254 Comments

  1. Shpip

    U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has denied former President Donald Trump’s motion that she step down from the case, ruling that “recusal is not warranted in this case.”

    “By contrast, this court has from the beginning repeated its commitment ‘to ensure the orderly administration of justice in this case as [in] any other case,'” she wrote in the Wednesday ruling.

    I.e., the fix will no longer be in if someone else gets the case.

    • Not Adahn

      “This court has investigated this court, and this court has found this court to be a paragon of impartiality, legal acumen, and staggering good looks.”

      • WTF

        “Hear hear!”

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        So, a Democrat won an election?

    • The Other Kevin

      This is how you know your justice system is now garbage. If what happens is dependent on who appointed the judge, you no longer have a functioning justice system.

      • Derpetologist

        Now, now. I have been firmly assured that America has the best judges money can buy.

        The Finest Judges Money Can Buy, and Other Forms of Judicial Pollution By Charles R Ashman 1973

        I thank my dad for giving that book from his collection when I was 12.

    • EvilSheldon

      Shit, if the Dems are dependent on a single judge for the fix, they’re even less competent than I thought…

  2. PieInTheSky

    Real estate insiders bewildered by judge’s $18M valuation of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago: ‘Would list at $300M’ – the market is difficult these days

    • WTF

      It’s not bewildering at all, it’s what was needed to arrive at the verdict the kangaroo court required.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Remember the calls from the left that judges shouldn’t be able to rule on issues they aren’t an expert on? I remember.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Everyone is an expert on Trump Hate, on the left!

      • rhywun

        I’m still wondering what is the “crime” – something they made up on the spot, it seems.

      • WTF

        They’re claiming “fraud” even though there is no damage to anyone, the banks were happy with the valuations and made a lot of money on the loans, and there is nothing that actually fits any of the fraud statutes.
        But hey, we’re a nation of laws!!!

      • The Other Kevin

        It really isn’t out of character for the left to ride to the rescue of someone who doesn’t need to be rescued.

      • Rebel Scum

        The laws are more like guidelines I guess.

      • creech

        Even though Trump isn’t one of (((them))), the New York Nazis are treating him as if he is, a la 1930s.

    • juris imprudent

      Why should a little thing like valuation matter – there isn’t even a tort in this case (which is pretty much the foundation of civil law).

    • Sean

      Still not at peak derp…

      • WTF

        If we’ve learned anything these past few years, it’s that there’s no such thing as peak derp.

    • Fatty Bolger

      By the standard set by the judge, every single commercial transaction would be fraud. But maybe that’s what they want. No juice, no business. Tow the lion, or else.

      • rhywun

        You idiots claimed it’s worth $739m

        I thought they claimed $300M or so.

        I’m on board with whoever pointed out yesterday that banks don’t just make loans based on someone’s say-so. It’s ridiculous to think there is any “fraud” here.

      • cyto

        I live nearby – ish. There really is no waytovalue that property short of listing it.

        It is a huge lot on both the ocean and the intracoastal waterway. Either of those makes it extremely valuable. Both? That is very rare.

        And in the area, lots are usually quoted in square feet. … not even 1/8 acre.

        So, I would venture to guess that even if it were an empty lot,it would be a quarter billion.

      • rhywun

        Party at Cyto’s compound!

    • DrOtto

      It’s not like real estate appraisers exist or anything for exactly this type of determination. I’m pretty sure if the bank makes me pay for an appraisal for a 300k loan, they do the same for higher value loans. This is such a farce as to be comical, if you aren’t the one caught up in it.

      • cyto

        No way does a bank take your guy on a multimillion dollar loan. …. let alon a hundred million. They would have a team of experts. Probably spent a few weeks going over everything. Accountants, lawyers, property appraisers, engineers, etc.

        But your point stands, if you have to pay for independent appraisals and title searches for a hundred thousand dollar house, everyone knows they do at least that much in these cases.

        Which leads to the inescapable conclusion that the fraud here is by the DA and the court.

      • Nephilium

        But it’s fraud for good, because this time, they’ve finally got Trump.

        /waits for the Republicans to use the same weapons as the Democrats

        /dies of old age

  3. PieInTheSky

    Hunter Biden Received Payments From China Wired to Father’s Address: House Oversight Committee

    Question: how is a payment wired to an address? My payments go to my bank account no address needed

    • WTF

      Most wire transfers require an address for the recipient as well as account and routing numbers.

      • PieInTheSky

        Just use Revolut

      • PieInTheSky

        or bitcoin

      • juris imprudent

        FTX wasn’t around when Hunter needed it.

      • R C Dean

        Of course, the bribery statute don’t care whether the money went to Joe or Hunter.

        Also of course, the DemOp Media immediately lied and said Hunter lived there at the time. He actually lived in California.

      • Fatty Bolger

        I was wondering about that. It’s being parroted widely on Xwitter.

    • DrOtto

      PATRIOT ACT requires physical address associated with any bank accounts. Prior to 2001, you could have a PO Box associated with an account and no one would have questioned it. So while the headline is poorly written, this is what they are referring to, crackhead son/dipshit father are too lazy/cheap to set up a strawman account or don’t want to give someone else a taste to launder their bribes or at least ask for it in gold bars like the rest of the civilized world.

  4. PieInTheSky

    Fauci Secretly Visited CIA HQ to ‘Influence Findings’ on COVID-19 Origin Report

    It is important for experts to consult with the CIA

  5. WTF

    All of these links just confirm we are way past the point of no return. The USA is done.

