Friday Morning Links

by | Dec 20, 2024 | Daily Links | 274 comments

The CFP playoff starts tonight in South Bend with Notre Dame taking on Indiana. Big games on tap tomorrow and I’ll be in Columbus for the nightcap. The Chargers took the surging Broncos down last night. The best NFL games of the weekend are happening Saturday, which is a dick move by the league. And across the pond, Spuds beat ManUre in a comically-defended (at least as far as the goalkeeping was concerned) yet entertaining League Cup QF match. Spuds move on to play Liverpool in one semifinal while Arsenal play Newcastle in the other two-legged semifinal, the only round played over two legs which is silly as shit, but whatever. And that’s it for sports.

I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish. Now, let’s open those books and travel logs at the DA’s office and see what the fuck was going on.

Work Is A Four Letter Word. Oh, well. Anyway…

Miserable Lie. This ain’t gonna work, you craven bastard.

Paint A Vulgar Picture. The books about this are gonna be insane. I won’t read any of them, but I’ll certainly enjoy the reeeeeing that will ensue.

I Don’t Owe You Anything. I assume it will end with a bunch of resignations and nobody going to jail.

Panic. They’re feeling it!

Suffer Little Children. They’ve been suffering all along under the watchful eye of the people you’re championing, you dickbag.

What Difference Does It Make? 900? 2000? Oh well, they’re just line items on a spreadsheet to their bosses.

These Things Take Time. More time to vet than to publish, apparently.

Shoplifters Of The World Unite. I had no idea Winona Ryder cosplay was a thing.

You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby. Hopefully you will this time around though.

Such magic on the guitar. An absolute masterpiece of a song. This one is a little more bizarre. But still loads of fun. Enjoy them both.

And enjoy this lovely Friday and weekend, dear friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

274 Comments

  1. Sean

    Early links!

    • sloopyinca

      There’s too much going on in the world to wait!

  2. Sean

    I had no idea Winona Ryder cosplay was a thing.

    A sheriff’s deputy recognized the silver Lexus with a disabled person license plate moving south on Highway 89, away from the ski resort. The deputy pulled the car over and arrested the suspects.

    *chefs kiss*

    • sloopyinca

      She’s just trying to feed her family, you heartless bastard.
      -AOC

    • SDF-7

      They took the “old money becomes old money by not spending any” thing a little too literally.

  3. Toxteth O'Grady

    Excellent theme, Sloopy! 👍🎶

    • sloopyinca

      I hope I don’t get sued.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “Devious, truculent, and unreliable”, a High Court judge once called him.

    • rhywun

      I almost linked the first song before I caught on to the rest.

      • sloopyinca

        The shoplifting story was the most obvious giveaway. I almost didn’t add it for that reason, but felt like it was the kind of news that people want to see.

  4. PieInTheSky

    The bleacher report app told me that something rare or otherwise unusual happened in the Americanese footbals

    • Nephilium

      It’s in the afternoon links.

      • PieInTheSky

        I have heard of these mythical links but never saw them

      • juris imprudent

        Hmm, well our afternoon would be when you are out flitting about.

  5. rhywun

    “Union baristas”

    JFC.

    I remember when unions mostly targeted lifers, i.e. career jobs.

    Now people aspire to make a career out of “barista”.

    • PieInTheSky

      Here the career is save enough money to start your own specialty coffee shop and hope it is successful enough.

      • rhywun

        As it should be, if you’re really into coffee or whatnot.

        Here it’s ungrateful little shits who have no interest in anything other than Getting Theirs.

      • Bobarian LMD

        All I want is your fair share, as well.

    • Rat on a train

      First form a union. Than force the business to become a cooperative. Employees deserve an equity stake.

    • Jarflax

      It’s a career path for Gender Studies PhDs.

      • juris imprudent

        Probably pays better and has more job security than non-tenure-track professorship.

      • Jarflax

        Imagine a world, a very different one to be sure, in which Gender Studies degrees actually studied sex differences rather than making up socialist adjacent theories and messing with kids. The career paths in sex work would really up the earnings. Unfortunately we got the other version.

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Well, Being A Hoe 101 *is* a popular survey course for a certain population of female college students.

  6. PieInTheSky

    Starbucks coffee sucks

    • DrOtto

      I wouldn’t notice if they all went away tomorrow.

      • PutridMeat

        Oh, you will notice. You will.

        When the hordes of yoga-pantsed Karens tumble out into the street in a dazed, unthinking mass and storm your shop, looking to sate their undying thirst for sugar laden drinks. You will notice their undying shrieks of desperation as the swarm over you, all soft mounds of disembodied flesh, barely contained in their stretch pants, clawing into every orifice and fold, seeking, hungrily, some hint of pumpkin spice latte. You will notice.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        They all want fraps?

      • juris imprudent

        You will notice John Constantine, you will notice. /Luciferian voice and laughter

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        When the hordes of yoga-pantsed Karens tumble out into the street in a dazed, unthinking mass and storm your shop, looking to sate their undying thirst for sugar laden drinks. You will notice their undying shrieks of desperation as the swarm over you, all soft mounds of disembodied flesh, barely contained in their stretch pants, clawing into every orifice and fold, seeking, hungrily, some hint of pumpkin spice latte. You will notice.

        Someone has a “thing”…

        Eh, if I am out and about in an area I don’t know too well, Starbucks makes a good enough cup of joe. Black, medium, keep going.

