Go Get Your VD Gifts Monday Afternoon Links

by | Feb 13, 2023 | Daily Links | 254 comments

So yeah, if you’re lucky enough to have partnered up, better make sure you’ve got the gifts lined up. I, er… need to run a few errands meself. It kind of snuck up on me this year. I blame someone else. I am an excellent husband and partner. Excellent. The best. You can ask my wife, but no need to. Other than that, I nearly avoided the Superbowl half-time show, until my wife called me out to see it because a friend’s husband called it “a bunch of baby chickens” and “an Eskimo rave”. My five seconds of watching confirmed he was not wrong.

Links… links… let’s see…

This is pretty damn great, why does it always have to be shit with ze Germans? Rubbing dog shit in a critic’s face must be a great feeling. Even if probably not the right action.

I’m already making plans to ensure my kids never hear about this. Ever.

U-Haul, the preferred rental brand of terrorists. (h/t Playa Manhattan)

Way to go, Florida Woman. Seriously, I think we know who had the bigger balls in that confrontation.

Hobo Steve stiffs lawyers.

 

This song got stuck in my head, so now its stuck in yours.

About The Author

Brett L

Brett L

Brett set out to find America, the real America, the America of strip malls and serial killers, of butthole waxing and kelp smoothies, of cocaine and maggots. He sought it in the most American part of America—Florida: swamp gas and fever dreams, where love arrives on a rickety boat and leaves when it doesn't have the money for its fourth abortion. Oh, where has Brett gone? He’s drinking at the neck of America’s wang, chewing its foreskin and working its shaft. Brett is becoming legend. Brett can never die. Brett can never die. Brett is America, facedown in his own patriotic puke: the red his blood, the white his stomach lining, and the cold, cold blue his gas station slushie, spiked with coconut rum and tetracycline.

254 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    “Dance like hypnotized chickens”

    You’re not my boss!

  2. Count Potato

    At least it wasn’t German scat porn.

  3. Count Potato

    I remember when a bunch of people were against Barney because the guy in the suit was black.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Hmm, I thought it was because he was one of those tantric sex gurus.

    • Rat on a train

      I thought it was because Barney was annoying.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        People who annoy you?

  4. Count Potato

    “A person driving a U-Haul box truck hit and injured several people in a “violent rampage” in Brooklyn on Monday morning before being taken into custody, the New York Police Department said.”

    That sounds like more than just an accident.

    • Brett L

      Especially since some guy who did the same thing while shouting ‘Aloha Snackbar’ is being sentenced this week.

      • Count Potato

        “Police sources said the man driving the truck yelled, “Shoot me. I’m not stopping” to cops who tried to pull him over. After he was taken into custody following a 30-minute chase, the sources said he told the officers he “wanted to die.” Senior law enforcement sources identified the suspect as Weng Sor, a 62-year-old man with no prior arrests and a history of mental illness.”

        “The incident appeared random, according to the sources, who said cops were probing whether the driver was homeless and living out of the truck.

        Cops gave him two tickets for traffic infractions on the Belt Expressway in that same truck just this month, according to the sources.

        He also had one prior run-in with cops for a mental health call in 2019, the sources said. In that case, he was seen yelling and jumping into moving traffic on a street in Queens and taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation, the sources added.”

        Sounds like crazy, more than terrorist.

      • WTF

        Asian drivers, right?

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Between this and the two recent mass shootings in CA, Asians are really punching above their weight lately. Time to stop AAPI Hate!

      • Not Adahn

        Nuh-uh. The overwhelming majority of terrorist attacks are by white supremacists, the FBI said so!

    • rhywun

      Way too local. Just read about this on the Post.

      My plans this morning almost took me to the same corner at the same time the first victim was hit, but I chose a different supermarket instead because I needed vapes and that was in the other direction. 😮

      • Count Potato

        See? And they say vaping is bad for your health.

  5. Rebel Scum

    Go Get Your VD Gifts

    I guess vinerial disease is a kind of gift.

    • Brett L

      The gift that keeps on itching

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      “Honey, I got you crabs”

      “Oh, I love them with garlic butter!”

