281 Comments

  1. PieInTheSky

    Road to Hunter Biden’s Burisma riches was paved in Moscow with effort to court Russian oligarchs – is there any country Hunter didn’t try to schmooze?

    • SDF-7

      Flyover Country?

      • PieInTheSky

        Hungary?

      • SDF-7

        No, I’ve had breakfast — thanks.

      • cavalier973

        Have some Turkey

      • Not Adahn

        Too much Greece.

      • ron73440

        Yea, Norway I can eat that, it’ll give me stomach Spains.

      • UnCivilServant

        If I partook, people would probably expect me to pick up the Czech.

      • Fourscore

        Maybe need to Sweden it up a bit? Den mark the place in the book?

      • DrOtto

        I’d go Dutch with the tab

      • Swiss Servator

        *mass narrowed gaze*

        P.S. Thanks for the interesting book, Fourscore!

      • Rat on a train

        with Swiss?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Marlboro?

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Swissy has weighed in. Time to Finnish these puns.

  2. PieInTheSky

    Biden Visits One Of Border’s Slowest Sectors To Blame Congress, Talk Climate Change

    Well the climate in the non weather sense around borders is a changing.

  3. PieInTheSky

    Supreme Court takes center stage in run up to 2024 election

    But is there a man behind the curtains?

    • cavalier973

      Yes, but he identifies as an elf. And the curtains identify as draperies.

      • PieInTheSky

        González is a Spanish name. Its origins trace back to a Visigothic name combining the words gunþo (guntho) (battle or war) and alf (elf); the Latinized form was Gundisalv.

        So the man behind the curtain is named González . At least I know the name

  4. cavalier973

    Maybe Biden will accidentally veto the spending bill…

    • R.J.

      One can dream…

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

      Like they would let him hold a pen. Too dangerous, it might go off and kill a Bill!

  5. PieInTheSky

    Texas Suffers Second Largest Fire in State History, Fire Engulfs 850,000 Acres

    I blame the Sun myself

    • cavalier973

      The panhandle is extremely windy, as I recall. The wind probably blew fire everywhere.

      • PieInTheSky

        Well yesterday I learned the panhandle is not really a panhandle

      • Rat on a train

        Now Oklahoma, there’s a real panhandle.

      • cavalier973

        Oklahoma also has an interesting fast food restaurant called “Taco Mayo”.

        I liked it.

      • Not Adahn

        Much better hot sauce.

      • tripacer

        What I’ve never understood is the Florida panhandle. Both parts are panhandles!

      • ron73440

        It’s panhandles all the way down.

      • Rat on a train

        Florida is more of America’s wang than a pan.

    • R C Dean

      Can’t beat this site for wildfire tracking. Click on an icon to get the map for the fire. The big ‘un in TX – holy crap.

      https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/

      • robc

        The one in NoCo is sitting behind the Whole Foods in Fort Collins instead of up in the Mtns where it is supposed to be.

      • R C Dean

        Well, it is a government website. But it’s the only one I’ve found that will actually give you a map showing what a fire has burned.

      • Rat on a train

        The Smokehouse Creek Fire has spread to Oklahoma. >1M acres, 3% contained

    • Pope Jimbo

      It was the evil power companies!

      Xcel Energy’s stock fell nearly 9% on Thursday after the company said it was notified its equipment could be responsible for sparking a wildland fire in the Texas Panhandle that has grown to be the largest in that state’s history.

      The Minneapolis-based company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it received a letter Wednesday from a law firm representing property insurers aiming to notify Xcel had it “potential exposure for damages” from the Smokehouse Creek fire.

      The letter asked Xcel to preserve a fallen utility pole in the area the fire potentially started.

  6. PieInTheSky

    Insane NY AG Letitia James Now Targeting World’s Largest Beef Producer Over Climate Change

    You Americans need to import more good Romanian beef not that inferior stuff y’all got. Romanian cows are classier.

    • Fourscore

      If only there was a way to isolate the climate changers and let them live out their dream. They could be so happy.

      Why is it that do-gooders always want to include those that are satisfied with the status quo? Giving people what they, the deciders, want, good and hard .

      • juris imprudent

        Because all of us sinners have to be saved, whether we want it or not.

      • The Last American Hero

        Because cows are bad for climate, but millions of buffalo roaming the plains before the white man raped mother gaia were just fine.

  7. PieInTheSky

    where is everybody this morning?

    • UnCivilServant

      Working.

      One of my direct reports decided not to do something I’d assigned because he thought he didn’t know how and didn’t tell me that he wasn’t working on it

      I’m unhappy. I mean, if you think you can’t do a task I assigned, tell me and I’ll either help you figure it out or assign it to someone who can. Don’t just leave the work hanging!

      • cavalier973

        Such a ride thing to do. I bet his/her coworkers aren’t happy with him/her, either.

      • Rat on a train

        Ugh, I’ve had similar problems with juniors spinning when stuck instead of reaching out for help.

      • R.J.

        Me as well. That employee might have had an unpleasant boss in the past that yelled when they couldn’t figure it out instead of using it as a teaching moment. Overcome that fear and you may have a good employee.
        On the other hand, that person could just be a putz. Hard to tell without a few interactions.

      • Nephilium

        Meh. I’ve been on the other side of it where I’ve asked for help with access issues (and the like) multiple times with no response from supervisors/managers. My favorite is when they refer to documentation in a different system that not everyone has access to.

      • The Last American Hero

        It’s gotten worse with remote work. You used to be able to see someone struggling.

      • trshmnstr

        I was that junior. I remember getting talked to about that.

