429 Comments

  1. AlexinCT

    Democrats Have One More Month In The Congressional Majority. Here’s What They Have To Pass

    Joe has a pen!

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Somehow I think the main thrust of their bills will be oriented towards fucking me over.

      • AlexinCT

        You would win that if you placed a bet…

        These people really hate the productive and those that won’t bend the knee..

      • Lackadaisical

        Yeah, it really sucks.

    • Rat on a train

      continuing resolutions

  2. Count Potato

    “EPA to Spend $13 Billion on ‘Environmental Justice’ and Climate”

    FYCS

    • rhywun

      Won’t someone please think of the grifters?

      • Count Potato

        It’s called “Environmental Justice” so you know it’s legit.

  3. Scruffy Nerfherder

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has $13 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to fight “climate crisis” and advance “environmental justice” and is asking the public for ideas on how to spend it, according to Fox News.

    I shouldn’t be surprised that an administrative agency was given a metric shitload of money that they didn’t already have an allocation or defined need for, but here we are.

    • UnCivilServant

      “You have leftover money? You’ve clearly completed your mission and your agency will be dissolved.”

      “You spent all your money? Clearly you’re ineffective and your agency will be dissolved”

      /keeps dreaming.

      • AlexinCT

        No government bureaucracy will EVER solve whatever problem they were put together to tackle, because to do so means they would be out of a job. In fact, the system encourages them to not just find more of the problem, but to go make some up to give credence to their demands for more tax payer money to piss away.

  4. AlexinCT

    EPA to Spend $13 Billion on ‘Environmental Justice’ and Climate

    The green movement is an evil racket. It exists to allow the crooks in government to steal money from the productive sector, especially in the US, and then through some nefarious moves and a lot of smoke and mirrors, put practically all of that money in the pockets of people connected to the movement. Especially politicians and their donors.

    • juris imprudent

      When it grows up it wants to be the Military Industrial Complex.

      • AlexinCT

        Since it requires between 6 and 7.5 billion of the 8 billion inhabitants of the planet to be turned into fertilizer to save Gaia, it already has larger aspirations that the military industrial complex.

      • Rat on a train

        The MIC wants to make money off killing people. The EIC wants to kill people while making money.

      • Michael Malaise

        Oh shit, I sense a merger coming on.

      • Not Adahn

        The MICE?

      • Rat on a train

        It will be like the Shia and Sunni.

    • Lackadaisical

      I agree. I’m tangentially involved in some of this stuff and it’s all evil. Massive misallocation of resources because they need to meet the correct skincolor and such criteria. Is day multiply that figure by 50% to figure out how much is also rated on grant writers, administrators and so forth, both within EPA and at local governments.

  5. UnCivilServant

    Americans Now Need A Six-Figure Salary To Afford A Median-Priced Home

    Define “Afford”.

    As housing prices remain elevated and the monthly mortgage payment on the typical home surges more than 45% since the same time last year to reach $2,682,

    So, half a month’s take home pay is ‘affordable’? That’s nonsense.

    • AlexinCT

      Not to the people that believe unless you can make that sort of cash, you should own nothing, eat bugs, and be happy with it all….

      Authoritarian systems have two classes: those in power, and the serfs.

      • UnCivilServant

        I don’t remember which of the Daily____ rags this one is, and I don’t care enough to figure out out just to comment on the author’s political views.

        I wouldn’t commit myself to half of my monthly take home pay as a mandatory outlay for housing if I could avoid it. While I’ve spent that much at times, it was only when I had discretionary funds.

        If you’re making median or higher, affordable is 1/4 monthly or less.

      • AlexinCT

        You would be surprised how many people not only have outlays for mortgages, but also rent, that account for far more than half their monthly income… Too many of the people that find themselves in this position tend to be entitled and feel they deserve the higher standard of living for some reason. That they are putting themselves in a position to fail, and fail miserably, never crosses their minds.

      • UnCivilServant

        I am fully aware that people have been known to live beyond their means.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        If you eat Ramen every day and forego all luxuries maybe but it wouldn’t be enjoyable. Who wants to be house poor?

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        One of the reasons the Spousal Unit and I moved back to Alberta from B.C.’s Lower Mainland was because we were house-rich but cash-poor in B.C. (first time in our lives that happened to us).

        Moving back to Alberta allowed us to afford twice the house for half the money. (A better-designed and laid-out house, too). The excess cash went into the retirement fund which, even if there wasn’t any excess from the sale of the house in B.C., still goes much further here. We targeted financial independence based on sane costs of living, not bonkers costs.

        Most people can’t even afford their monthly rent in the Lower Mainland. And yet, people still want to live there.

    • Sean

      So, half a month’s take home pay is ‘affordable’? That’s nonsense.

      Damn right.

      • AlexinCT

        And yet, so many people do this both when it comes to their mortgage or their rent…..

    • MikeS

      I’d like to see a comparison of of what the median-priced home looks like today compared to what it did 20, 40, 60 years ago. My bet is the sq footage is way up, along with the quality of materials used in the bathrooms and kitchens. Also, bigger garages.

  6. AlexinCT

    Elon Musk says he’s about to publish files of Twitter’s free speech suppression

    Freedom of speech is an enemy of totalitarians. That’s why these fucking idiots can tell you, straight up, that they MUST censor speech they don’t like to protect democracy, freedom, people, or whatever. What they really are protecting is themselves from you finding out how they are programming you to believe and support evil agendas that all benefit the corruptocracies behind this global reset one world government shit. It is evil.

  7. Count Potato

    “”Arizona — and that is Maricopa County — is the laughingstock of the country and the world,” said Mohave County Supervisor Hildy Angius during the certification. “And they don’t even seem to care, which is even more frightening. I will vote to certify this canvass under duress for the chaos Maricopa County has forced into our election process.””

    Wrong. They care. They care that a Democrat wins.

    • Count Potato

      “”At my poll center, where we literally had, at 7 p.m. on Election Day, 675 people waiting in line,” Peterson said. “Of those 675 people, do you know how many people came in? A hundred and fifty. It means that you have personally disenfranchised voters. They have came, they have seen, and they have given up because they know what is going on.””

      Yeah, but they were white, so who cares?

    • juris imprudent

      The local election official is a Republican – you still insist he wants Democrat wins? Over the alternative of typical govt incompetence?

      • Count Potato

        Bill Gates who started an anti-MAGA PAC? Yes, I insist that he wanted Kari Lake to lose.

      • AlexinCT

        ^^^THIS^^^

        Just look at who McConnel allowed the GOP money to go to and this phenom should be blatantly obvious: down with MAGA was key to the scumbags that pretend to not be part of the cabal of crooks team blue runs.

      • R C Dean

        He founded an anti-MAGA PAC, and the Repub governor candidate and other statewide races had Trump-supported nominees. So, yes, he wanted the Dems to win. I have seen it personally – nominal Repubs who prefer a Dem to the wrong sort of Repub. In my case it was Tea Party Repubs in TX, but the insiders were crystal clear that they wanted them to lose to Dems.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s called the loyal opposition for a reason.

      • juris imprudent

        How did things go for the OTHER Republican candidates? Everyone so fucking obsesses over Trump and his minions.

      • AlexinCT

        Much better than what the usual suspects want to pretend all things considered…

      • R C Dean

        You mean, the ones supported by the McCainite Repub establishment in AZ, running for minor offices, who didn’t have their campaigns kneecapped?

      • juris imprudent

        What happened to Goldwater’s AZ?

      • WTF

        The same thing that happened to Reagan’s California?

      • juris imprudent

        I didn’t know there was a conservative/middle-class diaspora from AZ.

      • WTF

        More an influx of leftists and government dependents.

      • R C Dean

        Being a border state with an uncontrolled border and a major urban area with junk mail voting and ballot harvesting has consequences?

      • Grummun

        “Bob Mueller is a Republican! He’s not engaged in a partisan witch hunt.”

      • juris imprudent

        Even better, William Barr.

        So machine/establishment Republicans have nothing to fear. Sounds a lot like how the Democrats have treated Bernie.

      • Jarflax

        Which is kind of the point. You have asked how people here can simultaneously rail against the duopoly and be mad about which part of it wins. This is how. There are establishment Republicans, who are part of the duopoly, and they hate MAGA as much as the Democrats. Yes, the Democrats have their non-establishment people as well, but since they are the outright socialists, they are not a solution to the duopoly that we would accept. The one tiny path out of this mess is if MAGA gets control of the Republican wing of the duopoly, and we end up with an actual two party system. As I see it there are four possibilities. In order of likelihood:

        1. The duopoly wins, and continues the status quo until their corruption loots the system enough to break it.
        2. The Socialists gain control of Team Donkey while Team R stays as it is, and things vacillate between team unleash hell and team hold your horses we can still loot this corpse a while longer.
        3. Both outsider groups take over their respective parties, which quite possibly leads to civil war.
        4. MAGA gains control of Team Elephant and Team Donkey stays as it is, and things vacillate between improvement and looting, allowing the only glimpse of hope I see.

      • Count Potato

        The Tea Party was the old MAGA. Remember McCain calling them “wacko birds”? A bunch of them got elected to Congress. Then nothing else happened.

