Thursday Morning Links

by | Jul 20, 2023 | Daily Links | 303 comments

It’s underway!

The Open is underway and a South African amateur is atop the leaderboard for the moment. The Astros won a game. And women are playing soccer in New Zealand (and not very many people are showing up). And that’s it for sports.

The Los Angeles government is really tackling the serious issues. Maybe next time Universal can just have a bunch of bums set up tents on the sidewalk instead. Then the city can applaud them for their bravery.

The New York government is really tackling the serious issues. Maybe next time these groups can just have a bunch of bums stab people on the sidewalk for prizes instead. Then the state can excuse them due to systemic problems.

Yeah, I doubt they’ll take the case. The state sets venues for state trials and the SC will undoubtedly let that remain the case here.

I love this crazy woman.

I’ll note that the IRS whistleblower hearings were only mentioned on the front page of the last of those three sites, and only then toward the bottom beneath such compelling pieces as why people bite their nails and why some dumbass went to Death Valley in the summer without water. But I’m sure it was just an oversight.

Somebody on Team Biden might want to ask Dan Goldman to STFU. He’s singlehandedly pointing out the disparity in treatment of Hunter/Joe and making his own side look like they don’t believe equal treatment should be a thing.

Doesn’t she have insurance? Also, who her husband left his money to was his business, not hers.

DANGER! DANGER!

This sounds like complete bullshit. Why is this not the responsibility of the parents who gave her the food in a moving car? Oh, because McDonalds has money and the jury is comprised of idiots. Also, how are you gonna print a warning on a chicken McNugget?

“That’s some fine police research work there, Lou.” I bet he ends up with a sweet gig from the government.

I can’t wait for Chevron to be eviscerated. An executive agency should not have this kind of power to fine people arbitrarily.

This song might be an instruction manual soon. At least the war would have a nice beat, I guess. Either way, it’s a great song. And this one might be even better. Just a couple of masterpieces. Enjoy them both.

And enjoy this blisteringly hot Thursday, dear friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

303 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    “This sounds like complete bullshit.”

    How much heat can there be in one nugget?

    • Common Tater

      “the jury found McDonald’s and the franchise owner liable for the girl’s burns, but not negligent”

      How does that make sense?

      • Common Tater

        “the jury found there were no warnings put on the food, which therefore led to the girl’s injuries”

        That’s retarded.

      • Rat on a train

        That is why many items come with a warning manual these days. McDonalds needs to print up some and give them with every order and, of course, pass the cost.

      • Nephilium

        “Hold stick near centre of its length. Moisten pointed end in mouth. Insert in tooth space, blunt end next to gum. Use gentle in-out motion.”

        Wonko the Sane tried to warn us years ago.

      • mikey

        “Don’t place router bit down in lap while it is running.”
        If every warning is the result of a lawsuit – yikes.
        Direct quote from my router’s manual.

      • banginglc1

        I had one for a cymbal stand I bought that was “do not play drums during earthquake”

      • Rat on a train

        Carbon monoxide/smoke detector: “Warning: Silence feature is intended to temporarily silence the horn while you identify and correct the problem … It will not correct a CO problem or extinguish a fire.”
        I’ve been told you are supposed to learn to ignore it.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Crazy what people will do. I had a friend who sliced his leg open with a circular saw while cutting a board that was sitting in his lap.

      • R.J.

        But the parents, who gave the nugget to the kid, are not liable for sensing the heat? Also, is the kid incapable of unfastening a seat beat for a moment?
        McDonalds should issue a recorded verbal warning at the beginning if each order:

        “Welcome to McDonald’s. We aren’t liable if you hurt yourself or others trying to eat.”

      • sloopyinca

        A jury will still find for the plaintiff when people sue them because they didn’t understand the warning or because it didn’t play clearly…or simply because McDonalds has more money than the plaintiff, so fuck McDonalds.

      • R.J.

        It’s the latter. Commie is as Commie does.

      • Fatty Bolger

        The latter for sure.

      • Ozymandias

        A guy I sat next to in law school had the great quote to our Torts professor when asked about “the principle” of one of these kinds of cases:
        “The principle of the case, sir?”
        “Yes, what is the legal principle?”
        “I’m pretty sure it’s ‘Get the Man,’ Professor.”

      • Ownbestenemy

        Well well well if it isn’t Ozy!

      • Ozymandias

        Hey, OBE!
        I still come by to see links when I can.
        Kicking the government in the nuts in Court is a growth industry at the moment.
        I’m turning people away.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Oi oi oi!

        /ducks

      • Mojeaux

        Dude, we need to get together.

      • R.J.

        Hey! Good to see you!

    • UnCivilServant

      Well, if you trigger nuclear fission…

    • sloopyinca

      How much heat can there be in one nugget?

      They register 800,000 on the grifter scale.

    • Common Tater

      ““The Chicken McNuggets are not defective, they are not unreasonably dangerous, they are not dangerously hot, and there is no negligence.””

      They are also not chicken.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Once lab grown chicken meat starts being more common I’m going to studiously avoid anything that resembles chicken that doesn’t have bones in it. McNuggets and the like will be the first place where that abomination worms it’s way in.

    • SDF-7

      “Assume a quantum wormhole providing an Einstein-Rosen bridge into the corona of a nearby star….

      Oh, and of course a spherical chicken to provide the nugget.”

    • Sean

      Clearly they should have sued the child seat manufacturer too.

    • I. B. McGinty

      I want to know where this McDonald’s is that has hot food.

      • I. B. McGinty

        * scrolls down, has a sad *

    • Certified Public Asshat

      This was awhile ago, but Tim Dillon did an episode on burning your kids with chicken nuggets. It was a good one.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Well shit, can I sue the frozen pizza company cause I burned my lip on molten cheese and the warnings on the box made no mention to wait? I absolutely have been doing things wrong.

  2. Trigger Hippie

    ‘According to the lawsuit, the child was “disfigured and scarred” after a nugget got wedged between her thigh and the seatbelt. The lawsuit says the nuggets were “unreasonably and dangerously hot” and “unfit for human handling.”’

    A McDonald’s that actually gives you hot food at the drive-thru? Hell, somebody deserves a promotion.

    • UnCivilServant

      They give you cold food at the drive through because of suits like this.

      • Trigger Hippie

        Nah, I’ve worked a few part-time shifts at McDonald’s for extra income in my life. Disorganization, personal drama, and general incompetence is almost always the culprit.

      • Nephilium

        You forgot the apathy… all the apathy.

