Good morning one and all to another stupendous day!
Trump signals change to status quo spending while torching Johnson’s year-end bill
US Debt now at $36,189,345,826,140.62.
DOGE Caucus leader Joni Ernst eyes relocation out of DC for third of federal workers
Dow futures bounce after index drops 1,100 points in 10th straight loss
Fed Cuts Interest Rates by a Quarter-Point, Signals Fewer Cuts Next Year
Old, Frail And Moody: White House Aides Finally Tell Truth About Lame-Duck Joe Biden
Paul blocks bill to expand authority over drones; predicts state, local abuses of rights
House panel votes to release Gaetz report in surprise reversal: Report
Nearly $116 Million Awarded to Female Inmates in California Prison Sex Abuse Settlement
Biden EPA approves California rule to ban new gas car sales by 2035
That’s all I got for today. I’ll leave you with a song and move along with my day.
I’m stunned that Republicans on the cusp of controlling congress and the presidency with something of a mandate to cut spending have instead rented a ballroom in which to tapdance all over their own dicks instead.
Republicans fuck over their own base? Why, I never!
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…
No… These bosses are black on the left side of their face and white on the right side. The old bosses had white on the LEFT side of their face and black on the RIGHT side. Completely different.
“We have our own troughs to fill with luchre.”
No fucking mandate. Most of Congress was re-elected, meaning their constituents are HAPPY with the status quo. This is what Republicans have been doing for years*, so how can it surprise you?
* see Thomas Massie on the annual charade
Nearly $116 Million Awarded to Female Inmates in California Prison Sex Abuse Settlement
not
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUPV4OfNlt0 ?
Well, it’s a good thing Mike Johnson will be giving them all that pay raise to help with the relocation expenses 🙄️
I don’t like this idea. It just creates a new constituency in their new Congressional district/state for maintaining and growing the federal workforce. See, also, military bases.
See, also, military bases.
I had a conversation one with a guy who had been a Navy detailer and he lamented the difficulty in finding an O-6 to fill a billet in New Mexico.
Exactly. They need to be sent to our Moon base.
the difficulty in finding an O-6 to fill a billet
1) find a O-5 that wants to move up…
2) do like what happens with an E-nothing, take the assignment or get separated.
Why did the Navy need an O-6 in the desert anyway?
Prepping for when the ice caps melt.
Why did the Navy need an O-6 in the desert anyway?
Exactly my question. Congress said so apparently – it was a political chit cashed in. No one wanted it because it was a crap position and even a terminal O-6 didn’t want to finish up there. Nor did it actually do anything beneficial to the Navy.
The trouble with this is that drone control neatly dovetails with existing federal authority over US airspace, so when it eventually comes to pass, either legislatively or administratively, there’s little chance of it being successfully challenged.
…and people will routinely ignore such regulations, and the hapless G won’t be able to do anything about it.
Hapless G was the worst rapper ever.
Good. I’d like to think it would set a precedent, but of course we know better.
I’m with MTG, release all of their investigations.
Nice work on the tags, dummy.
You sound old, frail, and moody.
Listen, you lying dog-faced pony soldier …
Tired and emotional?
Uh oh, someone’s got a case of the Bidens.
*guffaws*
Narrator: They are not “clean” and they can’t compete without massive subsidies to rich people. Good luck with that.
Shitting in the street is still OK though!
Didn’t Van Halen do a cover of that?
Well you might as well dump! Go ahead and dump!
South America says no
The next method of attack will be fine particulate matter. EVs are heavier, so their tires produce MORE of the deadly carinogenic etc.
You know what doesn’t need tires? Choo choos.
Diesel trains? Falls over in shock.
With all of this talk of drones in NJ, I just came across a prime situation for using drones.
I’m sitting in a waiting room for a PET scan that requires radionuclides that have a short half life. So they have to make it at a nuclear reactor and send it overnight to be used immediately.
Well, the shipment is stuck in traffic from the airport.
This is absolutely the ideal scenario for a drone to deliver the pig.
Somehow I don’t think the NJ situation is a pilot program for nuclear medicine delivery, but still….