      • juris imprudent

        Great reply, thanks.

        Yes, the duopoly plays the fringes on both sides, co-opting them when necessary and casting them off when convenient. Say hello to the libertarian moment, there’s a seat over there next to Sen. Sanders.

        If that’s our understanding, then MAGA was just going to go the route of the Tea Party – even more easily so since Trump would be able to convince his loyal followers of what a Great Deal he made (even if we all knew it was shit). The comments here about how the Democrats were so stupid in not playing him when they could come to mind. So given that, why does anyone ever get mad about how the meaningless election turns out? Are we being sports fans at that point – the game doesn’t matter but who wins does?

  8. Scruffy Nerfherder

    Non-binary Biden nuclear official charged with stealing woman’s luggage at airport

    How was this NOT the music link for today?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzUnqr1t7yI

    • AlexinCT

      He did this in Minneapolis right? I think that city is trying to give Cali a run for having more nutbags per capita. What the fuck goes through someone employed in the public sector’s head that would not only have them steal luggage at an airport, but then come back a few days later with that same easy to identify luggage as their own to travel in the age of video surveillance? If anything it is a clear sign of someone lacking intelligence/wisdom (and I hear this idiot attended MIT) and some seriously weird mental disorder.

      hey your holiness, did this guy spend the time in Minnessoda at your place? Inquiring minds want to know…

      • slumbrew

        He thought he was one of the anointed and could do as he pleased.

        He wasn’t entirely wrong, just misjudged his juice.

        We’d never hear about this if it was someone like Paul Pelosi.

      • AlexinCT

        You pointing out that he failed to realize that while his masters could get away with this sort of shit all day because of a legal system that had two different standards, he misjudged which group he belonged to?

      • juris imprudent

        I particularly liked the bit about how we went on leave a while back, very, very quietly.

      • waffles

        he worked hard, needed a break

      • Not Adahn

        THEY, bigot!

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        “It.”

        Perfectly cromulent English word to describe these boneheads.

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

        I don’t know about that. When PP (heh, I said pee-pee, heh heh) got his DUI it was at least in some of the “news” and if he had the juice he thought he did, it would have been a situation of “lets call you a cab, sir”

      • R C Dean

        If it hadn’t been an injury DUI, that’s what would have happened. As it is, he walked (no jail time), and the cops gave him several hours to detox and he still popped positive. That’s still a shitload of juice, considering he hurt somebody.

      • Pope Jimbo

        He/She’s have to double tithe, so this person did not stop over and spend time with Us.

        You gotta admit that MSP is a swinging place. With senators toe tapping in the head and trans luggage thieves we got something for everyone (except the normies).

        I think I read that the value of the suitcase was $2,400 or something outrageous like that. I can see how someone shallow enough to know/care about luggage that costs as much as most cars I have owned would be tempted to steal that.

        The most damning thing is the thief didn’t check any luggage himself. So you can’t even say that he was down there waiting for his own luggage and saw a target of opportunity. Nope he made a special trip to the baggage claim to steal something.

        Wonder if they cops would have nabbed the thief if they had known who he was?

      • juris imprudent

        we got something for everyone

        You even got the Vikes winning!

      • Pope Jimbo

        Well that definitely is pissing off the Satanists. They are worried that they will have an unexpected expense at having to buy cold weather gear for their trip to Hell.

        On another note, Delta just announced a special waiver for people with emotional support swine. They can bring the pigs on their flights into MSP for free.

    • SDF-7

      I just assumed Banjos and Sloopy use the music links to exchange love notes like the besotted teenagers at heart that they are.

      It is just adorable.

    • AlexinCT

      Take off your pants, inflate it with air, and use it as a flotation device.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        That’s just what I call Tuesday.

      • The Last American Hero

        You’re in the tropics. Better chance than not you are wearing shorts.

      • pistoffnick

        Take off your pants, inflate it with air, and use it as a flotation device.

        *mating rituals in Connecticut are weird!

    • Pine_Tree

      My Dad required us to learn drownproofing as kids. I require the same of mine (it was a mandatory course when he was at Tech, but not when I was). Riptides are the most common risk we talk about where we are, but a man-overboard situation could happen too.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has $13 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to fight “climate crisis” and advance “environmental justice” and is asking the public for ideas on how to spend it, according to Fox News.

    The funds give people “the unprecedented opportunity to make lasting progress to equitably protect people and the planet from air pollution and climate change,” said Joseph Goffman, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

    king the public’s input, he added, “We are eager to engage with all who have a stake in the success of these efforts, and our next steps will be guided by the wisdom and experience from the conversations we have and the feedback we receive over the next several months.”

    Round up the usual suspects.

    • dbleagle

      Plenty of equity at the side of the ditch.

  10. Stinky Wizzleteats

    The Dutch seizing farms is just nuts. Aren’t they the only nation in Europe, excluding Russia, that has true food security? Them going through with this during a time of worldwide shortages for all kinds of goods and commodities really shows there really is a hidden agenda at play and it ain’t nitrogen runoff.

    • AlexinCT

      The Dutch government is insane. They are about to go from a country that is the second largest food exporter to one that makes the cost of living for their citizens more brutal. But then again, most of them will soon be eating bugs, living in pods, and loving that they own nothing….

      • WTF

        The Dutch government is insane.

        I assume the majority of people voted for it, and now they are going to get it good and hard.

      • UnCivilServant

        I assume that their system is set up so that it doesn’t matter what people voted for.

      • AlexinCT

        ^^^THIS^^^

        And Brussels makes demands, and the Dutch people keep being told, how sorry their government is that the people don’t agree with that shit, but they must do it because… Well, Gaia!

      • invisible finger

        Nobody can even figure out what the exact advantage of being in the EU is anymore, but the bureaucrats will never ever let go of their grifts no matter how bad things get for their constituents. This is the history of the world.

      • AlexinCT

        The advantage of the EU is that whole bunch of programmed people with ever receding standards of living get to preen about how much better their system(s) is/are because they are told they get free shit, or some such idiocy…

      • juris imprudent

        In 2005 and 2016, the Dutch voted no on EU-supporting referendums. You think this is a democracy or something? The EU is going to be the new Roman Empire – the plebs had best know their place.

      • Chafed

        As I recall, things didn’t end well for the empire.

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

        I would be as doubtful of that. I think this is EU bullshit that is getting handed down.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        The Dutch government is insane.

        Not insane at all. The word you are looking for is evil.

        The Dutch government is fully aware of what they are doing and the ensuing consequences.

      • juris imprudent

        Fully believing that those consequences will not reach the caste in power.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Maybe, maybe not. Eventually yes, entropy takes down everything, but the Soviet Union and CCP spanned decades and outlasted the founders. The CCP is still going.

        That doesn’t mean the inner party members won’t kill each other or be taken out by others ambitious to rise to the top of such a society. But inner party members are not feeling the economic consequences that lead to millions of their countrymen starving to death. A North Korean general can be killed at moment’s notice, but he’s eating pretty good until then.

      • Seguin

        Best dark comedy in ages.

    • Grumbletarian

      https://dutchreview.com/culture/innovation/second-largest-agriculture-exporter/

      Thanks to decades of innovation and hard work, the Netherlands is the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter, after the U.S.

      Cutting food supplies to the EU won’t have any negative consequences. Europe will have a surplus of long pig to sustain them through the coming winter.

      • UnCivilServant

        So that’s why they’re importing migrants.

      • Rebel Scum

        Likewise for energy, a la Nordstream.

    • juris imprudent

      If natural scarcity isn’t enough, then by god we’ll create artificial scarcity!

      • Lackadaisical

        The one thing I always thought was crazy and understood in 1984 was the purposeful destruction of productive capability.
        .
        Whenever you think you’re promise enough reality comes by to kick you in the nuts.

  11. Rebel Scum

    To avoid a government shutdown, Congress must pass a federal funding package by Dec. 16.

    No need to start having a budget now.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I’ve drawn my pentagrams and done the arcane incantations and my scrying tells me that a CR will be passed with no issues.

      • juris imprudent

        You don’t need owl entrails to augur that future.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Yes you do. At least if you give a hoot about the accuracy of your prognostications.

      • Seguin

        Naw, he could’ve used a magic 8ball and gotten everything he needed to know in one fowl swoop.

      • Michael Malaise

        Cocaine Mitch to the rescue!

  12. The Late P Brooks

    About $30 million will come from the Inflation Reduction Act, and $20 million will come from the American Rescue Plan.

    How this program, hailed by the EPA as “largest investment to combat the climate crisis in U.S. history,” will reduce inflation, is not clear.

    It doesn’t reduce inflation, it just makes it more affordable for the right people.

    • AlexinCT

      If even.

      It will funnel this money to the connected as was intended while the rest of us will then get fucked over even harder by some new insane rules.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I just hope that they are smart enough to set up permanent programs for this “justice” instead of doing one time payouts.

        Sure it would be fun to hit the grifter lottery and get a huge payout. But if you set up new programs, that shit has to be budgeted in forever! More bureaucrats on the payroll, more grift every year.

