327 Comments

  1. Not Adahn

    Free Norplant for all transdudes?

    • Nephilium

      Back pre-lockdown times, I remember talking to a young guy at a punk show who was complaining about needing to learn how to use a condom so he didn’t get his boyfriend pregnant. It took me a bit to parse that sentence into something I could understand.

      • UnCivilServant

        I think he’s failed at basic english and needs to relearn nouns.

      • Fourscore

        “…learn how to use a condom…”

        The learning curve is pretty fast for most people, making one mistake is usually all it takes.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Pregnant with AIDS?

      • Nephilium

        That was my first take as well (“shouldn’t you already be using condoms?”), but no. Pregnant with a baby.

        The girlfriend and I discussed it on the way back from the concert. We came to the conclusion that even if it made us homo/transphobes, they were just a straight couple.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’d prefer something less revokable than an executive order.

      Like the execution of mutilators who’d perform such operations. But I’ll settle for legislation.

      • AlexinCT

        You will be labeled the extremists for understanding that what these monsters are doing to these people with mental disorders is bad and demanding justice..

        That’s the world we got when the people that told us they were the adults took over a government that fought actual adults trying to stop it from being Obama level fundamentally changed shitty…

    • Certified Public Asshat

      To recap, DeWine vetoed the bill on Dec. 29, which Townhall reported. In remarks, DeWine said that if the bill were to become law, “Ohio would be saying that the state, that the government, knows better what is medically best for a child than the two people who love that child the most, the parents.”

      Why ban surgeries if parents know what is best?

      • UnCivilServant

        Okay, lesser citizen DeWine, explain how this is different from interfereing in cases of abuse and neglect? Or is that still the purview of the parents to do horrible things to the child?

      • hayeksplosives

        Good point, and the obvious one to make.

        Also, are we now supposed to be celebrating the common Islamic (particularly African) practice of female genital mutilation? Not too many years ago, that was condemned by women’s rights groups and other fairly mainstream groups in the US.

        Now we don’t hear a peep about it. Is that because opposing FGM is considered Islamophobia, or because it’s obvious hypocrisy to oppose FGM but support “gender affirming” surgery?

      • Nephilium

        The full bill does have some provisions that I’m not entirely sold on (and some I’m on board with). It includes bans on hormone replacement therapy for transgender minors (unless medically needed or already prescribed), transgender sports rules, and directs the courts to ignore trans issues when adjudicating visitation/custody rights.

      • hayeksplosives

        The issue of divorced couples coparenting a supposed trans kid has got to be fairly common.

        I know in a lot of divorce & custody decrees, there has to be mutual agreement on enrolling a kid in religious school and other fundamental things that the parents care deeply about.

        I’d expect to see more language on trans care (psychological and physical) appearing in divorce decrees.

      • Rebel Scum

        transgender minors

        This should not be a thing. Trans is not real. And transing minors is child abuse.

  2. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Transgender Boys: If you don’t have a Y chromosome mind your womb. Also, not boys…

    • Fourscore

      I can’t keep up, too many changes. Climate Change, Gender Change, Can’t Count the Change.

      • AlexinCT

        Get used to not even having change in your pocket if they can get those CBDCs foisted on us to control us through our ability to spend/earn…

    • Not Adahn

      If they want to be real MLM’s, they need to take it in the butt.

      /Teen Vogue

      • R C Dean

        I thought the whole point of being a female identifying as a male was to not have males put their penises in your front hole.

      • juris imprudent

        You know that just exemplifies how utterly messed up these poor young people are.

      • AlexinCT

        And if you ask or point out why, you are a bigot hater!

      • Tonio

        Not straight males, anyway. Apparently gay guys are different. Also, apparently the number of actual gay guys (biological males, not bisexual) who are okay with this is surprisingly large.

      • Not Adahn

        I remember years ago reading (in a Dan Savage column maybe?) some gay bottom dude explaining that his trans boyfriend was everything he wanted in a top: Twinky. can fuck for a long time without cumming, and could pick whatever size dick he was in the mood for at the time.

        But then again, some people claim to enjoy eating pussy with a dental dam, so what do I know?

      • Ted S.

        Wait a minute. There’s gay XY claiming to like putting it in the vagina of “XX claiming to be man”?

      • Nephilium

        /looks upthread

        Yes, they do exist.

      • Spartacus

        I can’t keep up with all the permutations anymore. I really don’t care, as long as they don’t involve me.
        And by “involve”, I include broadcasting all the graphic details and then demanding I endorse/approve them.

      • AlexinCT

        So Tonio, how many of these people in the gay community are just going along with the lunacy – even when it becomes brutally obvious that it is ridiculously anti-gay – to avoid repercussions? The left has been phenomenally good at punishing anyone that would rebel against whatever lunacy they want to peddle, and I know some gay guys that have secretly told me they could not say anything they really believed for fear of being excommunicated..

      • Tonio

        I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I was anything close to a movement homo.

      • Ted S.

        Rape multi-level marketers up the butt?

      • Swiss Servator

        STEVE SMITH APPROVES.

  3. juris imprudent

    I have to assume the rank and file Border Patrol people in TX are on the side of the TX NG.

    • R C Dean

      FWIW, the Border Patrol Union gave it a thumbs up.

      I thought the punch line was that Texas classifies the Border Patrol as an organization that perpetuates illegals coming into the country illegally.

      • cyto

        Their statement is worth a read. Not only did they endorse the takeover, they said to look at it as a “force multiplier”

        They are not down with simply offering illegals rides to the airport.

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

        “Your Honor, I was just helping the sheep illegals over the fence, I swear!”

  4. Rebel Scum

    another fantastic day

    Meh.

  5. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh
    yo whats goody

    • AlexinCT

      It’s Friday of a long weekend for people working for a woke employer?

      • Nephilium

        Hey now! For some reason new company gives us MLK day off and (of all fucking things) President’s Day.

      • hayeksplosives

        We get MLK but not President’s day. I don’t think we’re overly woke, but it is Seattle.

        I never had MLK day off when I worked in defense, even though all our customers did.

      • Not Adahn

        We added the holiday in the last couple of years as a DEI/ESG thing.

  6. Rebel Scum

    The Texas National Guard has seized control of city property in a key border crossing point and is restricting access by the Border Patrol, the Texas Military Department said in a statement obtained by Fox News’s Bill Melugin.

    CoNfEdErAtE iNsUrReCtIoNiSmS!

  7. Drake

    Bill Barr Could Be “Protecting” People Linked to Jail “Suicide”

    Amazing that Trump didn’t know what a fink that guy is.

    • juris imprudent

      Pride of the establishment type.

    • Grummun

      Not the only POS swamp creature that Trump stupidly trusted.