        What I hate is when I am in Washington, and I stop at a local coffee drive through, only to realize it is a “bikini” coffee place, AKA small strip club where you get shitty coffee, and I mean truly shitty, and have to pay $10 for the cup. And the girl is younger than my son, while wanting to make small talk.

      • Aloysious

        dammit, Mr. Meat. That mental image is now seared into my brain.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Starbucks makes a good enough cup of joe.

        You’re dead to me.

        McDonalds makes a good enough cup of joe. As do Wendy’s and BK.

        Starbucks makes an overpriced burnt cup of swill only suitable for making the hot milkshakes they make their living with.

  7. Drake

    Santa’s bringing what I want this year!

    • Chipping Pioneer

      Q’s links?

    • sloopyinca

      Ha! That’s good stuff.

  8. PieInTheSky

    Gaetz this week floated a plan that would force the disclosure of House members who were the subject of sexual harassment settlements paid with public funds – I would have expected this to already be disclosed, it is quite in the public interest.

    • R C Dean

      Indeed. I hope they can force a floor vote. Let’s see who votes against it. I can’t imagine an argument against it that isn’t laugh-out-loud bad.

      And, of course, I really hope it passes.

      • Gustave Lytton

        That’s why it would get killed in a non transparent procedural way or by forcing juniors to do the dirty work.

  9. SDF-7

    Now, let’s open those books and travel logs at the DA’s office and see what the fuck was going on.

    My impression was that a lot of fucking was going on… each other… Fulton County taxpayers….

    • sloopyinca

      What are the odds Fani gets a pardon? I’d put them at greater than 50/50.

      • SDF-7

        I wouldn’t think most of these are Federal crimes — so I’d think it’d be pretty low. Kemp seems more GOPe (or at least has beef with OMB) but he seems savvy enough not to piss off the MAGA contingent in his home state overtly (non-ATL/Athens/Augusta/Macon GA being pretty darned red after all). Ratzenpfeffer (“we’re gonna do it… give us any chance we’ll take it!”) or whatever his name is might pardon her, but I don’t think Kemp would… and she’d need a state pardon, I think.

        Since I’m talking out my hindquarters on the internet at 5AM… take my opinion for all that its worth (I could easily be wrong).

      • sloopyinca

        Where would her perjury charge be heard if she lied under oath about trips to the WH and who she saw? And that goes for Wade as well.

      • SDF-7

        Hmm… could be. They may well be banking on “no reasonable prosecutor” treatment — we’ll see how much the DOJ can be cleaned up and if that works out for them.

  10. PieInTheSky

    What Difference Does It Make? 900? 2000? Oh well, they’re just line items on a spreadsheet to their bosses.

    Is there any point in bickering about how many troops are where? People who know best send them where they are needed.

    • SDF-7

      Don’t know how many troops are where… don’t know where all the money is going…

      One has to think that either all the accountants in the Pentagon are grossly incompetent… or just lying through their teeth. Either way, it seems an excellent argument to fire most of the current chair warmers in that building for either incompetent maliciousness or malicious incompetence.

      • PieInTheSky

        don’t know where all the money is going – to a Greater Purpose

    • Pine_Tree

      “Did I say JUST 900? Huh? No. So if you imagined the “just” part that’s on you. You asked how many were there and I said 900 and there were indeed 900 there. There were also an additional 1100 that I didn’t mention. But my answer of 900 was always correct. And you’re a racist.”

      • dbleagle

        This “non-counting” of TDY soldiers in a country is nothing new for the Pentagon. During the Vietnam War Special Forces teams from Okinawa and Thailand would frequently go TDY to fight in Vietnam. Because of the short stint they were never counted in the troop totals in country. During the various Balkans peace enforcements, individuals and small units would go into the area. Some actually doing something useful, others getting a month of tax free salary for “inspecting progress.” (It was a scam.) ITO and ATO? Same scam, plus a legitimate small number of folks on leaders recons before their units “went into the box.”

      • Gustave Lytton

        Ah yes, good ole leader recon, good for one month tax free and imminent danger pay. OSW did that as well, along with mid rotation visits from state leadership for called up units.

      • Swiss Servator

        The ole month-end, into the first day of the next month “Conference” at Tuzla…

      • Bobarian LMD

        Having actually been the guy who reported who was deployed to the combat theater, we counted even one day as having deployed.

        But they did finally change the pay piece, where any one day in a month counted as the whole month. Flag officers would deploy to theater on the 30th and come back on the 2nd. That entitled them to two months of combat pay and all the tax benefits that went with it (no taxes on pay while in theater).

  11. SDF-7

    Work Is A Four Letter Word. Oh, well. Anyway…

    Somehow I expect overpriced burnt coffee, overpriced oddly flavored milkshakes and lame pastries is a pretty automation friendly environment… strike at your peril, baristas.

    • Nephilium

      Make Automats Great Again?

      • ron73440

        When I read your comment, my mind went to that movie also.

        Great movie.

      • Sensei

        ron – OT what’s the latest on your SAAB story?

      • ron73440

        They are putting a new ignition switch in.

        They are giving me employee pricing just because it happened in their lot, but I think it was just coincidental timing.

        Currently waiting on the part to arrive.

      • Sensei

        Still waiting on parts. Good luck!

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Awesome movie.

