Thursday Morning Just Passing Through Links

by | Jan 5, 2023 | Daily Links | 416 comments

Banjos had to duck out last minute, so you got me instead. I will not be in my full weekend form, but at least I’ll go through the motions. I’m trying to think of a good anecdote from the momentous First Meeting between “family” (WebDom, Spud, and lObOt) and NPR Lady last weekend, but they’re escaping me at the moment. Maybe by Saturday, I’ll remember one. Which I guess is good, no screaming explosions or flung food.

I do remember birthdays, and although I have to keep the list short in the interests of making this in time to post, I shan’t forget a guy whose products I avoid in the service of barbatuosity; a woman whose death came as a surprise to her; a guy who was much better than Christopher Reeve and actually could stay on a horse; a woman whom Reagan never called Mommy; an absolutely wonderful actor who elevated every film he was in; a guy who did call Reagan “Mommy”; a brilliant singer/songwriter, no joke; and a perfectly named professional athlete.

On to actual Links.

 

If we can keep this going, maybe we can actually avoid having a Congress for a couple of years. Fingers crossed.

 

Now if we can outlaw the old farts who slowly write checks in the grocery store lines. I’d be on board.

 

Let’s be honest, the cartoons weren’t very good. That’s the real outrage.

 

“Do not demand data.”

 

“If only those fucking Jews would stop trying to visit their temple and did LGBTQIA+LSMFT marches instead!”

 

Last gasp.

 

Old Guy Music. Well, there’s nothing better than a lovely song from Iris DeMent- except a lovely song from Iris DeMent AND Emmylou Harris.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

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

416 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    Too soon?

  2. PieInTheSky

    If we can keep this going, maybe we can actually avoid having a Congress for a couple of years. Fingers crossed. – I mean no government worked for Belgium a few years ago. For various definitions of worked.

    • Rat on a train

      The progs always complain the US needs to be more like European countries.

      • PieInTheSky

        Serbia, for example?

      • SDF-7

        East Germany seems to be their current desire.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        To be clear, East Germany prior to 1989.

        Now it’s just Germany’s Fetterlump.

  3. PieInTheSky

    Let’s be honest, the cartoons weren’t very good. That’s the real outrage. – why would insulting a mere mortal be an issue?

    • SDF-7

      No idea here — I’m just a Papist idolator anyway according to folks I grew up around, so harder for me to understand it.

  4. Rat on a train

    Now if we can outlaw the old farts who slowly write checks in the grocery store lines. I’d be on board.
    Can we also ban coupons?

    • SDF-7

      I suspect they will if they go full digital currency. Your phone will have the grocery store app “for easier checkout” and all the marketing crap / coupons would go there and auto-apply based on your purchase list at checkout. I’d bet Amazon’s already done something like that with their automated stores. (Of course, being Amazon they probably also jack up the price based on the individual account and what they think you’ll pay… imagine the future — no shelf price tags, auto-updating price displays / non-stop adverts that change the price based on who’s looking… yay!)

      • Lackadaisical

        Prices based on your individual melanin levels.

    • creech

      Who cares? In the future, all food will be free (to right-thinkers anyway) whenever it infrequently appears in the government food emporiums.

  5. Rebel Scum

    After suffering yet another stinging defeat on Wednesday, in which he lost a sixth round of voting for House speaker, Kevin McCarthy proposed more key concessions in his push to get 218 votes – including agreeing to propose a rules change that would allow just one member to call for a vote to oust a sitting speaker, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

    Is there even a policing mechanism or when McCunteface inevitably rescinds on said concessions?

    • Rat on a train

      As we learned under the donks, any rule can be overruled with a simple majority vote.

    • WTF

      I think the reason they want the rule that would allow just one member to call for a vote to oust a sitting speaker is to have a bit of a threat to hopefully keep him from going back on his agreements.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        I agree in principle that a speaker should have constraints on his/her ability to violate their own promises, but having it be a single person to trigger a vote seems a bit twitchy to me.

      • creech

        I really doubt a single congressperson will call for a vote unless there is substantial backing among the other critters. That would be a quick way to become a pariah, an outcast, and a Paulian Dr. No figure. And to display your spine and brass ones.

      • slumbrew

        Wasn’t that the rule until relatively recently? Pre-Pelosi?

      • robc

        Yes it was. And it is rarely an issue.

  6. Rebel Scum

    America may soon be poised to go cashless. Now, the nation must decide if ditching the dollar bill is a good idea.

    It can only contribute to digital tyranny.

    • Sean

      Strippers hardest hit?

      • Rat on a train

        NFC payments?

      • PieInTheSky

        if you can;t make it rain what is even the point

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        You bought too much beer (cigarettes, fatty foods, scotch, Pepsi, whatever ad infinitum) over the last year…sorry, no medical treatment for you.

      • Rat on a train

        I’m not already banned for refusing to participate in medical experiments?

      • Lackadaisical

        Sorry, the only Medical Aid we can provide at this time is Assistance in Dying.

      • Rat on a train

        I’m not Canadian.

      • Penguin

        This.

    • Rat on a train

      By cashless they mean the peasants won’t have money. They will own nothing and be happy.

      • Rebel Scum

        And there will be a spending deadline on what you do get. No saving and building for you, peasant.

      • juris imprudent

        Inflation does that already.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      “When you pay cash, I give you money, you give me a good, end of story,” said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the ACLU. “If you’re using your credit card for all of your transactions, then data is being collected about an enormous range of your activities, including medical conditions, political donations, sexual activities, how much liquor you buy, how many cigarettes you buy.”

      I don’t believe the ACLU is really opposed to this.

      • Rat on a train

        Like Google there will be exceptions for certain businesses.

      • Sean

        That reminds me, I need to pick up gin today.

      • Brawndo

        Just remind them that cash can be used to buy guns and the ACLU will suddenly be all for digital currency

    • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

      I remember back in the ’90s Wired had an article about debit cards, and how they shouldn’t be connected to bank accounts. It seems that the majority of people wanted them connected for ease of use, but we are now seeing the consequences of this.

    • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

      Sounds like a great idea, until the first natural disaster, network or power outage.

      Then you’re hooped. Payment methods should always be available in the plural, as it’s a more robust state of affairs.

      What is it with planners that forever want to restrict an idea until it illustrates the old warning “Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket?”

  7. Rebel Scum

    “We will not allow the French government to go beyond its bounds. They have definitely chosen the wrong path,” he added, without spelling out the consequences.

    “I’m going to write a strongly worded letter that reads right to left.”

  8. PieInTheSky

    “If only those fucking Jews would stop trying to visit their temple and did LGBTQIA+LSMFT marches instead!” – I did not understand what the issue was tbh

    • Shirley Knott

      “We were here last!” is supposed to trump “We were here first!”. Or so I gather.

      • Nephilium

        The first shall become last, and the last shall become first?

      • PieInTheSky

        LIFO ?

      • Rat on a train

        Double ended queues aren’t available in their language.

      • Spartacus

        Also known as a stack.

    • Ted S.

      West to Orthodox Jews: You can’t pray freely on the Temple Mount because that offends us.

