Thursday Afternoon Links

by | May 2, 2024 | Daily Links | 199 comments

 

UNSOLICITED PLUG (NOT THAT TYPE): I like gin. I like bears. What could be better than bears who make gin? Bears who make gins named Dry Sarcastic (just like me!) and Ginger Bear (rowr!). They ship. I’ll report back in a couple of weeks (economy shipping, yo, since they rejected my Glibs expense account request) once I receive and sample the product.

OH, MY: Los Angeles firehouse damaged by (wait for it, ppl, wait for it…) FIRE.

SOME, I’M SURE ARE VERY FINE PEOPLE BIDEN ‘BOTHSIDES’ ABOUT OCT 7:  Sorry for the link to ZeroHedge, but that’s better than the paywalled Epoch Times where the story originated.

CALIFORNIA EV FOLLY TO REQUIRE $20 BILLION ELECTRICAL GRID UPDATES: Over at RedState, our very own Animal has the story.

MAYBE THEY KNEW THE CLINTONS: Second Boeing whistleblower dies. Totally tinfoil Tonio link for the day.

PENNSYLVANIA COURT RULES MINERAL WATER IS “SODA,” THEREFORE TAXABLE: Hopefully the ruling will be appealed and overturned. This indicates two of the worst impulses of the state, luxury taxes and nannyism (OMG, poor ppl might buy it).

RFK, JR – RED STATE PEOPLE MORE LIKELY TO MURDER YOU: He said that in 2005, but the clip has resurfaced. I suspect this will be a net gain of blue-leaning votes, which would be extra-special delicious if the revival of this was a Dem op.

A HOTBED OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTRIGUE: Okay, once you get past the breathless reporting (college radio, amirite), this is pretty cool. Analysis of Hittite tablets reveals previously unknown Indo-European language. “The Hittites were known for their interest in foreign languages and the preservation of rituals from different cultures.” We all know what happens when they read that tablet aloud. Iä, Iä!

NYUK, NYUK, NYUK: The Three Stooges Ultimate Collection just hit the Internet Archive. These are all the skits of the orginal three stooges run from 1934 to 1958.

About The Author

Tonio

Tonio

Tonio is a Glibs shitposter, linkstar (Thursday PM, yo), author, and editor. He is also a GlibZoom personality and prankster. Tonio is a big fan of pic-a-nic baskets. His hobbies include salmon fishing, territorial displays, dumpster diving, and posing for wildlife photographers.

199 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    Anyone else getting this? “Jetpack has locked your site’s login page…”

  2. Common Tater

    They don’t look that fat.

    • Tonio

      The one on the left is fat, though not by bear standards (yes, the bear community has an obesity problem). The one on the right almost qualifies as an otter.

      • Common Tater

        I thought otters were young bears?

      • slumbrew

        All these juicy dongs…

      • Ted S.

        I thought young bears were cubs.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        Otters are thin bears. duh.

        And by American standards both guys aren’t ‘fat’. The whole country has an obesity problem…

      • Tonio

        Otters are skinny hairy guys, regardless of age.

        Cubs, are the younger bears.

      • Common Tater

        So if an otter gains weight they become a bear?

      • R.J.

        It’s an evolutionary miracle. Kind of like when Chihuahuas get fat and eat themselves into a new species designation.

      • Bobarian LMD

        No, I think these are Pork yer man

      • Tonio

        So if an otter gains weight they become a bear?

        Yes.

      • kinnath

        I learn something new here every day.

      • Sean

        Otters are skinny hairy guys, regardless of age.

        The things I learn here!

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        The more you know…

      • Nephilium

        Well damn. They’re offering to ship to Ohio, let’s hope they stay under the radar for a bit (although not pulling the trigger now, I’ve got a surplus of gin in the house right now already).

      • Sean

        I won’t be replacing my favorite Bluecoat anytime soon.

      • R C Dean

        “a surplus of gin”

        *cocks head quizzically*

      • Tonio

        Inorite?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Neph’s already a rummy. He doesn’t want to descend into gin rummy territory.