        It’s a big shift in mentality to go from engineering school, where you’re expected to figure it out on your own, to the workplace, where you’re expected to work with others to solve a problem.

        I still lean in the DIY direction at work. Much less than 15 years ago, but I still have to remind myself that it’s perfectly acceptable to drop a meeting on my manager’s calendar to talk through a problem.

      • Sensei

        Yes, but as I’m sure you’ve learned, you need to come in with a plan or a discrete set of questions.

        Simply, a “help me” is not going to endear you to your manager.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Don’t just leave the work hanging!

        In my opinion, this is why Agile was invented and taken hold. At least you find out every two weeks that someone hasn’t been doing their job. Hopefully at standup you might discover that earlier.

        Fucking kindergarten for developers. Make everyone waste their time with pointless meetings because they can’t be trusted to do their work and reach out if they have issues.

      • The Last American Hero

        Have you seen the social IQ of developers? It’s not impressive. They have a hard time asking for a temporary ID badge because the girl at the front desk is cute. If you don’t force interactions, they won’t happen.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Sort of true.

        I also think that a big part of it is that a myth grew up about devs being quirky and different so they weren’t held to the same norms as other employees.

        The vast majority of devs now are the same as any other employee, but they still get away with murder.

      • rhywun

        Yeah ain’t nothing quirky about me. That stereotype died out a couple decades ago.

      • rhywun

        “waste their time”

        OMG new x-times up boss is nuts about timekeeping. It will take at least 2 hours a week to catch up with it. Grumble.

      • Sensei

        He’s a government employee. You find this surprising?

    • Rat on a train

      Leap Day is over. It’s back to the mines.

  8. cavalier973

    J. Smith wants to start his trial on July 8, the week before the GOP convention.

    It’s like he is trying hard to get Trump favorable publicity.

    I can imagine a lot of the convention will be taken up by reporting to delegates (most of whom will be Trump supporters) elements of the trial. Massive boos over things they dislike, and cheers for anything that happens that’s favorable to Trump.

  9. Not Adahn

    Catherine Herridge Held in Contempt for Refusing to Expose Source

    That article has a quote from Fox supporting her. Any leftie media orgs have her back or nah?

    • R.J.

      CNN ran the story, and had this quote at the bottom:

      “Requiring journalists to reveal their confidential sources deters whistleblowers and others from coming forward, meaning the public has less access to information,” Caitlin Vogus, deputy director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, told CNN last year.”

      A less passionate story write up, but functionally similar.

    • R.J.

      Those are great. I love the Elder Missionary figurines. I could glue one to my doorbell.

    • Mojeaux

      OH CUTE! Also clever name. “Don’t care how you Brigham, just Brigham Young.” Brick ’em young! Awesome dad joke.

    • R.J.

      Have we passed the fall of Rome yet? Where are we in the timeline?

      • juris imprudent

        Rome fell to barbarians, we’re falling under something much worse.

    • Fourscore

      Missed the boyfriend holding the gun

      • DrOtto

        You have to take the author’s word for it. We can’t see his hands.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I don’t see a holster. Wonder where she stores it when she ain’t proposing.

    • pistoffnick

      That trigger discipline is shit!

      I’d turn her down just for that.

      • Not Adahn

        Doctrine was different back then.

      • PieInTheSky

        the recently departed pistoffnick was a man of principle

  10. Fourscore

    Another funeral today. Brother of a classmate. With covid in the rear view mirror at least we can say good bye to old friends again.

    • Sean

      My condolences.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      I’m sorry.

    • cavalier973

      “My heart fell in love with you”

    • Fourscore

      Someone you know, via the HH, was adopted in Korea at about age 10. She said she cried as she saw all the younger kids getting adopted. An Iowa farm family with 3 kids decided they needed a sister. As life turned out she was chosen by a great and loving family. Now, not so young, she is a part of the HH family, married to a lurker Glib.

      One of her first memories was on the way back to Iowa the family stopped for ice cream, she had never had it before and thought she was in heaven.

      • Sensei

        There is an observant Jewish family next store with an adopted Chinese daughter. I always wonder new people think when they see her at Temple.

      • Nephilium

        One of my old friend group was adopted into an Irish Catholic family. He happened to be Korean (as were his unrelated adopted sisters). From this, he wound up with the nickname Irish %first name%.

  11. PieInTheSky

    Lutfur Rahman and the future of localism

    A new and dangerous kind of local politics is emerging in Britain

    https://thecritic.co.uk/lutfur-rahman-and-the-future-of-localism/

    Between 2008 and 2010, Rahman served as Labour’s council leader in the borough, before being replaced in May 2010 following an investigation which linked him to the fundamentalist Islamic Forum for Europe (IFE), which has previously called for the implementation of Sharia Law in Britain.

    Naturally, Rahman was not to be deterred by this minor inconvenience; it takes more than accusations of Islamist extremism to keep a good man down. In October of the same year, he stood as an independent candidate in the borough’s first ever mayoral elections, winning out with a respectable 52 per cent of the vote — but why did Tower Hamlets switch to a mayoral system in the first place?

    Under the local government regulations of the time, councils were obliged to conduct a referendum on switching to a mayoral system if 5 percent of registered voters signed a petition supporting the change. In mid-2010, IFE activist Abjol Miah successfully organised such a petition; 99.3 per cent of the signatures were Asian names, half of which were reportedly found to be invalid by council officers, with entire pages of names and addresses written in the same handwriting. Still, the people — some of them at least — had spoken.