      Also West to Orthodox Jews: You must allow Heterodox Jewish ceremonies that deeply offend you at the Western Wall.

  9. SDF-7

    Re: The Fed DIE training and that gorram equity baseball cartoon… is it wrong if now I want to see a followup where the kids have been smacked in the head by line drives because that fence was there for a reason? What a perfect fracking metaphor for the commies behind DIE — “tear down the fence” (Western society / civ) and have the ensuing anarchy and barbarism kill most of the people cheering it.

    Or maybe I’m just extra bitchy this morning — the “bomb cyclone” moving through has given the California weeds water (so they spring to life) plus the winds… something has just driven my allergies nuts the past couple of days. Tired of the icepick behind alternate eyeballs, most like.

    Glad the NPR lady wasn’t too scared off by your limited sampling of our reprobates, OMWC. Have a good one.

    • WTF

      That idiotic cartoon is based on the premise that it’s okay for the kids to use a nefarious means to watch a ballgame without paying for it.
      Fucking commies.

      • SDF-7

        Yup… “To each according to his NEEDS, MAN! Those kids shouldn’t be deprived of your labor just because the stadium costs money to run or your kids need to eat or something!”

        Slavery never really went out of vogue…. they just slapped a shitload of lipstick on that pig.

      • waffles

        I steal this. thank you comrade.

      • juris imprudent

        Free riding isn’t a problem, it’s a solution!

        Until of course you succeed in killing off the productive class.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Seed corn is for eating, right?

  10. Rebel Scum

    One NASA training states that efforts to be colorblind “actually limit us.” Another identifies the words “America is a melting pot” and “don’t you want a family?” as “microaggressions,” along with “asking an Asian person to help with a math or science problem.” A third lists “perfectionism” and “data is king” as examples of “common leadership mistakes.”

    This country is going to hell in handbasket.

    • WTF

      “perfectionism” and “data is king” as examples of “common leadership mistakes.”

      Fuck reality, narrative uber alles.

    • SDF-7

      Because the best NASA disasters *cough*Challenger*cough* come when management doesn’t view “data as king” and goes with their feels, after all.

    • rhywun

      And then ponder why NASA can’t accomplish anything.

      • PieInTheSky

        I am not sure I understand. NASA accomplishes exactly what is sets out to accomplish. It is quite successful. Just because it is not what you or I would want it to accomplish is quite a different thing.

        The European Space Agency is the same. The point is not getting stuff to space, is providing some well payed sinecures. And it accomplishes that with quite some success.

      • Old Man With Candy

        It’s sad when the only people who truly understand American government agencies are ex-commies.

      • rhywun

        “Useful” was implied.

      • PieInTheSky

        define useful.

      • rhywun

        “Am I being detained?”

      • Spartacus

        I thought we had a Space Force for that.

      • Brawndo

        NASA hasn’t accomplished anything since the Nazis we brought over under Operation Paperclip ran it.

      • juris imprudent

        +1 Morgan Freeman He’s Right You Know meme

    • juris imprudent

      This is all out of the mind of Tema Okun – the Serena Butler of our day.

    • Grumbletarian

      I did a DEI course a couple of months ago and the lecturer (not calling the person a teacher or trainer) outright said “in the 80s we tolerated differences, but now we celebrate them.” Fuck that. Personally, my ‘difference’ is that my eyesight is so shitty that I can only get a driver’s license in the daytime (ocular albinism), and I would be pissed if someone were to celebrate that difference.

      I celebrate that my employer feels that any cost incurred to accommodate my ‘difference’ is outweighed by the value my skills and talents bring to the company, but that’s celebrating tolerance, not my ‘difference’.

      • Sean

        *throws confetti*

      • UnCivilServant

        I have run out of tolerance, and I do not celebrate.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Soon everyone will walk around with a signboard listing all of their issues and variations from the norm, most of which are so obvious as to not be worth commenting upon, but each will be treated as a disability so severe as to warrant protected status.

        “I am tall, and wear glasses.”

        “Oh, let me change everything at this particular moment to accommodate you! Raise the height of door frames, make everything large print, all at cost to me.

    • cyto

      The nasa training is much worse than the first quote lets on.

      “Value and center lived experience,” the presentation says. “Do not demand data in order to accept a person’s individual perspective or to utilize that perspective in decision-making.”

      That is NASA. do not demand data … accept individual perspective because… just accept it. And use it in decision making.

      Hell in a handbasket, indeed.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        *cancels NASA moon tickets*

      • cyto

        You can’t afford NASA moon tickets (even though you pay for them). They are over $4.5 billion just for the launch vehicle.

        SpaxeX will probably be able to sell you a ticket before too much longer though. Probably only in the millions or tens of millions per seat.

      • creech

        I wonder how the Chinese get any work done, what with continuous rolling on the floor with laughter at what the stupid Americans are doing.

      • UnCivilServant

        The slaves don’t have access to information on what’s happening outside of approved channels.

  11. Rebel Scum

    Sean, you RINO cunte.

    Hannity: “McCarthy has 203 votes. Your side has 20. Why is it time for him to withdraw and not you when he has so many more votes?”

    Boebert: “He needs 218.

    • WTF

      Hannity has always been a eGOP shill.

    • SDF-7

      Nope, sorry — Pirate Crenshaw wins the GOP fuckface award this round.

      • Grumbletarian

        Re: Crenshaw — Fuck off, Prick Fury.

      • cyto

        I reiterate… why is anyone pretending like this is a bad thing. This is 100% what should happen. Anointing a leader because it is “her turn” is the bad thing.

        Debating the priorities and loyalties of the speaker is absolutely what should happen.

        Worse, after watching the national GOP abandon their voters to avoid confronting the people who brought us Russiagate, secret spying on Americans, tracking every phone call, text and email… etc. Etc. Etc.

        Yeah, some push-back is in order.

      • Lackadaisical

        Correct, absolutely.

        The eGOP just wants to forget all that happened, and focus on J6. Partly because they support all that the dems/deepstate have been doing.

      • juris imprudent

        abandon their voters

        Assumes facts not in evidence.

    • juris imprudent

      Seriously – why is it a RINO to be the establishment REPUBLICAN with the most votes? WTF is the Republican Party – whatever you decide it should be?

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yeah, Hannity is about as far from being a RINO as you can get.

      • cyto

        Pithy version:. Giant douche versus turd sandwich.

        Both are the same big state bureaucracy behind the curtain. The party labels just reshuffle some of the smaller spoils. The big stuff still goes to the same place.

    • Drake

      We sometimes watch Tucker. My wife always laughs at how fast I click it off before I have hear Hannity utter a word.

      • Penguin

        Yeah, this is why if I watch Tucker, I do so online.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      And yet in this situation, 20 is just as good as 203.

    • Brawndo

      But Hillary won the popular vote!!!!

  12. juris imprudent

    So the holidays were observed Benedictine style – under a vow of silence?

  13. Rebel Scum

    I thought something here was Amash.

    Former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) is standing just outside the Speaker’s Lobby telling reporters that he’s willing and interested in serving as a compromise Speaker.