    • PieInTheSky

      did you stick the right fork in it?

      • R.J.

        We are an overcooked steak. Just use us for a shoe sole and move on.

    • Drake

      Almost makes me wish that there was an Alaric with his band of Goths about to sack DC and end it all.

  6. Shpip

    A defiant Menendez has said allegations that he abused his power to line his pockets are baseless. He has said he is confident he will be exonerated and has no intention of leaving the Senate.

    Why would he? He got away with it before. If there’s one thing we learned from Bill Clinton it’s “when they got you dead to rights, just brazen it out.”

    • UnCivilServant

      Why the long delay? Are you suddenly going to be more trustworthy in two years than you are now?

      • PieInTheSky

        I assume your people make the rules not my people

      • Rat on a train

        I’m sure it’s some data sharing requirement. Send all you have.

      • UnCivilServant

        Look, what’s a little invasion of Romanian privacy when we can pressure Pie to visit?

        /sarc

      • R.J.

        It’s just a few harmless FBI dudes looking at your browser history and internet purchases, after all. Make it interesting for them! Buy apples AND razor blades before Halloween.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      There goes the neighborhood.

  7. Shpip

    Wholesome

    Brought a wistful smile to my face, anyway.

    • UnCivilServant

      Does that middle line say Chris shot a 3-point Buck?

      Not sure what state that’s in, but in unfreeland, the DEC will come after you if it’s not at least four points (If I’m counting correctly)

    • Robonerfherder

      Well that sucks. I saw him perform with McLaughlin and De Lucia back in the 90’s. Fantastic show.

      • WTF

        I saw him perform at a small theater in Englewood, NJ years ago. He was amazing.

    • UnCivilServant

      No, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the Suropean Healthcare that caused the heart attack.

      • Drake

        Romanian food?

  8. Derpetologist

    How am I still awake? Whatever, let’s do this.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKJiM9Njr8

    My last gal pal before I joined the Army was the caretaker at a cemetery in Martinsburg, WV. She had the keys to everything there. One time, she gave me a tour of the crypt, The cemetery is arranged in a spiral meant to lead visitors towards the crypt at the center.

    Yeah, she was great with an extra topping of awesome sauce. I miss her.

    • R.J.

      Were you up all night or something?I personally woke up a couple of times worrying about the state of my garage. It’s a filthy hole with misplaced tools my family used. I am going to start cleaning it tonight. Wish I had just gotten up and started last night.

    • juris imprudent

      So do all senior DOJ/FBI officials live in Maryland? Since they seem to have so much trouble recalling things during Congressional testimony.

    • Derpetologist

      At least they live long enough to forget all the shitty things they’ve done. Fuck ’em all in the ass, mouth, and eye.

  9. Common Tater

    “A teenager separated from her family and held in a Florida hospital as a child after medics accused her parents of abuse has shared a heartbreaking letter she wrote to them while being detained.

    Maya Kowalski, 17, was just ten years old when she was removed by the state after doctors at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital’s accused her parents of faking symptoms for her rare chronic pain condition.

    During her three month stay, her mother Beata Kowalski was forbidden by law from seeing her. The stricken mom fell into a depression and ultimately ended up taking her own life amid the despair.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12568077/Maya-Kowalski-shares-heartbreaking-letter-wrote-parents-banned-seeing-doctors-abuse-claims-drove-mom-suicide.html

    Damn.

  10. PieInTheSky

    In a statement, the Bagdasar-Arseni emergency hospital said Di Meola was admitted to a cardiology ward where he is being treated for a segment elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI.

    https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1707157332243747296

    Today in england is a shithole.

  11. invisible finger

    “San Francisco Mayor London Breed Calls for Mandatory Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients”

    How many drugs will they be required to take?

    • R.J.

      *Golf clap

    • DrOtto

      They’ve been up all night cramming for the test.

  12. PieInTheSky

    On this day 197 years ago the world’s first ever public railway was opened in northern England.

    And a whole new form of architecture was born: the train station.

    So, to celebrate, here are some of the world’s greatest train stations…

    https://twitter.com/culturaltutor/status/1707114027497701761

    • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

      Some cool ass stuff in there.

    • The Last American Hero

      On this day 197 years ago, humanity began the ass raping of Mother Earth.

      /Greenie

  13. Sean

    #waffle615 5/5

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    🔥 streak: 208
    🧠 #waffleguru
    wafflegame.net

    https://squaredle.com 09/28:
    *54/54 words (+12 bonus words)
    📖 In the top 25% by bonus words
    🔥 Solve streak: 4

    • kinnath

      Daily Quordle 612
      7️⃣9️⃣
      5️⃣3️⃣

    • rhywun

      https://squaredle.com 09/28:
      54/54 words (+18 bonus words)
      📖 In the top 5% by bonus words
      🔥 Solve streak: 4

    • R.J.

      “The mugshots of Antifa foot soldiers that drifted through social media feeds during the George Floyd riots drive home this point. Face tattoos, deranged expressions, unkempt hair: these are not mentally well people. They are, in fact, the hideous face of antisocial violence—the enforcement arm of the modern Left, the political vanguard of our Cluster B society. And they will not stop until they’ve transformed the world in their image.”
      Been saying this for years.

    • rhywun

      the narcissist, the borderline, the histrionic, and the antisocial

      Neatly descriptive of the wilding in Philadelphia the other night.

  14. Tundra

    Good morning, Banjos!

