Thursday Morning Links

by | Jul 11, 2024 | Daily Links | 214 comments

Soccer might be rigged. Tennis might be rigged. But at least we have the integrity of baseball and wrestling. That’s my sports take. Moving on…

A rift you say? Texas is full of federal taxpayers. They’re entitled to the same service anybody else in the country should get, so long as the WH thinks of them as people rather than political pawns.

I didn’t like the original. I doubt I’m going to enjoy the remake.

This will be interesting. I winder if the venue will make a difference.

What a nut. No, really.

Well….yeah. I agree with them on all counts.

This will be interesting. Should be a lot of grandstanding and nothing else.

This will also be interesting. Should also be a lot of grandstanding and nothing else.

This sounds like a government takeover of private industry to me. SO the venue doesn’t surprise me one bit.

Here’s a great song. That woman had mental issues. But she was a pretty damn good singer. Enjoy them both.

And enjoy this lovely Thursday, dear friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

214 Comments

  1. Pope Jimbo

    What a nut

    I’m glad you think it is funny. Personally I think he is a real jerk

    • trshmnstr

      A true wanker

    • Sean

      Comment *Obligatory.

    • Grumbletarian

      What a jackoff.

    • Ted S.

      The writer of that Daily Mail headline obviously hasn’t read SugarFree.

    • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

      Jack on

      Fap Fap

      Jack off

    • bacon-magic

      The lemon song tribute.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        What’s a fellow got to do to be able to post links? Q.Q

      • cavalier973

        Wee gizz, y’all need to cut it off.

  2. Shpip

    The famous medieval cathedral in the city of Rouen in western France was evacuated Thursday when a fire broke out in the spire.

    That’s going to generate Reims of paperwork.

    • Pope Jimbo

      de Galle of you to start the punning so early in the day.

      • sloopyinca

        ::exaggerated Gallic guffaw::

      • Shpip

        I’m still feeling a little Bouzy from last night.

      • SDF-7

        We have to start early — later in the day, Swiss won’t let it go on Toulon.

    • trshmnstr

      It’s not just this one fire. The Paris quite suspicious.

      • Suthenboy

        suspicious is not the word I would use.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Did the French firemen put the blaze out with nothing but their can do attitude?

      The just kept oui oui-ing on the fire until it was out?

      • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

        oui oui doesn’t usually come out of the can-can

    • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

      It is truly inspireing.

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      Is it now a Rouen Ruin?

      • Shpip

        Other French cities with cathedrals better keep their guard up. There’s so much Toulouse.

    • Swiss Servator

      *CONTINUES TO NARROW GAZE*

  3. Gdragon

    I bet that the old Mexicans hate Alec Baldwin too.

  4. sloopyinca

    The penalty England got and the one Germany didn’t get are just head-scratchers.

    Also, kudos to UEFA for having the courage to give a second chance to a referee who had been convicted for match-fixing. Way to help a man get his life back, you paragons of virtue.

    • Nephilium

      I’m sure he paid his bribe to the regulators debt to society.

    • rhywun

      Also, kudos to UEFA for having the courage to give a second chance to a referee who had been convicted for match-fixing.

      Yeah that was a head-scratcher.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      This COPA tournament…whew, US is somehow not ready to host a world cup.

  5. Shpip

    Raskin is not a co-sponsor to the New York Democrat’s impeachment articles, but several other progressives joined her in introducing the articles. They include Reps. Barbara Lee of California, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Jamaal Bowman of New York and Jasmine Crockett of Texas.

    In other words, the usual clowns from gerrymandered Designated Darkie Districts.

    • juris imprudent

      Soon to be former Rep Bowman you mean?

      • Common Tater

        *holds up stool*

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      huh. I don’t think so, just progressive Dems.

      Florida’s 10th district is plurality White, it is just that it contains Orlando which is a cesspit.

  6. Ownbestenemy

    Earlier this week, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Ron Wyden of Oregon called for Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether the hospitality Thomas received from his wealthy friends violated various laws.

    Glass houses and all that with a bag of bricks.

    • sloopyinca

      I remember when Ron Wyden helped to try and filibuster FISA renewal. What happened to that guy?

      • juris imprudent

        One good thing against a long history of being a progressive dumbass.

      • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

        He married a NYC liberal.

        As an Oregonian, he is a true POS.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Wyden has always been a POS. He can fucking stay in NYC.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Has Garland come out yet with his excuse for not realizing Biden’s brain is gone?

      I’d think he’d be really worried about Trump winning. A Trump win might put him in the hot seat for all his shenanigans. Another Dem win would let him slink off and be forgotten.

