Saturday Morning Oh Fuck It’s July Already? Links

by | Jul 2, 2022 | Daily Links | 280 comments

Time is passing far too quickly. On the other hand, I want this year to be over. I say that I hate 2022, but honestly, there have been some good things. Getting sucked back into science was unexpected, but turning out to be kinda fun. My first spring and summer in a splendidly beautiful area have had their moments. Of course, being surrounded by 20-something females has meant inundation with TMI about menstruation and STDs, but even that has a certain amusement factor.

Speaking of amusement, there’s birthdays including the guy who inspired the song I’m Looking Through You; a guy whose magisterial work inspired my current project on making spherical retroreflectors; a great physicist who, with George Gamow and Ralph Alpher, was on the most delightful co-author list in the history of science; a great man who was a lousy justice; a terrific storyteller and prose stylist who was also half of the greatest writing duo in the history of science fiction; the woman who put Thom McCan on the map; a crappy politico who spawned even crappier politicos; a guy who may have been a wee bit too enthusiastic; an insanely wonderful singer/songwriter; and the center of the hot-crazy axis. Oh, and a special birthday callout to the one and only Warty.

So that out of the way, Links.

 

Fuck the fuck right off, you diseased cunt.

 

It’s nice when actual white supremacists out themselves in writing.

 

A guy I disliked, but his continuing DGAF attitude has won me over. One more example.

 

“Democracy advocates.”

 

At this point, seriously, does anyone pay any attention to anything he says?

 

Never bring a helicopter to a pool noodle fight.

 

So much of this gladdens my soot-black heart.

 

Well, I feel sorry about the dog.

 

Old Guy Music is from one of the birthday honorees. And a damn fine tune it is.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

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

280 Comments

  1. juris imprudent

    Thirty state legislatures are currently in the hands of Republicans – allowing them to fulfill their Constitution duty (Article I, Section 4) would clearly mean the END of DEMOCRACY.

    I wonder when the Dems will push the illegitimate elections line?

    • R C Dean

      *checks notes*

      How far back do you want to go?

      • juris imprudent

        They can’t flip the script until they’ve given up on Trump. You can’t make his argument when you are arguing that he is the great threat to democracy!

    • Old Man With Candy

      2016.

      • juris imprudent

        2018 if you count Georgia. But then Trump took it away from them, so now it’s bad. The question is, when will they decide it is good again?

  2. Shpip

    More than 700,000 people have signed a petition calling for Justice Clarence Thomas to be impeached following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

    In a country of 340 million people, that’s… still a lot of dumbasses.

    And why is Thomas getting the ire (and Kavanaugh the assassination “attempt”), when it was Alito who authored the majority opinion? Is it because your average lefty couldn’t tell Alito from Breyer if you held up a picture of the two?

    • Negroni Please

      It’s because Thomas said that the court should reconsider other shitty precedents too. Things like obergefell. The leftists see Thomas as trying to undue all “social progress” when all he wants to do is end shitty court mandates and force legislators to do their jobs

      • Tonio

        You’re back!

      • Negroni Please

        I never really leave, but during the school year I get to every thread hours too late to post.

        Y’all have to wait for summer to hear my unnecessary and pointless social commentary

      • Sean

        You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave 🎶

      • R C Dean

        You know, you can just open the latest post and start there.

      • Negroni Please

        unpossible! As a libertarian you know I’m mostly autistic. I can’t just read threads out of order

      • slumbrew

        My brother

        *fist bumps*

      • juris imprudent

        Griswold, and he’s right – it is a worse decision that Wickard. At least Wickard had an actual Constitutional clause to bend – Griswold is goddam acid trip. And it’s funny how you won’t hear the grievance brigade talk stare decisis with respect to Bower v. Georgia (which Lawrence overturned). I don’t like the result of Bower, but it is Constitutionally correct – the document is silent on it.

      • Negroni Please

        Yeah. He specifically called out Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Apparently people are somehow completely unaware that Thomas hates substantive due process despite Thomas spending 30 years weiring about how we need to end substantive due process

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        ^^

        And I wholly agree with him on the topic. It’s a convoluted mess of “some rights are more rightier than others”

      • Negroni Please

        Absolutely. But the leftist freakout over his comments just show they are wholly unfamiliar with Thomas. They’re acting like this is Thomas pulling off the mask and displaying his inner Hitler.

        Shitting on substantive due process is just Thomas being Thomas. Just like when he’s shitting on commerce clause jurisprudence or sucking cop dick.

      • juris imprudent

        some rights…

        Like the ones we just pull out of our collective asses!

      • Tonio

        Justice Powell who voted to uphold the Georgia sodomy law in Bowers v. Hardwick (not Georgia) later recanted and spoke publicly about his regrets, which led to the court reconsidering and overturning that decision in Lawrence v. Texas. Lawrence, like Roe was decided on privacy. The correct decision would have been to overturn sodomy laws on the basis of unenumerated rights.

        It’s kinda shaky ground for a libertarian to argue that the state has a right to ban private sexual acts between consenting adults. If you own yourself, you own your mouth and anus and have the right to put whatever you want in those openings. Unlike abortion which involves killing an organism which may, or may not, be a human being.

      • juris imprudent

        Out of Georgia – faulty memory.

      • juris imprudent

        Well, as a libertarian, I would argue that the police power does not extend to anything consensual, full stop.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        The correct decision would have been to overturn sodomy laws on the basis of unenumerated rights.

        In some ways this is 6 in one hand, half dozen in the other, but I think there’s a difference between recognizing an unenumerated right and recognizing a limitation on the grant of authority to the government. I wish SCOTUS was more willing to say “government isn’t allowed to wade into these issues” rather than trying to enumerate unenumerated rights.

        It gets even more complicated when you throw federalism into the mix. The part I still have a hard time grasping (philosophically) is how the incorporation clause works with unenumerated rights. I think there are logical and practical issues with that framework. That said, using the other conceptualization doesn’t help either. Recognizing a limitation of FedGov’s authority in no way gives SCOTUS the ability to limit a state’s authority.

      • Negroni Please

        Incorporation doctrine is retarded. Let’s start there.