      • R.J.

        Speaking from my high horse as a fat bearded man, I don’t consider either of them exceptionally plump.

  3. Common Tater

    JFC, LA.

    • Plinker762

      That’s what happens when you fill a building with fire bugs.

  4. SDF-7

    Obligatory

    Not a lot of info on it in the article, though. (I guess we take what we can get..)

    • Tonio

      And like it!

      • SDF-7

        Damn skippy.

  5. Common Tater

    ““I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians …”

    So Joe is condemning himself? He doesn’t understand what is going on with anything.

    • R C Dean

      Well, that’s kind of complicated. The widespread support for raping, torturing, murdering and kidnapping Jews part? Or the getting caught on the short end of a war their government started part? Maybe the no other country in the region will let them in part?

      Oh, I bet he means the predictable consequences of the above part.

  6. SDF-7

    BIDEN ‘BOTHSIDES’ ABOUT OCT 7:

    But since the mainstream media are political operatives for his party — it will be a conspiracy theory to bring it up soon, while the Charlottesville Lie continues to be trotted out. Ain’t it grand?

    • R.J.

      Also I think college kids should be forced to read the comments on ZeroHedge to learn about free speech. Little brats needs some triggerin’.

      • SDF-7

        I appreciate the thought — but honestly, I’m not sure anyone deserves to be forced to read the comments at Zerohedge. Talk about cruel and unusual…

  7. UnCivilServant

    Analysis of Hittite tablets reveals previously unknown Indo-European language. “The Hittites were known for their interest in foreign languages and the preservation of rituals from different cultures.” We all know what happens when they read that tablet aloud. Iä, Iä!

    So, read it?

    • Bobarian LMD

      Choose the form of your destroyer!

      • Nephilium

        Available for this month.

  8. Common Tater

    Excise taxes are regressive.

    • UnCivilServant

      And?

      You could apply the same argument to having to pay for things. Being poor sucks, but it’s only a permanant position if you make it one.

  9. SDF-7

    our very own Animal has the story.

    And he linked over to a site about the Income-Based Electrical fees as well. So looking forward to that (like a hole in my head).

    Also from that other site they’re trying this crap again… who cares about the budget deficit….

    One might wonder just where states got the idea they can outlaw entire industries to further their own corrupt power… but unfortunately we all know where they got the idea (“Everything inside the State….”)

    • Plinker762

      “How much you got?”

    • OBJ FRANKELSON

      *cough* Roosevelt *cough**cough*

      (either one is a good choice)

  10. SDF-7

    PENNSYLVANIA COURT RULES MINERAL WATER IS “SODA”,

    Well… I suppose that falls under “technically correct is the best kind of correct”, carbonated beverages being known colloquially by that name due to their base being soda water and all.

    I didn’t read the article (gasp! shock!) yet but if this is a case of the Judge just taking a Stupid Law(tm) as written to point out how Stupid it is, maybe they’ll fix it so they tax only the syrupy, sugary beverages for their Sin Tax (assuming that’s the target here).

      • Bobarian LMD

        Is it what, son?

      • bacon-magic

        What it is Daddio.

    • Nephilium

      Well first of all, it should be called pop, not soda. From the article:

      However, the Pennsylvania court last month again ruled against Montgomery, noing [sic] that by definition a soft drink is any “nonalcoholic beverage, in either powder or liquid form, whether or not carbonated, such as soda water, ginger ale, colas, root beer, flavored water, artificially carbonated water, orangeade, lemonade, juice drinks containing less than 25% by volume.”

      So really the question comes down to if it’s flavored or if it’s artificially carbonated. Either of those are true, it would fall under the tax. Here in Ohio, unsweetened beverages are exempt so unsweetened iced tea is untaxed, but sweetened tea is taxed.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Soda not pop you heathen

      • Pope Jimbo

        Having a pop with your hotdish is correct. Drinking soda with your casserole is deviant.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        It’s pop you infidel.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Soda you hick,
        Go eat your hotdish

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        I like Dr. Pepper

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Mr. Pibb!