      • SDF-7

        He’ll suddenly believe in Executive Branch official act immunity if there’s not enough fortification. Or the aides will go Pardon happy before PPP is dumped (or Kackles if the 25th kicks in before January).

    • cavalier973

      It’s somewhat heartening that they are doing stuff like this instead of suffocating Thomas with a pillow.

      • Drake

        Thomas should avoid hunting trips for the next few months.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        -1 Scalia. 🙁

    • rhywun

      Sure, investigate all of them. I very much doubt all the leftist judges are pure as the driven snow.

  7. SDF-7

    They’re entitled to the same service anybody else in the country should get

    This leaps to mind on that topic and it being the role of the Feds to do anything for anybody. But yeah, since that’s the crappy system we currently have they should get the same service.

    • creech

      Abbott just needs to avoid pulling a fat ass Jersey move like meeting Biden on the beach and gushing all over him.

  8. SDF-7

    I winder if the venue will make a difference.

    I sincerely doubt it — that’s just a broken winder fallacy.

    • juris imprudent

      You sure that ain’t just another stem-winder?

  9. SDF-7

    What a nut. No, really.

    Not only could SugarFree come up with many more “vile” acts one could do to another shopper — hell, Kevin Smith could. (Boff a dead guy in a bathroom leaps to mind).

    • cavalier973

      Why was she just standing there, instead of repeatedly kicking him?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Escalation would just have caused the situation to get out of hand.

      • SDF-7

        She couldn’t help but be curious how long he’d dick around — or just didn’t want to make it harder for him.

      • EvilSheldon

        People freeze up. If you don’t already have a space in your head for a situation like this, your brain goes into a hard loop while it tries to process what can’t possibly be happening.

        This can work both ways. I’ve seen video of armed robbers having their victims at gunpoint, and the ‘victim’ pulls a gun and the robber just stands there and gets shot. All they had to do was pull the trigger, but they’d never thought about the idea of their victim fighting back, so they froze up the first (and hopefully last) time it happened.

      • Social Justice is Neither

        Evilsheldon – that or he was just skipping out without paying.

  10. SDF-7

    This will be interesting. Should be a lot of grandstanding and nothing else.

    The House Stupid Party Members will continue to be ignored by the rest of DC until and unless they use the actual power of the purse to enforce Congress’s rights.

    And we know they won’t. And even if they tried, there’s enough squishies to team up with the JackAsses to push through “critical government funding”.

    So yeah — grandstanding and nothing else, agreed. Just wanted to rant, I suppose.

    • dbleagle

      Unlike the Squad’s grandstanding, the Stupid Party’s grandstanding won’t get media coverage. The MSM knows that any serious investigation will show their collusion as well- and that can’t be permitted.

  11. SDF-7

    That woman had mental issues

    I guessed correctly, but man — that’s a wide field to choose from with that setup.

    I suppose you would argue nothing compared to her.

    • sloopyinca

      She got completely eaten up by the music industry. It’s a shame. She had one hell of a voice.

  12. Grummun

    This sounds like a government takeover of private industry to me.

    As I read it, the private owner is failing financially, probably because of city policies on homeless and mandates to treat same, so the city is going to take on that loss. I’m sure those hospitals will rapidly attain the same standards of cleanliness and effectiveness of all government-run health care facilities.

    • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

      I had back surgery in one of them, St. Francis, and it was pretty good for a city hospital.

      • R C Dean

        Sounds like they were Catholic, not municipal, from the article. Didn’t read that closely, though.

      • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

        They were but I am pretty sure they switched over at some earlier point.

  13. Nephilium

    Integrity of baseball you say…

    • Pope Jimbo

      I was going to wonder aloud about Sloopy – a known Astros bobo – worrying about the integrity of baseball.

      • sloopyinca

        Baseball is far from scandal-free. I know that.
        Take for instance, the fact that the World Series during the Covid year is recognized.

  14. SDF-7

    I feel so Southern Shade Tree Mechanic this morning. Some time since the car was in for the engine troubles — I haven’t had washer fluid working. Thought it was the pump, which due to the glory of GM Engineers, requires jacking up the car and pulling all the bottom trim to get to (because hey… why make things easy?)

    But was doing an oil change / air filter / cabin filter before starting work… and noticed when moving the washer lines to get to the cabin filter… hey… this line is separated! And lo and behold, tried the washer with that line exposed… and fluid just shot out of it (I thought I smelled fluid when trying before, but didn’t see any for some reason).

    Checked online — and of course the entire hose run is one long piece with junctions so again — I’d have to get to the pump to replace it (assuming it shipped here quick enough before I have to drive back).