Yeah, I dunno about flying radioactives around in drones.
Putting them in traffic with other dipshit drivers is cool though?
At least in traffic they are surrounded by a few tons of metal. Unless they use motorcycles to courier them, like they do with transplant organs.
I would think less prone to incident in a drone and the material itself could probably be secured relatively safely like a black box. Also, due to the short half life, wouldn’t be dangerous for long.
Super short halflife… so all gone within a day or so. But still… probably would kill any service with the publicity.
Hope all is well with the scan. I drove my mom to countless PET scans during her cancer treatment, but didn’t realize the logistics of the radionuclides. The place we went to was less than a mile from LAS (but then, pretty much everything in Las Vegas is within a few miles of the airport).
At least call it by it’s proper name to give all due respect – Harry Balls Int’l airport.
It was bad enough having to call it McCarran, I’ll never refer it to by the new title.
Las Vegas International didn’t suck as many dicks to get the title
Good luck on the PET. I had one just last month and wish you the same results as I got; all major concerns were negative.
Regarding the discussion yesterday morning about whether Trudeau will resign: How far Trudeau could go in clinging to power
What could Trudeau do?
Freeze all of their bank accounts, revoke their licenses, have police arrest them on fraudulent charges…. you know, same crap he has been doing for several years now…
I don’t follow flappy-headed politics, but do we actually know why, exactly, the Finance Minister resigned?
She was pushing back against some of the recent spending gimmicks intended to buy votes.
Last Friday, he told her (via Zoom) that he was planning to demote her from Finance.
Monday afternoon, she was supposed to table the “Fall Economic Statement”. Instead, she knifed him Monday morning.
This follows a pattern of Trudeau not playing well with people who disagree with him.
I may have this wrong. I remember once Australia had a Trudeau problem and no one could get the scoundrel out until one day an old man in a nice suit showed up with a letter. The letter was from Queen Elizabeth and addressed to the Australian head of state. It read “You are fired. Get out.”
Apparently in the Commonwealth the crown has retained that power and almost everyone has forgotten. I am not sure if it is still that way or if I have my facts right.
If it is, good luck getting that booger-eatin commie moron Charles to do it.
Partial credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional_crisis
A quick search suggests a Canadian g-g wouldn’t dismiss a PM unless there was a vote of no confidence and the PM refused to resign.
lol I forgot about that guy.
Rand Paul is a treasure. All the crap they packed in this omnibus bill, pork galore… and yesterday he pointed out that they included language to allow th congress to quash subpoenas from law enforcement.
Likely designed to protect them from investigators finding out about Jan 6 and other potential criminal conspiracies.
“Don’t read that bill… no time for that! The government will shut down!! We just have to pass it!”
I hear 65% of the spending is not continuing resolution, but new spending. These guys are all class.
Accountability? What the hell’s that?
Damned if I know, but my constituents keep sending me here! /average Congress-critter
“Likely”? What other possible purpose could have than to protect Congressholes from investigations?
Has one of these garbage CR’s ever been stopped before, I wonder?
Will this one be?
Shielding themselves from subpoenas was definitely meant to derail the J6 investigation. I’ve also seen a section prohibiting changes to the vaccine schedule. And it has funding for that censorship NGO. It’s like the Dems wrote this to include as many roadblocks to Trump’s agenda as possible. And Johnson tried to just wave it through so we can “start clean next year”. That guy is compromised and he needs to go.
It was great watching Congressional RINOs being bullied on social media until CR was pulled.
We need to talk about Mike Johnson now. This is the third time he’s pulled this stunt. All smiles and promises a few weeks ago with Trump and Elon, then a last minute disaster of a bill which most Republicans had no input on. Sorry, can’t do that anymore and time for a new Speaker.
You’ll just go through the same struggle that brought him to power. The Republicans are mostly an establishment shop, with a dissident wing. The wing can cripple the rest of the party but cannot run it.
It is identical to the establishment Democrats and the progressive wing.
Not at all identical. Bernie is a commie that wants national control of everything. He doesn’t get that, but every bill that expands spending, size, and scope of the government brings things closer to his goal.
