Good morning one and all to another fun day!
Musk boasts of 1B views for ‘no limits’ X interview with Trump
‘Reshaping the Electorate’: Biden-Harris Admin Granting Citizenship at Fastest Rate in a Decade
Harris Campaign Caught Pushing Literal Fake News Headlines In Americans’ Google Searches
Walz Called Hitler-promoting Cleric A “Master Teacher” At Islamic Center Event
House Task Force Investigating Trump Assassination Attempt Makes First Moves
Rep. Ilhan Omar Wins Democratic Primary
FTC Considers Breaking Up Google
Middle- and low-income Americans running out of disposable cash: SF Fed
Texas sues General Motors for allegedly unlawfully selling drivers’ data
Paramount begins laying off 15% of work force, hundreds expected to be cut
That’s all I got for today. I’ll leave you with a song and move along with my day.
Coincidentally, about the exact number of votes Harris will receive at around 4 AM on Wednesday, November 6th.
The dead and dead of night are reliable D voting blocks.
And the ‘final’
voteballotcounts from various swing states won’t be available election night.No shenanigans would be needed if elections were held today as Trump is losing outright and in all swing states.
If Trump manages to cost R’s the fourth straight election I beg of you… please move on to someone else.
I wouldn’t discount the possibility, but I’d also be careful about how much weight I gave to polls conducted by parties who have shown themselves to be anything but disinterested. I’d also also expect the Republicans to do a jig all over their own dick with another Mittens, McCain, or Jeb! type candidate in the absence of Trump.
Polls stopped having any reflection on reality with the exit of the landline.
Polls are still predictive within a few points I’m afraid although some are better than others.
Trump is still within a 2016 range but I wouldn’t bet on that happening again for another 100 years. Even with no shenanigans.
It’s the economy stupid.
No dem can win the presidency in 2024 without massive fraud.
The polls are not only meaningless, they are being actively manipulated by partisans to steer the election.
It won’t matter. The vast majority of voting public are reeling under the economic consequences of the Biden administration. It should be a landslide for the republicans.
But it won’t be, because the dems laid all the groundwork in 2020 to make sure this election gets counted for the dems.
The economy is not that bad right now though. The public has a short memory on inflation which has settled. And everything else.
Also, humorously, voters do not blame Kamala for any of the woes of the current administration. Voters are dumb.
Urthona, where do you live? Because the economy is shit around here right now.
I don’t think that works anymore.
See also: the article below about “brides of the state”. They’re voting on abortion, not the economy.
Kinnath nails it. After 2020, Team Red did fuck all to make sure the voter roles and ballot counting process in the key swing states are tightened and auditable. They spent 3.5 years bitching about it and got serious in June. I’m sure the votes in East Bumfuck, Redstate will be the most secure election ever.
Should have spent resources in PA.
Remember what really fucked things over in PA wasn’t the law, it was the court case attacking that law and the State SC ruling in that case.
They are lying about the polls, just like they are lying about everything else. It’s so blatant now I truly feel sad for those that still believe it.
Real Clear Politics has him up in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and Georgia. It has Harris up in Michigan and Wisconsin.
When you’re too skeevy for the Grauniad…
The trend is even worse for the American households that represent the lowest 80% by income, who saw their assets rise less sharply and depleted their excess savings more quickly. That has left their liquid assets about 13% lower than the projected path of their finances before the pandemic.
…And thus even more in need of social welfare programs run by and for the Democrat party. Well done, donks.
There is no inflation! The news keeps telling me it’s shrinkflation and greedflation, no inflation!
I’m sorry, did we break your legs? No worries! We’ve got a nice pair of rusty crutches just for you!
I’m sorry, but there is a waiting list for crutches. Hold onto this form and check back in every week until crutches come available.
The IRS considers those crutches you were given to be income, which you failed to report. Here is a bill for back taxes plus penalties and interest.
The IRS considers that promise of crutches to be income so here’s your bill for that=as well.
To be fair, he was pandering to the foreign-born, Hitler-promoting, radical Islamic constituency partly responsible for electing him.
To be also fair, Democrats can’t help themselves aligning with awful people like that even when they’re not out buying votes.
Well yes. Birds of a feather.
Sounds like we’re well on our way to getting to the bottom of it, then.
Even not being of a conspiratorial bent, I’ve got to wonder what narrative they had ready to be released if Trump hadn’t just turned his head.
Someone rid us of that meddlesome priest. Finally.
*turbulent
(Sorry, pet peeve)
Turbot Lent.
And that is what I get for winging it, as opposed to Googling it.
To be fair, wings are tastier than googles.
But a googol of wings is quite simply too much.
I’m certain they have Patriot Act II (with extra gun control and censorship) already written and waiting in the wings for an event just like this had the assassination succeeded.