      • juris imprudent

        They had privileges and immunity but the Court in it’s wisdom shat all over that.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I think there’s a nugget of wisdom there. The idea that a fundamental right recognized by FedGov is inviolable by state governments is, by and large, a good one. However, without that middle ground of “not within FedGov’s authority”, incorporation is pointless.

      • Tonio

        I wish SCOTUS was more willing to say “government isn’t allowed to wade into these issues” rather than trying to enumerate unenumerated rights.

        A very good point, as usual.

      • EvilSheldon

        It’s not shaky ground at all – if you argue that the state can regulate sexual acts between consenting adults, you’re not a libertarian, full stop.

      • DrOtto

        Making legislators vote on bills is a threat to democracy, and stuff.

      • Ownbestenemy

        How can we hid behind the unelected and faceless bureaucracy then? People might figure out we are worthless!

      • Brawndo

        Thomas wants to outlaw interracial marriage because that’d be easier than just getting a divorce from his white wife.

      • Fourscore

        I laughed

        /winks at wife

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thomas is betraying his skin color

  3. juris imprudent

    I’d say the guy who shot the police K9 got the beating he deserved. Maybe they needed the cops that served the Breanna Taylor search warrant on this arrest?

    • Sean

      That mugshot…

    • EvilSheldon

      Unpopular and crass opinion nevertheless worth thinking about: You wonder why I want to own an AR-15? This is why.

      • juris imprudent

        When things get bad enough that I’d even contemplate shooting at a cop – I’m damn sure taking out some politicians first.

  4. Shpip

    Perhaps the most dependable taboo in American media, however, involves black Second Amendment advocates. As Ford and News2Share have documented over the years, there are many such groups, and they sometimes march in conjunction with groups like the Boogaloo Boys. In fact, the biggest taboo of all might be showing such groups demonstrating together:

    Well, it’s tougher to paint 2A advocates as White Nationalist Insurrectionist Kulaks and Wreckers when they done gone and added some coloreds to their ranks.

    The Black face of White Supremacy, I guess.

    • Negroni Please

      Gun supremacists. Zardoz approves

    • rhywun

      We seem to be witnessing more blacks, hispanics, asians, etc. coming to the conclusion that all the policies endorsed by the wealthy white progressives who control the party that they have overwhelmingly supported for decades aren’t actually in their best interest.

      • Count Potato

        Also, LGBT and white working class.

      • The Last American Hero

        hahahahahahahaha – The gene that makes you non-hetero makes you vote progressive. This is well established science.

      • juris imprudent

        … in their best interest

        FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS! herpa-derpa-do

      • Zwak, who swallowed your pain, and is asking for more.

        The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that Marx hasn’t been tried yet.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I find it interesting that they remain mostly outraged about the odd case of whites shooting at blacks when it is almost always blacks shooting at blacks.

      I have no issue with them wanting to arm themselves but they may want to evaluate their priorities.

  5. Tres Cool

    “a great man who was a lousy justice”

    I was expecting Jackie Gleason.

  6. Tonio

    make smart decisions on who should have the right to carry a weapon

    Um… everyone?

    • juris imprudent

      If everyone does, then there’s no decision. If there’s no decision there are no decision-makers? Won’t someone please think of the bureaucrats!!

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        👆👆👆

        The self-licking ice cream cone is the most important thing here.

    • rhywun

      My favorite was the “density” based proposal – I wonder if that made it in there. It would basically ban gun ownership in NYC.

      • Negroni Please

        I like the social media account disclosure the best. They need to check your “character and conduct” then deny you based on your political beliefs

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        At least that requirement will get all this crushed with extreme prejudice in the courts. It’s clear what their strategy it’s though: Counter unfavorable decisions with on its face unconstitutional bullshit and enforce it until it’s disallowed on five to ten years, pay no penalties for their conduct, and then rinse and repeat with other unconstitutional bullshit.

      • juris imprudent

        I hate to say, but then fuck everyone in New York. That’s your govt and you vote. If you like it – you deserve to get it, harder than a thousand STEVE SMITHS can give it to you. If you don’t like get the hell out.

      • rhywun

        You would have a point if the laws in question were constitutional.

      • juris imprudent

        I’m willing to sacrifice a state or two to Moloch, if that would leave the rest of us free.

      • Ted S.

        We don’t all vote for it.

        Worse is that the garden-variety non-NYC Team Blue assemblyman in our district just lost his primary to a Democratic Socialist.

      • juris imprudent

        I’d never live there; I couldn’t stand my neighbors if they are all fuckwads that vote like that.

      • Ted S.

        I was born here, and emigration from NYC (along with a SUNY campus) has fucked up Ulster County probably beyond repair.

      • Ownbestenemy

        It’s a double whammy. Government will punish you for your speech to deny other constitutionally held rights.

        It actually fits right into what Thomas argued. Why not deny speedy trial, cruel and unusual punishment? Maybe those with questionable posts should have agents of the State quartered with them too.

      • rhywun

        Why not deny speedy trial, cruel and unusual punishment?

        The left is already doing this, and nobody is stopping them.

      • juris imprudent

        Jan 6th folks wave and say hello.

      • Negroni Please

        Don’t make eye contact though unless you want to join them in the gulag as a conspirator

      • The Last American Hero

        +1 COVID Constitution.

      • Rebel Scum

        Some proggy cute I went to hs with made that faux argument once. It was baffling but I called him on that bullshit. Rights are not governed by technological advances. Rights are not governed by population density. The end.

      • Rebel Scum

        Proggy cunte*. Fuckin autocorrect …

  7. The Late P Brooks

    My first spring and summer in a splendidly beautiful area

    C’mon, admit it. You miss Phoenix.

    • Old Man With Candy

      I do miss things about it. Physically beautiful place and an actual Second Amendment paradise. But walking to work without risking heat stroke and melanoma has its charm.

  8. Gender Traitor

    What a wonderful song! Thank you!

    I know it’s going to be a crazy busy party with about a bazillion guests, but I do hope you get a chance to talk music with TT. 🙂🎶🎸

    • Old Man With Candy

      100% guaranteed.

      • Old Man With Candy

        And I should mention that I have two excellent acoustic guitars, two banjos, a bass, flute, and trombone. Just in case he feels like playing.