      • UnCivilServant

        Embrace the power of ‘and’, people.

      • Trigger Hippie

        Meh, whatever.

    • Sean

      A lil tiger balm should clear that right up.

    • Tonio

      “a nugget got wedged between her thigh and the seatbelt”

      So, she should obviously be suing the federal government for forcing her to wear a seatbelt which poses an obvious and foreseeable entrapment hazard.

      • Common Tater

        Did you know back in the 50’s (?) you could lose your insurance for having seatbelts because they would assume you were racing?

      • Nephilium

        I ‘member the cars with the automatic shoulder straps, and the cars that wouldn’t start without the seat belt engaged. I also ‘member the issues that both brilliant ideas caused.

      • Fatty Bolger

        My Mom had a car that would chime until the seat belt was buckled, so she would just buckle it and sit on top of it.

      • R C Dean

        Pater Dean has these standalone seat beat buckles. He just leaves them in the seats, and plugs the seat belt into them when he wants to wear it. He does a fair amount of driving around his own property, where there’s really no reason to wear them.

      • Mojeaux

        That’s what I do.

      • WTF

        “a nugget got wedged between her thigh and the seatbelt”

        Allegedly for two minutes! Do you have any idea how long two minutes actually is, with a child screaming in pain and terror from something so hot it causes disfigurement and permanent injury? Yet the parents waited a full two minutes to pull over and address the problem?

        Total bullshit, and a typical jury full of morons.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        ^ this. I’m guessing it wasn’t the nugget that burned the child that is now allowing the parents to reap this payout.

      • R C Dean

        Me neither. I’m perfectly willing to believe they would let their kid scream in agony for 2 minutes before pulling over.

        I just don’t believe a McNugget could be that hot, especially by the time it makes its way through the window, into the car, and is finally passed into the backseat. McNuggets aren’t that big; they just don’t have the mass to retain much heat for long.

      • prolefeed

        Let’s not forget that the regulatory agencies probably require that the nuggets be heated to a minimum temperature, and that lowering the temperature as a result of this lawsuit could cause a McDonalds to get fined or shut down for “food safety” issues.

      • UnCivilServant

        “We no longer offer drive-through nuggets. Please come inside.”

    • Ownbestenemy

      Would love to see the definition of ‘disfigured and scarred’ because if a nugget can cause a burn that can scar in that manner…I have questions beyond this trial. Otherwise it was a superficial red mark..unless mom is hiding something like abusing her kid and this was her wait out….

      • WTF

        Mom took a shot at the ghetto lottery and managed to hit a winning ticket.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Seems myself and RC have similar thoughts…cover up job and rolled the dice and won.

  3. SDF-7

    Somebody on Team Biden might want to ask Dan Goldman to STFU.

    Supposedly he did worst than that. Confirmed on the record from the witness that Joe was in on the business dealings with Hunter. That should at least unlock the “Cause a Special Counsel” achievement if not “Get Your Own Party Leader(hah!) Impeached” eventually.

    Being where we are… not holding my breath, mind you…

    • R.J.

      Wooo! Scary warning. That’s gonna discourage them. Maybe Texas should try a scary warning.

      • sloopyinca

        If Texas posted that warning, the feds would sue them in federal court and win.

    • SDF-7

      Oh noes… muh sanctuary cit-ah!

      Alternate (and really first) response: Did it ever go out of style?

      (hums to self… it’s got that James Dean blue jeans white t-shirt…. damn earworms…)

    • Gustave Lytton

      Next, Horshul will call out the NY Guard for service on the Rio Grande.

      • R C Dean

        I would not advise Hochul to invade certain counties along the Rio Grande . . . .

      • UnCivilServant

        If she goes in person with the legislature…

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      Love the comments.

    • Sean

      Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here.

    • Grumbletarian

      I’m sure they’ll continue to tut-tut at the treatment illegals get in border states though.

  4. SDF-7

    Re: instruction manual songs – I was as usual expecting this when it comes to societal instruction manual songs.

    • sloopyinca

      I haven’t heard that song in ages. Thank you.

    • Tundra

      Blast from the past. I forgot how good it is!

    • Ted S.

      I thought of this.

  5. Rebel Scum

    The Los Angeles City Controller’s office is investigating after NBCUniversal severely trimmed a row of trees outside its studios where members of SAG-AFTRA were picketing company executives, eliminating shade during a searing heatwave.

    Oh…

    • sloopyinca

      Universal should tell the city to trim their own trees then, since they’re on the sidewalk. Send them a bill for all the work they had to perform in the past on public property.

    • Gustave Lytton

      The headline calls them protesters. Jeezus H.

      And the snippet of violence in labor disputes…

    • Nephilium

      Those. Monsters.

  6. Rebel Scum

    New York considers ban on cash prize contests for hunting coyotes, squirrels, some other wildlife

    NYC and Albany do not understand the rest of NY.

    The contests have names such as Predator Slam, Squirrel Scramble and Final Fling for Fox, sometimes challenging hunters to bag the heaviest coyote or the heftiest bunch of squirrels to win a cash prize.

    The names are decent.

    “It’s wrong that fringe groups in these extreme contests can use our wildlife resources for money,” said Brian Shapiro, New York state director of the Humane Society of the United States. “I can’t think of any other natural resource that is used that way.”

    No one ever made money utilizing natural resources…

  7. Gustave Lytton

    Phony lawsuit or the one McDonalds where they dumped the nuggets directly from the basket into the box?

  8. Yusef drives a Kia

    We went to the moon once, and landed on 7/20/1969
    Hmmm

  9. rhywun

    [He is] making his own side look like they don’t believe equal treatment should be a thing.

    So is every other Democrat. They’re pretty open about it now, because they can be.

    • WTF

      Yup, right in your face, and what are you gonna do about it? Which is the point, to let you know who rules you, and how thoroughly you are being ruled.

      • Trigger Hippie

        I started calling it “Piss in your face politics”. Or as my friend cleverly dubbed it: The R. Kelly Politico.

      • WTF

        The R. Kelly Politico

        Stealing

  10. Sensei

    Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne resigns after student investigation

    Taken out by the student newspaper to boot! Legit LOL.

    • R.J.

      No big deal. Dems will enact a law allowing retroactive abortion up to age 10 soon.

      • Rat on a train

        Up until they can live on their own. So no age limit for some.

      • Nephilium

        We’ve been through this. The cut off is when they learn algebra.