“We can’t comment while we are conducting an internal investigation. What? Contempt of Congress? Whatever.”
Only a month later, and they’ve sent letters! To the agencies involved in investigating the shooting! By gum, these boys mean business.
The Republicans really are worthless shits.
That’s supposed to be MY black pill!
As he campaigned to be Minnesota’s next governor, Tim Walz called a Muslim cleric who promoted a pro-Adolf Hitler film a “master teacher” who offered Walz lessons over the time they “spent together,” according to footage at a 2018 event unearthed by the Washington Examiner.
As we found out with Obama and Jeremiah Wright, Americans don’t care if Democrat politicians hang out with America-hating loons. In fact, America-hating loons are a small but key part of the Democrat constituency.
Minnesotans may be boring but at least we’re stupid.
Looks at the new inclusive state flag…and cries…
“We’re all loons now!” The National Loon Center is located 10 miles from my residence.
Well, Cleveland has decided they’ve got everything else under control (except the Browns stadium situation):
See the finalists for Cleveland’s possible new flag
I’m glad to be in the suburbs.
Call me provincial, but since we no longer live in an age of warring city-states, what the fuck does a city need a flag for in the first place? It’s hard to even justify state flags with the current state of federalism.
Are any of those NOT ripoffs of other flags?
Pat:
How else would they decorate the flag poles in their offices? I honestly forget the city of Cleveland has a flag until I either see it, or there’s a story about it.
But I will not allow the removal of the Ohio state flag, we have an irrational love of our pennant flag.
Okay, Provincial Pat – we’re rapidly approaching a new period of warring states and cities.
Option 1 (top left) includes a six-pointed star to honor Cleveland’s historical nickname, “The Sixth City.”
I don’t know if they need a new flag but a new nickname should be in the works.
See the finalists for Cleveland’s possible new flag
Shouldn’t that top-right option have some flames on the river?
I just looked at the array of flags – those are all terrible, throw the designers in the river and set it alight.
Oh great. I occasionally travel ~40 miles one direction to Snyder, Texas, and ~40 miles the other direction to Abilene for my local gig. I’m a man without a municipality.
Neph, I don’t see the obvious choice – just the city motto on a plain background:
“We’re Not Detroit!”
I’m already looking like a genius for passing up that GM job.
Also, if they’re going to start suing car companies for that, they’ve got their work cut out for them.
The verdict, delivered last week, held that Google violated antitrust law, spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly and become the world’s default search engine. The ruling is seen as the first big win for federal authorities taking on the market dominance of Big Tech.
Is this a fed shakedown, a la Microsoft back in the 90s, or would they really follow through? And if the feds do follow through, who benefits?
Mostly Facebook, since, last I looked (which has admittedly been a few years), they control about 10% of the online ad market, to Google’s ~82%.
Kinda makes the whole GARM initiative pretty lame when all you have to do is pull some strings with Google.
My guess would be “shakedown”.
None of the cases mentioned in the article seem like “monopolies” to me, with the possible exception of Amazon but I don’t recall any competitors in the “ship me stuff in three days for free” business popping up after they got sued.
Three? I generally get stuff from Amazon either same day, next day, or two days later.
I don’t subscribe to Prime.
For whatever reason, my Amazon orders, which usually originate from a warehouse in Abilene ~40 miles directly east of me, on an interstate by which one must pass through my town on the way to Lubbock, tend to get sent to Lubbock, spend a day in processing, and then make their way the ~125 miles southeast back to my house. I would assume the trillion dollar logistics company masquerading as a retailer knows better than I do how to optimize shipping routes, but there’s no way you can look at that tracking and not think it’s a bit goofy.
I haven’t heard any rumblings about any DOD or In-Q-Tel backed companies that could step in to become the one stop shop for information control and datamining every man, woman, and child on the face of planet earth, so I’ll believe it when I see it. The devil may destroy his tools, but not until they’ve ceased to serve their purpose.
🤔
Were they waiting on their meth to kick in?
To be fair, there’s like 200 people living in the entirety of Minnesota, it shouldn’t take that long to count.
It’s a Rep. district – they’re all the same size. 🧐
This is right in Banjo’s wheelhouse:
https://humanevents.com/2024/08/13/breaking-eu-says-thierry-breton-went-rogue-in-sending-threatening-letter-to-elon-musk-over-trump-interview
That Thierry, such a wacky guy! What, you didn’t think that was an official EU threat, did you?
Sent by the minister in charge of that sort of thing? Yes, yes it was.
Is that him on the left? He looks like a middle-aged lesbian.
He’s not a lesbian, just French. But how old does “middle aged” extend? I’d put him at a wealthy/well-preserved septugenarian.
No way he’s that old. I’d say fifties.
!!!
We’re both wrong – 69
“(French pronunciation: [tjɛʁi bʁətɔ̃];“
Throatwarbler Mangrove?
