About The Author

Banjos

Banjos

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

349 Comments

  1. robodruid

    Good Morning All, Why get the injection for a variant that it doesn’t work on?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Fuck you, take your jab and shut up, peon.

    • Nephilium

      Who are you to refuse the Communion of SCIENCE?

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Masks work which is why you need the vaccine. The vaccine works which is why you need a mask.

      • waffles

        This helps. Thank you.

    • WTF

      NOT OF THE BODY! NOT OF THE BODY!

    • Count Potato

      From what I’ve read it does work.

    • Rat on a train

      Vaccination is not to prevent you from being infected. It is to protect you from getting seriously ill, or something.

      • Sean

        40% of the hospitalized in the UK were vaxxed. Supposedly.

      • WTF

        So then the vaccine is not very effective.

      • Not Adahn

        Yeah, the 90% figure is only for the mRNA ones. The others are only 60% effective IIRC.

      • Rat on a train

        It doesn’t stop you from getting infected or spreading infection, but may reduce the severity from an already low severity if you aren’t in any of the risk groups. We will still force you to take it for your own good.

      • Sean

        The newest bit is that the vaxxed supposedly carry a higher viral load when infected.

        Who the fuck knows?

      • Count Potato

        That doesn’t make sense.

      • Sean

        PUT YER MASK ON!

        *shrug*

        I’m having trouble parsing anything these days.

    • Hyperion

      Shut up and get it and put on 3 masks! SCIENCE!

    • Rebel Scum

      Sounds like somebody doesn’t ///FuckingLoveScience.

  2. Sean

    Not only did officer Dunn express support for many small minority owned businesses getting destroyed during the riots in Kenosha (all in the name of “black lives”) but he also falsely claimed that Jacob Blake was murdered.

    Awkward.

    • waffles

      Awkward for who? I am quite confident that these creatures are shameless. At the same time, trotting this dude out like so easily reveals the whole thing as a farce. But I’m not the one who needs convincing it was a farce. Far too many people completely buy the insurrection story about over 9,000 terrorists marching on the capitol to destroy democracy.

      • AlexinCT

        Yeah, sure…. The fucking assholes don’t feel shame: they only feel anger and a want for revenge..

      • juris imprudent

        They have a sense of shame – that they have not been able to use their power to destroy all dissent.

      • Sean

        Awkward for the narrative. Shameless…yes all of them.

        *begins to cry on cue*

    • Certified Public Asshat

      In a moment of weakness, I saw some of Dunn’s testimony and felt terrible that he was racially abused.

      Now I assume the pink MAGA lady, if she is real, was an FBI agent.

      • Sean

        if she is real

        She’s as real as Russian piss hookers.

      • Rebel Scum

        If it was real they would show the video. I consider it a lie until proven otherwise.

  3. Tonio

    “The frustration is in the United States the freedom of speech and to say things is largely cannot be regulated,” Chipman said on BBC. ” …We have to do more to monitor hate speech on the internet. But we also have to do more to curb that same speech being presented by our president and other elected public officials.”

    Chip-man, eh? Appropriately named, IYKWIM.

    “speech presented by our president”

    Why yes, yes we do. Oh, wait, you can’t speak English. “Against” is what you meant, turd.

      • Hyperion

        Why else would he be in this admin? I mean I think it’s safe to say everyone in this admin is a schmuck.

    • WTF

      He might have been referring to Trump and awkwardly claiming Trump guilty of “hate speech” is what I assumed in reading that. But who knows, the guy’s a fucking idiot.

      • Count Potato

        That’s how I read it.

    • AlexinCT

      When you do it it’s a crime. Like a bunch of assholes going through fed gov building gets explained as a insurrection. When they do it its patriotic resistance. Like when they did far worse just 4 years before and none of the fucking idiots even got charged..

    • Not Adahn

      The quote was from 2019, so Chippy was advocating censoring OMB.

      • Tonio

        Ah, thanks.

  4. l0b0t

    Ed Buck sounds bloody disgusting. People like him legitimize the idea of Pizza-gate/Under The Silver Lake/all of those recovered-memory victims that would populate Steamshovel Press publications with tales of being spit-roasted by Kissinger & Teddy Kennedy. Monsters…

    • Hyperion

      You just don’t understand. He did it for SCIENCE!

  5. limey

    So the feds are going to do a [FULL ALBUM] upload to youtube now, right? Right?!

    • CPRM

      I think that’s why people were really pissed at Pharma-Bro.

      • limey

        I don’t want to hear it anyway. I can’t stand Cher.

      • Count Potato

        Liked the video yesterday.

  6. Count Potato

    ““The frustration is in the United States the freedom of speech and to say things is largely cannot be regulated,” Chipman said on BBC. ” …We have to do more to monitor hate speech on the internet. But we also have to do more to curb that same speech being presented by our president and other elected public officials.”

    “The FBI, other federal agencies, have a tough job responding to these threats when they don’t currently have the authority to remove weaponry just because people are saying hateful things,” he also said.”

    CWAA

    • WTF

      Shorter Chipman: “Exercising a constitutional right should be grounds for forfeiting another constitutional right.”

      These people aren’t just stupid, they’re evil and dangerous.

      • AlexinCT

        They see the danger your ability to defend yourself against their machinations as existential.

    • Hyperion

      Can we call him ‘Chippy’? I mean he looks like a Chippy.

  7. Count Potato

    “Christie Smythe, a journalist who once entered into a relationship with Shkreli in prison while writing about him, tweeted Tuesday that every woman who had been to Shkreli’s apartment had probably heard the album.”

    Not Barry White?

  8. Tonio

    My take-away from the links is that the Dems are going full-tilt against free speech for speech they don’t like: the harassing of the congresscritters, that turd Chipman.

    • WTF

      Can’t implement the Marxist utopia while people are still allowed to voice opposition and question the narrative.

      • waffles

        Thank God for that. Maybe we do have reason to be hopeful.

    • Nephilium

      Don’t forget about “suggesting” that the social media companies start blocking/removing “misinformation”.

      We should have some sort of Cabinet level Bureau to overlook this, perhaps a Ministry of some kind…

      • juris imprudent

        Ministry of Eliminating Really Dangerous Evil… MERDE for short.

      • Aloysious

        That got a legit laugh out loud.

        Well done.

      • Tonio

        Ministry of Veracity has a nice ring to it.

      • rhywun

        You can fold it into the Ministry of Anti-Racism.

      • WTF

        Well, we already have the Memory Hole, for inconvenient subjects like Tara Reade.

    • Hyperion

      The dems have been gunning for free speech since about the same time they started attacking the 2nd amendment. I would say the abolition of both of those is key to their goals. You cannot get a commie utopia when people can say whatever they want and they have guns to protect against you stopping them.

    • Not Adahn

      To be fair, nobody would buy the remnants of the company if they had to warranty all the crap that it was putting out at the end.

      • Sean

        Oh, I get it…sorta. Still bad optics. I don’t think I own anything from them, or ever will. Even allowing that they used to make quality stuff.

      • Animal

        …allowing that they used to make quality stuff.

        Before 1993, yeah. The slide downhill started when DuPont sold the company.

      • EvilSheldon

        Yep.

        Anyone paying attention has been staying far away from modern Remington products.

      • kinnath

        My 11-87 seems to be working fine.

        But, I’ve only put a couple dozen shells through it so far.

      • Fourscore

        I ran 1000s through my 2 -1100s, had a broken firing pin on one at some point. Both looked almost new. On their way to Alaska with a granddaughter as I speak. Guns are more than 50 years old and spent time in duck blinds and dove grass. Then about 30 years of closet time.

        I hope she and her husband get another 50 years’ worth of enjoyment from them.

      • waffles

        I have a 760 pump-action 30-06 I have taken several deer with. It’s 20 years older than I am and I can attest to the quality.

      • Zwak, jack off, all trades

        The only Remington I own was made in 1911, so I think the warranty has expired by now anyway. Had a Nylon 66 once. What a POS.

  9. Rebel Scum

    Biden exploring vaccine mandate for all federal employees.