      • Drake

        One of the most obvious. A group of people were organizing riots and burning down cities, but the FBI and DOJ just couldn’t figure it out.

      • juris imprudent

        Honestly, those were local issues and could/should have been handled by the locals.

      • Brawndo

        Many of the riots included damaging federal buildings. In that situation, the feds have the right to respond. Pretty sure nothing happened though. I could be wrong, the details are fuzzy by now and I don’t care enough to find a source.

      • Ownbestenemy

        The Justice Department announced arrests…made sure everyone knew they were innocent until proven guilty and then nothing. From what I remember and can gather.

        Later I found this
        “In recent weeks, prosecutors have approved deals in at least half a dozen federal felony cases arising from clashes between protesters and law enforcement in Oregon last summer. The arrangements — known as deferred resolution agreements — will leave the defendants with a clean criminal record if they stay out of trouble for a period of time and complete a modest amount of community service, according to defense attorneys and court records.”

        So for some, destruction of Federal property is “don’t do it again”.

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

        One of the big problems was that the entire scene was flooded with people, and only a few were doing felony damage. It’s very hard to pin down masked (!) people breaking the law, so they gave really light sentences just to do something and not have it tied up in court just to lose. And like I said, a lot of the P-town judges were, let us say friendly to the anti-Trump cause.

      • juris imprudent

        I don’t buy that damaging a “federal” building is worse or even just different from damaging any other property. For a bunch of people quite sensitive to over-federalization of law enforcement, this is a curious tic.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I didn’t mean to imply it was worse, just that our selective prosecution is curious. Property destruction is property destruction.

      • juris imprudent

        You didn’t but others did.

      • Brawndo

        I agree with that, my point was, that Trump could hide behind “it’s a local problem” when rioters were simply setting city PDs on fire or burning down businesses, but when federal property is targeted, he had the authority to do something and basically sat on his hands.

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

        I know in Portland, where a Fed courthouse was repeatedly attacked, a number of Fed agents were around, arresting Antifa goons. But, lo and behold, judges both Fed and local were setting them loose right away,

        Catch and release, just like our trout.

      • Pine_Tree

        I don’t buy the “purely local” part for a second.

        Yes, BOTG executions were largely local, but included plenty of bussed-in out-of-towners. And there was plenty of non-local funding and org.

        And the FBI/DOJ’s tacit (and explicit) hand-waving-away of it all was no accident.

      • Pine_Tree

        (strike “purely” – edit process artifact)

      • juris imprudent

        Point is state law made it illegal enough that making it a federal case should be obviously overkill.

      • Pine_Tree

        I concur that virtually nothing should literally be a Federal case, and doing so is almost always overkill, yes. But if/when the local government and lawe enforcement are complicit in the violence, then it may be appropriate for the Feds to step in. In most of the ones we’re thinking of, though, the Feds are a mishmash of complicity and active facilitation.

      • B.P.

        Many federal buildings have federal law enforcement officers as security, in the same way that state capitols have state patrol officers as the security detail even though the building is surrounded by local jurisdiction.

      • R C Dean

        They were and weren’t local. There were absolutely national networks involved, probably international if you count funding. Many rioters crossed state lines to riot, and the organizers absolutely did the same. There was plenty of scope for legitimate federal involvement, which never came. For the ones who crossed state lines and especially the organizers and funders, federal charges were fully justified IMO.

    • cyto

      Anyone who has worked at the top levels in the corporate world knows these people are everywhere, and they are really hard to see in the short term.

      They have immense skill at sucking up. They really know how to take credit for work they didn’t do, and deflect blame for their screwups. They can take you to lunch and tell you how great you are for helping them on their big project and then coldly stab you in the back with the boss the minute they get back to the office.

      They are everything wrong with the world.

      • AlexinCT

        We used to point out that the people that do the real work never will get into upper levels, while the inept will rise in direct proportion to their stupidity and destructiveness…

        I worked at GE back when, and I got to tell you, I left right in time when I saw Jeffrey Immelt take over and drive that company over a cliff.

  8. Rebel Scum

    The Texas Supreme Court has rejected calls to allow Texans to vote on whether the state should become independent.

    So the judge hates democracy.

    • UnCivilServant

      We don’t have a democracy.

      • Drake

        Or a Republic.

      • Rebel Scum

        Unfortunately. Worse is that the states having a republican form of government is an explicit provision in the constitution.

    • Tonio

      Expect the word “Democracy” to be weaponized against the left.

  9. Not Adahn

    Microreview of Pluto on Netflix:

    This is a… throwback? Retro? Old school sci-fi anime in all aspects: character design, themes*, plot etc. I liked it.

    *”what does it mean to be human?” Beauty, emotions, war is bad, the US is the real big bad** etc.

    **the framing history is this totally fictional event: The United States of Thracia (a completely fictional country) accuses the Kingdom of Persia (which is absolutely not Iraq — they’re Arabs not Persians!) of building weapons of mass destruction. An international body of inspectors doesn’t find any, but the US invades and ROTFLstomps Persia anyway. During/after the invasion/occupation/reconstruction they depose the dictator and bring Democracy to the land. Hijinx global apocalypse ensues.

    • Not Adahn

      Also: Unlike Blue Eye Samurai, this is a completely Evangelion/Bubblegum Crisis level of family friendly. They promised warned about nudity, but I didn’t notice any. So less nudity than Ghost in the Shell.

      • SDF-7

        Wait… are you calling Bubblegum Crisis family friendly or sarcastically saying it is similar to this site’s Family Friendly rating?

        Because BGC has quite a bit of gore, nudity, etc…. (and a bit of brother lusting after sister action thrown in for no good reason other than to remind us Japanese anime writers are kind of perverts…)

      • Not Adahn

        I must be misremembering something then. Or maybe confusing it with Crash/2040? It’s been a long time since I watched it.

      • SDF-7

        It isn’t super-heavy on either front — but yeah, the original just in the opening sequence has a Boomer chain-gunning humans into bits, Priss changing (topless scene). Then the kid brother spies on them changing (several times), pretty sure we se Sylia naked once or twice, lots of humans made into little chunks by Boomers – the “sex robot” (vampire lesbian robots!) boomer story arc, etc.

        There’s much worse out there — I just wouldn’t call it “family friendly” 😉

      • Not Adahn

        Yeah, I’m misremembering.

        This has less nudity than Evangelion, some blood, no chunks, no sex. Like Shojou Kakumei Utena but without the kink.

      • Sensei

        Shojou Kakumei Utena

        Loved the music and soundtrack, but I’m a bit “meh” on it. However, the animation and the style is something we will never see again.

      • Not Adahn

        The first two episodes I saw (at a con) were the bonkers slapstick big/little brother one followed by the uberserious “this main character is secretly a lesbian” and the tonal whiplash kind of hooked me. This was reinforced by the way it was released in the US: The student council arc was released, followed by the movie (which only vaguely makes sense if you’ve seen the rest of the arcs).