I blame the French.
Kamala Harris and the tyranny of vibes
Great Value brand Obama.
“We have to elect Kamala to find out her policies.” – Nancy Pelosi
Almost certainly with the same sort of result.
‘What is Aleppo?’ sunk poor Gary Johnson (yes, already sunk). What are the chances Kamala would know where it is if someone asked her the question at a press conference?
A leppo is just a person suffering from Hansen’s disease.
Why do people keep making a Syrian war crime out of it?
What are the chances she’ll have a press conference? It is working so well to hide her away so far, after all….
That sounds like the lesser known Spaghetti Western remake/ripoff of SRD, UCS… “Leppo! Outcasto! Un-clean-o!”
SDF-7:
What are the chances there’s ever even policy positions on the campaign website?
@Mr Ilium – It’s full of them – Her policy positions are “Gib me monies!”
I wonder if the party will choose not to publish a platform at the convention.
“We’re Brat! What else do you need to know!”
Kamala Harris has a ruthless plan for seeking the presidency. Ruthlessly, she avoids press questioning. Ruthlessly, she has been subtracting from her policy positions, off-loading items to which she was philosophically and politically committed when seeking the presidency in 2020. To avoid having to criticize Donald Trump’s plan to stop taxing tips, ruthlessly she adopted it herself.
If she prevails through ruthlessness, she’ll have demonstrated at least one quality useful in a president.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/kamalas-avoidant-campaign-voters-want-to-know-what-theyre-getting-in-a-president-3ea040f9?st=gcm6lhl4i1rm4iv&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Yes, ruthless when dealing with US citizenry. Accommodating when dealing with our enemies.
Timeless truth: Rulers do not fear foreign powers. They fear the people they rule and act accordingly. This is why our founders were ‘skeptical’ of a standing army/navy. That is why Obama was so keen to get rid of posse comitatus.
this is why democracy is fetishized, you can get legitimacy for arbitrary power based on vibes and a mass of morons.
Look. I really don’t want to think of the cackle and vibes in the same sentence.
Yeah, this isn’t exactly new. We’ve elected one or two empty suits before.
This might sound looney, but forcing a candidate on the country while purposefully hiding all of her positions is a much greater threat to democracy than a few alternate electors.
‘throughout her life she’s broken barriers’
You know what this means in the Sugarverse – no more fourth wall!
So… Harris is Deadpool?
“…and are on track to have less than they were on pace to have before the COVID pandemic disrupted the economy”
I don’t know how to do cross-outs on my phone, but they misspelled Bidenomics.
Middle- and low-income Americans running out of disposable cash: SF Fed
while the economy inflation and government have a big part of the blame, some probably is with people spending too much.
Inflation on stuff like food and fuel is hurting families.
Fortunately, the prices of food and fuel are too volatile to include in the basket of goods we use to measure inflation, so actually, there is no inflation on those products by definition, and ergo said inflation cannot be hurting families. QED.
Checks checkbook. What, no checks? Now I’m out of money!
Woe is me! Woe is me!
Paramount begins laying off 15% of work force, hundreds expected to be cut – can we blame the well… you know?
MAGAts? Trumpists? Fascists? Alt-right? Right-wing extremists? Nazis
Why yes, yes we can.
Star Trek fans? Probably….
Caption this
https://x.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1823688233286262893
You’re not the boss of me.
A visitor at the Guggenheim Museum took off a shoe and left it in the exhibition area.
Other visitors then lined up to take photos and admire
https://x.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1823589000776392800
They were likely all emotionally erect.
If a random shoe is more interesting than the “Art” you have on display, rethink what you call “Art”.
Further evidence that most modern art is crap.
As more time passes, I am more convinced of the “Money Laundering” theory of Modern Art.
Having commissioned real art from actual artists I can say that the talent is out there to make art that people actually want to see and which fulfils all the purposes Art used to. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper than what these galleries shell out for literal trash.
C’est-ci n’est pas une chaussure.
u w0t m8?
If I were the type to keep art, Magritte is probably the only artist whose works I’d collect.
As it stands, the last thing I hung on any wall in any place I’ve lived was a poster of a leopard when I was around 15. That said, now that I’m beginning to make the dump I bought my own after a year of living in it, I’ve been trying to track down a poster or wall art sized print of the Warren Bolster photograph of an uncrested wave that served as the cover of the Ride album Nowhere to hang in my living room. No luck so far.
There doesnt appear to be any art there.
Most modern art is just the ‘artist’ saying “You are a bunch of fucking morons”.
“Dog attempts to lick ice cream out of a bowl on a countertop, the height of which puts the bowl beyond the reach of its tongue.”
A boy and his porcupine friend going on an adventure
https://x.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1823609012362846524
A reasonably succinct executive summary of the Free State Project.
