Wednesday Morning Links

by | Dec 4, 2024 | Daily Links | 276 comments

The CFP decided to piss everybody but Bama off last night. And across the pond, Bayern got bounced while Stuttgart advanced to the QF of the German Cup. Leicester got a much-needed win for their new manager. And Everton-Wolves play today to see who will be in the drop zone. Also, City play Forest, Liverpool take on Newcastle, and Arsenal-ManUre play (and I’m actually hoping the lawyer win for a change). That’s pretty much it for sports.

The Circus is coming to the Supreme Court. It’ll end 6-3, with the troops kicking a late FG with the three idiot judges agreeing that children can be chemically castrated and physically mutilated because child mental illness is now celebrated on the left as opposed to being treated.

“Hey I’ve seen this one. This is a rerun.” Oh wait, this is different somehow. I guess these guys can’t just ignore subpoenas like Eric Holder and company did during the Obama administration.

This woman would be ending up in prison under a legitimate system. Sadly, that county in that state is not a legitimate system.

I agree with the mayor of NYC. That’s something I’ve not said in quite a while.

Hesgeth needs to stand fast. So does Trump. This is a witch hunt. They can’t let the bad guys win before they even take office.

You should move to Canada and tell a doctor you’re severely depressed. They’ll help you make the right decision for society, you giant fucking pussy.

Just remember: this is the Biden administration. State decriminalization never mattered in the grand scheme of things.

There should be no minimum wage. But since there is one, this is an interesting situation. If this rule changes, I think a lot of people living full lives will be out of work. Which makes me sad.

What are they doing about cyclists? Because if this rule isn’t equally applied to them, then it’s bullshit IMO.

That’s some fine police work, Lou. Do they lock the doors from the inside? And where were the cops? And why wasn’t he shackled? Pathetic.

God Bless Texas! I love this state so much.

Here’s a catchy tune. One of a few from them. And here’s another. Probably not the one you were expecting. Enjoy the surprise.

And enjoy this lovely Wednesday, dear friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

276 Comments

  1. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Fani’ll get her ass chapped but no prison: ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY BITCHEZ!!!

    • UnCivilServant

      I have been reliably informed that Fani has information which will lead to the arrest and conviction of Hillary Clinton.

      • AlexinCT

        You saying she is going to commit suicide?

    • sloopyinca

      I’m not sure I like a system where every judge and every DA in a state are elected by popular vote.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        They’re lawyers (ugh, not our lawyers here though, you people are great) AND politicians, a dangerous combo.

      • UnCivilServant

        What is your preferred method for filling these offices?

      • Ted S.

        There is no good system to pick judges and prosecutors.

        As Juvenal asked 1900 years ago, who watches the watchers?

      • sloopyinca

        I don’t know what my preferred system would be. I just think it’s tough to elect impartial people over and over again, which is what you need in a judiciary.

        If you’re going to elect them, perhaps limit judges to a single term. And do the same with DAs?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Some kind of random number generated assignment UCS, let’s put Elon on it.

      • Not Adahn

        Agents from the Bureau of Watcher Watching, duh.

      • rhywun

        I have never looked into why some judges are elected and others aren’t – it is a complete mystery to me.

        They’re lawyers […] AND politicians, a dangerous combo.

        Aren’t 99% or so of all politicians also lawyers…? They sure are dangerous.

      • juris imprudent

        I just think it’s tough to elect impartial people over and over again, which is what you need in a judiciary.

        The election is the only mechanism of accountability when they are granted absolute immunity. I’d prefer the end of immunity. Even fucking Roman officials faced accountability when they left office.

      • Bobarian LMD

        What is your preferred method for filling these offices?

        A truckload of riprap.

  2. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Gonna be a lot of pissed off Floridians if Trump nabs Ronnie D. Ultimately though, Trump’s prone to folding like a beach chair when things aren’t working out but we’ll see.

    • R C Dean

      Yeah, he got rolled with Gaetz. If he gets rolled again with Hegseth, I’ll be willing to say we can put a fork in his Drain the Swamp II Boogaloo before he even takes office.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Isn’t DeSantos termed out? Seems a good place to put him if he is, keeps him loyal and still in the mix.

      Hegseth was a long shot to start with.

      • UnCivilServant

        His term runs till 27. Leave him as governor.

      • The Last American Hero

        No shit. God knows what the NIH will try to do as the mid-terms approach.