  12. Shpip

    The UN agency entrusted with the protection and welfare of Palestine refugees for three-quarters of a century, Unrwa, which I lead, was always meant to be temporary.

    Well… seventy-five years can still be temporary, I guess.

    • rhywun

      It’s almost like they don’t actually have any interest in addressing the issue that supposedly animates them.

    • Tundra

      Definitely. Thanks!

    • Bobarian LMD

      Short Skirt, Long Jacket instumental was the theme music for Chuck. Yvonne Strahovski was very rowrrr.

      But that song really hits me in the feels.

      My Granddaughter, who was a toddler at the time, would stand in my lap and dance thru the whole song right before her bed time. Dance with her whole body.

  13. SDF-7

    This ain’t gonna work, you craven bastard.

    The black pill side of me is saying “Why not? No one has even really held them accountable for the COVID era lies… and people were blocked from being with their loved ones when they died, shot with experimental drugs and shamed if they didn’t want to go along, etc….”

    Our tar and feathering precedents are doubtless very, very disappointed in the current populace.

  14. PieInTheSky

    Shoplifters Of The World Unite. – rich women do that which is fashionable, and these days…

  15. rhywun

    I Don’t Owe You Anything

    Adams has been making more noises again about his city’s sanctuary bullshit, so I won’t be surprised if the Feds turn their attention back to him after recent disinterest.

    • SDF-7

      I can’t be the only one that mentally jumps to concrete galoshes off the Jersey Shore when I hear “NYC being investigated for corruption ‘disappears'”, can I?

  16. rhywun

    That UNRWA guy sure has some brass balls to spin that bullshit. I bet the Guardian is the only shithole that would publish it.

    • bacon-magic

      I’m sure others in the media sympathize.

  17. rhywun

    You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby

    I see we’re still pretending that being against porn for schoolkids is “anti-ALPHABET++”.

    And the scare quotes around “illegals” are cute.

  18. Shpip

    We’ve always known Biden’s legacy was going to be one of decrepitude, deceit and dirty dealings. But on his ignominious way out the door, Biden has revealed his true self: Perpetually aggrieved.

    Aren’t the “perpetually aggrieved” basically the base of the Democrat party? Seriously, those people always have their nose out of joint about something. Everything in the world is an earth-shattering problem and a terrible injustice, and the only salve is more (taxpayer) money.

    • SDF-7

      Can’t tear down Western Civilization in favor of the Great Feminist Communism if you don’t find fault with everything and build state power, Shpip.

      • juris imprudent

        Or the French Revolution, before Marx was even born. So much traces back to that.

    • rhywun

      He’s been a nasty, snarling piece of work his entire reign and (some) people are just figuring this out?

      Or… maybe their bias gets in the way.

      • juris imprudent

        And still they wonder why they’ve lost credibility.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Too much of the media, all media, was running cover for him. They let the cat out of the bag at that one debate, but have kept him under wraps for the rest of the year. But now, with the need for new blood in their party? The long knives are coming out.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      Don’t forget censorship. That’s part of the salve too.

  19. juris imprudent

    When Ars Technica reported on the correction earlier this week, we reached out to the lead author of the study to ask why the error didn’t change the paper’s conclusions. Since publication, the author—Megan Liu of the environmental health advocacy group Toxic-Free Future—got back to us. She didn’t respond directly to our question, but she pointed to an updated statement on Toxic-Free Future’s site about the correction.

    environmental health advocacy group Toxic-Free Future

    You can lead a journalist to a fact, but you can’t make ’em think.

    • Nephilium

      But look! They raised awareness!

      • juris imprudent

        In OUR approach to science, we start with a conclusion and then look for justification.

      • DrOtto

        What color bracelet should I be wearing for this cause?

      • Nephilium

        DrOtto:

        Black plastic of course.

      • slumbrew

        All the Top Men worshipers in the comments are claiming, “see? This is how science works! Peer review!”

        Except the massive error wasn’t caught by peer review. It was caught by the general public.

  20. PieInTheSky

    A seven-year-old child has been killed and other children injured in a stabbing at a primary school in Croatia.

    The country’s health minister said a teacher was also injured in the knife attack in Zagreb on Friday. The alleged attacker, a 19-year-old man and former pupil, was arrested at the scene, local media reported.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6znexl7ljo

    what is wrong with these fuckers… If you are having a bad time just drink like a normal person

    • SDF-7

      Wow… that comment makes me think Andrew Tate is channeling a Devo parody….

      • Timeloose

        I like his style parody songs better than direct parodies.

        From the same album

        https://youtu.be/xof915Z0a2I

        12 year old me laughed my ass off.

    • Suthenboy

      I dont think a random collection of words counts as a comment.

    • Bobarian LMD

      I slept for six hours ‘straight’ last night, so no.

  21. Rat on a train

    What do you top your tree with?

    Just like Santa Claus, a barred owl flew down a chimney in Arlington this week, knocked the star from atop the family’s Christmas tree and settled in as the new tree topper.

    I don’t recall the lore of Santa perching on trees.

    • SDF-7

      Yeah — that’s the position for the Sniper Elves, obviously. Santa rolls in supporting the armor.

    • Pine_Tree

      “I’m here to cook for you.”

    • Shpip

      I don’t recall the lore of Santa perching on trees.

      Apparently, it’s a thing, and has quite a few adherents. Since I seem to get the same conversation every year when I buy a tree:

      Clerk: Eight-footer! Pretty impressive. Are you gonna put it up yourself?

