239 Comments

  1. UnCivilServant

    Morning, Banjos.

    There’s no one else in the office to wave to. I’m the only one here. Just empty cubes as far as they eye can see.

    • Pat

      That would be a ripe opportunity for a prankster, but I suspect you’ll probably straighten everyone’s desks and file their paperwork.

      • UnCivilServant

        That sounds like work.

        I’ll just ignore their desks.

      • UnCivilServant

        Also, pranks are evil. Pranksters deserve to be hurt for their cruelty.

    • Rat on a train

      no pants day

      • UnCivilServant

        No such thing.

        Put those trousers back on.

      • Rat on a train

        The sign only says I must wear a shirt and shoes.

      • UnCivilServant

        Just because you hung the sign around your neck doesn’t mean it applies to wherever you happen to be.

      • Nephilium

        “Back” on?

    • Fatty Bolger

      In my gluttonous stupor I grabbed my co-worker and waved to my coffee, and now I’m in trouble.

  2. Pat

    CDC rains on Fauci farewell, as COVID becomes pandemic of the vaccinated

    Sadly, the J. Edgar Hoover of NIAID will be replaced by another career bureaucrat as bad or worse.

    • UnCivilServant

      So what you’re saying is we need to dissolve both of those agencies?

      • Pat

        In an acid bath. Along with the people who run them.

      • l0b0t

        My fear is whatever replaces the alphabet soup agencies will end up being much worse. Didn’t this already happen when the Federal Narcotics Commission was dissolved and replaced by the DEA?

      • UnCivilServant

        Replace? No, leave it vacant. Shoot anyone who suggests putting in a replacement.

      • DEG

        This is the way.

      • SDF-7

        Then the bureaucracy in charge of shooting people would get out of hand.

        Yes, yes I’m quite cynical today.

      • Jarflax

        That is a policy that could be applied very generally.

  3. Pat

    House GOP plans to turn tables from Trump tax return fight, track Hunter Biden’s money to father

    With the heffalumps back in charge, I’m sure we will be returning to the “congress has no police powers and thus can’t jail anyone for contempt of congress” school of legal reasoning from the Holder days.

  4. Ted S.

    Murkowski Manages to Win in Deep Red Alaska again, after insane change in voting system

    Ranked choice voting isn’t insane at all. I don’t understand why so many people think “this electoral format produced a winner I don’t like; therefore it’s evil”. Yet RCV seems to do that to a lot of people.

    • UnCivilServant

      Because it always seems to elect the person nobody really wants

      • Not Adahn

        Considering most people’s primary choice will be “this guy will hurt those people I don’t like, I’m kind of happy with that.

      • UnCivilServant

        Even if it ends up with the guy who will hurt people you do like, particularly yourself?

      • Not Adahn

        If every candidate intends to rule by abuse, you’re screwed no matter what. C.f. NY.

    • Banjos

      When your election system is so convoluted, that it’s pointless to even poll your election, that should be your clue. Plus it takes a ridiculous long time to determine the winner, adding instability and creating a complete lack of trust in the election.

      • rhywun

        it’s pointless to even poll your election

        It’s already pointless, as we saw this year.

      • Ted S.

        It seems to work fine in Australia, and even Ireland, which has a much more convoluted version of it (multi-member districts and pro-rata distribution of “excess” votes when a candidate crosses the quota).

        If it takes forever to count here in the States, it’s because the authorities want it to take forever to count. Look at places like California that only have two candidates on the ballot, and still take two weeks to count the votes.

      • Brochettaward

        Vox has told me that it is perfectly normal for it to take 3 weeks to count the votes.

      • Banjos

        We have a two party system here. This benefits no one but democrats and establishment hacks like Murkowski.

      • Not Adahn

        FPTP is simply asinine. A runoff system makes it more palatable. RCV + “none of the above” would be best.

      • Ted S.

        If it’s a runoff, it has to be *after* the general election, not the sort of jungle primary that California has.

      • Zwak, who taser's the chimp with the razor.

        It also takes away from the idea of “one person – one vote”, and gives a political position to a person without majority support in far too many cases.

      • The Last American Hero

        Not even majority, but tiny minority of the population in some cases.

    • Pat

      I don’t have a super strong opinion on it, but I can’t help but notice that in the places where it’s been implemented it seems to benefit one political party to the near exclusion of the other, and not only doesn’t benefit third parties, which was the primary advertised benefit, but actually narrows the field of candidates even more than the incumbent system.

    • juris imprudent

      With a multiparty system, RCV allows the electorate to express preferences. With a two-party system it is stupid beyond words. The hope of RCV is “it allows a thousand parties to bloom”, and that is about as likely to succeed as it’s allusion did.

      • Raven Nation

        OK, this is a fair point (having grown up with something akin to RCV I’ve been an advocate). But you’re right that it’s hard to break people out of the duopoly view. The question then becomes, how to destroy the two-party system (or is that even a reasonable goal?)? Wait for one party to implode a la the 1850s?