    Why do I have the feeling that nothing will happen to Dr. TruthScience? It was pretty clear three years ago that the fucking thing was engineered – I’ve read claims by some researchers that viruses like it simply do not exist in nature. I don’t know if that’s true, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Just a couple days ago, China was warning about another epidemic.

    Stop this fucking ride – it sucks.

    What doesn’t suck is that song. Especially the intro – so damned good 😉

    • cyto

      Has anything ever happened to any of them?

      When I was a kid, simply trying to hide the fact that you spied on your opponent was enough to bring down a government.

      How quaint.

      There hasn’t been a year without something that dwarfs that in the last 8 years.

      Right now they are openly rigging the democrat primary… not even pretending. It is astonishing.

      • juris imprudent

        Shit Nixon couldn’t even dream of doing is now SOP.

      • Rat on a train

        Court Concedes DNC Had the Right to Rig Primaries Against Sanders

        Even former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid admitted in July 2016, “I knew—everybody knew—that this was not a fair deal.”

        In evaluating Plaintiffs’ claims at this stage, the Court assumes their allegations are true—that the DNC and Wasserman Schultz held a palpable bias in favor Clinton and sought to propel her ahead of her Democratic opponent

        For their part, the DNC and Wasserman Schultz have characterized the DNC charter’s promise of ‘impartiality and evenhandedness’ as a mere political promise—political rhetoric that is not enforceable in federal courts.

      • R C Dean

        “Yes, our foundational documents are just eyewash for the rubes.”

      • cyto

        Funny. Don’t know that i have ever heard of a court ruling that a charter is simply puffery.

    • The Other Kevin

      For me it was just way too much of a coincidence that the virus just happened to first appear in a city that had one of the few labs in the world that studied those exact viruses. What are the odds.

      • DrOtto

        Same odds as Lou Gehrig catching Lou Gehrig’s disease?

      • Rat on a train

        Tommy John should have know what was coming.

      • juris imprudent

        And had published papers on the research.

        Scientific publications are anti-Chinese!!!

      • rhywun

        And a “vaccine” was already in the works.

      • R C Dean

        I recall shortly after COVID broke cover, say February-March 2020, some Aussie scientists did an analysis and concluded it was almost certainly engineered based on features (I think including the famous furin spike) and genetics, including, if memory serves, some HIV DNA.

        It is now completely memory-holed, as far as I can tell.

      • PutridMeat

        “furin spike” = furin cleavage site. It’s a sequence inserted into the spike protein and makes it much more effective at attacking human respiratory cells. As far as I know, this particular sequence has never been identified in any naturally occurring corona virus.

      • Common Tater

        “HIV DNA”

        RNA, but if I recall that was some paper from India that was never peer reviewed.

      • R C Dean

        I distinctly recall this being Aussies in early 2020.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        The book Viral by Matt Ridley is a very interesting read on this subject.

  15. Derpetologist

    I quoted a song when I walked out the doors of the insane asylum: goodbye strangers, it’s been nice; hope you find your paradise.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8pVZ5hTGJQ

    • Sean

      LOL, WTF?

    • The Other Kevin

      In this movie she’s not jealous of her looks, she’s jealous of her being a know-it-all girl boss who is smarter and more skilled than everyone else.

      • Fatty Bolger

        “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the Mary Suest of them all?”

    • WTF

      They actually had some screwball explanation that in their re-imagined story “fairest” didn’t mean “prettiest”.

      • The Other Kevin

        This is a “remake” of a movie that doesn’t incorporate any of the elements of the original movie. The only question is how much money it will lose. If I were Iger I’d pull the plug and bury this movie out in the desert somewhere.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Out in Alamogordo Landfill next to the ET Atria cartridges.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Grrr..Atari

    • Suthenboy

      Ok, that got a laugh out. of me.

      The best way to deal with the insanity of the left is just to laugh at it.

  16. Tundra

    Stinky shared this in dedthred, but it’s worth a re-share.

    https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1706917885409415372

    White people as blood suckers, massacred at the end.

    Painting your enemies as disease-carrying vermin – now where have I seen this before?

    • Derpetologist

      +1 Der Ewige Jude (the eternal Jew)

      Yeah, Godwin’s Law, I know.

    • Suthenboy

      I dont even know where to start unpacking that.

    • B.P.

      Are there white people in any sort of significant amounts out in public asking to touch black women’s hair? That one still keeps popping up.

      Also, never try to be friendly with someone. You might say the wrong thing.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ive seen it in a movie so it must be true and happening all over the place.

      • R.J.

        I hear those kind of statements now and then. The do happen. You know says stupid racist shit? Liberals. Every damn time. The whole white privilege movement should be turned on its head to reflect Liberal Privilege. Those asswipes are guilty of perpetrating the worst shit on all of us, and they always get away with it. Let the grift begin.

  17. Common Tater

    “October is itself LGBTQ+ History Month, the Los Angeles Unified School District bureaucracy has reminded what it calls the district’s “fabulous educators.” Other LGBTQ+ programming will take place throughout October, picking up where Gay Pride month left off. The goals for the so-called Week of Action are ambitious: to turn six-year-olds into budding gender and critical race theorists….

    At the Week of Action’s start, teachers should engage kindergarten and first-grade students in discussions about identity, aided by an activity called an “Identity Map.” Pupils chart their experiences of discrimination or privilege along 12 axes, including race, gender identity, sexuality, mental health, and body size. This mapping allows seven-year-olds to see themselves through the “lens of intersectionality.” Teachers then post the identity maps on the wall for a class discussion about students’ multiple “identities.”

    https://www.city-journal.org/article/but-johnny-cant-spell-g-a-y

    LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE

    • juris imprudent

      The Andrew Kehoe solution is looking more and more viable.