    Democracy rules, haterz drool

    • WTF

      Just another marker on the West’s suicide journey.

  12. PieInTheSky

    MSNBC legal analyst says First Amendment makes US ‘vulnerable,’ calls for ‘common sense’ speech restrictions

    https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1763218444646744428

    I agree. The superior Romanian constitution has a least half a dozen speech restriction. N ot a one which is not perfectly common sense.

    • Drake

      They are psyching themselves up for the next big thing.

    • Cunctator

      —“calls for ‘common sense’ speech restrictions”—

      Just like guns, nobody would oppose “common sense” restrictions on freedom of speech. They are just common sense.

      • WTF

        Somehow commonsense restrictions on abortion are extremism beyond the pale.

    • Nephilium

      Vulnerable to what? Hurt feelings?

      • DrOtto

        Why don’t you love democracy? Is it because you want the terrorists to win?

      • Nephilium

        /looks at the airports

        You mean the terrorists didn’t already win?

    • Pope Jimbo

      Someone is sick and tired of carrying water for Joe.

      This next election would be so much easier if they could just shut down anyone who dares to question Joe’s brain power.

      • The Other Kevin

        They want to just show a photo of Joe from 40 years ago and read a “transcript” of what he said.

  13. SDF-7

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    • Sean

      I played https://squaredle.com/xp 03/01:
      *21/21 words (+3 bonus words)
      ⏱️ In the top 9% by speed

      I played https://squaredle.com 03/01:
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      🔥 Solve streak: 159

  14. Pope Jimbo

    I am so looking forward to hearing how much Minneapolis will have to pay for this fun.

    Brandon Elias was asleep at Camp Nenookaasi Thursday afternoon when the yurt next to him lit up in flames. The fire spread so quickly that Elias fled his yurt without shoes on, leaving all of his belongings behind.

    The fire destroyed the homeless encampment in south Minneapolis shortly after 12 p.m. Two people were treated at the scene for non-life threatening injuries, one for minor burns and another for smoke inhalation, Minneapolis Fire Chief Bryan Tyner said at a news conference. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, he added.

    The camp, which numbered about 160 people at one point, was evicted on January 4, January 30, and February 1 from city lots located within a few blocks of each other in the Phillips and East Phillips neighborhoods.

    I’m sure the city will have to cut big checks for the two injured bums and the houses next to the camp that were damaged. None of the NGO’s that have been advocating for the bums to be left alone in their camp will have to pay a dime. In fact, I’d bet that they will get even more money from fundraising on this.

    *Yes, yurt. I have no idea why, but every journalo has decided that the bums are living in yurts. Not tents.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Curry said neighbors have had a “horrible” experience since the encampment moved in. He said he’s seen hypodermic needles on the ground, piles of trash, and camp residents walking through his backyard.

      “I know their situations are really bad enough as it is. And then for them to suffer a loss like that is like, ‘Where are they gonna go now?’” Curry said. “So, my heart goes out to them, but the shit that they’re doing though? Nah, man. That’s not cool.”

      I hope this guy gets a payout.

      • juris imprudent

        He must offer them shelter under his own roof, while the state or city pays the bums but not the “host”.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I like him because he at least tells the truth about the bums being a problem.

        Way too many proggies in Minneapolis – like my sister – would never admit to a journalo that the bums were a problem. Even if they were standing in the charred wreckage of their home, they’d talk about systemic inequality or something.

      • juris imprudent

        With all due respect to your sister… that’s fuckin’ retarded.

      • Pope Jimbo

        No arguments here.

    • PieInTheSky

      is it really *Minneapolis * who will pay?

    • Ted S.

      Yurts are cultural appropriation, unless you’re Mongolian.

    • The Last American Hero

      Yurts generally have a wood structure, are larger, and can’t be transported on your back.

    • B.P.

      The homeless encampments in your town have names? Well la-di-da.

      From the article it seems like the camp is run by activist-types, and the city isn’t really happy with it. Also…

      “Brandon Elias, 35, who has been homeless for the last 12 years…”

      That’s a pretty good run.

      • Pope Jimbo

        It was a genius move to start naming the bum camp. Especially with an authentic Anishinabe name. It gets the white savior proggies all tingly.

        Easy to feel no pity when the cops clear out a bunch of bums. But when you hear that Camp Nenookaasi is going to get cleared out, you know that the Evil White Men are back to their old colonialist tricks.

      • UnCivilServant

        Sounds more like a veneral disease that needs to be burned out with fire.

  15. Pope Jimbo

    Look who came out of the closet!

    At least that is what I think happened after reading Tonio’s story about humpback whale homo sex.

    Police in Brazil are investigating former President Jair Bolsonaro over allegations he harassed a humpback whale.

    Bolsonaro said Wednesday that he had admitted to the Federal Police that he had approached a whale while riding a watercraft off the north coast of Sao Paulo state last June. But he said he had denied bothering the animal.

    “No one can understand why I am under investigation by the Federal Police regarding whale harassment,” Bolsonaro told CNN affiliate CNN Brasil.

    Police opened the investigation into the encounter after video footage emerged on social media showed a watercraft – with its engine still running – come within about 15 meters (50 feet) of a humpback whale. Investigators suspect that Bolsonaro was riding the vehicle at the time.

    He was just innocently driving slowing throw an area notorious for rent-whales? Suuuuuuuuuuuure.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I can’t believe that Trump hasn’t been charged with dolphin (or manatee) molestation. He lives in Florida, right? Has to be at least as realistic a charge as his “fraud” case.