      • Gender Traitor

        Be careful what you offer! I’m not entirely sure I could get him to stop once he got going! 🙄 Now, I WILL say that while he doesn’t play it much, he DID make a point of teaching himself how to play “Wild Horses” on banjo, just to prove that you CAN play a sad song on one. (A joke he’s bound to repeat if given the chance, adding that when he plays banjo, it’s REALLY sad!)

      • Old Man With Candy

        Ah, likely the Old and In The Way version. Great song. Maybe Old Guy Music tomorrow.

      • Gender Traitor

        He knows about those guys, so could well be! Please consider this a formal request for the tune (even if I didn’t write it on the back of a $20 bill, as the house band requires.)

      • Gender Traitor

        Oh, yeah! I remember this one – someone (maybe you?) posted it a while back! Fantastic! 😃

  9. Ownbestenemy

    Found this place

    Nice selection of beers. The Queen Mab was my favorite

    • slumbrew

      STEVE SMITH APPROVED!

  10. trshmnstr the terrible

    Daily Quordle 159
    6️⃣4️⃣
    7️⃣9️⃣

    QB
    3 5
    4 9

    oof, QB took 4 guesses to get the correct first letter for bottom right (there were 5 words left in the wordlist at guess 6, and it avoiding chumping on a 50/50 after missing on 20%, 25%, and 33% guesses).

    • Grumbletarian

      Daily Quordle 159
      5️⃣3️⃣
      8️⃣7️⃣

      Given the words, I actually feel kind of good about a 23.

      • The Hyperbole

        Daily Quordle 159
        4️⃣8️⃣
        9️⃣7️⃣

      • Sean

        #waffle162 5/5

        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
        🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩
        🟩🟩⭐🟩🟩
        🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

        🔥 streak: 3
        wafflegame.net

      • The Hyperbole

        🌎 Jul 2, 2022 🌍
        🔥 45 | Avg. Guesses: 5.69
        🟧🟨🟨🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥
        🟥🟥🟩 = 11

        #globle

        That’s just pathetic.

      • rhywun

        It’s been so long, I forgot how “fun” this is.

        Daily Quordle 159
        9️⃣6️⃣
        5️⃣8️⃣

      • Grummun

        7 4
        5 3

    • whiz

      Daily Quordle 159
      6️⃣3️⃣
      4️⃣7️⃣

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Daily Quordle 159
      7️⃣5️⃣
      8️⃣6️⃣

      Given the words I’m actually ok with this score

    • Grosspatzer

      Piece of cake.

      Daily Quordle 159
      5️⃣4️⃣
      7️⃣3️⃣
      quordle.com

    • one true athena

      Daily Quordle 159
      6️⃣5️⃣
      8️⃣4️⃣
      quordle.com

    • Ted S.

      Daily Quordle 159
      5️⃣3️⃣
      7️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com
      ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨🟩🟨🟩
      ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟨⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟨
      ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨 🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

    • grrizzly

      Daily Quordle 159
      8️⃣4️⃣
      9️⃣7️⃣

    • Cannoli

      Daily Quordle 159
      9️⃣5️⃣
      7️⃣3️⃣

  11. The Late P Brooks

    ‘Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week,’ Musk wrote in the email. ‘If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned.’

    Slavery!

    • cyto

      If you travel outside conservative circles, this is literally what they are saying.

      Communist ideology is pervasive online. Twitter, Facebook, reddit… They are inundated with posts about working for money being the same as slavery. Reddit in particular is a hotbed of young communists. They argue that work is slavery as if it were an immutable fact. They believe that paying your debts is not just optional, but immoral.

      They are a growing and powerful constituency.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        They’re skinsuiting the word slavery now? If almost everyone’s a slave the word is meaningless.

      • juris imprudent

        Remain a child for your entire life! Be provided for, cared for, irresponsible – that’s what it means to be a fully formed, mature human!

      • EvilSheldon

        Yup. It’s simultaneously fascinating and disgusting to watch, like a jellyfish eating…

      • Rebel Scum

        They say the same shit about choices in general when choices just happen to be limited. Same proggy cunte I mention above once argued that Amazon wronged his friend somehow and should pay for some healthcare service or something. I asked what the terms of his employment were because employment is a contract. As you could imagine the conversation went nowhere because ignorant/dishonest proggy is ignorant/dishonest.

    • rhywun

      One-size-fits-all FTW.

      His company, his stupid rules I guess.

      I was hired remotely. If my company wants to force me into the office, they’re free to give me a 37.5% raise to make up for the lost hours.

      • DEG

        Seconded.

      • The Last American Hero

        When enough people abuse the rules, then yes, one size fits all.

        And if Tesla hired you remote, then they are altering the terms of the agreement – pray they don’t alter them further, renegotiate, or move on.

      • slumbrew

        Not much of a leg to stand on unless you were hired a remote worker.

        As you say, suck it up or move on.

    • JasonAZ

      While I enjoy Musk sticking it to the progtards lately, especially Twitter, this seems rather rigid. He’s free to do it and it’s not slavery. I’m thankful my employer has been more flexible about returning to the office.

  12. cyto

    “oh fuck, it’s July”

    Time gets moving pretty quickly as you get old. I still have an internal presumption that 2001 is the distant future. At least I finally stopped having the impulse to start dates on checks with “19”. But “turn of the century” still means late 1800s to early 1900s in my head….

  13. Grummun

    independent legislature theory

    Can someone explain this in a less inflammatory way? The left-wing agitprop is so heavy in that Post piece, I can’t figure out exactly what has their panties in a bunch.

    Also, WordPress’ spell checker accepts “agitprop,” which I find interesting and maybe a little saddening.

    • Tonio

      Article is paywalled for me, and I presume many others.

    • juris imprudent

      Article I, Section 4:

      The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

      Notice it does not say that the state executive or judiciary are involved, you know, because those crazy Founders thought the Legislative branch was kinda important, particularly for democratic representation. Which is a TERRIBLE MISTAKE when 30 of the 50 state legislatures are, at the moment, controlled by Republicans.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      “though few sons of the elite serve in the army, and fewer still have been sent to fight in Ukraine.”
      Uh-huh…now do an expose on the sons of the elite in the US and the UK.

    • Drake

      “Promising goalie was formerly with CSKA, which has ties to Russian army”

      So he was already in the army reserves?