      Me: God, no. I’m gonna put it up in the living room.

      • Grummun

        “Where you gonna put a tree that big, Griswold?”

        “Bend over and I’ll show you.”

  22. Sensei

    Compliance Wants to Go From Back-Office-Boring to Front-of-Mind Career Path
    Many of those hiring for compliance jobs say they aim to raise the sector’s profile in the minds of top early-career professionals

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/compliance-wants-to-go-from-back-office-boring-to-front-of-mind-career-path-eed50222?st=zTBrG7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    They might want to chat with me. The other day I just finished a fun meeting with both my internal compliance team and my general counsel’s office.

    • SDF-7

      They’ll never hit the rock stardom of Charter Accountancy.

      • Sensei

        It’s been decades since I’ve seen that.

      • PieInTheSky

        and here I though Charter Accountancy was dull, dull, My God it’s dull, it’s so desperately dull, and tedious, and stuffy, and boring and des-per-ate-ly DULL!

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        (psst!: chartered)

    • R C Dean

      Sorry, kids. Compliance is a pure cost center, stone cold dead weight on the books. It will never be more than barely tolerated, and that at gunpoint.

      • Gender Traitor

        And worse, they’re always telling us we can’t do things we really want to do! 😒

      • Jarflax

        In many cases they are just telling you how much the fine will be if you do the thing. Then the cost accountants tell you how much not doing the thing will cost and you make a decision. Or at least that is what I hear might possibly go on in some awful lawless companies.

  23. Not Adahn

    Re: Tonio’s lynx yesterday.

    I really enjoyed Kleo S1. I highly recommend ending your viewing there. S2 was pointless and the reset button reversed the things that made S1 great.

  24. Shpip

    Are you a dude (or dude-adjacent)? Are you skeptical of anthropogenic climate change and the associated apocalyptic theories? Do you sometimes use cars, or anything made of plastic?

    Congratulations! You’re part of the problem known as petro-masculinity!

    Check out the article not only for the unintentional hilarity, but for a face that absolutely matches the opinion.

    • PieInTheSky

      Cara Daggett, an associate professor of political science at Virginia Tech University – sounds like an expert to me.

      • Not Adahn

        Cara Gee >> Cara Daggett

      • rhywun

        IIRC she was just a minor character in (one of?) the books. Good on them to use her more.

    • SDF-7

      Is it wrong that I’m hoping that we’ll be known as “Greasers”?

    • PieInTheSky

      I come from a critical eco-feminist background where scholars connect the domination and exploitation of the natural world to the justifications for the domination and exploitation of work that is often done by colonized peoples, and by women or feminized bodies – goddamn feminized body are wrecking society

      • Ted S.

        Toxic femininity in action.

    • rhywun

      OMG I can only laugh so hard.

    • WTF

      That is a true cornucopia of idiocy and insanity.

    • Jarflax

      Yes, industrialization and mechanization clearly support misogyny and the patriarchy. It’s a complete coincidence that women’s suffrage and women’s economic liberty only became widespread as mechanization spread. After all, in a muscle powered world women clearly come out on top.

      • juris imprudent

        Genghis Khan and the Golden Horde howl across the steppes.

    • ron73440

      I tried to read it, I really did, but sentences like this:

      I come from a critical eco-feminist background where scholars connect the domination and exploitation of the natural world to the justifications for the domination and exploitation of work that is often done by colonized peoples, and by women or feminized bodies. Historically, this process developed under colonial capitalism. It helps me understand that these are not coincidental, that these two go together. In the United States, for example, it can be seen in the way that care work is devalued or taken for granted, in the same way that nature is considered a resource, something free to be taken.

      just hurt my brain.

      • Nephilium

        Translation:

        From my priors, I already know men are the guilty party. Since climate change is also bad, it must be due to men. Therefore, I will link them and change the definition of words like “resource”, while assuming cultural things about the US.

      • juris imprudent

        See, and they say the brain can’t actually feel injury to it.

      • Suthenboy

        C’mon y’all, who doesnt love funhouse mirrors?

      • Ted S.

        Gotta love the caliber of person produced by Tosu.

      • Nephilium

        Ted S.:

        In the article, they do get into why they qualify:

        The legislation — part of a 441-page bill the Ohio state house passed at 2:15 a.m. Thursday — gives SunCoke Energy a tax credit because its Scioto County plant sells steam to a neighboring plant that makes chemicals, off-setting the need for natural gas.

        So they found a buyer for their waste steam that reduces the natural gas inputs. I would argue that’s greener than battery tech, solar panels, or wind farms (but not as green as nuclear).

    • Suthenboy

      It never occurs to these people (I think it actually does on some level) that the only solution to the ‘problems’ they point out is for all of mankind to just die?

    • Suthenboy

      Couldn’t that all be summed up with “The problem is people who wont do as I say” ?
      That is a fair summation of the entirety of leftist ideologies to me.

      • juris imprudent

        Leftist ideology? How about the vast majority of human history? We live in a small eddy against that tide.

    • bacon-magic

      Scold detected.

  25. PieInTheSky

    Could we tell whether anyone in our galaxy uses a warp drive?

