavings indefinitely.

  48. Ownbestenemy

    In the “we are not conspiracy theorist” wing of the Left – new line is these accusers of Cuomo are Republican plants led to push a Republican Guv into NY to pardon Trump.

    ā€œ- Mr. Rate: That’s how a conspiracy works. Them boys on the Grassy Knoll they were dead within three hours, buried in the damned desert, unmarked graves out past Terlingua.
    – Nick Memphis: You know this for a fact?
    – Mr. Rate: Still got the shovel.ā€

    • EvilSheldon

      Ahh. Great line, but that movie makes me so sad.

    • l0b0t

      That’s funny because I’m pretty convinced they are Democrat plants giving Rat-Faced Andy-The-Mobbed-Up-Lawyer an easy out to avoid investigation into his nursing home murders.

      • Ownbestenemy

        All the girls look…eerily similar. Either the guv has a very particular type or yeah, they were recruited. If I were to keep up a conspiracy about it. I think he is like most men in power, he tries to get what he wants using that position.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Is the Andrew Breitbart on a five day drunk looking guy the prosecutor sheā€™s banging. And yeah, not bad looking at all.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      If you desire to see a fictionalized story that closely resembles the reality of elder law and court guardians, and will drive you absolutely batshit angry, check out I Care A Lot on Netflix.

      • l0b0t

        Not fictional, and It has me enraged! Lady gets guardian appointed for her and is shipped off to a nursing home without any warning or hearing.

        https://youtu.be/uz3yBlM5w80

      • Ownbestenemy

        To Scruffy’s credit, he did say fictionalized..maybe more dramatized is the better term? I probably will watch in the future.

      • l0b0t

        Sorry. I did not mean that Scruffy’s link was not fictional. I posted a video from lawtalker Steve Lehto about a lady who had her life and property stolen by a lawyer and a Guardianship company. It’s truly outrageous (JEMM!) and I would be moved into murder/arson territory if it were my mom.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yep. Stories like this need to be written about the whole guardianship/family court get up that occurs across the nation.

      • juris imprudent

        I had someone warn me away from watching that – think I’ll stick with his recommendation.

      • juris imprudent

        I nearly burst a vein when I first read about April Parks in real life. That is a person I could kill in cold blood without the slightest moral qualm.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’ve thought a lot about how I would handle a similar situation. The law, the system, the courts, everything is stacked against you. The mistake is believing that you can win against those forces when the game is rigged.

        I personally know of a case in California where millions were stolen by a group of attorneys working in concert with a home care nurse. There was no limit to what they were willing to do in order to keep their scam going, including getting the son put in jail on fabricated assault charges.

        I’ve pretty much decided that it would be highly unfortunate for anyone who attempted to pull that scam on me or my family.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        What I want to know about the Parks case is what happened to the judge who approved those guardianships. They were almost certainly complicit and probably should be hanging from a lamppost.

      • l0b0t

        I just read about the urns of remains being found in her storage unit. Damn… that’s dragged from the house by torch-wielding mob and strung up from a tree in the yard territory.

  49. Pope Jimbo

    I’ve been stunned at the vitriol the MSM has been putting out because states are ending mask mandates. You’d think that Texas was going to make it mandatory to french kiss a hobo before you can enter a store.

    One article I read yesterday on CNN (too lazy to look it up now) boiled down to: “I’d rather have my customers mask up, and with a mandate my preferences are in place and I don’t have to compete with other stores that don’t require a mask for my customers’ business”

    Why does capitalism force me to weigh costs and benefits and make decisions?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Because it gives personal choice. The media and government want to be our choice makers, not that pesky individual.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I think it is more that “I can use the govt to force people to do what I want without having to confront them personally”

      • Mad Scientist

        Blame the future on the past,
        Always lost in bloody guts.
        And when they’re gone, it’s me and you.

        Living on a thin line,
        Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?

      • Gustave Lytton

        It’s the same reason many lower and middle managers aren’t entirely opposed to unions.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That also.

  50. The Late P Brooks

    One article I read yesterday on CNN (too lazy to look it up now) boiled down to: ā€œIā€™d rather have my customers mask up, and with a mandate my preferences are in place and I donā€™t have to compete with other stores that donā€™t require a mask for my customersā€™ businessā€

    I saw one of those. Large companies and the Chamber of Commerce saying, “Make our decisions for us! Thinking and acting for ourselves is too hard!”

    • Urthona

      I’m fine with opinions that state “I’d rather”.

      So be it.

      I’d rather not.

  51. The Late P Brooks

    And another thing…

    People who wear a mask pathogen incubator, and then take the fucking thing off and lay it on the bar or on the table. That kind of defeats the purpose of “cootie containment” if that’s what you think you’re doing, doesn’t it?

    It’s the willful refusal to think or behave rationally which pisses me off most, I think.

    • Ownbestenemy

      They don’t see the connect because the Government told them that was acceptable practice. So in their minds, the experts have told them, walking into the bar with a mask keeps you safe and sitting down and removing the mask keeps you safe, and reapplying the mask anytime you need to use the bathroom keeps you safe.