    • Tulip

      Nightmare fuel

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Quick, get the salt!

    • EvilSheldon

      Yow! Do they spit acid?

    • Shpip

      This quarantine will last for two years, but unlike the coronavirus lockdowns, residents are just prohibited from moving plants, soil, yard waste, debris, compost and building materials outside the zone.

      Sure, it’s in the news cycle right now, but the whole program will conch out in a few months due to lack of enforcement.

  14. DrOtto

    Was at probably my proggiest customer yesterday (gay kid – check, rainbow flag – check, Beto signs – check) to look at their Ford C Max hybrid (check). He started asking if their are any electrics I like – I said stick with Tesla, they’ve been doing it longest. “I’m not giving Elon Musk any money, he doesn’t need it.” was the hurried response. I wonder wonder how much of his customer base he has turned off.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Cause the Ford family is struggling and just trying to break into the market.

      I think Elon didn’t lose any thing and probably has gained overall.

    • cyto

      Wait… Not gonna give money to Musk because he doesn’t need it… But Ford?

      Nevermind….

      • DrOtto

        That’s what I said “The Ford family needs that money” with a laugh. Although the current Ford family politics probably line up better.

      • rhywun

        Not gonna give money to Musk because that’s what the hive mind told me to do.

        Amended for the more-likely thought process.

      • cyto

        Funny because true

      • EvilSheldon

        ‘Thought’ process?

    • Sean

      They’re probably Amazon Prime members too.

    • Sensei

      The Tesla loyalists on the forums I read are really split. Love him or hate him, but still love his cars.

      • slumbrew

        Still don’t want a pure electric as my only vehicle, but I’d take a Tesla as a second car, for sure.

        I’ll confess I’m slightly interested by a plug-in hybrid, in theory – that matches our driving pattern of semi-regular short trips and occasional long drives; I won’t want to have to rely on finding a charger in Maine.

        But I pessimistically suspect it’d be the worst of both worlds – the battery making it heavy and the battery-lifetime issues still being a problem (we’re a drive-it-into-the-ground couple).

      • Sensei

        Toyota has the hybrid system nailed. The tech guy in me just hates the complexity. But Toyota has lots of miles on them with high reliability at this point.

        I’d buy one of their plug in hybrids in a heartbeat, but right now they command a crazy premium.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        My (non-plugin) hybrid is 7 years old and is still averaging 43 MPG, same as when I bought it. I don’t look forward to when the lithium battery dies, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. My only criticism is that it’s a bit lacking in torque (and the power lags a beat), but that was a design decision on Ford’s part. Our Pacifica minivan (plug-in hybrid) has plenty of giddyup, even if you keep it from clicking over to the gas engine.

      • whiz

        My 13-year-old Camry hybrid (non plug-in) still gets 38 MPG. We got a Toyota hybrid at the time because they had been in the hybrid game a lot longer then, and we’ve had no problems at all.

    • UnCivilServant

      I don’t believe you.

      I’m the only person who bought a CMax.

    • Ted S.

      It’s amazing how the proggies loved Tesla until Elon Musk started speaking his mind and sauing things the proggies didn’t like.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    Democracy will be deader than a dorrnail when the Supreme Court gts done with it

    That argument is often referred to as the independent state legislature doctrine, a legal theory that says only state legislators have the authority to set rules for federal elections. Some conservatives have advanced that position in recent years, pointing to a provision in the U.S. Constitution that says the manner of federal elections “shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.”

    State courts currently have the power to step in if they determine that state legislatures’ election rules violate the state constitution or other laws, making them a powerful check and balance on partisan legislatures. Allies of former President Donald Trump made such claims in disputes over the 2020 election, and while state and federal courts largely shot them down, at least four Supreme Court justices have signaled an interest.

    While the Supreme Court could take a wide range of actions in the North Carolina case, experts and voting rights advocates say a full-throated endorsement of the independent state legislature theory by a court that has a 6-3 conservative majority could roll back limits on partisan gerrymandering, unwind voter-implemented changes like ranked-choice voting and gut voter protections against discrimination found in state constitutions and more.

    Such a ruling would put state election codes and congressional redistricting plans entirely in the hands of partisan state legislatures, many of which have been repeatedly criticized by state courts and others for aggressively gerrymandering and enacting restrictive voting laws.

    DEMOCRACY! is a slippery thing. We cannot allow those duly elected state legislators to run roughshod over the good intentions of our favorite pet experts.

    • cyto

      Yeah… Much better to let unelected bureaucrats make deals with party leaders to violate state election laws. That way democracy is protected… Fortified, even.

    • DEG

      Some conservatives have advanced that position in recent years, pointing to a provision in the U.S. Constitution that says the manner of federal elections “shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.”

      Those folks conveniently ignore one part of the elections clause:

      Article I, Section 4, Clause 1: The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

    • juris imprudent

      Quote from this link:

      At this point, I no longer care who runs or wins the presidency. What I want back is truth in art, in science, and in journalism. We can survive having a corrupt government, plenty of countries do. But when we lose touch with the truth, there is no coming back from that.

    • Rebel Scum

      Partisan gerrymandering is only bad when Rs do it. Partisan state legislatures are only bad when Rs control them. These things are known.

  16. mindyourbusiness

    Thanks for reminding me about Cyril Kornbluth. I’d forgotten how many of his stories I’d read – and enjoyed thoroughly – back in my dissolute youth. Gotta re-read those (and Fred Pohl’s works).

    • Old Man With Candy

      Their collaboration was perfection. That said, I probably have more books by Pohl than just about anyone else, a tribute to both his quality and longevity. Kornbluth would have tied had he stayed alive to continue his output.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    Can someone explain this in a less inflammatory way? The left-wing agitprop is so heavy in that Post piece, I can’t figure out exactly what has their panties in a bunch.

    “Ice cream, Mommy! Ice cream NOW!”

    • juris imprudent

      So this is exactly why I say the Democrats can’t again get away with what they did in ’20. They really can’t make lies into truth.

      • The Last American Hero

        How optimistic. 2020 is the new normal.