      • Gender Traitor

        Mountain Dew or Mello Yello?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Sun Drop

    • Evan from Evansville

      Everything is a “Coke.” This is still true.

      “What type of Coke do ya have?”
      “Coke! Diet Coke! What other Cokes ya got!” <– Confused, 10-year-old me didn't give that vendor money. Adult Me is pretty happy about that, but I reckon it was mostly me being confused that not EVERYONE talked like that. Well. It's still a Q-Tip, not a cotton swab.

  11. Gustave Lytton

    From ded thred:

    Sensei on May 2, 2024 at 1:51 pm
    If this was a volume ICE car from a near bankrupt new manufacturer you’d be in the same spot.

    https://store.delorean.com/about-us

    The world’s largest source for new original stock (NOS), replacement, reproduction parts and accessories. Our 40,000 square foot (3,700+ square meters) warehouse contains more than 3.5 million items. In addition to the sale of parts, we have a full service and restoration center capable of everything your DeLorean might need.

    • Sean

      That’s kind of awesome.

      • Gustave Lytton

        I know! For a company that failed over 40 years ago. Car people are nuts.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Regular Cars did a review of one that someone did a LS swap on. Apparently, the transmissions were Peugot-manufactured and horrible.

    • Sensei

      Yup. They bought them out.

      They are missing odd things. Like one quarter panel is in short supply while having hundreds of others.

  12. SDF-7

    We all know what happens when they read that tablet aloud

    We all have to find our boomsticks and replace a hand with a chainsaw?

    • Drake

      A Monster Hunter or Laundry Files novel starts?

  13. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Any Three Stooges past Shemp isn’t really the Three Stooges-it’s a reasonable imitation but it just ain’t the same.

  14. Pine_Tree

    Fire story: Just glad for old times’ sake that it wasn’t Station 51 (which is really 127 according to Wikipedia).

  15. SDF-7

    NYUK, NYUK, NYUK: The Three Stooges Ultimate Collection just hit the Internet Archive. These are all the skits of the orginal three stooges run from 1934 to 1958.

    Yeah, I think I saw that drop as a box set on the Apple store earlier. Thinking about it… but honestly, I’m just not sure I’m that much of a Stooges fan (I like some of it, sure… but do I need to seek it out? And pay for it?). I’m pretty sure my wife isn’t… and my son likely doesn’t even know who they are.

    I’ll keep considering it.

    • Nephilium

      Well, archive.org takes away the monetary cost, just download time and or watching time.

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      Only my stoner friends enjoyed that. I wonder why…

      • bacon-magic

        And?

    • The Other Kevin

      I have a Benny Hill box set on DVD. It’s awesome.

      • Common Tater

        I like Benny Hill, but I don’t think I could take an entire box of Yakety Sax.

      • invisible finger

        Is that with or without the topless women?

      • The Other Kevin

        Haven’t looked in a while, I’ll have to check.

    • Fatty Bolger

      Does that mean they’re public domain?

      • Nephilium

        Not necessarily, there is a lot that is on archive.org that is 100% not in the public domain that people have uploaded. In fact, comparing to a later show (The Twilight Zone), it appears that they are not.

  16. The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

    ‘(OMG, poor ppl might buy it)’

    I thought we solved that problem when we made them poor.

    • kinnath

      why does “female” matter?

      • Mojeaux

        Because I think female predation on children/teens is viewed differently from male predation on children/teens. There’s a “hot for teacher” element in people’s minds.

      • R C Dean

        Yeah, everybody clicks through to see if the female teacher is a would.

        Nobody (alright, practically nobody) does that for male teachers.

      • Sensei

        Now women and hot murdering men OTH…

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        “hot for teacher”

        Second MTV video I watched. The first was Whitney Houston bouncing around in a white shirt. I (a dumb farm boy with only an antenna in a deep valley) was shocked (and intrigued).