    What happens when the faux vaccine injures/kills all the statist apparatchiks in the government?

    • juris imprudent

      The taxpayers pay for death/disability claims?

    • Rat on a train

      They need some way of distinguishing who vaccinated before the mandates. Perhaps they could wear an inverted silver chevron on their identification badge.

    • Zwak, jack off, all trades

      Silver lining?

      Dreams have come true?

    • Nephilium

      What a piker. Our guy has been corrupt for decades! For fuck’s sake, dude has been on city council since the 80’s.

  10. Not Adahn

    I’ll bet the same Democrats with crocodile tears over January 6th are laughing at this.

    Hypocrite! Why can’t you just admit that the insurrectionists tried to murder cops while shouting racial slurs, you trumpalo?

    • juris imprudent

      Holy shit, Rolling Stone on point?

      Hodges was not the only witness on Tuesday to emphasize how outnumbered the police officers were who defended the Capitol. Sgt. Gonell highlighted the disparity in the Capitol Police’s preparedness plans between last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests and the pro-Trump events of January 6th. “As America and the world watched in horror what was happening to us at the Capitol, we did not receive the timely reinforcements and support we needed,” Gonell said. “In contrast, during the Black Lives Matter protest last year, U.S. Capitol Police had all the support we needed and more. Why the different response?”

      Why indeed. Was the leadership of the Capitol Police unaware of the planning happening in public views in the lead-up to January 6th? Did it deem a pro-Trump demonstration less of a threat than racial-justice activists? Was there any political interference with the preparation for January 6th? No probe of the insurrection is complete without finding answers to these questions.

      • PieInTheSky

        racial-justice activists – good phrasing

      • rhywun

        Didn’t I read that Nancy shot down the request for reinforcements?

      • Rebel Scum

        I don’t have a link on hand but yes. Trump offered.

      • rhywun

        “And I oops!”

      • Zwak, jack off, all trades

        So did the mayor of DC when backups were requested for her cops.

  11. Rebel Scum

    Newly revealed tweets from Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn who testified before Congress on Tuesday during the Jan. 6 commission hearing shows that he was an ardent supporter of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots last year, said the burning of Kenosha was an “appropriate response.”

    It is almost like this entire farce is partisan propaganda on a level that would make Stalin blush.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Well he’s entitled to his own (stupid) opinion. Probably shouldn’t be a cop though and certainly not a key actor in a political theater production.

  12. Stinky Wizzleteats

    If that Chipman guy gets in it’s game over man. The dude’s a basketcase.

    • Sean

      The dude’s a basketcase.

      “That’s why we nominated him!”

    • blighted_non_millenial

      I give him 6 months before he does something so egregious Biden’s controllers have to kick him loose.

  13. Hyperion

    “What a turd.”

    That’s a new most punchable face top contender right there.

  14. Rebel Scum

    I’ll bet the same Democrats with crocodile tears over January 6th are laughing at this.

    Trumpites are terrorists that deserve what they get, obvs.

  15. Certified Public Asshat

    This guy says he has the Pfizer contract for Albania:

    PFIZERLEAK: EXPOSING THE PFIZER MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY AGREEMENT.

    First, let’s talk about the product:

    The agreement not only covers manufacturing of vaccines for COVID19 and its mutations, but also for “any device, technology, or product used in the administration of or to enhance the use or effect of, such vaccine”.

    That’s good grift.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Interesting that they’d pick the vax that seems to be the least effective against variants out of the bunch.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Manufacturing capabilities come into play. Most countries aren’t equipped to do mRNA vaccines.

  16. Rebel Scum

    “The frustration is in the United States the freedom of speech and to say things is largely cannot be regulated,” Chipman said on BBC. ” …We have to do more to monitor hate speech on the internet. But we also have to do more to curb that same speech being presented by our president and other elected public officials.”

    “The FBI, other federal agencies, have a tough job responding to these threats when they don’t currently have the authority to remove weaponry just because people are saying hateful things,” he also said.

    This tyrannical cunte does not belong anywhere near any position of authority.

    • Lord Humungus

      Probably COVID – at this point everything is.

    • UnCivilServant

      New Mexico… in July…

      Heat related?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Heat stress maybe? Probably pretty hot out that way right now.

  17. Lord Humungus

    a week old link: Why Vaccinated People Are Getting ‘Breakthrough’ Infections

    Reports of breakthrough infections should not be taken to mean that the vaccines do not work, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Biden administration’s top pandemic adviser, said on Thursday at a news briefing.

    “By no means does that mean that you’re dealing with an unsuccessful vaccine,” he said. “The success of the vaccine is based on the prevention of illness.”

    Still, vaccinated people can come down with infections, overwhelmingly asymptomatic or mild. That may come as a surprise to many vaccinated Americans, who often assume that they are completely shielded from the virus. And breakthrough infections raise the possibility, as yet unresolved, that vaccinated people may spread the virus to others.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      This is standard for most (all?) vaccines really.

    • WTF

      I’m certain they have actual real-world data to back this up.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Holy shit. When was that published?

      • Not Adahn

        Page 11 is particularly breathtaking

        the memes
        circulating on mainstream platforms appear harmless and often lie within the boundaries of the law and/or the
        platforms’ rules. Thus, we are often dealing not with obvious illegal content but rather “potentially radicalising”
        content, which can be difficult to identify — and even harder to take down. The popular idea of attempting to
        counter extremist humour with a form of alternative humour has proven very difficult in this context.

        . Without speaking the harmful language of these insular communities, it is difficult to
        make counterarguments heard.

        Those who call out the far right are often vilified, trolled further, accused of being “over-sensitive”,
        and confronted with the claim that memes are designed just for laughs

      • Not Adahn

        The popular idea of attempting to
        counter extremist humour with a form of alternative humour has proven very difficult in this context.

        The left can’t meme. Even they know this.

      • Lord Humungus

        >> being “over-sensitive”

        just like the authors of this “report”

      • Chipwooder

        “They’re LAUGHING at us! How dare they!!!”

      • WTF

        Exactly. The regime can’t handle mockery.

      • SDF-7

        I thought praising Rules for Radicals on page 5 was sufficiently nuts….

      • tripacer

        Those who call out the far right are often vilified, trolled further, accused of being “over-sensitive”,
        and confronted with the claim that memes are designed just for laughs

        Where’s 2004 Jon Stewart when we need him?

      • R.J.

        What I read is that leftists have no sense of humor which could counter the laughs found from the masses poking at their very obvious flaws. Mostly because leftist humor descended into crass, not funny jokes a long time ago and ceased to be a reflection of reality.

    • Lord Humungus

      And by open societies, we really mean locked down humorless institutions.

      • juris imprudent

        Stalin smiles serenely.

    • Not Adahn

      Awww. They seemed to have stopped updating at the end of September 2020. I wonder why?

      Meme War Weekly is a newsletter addressing political messaging that comes from
      the wilds of the internet, produced by the Technology and Social Change Project at the Harvard Kennedy
      School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

      • UnCivilServant

        Their last poster was killed by a particularly cutting rebuke embedded in a spicy meme.

  18. Rebel Scum

    Hi ho, hi ho. Off to the camps we go.

    “Today’s #January6thSelectCommittee underscores the America’s current, essential natsec dilemma: Work to combat legitimate national security threats now entails calling a politician’s supporters enemies of the state,” Benner wrote in since-deleted tweets.

    “As Americans, we believe that state power should not be used to work against a political figure or a political party,” she continued. “But what happens if a politician seems to threaten the state? If the politician continues to do so out of office and his entire party supports that threat?”

    Perhaps the State is assho and illegitimate as it continues to operate far outside its constitutional parameters.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      They assume they have broad acceptance and that the “insurrectionists” generally have low support. I’m guessing that their internal polling is highly skewed by the shy tory effect and that it’s closer to 35 or 40% who have varying levels of sympathy for the rioters.

      • UnCivilServant

        I lost sympathy for them when they didn’t string up communists who’d previously infested the building.

        What are we building lampposts for?

      • Not Adahn

        A place to display pride banners?