      • Not Adahn

        Remember when he genocided the sacred Japanese Imperial Koi?

      • The Last American Hero

        There’s no way a guy like him goes for manatees.

  16. Cunctator

    OT, but it’s been an hour

    Is there any interest in a Glibs Eclipse Meet-up? Right now it is tentative for Waco (Valley Mills), but if there is interest for, say, Waxahachie or other similarly located place, please chime in. I am not from/in Texas, so I don’t know the area very well and am going by maps.

    • Nephilium

      Well yeah, but since I’m in the path, I’ll probably just go enjoy some of the beer that our very own Great Lakes is brewing for the totality.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Where in CA are you, if you don’t mind my asking?

      The CA glibs are so spread out.

      • Cunctator

        —“Where in CA are you”—

        High desert area of San Bernardino County which, I have you know, is the largest County in these here United States. But that’s about all it has going for it.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        👍

      • PieInTheSky

        High desert – that takes a lot of weed

      • juris imprudent

        That would be around Joshua Tree.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        (I’m in the southernmost one.)

      • ron73440

        I don’t miss 29 Palms even a little bit.

    • PieInTheSky

      what Eclipse ?

      • PieInTheSky

        Off course not I live in civilized Europe where you don;t need a car.

        I like nice cars but it is not one of my main interests, so no a car guy.

    • Necron 99

      I will do my best to make a meet up, but cannot make any promises. My plan is to look for sunny skies and Valley Mills is my first choice. I will try to change it to Waxahachie if there is a meetup there, again depending on cloud cover and the heckler’s veto of the group I’m with. If North Texas is cloudy, I’m headed south to Lampasas or Fredericksburg.

      Sorry this seems so fluid at the moment, but I will email you with tighter plans as the forecast approaches.

  17. Pope Jimbo

    I’m looking forward to the pics of Swiss stylin’ and profilin’ in his sweet new ride

    Swiss company Micro — maker of the happy little Microlino electric bubble car — just unveiled a production version of its Microlino Lite at the Geneva Motor Show. With a 45km/h (28mph) top speed, it goes half as fast as the standard Microlino but can be driven by anyone with a moped license from the age of 14 in some European countries. An entry-model will cost CHF149 per month (about €156 or $169) to lease starting this summer.

    Combine that car with a Mr. Microphone (“I’ll be back to pick you up later”) and Swissy will be slaying it this summer.

    • pistoffnick

      …it goes half as fast…

      So you’re saying it is half-fast?

  18. juris imprudent

    You are in a maze of twisty little passages.

    Worrying, right? But a closer look at that poll almost suggests the opposite of what the Times is suggesting: that immigration is not a huge concern for the people Biden should be most concerned about as 2024 approaches. And there’s a lesson in there for how Biden should think about immigration in general.

    You see, the author is a hardcore proggie, and they aren’t worried and so Biden shouldn’t worry about appeasing them. Doesn’t that all make sense?

    • The Other Kevin

      “Independents show a modest uptick, from 16% in January to 22% now”
      Just a rounding error, like 2 guys in Iowa. Nothing to worry about.

      • R C Dean

        I love how a 40% increase in concern by independents (from 16 – 22%) in one month is a “modest uptick”).

        If that sustains and translates to voting, the Dems are dead in the water in November. Or would be, if we were counting votes instead of ballots.

    • PieInTheSky

      I hope all is well – the world is literally burning

    • Nephilium

      I’ve convinced the girlfriend that we’ll be seeing Dune 2 tomorrow (preferably in XD). She refuses to let me try to get the popcorn bucket.

      • PieInTheSky

        convinced – be a man and just tell her. lay down the law. go full trad.

      • Timeloose

        Tell her you will not cut a hole in the bottom…

    • Not Adahn

      Yup. Need to decide on an IMAX theater.

    • The Other Kevin

      My hockey friends and I have been laughing about that for months. There’s no way that design was an accident.

  19. juris imprudent

    Yes I’m an incompetent, lying buffoon, but this isn’t about me – it’s about you!

    In a way, minister Özdemir is correct. The political environment in Germany is badly polarized. But unlike the American boogeyman he is alluding to, the polarization is between his government coalition and everyone else. The same is currently happening in France, Poland, and Romania, where farmers are protesting the effects of EU regulation and dwindling margins on their products.

    • PieInTheSky

      looks rusty for something new

    • trshmnstr

      Ted Kennedy’s car has killed more people than my aircraft carrier.

    • Drake

      JFK got the PT boat he commanded rammed in half by a Japanese destroyer. May as well name an aircraft carrier after McCain.

      • WTF

        Which is quite astonishing, as the PT was much faster and more maneuverable than a destroyer. He should have been court martialed.

      • pistoffnick

        There is a funny Grand Tour episode where Jeremy Clarkson demonstrates the crappy low speed maneuverability of PT boats.

      • creech

        As I recall, PT-109 was drifting in the dark with motor off and crew asleep. If the skipper’s name had been John Slavik, well I don’t think he’d have been deemed a hero.

    • UnCivilServant

      Let me guess, he was struck in the big empty hollow that is his head.

    • Rat on a train

      Thank you, sir. May I have another?

    • trshmnstr

      Bezmenov said that people wake up from their demoralization only when the boot is crushing their balls. Clearly, this guy would be writhing in agony with the boot pressing down, screaming out in self-loathing for somebody to forgive him his sins against the state.

      • juris imprudent

        Or as Nietzsche would see it, the ultimate expression of slave morality (in the slave, not the priestly ranks).