    • Common Tater

      “Monday is Jazz Jennings Day. Jennings’s fame rests on being one of the youngest children to date to claim a trans identity. “Assigned male at birth,” as Jazz’s publicity materials inevitably put it, Jazz allegedly asserted female identity at age two, and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria at age four. Subsequent surgery tried to cut Jazz’s body into a simulacrum of a female one and resulted in undisclosed “complications.” On Jazz Jennings day, the LAUSD recommends that kindergartners engage in the fabulous activities of “Which Outfit” and “Which Hairdo.” (One day is not enough to acknowledge the fabulousness that is Jazz. January in the LAUSD is devoted to holding Jazz and Friends Reading Events, supplemented by reading inclusive books in every grade.)”

      They should watch Blaire White’s latest video,
      “Jazz Jennings: The Trans Kid Tragedy America Claps For”
      https://youtu.be/VN5T1_eI00Q

      • rhywun

        Didn’t he pack on like a hundred fifty pounds and come out as “miserable”?

      • Mojeaux

        Estrogen—what a drug!

      • Mojeaux

        Jazz is just a newish twist on the old “I didn’t want to have a boy; I wanted a girl, and I’m going to have one” toxic mother. “Oh, look, we don’t have to stop at the hair and frilly dresses now!”

      • Certified Public Asshat

        That dilating clip is pretty disturbing.

      • Suthenboy

        A lot of people belong in prison or up against a wall. Crazy, evil fucks.

    • R C Dean

      Effing Christ. Now they get a whole month Pride and another whole month for History?

      • UnCivilServant

        I refuse to recognize either.

      • Nephilium

        You left out the month for Jazz Jennings:

        One day is not enough to acknowledge the fabulousness that is Jazz. January in the LAUSD is devoted to holding Jazz and Friends Reading Events, supplemented by reading inclusive books in every grade

        Eventually it will be rainbow flags and pride year round.

      • B.P.

        I guess Breast Cancer Awareness Month can take a back seat.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I can’t decide if it fits with Halloween or if, according to their standards, it is offensive.

    • The Other Kevin

      They are purposefully pushing kids toward mental health problems and not teaching even the basics. Our country is screwed.

    • creech

      This isn’t happening. And even if it is, it is just in Los Angeles and not in your school district. And when it does come to your district, you are a bigoted MAGA transphobe child abuser if you don’t let the expert teachers deny biology and groom your kids.

    • Rebel Scum

      October is itself LGBTQ+ History Month

      But we just got out of a summer of pride.

  18. Brawndo

    I think the Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot sticking with Trump. He’s a known commodity at this point with tons of baggage and in the interviews I’ve seen he’s been unwilling to learn from or even acknowledge his mistakes. Being the victim of a political witch hunt isn’t a campaign platform. Aside from Ramiswamy, the entire R field is recycled neocon garbage that hasn’t been popular outside of the donor class in 20 years.

    • rhywun

      All I want is someone who can beat the Dem. We won’t survive another four years of them.

      • Brawndo

        I don’t think they’d let Trump win the general. It’d be fortified to shit. I would consider RFK over Trump, but the odds of RFK winning the primary is a longer shot than Vivek winning the R primary.

      • Nephilium

        At this point, I don’t think the country will go back to what we remember in our lifetimes.

    • R C Dean

      Don’t make the mistake of believing anybody in our ruling class cares at all about what the little people want. This is purely a ruling class internal affair. The Dems are quite open about it – see above. The Repubs got caught flat footed in 2016, and you can be sure they won’t let that happen again. I don’t think Trump will be on the ballot for the general. One wing of the UniParty is bringing criminal charges so that, at a minimum, the other wing removes him.

      Will the Repubs lose without Trump? Sure. They weren’t going to win anyway. I don’t think they really care, to tell you the truth. The ones who matter all have their cushy sinecures and money-laundering networks set up, so they’ll be fine.

      • Brawndo

        “I don’t think they really care, to tell you the truth. The ones who matter all have their cushy sinecures and money-laundering networks set up, so they’ll be fine.”

        Hence my point about Christie, Haley, Pence, etc.

        I’d like to see Vivek do well enough to force the GOP to brazenly cheat him out of the nomination.

    • juris imprudent

      Fucking A – there is more to the problem than who the fucking president is.

      • Suthenboy

        That is correct. The war on Trump is not about Trump. It is about the ruling class choosing who holds power in spite of who the people want.

    • Drake

      I thought DeSantis might be a viable alternative. Then his donors told him what to say and he became Italian Mike Pence. There is no alternative, maybe Vikram is VP.

      The only question is whether the Republican Party rigs their primaries by pulling Trump off the ballots. In that case the national GOP collapses like a house of cards.

      • R C Dean

        “the national GOP collapses like a house of cards”

        I’d shed no tears. Can’t have creative destruction without some destruction, after all. This country is ripe for a good round of historical arson, in the sense of senescent institutions being bulldozed to make way for something that might function, for awhile.

    • Lachowsky

      I’d like to see a Vivek/RFK independant ticket vs Biden vs Trump. That would be interesting.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Voters are not logical.

  19. Fourscore

    Every morning I wake up and look out the window, thinking isn’t life wonderful, nature so beautiful with the changing of seasons. Then I turn on TV/internet and want to go back to bed and cover my head, wanting to disbelieve what passes for humanity.

    The future looks bleak and it’s already here.

    • Sean

      That’s the spirit!