  19. Count Potato

    “Federal agents raided five South Florida locations on Tuesday while serving warrants in an investigation into the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

    The search warrants included the homes and offices of Antonio Intriago and Walter Veintemilla – two businessmen whom officials in Haiti suspect funded and trained those who have been implicated in the assassination, the Miami Herald reported.

    Helicopter footage from WPLG shows FBI agents and investigators with Homeland Security searching for financial records and other documents at the home of Veintemilla – president of Worldwide Capital Lending Group. ”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9832735/FBI-raids-Florida-homes-investigation-assassination-Haitian-President-Jovenel-Mo-se.html

    • Lord Humungus

      Why is this our concern? /asking for a friend

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      If the CIA isn’t up to their elbows in this in some way I’ll be very surprised.

    • Tulip

      Why is the US investigating? Seems like it’s Haiti’s problem.

      • UnCivilServant

        “We have to make sure we find and destroy any evidence which might embarass connected people.”

  20. Count Potato

    “NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley insists all professional sports leagues should make it mandatory for players to be vaccinated if they want to play.

    The fired-up 58-year-old TNT basketball was typically forthright as he hit out at those who refuse to take the Covid-19 vaccine.

    ‘Can you imagine if one of these guys that are not vaccinated, if they get one of these players’ kids, wives, girlfriends, moms and dads sick and they die over some unnecessary conspiracy bulls***? ”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-9834295/Hall-Famer-Charles-Barkley-insists-Covid-vaccine-MANDATORY-pro-leagues.html

    Knucklehead.

    • waffles

      The vaccine doesn’t prevent you from spreading the virus you dummies. Okay, typing that out made me feel stupid. What good is the vaccine? What the everloving fuck are we doing?

      • Rat on a train

        What good is the vaccine?
        You will not question. You will obey.

    • Gender Traitor

      The fired-up 58-year-old TNT basketball

      I know he’s gained some weight since he stopped playing, but was that really called for?

      • juris imprudent

        +1 Round Mound of Rebound

    • Rebel Scum

      over some unnecessary conspiracy bulls***

      Unnecessary conspiracy bullshit such as a “vaccine” that is a new technology that is not approved by the FDA and which the manufacturers have zero liability?

    • Seguin

      He’s not the smartest guy, but at least he’s anti-wokeness in sports.

  21. Lord Humungus

    FBI Agent Turned CNN Analyst Asha Rangappa Wants to Restore Your Faith in America
    “Having seen how the sausage is made,” she says, “I feel less worried about it.”

    On a quiet Tuesday evening in the suburbs of New Haven, Asha Rangappa is discussing propaganda with her children. “Have you ever come across white nationalists on YouTube?” she asks her adolescent son. He pauses, prodding at his pasta and twisting his mouth. “You took too long to answer,” she says, “so you have!”

    This, it seems, is typical; when your mom was once an FBI agent, you expect some dinnertime behavioral analysis. As the meal winds down, her son tells me that polygraphs are largely inaccurate and therefore inadmissible in court, and that “butt clenching” is a sign of lying. Expressionless, his little sister lies: “My name is Laura.” “Yeah, but did your butt clench?” She tells him, firmly, no.

    I’m at Asha Rangappa’s dinner table because, for the past few years, her commentary on CNN and Twitter has helped hundreds of thousands of people understand the news. The Trump administration’s lies, scandals, and erratic behavior can make the average person’s head spin, but Rangappa—a former FBI counterintelligence agent and a lecturer at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs—answers all of my most pressing questions: Is the travel ban illegal? If the former President didn’t collude, then why does he act like a Russian asset? Can he pardon himself?

    Elle article is from 2019 – but more of a WTF look into the heart of craziness.

    • WTF

      Further confirmation that the FBI is corrupt and incompetent.

    • Rebel Scum

      The Trump administration’s lies, scandals, and erratic behavior can make the average person’s head spin

      Which lies/scandals? But anyway, I found it all fairly entertaining.

      If the former President didn’t collude, then why does he act like a Russian asset?

      Remember when Drumpfler ended a sizeable domestic energy production project while simultaneously lifting sanction on a Russian energy production project? Or was that someone else?

      • juris imprudent

        Do you think mere FACTS can challenge the power of the Narrative?

    • EvilSheldon

      My god, those poor children…

  22. Rebel Scum

    Stupid is as stupid does.

    A prank war in one North Carolina town has prompted warnings from local authorities about the potentially deadly consequences after several people called the police.

    The Roxboro Police Department responded to several reports of people pointing what look like real guns at drivers and other people as part of a “gun prank war,” according to a post on the department’s Facebook page. The warning has been shared over 900 times since it was posted just before 7 p.m. on Monday. …

    Police said they “stopped several cars to find young people who admit to playing this game.”

    “This (is) a dangerous and potentially deadly game to play,” Roxboro police said in the post. “There is nothing funny about this game. We urge those playing to stop immediately before you are arrested or prank the wrong person ending in tragic consequences.”

    If you are trying to get shot by anyone, but particularly by the cops…

    • Lord Humungus

      Back in ye olde college days, I had a goth girlfriend who had a fake (but very real looking) semi-auto pistol; Colt .45 I believe.

      Anyways, I’m driving her somewhere and she pulls out the gun and starts pointing it at other cars.

      That, and her following crows around, made me decide this one was crazy relationship I had to end. She was a good looking gal but yikes – mommy and daddy issues all wrapped up in a big ball of insanity.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        OK, I’ll ask. What was with the crows?

      • Lord Humungus

        ya got me.

        One time we went to a park to walk around. A big old crow hops on a branch. GF runs towards it, cawing away.

        Crow hops to another tree… GF chases again. A few minutes later and she’s out of sight, running in the woods. All I hear if “caw caw” in the distance.

      • AlexinCT

        At least she was not chasing a rooster… Can you imagine the cock jokes you could have gotten out of that?

      • SDF-7

        She was seeking sweet nepenthe from the night’s plutonian shore?

      • PieInTheSky

        I had a goth girlfriend – big tiddied or standard variety?

      • Lord Humungus

        Small breasted but a great butt with wide hips. Nice torso, as we say in the business.

      • Rat on a train

        At least she wasn’t a vamp.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    We (the government) must have unfettered power to control every aspect of our subjects’ lives.

    That’s what freedom means.

    • AlexinCT

      Freedom is slavery…

      A saying I didn’t understand until I started realizing how many people feel responsibility is too difficult a thing for them and prefer someone else provide them with the illusion of some security they never have to suffer the consequences of bad decisions (or bad luck) even if the cost for that is the loss of freedoms and rights.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    A thousand times more contagious! A bazillion!

    • waffles

      If we all had the virus no one would need the vaccine.

  25. Count Potato

    “Boxer, 80, was attacked at around 1.15pm local time on Monday in the Jack London Square neighborhood.

    Trump reacted to the news on Tuesday, asserting that Democrats are to blame because they have let criminals run rampant while working to defund the police.

    ‘Our once great cities, like New York, Detroit, San Francisco, and so many others, have become a paradise for criminals because of Democrats,’ he said.

    ‘We must give power back to police or America will never be safe. We cannot let Communist Democrats destroy our great cities. If we don’t stop them, our communities and our Country will be lost forever.’

    Boxer, a California senator who retired in 2017, said she was unimpressed by Trump’s response.

    ‘Former President Trump has a horrible record of when he was president,’ she told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday.

    ‘The murder rate went way up, crimes with gun went way up, and hate crimes went up 20 percent. So he has literally no standing.'”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9833603/Barbara-Boxer-hits-Trump-blamed-robbery-Democrats-destroying-cities.html

    Because Trump was the mayor of Oakland?

    • Lord Humungus

      That’s how life works in Democrat land.

      • AlexinCT

        You mean when the things they do & espouse result in major fuck ups, someone else is to blame?

        And yeah, they meant well…

        Seems everyone has forgotten that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and that the only intention of a politician, especially one that is about power, is to keep and grow said power at all costs.

      • Nephilium

        Look at how the minimal Republican influence has caused Utopia to fail to spring forth in California. The only true way forward is to purge the wrong thinkers from the land, and then, we will usher in the new day!