It is why Bernie always wins.
The Proggo wing is also why we have Justice Jackson and VP Harris, and the castration of children.
The mechanics of it are identical in terms of the party mass versus the party fringe. The Proggies all really believe they represent a majority of the country when they aren’t even a majority of Democrats.
Does that start to sound a little familiar?
Matt tried to off Johnson too, he got shanked.
Matt tried to off Johnson too, he got shanked.
Not this again…
Apparently the squirrels get excited by Gaetz being shanked.
Yes. I read his investigation report will be released now, officially.
Considering this was investigated and nothing criminal was provable, this will be all gossip/rumor and no substance.
The backlash was intense and it possibly worked. It wasn’t just social media, people were calling those offices nonstop. Musk threatened to back primary challenges to anyone who voted for it.
The other interesting thing was for the first time, people ran that bill through AI to analyze it. That also seemed to work pretty well.
I am curious if anyone did the math… Assuming you wanted to balance the US budget just by raising taxes on the 35% $231,251 bracket and up… And assuming people pay and do not reduce their income… To what level would this tax need to rise to completely cover the deficit?
I’ll guess: 130% if spending isn’t cut.
I’ll give you the two charts that show the problem (in relation to GDP).
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFRGDA188S
Tax revenue, regardless of rates, never exceeds 20% of GDP (and the highest was during WWII).
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYONGDA188S
Federal spending, currently sitting above 20% of GDP. Which shows we don’t have a revenue shortfall, we have a spending excess.
that is why I said assume people make the same income and pay 🙂
Laffer curve, bitchezz!!!
assume people
Economics makes enough bad assumptions, you don’t have to throw fantasies on top of that. As with anything, the more you tax it, the less you get of it.
Annual revenue 20% of GDP, annual spending 19/19/6, result: happiness.
Annual revenue 20% of GDP, annual spending 20/0/6, result: misery.
Assume a can opener…
We have plenty of revenue. The problem is spending. It has always been a spending problem. We are on pace to spend 6.75 trillion this year. The people who decided what we will spend secure their own power and line their own pockets, and unless we figure out a way to hold them accountable they are not going to stop.
An incredible footnote to Germany’s economic suicide—the deliberate destruction of their energy sector and ensuing offshoring of their manufacturing base to China—is that they capped it all off by purchasing a billion euros of carbon credits from a Chinese scam company
https://x.com/skepticaliblog/status/1869516649520668747
Yes. This is where the climate cult inevitably leads.
As planned.
Like the indulgences the Church sold, you redeem them in the afterlife.
I once thought of starting a website called carbonindulgences.com where people could pay me to not do things like eat a burrito or drive to work (I work from home). Unfortunately someone beat me to the domain.
Why am I not surprised by this?
Time to send some more EU diplomats over to China where they can be snubbed and mocked. Funny how they think they are the most important people in the world while descending into irrelevance.
I was watching Jimmy Dore the other day, and he showed a clip of a Bill Gates interview. The interviewer (to his credit) asked what he thought of people criticizing him flying all over in a private jet. Gates said that’s ridiculous because he pays so much money for carbon offsets. Jimmy’s takeaway was that if you’re rich enough, you can do anything you want. The rules don’t apply to you.
The whole concept of carbon offsets is a scam.
China has been playing the world for decades and laughing all the way to the bank. I hope it’s teetering on the edge of falling apart the way we keep hearing but whoTF knows.
I don’t know what other real problems China may have, but when Xi goes I think we will find out.
I’ve been hearing for years that the entire economy (esp. real estate) is a house of cards. Yeah, we’ll find out.
It wouldn’t surprise me. Look how the CCCP fooled the world for decades.
I had a couple headlines in my feed today talking about how the China economy is in a slow collapse now.
for those unfamiliar, R. Lionel Fanthorpe was paid for a contracted word count and milked it as no one ever has. An excerpt:
https://x.com/hradzka/status/1869224891180032226
That reads like Kamala speaks, but less slurred.
