Wednesday Afternoon SugarLinks – The Ruling Class

by | Nov 10, 2021 | Daily Links | 365 comments

A 4½-Year-Old’s Honest Review of the Sesame Street Vaccine Town Hall

“Is all of this show going to be like this, with the persons talking like this?” J., age 4½, asks, gesturing toward the screen.

On our television, Sanjay Gupta and Erica Hill are hanging out in Zoom-style boxes, interviewing a rotating series of guests for their Sesame Street/CNN town hall on COVID vaccines for kids. J. started out jazzed up and laughing, happy that I was allowing her to watch Sesame Street, a show she loves, at an unusual time of day. We get some Street regulars like Elmo, Bert, and Ernie; some real-life kids who submitted taped questions for the panel; and some scientists and doctors, like Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and the researcher who helped design the Moderna COVID vaccine, Kizzmekia Corbett.* But 10 minutes into the half-hour show, J. wants to fast-forward and see if things would stay Zoom-y for the duration. Denied this petition (“Remember? I have to watch this for work?”), she goes to the floor and, scattering crumbs from a piece of toast, attends to her train set, glancing at the screen whenever it’s a puppet’s turn to talk.

This town hall, which aired on CNN over the weekend, prompted a rote, exhausted culture-war skirmish. People like Ted Cruz got really mad that Big Bird was “pushing” vaccines on kids. “What’s the treatment for myocarditis in birds?” snarked Mike Cernovich, while everyone on the other side valiantly, yet uselessly, replied with: information about the safety of children’s COVID vaccines; images from past vaccine campaigns that had enlisted popular children’s media to “sell” the polio and MMR vaccines (and the very idea of germs); and links to articles about Sesame Street’s roots as a radical experiment aimed at Black kids. This argument is going to happen, and happen, and happen, until we are tweeting links about Dr. Seuss’ actual IRL politics in between manually pollinating soybeans for 12-hour shifts in exchange for rations of water, and it doesn’t seem much worthy of comment.

Besides, anyone tweeting about the town hall was not in its target audience. But I had one of those actual preschool humans in my own home, and I wanted to know: Would this special actually do anything for her? Rather than fighting over whether it’s just propaganda, my question was: Would it be effective propaganda? I’m always wary of educational media for kids, always wondering whether the show, museum exhibit, or book is actually for the children, or instead for the adults, who feel better after watching the kid reluctantly consume something so virtuous. Curious, I decided to conduct my own focus group of one.

All that’s missing is “Mommy why did the worst President ever personally murder all those COVID-19 patients?”

I’d call it lazy, but it’s somehow more trite and earnest than that.


The anime clip that GOP Rep. Paul Gosar edited to show himself slaying AOC has even darker undertones than you may have thought

While the furor over Rep. Paul Gosar tweeting a violent anime clip of himself slaying New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden continues to rage, many people are missing the fascist subtext of the clip Gosar posted.

Written as a cautionary tale about the ills of war, “Attack on Titan” was first released in manga form in 2009. Its premise involves a teenager, Eren Yeager, who joins a division of the military called the Survey Corps. Venturing beyond concentric walls within which they believe themselves to be imprisoned, Yeager and the Survey Corps slay titans – monstrous beings that eat humans.

The anime’s dark undertones of Nazism and allusions to the Holocaust become apparent in later arcs when it’s revealed that the subhuman “mindless titans” – the monsters on which AOC’s and Biden’s faces were superimposed – were originally humans, too.

Gasp. Maybe investigate the Fart Heard All Around The Camilla than this non-story.


Adapting The Wheel of Time for TV Is an Epic All Its Own

io9: The fundamental premise of the Wheel of Time is based so much on binary genders, with the all-female Aes Sedai, the male Dragons, the gendered sides of the One Power. How are you updating that for 2021, when gender identity and gender equity are so important?

Judkins: I think what’s exciting about [the Wheel of Time TV series] and what was exciting about [the books] in the ‘90s is that they opened up a conversation about gender and how gender is represented in all of these different cultures within the world of Wheel of Time. Because it’s not just one way you see a lot of different representations of gender, you see things that are more binary and less binary. I think that we have to lean into that in the show and continue to explore what gender means for these characters in as fresh of a context today as Robert Jordan was working in in the ‘90s. He was pushing the envelope a lot for the genre at the time and I think we need to do the same today.

io9: What are some ways that you’ll be doing that on the show?

Judkins: I think—well, I can’t tell you all of them, but in the books, there’s an idea that if you’re born as a man in one life, you’d be born as a man in the next life in the show. We’re not doing that. We’re approaching it as you are a soul and you move through different bodies through whatever life that you’re in. So that’s one. It’s a very fundamental change actually to make to the book series, and it has a lot of ripple effects, and we’ll continue to do things like that I think are more reflective of what hopefully Robert Jordan would be writing if he was writing today.

Make the show appeal to the people that probably won’t watch it anyway. Yay.

I don’t want any more of the books I like to be adapted. Leave them alone. By the dark gods, imagine how badly these idiots could fuck up Snow Crash or Neal Asher?


 

One of the many samples from the song is taken from 1971’s The Ruling Class, a delightful oddity where Peter O’Toole is convinced that he is Jesus, and the rest of his family plots to institutionalize him and steal his inheritance. In one of the various plots, they bring in an asylum inmate who also believes he is Jesus in order for them to battle for who is the real Son of God. The new Jesus proclaims “I AM THE HIGH-VOLTAGE MESSIAH!” and starts throwing imaginary lightning bolts.

About The Author

SugarFree

SugarFree

Your Resident Narcissistic Misogynist Rape-Culture Apologist

365 Comments

  1. Rat on a train

    All kids want for Christmas is a jab.

    • Rat on a train

      Related. My daughter has declared Thanksgiving cancelled because she can’t wait for Christmas.

    • Ted S.

      I turned on the TV this morning to get the weather forecast and the tease at the top of the hour was for a bunch of kids of single-digit age who were broken by their parents considering how eager they were to get the vaccine.

      (Not that local TV news portrayed the kids as broken, of course.)

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      All I want for Christmas is my two vax shots, my three vax shots… my four vax shots…

      • ignoreLander

        All I want for Christmas is my two vax shots, my three vax shots… my four vax shots…

        This gave me a thought for a meme, if only I was capable. Have Bid Bird giving his spiel on the kids getting the jab, then have the Count saying “One jabs…. Two Jabs…. Three jabs” then an ellipse — then the last panel he’s saying “437 jabs!”

        Surely someone has already thought of that one, right?

      • UnCivilServant

        I’ve seen one but it ends with the kid dead instead.

  2. Count Potato

    “The new Jesus proclaims “I AM THE HIGH-VOLTAGE MESSIAH!” and starts throwing imaginary lightning bolts.”

    So Tuesday at a Florida Walmart?

    • Swiss Servator

      Will confirm with brettl.

    • C. Anacreon

      When I was a resident back in the late 80s I worked on an inpatient psych ward where there were also two patients who believed they were Jesus. One day the charge nurse thought it might be “therapeutic” to make these two roommates.

      Not long afterwards, we heard a great commotion and sounds of a fistfight. We rushed to the patients’ room, in time to see one of the guys on top of the other, pounding fists at him and shouting, “who’s Jesus now, motherfucker?!”

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        “who’s Jesus now, motherfucker?!”

        That would be me.

        Duh.