    • Pat

      If his abortive campaign was good for anything, it was revealing that his national prospects are somewhere between Vermin Supreme and Jill Stein. He should be bucking for a Fox News gig after he’s term limited. Maybe take a crack at Rick Scott’s seat when he dies or retires.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Nobody that wasn’t a good candidate for the warpig, chamber-of-commerce, big government, never trumper wing of the party was gonna pull votes while Trump was running.

        I believe RDS would have been the guy that pulled Trumpers if Trump ain’t there.

      • rhywun

        There certainly was a concerted effort to convince America how “unelectable” he was. I wasn’t buying it.

  3. Shpip

    Although the Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms, there are limits to the kinds of weapons people are allowed to possess. Post-1986, these weapons — known to the ATF as Class 3/Title II and to the gun industry as “posties”— have been restricted for official government use because of their deadly firepower.

    Time for SCOTUS to gut the Hughes Amendment.

    “Congress knew almost 100 years ago, in the days of Al Capone, that fully automatic weapons were unusually dangerous,” ATF Director Steven Dettelbach said a public address on Feb. 28, 2023. “They have no place in our communities.”

    Al Capone was already in prison, and the 18th Amendment had already been repealed (robbing the gangsters of a huge source of revenue) by the time the Gun Control Act of 1934 was passed. Steve Dettelbach is a disingenuous hack.

    • Nephilium

      Wasn’t the first ban on sawed off shotguns, which were determined to have “no military use” (although I’m sure quite a few trench fighters would argue that they had a use)?

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        I think sawed off’s were banned by the Geneva convention.

        Machine guns and SBR’s were tax stamped out of commission, ie not banned, in ’34, while ’68 was originally to protect MA gun makers from cheap, foreign makes (like Walther, and Mauser…) but after Bobby’s death that was changed.

      • WTF

        United States v. Miller

        The Supreme Court reversed the district court, holding that the Second Amendment does not guarantee an individual the right to keep and bear a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun. Writing for the unanimous Court, Justice James Clark McReynolds reasoned that because possessing a sawed-off double barrel shotgun does not have a reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia, the Second Amendment does not protect the possession of such an instrument.

      • EvilSheldon

        The National Firearms Act of 1934 covered short-barrelled shotguns and rifles, machine guns, silencers, and a general category called AOWs (Any Other Weapons – essentially guns that don’t look like guns.) Post-’34, all of those things had to be federally registered, and a $200 transfer tax levied.

        In 1986, as part-and-parcel of the Firearms Owners Protection Act (signed into law by Ronald Reagan), the BATFE closed the NFA registry to new machine guns. Any machine gun registered post-’86 can only be transferred between federally licensed firearms dealers, and law enforcement agencies. Hence calling them ‘posties’ or ‘post samples’. This is not the same thing as a Title II or NFA firearm – the article gets this wrong.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        @sheldon

        No space for SBRs in the military, eh?

        Isn’t the standard issue military rifle a SBR (M4 w/14” barrel)?

    • juris imprudent

      I don’t think there are grounds for gutting the Hughes Amendment – just for gutting everyone that supported it in Congress at the time. Granted, most if not all of them are dead.

    • Pat

      fully automatic weapons were unusually dangerous

      A well placed shot from a .30-06 hunting rifle is orders of magnitude more likely to actually kill someone than spraying full auto at them unless you’re about 5 feet away, or a 1980s action movie star hip firing an M60 at hordes of baddies, but I guess “We don’t want regular citizens to be able to use suppressive firing just in case we decide to get frisky with the 14 APCs and machine guns that were somehow crucial to the safety of East Bumblefuck, Kansas, population 307” just doesn’t sound as convincing.

      • AlexinCT

        I find this shit about fully automatic weapons being so dangerous laughable. If I wanted to kill a lot of people I would only use my hand gun to hijack the gasoline delivery tanker close to my target, and I am telling you after that the death count will be in the fucking thousands. The people fearmongering about fully automatic weapons are either severely lacking in imagination, or lying fucking scumbags.

      • juris imprudent

        Or? Embrace the power of and there Alex.

      • Suthenboy

        “The people fearmongering about fully automatic weapons are either severely lacking in imagination, or lying fucking scumbags.”

        This is accurate.
        They want you to be helpless for a reason.

      • Pope Jimbo

        If you don’t want to wade through the entire video in the link above, here are the lowlights

    • Suthenboy

      “… there are limits to the kinds of weapons people are allowed to possess. ”

      The supreme law of the land says different.