      • juris imprudent

        You always are going to end up with two parties, or two coalitions, in any representative system. One will be in power and the other in opposition. The only difference is if the coalitions are internal or external.

        The problem is majority rule governance, and it will be ever thus as long as majorities rule. The only thing that keeps the whole thing from being truly intolerable is that no majority is permanent (much to the chagrin of those most desperate for power).

      • Raven Nation

        “You always are going to end up with two parties, or two coalitions, in any representative system. One will be in power and the other in opposition. The only difference is if the coalitions are internal or external.”

        In Australia (and I think the UK) there are times where you end up with “cross-benchers,” i.e., people from smaller parties who are not in permanent coalition with either main party. Although they often vote with one of the parties, this is not always the case. Where the majority is slim – or you have a minority government – those cross-benchers CAN (but not necessarily will), leverage their votes into forcing policy onto the governing party.

      • juris imprudent

        Sure, parliamentary systems with external coalitions are also notorious for instability for that very reason. As much as I bitch about Congress, most of it is because party is put before the institution. Do the job you were elected to do as defined by the Constitution and put the fucking party second. You get more contentious factions involved, that isn’t going to get better.

      • Zwak, who taser's the chimp with the razor.

        This. You can loosely name the two Progressives and Anti-progressives, while understanding that the two “parties” will change place in that duo-spere at the drop of a hat, or, to use a better phrase, when their ox is getting gored.

      • Homple

        We have 1 1/2 parties now. Soon we will have only one.

    • Not Adahn

      I’m going to have to google the difference between RCV and IRV, aren’t I?

    • Not Adahn

      New voting system I just made up:

      Every voter gets one vote and one anti-vote. Cosmos and Yokels can vote for the L while casting their antivote for different candidates.

      • juris imprudent

        I want a binding None of the Above. If that is the majority (or even plurality) the election must be re-run with new candidates.

      • Not Adahn

        Yup.

  5. Trigger Hippie

    ‘Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told Just the News that fighting the Biden administration for access to some 150 Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) filed by banks concerning Hunter Biden’s financial transactions would allow investigators to determine to what extent, if any, Joe Biden benefited from his son’s foreign influence peddling.’

    150 SARs. I get the feeling little ol’ me’s credit union would would never let my account reach 150 SARs before dropping me. Hell, I’m sure some sort of criminal investigation would have been well underway after the first dozen and I would have been arrested, tried, and convicted of something, anything, that was related to finance after the second dozen.

    Must be nice being the Fresh Prince of Tighty Whities.

    • Sean

      “the Fresh Prince of Tighty Whities.”

      lulz

      • DEG

        I laughed too.

    • DrOtto

      Nah, they would just confiscate the money and threaten to charge you with a crime if you attempted to fight them on the confiscation. That’s how they do.

  6. Pat

    Thank you all for the warm reception to my Thanksgiving day post yesterday by the way – I had to log off early and didn’t get a chance to say it at the time.

    In response to chafed, re: Dr. Carl Hart’s book Drug Use For Grown-Ups, he actually dedicates a fair portion of the book to examining the issue you raised, that being the poor quality of the studies done on scheduled drugs. He has, however, conducted any number of his own grant-funded studies to which he makes reference, and bases quite a bit of the book on his personal experiences as a researcher and eventual user of drugs. The book served as his “coming out” as a regular heroin user. It’s intended as a popular rather than scientific text, so the information therein is presented at that level, but still worth a read.

    • Brochettaward

      I have called MikeS the Anti-Firster for his false pretenses of being First, but your post yesterday was well and truly a work of Anti-Firstism if I have ever seen it.

      I am surrounded by seconding villainy.

      • Pat

        I forgot to express my thanks to you for bearing the incredibly heavy burden of firsting.

      • Zwak, who taser's the chimp with the razor.

        Glad to see you back, Brochacho.

        If only for a second.

      • MikeS

        /evil laugh

  7. PieInTheSky

    So are you all out of thanks to give?

    • PieInTheSky

      SCIENCE DENIAL

    • Pat

      On first reading I thought that said Joan Rivers, and I was thinking, well, even daddy Musk would have a hard time pulling that off…

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Just prop her up, she’s well preserved.

      • Zwak, who taser's the chimp with the razor.

        The corpse of Joan Rivers would be vastly superior to Zombiden.

  8. DEG

    Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told Just the News that fighting the Biden administration for access to some 150 Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) filed by banks concerning Hunter Biden’s financial transactions would allow investigators to determine to what extent, if any, Joe Biden benefited from his son’s foreign influence peddling.

    Remember when Democrats were bitching about Trump and the emoluments clause? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

    After the Nov. 8 midterm elections, Palin was the first to sign a petition to repeal ranked-choice voting launched by the group Alaskans for Honest Government.

    Good for Palin.