  13. AlexinCT

    Arizona counties’ election certification: Lawsuits, testimonies, supervisors ‘under duress’

    Again we are shown that who votes doesn’t matter as much as who counts the votes….

  14. Count Potato

    “It comes after farmer protests erupted this summer following a government plan to reduce nitrogen emissions by 50% by 2030”

    WTF are nitrogen emissions? The air is around 78% nitrogen.

    • AlexinCT

      Into the soil/water, is my guess.

      But who knows. We are dealing with the global racket that wants to kill 90% 0f the planet’s people and make the rest live at 1800s standards, under the excuse of saving Gaia, while the elite keep the keep the higher standards to show the masses who’s really the boss.

    • UnCivilServant

      They can detect nitrogen compounds in the water runoff, and are using it as an excuse to cause famines.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Runoff from fertilizers which produce algal blooms and whatnot. An issue, sure, but it doesn’t necessitate the measures they’re taking. The land will be confiscated, sold to developers, and developed into flats and factories and whatnot. It’s essentially a giveaway to those who don’t need handouts.

      • AlexinCT

        This is precisely the end results sought after. This is about confiscating other people’s land, without proper compensation, using the pretense of having a noble cause, to allow a corrupt few to profit. Land is one of the most valuable commodities in a country where more than half the land is 3 feet above sea level or as far as 14 feet below it and there is not enough of it for the government to provide collectivist pod housing to the masses. I would love to see a map of which farms are the ones being confiscated and how close they are to where the government is targeting expanding their urban areas…

      • juris imprudent

        You sure they’re not going to re-wild the land? You know how the lowlands there were famous for the virgin wilderness.

      • UnCivilServant

        I have to assume they’ll rewild by breaking the levees.

      • Nephilium

        Yeah, fertilizer runoff is an issue here in the western part of Ohio. Lake Erie has had some algae blooms that caused them to turn off municipal water for a time. The state, EPA, and farmers groups are working together to reduce the runoff (since that is wasted fertilizer).

      • Count Potato

        That’s due to potassium phosphate not ammonium nitrate.

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

        Hush, you! No using Science(tm) in service of the anti-Gaia!!

    • SDF-7

      Fertilizer runoff is waterways, leading to algae blooms is I think how they justify it.

      As with all of these policies — there’s a fig leaf of an actual issue way down deep… spun into an overreach that would make Stalin blush.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        And there is always a complete denial of what is required to make the economy function.

      • AlexinCT

        Sri Lanka, here we come?

      • juris imprudent

        The Dutch revolution preceded the American one.

      • AlexinCT

        GO ORANGE!

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

        NOhio?

      • Count Potato

        Except that’s bullshit, every kid knows that phosphorous is the limiting factor in algae blooms.

      • juris imprudent

        ARE YOU A MARINE BIOLOGIST?

      • AlexinCT

        Is that necessary for you to understand how Nitrogen impacts womenz?

      • Rebel Scum

        Phosphorous runoff is ostensibly what detention ponds control for regarding water quality.

    • Pope Jimbo

      WTF are nitrogen emissions? The air is around 78% nitrogen.

      The nitrogen wooden be a problem if it didn’t clog up the water with algae blooms.

  15. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh’

  16. The Late P Brooks

    The government will conduct a “compulsory purchase” of large nitrogen emitters as part of a voluntary, one-time offer, announced Nitrogen Minister Christianne van der Wal, Bloomberg reported. Farmers will be offered a deal “well over” the value of the farm, according to the government plan. She asserted “there is no better offer coming” in a Friday meeting with MPs.

    Stop squawking. Not only is it voluntary, it is exceedingly generous.

    • PieInTheSky

      It is their fault for having a bad business model I suppose

    • R C Dean

      “a “compulsory purchase” of large nitrogen emitters as part of a voluntary, one-time offer”

      Well, is it compulsory or voluntary?* Pick a team, already!

      *I think we know the answer.

      • UnCivilServant

        “You can volunteer to be paid less that the land if worth, or be paid nothing when the mass siezures happen.”

      • invisible finger

        My great grandparents told me of that one time when Germany had one-time offers.

      • Not Adahn

        Accepting the payment is voluntary. Setting yourself on fire as a form of protest is voluntary. Leaving the government’s land is compulsory.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      It’d be terrible if you didn’t take our generous offer, things probably wouldn’t end well for you and that’d be a shame.

    • Michael Malaise

      Will there be blood shed?

  17. SDF-7

    ‘Orning ‘ordles — Today, as with too many days before… I suck. That is all.

    Daily Duotrigordle #272
    Guesses: X/37
    Time: 04:44.88
    https://duotrigordle.com/

    Daily Quordle 309
    4️⃣3️⃣
    8️⃣7️⃣
    quordle.com

    • Sean

      Daily Quordle 309
      8️⃣4️⃣
      9️⃣5️⃣
      quordle.com

    • Grumbletarian

      Daily Quordle 309
      4️⃣5️⃣
      7️⃣9️⃣

    • Cowboy

      Daily Quordle 309
      5️⃣4️⃣
      7️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com

      Had to pull out the 3rd seed word today, I’m feeling lazy

    • Grummun

      5 4
      6 7

    • Jarflax

      Daily Quordle 309
      6️⃣3️⃣
      8️⃣4️⃣

    • robc

      Chessle 290 (Expert) 4/6

      🟩⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛🟩🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟨🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩⬛
      🟩🟩🟩🟨🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      https://jackli.gg/chessle

      I am learning things, even about lines I don’t play! Very happy with today’s result.

      • robc

        Daily Quordle 309
        8️⃣5️⃣
        7️⃣4️⃣
        quordle.com

    • Tundra

      Daily Quordle 309
      6️⃣4️⃣
      8️⃣5️⃣

    • Grosspatzer

      Daily Quordle 309
      5️⃣4️⃣
      7️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com

    • Drake

      Yikes.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Brutal even for brutalism

    • Rat on a train

      Washington has its own collection of brutalist buildings.

      • juris imprudent

        We need Architectural Justice!

      • Rat on a train

        I support demolishing the FBI HQ.

      • juris imprudent

        Brutally. Very, very brutally.

      • Spartacus

        That looks more like the prison of Azkaban.

      • R.J.

        Yes. That looks worse than a prison.

      • Rat on a train

        It was built in 1985 when the country was a prison.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yup, crazy to see it juxtaposed against the neoclassical stuff from centuries ago. Really failing as a culture.

    • Michael Malaise

      That is awesome …

      As a dystopian/Star Wars Universe movie location.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Yeah, I kinda thought “planetary defense emplacement in a sci-fi movie.”

        It’s got that “military chic” thing going for it.

  18. Rebel Scum

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has $13 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to fight “climate crisis” and advance “environmental justice” and is asking the public for ideas on how to spend it, according to Fox News.

    Don’t spend it.

    • Spartacus

      I have a very simple yet effective plan.
      Just give me the money and I promise I will distribute it to the most deserving.

      I only ask for 10%, just like the big guy.

      • Not Adahn

        To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, you’ll need me to review your spending decisions. I’m sure we can work out an appropriate compensation for my time and effort.

      • Lackadaisical

        As a grants expert, with an emphasis on diversity, inclusion and equity, I’ll help make sure your recommendations meet all relevant agency guidelines. For a nominal service charge.

      • Spartacus

        That sounds fair. I am going to need to hire a number of consultants to create a process for distributing the funds remaining after overhead. $1.3 billion is a lot of money!

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

      Refund.

      /Ha, I slay myself.

  19. Rebel Scum

    Elon Musk says he’s about to publish files of Twitter’s free speech suppression

    Just like a fascist, free speech absolutist would do.

  20. Rebel Scum

    Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the Democratic candidate who won the Arizona gubernatorial election by less than a percentage point, filed the lawsuit because Cochise County “failed to fulfill its mandatory duty to meet and approve its canvass of the results of the 2022 General Election by the statutory deadline of November 28, 2022,” according to the filing. “[T]his duty is not discretionary,” the lawsuit adds.

    There would be no point to the vote if it were a mandatory “aye’.

    • WTF

      They really are hysterically frightened of free speech. Tells you all you need to know about them.

  21. Rebel Scum

    The Dutch government is planning to buy and close down up to 3,000 farms near environmentally sensitive areas to be in compliance with EU environmental rules.

    That’s not why. And Europe is fucked if the Dutch allow themselves to be subject to this nonsense.

  22. Lackadaisical

    What is wrong with people?

    Use fucking head phones you God damned troglodytes.

    • AlexinCT

      Yes…

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Tanking

      The Fed isn’t going to back off of rate increases until they crash the economy because that is the only way for them to get inflation under control.

      Rates may moderate a little in the near term, but that’s about it.

      • Lackadaisical

        Prices were supposed to tank 6 months back also*… Maybe they will, but I’m not holding my breath. Allegedly rental prices are going down, which will eventually have an effect on housing prices, as it gives people options.

        *At least I’m surprised that almost doing rates didn’t have any noticeable effect on prices, besides slowing price growth

      • Brawndo

        Same. With rising rates, demand for housing should go down so the cost of homes should follow. But it may be lagging a bit.

      • Drake

        Seeing houses on the market much longer now – last year they were selling in a week. Eventually the sellers start dropping the prices.