  18. DEG

    “I just signed a new law to keep New Yorkers safe — even in the face of a monumental setback from the Supreme Court,” she said in a tweet that thanked lawmakers for their “quick work and collaboration to pass these critical gun safety reforms.”

    Fuck off slaver.

    Old Guy Music is good.

  19. Sean

    Daily Quordle 159
    6️⃣5️⃣
    7️⃣4️⃣
    quordle.com

    • Tundra

      Daily Quordle 159
      4️⃣8️⃣
      🟥6️⃣

      Express train to Chumptown.

    • JG43

      Daily Quordle 159
      5️⃣6️⃣
      8️⃣7️⃣
      quordle.com

    • TARDis

      Bad seed words, but no chumping today.
      Daily Quordle 159
      6️⃣9️⃣
      5️⃣8️⃣

      • TARDis

        Good waffle though.
        #waffle162 4/5

        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
        🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
        🟩⭐🟩⭐🟩
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

        🔥 streak: 13
        🏆 #waffleelite
        wafflegame.net

    • MikeS

      4️⃣6️⃣
      9️⃣7️⃣

    • Ozymandias

      Double chumped. Yikes. I fell for the exact trick I have heretofore avoided on the lower right. Wasted three guesses.
      Man, that game can piss you off.
      Daily Quordle 159
      🟥7️⃣
      🟥6️⃣
      quordle.com

  20. DrOtto

    In response to Thomas suggesting shitty case law be looked at again, people look at me confusedly when I suggest maybe government shouldn’t be in the marriage business at all (church/state/10 foot pole) and that who is going to partner with who or how many should be left up to individual consenting adults.

    • Negroni Please

      I had some fun conversations during the gay marriage fight. No one seemed to understand that I wasn’t opposed to gay marriage at all, but I was opposed to state regulated marriage of any kind.

    • DEG

      I was one of those folks during the great gay marriage freak-out.

      I got all sorts of hate thrown my way from the usual, and some not-so-usual, suspects.

      • cyto

        That was really confusing. There was a blind, hate filled passion against just removing the state from marriage.

        I get that the top down objective was to create edge cases that drive outrage. But what was the rank and file motivation. No state role in amrriage seems to solve all the problems. But they don’t even want to contemplate it.

      • The Last American Hero

        See my post above. The gene that makes you non-hetero makes you a progressive.

      • Rebel Scum

        Everyone I talked to about anything during that time (I was in college) literally could not nuance no matter how simply I tried to explain something, especially relating to gay marriage.

        Me: from the government’s perspective marriage should only be enforced as a contract. Perhaps it should be called a “civil union” by the state. Otherwise call it what you want privately.

        Them: you right-wing, christofascist bigot!

        Me: I’m not even religious but ok…

      • Ted S.

        There were some on the left, I think, who were open to allying with libertarians to get the state out of marriage. But when Obergfell was decided, it switched to the evangelicals being open to allying with libertarians, and the left having a shit fit.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Yup. Obergefell was a disappointment if only because it completely killed any desire to look at privatizing marriage. IIRC Oklahoma was working on a bill to completely privatize the institution.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    I love how “partisan” is used as a pejorative, based on the implication that anything we (the establishmentarian left wing media) like is just and proper, and anybody who disagrees is worse than the savages who toppled Rome.

    • rhywun

      Yeah, I don’t remember the left complaining about the partisan gerrymandering that took place in New York for decades until this year.

      • Grumbletarian

        Don’t hear much lefty complaints about the map the Maryland legislature proposed which would have made all eight districts easy wins for Team Blue.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    That’s what I said “The Ford family needs that money” with a laugh. Although the current Ford family politics probably line up better.

    Young Bill is a hard core greenie. He probably cries himself to sleep at night thinking about the ecological devastation wrought by the River Rouge plant.

  23. prolefeed

    Has anyone here discussed the 2022 SCOTUS Miranda decision? It seems like a fucked up case – a cop obtains a written apology that was then presented as a confession, without Mirandizing the guy accused of molesting a coworker. The prosecutor introduces the confession as evidence, the judge allows it to be used as evidence, eventually a jury throws it out because they were apparently told that they could do so if the guy’s Miranda rights were violated. The guy sues the cop, then SCOTUS on a 6-3 vote says the cop can’t be sued under that statute.

    It seems, upon reading the SCOTUS opinion, that the liberal dissent fails about Miranda being a constitutional right without discussing the core issue – was the accused in a custodial situation, and if not, was their confession coerced or did they freely offer it up before the cop could or should have Mirandized them?

    • cyto

      They are moving hard toward a royalty view of the entire state apparatus and all of their operatives. They already enshrined absolute immunity for themselves, they made prosecutorial immunity effectively absolute. And now they are solidifying absolute status for the police.

      • juris imprudent

        Yeah that whole “qualified” thing – it’s tricky, let’s just throw it out so immunity is unmodified.

      • cyto

        I still can’t believe we could not galvanize some outrage over the case where the cops stole a quarter million bucks during a search,. If you can pretend that stealing stuff during a search isn’t a well established no-,no for cops. I don’t know what you can do.

        But nobody cares outside our clan.

      • juris imprudent

        That’s where my fiction ran aground – I didn’t have a good workaround for that.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    So he was already in the army reserves?

    Now I am reminded of all those Russian Olympic hockey players who were “army captains”.

    • Tundra

      Well, they were. It was a dodge to get around the “amateur” requirements of international tourneys.

      I don’t think any of them deployed to Afghanistan, though.

      • The Last American Hero

        It’s hard to run around in the mountains on those skates.

  25. prolefeed

    “rails” about Miranda, not “fails”.

  26. cyto

    The Baltimore Pool article brings up a weird question.

    The city just replaced a small neighborhood bridge next to my house. It is really nice. I mean, really, really nice. It is the Cadillac of bridges.

    They raised it several feet, allowing larger boats to get through, raising property values.

    And also attracting visitors. Everyone wants to come to the new bridge. Kids. Golf carts full of kids. Tweens. Teens. Twenty something’s.

    Usually small groups of 5-15. They stay for an hour or three, jumping off the bridge, hanging out under the bridge, sitting on the bridge….

    And climbing through my yard to get out of the water. I have a public tween and teen hangout in my yard, occupied all hours of the day and night.