Porcupines are intelligent, gregarious creatures and make fine pets. Of course the logistics of interacting with them is a bit…touchy.
They’re not very talkative, tending instead to get right to the point.
“Tantalus Made Flesh”
Lillith Fair ?
If you’re going to do a Bill and Ted remake of Waiting for Godot, it only makes sense to cast Bill and Ted.
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/keanu-reeves-alex-winter-set-bill-ted-reunion-broadway-waiting-godot-rcna164742
Which makes me think I should go and buy a hard copy of that movie.
Let me guess – No cameo from Gal at the end.
That would be genius. So, probably not happening.
If it’s a stage show, save it for the last performance on closing night.
That would be perfection.
Beards are to men what makeup is to women
Discuss
https://x.com/sourpatchlyds/status/1823609210224967795
Utter bullshit.
There’s no way makeup just sprouts from inactivity.
Beards are sunnah, makeup is haram.
suck it up and shave, sadiq.
For once the Muslims are right.
I spend a lot less time per day maintaining my beard than the girlfriend spends on makeup. Hell, I probably spend less time maintaining my beard in a year than she spends in a month on makeup time (especially if you count removal time as part of it).
Daily beard maintenance… uh… it gets washed with my face, and I comb it? If it’s not gotten long I skip the comb since it can’t tangle.
I shave once per week if I’m lazy, or twice per week if I’m not. And I consider even that to be an imposition. If I were a woman I’d either off myself or content myself with the sort of man who can appreciate plainness.
good body decent face and plenty men would take it no makeup
Pat:
Shave once a week or so, trim the mustache every month or so, wash and condition the beard a couple times a week, and oil the beard every couple of days.
I am a civilized man. I really have no opinion on the matter other than ‘grow up and shave’.
I am descended from a proud line of Barbarians and Neanderthals. I will not carbe up my face.
Besides, I look better with facial hair.
This is a weird thought process, since by shaving you’re basically returning to your prepubescent state.
Ass Wednesday giving more cushion for the pushin’.
https://archive.is/etfnN
This sceptred isle.
Reflections on the revolution in England.
https://www.armas.co/p/this-sceptred-isle
skip a bit brother
It doesn’t take a wall of text to say: “England (and Europe for that matter) decided to commit cultural suicide.”
Interesting and good… though depressing as hell. Like the rest of the state of the world these days, of course.
The key question of course is “why is the West doing this to itself?” The best explanation I can come up with is that this is the long-awaited result of Soviet subversion coming to fruition. The ’60s radicals, who depending on the individual was either a useful idiot or explicitly aligned to the USSR, took over education and from there proceeded to take over the cultural apparatus, all the while seeding ideas designed to destroy the foundations of Western civilization.
The irony is that the Soviets envisioned that they would swoop in to rebuild the West into their own image after the collapse; however, their plans outlived them so all that’s left is either nihilism or religious fanaticism to take over.
I think there is just something suicidal/apocalyptic in humans and human civilization. We are not built for the good times. Not just civilization, but individual people. Obesity, depression, lack of exercise, alienation…
Suffering from success. If there’s no actual famine, plague, marauders, or vicious beasts to worry about, we concoct whatever reasonable facsimile can be mustered from our surroundings, because we’re a couple hundred thousand years adapted to a human condition that only meaningfully changed in the last ~5,000 years, and at an exponential pace in the West during the last ~400 years. As living conditions continue to improve, the trivialities that must be elevated to existential crises become increasingly absurd, until you end up with people willing to kill one another to secure the right of a man in a dress to knock out a woman in a boxing ring for an Olympic medal.
My thoughts: The ruling class in the UK are forbidding people to talk about the unrest. There is no mention that the reason for the unrest is the ruling class.
Same as it always was.
Those of us who have been paying attention noticed this trend long ago.
https://unherd.com/2024/08/the-march-of-kamalas-brides/
unfortunately the trend cannot be reversed and will only get worse.
I don’t know about that. Hear me out. What if we made the unattached cat ladies approaching perimenopause be compulsorily paired up with the basement dwelling incels and outlawed both contraceptives and abortion?
idiocracy overdrive?
Do you want ants? ‘Cause that is how you get ants.
Indeed, it dovetails nicely with this.
I commented a couple of decades ago that young women were making babies and getting married to the state.
lol, accurate
Good stuff.
OFFS! Bullshit. But further evidence of delusion I guess.
Dooooom.
Identify, yes. Participate, no.
True, it doesn’t have to actually mean anything anymore.
“Oh, I’m totally bi. I just haven’t gotten around to girls yet.”
B seems easy enough
T now includes “non-binary”
Q and liberal are redundant
And 50+% have mental instability, so it kind of checks out.
Yes, but good piece. Thanks!
Wow, that was really well done. Thanks.