      • The Last American Hero

        Mine’s down 20% from peak, and I’m in a pretty posh, in demand area where houses now take 3 weeks to sell instead of 1. But still, the price correction is coming.

      • Jarflax

        More likely the sellers start pulling the listings. There will be downward pressure on prices because the financing is more expensive (which is the real price), but there is also upward pressure because supply is badly limited due to very low housing creation and the fact that most sellers have the option to stay where they are and continue paying their existing, and way under current market rate mortgage loan. That extra bedroom for the kids is a luxury item. Someone may well value it highly enough to sell a $200k house and buy a $350k house, but not when the $200k house had a 3.25% loan with a PI payment of $650/mo. and the $350k one is at 7.25% with a $2100 PI.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yeah, I’ve heard anything up to a year for prices to follow.

        Agreed that houses are taking longer, people are not yet listing at lower prices, at least locally. Price drops, sure, but taking$10k off a1700 sqft house listed for$500k isn’t a big deal.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Prices didn’t really tank after 2008 either. Some depression from the highs but mostly went flat from the already inflated prices. Other than some isolated markets, I don’t think there’s been a real house price crash in at least a generation and that’s set both buyers and sellers expectations.

      • robc

        Not really. Even in more stable markets, housing prices went down in 2007 (not 2008). For example, the house I bought in fall of 2007 was originally listed at $210k in 2016, went off market. Was relisted summer of 2017 at $190k, I got it for $184k.

        That was nothing compared to SF or LV or other cities that tanked dramatically, but it wasn’t exactly flat. It went flat after the small 2007 dip. I sold that house in 2014 for $194k, so that was pretty flatish for a long while. Zillow now says it is worth $303k.

      • robc

        Wow, the horrible lot across the street looks gorgeous now. The horrible tree line removed, new garage added on. Nice paint. I got the crappy neighbor, the new ones took a rundown place and made it look spectacular.

      • juris imprudent

        The Fed doesn’t control the economy, they just do a great Wizard of Oz impersonation.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        They don’t control it, but they can definitely wreck it.

    • Michael Malaise

      Of course now my parents are trying to sell their house.

    • pistoffnick

      The housing market can’t crash soon enough for me.

      /can’t afford what’s on the current market

  23. PieInTheSky

    Maybe the U.S. just isn’t in any position to judge China’s COVID response.

    Beyond deaths, there’s the issue of long COVID. Estimates of prevalence vary, but Census Bureau data suggests the condition could impact 7.5% of the U.S. population.

    That’s ~25 million people.

    If China matched that, it would mean 105 million people suffering.

    https://twitter.com/WalkerBragman/status/1597124843132321792

    ZERO COVID LOCKDOWN FOREVER!!!!

    • AlexinCT

      This guy is an idiot. This virus was engineered to wipe out the infirm and the old, and the CCP would see it as a boon to get rid of as much of that population in China as possible to help protect its social welfare healthcare system from the coming demographic imposed implosion. This lockdown shit is not about saving lives in any way or sense, but about Xi targeting those opposed to his powergrab into perpetuity.

    • Not Adahn

      SLD: I am not a biologist, nor particularly well-informed medically.

      But I am extremely doubtful that “long covid” actually exists.

      First reason: from the reports I’ve heard (and yes news reports are ALWAYS incorrect in at least some capacity) literally any and every symptom can be attributed to longcoovid. There is literally (in the sense of literally) no symptom that could be reported and Top Doctors would say “no, lonkovid doesn’t cause that symptom.”

      Second reason, there seems to be a new mystery syndrome every few decades that, exactly like lonkvid, is the cause of any and every symptom/symptom cluster. Remember Multiple Chemical Sensitivity? Lonvid seems like today’s medicalized moral panic.

      Third reason, which is just a variant of the first reason, is that the first indications of lvd were symptoms already commonly known to manifest in people who spent time under severe medical interventions i.e. “intensive care syndrome.” But that wouldn’t get enough play in the crisis media, would it?

      • UnCivilServant

        Why did you decide to change how you referenced the panic ailment each time it came up?

      • Not Adahn

        I was inspired by Jill “The Doctor” M.D., RCMP.

      • Not Adahn

        More details: It calls attention to the entity being referred to in media stories, and the changing reference tracks with the ever-shifting definitions of, and symptoms caused by, the hypothetical syndrome. From there it becomes simple to draw a contrast between the amorphous disorder and the rigid, never-changing solution to the same, which is to give technocrats greater power.

  24. Rebel Scum

    Americans Now Need A Six-Figure Salary To Afford A Median-Priced Home

    You will own nothing and be “happy.”

  25. Rebel Scum

    Go fuck yourself, Mike.

    Pence said, “President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite, and a Holocaust denier a seat at the table. And I think he should apologize for it, and he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification.”

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Or don’t condemn people and demand apologies based on who they eat dinner with. It’s that kind of cuckhold attitude that’s led the Republican Party to be the disaster that manages to conserve nothing that it is now.

    • WTF

      A guy named Fuentes is a white nationalist? I’m gonna need to see some actual evidence for that one.

      • juris imprudent

        White supremacy ain’t what it used to be.

      • Rebel Scum

        Requiring evidence is a sign of your white-nationalism.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        See my link below.

      • rhywun

        A guy named Fuentes is a white nationalist?

        Yesterday I saw a couple clips of him in action and all signs point to “Yes”.

      • juris imprudent

        Being a bigoted asshole does not make one a white supremacist. Louis Farrakan as a case in point.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        He has all of the awful talking points nailed down. What is keeping him from being an official white nationalist/supremacist?

      • juris imprudent

        He isn’t white?

      • rhywun

        Maybe he identifies as white.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Bizarre. He is very pale and yeah, is basically saying I am white and long live the whites.

        In any event, at least we agree he is a bigoted asshole and should be ignored.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      You either engage in debate and intellectual discussion or you cancel and censor.

      Pick a side Pence.

    • R C Dean

      President Trump? You mean, the last two years have been some kind of bad dream? Or is Pence one of them election deniers.

    • Pope Jimbo

      This is why Mike Pence insists on always having at least one (((of them))) at dinner every time he meets other white people. Just like he doesn’t dine with other women alone. Everyone knows that all white people are closet h8ters so you better have some minority also there.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Pence said, “President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite, and a Holocaust denier a seat at the table. And I think he should apologize for it, and he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification.”

    At this point I do not believe anything the hate speech vigilantes say about anyone.

  27. Rebel Scum

    How very reassuring.

    Dr. Fauci: “Almost certain” we didn’t fund the Wuhan virus that became Covid-19

    • WTF

      So he admits we could have funded it. Which means we likely did.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Of course we did. He’s just hedging to make it sound like it was an honest mistake.

      • AlexinCT

        No, he is saying that we shouldn’t look into actually finding any of this out for sure, so he can avoid having to admit his entire agenda was to cover up his involvement.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      He’s being evasive, certainly he knows about the fungibility of money and the fact that research funded in one area by us will free up funds to be used by them. All with a wink and a nod of course.

    • R C Dean

      He’s probably relying on the comically inept money laundering they did through an NGO.

    • B.P.

      And he was very certain that the virus came from a wet market.

    • Michael Malaise

      My agency is just getting their DIE ramped up.

    • Lackadaisical

      That’s what she said.

      Also, is love that commentary to be true, but I don’t think this evil, racist ideology has come anywhere near to spending itself. It’s more entrenched now than ever and I don’t think it will go away.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Seems like if there were ever a case of actual insanity, that would be it.

      The question is whether the insanity plea itself is legitimate or should be done away with.

    • AlexinCT

      Cannibal boi?

    • WTF

      Sheesh, it’s like they never heard of werewolves.

    • juris imprudent

      Families of the victims angrily rejected this defense, arguing Harrouff was a drug addict who was well-aware of what he was doing when he committed the crime.

      Really? You think someone in their right mind would do that? And what drugs fuel that?

      • Not Adahn

        Krokodil?

      • WTF

        Bath Salts? That was the crazy maker du jour for a while.

      • juris imprudent

        Yeah, that’s what was blamed initially – but he didn’t have any in his system.

        This is the right-wing version of the left’s insistence that evil doesn’t exist and everything is based on oppression. You know, with the proper therapy and drug regimen he can lead a normal life!

      • Not Adahn

        Ummm… crocodiles eat people, therefore krokodil must make you eat people too. Don’t you even SCIENCE! bro?

      • SDF-7

        Damn Pokemon…

  28. Rebel Scum

    Why the fuck was this cunte running for office if he was dying of cancer? ///rhetorical

    Democratic U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin passed away on Monday following a battle with colorectal cancer. He was 61 years old. …

    Earlier this month, McEachin — a Richmond native and former Virginia state lawmaker — defeated Republican Leon Benjamin in Virginia’s 4th Congressional District race to win a fourth term in Congress. He was first elected to serve the state’s 4th District, in 2016.

    He was in good spirits when 8News interviewed him on election night a few weeks ago.

    “It’s a rewarding feeling to be called this early with this type of margin, but I don’t get the credit,” he said. “It’s about the people. Not the party.”

    • Sean

      To keep the racists out of office?