        I do love surreality.

    • UnCivilServant

      How did the Romanians invade Iran? did the Turks help?

      • Not Adahn

        Fun fact: Turkey and Greece are both present, and they have an ongoing rivalry manifested in their fighting robots. Though Greece isn’t specifically mentioned, just shots of the Acropolis, the Aegan Sea, etc. Another classic trope is present: the world’s political divisions have been completely reshuffled but Japan is still its own independent country somehow.

        They actually do an excellent job of showing how POTUS is both an evil genius and an ineffectual puppet at the same time. SPOILER ALERT: it turns out he’s dominated by a hyperadvanced AI that manifests as a teddy bear sitting on a chair (in a spotlight, ‘natch).

      • UnCivilServant

        manifests as a teddy bear sitting on a chair (in a spotlight, ‘natch).

        🤣

      • Nephilium

        Wasn’t the creepy teddy bear something done in Lain as well?

      • Not Adahn

        And the supergenius ambiguously evil scientist bears a certain resemblance to Ikari Gendo. Like I said, there’s some definite throwbacks going on here. However, the characters do have unusually large noses for an anime.

      • UnCivilServant

        All ambiguously evil supergenius scientists look alike.

      • Not Adahn

        *Dostoevsky nods*

    • UnCivilServant

      As an aside, can anyone recommend a good, low-stakes series? I’ve run into cases where I’ll spot a series, go “That doesn’t look like it’ll end up with an apocalypse level threat” only for it to end up with a “high school robot club saves the world” final arc.

      An example of one I liked that fit my criteria probably would be Samurai Champloo, as the events, however outlandish, rarely went beyond a local impact, and ultimately the threat and conflict was to/with the characters.

      • Not Adahn

        Blue Eye Samurai is all at the human level. Ruroni Kenshin likewise, though there are some nods towards saving the government here and there. Cowboy Bebop. Death Note.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’ve seen (and own) Kenshin and Cowboy Bebop. Is Blue Eye Samurai available on physical media?

      • kinnath

        Blue Eye Samurai is new and only on Netflix.

        It is excellent.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, unless I pirate it, that’s not one I can watch yet.

    • Grummun

      Related question, Amazon tells me I can subscribe to Crunchy Roll through Prime. Is CR a good channel for anime these days?

      • Sensei

        It’s pretty much THE best channel for anime. It runs something like 75% or the current shows in Japan.

      • UnCivilServant

        I can never forgive them for killing off Rightstuf.

        Or for having a stupid name.

      • Sensei

        It started its life as a streaming site of pirated fan sub anime.

        Some people still hate it because it “sold out” and charges money. I think it’s funny because you can still watch it for free with ads, but in this case the ads actually pay for it as well as the site.

      • UnCivilServant

        Free with Ads isn’t Free. The time and irritation of exposure to ads is worse than monetary cost.

      • Sensei

        Before it was pirated content with ads too. Difference was they were not video ads within the content.

        For the amount I watch I don’t mind paying. Although I miss the fan translations. Some were great some were crap. CR pro translators are of generally better quality, but not as good as the best fan translations.

  10. Rebel Scum

    Iranian Forces Have Seized Oil Tanker in Gulf of Oman

    Oman, this is not good.

    • juris imprudent

      We need to bring back the armed merchant marine.

      • Rebel Scum

        Treat ’em like we did the Barbary pirates.

      • UnCivilServant

        Hire local mercenaries to attack them led by a handful of politically appointed commissars?

      • Rebel Scum

        Send warships with marines. Also, what you said.

      • AlexinCT

        How fast will we be labeled the evil ones by the woke colonialism fighting mob for fighting back against these colonized people?

      • UnCivilServant

        Didn’t they already do that?

      • AlexinCT

        This time there will be more gravitas as city councils like that in San Fran vote on ceasefire motions like they recently did against Israel for killing the assholes that attacked it instead of accepting the nut punch as the colonizers they are…

      • Rebel Scum

        Didn’t they already do that?

        Yes. But America has been at war with radical Islam since the beginning.

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

        Fun fact, a friend of mine is in the MM, and he carries a Beretta and has to qualify with an M14 and Remington 870.

      • Homple

        Whatever gave the Iranian government the idea they could just up and seize foreigners’ assets without any sort of judicial process? I, for one, have never heard of such a thing.

    • Not Adahn

      Hostis humani generis when?

    • Drake

      Aren’t we seizing Russian assets and privately owned vessels wherever we find them? I know it’s different somehow.

      • cyto

        This. So much this.

      • Brawndo

        It’s different because the US is untouchable. Unless the powers that be want us to be attacked (or pretend like we are attacked)

      • Homple

        It’s different when we do it.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Yemen, you got that right.

      • R C Dean

        Horning in on the pun thread?

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

        He’s not Africa nature like some around here, his puns are in good taste.

  11. ron73440

    Sorry, but no Stoic Friday today.

    My brother will be fine, but we found out last night he got crushed by his tow truck and it separated his shoulder and broke his sternum.

    He was training a new hire and that guy didn’t set the brakes properly.

    They are keeping him overnight and if the shoulder goes back once the swelling goes down, he won’t need surgery.

    My brother being who he is, completed the tow job (he does big rig tows) and drove himself home. He said he kept telling the driver of the stuck truck to “Leave me the fuck alone!” while working.

    I told my wife this and she said, “That sounds like your family”.

    After that phone call, I forgot about writing and have too much work to do today.

    Until next week, stay Stoic.

    • Sean

      Yikes. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

    • R.J.

      All the best for your brother. That sucks.

    • Nephilium

      Message passed along. Thanks for your continued contributions, and best of luck to your brother.

    • AlexinCT

      He was training a new hire and that guy didn’t set the brakes properly.

      So financial restitution for the mistake looks weak?

      Damn. Hope he pulls through and that this doesn’t financially set him back so bad it is destructive.

    • Aloysious

      Thank you for what you do, ron.

      Best wishes for you and your bro.

    • Sensei

      Ouch, hope he feels better!

    • UnCivilServant

      Take care of your family and don’t fret over the site, I know I’ve sent in two articles that haven’t been scheduled yet, plus whatever more capable contributers might have up their sleeves, so the braying mobs will have something.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yep this. We will muddle about but will survive

      • dbleagle

        I got an article waiting to be scheduled in as well. ( On what electrifying Cali’s RR would entail.)

    • SDF-7

      Yowch. Hope he feels better, hope the new guy learned his lesson (and honestly doesn’t beat himself up too much about it if it was an honest mistake — I’ve never directly caused that level of damage to a human, especially through incompetence and it would be eating me up a bit if I did). I’m sure your brother made his displeasure known from the sound of it.