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        The “two dollars” paperboy from Better Off Dead played young Michael, and Phil Hartman VO’d Waldo.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      That’s two per month nationwide? Not that many actually.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Allegedly there’s something like 4 million teachers in the US. Some of them are bound to be horndogs.

  17. The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

    ” We all know what happens when they read that tablet aloud”

    Is it bound in human vellum and does it say ‘Klatu verata nicto’?

    • R C Dean

      Ruh-roh. If you mispronounce the last word like that . . . .

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Klaatu barada nikto, learn alien speak!

    • R.J.

      Sure looks like it. She’s making the fashion shoot from Zoolander 2 a reality?

      • slumbrew

        From the Derelicte line.

    • Fatty Bolger

      lol. She looks good as a blonde, though.

    • R C Dean

      If you do it over and over again on purpose, I don’t think its a “malfunction”.

    • Suthenboy

      Wow. That is a real two-bit operation, that shoot.

  18. The Other Kevin

    The quality of those Stooges shorts is great. I also like the rest of that site. A person could waste a lot of time there.

    • Nephilium

      I may or may not have been boosting my Plex server with some downloads from there…

    • bacon-magic

      ^^^

  19. Mojeaux

    We can’t let the icky people enjoy life, now can we?

    • kinnath

      Inflation punishes savers and rewards borrowers.

      FedGov clearly benefits from inflation.

      • kinnath

        This is why the primary reason that I am not retired.

      • Nephilium

        There’s a reason I’m not rushing to pay off my mortgage. As long as the interest rate is below the real inflation rate, I figure I’m coming out ahead by investing it or purchasing durable goods.

      • invisible finger

        Wouldn’t you be further ahead if you pay no interest?

      • Sensei

        Depends. I’d put the $500 into a 401(k) instead of prepaying a mortgage with it, for example.

      • invisible finger

        30-year mortgage or something else?

      • Sensei

        Depends on your risk tolerance and horizon.

        Wall St. uses nutty levels of leverage because long term returns are positive.

        Until there is a liquidity issue…. Hello Uncle Sam?

        For a younger person with a mortgage putting the $500 into an S&P 500 proxy in a qualified account and not prepaying a mortgage is a rational choice.

        If you are 65 it may very well not be a good choice depending on other assets.

      • R C Dean

        Pretty much this. If your mortgage rate is 3% and you’re averaging more than that in your investment accounts, put that marginal dollar in the investment account. Especially if you’ve got enough put aside to cover the mortgage if your income dries up. We’ve postponed paying off our mortgage for exactly this reason.

        The danger of investing borrowed money is that if the investment goes south, you still owe the debt. If that debt is your mortgage, you can lose your house. One of the dumbest things I saw during the internet bubble was people taking out second mortgages to play the stock market.

      • kinnath

        Time value of money.

        If inflation is higher than interest, then you are actually paying less “money” using cheap dollars in the future than paying it off now with current dollars.

      • Nephilium

        And if the investments just keep up with inflation, that provides the money to pay it off with those cheap dollars. If the market collapses entirely, I’d be boned, but so would most of the country at that point.

      • UnCivilServant

        Or, if I never waste that 3x the principal on interest payments, I can collect my returns on those dollars at the medium value much sooner and not have an albatross hanging over me.

      • Fourscore

        Absolutely. Good move, UCS

      • Fourscore

        Yes. I had a 30 year mortgage @ 8.5 %, circa 1975. The early payments were $20 on the principal, $150 interest, taxes and insurance. I paid an extra $100 on the principal, thus saving 4 payments and about $400 interest monthly. I paid off the mortgage in 8 years. It changed my whole financial life. That beats the stock market any time. The beauty is that you don’t always have to pay the extra, you still only owe the interest on the remainder.

    • Nephilium

      It was a couple weeks ago I noticed that the Arby’s near me had a sign up for a special. You know, the ones that used to be $5 for 5? It was now $10 for 4.

      • Mojeaux

        Yeah, our eating-out bill has been eye-popping. No more of that.