      • Rebel Scum

        Leon Benjamin must be one of the increasing number of black faces of white-supremacy.

    • juris imprudent

      Better than PA, he was at least alive to be elected.

    • Lackadaisical

      On the bright side, all those wishing the Dems to die of as cancer have finally had some of their wishes granted. PROOF God is real.

    • Tonio

      McEachin was a no-shit wannabe gun grabber.

      The Dems are down one vote which will make it even harder for them to pass anything. The seat will have to be filled via a new election (not via appointment) and Gov Youngkin could well drag his feet in declaring such an election.

    • WTF

      The only way you have abs like that is with extremely low body fat. It’s likely not really healthy for children that young to have such a low body fat percentage.

    • PieInTheSky

      so you are saying they are in no danger from pedos?

      • Count Potato

        Yes, Cathy, that’s what I’m saying.

    • Sean

      Those are some weird looking kids.

      Seriously.

  29. Certified Public Asshat

    It turns out, Kayne does hate the Jews: Kanye West abruptly leaves Tim Pool podcast while discussing antisemitism charges

    “I think they’ve been extremely unfair to you,” Pool replied.

    “Who is ‘they,’ though?” Ye said. “We can’t say who ‘they’ is, can we.”

    “The press,” Pool clarified. “I don’t use the word as the way I guess you guys use- I’m talking about-”

    “It is them though, isn’t it?” Fuentes chimed in.

    “No,” Pool quickly responded.

    “What do you mean it’s not?” Ye snapped.

    As Pool attempted to respond, the rapper stood up and began walking out of the room.

    “You’re leaving?” Pool asked Ye as he stormed out. “He’s gone.”

    • juris imprudent

      Anti-semitism has a longer history in Western culture than nationalism does.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    I’m really not sure what exactly that indicates. Real estate market completely tanking? Or a big snap-back if they ever get inflation under control and rates fall?

    I suspect a lot of the people walking away from contracts are doing it because they’re unaffordable, and the motivation to move isn’t as compelling as it was. Also, they might not want to get locked into a house likely to be worth less in 2-5 years than the current asking price.

    • Drake

      That is why we are hesitating right now. And we are assuming the price will be lower in 5 months, not years.

      Companies like Amazon and Twitter firing people in mass probably not helping either.

  31. PieInTheSky

    Nobody can even figure out what the exact advantage of being in the EU is anymore, – I can go on holiday without a visa. Also for Romanian who want to immigrate, they get there zero hassle. Also when I ordered my glasses from England, the customs office fucked with me even though there was no custom to be payed.

    • juris imprudent

      See, see – what have the Romans done for us lately?

    • Not Adahn

      A 750mL of Talisker 10 year set me back $65 yesterday.

      End whisky tarriffs now!

      • PieInTheSky

        I could get one now for 32$, black friday prices. Usually it is 40 ish.

        then again the Michter’s single barrel rye is 60 which is a bit much.

      • Not Adahn

        I need to get a job where I can maintain my current salary and live in Romania apparently.

      • PieInTheSky

        get your company to open an office in Bucharest and come as country manager

    • The Last American Hero

      Muscians bitch about Brexit incessantly. It probably causes a lot more paperwork to ship their shit on and off the island. What I don’t get is why they don’t lobby Britain to negotiate a trade deal that allows some of the economic movement without going full EU.

      • UnCivilServant

        Because the EU position was “To have a trade deal, you must apply all of our laws rules and regulations that you voted to get away from.”

      • Lackadaisical

        Because EU typically rejects those your agreements now, at least that’s what they’ve said*- no economic integration without political integration.

        *Clearly there are past examples of them doing just this.

  32. Count Potato

    “Mike Tyson has said he would ‘love’ to be a ‘guinea pig’ in the new trial for a psychedelic drug called DMTX. 

    The former heavyweight boxing champion-turned cannabis entrepreneur has said he would be interested in testing out the new ‘technology which ‘delivers DMT by drip to volunteers’.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-11480835/Mike-Tyson-puts-forward-new-psychedelic-drug-trial.html

    I don’t think that makes it a new drug.

    • Michael Malaise

      But it won’t make him sick, or crash his car?

    • AlexinCT

      That’s Tress level material..

      • PieInTheSky

        I wonder if you eat her out how those thighs feel around your head

      • Lackadaisical

        It would make you up your game, wouldn’t want to be crushed for underperforming.

      • WTF

        She’d crush your head like an over-ripe melon.

      • Penguin

        Ok, LOL moment. Rare for me.

        But I’d be the weirdo to try it.

    • Grumbletarian

      Better then CGI She-Hulk.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Built like a brick shithouse with a solid steel foundation.

  33. Not Adahn

    Huh. NPR is editing their stories after they’ve been broadcast. How unsurprising.

    A few times last week, they broadcast stories about a Ukraine having a “day of remembrance” of “a famine.” In one of the stories they did specify that it was “a man-made famine,” but the words “Holodomor” and “genocide” were NEVER used. On their website the purported transcripts of these broadcasts suddenly do use these terms.

    I can’t believe NPR is pushing alt-right fake news. No less of an authoritative source told us that the Holodomor was a myth created by disgusting red-baiters. They even had their crack journalist go to the worker’s paradise of Potemkin Village to witness the truth firsthand!

    • PieInTheSky

      NPR is editing their stories after they’ve been broadcast. – well yes you want the story to stay up to date

    • AlexinCT

      Huh. NPR is editing their stories after they’ve been broadcast. How unsurprising.

      They are using the book 1984 as a “How To” manual it seems…

      “Who Controls the Past Controls the Future”….

  34. Rebel Scum

    What felony?

    BREAKING: Chair of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors Ron Gould states he’s voting to certify the 2022 general election under duress:

    “I have no choice but to vote ‘Aye’ or I will be arrested and charged with a felony “

    • Lackadaisical

      Maybe grow a pair and do what is right? Crazy.

      “I have no choice but to vote ‘Aye’ or I will be arrested and charged with a felony “

      Is that really true?

  35. Gender Traitor

    Ah, getting into the spirit of the season! Just heard the first noise about the traditional year-end public pissing contest, this time between a local TV station and a cable or satellite TV provider. It’s always either that or a feud between a local hospital group and a big health insurance company (or both.)

    • PieInTheSky

      which has better firepower? How many die in an average year?

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Just heard the first noise about the traditional year-end public pissing contest, this time between a local TV station and a cable or satellite TV provider.

      Relatedly, I just read the CEO of the AMC network is receiving 10 million dollars severance plus stock options after being terminated with less than 3 months on the job. 10 millions dollars for <3 months of poor performance work. TV series and movies could be a fraction of the cost if salaries were brought back down into the real world. I think traditional TV channels and sports are about to face an economic bloodbath as Smith's invisible hand reasserts itself.

    • WTF

      This is why only cops should have guns…oh, wait…

    • Michael Malaise

      He obviously never had de-escalation training.

  36. The Late P Brooks

    thicc?

    And how!

    • Lackadaisical

      Then why post it?

      • PieInTheSky

        because Demi is not on the sidebar

    • PieInTheSky

      that outfit would work better without the bra

      • AlexinCT

        There are no tits… Why wear the bra?

      • UnCivilServant

        Because it’s the only article of clothing that actually fits?

    • Not Adahn

      Any relation to Jamie Bamber?

  37. Lackadaisical

    I wanted to thank Pat for his excellent article yesterday.

    I have one question:

    “also useand recommend: Decentraleyes, an extension that stores commonly used scripts locally and directs requests to CDNs to those local resources to prevent tracking; CanvasBlocker, an extension that prevents common browser fingerprinting techniques by either blocking the requests or generating junk data so that no reliable fingerprint can be obtained; and ClearURLs, which automatically removes tracking elements from URLs (basically removes that huge unique identifier embedded in your links to, say, Amazon). ”

    I’m I to understand that you use all three of these extensions?

    • Pat

      Sorry for the late reply, but yes, I use those 3 extensions plus uBlock Origin for my Firefox loadout. I have an ungoogled-chromium installation with equivalent extensions, although they are known by different names that I can’t recall off-hand in that ecosystem (with the exception of uBO). I primarily use GNOME Web and Badwolf, which do not support many extensions as of yet, so on there it’s just an in-browser ad-blocker and my Pi-Hole.

      • Lackadaisical

        Thanks Pat.

        I switched to Brave without doing any real research cause everyone said it was super duper secure, and Firefox was getting slower and bloated, in addition to the existing problems with security.

        … He types on his pixel phone.

        I need to up my game.

      • Pat

        Hey now, that Pixel phone is likely a great candidate for GrapheneOS or CalyxOS, just sayin’.

        I just now double checked, and it looks like, in fact, my chromium loadout is using the Decentraleyes and Canvas Blocker extensions (although I think the Canvas Blocker extension in chromium is from a different dev team than the CanvasBlocker extension in FF). I think I may have been using a different CDN alternative in the past on chromium.