      • AlexinCT

        At a minimum, if there isn’t someone to point out the failures, the reward for those in power is that at best the plebes will think the system must be working for someone other than themselves and their neighbors, instead of knowing how big of an evil failure it is…

    • kbolino

      The murder rate went way up, crimes with gun went way up

      I seem to remember two specific events, both of which were loudly propagandized by Democrats and the global Eurocentric left, that preceded these changes. But I guess to them, Trump personally released COVID-19 and shot George Floyd, so it all really is his fault.

  26. Rebel Scum

    Arrest this heretic.

    Speaking this week with Alex Newman of the New American, Soon, a Malaysian astrophysicist and aerospace engineer, said that “what we predict is that the next 20-30 years will be cold. It will be cold, so it will be a very interesting thing for the IPCC to confront.”

    The sun is in a “weakened state” and far less active than during the 1980s and 1990s, Soon noted, which should last until “around 2050.”

    “The whole climate system is powered 99.1 percent by the sun’s energy,” he stated.

    Soon, a researcher at the Solar and Stellar Physics Division of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said that global cooling is a far greater source of concern than global warming.

    “We will have a lot more problems were the planet to cool rather than warm,” Soon insisted.

    Humanity can solve a lot of problems including overheating, but the problem of a “little ice age” like that of the 1700s, “those problems are much harder to solve,” he said.

    “If you want to face a serious problem, worry about an ice age; never worry about global warming,” he declared.

    • Lord Humungus

      >>“those problems are much harder to solve,”

      Mandate cars with 8 engines that get 1-2 mpg – on the highway. We’ll solve that ice age problem toot-sweet 😉

    • PieInTheSky

      “what we predict is that the next 20-30 years will be cold.- meh I don’t buy it

      Soon, a Malaysian – I’m sure in the pocket of big oil. The did not build those two large towers in Kuala Lumpur just to lose oil money

      • PieInTheSky

        Also now it is 38 degrees so it is hot and we are all going to fry

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        It’s been 40C here in The Devil’s Armpit, aka Lousiana.

      • blackjack

        40C sounds like a breast size to me, which I find warm.

  27. Rebel Scum

    I want to believe you have changed but I have been hurt before.

    The CDC shifts their position AGAIN.

    South Dakota’s cases remain low. If you’re worried about the virus, you’re free to get vaccinated, wear a mask, or stay at home. But we won’t be mandating anything. And the CDC’s inconsistency doesn’t help the American people.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Public-Private Partnership

    Pfizer said Wednesday it sold $7.8 billion in Covid-19 shots in the second quarter and raised its 2021 sales forecast for the vaccine to $33.5 billion from $26 billion, as the delta variant spreads and scientists debate whether people will need booster shots.

    ——-

    “The second quarter was remarkable in a number of ways,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. “Most visibly, the speed and efficiency of our efforts with BioNTech to help vaccinate the world against COVID-19 have been unprecedented, with now more than a billion doses of BNT162b2 having been delivered globally.”

    Pfizer’s other business units also saw strong sales growth. Revenue from its oncology unit rose by 19% year over year to $3.1 billion. The company’s hospital unit generated $2.2 billion in revenue, up 21% from the prior year. Its internal medicine unit grew by 5% from a year ago to $2.4 billion.

    Pfizer said earlier this month it was seeing signs of waning immunity induced by its Covid vaccine with German drugmaker BioNTech, and planned to ask the Food and Drug Administration to authorize a booster dose. It also said it is developing a booster shot to target the delta variant.

    In slides posted Wednesday alongside its earnings report, Pfizer said it could potentially file for an emergency use authorization for a booster dose with the FDA as early as August. It expects to begin clinical studies testing its delta variant vaccine in the same month.

    It expects full approval for its two-dose vaccine by January 2022.

    Say what you will about fascism, but it pays well.

    • The Other Kevin

      The sad thing is I look at those billions and think “Meh, it’s not much compared to what Biden is wanting to spend.” I think I am broken in some way.

      • Swiss Servator

        I am worse…I own some Pfizer stock.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      That was cool… I still think geese are asshoe though.

      • PieInTheSky

        One of them kicked a dog put of his house on this youtube channel

  29. OBJ FRANKELSON

    Oh.. Ed Buck… I was hoping we would be free of terrible football play-by-play. You can’t have everything you want, I suppose

  30. PieInTheSky

    Research Spotlight: Effects of intermittent fasting + lifting on body composition

    https://www.strongerbyscience.com/research-spotlight-if-body-comp/

    Results indicated that intermittent fasting strategies led to greater weight loss and fat loss (presumably by indirectly reducing calorie intake), without negatively impacting lean mass.

    time-restricted feeding with an 8-hour feeding window is fine for supporting gains in strength and hypertrophy, as long as protein is high enough.

    If protein drops below 1.6g/kg, lean mass can be threatened

    time-restricted feeding with an 8-hour feeding window can offer lifters an opportunity to train in a sufficiently fed state and consume 3 large boluses of protein throughout their feeding window, and longitudinal results from previous studies suggest that 16:8 time-restricted feeding is a totally viable option for lifters.

  31. Chipwooder

    I haven’t seen the Woodstock ’99 documentary because I don’t have HBO, but as someone who actually went to that fiasco, I was mildly curious about it so I read some articles and watched the trailer. What a joke. Trying to derive some kind of deep cultural meaning from it, as conjured up by people who largely look like they were in kindergarten at the time, is a waste. Since we live in stupid times, the trailer has someone ominously ruminating on “white male jock culture” blah blah blah.

    First of all, there were about 300,000 people there. Only a small handful of them started fires, ripped up equipment, etc. Secondly, I find myself in the weird position of wanting to defend Limp Bizkit and Fred Durst specifically, a band I never liked. He’s become the ultimate villain of the show and why not? His career’s been in the toilet for a long time now, a total figure of ridicule. IOW he’s a very convenient scapegoat. But what did Limp Bizkit actually do besides play the same (terrible) songs they always played? And most of the worst things happened long after they left the stage. If anyone wants to point fingers, they should have been pointed at the organizers. People were pissed off mainly because of bad planning decisions. The venue was a bad choice – a gigantic airfield where almost everything was asphalt, radiating heat up off the ground since it was about 400 degrees out. The two stages were ridiculously far apart – it seemed like you had to walk to the next county to get from the west stage to the east stage. There were a laughbly small number of portapotties for several hundred thousand people, with the easily-forseen consequences of endless lines and overflowing toilets. And there were the infamously overpriced concessions – water was usually less than a buck a bottle back then, and they were charging six bucks. And you had no choice but to pay it because they practically strip-searched you at the gate to make sure you weren’t trying to sneak some water or food in. Add all those things together with some really aggressive bands and you have a perfect storm kind of scenario. No shit some people went on a vandalism and arson spree. But sure, it was Fred Durst’s fault because he sang “Break Stuff”

    • Rat on a train

      Was it organized by Billy MacFarland? How many of these dumpster fires are needed before people realize they aren’t going to be the cultural events they desperately want?

      • Chipwooder

        Nah, Billy MacFarland was probably in kindergarten too. I don’t think he’s even 30.

    • Gustave Lytton

      I remember when MTV was promoting and covering the shit out of Woodstock 94.

    • Timeloose

      I watched it and was sneering through half of it. The documentary was half trying to answer “what went wrong and who’s to blame” while condemning the late 90’s as a white guy dominated misogynist culture.

      The usual suspects were blamed:

      White bro-dudes – They are always at such shows
      Corporate greed – That is why there is a show in the first place
      Stupid politicians – Given
      MTV – They did everything they could to make it about them, but they were not to blame

      From attending multiple big concerts including the 94 Woodstock:

      They are always going to have poor facilities with long lines
      Drunk and drugged up people
      Risks for injury
      expensive food and drinks
      Shitty and limited space camping conditions

      The biggest difference was the environment of the 99 concert. A ton of black top can be fine for a one day event, but after 2 days in the heat it will make everything more dangerous. The promoters need to provide and support sanitation and basic needs like clean water, 99 did a poor job with this. There needs to be professional security and medical facilities when there are 300K people drinking in the hot sun. The lineup was not to blame for the violence.