      • The Other Kevin

        We’ve seriously cut back there as well.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Last night, stopped a KFC.

        A single small side of cole slaw is now $3.99.

        There is about 4 table spoons of slaw in a small side.

      • R.J.

        Same. There will be a big fallout soon in DFW, eating out is a major competitive sport. Nobody I know can afford it.

      • trshmnstr

        We stopped at subway for the first time in years. I used to go there in high school to get a big sandwich for $5.

        It cost us $42 for a footlong, a 6 inch, 2 kids sandwiches, and 4 bags of chips. Oh, and the sandwiches were measly in comparison to 10 years ago.

        Eff that. My wife likes going to restaurants, but even she is on the cusp of being over it.

      • creech

        Subway subs aren’t priced too bad. It was those 4 bags of way overpriced chips that killed you.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Maybe they switched from roadkill possum to actual beef.

    • kinnath

      Also note, if tax rates aren’t indexed to inflation, the inflations is an automatic tax increase that few people recognize.

      • Mojeaux

        Yes, but getting people to understand any of this requires honest numbers and some explanation they don’t receive. No wonder everybody’s just sitting in confused anger. All they know is gas and food cost more but the news is saying everything’s copacetic.

      • Mojeaux

        Yup.

      • Nephilium

        And in the end, all of those who have burned their credibility will sit and ask the masses, “Why don’t you believe us?!”

    • trshmnstr

      I’m skeptical of the premise. I don’t think they give half a shit about debt-to-gdp. They’re MMT people.

      The conclusion, however, is the most scathing rebuke of consumption focused central banking. Their only saving grace keeping them from being lampposted is the fact that the economy operates at civilizational pace (decades, centuries) rather than personal pace (days, years).

      • Sensei

        +1

    • kinnath

      FedGov fucking with CPI calculations is also a means to slowly reduce SS payments for all retirees.

    • Fourscore

      Rule of 72

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      But inflation is down to 4% from 8%, so everything is cheaper now!

      • The Other Kevin

        It’s so sad that’s the official story. But even sadder that people are still falling for it.

    • The Other Kevin

      Pleasure Squad opened for Depeche Mode in ’82.

      • SDF-7

        I’m not so sure of that year… but it is just a question of time.

      • The Other Kevin

        Everything counts when it comes to this sort of thing.

    • Sean

      She looks like an alien.

      • R.J.

        She needs to go eat some all-American hamburgers and put on some weight.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Right, not eating for the first 13 years of your life might be bad.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      It’s good to be the king.

  20. Bobarian LMD

    $20 BILLION ELECTRICAL GRID UPDATE

    How much is that in miles of high speed rail?

    • SDF-7

      Division by Zero error. EOVERFLW.

      • UnCivilServant

        This is why you’re supposed to do parameter checking before the calculations.

    • R C Dean

      And you thought electricity bills in CA were high now . . . .

      • kinnath

        The sooner CA falls into the Pacific, the better.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Nah, just certain Californians.

      • Sensei

        It’s going to be tough to take out Sacramento.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        Take out a dam and it washes away…

      • R C Dean

        So, you’re saying neutron bombs, not the regular kind?

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Sloooowly I turned…

    • kinnath

      step by step

      • Sensei

        I say that every time I visit my son in PA driving over that particular river.

      • Sensei

        Ugh, mixed up my river skits!

  22. Derpetologist

    I had a class of one today. He didn’t seem to have any mental or physical ailments, but he got his own adult escort (me) for every class. He surprised me by mentioning particle accelerators, so I helped him look up the article in the World Book Encyclopedia in the library. He liked the cloud chamber pictures.

    Another student had no backpack, no paper, etc but had braces, an earring, and expensive clothes and shoes. He was late for every class and did no work of any sort. I talked to him off and on throughout the day as he was interested in my Army experiences. Unfortunately, the most likely outcome is that he will spend another 5 years in school before he is presented with a diploma he didn’t earn after having spent 12 years to get a 2nd grade education. Sad. If the parents/guardians don’t care, there’s not much the teachers can do. He told me the only reason he even comes to school at all is because the school will call his home if he’s absent. On the plus side, when I used the word “prestige”, he asked me what it meant and how to spell it. He then wrote it down. So hopefully he learned that at least.