    • SDF-7

      Hell, as long as we’re just bringing in random non-Congresscritters, import Jordan Peterson. I’d love to hear him tell the House to clean their gorram rooms already. Plus it would get him out of Canada for a while.

      • Rebel Scum

        I think you have to be a natural born citizen, being third in line from the throne and all.

      • SDF-7

        Damn…. you’re probably right.

      • robc

        Nope. You just get skipped over if anything happens, like with Secretaries who don’t qualify (Albright, for example)

    • Rat on a train

      How about a Battle Royale of all representatives to decide speaker?

      • SDF-7

        435 enter! 1 leaves! 435 enter! 1 leaves!

        Not being the Senate, we can’t arm them with the traditional cane — but I think swords seems fitting and honorable.

      • Spartacus

        Folding chairs.

      • PieInTheSky

        slap fighting.

    • Not Adahn

      She was the Bad Bond Girl in True Lies.

      That scene was the final push I needed to learn to tango.

    • Penguin

      Mmm… not bad for 56. Maybe I’m just getting older.

      • Lackadaisical

        Probably both.

      • Lackadaisical

        Also, that is a ton of surgery.

      • Penguin

        Yeah, I have had a lot in the past cou…

        Oh, you were talking about her! Yeah, I guess so.

      • Lackadaisical

        Tough to transition to a Penguin, I suppose.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Although pretty, she’s just not a very good actress. Better than her as a singer but still not great.

      • cyto

        Her real problem is that she is more hot than pretty. Don’t get me wrong, she is quite pretty too… but it is like the difference in modeling between fashion and swimsuit. You can be too hot for fashion modeling.

        She comes off as Instagram hot, which does not work for most roles.

        Also… that is not what my version of mid 50s looks like.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      She smokes cigars and tastes like an ashtray.

    • SDF-7

      “Because while I dream of wide open spaces, I also like not freezing to death in winter?” Probably because I grew up in the South… I like my snow from a safe distance and all.

    • Rat on a train

      “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

      • WTF

        + Yogi

  14. SDF-7

    ‘Orning ‘Ordles of Meh:

    Daily Duotrigordle #309
    Guesses: 37/37
    Time: 06:11.82
    https://duotrigordle.com/

    Daily Quordle 346
    5️⃣3️⃣
    6️⃣7️⃣
    quordle.com

    • Sean

      Daily Quordle 346
      5️⃣6️⃣
      7️⃣8️⃣
      quordle.com

    • rhywun

      “My heart wasn’t in it.”

      Daily Quordle 346
      5️⃣8️⃣
      9️⃣6️⃣

    • Grumbletarian

      Daily Quordle 346
      5️⃣3️⃣
      8️⃣7️⃣

      Feh.

    • Tundra

      Daily Quordle 346
      4️⃣5️⃣
      7️⃣8️⃣

    • kinnath

      Daily Quordle 346
      5️⃣4️⃣
      8️⃣7️⃣
      quordle.com

    • Cowboy

      Daily Quordle 346
      4️⃣3️⃣
      6️⃣7️⃣
      quordle.com

    • SDF-7

      “Cardiac arrest isn’t just for the NFL anymore!”

    • Old Man With Candy

      “…and then Hillary’s labia parted with the sound of tearing Velcro.”

      • PieInTheSky

        ehm ewwww

      • Penguin

        channeling Sugarfree?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        And just like that, the hunger pangs from the colonoscopy prep suddenly vanished.

      • PieInTheSky

        colonoscopies are a scam anyway. You can go to an old woman in the village who will tell you if you have issues by reading your palm and the tea leaves from your cup of tea.

    • Lackadaisical

      Honestly? That looks delicious.

  15. Rebel Scum

    *shocked face*

    Join us in welcoming @AdamKinzinger to CNN as a Senior Political Commentator. Welcome to CNN, Adam!

    • Rat on a train

      He left to be with his people.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I’m sure he’s crying with joy.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        Well, he sure didn’t right to be with his people.

    • Not Adahn

      The dude lost a fight with a twitter named “catturd.”

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        “In the Litterbox With Jewels and Catturd”
        https://rumble.com/InTheLitterBox

        He’s a pretty good political analyst, I’m not surprised he cleaned Kinzinger’s clock.

    • juris imprudent

      In completely unrelated news

      Cable News Ratings Monday January 2: Fox News Nearly Triples CNN in Total Viewers

      The bad news, MSNBC is second behind Fox.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Fox is most popular no doubt but the lefties actually have several choices so Fox’s popularity relative to the others is somewhat overstated.

      • juris imprudent

        Yep, the viewership of MSNBC + CNN is just slightly above that of Fox.

    • Brawndo

      Lol. Tell us more about the Ghost of Kiev fuck face

  16. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Couldn’t all the Jews just convert to Islam, seems like that’d save y’all a lot of trouble. Just don’t choose the wrong subsect of the wrong sect or they’ll still want to kill you.

    • SDF-7

      Well, since the propaganda is that the JOOS run the Western world and all — wouldn’t it make more sense for Israel’s neighbors to convert and take over the world that way?

      As long as we’re pitching impossibilities and all. 😉

  17. Rebel Scum

    On to the next sham.

    Fulton County prosecutors have suggested the special grand jury probing whether former President Donald Trump or his allies unlawfully meddled in Georgia’s 2020 elections is coming to a close.

    That, however, may only mark the end of the beginning of Fulton’s turn in the national spotlight.

    Should District Attorney Fani Willis subsequently decide to press charges against the former commander in chief or anyone in his orbit, the metro Atlanta county would be at the center of a media circus in 2023 and beyond.

    • rhywun

      OFFS.

    • juris imprudent

      If the GJ doesn’t present an indictment, what charges would get pressed by the attention-whore, er I mean DA?

  18. PieInTheSky

    Adding nuance to the relationship between energy density and calorie intake
    A recent study aimed to assess the relationship between the energy density of a meal and the number of total calories consumed at the meal.

    https://www.strongerbyscience.com/research-spotlight-energy-density/

    When the overall energy density of a meal is low, food volume seems to be the predominant satiation signal dictating the amount of food consumed. The physical amount of space within a person’s stomach is inherently limited, and food intake is discontinued once a certain volume of food intake is achieved in order to avoid the discomfort associated with being overly full. The body senses that this point is reached based largely on the degree of gastric distention, without much influence at all from the total amount of energy consumed. However, there is an inflection point (probably between an energy density value of 1.25 and 2.25, give or take) beyond which food volume is no longer the predominant satiation signal. As the overall energy density of the meal gets higher, energy content becomes the major satiation signal dictating the amount of food consumed. In fact, meal size (in grams) tends to go down as energy density becomes very high.

    • Lackadaisical

      ‘food intake is discontinued once a certain volume of food intake is achieved in order to avoid the discomfort associated with being overly full.’

      Clearly they never met truly fat people.

      • PieInTheSky

        even then a wafer thin mint can be enough to make em blow

    • cyto

      So. As I read this, one should gnaw on a stick of butter….

  19. Grumbletarian

    “Do not demand data.”