  4. Pat

    It’ll end 6-3

    If you mean overturning the TN ban, you’re probably right. If you mean upholding it, I’d take a second look at Gorsuch’s and Roberts’ past opinions. Gorsuch has never met a piece of QUILTBAG legislation he failed to uphold.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I’ll take 6-3, maybe 5-4, in upholding but it’ll be a narrowly tailored decision.

    • juris imprudent

      Gorsuch is pretty good though about what is and is not a Constitutional issue. This is not, because it is state law.

      • Pat

        Gorsuch is pretty good though about what is and is not a Constitutional issue.

        Title IX, for example?

        He’s pretty much Roberts with a hard on for the 4A, and playing the Anthony Kennedy of the current court on fashionable sexual politics.

      • juris imprudent

        Friday’s decision does not indicate how the Supreme Court might rule on any of the new Title IX rules, including the provisions regarding gender identity and sexual orientation.

        I think that’s a harsh take on the guy. No one is perfect – certainly not Alito nor even Thomas.

    • rhywun

      No idea how they will vote but it might wind up just like abortion – there will be sanctuary chop-shops where children are free to slice off their stuff and that won’t be good enough for the left.

      • DrOtto

        It’s their mothers doing this primarily.

  5. Pat

    scandal-plagued Secretary of Defense pick

    I’ve admittedly not followed this that closely, but haven’t the majority of these “scandals” been over shit like having a vaguely religious tattoo that’s ostensibly a symbol of “white supremacy” like the OK hand sign?

    • sloopyinca

      That and he’s been accused by people who won’t give their name of being a bit boozy. The people who have worked with him willing to give their name say it’s bullshit.

      • juris imprudent

        Look those people defending him publicly, they stand to gain – because he’ll reward them! Only the anonymous tell the truth!!!

      • rhywun

        IIRC there was a consensual sexual encounter at a hotel. zOMG!

      • slumbrew

        I read the police report on the hotel thing.

        “Maybe I was drugged? I’m not sure.”

        Bitch, you got drunk and fucked some guy while your husband was waiting for you back in the room with the kids. Which is why you had a “I fell asleep on someone’s couch” excuse ready to go.

        You weren’t drugged, you just regret what you did while you were drunk. Likely not the first or last time.

        The police were right to decline to press charges.

      • AlexinCT

        He is being Kavanaughed. And the idiots are acting as if this shit should be taken seriously.

    • Suthenboy

      There have been numerous warnings that the fake-ass #MeToo crap would do damage to legitimate victims.What happened with Kavenaugh and Trump has me assuming these kinds of accusations are fictions. Now Hesgeth? Give me a break. I dont even want to hear the details. It’s a lie until someone proves different. BTW, I hold proof to a high standard.

  6. Shpip

    Donald Trump is reportedly considering an 11th hour move to flip out controversial Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth for friend-turned-rival Ron DeSantis.

    As Chris Bray put it in his most recent Substack, the attacks on Hegseth (and Gabbard and RFK Jr et al) are just a spoiling maneuver.

    Between November 5 and January 20, every word you’ve heard from the “mainstream news media,” and every word you will hear, is designed to impede, to dirty up, to muddy. Tulsi Gabbard, who currently holds active command authority in the Army Reserve, is a Russian asset, something she somehow wasn’t when she was the vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee. Kash Patel, a former federal prosecutor, NSC and ODNI staffer, and staff counsel to the House Intelligence Committee, has no background at all that qualifies him to lead the FBI, and his appointment is CRAAAAAAAZY!!!!

    And on and on and on. It’s all absolute horseshit, and it has no purpose at all but to try to prevent the incoming administration from being ready on the day when they take over the executive branch.

    The entire article is worth your time.

    • juris imprudent

      The horseshit is piling up faster and deeper than in early 20th century NYC. Trump is appointing LOYALISTS!!1! Sure not like Obama and his pick of Holder to be AG, nothing but a disloyal, dedicated to the public, servant of the people there!

      • B.P.

        To be fair, didn’t wikileaks show that Obama turned over the duties of appointing his first-term cabinet to Citibank?

    • Drake

      Just grow a pair, do the recess appointments, and support primary challenges to RINOs.

      • juris imprudent

        The Senate isn’t going to be in fucking recess when these are submitted.

      • R C Dean

        But the Senate can go into recess whenever it wants. Supposedly there was a deal that it would do so to allow Trump’s picks to go through, but that was before Trump started showing weakness, so that deal is probably off.