    This sounds like a crazy question, but it can be answered using numerical GR

    (one of the fun highlights of the annual theory meeting presented by Katy Clough)

    https://x.com/martinmbauer/status/1869763981059228072

    • SDF-7

      Not having an X account, I don’t see the thread — but

      1) My gut says there’s a lot of assumptions there on what a feasible “warp drive” is and this only applies if it is what we think it might be (which is purely speculative because we’re nowhere near being able to make one / actually test the theories on how one might work).

      and

      2) My gut also says that if they’re thinking the gravitational impact of warped space will ripple to the point where it can be detected anywhere in the galaxy by General Relativity principles (which is the only way I can read “answered using numerical GR”), I fully expect that in practice instead of in theory, it would take a gravitic sensor array of such sensitivity to be well well beyond our capabilities and almost certainly drowned out in whatever the gravitic equivalent of “background noise” is (GR would imply that large mass objects in orbits such that they move closer than further from other large mass objects / spatial deformations would generate a similar gravitic “ripple” wouldn’t it? Been a long time…)

      • PieInTheSky

        the conclusion

        However, the frequency of the signal is far too high for our current instruments by several orders of magnitude (and for the foreseeable future)

        So the aliens could still happily use their warp drive without us knowing (yet)

      • Suthenboy

        My gut tells me that regarding our theories on space, gravity, light, matter, energy…all of the basic stuff…is wrong. To what degree I dont know nor do I have alternative take. I am fairly sure the metaphors our brain can grasp (space is an aether-like medium) are not correct. Our subconscious mind (also a thing that does not exist) always goes to the tactile no matter how abstract our explanations.

    • Not Adahn

      Yes, warp drive is detectable in theory.

      In practice, it depends entirely on the mass of the object being moved, our detectors… and warp drive being possible. Which it isn’t.

  26. Sensei

    Sony is going to capture a big chunk of Japan’s domestic entertainment market in both print and video and gaming and a not insignificant international market as well. This should be interesting long term to see what it does to content and content cost.

    Sony to Raise Stake in Kadokawa, Becoming a Top Shareholder

    https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/sony-group-to-acquire-additional-stake-in-kadokawa-for-more-than-300-million-b4a45edd?st=EAgbLR&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • PieInTheSky

      Kadokawa – never heard of it

    • LCDR_Fish

      If only they had some actual games for their “flagship” console.

      Think I just saw a post a couple days ago that the Switch has now outsold the PS2.

  27. PieInTheSky

    Well fellas I think it is time to shut down þe olde work laptop for the rest of the year

    • Not Adahn

      Excellent thorn, and have a great holidays!

    • juris imprudent

      [snort] look who’s pretending to work!

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        It really is just a thorn in his side.

    • Sean

      #humblebrag

  28. Suthenboy

    Tell me again, why do we need bar associations? For that matter why do we still have a guild system at all?

    Related: Unions cant wait for everything to be automated and work feverishly to achieve it.

    Do they really think their credibility is salvageable? Good Lord.

    And? Up until Trump we have had sock puppet presidency since….It would be easier to name the non-sock puppets.

    What is the pretense for going after Adams again? I forget because it doesnt matter. We all know what he is guilty of.

    I want to know how many and who in DC have paid out hush money. I assume we dont know all of the complaints because the complainants got paid off.

    They save lives? Name one. How about the names of all of the people they have murdered? Lets have those names.

    Syria? You are correct that it doesn’t matter. We have our dicks in all kinds of hornets nests in places most people have never heard of and never will. Cold War habits are hard to break.

    Are there any science publications left at all? It seems to me it would be easier to find actual scientists and just follow them. Both of them.

    Compulsive thievery. It is a real thing, I have seen it a lot but I dont understand it or how it comes about.

    Crenshaw….isnt he the poster child for office seeking for the sake of insider trading?

    • Jarflax

      Hell I am not sure we need lawyers, Bar Associations are right out.

    • Nephilium

      Tell me again, why do we need bar associations?

      For group purchases, better chance to get their hands on rare bottles, share drink recipes, organize bar crawls/shared events… I can think of several reasons.

      Oh… were you talking about a different bar association?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Eh, wassa difference?

    • The Other Kevin

      Crenshaw has pushed back on those insider trading charges. But the receipts are there. He’s made millions and his trading history is almost as good as Pelosi’s.

    • Sean

      And how’s disaster relief in NC going?

      • juris imprudent

        It’d be going a lot better if there was a good skim off of it.

      • rhywun

        The Dems and RINOs are using lack of “disaster relief” to shoot down the CR as if they couldn’t possibly find funds for that anywhere else. And as if they gave a shit.

      • Gender Traitor

        I suspect the “disaster” they’re really concerned about is Trump’s reelection.

      • Jarflax

        Isn’t it odd that we have a permanent disaster relief agency, with a 30 billion dollar budget, but every time we have a disaster we need a special appropriation? It’s almost like we don’t actually need the agency, and it is just a pool of loot for bureaucrats. I wonder what else this is true of?

      • Suthenboy

        Let’s ask Maui how that sort of thing goes.

    • The Other Kevin

      It’s a Christmas miracle!

    • creech

      Sopranos?

  29. The Late P Brooks

    I come from a critical eco-feminist background where scholars connect the domination and exploitation of the natural world to the justifications for the domination and exploitation of work that is often done by colonized peoples, and by women or feminized bodies

    “Hey, waitress, bring us another round of drinks. Chop chop.”

    • Timeloose

      “I come from a critical eco-feminist background where scholars connect the domination and exploitation of the natural world to the justifications for the domination and exploitation of work that is often done by colonized peoples, and by women or feminized bodies.”