    Is “I’d ask you to help me figure out these numbers, but since you’re Asian I won’t.” a microaggression?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      It’s argument from authority and by assertion all the way down.

      I fucking despise these people.

    • Rat on a train

      To avoid hurting their feelings I now assume all Asians are idiots.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        That’s why I speak loudly and use small words with them.

    • WTF

      I’m sure that is not because they know that actual data will not back up their assertions.

  20. Lackadaisical

    ‘Now if we can outlaw the old farts who slowly write checks in the grocery store lines.’

    At what age does this start happening? We might have to ban you soon, Old Man. 😛

    • R.J.

      It’s mostly older women, a big crossover with Karens.

      • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

        I mostly see old dudes doing this, pulling a folded up check out of their wallet like it is once a year expense. Karen’s seem to love the plastic.

    • Michael Malaise

      I’m not proud of it, but I use Kroger and Apple Pay at the grocery. I know, I’m being tracked and will be up against the wall for my Mountain Dew purchases at some point, but it is stupidly convenient.

      • Mojeaux

        I always say I’m going to switch to cash, but the truth is, spending cash HURTS. Spending electrons does not.

  21. KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

    The problem with early morning flights is I usually haven’t fully pooped until ~11am. Luckily my 1st flight was only 30 mins.

    I hope the rental car company will let me have a car with only a temporary debit card (real card had to be canceled due to a fraudulent charge and I haven’t gotten a new one yet)

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Meh, if she doesn’t have to wipe with a rag on a stick is she really THICC?

  22. juris imprudent

    I’m going to bet that if or when McCarthy ultimately gives them every concession he can, they’ll turn around and use that as justification for not voting for him because he gives in too easy!

    • juris imprudent

      This is pretty good too.

      Yet, for the group of disruptors, it was all according to plan and part of well-worn quarter-century-long House GOP practice. Starting with Newt Gingrich, who was responsible for helping Republicans win back the majority for the first time in 40 years, and continuing with nearly every GOP speaker since, a small group of fractious House hardliners hasn’t hesitated to punish their top GOP leaders for missteps – real or imagined.

    • Not Adahn

      Yes, and?

      Demonstrating that you’re willing to whore yourself out for your own advancement isn’t a good trait.

      • Not Adahn

        Unless of course you’re trying to advance your sex worker career, in which case it’s great.

      • PieInTheSky

        To be a successful sex worker you need to be very careful about how you whore yourself out or you ruin your value. It ain’t that easy.

      • juris imprudent

        whore yourself out

        This is Congress we’re talking about. That is a prerequisite.

      • Not Adahn

        But you’re not supposed to do it in public.

      • juris imprudent

        -1 frightened horse

    • Homple

      Concessions me arse. Nobody believes that lying weasel’s word is worth the paper its printed on. His opponents know damn well McCarthy will shiv every one of them should he become Speaker.

      • juris imprudent

        Hahaha – like he’s Pelosi?

    • Q Continuum

      needz biggur titz

      • PieInTheSky

        nope. not even a bit. Nice legs nice ass pretty face that is what you need.

      • juris imprudent

        Only if you can catch her laddie!

      • PieInTheSky

        I have a net just for that purpose

    • Lackadaisical

      Poland was cuter.

      I do wonder if they tape things down for events.

    • Zwak, who has his own double cross to bear.

      How long before they start running in thongs? I mean, those running panties always go up the crack as it is.

      • UnCivilServant

        Flip-flops are terrible running shoes.

    • Atanarjuat

      When I read “4 our of 4 would bang” and then saw 4 costumed cartoon animal mascots pop up on the screen I was very confused for a few seconds.

    • Drake

      Speaker to Animals?

      • SDF-7

        More like Hindmost.

      • Drake

        Now I want to see him tuck into a ball when threatened by ‘radical’ conservatives.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Nobody’s right 100% of the time, even Musk plus he’s an admitted moderate anyway. I’ll let it slide.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    The “justice” cartoon should be the tall guy on his hands and knees with a hood over his head, with the short guy standing on his back.

  24. Q Continuum

    Thomas Nides: secularized Jewish-American leftist dictating to Israel how it should conduct its affairs… I’m not gonna say it’s anti-Semitic but if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc. etc.

    • PieInTheSky

      just anti zionist is all

    • Not Adahn

      Only Republicans can be antisemites.

  25. Fourscore

    “First Meeting between “family” (WebDom, Spud, and lObOt) and NPR Lady last weekend,”

    So SF and Agile weren’t invited, at least not yet. Slow and easy, OM, some things take time

    • Old Man With Candy

      SF would have been great. He is remarkably charming, and older women love him.

      I don’t know Agile IRL, so…

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Yet, even in 2022, some Americans cling to cash.

    Bitterly, even.

    • juris imprudent

      Looking at how Canadian bank accounts were frozen, and the Chinese social credit score – only bad people could possibly want to avoid being under the thumb of their benevolent masters.

  27. PieInTheSky

    Mark Normand: “Stop Taking Comedy Seriously!”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31cM6uw3PP4

    I like Mark’s comedy but he does not seem his cheerful self in this interview.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      “I’m 56, he’s 31”
      And therein lies the problem. She was most likely a desperation piece.

    • PieInTheSky

      31 yoer old man dog walker? Unless he is doing it for the old pussy, what a loser.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Depends, in some areas with a rich clientele they can do very well for themselves. Get some older rich empty nesters who need their furry kids walked but can’t be bothered to do it themselves and you can make bank.

      • Trigger Hippie

        Yep. I know a young woman who now does quite well for herself after starting a dog walking business. $20 a week per dog with dozens of clients; many of whom have multiple dogs. Go for a walk a few times a day and occasionally scoop up dog shit for over $1k a week. Many people with dogs do that for free.

      • Swiss Servator

        I think I will start charging myself for the service!

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Don’t forget to report it as income.

      • Swiss Servator

        I’ll make sure not to Venmo it to myself.

      • Lackadaisical

        You can mark it as business expense, shoes, dog food, etc. to show you made a loss.

      • Michael Malaise

        $52k a year to pick up dog shit?

        Nah.

      • Not Adahn

        If he’s been her dog walker for ten years, that’s either an unmotivated person or an entrepreneur.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Definitely a good thing but don’t get too happy just yet, it’s still not too late for us to escalate and royally fuck things up.

      • Drake

        Do we have any weapons left to give to the Kurds? Maybe something that will reach Ankara?

        Or just give them money and they can buy some from Ukrainians on the black market.

      • juris imprudent

        The only thing every govt in that region can agree on – fucking the Kurds.

      • Not Adahn

        Is there a “Ladies of the PKK” calendar?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Hey Mustafa, check out the ankles on this one!

      • Lackadaisical

        *mustache

        /biased against turkic girls

  28. The Late P Brooks

    “perfectionism” and “data is king” as examples of “common leadership mistakes.”

    “So, it doesn’t need to be perfect? Then you can ride that that fucking bomb into space.”

    • WTF

      Yeah, whenever I review client deliverables my goal is always “eh, good enough, send it anyway”.