      • Animal

        “My father came back from the Korean War with his brains so scrambled, he thought he was Jesus! They put him in a nuthouse for five years, when he came out, he didn’t think he was Jesus no more, he thought he was God. Which made me Jesus. This shit got pretty heavy.”

        “Tyrone”, D.C. Cab. I gather this is far from an unusual delusion.

      • Suthenboy

        I worked in a mental hospital for a decade. Over the years three or four patients thought I was Jesus. I have no idea why, but it came in handy a few times when patients became perturbed and violent.

      • Animal

        When I was married to my first wife, her (asshole) father informed me that I was the son of the devil.

        So I called the Old Man. “Why didn’t you tell me? We could be making big money on the talk show circuit!”

        His reply: “Well, they say the Devil always assumes a pleasing form. I thought you’d figure it out on your own.”

      • juris imprudent

        Damn, our fathers were cut from the same cloth.

      • The Hyperbole

        Fucking industrial disease.

      • DrOtto

        The first song of the Dire Straits I was familiar with. Great song and the first thing I thought of when I read this.

  3. Sensei

    Anybody want to fill me in if the the original “The Wheel of Time” was worth reading?

    Also, not a subscriber toe Apple TV+. Anybody have any opinions on “Foundation”?

    • prolefeed

      “Foundation” is almost as cool as “The Morning Show”, but not nearly as good as “Ted Lasso”.

      That is, it’s the third best show on a streaming service with three good shows.

      • SugarFree

        I haven’t decided if I want to watch Foundation or not. The books didn’t do much for me and “guiding humanity through a new dark ages” is so spot-on for Democrat self-wank it is sticky-sweet.

      • Sensei

        Friend of mine compared the Apple version to Star Trek in its Top,Men. utopism.

      • prolefeed

        Foundation is about math geeks fighting a doomed arrogant despotic dictatorship that is on the verge of taking down the rest of humanity with it. The math geeks sort of predict the future by aggregating the behavior of trillions of people, but the choices of outlier individuals can’t be predicted and muck up the illusion of control over events.

        Not really seeing a Democratic wankfest outta that plot, especially since the plot was written about half a century ago, and “arrogant experts being confident but wrong” rather undercuts The Narrative TM.

        YMMV

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I dunno man. Krugman loves that set of books precisely because of the nerd saviors.

      • Not Adahn

        I don’t remember anything about an arrogant despot.

        But the entire premise of the series is that not just the economy, but all of society can be controlled by Top Men using SCIENCE!

        Even the mule is defeated by Top Men SCIENCEing a gold pussy trap and his aberrations erased.

        Later books show the folly of libertarianism by proving it’s only possible if you’re the only person on a planet.

        And then it ends with Gaia-worship being the only thing that can save the species.

    • Drake

      I thought the first book was very good. Then there were about 20 more books in what was supposed to be a trilogy before the author croaked and Brandon Sanderson brought it in for a landing,

      I only made it through because my library had the electronic audio-books available while I was commuting a lot.

      • Sensei

        So like Dune?

        Started off great and after that book after book each getting progressively worse.

      • Drake

        Not quite that steep a decline. It leveled off after a while.

      • Trigger Hippie

        It lost steam after Lord of Chaos.

    • DEG

      I read the series except for the prequels.

      It has a few moments that I liked, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

    • Urthona

      Read book one and then the last book only. Skip all in between.

      • Drake

        I thought some of the books more centered around the friends who’s names I can’t remember, were kind of enjoyable.

      • Grumbletarian

        Skip all

        Fixed.

    • Nephilium

      The first couple books were good, then the author realized that he could keep milking it forever and wrote a bunch of lackluster to terrible books. Then the author died, the estate tapped someone to come in and wrap up about 8 books worth of hanging plot threads and stalled storylines. It took him 3 books to do that.

      • Pope Jimbo

        ^This^

        Could have been a very good series, but the author kept spinning off more and more plot threads in each book instead of wrapping them up.

        A couple of the books were almost unreadable. Most were OK but frustrating because of the wandering plot lines.

        It was also fairly silly in ways. There were at least three different ways that were used to let characters travel vast distances quickly. Each time a new way was invented was because the author got lazy and didn’t feel like dealing with the drawbacks of the previous transit schemes. So he had some character “invent” a new one.

      • Gustave Lytton

        The Terry Gookind school of plotting

      • The Hyperbole

        This, “I need my hero do something that no one else can do/or has ever done , how can I justify this?…. hmmm….Oh I got it.. I’ll just make him to ‘really ,really’ want to do it, that should work.”

    • Pope Jimbo

      Forget the books and the new TV series. If you want entertainment go find some of the fan podcasts. Listen to those loons who revere Robert Jordan and all the books.

      I went on a jag last winter listening to new podcasts while ice fishing. I ran across those WOT podcasts and laughed and rolled my eyes.

  4. Rebel Scum

    There is no way in hell I could keep my cool with this cunte prosecutor. I would not hesitate to treat him with every bit the amount of contempt and derision that he is treating Kyle with and then some.

    Curious, I decided to conduct my own focus group of one.

    Leave the kids alone.

    • Drake

      I was in meetings most of the afternoon. Did seem him ask why Kyle brought his rifle with him while running to put out a fire.

      Kyle looked at him like the retard he is. Was he supposed to just leave it with the mob?

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I was hoping for some response like “leaving it there would have been massively irresponsible”

      • Trigger Hippie

        He did say he didn’t want it to be stolen.

        I watched the entire exchange. Apparently the prosecutor can’t understand why millions of Americans carry firearms during everyday life if they aren’t intending to either kill on sight at the slightest pretense or enter a warzone.

        This is the most purposely mendacious prosecution I’ve seen.

        Though to be fair, the prosecutor has gotten Rittenhouse to admit that he lied to at least three times during the events that evening. Wether through panic to keep more people from attacking him or malice, I don’t read minds…

        Prosecutor is asking why he shot the guy who is using only “one foot” to bash his face in while armed with a skateboard he used to hit him in the head with twice…JFC.

      • Trigger Hippie

        Now he’s arguing that since a handgun isn’t as lethal as an AR-15 despite the guy killed having one in his hand and not three feet from the guy he’s been chasing he’s no longer a threat. This is fucking absurd.

      • Trigger Hippie

        “Why didn’t you stop and help the people who just tried to murder you?”

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        The answer to that is entirely too simple. “It wasn’t safe for me to remain there”

      • Rebel Scum

        I’m just getting to that part.

        “Wtf else am I supposed to do with it considering the circumstances, you dishonest cunte?” – Me

      • Grumbletarian

        If the judge rules in the defense’s favor, Kyle Rittenhouse could not be tried again and would get off scot-free for the two murders in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 25, 2020.

        TMITE

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Defense needs to get to Kyle and say “deterrent”, “buddy system”, and “hope for the best, prepare for the worst” over and over and over again.

      • Rat on a train

        Mr Prosecutor, do you have insurance?

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I think Kyle is being a bit too passive, and defense counsel is sitting on their hands rather than objecting.

        There are a lot of questions where he’s clearly confused as to what the pros is getting at. He needs to spin it around and say “I’m not sure what you’re asking me here”.

        There are a lot of questions about what he thought was happening somewhere else that he should respond to with “would you like me to speculate on that?”

        Pros is trying to trap him in the “you were expecting a fight and that’s why you brought a gun” trap. He needs to make clear that the potential existed for things to go sideways in an instant (like they did) and he was hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.