    • The Other Kevin

      We have a general lack of competence and zero good leaders. Corruption is rampant and done out in the open. People are openly pushing kids into having mental health problems. It is indeed bleak.

    • R.J.

      Look. I just got an emergency notice to prep for a government shutdown. I would never be more happy to see that happen, even if it may impact me financially (insurance).
      Outside the temperature is comfortable, there is a garage to clean and a backyard to enjoy. None of the sociopaths are there. They are far away from you and me, my friend. Don’t let that TV be a funnel for their mental disorders. They cannot control you, only yell at you from a distance. And you can change the channel.

      • juris imprudent

        The wonder of the social & mass media – feeding you full of misery that you wouldn’t otherwise experience.

      • R.J.

        Exactly. Shut it off.

      • juris imprudent

        Of course we are prone to sharing this same behavior. We have met the enemy…

      • prolefeed

        This website IS social media.

        Still might be good advice. 😉

      • UnCivilServant

        LIEZ!

        It’s Antisocial media.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        IMO, SM has apps.

      • Common Tater

        MySpace, Facebook, etc. started before apps were a thing.

      • prolefeed

        You mean the kind of “shutdown” where “essential” functions continue to be funded, and most of the openly worthless or actively counterproductive employees get a vacation which they will eventually get paid for?

        Far more effective to pass legislation specifying jobs that get cut, and not conflate it with general spending levels.

      • Lachowsky

        Government shutdown theater is just that. Nothing i want to be shut down is actually shut down. None of the people i want laid off get anything other than a free couple weeks of paid vacation.

        Last time it shutdown, the only thing i noticed was that the Corp of engineers closed down the boat ramps that give access to the Arkansas river. They only did that to be dicks.

    • pistoffnick

      Blow up your teevee
      Throw away your paper
      Go to the country
      Build you a home
      Plant a little garden
      Eat a lot of peaches
      Try to find Jesus on your own

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

    • Drake

      Which is why I rarely look at news or Internet during the weekends.
      Working in the yard and going to church seem as normal as ever.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    Fabulism and fearmongering

    In the absence of clear, reliable information, the rumors grew and cast suspicion on emergency response efforts. They fed into people’s fears that they wouldn’t be able to keep their land or their homes, if they remained, leading some to return to houses in the burn zone, days after the fire – despite warnings from authorities that the air and water may not be safe, and the structures may be compromised.

    The rumors sowed discord in the tight-knit community. Longtime Lahaina resident Chris Arnold said his kids were scared of a military takeover based on rumors they had heard online. “The stupid sh** you put out there, these kids believe it,” he says, speaking directly to those creating and spreading rumors from afar. “Grow up, put your g****** phones down, write a check and help us out, or grow a garden – do something proactive instead of making up sh**.”

    As communities have to grapple with natural disasters and extreme weather in increasing frequency because of man-made climate change, researchers warn that rumors arising each time in their wake are a force to contend with on their own. While chaos and confusion are common in the wake of disasters, what happened on Maui opens an anecdotal window into the impact of such rumors.

    Space lasers? Don’t be silly. It were Royal Dutch Shell what dunnit, just for a larf.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    While people sheltered in hotels on Maui told each other stories and tried to make sense of the changes to their lives, those monitoring online rumors noticed narratives cropping up across social media platforms big and small.

    Welton Chang, CEO and co-founder of tech firm Pyrra Technologies, looked at posts on smaller platforms like Truth Social and Gab and saw a lot of unfounded narratives that tap into typical conspiracy themes. “These fires were not natural. They were created by a shadowy cabal of the government and the World Economic Forum and then some celebrities,” says Chang, listing some of the theories.

    On the larger social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, Kyle Van Fleet, communications associate at voting rights organization APIAVote, started noticing “a very big response in a conspiratorial way” – through videos meant to debunk those conspiracies, posted by Asian American and Pacific Islander activists and influencers shortly after news of the fire broke.

    Among the themes Van Fleet saw were climate denial claims, asserting that the fire had nothing to do with climate change. But he also noticed other kinds of messages spreading.

    “There was … a niche narrative that this was the beginning of turning Maui into a smart city,” Van Fleet says, referring to a conspiracy theory that claims efforts intended to reduce traffic and increase walkability are actually a plot by governments to use climate change as a pretext to turn cities into “open air prisons.”

    It would only be an open air prison if the peasants were to be allowed to live there. It will be turned into a fabulous city-in-the-clouds paradise for the mega rich.

    • Tundra

      Such bullshit. Whether natural or not, the fires were allowed to burn, there is a plan in place for some glorious 15 minute city and we still don’t have a number of dead kids.

      It’s a fucking land grab, idiots.

      • R.J.

        Absolutely. And nothing it wrong with conspiracy theories. Debate them, if you believe them to be false. Problem is, a lot of them end up being true…

    • juris imprudent

      Funny how the actual incompetence of govt in Hawaii is neither rumor nor fact. It just goes totally overlooked.

    • Common Tater

      “asserting that the fire had nothing to do with climate change”

      It didn’t.

  22. Rebel Scum

    Hunter Biden Received Payments From China Wired to Father’s Address: House Oversight Committee

    But there’s no evidence of any malfeasance.

    • The Other Kevin

      A lot of people are going to get tendonitis from all that hand waving.

  23. Rebel Scum

    Real estate insiders bewildered by judge’s $18M valuation of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago: ‘Would list at $300M’

    The fraud here is the court.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I’m more curious how a judge in NY has any authority to establish a land value in a different state.