    • Michael Malaise

      Don’t let perfect be the enemy of inherently deadly.

  29. PieInTheSky

    Europe Countries Population 1600-2022 | Kingdoms, Empires, Republics | Napoleonic Wars, WW1, WW2

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NXzZ_OVpY4

    Kind of long. And I am unsure of the accuracy of the data. And it seems most jumps are caused by countries changing their name / gaining or losing land. I am unsure it was needed to switch between french kingdom french republic french kingdom french empire etc

    • Lackadaisical

      Yeah, that is a lot less informative in some ways.

      All those numbers are highly suspect, see also estimates of population of the western hemisphere pre-Columbus.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Those evil whities killed eleventy billion peaceful people who lived in harmony and didn’t know war or death until the europeans came.”

      • Lackadaisical

        Sounds about right. /studiesmajor

  30. The Late P Brooks

    I didn’t make it all the way through the cashless America article. Does Jeffrey Sacks make an appearance? He’s a big booster, as I recall.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Is he?

      Christ, how anyone could look at what is going on today in government, particularly Sacks, and still promote digital currency boggles my mind.

      • Nephilium

        I wouldn’t have an issue with digital currency if there was an open market of different currencies. Since in the end, you have to pay your taxes with US Dollars, that doesn’t exist.

  31. PieInTheSky

    One take I seen recently about how the Ukraine war benefits the US is that the US gets to practice the logistics of getting weapons to far away places. And also that the US should use the opportunity to test experimental; weapons.

    • Swiss Servator

      The USSR and US used to use the Arab-Israeli wars as a proving ground for some things.

      • Penguin

        And also for clearing out past inventories. As you said, there were plenty of Sherman v. T-62 battles. The results were somewhat skewed, however, due to the Israelis having better generals.

      • Swiss Servator

        The USSR found out that the Sagger missile worked…even in the hands of Egyptians!

      • Penguin

        Just read up on those…and wow, they really worked for a Warsaw Pact weapon. Seems like every aspect of usability and function was upgraded.

      • Homple

        “The USSR and US used to use the Arab-Israeli wars as a proving ground for some things.”

        Soviets and Germans did the same thing in the Spanish Civil War

    • Drake

      We’ve had a lot of practice over the past 32 years.

    • Plisade

      …and to get rid of old weapons, so I’ve read.

      • PieInTheSky

        the only issue with that is you have to pay for newer better ones. Fortunately the US has a significant budget surplus and rainy day fund.

      • Swiss Servator

        All the world isn’t a patch on our jeans!

        /Some old dude

    • Michael Malaise

      Getting weapons to far away places?

      We have such limited experience in that department.

  32. Rebel Scum

    Did you do an internal search?

    FBI Washington Field Office, ATF Washington Field Division, and Metropolitan Police Department Raise Reward for Information About Capitol Hill Pipe Bomber to $500,000

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      It’s a trap

    • WTF

      “It’s coming from inside the agency!!”

      • juris imprudent

        They should offer a promotion instead of a reward.

      • Swiss Servator

        But that takes so much paperwork!

        /FBI

    • Michael Malaise

      If finding this person were really important, it would be $5m.

  33. PieInTheSky

    Anything is a sex toy if you’re brave enough :3

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        The guy with the hand grenade up his ass? That was probably just an innocent million to one shot.

      • UnCivilServant

        “The good news is that we’ve removed part of the grenade. The bad news is it was the pin. Don’t relax, you’re holding the spoon in place.”

      • Sean

        You had to go and make it weird.

      • Nephilium

        RAMPAGE! (questionably NSFW)

  34. Brawndo

    Not sure how McCarthy’s position is “dire” and “imperilled”. As far as I know, there’s no time limit on choosing a speaker.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      All those holdouts should just get in line like the Squad did.

      Party unity is good for America.

      • Ted S.

        The Squad got the party to move quite a bit left.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The recent demonstration of their political power and will (or lack thereof) on Ukraine was all I needed to see.

        Moving on unimportant stuff isn’t the issue, Nancy doesn’t really care about the woke stuff and would gladly bargain on it, it’s about the money and control.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    how anyone could look at what is going on today in government, particularly Sacks, and still promote digital currency boggles my mind.

    You just nee the correct set of Top Men running the joint, and everything will be hunky dory.

  36. Rebel Scum

    Heroes.

    With the assistance of hundreds of thousands of tips from the American people, the FBI has identified and arrested more than 950 individuals who took part in the Capitol riots. Of those, nearly 200 were arrested for assaulting law enforcement officers.

    “As we approach two years since the attack on the Capitol, the FBI and our partners’ investigative work continues to unfold across the country, resulting in significant judicial outcomes,” said David Sundberg, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Some of the most egregious offenders, including those who attacked law enforcement officers, have received lengthy sentences, and the FBI continues to receive tips from the public, which help us bring remaining offenders to justice. In the months and years to come, the FBI Washington Field Office will continue to partner with U.S. attorney’s offices across the country to bring to justice those who attempted to use violence to substitute their will over the will of the people.”

    “We’ll chase them ’round the moons Of Nibia, and ’round the Antares Maelstrom, and ’round Perdition’s Flames before we give them Up!”

    • juris imprudent

      If only Inspector Javert had shown such dedication.

    • The Other Kevin

      “In the months and years to come”

      Great, another government program that will never end. It’s a good thing they’ve arrested all the serial killers and child molesters, and have plenty of extra resources for this.

      • juris imprudent

        They may not even be able to spare any resources to look in that SBF matter.

      • rhywun

        If they don’t have the resources now, they’ll just tuck them into the next OMNIBUS bill.

    • Tres Cool

      Yet they still don’t know who shot Biggie or Tupac.

    • Atanarjuat

      Unless they’re Ray Epps or any of the guys he was talking to on video.

  37. The Other Kevin

    I can’t believe people are still pushing masks and vaccines. Everyone I know has settled into the new status quo: You’ve already had it; you’ll probably get it again; vaccines aren’t really doing anything; if you’re sick stay home; don’t take a test because it will just cause panic and restrict you from things.

    I’m actually encouraged by this speaker fight. The “rebels” are demanding concessions and I’ll bet there is a deal soon. To me discussing, arguing, and bargaining are preferable to a party that just votes in lock stop and never questions their leadership.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Speaker Fight: I welcome the chaos, if they achieve something else positive from it then all the better.

    • Rat on a train

      “Masks and jabs today. Masks and jabs tomorrow. Masks and jabs forever”

    • juris imprudent

      It depends on what they are asking for. The one congressman-elect wants “rules” to stop runaway spending. He’d be better off asking for a pony.

  38. PieInTheSky

    Just learned that Dutch scientists left a hamster wheel outside in 2014 and saw that tons of wild mice used it just for fun as well as frogs and slugs? All the creatures of the forest wanted a turn

    https://twitter.com/MegaDarren/status/1610351322082975744

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Mice and the other vertebrates maybe but don’t you think the slugs just happened along?

      • Count Potato

        Who wants to be a lazy slug?

      • pistoffnick

        Who wants to be a lazy slug?

        Me, during vacation last week.