    • rhywun

      Thanks to the miracle of the NHS

      🤣😂

      I had to tap out before what I’m sure must be the good stuff.

  20. rhywun

    Adams addressed the immigration crisis in NYC on Monday at a town hall and said he needed more resources to give jobs to illegal immigrants in New York but also took issue with those illegal immigrants committing crimes.

    Why? Seems to me there are plenty of folks who are living there not illegally and are not working.

    Sorry, I am rapidly losing patience with platitudes like this. You want to pad the number of residents. Go ahead and tell us the truth.

    • juris imprudent

      JFC, you would think that at some point, they’d taper off, but NoOOOooooo.

      • WTF

        Why would they taper off when there are no consequences?

    • Ownbestenemy

      being charged with because they’re afraid it’ll be leaked to the media

      Last I checked, that is supposed to required and be public record..but hey, its America.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Chicks are into threesomes?

      • PieInTheSky

        yes. with two other chicks.

      • Pope Jimbo

        That is what is great about our society. I can now easily say I’m a chick and get in on this action!!!

      • PieInTheSky

        Do you know how to pillow fight?

    • Urthona

      I honestly don’t believe MMOs are 35% female. Sounds way high.

      • PieInTheSky

        they are females when online maybe

      • Nephilium

        Depends on what’s being classed as an MMO. But there’s also quite a few female gamers that go with male avatars to avoid the other players learning.

      • Urthona

        But more males who have female avatars. Way more.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Thats why GIRL in MMO is guy in real life.

      • Not Adahn

        Well, most MMOs require 20% of the party to be a healer, so…

      • Ownbestenemy

        And they usually have a max cooking skill level too

      • Fatty Bolger

        It varies by game, but yeah, there’s often a lot of women in MMORPG’s.

    • cavalier973

      The most libertarian video games are word games, right?

      • Nephilium

        Are you kidding? Any of the %business% tycoon games or good 4X games would be the most libertarian ones.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      We travelled with our 4 month old son to France, but we drove. And our original destination was Spain. Iceland would have been a bit more difficult.

  21. Common Tater

    “OnlyFans stars are shamelessly bypassing Instagram’s nudity restrictions by pretending to breastfeed baby dolls – as furious viewers claim they are ‘making a complete mockery of mothers’

    nstagram has a strict ‘no nudity’ policy which includes photos and videos of female nipples.

    However, it does make some exceptions – including posts of women ‘actively breastfeeding’.

    MailOnline discovered several OnlyFans stars utilising this loophole by posting videos of dolls held up to their exposed breasts, pretending to breastfeed.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13145103/OnlyFans-stars-shamelessly-bypassing-Instagrams-nudity-restrictions-pretending-breastfeed-baby-dolls-furious-viewers-claim-making-complete-mockery-mothers.html

    Don’t hate the player?

    • Common Tater

      “It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos in the context of breastfeeding, birth giving and after-birth moments, health-related situations (for example, post-mastectomy, breast cancer awareness or gender confirmation surgery) or an act of protest are allowed.'”

      • The Other Kevin

        Sounds like there are a lot of options to get around that policy. Just write Free Palestine on your boobs with a Sharpie and anything goes.

      • Nephilium

        Pretty sure any OnlyFans person would prefer to stay away from the word “free”.

    • PieInTheSky

      Speaking of no nudity aka youtube

      Transparent Clothes Dry vs Wet Try on Haul with Moonsi

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

      NSFW. I would say rather little left to the imagination.

      • Common Tater

        YouTube’s rules are also over-complicated bullshit. Critical Drinker’s last video got age restricted. I’m guessing because there was drinking within the first minute.

      • PieInTheSky

        but did you prefer the dry or wet look? that is the question

  22. Common Tater

    “Alexander Smirnov, 43, is accused of fabricating a story he told the FBI about a $10 million bribe paid to Joe Biden and his son Hunter by a Ukrainian oligarch. He has pleaded not guilty.

    As details emerge about the 10-year FBI informant, keen-eyed intelligence analysts have noted an intriguing similarity between Smirnov and an unnamed FBI source cited in a government report on Crossfire Hurricane, the Bureau’s past probe into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign’s links with Russian intelligence operatives.

    The similarities raise the prospect that Smirnov may have been a source for both the investigation of potential corruption by the Biden family, and also a counterintelligence probe linked to Trump – making it all the more embarrassing for the FBI if he turns out to have been a fantasist, or worse, a Russian double agent, as is suggested by prosecutors.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13142017/Alexander-Smirnov-linked-intel-connecting-Trump-Russia.html

    America, what a country.

    • The Other Kevin

      So they’re back to going after people who lie to the FBI in order to make a politician look bad?

      • juris imprudent

        Doublethink of the highest order. Hell, right up to his exposure, he was too valued of a source to reveal to Congress.

        Federal Bureau of Incompetence

  23. PieInTheSky

    Testing teapots for quality

    https://twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1763428792792387719

    its is a goddamn teapot. it pours hot water. silly Japanese paying thousands of dollars for teapots.

    So what is the most a glib has spent one one teapot? Do tell.

    I don’t think I ever bought one. Mu goose-neck electric kettle was like 120 American.

    • Common Tater

      $5

    • ron73440

      My wife has a fancy Japanese one she got from her Granma, but I have no idea on the cost.

      • Sensei

        Do you actively use it?

      • ron73440

        Occasionally, she’ll make me some hot green tea with it.

      • PieInTheSky

        These euphemisms…

    • Nephilium

      Pretty sure the electric kettle I’ve got was ~$20.