    So.. in finest “See if this will work” tradition… I jammed the hose pieces into the failing junction and zip tied the junction ends to clamp the hoses in. Seems to be holding. At least I didn’t use duct tape!

    • trshmnstr

      I have what I suspect to be the same issue. Stellantis made it so I have to take the front bumper off to get access….

    • Gustave Lytton

      Same with my wife’s Jetta. She’s not driving it so haven’t dived in yet to see if it’s the pump or worse. Reminds me…

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      Soon to be featured on ‘just rolled in’. 😉

      • SDF-7

        Ouch… 😉

  15. rhywun

    Tennis might be rigged.

    How else does Joker get at least one walkover every single tournament?! It is uncanny.

    • sloopyinca

      I’m a Joker fan, but even I find that curious.

      They have to figure out a way to get rid of walkovers. Not sure if it would be right to advance somebody who got beat in the previous round, but they have to do something.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, it’s grossly unfair.

        I’m fine with the proposed solution.

  16. Not Adahn

    Good morning, for a particular definition of good. I have to make an emergency trip to Houston to join the club from the previous thread.

    • SDF-7

      Assuming you’re talking about parents passing or near passing — sorry, NA. Not there yet, but part of the reason I’m on this side of the country this month is to spend what time I can as it looms, so I feel you.

      Now, if you’re going to Houston for a semi-emergency mammogram… well, you do you, sir.

      • Ted S.

        Richard Roundtree would have liked a word with you.

      • Not Adahn

        I am still spitting tacks about the covid response. Since it shut down churches, my parents pretty much lost all their friends for a couple of years, and the fear-mongering kept them establishing new ones.

        My father had his final disposition all planned out. My sister (who lives closest to them) looked at it and said “yeah, this is too much work and/or in bad taste.” He wants Boomer Sooner played at his funeral! Can you imagine! My mom, who went from being an isolated (see covid response, supra) duo with her husband of 60 years to being an imminently isolated single is not even the slightest bit happy and/or coping well. So as to not have to deal with things she’s having him cremated and deciding what to do family-wise “later.”

        This isn’t helped by my brother moving to the Netherlands, and me moving to NY. Like the song says “the family weakens by the lengths we travel.”

        I am afraid that my family is coming to an end. There are several plots left at the family burial site in OKC, but with this I’m wondering i anyone else will acutally be buried there. I(‘m planning on it, but I’ll obviously need to pre-contract with a service to make that happen since my sister has demonstrated she’s a faithless executor. And since my brother believes what he sees in the media, he’s probably never coming back to the fascist hellhole of the US. His son I’m sure is going to be Dutch.

      • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

        Shit NA, I am truly sorry to hear that.

      • EvilSheldon

        Aw, hell. I’m really sorry to hear this, NA. Sing out if there’s anything you need.

    • sloopyinca

      I wasn’t in the previous thread, so I don’t know what y’all are talking about.

      But if there’s anything you need while you’re here, let me know.

      • Not Adahn

        Thanks Sloop, but my duties will be all-consuming. I appreciate the offer, and you and the family have a standing invite to visit me if you want to play the ponies

    • Sean

      Sorry to hear, NA.
      My condolences.

      • Sensei

        +1. Sorry NA

    • Gdragon

      Very sorry to hear this NA. I do hope that your trip goes well so that you don’t have anything extra to deal with and can concentrate on what’s important here.

    • Common Tater

      Sorry 🙁

    • Not Adahn

      Thank you everyone. I appreciate it.

      • B.P.

        I’ll pile on and add my sympathies too. And I hope you can convince your brother not to let the politics of the moment keep you divided.

  17. Shpip

    Hospitals lost a boatload during the early days of COVID mismanagement by shutting down all elective (read: scheduled) procedures.

    Now they’re making up for it on the back end by catering to neurotic hypochondriacs.

    • Drake

      But they did get big bonuses for killing people with covid. I thought it evened out for the hospitals (not specific doctors)?

      • R C Dean

        What with subsidies and all, hospitals did pretty well for the most part, generally after the worst of the pandemic. At its height, they were bleeding money. Contrary to common belief, they were not paid more if a COVID patient died.

        Then their cost structure completely blew up, and they have been in financial trouble again the last few years. When a typical margin is 2 – 3%, it doesn’t take much.

    • Gdragon

      Maybe some Tik Tok dancing will help?

  18. Ted S.

    Clicking on the logo at the top is no longer linking to the main page.

    At least, not on my Brave browser on my Android phone.

    • Nephilium

      The one in the header? Just tested on desktop Firefox (scripts allowed through NoScript), and it worked for me.