      • juris imprudent

        Engoron imagines himself as Judge Dredd!

      • Ownbestenemy

        I just realized I could be accused of the same ‘fraud’. Appraiser came in at 10K more than what we are buying for. I dare not value my house as such.

      • Drake

        When we sold in NJ, we had the opposite problem. The appraisal came in $90k under the offer. And we didn’t even accept the highest offer. The buyers were pissed at the appraiser and had to come up with the extra cash, because we weren’t coming down on the price.

        It was the right price and they could probably sell for $50k higher than what they paid right now.

      • Rebel Scum

        Never mind that the valuations have to be approved by the lender.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Im waiting for the next step…eminent domain and claim they don’t have to pay fair-market value because this judge said so.

      • R C Dean

        Apparently, leftists are spooging over that scenario, only I think it’s Trump Tower in NYC that the state is going to seize.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        To hell with the condo owners.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Hunter Biden Received Payments From China Wired to Father’s Address

    How does that work, exactly? Did they wire the money to Joe’s bluetooth toaster? Did the Western Union man hand deliver a money order for ten million dollars to Joe’s front door?

    • juris imprudent

      As mentioned earlier – a consequence of the PATRIOT Act, a physical address must be part of wiring money.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    It’s difficult to tease out how rumors in the online and offline worlds cross-pollinate and to quantify how much rumors affect behavior, though there are documented effects.

    At the height of the COVID pandemic, as false narratives around new vaccines swirled, surveys showed that false narratives deterred some people from getting shots.

    It couldn’t have had anything to do with growing evidence that the shots didn’t actually do anything.

    • Derpetologist

      QUIET, YOU!

    • Suthenboy

      Oh, they did something alright. There is growing evidence of that.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    As mentioned earlier – a consequence of the PATRIOT Act, a physical address must be part of wiring money.

    Huh. I won’t bother to act surprised.

    • Robonerfherder

      Hardly anybody, including the U.S. government, foresaw the rapid collapse.

      The US government was hoping that Russia would stick its dick in that shitshow in order to divide its attentions. I’m willing to bet good money that we were helping stoke the tensions.

    • dontreadonme

      One of my colleagues is Armenian and still has a home there. A conversation about the geopolitics of the region that involves Russia, Turkey, and Iran stoking the fires of ancient hatreds is nothing short of dizzying. Suffice it to say that there are no good actors and the citizenry caught in the middle continue to suffer tremendously. Such a waste.

  27. Rebel Scum

    Republican Party still pretending there is a competitive primary

    I can’t decide which one is the biggest sanctimonious clown in the bunch. Probably Chris Christie.

    • Suthenboy

      Yeah, Crispy Creme’s take-down of Trump was embarrassing to watch. What was that? A seventh grade debate class?

    • Lachowsky

      Neocon Nikki comes off as pretty bitchy.

      • Rebel Scum

        So does Petulant Pence.

  28. Don escaped Texas

    Over-rated is up at 11, but I’m running out to a golf tournament.

    Go OT, say some shitty stuff about commies, and generally have a Glib day.

    • pistoffnick

      Commies stole my incandescent lightbulbs.

  29. Robonerfherder

    Whoa, German Bund may break 3% yield before the day is over and the Euro is continuing its decline.

    The dam is breaking, LaGarde doesn’t have enough thumbs to plug all the holes.

    • Tundra

      So what are the mechanics of this? And what do you think happens?

      Won’t having a monster infusion of Euro money here fuck is even harder, asset wise?

      • Robonerfherder

        The ECB has been working feverishly to hold down European bond yields for a over a year and prop up the Euro.

        One assumes that is because they have to and the Euro is danger of collapsing.

        The net result will be a flight of European capital and industry, most likely to the US. The Eurotrash commies and globalists (Soros et al and their backers) don’t like this, hence why they’ve been subsidizing the worst people in the States to drive away capital. With nowhere else for capital to run to, they would come out slightly better than otherwise.

        But Powell has been sticking the knife in hard by raising rates and saving the dollar. He doesn’t really care about inflation, he’s been draining the offshore dollar markets to avoid a future currency collapse.

        In the past, the Brits would have used LIBOR to fuck with us and make the Fed pivot, but LIBOR is gone and the Fed is no longer interested in bailing out Europe. We’re truly in a new financial age.

        The good side of this is that once Europe’s banking gooses are cooked, the incentive to subsidize assholes over here goes away. We may get an opportunity to right the ship.

      • Tundra

        If we don’t go to war.

        Thanks for the breakdown

      • Lachowsky

        That’s the Tom Luongo take. Not sure that i buy it, but damn i hope he is right.

      • Robonerfherder

        I thought he was crazy at first.

        But the more I watch and listen, the more correct he appears. The numbers are validating his thesis.

      • invisible finger

        By “Euro Money” do you mean capital or debt?

        President Yellen is doing all she can to bail out her Euro-commie comrades.

      • Robonerfherder

        I mean what industry and what little capital remains.

        Plenty of questions remain as to what happens as the Euro collapses. Will the ECB institute a CBDC and hold it together? Will the EU fracture completely? Will NATO go down with it? Will desperate actors kick off WW3 in earnest?

        Yellen is a damned traitor who should hang by her non-existent neck.

    • invisible finger

      The EU is going to collapse exactly as it was expected to the moment the idea was floated. Half the countries in it only wanted bailouts from Germany, France, and Britain. And those 3 countries could only go along with that as long as the US bailed them out.

  30. Rebel Scum

    Vote Democrat?: What can you do if the government declares you dead?