      • juris imprudent

        That’s fucking asinine. It’s the start of a new Congress, there is business to attend to – including appropriations for the remained of the FY.

      • Drake

        That’s why they had Mike Johnson in Mar-a-Lago smiling with the Trump team a couple weeks ago.

        If the nominations are stalled, Johnson will put the House into recess, then Trump can force the Senate into recess and the RINOs can suck it.

      • juris imprudent

        It really is impossible for the Republicans to actually govern, isn’t it?

      • Drake

        Too many are owned. You’d have to take most of the Senators out and shoot them.

  7. Ownbestenemy

    Out of morbid curiosity I decided to see if Watts (Producer of Old Man), Ford (Writer of Spiderman: Homecoming) and Jon Favreau could salvage the rotting corpse.

    Its a ‘kids’ show. Sorta. Has all the nostalgic feels of Stand By Me or Goonies. Boys appear to be boys and *gasp* play fight! Girls are a bit tom-boyish, which isn’t bad as they aren’t portrayed, so far, as girls who are boys.

    One scene does have a weirdly same feel as say, Pirates of the Caribbean, but didn’t shy away of what a futuristic den of debauchery might look like. Dancers, gambling, fights.

    I know K. Kennedy still has her grubby fingers entrenched but so far her influence wasn’t felt in the first two episodes.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Err…so I missed what the show was. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.

      • UnCivilServant

        Is that where the ship is full of the undead?

    • Suthenboy

      “…salvage the rotting corpse…”
      Why would anyone do that?
      Just a spit take here but why doesnt someone with a bit of talent and imagination come up with something original? The digging up of corpses to turn their pockets out looking for spare change is long past tiresome.

      Jumping the shark has jumped the shark FFS.

      • UnCivilServant

        Just a spit take here but why doesnt someone with a bit of talent and imagination come up with something original?

        Because the people controlling the funding are not those with talent or imagination.

        If you look at the little filmmakers online there are plenty, but the studios are full of hidebound beancounters who are toxically risk averse, and diversity hires who are incapable of original thought.

  8. rhywun

    Liverpool take on Newcastle

    Non-peacocks get Villa-Brentford. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Thanks for nothing, NBC.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Man, I think Asians give Germans a run for the weirdest pr0n.

      • AlexinCT

        The Germans just like to shit and piss on each other… Them Asians love you long time.

    • bacon-magic

      I do declare we need troops there now before I get the vapors! – Lindsey

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Invasion, or invitation?

      You Be The Judge!

  9. juris imprudent

    “If I’m guilty of this, every cop in the nation’s going to jail,”

    Stop, stop!! My…

    • EvilSheldon

      I have a tough time really criticizing a cop for selling back-channel machine guns, as long as he’s selling them to me and my buddies…

      • juris imprudent

        Just as illegal for them as it is for you or me.

      • EvilSheldon

        Nobody else seems to believe in equality before the law, so I’ve pretty well given up on it myself.

      • juris imprudent

        Yeah, law is for the little people.

        And that’s how we all end up saying “say hello to my little friend”.

    • Fourscore

      Kids are smart, adaptive and quickly figure out who has the keys to happiness.

      Thanks, Jimbo, good way to start the day

    • sloopyinca

      Half the reason I post links is just to ensure you get a place to post your Daily Rays™️.

      Thanks, buddy. These never fail to make me smile.

      • Pope Jimbo

        *scuffs foot on ground while staring at shoes*
        *mumbles thanks to Mrs. Caron my third grade teacher*

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Hey, Jimbo, what did you do in Korea to cause yesterdays Kerfuffle?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Lack of enunciation.

        Fucking journalos. I was talking about the state of Korean marital laws that I struggle under and they heard “Korean martial law”.

        Now Mrs. Holiness is really pissed. She said that our sexy role playing is now off the table.

        We were going to play “Sexy Librarian”. That is where I’d sit quietly and she’d read a book.

    • Nephilium

      Well, one bad apple spoils the bunch. The only way we can be pure of motive and thought is if we purge the MAGAts from our ranks with cleansing fire.

      • juris imprudent

        FEMA’s version of The Monsters Have Arrived on Maple Street?

      • Nephilium

        JI:

        “The MAGAts Have Arrived on Maple Street”.

    • rhywun

      They have a point. Given that the left would trash any MAGA signs in ‘their’ neighborhoods, an intact Trump sign is evidence of likely broad support in the surrounding area and therefore unworthy of assistance.