    Now. If I was 13, I would definitely be jumping off that bridge. And I don’t really have a problem with a one-off. But my private little bungalow now has a crowd all day, and all night.

    So far they have stolen my bicycle and taken spray paint from my carport to vandalize a telephone pole in my front yard. And it has only been a month or so.

    It is illegal to jump off of bridges in Florida.

    So now I have a conundrum. I want this attractive nuisance neutralized. I don’t want a dozen teenagers looking in my kitchen window when I go to get a glass of water at midnight. I also don’t want dozens of kids climbing over oyster covered seawalls all day… They are gonna get sliced up pretty good at some point. And mom is nowhere around. If I allow them to do it, I am worried mom will end up suing.

    So I am stuck. If I go running out yelling “get off my lawn” at the kids, I am just gonna get a target on my back. And some of the kids know my kids, so they have implicit permission to park their golf cart on my property….. Now I have to go get them to move so I can get out of the driveway.

    The whole thing is a pain in the ass.

    • Sean

      Claymores.

      • Mustang

        This is the answer. You can use the leftovers to chum the water and post warnings about shark-infested waters.

    • Negroni Please

      1) Leave a trail of meth and candy leading to a gator pond

      Or

      2) big ass fence.

      I prefer 1 but i think 2 can work…

      • cyto

        Big fence is a problem… First, it kinda defeats the purpose of buying a tropical waterfront property at exorbitant cost. Second…. We used to have a fence… It cannot connect to the bridge or to the waterline, and is therefore useless.

        When we had toddlers, the wife insisted that I spend a few grand putting pool fencing along the entire seawall to solve the “doesn’t go to the water” problem from the point of view of getting out. The teens took a knife to it within 6 months.

        We are considering a fancy iron fence for the dog… But it won’t affect this problem. And a privacy fence is impractical and counterproductive. The house is elevated a dozen feet from the seawall. So a privacy fence would have to be 20 feet tall. Unless you are on the bridge, wich is a dozen feet above the house. For that, maybe 30-40 feet would do it.

      • Negroni Please

        You’ve convinced me. Feeding the local youth to gators is the only (worthwhile) option. Please post video though

      • cyto

        I did tell the group of tweens about the bull sharks the other day…

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        How big and scary is the dog? Buy an invisible fence sign, spray paint a perimeter in the yard, and let the dog menacingly growl from outside that perimeter.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Post a sign in your yard that it’s a Clothing Optional area. Then sit naked in a lawn chair reaching around your gut to scratch your balls.

      This really is effective. Don’t ask me how I know.

      • cyto

        Heh… That was my solution when we moved in 20 years ago.

        The back of the house is all water. And glass. Doors and windows. The wife used to panic about me going to the kitchen nekkid.

        “If you are in my back yard looking in my house, you get what you get. “.

        Now the bridge allows the public to look into that kitchen from the main street.

        I think a man should be able to walk naked to the fridge to grab a drink in his own house, without resorting to extraordinary measures.

      • cyto

        (that is a hypothetical right for the time being. I have a middle school daughter… She is scandalized if she sees my boxers these days. )

      • Ted S.

        That’s her problem, not yours. 😉

    • Grumbletarian

      Machine gun turrets.

      • juris imprudent

        Isn’t there some sound effect that only teenage ears can hear that stores/malls have been using to drive them off?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Yeah, some irritating high-frequency thing whose name I forget.

      • Count Potato

        There were convenience stores that played old people muzak to discourage teenagers from hanging around.

    • hoof_in_mouth

      Shallow lizard/fish grave or stack seaweed?

    • The Last American Hero

      scatter some rusty nails around in the yard?

  27. The Late P Brooks

    “We think this is a dangerous notion and it would bring chaos to our election laws were it to be upheld,” Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, told reporters shortly after the court said it would take up the case. “It would be an extraordinary power grab by political actors were it to be upheld, and it would make it much, much harder or impossible for state courts to uphold voting rights, to combat gerrymandering, and otherwise to uphold the rights of citizens in our elections.”

    It could be “one of of the most significant, if one of the most destructive cases on American democracy,” said Waldman, whose organization advocates for more expansive voting access rules and regularly files lawsuits challenging policies it sees as discriminatory or suppressive.

    It’s always ten seconds ’til midnight, and the clock on the time bomb is flashing. WHICH WIRE DO WE CUT?!

  28. Count Potato

    “Fascist SCOTUS guts the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon emissions, fight climate change.

    The federal government will be restricted from regulating anything of significance in the absence of a clear Congressional directive to do so.”

    https://twitter.com/RashidaTlaib/status/1542567044339666946

    What do words mean?

    • Ownbestenemy

      They are pissed cause they have to do work

      • Urthona

        Well also they won’t be able to pass it and it failed already.

        They’re mad they didn’t get their way.

    • JasonAZ

      Nominee for least intelligent member of Congress – Rashida Tlaib.

    • Negroni Please

      Come on. How hard can it be? Ive played like several hours of video game flight simulators so I’m basically an expert. I’ll take the job.

  29. LJW

    I hope New York keeps poking the bear with conceal carry. Eventually the SC will deem all restrictions unconstitutional as it should be. The left will never learn. Had they just let the Mississippi abortion law be Roe V Wade would probably be standing still.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Gamey

    Yet the risk of nuclear war is obviously not zero. The US and the Soviet Union came close to nuclear war several times during the Cold War, the most famous example being the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. So, where to begin in 2022?

    It is highly unlikely that Russia would launch nuclear weapons at NATO countries unless NATO troops had first joined the fight in Ukraine. The conventional would precede the nuclear. There has been much speculation that Putin is “irrational,” by which people tend to mean that he did something that was, in hindsight, not in his self-interest.

    However, there is little evidence to suggest that Putin is suicidal, and there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that the US would respond in kind if hit with a “bolt from the blue” attack, guaranteeing Russia’s destruction. And as Putin once said, “What use to us is a world without Russia?”

    So, it makes more sense to start by asking about the odds of NATO troops getting into a shooting war with Russian forces. During the Cold War and in the decades since, Washington and Moscow have managed to avoid armed confrontation almost entirely. They fought proxy wars and armed each other’s adversaries, but direct combat has been the exception not the rule, as in 2018 when US troops battled Russian mercenaries in Syria.