      • invisible finger

        Thirtieth-trimester abortion.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      What’s with her face, besides tweaker sores?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Smugness, defiance, with a hint of “I might be the right color to get a DA that will let me off” look.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I meant the asymmetry and right eye. A commenter suggested Goldenhar Syndrome.

  11. Drake

    “attorneys for Feinstein and her stepdaughter, Katherine, who represents her…”

    There we go. Katherine is listed as a daughter from a previous marriage on Wikipedia. Either way, somebody not in the will is trying to get a slice of the estate. Not like Feinstein has any idea what’s going on.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Now the lawyers will get it.

      • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

        Fine by me. It’s all illicit anyway

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        40% for the big guys!

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      Feinstein has full medical coverage in perpetuity through Congress. This is definitely not about insurance.

      Of course, everything involving her condition has been nothing but lies.

      • Fourscore

        Obama care(s)

    • R C Dean

      I think the interesting question is raised by the trustees:

      Why on earth would a sitting US Senator need to have an attorney-in-fact (which amounts to a guardian)? Why, one could be forgiven for taking that to mean she is incompetent to manage her own affairs, much less serve as a Senator.

      I’m betting this is about the daughter trying to dip into the trust fund on her own, the trustees saying “Nope”, and now “Feinstein” is claiming the evil trustees are denying her money for the medical expenses her Congress Member plan doesn’t cover. Because we know how terrible those benefits are.

      Or something.

      • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

        Why on earth would a sitting US Senator need to have an attorney-in-fact (which amounts to a guardian)? Why, one could be forgiven for taking that to mean she is incompetent to manage her own affairs, much less serve as a Senator.

        This

      • Gustave Lytton

        And everyone knows it. Just like Lump, the NM senator, McConnell, and probably a bunch more in both houses.

      • prolefeed

        The primary job requirement for any elected office is that you win. Competence, or even a lack of senile dementia, are not required to serve.

  12. Sensei

    Directed by Greta Gerwig, who wrote the script with her romantic partner, Noah Baumbach, “Barbie” is a template for how not to write a crowd-pleasing Hollywood feature. Ms. Gerwig and Mr. Baumbach are accomplished indie filmmakers… who make poor choices to flesh out these characters. Try to imagine “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” as written by someone who not only hated Mario and Luigi but blamed them for highway fatalities, climate change and gorilla abuse while tossing in some Proust references. Nor do Ms. Gerwig and Mr. Baumbach have the sensibilities of kids. They pepper the film with film-nerd allusions—“2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Being There,” “The Shining,” “The Matrix”—that are likely to sail over the heads of those born this century.

    ‘Barbie’ Review: Beyond Her Ken
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/barbie-review-margot-robbie-greta-gerwig-ryan-gosling-mattel-256b6688?st=1cay9d4rz4dv2fk&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      I guess I’m not going to go see it now.

    • slumbrew

      When the Wall Street Journal sounds like The Critical Drinker…

    • The Last American Hero

      Interesting – the local paper thought it was Oscar worthy.

    • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

      I get the feeling that parents will take the girl whipper-snappers to see it, skirtlings will be bored senseless, wine moms will tell their “friends”, and the movie will tank.

  13. rhywun

    the jury is comprised of idiots

    This seems to be a common refrain.

    Is trial by jury even feasible anymore when so many Americans are so dangerously stupid?

    • R.J.

      The dangerously stupid ones who don’t even change batteries in smoke detectors are the ones who get chosen for jury duty. Anyone else gets finds or has a way out at least 80% of the time.

      • Nephilium

        There’s a reason I didn’t try to get out of jury duty the one time I got called. Didn’t get selected for a trial during the whole week of wasted time.

      • R.J.

        Same. Chosen, then at the last minute the trail was called off due to some deal.

      • WTF

        I was chosen for a jury once then the prosecutor used one of their peremptory challenges to toss me out. It was a gun case.

      • robc

        I was sure I would never be put on a jury. When voir dire started on the case and I started looking around the room, I said “Oh fuck, I am on this jury.”

        I was not the target of exclusion.

      • WTF

        During voir dire I was asked what I thought about gun control laws. This is in New Jersey. I stupidly answered honestly.

      • robc

        I made sure I was foreman on my jury.

        We were super efficient.

      • UnCivilServant

        “We find the prosecutor, Judge, and Defense attorney to be guilty.”

      • robc

        Actually, the defense attorney did a pretty good job considering her client was a extreme scumbag. The prosecution was clearly overreaching and the defense attorney even told us to find guilty on one charge (the lesser misdemeanor instead of the felony). The guy needed to spend his life in prison, but this wasn’t the case to do it on, but that is what they were going for. We found guilty on two misdemeanors, we joked afterword that with time already served, he probably beat us to the car.

        The judge did a moderate job at reigning in a circus. She thought we should have found guilty on the felony charge, but thats because she was batshit insane. I was a bit pissed off because her jury instructions didnt include the actual text of the law.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I got bounced from one jury selection, but was chosen for a murder trial. Unfortunately I was only an alternate and did not get to vote.

        Turned out OK though because the jury returned the verdict I would have voted for: innocent.

      • robc

        Innocent or not guilty?

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        Not guilty is the Bull Shit that only Scotland does. If they cannot prove a case, then there is nothing but innocence.

      • UnCivilServant

        No, Scotland does “Not Proven.”

        “Not Guilty” is what we do. It’s short for “Not Guilty Beyond a Reasonable Doubt”

        “Innocent” is not a verdict juries can return.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I read that they’ve abandoned Not Proven recently.

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        I have been on juries twice now, and the first time I was foreman. And while we found that accused to be an idiot (and I said so when reading the verdict) he was not guilty. The second one we found, mostly by dint of his machinations to show that he was not guilty, to be in fact guilty.

      • R.J.

        Nobody can adapt to misplaced soldering irons….

      • Fourscore

        Only way to test an electric soldering gun is to touch the heat element

      • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

        Do you not understand the smoke detector is for safety? Beeping is meant to be annoying, it’s supposed to make you want it to stop – and making it stop is done by changing the battery so it can function & save your life in the event of an emergency.
        But you learn to ignore it???

        That guy must be a joy in person

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Do you have to subscribe to see the replies now or am I doing something wrong?

  14. rhywun

    I can’t wait for Chevron to be eviscerated.

    I admire your optimism!

  15. sloopyinca

    This sounds like a dictatorship.

    I had no idea a governor could arbitrarily fine somebody for democratically choosing their school board and that representative group determine their curriculum.

    I’m sure the left will all be decrying this authoritarianism, right?