      • waffles

        I find this gripping and nerve wracking. I’m really worried for this kid.

      • B.P.

        Kyle did put on a puzzled look and said, “I don’t understand the question.” at one point. Might’ve been during the shoot-em-up video game line of questioning.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        There was another one when going through the shooting events.

        When they came back from recess, he said the word “deter”, he said “I don’t know what you’re asking”. 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.

      • DEG

        On the livestream I’m watching, there were comments in the chat that someone is posting to twitter from the courtroom. This person says the jury was checked out during the cross examination.

        The lawyer panel on the livestream thinks this is good.

        We’ll find out soon enough.

    • Drake

      Now they are looking at pixelated zoomed in video and trying to imagine what’s happening.

  5. Count Potato

    “By the dark gods, imagine how badly these idiots could fuck up Snow Crash”

    Snow Crash could make a good movie. Some of his other books would be way too long.

    • SugarFree

      But when Y.T. is cast as a 36-year-old black woman and Raven is a non-binary cuck with a climate change bomb in a Prius, you’ll change your tune.

      • SugarFree

        And you know L. Bob would be a weak-ass Trump analog.

      • Count Potato

        Well, it could also make a terrible movie.

      • SugarFree

        I’d just like to see a decently filmed version of Y.T. breaking out of the Federal Building.

      • EvilSheldon

        I don’t know if we have that level of technology yet.

      • robc

        I want the opening chapter.

        It needs to be James Bond like, in that the opening credits don’t roll until after the car is in the pool.

      • C. Anacreon

        The opening chapter is one of the most engaging first chapters of any novel, ever.

        So of course a movie would screw it up.

      • robc

        I think a more real issue is that we would have to make it Raven’s and Hiro’s grandfathers that got nuked in Japan. To make the timeline work.

    • Mojeaux

      I want an HBO series of my books.

      • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

        Don’t you mean Hallmark?

        /ducks, runs, hides

      • robc

        Thank you, that was the joke I was wanting to make, but couldnt figure out the right network to use.

      • Mojeaux

        Dude, Hallmark movies are made of awesome.

        Also not nearly as much sex as in my books.

      • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

        For the 4.5 years I lived in British Columbia’s Lower Rainland™, I estimated that, to a first approximation, 99.999999999999999% of all Hallmark TV shows and/or movies were made there, and the ones that weren’t probably had their B-roll shot there anyways.

        Given that it was British California, I’m sure they could roll into some PG-rated sex romps without so much as batting an eye, as long as they could find the audience for ’em.

      • nw

        That reminds me. Did your folks ever get to Italy?
        I figured without a map they probably ended up
        lost and unemployed in greenland.

      • Mojeaux

        Naw, I’m not writing right now. This book is going to be bleak and I’m not up for it.

  6. Yusef drives a Kia

    That was confusing, now my head hurts.

  7. Rebel Scum

    The anime clip that GOP Rep. Paul Gosar edited to show himself slaying AOC has even darker undertones than you may have thought

    It’s just a fucking metaphor.

      • R.J.

        You know, that’s how I felt while watching Silent but Deadly this weekend.

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      I finally found the clip. It’s pretty stupid, and he probably should not have made it. First, it’s not a good idea to portray yourself killing your political opponents, even in a cartoon, and B) it gives AOC more victimhood points.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Do you know who else liked to compare certain people to other things?

      • Suthenboy

        George Orwell?

    • kbolino

      I’d say you can replace it with Tom and Jerry or Wiley E. Coyote and the Roadrunner so the Boomers can understand it too, but honestly the problem is not the meme itself or the medium, it’s that everyone complaining about it is an NPC who just downloads new talking points every day.

  8. Ownbestenemy

    Prediction: Binger’s expert contradicts Binger’s bullshit explanation of how a digital photograph on a screen being ‘pinched and zoomed’ introduces artifacts that cannot be represented as what the image actually is. Or they straight up lie to the court. With this case, who the hell knows.

  9. DEG

    While the furor over Rep. Paul Gosar tweeting a violent anime clip of himself slaying New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden continues to rage, many people are missing the fascist subtext of the clip Gosar posted.

    What’s that saying about a dog-whistle?

  10. DEG

    Shit. Executive Council flip-flops

    After rejecting millions of dollars to help increase New Hampshire’s vaccination rate, the Executive Council on Wednesday reversed course and approved $22 million for the effort, along with a nonbinding resolution that condemns vaccine mandates.

    Last month, the Republican-led council, a five-member panel that approves state contracts, rejected $27 million in federal vaccination funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over concerns that language in the grants would have bound the state to follow federal directives and mandates related to COVID-19.

    The language the Republicans opposed has appeared in other contracts they approved, and both Republican Gov. Chris Sununu and Attorney General John Formella said it does not in any way impede the state’s sovereignty.

    • ignoreLander

      the Executive Council on Wednesday reversed course and approved $22 million for the effort, along with a nonbinding resolution that condemns vaccine mandates.

      What’s that thing my Mom used to tell me I was doing…. “Talking out of both sides of my mouth”?

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      It seems a competent intelligence agency would have known that.

      • Count Potato

        Is “competent intelligence agency ” like jumbo shrimp?

      • Zwak, sensual panzer

        It’s right up there with “military intelligence.”

      • Swiss Servator

        Yes, because the military has never figured anything out, at any level, Battalion on up. I know I used to just wander into minefields, never knew who was in any place I went, etc. By God, that one bores me to death.

      • juris imprudent

        And we have 17 or so, agencies, and not one of them is competent?

      • Count Potato

        18, the Space Force has one.

      • juris imprudent

        They get a pass on this one.

      • EvilSheldon

        Nope.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        You assume they wanted to know that.

        The US wanted to sell how successful it was at building the Afghan army. That truth would have been inconvenient.

    • Ted S.

      Led by Pavel Chichikov, I presume.

    • Trigger Hippie

      That’s just fucking perfect. I mean really, hat’s off to the gift. I’m impressed.

    • kbolino

      [Insert IQ Bell Curve Meme]

      Low: I’d take the money and run
      Middle: If we give them the right amount of money, they’ll build a government just like ours
      High: They’re just gonna take the money and run

      • Swiss Servator

        They have had people, even normally good ones, in steal-the-shit-out-of-everything mode since 1976. Who knows when the next set of baddies is going to show up and take your stuff and kill your people?

        A shame they couldn’t have stayed a short reach monarchy.

      • kbolino

        They might be a monarchy again someday, but the King will likely come from the Taliban.

      • Swiss Servator

        They have their own factions and divisions – no chance one of them would be acknowledged as “King”. That asshole nephew, throwing out Zahir Shah was a terrible thing.

  11. Timeloose

    Great H&H as well as afternoon links. I look forward to SF Wednesday.

    By the way great musical selection. I always liken them to what happens when disco and Industrial had a baby who was then was raised by a dominatrix.

      • Timeloose

        It was a great time in music. Copyrights were violated in most Industrial and hip-hop songs. Ministry sampled the crap out of Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Omega Man, 1984, etc. It was and is still something of an art, but it costs too much today. The great songs used the sample as a instrument or vocalist, instead of the song to rap over like later 90’s hip hop (puffy I’m looking at you).