Summation of accurate article: They’re crazy.
Just look at the socials in how people are phrasing and framing things with politicians. This is a final push to have a mommy and daddy finally.
Excellent. Depressing, but excellent. Thanks, Q.
Congratulations CA taxpayers!
The governor’s office about six months ago named Ommanney its director of photography, a title that comes with a $200,000 per year salary.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/09/gavin-newsom-celebrity-photographer-00173482
200k in Sacramento is like 50k in flyover country though. Newsom spends that much a year on hair product.
So, what you’re saying is no state needs a directory of photography and Newsom should shave his head for the same of the state purse?
“Middle- and low-income Americans running out of disposable cash: SF Fed”
And nobody on the left cares because:
“‘Reshaping the Electorate’: Biden-Harris Admin Granting Citizenship at Fastest Rate in a Decade”
I heard on the radio this morning that they expect 100,000 protesters at the DNC next week. Let’s see how the Party of Chaos handles that. It’s going to be really interesting to see how they handle those speeches. They’ve got Obama and the Clintons, but don’t think for a minute the batshit crazies aren’t going to want to get behind the mic.
Is it wrong to hope they overwhelp the Chicago PD, storm the venue and leave no survivors on either side?
If it’s wrong I too am a sinful man. They can burn down McCormick Place, just leave United Center alone because I’ve got hockey to watch this season.
I am curious as well. I expect more jackbooted cops than you can shake a stick at. The media will only focus on what happens behind closed doors and not the madness in the streets.
I’m not expecting a single Democrat voter to realize their party can move heaven and earth to protect Hillary and Obama, but once the convention is over they’ll go right back to not caring about dozens of people getting shot every weekend.
Any violence will be blamed on Trump and MAGA, of course. Shades of Jussie Smollett all over the place.
The response from the Proggies will be, as always, to attack the rights of the folks in flyover country who weren’t rioting.
I highly doubt any of these protests will be allowed to get out of control. That is highly disadvantageous to the Dems and if they have to they will have dozens of paddy wagons loaded up with the malcontents to spend a night or two in the clink to preserve order. The happy happy joy joy feelings that Kamala brings will not be stopped.
I seem to recall decades ago that there were large protests at the DNC in Los Angeles and the protesters complained that they were restricted to an area several blocks from the convention site. It probably has been like that for every convention since the last one in Chicago and will be again.
I played https://squaredle.com/xp 08/14:
*20/20 words (+4 bonus words)
🎯 Perfect accuracy
I played https://squaredle.com 08/14:
*41/41 words (+4 bonus words)
🎯 In the top 8% by accuracy
🔥 Solve streak: 507
Strategic long term thinker
President Joe Biden, watching tens of thousands of migrants from Central America reach the U.S.-Mexico border just a few months into his administration, tapped his second-in-command to help address the influx — a decision that has exposed Vice President Kamala Harris to one of her biggest political liabilities.
In grappling with migration, Harris proceeded cautiously. She focused her time and prestige on boosting private investment in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the so-called Northern Triangle; her goal was to help create jobs to bolster economies and dissuade migrants from making the perilous journey to the United States.
It was a decidedly long-term — and limited — approach to a humanitarian crisis, and it has allowed Republicans to tie her to the broader fight over the border. While migration from the Northern Triangle ebbed, it surged from other nations, sparking an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, one that Republicans have aggressively sought to exploit at Harris’ expense.
That’s okay. As President she will be in a position to shovel foreign aid to the entire world. Nobody will need to come to America for a better life.
Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.
I heard on the radio this morning that they expect 100,000 protesters at the DNC next week.
That’s a lot of Nazis.
A review of Harris’ work on immigration reveals a record that is more nuanced than the one presented by her critics or allies. It also provides insights into how Harris — who took over as the Democratic standard-bearer when Biden dropped out of the presidential race last month — might tackle one of the nation’s most vexing concerns.
Harris was never the “border czar,” or put in charge of border security or halting illegal border crossings, as former President Donald Trump, Republicans and even the occasional media outlet have claimed. Instead, she was tasked in March 2021 with tackling the “root causes” of migration from the Northern Triangle and pushing its leaders — along with Mexico’s — to enforce immigration laws, administration officials said.
Harris’ backers say she demonstrated leadership by leveraging her stature to win investments that might curb migration years down the road.
Did she happen to discover who was encouraging and funding the hordes of illegal immigrants? That might have been a worthwhile goal.
What the ever living fuck is this nebulous bullshit?
It “might”. Then again it might not.
haha. sorry. talking about the article.
“actually Harris was a fine border czar and let us explain the vaguest possible way”
Neat little tactic by the media. Got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, denied it, denied it some more, then reframe on why it was okay to have their hand in the cookie jar.
Goddammit. Now I want cookies.