    • juris imprudent

      Technically, she was the beneficiary of RCV, as the Alaska Republican Party had endorsed Begich (and he likely would’ve won a closed primary). Figures she is too stupid to get that.

      • Banjos

        Or, she’s principled and understands that the system gets Democrats elected in red areas.

      • juris imprudent

        That’s a possibility. It’s also a possibility that the U.S. will defeat England today. I think I like the odds on the latter.

      • Banjos

        You can rail against a system and still participate under those terms. You sound like one of those dipshits who screams “rOAdZ!” at libertarians as if that somehow is an argument.

      • juris imprudent

        Please, she is about as principled as she is intelligent. She is a party politician after all. She could’ve bowed out and supported the other Republican in the race if she really cared about keeping the seat in Republican hands; that probably would’ve worked. She didn’t because like most political creatures she is a fucking ball of ego.

        Most political discourse in this country is conducted at exactly the “rOAdZ!” level, whether aimed at libertarians or anyone else.

      • Banjos

        If anything, then, you should be passionate about ending such a shit system if it’s designed to get shitty establishment Rs and Dems elected.

      • juris imprudent

        We get shitty politicians because that’s what the majority of Americans – at least the ones that vote passionately (i.e. voters in the primaries) – want.

        I want to get rid of the primaries. I won’t belong to a party and the damn things are run on tax payer money for the benefit of the parties. Fuck that. Go back to smoke-filled-rooms and caucuses and party bosses – contrary to the progressive assholes, it wasn’t any worse back then. Put up your candidate in the general election and win or lose by that.

      • Jarflax

        We get shitty politicians for two reasons:

        1. because the nature of the job attracts people who want to exercise power, obtain wealth corruptly, and enjoy prestige without achievement.

        and

        2. the process of campaigning for office necessarily rewards those who are talented and shameless liars, and disadvantages those who stick to their principles.

  9. Semi-Spartan Dad

    Spent 6 hours battling a dishwasher installation on Wednesday before calling it a day. Everything was hooked up, but I forgot to replace a washer in the water line and there’s a pinhole leak. At least I can I can reach the water line from the front to fix.

    Striploin roast was a huge hit yesterday. Made a horseradish sauce and reheated leftover au jus from the last brisket. Only spent a couple hours of cooking to serve 15 people. I’ve cooked my last turkey.

    Not a lot of wants for myself so Black Friday is meh. I had planned on picking up another VR-80 semi shotgun (down now to half what I paid for mine last year), but looks like it will be a night scope instead. The ATN 5-20x X-Sight (hat tip Sean) is on sale today and will probably be the pick. The built in electronics sound really interesting, but I’m a bit concerned about how that affects longevity. Hopefully it will last longer than the 2.5 years of the aforementioned dishwasher.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Shit, now I’m getting dishwasher won’t drain code. So close to being done. No disposal plug to knock out and the pipe is hooked up correctly. Manufacturer is going to send out a service tech.

      • The Last American Hero

        Sometimes the float can get stuck, especially if you are moving it around a lot.

  10. Rat on a train

    Come back. We promise not to nationalize again.

    Chevron Corp could soon win U.S. approval to expand operations in Venezuela and resume trading its oil once the Venezuelan government and its opposition resume political talks, four people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

    The United States this year began considering Chevron’s request to expand operations with more urgency as Washington sought oil to replace supplies hit by sanctions on Russia as well as OPEC’s decision to cut output.

    If only there were options for increasing oil supply that didn’t require working with foreign governments.

    • PieInTheSky

      If only there were options for increasing oil supply that didn’t require working with foreign governments. – it is called invasion

    • DEG

      Crazy talk. How would the usual suspects get their grift and graft on? And they’d miss out on foreign prostitutes too!

  11. SDF-7

    ‘Orning ‘ordles — non-precision, but non-chumping. I’ll take it.

    Daily Duotrigordle #268
    Guesses: 36/37
    Time: 05:49.20
    https://duotrigordle.com/

    Daily Quordle 305
    5️⃣4️⃣
    8️⃣7️⃣
    quordle.com

    • Pat

      Daily Quordle 305
      4️⃣3️⃣
      7️⃣5️⃣

      LL… WTF? I got it accidentally by just plugging missing letters.

    • rhywun

      TR can piss right off.

      Daily Quordle 305
      6️⃣8️⃣
      5️⃣4️⃣

    • Tundra

      Daily Quordle 305
      4️⃣6️⃣
      8️⃣5️⃣

      Fuck you, LL.

    • kinnath

      Daily Quordle 305
      5️⃣3️⃣
      9️⃣7️⃣

      Lower Left continues to plague me.

    • Grummun

      6 4
      7 5

    • Grosspatzer

      Daily Quordle 305
      4️⃣3️⃣
      7️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com

  12. DEG

    I slept in a bit today. Now it is time to head off the to gym.