        Front 242 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCsKpokX2p8

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Don’t leave out the great Luther Campbell and their filthy but good Kinks rip off:

        https://youtu.be/kdzcQAmkULs

        OK, on partial relisten maybe good is an overstatement but I have heard worse.

      • rhywun

        Still one of my favorite bands from that era.

    • rhywun

      I loved to dance the fuck out of this one. I’d probably break a hip before the eight-minute mark today.

  12. juris imprudent

    things like that I think are more reflective of what hopefully Robert Jordan would be writing if he was writing today

    Oh, like stabbing you repeatedly and digging your eyes out of your skull?

    • Nephilium

      You forgot the braid tugging.

  13. B.P.

    “This town hall, which aired on CNN over the weekend, prompted a rote, exhausted culture-war skirmish.”

    The hot new thing is to pretend that right wingers are the ones who initiated the culture war, now that the left needs to play a little defense.

    “This argument is going to happen, and happen, and happen, until we are tweeting links about Dr. Seuss’ actual IRL politics in between manually pollinating soybeans for 12-hour shifts in exchange for rations of water, and it doesn’t seem much worthy of comment.”

    I think this was an attempt at pointed comedy. Also, attention grownup adolescent trapped in a clickbait factory job: Don’t dump text/twitter acronyms in your published articles.

  14. Rebel Scum

    Word.

    Republicans could win 60 House seats and 10 Senate seats in the midterms – and it’ll mean nothing as long as worthless Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are in leadership roles.

    • juris imprudent

      OK, and who would you support in their places? The whole damn party is pretty feckless. It’s just that is a better alternative than the other party.

      • Grumbletarian

        Rand Paul and Thomas Massie.

      • robc

        That is what I get for adding commentary.

      • juris imprudent

        Nice idea, you see if either of them want those jobs? Or do you think they’d really be TopMan effective?

      • robc

        Rand Paul and Thomas Massie?

        Of course, in a world that it was even possible for theme to be elected leaders would be one in which I wouldn’t have to worry about them being elected leaders.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      The Turtle and the wannabe country club slicked up golf pro looking guy do both stink on ice, that’s for sure.

  15. waffles

    Attack on Titan is dumb and awesome. I only watched it because shitlibs said it would turn me into a right wing extremist. Streisand effect I suppose. Turns out it’s pretty mild, nothing crazy, kind of dumb. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    Sick anime intro

      • Sensei

        Never mind. I mixed up Kadokawa and Kodansha. They are two of the largest anime/manga publishers.

      • waffles

        As repentance, he will take a 20% pay cut for three months between August and October.

        Based. It’s so hard to imagine this happening anywhere outside Japan.

      • Sensei

        But in return the BoD will protect his ass for anything short of getting caught with a dead hooker.

  16. Tundra

    Man, I haven’t heard those guys forever. Thanks, SF!

    (Although that video caused a seizure.)

  17. Certified Public Asshat

    “When will you be able to stop wearing a mask at school?”

    “When I get my COVID vaccine!”

    Where have I seen this before

    • B.P.

      I think the new answer is, “When we collectively muster up the will to convince backward hicks living in places far from us to get vaccinated.”

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        The real new answer is when there are no more cases of an endemic respiratory virus.

      • B.P.

        Oh yeah, that. I forgot we’re to the “no one anywhere can ever get sick” phase of this whole thing.

  18. Rebel Scum

    Joe saves Christmas.

    I know folks are concerned about getting what they need for the upcoming holidays. That’s why I spent the afternoon on the phone with the CEOs of America’s largest retailers. Here’s what we talked about

    • Nephilium

      /looks at all the e-mails talking about Black Friday from the past two weeks.

      I’m sure those CEO’s will get right down to the ports to help unload cargo!

      • Zwak, sensual panzer

        Yeah, the problem is not at the stores, at least not at this point.

    • Sensei

      The worst part is that they think this actually helps.

  19. TARDis

    “Oh, she’s just explaining that. ”You know? For me, not being a fantasy girl in the first place, I was able to say to Rafe, “I don’t quite understand that mythology, can you just run that by me?” There are a few of us who work on the show who haven’t necessarily been immersed in the books in the way that so many of the fans have, and that counterbalances those moments of, “How do you translate it?”

    Translation: “I have no respect for the fans or the work, so I’ll just shit all over them to fit in with the fucked up times we live in.”

    • slumbrew

      Further translation: “I didn’t bother to read the books”.

  20. Tundra

    Listening to the latest Darkhorse. Heather is losing her mind over vaccinating little kids. It’s been interesting watching both of them get red pilled.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      In response to your comment about the neighbor, it is sad. It didn’t have to be that way.

      My wife and I came to the conclusion that she being an only child and never having kids of her own had a lot to do with her behavior. She could have made the most out of her final years, but it appears she wants to wallow in her self-pity.

      • Tundra

        That’s no way to live. Life seems to provide plenty of challenges without being a negative pain in the ass.

        It’s a good one to put in the rear view mirror.

  21. Pope Jimbo

    It slipped my mind this morning to insist on adding A Very Important B-Day to the list until it was way too late, so I’ll add it here.

    Happy B-day Teufel Hunden.

    • Nephilium

      It’s also the anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. At least we got a decent beer out of that.

      • robc

        And a song.

  22. robc

    I want a Deepness in the Sky limited series.

    It should have 3 different directors: One for the humans, one for the spiders, one for the flashbacks.

    The spider portion should be some sort of cgi/animation type thing, UNTIL the reveal, then they are realistic and the human director takes over that portion.

    • EvilSheldon

      That would be fucking awesome. I’m actually re-reading Deepness right now.

      • robc

        I am sure it would be totally screwed up, even if they went for my idea of doing the Spiders a some sort of animation.

        The Emergents would be heroes, of course, because Focus is totally something that would be supported.

  23. Pope Jimbo

    Uffda. This story about an unvaccinated doctor isn’t very Minnesoda Nice at all. In fact, they come dang close to saying that the world is better off without him.

    As a physician who trained in internal medicine at the University of Minnesota and became a natural medicine doctor, Foley’s “passion lay truly in taking care of other people,” said his son, Logan.

    But through his Vadnais Heights-based practice, Foley also spread falsehoods about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines.

    In blog posts over the past year, Foley wrote on his practice’s website that it was dangerous to wear masks and that the drug ivermectin was a proven treatment against COVID-19 — a drug he prescribed for patients even though the Food and Drug Administration warns against it. He reposted false claims about the vaccine made by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a well-known opponent of vaccines who has been banned from social media platforms.

    Paragraphs later (probably on the insistence by MPR’s lawyers) is this small paragraph:

    It’s not clear whether Foley’s views on the virus and how to treat it harmed his patients. At his funeral, his son claimed his father helped 50 people through COVID infections.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Oooh, now do the people that pushed the vaccines and then checked out with the Chinese Lung Butter Disease because there are plenty of them. Anyone dying with this thing is sad regardless of their beliefs but our society’s simple humanity is gone.

    • Tundra

      Cuntes.

      Foley’s death certificate says tobacco use played a role in his death.

    • Pope Jimbo

      There are a lot of crazy quotes in that story from other doctors and professors bemoaning doctors who won’t tow the lion.

      The lack of self awareness from these docs is pretty amazing.

      Doctors can be particularly potent sources of misinformation, said Rachel Moran, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington Center for an Informed Public.

      “Vocal opposition is especially damaging when it comes from these medical professionals because we ask the general public when they’re feeling hesitant about the vaccine to go and discuss their concerns with a doctor,” she said.