    About 80% of the teachers are women, and they’re pretty much helpless against any kind of male disobedience or aggression. The male teachers are only marginally better. The science teacher spoke in an annoyed monotone for the whole lesson. I wasn’t sure whether to feel sorrier for her or her students.

    In the first class, they spent the whole time updating their laptops per school requirements. What a waste of time. The teacher told one student to surrender his basketball, and when he didn’t, I took my cue to step in. I told him he had to do what the teacher says, and when I took the ball, I explained that I have obligations. Oh well. Such is middle school. He got his ball back at the end of the day.

    The reading teacher played an audio book and handed out donuts. She also told a student to stop reading a book and listen to the audio. So much for reading is fundamental.

    So, on the whole, a good day, except I forgot how loud school cafeterias and hallways are.

    • EvilSheldon

      So yeah, I know intellectually that public schools are garbage, but this was below even my lowest expectations.

      • Derpetologist

        It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness. The students who want to learn have much better access to learning aids than the ones I taught in Tanzania.

        The state and local school boards set all kinds of rules, and the parents have their own reasonable and unreasonable demands.

        I’m looking forward to working inside with air-conditioning instead of climbing utility poles or unloading trucks in the Florida heat. Plus I enjoy talking about math.

    • Fourscore

      So nothing has changed since I did my student teaching almost 50 years ago.

    • Not Adahn

      Next week from Derpy:

      “Well, the school called the cops on me for stealing a basketball, and since it was a crime involving a minor they wouldn’t let me out on bail…”

      • Derpetologist

        I note with wry amusement that the school I got fired from last year is once again looking for a new math teacher. Oh well. Maybe the one a mile away from me will give me a shot. They haven’t rejected my application yet.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    Middle ground

    President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting that “order must prevail” as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, outrage and fear.

    “Dissent is essential for democracy,” Biden said at the White House. “But dissent must never lead to disorder.”

    The Democratic president broke days of silence on the protests with his remarks, which followed mounting criticism from Republicans who have tried to turn scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel. By focusing on a law-and-order message while defending the right to free speech, Biden is grasping for a middle ground on an intensely divisive issue in the middle of his reelection campaign.

    True statesmanship is knowing when to spout mealy-mouth platitudes.

    Those Republicans are all just a bunch of hypocritical jerks.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to “score political points,” calling the situation a “moment for clarity.”

    “There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos,” Biden said shortly before leaving the White House for a trip to North Carolina. “People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across campus safely without fear of being attacked.”

    Joe would never use civil unrest to score political points. That would be wrong.

  25. Pope Jimbo

    I’d love to see the looks on the young teachers union members faces when they realize how seniority works when schools start closing in Minneapolis. I’m sure they think their union just got them a sweet raise and their school won’t close.

    A new contract has put Minneapolis Public Schools’ teachers in line for 4% raises this year and 5% next year.

    The big picture: MPS faces a $110 million shortfall that has already forced drastic cuts in next year’s budget, with the real possibility of school closures looming in the near future.

    It would be sort of funny to see them have to pack up their trash and walk by the old coot teachers coming in from the schools that did close. Of course, anyone working at a place that has seen their customer base shrink by more than 15% in the last few years shouldn’t be surprised by a bunch of pink slips.

    * There was also this howler: Minneapolis Federation of Teachers argues this is the key to stabilizing the district and reversing a years-long enrollment decline. Uh-huh. The reason students are leaving in droves is because the teachers weren’t being paid enough.

    • Fourscore

      A loss of 7k kids should result in about 7-10 schools closing, I would think. Surprisingly, students are having trouble with reading and math. Is it the students or the teachers?
      And some schools may not have assistant principals.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Hunt them down and round them all up

    In an interview with Time magazine published this week, Trump reiterated his campaign trail promise to rid the country of people without legal permission to be here. He said he would first use the National Guard and local police, and then the military if warranted, to force the immigrants “back from where they came.”