    • AlexinCT

      This is the government telling you that anyone saying that government needs to be overhauled, and most of it scrapped, is attacking their democracy….

      Think about that..

  10. Pope Jimbo

    This made me laugh.

    It reminds me of a story that I saw in the Pioneer Press (St. Paul’s paper) back in the ’90s. They used to have a column called the Bulletin Board and it ran short stories from readers.

    One December, someone wrote in about her parents and their habit of wrapping empty boxes and putting them under the christmas tree. Then during the holidays if she or her siblings were bad, the parents would say “Whelp, that seems like it is worth a present” and would toss one of the empty boxes into their wood furnace. Obviously it led to much consternation amongst the kids.

    No idea if it was true, but it made me laugh and laugh.

    • Fourscore

      Cruel but funny . Grinch only got one, hope it was Daddy’s gift

    • The Other Kevin

      We have a friend who dresses up in a very detailed Grinch outfit and visits people for photos in the weeks before Christmas. I don’t think she’s ever had to deal with a counter-attack.

  11. Shpip

    You should move to Canada and tell a doctor you’re severely depressed. They’ll help you make the right decision for society, you giant fucking pussy.

    Related

    Maybe they just have less tolerance for neurotic harpies over there.

  12. Q Continuum

    “Trump[…]promised to roll back protections for transgender people”

    The word “protections” is doing an awful lot of work there.

    • rhywun

      The work it’s doing is a bullshit gaslighting lie.

  13. Pope Jimbo

    Turkey on Turkey violence

    Hatebirds have some competition.

    As the holiday shopping and shipping spree is now in full effect, the United States Postal Service is making an odd request to help get packages delivered on time.

     
    To help ensure packages reach their intended destination on time, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is asking residents in Northeast Minneapolis not to feed wild turkeys.
     
    The USPS says many turkeys in the area have displayed aggressive behavior toward mail carriers, sometimes causing delays to delivery services.

    • Nephilium

      Happened to a suburb here a while back. I only see turkeys in my area a couple times a year, deer are the bigger problem.

      • Pope Jimbo

        The Best Buy corporate HQ is infested with turkeys. My sister works there and says that in the spring, there is a good chunk of the parking lot that is unusable because the toms are strutting around trying to protect their harems.

      • Nephilium

        Pope Jimbo:

        One place I worked at had a medium sized pond on the property. This meant that it was infested with Canadian Geese (hate birds, the birds that hate). They would nest in the lawn, and by the building, and attack anyone who came too close. The more urban people laughed at them at first, until the first time they were chased off by a hissing goose waddling up at them.

        Same place also banned taking shortcuts across the grass “for safety concerns”. The safety concern was that some idiot slipped on some goose shit and fell on their ass.

      • Ted S.

        I’m sorry you slipped on goose shot and fell on your ass, Neph.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Neph:

        The local playground in our neighborhood is covered in goose shit (especially in spring time). We used to have a local cop who lived nearby and he chastised another local who was letting her dog run unleashed in the park (no ticket, just a warning).

        The cop and his wife heard about it from all the mothers who were tired of cleaning goose shit off their kids’ clothes after every trip to the park.

      • rhywun

        I am surprised Best Buy is still in business.

        There is one in my dying mall that’s only holding on until its lease runs out so it and all its recently abandoned neighbors can be turned into a storage facility.

      • Nephilium

        Ted S.:

        Hell, if it was me, they would have just laughed at me. It was a manager, so that’s what made it important enough to ban.

  14. Fourscore

    “Some ammunition can take out a helicopter or blow straight through an armored tank followed by a concrete building, out the other side, then explode, hitting targets 18 football fields away. These guns can spew hundreds of rounds each minute, faster than the speed of sound”

    I need to check to see if this available at Fleet Farm.

    • Jarflax

      The weapons that fire this ammunition are uncomfortable to carry. 120mm smoothbores really make your pants sag.

      • DrOtto

        120mm sounds big, but is under 5 inches. That won’t make the pants sag.

  15. Trials and Trippelations

    “ Several career agents shared anecdotes about letting police departments off with warnings after repeatedly finding their service weapons in the hands of private citizens. The agents explained that prosecutors have been generally reluctant to charge these cases, and the bureau stated that “it is our goal to educate, not investigate,” according to a 2017 law enforcement memo.

    We’re not looking to prosecute fellow law enforcement officers,” said Eric Harden, former special agent in charge of the ATF’s Los Angeles field division”

    So BATF only enforces the law half the time? And only against peons and non LEO criminals

  16. Pope Jimbo

    Some people just don’t know how to play the game. Why can’t we go back to civility in govt?