    • PieInTheSky

      it was in fact 95$

      I was focused on something that could accurately hold 93 degrees for my v60 then realized I don’t need it really I can heat up to 95 and by the time I am done it is down to 92 and the coffee is perfectly okay on that range

    • Drake

      I was looking for one to put on my woodstove. All the Japanese teapots were tiny so I never bought one.

      • R.J.

        There was an American company that made a massive cast iron kettle. I had one in the 1980s. Disadvantage is rust, it will happen. Treating it like a cast iron skillet periodically is mandatory and can end up flavoring your water. A thick stainless kettle would be better. Neither one would be under $30.

      • PieInTheSky

        I think some japanese teapots adding some iron to the water was a feature not a bug

    • Sensei

      I have a Chinese enameled cast iron one that you use for steeping green tea,

      I think it was like $20. You need something like it because you want steep the tea at a lower temperature than black tea.

    • UnCivilServant

      I have a tea kettle for boiling water, but no tea pot. When I drank tea, I’d steep it by the cup.

      • Not Adahn

        French Presses work great for steeping tea.

    • Timeloose

      I spent about $40 USD on a electric kettle with a safety shut off for my mom and dad to keep them from burning down their house. One of them was using a traditional metal whistling kettle to make boiling water for tea, but left the spout cover/whistle open and forgot about it. The water boiled away and melted the kettle into the glass ceramic cook top.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Yikes!

        Electric kettles are awesome.

    • The Last American Hero

      $0. I inherited one, got another as a we’d present and donated both to charity when I got an instant hot water tap.

  24. Certified Public Asshat

    Gentlemen, start your conspiracy theories: Can 15-Minute Cities Work in America?

    I actually think 15 minute cities are a good idea. Perhaps the initial marketing on them was poor, but having errands take twice as long because you need to drive everywhere is stupid.

    But even the libs have found a problem with them:

    However, our research also found the convenience of a 15-minute city may have a serious consequence: increasing segregation. Our analysis of phone data showed that residents of low-income 15-minute neighborhoods were less likely to spend time in physical spaces with people of other economic classes. This could imply a tradeoff between local living and social mobility; the urban poor must voyage outside their own neighborhoods to find economic opportunity. To meet this challenge, the 15-minute city must be paired with strong investments in improving economic opportunity and reducing residential segregation.

    • PieInTheSky

      depends if you can leave at will or not. Nothing wrong with voluntary living in a walkable neighborhood with most amenities. I like walking to most of the places I go. My walking range is about 2-3 miles from my place.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Well yeah, also doesn’t work if there is filth and crime. The Jon Stewart’s of the world see these problems as the price of freedom, but we know they are easily solvable.

      • PieInTheSky

        Buchares is quite safe for now excep a couple of areas. Wherever i go i can walk all day and night and feel safe. And i see women walking alone at night all the time. There has been an increase in crazy looking homeless and asian immigrants lately, lets see how it goes in the future

    • rhywun

      increasing segregation

      It’s almost like I knew that was coming.

      The left wants the poors to surround themselves with their betters at least once in a while but remember the other side are the racist ones.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I envision their view of 15-minute cities like any dystopian depiction just on a smaller scale. The elite above the crowds while the others wallow below on the streets…but hey! you don’t need a car.

      • rhywun

        I enjoy my mostly 15 minute city and I love not having a car but no I did not sign up for training the help how to behave.

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

        When was younger, and single, I loved living downtown. I could walk to bars, restaurants, bookstores, etc. But now, in my fifties and handicapped? No. I want to live in a small city with good parking, and shop were it is easy to park. I also no longer want to live near a bar. I don’t need a bunch of drunks stumbling through my yard, yelling at 2am, and so on.

        And that is a huge part of my pushback on this. It is a bunch of kids (my son’s age) who hated growing up in suburbs, blame them for a bunch of other failings, and come up with this crap. We have the solution already: cities. You want to walk every were? Great, move to NYC, everything is already like that. You can live above a greasy diner, walk to a bar and everything else. But the second you have kids, it becomes a huge pain the ass. Try carrying enough milk home for two teenage boys to last a day, let alone a week. Try going to Home Depot and buying a 4’x8′ sheet of 3/4″ ply.

      • Pope Jimbo

        But when rich people move into the neighborhoods isn’t that gentrification and a bad thing?

    • ron73440

      I like being able to decide to go other places.

      There is a great farmer market and Korean Restaurant (2 separate places) about a half hour’s drive that we go to about every 6 weeks.

      About a half hour the other way there is a European grocery and a Puerto Rican Restaurant we frequent around the same frequency.

      Would a 15 minute city have as many options? Probably not.

    • Urthona

      Practically every side I’ve lived in is a 20 minute city of it’s not rush hour and so have a car.

    • juris imprudent

      If 15 minute cities were a good idea, they’d already exist and this fucking moron would have to write about something else.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Well they are essentially illegal to build.

      • Fatty Bolger

        If you want a lot of 15 minute cities, you’ll have to make it illegal to build anything else.

    • UnCivilServant

      I do not want to be stuck with whatever shitty establishments my neighbors frequent.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        You currently live in a locality that allows people to abandon baby pools full of motor oil.

      • UnCivilServant

        It wasn’t to the brim full.

        And all the more reason to not be stuck amongst them.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I’m not sure what you are objecting to, you need to move.

      • UnCivilServant

        I have paid off my house.

        Most of my neighbors are renters. They move out with some regularity.

        Good riddance.

      • Mojeaux

        You complain about them often. I would think that goal would be to move to a betterneighborhood now that this house is paid off.