    • trshmnstr

      Can confirm. Same setup. Can’t click back to the main page using the logo.

    • Not Adahn

      Works for me in edge.

    • Beau Knott

      Not working in Safari on my iPad. No extensions

      • slumbrew

        Weirdly, it _is_ working on my iPad with Safari.

        Monocle installed but disabling it doesn’t change the behavior.

    • Ted S.

      The link still works on Brave on my Samsung Android tablet. 🤷‍♂️

  19. Gustave Lytton

    HE- glad you got that rolling, and hope it will be a benign false alarm.

  20. PieInTheSky

    In local news, things are soon to improve on the local culinary scene as the first chili’s will open in Bucharest.

    • Nephilium

      How bad is your culinary scene that Chili’s is an improvement?

      • Sean

        lulz

      • PieInTheSky

        We only have Taco Bell now

      • Not Adahn

        Eh, I won’t deal with the mess involved in deep-frying. So any time I have a hankering for that I’ll go out.

      • PieInTheSky

        rats only cook french vegetable based dishes

      • Not Adahn

        Mais oui! Les pommes frites ce sont bon!

      • Nephilium

        Not Adahn:

        That I get (I’ve got enough cast iron to deep fry in, and a little countertop one and rarely fry). But even with that, there are local places that are much better than the majority of the chains.

        Damn it… now I want to go to Market Garden and get their scotch eggs.

    • Drake

      Haven’t eaten at a Chili’s in years. Last time we did, the food was so salty that my wife’s fingers were swollen.

      • R.J.

        God yes. I avoid eating out in general because of that.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        Usually costs more, takes just as much time as eating at home and doesn’t taste any better.

        There are a few places I will go that do things I can’t do (or won’t spend the time on doing right), but other than that, I try to avoid it.

    • Urthona

      This is my children’s favorite restaurant honestly.

      I have to admit I’m not too good for Chili’s though. It’s relatively cheap food and decent.

      • R.J.

        Me neither. Daughter also loves it. It’s all salty and carby.

      • Nephilium

        Had some ads for Chili’s come up on something I was watching, and had to realize that the meal they were selling (burger, chips, and a drink for $10.99) was cheaper than a similar meal from most fast food places now.

        /starts looking for kids on the lawn

  21. The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

    “so long as the WH thinks of them as people rather than political pawns.”

    There is your problem right there.

    ““I’ve been trying to track down the governor to see — I don’t have any authority to do that without a specific request from the governor,” Biden told the newspaper on Tuesday.”

    It was hard to reach him between 10 and 4. or whatever Biden’s (relatively) lucid hours are.

  22. Sensei

    The “optics are not good and must be addressed,” an executive at a PBM parent organization was quoted as saying in a document obtained by the FTC. “You can get the drug…at a non-preferred pharmacy (Costco) for $97, at Walgreens WBA 4.36%increase; green up pointing triangle (preferred) for $9000, and at preferred home delivery for $19,200…Compounding the challenge/optics is the fact that we’ve created plan designs to aggressively steer customers to home delivery where the drug cost is ~200 times higher.”

    https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/how-drug-middlemen-keep-beating-the-system-671a638b?st=u1x30er57iics0x&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    Who would have thought hugely imperfect markets would lead to no price transparency?

    • Grummun

      Sort of related, has anyone tried Amazon’s new pharmacy service?

    • R C Dean

      It’s not the “optics” that are the problem, it’s the gross conflict of interest.

    • Homple

      Isn’t this hugely imperfect market the sort of thing that anti trust laws are supposed to fix?

    • Gustave Lytton

      “Steer”? Is that when the PBM/plan requires mail order after 60-90 days of an ongoing prescription and declines coverage for anymore retail refills?

  23. SDF-7

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 07/11:
    *25/25 words (+2 bonus words)
    🎯 Perfect accuracy

    I played https://squaredle.com 07/11:
    *52/52 words (+11 bonus words)
    🎯 In the top 10% by accuracy
    🔥 Solve streak: 468

  24. The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

    “Both hospitals also have large numbers of older and unhoused patients and some that rely on Medi-Cal, Medicare or charity care, Bonta said in the statement. The recently approved settlement will ensure that the UCSF hospital will be able to provide the same services. ”

    Eventually pay and working conditions will deteriorate for staff. My wife works in healthcare and religious institutions (regardless of denomination) are some of the best employers to work for in healthcare.

    • PieInTheSky

      I don’t get why the neighbors did not buy the lot themselves on the cheap

      • Grumbletarian

        Why buy a property when you can just declare ownership and hope it sticks?