      “yeaaaaahhhhh, ’bout that….”

  6. Count Potato

    “The Florida woman then began screaming, which startled the suspect who then tripped and fell with his genitals hanging out of his pants, according to a news release.”

    So, Monday?

    • Count Potato

      “It happened Friday, Feb. 10”

      Oh, that’s different.

    • Count Potato

      “Adkins faces charges of robbery with a firearm, aggravated assault with deadly weapon, false imprisonment, sexual battery, petit theft, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting arrest without violence, officials said.”

    • Michael Malaise

      Wait, he was a Florida Man, correct? I mean, duh.

  7. Rebel Scum

    The director of a leading German ballet company has been suspended from his post and is being investigated by police after allegedly smearing a critic’s face with his dog’s excrement at the premiere of his new show after she described one of his productions as “boring” and “disjointed”.

    He was having a ruff day.

    • The Other Kevin

      In this case, his bite was worse than his bark.

    • Animal

      That should give that critic paws.

    • The Other Kevin

      That really was quite a tail.

    • juris imprudent

      A flaming bag on the doorstep just wasn’t personal enough?

    • Spudalicious

      Maybe if they had added some Scat to the program, this wouldn’t have happened.

    • J. Frank Parnell

      Oh come on, it’s Germany, they’re into that shit.

      • Spudalicious

        So, foreplay?

      • J. Frank Parnell

        Yes, according to some videos I’ve seen.

  8. DEG

    Mattel has announced plans to relaunch the Barney franchise with a new slate of content as well as toys and merchandise.

    Will Barneystein come back too?

    • R.J.

      We can only hope. Barneystein is the game we need now.

    • Tonio

      Nerds!

  9. Rebel Scum

    “Barney’s message of love and kindness has stood the test of time,” said Josh Silverman, chief franchise officer and global head of consumer products at Mattel. “We will tap into the nostalgia of the generations who grew up with Barney, now parents themselves, and introduce the iconic purple dinosaur to a new generation of kids and families around the world across content, products, and experiences.”

    Can’t wait to meet Barney the Groomer. Dude is purple and he likes to hang with kids. The signs are all there.

    • The Other Kevin

      Barney’s message of love and kindness has stood the test of time, but we have to update it for a modern audience, so he’ll teach the kids who to hate.

      • Rat on a train

        Barney will teach the kids what love is.

      • Nephilium

        Barney’s love is very different from that of a square.

      • Rebel Scum

        I love you, you love me.
        Let’s get together and kill whitey.
        With a cement milkshake and brick pallet too.
        I hope to hate whitey with you.

      • rhywun

        My immediate thought.

    • invisible finger

      Can we get a team-up of Barney and STEVE SMITH?

    • R C Dean

      Interesting dilemma – Barney the groomer or Barney the SJW? I guess you could combine the two – “you’re white and bad and should cut off your junk” – but it seems kind of a mixed message.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      BARNEY SMITH!

  10. The Late P Brooks

    Well played, Florida Woman.

  11. The Other Kevin

    Thankfully my youngest is 18, and my 4 year old nephew is into that Spider Man animated show, so I may escape Barney this time.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    I watched twenty minutes of Farewell My Lovely in place of that halftime dog and pony show.

    • Homple

      I thought Robert Mitchum made a pretty good Philip Marlowe–in that movie anyway.

      • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

        Mmm… Charlotte Rampling.

      • Homple

        Yes, Rampling with Charlotte would have been most pleasant.

  13. Rebel Scum

    Sewell said the police know “a very limited amount” about the suspect, and declined to release his name and age.

    It seems you know enough.

    • rhywun

      That article is pay-blocked but his name is “Weng Sor, a 62-year-old man with no prior arrests but a history of mental illness”.

      • juris imprudent

        Now if he was a Florida Man it would’ve been Wang Sor.

  14. B.P.

    “Other than that, I nearly avoided the Superbowl half-time show, until my wife called me out to see it because a friend’s husband called it “a bunch of baby chickens” and “an Eskimo rave”.”

    At the Super Bowl party I attended, as soon as Rihanna walked out, a chorus went up: “Wait, is she pregnant? Doesn’t she look pregnant? She’s pregnant!”