      3 day camping concerts are not something that you just jump into. If it is going to be attended by new festival goers primarily, then the venue environment has to be well designed to make it easy to keep you alive and happy.

      • Nephilium

        I’ve got to laugh that the punks and greasers behind Camp Anarchy (NOFX and their promotion people) and Viva Las Vegas (Tom Ingram) can plan better events. FFS, Camp Anarchy had two days of beer fests (technically limited, but no one was taking tickets) that started at noon, with bands playing until after midnight. Viva, decided to push last years event to this fall specifically to avoid a parking lot in Vegas in the summer.

        Speaking of, I see that Punk in Drublic is coming back to the Pittsburgh area. I’m trying to convince the girlfriend to go to that.

      • Timeloose

        That is funny,

        I think punks are use to DIY and talking care of each other and themselves. The concert goers at Woodstock 99 were filled with newbies. It was like the St. Patrick’s day of concerts.

      • Nephilium

        The girlfriend was shocked at the number of young women who felt comfortable walking around topless and/or sleeping/passing out on the grass at Camp Anarchy. I had to explain that punks still protected their own, and pointed out some of us old punks around the edges keeping an eye on the young ladies.

      • blackjack

        So, you kept an eye on the topless young ladies?

      • Nephilium

        It would be rude not to.

        There was some fun had by friends of the young ladies who drew designs on their backs with sunscreen. At least it’s better than a Sharpie, right?

    • l0b0t

      I downloaded and watched it just last night; I really enjoyed it, having no idea it was even a thing before seeing the film. Seemed like very poor planning an the parts of everyone involved (both staff and attendees). The Metallica superfan dying, around which a lot of film was structured as he took copious notes, was blatantly obvious from the start but heart wrenching nonetheless. I throw a link to it in the forums (film section).

  32. Tundra

    Good morning, Banjos!

    In Snow Crash, Y.T.’s mom is a Fed and has to endure all manner of humiliation to demonstrate loyalty. Involuntary medical experimentation seems much worse, somehow.

    The hysteria over this fucking shot is really quite stunning.

    Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic day!

    Impressive thunderstorm booming here right now.

  33. juris imprudent

    So Trump isn’t much of a king-maker. I’m not surprised, there was never much indication that what makes him appealing to people was at all transferable.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Zero familiarity with the candidates, except that the loser is the widow of the previous officeholder. So for that, good. I’m glad she lost. Putting the widow into office on the back of a dead husband is a terrible political tradition.

      • juris imprudent

        The entire fucking Dingell clan haz a sad.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        *Meagan McCain looks up from her pint of Hagen-Daz*

  34. The Late P Brooks

    FED UP

    Up until now, US officials have attempted to encourage Americans to get vaccinated through an array of incentives — from lotteries to fishing licenses and college scholarships — but they are beginning to consider more coercive measures to get shots in arms. Politicians, business leaders, scientists and vaccinated Americans who are fed up with the direction the country is headed are calling for vaccine mandates — if not by the federal government, then by local officials, school systems and employers.

    March through the streets. Drag the unbelievers from their homes. Beat them. Shave their heads. Smash their windows. Loot their businesses. Make them comply.

    • Rebel Scum

      if not by the federal government, then by local officials, school systems and employers.

      Luckily I have an entire bag of “Fuck off.” with these entities names on it.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    From Sean’s Audi link:

    Power is piped to the company’s famous quattro system through a wicked-quick seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, which means the new RS 3 will make the sprint to 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds.

    Back in the Stone Age, a six second 0-60 time was considered good. I never really spent that much time thinking about it, but I’d guess more has been shaved off that by quicker shifting than by horsepower boosts. The 1-2 shift in the 914 is definitely something you can’t rush too much, unless you like the sound of synchros destroying themselves.

    • Sean

      My 2000 S4 would do 5 seconds flat (chipped) with a manual. That was fast.

      3.8? Whew!

    • limey

      the company’s famous quattro system

      Which “the famous quattro system” would that be? I’m a jOuRnALiSm!1

      • juris imprudent

        Uh, the one in the PR piece they gave me?

    • Not Adahn

      Power is piped

      A series of tubes?

  36. The Late P Brooks

    Putting the widow into office on the back of a dead husband is a terrible political tradition.

    This.

    And- speaking of dying WITH the plague, and not OF it:

    The seat opened up following the death of Ron Wright, who in February became the first member of Congress to die after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

    ——-

    Ron Wright, who was 67 and had lung cancer, was just weeks into his second term when he died.

    And, of course, I am left to ask, “Why didn’t he drop out of the race if he was dying of lung cancer?”

    Was the plan all along to croak and let the governor appoint a successor? These people are all insane.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Or just plain refused to give up power like McCain.

      • AlexinCT

        Is the answer not obvious?

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Ayup. These people will cling to power until the very end. See: Joe Biden.

  37. juris imprudent

    This should cause leftie dopers sufficient cognitive dissonance to produce seizures. If cognitive dissonance was a real thing.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    More from the geniuses at CNN:

    Put your mask back on. Yes, even if you’re vaccinated.

    The change in CDC guidance recommending vaccinated Americans wear a mask indoors in areas with high Covid-19 transmission is a sign that the Delta variant has once again transformed the pandemic landscape and the public health measures aimed at fighting the virus.

    “We’re not changing the science,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN. “The virus changed, and the science evolved with the changing virus.”

    Before Tuesday, the CDC advised only unvaccinated people to wear masks indoors. But that guidance was updated in light of new scientific data from several states and other countries indicating that, in rare occasions, some vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant after their shots may be contagious and spread the virus to others

    Foochy sounds like a two year old caught with his hand in the cookie jar, randomly jabbering excuses.

    “There was this big dinosaur who was really really hungry who came to the door and asked me for a cookie. What? Where is he now? I dunno.”

    What a goddam farce.

    • hayeksplosives

      Why is he even still working?

      If you’re a federal employee over 65 and still working, odds are heavy that you’re a power-tripping motherfucker.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I think you answered your own question.

    • Rebel Scum

      Just keep saying the word “science”.

    • R C Dean

      The virus changed

      Begs the question of whether it changed in a way that matters, that justifies universal masking.

      If its less virulent (and it is) and the vaccines are still reasonably effective against it, then the answer is “no, it did not change in a way that justifies universal masking”.

  39. hayeksplosives

    I hope hobby lobby took an imprint of that Epic of Gilgamesh tablet.

    If they made copies that look nice, that ancient Sumerian epic would find a whole new audience, thousands of years later.

    The copyright must have run out by now…

    • juris imprudent

      Can’t be an expired copyright – nothing ever gets created without intellectual property protection.

      • hayeksplosives

        LOL

    • PieInTheSky

      how’s your cuneiform?

      • hayeksplosives

        What’s your sign?

        🙂

        As a matter of fact, I can do a little cuneiform. All I learned was how to register trades of livestock on a ledger though.

      • Not Adahn

        That’s not a terribly obscure code for orphans.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      “The copyright must have run out by now…” Not if Disney owned it

      • hayeksplosives

        Disney would write up a version in which Hammurabi’s daughter and her delightful transgender animal companion wrote down the laws that form the earliest basis for Western civilization.

        Not sure what the animal companion would be though… a flamboyant ox perhaps?

      • l0b0t

        “…a flamboyant ox perhaps?”

        An intersex chubby, named Babe who happens to be an oxen of color (that color being blue).

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      Disney is working on getting it out of the public domain.

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      I have the NFT for it, who wants to buy it?

  40. The Late P Brooks

    re: Translucent Chum’s twatter link

    Nice.

    I have noticed that story about “Dying healthy patients BEGGED me for the vaccine, but it was TOO LATE!” seems to have replicated itself a few times, as well.

    • PieInTheSky

      do you never get bored of this not threading comments thing?