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Get off his back, man

    The president has declined to agree to take a in-depth neurocognitive test, telling Stephanopoulos on Friday that every day in office is a cognitive test.

    “I’m running the world,” the president said.

    That guy couldn’t run a lemonade stand.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      If he was in charge of food safety at the local McD’s I’d refuse to eat there.

    • Gdragon

      “I’m running the world,” the president said.

      He may have been talking about spinning the big globe in his office

    • Not Adahn

      Huma has a type.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Ah, the skinny rich 14 year old boy type although I suspect the rich part is the primary qualifier.

    • rhywun

      A match made in heaven. 🙄

    • Gender Traitor

      Alex has more people skills than dear old dad

      At first, I misread that as “people skulls.” 😳

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I’m sure the elder Soros has far more of those both metaphorically and physically.

  26. The Other Kevin

    The puns were fast and furious right off the bat today. Great way to start my morning.

    Just talked to Mrs. TOK about the SAVE act. She is still seeing some lib friends on Facebook opposing it. They are claiming voter ID is “white privilege”. It amazes me that people still believe that. As if black and brown people never drive cars?

    • PieInTheSky

      you let black people drive? what next, women?

      • SDF-7

        Only when they need to get to the Piggly Wiggly, Miss Daisy.

    • Drake

      They are obviously racist – believing them too stupid to obtain id.

    • Nephilium

      They just expect that all those dark colored people are driving illegally, since they are too confused and frightened by the modern world to navigate the intricacies of it.

    • rhywun

      It amazes me that people still believe that.

      Doublethink is a real thing.

    • creech

      They’d all be going barefoot if it wasn’t for Michael Jordan practically donating cool sneakers.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    As if black and brown people never drive cars?

    They don’t need cars. They all live in the ghetto and ride the bus.

    • Not Adahn

      Mis Daisy has a sad.

    • PutridMeat

      Re: Overnight Glibz after dark.

      I’ll just note, apropos of nothing, that it was *Wednesday* yesterday…

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Tragic

    When Joe Pascale moved to the desert city of Palm Springs, Calif., about 17 years ago it was hot, but in the mornings and evenings there was a break from the heat.

    “You could get up in the morning and it would be relatively cool and you could enjoy outside, even in the dead of summer,” he says. “The mornings would be just brilliant.”

    ——-

    Last Friday, the city broke its all-time high temperature record when it hit 124 degrees. Even in the early mornings this week, the temperature has still been in the low 90s or high 80s.

    Pascale recognizes the connection between his increasingly hot city and climate change, caused largely by humans burning fossil fuels.

    “Sometimes we feel like we’re screaming into the void,” Pascale says. “There’s a problem that we need to be addressing.”

    You moved to the desert, you fucking moron.

    It’s completely reasonable to expect the entire rest of the world will radically alter their way of life in order to provide a completely imaginary benefit for you. Jumping Jesus on a kangaroo.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Well he’s lying for narrative sake.

      • B.P.

        I love it when Joe Random in a man-on-the-street news piece, political candidate Q&A session, town hall meeting, etc., turns out to be a left-wing activist plant.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Stop whining and spring for an A/C unit you loser.

    • KSuellington

      It seemed to me at the time that a lot of the government policy directed to try and stop the Vid was coming from the same place as the mentality behind the climate change true believers. If you believe that government policy can change the climate then why can’t it stop a virus in its tracks? And much like mandating wrapping a piece of cloth around your face, closing schools, churches and businesses, and a host of other intrusive, ineffective, expensive, and Liberty killing methods, the idea that we are just gonna have some mandates on electric cars and use more solar panels and somehow this will appease the angry climate gods are so utterly nonsensical that it is baffling that so many allegedly intelligent people buy into it.

    • kinnath

      I lived in Phoenix in the 80s. We already knew about “heat islands” and how paving everything in sight made it hotter. They had their first official low temp in the 90s while I was there.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    “It’s not subtle,” says Joellen Russell, an oceanographer and climate scientist at The University of Arizona, who notes her city, Tucson, Ariz., also saw a high temperature record fall this week.

    “We’re going to continue [breaking temperature records] as long as we keep increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere,” Russell says.

    Higher highs. Higher lows. We’ll all be burnt to a crisp! Soon the only place fit for human habitation will be Antarctica.

    • rhywun

      Going to assume there is no mention of the 1920s (or 30s?) that were hotter on average than today?

  30. The Late P Brooks

    “We scientists have known for a long time — for decades — that as the world gets warmer, we’re going to see our temperature extremes [increasing],” she says. “Climate change is already affecting the people we love, the places we love, and the things we love.”

    The good news is that the world has proven and scalable climate solutions, Russell says.