      “Mam, this is a Wendys”

      “In that case, I’ll take four large fries and a Giant Frosty, but I won’t enjoy any of it.”

      • juris imprudent

        Oh fine – just force your ultra processed food on me!

  30. The Late P Brooks

    That’s not how we do things around here

    “Here’s the question: Is Elon saying to the president, ‘Hey, I’m going to do this.’ And the president’s like, ‘Great, you be the fucking bad guy.’ Or is he just doing this shit? And the president’s like, ‘Ah, fuck,’” said a person close to Trump.

    “Elon knows a lot about launching rockets into space. But what does he know about the minutiae of political dealmaking, right? And what it takes to get through? It is very difficult to get things passed when you have [an eight-seat] majority.”

    Maybe it’s time for a change. Negotiation-by-surrender isn’t working out.

    • Mojeaux

      “No one wants to cross him,” the former lawmaker said,

      But what does he know about the minutiae of political dealmaking, right?

      He doesn’t need to now.

      • Jarflax

        He knows enough to know that making deals with the Devil seldom ends up being beneficial.

      • Mojeaux

        Indeed.

        But he has power now that most people (even politicians) don’t have and he can afford to tell the devil to kiss his ass.

      • Mojeaux

        Also, I wanted to tell you how nice it is to see you back.

      • Jarflax

        It is good to be back

    • juris imprudent

      I know how I was used in a negotiation at one point, where I “failed” to get the deal my management told me to make. As it turned out, they had a much lower threshold they were working to, that I wasn’t told (so as to keep me motivated). Possible that Trump is using Elon in a similar way.

    • The Other Kevin

      He was put in charge of finding government waste, and he’s expected to just stand by while they add 1500 more pages of government waste.

      And yes he was vocal about that bill, but he didn’t make thousands of calls to lawmakers, people like us did that.

      • Mojeaux

        I saw a tweet saying Elon is being cast as Lex Luthor, but damn.

        Elon gave power back to the people. That’s all he did. He tweeted about the bill once. The already standing army took care of the rest.

        Then I saw this:

        “For most people on the left, political violence is a knob, and they can turn the heat up and down, with things like protests, and riots, all the way up to destruction of property, and sometimes murder… But for the vast majority of folks on the right, it’s an off and on switch. And the settings are VOTE or SHOOT FUCKING EVERYBODY. And believe me, you really don’t want that switch to get flipped, because Civil War 2.0 would make Bosnia look like a trip to Disneyworld.” –Larry Correia

        Not wrong.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        He is a citizen, after all.

      • Mojeaux

        Speaker of the House is 3rd in line for the presidency, which requires natural-born citizenship. I doubt that would fly.

      • UnCivilServant

        My guess is a naturalized speaker would have to be skipped in such an event. Because you can be a nturalized citizen elected to congress. It’s not a requirement of the job.

      • DEG

        My guess is a naturalized speaker would have to be skipped in such an event. Because you can be a nturalized citizen elected to congress. It’s not a requirement of the job.

        Correct. Anyone in the presidential succession list that isn’t eligible is skipped. VP under the 12th amendment must be eligible to be president, so it’s only the list established by law where this is a problem. Congress has the power to establish by law succession past VP under Article II, Section 6, Clause 1, and the current law states those that aren’t eligible are skipped.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    “The most influential person in the Republican Party is Donald Trump. But the second-most is Elon Musk. He has the attention of a lot of members,” said a House Republican staffer granted anonymity to speak freely.

    Much of Musk’s clout comes from his unique ability to fire up the GOP base on social media. A former Republican lawmaker said Musk’s power can’t be overstated. The ex-lawmaker suggested that GOP members are aware of his ability to create a backlash online and take seriously his threat to fund primary challenges against them.

    “No one wants to cross him,” the former lawmaker said, adding that it would be foolish to expect any profiles in courage given that most of the more independent-minded lawmakers have already departed.

    Some conservative allies and Republicans close to Trump, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), even suggested that Johnson should be replaced by Musk.

    “I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House,” Greene posted. “The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday.”

    The next best thing to Caligula’s horse. That would piss the Tesla mob right off.

    • Ted S.

      The profile in courage here is Elon Musk.

  32. Mojeaux

    I voted for Valentina. She’s a firecracker on Twitter X (still trying to break the “Twitter” habit) and a little mouthy, but as a mouthy woman myself, I can appreciate her plain and profanity-laden truth bombs.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Shitting on the carpets and wiping his ass with the drapes

    The Biden administration announced Friday that it would forgive another $4.28 billion in student loan debt for 54,900 borrowers who work in public service.

    The relief is a result of fixes the U.S. Department of Education made to the once-troubled Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

    The debt relief comes in President Joe Biden’s final weeks in office.

    Biden has forgiven more student debt than any other president. He has cleared nearly $180 billion for 4.9 million people with student debt.

    It’s only fair.

    • PieInTheSky

      Hell those poor brave souls should be given additional money for their loan induced trauma

    • rhywun

      Now they can afford rent while striking against Starbucks.

    • B.P.

      $37K per “borrower”? Wow.

  34. Mojeaux

    The CR bill went from 1600 pages to 120 pages, but 34 Rs voted against it. X is outraged and calling them RINOs, which may or may not be true, but Massie and Mace voted against it. Why? What was wrong with it? Because I can’t believe either of those two would vote against it if there wasn’t something wrong with it.