    • Michael Malaise

      It was a boring show, but I commend her for basically just sticking to singing her hits.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        I don’t think she was singing.

    • Fatty Bolger

      My wife was a little slow, it took her several milliseconds before she finally noticed.

  15. Tundra

    Hi Brett!

    I love that song, so no worries. The video is fun, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPemyipJzAM

    Luckily I married a woman who thinks Valentines Day is stupid. Winning!

    • Nephilium

      The garage door I ordered at the end of November is getting installed tomorrow, that’s a VD gift, right?

      • Tundra

        Absolutely. Mama’s gonna be very happy, indeed!

      • Nephilium

        On the more serious side, I picked her up this Lego kit.

      • Lackadaisical

        I saw that one, how does it look in person?

      • Nephilium

        Still in the box, she hasn’t started the assembly yet. I got her the Orchid kit for Christmas, which she really liked. This one appears to be a little sturdier than the Orchid kit, but it’s just the bouquet of flowers, no Lego vase for them to sit in.

        The built model at the Lego store looked good, so I expect it to come out decently.

    • Lackadaisical

      *fist bump*

      My wife is the same way.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Mrs OBE isn’t big on Valentines because romance shouldn’t be in a tidy box on one day.

      • R C Dean

        It should be kept locked up all year?

      • J. Frank Parnell

        A tidy box is very important for romance.

    • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

      Frau Von Zwak isn’t a big VD day person either. But, dishwasher being installed!

    • The Other Kevin

      So the purpose of the balloons was to derail trains. Did not see that coming.

    • Rat on a train

      We just have normal track congestion at Union Station. I’d be fine if they cleansed with fire.

    • rhywun

      They’ll be right over; there are a couple henhouse fires to deal with first.

    • Homple

      One near Fairmont, MN as well.

  16. The Other Kevin

    The Mrs. and I just exchange cards on VD, because our anniversary is today so we put more into that. This year I got her the most unromantic gift ever, and she loved it. This Lunar New Year will be year of the rabbit, and that’s her year. So I found this LEGO set: https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/lunar-new-year-parade-80111

    • rhywun

      Holy crap that is all kinds of problematic. I love it.

  17. DEG

    Pamela Smart wants a commutation hearing

    The Executive Council has already denied Pamela Smart’s request for a commutation hearing three times. She is asking the Supreme Court to rule that a commutation hearing should be held.

  18. Michael Malaise

    “Hobo Steve stiffs lawyers.”

    Is this a bad thing? I’m on the fence.

    • Rat on a train

      STEVE SMITH stiffs lawyers …

      • Shirley Knott

        But it’s different when HE does it!

  19. Stinky Wizzleteats

    I knew several people with small kids in the ‘90s who would have gladly murdered Barney’s creator if given the chance who were otherwise fine people. It’ll be interesting to see how the emasculated millennial generation handles it.

    • Drake

      “Authorities” decided they would burn these chemicals.

      So if the guys at the local chemical plant notice a spill, okay if they just light it up?

      • Tundra

        Three more nasties “discovered” today.

        Fuck you, EPA. Every goddamn shipment has a manifest. It doesn’t take 10 minutes to figure out, much less 10 days.

      • Spudalicious

        It’s a tough call. Burn it off, or risk a leak complete with vapor clouds.

    • Drake

      Reading downthread as much as possible without a Twitter account, it sounds like the bosses did some creative new risk management with the railways.

    • Grummun

      I can believe that cutting costs on inspections and maintenance will lead to more accidents. The drum-banging about “rich wall street fatcats,” however, starts the agenda-driven alarm ringing, and makes me wonder how the agenda colors the rest of the reporting.

      • rhywun

        This.

      • Homple

        Hey! It’s the unions fault! Right?

  20. Tundra

    We missed the whole Barney thing, but Dora the Explorer and Bob the Builder were no walk in the park.

    Diabolically crafted ear worms.

    • Lackadaisical

      Swiper, no swiping.

      • The Gunslinger

        I’m the map, I’m the map, I’m the map!