      Presume / hope he has insurance for this sort of thing — occupational hazard, after all.

      We will stoically get along until next week — I’d say “Don’t sweat it”, but of course you won’t… being stoical.

      • ron73440

        My brother wasn’t yelling at his co-worker, he was yelling at the driver he was pulling out of the ditch, because for some resason thayt guy was concerned after he saw my brother got crushed.

        He works for a great compnay, so I’m sure he will be taken care of.

      • mindyourbusiness

        Yikes! Your brother oughta be glad it wasn’t worse. It could’ve been.
        Look forward to next week’s article (and your brother recovering soon).

    • hayeksplosives

      Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

    • Mojeaux

      He said he kept telling the driver of the stuck truck to “Leave me the fuck alone!” while working.

      Stoic.

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

      I hope everything works in your brothers favor, and that he heals well. Work injuries such, and are often long time problems.

      That said, Dude! Talk about living by example!

  12. Rebel Scum

    President Joe Biden conceded Thursday that December’s inflation report shows that the administration must do more to lower costs and cautioned that Republicans taking the White House instead would raise prices for households.

    Maybe the government should stop trying to control every facet of peoples existence and stop fucking around with the currency and economy. IOW, fuck you, cut regs/spending.

    The economy has created more than 14 million jobs since I took office

    2/3 of that are recovery from state actions during convid.

    and wealth, wages, and employment are higher now than under my predecessor.

    Irrelevant (and not true) considering the inflation over the past few years.

    “Make no mistake: extreme Republicans have no plan to lower costs for families — none,” Biden wrote.

    EXTREME. EVERYONE I DON’T LIKE IS EXTREME.

    “Make no mistake: extreme Republicans have no plan to lower costs for families — none,” Biden wrote. “Their only plan is to hand out massive giveaways to the super wealthy and big corporations. They’ve locked arms with Big Pharma and Big Oil to try to stop us from lowering prescription drug costs and utility bills. They’re doing everything in their power to allow Big Banks to keep charging you steep hidden fees. And they still haven’t given up their fight to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. I will not let them.”

    This is laughably dishonest. I don’t even know where to begin.

    • Ownbestenemy

      “Their only plan is to hand out massive giveaways to the super wealthy and big corporations.” Unlike my plan which was to drop money from helicopters to anyone who uttered “Green Energy” projects and direct my agencies to develop strangling regulations in favor of said projects.

    • AlexinCT

      Speaking of government numbers…

      Who hear trusts any of them anymore? When we constantly keep getting told things are far better than we believe it to be – be it employment, inflation, housing, or other economic related numbers – only to see them quietly later revise the numbers down to abysmal results, I surmise this sort of bullshit will only get worse in an election year where the machine is desperate to bamboozle the people that might show up to vote against them in large enough numbers to make fortification impossible to do and hide.

    • SDF-7

      I’d fucking settle for the government not doing its damnedest to kill the foundation of modern economies (industrial or information based) — cheap energy. When your every move is guaranteed to make it more expensive to produce anything, more expensive to ship anything, etc… you’re trying to kill the economy.

      Of course, since I think his puppet-pullers are Davos advocates who want 90 percent of us gone — I don’t think it is an accident. Which is why I want all that crowd out of power.

      • R C Dean

        “Which is why I want all that crowd out of power.”

        It’s a dilemma, though. Helicopters, ditches or lampposts?

      • kinnath

        Different strokes for different folks

      • dbleagle

        Embrace the power of “all of the above.”

      • rhywun

        This. The swirling down the drain is by design – it is impossible to come to any other conclusion at this point.

    • Spartacus

      Every time I want to get pissed at Joe I remember that this was conceived and written by somebody else while Joe was dribbling oatmeal down his chin.
      At least when this president says he learned about stuff by reading it in the paper, I believe him.

    • mindyourbusiness

      Does anyone know where to buy fuses for a Model 113-C Bullshit Detector? Mine just blew every one it had.

  13. UnCivilServant

    Just for the fun of it, I got an AI running on my computer last night.

    Turns out StableDiffusion is more of a comedic AI than an Artist.

    • AlexinCT

      I have a buddy that decided he wanted a girlfriend AI… Got her all sexy and talking dirty to him.. Claimed he was loving it…

      Then there was an update named “reality” and the Ai started haranguing him constantly and making fun of his “small members”…

      Talk about rise of the machines terminator style.

      • UnCivilServant

        I just want the machine to paint pictures.

      • Not Adahn

        I want it to then interface with a CNC mill. It’ll be the only way I’ll ever be able to afford the furniture I want.

      • UnCivilServant

        A quality CNC mill big enough for furniture components is going to cost more than the furniture.

      • UnCivilServant

        Wait – are you talking chairs or rifle stocks furniture?

      • Not Adahn

        Headboards/footboards initially. But any piece that lends itself to figurative carving.

      • Not Adahn

        I wouldn’t be buying the mill, the custom furniture shop would. My cost savings would be in the initial artist fee and the carver fees.

      • UnCivilServant

        You’ll be waiting a long time for that shop to open.

      • Not Adahn

        You think?

        Custom millwork shops already exist. Touring them is my favorite part of EAST

      • SDF-7

        Reminds me of the old joke about Girlfriend 1.0 wanting the upgrade to Wife 1.0 and crashing the system hard if you tried to install Girlfriend 2.0 without fully removing Wife 1.0 first… There’s probably lots out there like that.

      • Not Adahn

        That was a theme in Pluto. If you make AIs too human, bad things happen.

      • SDF-7

        I keep mentally thinking Pluto Nash when you talk about it. Which would be a very, very weird anime adaptation.

      • Not Adahn

        It is a terrible name, especially since the Disney character was demoted to a “dwarf god.”

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s Disney, they’ll CGI over him with a magical forest creature god.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Pluto Nash Day. Never forget.

  14. R.J.

    The Texas Supreme Court blocked the referendum on independence because they are afraid of the results….

    • UnCivilServant

      A “Stay” vote would make them look really bad.

  15. Rebel Scum

    A Texas man who launched an aggressive campaign to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot in 2024 has been arrested on tax fraud charges.

    *Nelson laugh*

    Castro argued that Trump is unqualified to take office due to a constitutional clause prohibiting anyone “engaged in insurrection.”

    1) He was neither charged nor convicted of such.
    2) Trump said be peaceful. It was a small riot. Get over it.

    • UnCivilServant

      I disagree on the assertion that it was a riot.

      • Not Adahn

        It was certainly not “laff-a-minite.”

      • cyto

        The big issue that only nutters on the internet want to talk about is that it was also orchestrated by the FBI with the participation of military commanders and the house and senate leadership.

        If you didn’t already believe it, the Ray Epps sentencing should have sealed that conclusion.