  13. PieInTheSky

    Former German Chancellor Merkel said that the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine was not a surprise

    “It was not a surprise. The Minsk agreements were destroyed. After the meeting between Biden and Putin, I wanted to create a separate European format for talks with Putin.”

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1596009534849286144

    sounds like bullshit honestly

    • PieInTheSky

      then again if any western intelligence has any worth, something like the invasion of Ukraine could not have been kept a secret by Russia should have been known in advance

    • Jarflax

      Bullshit? I hate to side with Merkel, but everyone on Earth knew it was going to happen for months before it happened. Putin wasn’t exactly quiet about it .

      • dbleagle

        One of the very things the biden Administration has done that I approve of was their public release of some high-quality intelligence products prior to the invasion in a (vain) attempt to deter Putin.

  14. Lackadaisical

    PieInTheSky on November 25, 2022 at 6:39 am
    camping? why do that to yourself”

    It’s fun.

    Regarding ‘inflicting character’ my son is the one most excited about going.

    • PieInTheSky

      It’s fun. – no it is not. You don;t have a proper bed a proper bathroom etc humanity struggled for thousands of years to get rig of camping.

      • juris imprudent

        Camping makes you appreciate those comforts all the more.

    • Ted S.

      Hawt.

    • rhywun

      Yeah, not clicking on that.

      • Not Adahn

        I am not aware that pouring pork n’ beans on rice was even a thing. WTF England?

        In the US we have many rice and bean dishes, using different bean types, but that thing is not among them.

      • UnCivilServant

        No, I’m afraid this is merely part of a memetic misuse of beans that has been slowly simmering through social media rather than a crime of English cuisine.

      • Not Adahn

        Really? ‘Cause those people pour pork n’ beans on toast so…

      • Count Potato

        Baked beans on toast isn’t bad. English baked beans aren’t as sweet.

  15. Count Potato

    Today in African-American news,

    “Elon Musk says Twitter will relaunch its verification next week: Companies will get GOLD check mark, governments get gray and people (celebrities or not) will have a blue tick if verified”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11468517/Musk-says-Twitter-launch-blue-check-subscription-week.html

    “‘This is necessary to restore public trust’: Elon Musk says he will reveal all secret documents about Twitter’s decision to ban Hunter Biden laptop story”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11467387/Musk-says-disclosure-Twitters-decision-censor-Hunter-Biden-laptop-story.html

      • Timeloose

        Commies and Bolsheviks

      • Jarflax

        Authors that cannot spell.

    • The Last American Hero

      So the group run by the Gray’s get a Gray checkmark?

      Well played, Mr. Musk.

    • rhywun

      And if a woman (or “woman”) doesn’t win it every year it’s sexism.

      • juris imprudent

        One winner, bottomless victim stack!

    • Not Adahn

      Srsly, Just announce “no wypipo will be eligible for an Oscar, Tony, or Grammy until 2050.”

      Done. Racism solved.

      • juris imprudent

        Nope, because people will then stop caring about the awards and not celebrating the celebrities the way they must.

      • Not Adahn

        Shhhhhh! Don’t tell them!

      • Nephilium

        Will then stop? Aren’t all of the awards ceremonies already dropping in ratings?

      • rhywun

        Yeah, it’s already happening.

        This got me thinking of the Hugos and/or Nebulas that also went woke and seem less relevant than ever.

      • The Last American Hero

        Wait a minute, this sounds a lot like that “Affirmative Action until 2000, racism solved” argument from 1970.

    • R C Dean

      Won’t happen. Fewer awards for narcissistic assholes is a nonstarter.

      • Count Potato

        True, but the awards are inconsistent. Acting is divided in to actor and actress categories, but director, screenplay, score, etc. aren’t.

      • Not Adahn

        It’s the same reason why comedies and dramas are in separate categories. One style becomes considered “superior” to the other and ices out other styles. If there was only one acting category the award would always go to a woman in a drama, and the performance would always be a violent, shrieking hysteria.

      • Mojeaux

        Look at what happened when Marissa Tomei won “best actress” for My Cousin Vinnie. Everybody started screaming that it must have been rigged. Everybody knows comedy isn’t ACTING.

      • Trigger Hippie

        Or when Kevin Kline won the best supporting actor role in A Fish Called Wanda.

      • Count Potato

        Because of the mob?

      • Count Potato

        “It’s the same reason why comedies and dramas are in separate categories.”

        Are they? I don’t follow award shows much.

      • Jarflax

        Just give all of them a trophy! It is not like the arguments against participation awards are relevant in this context. The recipients are already spoiled narcissistic idiots with unending senses of entitlement.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’m sensing methodological errors or outright malfeasance.

      • slumbrew

        Fu likes to watch. No kink shaming.

      • Spartacus

        Do you want another Rapesquatch? Because this is how you get another Rapesquatch.