      • Tres Cool

        Maybe they needed a ride ?

  39. The Late P Brooks

    Looking at how Canadian bank accounts were frozen, and the Chinese social credit score – only bad people could possibly want to avoid being under the thumb of their benevolent masters.

    “They’d never do that to ME.”

    • juris imprudent

      No of course not – you’d buckle under any demand they made. Now lick the boot.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      The governments, which pay for most of “science”, aren’t interested in disruption.

      • Drake

        The pharmas sure aren’t interested in cures.

      • Penguin

        No, they’ve definitely gotten the software companies’ “subscription model” down.

      • juris imprudent

        I’d say it was more of the reverse.

      • R.J.

        Yes. Just publish that on a piece of paper. That is the correct answer. Also fellow scientists work together to suppress anything not part of their narrative.

    • Old Man With Candy

      I’ve been toying with an article on this. Short version:

      Grant officers are judged by the successful outcomes of their grantees. So there’s always boilerplate in the RFP about high risk and innovation, but the winning formula for the grants is four research questions, three of which are already answered by the “Preliminary Data” section of the proposal, but the grant is needed to run the experiments again. In three years of grant writing, I won about $3.5MM using the same recipe:

      1. Confirm that XYZ is ABC.
      2. Confirm that WXY is DEF.
      3. Confirm that PDQ is LSMFT.
      4. Determine that RBG is DOA.

      Only #4 has any originality, and even there, it has to be barely peeping past already-gathered data. The grant is then used to gather preliminary data for the next grant.

      The only solution is something that won’t happen, get the government totally out of non-defense R&D.

      • juris imprudent

        Defense R&D is no better.

      • Michael Malaise

        Well, Ruth Bader Ginsberg is DOA!

    • Swiss Servator

      That looks more George Clintonesque.

      • Tres Cool

        I have no idea who that guy is. And I dont feel lesser because of it.

      • slumbrew

        You… you have no idea who George Clinton is?!

      • UnCivilServant

        The first governor of New York?

      • juris imprudent

        Bringing the funk way, way back!

      • slumbrew

        Make my funk the P. Funk
        I want my funk uncut

      • Penguin
      • Tres Cool

        No…the dude she’s married to. According to the article, he’s a musician of some ilk.

        Hell yes I know George C and P-Funk. Ask me about Bootsie Collins or Eddie Hazelwood.

    • creech

      She’s sure sampled enough “talent” to be a good judge of it.

    • Atanarjuat

      The article contains a link to her daughter Leni’s photos. Holy crap, that girl is an 11.

      • Penguin

        Also from the links: “Emily Ratajkowski says she ‘attracts the worst men’ – after Pete Davidson split

        Hey! I’m a horrible man! Where’s the queue start?

  40. PieInTheSky

    Author prominence affects outcomes of peer review: “While only 23% recommend ‘reject’ when the prominent researcher is the only author shown, 48% do so when the paper is anonymized, and 65% do so when the little-known author is the only author shown.”

    https://twitter.com/SteveStuWill/status/1610550394567917569

    • Lackadaisical

      Shocking.

    • robc

      It really sucks to be “little-known”.

  41. Count Potato

    Is “barbatuosity” being on barbiturates?

    • Swiss Servator

      I thought that was dressing like Conan the Barbarian and admiring bats.

      • Atanarjuat

        I love this, and may adopt it as a hobby.

  42. PieInTheSky

    Most Americans believe that those from the opposite political camp have an easier time exercising their right to free speech

    https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1610903471858880513

    yeah reading the screenshot from, the study, this is not what it says at all. It is more like democrats hate free speech.,

      • Lackadaisical

        Butterfaces hardest hit, obviously.

  43. cyto

    Just as Radley Balko dragged me over to Huffington Post, Glenn Greenwald has dragged me over to Rumble.

    https://rumble.com/v23wcgu-twitter-files-reveal-media-complicity-in-stunning-govt.-censorship-campaign.html

    In this episode he discusses how the media is systematically ignoring and attempting to discredit the Twitter files. He talks about how they all use the identical phrases.. something we talk about here quite a bit. He does not connect the dots and say that they are also part of the same psyop campaign, and pre-innoculating their audience to disbelieve anything this turns up is the exact same thing they did with the Biden Laptop… but the implication is clear. We have a huge propaganda machine.

    And TOS used the same phrases.

    • Nephilium

      *sigh*

      I miss pre TDS Balko.

      • cyto

        Balko was a heroic figure to me in his Reason days. His reporting on corruption in Mississippi prosecutions is the best reporting i have ever read.

        Nobody is following that beat. It really is criminal. Everything he had built up got torn down by #BLM

    • Count Potato

      It’s one of the biggest stories in U.S. history. Yet, mostly crickets, even from right-leaning outlets.

      • PieInTheSky

        right-leaning outlets are shills who like the status quo as well. I think most journos and politicians of the right lack principles or any sort of vision. They say some shit to get readers / voters but are quite content in not being disruptive.

      • cyto

        “Right leaning” means Fox… mostly establishment. Same as the rest, just for the other team. They probably get the same marching orders.

        Who else? I don’t do OANN or Brietbart or who else is there?

      • PieInTheSky

        I was speaking in general, I am not as purely US focused as you guys

      • cyto

        That brings up another point. We see a vast corruption iof the press and social media in the US. But it dovetails nicely with things happening all around the world.

        Few places have strong protections for free speech and traditions of a free press like we do…. But even given that. The worldwide lockstep over the last decade has been shocking.

        We had a rash of “populism” aka “fascism” around the world, with the press tying Trump to Bolsanero to Erdogan… French candidates are Trumpists. Weird.. Trump doesn’t even have a defining philosophy.

      • juris imprudent

        Trump doesn’t even have a defining philosophy.

        The appearance of opposition to the dictates of a corrupt ruling class. Does that really require a deep philosophical justification?

      • robc

        “The appearance of opposition to the dictates of a corrupt ruling class.”

        He sure the hell picked a lot of them for his cabinet if that was his defining philosophy.

    • cyto

      On Rumble as a platform: holy crap, do they have a long way to go. I watched 15 minutes of his show, jumped out to look at something else… and the video starts over. Dang.

      They are starting to work on playing video in an overlay window on Android, but that isn’t there yet either. I use that a lot with YouTube

      Their version of subscription and feed is nearly useless.

      The video controls are clunky.

      I really don’t see why it is so bad. Probably because YouTube built a patent wall around every obvious feature, if I had to guess.

      Net result…. Rumble might be free from state and dnc censorship, but it still has big issues.

      Better than my experience with HuffPo though.

    • PieInTheSky

      I git slightly confused thinking that text was from Balko

    • Penguin

      I mentioned this yesterday – Kim Iversen at Rumble has had a series of vids on the Twitter Files.

      • Penguin

        And I have fewer issues with Rumble – maybe Brave is a better platform for it than Firefox or whatever.

      • cyto

        I am using the app. Maybe that is my issue.

      • cyto

        Who is Kim Iverson? She has a good get on her interview…. but the video only has 4k views. I am guessing that Rumble is not her primary platform?