        🎶 Movin’ on up 🎶 to the East Side 🎶

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m working on building up my savings. The down payment is easier when there’s cash in hand.

      • Fourscore

        I know, that’s what my neighbors say as well.

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

      15 minute cities might, might work if you don’t have kids. The minute (not 15 of them) you have to tote a child around, while buying food for a family, or running any errands, the whole idea falls apart.

      There is a reason people use cars, move to the suburbs, shop at big box stores, etc. and it isn’t because the don’t love cutesy small shops. It makes life doable for families.

      • PieInTheSky

        Here i would say the suburbs are not worth the hassle if you need to go to the city for work. Also in Bucharest the suburbs grew without having schools in them so geting the kids to a decent school is a hassle. Easier to live in a city appartment with all the associated problems.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Du-te înapoi la muncă.

      • PieInTheSky

        Ce ar fi sa nu iti bagi nasul unde nu iti fierbe oala?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Them furrin idioms.

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

        The suburbs in America do have schools, often very good ones. They have the money, and will build them, along with having plenty of teachers who want to be there. Inner cities do have very good schools, possibly the best, but those are expensive private schools that have both a waiting list and you must be of the right class to be accepted.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        They are not good schools, they are just better than the alternatives.

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

        Are you referring to the schools in the suburbs or the private schools in cities? I know, from living in Sacramento and raising a kid there that the suburban (both inner suburbs and outer) schools are often very good.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Private schools are fine. With public schools, we just accept things as the way they are and then justify how some are better than others. Because of the system, we cannot even comprehend what education might look like instead if it was all completely privatized.

      • Mojeaux

        My kids’ suburban public schools were excellent. There was no need to either get a private school or homeschool … with ONE exception, which was the LGBTQ indoctrination, which … Well. Anyway.

      • PieInTheSky

        The suburbs here could have used some planning at least for roadz which are at times too narrow for two cars to pass toghether and have no sidewalks. People extended their yards usually beyond the actual property line and there was not enough space left for streets

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Yes, the current places we have built are not suitable for kids. A 15 minute city is building a place where kids can also live. It’s giving them back the freedom they lost when they were moved to the suburbs where they can’t go anywhere without mom or dad driving them. And then we wonder why they are fat and mental cases.

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

        You are missing my point, so I must not be explaining it well. When you have kids to tote around (under 7, say) then the suburb is preferable as it makes doing that easy. You can park, do your shopping for the week (not just a day), while easily maneuvering two kids in strollers. They just work better at that point in peoples lives.

        Kids didn’t lose their freedom with the advent of the suburbs, as the ‘burbs have been around forever (see medieval castles with small communities outside the walls, the various arrondissements of Paris, the English “home counties” with their direct rail lines to London, and so on). No, kids lost their freedoms due to a change in parenting, and are fat with mental issues due to smart phones and video games. Going to a small, walkable city will have no effect on that. In other words, there is a societal change in both what kids want to do and how they are raised that has nothing to do with what part of the city they live in.

      • Pope Jimbo

        After our Swiss neighbors moved back to Switzerland we kept in touch via emails and video chats. The wife admitted that she really missed the convenience of having a car and shopping at big box stores.

        She told us how hard it was to get a new vacuum cleaner from the shop back to her house. Trains and taxis made what would have been a 15 minute deal here take most of the day.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        How is her day to day life when not buying vacuums?

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Roll back zoning restrictions and see if they spring up naturally.

      • PieInTheSky

        It is no fun without central planning. People might get the idea other things cand be achieved that way

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Thank you. The government should not build 15 minute cities, this is obvious. It should allow for the possibility to private developers.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        *in the case of existing towns and cities, they should not surrender themselves to the suburbs.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    We should have sent Joe and Kamala

    Thousands of Russians chanted Alexei Navalny’s name and said they would not forgive the authorities for his death as the opposition leader was laid to rest in Moscow on Friday.
    In video streamed from the Borisovskyoe cemetery, Navalny’s mother Lyudmila and father Anatoly stooped over his open coffin to kiss him for the last time as a small group of musicians played.
    Crossing themselves, mourners stepped forward to caress his face before a priest gently placed a white shroud over him and the coffin was closed.

    Caressing the corpse’s face? That’s not creepy.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    So what is the most a glib has spent one one teapot? Do tell.

    I just bought one for $25. We’ll see if it lasts twice as long as the $14 one. If it burns out in a year, the joke’s on me.

    • The Other Kevin

      Three years after the fact. They are stretching this out and widening their circle to keep that threat fresh in the minds of their voters.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Palpable glee

    New York appeals court judge refused to give the former president additional time to satisfy a $454 million judgment from a civil fraud case. A federal judge is poised to decide whether to grant Trump’s last-ditch legal effort to delay or post a fraction of an $83.3 million judgment he owes E. Jean Carroll from a defamation case.

    The scramble over the past week reveals challenges Trump is facing in raising the combined judgments totaling $537 million. In pleading for relief, Trump’s lawyers told judges it could cost him an additional $104 million to post the bonds – their estimate of fees he would need to pay. Trump’s lawyers said he may have to dump some of his properties under “exigent circumstances” to raise cash quickly, tap the capital markets, or find another source of cash. Last month Trump began hawking $399 gold sneakers.

    “It is a really substantial problem. He’s really between a rock and a hard place,” said Adam Kaufmann, a criminal defense lawyer.

    The cash crunch challenges Trump’s long-projected image of a successful businessman with deep pockets and a maverick’s ability to outmaneuver legal and financial troubles. He rode that reputation to the White House in 2016.