    These include solar and wind energy combined with batteries. Last year was the fastest year of growth for renewable energy, according to the International Energy Association.

    Superclean technology pulled from the magic hat will save the world.

    • rhywun

      LOL pile enough lies on top of each other makes them all twue!

    • WTF

      Odd how they never mention nuclear, since that’s the only clean energy that can actually provide baseload.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Fucking millionaires- they never pay their bills

    The Internal Revenue Service said Thursday that it has collected more than $1 billion in past-due taxes from millionaires since last fall – thanks to a ramp up of enforcement efforts funded by the Democrat-backed Inflation Reduction Act that passed Congress nearly two years ago.

    The Biden administration is eager to show how the IRS is using the money to crack down on wealthy tax cheats and improve taxpayers services. Republicans, who have criticized the funding as wasteful spending, have made several efforts to chip away at the 10-year investment provided by the legislation.

    Last fall, the IRS launched an initiative to collect from wealthy individuals who have not paid the taxes they owe. The agency identified about 1,600 taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in tax debt. To date, more than $1 billion has been recovered from those individuals, and the effort is ongoing.

    Why didn’t anybody think of this sooner?

    • Pope Jimbo

      Did they start with Hunter?

    • Tundra

      Very sweet.

  32. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Who’s in charge of watching Biden’s press conference today and reporting back? I can’t bring myself to do it.

    Aside: They’ve got to be trying to bounce him from embarrassment; it’s very much not a good idea.

    • Not Adahn

      Is it between 10:00 – 16:00?

    • The Other Kevin

      I’m keeping an eye on Twitter. That’s all I can promise. And I agree, they are probably pushing him into more public appearances, which are completely sinking him.

      • B.P.

        They tried to prove his fitness with the Stephanopoulos interview. Biden slurred his words in his first sentence.

    • Drake

      I get obsessed with tracking his dementia drug cycle. He’ll start out trying to talk way too fast. Then the speed will wear off and he’ll start to lose it. The delayed-release Ritalin or Adderall used to kick-in and keep him going. But he’s too far gone now for it to work for long.

    • KSuellington

      Kammietime is almost upon us. Sometime in the next month she will be foisted to the top. It remains to be seen if Biden will finish out his term or the Dem bigwigs get what they want and get her in the Oval Office before the end of summer with her new shiny VP (who will likely be a woman, they are going all in on Woman Power). They now realize that their only chance is to keep her, ditching her would cause too many problems for them. I imagine the elite calls for Joe to step down will reach a fever pitch after the presser today.

      • creech

        Kammie gets elevated, runs as incumbent, loses to Trump, Dems get four years to scream about how racist and misogynistic the Republicans and their voters are. Everyone (on bowf sides) is looking ahead to 2028.

  33. Pope Jimbo

    I guess it isn’t bugs?

    Researchers in South Korea say they’ve developed a new way to make lab-grown meat taste like the real deal. It may look like a transparent, bubble gum pink-colored disc, but scientists hope it could revolutionize the meat on people’s plates.
     
    Lab-grown meat — also called cultured meat or cell-based meat — is emerging as an alternative to conventional meat, offering the same nutritional benefits and sensory experience without the carbon footprint
     
    Scientists have created everything from cultured meatballs to 3D printed steaks. While some previous iterations of cultured beef have mimicked the look and feel of the real thing, according to a new study, they’ve overlooked a key element: taste.
     
    But in the study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers say they have cracked the code, developing a cultured meat that generates “grilled beef flavors upon cooking.”
     
    “Flavor is the most important thing to make cultured meat be accepted as real,” Milae Lee, a co-author on the paper and a PhD student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Seoul’s Yonsei University told CNN.

    Brought to you by the people who invented kimchi.

    • Drake

      Know what tastes like real meat?

      • Nephilium

        Is it… hit… Hitler?

      • slumbrew

        *notes that Neph is interested in tasting Hitler meat*

      • Beau Knott

        Tastes like … Raoul?

    • Tundra

      Lab-grown meat — also called cultured meat or cell-based meat — is emerging as an alternative to conventional meat, offering the same nutritional benefits and sensory experience without the carbon footprint

      Ah yes, the magical “zero inputs” model. Lab grown meat takes a fuck-ton of energy. I guess one good thing about the upcoming collapse is that all these stupid plans will come crashing down too.

    • UnCivilServant

      What drives me nuts is that the real market niche for lab grown meat is to produce cuts from species you can’t farm – endangered/extinct/impractical/unethical.

      Trying to replace real meat from livestock is a fool’s errand.