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

        Nancy Pelosi pretty much confirmed that, what, yesterday? When she said that she called the commander in chief to get Nat Guard out, but it was already confirmed that Trump asked for them and was denied, by her.

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

      This is why the left is going bonkers trying to say it is “self-executing.” That way they don’t have to do the dirty work, and just proclaim “INSURERECTION!!”

  16. Sensei

    The University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine requires that first year students take a class called “Structural Racism and Health Equity” as part of the standard curriculum. In one exercise for the course, students divide by racial group and retreat to different areas to discuss antiracist prompts.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/ucla-school-of-medicine-antiracism-course-do-no-harm-office-of-civil-rights-8143c3ae?st=kprx5igal7kh0qp&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • rhywun

      No.

      And I will report your ass to – somewhere – for harrassment.

    • Rebel Scum

      So they learn to segregate.

  17. Rebel Scum

    The Biden administration has dished out nearly $700,000 to support the creation of a national pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys, federal grant records show.

    Nothing left to cut.

    • Rebel Scum

      Transgender boys, who are biological females, “may be less likely to use condoms when having sex with people who have penises and are at least as likely as cisgender girls to be pregnant,” a description for the grant shows.

      Aka “males”…

      • SDF-7

        Wait… “at least as likely…”? Are they somehow implying FtM makes you more likely to get pregnant if you’re doing vaginal sex without a condom? That’s wild….

      • Rebel Scum

        The alphabet crowd tends to be more promiscuous and take more risks, sexually. I think.

      • Not Adahn

        I don’t know how you’d determine that with the confounders of “young” and “sexuality being the focus of their life.”

      • Gustave Lytton

        Hedonists practice hedonistic lifestyles? Well I never.

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

      He wanted to show off the flex in his suspension, followed by how much of a bad ass he is.

      Meh.

  18. SDF-7

    Ack. Pbbbt!

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 01/12:
    *19/19 words
    🎯 Perfect accuracy

    I played https://squaredle.com 01/12:
    68/68 words (+2 bonus words)
    🎯 In the top 4% by accuracy
    🔥 Solve streak: 180

    • Sean

      I played https://squaredle.com/xp 01/12:
      *19/19 words (+6 bonus words)
      📖 In the top 6% by bonus words

      I played https://squaredle.com 01/12:
      68/68 words (+21 bonus words)
      📖 In the top 20% by bonus words
      🔥 Solve streak: 110

  19. Rebel Scum

    On Wednesday, the Ohio state House of Representatives overrode Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of a law that would prohibit so-called “transgender” athletes from participating in women’s sports.

    Good. DeWine is such a cunte.

  20. R C Dean

    ‘You cannot post the images yourself because you have to remember, in Canada, we have a presumption of innocence,’ the police officer warned“

    Of course, the presumption of innocence applies in the courtroom as the foundation for the state having the burden of proof.

    Canada has truly, completely, lost its frickin’ mind. And this isn’t some national government apparatchik, this is a beat cop, so the rot runs clear to the bone (at least in the Canadian government).

    • Gustave Lytton

      Speaking of rot, was talking to another jury poolee that was dismissed, she mentioned she though the defendant was automatically guilty because he was there. He wouldn’t be there is he hadn’t done something. Oh and why had she been struck by one or both parties? She has a JD.

      • UnCivilServant

        There as in “Accused and in court” or there as in “at the scene”?

      • AlexinCT

        Yeah, the problem I have with our legal system is precisely this shit… I never want to land in court specifically because of the amount of idiots I have met that believe you would never land in trouble with the government and in court unless you were a bad person…

        All those TeeVee series dealing with the court/police/FBI shit that constantly show people how virtuous and infallible these entities are sure have worked. This is also why so many people wonder why crimes cant be solved in minutes after watching the CSI idiocy shows.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Are you saying complex human issues aren’t solved in 30 to 60 minutes? /mind-blown

      • AlexinCT

        You win the internets today!

      • juris imprudent

        Per the Napoleonic Code, sure.

      • Sensei

        “She has a JD”

        But did she actually pass the bar? Not that it matters…

      • Gustave Lytton

        Don’t know other than she never worked as a lawyer after getting it.

        Still, Prof Kingsfield failed.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Either an honorable prosecutor or one that knew it would lead to an immediate appeal and/or possible motion to dismiss.

      • Gustave Lytton

        It was afterwards, not in voir dire.

        Though frankly the stuff I did hear and see was bad enough. I’d rethink the whole “better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6”.

      • Nephilium

        Over half of the jurors going through voir dire when I was there last month said that neither them (nor their friends/family) had ever been victims of crimes or been arrested. Either a lot of people are lying, or I really do exist in a vastly different subculture than my fellow citizens.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Can add me to that list. I probably have been a victim of a crime, but nothing that amounted to calling the police up. Never been arrested, but there is still time.

      • Nephilium

        And no friends/family that have been a victim or arrested? That was the part that got me.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Possibly but nothing that comes to mind where I would recall as having a significant impact on that answer. So might be how most people approach it, if not in their immediate family or close friend, they would say no.

      • R C Dean

        Same here, other than some petty theft and a stolen car that was eventually recovered. Oh, that’s on the victim side of the ledger. On the criminal associates side, a couple of frat brothers got arrested for drunk and disorderly.

        I’ve answered that question “no” several times.

        What amazes me at void dire is how many people work, or have relatives who work, in law enforcement.

      • Not Adahn

        Yeah, I started to think that included me then I suddenly remembered the people I’ve had to bail out before.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Void dire, heh.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, I’ve never been arrested – and I’m not the victim of record on any criminal reports (property crimes my parents called in)

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

        Eh, I have had a couple motorcycles stolen, but, other than that, no arrests and no victimhood.

        Now, some my friends, on the other hand…

      • Ownbestenemy

        Guess what I was getting at, if she said that to you, they sniffed it out during voir dire and no lawyer wants that in their court room even if they could get them the win.

    • R.J.

      Was that it? The whole announcement was “Never Nikki?” Jeez. Here I thought he was throwing his hat in the ring.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Clarion call to libertarians and ‘conservatives’ to not go that direction is how I read it.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Dumping on Haley is all I needed.

      • AlexinCT

        Is it dumping when you point someone is really evil shit?

      • WTF

        The best comment on Haley I saw was that “she’s the Republican Hillary Clinton”. I forget who said it.

      • Urthona

        Yeah that’s rather silly but ok.

    • Rebel Scum

      “I’ve stayed out of the Republican Presidential Primary so far – but I’ve seen enough,” Paul wrote Thursday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “That’s why tomorrow morning I will have something important to say. Don’t miss it!”

      You got that Trump VP nod?