    “These are people that aren’t legally in our country. This is an invasion of our country. An invasion like probably no country has ever seen before,” he told Time.

    While Trump often mentions migrants who have recently crossed the border into the U.S., the reality is that a big part of undocumented immigrants have deep-seated roots in the country and an operation targeting them would have significant ripple effects in American society.

    Or, possibly, media outlets are once more intentionally hyping a low probability worst case scenario in a bait and switch tactic.

    • juris imprudent

      An invasion like probably no country has ever seen before

      Man, Trump doesn’t even think of Rome once a day.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Under Trump’s hallmark “zero tolerance” illegal immigration initiative, he oversaw the separation of thousands of migrant children and babies from their parents at the border, including some U.S. citizen children who were placed in foster care. The separations created emotional chaos, forced children to live in “tent cities” and led to federal lawsuits. Trump ended the policy amid backlash. Some children have still not been reunited with their families, the Biden administration confirmed.

    He ate the fattest, tenderest babies.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Separate the kids temporarily or encourage the migration and let them get fingerbanged by the coyotes. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

    • Derpetologist

      +1 Hungry Tiger

      ***
      The Hungry Tiger is a massive Bengal tiger who is friends with the Cowardly Lion. He is always hungry no matter how much he eats and longs to eat a “fat baby,” though he never would because his conscience will not allow him to do so. At the banquet in the Emerald City at the end of Ozma of Oz, he acknowledges that he is finally full.
      ***

    • Suthenboy

      Here we go, right on cue, with the doe eyed children (wipes away a single tear) being hardest hit.
      Save it assholes, that shit stopped working on me a long time ago. Fuck the children.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    As he has previously done, Trump cited as his model former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his deportation sweeps, that were known by the bigoted moniker of Operation Wetback.

    Oh, the humanity.

  29. Derpetologist

    Hittite is the oldest written example of an Indo-European language:

    ***
    Hittite (natively: 𒌷𒉌𒅆𒇷, romanized: nešili[1] / “the language of Neša”, or nešumnili / “the language of the people of Neša”), also known as Nesite (Nešite/Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a people of Bronze Age Anatolia who created an empire centred on Hattusa, as well as parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia.[2] The language, now long extinct, is attested in cuneiform, in records dating from the 17th[3] (Anitta text) to the 13th centuries BC, with isolated Hittite loanwords and numerous personal names appearing in an Old Assyrian context from as early as the 20th century BC, making it the earliest attested use of the Indo-European languages.
    ***

    The sound of the Hittite language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScmsxS0Sr4w

    ***
    Bedřich Hrozný (Czech pronunciation: [ˈbɛdr̝ɪx ˈɦrozniː] ⓘ; 6 May 1879 – 12 December 1952), also known as Friedrich Hrozny,[1] was a Czech orientalist and linguist. He contributed to the decipherment of the ancient Hittite language, identified it as an Indo-European language, and laid the groundwork for the development of Hittitology.
    ***

    The language is similar to the one spoken by the alien engineer in Prometheus:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDu_onvlr44

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      You and Ed Driscoll, copy pasta,all the way

      • R.J.

        I thought it said “ Tittitology” for a moment and I was excited.

      • juris imprudent

        Q would have a PhD and have already introduced all of us to it.

      • Derpetologist

        “Mediocre artists imitate; great artists steal.”

        -Pablo Picasso

        Milton Berle said that Bob Hope never had a joke that he didn’t have a week later.

        ***
        Berle and Bob Hope had a long-standing feud due to Hope’s accusation that Milton Berle had stolen some of his jokes. Berle never disputed the claim, but instead embraced the title “The Thief of Bad Gag”.
        ***

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I thought the Prometheus jibber jabber was supposed to be based on Sumerian.