        It really is a shame there aren’t more options for browsers with a novel rendering engine these days, but quite understandable once you realize how unbelievably unwieldy and all-encompassing web rendering has become. Browsers are nearly an OS unto themselves. The chromium borg has swallowed up almost everything, and Firefox has lost so much market share that if it weren’t for Google sponsoring it to fend off antitrust actions, it would probably be a chromium/webkit duopoly. Which wouldn’t be so bad if WebKit hadn’t died out on Windows. Gecko/Firefox is, indeed, not as lean as it once was, but to be honest, I don’t notice remarkable differences in any of the big 3 rendering engines.

        Interesting historical tidbit, what we now know as WebKit was actually forked by Apple from the KHTML codebase. KHTML was the rendering engine created by the KDE team. WebKit itself was then forked by Google into the Blink engine/chromium base. So by lineage, ~95% of the browser market is using code derived and forked from a then-mostly-volunteer Linux DE project’s web browser ~20 years ago.

      • Lackadaisical

        ‘Hey now, that Pixel phone is likely a great candidate for GrapheneOS or CalyxOS, just sayin’.’

        Yeah, but right now it’s just out of the box spy ware.

        ‘be honest, I don’t notice remarkable differences in any of the big 3 rendering engines.’
        Maybe, but whatever Firefox was doing to their build specifically was really gumming up the works. Or my extensions became outdated, maybe a combination of all three.

        Are you going to cover messaging apps in your series?

      • Pat

        Maybe, but whatever Firefox was doing to their build specifically was really gumming up the works. Or my extensions became outdated, maybe a combination of all three.

        May have just been a particular point release as well – they break shit from time to time. Even if you have a favorite browser, it’s always a good idea to have at least one backup on standby for just such occasions.

        Are you going to cover messaging apps in your series?

        Part VI: Chat/Instant Messaging/Communications

      • Seguin

        Thanks Pat. I’ll be using that info in some capacity.

  38. Ozymandias

    RE: Arizona election debacle in Maricopa County. This is, in part, why we sold our house and left Maricopa County, AZ.
    I told my wife when they said Trump lost Arizona in 2020 that it was farcical and would not get better. The housing market gave us a chance to do that.
    There were a lot of other things at play, but suffice it to say that what I saw in the Valley was government invested in more government power.
    We’ll keep running to places with more liberty until there’s nowhere else left to go, I guess.

    • Rat on a train

      an ever shrinking area

    • juris imprudent

      government invested in more government power

      Let me know when you find a place that isn’t true.

  39. PieInTheSky

    Some great philosophers, illustrated—a 🧵.

    These are in no particular order, but we really must start with Sockrates.

    https://twitter.com/AdamKeiper/status/1597326370123964416

    Thread. Just when you thought puns could not get any worse.

    • juris imprudent

      Not even looking and I can tell that is some kind of yarn.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    Slavery by another name

    Biden had held out for months on seeking congressional action, instead opting to give the freight rail industry and 12 of its unions more time to negotiate a contract. But as warnings mounted that a strike could begin as soon as Dec. 9, threatening to interrupt U.S. power and water supplies and devastate the broader economy, the pro-labor, pro-rail president said Monday that he saw “no path to resolve the dispute at the bargaining table.”

    The development came two months after Labor Secretary Marty Walsh held an all-night bargaining session at his agency’s headquarters that produced a tentative deal, temporarily defusing the strike threat. But since then, members of three of the 12 unions voted to reject the agreement.

    On Monday, Biden asked that Congress act “without any modifications or delay” to impose the September settlement.

    In a statement, Biden called himself a “proud pro-labor president” and said he was reluctant to recommend Congress step in, but that the economic consequences of inaction were too great. He also included a pointed message to Democratic lawmakers who might be inclined to side with workers who oppose the agreement.

    “Some in Congress want to modify the deal to either improve it for labor or for management. However well-intentioned, any changes would risk delay and a debilitating shutdown. The agreement was reached in good faith by both sides,” he said.

    We’ll make it up to the unions somehow.

  41. Not Adahn

    So the dude that shot up the Topps pled guilty yesterday. Hochul had a press conference to take credit for preventing that event ever happening again (I am not making this up.) You see, the shooter was 19, and since Hochul banned the sale of military-style-semi-auto-assault-rifles to anyone under 21, this law would have prevented that shooting!

    • WTF

      Yes, because he never would have broken the law to obtain a gun illegally.
      This is what leftists actually believe. (Not the clowns in charge, but their followers)

    • Sean

      Can they still buy stripped AR lowers?

      • Not Adahn

        I don’t know, I’m not sure how that plays with the various definitions. I would think not, except that you used to be able to buy AR lowers with pistol grips, adjustable stocks, etc. so there must have been something going on where the lower itself wasn’t banned in the same way a fully-assembled rifle was.

    • Lackadaisical

      Didn’t dude come from Pennsylvania?

      • Not Adahn

        Umm, excuse me? Get your own pile of bodies to stand on.

      • Lackadaisical

        I’m in Florida, everyone already died from the coof and intravenous drug use.

      • PieInTheSky

        hey free realestate

  42. PieInTheSky

    Goddnot i just shut down my work laptop and realized i did not set the ouy of office message in outlook

    • PieInTheSky

      *goddamnit

    • UnCivilServant

      How long are you going to be out of office?

      • PieInTheSky

        3 work days

      • UnCivilServant

        That’s not long enough to need an out of office message.

  43. PieInTheSky

    It’s horrendous’: Helena Bonham Carter defends JK Rowling and Johnny Depp
    Speaking in an interview with the Times, Bonham Carter said she felt that Rowling had ‘been hounded’ for her opinions and the actor had been ‘completely vindicated’

    https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/28/helena-bonham-carter-defends-jk-rowling-and-johnny-depp

    How vile. Why is the police not looking into this? Give ms Carter a few weeks in jail to ponder her sins.

  44. Rebel Scum

    The law didn’t work so what we need is another law.

    “And that is, just because it’s legal does not make it the right thing. I tell people all the time, the institution of slavery was legal, but it was not right. Just because they purchased these weapons legally does not mean that’s what the law ought to be.

    “We need to change these laws. Unfortunately, I’m going to be here in my district on Wednesday speaking at the funeral service of one of those young football players from the University of Virginia who died at the hands of the weapon that was, from all indications, legally purchased.

    “That’s not the problem. Chesapeake, Virginia, that gun was purchased legally the morning of the event. We have to visit these laws and do what’s necessary to keep these guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. And that is what we need to do in this lame-duck session, and in a bipartisan way.

    “Let’s protect the American people from demented people and make sure that we put some safety and security in people’s — when they’re shopping, when they’re sitting in churches.”

    I loather Rep. Grouper-face.

    • juris imprudent

      C’mon and say it out loud – no more guns for young black men.

      • rhywun

        I agree with this message!

        /Kathy Hochul

    • Michael Malaise

      ” died at the hands of the weapon”

      The weapon had hands?

      • Jarflax

        Duh, HANDgun

  45. Hyperion

    “Non-binary Biden nuclear official charged with stealing woman’s luggage at airport”

    And Xe was fucking a puppy dog when arrested.

  46. Hyperion

    Lights the new Orange Man Bad Signal

    So, looks like Ron is now on Klaus’s radar. So that’s Disney, TOS, and Klaus now looking to take down DeSantis. New Bad Orange man on the radar.

  47. UnCivilServant

    … Let me see if I can make sense of this

    When I first got moved to this office I got a parking permit for ‘B’ lot. It was a bit of a hike from the office.

    ‘B’ Lot got closed when they did some demolition and construction work. That lot is still closed, but a lot directly behind the office is now labelled as ‘B’ Lot.

    Is my permit good for the new ‘B’ Lot?

    • Not Adahn

      Does the permit match the lot name?

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m guessing that the A Lot has waaaaaaaaaaaay more spaces than the other lots?

      • UnCivilServant

        No, it’s A Lot further away from the office.

      • Pope Jimbo

        What’s in a name? That which we call a B Lot
        By any other name would smell like wet pavement;

    • Pope Jimbo

      So there is a #1 B Lot and a #2 B Lot?

      And your question is 2B or not 2B?

    • Lackadaisical

      Use it and find out.

  48. The Late P Brooks

    Is my permit good for the new ‘B’ Lot?

    It is until they tow you away.

    • UnCivilServant

      They only tow from the handicap spaces.

      They barely even ticket, you get warning tickets… if they even bother to check the permits.

  49. Rebel Scum

    Because that’s whose fault this is.

    With little closure and few answers about law enforcement’s 77-minute wait on May 24 in the school hallway rather than confronting the gunman, Sandra Torres filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against police, the school district and the maker of the gun the shooter used.

    “My baby never made it out of the school,” she said. “There’s no accountability or transparency. There’s nothing being done.”

    The lawsuit accuses the city, the school district and several police departments of a “complete failure” to follow active shooter protocols and violations of the victims’ constitutional rights by “barricading them” inside two classrooms with the killer for more than an hour. The city said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation and the school district and police did not immediately return messages. …

    The claim is part of a new and expanding legal front in the nationwide court battle over firearms. While gunmakers are typically immune under federal law from lawsuits over crimes committed with their products, families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, secured a $73 million settlement after suing Remington, the maker of the weapon used in that shooting a decade ago.