    • Gustave Lytton

      As with election certification, it’s all a farcical rubber stamp.

      • sloopyinca

        I guess the executive branch/governor can arbitrarily declare a law broken and impose a fine in California now. Due process is for other, less enlightened, states.

    • Rebel Scum

      A 3-2 vote saw the board again reject the material solely based on the mention of Milk, a gay rights figure who paved the way for LGBTQ+ members today

      A groomer’s groomer.

      As a result, Gov. Newsom imposed a $1.5 million fine for the district, in what he calls a “willful violation of the law.”

      Which law and in which court were they convicted?

      I’m sure the left will all be decrying this authoritarianism, right?

      Surely, you can’t be serious.

  16. Rebel Scum

    Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd, now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has declined to hear the case, his attorney said Wednesday.

    And the other two bs convictions based on contradictory sets of circumstances attributed to a single circumstance of one person allegedly inducing death on another?

    • Common Tater

      I still say everyone avoided the question, “was it because he was black?” Even if Chauvin deliberately murdered Floyd, that doesn’t mean it had anything to do with race.

      • sloopyinca

        That argument is only relevant in the federal civil rights case though. In the state murder trial, I don’t think it was mentioned.

      • Rebel Scum

        Motive should only matter as far as proving someone had a reason to do something. Punishing based on motive means thought-crime.

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        Motive is in many cases irrelevent. It is an attempt to read the mind of the accused, and connect it to badthink.

        Defense attorney “Officer, can you tell me why PeeWee shot Tater?”

        Officer “I don’t know, but he had his blood on his shoes.”

  17. The Late P Brooks

    “It’s wrong that fringe groups in these extreme contests can use our wildlife resources for money,” said Brian Shapiro, New York state director of the Humane Society of the United States. “I can’t think of any other natural resource that is used that way.”

    Fringe groups?

    • R.J.

      Meaning groups wearing fringe. Like frontier suede jackets.

    • Trigger Hippie

      As of November 2021, there were approximately 15.2 million hunting license holders in the United States.

      You know, a fringe group.

    • Tundra

      Wonderful.

      Thanks, Jimbo!

    • Fourscore

      Nice, Jimbo, a good way to start the morning

  18. Rebel Scum

    Somebody on Team Biden might want to ask Dan Goldman to STFU.

    Do not interfere with your enemy while he is busy making a mistake.

    “Who cares if they had money from the same company,” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) blurted out during a brief exchange in the House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday.

    The law?

    Garcia then demanded Republicans disclose contacts with Luft, whom he described as a “Chinese spy,” prompting Comer to ask if Hunter Biden was a Chinese spy because he also took money from CEFC.

    Eric Swallowswell could not be reached for comment.

  19. Not Adahn

    Immigrants >> homegrown homeless

    A town official says buses carrying migrants, including women and children, arrived under heavy security late Tuesday night at the Super8 Motel on Carman Road, filling 85 out of 100 rooms several hours after guests, including indigent residents housed by Schenectady County, were evicted from the motel on the pretense that the facility would be shut down for one year

    .

    And this is reporting from the local NPR station!

    https://www.wamc.org/news/2023-07-19/schenectady-county-officials-assail-handling-of-migrants-arrival-in-rotterdam

    • rhywun

      evicted from the motel on the pretense that the facility would be shut down for one year

      Not a “pretense” at all. When the State commandeers a hotel, it is now closed to paying guests.

      Oh, and it won’t be “one year”, it will be “forever or until the State chooses to stop giving a free ride to illegal aliens”.

    • Rebel Scum

      were evicted from the motel on the pretense that the facility would be shut down for one year

      I am sure they all got their money back and I am sure eviction under false pretenses is completely legal and above board.

      Immigrants >> homegrown homeless

      I await the American Homeless Revolt.

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        They aren’t gonna take this lying down!

  20. Not Adahn

    I lessthanthree the Talking Heads.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Johnny Marr guesting on guitar in the latter.

    • The Last American Hero

      This is good news. Maybe Hollywood can stop trying to appease the CCP and get back to making watchable films again.

      • UnCivilServant

        While appeasing the CCP is a major problem, there are more significant problems causing unwatchable movies to be made.

    • Raven Nation

      The NZ. press made it very clear the shooter did not have a permit to own a gun.

      • WTF

        Soooo…..a permitting scheme doesn’t stop criminals from getting guns?!

        *mind blown*

      • Rebel Scum

        They didn’t want to shoot from the hip.

      • Zwak , “There is infinite amount of hope in the universe… just not for us.”

        Did they chick everyone coming it? Or was it just AU that got the Trans-ports?

  21. Rebel Scum

    According to the lawsuit, the child was “disfigured and scarred” after a nugget got wedged between her thigh and the seatbelt. The lawsuit says the nuggets were “unreasonably and dangerously hot” and “unfit for human handling.”

    Parental malfeasance is clearly McDonalds fault.

    • R C Dean

      I’m going to say about the only way a McNugget could disfigure and scar someone is if you flipped it straight from the fryer onto their leg and held it there.

      I would speculate that the parents burned the child themselves, perhaps intentionally, and then claimed it was McDonalds to get paid.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        If you want $800k from McDonald’s, you have to torch the nugget yourself and then brand your child.

      • Rebel Scum

        Playing with the cigarettes lighter?

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      $10?

      That’s some low-rent skank chasing right there.

      • Nephilium

        Have you been to Detroit? That could buy you a house!

        *back property tax not included

  22. Tundra

    Good morning, Sloop!

    Not a TH fan, but Life During Wartime is a brilliant song.

    Hopefully not an instruction manual, though.

  23. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Dan Goldman: The discrepancy between treatment of political outsiders and political insiders is so obvious now that people don’t need that cretin running his mouth to know what’s happening. They may as well just let him talk-hell, that even allows them to revel in the fact that they’ve so corrupted the Justice system that the politically unfavored have more to worry about than thieves and predatory pedos.

  24. Rebel Scum

    Apparently the pornographic evidence is not evidence of pornography.

    The committee was hearing testimony from two Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers involved in an investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes when Greene, during her questioning, produced the graphic poster boards. While the faces of other people in the photographs were blocked with black boxes, what appeared to be Hunter Biden’s face was not censored.

    “I would like to let the committee and everyone watching at home know that parental discretion is advised,” Greene warned before she began questioning IRS special agents Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley, who contend the federal investigation into Hunter Biden was flawed. Shapley has alleged that Justice Department officials slowed and stymied the investigation into the president’s son.