      • Derpetologist

        ***
        Sumerian is accepted to be a West Asian language isolate.[11][12][13][14] Sumerian was at one time widely held to be an Indo-European language, but that view later came to be almost universally rejected.[15] Ever since decipherment, it has been the subject of much effort to relate it to a wide variety of languages.
        ***

        Ah, the old “run to the front of the parade and pretend you’re leading it” gambit…

  30. Derpetologist

    Welcome to public education, where there are no rules, and the points don’t matter.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c0I2jlF2B8

    The language arts teacher had a forearm tattoo, and the reading teacher had a nose ring. Some of the other spaces on my “wacky teacher” bingo card include:

    blue hair, transpretender, clearly above retirement age, gym teacher given the class nobody wants, and that noble breed known as “barely smarter than the students”

  31. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Moving tomorrow! I will not be towing the car, since the rental car company only lets you use a debit card if you’re flying in and out. Since I’ve only ever recently rented a car when I’ve flown, I did not know this tidbit. My helper boy will be driving the car up, and I’ll tow the empty dolly. It will save us time loading & unloading, but I will have to drive him home at 7am on Saturday. Not ideal, but doable. And not towing the car is always good.

  32. Pope Jimbo

    Finally! A real issue we can argue over. Not that trivial phony baloney Israel/Hamas nonsense.

    The new $75 million Itasca County Jail has been controversial since its proposal in 2019. Now, public tours of the new facility — days before inmates are expected to move in — have sparked a new controversy.

    During last week’s tours, the public saw an imposing display of the Ten Commandments posted in the facility’s gym, covering most of one of the walls. Concerns expressed on social media have swiftly evolved into legal pressure over whether the display violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause.

    Itasca County Sheriff Joe Dasovich declined to officially state whether the county would remove the Commandments, but he implied the county was leaning toward painting them over.

    I’m a non-believer(I think Atheists are just as religious as any Bible/Koran thumper, they just worship anti-religion) and I just can’t get worked up over this. Yeah, it was dumb to put it up, but I think there are other things that the Grand Rapids Area Freethinkers could care about.

    • juris imprudent

      Yeah, like the conflict with the Grand Rapids Independent Free Thinkers – damn splitters.

      • Raven Nation

        What you did there, seen it was.

      • Tres Cool

        At least its not the Independent Free Thinkers of Grand Rapids.

    • The Gunslinger

      Also in Michigan, I’ve been trying to follow up on the story from last month where a grandma in Mount Morris helped her granddaughter beat up another girl at Mcmonagle Elementary school. The grandma’s name and photo have still not been released that I have been able to find The newest article I can find is from 4/24 anc none of the original reporting has been updated with names.

      https://atlantablackstar.com/2024/04/24/michigan-woman-facing-charges-after-officials-allege-she-helped-her-granddaughter-jump-another-girl-in-elementary-school-bathroom/

      Is this normal?

      • R.J.

        I remember that!

      • Tres Cool

        “The woman, who was not publicly named, …”

        I think RC Dean addressed that earlier and I dropped the ball.

  33. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    I had an interesting discussion with a friend about the trans cult stuff (she’s an extreme lefty so I didn’t call it that in our chat) vis a vis ancient/historically significant religious/spiritual objects, belonging to ancient cultures whose ideas about sex and gender may come into conflict with the Northern European ideas about sex and gender. It’s a wonderful little microcosm of “eating their own” and the consequences of unprincipled, emotion-based ideology.

    • Tres Cool

      Lord knows I like the larger ladies, but she has bad skin.
      I dont fuck with the ugly ones.

    • Shpip

      Tres-quality dumpass… check
      Poison-frog hair… check
      English-quality teeth… check
      Problem glasses… check
      Septum ring… check
      Pierced lip… check
      Gauged earlobes… check
      Rainbow do-rag… check
      And *of course* she wears a choker… check

      If Central Casting sent her to a call for “lefty college chick,” she’d be rejected as a too over-the-top parody.

    • J. Frank Parnell

      “Eros Osiris”

      lol.

      The guy at the 1:00 mark also looks exactly like I would expect.