      • Penguin

        She’s an anchor at The Hill – along with our old buddy Rico Suave/Fruit Sushi.

        And if it makes you feel better, the YT video has 61k views.

      • Penguin

        Correction – she was an anchor at The Hill. She’s now off of Rising, so I’m not sure of her current status.

    • cyto

      NBC was on in the background this morning… they had some story about William and Harry and “he physically attacked me”….

      Now, I have a lot of thoughts on the press and the propaganda machine… but beyond that, what in the ever-loving hell is this obsession with the British royals in the American press? I flat-out don’t get it at any level.

      • juris imprudent

        The American press covers it because there is a significant slice of the American public that loves them some royals.

      • Swiss Servator

        Just look at the magazine racks at a grocery store… smdh.

      • creech

        I bet 10x as many Americans can identify Harry as can identify Kevin McCarthy. And maybe that’s a good thing.

      • juris imprudent

        The number of American women who want Harry’s dick in them versus McCarthy’s may be the ultimate ratio.

      • R.J.

        Harry Potter?

    • Michael Malaise

      He’s turning into Ian Ziering. Maybe he’ll fight some flying sharks.

  44. The Late P Brooks

    It’s different, this time

    White House health officials are cautioning against a rush to panic over the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant, which has rapidly grown to account for 40 percent of U.S. COVID-19 cases, with officials stating it is not yet known if this version is more dangerous.

    As of last week, the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant is responsible for at least 40 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. As a recombinant virus, the subvariant carries genetic data from two previous strains that descended from the BA.2 subvariant. Roughly 75 percent of cases in the Northeast are now attributed to this strain.

    Don’t panic. Don’t upset our apple cart. We’ll get through this, as we have in the past.

    • cyto

      I have a very long list of things that I do not understand about people and human nature. The inability of the populace to see how the government and press worked so hard to bring down the country just to defeat Trump is at the top of the list. Not just the Covid panic and all of the ludicrous responses there, but funding riots and then calling them mostly peaceful, putting out fake stories about white supremacists attacking Asians. On and on…. and almost nobody sees it as a single entity.

      Billions to pharmaceutical for the vaccines. Billions to defense companies for Ukraine. Don’t debate. Don’t even vote. Just send money to these companies. Anyone asking questions is a Russian plant….

      People really are cattle.

      • Rat on a train

        Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, hear the lamentation of the women. The ends justify the means.

      • juris imprudent

        Your newsletter, I wish to subscribe.

      • cyto

        Funny…. But not funny.

        Most of the stuff that is happening now is way, way, way past what I would have labeled “tinfoil hat crazy” in my youth.

      • The Other Kevin

        Same here. The Twitter stuff is part of it. I always suspected certain things, but there was always that doubt because it seemed too far-fetched or Alex Jones-ish. Not anymore. It’s all true, and it’s both scary and depressing.

      • cyto

        Back in 2003 I used to tell people “the country I grew up in used to make fun of totalitarian societies by saying “give me your papers” with a German or Russian accent. Hahaha in America you are free to come and go where you please.

        Now I am standing in line to get a pat down, with my shoes and belt in a bucket just to travel the country.

        Where exactly do I put “the FBI, CIA and basically every agency of the government is directing what can and cannot be said online, and they conspired with the press to overthrow a sitting president and to rig a presidential election”?

        In my USA, breaking into a DNC office to get a look at their strategy was the biggest scandal of all time. A coup from inside the intelligence community isn’t even a story at the New York Times today.

      • juris imprudent

        The more I learn about humanity, the less I like it. Which is funny, because there are persons I like, I just don’t like people in the aggregate.

      • kinnath

        A person can be smart.

        People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals.

      • juris imprudent

        That’s another thing – fucking movie lines that are more profound than shit Socrates said. Who would have ever thought that when they were young?

        That’s a great one, just like Joker saying “everyone goes along with the plan, even if the plan is horrifying”.

      • Penguin

        What!? WHAT?! You can’t be serious! (Flips out, turns over tables) YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!!

      • Mojeaux

        My biggest disappointment was a right-leaning contractor I subcontracted for, who would not believe that shutting down the economy was, long-term, worse for everybody than shutting down the economy “to flatten the curve.” I thought she was smarter and more forethoughtful than that.

      • Homple

        If you consider the idea that we’re living in Western East Germany most of this makes sense.

  45. Rebel Scum

    CWAA.

    Asked what he hopes to see when he allegedly visits the southern border next week, Biden jokes “peace and security.”

    • R.J.

      I hope he gets nailed in the head with a liter bottle of grape soda from a coyote.

      • Tres Cool

        Our hispanic sharpshooter can likely clairify, but I think Jarrito’s only comes in orange

      • slumbrew

        Incorrect. There are several varieties.

        Source: the burrito place down the street.

      • Tres Cool

        Damn my racism….at my Kroger Ive only seen orange.
        And some sort of sangria stuff but I dont think its Jarrito’s. And according to WIKI, there is NO grape Jarritos.

        Jarritos is or was available in fifteen flavors:

        Fruit Punch
        Grapefruit
        Guava
        Jamaica
        Lemon Lime
        Lime
        Mandarin
        Mango
        Manzana
        Mexican cola
        Passion Fruit
        Pineapple
        Strawberry
        Tamarind
        Watermelon

      • banginglc1

        NO grape Jarritos

        As it should be. All grape soda is disgusting.

      • R.J.

        I never said Jarritos anyway. Your implied raycism did. Do 20 Hail Marys and report for reprogramming.

      • Mojeaux

        All grape soda is disgusting.

        I thought I knew you.

      • KSuellington

        And they make an outstanding sparkling mineral water as well. Mineragua.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Celebrate Jarrito diversity.

      • R.J.

        There are a ton of flavors. And the grape is not Jarritos. It is an oddball sangria soda by Senorial.

    • rhywun

      I hope the video captures the reporter bursting out laughing.

      • cyto

        The Aparachiks are true believers. They know to nod knowingly and report seriously, even when his highness fries a neuron and rambles incoherently.

    • The Other Kevin

      To be fair, a peaceful secure section of the border is most likely what they will show him.

    • Michael Malaise

      Ask the residents of Del Rio if they are enjoying their “peace and security.”

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Very good one

      • Michael Malaise

        I am quite shocked he survived his political assassination attempt.

    • cyto

      Needs a breather for repositioning and resupply.

    • Swiss Servator

      Russia’s professed readiness came with the usual preconditions: that “Kyiv authorities fulfill the well-known and repeatedly stated demands and recognize new territorial realities,”

      “Surrender”

      • R C Dean

        How do you say “I am altering the deal, pray I do not alter it any further” in Russian?

      • Rat on a train

        перемирие

  46. The Late P Brooks

    ‘Disruptive’ science has declined — and no one knows why

    We already know everything there is to know.

    • cyto

      Clearly, the science is settled.

      • The Other Kevin

        The widespread use of this phrase is pretty much the answer.

    • cyto

      Serious answer… when I was a student, 1 in 2 or 1 in 3 grant proposals deemed “worthy of funding” got funded.