    Near the end of her questioning, Greene showed the graphic images, suggesting without any evidence that they showed Hunter Biden “making pornography” and sparking immediate protests from other members of the panel.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Are pics taken for one’s own consumption, at a later time maybe, technically porn. He’s a dumbass shithead but that stuff was pulled off a computer and wasn’t necessarily intended for public viewing.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yes, it’s still pornography, even if meant for personal use.

      • R C Dean

        “Nothing gets me hard like, well, me.”

    • sloopyinca

      That woman is a national treasure.

    • The Last American Hero

      It wasn’t about making porn, it was about providing evidence he hired a prostitute across state lines and that she was paid to have sex, not act as a consultant or some BS. The state lines thing is important because it triggers federal sex-trafficking laws.

      • R C Dean

        You will never find better documentation of a Mann Act violation. It’s all there – the agreement to come to Hunter, the receipts for the airplane ticket for crossing state lines, and pics of them sexing it up. It’s pretty much airtight (if you’ll pardon the expression), with a crunchy coating of tax fraud since he wrote the whole thing off as business expenses.

      • kinnath

        How does this play out from here?

        It’s clear the administration is going to do nothing.

        But the evidence is so blatant. Surely someone in the 4th estate will break ranks.

  25. Common Tater

    “Gun-control activist claims she got country star Jason Aldean’s song ‘Try That in a Small Town’ pulled from CMT for being ‘racist and violent’… as ABC refuses to pull record from CMA Fest

    Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, called attention to the lyrics in Aldean’s new song, ‘Try That in a Small Town,’ over the weekend when she wrote that the lyrics to the song are about ‘how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns.'”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12318103/Leading-gun-control-activist-takes-credit-getting-Country-star-Jason-Aldeans-hit-Try-Small-Town-pulled.html

    CWAC

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns.

      Then the answer is simple. Don’t try to take their guns,.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Nope, you will give them your guns and maybe your kids too or you’ll be crushed and don’t whine about it either.

      • WTF

        People like her are why we need guns.

    • Rebel Scum

      for being ‘racist and violent’

      Now do every rap song while ignoring that the clear premise of the song is people defending themselves from violent mobs/thugs/etc.

      • The Last American Hero

        I thought it was about killing cops and bangin’ whores?

      • WTF

        Fat stacks, yo!

    • rhywun

      ‘how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns.’

      I am at a complete loss why this is at all controversial.

      • robc

        Because they want to take guns without getting shot. Duh.

  26. rhywun

    An accompanying illustration shows arrows pointing north from the border to South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin and three other states — but not New York.

    🤣😂!

  27. The Late P Brooks

    From Rebel Scum’s link:

    And in her closing remarks, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who also sits on the panel, called the images “pornographic” and accused Republicans of reaching a “new low.”

    “Frankly, I don’t care who you are in this country, no one deserves that,” she said.

    Maybe they can try to charge Greene under the revenge porn laws. And, of course, it’s hard not to wonder what’s in Gulag Barbie’s special video collection.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Please, if they had photos of Trump’s supposed mushroom dick they’d be on a billboard in downtown Manhattan.

    • sloopyinca

      AOC, the DC government, and the feds can’t do shit.

      Speech and Debate Clause FTW!

    • Rebel Scum

      I’d have her swap Don Jr. for Hunter and then tell me her opinion.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        That’s different because blah blah blah.

    • rhywun

      Greene should say she found the images in her child’s school library and watch the Dems squirm.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    The hearing continued after the brief confrontation. Its broader purpose was to explore allegations by the IRS whistleblowers that the federal investigation of Hunter Biden was inappropriately lenient, something the Justice Department and Hunter Biden’s circle deny.

    The exact same level of scrutiny any random flower shop or web designer might expect.

    • The Other Kevin

      One of the Dems made the point that “not every tax return needs to be investigated.”

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      IT’S A PRIVATE BANK!

    • WTF

      So, is freedom of association back?

    • Rebel Scum

      He gets to keep his money, right?

    • The Last American Hero

      The guy spent 8 years in the White House as VP and 3 as President and has done this ritual countless times but can’t remember how to salute?

      • Fourscore

        An almost fist bump, man! That’s gotta count for something.

        This president (and the last) should be saluting the Marines first. Those in the military carried water for those that had foot problems that doesn’t seem to interfere with golf.

      • Ownbestenemy

        What is worse: a lazy shitty salute or non at all?

  29. Pope Jimbo

    Yes, the number of live rounds is what is important in this story.

    The man who shot Fargo police officers — one fatally — last week had 1,800 rounds, multiple guns and a homemade hand grenade in his vehicle, officials said Wednesday.

    Mohamad Barakat, 37, opened fire on officers responding to a traffic wreck Friday before being fatally shot by Officer Zach Robinson. Officer Jake Wallin was killed, and Officers Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes were hospitalized with critical injuries.

    So 3 bricks of .22? and a case of shotgun shells?

    Not a peep yet about any possible motive for this person with such an obvious Norwegian name?

    • WTF

      Did he say anything about an aloha snackbar?

      • Tundra

        Diversity is our strength

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Experts

    As U.S. climate envoy John Kerry arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials earlier this week, temperatures reached a record of almost 126 degrees Fahrenheit in China’s arid northwest. Meanwhile, millions of people across the U.S. are experiencing a relentless heat wave, with more records expected to be broken this week.

    The stakes could hardly be higher.

    Experts say that the extreme weather being experienced all over the world is largely driven by climate change, and that there is no solution without the U.S. and China, the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters. But relations between the two countries have been bogged down by disputes over trade, human rights and the status of Taiwan, freezing climate diplomacy in place for much of the past year.

    “Whoo! How ’bout this weather? Why didn’t we schedule this meeting in October?”

    • Nephilium

      It’s good that they decided to do that through a video conference to save all the carbon that they would have put into the atmosphere by traveling there, isn’t it?

      • WTF

        Pretty sure India is a bigger emitter than the US.

      • rhywun

        It’s almost like they know they are full of shit or something.

  31. Pope Jimbo

    The monsters! How dare the Dept of Transportation consider an option that would improve transportation?

    Story about the DOT’s plans for possible changes to the section of I-94 between St. Paul and Minneapolis.

    But city officials were puzzled by the inclusion of two proposals that would significantly widen I-94, adding at least one “managed” lane throughout the corridor.