    That was illegitimate as well.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      violations of the victims’ constitutional rights by “barricading them” inside two classrooms with the killer for more than an hour

      Accessories to murder charges against every law enforcement officer onsite. They deserve no less than the chair for locking the children in and forming an armed line against the parents trying to rescue their children.

      • Lackadaisical

        Agreed.

        If it was an only child, why, one might even think of taking justice into your own hands. Nothing of purpose left to do anyway in that case.

    • Drake

      Would still love to know how that idiot had something like $8k in cash to spend on high-end weapons, ammo, and gear.

      • R.J.

        No shit. Did he open a credit card? I can’t think of any other way to get that cash.

      • Drake

        All cash / debit card.

      • EvilSheldon

        I’d like to see a breakdown of that $8k number. It seems high for what he had.

      • Drake

        Two Daniel Defense rifles with decent optics gets you close to $6k before ammo.

      • EvilSheldon

        Maybe if you buy at full MSRP and don’t shop around. If you plop a DD upper on someone else’s stripped lower and add a typical meme-tier optic, you’ll be in for less than half that.

      • Tundra

        OK, where on earth did he get $4K?

      • Sean

        Checking the couch cushions?

    • Count Potato

      “families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, secured a $73 million settlement after suing Remington, the maker of the weapon used in that shooting a decade ago.”

      That was complete horseshit.

      If I recall, the store that sold it was also run out of business.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      A hard hitting news item there.

    • Count Potato

      Clickbait

  50. Penguin

    Bonita guitarrista Espanola Poala Hermison plays Rondo Alla Turca for you.

    This woman is great at arranging classical pieces not traditionally meant for guitar for guitar.

    • rhywun

      Neat! I love that piece.

  51. The Late P Brooks

    Well, huh. Now that it’s light enough to see, it looks like we got 4-6 inches of snow last night, and it’s still coming down.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Now that it’s light enough to see, it looks like we got 4-6 inches

      1) You have to stop getting blackout drunk at the bar
      2) You have to stop referring to yourself in the third person
      3) 4-6 inches isn’t something to brag about is it? Or is that acceptable because it was 4-6 inches of white stuff?

  52. Rebel Scum

    Go to hell, you tyrannical garden gnome.

    Biden Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci on China’s draconian lockdowns: “If the purpose is ‘let’s get all the people vaccinated, particularly the elderly,’ then okay”

    • rhywun

      Narrator: That is not the purpose.

  53. PieInTheSky

    Jay Leno is back to making audiences laugh!

    The comedian returned to the stage on Sunday night at the Comedy Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California. The 72-year-old was back for his regular Sunday evening set just six days after being released from the Grossman Burn Center due to second and third-degree burns which were caused by a gasoline fire which happened at his home garage while working on a steam car.

    He appeared to be in good spirits when Access Hollywood spoke to him as he arrived with his wife by his side, ahead of his performance.

    He joked, “National Enquirer got the story all wrong, they said I was in the hospital because Nancy Pelosi hit me in the head with the hammer, that’s not what happened.” But his kidding around didn’t stop there, “We got two shows tonight, regular and extra crispy.” Adding, “I never thought of myself as a roast comic.”

    https://www.accessonline.com/articles/jay-leno-jokes-about-accident-gets-standing-ovation-in-first-stand-up-set-after-suffering-gasoline-fire-burns-exclusive

    • Not Adahn

      Whaaaat’s the deal with flammable liquids, amirite?

    • The Other Kevin

      My regard for him has increased greatly after this.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I still prefer Conan.

      • Gustave Lytton

        I liked Conan too, but I got a new found respect for Leno after seeing him at a small audience corporate event. Very nice guy, totally professional and classy.

    • Grumbletarian

      What would need gasoline when you’re working on a steam powered car?

      • R.J.

        Steam powered cars require either gasoline, kerosene, or burning logs to generate steam. For the gas or kerosene powered cars, the fuel is pushed forward by using a pump, very similar to your garden sprayers. This pumps up and pressurizes the fuel that squirts into the ignition chamber to be burned. Or onto your face if the line is clogged and you fail to enact safe clearing practices.

      • Grumbletarian

        Ah, that makes sense. Thanks.

    • Michael Malaise

      I was there. The show was lit.

      • Seguin

        There was a lot of pressure, but he didn’t blow it.

  54. The Late P Brooks

    he lawsuit accuses the city, the school district and several police departments of a “complete failure” to follow active shooter protocols and violations of the victims’ constitutional rights by “barricading them” inside two classrooms with the killer for more than an hour. The city said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation and the school district and police did not immediately return messages. …

    This makes me wonder if a municipality might actually encourage a lawsuit against itself, specifically as a means of erecting a barrier to the release of information.

    • Not Adahn

      Why not? The EPA does it as a way of bypassing the rulemaking process.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Our Sec of State “settled” with various voting rights groups during 2020 to seriously change the absentee ballot process to make it much easier to cheat vote. Instead of going to court to defend the laws the legislature passed, he simply caved and did everything they asked.

        And since the DFL controlled the state house they didn’t sue him to defend their prerogatives to set laws.

      • UnCivilServant

        Any citizen should be allowed to challenge any settlement a government entity enters into that would change rules, regulations, and especially voting procedures, and continue to litigate in absense of the official.

      • R C Dean

        I’m toying with the idea that any citizen has standing to challenge any government action. If the government is doing something that doesn’t affect a citizen, then is it something the government has the authority to do? Isn’t the government acting essentially as a private party? Something like that.

      • EvilSheldon

        I’ve been on that train for a while now. If I have to follow the rules, then I get a say in every aspect of them.

        Careful, this way leads to unanimous consent…

    • R C Dean

      I doubt it, since when the subpoenas come they will have to release anything that could be FOIAed, and more. Plus, testimony.

      I mean, it would be really stupid, so I wouldn’t rule it out, but it would be really stupid.

    • WTF

      They’re not really trained until they can sit through a performance of Cats.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I must not be trained.

  55. The Late P Brooks

    Did Elon’s “night stand” tweet get covered here? The cans of Diet Coke, and the “OMG gunz!” And George Washington Crossing the Delaware!

    White supremacist totalitarian confirmed.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      He may as well be wearing Hugo Boss and driving a Mercedes.

    • UnCivilServant

      No, it was Caffiene-Free Diet Coke. The most pointless beverage ever invented.

  56. PieInTheSky

    Iran to win 4-2

    • juris imprudent

      We didn’t concede to England and you think Iran will hang 4 on us? Hahahahaha [crosses self, spins 3 times, spits…]

  57. The Late P Brooks

    Jay Leno is back to making audiences laugh!

    The comedian returned to the stage on Sunday night at the Comedy Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California.

    Was his head wrapped in gauze? Was he wearing a hockey mask?

    • Not Adahn

      Maybe one of those cool half-face ones from Phantom?

  58. Pope Jimbo

    I hope the contractor charged his clients triple for having to a horde of entitled Minneapolis bikers.

    Last week, social media posts on NextDoor and Twitter revealed an ongoing conflict between a construction company and bicyclists, both trying to utilize the Blaisdell two-way bike lane.

    Bicyclists want to safely access the bicycle lane and the construction company wants access to their trucks as they work on a house that doesn’t have parking immediately in front of the property. The two-way bike lane was opened up earlier this year, which runs from 28th to 40th Street on Blaisdell. It’s one of a few fully protected bicycle lanes in the city with a cement curb.

    After bicyclists started complaining about the parked trucks in October, construction company JOE BUILDER applied for and was granted an obstruction permit. The permit allows the company to obstruct the bicycle lane from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. through November. The company trucks are often parked in the lanes outside of the permitted hours. When I visited after 3 p.m. on November 21, the trucks were still parked in the bike lane. According to city staff, the bike lane obstruction requires a bike lane closed sign at the end of the block, too.

    I also hope that the contractor took down all the names of the asshole bikers complaining and puts those names out on the contractor grapevine so that the assholes also have to pay through the teeth to get any contractor to work on their homes.

    • Lackadaisical

      Eh, why should the public right of way be available for private use for free?

  59. Rebel Scum

    Dishonest or ignorant?

    “It’s not right. And you know, this freedom of speech is just nonsense because you can’t go into a movie theater and yell ‘fire.’ It’s against the law. What Putin is going to do & the Russians is they’re going to use this as a vehicle to save himself in Ukraine”

    • The Other Kevin

      Saying things I disagree with is exactly the same as yelling Fire in a theater. They are doing a full court press on this one. I wonder if “regular” people are buying it?

    • Lackadaisical

      ???

      Evil and stupid. How will Twitter save the Russians in Ukraine?

      • Drake

        All along the Ukrainians and their supporters have thought that cool (usually fake) posts and memes were the key to victory.

  60. R C Dean

    The normalization of kiddy diddling continues apace.

    The Daily Mail reports that more than 7,000 sex offenders were convicted of “lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age,” yet they oly received a year or less of prison, data from the California Megan’s Law database says.

    Granted, some of this may have been teen-on-teen action.

    The cherry on top, so you can be sure it is only getting worse:

    Several other cases are detailed by the Mail, though they note that they were unable to conduct an analysis of offenders added after 2019 due to the California Department of Justice having added digital blocks on its website to prevent new data from being analyzed.