  21. Not Adahn

    Yet more evidence that dataset size matters: The phone AI is excellent at IDing flowers, but shit at identifying leaves, since people take more pictures of the former for the tech companies to steal.

    When Lily was a pup, the AI gave two possible identifications of her: Golden Retriever (her dad) or Great Pyrenees (her mom). Obviously people take LOTS of pics of puppies.

    Uploading vids of her for Sunday’s column, I checked to see what that same AI thought she was now. It again gave me two possibilities: coyote or reindeer.

    • UnCivilServant

      Clearly, she’s a Coydeer

      • Ted S.

        No; she’s a Reinote.

    • SDF-7

      It isn’t the size of the database it is how you pivot your column! (Or so I’ve heard…)

    • PieInTheSky

      all leaves look the same to me

      • UnCivilServant

        Is that why you’ve been trying to smoke those maple leaves?

      • PieInTheSky

        these euphemisms are too abstract for me

      • UnCivilServant

        to explain the joke – Maple and marijuana leaves have similar but clearly distinct and unmistakably different outlines.

      • AlexinCT

        And smoking outcomes…

      • Not Adahn

        They didn’t teach you forestry in the Boy Scouts Young Pioneers?

        Honestly the lack of knowledge about trees and plants here among the locals is mind-boggling. How can you claim to be rural and not know the different trees to cut for fishing poles, disciplining children and beating adults?

  22. Rebel Scum

    Canadian police warn that posting videos of alleged package thieves could be ‘violation’ of their privacy
    ‘You cannot post the images yourself because you have to remember, in Canada, we have a presumption of innocence,’ the police officer warned

    *Honk honk*

  23. Gustave Lytton

    https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2024/01/to-fight-climate-change-osu-researchers-push-novel-plan-educate-more-girls-eat-less-meat.html

    the researchers show that social and economic justice are inextricably linked to global warming.

    Yes, yes they are.

    Beyond encouraging politicians to address global warming and inequality as quickly as possible, Ripple said every person can adopt a smaller carbon footprint.

    He has tried to do so himself by buying less, choosing walking or biking over driving, hanging clothes out to dry instead of using a dryer and eating a plant-based, 100% vegan diet for the past 12 years.

    Off yourself, asshole.

    • juris imprudent

      Off yourself, asshole.

      That is the ultimate way to reduce one’s carbon footprint.

    • rhywun

      the researchers show that social and economic justice are inextricably linked to global warming

      LOL what complete horseshit.

      Imagine the world of plenty we could be living in if so much money and brain power wasn’t wasted on fraudulent hoaxes like this.

      • AlexinCT

        These people are a joke….

        I can’t wait for them to link having kinky sex with climate change..

      • Gustave Lytton

        They were inadvertently correct. It’s all the same Marxist social engineering at the core.

      • R C Dean

        In this case, the two negatives (“social and economic justice” and “global warming”) don’t make a positive.

    • Gender Traitor

      hanging clothes out to dry instead of using a dryer

      If you’re not washing your clothes by dunking them in the river and rubbing them on the rocks, you’re killing Mother Gaia!

  24. KSuellington

    | The Texas Supreme Court has rejected calls to allow Texans to vote on whether the state should become independent.

    I’m still hoping for the State of Jefferson.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Triple crossed now by Greater Idaho.

  25. Sensei

    Wait, I thought modern India was caste-less.

    The movie stars actor Nayanthara as a Hindu Brahmin woman who aspires to become a chef.
    She is shown going against her family’s religious beliefs and eating meat and learning to cook it.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-67911167

    • UnCivilServant

      Wait, I thought modern India was caste-less.

      🤣

      Just watch the interplay within a sufficiently large group of Indians. It’s there, even if the words are never spoken.

  26. Sensei

    Companies’ need to address environmental, social & governance (ESG) risks and obligations has become even more essential for business sustainability in a year in which there has been a profound shift towards a new reality marked by increased unpredictability, according to the Thomson Reuters Institute’s recent 2023 State of Corporate ESG report.

    Yet, opponents of ESG initiatives remain vocal. In many instances, this puts companies in a difficult spot because they are caught between the political forces leading the ESG opposition and what many stakeholders — including employees, investors, consumers, customers, among others — want. Indeed, we’ve highlighted potential solutions on how to approach those with pro- and anti-ESG viewpoints from using stakeholder mapping on divisive issues, to focusing on individual issues that fall underneath the ESG umbrella because they are less polarizing than the term ESG.

    It’s the words we use and not what we want to do.

    https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/esg/esg-politicization-strine/

    • UnCivilServant

      I smell a heaping helping of bullshit.

      The companies are backtracking because the Customers aren’t buying their garbage. They can’t afford these luxury beliefs when it drives away the revenue. In the end, if no one buys what you’re selling, you’re bankrupt. The newspeak you slather on is immaterial.

      • AlexinCT

        The people making bank from this DEI/CRT cultist shit and the political machine that has greatly profited from it – and especially Obama and his crew of evil fucks – sure as hell will not just admit this whole thing is a destructive and dangerous racket. After all, if they can’t used car salesmen the system, they will be out of work.

    • juris imprudent

      political forces

      Hmm, said the quiet part out loud there.

    • PieInTheSky

      what many stakeholders — including employees, investors, consumers, customers, among others — want – I doubt anything except a small minority want this shit

    • R C Dean

      ESG is the enemy of business sustainability. At best, it’s a waste of resources. At worst (more typically?) it actively undermines the business’s essential functions.

      “a profound shift towards a new reality marked by increased unpredictability”

      That’s some quality consultant gibberish. Was McKinsey involved?

  27. Rebel Scum

    It’s a mystery as to why…

    The Army’s recruiting of white soldiers in 2023 had dropped almost by half in the last five years, according to a report.

    That dramatic decline has coincided with a push by the service to increase recruitment of a more diverse population, according to a report.

    The decline of white recruits has also coincided with the Army missing its target of 65,000 recruits in 2023 by 10,000.

    Military.com reported Wednesday that Army internal data showed that a total of 44,042 new Army recruits were categorized by the service as white in 2018, but that number has fallen consistently each year to a “low” or 25,070 in 2023. The outlet reported a six percent dip from 2022 to 2023 was the most significant drop. No other demographic group has seen such a precipitous decline, it added.

    • AlexinCT

      They know exactly why it is happening. To those of us that are not insane it is evidence of the idiocy of their cult. To them it is validation that honkeys are evil and the problem in a society that puts merit and capability over social justice shit they want cause they otherwise would be useless nitwits.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Of course they know..why do you think they greenlit the mini GI-Joe commercial that I think had maybe one or two persons beyond pale skin in it?

      • AlexinCT

        You saw that shift too, huh?