    • Sensei

      Raised the debt limit.

      • Mojeaux

        Ah, okay. That makes perfect sense.

        That MAGA on X sword cuts both ways because I didn’t see ANYONE defending the vote against.

      • Urthona

        It raised the debt limit exactly two years (as long as Republicans are guaranteed to be in power).

        HINT HINT

        Why, it’s almost as if Trump never really planned to cut any spending.

      • Urthona

        *removed

    • PieInTheSky

      I doubt there are many bills with nothing wrong. I assuem Massie should take to X and explain

      • Urthona

        If you follow libertarian accounts, it’s explained pretty clearly.

        The bill removes the debt ceiling for Republicans to work with over the next 2 years so that now *THEY* can now spend and buy votes… .

        It also obviously cuts nothing. Whether that should be done now is a matter of debate.

    • Suthenboy

      It did not increase spending…good. It did not reduce spending….not good. They could argue that the perfect is the enemy of the good but I dont know if they have justified their vote or not.

    • PieInTheSky

      Thomas Massie
      @RepThomasMassie
      This isn’t complicated.

      Separate the bills and vote on them individually.

      one vote on the clean CR

      one vote on the debt limit

      one vote on disaster relief

      one vote on farm bailouts

      Radical right? Individual bills for each issue

      • juris imprudent

        That has me wondering which wouldn’t actually pass on that basis.

    • The Other Kevin

      Some of them were protest votes against Johnson.

  35. Suthenboy

    On black plastic: See second hand smoke. A single study published on second hand smoke effects concluding the opposite of what the data showed. Multiple ‘studies’ were concocted later to support that conclusion. Now everyone knows second hand smoke is bad. We also h ave the effects of third hand smoke. Motive: money. Fuck reality, you owe me.

    Ignore the fact that we just spent roughly a million years evolving around open fires.

    • juris imprudent

      I’d believe those studies on second-hand smoke, if I was already dead.

    • Urthona

      I heard the black plastic fumes will counteract the microplastics in my balls.

      True?

      • creech

        Only if you drink aquarium cleaner on even numbered dates.

  36. UnCivilServant

    Apparently I have a sprained/inflamed/irriated/unhappy ligament in my middle finger.

    I can flip people off, but I can’t bowl until it heals.

    • PieInTheSky

      No one bowls anymore.

      • UnCivilServant

        Enough no ones bowl that they were able to remodel the alley.

      • PieInTheSky

        Bowling is just as gay as sleeping.

      • rhywun

        I miss Bowling for Dollars.

      • Mojeaux

        OMG Bowling for Dollars!!! What a blast from the past!

  37. The Late P Brooks

    Speaking of that black plastic panic: based on the thing I skimmed the other day, the “danger” only exists if you leave the spoon in your pot of boiling stew/soup/sauce/whatever for a prolonged period of time. Sustained high temp may cause the plastic to break down.

    *You’ll get cancer if you eat five hundred apples a day for twenty years, too.

    • Nephilium

      Sounds like something someone in the pocket of Big Toxin would say!

  38. The Late P Brooks

    Separate the bills and vote on them individually.

    one vote on the clean CR

    one vote on the debt limit

    one vote on disaster relief

    one vote on farm bailouts

    Radical right? Individual bills for each issue

    OH

    MY

    GOD!

    • Urthona

      AHAHAHA.

    • Urthona

      Anyone ever watch the TV show Veep?

      So damn prescient.

      • Urthona

        I disagree with Amy’s negative attitude towards food in buckets.

    • Gender Traitor

      Can’t they just give her a trip to Disney World instead? 🙄

      • Nephilium

        Isn’t that only if you win?

      • Gender Traitor

        Beats hell out of a “Make-A-Wish” presidency.

    • juris imprudent

      Speaking of old TV shows – Queen for a Day!

    • Jarflax

      My bet with GT is going down to the wire

      • Gender Traitor

        😰

      • Jarflax

        If Biden resigns tomorrow Harris can beat Harrison’s record, which will make for a very amusing coincidence of names.

  39. Common Tater

    ““I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House,” Greene posted. “The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday.””

    Doesn’t Speaker of the House have to be born in the U.S.?

    • Urthona

      No, but I mean.. he would obviously decline the job. Dude doesn’t have the time. He’s got companies to run and action RPGs to play.

      Also, he’s perfectly find just posting on Twitter a few times a day and having an impact there.

      • Mojeaux

        Agreed. His best use is to drop the outrage du jour and let the base take it from there.

      • Urthona

        He doesn’t even say different things that what other center-right people say each time. It’s just that his reach is huge.

      • Mojeaux

        Yes, his reach to a platform that reports accurate-ish news (community notes are wildly awesome) and doesn’t silence the right.

        That is immeasurable/priceless.

    • PieInTheSky

      Did the US ever have an african american speaker?

      • Not Adahn

        ^This is the best possible reason to do it.

  40. Suthenboy

    Yuck. I bought some French onion dip yesterday. It has more sugar in it than cake icing. WTF?

    Looks like I will be making my own dip.

    Everyone says ‘farm subsidies’ taking for granted it is an unalloyed good. Who can say no to the noble farmers? We all have to eat, right? Also, ethanol in gasoline is an unalloyed evil. I am beginning to have suspicions as to why Massie voted no on the CR.

    • Mojeaux

      I am beginning to have suspicions as to why Massie voted no on the CR.