    This probably sounds like one of those “funny” stories that wind up in various skits, but it’s something that actually happens and can have serious results. What happens to a U.S. citizen if the government declares them to be legally dead while they are still alive and well? The results can be incredibly damaging if the situation isn’t corrected promptly. In the case of Madeline-Michelle Carthen of St. Louis, Missouri, she learned that making that correction can be daunting or perhaps impossible. In 2007, while preparing for an overseas internship, she learned that her social security number had been added to a federal database of deceased persons. Her life has essentially been a nightmare ever since, despite endless efforts to prove that she is, in fact, still alive.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    A realm of demons and destruction

    “Democracy is still at stake in 2024. Democracy is on the ballot,” he told donors in San Francisco on Wednesday.

    “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy because they want to break down institutional structures,” Biden said.

    In his speech, Biden will focus his criticism on the Make America Great Again ethos of Trump and his supporters. “There is something dangerous happening in America. There is an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy. The MAGA movement,” Biden will say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks.

    Biden also plans to criticize traditional Republicans for failing to stand up to Trump. “Not every Republican – not even the majority of Republicans – adhere to the extremist MAGA ideology,” Biden will say, according to the excerpts.

    “But there is no question that today’s Republican Party is driven and intimidated by MAGA extremists. Their extreme agenda, if carried out, would fundamentally alter the institutions of American democracy as we know it,” Biden will say.

    Only I can save you.

    Are Americans really that stupid? I think I know the answer.

    • B.P.

      We must save democracy by eliminating the possibility of having a guy on the ballot.

      Also, tell me more about this extremist ideology/agenda. I haven’t heard much talk of actual policy proposals in a while.

    • Rebel Scum

      Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy

      By trying to win an election?

      because they want to break down institutional structures,” Biden said.

      The gov’t is far beyond it’s constitutional limits with these “institutional structures.” Break everything and bury it.

      There is an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy.

      But enough about leftists and the deep state.

      the extremist MAGA ideology

      The “extremists” that are roughly half the country.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Full Joker

    “America is going full Joker,” Musk posted to his social media platform X on Tuesday.

    The 2019 film he referenced stars Joaquin Phoenix in an Oscar-winning turn as the titular antihero whose actions inadvertently spark a riot in the city of Gotham, a tinderbox of violent crime just waiting to go off.

    Perhaps more than any fictional work of late, its portrayal of society coming apart at the seams has come to symbolize the “late-stage civilization vibes” that Musk claims to feel of late when witnessing scenes of rampant theft.

    Despite a resilient economy and robust job market, more and more Americans fear the country has reached its cultural peak and now faces the same fate as the Roman Empire. There may even be an unhealthy obsession about Rome, with the subject garnering over 1 billion views on TikTok.

    Musk wasn’t alone in his bleak reaction to Tuesday’s news even if others viewed the income inequality that centibillionaires such as himself helped create as part of—if not the root of—the problem.

    “Welcome to late-stage capitalism,” hacker group Anonymous posted from its official account on Tuesday.

    We have plenty of bread. The circuses are thriving. What are you worried about?

    • B.P.

      “Despite a resilient economy…”

      Maybe the author should wander away from the keyboard and buy some takeout at a restaurant to gauge just how expensive shit is right now.

    • R C Dean

      “Despite a resilient economy and robust job market,”

      GDP ex government spending is . . . Not good.

      The workforce still hasn’t reached pre-plague levels.

      Fuck off, leftist propagandist.

  33. PieInTheSky

    One day in late 2021, Arne Semsrott set out with €20,000 ($21,200; £17,000) stuffed into his pockets. Some of it was his, some he had borrowed from friends. He admits to having been a little nervous.

    “I had no idea if this was going to work,” he says.

    His destination was the Plötzensee prison in the north-west of Berlin. His plan was to buy out as many prisoners as the cash in his pockets would allow.

    Arne, a 35-year-old journalist and activist, had discovered a loophole in the German legal system.

    Someone sentenced to pay a fine doesn’t have to pay it themselves. In exploiting the loophole he hoped to draw attention to what he saw as a glaring injustice: the law that enables judges to send people to prison for not buying a ticket on public transport.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66664823

    • Contrarian P

      How stupid do you have to be to lend money to some crusading do-gooder who plans to use it to pay fines for criminals?

      “Hey Arne, you got that hundred Euro I lent ya?”

      “I’m waiting for the guy who jumped the turnstile and was unjustly imprisoned to send it to me.”

  34. Sensei

    Nothing left to cut! Bipartisan! (Paywall)

    Biden to Create Library Honoring His Friend and Rival John McCain

    The McCain project was compared by people familiar with the plan to a presidential-style library and museum for a man who tried twice to reach the White House but never did. In affiliation with Arizona State University, the new institution would house Mr. McCain’s papers as well as offer exhibits about his life, including possibly a reproduction of the so-called Hanoi Hilton, where he was held in North Vietnam as a prisoner of war for five and a half years.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/28/us/politics/biden-mccain-library.html

    • Derpetologist

      Will it feature reproductions of the 5 aircraft that were destroyed while he was pilot in command? America’s first reverse ace has glorious legacy.

      ***
      Second crash, Nov. 28 1965: By this time Lt. McCain was stationed at Meridian, Mississippi, and was newly married to his first wife, Carol. McCain had flown to Philadelphia to attend an Army-Navy football game with his parents and was bringing back Christmas presents for the family in the baggage compartment of his plane. His jet engine quit over the Chesapeake Bay.