    St. Paul City Council member Mitra Jalali said that both Mayor Melvin Carter and the council would likely oppose any expansion of the freeway, “even if it’s expanding for transit.”
    “Why is expansion even on the table like if the goals and the project master vision is to have equity, climate resiliency, etc.?” Jalali said. “Freeway expansion is actually categorically in opposition to those things, and I’m trying to understand how it even got into the mix.”

    I know one person now who doesn’t need to drive between St. Paul and Minneapolis on I-94. Because if Mitra Jalali had a job in downtown Minneapolis, she’d be demanding way more lanes of traffic.

    I guess the silver lining in all of this is:

    But planners did definitively reject other ideas for the future of I-94. For instance, planners said Monday they will no longer study adding a light-rail, subway or commuter rail line in the corridor — even if the freeway were ultimately replaced by a surface street. Planners estimated the new line wouldn’t generate enough ridership.

    Especially brave, since there is already an existing rail line that already goes along the same route.

    • R C Dean

      Gotta love the admission that the equity and climate goals are in direct opposition to a functioning road network.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Mitra Jalili: There’s your thank you for welcoming in all of those nonNordics I guess.

  32. Certified Public Asshat

    These are America’s 10 worst states to live and work in for 2023

    Life, Health and Inclusion is one of the study’s ten categories of competitiveness. And this year, with the nationwide worker shortage so severe, the category is taking on increased importance in our methodology.

    We consider multiple quality of life factors, including crime rates, environmental quality, and health care. We also look at the quality and availability of childcare, which is one of the most important factors in getting parents back into the workforce.

    Casting the widest possible net for workers means not turning anyone away. So we consider inclusiveness in state laws by measuring protections against discrimination, as well as voting rights. And with surveys showing a substantial percentage of women considering abortion restrictions when making a choice of where to live in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights are part of this year’s equation as well.

    Do you see where this is going?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      If you have a good work ethic and you really want to Hoover out your fetus these are pretty good places.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Whoops, they’re pretty bad places. Interesting that this list consists of the states that jobs and industry are actually moving to.

    • R.J.

      What a shit article. “Dismal health care system” Definition please? Against what metrics? Nothing but envy, hate and bias.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Yeah, it’s backed by nothing. Just serves as an excuse to hate on flyover country.

      • Nephilium

        Lifestyle affirmation surgery?

      • R.J.

        Like liposuction? Or dick removal?

      • Nephilium

        Why… abortion of course. Local far lefty rag had a piece pointing out that a terrible anti Issue 1 ad (TLDW: Republicans will ban birth control if it’s harder to amend the state constitution) that of course shifted into how terrible the abortion laws in Ohio are. They talked about how many more people were going out of state for “abortion care” between July/August 2021 and 2022. The number went from 72 to 389.

    • UnCivilServant

      So, lies and damn lies. New York and Commiefornia should be topping the worst.

      • WTF

        New Jersey says hi.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/14/these-are-americas-10-best-states-to-live-and-work-in.html

        3. New Jersey

        It’s no joke. The Garden State is one of America’s most inclusive, with broad protections against discrimination, and among the nation’s strongest guarantees of reproductive freedom. New Jersey is one of America’s safest states, according to FBI crime data. Its violent crime rate is among the lowest in the nation.

      • WTF

        Its violent crime rate is among the lowest in the nation.

        Overall, yes. But watch out if you’re in Newark, Camden, Paterson, etc.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Add Atlantic City too anywhere off the boardwalk. Ive walked many a big city, walked through projects, through ghettos, etc and the short walk I had there from boardwalk to next major street was about the only time I genuinely feared a bit for my life.

      • WTF

        Here in New Jersey we commonly refer to Atlantic City as “Paterson by the Sea”.

      • Sensei

        Hey… I was born in AC by the sea as was my mother and grandfather.

      • UnCivilServant

        Hold up.

        You’re your own grandfather?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Abortion uber alles.

      • WTF

        I guess tax burden, regulations, cost of living, traffic congestion, crappy infrastructure, etc. don’t count.

    • The Other Kevin

      Indiana REPRESENT! I love how two of the top 10 (Florida and Texas) are seeing huge numbers of people moving in. I guess lots of people are too stupid to realize how abused they are.

      • Trigger Hippie

        ‘I guess lots of people are too stupid to realize how abused they are.’

        The modern progressive movement in a nutshell.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        One man’s abuse is another man’s comfortable familiarity. Now if they’d just leave us the hell alone…

      • robc

        internal migration should be the entire ranking factor.

      • robc

        Top 10 Domestic Net Migration 2022:

        Florida, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Arizona, Idaho, Alabama, Oklahoma.

        Bottom 10 Domestic Net Migration 2022:

        California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusettes, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Minnesota.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        The others I get but why Louisiana?

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I don’t know much, but their sales tax rates are pretty high.

      • rhywun

        These lists have barely changed at all in the last 50 years with the exception of California swapping lists and I don’t know anything about Louisiana. I sometimes wonder if Florida, Texas, and the like will get so popular that the wall-to-wall development will start to turn people off.

      • rhywun

        Except for Idaho the top 10 might as well be a list of states with the shittiest weather. I would not move to any of them due to the heat and/or humidity.

      • Fatty Bolger

        South Carolina and Tennessee, too. Both are top 10 growth stats.

    • Fatty Bolger

      How could 200,000 college educated workers moving to Texas each year possibly be wrong? It depends on how you look at it.

      “Are we out of touch? No, it’s the workers moving there who are wrong.”

    • Rebel Scum

      Republicans* bad, Democrats good.

      *Obviously deep state R types are bad, but the average R voter and MAGA Rs in gov’t I find fairly agreeable.

  33. Ownbestenemy

    We had the city cut/trim down some trees cause unwanted people were loitering around our radar site. Setting up outdoor entertainment systems…really. A bum pulled a couch and set up a busted LCD TV against a transformer box and would sit and pretend to watch TV.

    Also those trees look like summer time maintenance trim anyway for Southern California if my memory serves.

    • Nephilium

      The city/electric company has started their annual pruning runs around here. Sucked when they were on my street cutting trees for three days, always right when I was in the middle of meetings (and the weather wise nice enough to have doors and windows open instead of running AC).

      • creech

        Hah. Yesterday a friend had us over to see his new retirement community home. Backyard BBQ.
        Next door was having their septic tank pumped the whole time we were there.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    The Biden administration’s highest hope for Kerry’s visit, he said, is that China will agree to wall off climate issues to keep the broader relationship from “spiraling out of control” in the event of a geopolitical flareup, like the Chinese spy balloon incident early this year that led Blinken to postpone his Beijing visit.