That’s amazing, like a perfect sentence written so well, it reaches dizzying heights of perfection.
Evil (Political) Scientist
@knrd_z
A potential cost-saving initiative: there are over 13,000 criminology professors– most of them at public colleges, not even counting the sociologists– whose research collectively failed to compete against a single anon. Fire them and at minimum we’ve saved $1 billion annually
https://x.com/knrd_z/status/1869567191382966742
This 18th century automaton is pretty cool..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nITEU4fsqCU&t=1s
Wow that is amazing. I have long believed that craftsmen in the past were much smarter than we give them credit for, and there is so much knowledge that has just been lost.
So cool!
And the music is lovely. Thanks, man!
This one’s for Q
Are Cambodians known for making high quality combs?
https://x.com/RichardHanania/status/1869153709525291327
Excellent find. It may require more research to determine the answer.
She doesn’t look Cambodian.
looks can be deceiving
Good grief.
I watched “Driven” last night.
Wow. Words fail me. I remember hearing about it when they were making it, but I had never seen it.
Truly a strong contender for dumbest/worst movie ever made.
Have you seen Asteroid City? We ended up watching it to the end to see if there was ANY good part at all. There was not.
Asteroid City was visually interesting, but it was a slog.
Asteroid City was a strange one. I didn’t mind it, but doubt I’ll ever watch it again.
Asteroid City was visually interesting
So is LSD, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Wes Anderson may be the most overrated son of a bitch in the history of film making. He directed 2 decent flicks, carried more by his cast than his direction, and spent the next 20 years making the same 2 flicks, with increasingly worse actors, while critics and awards committees competed like Olympic athletes to suck his dick for it.
AC had an incredible cast. I can’t figure out how Anderson convinced them – the script surely couldn’t have.
“California has long-standing authority to request waivers from EPA to protect its residents from dangerous air pollution coming from mobile sources like cars and trucks,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Today’s actions follow through on EPA’s commitment to partner with states to reduce emissions and act on the threat of climate change.”
“Climate change” is not air pollution, you fucking moron.
I’d be okay with this if the manufacturers had the backbone to just sit back and watch California implode. But they don’t.
That will change as 2035 approaches.
1. Removal of federal subsidies means only California subsidies remain, which will be in very short supply
2. Only Tesla is making a profit on electric cars. Nobody else is, nor can they continue to lose money for a decade.
As cruel as it sounds, I feel California should be forced to stay by their stupid mandate, go broke and starve. Only allow a federal highway carve out to allow regular diesel trucks to bring supplies from ports to the other states.
I believe Tesla only makes money selling indulgences to other manufacturers.
“Clean cars are here to stay. The Biden-Harris Administration reaffirmed what we’ve known for decades — California can rise to the challenge of protecting our people by cleaning our air and cutting pollution,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Naysayers like President-elect Trump would prefer to side with the oil industry over consumers and American automakers, but California will continue fostering new innovations in the market,” Newsom added.
The EPA also approved California’s “Omnibus” low-NOx regulation for heavy-duty highway and off-road vehicles and engines. The regulation aims to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from heavy-duty highway and off-road vehicles and engines.
Catalytic converters for your lawnmower and boat. That’ll fix it.
Their talk about fostering innovation would sound better if they weren’t doing everything they can to fuck with Tesla.
If Greasy keeps chasing people of California at the current rate we might actually get to see what happens when he really does run out of other people’s money.
That could be a useful example for the rest of the country.
You say that like they would learn anything.
It would just be “Hoarders, wreckers, and kulacs” all over again.
Yep like locust, they will just move onto the next wheat field
Get bailed out by the Federal government?
Yep. President Whitmer and VP Newsome will gladly sign that bill.
Governor Harris will readily cash the check.
“Catalytic converters for your lawnmower”
No need. Gas lawnmowers have been banned.
Chaos agents
Welcome to the new Washington of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The president-elect and the world’s richest man combined Wednesday to smash a short-term spending compromise orchestrated by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to keep the government open until early in Trump’s new term.