    Given the low historical incidence of combat and, more importantly, President Joe Biden’s vow not to deploy American troops to Ukraine, we could reasonably argue that the odds of conventional war are low but not zero. We cannot know what the true probability is, but we can make an educated guess and say that it is “highly unlikely,” a term that NATO defines as being between 0% and 10%. The midpoint of that range – 5% – gives us a reasonable starting place.

    Don’t worry. Trust Joe Biden’s leadership.

    • cyto

      Now that the grownups are back in charge……

    • rhywun

      I don’t see any material difference between giving (not selling) Ukraine weaponry and giving them boots on the ground. Seems to me that NATO is already at war with Russia.

      • cyto

        Yeah… The only difference is kids getting shot.

        Funny how we covered Putin pointing out that weapon shipments are legitimate targets of war…. He was a monster for saying such things. But it is perfectly correct. And there is no magic border protection for that either. This could easily spread and escalate

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Somebody might want to go talk to the Lithuanians about all of that.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Isn’t there some sound effect that only teenage ears can hear that stores/malls have been using to drive them off?

    Bach.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      That was going to be my answer. Though it would have attracted teenaged me.

  32. slumbrew

    Holy smokes, does it look terrible at Silverstone (qualifying for tomorrow’s F1 race)

  33. cyto

    Fox article pushed this story on the clickbait crap at the bottom of the page

    https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/chelsea-handler-claims-3-abortions-led-school-hall-fame-shun-her?dicbo=v2-59f98f31f39b5c352c090976fbcefabc

    Chelsea Handler appears on Kimmel, ridicules her high school for refusing to induct her into hall of Fame… Supposedly because she had 3 abortions while in high school.

    Did anyone watch this episode of Kimmel???

    Three abortions?

    What in the ever-loving hell??? Three? And the crowd cheers her on?

    Even if you are firmly pro choice, shouldn’t three abortions during a 4 year high school career give at least a moments reflection?

    • Count Potato

      That’s just disgusting.

    • Gender Traitor

      To be fair, do we know for sure that she got through high school in four years?

      • whiz

        Hah, I was going to make the same comment — glad I refreshed before doing it.

    • Sensei

      I was a bit surprised as that town is majority Jewish and I didn’t think her name was one commonly Jewish.

      Handler was born in Livingston, New Jersey, the youngest of six children of Rita (née Stoecker), a homemaker, and Seymour Handler, a used-car dealer.[7][8][9] Her American father was Ashkenazi Jewish; her German-born mother, who came to the United States in 1958, was a Mormon.[7][10] Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1989[11] and battled the disease for over 15 years before dying of it in 2006.[12] Handler was raised in Reform Judaism, and had a Bat Mitzvah ceremony.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “German or Jewish?” See also the attorney Berg episode of Curb. “It’s a shande, Larry!”

      • Sensei

        I’m 25% chosen.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      If true, it just means she’s always been a moral reprobate.

    • Sean

      Serial killer.

    • JasonAZ

      Who is Chelsea Handler?

  34. Count Potato

    “Planning a cookout this year? Ketchup on the news. According to the Farm Bureau, the cost of a 4th of July BBQ is down from last year. It’s a fact you must-hear(d). Hot dog, the Biden economic plan is working. And that’s something we can all relish.

    5:17 PM · Jul 1, 2021·The White House”

    https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1410709115333234691

    This aged well.

    Also sixteen cents?

      • Mojeaux

        Dammit. You posted the link so I couldn’t say “and deeper in debt.”

      • Grosspatzer

        😂😂😂

    • Sensei

      Wonder what the YoY price change of a hamburger is 2021 v 2022, as of July 4th.

      • cyto

        Not the 8% they keep trying to pretend

      • MikeS

        17%

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      This, to me, is why culture matters. There are people who, for various reasons, are in a rough spot or are otherwise mentally unwell, either temporarily or permanently. When your culture promotes irreversible mutilation as a solution to these issues, you get results like this.

      “Culture should allow adults to do whatever they want without stigma” is fine for people who have their shit together and aren’t hampered by unwellness. It causes permanent damage to those who get sucked in by the vapid fads and fashions of the day, especially when those fads and fashions are in direct opposition to reality.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Site ate my original comment but suffice it to say that I will not shed a tear for any of the clinicians if a patient comes back years later and murders them all.

      • slumbrew

        I’m sort of amazed that any of those surgeries are compatible with the Hippocratic Oath.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        They’re not except in exceedingly rare cases where the patient has both sets of genitalia or is truly malformed.

        Otherwise, it’s just surgical mutilation and chemical castration of the mentally ill.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    It’s for your own good

    New York state passed a law on Friday banning guns from many public places, including Times Square, and requiring gun-license applicants to prove their shooting proficiency and submit their social media accounts for review by government officials.

    The law, passed in an emergency legislative session, was forced by a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week that struck down New York’s restrictive gun-license laws.

    Serious journalisming, for serious people.

    • cyto

      Remember when Democrat analysts told us that the 2020 election was going to look like a Trump landslide until the recounts? Remember how Democrat pundits told us of the expert legal teams they had in key states working to ensure that they would win any recounts, ensuring that Biden would win?

      I member.

    • slumbrew

      That’s too much stupid for me to read this early.

      “But the popular vote isn’t enough”

      Yes, by definition. So why mention it?

      I punched out at that point.

    • rhywun

      I made it as far as this before my stomach started hurting from laughing.

      4/ It’s November, 2024, and the presidential race between Biden and DeSantis has been tabulated by the states and called by the networks. Biden won 84,355,740 votes to DeSantis’ 77,366,412, clearly carrying the popular vote.

      🤣😂

      • Rebel Scum

        I’ll take irrelevant statistic for $1000.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Hartmann has always been and will always remain an idiot.

  36. The Late P Brooks

    New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who ordered the extraordinary session in the legislature, said the state’s gun-licensing regulations had resulted in New York having the fifth-lowest rate of gun deaths of the 50 U.S. states.

    “Our state will continue to keep New Yorkers safe from harm, even despite this setback from the Supreme Court,” she told a news conference in the state capital, Albany, while lawmakers were debating the bill. “They may think they can change our lives with the stroke of a pen, but we have pens, too.”