    • Pat

      Doesn’t seem that unreasonable to me, tbh. At least not the way the study was conducted in relation to lottery wins – i.e., a very sudden increase in wealth up to or beyond a certain level. Suddenly finding yourself with too much excess money presents new obligations, tax burdens, security concerns, etc. Those are all manageable, of course, but we tend to fear the unknown, and being thrust into that environment very suddenly could be quite stressful and jarring for some people. And then, of course, this study was done in the UK, so you’ve got the whole wealth-guilt socialist thing going too. It’s always baffled me that in a godless, materialist age, the only taboos Western society managed to retain from Christianity were money and gambling. People who think that gay-married parents should be free to get their adopted 5 year old Zimbabwean child’s dick cut off at taxpayer expense scandalized by the CEO of Coca Cola being paid more than the guy who cleanse the shitters.

  16. Gender Traitor

    Since my personal moral code says I can now play Christmas music, I tried to fire up my favorites on my phone. Unfortunately, two of the three albums are in .wma format instead of mp3. Can anyone recommend a good, trustworthy converter app?

    • Mojeaux

      I use Total Audio Converter to rip. I don’t know how well/how/if it converts one sound file into another, although it says “total” and “converter” in the name, so I assume it must.

    • Nephilium

      Audacity is FOSS, and can convert items between pretty much any format.

      • UnCivilServant

        I thought they did something evil in the more recent builds. There was some sort of controversy which made me decide to keep the version I had at the time and avoid newer.

      • Pat

        A commercial organization purchased the project and introduced telemetry, which would have been sent over plain HTTP and processed through Yandex. They backed off it after a massive backlash, but then reintroduced it in a different form a few months later. You can just keep using the older version though. Or just use ffmpeg, Audacity uses it as a backend for a lot of formats anyway.

      • Count Potato

        “A commercial organization purchased the project and introduced telemetry”

        WTF?

    • Pat

      Just re-download them. Converting from lossy to lossy always entails a loss of quality with each transcode. WMA should be supported on Android anyway. What phone and audio player are you using?

      • Gender Traitor

        I’m just using the “built-in” audio player on my LG phone. A lot of my music files are ripped from CDs, but most are mp3s, so I don’t know how these particular albums ended up as .wma files. Probably operator headspin.

      • UnCivilServant

        Might it be worth it to re-rip from the original CD then? Avoid any quality issues from multiple conversions?

      • Gender Traitor

        Yeah, I’ll probably just end up doing that, so I just have to wait until I get home… assuming I can find the CDs. I’m just looking for any excuse to put off writing up the Board meeting minutes.

      • Pat

        Looks like WMA isn’t supported in stock Android, so my mistake there. The VLC player for Android will install the codec and play it though. I’m sure there are others as well. You can convert, but as I mentioned, transcoding always entails a loss of quality, so re-ripping from source or just re-downloading the content is the better way to go.

      • Mojeaux

        I bought that the last time you linked it. I heart it.

      • Gender Traitor

        ::checks composer/lyricist:: As I suspected. Thanks, but hard pass.

      • Ted S.

        Try this, if you dare.

  17. Mojeaux

    Today is “Box Thanksgiving.” This is where I throw together an approximation of Thanksgiving dinner from boxed sources: stuffing, spuds. Jarred gravy, canned cranberry sauce (the slippery jelly kind), and a small turkey breast are also on the menu. I will also make a couple of pies (pumpkin and pecan) from pre-made freezer shells. A “C” effort all the way around. I may also make my first batch of Christmas cookies.

    Yesterday, I made a thing. Let the Christmas carols begin in earnest!

    • Pat

      I make an apple-cranberry compote type of dessert that I freeze and eat with poultry or pork periodically, but for Thanksgiving, it has always been and always will be Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce straight from the can.

      • UnCivilServant

        It has to arrive on the plate with the imprint of the can’s shape on the side!

      • Zwak, who taser's the chimp with the razor.

        You, MoJeaux and UCS are correct in this.

  18. Count Potato

    “Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, brought political powerhouse Karen Giorno and controversial commentator Nick Fuentes to dinner with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week.

    Ye and the former president have both announced their intentions to run for the White House in 2024.

    The dinner between Ye and Trump had been previously arranged, but the additional guests were brought on by author and political commentator Milo Yiannopolous — who has been named by the fashion and entertainment mogul as his campaign director.”

    https://timcast.com/news/exclusive-details-ye-brings-nick-fuentes-and-karen-giorno-to-dinner-with-trump/

    https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1595965974293118979

    Am I taking crazy pills?

    • Spartacus

      Someone definitely is.

    • Mojeaux

      Absent deSantis or Rand Paul, I’d totes vote for Ye for the lulz.

    • juris imprudent

      Technically, that’s a kind of diverse crowd, though crazy is what seems to bring them together.

      • Pat

        Ironically, they may out-minority the Dems with that lineup.

    • rhywun

      Milo Yiannopolous — who has been named by the fashion and entertainment mogul as his campaign director

      I can’t even.

    • DrOtto

      I like to crush and rail my crazy pills.