The stop-gap measure is packed with nearly $100 billion in aid for Americans hit by multiple national disasters, economic aid for farmers, a federal commitment to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and a criminalization of revenge porn.
But the Trump-Musk blocking maneuver plunged the capital into one of its classic year-end crises, pitched Johnson’s hopes of keeping his job into extreme doubt and offered a preview of the chaos that may churn in Trump’s second term.
Things were perfect before these upstart bombthrowers stuck their noses in.
CNN finally found a Republican it likes.
Once again CNN, please don’t throw me in that briar patch.
They really need those statues of Benedict Arnold.
https://www.nps.gov/places/boot-monument.htm
I asked ChatGPT to spew out some authentic
frontiercorporate gibberish for my performance review. One of my company’s goals is “passion”. I was supposed to explain how I incorporated passion into my job (engineers are not known for being passionate, the are known for being level-headed).Overview:
Throughout this review period, [Employee Name] has consistently demonstrated a remarkable level of passion in their role, showcasing a deep enthusiasm, commitment, and drive toward achieving both individual and team goals. This performance review focuses on three key areas where their passion has made a significant impact: Energy, Persistence, and Initiative.
1. Energy:
[Employee Name] has exhibited exceptional enthusiasm in all aspects of their work. They bring a positive attitude to every task and consistently motivate their team members. Their energy is contagious, and it fosters a collaborative and inspiring work environment. Whether leading meetings, contributing to brainstorming sessions, or simply performing daily tasks, [Employee Name] displays a high level of excitement and dedication. Their enthusiasm serves as a model for peers and sets a high standard for engagement within the team.
Key Highlights:
Actively participates in team meetings with a positive, can-do attitude.
Encourages others through challenges, maintaining a high morale even during demanding projects.
Frequently takes on additional responsibilities to ensure team success.
2. Persistence:
[Employee Name] demonstrates remarkable persistence, often going above and beyond to overcome obstacles and ensure the successful completion of tasks. When faced with challenges, they do not hesitate to put in the necessary effort to find solutions. This persistence has allowed them to consistently meet deadlines and contribute to the achievement of both team and organizational goals. Their ability to stay focused and motivated in the face of adversity makes them a reliable and resilient team member.
Key Highlights:
Tackled difficult projects with tenacity, ensuring deadlines were met despite obstacles.
Continually sought innovative solutions to problems, never settling for less than the best result.
Demonstrated resilience during high-pressure situations, always staying committed to delivering quality work.
3. Initiative:
[Employee Name] consistently demonstrates initiative, proactively identifying and acting on opportunities for improvement. Whether suggesting process enhancements or stepping up to address issues before they escalate, they have shown a keen ability to anticipate needs and take decisive action. Their proactive approach contributes to the continuous improvement of the team and overall organizational performance.
Key Highlights:
Spearheaded the adoption of a new tool that streamlined communication across the team, resulting in improved efficiency.
Took the lead on several initiatives to improve team workflows, showcasing both leadership and innovation.
Regularly provides constructive feedback and suggestions, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Conclusion:
In summary, [Employee Name] has proven to be an exceptional performer in terms of passion. Their energy, persistence, and initiative have had a positive impact on both their individual performance and the overall success of the team. They consistently inspire those around them, overcome challenges with resilience, and proactively contribute to improvements in processes and performance.
Areas for Development:
While [Employee Name] excels in many areas, continued growth in [insert development area, e.g., time management, delegation, etc.] will further enhance their effectiveness.
That is great, are you going to submit it as is?
if your company doesn’t make porn it should probably save the passion for the weekend.
Now your boss can use ChatGpt to process the evaluations.
Grok is now free on X, and I’ve already wasted a few minutes on it. It is fun.
That’s great, Nick
In another life, I used to be tasked with writing recommendations for Higher Ups awards. As a general rule one would think that a person ought to be writing the recommendations for subordinates but that’s not always the person doing the actual paper work .