      • Fatty Bolger

        Dora wouldn’t be so bad, if she and every other character on that show would just stop yelling every single word they say.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yeah, I should have put an exclamation point on the end of that to get more of the effect.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I thought you were going to say 10 years older and having dads take their children for the ‘live action’ movie to uh…entertain the kids.

      • Michael Malaise

        Sorry. That video was dumb. But there’s plenty of examples of Calliou being shitty and never called out for it.

    • Animal

      Our youngest was into Teletubbies for about a year.

      Yipes. Just yipes.

      Upside: Now she’s 26, and we have fun razzing her about it.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Didn’t have to go through those. The two older kids enjoyed Backyardigans and Bubble Guppies. Dinosaur Train was a good one. My then about 5 year old daughter went up to a paleontologist at the local museum who had some dinosaur models out and said that’s an ovaraptor, that’s a pterodon, that’s a …, and so on. Paleontologist had a dumbstruck look and laughed when I mentioned Dinosaur Train.

      • one true athena

        Backyardigans had a couple songs I thought were clever and overall I didn’t find it as irritating as some preschool stuff.

    • creech

      Peppa Pig for the granddaughter, and Thomas for me.

      • Fourscore

        GI Joe for my son, a talking doll for my daughter

    • Fatty Bolger

      Caillou. Caillou was the worst.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Bob the Builder and Blues Clues…

      • Ownbestenemy

        Oh and Hot Wheels. The same Hot Wheels movie over and over and over and over.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        My kids watched Cars and Wall-E on repeat.

    • The Other Kevin

      Spidey and his Amazing Friends is the best thing Marvel is putting out now. There I said it.

      • Nephilium

        I still carry a grudge against Disney for not continuing on with Spectacular Spider-Man.

    • Old Man With Candy

      I had to suffer through Caillou, Teletubbies, AND Noddy. Fuck, I should get a medal.

      At least my kid loved Japanese Iron Chef.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Bluey, Daniel Tiger, Cocomelon, Peppa Pig and various others that rotate in and out of favor. The kids have a veritable smorgasbord of annoying animated shows.

      At least I make sure some vintage Tom & Jerry and Three Stooges make it in the rotation. The kids need some culture.

      • Compelled Speechless

        Those are my kids favorites. And Blippi. If you don’t know who that is, do yourself the biggest favor ever and don’t look it up and for the love of god, don’t show it to your kids.

        I did get my daughter into OG Ducktales for about a week.

      • Lackadaisical

        Fuck Blippi.

    • The Last American Hero

      Sean the sheep of as much better. And Nina for bedtime stories. Yummy

    • J. Frank Parnell

      Octonauts or gtfo.

  21. KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

    Not thinking about Valentines Day is one perk of being single. Maybe I’ll make myself a steak tomorrow anyway.

    • Lackadaisical

      Never a bad day for a steak.

    • Shpip

      STEVE SMITH BRING YOU THE MEAT! AND BY BRING MEAT MEAN…

    • creech

      C’mon, KK, you and all the other Glib women are our Valentine’s.

      • Lackadaisical

        Try to cheer her up, not make her sad. 😛

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yeah we are hemorrhaging mythical libertarian women and this is like putting tourniquet on the neck.

      • B.P.

        *large plumes of pepper spray in every direction*

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Another perk: if you want flowers you can pick some up tomorrow for yourself and get a good deal.

    • Old Man With Candy

      I’m trying to parse the etiquette. I was lucky enough to be married to a woman who thought the whole florist/Hallmark holiday thing was bullshit, but now I’m out in the world… NPR Lady would have expected roses, top of the line ones, but she’s out of the picture. Now there’s Gerontologist, but I don’t know if she’s a Valentines freak or not, and we’ve only been out twice. Do I make a gesture? My rule of thumb is “yes” if I’ve seen her naked. I haven’t, so I’m in Terra Incognito.

      • Animal

        If it was me, I’d go for the flowers. Going the extra mile seldom goes wrong.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yeah a modest flower arrangement never is wrong.

      • Fourscore

        Might provide the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, OM.

      • Spudalicious

        You’ve had two dates. Wish her a happy Valentines and be done with it.