    But that is unlikely to happen, Woodroofe said: “Geopolitics continues to be the tail that wags the climate policy dog in Beijing.”

    It’s good to know they’re keeping their priorities straight.

    • rhywun

      China plays to win, Joe.

      They’re not gonna do anything to impoverish the Party. Please stop wasting our time there and do your fucking job.

  35. The Other Kevin

    The Repubs have Kennedy on the stand today, to discuss his being censored by the Biden administration. Should be interesting. Good old Debbie hasn’t even let things get started before she tried to prevent Kennedy from testifying because he “recently made racist comments.” She is an awful human.

    • Gender Traitor

      “All I said to my wife was ‘This piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah.'”

    • The Other Kevin

      And Massie brings the heat. “This hearing on censorship was started with an attempt by the Democrats to censor Mr. Kennedy.”

    • The Other Kevin

      Kennedy is not taking shit from the Dems. They are lying about what he’s said and he’s calling them out on it.

    • The Other Kevin

      And now Lynch is appalled by how those poor selfless federal agents in the FBI and DOJ, who are just patriots trying to do their jobs, and are being targeted.

  36. Pope Jimbo

    I’m actually surprised that the coke in the Whitehouse hasn’t been linked to “W” yet. He was a coke fiend and a Republican. Given how silly everything else is about that story, why not just have the Secret Service say it was Bush’s coke?

    • R C Dean

      Well, they almost immediately destroyed it, so at this point they can’t really hang it on anybody.

      Even a Republican.

    • WTF

      If Trump wasn’t a well-known teetotaller, they would have already blamed it on him. Probably indicted him for it too.

    • creech

      This whole “investigation,” and reporting of it, stinks. The last I heard, the coke was found in a specific numbered locker. The cubby was locked and no one knows where the key is. The SS keeps no records of who is using a certain locker? No cameras? So a terrorist tourist could just walk in the WH, be told to use any available locker, throw in anthrax or the next COVID virus, and walk away undetected and undeterred?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Sir we need you to come with us for asking questions.

  37. robc

    Two of the top three in the British are from GT.

    Lamprecht (the amateur mentioned by sloopy) is tied for 1st right now. Stewark Cink is in solo 3rd.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    Backwards state

    Florida’s Board of Education approved new rules for teaching Black history in the state Wednesday, prompting immediate backlash from critics who describe the updated standards as “a big step backward.”

    The guidelines follow the state’s enacting of a controversial education law that requires lessons on race be taught in an “objective” manner that does not seek to “indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view.” The state also prohibited a pilot Advanced Placement high school course on African American studies earlier this year, saying it violated state law and “lacks educational value.”

    The updated standards on African American history instruction include “benchmark clarifications” to provide additional guidance to teachers on specific topics for instruction. One updated standard that has drawn particularly strong outcry directs teachers to include instruction on “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

    Another “benchmark clarification” under increased scrutiny directs teachers to include instruction on “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans” when teaching about the growth and destruction of Black communities during Reconstruction and beyond. Among the examples listed as an act of violence was the 1920 Ocoee (Fla.) Massacre in which dozens of African Americans were killed when they went to vote.

    The Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union, slammed these standards and others as “a big step backward.”

    “The Florida State Board of Education today adopted new African American history standards. In doing so, they confirmed many of the worst fears educators had when the Stop Woke Act was signed into law last year,” it wrote in a press release, referring to the controversial education law. “These new standards are a disservice to Florida’s students and are a big step backward for a state that has required teaching African American history since 1994.”

    Back in chains.

    • R.J.

      So…. They are being asked to include historical references to violence against blacks, and that’s bad? And understanding the acquisition of life skills under duress is also bad? The left is so confusing. God only knows how bad the instructions were before then.

      • WTF

        The only good lesson for them is that blacks are oppressed in all ways by evil whitey, the only thing that matters is skin color, systemic racism and white privilege are real and pervasive, and nothing has changed since Jim Crow.

    • Rebel Scum

      ne updated standard that has drawn particularly strong outcry directs teachers to include instruction on “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

      This is a gateway to teaching the kids that American salves sometimes used skills to purchase their own freedom and, in some cases, *gasp* become slaveowners themselves.

      • creech

        That “Roots” show with Prof. Gates has had a number of participants who all glow with pride when it is pointed out that their ancestor was already a free black before the Civil War. Sometimes it is just a kind owner manumitting them, or acknowledging paternity, but frequently the slave earned his freedom through skills and earnings. Other participants are happy to learn their newly freed ancestor became a successful farmer or entrepreneur after the Civil War due to the skills (e.g. cooking, blacksmithing) they learned when enslaved.

  39. Rebel Scum

    Nature induced twist of fate.

    A tornado heavily damaged a large Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina on Wednesday, scattering medicine and other debris around the complex.

    Pfizer said its large complex in Rocky Mount was damaged by a twister that tore through Nash County.

    “We are assessing the situation to determine the impact on production,” the company said. “Our thoughts are with our colleagues, our patients, and the community as we rebuild from this weather incident.”

    • WTF

      Holy shit that’s hilarious!

    • kinnath

      I have never bought from them in the past.

      I may have to rectify that.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    Fewer abortions is killing babies, or something

    Texas’ abortion restrictions – some of the strictest in the country – may be fueling a sudden spike in infant mortality as women are forced to carry nonviable pregnancies to term.

    Some 2,200 infants died in Texas in 2022 – an increase of 227 deaths, or 11.5%, over the previous year, according to preliminary infant mortality data CNN obtained through a public records request. Infant deaths caused by severe genetic and birth defects rose by 21.6%. That spike reversed a nearly decade-long decline. Between 2014 and 2021, infant deaths had fallen by nearly 15%.

    And what about the ones who didn’t suffer from severe congenital defects?

    • PutridMeat

      Hmmm, I wonder what else might have happened in 2021 that may have caused an increase in fetal death? It’s a mystery….

  41. The Late P Brooks

    This is a gateway to teaching the kids that American salves sometimes used skills to purchase their own freedom and, in some cases, *gasp* become slaveowners themselves.

    We cannot permit anyone to think American slavery was anything other than mindless grinding vicious cruelty, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    • rhywun

      Confused messaging. The bud light fracas was caused by a fake woman, a tranny.

      If they want to clap back, it should have been called “Embarassing Female Stereotype Water”.

      queer-owned

      You’re not going to normalize it, CNN. Stop trying. 🙄

    • Fourscore

      I read that as “Gray water”, WTF? Ain’t gonna drink that stuff.