      • Not Adahn

        Eh, moral concerns are real. If it lets Buddhists enjoy steak, that’s great. I could also see it as a useful technology to have for space-constrained locations.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Prior to the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS did not have the staffing or resources to pursue high-income earners that the agency knew owed taxes, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said on a call with reporters.

    “The taxes were clearly owed by these people, but we didn’t have the people or the resources to follow up with them,” Werfel said.

    They were so broke they couldn’t afford paper clips.

    • creech

      What b.s. I’ve known a couple IRS agents. They loved to pursue the low-hanging fruit as it makes their job easier (they are lazy like all of us) and boosts their performance score. Any rich person who “clearly owed” more taxes would be pursued long before they went after some dude with a complicated iffy deduction or something.

    • The Other Kevin

      Quickbooks will tell you if you’re at risk of being audited. I’m sure the IRS has the same automated tools to look for red flags. I’m sure there aren’t agents poring over reams of paper tax forms all day.

      • trshmnstr

        As somebody who just started a business, eff the IRS. 60% of the stress and issues getting the business spun up had to do with taxes and tax accounting. The other 40% was business and professional licensing.

      • The Other Kevin

        Same here. Most of our startup costs went to our lawyer and accountant.

  35. Pope Jimbo

    A variation on the butt/drugs story

    The man — who tried funneling a drink down the woman’s ass — has been ID’d as Joe Boyett. He, along with Mary Sweat, were arrested for misdemeanor public indecency … after video of their hijinks went viral.

    Drinking tequila from the ass crack of a woman named “Sweat” has to be true love.

    • Pope Jimbo

      And once again kids… Don’t talk to cops!!!

      As if their clowning wasn’t bad enough, Mary triggered the arrest after she went to cops and complained someone had leaked the video and it was spreading like wildfire on social media. Up to that point, police were in the dark, but once they saw the video the couple got arrested.

      • Timeloose

        I should have taken heed of this. I’m being asked to be a witness for the state after witnessing a car accident, pulling people out of the wreck, and sticking around for the ambulance. By that time I was the only witness and a cop took a statement.

        Now it appears the state is intending to prosecute the driver for some vehicle code violations. I don’t want to be part of any of this, she smashed her car into little pieces as a result of an accident. I don’t know if she was drunk or distracted, but I gave a statement already.

        I should have left as soon as everything was ok.

      • Gdragon

        “My name? Willie Nobody.”

    • Not Adahn

      No worse than the dead trope of drinking out of a woman’s shoe.

      I wonder what happened to wearing lampshades as hats?

      • EvilSheldon

        DAS BOOT!!!

      • Gdragon

        Wasn’t that a party?

      • Not Adahn

        Yeah, but drinking champagne from a slipper was also done at parties.

    • PieInTheSky

      I don’t think tequila is a strong enough disinfectant

  36. The Late P Brooks

    Lab-grown meat — also called cultured meat or cell-based meat — is emerging as an alternative to conventional meat, offering the same nutritional benefits and sensory experience without the carbon footprint

    Something for nothing. Free lunch!

  37. PieInTheSky

    How Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger exit from Ecowas go affect trade and travel for West Africa

    https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/cl7yq1xwvjzo

    Military led Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso don further cut ties with di regional bloc, di Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Last Saturday, di three kontries sign treaty under di newly formed Alliance for Sahelian States (AES), come emphasise dia decision to comot from di regional bloc.

    Mali don dey under military rule since 2020, Burkina Faso since 2022 and Niger since 2023, and dis make Ecowas impose sanctions to force dem to return to civilian rule. In response, di three konties decide to comot from di bloc.

    For more dan forty years, di Ecowas treaty guarantee free movement of pipo and goods, and allow member states to enjoy exemptions from tariffs and duties wen dem dey move goods or trade with member kontries. Dis aim to boost regional trade and integration.

    But with dia exit, wetin di Sahel kontries get to lose and wetin di rest of West Africa also get to lose?

    • PieInTheSky

      “Here’s a phrase that apparently the airlines simply made up: near miss. They say that if 2 planes almost collide, it’s a near miss. Bullshit, my friend. It’s a near hit! A collision is a near miss.
      [WHAM! CRUNCH!]
      “Look, they nearly missed!”
      “Yes, but not quite.”
      ― George Carlin

  38. PieInTheSky

    ‘Now I know how e feel to be a full woman’ – Woman wey undergo FGM reconstruction surgery

    https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c9e917r0x74o

    Warning: Dis tori get graphic details wey fit disturb some pipo.

    “I bin fear di idea say dem go cut me again, even though dis time na wit my permission. But I bin need to do am for my mental health.”