    • PieInTheSky

      at this hour?

      • Mojeaux

        We tend to do that on long weekends.

      • UnCivilServant

        What long weekend?

        /’working’

  19. Tres Cool

    Compelling.

    Jeremy Parish, probably
    @gamespite
    Out of nowhere, my nephew just asked, “Do you think Pavlov thought about feeding his dog every time he heard a bell ring?” and now I’m going to be haunted by this question

    • Penguin

      That’s a good question.

    • Fatty Bolger

      LOL, I love that.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    Bring on the alien invasion

    Residents of China’s capital were emptying supermarket shelves and overwhelming delivery apps Friday as the city government ordered accelerated construction of COVID-19 quarantine centers and field hospitals.
    Uncertainty and scattered, unconfirmed reports of a lockdown on at least some Beijing districts have fueled the demand for food and other supplies, something not seen in the city for months.

    Daily cases of COVID-19 across the country are hitting records, with 32,695 reported Friday. Of those, 1,860 were in Beijing, the majority of them asymptomatic.

    So efficient. So deadly.

    • rhywun

      Xi is loving this theater.

      The growing number of camps is a nice touch. I’m sure they will come in handy.

    • Tres Cool

      Which is why Jugsy isnt allowed to touch my cast iron or my chef’s blade. And a few other knives.

    • Zwak, who taser's the chimp with the razor.

      Finally, a man who knows how to deal with those nasty things.

  21. Tundra

    Good morning, Banjos!

    “Removing child exploitation is priority #1,” Musk tweeted early Thursday morning. “Please reply in comments if you see anything that Twitter needs to address.”

    His takeover prompted multiple advertisers to pause spending, while Democratic senators pushed for a Federal Trade Commission investigation into the social media site.

    Dems are evil pedos.

    But that song is wonderful!

    I hope y’all had a great day yesterday!

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Most residents of the city have already been advised not to leave their compounds, some of which are being fenced in. At entrances, workers clad head to toe in white hazmat suits stop unauthorized people and make sure residents scan their cellphone health apps to gain entry.

    I have reached the point of rooting for the wholesale slaughter of all government apparatchiks, everywhere.

    • rhywun

      +1 I was just following orders

  23. Fourscore

    I just did my Black Friday Shopping. Amazon has TurboTax Premier at $78 compared to $105 from TT.

    I haven’t had a job in over 30 years but still….the gov wants its pound of flesh every year.

    • creech

      It’s kind of surprising to see two Amish folks flying in a plane and acting like assholes.

    • Jarflax

      Some people just need to be punched.

    • DrOtto

      This, ladys and gentlemen, is why I drive whenever possible.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Apropos of nothing (specific)-

    Joe Biden seems to be intent on making himself into the embodiment of the absolute worst and most authoritarian aspects of Progressive Nannytarianism. A pantomime version of Woodrow Wilson, without the charm and warmth, railing endlessly bout the evils of capitalism.

    • juris imprudent

      He hasn’t done as much as Wilson, so pantomime is about right. Dr. Jill no doubt fancies herself equal to Edith. The question then is, who is Colonel House in this version?

      • The Last American Hero

        Mr. Obama.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Drama queen story hour

    The co-owner of the Colorado Springs gay nightclub where a shooter turned a drag queen’s birthday celebration into a massacre said he thinks the shooting that killed five people and injured 17 others is a reflection of anti-LGBTQ sentiment that has evolved from prejudice to incitement.

    Nic Grzecka’s voice was tinged with exhaustion as he spoke with The Associated Press on Wednesday night in some of his first comments since Saturday night’s attack at Club Q, a venue Grzecka helped build into an enclave that sustained the LGBTQ community in conservative-leaning Colorado Springs.

    So tedious .

    Who wants to play stereotype bingo?

    • Ted S.

      Anti-T, although the vocal section of the LGB population facilitates it.

  26. juris imprudent

    Qataris: We spent $200B and this is what we get? [from ESPN]

    A win or a draw for Netherlands against Ecuador, who beat Qatar in the tournament’s opening game, later on Friday will see the Qataris become the first side mathematically eliminated from the competition.

    On the other hand, your team will probably never play in another WC, so I guess you got that.

    • rhywun

      Hey, they got eight (?) sparkling new stadiums out of it that will never be used again so there’s that.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Grzecka said he believes the targeting of a drag queen event is connected to the art form being cast in a false light in recent months by right-wing activists and politicians who complain about the “sexualization” or “grooming” of children.

    Even though general acceptance of the LGBTQ community has grown, this new dynamic has fostered a dangerous climate, he said.

    “It’s different to walk down the street holding my boyfriend’s hand and getting spit at (as opposed to) a politician relating a drag queen to a groomer of their children,” Grzecka said. “I would rather be spit on in the street than the hate get as bad as where we are today.”

    What?

    • juris imprudent

      If he’s ready to throw the groomers under the bus, I’m not going to argue with him.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    The question then is, who is Colonel House in this version?