    Now, the leading Republican presidential candidate in 2024 could end up heavily indebted to a bank, donor, or some other source of capital. Adding to the uncertainty over Trump’s future earnings are the four criminal indictments he is facing.

    They are absolutely giddy at the prospect of tossing Bad Orange Businessman into the workhouse.

    And- I don’t really think it was his business acumen (real or imagined) people were voting for in 2016. But the idea that people preferred him to The Most Qualified Candidate Ever causes them to black out.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      I imagine that even most billionaires don’t have hundreds of millions of dollars in liquid assets. It would take time for him to liquidate a property and he’s been blocked from borrowing from banks registered in New York.

    • The Other Kevin

      The idea of a fair, impartial criminal justice system that treats everyone the same was a good idea while it lasted.

    • Not Adahn

      If he had burned down Gracie Mansion, he wouldn’t have been required to post cash bail.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    On Thursday, lawyers for Carroll pointed to Trump’s growing legal issues when urging the judge to reject Trump’s request to delay or lower the amount of the bond in her case.

    “If Trump is convicted of even a subset of the 91 felony charges lodged against him, the implications for his ability to satisfy the judgment here could be significant. And even prior to a conviction, Trump’s ‘brand’— purportedly his most valuable asset, though not one that can easily be utilized to satisfy a civil judgment — may suffer as a result of the various legal proceedings in which he is enmeshed,” Carroll’s lawyers wrote.

    He must be bled dry. He must be made to suffer.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    15 minute cities might, might work if you don’t have kids. The minute (not 15 of them) you have to tote a child around, while buying food for a family, or running any errands, the whole idea falls apart.

    That’s what servants are for.

  30. PieInTheSky

    You people are excessiively frugal in your teapot purchases

    • PieInTheSky

      Even more so in your kettle purchase

    • UnCivilServant

      Why should I be profligate when I’m not a major consumer of tea?

      • PieInTheSky

        That is what keeps the economy going

  31. The Other Kevin

    I got an interesting email today. I subscribe to a web site that has artist models on it (these are models and poses geared toward drawing and painting). The email talked about diversity, and how they try to get a variety of models (age, gender, ethnicity, body type). They do, and I appreciate that. From the email:

    “Still, sometimes we receive requests from members asking for more male models, more black or Asian models, older models, and plus-size models.
    It’s not that we aren’t looking for different model types; rather it comes down to availability.
    For instance, we know from experience that male models comprise around 10% of the model pool. Of those, perhaps only 1-2% are experienced, qualified art models. So, you see right away, the proportion of male to female models is relatively small. ”

    This in a nutshell is why DEI is harmful. Just swap out “model” with “software developer”, and replace “male” with “female” or some ethnicity, and the problem is right there.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    It’s like stealing from the government

    The IRS has unveiled plans to target “non-filers” with a new round of letters, starting with high-income taxpayers who haven’t filed federal returns since 2017.

    Starting this week, the agency will send letters to wealthy non-filers, with the first batch going to those earning $400,000 to more than $1 million.

    Formerly known as CP-59 notices, the letters will go to between 20,000 and 40,000 non-filers per week, according to plans announced Thursday. The IRS said recipients should take “immediate action” to avoid more letters, higher penalties and “stronger enforcement measures.” Non-filers can learn more about past-due returns here.

    “If someone hasn’t filed a tax return, this is the time to make it right,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told reporters during a press call. Citing staffing issues, he said the non-filer program has only run sporadically since 2016.

    The failure-to-file penalty is 5% of the amount owed per month, capped at 25% of the tax bill, according to the IRS. There’s also an interest-based penalty based on the current interest rate.

    The agency urges non-filers to work with a tax professional to file past-due returns and calculate taxes owed, penalties and interest.

    The IRS has allowed millions of wealthy capitalists to skate on their fair share payments for years? This calls for a Congressional investigation.

    • The Other Kevin

      We could start with people who made millions in foreign business deals who haven’t filed taxes in years.

    • creech

      Sure. Leave off one 1099 for $601 and the IRS will be after you quickly. But they can’t have been bothered to chase the non-filers since 2017? Why do I think the number of employees fired for failure to perform this task is zero? [Actually, I wish IRS wouldn’t pursue any non-filers and would make that policy widely known!]

    • Pope Jimbo

      Please tell me that Harry Reid will be in charge of this effort.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    While it’s unclear exactly how much the IRS will collect via the revamped non-filer program, the agency estimates there could be “hundreds of millions of dollars” in unpaid taxes from these cases.

    “This is a very material amount of money that is being left on the table,” Werfel said Thursday.

    It’s still peanuts compared to what your boss is spending.

  34. Mojeaux

    Going for my first-ever curly-girl haircut today (and first haircut in probably 2 years). Hopefully, my hair is curly enough to pull this off.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Mrs OBE would die for that look

      • Mojeaux

        It’ll probably be more like this. That’s about how much curl I really have.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Still and I think grey is a great look on ladies.

    • rhywun

      👍

  35. cavalier973

    The plaintiff, L’il Rod, alleged that, during the time he worked for the famous rapper, he became aware of an on-staff hitman, that P Diddy’s house was wired for secret video recording in all its bedrooms, that separate drugged liquor bottles were reserved for special guests, that underage sex parties were held for celebrities and influential businessmen, that LA Police cooperated to facilitate the illegal conduct, and strongly implied that P Diddy used the recorded sex videos to blackmail the music stars and industry executives.

    https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/annus-dislosus-friday-march-1-2024?r=d0r3d&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post