“Here, how about you writing a recommendation for the Chief”
“But Sir, he’s my boss”
“Yeah, you know him better than anyone else”
It was not immediately clear how closely Trump and Musk were coordinating. But the timeline of Musk’s pressure and the president-elect’s belated entry into the public fray offered demoralized Democrats an opening. New York Rep. Dan Goldman conjured a scenario on X clearly calculated to get under the president-elect’s skin. “As the shadow Pres-Elect, Elon Musk is now calling the shots for House Rs on government funding while Trump hides in Mar-a-Lago behind his handlers,” Goldman wrote. “It increasingly seems like we’re in for 4 years of an unelected oligarch running the country by pulling on his puppet’s strings.”
Where have I heard this before?
I purchased a budget green dot for the P322
https://gideonoptics.com/shop-all/gideon-optics-judge-rmsc-sight/
I will let you know if it’s worth the money. The company founder’s philosophy is explicitly “not the best, but you don’t need the best.”
Good choice. I know a guy at Gideon. Their stuff is very solid, even for the price.
I am just hoping it actually works. It should, because while SIG optics don’t actually fit on their purported footprint, the SIG footprint should accept non-SIG optic (I think).
why do you need a green dot? are you some econut?
Maybe he wants to be able to have radio communications with the sideline.
Flat earthers go to Antarctica and prove the world is a globe:
https://notthebee.com/article/flat-earther-travels-to-antarctica-to-prove-earth-is-flat-finds-out-its-not
Awww.
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1869421995701744003
But that didn’t stop the conspiracy theorists from caking on the conspiracy theories.
https://x.com/CanaryNCoal/status/1868907942621463004
Those were no true flat earthers they are FBI agents tricking the world!
Sex differences in paid work, housework, and childcare, 1965-2022 (U.S. data). Some interesting, unexpected trends.
Key findings:
• Paid work: women up; men slightly down; men still do more
• Housework: Men up; women down; women still do more
• Childcare: Both sexes up, but men especially; women still do more
• Total work: Similar but men do slightly more
https://x.com/SteveStuWill/status/1869553676957958486
More meltdown metal:
https://x.com/JustineBateman/status/1869775318208446895
Very Megadeth.
Excellent
That one’s good.
The myth of female agency
https://www.louiseperry.co.uk/p/the-myth-of-female-agency
Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt
President Joe Biden is pledging to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035 as he fights to ensure his legacy on slowing global warming, even as President-elect Donald Trump vows to undo much of Biden’s climate work when he takes office next month.
Biden said the new goal — which supersedes a previous plan to cut carbon emissions at least in half by 2030 — keeps the United States on track to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2050. The U.S. is making a formal submission of the new target, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution, to the United Nations under terms of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Biden said Thursday.
The new goal calls for reducing net emissions by 61% to 66% below 2005 levels in 2035.
“I’m proud that my administration is carrying out the boldest climate agenda in American history,’’ Biden said in a videotaped statement.
Fuck you, and good night, America.
My family went to DisneyWorld back in 1992, and it was awesome.
I went back with my wife and daughter in 2004, and it had been turned into “The Disney Store—with rides!”
Now, they are planning to tear Frontierland out of the Magic Kingdom, and replace it with “Cars Land”, or some such nonsense.
https://arkhavencomics.com/2024/08/13/d23-bob-iger-is-taking-the-walt-out-of-disney-world/
Anti-racists are some of the most miserable, anti-joy people on earth.
Biden, in his remarks, called the new goal “ambitious” and said it would lead to thousands of well-paying jobs, more affordable energy, cleaner air, cleaner water and a healthier environment for all Americans.
“It is also creating real momentum because we’re unleashing American ingenuity and innovation. And together, we will turn this existential threat into a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our nation’’ for decades to come, Biden said. “I know we can do this.’’
The proposal would require sustained changes across the economy, from power generation to transportation, buildings, agriculture and industry, including significant increases in renewable energy such as wind and solar power and steep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and coal.
There should be billboards all over the country asking “What will you give up to make this happen?”
Let’s get back to that WWII spirit of communal sacrifice for the common good. Do without. Have big phone and electronics collection drives, just like collecting aluminum pots and pans to be melted down for airplane wings.
Nissan wants to survive:
https://x.com/unusual_whales/status/1869781865839935768