      Patients, she said, trust their doctors with their lives.

      “If you can go online and find a medical professional who aligns with your political viewpoints about masks or a vaccine mandate, and offers up seemingly legitimate medical advice, that’s going to cement your vaccine hesitancy and it’s not going to provide you with the information that you need to make a sound decision,” she said.

      Yeah, imagine that. I wonder if she has considered the reverse case. People can go online and find medical professionals who align with their political viewpoints on mask mandates or child vaccination mandates too. As in docs who insist on vaccinating every kid despite there being no real upside and a potentially huge downside.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        They’re just following the science you Neanderthal. Now excuse me while I research the incontrovertible hazards of GMO vegetables.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Most doctors are really good at memorization, not as good at problem solving.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        No offense to our illustrious doctors here like Anacreon.

        I’m a little bent about some recent interactions with docs who couldn’t think their way out of a room with one door.

      • Sensei

        But don’t you dare question them!

        The good ones are worth cherishing similar to any other profession, however.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Yes. If you find one, do everything you can keep them.

      • Tundra

        My goal is to never go to a mainstream doc ever again.

    • rhywun

      I can’t read state propaganda like that without popping a blood vessel.

      • Pope Jimbo

        That story really surprised me with the outright naked hatred of the guy.

        MPR didn’t do anything to even attempt to play it straight. Just a bunch of hate for him and his natural medicine ways.

      • Ted S.

        When in the past they would have loved “natural medicine” as it opposed Evil Big Pharma.

  24. waffles

    Is self-defense legal or no?

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Depends

      • waffles

        AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH

        this case is insane, I have never loathed a prosecutor so much in my life.

      • Rebel Scum

        I have limited experience. Are they all such contemptuous fucktards? This guy seems like a particularly awful human being.

      • Sensei

        50/50.

        Glib attorneys here may have a different opinion. I come from a legal family so I have lots of attorney family friends – private practice, corporate, judges, prosecutors and the like.

      • Swiss Servator

        About right – same as most folks, but with a smattering more of higher office seekers.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        That would be self defense for Biden’s pants.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      It sends the wrong message, but it’s about to be profitable.

  25. Rebel Scum

    Pwnd.

    The Loudoun County School Board meeting erupted into shouting on Tuesday night after parents confronted members of the school board after the parent group Fight for Schools filed more than 2,000 signatures to remove the board chair.

    “By the way, Denise, Brenda, Ian, Atoosa, we are well over 100% of required signatures for the petitions,” Megan Jenkins said during the public comment period. “So I’m not going to encourage any of you to resign because when you are recalled and removed from office, it will be much more satisfying. See you in court.”

    Jenkins had been referring to Board Chair Brenda Sheridan (Sterling District), Board Vice-Chair Atoosa Reaser (Algonkian District), Ian Serotkin (Blue Ridge District) and Denise Corbo, the at-large member. Ian Prior, a father and executive director at Fight for Schools, previously told Fox News that his organization had compiled all the signatures to mount legal challenges to each of those four board members, although he filed the petition to oust Sheridan on Tuesday.

    • Ted S.

      “So I’m not going to encourage any of you to resign because when you are recalled and removed from office, it will be much more satisfying. See you in court.”

      LOL.

    • B.P.

      Man, these Loudoun County School Board meetings are lit. Some 22-year-old, fresh-out-of-J-school drip didn’t know what a goldmine it would be when he/she was assigned the school board beat at the local fishwrap.

  26. Scruffy Nerfherder

    LOL. Sweeney finally conceded to the truck driver.

    That had to hurt.

    • EvilSheldon

      That’s a nice little cap to the day, huh?

    • waffles

      Too sweet.

    • B.P.

      Sweeney’s campaign should’ve been: “Send my worthless ass back to the Senate. This country actually NEEDS truck drivers right now.”

      • Tulip

        Hey, I know job opening.

      • robc

        Is NJ legislator part time? He could keep the trucking job.

    • rhywun

      I’m surprised those thousands of votes waiting to be counted in Essex County or wherever didn’t take him over the top. Oh, it was bullshit? Huh.

      • Ghostpatzer

        That district does not include Essex County. However, it is New Jersey…

      • Ghostpatzer

        That is impressive.

        At 7 years old, he was the youngest national expert

        I peaked at a USCF rating of 1928, just short of expert (2000). And I was considerably older than that. Sheesh.

      • Zwak, sensual panzer

        What, he found three additional queens in the trash outside the competition?

  27. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Sargon of Akkad’s outfit discusses the weird COP26 giant animated doll someone was talking about last night:

    https://youtu.be/0kGKgojxmZs

    Yep, it’s not just us that thinks it’s fucking weird.

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      Perhaps some of our Glib craftsmxn should create a Little Glibby so we can get in on the traveling circus.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        An animated STEVE SMITH complete with functional *ahem* appendages would be neat.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        Climate change is reducing STEVE SMITH habitat causing him to move his activities to more urban areas turning him into CITY SMITH, a smooth, sophisticated rapesquatch.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        We’d need some of our talented authors to create a backstory for Little Glibby. Maybe how climate change is making it difficult to feed so many orphans in the basement.

      • slumbrew

        Best not to leave that backstory to SugarFree.

  28. UnCivilServant

    Well, I got my retro pay. 42% tax on just the retro 🙁

    That’s just gross.

    • slumbrew

      It all evens out at the end of the year, no?

      • slumbrew

        Oh, sorry:

        *clears throat*

        Taxation is theft!

        (but my point stands)

    • robc

      I believe that is net.

      • UnCivilServant

        I was fishing for a pun thread. No one bit.

      • The Gunslinger

        You’ll never lure me in with these pun threads.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’m hooked.

      • Ghostpatzer

        Damn your nimble fingers, that was my line!

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Reel it in, man.

      • Ghostpatzer

        I guess you’re off the hook, then.

    • Trigger Hippie

      It’s your fair share, rich guy.

  29. Ownbestenemy

    Wording on the memo acknowledging I have requested (in this case, an employee of mine) a religious exemption

    “On or about [date], you submitted a religious accommodation request to me [your manager] seeking an exception to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate due to a sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice. ”

    It doesn’t copy over, but they bold and put “religious belief, observance or practice.” in red. Still waiting on my 7-deadly sinsreligious affirmation questions though.

    • Rat on a train

      Prove you have a religious objection to receiving the vaccine.
      What? Like, by not receiving the vaccine.

      • Nephilium

        Yeah… I’d think being willing to be fired is pretty damned good evidence of a deeply held belief.

      • ignoreLander

        Schrödinger’s Vaccine:

        If you’re so morally objected to the vaccine that you’re willing to get fired for it, then I guess you have a true objection. In order to prove that objection, we’re going to have to go ahead and fire you so that you can prove that you shouldn’t be fire because you have a moral objection.

      • Ownbestenemy

        You aren’t wrong. I have highlighted that we do not ask for what medication, procedures, etc an employee has or is getting done unless that employee is requesting an accommodation. Now it is turned around.

      • db

        I don’t understand why they are asking followup questions. It’s pretty clear that the EEOC has stated that 1. Employers should ask a minimum of questions and 2. It’s inadvisable to try to determine how strongly held the beliefs are and that any belief rises to the level of “religious” protection.