    Anita Dunn?

  29. Timeloose

    Note to self:

    1/8 of a apple pie and 2 cups of coffee is not a good breakfast.

    • Pat

      Of course not, the coffee should have been swapped for bourbon.

    • UnCivilServant

      That depends, what is the diameter of the pie?

      • Ted S.

        Twice the radius.

    • Count Potato

      Sounds good to me.

    • PieInTheSky

      How much is that in metric?

      • PieInTheSky

        314 grams then

    • Gender Traitor

      Just think of it as an overstuffed Pop Tart.

      Oh. How hungover are you?

  30. The Late P Brooks

    In the aftermath of the shooting, Grzecka and other community leaders hope to fill the gaping hole left by the desecration of Club Q.

    When I turned over the card (once I had stopped laughing), it said,

    GO DIRECTLY TO HELL.
    DO NOT PASS GO”.
    DO NOT COLLECT TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    1/8 of a apple pie and 2 cups of coffee is not a good breakfast.

    Poppycock!

    • The Other Kevin

      Agreed. Sounds about perfect. But only at the holidays.

    • PieInTheSky

      I heard of cocaine dick but not of opium cock

  32. KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

    Last night’s excesses did nothing to ease my troubled tummy.

    • PieInTheSky

      Best thing is a double vodka

      • PieInTheSky

        And a couple of cigaretts

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Shadow campaign

    As Republicans prepare to use their new House majority to probe the Biden administration and the business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter, Democrats are assembling a constellation of groups to respond.

    President Joe Biden hasn’t said if he’s running for re-election, but the groups are designed to defend him and discredit the opposition — including launching intense opposition research efforts into Republicans leading the charge in Congress — ahead of a likely rematch with former President Donald Trump in 2024.

    Three new “war rooms” have sprung up in the past two weeks to combat the House Republicans’ investigations, each backed by multimillion-dollar dark money budgets and some of the best-known operatives in the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee and major outside groups are already retooling to shift from 2022 to 2024.

    “It’s clear the White House has been preparing for the anticipated barrage of meritless investigations from House Republicans, and outside groups are an essential component,” said Adrienne Elrod, who helped run Correct the Record, which defended Hillary Clinton from congressional probes before her 2016 presidential campaign was up and running.

    Get those wagons in a circle! We have to be ready to dodge those flaming arrows meritless allegations.

  34. Count Potato

    “The National Education Association, the country’s largest teacher’s union, has repeatedly placed its political activism ahead of parents or appropriate discourse. Now a new report shows their advocacy is only getting worse.

    Journalist Christopher Rufo explained the disturbing news that the union’s “LGBTQ+ Caucus” has created a badge for teachers to wear with a QR code linking to a website discussing extremely graphic content, including a “how-to guide for ‘queer sex.’”

    The website highlights the extremely popular sentiment among Democrats that men can get pregnant, and references “non-binary identities” while promoting activist organizations like The Trevor Project, Scarleteen, Gender Spectrum and Sex, Etc.

    Other links direct to the Teen Health Source, which according to Rufo includes a directive on “Queering Sexual Education” by “empowering youth” through extremely graphic how-to guides on sexual practices that go far beyond traditional sex ed.

    This is just the latest example of the NEA operating as a political institution first, and educational union second….”

    https://www.outkick.com/national-teacher-union-safe-space-badges-graphic-content/

    The Trevor Project? The NEA is actively promoting pedophilia.

    • Count Potato

      “As previously reported, the NEA has been distributing “safe space” badges to teachers across the country. The badge has a QR code which leads students to sites containing sexually explicit and pornographic content.

      Here an elementary school teacher promotes it:”

      https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1596171308559405057

    • Count Potato

      “Los Angeles #Antifa member & violent extremist Chad Loder is freaking out after @elonmusk
      liked & responded to a tweet saying Twitter was removing pedophilic accounts.

      Loder has been accused of predatory behavior.”

      https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1595869010100310017

    • Count Potato

      “TrevorSpace: A Pedophile’s Paradise

      We recently took some time to dig around the forum TrevorSpace, which they themselves describe as “an affirming, online community for LGBTQ young people between the ages of 13-24 years old.” With over 400,000 members across the globe, they go on to say that “you can explore your identity, get advice, find support, and make friends in a moderated community intentionally designed for you.”

      Although sources say that TrevorSpace was investigated by law enforcement for facilitating inappropriate conversations among children and adults, the problem is still going on.

      What we found will shock you.