      • DEG

        I agree with Spud.

        I use sex as the deliminator with Athena’s “seeing her on Valentine’s” as the exception. In other words, if we’ve had sex (penis in the vagina, oral doesn’t count) OR seeing each other on Valentine’s Day, then I’ll do something special. Otherwise, nothing special beyond maybe a “Happy Valentine’s Day”.

      • DEG

        And as soon as I hit submit, I realized I’m probably the last person anyone should take dating advice from.

      • Spudalicious

        Well, the fact you agreed with me pretty much validates it.

      • one true athena

        are you seeing her ON Valentine’s? then I’d advise something – chocolate box from the store or not fancy flowers. If you’re just texting/phoning, a verbal wish is good.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Nope, not until the weekend. I avoid doing anything like dinner on ValDay or Mothers’ Day. And since it’s two hours each way and a weeknight, it ain’t happening anyway.

        Your advice seems sound, thanks.

      • Count Potato

        dick in a box

      • Not Adahn

        I thought she pronounced you “too close to her area of study?”

      • The Hyperbole

        Buy her a Caddilac.

      • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

        As the prophets foretold.

      • R.J.

        It’s not too late to have a 55 gallon drum of lube delivered via Amazon.

      • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

        Dinner, but nowhere too fancy. You want to acknowledge it, but not make it a creeper thing.

      • KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

        Oh yes. I pity your dilemma. Very hardship. Much struggle.

      • R.J.

        Heh heh.
        The sincerity! It burns!

  22. DEG
    • Fourscore

      White people got natural rhythm.

      • The Last American Hero

        Buddy Rich nods.

    • Ownbestenemy

      The review called for the federal government to ban the sale of mental health data on the open market.

      Why not the outright ban? Seems they want to be part of the selling of the data.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      There are two apps, each with infinite permutations. “Data collection app masquerading as ________” and “advertising platform masquerading as _______”

  23. Animal

    We don’t pay too much attention to Feb 14th. But then, for us, every day is Valentine’s Day.

      • Fourscore

        Me: Feb 14th is coming in a couple days…

        Mrs F: Is that the day we get our prescriptions renewed?

      • Tundra

        Legit LOL!

  24. Not Adahn

    So, does Forrest Whittaker have the best agent in existence or what? How else does an ugly fat guy keep getting not just lead roles, but lead roles playing badasses?

    • Count Potato

      He’s a good actor. I never thought he was ugly.

      • The Other Kevin

        A glass eye and a crystal ball?

      • Not Adahn

        He’s not as far out on the ugly fat guy spectrum as Dennis Franz, but then again who is?

  25. Drake

    Walking the dog just now, a bunch of boys in the neighborhood were running around with wooden swords and shields. The young toxic masculinity was a ray of sunshine.

    • Tundra

      Woohoo! That’s most of the boys in my neighborhood, too.

      My son got up at 3am Sunday morning and hiked almost 5 miles up to an alpine lake with his ice fishing gear on his back.

      Solo.

      There’s still some toxicity left!

      • robc

        Ice fishing seems like a good way to register for the Darwin Award.

      • Tundra

        Lol, no. The ice was 4 feet thick.

  26. Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

    New dishwasher being installed tomorrow.

    Boom!

    • Ownbestenemy

      This is a setup…

      • Tundra

        Nah, his mail order bride is arriving.

      • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

        Lol.

        Wife loled too.

    • rhywun

      Best Valentine ever, I bet.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Another glib changing out a spouse?

  27. The Late P Brooks

    we’ve only been out twice. Do I make a gesture?

    My completely reliable advice: text her a picture of a flower.

    • The Last American Hero

      Carnations. Roses are for naked people.

  28. Ownbestenemy

    So the very public balloon that drifted across the country has pictures of it, us shooting it down, etc. The additional three we have none and only the government word that they did it? I will say, they mopped up the weekend news cycle and as a bonus can make all the claims that previous Administration failed at detecting *checks notes* these objects that we have no proof were there but we swear they were and look at us! We found them!

    • one true athena

      and there’s no debris to recover, apparently. sure.