    DEMOCRACY!

  37. Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

    Is Zoom still up and running? If so, I’ll re-paste the link here

    • slumbrew

      I believe Neph was aiming for having it open all the long weekend

    • Nephilium

      It was up when I checked this morning, and I still have been getting notifications from people joining it today.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    Hey, look over there!

    The primary reason cars have gotten so pricey can be traced back to the computer chip shortage that started during the pandemic.

    When car sales dropped dramatically during the early parts of the lockdown, auto manufacturers slashed orders for the chips.

    Around the same time, as schools and work went online, people bought additional laptops, iPads, TVs, video games and other electronic goods for their home. So chip manufacturers shifted their production to serve those companies.

    This was soon followed by other big shifts in the economy. People started moving out of crowded cities into suburban locations, and suddenly demand for cars skyrocketed.

    Auto manufacturers were caught flatfooted and unable to make enough cars because they didn’t have enough microchips, which play a big role in today’s cars, controlling everything from windows to the navigation screen to even passenger seat sensors.

    With a limited supply of chips, automakers cut back and made fewer cars. They decided to put their chips into making bigger, more expensive vehicles — SUVs loaded with features — to get more bang for their buck.

    Price gougers. Nothing to do with government regulations or the lingering aftereffects of cash for clunkers.

  39. Grosspatzer

    Black people in America ain’t taking it no more, is that right? That’s right!

    We believe in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a limb for a limb, and a life for a goddamn life!

    These are different times… Guns up, shoot back! I said, goddamnit, black power!

    The seventies really are back, aren’t they?

    • slumbrew

      Sadly, without the good parts, like ‘ludes and the pre-AIDS, “coke is good for you” part.

  40. trshmnstr the terrible

    I just finished up teaching the kiddo to ride a two wheeler. It took about 10 minutes. Three passes with me holding the seat to varying degrees, and she was good to go. She has been riding a balance bike for a couple months, and I think that massive accelerated the process.

    • slumbrew

      Excellent!

      I was late learning to ride a bike – I’m sure a balance bike would have made a huge difference.

    • Grosspatzer

      Nice! My uncle taught me when I was 5. After walking me around for a few minutes he just gave the bike a push and off I went. Cycling is great fun for a kid.

    • EvilSheldon

      No training wheels?

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        She did training wheels for a while, but didn’t really like riding the bike all that much. Our neighborhood isn’t great for riding in the street (we live on a through road and we have a bunch of assholes who whip through doing 45 in a 30), and the sidewalks are a mess. However, she got the basics of pedaling and stopping learned on training wheels. She has been almost exclusive on the balance bike since March.

  41. slumbrew

    My man-crush on Keanu Reeves continues – no hiding in the garage for him, just standing out in the rain trackside, watching qualy.

  42. Mojeaux

    XY just spent his first night alone in his own apartment in a strange city. *achievement unlocked*

    Today he has acquired a bicycle. *achievement unlocked*

    Mr. Mojeaux and I will be headed to DeSmet (to be total gawky Laura Ingalls Wilder tourists) presently. Wheeeeee!

    • UnCivilServant

      Good luck and have fun.

      I’m sure he’ll manage. There will be some adjustments, but that’s inevitable.

    • Gender Traitor

      headed to DeSmet (to be total gawky Laura Ingalls Wilder tourists)

      SQUEEEEEEEE! I don’t suppose any of their actual homes are still standing – or even identifiable as theirs? Maybe some of the other town buildings from the period? I loved visiting the Alcott home in Concord, MA, years ago – and LMA’s grave on Authors’ Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

      • Mojeaux

        Dunno yet. XY asked me if there was a museum there. Oh honey, the whole TOWN is a museum.

    • Sean

      One thumbs up for each achievement.

    • Draw Me Like One of Your Tulpae, Jack

      Independence is a helluva drug!

  43. The Late P Brooks

    The result is that prices have climbed to astronomical levels. The average cost of a new car is hovering at the highest level on record, topping $47,000 a pop.

    Drury says get used to these prices: “We’re not going to see a sudden drop-off in price anytime soon, because there doesn’t seem to be any resolution for the chip crisis.”

    You can always ride the bus. Stop whining.

      • Gender Traitor

        Knew it before I clicked it! 😁

    • Drake

      Our cars our fine right now thankfully. I can’t even imagine buying a new car right now. I may never buy one again.

      • slumbrew

        I bit the bullet and dropped $1k into our 2009 Honda.

        (was going to be $500, but things escalated…)

        Mostly due to timing (don’t have any in order to find a replacement car) but I’m not at all sure it was a bad decision overall.

      • Mojeaux

        We just dropped $2k into my 2006 Sonata. Not like anybody has any choice but to keep what we have running.

      • cyto

        I totally blew that.

        We had a 130k mile 10 year old Nissan quest. Sunroof leaked, leather shot, and the injectors went. Labor alone over a grand. Plus needed suspension work of another grand. Overall a 5 plus grand problem. So I dumped it.

        We have not bought since. Shoulda spent the cash to fix.

        But I am not paying 10 grand above sticker.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It wasn’t a bad decision.

        I own a lot of vehicles because of my business. The older ones are my favorites because they’re serviceable.

      • slumbrew

        Mechanic mentioned he bought a 2016 Honda off someone who neglected to ever put oil in it and is already getting offers for it – he hasn’t even finished dropping a new engine in it.

      • Gender Traitor

        The 60K-mile service on my Subie was just under $1K. Not really sorry, as I want to drive it forever and ever. On the other hand, the Cross Trek they gave me as a loaner was nice and felt like “home,” but a little bigger.

      • juris imprudent

        We bought a Cross Trek while they were still offering it with manual transmission. I expect to be driving it at least another 10 years.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Electric scooters in every garage and a drag queen in every school!

      • slumbrew

        So sophisticated!

      • EvilSheldon

        Pssht, like you’ll have a garage…

      • Gender Traitor

        They’ll live in it, sharing the kitchen and bathroom in the house with the other families who were moved in “for the duration.”

  44. prolefeed

    My wife just lost her shit in the car over Texas reaffirming a law from a century ago banning abortions. Got her calmed down somewhat, and then diplomatically pointed out Welcome To My World Since March 2020.