        Why the EEOC’s guidance isn’t at the crux of these arguments is beyond me. It seems people are ignoring one of the biggest things in their corner on this.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I don’t either and yes cause of this place I will fire back on those grounds. Also, if it ends up getting denied I will file an EEO complaint. I will draw this out along with others.

        Once I get the questions I will surely share them

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I should probably write an article when I get the time, but my strategy is to compare any question sheet to the list of no-no topics in the EEOC guidance, cite to the guidance on that topic, and then cite to the guidance on retaliation and burdensome processes.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I tossed up so far dates and said sudden policy changes in the covid forum. Cause I have a feeling it will be relevant.

  30. Rebel Scum

    Someone should tell the cunte prosecutor that a person is not unarmed if he grabs your gun.

    • Rebel Scum

      Now he is pretending that Kyle was not retreating with people chasing and threatening him.

    • Rebel Scum

      This line of questioning is total bullshit. If you are being pursued, you give a warning, and the pursuit continues to the point the pursuer is grabbing the rifle, he has forfeited his right to live.

      • The Other Kevin

        “Mr. Rosenbaum has never said anything at all about wanting your gun — you never heard him say anything about that, correct?”

        So he’s running after a person with a rifle and tries to grab it, but unless he said, “Excuse me sir, I’m gonna take your gun!” he didn’t intend to take the gun. That makes zero sense.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Throw idiotic bullshit against the wall and hope something sticks is the apparent strategy now.

      • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

        I think you’re supposed to get enthusiastic, ongoing, affirmative consent when grabbing someone’s rifle.

    • Rebel Scum

      “You understand how dangerous it is to point a gun at someone, correct?”

      Do YOU understand how dangerous it is to pose a a threat to a person armed with a rifle?

      • The Other Kevin

        This. The kid had a rifle. It wasn’t a concealed .38. Who the hell charges after someone who has a rifle and isn’t looking for serious trouble? Was he chasing after him so they could have a nice chat?

      • EvilSheldon

        Ability, opportunity, jeopardy. There’s nothing in there about what the assailant is armed with.

        And yes, someone who continues to approach you after you have told them clearly and firmly to get away, is not someone who means you well. If they still come after you while you’re pointing a rifle at them, well…

      • B.P.

        They haven’t wrapped up the trial for the day? Isn’t it happy hour in Wisconsin?

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        +1 Old Fashioned.

      • Tundra

        Brandy Old Fashioned.

        Really.

  31. Stinky Wizzleteats

    YouTube to eliminate the dislike function:

    https://youtu.be/Td3atvYF08Y

    Hey, if only likes are shown that means no one actually doesn’t like it, right?

    • Ed Wuncler

      If DeSantis fucking does this, I’ll fill my yard with his Presidential signs in 2024.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      This really is the most outstanding thing DeSantis has come up with yet.

      Tom Woods was talking about earlier this week. A state telling the Feds to keep their money and leave them alone is the best thing yet to come out of this entire debacle.

      • Ed Wuncler

        We all know the Feds won’t take this laying down though but it’s still good to be able to tell the Feds to fuck themselves and keep their money.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Federal funding is almost the entirety of DC’s power now. Take that away and they have much less to coerce states with.

      • juris imprudent

        You can’t refuse our money, or the conditions that come with it!!!

      • ignoreLander

        You can’t refuse our money, or the conditions that come with it!!!

        Translation: You can’t refuse your own money that we forcibly confiscated and dole back out in the way that most helps us keep our grift going into perpetuity!!!

      • kbolino

        David French will be writing “A Conservative Case for Forcing States to Receive Federal Funding” before too long.

        Less facetiously, I can easily see the Feds making the argument that Federal funding is necessary to protect civil rights, so thanks to yet more invisible ink in the Fourteenth Amendment, a bad state cannot refuse the funds, and thus cannot refuse the strings that are attached to the funds. Prior jurisprudence saying the Feds can attach strings to the money because the states didn’t have to accept it will not be revisited.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        That’s actually demented enough that I can see them making that argument.

      • Sensei

        Why did you give them the idea?

      • kbolino

        I wish I could wield that kind of influence over them.

    • Ghostpatzer

      That would be a giant middle finger to DC. Simply marvelous!

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It hits directly at the endrun around the Constitution that is federal funding.

    • Grumbletarian

      They can do it if they forego federal funds and (I think) create their own version of OSHA within the state.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Hell to the yes. Drop the drinking age to 18 while you’re at it.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        What about the age limit for laxatives?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I feel much better now and I think I lost at least half a Couric. Highly recommend if planned better.

      • robc

        Larry Bell is retiring and selling to Lion, which means Bell’s and New Belgium will be part of the same company.

      • robc

        That was not supposed to be a reply, but it was reasonably on topic.

      • robc

        New Holland is now the largest independent craft brewery in Michigan.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Good, they make an awesome Dragon’s milk Stout,

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      Sounds racist.

      • kbolino

        ^

        Got there in far fewer words than me.

    • KSuellington

      DeSantis is no Massie or Paul, but if he became the 24 nominee and the standard bearer of Team Red that would be absolutely fan-frigging-tastic. He actually is taking on some of the fights that need to happen. Unlike Trump, if elected I imagine he would have far greater focus and success in doing so.

      • Grumbletarian

        If Trump and DeSantis both run, who will the media hate-report more? Trumpehitler, or Governor DeMurder?

      • Ed Wuncler

        If DeSantis won, you know that there will be articles about how Trump wasn’t that bad compared to DeSantis. That’s the great thing about being on the Left, you can change the narrative when it suits your needs.

      • DEG

        Yep.

      • The Hyperbole

        Sure, and Hillary was the worse thing ever…until Biden. It’s not a left/right thing it’s imprinted on our DNA, we want to be historically important, imagine if it ‘s all just a big con, who want’s to live that life. My outrage is important god dammit!

      • Grumbletarian

        Maybe you can point to some articles from right wing sources lamenting that a moderate like Obama were running for the 2020 presidency instead of Biden. I’ll wait.

      • Urthona

        Yeah, but would housewives hate DeSantis as much?

        I like it, but Trump is still too popular.

      • KSuellington

        It all hinges on TDog. If he runs then he will likely get the nomination and who knows what happens. I could easily see another loss to whoever the Dems manage to put up. If he runs then DeSantis likely doesn’t. Barring some strange circumstances DeSantis would win big, even with the expected fortification.

      • juris imprudent

        Don’t count on lightning striking twice. All of the contenders have had 4 years to learn and… oh hell, that’s right, we’re talking about Republicans.

      • ignoreLander

        I could see him getting some begrudging soccer mom support because he’ll stand by his wife as she battles her breast cancer. There will still be plenty of soulless land whales that won’t care no matter what he does, but I have to think some of the many wine moms who are ruled solely by their emotions will look upon that favorably.

    • Suthenboy

      If you think TDS was something, imagine how DC would behave if states started cutting their water off. I think we would be looking at a hot civil war.

      • kbolino

        It won’t go hot. While the most powerful state governors still wield more direct executive authority over their states than the President does over the U.S., every state more or less follows the same model of governance: term limits, no spoils system, judiciary has final say, National Guard instead of militia, no meaningful state border or concept of state citizenship, nonprofits/megacorps/academia/bureaucracy are all backdoored by (inter)national establishment, no sovereignty over currency, etc.

        A lot would have to change in the power dynamic for secession to be seriously viable.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It all boils down to the control of the currency.