  29. Count Potato

    “”There is no, again, no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns.”

    White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed alien speculation in a briefing Monday regarding the latest downed unidenitified objects.”

    https://twitter.com/AP/status/1625219255129210880

    So it was aliens.

    • Ownbestenemy

      They are just drawing from the 1950s playbook.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Then she licked her eyeball with her tongue?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Wait…that might not be a bad thing

      • slumbrew

        She’s a vegetarian, dude. She’s not interested in meat.

    • Fourscore

      And no indication it wasn’t aliens either

    • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

      Hey, as long as they are legal!

  30. db

    Ownbestenemy: Are you going to try to see Nick Rekieta in Vegas next week?

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Course correction

    Recently, Akio Toyoda surprised everyone when he announced stepping down as Toyota’s CEO and president. His successor Koji Sato, who led the Lexus brand, wants to turn Toyota into an EV powerhouse, a marked departure from the company’s past strategy. Sato promises a drastic strategy change to reinvent the world’s largest carmaker.

    Toyota is considered by many the Nokia of the automotive industry, the next big company to fail because it doesn’t see fundamental changes happening in the market. While the world embraced electric vehicles and traditional carmakers scrambled to adapt to the new reality, Toyota insisted that EVs are overhyped. Not only that, but it tried to stifle EV adoption for everyone via lobbying efforts to compensate for its short-sightedness. When it became clear that didn’t work, Akio Toyoda surprised everyone with an overwhelming EV strategy, with more than 30 EVs slated to launch by 2030.

    Since then, Toyota’s relationship with electric vehicles has been inconsistent. One year later, the Japanese carmaker has only one EV in production, the bZ4X. It is also a complete failure, not only as an electric vehicle but as a car, considering that its wheels fall off. From time to time, Toyota either announced new EV plans or insisted they were crap, all at the same time, confusing its customers and investors alike. This was the atmosphere at the company when Akio Toyoda announced his surprise departure.

    The new CEO Koji Sato will take over on April 1, but he wants all to know that he is no joke. Sato pledged to drastically revamp the carmaker and reinvent it as an EV-first mobility company. The upcoming CEO announced his new team on Monday and promised to accelerate EV rollout, starting with the luxury brand Lexus. Sato also talked about Toyota’s new electric-only architecture, which is expected to arrive in 2026.

    Everything we said made too much sense. We must join the parade of lemmings.

    • rhywun

      Sigh. When actual reality bites back, it’s not going to be pretty, is it.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Yep: The Gods of the Copybook Headings:

        And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
        When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
        As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
        The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

    • Tundra

      Dumb fucks. 90 percent of the cars out here are Subarus and Toyotas.

    • Rat on a train

      Right now I will take a hybrid over an EV.

      • Tundra

        Hybrids make some sense. Until you consider the complexity. One of my neighbors had a Highlander that puked a charging control unit. $5K.

        That pays for a lot of fixin’ on a boring ICE.

      • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

        Most of the demand boils down to whether or not you thing Global Warming/whatever they are using this week/Climate Change is an issue.

      • Rat on a train

        Boring ICE vehicles are now loaded with expensive-to-repair electronics.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        Yes…

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I never thought I’d say something like this but the new Prius looks pretty freaking sweet and I’d like to get one.

    • R C Dean

      Well, crap. Toyota was the only car company talking sense. Glad we just got one. Probably won’t need a new car for at least 10 years. By then the EV bubble should have popped. Ample bailouts all around, I’m sure, as the car companies go under trying to carry billions of unproductive investment in EVs, so that silver lining has a dark cloud, too.

    • Count Potato

      Toyota made the Prius.

    • Not Adahn

      That is a pretty gun. What do you expect it to go for?

      • R C Dean

        Holy crap. That is a Damascus barrel. Gorgeous. Be careful with that thing.

      • Animal

        It’s supposedly been sleeved and nitro-proofed. My Henry Tolley double is the same way. Both my Tolley and this gun have 2 1/2″ chambers, which makes finding ammo… interesting, but when you find it, it’s usually low-pressure ammo made for these old guns.