“Harris’ backers say she demonstrated leadership by leveraging her stature to win investments that might curb migration years down the road.”
Thoughts on this:
That sounds like someone trying to pad their resume with BS and Corporate speak.
BTW when did curbing migration become Nuclear fusion (20 years from now and we will be making clean limitless migrants).
Curbing migration is much easier when the only way “in” is a border checkpoint or cartel subs/tunnel.
Since we’re talking about root causes of immigration from tropical shitholes — did El Presidente Dudebro’s locking up of all the gang element in El Salvador lead to less “loss of human capital” from that country to this one?
In other words, did improving everyday quality of life convince people to stay who might ordinarily have put their fates in the hands of the human smugglers? If so, is there a way to encourage this in the rest of the region?
Oh sure, investments in Central America will certainly stem the tide of immigrants coming over the southern border from… [checks notes]… ALL OVER THE FUCKING WORLD.
“Harris was never the “border czar,”
Well, that’s just a flat-out lie.
ONLY THE MEDIA CALLED HER THAT!!!
Wife pointed out this morning that Kamalamadingdong has never said ‘no tax on tips’, some spokesbot said it.
I haven’t checked the veracity of that but it would make sense. When the IRS goons start cracking Susie Q Singlemom’s head because she didn’t pay the tax increases on her 15K of tips Kamala can just say “I never said that”.
So in addition to rewriting that, they’re also rewriting her remit. Oh no, she was never supposed to handle illegal entry just a select portion that conveniently went down. She’s a genius!
@Suthen
“It is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,”
She did say it. Not that matters to the lot that followers her because if they need it memory-holed, it will be done.
There is nothing nuanced about it. She is a fucking communist.
“might tackle one of the nation’s most vexing concerns”
I read that as “might cackle”
To be fair, improving economic conditions in their home countries would eliminate the incentive for mass migration and is something that should be a goal. But that doesn’t mean we need to let millions in right now
Interesting hit and run. I’m sure nobody noticed.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IdiotsInCars/comments/1er932q/oc_there_are_easier_ways_to_get_out_of_a_work/
Looks like whoever’s car that was left it at the pump when they went into the convenience store.
So, instant karma?
Or, they’re prepaying in cash for the fuel they never got the chance to pump.
Also a possibility. Although based on my experience, the lower probability scenario.
More like Final Destination: Gas Station.
I always read “Walz” as “Wolz”. You know Wolz – the guy that woke up next to a horse’s head.
I always read it as “waltz”
I did as well, but I took German in high school.
I will formalize this into a full on post, but this says a lot about why I think we are where we we are as a result (and not a sidetracking) of the Enlightenment.
Along with this. Or as a Navy Captain I used to work with described this – a Gross Conceptual Error.
It’s very difficult for me to characterize secularism as a falsehood, when the alternative is belief in a god that requires belief.
Jefferson and the rest of the deists tried to thread the needle between secularism and religious conviction, but I wouldn’t say that they had much success.
Every belief system has, somewhere in its foundation, an unprovable assumption (or set of assumptions).
Exactly Mr. Dean. Our belief is the universe is rational, that it obeys laws we think of (based on what we observe). That isn’t terrible as a provisional understanding, with the caveat that there could be much we don’t observe. But we’ve long overshot that.
Jefferson, for his part, was every bit the “howling atheist” he was accused of being by his detractors; his private papers make that clear enough. It just wasn’t politically or socially expedient at that time to come right out with it. The rest necessarily failed, because the two are irreconcilable, and that’s the actual legacy of the Enlightenment, for any other ostensibly noble ideals it may have had. It turns out that once you start pulling on the thread of the social fabric that had been holding societies together since our species began forming such structures at something above the tribal level, you can’t pick and choose which parts unravel. The proles weren’t ready for godless amorality; the elites weren’t ready to step into the role of god for the proles.
ES consider the problem that our morality, in general, is still derived from a non-rational source. Even pagan Rome had gods that held humans accountable. We have not cracked the nut on humans holding humans accountable as a basis of morality (since we end up leaning into utilitarianism).
pulling on the thread of the social fabric
Which is not solely Judeo-Christian morality. Human social fabrics actually are a bit more diverse.
That is the essential problem with all three points; they are concepts, theoretical ideas. And all take belief no matter your position on them.
And utilitarianism is just an attempt to put a mathematical/rational veneer on the usual set of moral assumptions. As a bonus, of course, it is inherently collectivist.
And that’s the trouble with the Enlightenment, it pulled on them all simultaneously, undermining every existing power structure, both civil and religious, to the point that the only logical conclusion is absolute relativism.
Pat, you almost sound like you’ve studied your Nietzsche. We in the west created an irreconcilable conflict that demands the transvaluation of all values!
JI – I disagree regarding the source of our morality. Self-interest is subjective, but it’s not irrational.