      They are, in their mind, following the rules that keep them safe.

    • Urthona

      No. Simply walking through the threshold of a restaurant with mask on and then taking it off 5 seconds later when you sit down defeats covid.

      Fact.

  52. Ozymandias

    I’ll just leave this one here… ‘cuz it’s kinda my schtick.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fauci-military-personnel-opting-out-of-vaccine-are-part-of-the-problem/ar-BB1ehb5J?ocid=ientp

    “Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, on Thursday, told U.S. military members that those of them who decide not to get the coronavirus vaccine are ‘inadvertently part of the problem’ of prolonging the pandemic.”

    This guy cannot possibly fuck off and die fast enough.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Yeah. Looks through the chain of command…nope, don’t see it. Fuck off Fauci. I wonder if he even knows the experimentation that soldiers get over their whole existence that the US government has done.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Well, it’s not like they’d inject soldiers with anthrax or whatever. Right?

      • Chipwooder

        Paging Mr. Ozy, Mr. Ozy please pick up the white courtesy phone

      • Ownbestenemy

        Looks up…I mean, he did post this…

    • Pope Jimbo

      Especially problematic that our armed forces are chock full of people in the high risk categories: old, sick, infirm.

      I’d love to know how many members of the armed forces have died from the Rona. That carrier? How many burials at sea were there?

      My gut tells me that the number would be very close to collegiate athletes who have died, or school aged children in Minnesoda: ZERO.

      • Tulip

        Six last I checked.

      • Chipwooder

        According to JAMA, out of 4800 crew members, 736 got the WuFlu, six were hospitalized, one died.

      • juris imprudent

        Who are you going to believe? A bunch of actual data or the Great High Witchdoctor of the Bureaucracy?

    • Not Adahn

      Don’t you remember when the ‘vid killed off the entire crew of an aircraft carrier?

  53. Festus

    I’m drinking too much, working too much and my diet has gone to shit. Glib-weight remains consistent but morale is mighty low. Hope you Glibbies make the best of it. I’m out for today.

  54. The Late P Brooks

    Anthony Fauci, the nationā€™s top infectious diseases expert

    Did he go to court to have his name legally changed? Is that on his driver’s license? You hardly ever see him referred to any other way.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I think that at the least he should have to defend his title every year.

      Next up would be Minnesoda’s own Osterholm. He’s hungry for the title.

      • Rat on a train

        A lucha libre competition seems appropriate.

      • juris imprudent

        Only if it is a locked cage match and we throw away the key.

  55. Rebel Scum

    It’s blue-jean Friday for some of the office ladies. Trying not to creep, but goddam…

    • UnCivilServant

      *looks around office*

      I’m all alone…

      • Rat on a train

        It’s no pants Friday for UCS!

      • rhywun

        No pants year and change for me.

      • Nephilium

        As of yesterday, it’ll have been one year since I was last in my main office, after next week, it’ll be a year since I’ve stepped foot in any office that I support.

      • Rat on a train

        Next week is my Coronaversary.

      • bacon-magic

        EW

      • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

        So is he.

    • Gender Traitor

      Since so many of my coworkers (but not me) started WFH, it’s blue jean day every day for me.

      Sometimes I miss wearing my dresses. Maybe when the weather gets warmer…

    • Sean

      Just one of my job “perks” – jeans are standard working apparel.

  56. Gender Traitor

    Our payroll processor has had a system outage all week, but they said they could process direct deposits today for the same net pay each employee got last time. Our DDs usually post around 7 a.m. ET, but they haven’t yet.

    There’s steam coming out of my boss’s ears. It’s good I only have to take temps checking for COVID and I DON’T have to check BP.

    • UnCivilServant

      šŸ™

      They might be in violation of some contractual requirements there.

      • Gender Traitor

        Our Accounting Goddess just reported that the payroll wire has been processed, so there may be hope…

      • UnCivilServant

        Does she answer prayers?

      • Gender Traitor

        She does, but usually the answer is “No.”

        I am the Administrative Goddess, but I have few, if any, acolytes.

      • UnCivilServant

        My powers seem to be limited to recognizing obscure causes of application failure.

        Paraphrased Consultant: “We can start either one instance or the other, but the second one we try to start always fails when trying to create its listeners. but the listener ports don’t overlap…”

        Me: “I’m starting to think Message Queues or Semaphores.”

        *a little while later*

        Error Log “Unable to create message queue.”

        No, I’m not making any of that up.

      • slumbrew

        I can often troubleshoot things off the bat like that as well. It’s a function of having tons of experience and a good mental model of how things work, I suspect.

  57. EvilSheldon

    https://quillette.com/2021/02/27/the-evolutionary-advantages-of-playing-victim/

    “Newly published research indicates that people who more frequently signal their victimhood (whether real, exaggerated, or false) are more likely to lie and cheat for material gain and denigrate others as a means to get ahead. Victimhood signaling is associated with numerous morally undesirable personality traits, such as narcissism, Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and exploit others for self-benefit), a sense of entitlement, and lower honesty and humility.”