        I took the Tolley out after spruce grouse last fall, and even with low-pressure Brit loads with #7 shot, it dropped big sprucies with aplomb.

      • Animal

        I’ll be surprised if it goes over a grand. The younger guys are all about Tacticool, and lots of us old farts hesitate at the idea of 2 1/2″ chambers.

      • Lackadaisical

        So in a few years I’ll be able to get some really good guns really cheap?

      • Animal

        Maybe sooner. In 2019 I picked up a gorgeous Model 12 Black Diamond Trap gun, made in 1940, for about $950. I had expected it to go for twice that.

        Of course there are always the guys who think their shit is gold-plated. At the Big Lake gun show, two years in a row, there has been this guy with an old 20-gauge Model 12 field gun, made late Thirties, nothing special, maybe 40% original finish, no checkering, corncob fore-end. He wants $1200 for it. “That’s a Winchester Model 12,” he says. “It’s a collectible gun!” To which the proper reply is “No, it’s just old, you can get these old field guns for $400 on Gunbroker all day. Now if it was a Pigeon Grade or a skeet gun, you’d have something.”

        There are some good deals out there if you’ve got some patience to keep watching. But there’s no doubt, the times, they are a’changing. I was in the Bass Pro Shops in Anchorage a while back, they have a very small rack of used guns. I asked the 20-something clerk if they had any Model 12s. He didn’t know what they were. The fucking gold standard of pump shotguns, the gun that was known as the Perfect Repeater, and he didn’t know what they were.

        Kids these days. No culture.

      • Count Potato

        They just have a different culture.

      • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

        There is also that one guy wandering around a show who got a good deal once, once, and things he knows gun pricing. A gun is worth only what the buyer and seller agree on. I was bidding on a old BSA shotgun last night, but didn’t meet the min bid, as it has a wrong stock that is just hideous, both in shape and whatever they did to butcher it onto that gun. It will sell eventually, but it might take a while for the right person to spot it. Then again, who ever WAS the high bidder might have reached out to him and met him halfway. Dunno.

      • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

        Oh, and a Ithaca 37 is the gold standard of pumps. Which is a perfect repeater, not mearly know as.

      • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

        Not too hard to roll your own; cut paper hulls down, load to the specs on the proofs and roll crimp. That is what I plan to do with mine, once I sort out a few things.

    • DEG

      🙂

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Toyota needs to completely rethink its engineering and manufacturing operations to compete with the EV leader Tesla. The fact that its new EV architecture only arrives in 2026 doesn’t look very promising for Toyota. It may be only two years from now, but the automotive landscape changes a lot faster now than it did when Toyota built its empire. Tesla is already making much more money per car than Toyota and intends to make even more with Project Highland.

    What is certain is that Sato has a very difficult task ahead. And even though he is determined to change the mentality at Toyota, he might not be allowed to do so. In his departure speech, Akio Toyoda hinted at his failed attempts to modernize the company. “The new team can do what I can’t do,” he said without offering more details. Let’s hope he is right and Sato will be offered more leeway in pursuing his EV strategy. Or we will have another Nokia in our lives.

    Toyota should be more like BMW.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      Oh what a bunch of horseshit

      • R.J.

        Really. All it means is the last CEO wasn’t an idiot. He will let the new guy take that fall.

    • rhywun

      Make driving unaffordable again. Imagine the time savings when all those dirty poors aren’t out there polluting the earth.

      • Sensei

        OT the Brooklyn U haul crazy did take out one of the many delivery scooter drivers.

        So I’m torn. Kidding aside I hope he isn’t one of the hospitalized.

        I’m sure it was both insured and licensed.

      • rhywun

        did take out one of the many delivery scooter drivers

        3, according to the Post.

        I was just grousing to myself today about all the fucking scooters littering the sidewalks as I was navigating my shopping buggy around them.

      • rhywun

        Cops gave him two tickets for traffic infractions on the Belt Expressway in that same truck just this month, according to the sources.

        Wut

      • rhywun

        Apparently, he is mentally ill.

      • R.J.

        I never would have guessed.

    • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

      More like BMW? So, completely lose the plot and make shit cars?