Pat – you’ve neatly described my problem with the counter-enlightenment – if you’re not a Believer, you place yourself outside of the social fabric. I fully understand the importance of the Church as a font of moral philosophy. I just can’t participate in it without being a liar.
Any system of ethics that is likely to put me on the receiving end of an auto-de-Fae isn’t one that I can support.
Before you write your article spend some time working out the definition of ‘the enlightenment’ so that we are all on the same page.
I get the impression that regarding this subject we agree but are partly talking past each other.
Good point, though we may not agree on the definition, which leaves us largely in the same place.
Harris decided to focus on bringing private investment to the region, tapping into a network of business and nonprofit executives and using the prestige of the White House to signal the Biden administration was backing this effort.
The work linked multinational companies — like Visa, Nestle and Meta — with smaller nonprofits and Latin American businesses, all of which pledged to increase their investments or bolster their work with at-risk communities.
After reading this AP article, I am now convinced Kamala Harris is the smartest, most capable Presidential candidate in history. How has she managed to conceal her brilliance from us for so long?
And how well did this ‘focus on private investment’ plan work?
I thought so…
Look for the union label
Tim Walz held his first solo campaign event since being selected as Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential nominee on Tuesday, rallying union members in Los Angeles and denouncing Donald Trump’s record on labor rights.
The Minnesota governor’s appearance, at an event hosted by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, was the first in a five-state fundraising campaign as Walz ramps up support for the still-young Democratic ticket.
Speaking to thousands of union members in a darkened auditorium, Walz said he and Harris will support workers by bringing collective bargaining and other protections to “every state in the union”. The 1.4-million-member union has endorsed Harris.
“We know exactly who built this country,” Walz said. “People in this room built the middle class.”
Are they going to ban Right to Work? Will they de facto unionize large swathes of the economy by the back door, as California has done with fast food workers?
When did middle class get redefined as union wage ape?
Of the products I buy, “Union Made” is almost as bad as “Made in China” for the substandard quality. If not for its rarity (due to driving their employers to bankruptsy) it’d be more of a bane.
“To the radical left, she’s a ‘cop’. To the Very Online right she’s an unhinged Marxist who will defund the police and hand the streets over to BLM. Guys, she can’t be both.”
Yes, she can.
Or better yet – why bother caring at all what the idiots at the extremes of the left and right think?
Well, she actually has been both at different times in her career. And it’s not unprecedented for authoritarians/totalitarians to have thugs for the street, and cops for their enemies.
Walz then pivoted to warn them of what the future might look like for workers if the former president and his running mate, the Ohio senator JD Vance, are elected, saying: “They see the world very differently then we do.”
“The only thing those two guys know about working people is how to work to take advantage of them,” Walz said. “Every single chance they’ve gotten they’ve waged war on workers.”
He described a future where bargaining rights, overtime pay and other protections would be cut, referencing steps that the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 outlines for restricting worker rights under a second Trump presidency.
Sweatshops! Pinkertons! Starvation wages! Piecework!
So he really thinks he’s going to reach out to the working class? Bwahahahahahahahaha
You aren’t energizing your base there Timmy.
“The only thing those two guys know about working people is how to work to take advantage of them”
Looks to me like both VP candidates grew up in and around the working class.
Municipal bureaucrats as “workers”. LOL.
Another Influencer Comes Forward Exposing Harris Campaign Paying for Support
https://redstate.com/brandon_morse/2024/08/14/another-influencer-comes-forward-exposing-harris-campaign-paying-for-support-n2178098
Interesting. While everything on social media is of course fake, these influencers do depend on having the trust of their audience. They are realizing that obviously lying for Kamala is going to tarnish their brand.
Kinda a hard sell if your ‘influencer’ gig is pitching makeup tips and all of a sudden you are stumping for a candidate. You are correct TOK, as that gig matures, they realize it needs trust to keep eyeballs on their channel/feed/whatever.
Maybe Trump should have chosen Judge Ho instead of ACB.
“But hamstringing the government is the whole purpose of our Constitution”
Oh and the 5th Circuit ruled ‘geofencing’ violates the 4th…which ya, its a general warrant.
Wow, went and found at Volokh some discussion. This creates a circuit split, so it will definitely be going to SCotUS.
It’s almost like picking judges who are lifetime members of the ruling (or at least managerial) class is going to get you judges who rule the way the ruling class judges would rule. Weird, huh?
ACB’s background is more than just being part of the ruling class. I am unsurprised that she often sides with the bootlicking.
Well blow me down
The solar power industry is booming and that growth helps the world meet its climate goals by replacing fossil fuels. But an emerging problem in the U.S. solar business that installs panels on homes risks slowing the effort to cut the country’s emissions.