    • Ownbestenemy

      It is fun when studies are done on things like this that are right out in the open and easily seen.

    • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

      This article just further victimizes BIPOC people and members of the LGBTQIA community.

    • juris imprudent

      Sure, until victimhood becomes a social Ponzi scheme, which is exactly what intersectionality, et al entice into existence.

    • Drake

      It works right up until people stop giving a shit. We are rapidly approaching that point.

  58. The Late P Brooks

    Victimhood signaling is associated with numerous morally undesirable personality traits, such as narcissism, Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and exploit others for self-benefit), a sense of entitlement, and lower honesty and humility.

    Emotionally manipulative assholes are emotionally manipulative?

    I never saw that coming.

    • limey

      Pathological personality disorder of some sort, on the so-called spectrum from BPD through to full-blown psychopath. A lot of the modern left is where a great deal of BPD-level people congregate because it’s the perfect ideological sanctuary for them. I think there are a great deal of them among the online meme/troll culture as well – what is often associated with the “alt-right” but which has no clear philosophy or motivation beyond snark and some sort of miserable post-modern nihilism. They share that a great deal with the left, but lack the fever-dream visions of building some horrible totalitarian progressive new world order. They all want to tear everything down, but they don’t all want to build something worse? Perhaps.

      • EvilSheldon

        Well said. ā€œIdeological sanctuary,ā€ is a really good descriptor.

  59. Rebel Scum

    Congressman Al Green
    @RepAlGreen

    I love my country and believe that freedom is not free. Others have made great sacrifices for the freedoms I enjoy. I refuse to surrender our nationā€™s Capitol to those who would abridge my freedom. Hence, as a matter of personal principle, I will be in the Capitol complex today.

    Then why do you wish to abridge MY freedom. Fuck DC.

    • l0b0t

      Does he want a medal?
      I’m going to work today as well, just like millions of other people.

    • BakedPenguin

      He should have ended that post with a ‘unity’ message – “let’s get together.”

  60. slumbrew

    Man, Robbie keeps sounding like this he’s lose his gig at TOS for being too extreme:

    DC has become the most paranoid city on earth. People walk outside wearing two layers of masks while thousands of armed troops and barbed-wired fences guard against a nonexistent threat. You wouldn’t want these people in charge of anything, yet they run the whole the country.

    People here are perfectly willing to live under military occupation and pandemic lockdown indefinitely. They actually care what the CDC thinks!

    https://twitter.com/robbysoave/status/1367543463667982342

    Not a “to be sure” to be seen.

    • Drake

      Upside of a character limits?

    • slumbrew

      *Robby

    • bacon-magic

      Fruit Sushi gettin’ red-pilled. Still can’t change a tire I bet.

      • l0b0t

        He lurks here sometimes, no? Robby, if you see this, all is forgiven. Keep up this type of behavior and I’ll cheerfully teach you how to change your tire and drink your whiskey neat.

  61. hayeksplosives

    Hey peeps. Itā€™s Employee Appreciation Day at my place of employ.

    At least they made it meaningful by direct depositing our bonuses today.

    All us managers get to hand out treat bags in a line from the ā€œWar Roomā€ conference room or outside in the drive through line for the more virus paranoid workers. That part is rather silly but Iā€™ll be doing my part to look like Iā€™m smiling under the mask.

    • UnCivilServant

      I don’t know about anyone else, but these designated appreciation days where the people supposedly being appreciative just go through the generic motions end up making me feel less appreciated.

      “Do you even know my name or what I do?”

    • l0b0t

      Yay! It must be heartening to work for a place that actually cares about its employees. For our Employee Appreciation at the grocery store, management orders a bunch of pizzas from the pizza parlor next door to us in the shopping center. The pizza is just on the decent side of mediocre; however, they order the pizza around lunch time and by the time my crew is ready to eat, around midnight, the pizza is cold and gross.

    • slumbrew

      Sort of related – today is a “Wellness Day” – i.e., a company-wide paid day off. One of 7 they’ve given us for 2021. On top of the 12 holidays. On top of the up-to-six-weeks of PTO.

      I’m never going to be able to use all of that time, but it’s nice to not have to hoard the days.

  62. The Late P Brooks

    People here are perfectly willing to live under military occupation and pandemic lockdown indefinitely. They actually care what the CDC thinks!

    Huh.

    Perhaps a flicker of comprehension.

  63. The Late P Brooks

    outside in the drive through line for the more virus paranoid workers.

    Fire it through the window.

    • hayeksplosives

      I like the way you think.

  64. Rat on a train

    Today is trash and recycling. The company provides the containers (the remote dump type). They will give you a second of each if you request. Yet people still think that if they just dump stuff at the curb it will be picked up. End rant.

    • creech

      Needs more Karens in your neighborhood.

      • Rat on a train

        HOA already exists.