    • The Gunslinger

      The most we’ve ever spent to buy a vehicle is around $15k. I don’t care what type of propulsion system it uses, I will never buy a brand new car. I can’t afford a $100k Corvette just the same as I can’t afford a $100k Tesla.

  33. Scruffyy Nerfherder

    So which glibs are around Orlando?

    I’m in town and had to leave the family at home.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      Are there no glibs in or around the Villages? I mean c’mon, I figured for certain there would be.

    • Lackadaisical

      nobody?

      There is at least one Tampaite.

    • Urthona

      I’ll be there this coming weekend.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        Too late. pickle, too late…

    • Shpip

      Missed me by *that* much.

      Got into Orlando Friday afternoon, went back to Gainesville Sunday afternoon.

  34. R.J.

    I wrote a pram about the stinky German man. It proves I must still keep my day job. Someday I will be America’s poet:

    See the German man
    What does he have in his hand?
    Is it a fluffy bird?
    Oh no! It’s a giant turd!
    It is not Austrian sexy time
    So what does he have on his mind?
    His hand moves fast, like springy tree branches
    And suddenly I have a dirty Sanchez!

    -The End

    • Count Potato

      So have you decided on Thurs movie?

      • R.J.

        Yes, Batwoman this week.

      • Count Potato

        Awesome. It’s hilarious how they can’t keep their Italian Spanish straight 🙂

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Late stage fascism

    Tesla faces a $7.5 billion ultimatum: Open up its charging network to rivals or be locked out of Biden’s EV subsidies, report says

    Tesla could find itself locked out of $7.5 billion in Biden administration subsidies if it fails to open its EV charging network up to competitors, according to a Reuters report.

    The automaker’s SuperCharger network has more stations in the US than any other charging company, but they can connect only to plugs used by Tesla cars.

    But next week, the Department of Transportation will finish drafting a requirement that will put pressure on Tesla to add the charger used by rival electric-vehicle makers, Reuters reported Friday, citing administration officials.

    If it doesn’t, that could blow its chances of benefiting from the $7.5 billion in funding the Biden administration plans to lay out to increase the number of charging stations in the US.

    They’re a private company, they can do as they please.

    • R C Dean

      Keeping the closed network may be worth more than $7.5BB to them. It is a massive selling point, in which they have invested an enormous amount. This is set up as a subsidy, but it is a borderline taking.

      • Sensei

        It’s a huge advantage for Tesla and they know it.

      • mikey

        An EV YouTube channel thinks Elon’s plan is to be the electric Exon. He already has opened up the network to some other brands. Apparently his chargers cost tenth of what everyone else’s do.

    • rhywun

      At this point I would not be surprised if the DOJ was looking for unpaid library fines in Elon’s past.

    • R.J.

      Cowboys kicker was aiming?

      • Tundra

        I was gonna say Vikings, but yeah, that works too.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      It was a fierce battle

    • Lackadaisical

      “Each Sidewinder AIM-9X costs over $400,000.”

      JFC

  36. Mojeaux

    Three years ago, on Valentine’s Day, my husband and I filed for bankruptcy. We argued (which we almost never do), went to Sam’s Club for groceries and got hot dogs. It was not a good day. Since then, I just don’t find VDay to be particularly worth celebrating.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Mmmmm…Sam’s Club hot dogs…any day you can get such a good hot dog for so cheap is actually a good day.

      • Mojeaux

        Well, come to think of it, you do make a good point.

    • hayeksplosives

      I believe I might treat myself to a galentines day.

      (I do feel ever so slightly guilty that the soon-to-be-ex already made reservations.)

      • Mojeaux

        Apparently, we are going to Outback. I forgot all about that.

        This requires me to put on a bra and go out.

    • Lackadaisical

      Protestants.

      Please stop, we surrender.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      Swords don’t bite you as often as snakes.

      • Lackadaisical

        I was just glad his friend had a shield. I was waiting for him to accidentally impale someone the whole time.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        It’s all fun and games until Willa Mae loses a limb….

    • The Last American Hero

      Only in America! I love this country!

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      At least we know they haven’t sold their souls to the devil for talent.