  41. PieInTheSky

    Lower left ballpoint penOpinion piece in @POLITICOEurope
    by our Executive Director Catherine De Bolle and Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. District Attorney of New York County @ManhattanDA
    on unregulated encryption, criminal abuse of it, and lawful access for law enforcement.

    https://twitter.com/Europol/status/1419938154589601805

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Redacted redacted fuck you redacted

      At this rate I’m going to have to move to a place that’s just incapable of enforcing laws even if they want to. What’s life like in the Central African Republic for expats?

      • hayeksplosives

        Belize seems ok. A South American country settled by the Brits!! English speaking, relatively respectful of Common Law as part of the Brit heritage.

      • l0b0t

        Unless local politicos want to frame you for murdering your neighbor.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        McAfee was too high profile and probably refused a payoff. You’ve got to know your limitations.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      “Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.”

      Douchebag extraordinaire

      If I go back in time, I’m going to murder Carter’s foreign policy advisors before they have children.

      • Gustave Lytton

        It does seem to be something in the water.

  42. The Late P Brooks

    NEVER

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      SOMETIMES?

  43. PieInTheSky

    The level of corruption here is absurd.

    New York City is spending up to $7000/mo. to place a single person in a homeless shelter yet the people living there live 10 to a room with inedible food.

    With $7000, you could put them apartments so why are they being sent to shelters?

    https://twitter.com/KeiPritsker/status/1420099420373360649

    is this true? 7000 seems like a lot. Also I heard there is zero welfare in hypercapitalist America

    • kbolino

      I’m sure there’s lots of graft, but lack of forethought, poor planning, and knee-jerk do-somethingism naturally entail increased costs.

    • hayeksplosives

      I reckon there’s some significant pocket lining going on…

    • Gustave Lytton

      Quite possibly. It’s total cost of the program divided by the number recipients. It’s not $7k in incremental cost per bed/apartment/cell. Everyone has to get their beak wet in grifting.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, those $300K administrator salaries don’t pay themselves.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Lordy, send ‘em down here. I’ll put him up in my house for six.

  44. straffinrun

    Told ya’ll to become anarchists, start drinking in parking lots and get as far away from the collectivists as you could when you had the chance. *Kicks feet up on pylon*

    • Gustave Lytton

      Screw you man. You’re not my supervisor!

      Besides, why would I want to drive to a parking lot to drink when I can go sit out on a stump? Or inside where there’s AC?

      • Hyperion

        Heh, reminds me of my Korean friend when he was showing his pics from his last trip to South Korea. Part of them were from his camping trip.

        When they camp out there, camping out is apparently usually done in a parking lot. For realz. They had their double decker tents set up in a parking lot and in one of the tents, one of his sleeping buds was almost completely buried in empty beer bottles.

        So I said ‘Umm, you guys camp out in a parking lot?’. And he says ‘Yeah, it makes it easier for then you order stuff online at 3-4am in the morning to get fastest delivery. And you can order anything you want! And I mean anything. You have to come to South Korea with me for camping!’. I’m not sure whether to be excited or scared.

      • waffles

        I don’t understand what camping and delivery have to do with each other. All I know of Korea I learned from watching Parasite. If I had to camp somewhere in Seoul, I’d do it in a sweet house.

    • Q Continuum

      AM I BEING DETAINED?!??!

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      You hang out with other roundeyes or are the Japanese hobos an accepting bunch?

      • Gustave Lytton

        Even the bums are different. Shoes off, neatly lined up at the cardboard genkan. No litter scattered out. And a fucking broom to sweep up their area.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      I’ll just get drunk at the park and throw plastic at people,
      /Every single day

  45. The Late P Brooks

    Told ya’ll to become anarchists, start drinking in parking lots and get as far away from the collectivists as you could when you had the chance. *Kicks feet up on pylon*

    Does drinking in my driveway count?

  46. The Late P Brooks

    why would I want to drive to a parking lot to drink when I can go sit out on a stump?

    You’ll get termites.

  47. The Late P Brooks

    It’s total cost of the program divided by the number recipients. It’s not $7k in incremental cost per bed/apartment/cell. Everyone has to get their beak wet in grifting.

    Don’t forget, a big chunk of that goes into ensuring the money is not wasted.

    • UnCivilServant

      “Too much of the funding is going to helping the homeless, and not enough into our bank accounts!”

  48. Ozymandias

    Well, the DoJ has now spoken and forced vaccines are totes okay. At the same time that the CDC’s own website says (at least it DID, I haven’t checked recently) that people can absolutely NOT be forced to take an EUA vaccine. Fuck me.
    On the bright side (and related), I ordered my semi-auto shotgun. If it comes down to a last stand in my house, I think semi-auto shotgun gives best odds in one vs. many. Fuck all of those motherfuckers. Every last one. With a rusty, red-hot poker. Authoritarian pieces of shit who can’t control themselves so have to control others.

    • Sean

      I was waiting for you to weigh in on this development.

      Fuck me.

      Not exactly the commentary I was expecting.

      Are we all really screwed at this point? Do you think anyone will be able to successfully challenge this?

      • Ozymandias

        I have never ceased to be amazed at how badly judges will contort themselves and destroy the English language in order to justify government’s abuses of its citizens and our rights. So, am I hopeful? No. Not really.
        That won’t stop me from litigating it, establishing the best possible record I can for appeal, and rubbing everyone’s face in the complete moral bankruptcy of our government and its officials. Every single one of them personally.
        But no, I have no faith that this won’t end in people getting held down and stuck by moralizing, self-assured, smug, vicious twats. In the end, I’ll be the guy with the semi-auto shotgun in my house cackling while yelling “eat shit, fuckers!”

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Ozy, I made my stand last week and it cost me a great job, and I know it’s just the beginning, Fare Thee Well my Friend,

      • Q Continuum

        Damn, that’s some dark shit.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I feel ya’ man.

        Not literally, because that might be a little weird. I’m not into CrossFit or anything like that. Anyway, you know what I mean….

      • blackjack

        Our city council just introduced a mandate for all city workers like me. I ain’t getting the shot. I will test daily on their time/dime and mask but I ain’t mainlining their crazy drugs. I just have an aversion to being peer pressured into taking drugs.

      • kbolino

        I wouldn’t put it past them to slip something on those testing swabs.

      • rhywun

        on their time/dime

        LOL that’s what you think

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        That’s what they’ll move to next, self funded testing, but it’s totally not coercion.

    • EvilSheldon

      Just keep in mind, the raid team will probably be wearing armor. Buckshot isn’t great against armor.

      • R C Dean

        Two thoughts:

        (1) Slugs. Won’t penetrate plates, but will deliver a hell of a kinetic energy blow.

        (2) Headshots. Practice them. At indoor ranges, you should be able to land some before you go down.

        Alright , three thoughts:

        (3) Headshots with slugs.

      • EvilSheldon

        Kinetic energy doesn’t put bad guys on the ground. Traumatic blood loss and nervous system damage do.

        Brain shots are a possibility.

        More important, is having enough time to prepare and execute an effective counter-ambush. Good perimeter security, cameras, steel doors and door frames that will withstand mechanical breaching attempts…spend time on that stuff too.

      • R C Dean

        Kinetic energy doesn’t put bad guys on the ground.

        It can be at least temporarily disabling. Soft body armor – likely broken ribs, although rifles do better against soft armor. Full plate? Well, that’s what headshots were made for, almost regardless of what you are shooting.

      • Sean

        Worth noting.

        In case you missed it the first time I posted.

      • EvilSheldon

        It can be, but like a psychological stop, it’s not something you ever want to count on.

      • Ozymandias

        I am aware of how Tac/SWAT teams work; I have TTPs for dealing with this if/when it comes to that.

      • R C Dean

        Not sure how thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura is deployed in a firefight. Maybe they’ll cover that in my class.

      • EvilSheldon

        Legit LOL.

      • R C Dean

        Seriously, what are TTPs?

      • blackjack

        Tactical toilet paper, for when the shit hit’s the fan.

      • EvilSheldon

        Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures. Basically Mil-Speak for ‘a plan.’

    • R C Dean

      On the bright side (and related), I ordered my semi-auto shotgun.