Customer complaints against the country’s residential rooftop solar industry have increased dramatically in recent years. One-star ratings on Solar Reviews increased more than 1,000% since 2018. Across the country, prosecutors are investigating high-pressure sales tactics and misleading financing arrangements. Some customers say they were victims of fraud and forgery. This threatens rooftop solar’s impressive momentum. Now, some solar companies are working to repair the industry’s reputation.
“There have been a lot of shady business practices in residential solar. And I think it’s hurting the market,” says Micah Gold-Markel, who founded the company Solar States in 2008. He says the solar industry started with, “hippies who looked at the idea of getting electricity from the sun and had very pure intentions” and wanted to make that clean electricity available to everyone.
But now Gold-Markel says larger companies with more of a profit motive have introduced questionable sales and financing practices that are hurting the industry’s reputation.
Fucking profiteering capitalists have ruined our noble quest for a better world.
They are like the Tin Men selling siding of old. They come to your house unannounced and hard sell you.
They are just as evil as the the confusing government free money programs they use to sell you.
“Get off my property, you’re tresspassing.”
“The solar power industry is booming”
Then why do I keep reading about solar companies going bankrupt?
An Implosion is a Boom, right?
You know why it is so easy to blow smoke up people’s asses? Because they like it. That’s why. They bend over and spread their cheeks because they fucking love it.
How To Carbonate a Beer Commercially or at Home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBYhYXIBR1c
I gave the surviving yeasties a small dusting of sugar before capping the bottles. Of course that only works when there are surviving yeasties to produce more gas. Commercially, they tend to filter out those before bottling in a lot of facilities (especially the bigger the brewery)
(Yes, I once tried homebrewing. I got compliments on the results, but since I don’t drink beer, I didn’t do a second batch)
Sure, why not have unrestrained toddlers in your open top Jeep.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/toddlers-diapers-stranded-highway-after-being-ejected-during-crash-video
Funny thing is I can find nothing about the name of the driver. And just for grins I’d love to know citizenship and/or immigration status.
I find it odd that they focus on the “stranded” part as well. In a rollover accident, they’d be stranded regardless of whether they’d been ejected first.
Save us, Obi-Wan
With one stunning press release on a mid-summer morning perfect for a $7 cold brew, Starbucks’ (SBUX) board has moved decisively to end its crisis and unlock a new decade of possibilities.
Starbucks stock steadied Wednesday after its biggest one-day surge on record on the heels of the ailing coffee chain’s shock appointment of Chipotle (CMG) chairman and CEO Brian Niccol as its CEO, effective Sept. 9. Niccol, 50, will assume the position from Lax Narasimhan, who was on the job for less than 18 months.
The Top Man Theory of coffee shops.
“Pumpkin Spice Norovirus for Everyone!”
Here are the problems with Starbucks: 1. Expensive mediocre coffee; 2. you stand on line for 15 minutes to order and pay; 3. you then wait another 15 minutes after you order and pay to get your expensive mediocre coffee.
Not sure how the new CEO is going to fix that.
Was it always that way? If “old way” was better, then management can go back to it.
Perhaps high-end coffee shop and fast food restaurant models aren’t compatible? Using lower quality coffee as the fulcrum to balance the two doesnt work?
Good coffee shop is a mom and pop coffee aficionado operation. Dunkin Doughnuts is a good FF coffee shop.
I think of Starbucks as an overpriced Dunkin doughnuts on a dark and stormy night.
*waiting to see who gets that reference
As for the purple prose…I was standing in line at a Starbucks in Shreveport once and my wandering bored eye caught some books on a small shelf near the register. I strolled over and attempted to take one down to glance at while I waited only to discover that the ‘books’ were props…the row was simply a molded light paper box, the face of which was painted to appear as 8 or 10 books.
I had tipped them out enough that the ruse made a light thump when I let it drop back. The look on my face must have said volumes because when I turned back around to return to the line there was a MILF looking at me with one hand over her mouth barely holding back her laughter. She winked at me. I got it. She got it. Yet we both stayed there and went through the motions.
I am reminded of the ending line in a Scandinavian movie about a cop chasing a man who got fed up with civilized life and went to live in the wild alone. After much drama and many characters the cop catches the guy but is killed in a struggle with some thieves. The ‘wild’ man and he talk as dies. The ‘wild’ man apologizes to the cop for all of the trouble and explains his behavior as “I guess I was just playing dress-up.” The cop responds, while reflecting on his life, now ending with “We are all just playing dress-up.”
Perhaps high-end coffee shop and fast food restaurant models aren’t compatible?
It’s not a high end coffee shop anymore. It stopped being that 15 years ago when they put one on every corner. It’s a themed fast food restaurant, and the theme is “high end coffee shop”.
This comes as the company fends off recent activist attacks from Elliott Management and Starboard Value.
They just want to unlock hidden value and do what’s best for the stakeholders.