      • kbolino

        It is the most potent weapon in the system’s arsenal. Not that long ago, Biden said “The U.S. always pays its bills.” It may have just been empty words off a teleprompter read by a senile puppet, but there is more truth in there I think than most realize. “Soft power” can be defined simply as “buying that which can be bought.”

      • kbolino

        Yes, but none of them are anywhere near as well funded, staffed, or equipped as their state’s NG.

  32. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    Just had a brisket taco with chipotle BBQ sauce & fried jalapenos. Yuuuummmm

    • Suthenboy

      I fried chicken livers and French fries. Yum.
      I am full as a tick. I can hardly move.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Correctly cooked fried chicken livers are the food of the Gods.

      • Suthenboy

        ^This guy gets it^

      • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

        Meh, sort of.

      • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

        And by “correctly cooked” you mean “turned into a forcemeat and cooked with French country herbs until it’s an awesome paté,” right? (Just ignore the gun at your head and you’ll do fine.)

    • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

      /Homer Simpson drooling sounds

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Chipotle sauce is an abomination fit only for hipsters and the lactose intolerant,

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’m lactose intolerant.

        STOP OTHERING ME

      • Suthenboy

        uhhhh…..TexMex? Mexican? Tamales (Injun…feather not dot)?

        I didnt know it was a hipster thing.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        It’s a completely American concoction, aboot as authentic as a Chalupa,

      • Not Adahn

        So we introduced the technique of smoking foods to those heart-cutting savages?

        That makes it taste even better.

      • Tulip

        Yes authentically American and delicious.

      • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

        Oh? Did you taste the taco? When were you in Travelers Rest?

      • Ownbestenemy

        … I want a witty reply to be here…

      • The coolest vaccine-free BEAM in the world™

        I had a chipotle cream sauce on chicken breast in the Yucatan a few years ago that was as sublime as any French treatment I’ve ever had, and I’m of French extraction, goddammit. It ain’t just hipster shit.

      • juris imprudent

        Damn, that sounds good. I made a chicken poblano casserole a couple of weeks ago.

    • Swiss Servator

      I am off tomorrow too. Might pop in for a bit. Thankee, Tulip.

  33. DEG

    PA Court tosses school mask order

    An order by Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary that requires masks inside K-12 schools and child care facilities was thrown out Wednesday by a state court that said she lacked the authority.

    Commonwealth Court sided 4-1 with the ranking Republican in the state Senate and others who sued to challenge the masking order that took effect in early September as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The judges said Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam’s mandate did not comply with the state’s laws about reviewing and approving regulations and was adopted without an existing disaster emergency declared by the governor.

    • creech

      Commonwealth appealed and the mandate remains in place until a higher court rules. So, you lawyerscum out there, why did Trump rules get stayed and not allowed to remain in effect because of one Hawaiian judge, but Wolf mandate gets stayed but gets to be left in place until another court also rules?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Dude

        Article F
        Section Y
        Sub-Section T
        Clause W

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        The fact the question needs to be asked belies the answer.

      • Swiss Servator

        You need the next higher court to weigh in. Nobody in the 9th was going to overrule HI judge.

        And genial “up yours” for the ‘lawyerscum’.

      • DEG

        Urgh.

  34. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Jeez, just watched the vid of Rittenhouse breaking down. That was tough to watch. Anyone who says he was faking is nuts.

    • SugarFree

      Psychopaths believe everyone else is faking emotions just like they have to.

      • Suthenboy

        Everyone seems to judge others by comparing them to themselves. Projection for the un-selfaware is as common as pig tracks.

    • Tundra

      Nope.

      But still pretty cool!

    • Drake

      Define “remarkably” with numbers weirdo – then compare it to “danger” covid poses to children.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        “Remarkably”, “marginally”, “not”…what’s the difference?

      • kbolino

        In discussions I’ve had, prodding has revealed that nobody really believes the children are at serious risk. It’s all about stopping the spread, but since the vaccine doesn’t really do that, vaccinating the kids makes no sense. It really does just seem to be a religious ritual at this point.

      • Drake

        If your religion calls for child sacrifice.

    • Urthona

      Considering vaccine mandates are now underwater in the polls, it’s hard to imagine vaccine mandates for children are all that popular anyway.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Especially in Tejas.

    • Suthenboy

      Warns Americans not to disagree with him or the official narrative? Or else what, Sunshine?

      • kbolino

        See above about money and its use by those in power. They want us broke and submissive but they’ll take their time to turn the ratchet.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Or else you’ll be fired if you get too mouthy or don’t get with the program. Not exactly concentration camps just yet but not good regardless.

      • Suthenboy

        Wife and I are both financially independent and retired. There is not a damned thing they can do to me. I am sure they hate that, but fuck ’em.

        I feel badly for people who do have a sword hanging over their heads.

      • cyto

        They can render your savings useless through rampant inflation…..

      • Suthenboy

        They are doing that anyway. It is not like I get the dangerous, ineffective shot and they will quit.

      • Ownbestenemy

        We have a healthy cushion that we can sustain for a good while but yeah, still hangs over our heads.

        I bet next bout of homelessness due to fired/quit unclean will be “they chose that lifestyle!”

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Like him, dislike him, or indifferent; Matthew McConaughey had political aspirations that they’re trying to screw him out of for a fairly minor divergence in thought. That government officials are willing to go after a popular someone for something like that doesn’t bode well for the future. The mask is off as they say. That said, I’m certain he’ll land on his feet just fine.

    • cyto

      The case fatality rate for folks under 30 in Florida is 0.0%.

      Gonna be really hard for a vaccination campaign to do less harm than the virus in that group.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Well that is the problem…they need it higher, thus the forced vaccine…. /tinfoil2019truth2021

      • rhywun

        It’s was never about your kids, it’s ostensibly about your kids killing grandma and grandpa.

    • Trigger Hippie

      I’m just amazed that I live in the timeline that has the Surgeon General responding to MM’s personal opinion.

      … Honk, Honk!!!

      • rhywun

        It shows you how much of a threat they perceive him to be.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Even the smallest threat they are snapping at.

      • rhywun

        Straight out of the little red book.

      • Trigger Hippie

        ….this doesn’t help persuade me to turn away from my initial “Honk, Honk!!!” reaction..

  35. Suthenboy

    Super delicious.

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

    I have been making these for years. I cant think of one occasion when there were leftovers.
    I didnt watch the whole video but it is very similar to mine both recipe and technique. I dont know if she puts cilantro in it or not but I bet you can guess if I do.
    Worth every minute of effort.

    • Suthenboy

      Oh, and I use a pressure cooker, not a crock pot.

    • ignoreLander

      Holy mothereffing crap those look delicious. Wonder if there’s any way to make them keto? I think the only sticking point would be whatever shell she’s using.

      • Suthenboy

        True Mexican food is greatly under appreciated in the US. What we think of as Mexican is actually TexMex. TexMex incorporates many elements of Mexican, obviously, but it it still quite different.

        Trying to make a delicious recipe into a square peg to fit a round hole is always a mistake. I have a relative that does that all of the time and the results are always nearly inedible. A corn tortilla or two now and then wont hurt you. Make sure you fry in corn oil to maximize the corn flavor.

        When you soak a carb in lipids, in this case corn tortilla in corn oil, it renders the carb much more difficult to digest and whatever you are able to digest digests much more slowly.