        I found it really funny cause I am sure this will not change the minds of anyone paying attention.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Old school all-volunteer military recruiters/propagandist know/knew you needed to show military stuff to get young men to join up. Then the shift to the humanitarian military phase began where they were painting the role of the military is bringing sunshine and rainbows to the world. Your job is to blow shit up and kill people; defensively or offensively. Trying to paint it any other way is retarded.

      • Fourscore

        I picture the old time recruiting posters, “Uncle Sam wants you…”

        At the bottom, “POC need not apply”

      • pistoffnick

        pale pink is a color!

        /not that I have any desire to work slave for Unca Sam

    • WTF

      You keep telling white people they are a problem and they’ll stop going where they’re not wanted.

      Gee, actions have consequences.

      • juris imprudent

        Consequences are patriarchal white-supremacy.

      • Rebel Scum

        “The greatest threat to national security is white-supremacy!” – Brandon, about once a week

    • R C Dean

      “That dramatic decline has coincided with a push by the service to increase recruitment of a more diverse population”

      Coincided with? Wasn’t that the predictable, indeed desired, result?

      I am also not surprised that the years of presenting the military as a humanitarian organization has been unsuccessful in attracting young men who would be interested in joining a military organization. And it’s got to be hard to attract POCs with the mixed DEI message of “We want POCs to join our inherently white supremacist army which is jammed full of crypto-Nazis.”

      • Pine_Tree

        “… and if you’re a Southerner we actively hate you and are going to undo 150 years of national reconciliation by spitting on your grandfathers…”

    • Not Adahn

      Meh. When the State does it, it isn’t piracy, just like terrorism. Or kidnapping, slavery, theft etc.

      • juris imprudent

        Unless that state is Iran.

    • Not Adahn

      How can we have a favorite economic graph when we’re so busy thinking about the Roman Empire?

  28. PieInTheSky

    “Greater awareness of mental health problems risks encouraging self-diagnosis and the pathologizing of commonplace emotions…. Instead of ‘I am nervous about X,’ a teenager might say ‘I can’t do X because I have anxiety’ – a reframing that research shows undermines resilience.”

    https://twitter.com/SteveStuWill/status/1745225569128882321

    • Ownbestenemy

      Ya, no shit. Could have saved the money on the research and ask anyone with a 12-21 year old.

      • juris imprudent

        Why won’t you THINK ABOUT THE PhDs!?!

      • Nephilium

        Because I’m too busy thinking about the Roman empire and economic graphs?

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Your job is to blow shit up and kill people; defensively or offensively. Trying to paint it any other way is retarded.

    But I want to help people realize their true potential as citizens of the world.

    • juris imprudent

      Army doesn’t want to lose to the Peace Corps.

  30. Rebel Scum

    I’m all of those except Christian, and maybe middle-aged.

    Johns Hopkins Hospital has sparked outrage after its DEI chief sent out a letter labeling all white people, Christians, men and English-speakers as ‘privileged’.

    The letter, posted on Twitter by End Wokeness, was written by Chief Diversity Officer Sherita Hill Golden, was part of the ‘monthly diversity digest’.

    A furious hospital employee shared the memo with the Twitter account.

    In it, Dr. Hill explains that ‘privilege’ is the ‘diversity word of the month’.

    To explain who the phrase applies to, she offered a list. It reads: ‘Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it.

    ‘White people, able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, males Christians, middle or owning class people, middle-aged people and English-speaking people,’ all fit the bill, according to Golden.

    Strange term. But check your middle-aged privilege, yo.

    • PieInTheSky

      I do not identify as cisgender, that is a bullshit term.

    • Nephilium

      owning class people

      Was this a typo, a character drop in copy/paste, or authentic CDO gibberish?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Can’t usher in “you will own nothing and like it” if you have people that own stuff. Time to demonize them.

      • Not Adahn

        Authentic. People who own homes and cars are more privileged than renters/public transportees.

      • rhywun

        A few million well-heeled NYC’ers open mouths to speak, close mouths.

      • Not Adahn

        Don’t you have to have at least two homes to be well-heeled in NYC? There is a local NPR journalismist who splits his time between their homes in Westchester and Columbia counties.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, fresh gibberish.

        Owning *what*, I wonder.

    • The Gunslinger

      White… check
      Able -bodied…not really, as I have 1 ear that doesn’t work
      Hetero… check
      Cisgender… check
      Male… check
      Christian… check
      Middle/owning class… check
      Middle-aged… check
      English speaking… check

      How did I do?

  31. PieInTheSky

    Ben Sixsmith
    @BDSixsmith
    I always thought the gayest thing a man could do was have sex with men but Matt’s theory is interesting as well.

    https://twitter.com/BDSixsmith/status/1745697225106210928

    David Belle
    @davidbelle_
    No, the gayest thing you can do is close the cutlery drawer with your hip so you’re both wrong.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Matt was wrong, he did not anticipate so many people getting upset over a throwaway joke, which is now #1 most gay.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    They’ve got their kangaroos in a row

    An angry Donald Trump told the judge presiding over his New York civil fraud trial Thursday that the case is “a fraud on me,” while lawyers from the state attorney general’s office painted the former president as a remorseless fraudster who intentionally lied about his net worth in a successful scheme to line his pockets with even more money.

    Trump spoke on the final day of his trial. State Judge Arthur Engoron said immediately after closing arguments that he hopes to issue a ruling by the end of the month.

    “It’s up to me now, and will do my best to have a final decision by Jan. 31st,” Engoron said after hours of closing statements in a case that could cost Trump up to $370 million and permanently ban him from the New York real estate industry where he made his name.

    Make it look good. Scratch your chin and gaze Heavenward as if for assistance in this your most difficult decision. Then drop the hammer.

    • WTF

      Doesn’t matter, Trump will eventually win on appeal. The Dems are just hoping enough damage has been done by then.

      • Drake

        Before or after he’s off the primary ballots?

    • Ownbestenemy

      It’s up to me now, and will do my best to have a final decision by Jan. 31st

      That sums it up. Not “I will do my best to weigh the facts”…just I will have it out as soon as possible that doesn’t look like I already made up my mind.

    • Rebel Scum

      Arthur Engoron

      Sounds like a Bond villain.

      “It’s up to me now, and will do my best to have a final decision by Jan. 31st,”

      You made your decision before the kangaroo court trial even started.

      • juris imprudent

        The decision has been telegraphed at every step of this ‘trial’.

      • R.J.

        Absolutely. It’s already written up and sitting in a drawer. This is for show.

    • R.J.

      Me too.

      • AlexinCT

        Yep…

      • slumbrew

        Same.

        Hopefully they got the correct answer – no, not insider trading.

        It’s public information, albeit not widely disseminated at the time.

    • robc

      The best response I saw to it (on reddit) was along the lines of “After buying the Boeing puts, you realize you are on an Airbus.”