      What did you order?

      • Ozymandias

        “Do you have a warrant?!”
        Beretta 1301 Marine Tactical. I’m adding the 2-round extender, as well, to give me 7+1.

      • R C Dean

        Sweet. That’s what I’ve got. Except the Marine part.

        I’d suggest a sidesaddle or buttcuff shell holder also. Shotguns be hungry. Good to have something to feed them handy. Having 14 shells on board is a Good Thing.

        I scheduled my 4 day tactical shotgun class yesterday. Going in mid-October. Ammo loadout: 275 Birdshot; 165 00 Buckshot; 65 Slugs. Should be fun. I’m picking up my dry practice drills with the shotgun again.

      • Ozymandias

        I have some training with shotguns, so when it arrives, I’ll have to find an outdoor range that will allow me to do some… non-standard training. I’m sure I’ll figure something out.

        Also related, the jiu jitsu school sent me a confirmation email for my first class – “masks required.” NOPE. Sorry! Just lost my business.
        I’ll buy some mats and start in my basement (all over) again, just like in the beginning.

      • blackjack

        Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off.

      • EvilSheldon

        I do love me some Euro-Scattergun.

        Do you know the trick for floating an extra shell on my the lifter?

      • R C Dean

        Haven’t tried to do that. Easy enough to “leave” one there, but I’d be curious to know whether it jams when the one in the pipe is fired and the action cycles.

      • EvilSheldon

        It’ll work fine, but you should try it for yourself.

        With some care, you can use that trick to get yourself an extra shell of capacity.

  49. The Late P Brooks

    Mumbo jumbo’s triumphant return

    The US House is reinstating its mask mandate as the Delta variant emerges as the dominant strain of Covid across the country and in light of the new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, the House attending physician announced Tuesday.

    The House’s reinstatement of the mask mandate follows the CDC’s new recommendation Tuesday that both vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans in areas with “high” or “substantial” Covid-19 transmission should resume wearing masks indoors.
    “For all House Office Buildings, the Hall of the House, and House Committee Meetings, wearing of a well-fitted, medical grade, filtration face mask is required when an individual is in an interior space and other individuals are present,” Dr. Brian Monahan wrote in a memo.
    House lawmakers and their staff will be required to wear face coverings while in the House chamber, except when members are being recognized and speaking on the floor.
    Lawmakers will not be allowed to enter the House chamber without a mask and those who fail to wear a mask in the House chamber will be subject to fines.

    They’re afflicting the comfortable, anyway.

    When will enough be enough? When will the chains of bandage be thrown off?

    • Rebel Scum

      Lawmakers will not be allowed to enter the House chamber without a mask and those who fail to wear a mask in the House chamber will be subject to fines.

      This cannot possibly be enforceable.

      • blackjack

        Fines? Why not solitary confinement and threats of 20-30 years in prison if they don’t cop a plea, despite there being no evidence and being charged with something they never did. That’s how offenses against “the house” are usually treated, I thought.

      • R C Dean

        Exactly. Not following House rules is sedition. Hang them. Hang them all.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Lawmakers will not be allowed to enter the House chamber without a mask

      Does this count? I guess that’s why he was allowed in.

  50. The Late P Brooks

    bandage/bondage

    Whatever. I like how those mistakes jump up off the screen just as I click “post comment”‘

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Right?

    • waffles

      And you have to sit there, just stewing on it as it posts.

    • Q Continuum

      I actually prefer the original.

  51. The Late P Brooks

    The masks rules in the House — and across the country — have become a political flashpoint and already the House’s top Republican, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, pushed back on Tuesday’s directive, in a sign of potential further clashes.

    When asked Wednesday about McCarthy’s criticism of the reinstatement of the mask mandate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “He’s such a moron.”

    Unity.

    Healing.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Pot, meet kettle.

  52. The Late P Brooks

    So-called breakthrough cases of Covid are rare in fully vaccinated individuals and getting vaccinated remains the best way to protect against hospitalization and death; 99.5% of deaths from Covid are among the unvaccinated, according to the CDC.

    But wear a mask, too, so everybody will know whose side you’re on.

  53. Q Continuum

    “It’s the economy stupid” is almost always the animating force behind the vast majority of voters.

    To that end, I remain convinced that MUH INSURREKSHUN and MUH DELTUH VARYUNT are ploys meant to distract from the fact that nearly everything I buy costs ~30-50% more than it was at the beginning of the year.

    • Rebel Scum

      I, for one, love paying $4/gal for 93 octane fuel as opposed to paying sub $3 a year ago.

    • The Other Kevin

      I don’t disagree with you. Hopefully it doesn’t work. Higher prices are right in front of you all day, but the “insurrection” was long ago and far away, and as long as people’s close associates aren’t getting sick, the Delta won’t affect most people either. I think both parties are the stupid party now.

    • kbolino

      Their consists of three classes: the billionaire-level rich who all want to be slathered with praise for their “philanthropic” work, the millionaires-by-their-50s “middle” class of government and government-adjacent employees, and the welfare-dependent “poor” who are told the former two groups care about them deeply. None of these people are especially concerned about price increases, though each for their own reasons.

      • kbolino

        Their ideal economy consists*

  54. The Late P Brooks

    I have never ceased to be amazed at how badly judges will contort themselves and destroy the English language in order to justify government’s abuses of its citizens and our rights. So, am I hopeful? No. Not really.
    That won’t stop me from litigating it, establishing the best possible record I can for appeal, and rubbing everyone’s face in the complete moral bankruptcy of our government and its officials. Every single one of them personally.
    But no, I have no faith that this won’t end in people getting held down and stuck by moralizing, self-assured, smug, vicious twats. In the end, I’ll be the guy with the semi-auto shotgun in my house cackling while yelling “eat shit, fuckers!”

    Maybe this is a silly question, but (everything I know about the law I learned from my teevee) isn’t “hearsay” inadmissible in court? And aren’t all these imbecilic plague restrictions essentially based on hearsay? Is the word of some random jackass, so long as he gets a paycheck from the government, equivalent to Holy Writ?

    Shouldn’t they have to back up this idiocy with hard numbers, at some point?

    Spoiler Alert: computer models which have been reversed engineered to buttress predetermined conclusions shouldn’t count.

    • CPRM

      I was expecting it to be in these here parts, happens pretty regular around EAA time. Hell, one time it was Harrison Ford.

  55. Rebel Scum

    Since when does the executive branch get to dictate the language used by the judicial branch?

    Federal immigration judges may no longer use the word “alien” in their legal opinions, according to a Department of Justice directive.

    Citing an immigration order from President Joe Biden, senior DOJ official Jean King instructed the nation’s 539 immigration judges to “use language that is consistent with our character as a nation of opportunity and of welcome.” The July 23 memo forbids employees in the Executive Office for Immigration Review from using “‘alien’ or ‘illegal alien’ to describe migrants.”

    King suggests judges use “respondent, applicant, petitioner, beneficiary, migrant, noncitizen, or non-U.S. citizen,” as a replacement when writing opinions. Instead of “undocumented alien” or “illegal alien,” judges should use “undocumented noncitizen, undocumented non-U.S. citizen, or undocumented individual,” the document says.

    As I understand, “illegal alien” remains the legal term in immigration law and I expect judges and other participating parties to use the actual legal terms when referring to immigration law.

    Additionally, Cubans that are actual refugees could not be reached for comment.

    • CPRM

      Being that they are judges, one would assume they are part of the Judicial Branch, a co-equal branch of government not controlled by the Executive Branch. But I’m just a dumb rube who assumes rules should make sense.

      • CPRM

        Google search says nah, it’s fine.

        Immigration Court is formally known as the Executive Office of Immigration Review. This is a department within the Department of Justice. Immigration Judges are appointment by the Attorney General and are not federal judicial branch judges.

        Silly me for thinking things should make sense and not be Orwellian.

      • Q Continuum

        WTF? How the fuck does that work?

      • blackjack

        Oh, you should take a gander at the juvenile justice system. It’s a real treat, what happens over there.