        That chick is American but her parents are from Mexico. She gives recipes from her family going back generations. Look her channel up. She is one of my favorite YT cooks. Try her Tamale pie and chicken enchiladas…traditional Mexican and freakin’ delicious.

      • ignoreLander

        A corn tortilla or two now and then wont hurt you

        Truth is, now that I’m tracking it, I’m seeing I’m not getting anywhere near the 20 carbs a day that’s supposed to be my limit. My understanding is that keto or not you I actually need more than I’m getting. These looks like a great way to get there….

      • Suthenboy

        My mouth started watering just watching the video…until she got to the cilantro….then I imagined it away and started watering again despite being stuffed full of fried chicken livers.

  36. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Ugh. 14 year old just came in crying because she’s afraid I’m going to be mad when she fails her Spanish exam on Friday.

    Me: Perhaps if you had taken my suggestion to study with other kids and practice, this wouldn’t have been a problem.

    Her: But I’m not good at Spanish.

    Me: That’s the point. You practice and you get better. You have to get over your embarrassment in order to improve.

    Her: I just can’t find the motivation.

    Me: Then you’re going to fail. So make up your mind as to which is less appealing to you, failing or being embarrassed about using imperfect Spanish with others.

    *el sigh*

    • Ownbestenemy

      Ah that conversation I have had many a times.

    • cyto

      Sounds familiar.

      Boy “has everything done”. Next day… Flags a quiz.

      “I studied all night!!”

      Uh… I was there all night. You didn’t study for 5 minutes.

      The post covid adjustment is tough for that one.

    • Sensei

      Knowing that you are speaking badly is a hard hurdle to get over.

      I can see why a 14 year is going to struggle with that, but it is part of learning and growing up.

      /s Guy who just had his Japanese lesson and got his ass kicked.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Oh, I understand completely. I just can’t sympathize with her and give her tacit approval to continue avoiding what she needs to do.

      • Suthenboy

        Mrs. Suthenboy: “You need to quit procrastinating”

        Suthenboy: “I am going to. I am just waiting for the right time.”

    • ignoreLander

      14 year old just came in crying because she’s afraid I’m going to be mad when she fails her Spanish exam on Friday.

      Smart move though, to prepare you beforehand, so you’re not blindsided. My experience was parents tend to get madder that way then if I warned them it was coming.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Eh, I knew it was coming. I was just waiting for her to admit it.

      • ignoreLander

        madder that way then if I warned them it was coming.

        Than.

        As you can see, one of the classes I might or might not have needed to prep them for, was English.

      • Suthenboy

        Most of the Veritas ‘bombshells’ when revealed turn out to be anti-climactic.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Yeah, they’re the kings of overhyping a series of releases that have a combined 90 seconds of interesting stuff.

    • DEG

      Wow. I recognize the building but don’t really know the place.

      • Sean

        Always had a bad rep since I’ve been here.

      • DEG

        I wonder what some relatives of mine have to say about it. Those relatives know Quakertown and northern Bucks County better than I do.

      • rhywun

        “It’s never been about” kicking out the poors, but we’re going to kick out the poors. Don’t worry, we’ll “take care of them”.

    • Suthenboy

      There was a clone of that in shreveport. When you have a hundred or so formerly homeless and mentally ill living in a building like that it turns into a pestilence infested sewer in no time flat.
      Shreveport had to do that same thing. May as well burn it and start from scratch.

    • creech

      So, the hotel owner backed the wrong politicians in the recent election?

  37. Not Adahn

    Some interview said the WoT show was going to be a feminist power fantasy, and they were making sure to have more wang on screen than cunte.

  38. Ownbestenemy

    All day leadership at work “Thank you veterans…blah blah blah”. I had to bite my tongue before I spouted off “except you unclean fuckers, get a new job”

  39. Zwak, sensual panzer

    While we are having wish lists for books we love being made into movies, I want Ellroy’s L.A. Quartet done right. Four-season mini series. One for each book. And maybe a fifth to do American Tabloid. But only if they get the ending right.

    • Tundra

      LA Confidential was fucking great. You want to change it?

    • ignoreLander

      Venomous sharks?

      Old news — we’ve had those in the Potomac for generations.

      • Suthenboy

        Yep. About like a catfish. Poisonous spines used for defense. I think we have catfish here bigger than that thing.
        The catfish doesnt make its own poison except in its skin, some of which, along with some nasty bugs get on the spines. A poke from one of those and the pain and swelling will persist for a week or so. First thing I do before cleaning one is use some dykes to snip off the spines.

      • Ted S.

        You have a supply of lesbians just to clean catfish? 😉

      • Tulip

        Those are politicians.

  40. straffinrun

    Thought I’d watch a couple minutes of the Rittenhouse trial live before going to bed last night. Turned into me watching for 2 hours. *Sleepy today*. Binger actually claimed that Rittenhouse waited to tell his story so he could tailor it to fit the witness testimonies. That’s idiotic and would mean the 5th means absolutely nothing. Also, Kyle’s mom’s expression throughout the day is so genuinely sad that the jury must have felt it。

    • Ownbestenemy

      The theory is that the defense didn’t object (when they should have a lot) because they might be reading the jury on his testimony. Still, you hire an attorney to protect you and even if you are a strong witness or holding your own, you don’t know the law and that is why you hire an attorney to keep the other lawyer in check.

      Binger also tried to bring in evidence that he couldn’t, tried to do the whole “pinch and zoom” on a digital screen to prove something.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Supposedly this is the style of the primary defense attorney. Even so, when your client is looking over to you after the 8th time the same question is being asked, maybe stand your fat ass up and say “objection, asked and answered”

      • straffinrun

        Yeah, I saw the judge chew him out for that second one. It looked like it was so blatantly wrong that the judge was shocked at first. The more he grasped what happened, the more pissed off he got.

      • Ownbestenemy

        The minute that fucker violated Rittenhouse’s 5th Amendment, it should have been ‘shut it down!’ But I believe in that right we hold.

      • DEG

        I’ll admit it: I really enjoyed watching the judge yell at Binger.

      • straffinrun

        Binger’s face went a juicy red color。

      • Ownbestenemy

        So question: During closing arguments, if it actually gets there, can the defense bring those moments up? “The State purposefully violated my client’s 5th Amendment rights, he followed Miranda, remained silent, and only now did he decide to speak to you, a jury of his peers, and the State wants to punish him for doing so”.

      • Grumbletarian

        I don’t think the prosecution trying to imply that remaining silent is an indicator of guilt proves Rittenhouse is innocent, but I’d definitely say something like “Members of the jury, the prosecution began this trial with the stated intent of proving my client’s guilt. instead, their witnesses have affirmed under oath that my client did not fire his weapon until his life was in imminent danger.”

    • ignoreLander

      DA Douchebag got slapped hard by the judge for that one. I actually with that judge would unleash hell on the dude, but I guess that’s how he’s a dispassionate arbiter and I’m not.

  41. westernsloper

    When will you be able to get the COVID shot, since you’re not 5 yet?
    “It will be a while time before I can.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “Because they’re studying it.” (Nice.)
    “When will you be able to stop wearing a mask at school?”
    “When I get my COVID vaccine!”
    Ah, well, nevertheless.

    You motherfuckers. *deletes rest of comment*

    • rhywun

      *deletes rest of comment*

      Yeah, I’ve been doing an awful lot of that lately.