  42. The Late P Brooks

    Gay Water, however, is out and proud. The canned cocktail is named after a colloquialism given to the popular mixed drink (vodka and soda) ordered at bars by the gay community. It’s also one of the few openly queer-owned alcohol brands, which Hoddeson said sparked him to create because he wanted more representation in the category.

    “We’re creating a brand that creates representation, particularly in spaces where representation is lacking like liquor stores, bars, restaurants and grocery stores,” he said. “Putting a product with the word gay in the title is representation itself,” which he hopes reclaims the word from the negativity it’s sometimes associated with.

    Good luck. I hope you do well.

    • R.J.

      Indeed. Good luck.

    • rhywun

      It must be tiring to play-act oppression. Who’s going to tell him that nobody gives a shit about “gay” anymore?

      • R.J.

        Hence good luck. There are a million vodka spritzers now. That one is not going to stand out

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      Whatever… nobody cares, man

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Defending the indefensible!

    Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is defending former President Trump for his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, saying Trump had encouraged a peaceful protest that day — but did nothing to merit the criminal charges the Justice Department (DOJ) is said to be weighing.

    “I don’t see how he could be found criminally responsible,” McCarthy told reporters Wednesday in the Capitol. “What criminal activity did he do? He told people to be peaceful.”

    ——-

    McCarthy’s defense of Trump marks a contrast to remarks he made shortly after the Capitol attack, when he took to the House floor to declare that Trump “bears responsibility” for the actions of the “mob rioters.”

    And a flipflopper, too.

  44. Sensei

    As usual DC always acts fast and decisively.

    U.S. cuts funding to Wuhan lab embroiled in pandemic probes

    Federal health officials this week suspended funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese lab at the center of investigations about the novel coronavirus’s origins, saying the move was “necessary to mitigate any potential public health risk” given insufficient information about the lab’s research.

    Paywall
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/07/19/coronavirus-origin-wuhan-lab-us-funding/

    • Ownbestenemy

      Just in time for a feather in Biden’s cap on the campaign trail.

    • rhywun

      Any self-reflection on why we have been partnering with our greatest adversary to craft biological weapons in the first place? Bueller?

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      We are not a serious country.

      • Sensei

        I have no idea what the admissions standards are for the AF Academy that I run.

    • R.J.

      Even the word gender is bad. We should just start referring to sexuality and identity with hexadecimal numbers.

    • Tundra

      I keep reading about how hot the market is but the homes in my neighborhood are not selling like they were even a year ago.

      • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

        Pure bs trying to get some market movement. Buyers are just going to wait now.

      • R.J.

        It takes a while for reality to set in. Texas seems to be cooling as well. I am glad. Too many new people lately.

  45. The Late P Brooks

    After the Senate concluded its impeachment trial into Trump following the Jan. 6 riot, McConnell tore into the former president in remarks on the floor, declaring, “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day.”

    “The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president,” he added.

    Get your fucking story straight. The whole thing was a spontaneous eruption based on remarks made that day? I guess all those conspiracy convictions need to be tossed. I’ll be over here holding my breath.

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      And after the Senate did not impeach him, that should have been it. The DOJ doesn’t get to reprosecute the case. Effectively, they’re saying that an agency has authority over a President, former or not. It’s nuts.

      • Rebel Scum

        DOJ claiming authority over the then sitting president is dangerously insane.

  46. Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

    Effing flight delays…

  47. Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

    It’s been a long time since I heard Night Ranger in the airport.

    Unfortunately, I no longer have the hair to make it an authentic lip syncing experience.

    • Tundra

      You at Norfolk?

      • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

        Richmond

  48. The Late P Brooks

    Strategy

    Turkey, meanwhile, has demonstrated its growing openness to rejoining the Western camp in earnest. The upshot is as plain as it is politically fraught: Ukraine requires the long-range strike capabilities to hit the Russian fleet and turn the Black Sea into a NATO-aligned lake.

    ——-

    Three moves are advisable. First, the U.S. should lay the groundwork for an escort operation that ensures the safety of Ukrainian grain transiting through Romanian ports. There is precedent for this: Operation EARNEST WILL, the U.S. Navy’s escort mission for Kuwaiti-carried oil during the Iran-Iraq War, stabilized the international energy supply during a vicious conflict. An international coalition of maritime powers, ideally including the U.S., Turkey and the UK, should be prepared to deploy warships to the Black Sea, with air cover, to deter Russian mischief against Romanian-exported grain.

    Second, the U.S. should prioritize anti-ship weapons in its transfers to Ukraine over the coming months. The Ukrainians could solve the Black Sea issue themselves if they only had the tools to sink the Russian Black Sea Fleet in port or out at sea. They have already proven adept in using cheap, unsophisticated unmanned surface vessels againat the Russians. But combining these low-tech weapons with a handful of high-tech missiles (ideally several dozen Naval Strike Missile and Harpoons) and linking them with American satellite and UAS reconnaissance and targeting information would prove lethal.

    The destruction of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet would have the added benefit of denying Russia naval strategic depth. The Ukrainian offensive is designed to squeeze and compress the Russian line until it snaps. Absent a naval force in the Black Sea, Ukraine’s odds of success improve markedly.

    I don’t even want to know what Part Three is.

    • Rebel Scum

      Ukraine requires the long-range strike capabilities to hit the Russian fleet and turn the Black Sea into a NATO-aligned lake.

      Ukraine is not in NATO and I am sure the Russians will not take kindly to this. You people are insane.

      First, the U.S. should…Second, the U.S. should

      Both should be to fuck off and stop playing footsie with WWIII.

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      Fucking loon

      Turkey is only playing with us right now because we declared war on their economy and made it intolerable. The moment they see an opportunity to tell us to fuck off, they will.

      And destroying the Black Sea fleet is WW3.

  49. The Late P Brooks

    Third, the U.S. should consider whether, and in what manner, the Turks might have an interest in solving the Russian problem in Syria. Russia’s presence in Syria has restrained Turkish and Israeli action for years and has given Russia leverage against the U.S. Through proxies, Turkey could increase the pressure on Russian deployments in Syria, particularly on Russian air defenses that are so problematic for Israel. Removing this one impediment would open possibilities for American regional engagement and cement Turkey’s pivot back to the West.

    Global thermonuclear war it is. Buckle up.

    • Nerfherder (Non-Non-Man)

      Syria is closer to Megiddo than Ukraine, just sayin