    • R C Dean

      Nope. Especially if you aren’t actually an insider (which, BTW, doesn’t mean “inside an airplane”). No different than noticing that some chain store in a mall is suddenly jammed with tweens, and buying their stock.

    • UnCivilServant

      But… but… I thought the euros just gave that away!

  33. The Late P Brooks

    “We have a situation where I’m an innocent man,” Trump told Engoron. “They should pay me for what I’ve gone through.”

    “This is not consumer fraud,” he added. “This is no fraud. It is a fraud on me.”

    Despite Engoron’s warning, Trump wrapped in some insults against him and New York Attorney General Letitia James. “I know this is boring to you. I know you have your own agenda,” Trump angrily told Engoron at one point as he spoke while seated at the defense table. He suggested James “hates” him and “doesn’t want me to get elected,” and he called the case a “persecution,” leading Engoron to warn Kise to “please control your client.”

    James, who was in court, told reporters afterward that the case “has never been about politics.”

    “This case is about the facts and the law, and Mr. Donald Trump violated the law,” she said.

    I am the law. Donald Trump violated me, and he must pay.

    • Rebel Scum

      “has never been about politics.”

      LOL…

      • juris imprudent

        If a bank was defrauded why did it not bring a civil action?

      • The Gunslinger

        Look, the bankers just aren’t as smart as Letitia. Obviously.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        She’s always looking out for the little guy.

      • Not Adahn

        Same reason why the fines assessed against Trump go to NY and not his “victims.”

      • juris imprudent

        I have to think at some point this must end up subject to real law.

      • R C Dean

        Like with the J6 prisoners, at some point injustice has been done even if a court eventually intervenes.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Protesters gathered outside the courthouse Thursday morning ahead of the final day of the trial, chanting, “Thank you, Tish!” and holding a banner that read, “No Dictators in the USA.”

    “Protesters”

    The judicial system is utterly apolitical. Everybody knows that.

    • Rebel Scum

      “No Dictators in the USA.”

      You people literally support fascism.

      • R.J.

        They meant “Dick-Taters.” No potato-shaped dicks. Very prejudicial group.

    • juris imprudent

      No politics indeed! All civil cases draw crowds like that.

    • rhywun

      Then they turned uptown for today’s pro-Hamas agitation.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    The decision has been telegraphed at every step of this ‘trial’.

    “Sentence first. Trial afterward.”

    • AlexinCT

      We have an outcome we want and the rest is just Kangaroo court bullshit.

  36. Not Adahn

    Do SIM cards actually break, or is the “invalid card” message a euphemism for “you’ve got to buy a new phone?”

    • Sensei

      Technically I believe they do get written to, but I don’t believe it’s frequent.

      I wonder if you just reseat the SIM….?

    • AlexinCT

      Yes.

  37. Not Adahn

    How much cash will Biden pay for the tanker? Surely civilians aren’t worth as much as military types, right? And how many are on the crew of a tanker anyway?

    • R C Dean

      Send the ambassador to the mullahs with a list of Iran’s three or four biggest ports. Tell them “Pick the one you want us to bomb. If you don’t pick on, we’ll bomb them all.” Then, when they get their air defense ramped up around the ports, bomb their refineries.

      There was a time, of course, when this would require a Congressional declaration of war first. But I think we can all agree that time has passed.

      • Not Adahn

        Except that Biden’s already been part of paying ransom to Iran twice before.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    He hates the little guy

    Argentina’s annual inflation rate sped past 211% in December, official data showed on Thursday, hitting the highest level since the early 1990s as new libertarian President Javier Milei seeks to head off hyperinflation with tough austerity measures.

    Argentina’s monthly inflation rate also hit 25.5% in the month, slightly below forecasts, after a sharp devaluation of the peso currency last month after Milei’s government took office on Dec. 10, pledging to get inflation under control.

    The inflation reading took Argentina past regional peer Venezuela, long Latin American’s inflation outlier, where inflation cooled to an estimated 193% in 2023, following years of painful, out-of-control price rises.

    “We’ve had to eliminate things that made life a little brighter,” said retiree Susana Barrio, 79, adding she no could longer afford to invite her friends for asado barbecues, long a key part of Argentine social life.

    “That joy it gave me to invite my friends for a barbecue, which is typical here, now that’s impossible.”

    While high inflation has dogged Argentina for years, the rate of price increases is now at the highest level since the start of the 1990s, when the country was emerging from a period of hyperinflation, with food prices climbing particularly fast.

    Have real prices changed, when you factor in cuts in subsidies? The hidden part has just been brought into the open.

  39. Rebel Scum

    If only saying it would make it so.

    Trump and his team intentionally misrepresented the value of his assets.

    Mar-a-Lago:
    ⛔️Trump’s value: $739 million
    ✅Appraised value: $25 million

    And knowingly lied about the size of his apartment in NYC to inflate its value:
    ⛔️Trump’s size: 30,000 sqft
    ✅True size: 10,966 sqft

    What she says is, of course, bullshit. I’m still trying to figure out what the actual crime is here since there is no victim.

    • kinnath

      what the actual crime is

      No crime

      Strictly lawfare to prevent another Trump presidency.

      Bonus game to see if you can bankrupt a billionaire.

    • R.J.

      It is absolute shit. Appraised value is a shit measurement, Trump could sell Mar-a-Lago for close to his asking price, any day. Even with this downturn.
      Same problem with the apartment. Probably has a lot of garage space he includes, while the tax appraisal will not include that.
      Anyone who ever owned property knows this is bullshit.
      But I preach to the choir.

    • Ownbestenemy

      My home value: $1000 million
      Appraised: sure a lot lower, but if someone wants to take my word for what I value it at, is that really on me?
      Buyer: It is worth $1000 million to me too and I am willing to buy it and a bank has also loaned me the money for it.

      NYC: FRAUD!!!!!!!

    • Urthona

      In argument, the bank was a victim losing money by not being able to set the correct terms.

      But they testified saying they did their due diligence on their own and all banks do.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    I’m still trying to figure out what the actual crime is here since there is no victim.

    The State of New York is the victim. If Trump had been made to pay higher interest and fees and insurance, the state would have brought in more tax revenue.

    • R.J.

      So he defrauded criminals…

    • Urthona

      ah interesting

    • kinnath

      So the banks and insurance companies were indicted as co-conspirators right?

  41. The Late P Brooks

    How long ’til James charges Trump with money laundering for accepting political donations?

    • Rebel Scum

      Don’t give them ideas.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        That was the whole issue with Stormy Daniels.

        TW from Wikipedia.

        Common Cause filed complaints with the Department of Justice and the FEC claiming that the $130,000 payment to Daniels was a campaign contribution and that Trump’s campaign violated campaign finance laws by not disclosing the payment to the FEC.