      I asked that upthread. It raised the debt ceiling.

    • Urthona

      Because farmers are real working class salt-of-the-Earth types that we need to care about.

      (Except in reality)

    • PieInTheSky

      Wait was it made in France or someone just wrotr french on it?

      • Suthenboy

        Dunno. It is just sautéed onions in butter with sour cream or yogurt and cream cheese. It seems everyone would have ;thought of that but then I think of the English and think maybe not.

    • The Other Kevin

      We live in farm country, and all they grow here is soybeans and corn. All of the corn goes to either animal feed or corn syrup. Reducing that in food would cause a pretty big shock.

      • Grummun

        Not ethanol (as a result of various gov’t mandates)?

      • kinnath

        Yes, ethanol.

        Enough corn was diverted from exports to make ethanol that it had serious negative effects on nutrition in third-world countries that depend on grain imports.

        Just another reason what ethanol mandates are immoral.

      • The Other Kevin

        Possibly? When our kids were in 4H, one of the dads who worked for a food manufacturer talked to the kids, and according to him most corn in this area goes to corn syrup. There is a big Unilever factory in the NW corner of the state.

      • Nephilium

        Corn syrup can be fermented pretty easily.

      • Suthenboy

        “…countries that depend on grain imports…”
        I have been to a few of those. If they would stop running around with machine-guns raping murdering and trying to enslave each other, pick up a tractor instead they wouldn’t be dependent on grain imports. Forgive me if my empathy is low.

        Go ahead, take your best shot.

    • Tundra

      I’m a big fan of regenerative ag, both for quality of food and environmental benefits. Get rid of the subsidies for everything, get rid of stupid regulations, pass the PRIME Act and watch magic happen. Farmers now are completely fucked by the system. It doesn’t need to be this way.

      • juris imprudent

        Big Ag is a lot like Big Pharma – don’t fuck with our gravy train!

    • Sean

      It has more sugar in it than cake icing. WTF?

      Yuck. Nothing makes it into the shopping cart without the ingredients getting read first.

      • Tundra

        Aren’t you pretty much carnivore these days?

      • Sean

        Despite just picking up a nice 5+ lb NY strip roast just 20 minutes ago…Nope.

        Just Keto.

      • Tundra

        I’m considering trying it for a month.

  41. The Late P Brooks

    Genocide

    American farmers, small business owners and wildfire survivors are among those who will suffer if Congress cannot agree on a new spending bill after President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan that included more than $100 billion in disaster aid.

    ——-

    The earlier version of the spending bill included included funding for low-interest loans for businesses, nonprofits and homeowners trying to rebuild after a disaster; money for rebuilding damaged roads and highways; and funds for helping communities recover through block grants administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The block grant money is one of the key funds for homeowners who don’t have insurance or enough insurance recover from disasters.

    Although hurricanes Helene and Milton are the most recent large natural disasters to hit the U.S., a lot of the money was intended more generally for relief from any major disaster in recent years, including droughts and wildfires.

    Anecdotal sob stories to tug at the heart strings, but nothing about what happened to the money they got in the past. Where did it go? Spent on salaries, I guess.

    • PieInTheSky

      Stop building in wild fire habitata?

    • B.P.

      What disasters have befallen nonprofits that is requiring them to rebuild?

    • Suthenboy

      This. Obama and Biden have raised awareness that most ‘subsidies’ are money laundering for political cronies. I am in favor of all of those things but if they cant float on their own floating them with taxpayer money is fraud. Also, how many of these ‘loans’ are actually paid back?

  42. The Late P Brooks

    Surprising no one

    In a surprise announcement, the Defense Department disclosed Thursday that U.S. officials have doubled the number of American troops in Syria to support the fight ISIS, an increase that predates the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime this month.

    The Pentagon press secretary, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, said at the Pentagon briefing that the U.S. has roughly 2,000 troops deployed in Syria, even though the U.S. military and U.S. Central Command have consistently reported having only 900 troops there.

    Ryder did not say when the number of U.S. personnel had increased. He said he had learned Thursday that the number has been significantly higher for some time.

    Inaccurate numbers from the Pentagon?

  43. The Late P Brooks

    The additional U.S. troops are supporting the mission to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and prevent it from regrouping, Ryder said. But he declined to provide more detail about what the U.S. forces are doing specifically, saying only that they are predominantly Army soldiers.

    A defense official who asked not to be identified said the number of American forces in Syria may have been significantly higher than the Pentagon has reported for several years. The official said the true number of U.S. forces in the country may have been intentionally covered up.

    No shit, Shirley?

    • Suthenboy

      Isn’t ‘ISIS’ the bunch that got Assad out and is now in charge of Syria?

      • Jarflax

        Shh, that’s the quiet part, we don’t mention that part because then people might get mad that we are yet again supporting an openly hostile terrorism supporter because reasons.

  44. The Late P Brooks

    Bird flu emergency in California. Kill all the chickens and dairy cattle, just to be safe. what could possibly go wrong?

  45. Muzzled Woodchipper

    “Union baristas know their value, and they’re not going to accept a proposal that doesn’t treat them as true partners,” said Lynne Fox, president of Workers United.

    Uh, wut?

    Any asshole off the street can be a barista in a day. It’s an entry level, no-skill job with hourly pay.

    GTFO with your entitled bullshit about the inflated value that over-educated twats have of themselves.