    • Q Continuum

      I’ll give the Left credit, they sure do understand the power of violently raping language to frame debate and manipulate the milieu.

    • R C Dean

      Federal immigration judges may no longer use the word “alien” in their legal opinions, according to a Department of Justice directive.

      Which is especially strange since “alien” is the word used in the immigration statutes.

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        They just won’t ever quote the relevant statutes in their decisions. Voila! Problem solved!

      • rhywun

        It’s not we’re enforcing them anyway.

      • rhywun

        not “like”

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Keep pushing on everybody. Push harder until everyone is pissed off.

      Might as well get this over with.

  56. The Late P Brooks

    As I understand, “illegal alien” remains the legal term in immigration law and I expect judges and other participating parties to use the actual legal terms when referring to immigration law.

    Citizens of another nation, in flagrant violation of the law?

    Why on Earth would you call them illegal aliens? That’s just mean.

    • Q Continuum

      “The Geographically-Challenged”

    • CPRM

      Because then impending reboot of Alien Nation would make more sense?

  57. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    Geldingadalir is at it again after a couple days’ hiatus (on Monday the crater was completely empty of magma)

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

    • Ownbestenemy

      Oooh it’s an angry little feller

  58. Gender Traitor

    ***SIGH!!!*** Even when my boss is doing a WFH day, he calls just to chat. For 20 minutes.

    I need to make myself less pleasant to interact with.

    • CPRM

      My client I do a weekly TV show will call and talk for an hour, I’ll say about 10 words in that time. Something something soul of whit…

    • R C Dean

      I need to make myself less pleasant to interact with.

      I adopted that strategy years ago. It works.

  59. The Late P Brooks

    Stupid Republicans, always trying to politicize race

    For Republicans, the focus on race is not without risk. Recent polls suggest majorities of Americans believe discrimination exists in America. More voters trusted Biden than Donald Trump to handle race relations when given the choice last year. And though the “defund the police” movement polls poorly with voters, the controversy surrounding critical race theory is not yet especially well-known among the broader electorate.

    Still, for Republican primary voters, the issue is a no brainer. Public polling shows Republicans are paying more attention to critical race theory than Democrats — and they view it more negatively, making it a highly effective instrument in the party’s culture wars. In a Fox News poll last month, a majority of Republicans, when asked how things work in America today, said minorities are favored over whites. And the GOP’s own polling has convinced many Republican candidates that they can make inroads with independent voters by characterizing Democrats as overly focused on race.

    Everybody knows that’s the Democrats’ job.

    • rhywun

      What planet am I on?!

    • ignoreLander

      Recent polls suggest majorities of Americans believe discrimination exists in America.

      Highly doubtful, but regardless, now ask them what type of discrimination and see if you like the answer.

    • CPRM

      “That pretty little gymnast girl

      He said as he licked his lips and looked wistfully into the distance…

  60. Rebel Scum

    By all means, make a federal case out of this.

    A swastika was found carved into the wall of an elevator inside the State Department’s main headquarters in Washington, DC, on Monday, officials said.

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the hateful vandalism in a Tuesday message to department employees and said the swastika has been removed.

    “As this painfully reminds us, antisemitism isn’t a relic of the past,” Blinken said in the message.

    “It’s still a force in the world, including close to home. And it’s abhorrent. It has no place in the United States, at the State Department, or anywhere else. And we must be relentless in standing up and rejecting it,” said Blinken.

    Idc what abhorrent views you have, 1A still applies to you. The only crime here is vandalism. And I do not care who Blinken is descendant from. He is part of an admin that in many ways behaves like actual fascists. So he can fuck the hell off.

    Of course, there is no picture provided so I don’t even know if it is a nazi version or the Buddhist symbol version. (Though the latter is unlikely.)

    • R.J.

      Also unlikely it was done by a white supremacist.

    • CPRM

      99% of public restrooms. Racism (or troublesome pre-teen boys) abounds

    • Sean

      Nazis in muh State Department?

      It’s more likely than you think!

      • R C Dean

        The State Department has no shortage of anti-Semites, from what I can tell. Because they are greasy fucks, they generally manage to smear a little “anti-Zionist” lipstick on that pig.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      If they manage to trace it down somehow I’ll give ten to one that it’s some leftist agitator false flagging douchebag that’s responsible.

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        I say teenage tourist

  61. Ownbestenemy

    I guess my union isnt all that bad. They voted down any reinstituted mask policy. Surprisingly they have have been fairly effective in going against Biden’s EO

    • CPRM

      The peons may have voted it down, that doesn’t mean the union will abide. It’s for your own safety.

      • Ownbestenemy

        It was done at the national level…so we are good. Basically we are following the ATC union and they pretty much do what they want.

      • CPRM

        Tell yourself whatever keeps you sane, I guess.

  62. Mojeaux

    Good morning everyone!

    Less than a month before I go back to school. They’re giving out free tuition for anyone who turns in proof of vax and I have the blank card but I am loath to use it, mostly because I feel like it could come back and bite me in the ass. Plus it’s shady and I have a distaste for shady. Anyway, I’m excited.

    I want not to be so damned depressed over the way the country is going, but it’s difficult not to be, especially when everyone around you is all “rah rah sisboomba” about the vax.

    “Religious exemption” is the way I’m going to go, I think, even though it’s a lie. On the other hand, not really. “Mark of the beast,” indeed. Still, “get a warrant” seems unnecessarily hostile.

    I was going to update my first novel and rerelease, taking out the date stamps and making it more timeless, but as my characters are a bunch of libertarians with one raging conservative, I find it best to enjoy my slide into obscurity. Or keep writing historicals.

    • CPRM

      Taking these grifts will only make you more guilt ridden, I know from experience.

      I don’t let politics bring me down, I just turn them into cartoons. Now the reactions on both sides to stupid politics depresses me when I hear stupid viewpoints drop out of the mouth of my family members, and how they abuse (mentally) their children on such politics.

      But, then there is always Eric Idle.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Morning Mojeaux! I have been dragging my feet on school and I shouldn’t be. I have to write a GPA addendum to account for some pretty irresponsible grades from my past.

      I guess that is not a good sign that I am not really ready to finish out my school.

    • R C Dean

      Posted this yesterday:

      The official EEOC guidance on the religious exemption. Section A (Definitions) is where the action is. Specifically, this is what they say about employers challenging a claim of religious exemption:

      Because the definition of religion is broad and protects beliefs, observances, and practices with which the employer may be unfamiliar, the employer should ordinarily assume that an employee’s request for religious accommodation is based on a sincerely held religious belief. If, however, an employee requests religious accommodation, and an employer has an objective basis for questioning either the religious nature or the sincerity of a particular belief, observance, or practice, the employer would be justified in seeking additional supporting information.

      If you can find some obscure sect or doctrine to back up your claim, you should be good to go.

      • CPRM

        Is this how I start my new fundamentalist Catholic cult, by selling indulgences to non-believers?

      • Mojeaux

        I don’t think there is anything in my religion I could use, as it has a habit of bowing to the gummint at the first hint of a whiff of an edict. It’s a vestige of our early history, IMO. I’ll look, though. I dabbled in paganism, but apparently you have to build your own pantheon and doctrine, and I like the ones I’ve already got. The only other church I’d ever join is the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

        Inertia is a helluva drug. I do not want to fight. I’m tired. But I have an anti-authoritarian streak that shows its hostile head at the most surprising and least convenient moments.

    • blackjack

      I refuse to lie. I have no qualms about lying to the government, but I don’t like the idea of being a liar for no good reason. I feel like I should use my reticence to forward the resistance on this. I will suffer if I have to, and I will be in the right. If I lie and get found out, there’s no value in that. Anyway, it’s my employer. Lying to them is off the table.

    • prolefeed

      I’d go with religious beliefs. The leftist vaxxers are an undeclared religion, and nudging or forcing people to get jabbed with a shady, poorly tested experimental drug is veering toward Jim Jones Kool Aid territory. Or, to put it in LDS, they intend to take away your agency.

  63. Ghostpatzer

    But wear a mask, too, so everybody will know whose side you’re on.

    That’s all I need to know