    Shamsa Sharaawe dey tok about her decision to do reconstructive surgery afta dem cut her clitoris and vulva troway 25 years ago wen she be only six years old.

    Na her family members and one traditional midwife do di female genital mutilation (FGM) for Somalia for house.

    E pass 230 million girls and women wey don face FGM all ova di world, dis na according to one recent Unicef report.

    For Africa alone, di report say e don happun to ova 140 million women and girls.

    For Somalia, Guinea and Djibouti, most girls dey go through FGM, like 90% of di population. Di belief for dis kontris be sa FGM go make sure say di girl remain a virgin, something wey dey important well-well locally.

    Many pipo for di Somali community believe say virginity of women and di family honor dey connected. Dem believe say di family honor go dey intact if dem make sure say di girls go through cutting.

    Plenti pipo for Somalia dey see women wey no do FGM as pipo wey get loose morals or high sex drive wey dem believe say go scata di reputation of di whole family.

    • Homple

      The BBC Pidgin Service is a window into another world.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    Gotcha

    The principal problem with the legislation is that it’s a solution in search of a problem. To hear Republicans tell it, policymakers must prevent noncitizens from voting, which probably sounds reasonable. In fact, it’s so reasonable that the Save Act is redundant: There are literally zero locations in the United States where noncitizens can vote in federal and/or state elections.

    GOP lawmakers have also argued that legislation is needed to curtail the scourge of noncitizens who are already voting. Except, Republicans have gone searching for evidence of this problem and found effectively nothing.

    No verification. No evidence. No problem.

    • Not Adahn

      There are literally zero jurisdictions in which people can murder others, therefore gun control is redundant.

  40. Common Tater

    “The film composer Danny Elfman has been sued for defamation by a woman who previously accused him of serving her a martini glass filled with semen.

    Nomi Abadi, a 36-year-old composer, had previously sued Elfman for breach of contract after alleging that he had failed to pay her a portion of a settlement they had previously agreed to.

    In a 2023 Rolling Stone piece, Abadi made the accusation involving the martini glass, which elicited a vigorous denial from Elfman.

    But now Abadi is taking Elfman to court over his response to her claims with a new defamation lawsuit. She is suing the Oingo Boingo singer and songwriter — who was also been sued by a second woman for alleged sexual abuse — for denying her account, which she claims is tantamount to calling her a liar, according to the lawsuit obtained by TMZ.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13622003/Danny-Elfman-sued-woman-martini-glass-semen-defamed-denials.html

    This accusing people of something then suing them for “defamation” when they deny it needs to stop.

    • KSuellington

      Now that’s what they call an extra dirty martini.

  41. The Late P Brooks

    California uber alles

    Under three back-to-back rulings, regulations that touch nearly every aspect of the American economy and American life (see: rules on food safety, water quality, overtime pay, medical billing, carbon emissions, fisheries monitoring and housing discrimination, to name a few) may soon be harder to enforce, more convenient to challenge in court and easier to strike down once challenged. For the conservative legal movement and for major business interests who bristle under what they see as an overreaching federal regulatory apparatus, the rulings mark a once-in-a-generation victory against the “administrative state.”

    But in California, the effects of those rulings may be a bit more muted, legal experts say. California has an administrative state of its own.

    From worker safeguards to water regulations to LGBTQ-protections on college campuses, the rules enforced by California state agencies often meet and exceed the stringency of their federal counterparts. If judges begin swatting down federal regulations as a result of the recent decisions, California’s own rules could serve as a regulatory backup.

    For critics of the court’s recent decisions, that’s some consolation.

    From cradle to grave, locked in the loving embrace of Big Nanny.

    Makes you feel warm all over, don’t it?

  42. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Is everyone ready for Big Boy Day? They moved his presser to 6:30pm LOL

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      I think certain parties within the WH are throwing him under the bus. I think Dr. Jill is losing her grip on control

    • Nephilium

      Huh. I didn’t know Big Boy had their own special day.

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Wasn’t that a party?

    Fiorello: I don’t like the second party either.

    Driftwood: Well you should have been at the first party, we didn’t get home till around four in the morning…I was blind for three days.

  44. The Late P Brooks

    “California is, in a way, better situated than some other states because it is big enough and it has enough expertise in state government to actually provide state law protections that can kind of compensate for weakened federal ones,” said Sean Donahue, a lawyer who represents the Environmental Defense Fund. “That may not be true in some smaller states.”

    Federalism? Fuck that. What we really need is a global socialist dictatorship.

  45. The Late P Brooks

    Apparently, Serious People are fixated on J D Vance’s beard and whether it might disqualify him from consideration as Trump’s VP.