    • Not Adahn

      this may have been teen-on-teen action

      Hot, lesbian teen-on-teen action?

  61. Rebel Scum

    But Republicans are fascists.

    Reuters’s Andrea Shalal to KJP on @ElonMusk owning Twitter: “There’s a researcher at Stanford who says…this is a critical moment…ensuring…Twitter does not become a vector for misinformation…Are you concerned about that & what tools do you have?”

    KJP makes veiled threat to @ElonMusk: “This is something that we’re…keeping an eye on…It is their responsibility to make sure when it comes to misinformation, when it comes to the hate…they take action….[W]e’re all keeping a close eye on this. We’re all monitoring” him.

    • The Other Kevin

      I’d love to see someone push back and ask exactly who, or what criteria, determine what is “misinformation”? Because we can point out hundreds or thousands of instances in which our own government has lied to us, especially in recent years. Yet they want to be in charge of everyone’s speech.

      • Count Potato

        Misinformation is anything they don’t like.

      • Lackadaisical

        1. Believing in the lab leak conspiracy theory
        2. Hunter Biden’s laptop
        3. Election denial (2016 not included)
        4. Rights
        5. Anything related to COVID, depending on the day of the week- listen to your local major corporation broadcaster for the correct wrong think of the day.
        6. Denying Ukraine’s right to exist by not supporting shoveling billions into the coffers of our donors.

  62. UnCivilServant

    I don’t get people who look at a meeting schedule and go “We’ve got an hour, so by gosh, we’ll use all seventy-five minutes!”

    • Rat on a train

      We have a published agenda. Lets tackle non-agenda items first.

  63. The Late P Brooks

    Burn it all down

    And while workers argue that a school with an $18 billion endowment can afford to pay them better, the university says its salary offers are better than those at other public universities and are meant only to cover part-time work.

    “We are overworked and severely underpaid. We earn poverty wages,” says Rafael Jaime, a 33-year-old Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles and the president of United Auto Workers Local 2865, which represents 19,000 student workers participating in the strike. “What we’re really seeing is a crisis in academia.”

    The strike is shining a spotlight on a longstanding problem within higher education: Today, tenured, full-time faculty members make up a smaller percentage of university employees than they did 50 years ago, in part due to the financial pressures facing universities amid funding cuts. The proportion of other university employees, who receive less job security and lower pay, “has grown tremendously,” says Tim Cain, an associate professor at the University of Georgia’s Institute of Higher Education, who studies campus activism and unionization.

    ——-

    “To have this many workers on strike is really something new in higher education,” says Rebecca Givan, an associate professor of labor studies at Rutgers, who is also president of the union for graduate workers and faculty at her university. “The willingness of these workers to bring their campuses to a standstill is demonstrating that the current model of higher education can’t continue, and that the current system really rests on extremely underpaid labor.”

    The strike has garnered support from many University of California faculty members and lawmakers, and some undergraduate students and faculty have held rallies in support of the strike. James Vernon—a history professor who chairs the faculty association at the University of California, Berkeley—has canceled his classes in support of the strike.

    “The system is broken, graduate school should be affordable for everyone, and only this labor movement can fix it,” he said in a tweet, urging faculty members to cancel classes “and support our graduate students so one day they can do your job.”

    The system is definitely broken, although not necessarily by the lack of union contracts.

    • EvilSheldon

      Is there anything, anywhere, that shouldn’t be ‘affordable for everyone?’

      We are truly living in Lord of the Flies.

    • Grumbletarian

      They are calling for a minimum salary of $54,000 for all graduate workers and $70,000 for postdoctoral researchers, with annual cost-of-living increases.

      These are 20 hr/wk positions, not full time jobs. Given that, they’re asking for about $52/hr for graduate workers and $67.30/hr for post-docs.

      • Rat on a train

        poverty wages

      • The Other Kevin

        That’s definitely going to make school more affordable.

      • Not Adahn

        *ties fresh onion to belt*

        In my day, being a grad student was a lifestyle! 20 hours a week? AYFKM? 20 hours a week might have been the time you spent outside of the lab and conscious.

        *shakes personally-made glassware at young whippersnappers*

      • Lackadaisical

        Heh, I had a plum student teacher slot, that was probably like 5-10 hours a week of work, got like$15k/yr plus a full ride. I thought that was a sweet deal…

      • Lackadaisical

        Graduate teaching assistant? You know what I mean, I ran recitation and made sure the really incompetent kids got poor grades on the exams.

      • Lackadaisical

        I like to think I saved millions of dollars and many lives by helping to fail those who earned a failing grade.

      • Lackadaisical

        Just like the hospital janitor, I was terribly underpaid by that metric… Ha!

      • UnCivilServant

        waitwaitwait – they pay these people?

    • Not Adahn

      What, exactly, did they expect a grad student’s standard of living to be? When did it stop being 3-7 years of slave labor and squalid shithole apartments?

      • Rat on a train

        Gen-Z is not patient. They want that upper class lifestyle now.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        And yet, my life was better in many ways back then.

    • Rat on a train

      graduate school everything should be affordable for everyone

    • Lackadaisical

      ‘James Vernon—a history professor who chairs the faculty association at the University of California, Berkeley—has canceled his classes in support of the strike.’

      I would be pissed if I were a student of his.

      • Rat on a train

        It’s never about the students.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Fire some DEI administrators and free up some cash flow.

      • Lackadaisical

        Right?

        The under funded schools sure do have a lot more money than they used to…

      • rhywun

        Yeah, I spit imaginary coffee when I saw “funding cuts”.

    • Seguin

      “president of United Auto Workers Local 2865, which represents 19,000 student workers participating in the strike.”

      wut

  64. Count Potato

    “Meanwhile, Kanye’s new campaign manager declares that Trump can’t win because he, unlike Kanye, is “putting Jewish interests first””

    https://twitter.com/AGHamilton29/status/1597016465718530048

    LOLWTF? Did Milo lose his mind or is this all just bullshit?

    • EvilSheldon

      Crazy people reinforce each other.

    • Lackadaisical

      The most anti racist thing someone could do is get all the campaign cash from the racists for a political stunt that will go no where.

      It’s all bullshit and Milo has always been a bullshit artist.

  65. Count Potato

    “Apple has released a software update limiting the use of AirDrop in China in light of recent protests.

    AirDrop was being used by protesters to transmit info directly phone to phone, bypassing the Great Firewall of China.”

    https://twitter.com/WholeMarsBlog/status/1597054942069460992

    So much for Think Different.

  66. The Late P Brooks

    Has NPR asked Jesse Jackson for a comment about Kanye?

    • Count Potato

      I thought black people can’t be racist?

    • Sensei

      HTML Fail!

    • rhywun

      “knowledge”, propaganda – same difference

  67. The Late P Brooks

    Social justice joins discounted cash flows on the syllabus as essential knowledge for aspiring corporate leaders.

    Compound interest is a sin against god and man.

  68. Not Adahn

    Social justice joins discounted cash flows on the syllabus as essential knowledge for aspiring corporate leaders.

    This is correct. If you don’t know those particular dance moves you’re not going to make it. I wonder if they also have a class on shaking down local governments public-private partnerships?

  69. The Late P Brooks

    Free speech on the internet will just lead to tragedy and disillusionment

    Something has definitely changed in the mood of the Chinese nation and it does not bode well for Xi or the CCP. This is not just pent-up frustration from three years of COVID lockdowns and a moribund economy. It is the consequence of a decade of steadily worsening repression, following two decades (the 1990s and 2000s) of relative loosening.

    It is also the result of a propaganda and information control system that has been all too successful, until now.

    Every historical injustice at the hands of foreigners is drilled into young minds from kindergarten while libraries, schools and the internet are purged of all mention of the tens of millions who perished thanks to CCP policy.

    I was once approached on a reporting trip by a slightly confused six-year-old who plucked up the courage to ask me why I had burned down the Summer Palace in Beijing — as a member of the Anglo-French occupying forces in 1860. He definitely had never heard of the Cultural Revolution or the Tiananmen massacre.

    All news and information from abroad is heavily censored and all domestic information tightly controlled, with uniformed police officers stationed in the offices of large Chinese tech companies and paramilitary troops on every university campus.

    This is what we should aspire to as a nation.

  70. The Late P Brooks

    The shocking sight of huge maskless crowds at the World Cup in Qatar certainly contributed to widespread anger as COVID cases hit record highs and many cities went back into lockdown. In a belated attempt to fix their mistake, the authorities have apparently banned close-up shots of the Qatar crowds.

    After more than a decade on the throne, Xi has consolidated more formal power than any leader since Mao Zedong. But he has created legions of enemies in the process and, for the first time in decades, people are openly calling for wholesale political change in China.

    That is why his reaction will be swift and brutal, using all the tools of digital totalitarianism.

    On Monday, I watched another poignant video filmed at Peking University that morning, where a student is snatched by a group of plain-clothed thugs and bundled off, but not before he yells out: “Give me liberty or give me death!”

    The idealistic people who came out over the weekend do not realize what horrors await them. But at least the mask has slipped and the Chinese masses can see the true face of the regime that rules them.

    Not a trace of irony.