      McCain, 1999 (p. 172): Somewhere between the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Norfolk, Virginia, as I was preparing to come in and refuel, my engine flamed out, and I had to eject at a thousand feet. The Christmas gifts were lost with my airplane.
      ***

      Truly an American hero…

      • Sensei

        That was one of my first thoughts too.

      • Rat on a train

        +194 Tug Benson

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Im waiting for the next step…eminent domain and claim they don’t have to pay fair-market value because this judge said so.

    Asset forfeiture. They just take it.

  36. The Late P Brooks

    Biden to Create Library Honoring His Friend and Rival John McCain

    Don’t forget the slush fund for “underserved adocacy” nonprofits.

  37. Common Tater

    ““Being transgender is not a mental health disorder,” Azeen Ghorayshi of the New York Times claims. “Many transgender people experience gender dysphoria, or psychological distress as a result of the incongruence between their sex and their gender identity. Gender dysphoria is a diagnosis in the Psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and can be given to children, adolescents or adults.””

    https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2023/09/28/is-this-the-worst-fact-check-from-the-gop-debate-n1730508

    That’s almost an admission that they are transitioning kids who do not have gender dysphoria. Which is something they are doing.

  38. Lachowsky

    I’m disturbed that the new Republican talking point is drifting more and more towards, “Let’s invade Mexico”

    Think the immigration problems are bad now, Wait til after the invasion.

    • Tundra

      I hope it waits until after I get back from vacation

  39. The Late P Brooks

    the new Republican talking point is drifting more and more towards, “Let’s invade Mexico”

    WTF? Let’s make them take California back. That’ll learn ’em.

    • R.J.

      CVS and Walgreens have terrible wait times. It’s bad. I sat 20 minutes in a “drive through” to get my daughter’s medication. There were three cars ahead of me. None of them moved in twenty minutes. Why would that be? The drive through was open, how long does it take to get some damn pills picked up? Something else is going on there.
      I left, got my daughter some fast food, and drove back by. Same cars were still sitting there. What the hell?

      • Sensei

        A large chunk of that is pricing and insurance.

        It’s not the counting out of 10 pills and putting them in a bottle.

      • Brochettaward

        People need to get out of the mindset that visiting a pharmacy is like visiting a fast food joint. And a lot of the issues are created by customers who are ignorant pieces of shit in general.

        The fast food joint has less work and more staff.

    • Mojeaux

      Well, Missouri, anyway.

      My CVS is affected. Compounded with the shortage of ADHD meds (all of them–the Adderall shortage trickled down), and it’s a nightmare getting your shit.

      They REALLY just don’t have enough staff, and people got tired of working tons of overtime. To me, if you are screaming for help, but corporate is telling you to shut your mouth and get back to work, a walkout is justified. They’re not asking for more money for themselves, just more payroll hours.

      • Sensei

        I totally get that and agree with you here. I just can’t figure out why this particular area reached the breaking point instead of others with similar pressures.

      • Mojeaux

        That, I don’t know. I SUSPECT it’s because we’re considered a “small market” by the corporate world and thus, underestimated how much staff they’d need.

  40. Common Tater

    “WATCH: On Joy Reid’s show, Steven Schmidt gives us possibly the dumbest ‘dog whistle’ claim, ever

    “Schmidt: ‘Now, since FDR’s time in office, the legislative metric in the United States has been 100 days, not six months. This is a racist code whistle to every white supremacist in the country because it’s how long it took Adolf Hitler to take Weimar Germany to a complete and total dictatorship.”

    https://twitchy.com/aaronwalker/2023/09/27/steve-schmidt-on-joy-reid-six-months-is-a-dog-whistle-reference-to-hitler-n2387761

    Their audience might be dumber than Joy Reid. Which is quite an accomplishment.

    • R C Dean

      STEVEN SCHMIDT?

    • Rat on a train

      Chancellor to Enabling Act was 53 days.

      • creech

        You knew that? What are you, some kind of Hitler/Nazi buff???

    • Robonerfherder

      He’s a cofounder of the Lincoln Project.

      I still can’t decide if that group is just to designed to grift money from gullible Democrats or if they’re actually that crazy.

      • Rebel Scum

        Yes.

  41. Mojeaux

    I’m doing Tom Woods’s two newest supplemental texts to his official books about the WuFlu. I swan, it really messed people up.

    Now off to Pinterest to look at pretty pictures and dream of what I’m going to do with the megamillions my husband is going to win.

    • Sean

      As a slide show? GTFO.

      • R.J.

        I know. What I want are the most ridiculous sexy outfits this year, like “Sexy Cup of Ramen,” etc…

      • Robonerfherder

        “Sexy Cup of Ramen”

        HAWT

        Boil my noodle baby

    • Robonerfherder

      Plenty of what could be considered “white” characters in there, but strangely none that might be considered “colored” characters.

  42. Sensei

    Funny how the revisions work

    The Commerce Department’s final revision of second-quarter gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, showed that economic growth was unchanged from the second estimate, holding at an annualized rate of 2.1%.

    However, consumer spending, America’s economic engine, was revised much lower, to a 0.8% annualized rate, according to data released Thursday. That’s down from the 1.7% rate reflected in the previous estimate. Spending in the second quarter grew at its weakest pace since the first quarter of 2022, when it was flat.

    https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/28/economy/q2-gdp-final-estimate/index.html

    • creech

      Who knows if any of these figures are right. I used to get their surveys in the mail all the time; having real work to do, I would just fill in quick estimated numbers and mail them back.