      TrevorSpace markets itself as a safe space for LGBTQ+ young people to talk about their experiences with identity and peer/familial rejection, which sounds like a great idea. But browsing the website for merely a few minutes makes it abundantly clear what it actually is: an online dating service for children and people aged 13-24. No website or chat room of this nature should cater to minors, especially one that encourages them to talk to adults. Adults in their 20s regularly talk to teenagers about sexuality and gender transition on Trevorspace. Profiles specify whether the user is over or under 18, but there is no procedure to verify whether the user is answering truthfully. Not only is the website specifically for children and adults, but someone of any age can say that they are a minor and have inappropriate conversations with kids…

      https://www.gaysagainstgroomers.com/post/trevorspace-a-pedophile-s-paradise

      https://twitter.com/againstgrmrs/status/1595892286210150400

      • Count Potato

        The comments on that site are bizarre. Also doxxing.

      • rhywun

        They learn about various sexual identities as part of their school curriculum and even given surveys which directly ask them what their sexual identity is, pressuring them to pick an option.

        This is just sick.

        None of this should be any of part of the school day.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Speaking of breakfaqst pie… I had leftover peach pie this morning.

    Unfortunately, “peach pie” in this case is not a euphemism.

  36. The Late P Brooks

    “It’s important that the opposition not get the upper hand in defining a false narrative, and outside groups can help mitigate that from happening,” Elrod noted.

    Anything which does not conform to our approved official history of the world is a false narrative.

    That’s how you gaslight, boys and girls.

    • Tres Cool

      FWIW the photo I saw showed him as part of a crowd, not actively keeping anyone out of anything.

  37. The Late P Brooks

    Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is poised to use his likely chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee to aggressively investigate alleged politicization of the Justice Department, said last month at CPAC that the GOP majority would work to “frame up the 2024 race.”

    “These are sham investigations. You can take Jordan’s word at it,” said Kyle Herrig, the founder and executive director of one of the new war rooms, the Congressional Integrity Project, which is relaunching to counter the investigations. “They don’t have an agenda that will help Americans. They have only one agenda and it’s a political agenda.”

    The Congressional Integrity Project, which already has focus groups underway, promises to be as much about offense as defense. It plans to investigate the lawmakers investigating Biden, many of whom hail from the safe congressional districts and have never faced a tough election and the kind of opposition research and media scrutiny it brings.

    “We’re going to leave no stone unturned. No one has done the investigative research we’ve done on these investigators. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” Herrig said. “We have a multimillion-dollar budget, and we’re staffing up with a team of researchers and communicators.”

    Burn it all down. Total scorched-earth political warfare. Take no prisoners.

    Show the American people exactly how much their betters really care about “helping them”.

    • rhywun

      I hope they’re not counting on all that laundered FTX money again.

    • Raven Nation

      “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”

      What are bizarre statement. Is Herrig suggesting that he and his fellow investigators do not live in glass houses? May their backgrounds be investigated in a “no stone left unturned” fashion? And then should those who investigate Herrig in turn be investigated by others. To some extent, I’d support that: agreeing with TLPB: get all their shit out in the open. I don’t care who they’re screwing or what drugs they do. But let’s get all the cozy relationships and kickbacks and everything else out there.

  38. KSuellington

    Screw rank choice voting. What we really need is a “none of the above” choice for all state and national elected offices. If “none” gets the most votes then all candidates have been thusly rejected for the do-over election that would be held 3-6 months later. They could run in the future just not in that one. Keep repeating until you get someone who gets more votes than “none”. This would making voting a hell of a lot more enjoyable and help ditch some utterly terrible people.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    If “none” gets the most votes then all candidates have been thusly rejected for the do-over election that would be held 3-6 months later. They could run in the future just not in that one. Keep repeating until you get someone who gets more votes than “none”. This would making voting a hell of a lot more enjoyable and help ditch some utterly terrible people.

    Probably too late, but…

    I think anybody who loses to “none of the above” should be prohibited from ever running for office again.

  40. PieInTheSky

    well the week is done just poured myself a glass of red…

    what is everyone doin/drinkin?

    • Ted S.

      I had leftover steak for lunch, with a glass of Garnacha.

  41. The Late P Brooks

    Insult weapons

    “The idea (that) we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick, it’s just sick. It has no social redeeming value, zero, none. Not a single, solitary rationale for it,” Biden told reporters during a brief gaggle outside the Nantucket Fire Department in Massachusetts, where he greeted first responders.

    Asked whether he would try to take action on guns, the president said, “I’m going to try. I’m going to try to get rid of assault weapons.” When pressed on whether he would try to do so during the lame duck session, he said, “I’m going to do it whenever – I’ve got to make that assessment as soon as I get in and start counting the votes.”

    As a good-faith gesture, you should instruct the members of the Presidential protection detail to carry nothing but hammerless five shot Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolvers with a two inch barrel.

    That should be more than sufficient firepower. After all, you love everyone, and everyone loves you. Right?

    RIGHT?

    • Michael Malaise

      It’s easier to get rid of one man than millions of guns.

  42. Michael Malaise

    Got my son part of his Christmas present — he is moving out next summer.

    Toolbox
    Wrenches
    Screwdrivers
    Tape Measure
    Hammer
    2 sets of adjustable pliers
    Utility knives.