      Now it is 1 in 5 or 1 in 7.

      Maybe worse.

      Back then, being buddies with the too guys was really important. How much more so now?

      Everyone chases the political popular topics. Everyone is grabbing the same oar and trying to row the same way… which means the boat goes in circles. No progress is made.

      • Rat on a train

        You get research that supports what the funders want.

      • juris imprudent

        So really, you start with the conclusion and find the data to support that.

      • Rat on a train

        There are options if the data doesn’t support the conclusion. Have I shown you my black-box model?

      • The Other Kevin

        Works for journalism, might as well work for science too.

      • creech

        Funders, like trial lawyers, only ask questions they already know the answer to.

      • Fatty Bolger

        I noticed a lot of RCT’s on the effectiveness of masking against COVID were started, but never published. Some had early results showing no effectiveness, but they didn’t bother publishing. Others looked like they weren’t getting the results they wanted, so the trials were stopped.

      • cyto

        I believe this.

        The science on this was settled 20 years ago. Lots of studies in Asia where masking is a social norm.

        More interesting…. I know this because Steven Novella of Science Based Medicine told me so.

        Same guy told me the science was settled… Wear a mask, when mandates hit. I did not even hear him mention his prior position.

        Big Brother is real.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      History has ended.

  47. The Late P Brooks

    75% of how many?

    Because it’s not that many.

    Data is just white supremacist trcknology. Don’t belittle the lived experience of the outlier. One death (from the Current Thing) is too many.

  48. The Late P Brooks

    White House public Health Directive:

    There is no reason to panic if we no longer benefit politically from the plague.

  49. The Late P Brooks

    Trust us

    President Joe Biden’s efforts to cancel student debt for millions of Americans “fall comfortably” within the law and enjoy “clear authorization” from Congress, the Justice Department argued Wednesday in its opening brief defending the policy before the Supreme Court.

    The court filing, submitted late Wednesday evening, marks the beginning of a high-stakes battle at the court in the coming months over the fate of one of Biden’s major domestic policy programs.

    The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in February in two cases challenging the debt relief program, which provides up to $20,000 of loan forgiveness for tens of millions of borrowers.

    One case is a lawsuit by six Republican-led states, led by Nebraska and Missouri. A second case was brought by a conservative advocacy group on behalf of two Texas student loan borrowers who were partially or fully excluded from the program.

    The brief filed Wednesday largely echos the legal arguments that the Biden administration has been making in lower courts over the past several months.

    It argues, first, that the Supreme Court should toss out the case because the GOP states and Texas borrowers lack legal standing to bring the case. But, the Biden administration argues, the program is clearly legal in any event.

    Administration officials argue that they have the authority to cancel large amounts of debt under the HEROES Act, a 2003 law that gives the Education Department the power to waive the laws that typically govern federal student loans during national emergencies.

    As long as the nation has been bamboozled into believing the government has a legitimate authority to control education funding, it’s a short hop to tearing up those IOUs.

    We just want what’s best for America.

    • cyto

      Look, if Obama can steal $30 billion from GM’s secured creditors and then just give the company to the union, all using money specifically earmarked to buy Shakey mortgage portfolios… Is there really any limit to what a president can do?

      • creech

        Yes, if that president is an R.

      • cyto

        Well, clearly asking a foreign leader if there has been undo influence in their government by prior leaders is beyond what a president can do. Asking questions is almost treason.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Or how about settling a fraud case with a national bank by having them pay money directly to Democrat donor groups?

      • Michael Malaise

        Shakey’s Pizza and Mortgages was indeed a bad idea.

  50. The Late P Brooks

    Education Secretary Miguel Cardona’s “actions fall comfortably within the plain text” of the HEROES Act, the brief says.

    “See? Right here; we said we could do it, so we can.”

    • cyto

      Look, the Senate voted to confirm Kagan after she said the Federal government has the constitutional authority to require individuals to buy broccoli.

      Hewing to the law is clearly not a priority for us as a nation.

  51. Certified Public Asshat

    McCarthy's job as speaker and the job of the GOP is to say "no." That's it, since Dems control the Senate and the White House. What is the actual policy advanced by stalling him here, other than to hand Dems a PR win by depicting the House GOP as a clown show?— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 3, 2023

    Poor Ben.

    Also if that is all McCarthy needs to do, then that can still be accomplished with no speaker.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Ben’s not quite as sharp as Ben thinks Ben is.

    • R C Dean

      “McCarthy’s job as speaker and the job of the GOP is to say “no.”

      And what makes anyone think McCarthy will say “no” to the Dems? Didn’t he just say “yes” to the omnibus spending blowout?

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I think he voted no?

  52. The Late P Brooks

    I noticed a lot of RCT’s on the effectiveness of masking against COVID were started, but never published. Some had early results showing no effectiveness, but they didn’t bother publishing. Others looked like they weren’t getting the results they wanted, so the trials were stopped.

    Sometimes the SCIENCE! needs a little coaxing. If that won’t work, we’ll lock it in the basement without supper.

  53. The Late P Brooks

    “The lower courts’ orders have erroneously deprived the Secretary of his statutory authority to provide targeted student-loan debt relief to borrowers affected by national emergencies, leaving millions of economically vulnerable borrowers in limbo,” the Justice Department wrote.

    Or, to put it another way, everybody we have shown this to says it’s bullshit.

    • R C Dean

      See, COVID is still a national emergency when we want to give money away, but not when we are asked to secure the border.

      • juris imprudent

        And there is statutory authority even though you won’t find it in the law that Congress passed!

    • R.J.

      Why go over there? You know the whole place was skin suited. Visiting will only make you cry.

      • Tres Cool

        It makes me sad to see whats come of it. I may have mentioned, but I found TOS by picking up reason magazine while I was waiting somewhere. I visited the site, and immediately the comments section of every article sucked me in. You people kept me up for hours at night (when I worked like a normal person) giggling at the snark.

        I still chuckle at the comment I read in a thread about a ROOMBA where someone said (paraphrased) “ours is like a drunken runaway teenager that cant seem to find her way home”.

      • R.J.

        I had a friend in California that had the magazine at his house, circa late eighties or early nineties. That’s how I found it. And I hate what it became.

      • Mojeaux

        Agile Cyborg #FTW!

    • Fatty Bolger

      Many Senate Republicans likely fall about where Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) lands: “Continuing our support for Ukraine is morally right, but it is not only that,” he tweeted in December. “It is also a direct investment in cold, hard, American interests.”

      Uh-huh. What interests would those be?

      • Grumbletarian

        The interest McConnell has in buying another mansion.

      • Tres Cool

        He needs to move more coke.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      JFC

      That article is nothing more than character attacks.

      YOU’RE NOT OPPOSING ALL THE WARS SO WHY ARE YOU OPPOSING THIS ONE? GET WITH THE PROGRAM.

  54. DEG

    Old Guy Music is excellent.

    • R.J.

      I want that on a tshirt.

  55. Scruffy Nerfherder

    I need to get this colonoscopy over with now so I can eat. I’m watching the dog and salivating.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I think he senses it. He just scuttled off.