    After months of tense debate, a split Anoka County Board on Tuesday approved a nearly 17% property tax levy increase, the highest hike in recent history, as officials work to close a projected $40 million budget deficit.
     
    In a meeting that became heated at times, with some commissioners calling for civility and an end to dysfunction, the board voted 4-3 to raise the levy by 16.9%.
     
    –snip to way down in the story–
     
    Commissioners Julie Braastad and John Heinrich — who in November won a seat on the board left vacant when Matt Look resigned — also voted against the increase. Braastad sparked tension when she accused the board of overspending and prioritizing wants over needs.
     
    Several other commissioners said that wasn’t a true.
     
    “This attacking of colleagues and blame game has got to stop,” Reinert said in response. “This board needs to be more functional. We need to work together.”

    What kind of a Brassstad would suggest that cutting spending is the way forward! All the experts in govt know that the rachet only goes one way.

    • juris imprudent

      Property tax revenue doesn’t suddenly plunge, so it isn’t like they’re dealing with a revenue shortfall. Hmmm.

    • Fourscore

      I’m getting a tatt, just to see if that works

      • Pope Jimbo

        If you weren’t so skinny Fourscore, I’d say go for this one (Maybe NSFW)

    • R C Dean

      “Research indicates that women with tattoos are evaluated more negatively than women without tattoos on numerous qualities. Further, men perceive better chances for sexual success with tattooed women than those without visible tattoos.”

      Well, which is it?

      • UnCivilServant

        RC, I don’t think you’re so young and naive to not get that “loose woman” can be regarded as a negative quality while indicating a higher probability of intercourse.

      • Shpip

        You go hardware store on ’em (nut and bolt).

        You don’t wife ’em up, because they’re likely to cheat on you and leave you in the end, taking half your stuff with them (see also: strippers, redheads, women named Cinnamon or Tiffani).

      • Nephilium

        Famously said by my dad one Thanksgiving (about one of his brother’s “female roommate”s) “Well, she has tattoos, so she’s likely a prostitute.”

        Sitting at the table were his daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter… all of whom have tattoos.

      • UnCivilServant

        So, prostitution is a family business?

      • rhywun

        all of whom have tattoos

        Not having one is the edgier choice these days.

      • Gender Traitor

        So I might actually be edgy? Woo hoo! 😃

      • UnCivilServant

        Ink is ugly.

        You’re not going to change my mind.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I was convinced that tats would be uncool by now.

        I figured all the young gals today would look at the gals who got a cute butterfly tat in the ’90s that now looks like Mothra and say No Thanks.

      • UnCivilServant

        They are uncool, Jimbo, there are just a lot of uncool people out there.

      • AlexinCT

        Especially on OnlyFans and in porn.

        Bitches with daddy issues are guaranteed to spoil their body with tats and piercings before or on the way to swinging on the poll for dollars.

      • Pat

        My most recent romantic entanglement had 3 tattoos, which possibly disqualifies me from having a valid opinion on the matter. That said, my longstanding outlook is that unless they’re on hands or faces, I don’t care one way or t’other, providing they’re not garish. My prospects are limited enough without reducing the pool by a third.

      • rhywun

        I was convinced that tats would be uncool by now.

        I have been wondering at the glacial pace of changes in fashion in the last 20 years or so.

        It is easy to pick out 70s, 80s, and 90s tastes in hair, clothes, etc. Ink too.

        I cannot for the life of me pin a decade on anything since 2000.

      • Nephilium

        rhywun:

        I would say the internet really locked in the homogenization of fashion. Back in the day, you would have different styles build up in different areas, and then spread, merge, change and evolve. Now styles are more global than before.

    • Pope Jimbo

      In the Olden Days, tats were an indicator of a Sure Thing. Just like dudes with tats back then shouldn’t be fucked with. The tats proved they had done something truly stupid in their life like join a bike gang, or the service.

      Now? Doubt it. Too many people have them.

      • PieInTheSky

        I think George Carlin said “It was originally to piss of the squares. Now the square have them.”

    • Pat

      Interestingly enough, I was just having a conversation on this topic with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago. He’s firmly in the “all women with tattoos are whores” camp (among a long list of rather interesting correlations he insists are universal). I pointed out that it’s probably silly to draw that inference in [current year] on account of 38% of women have at least one tattoo, so it’s too common to be a useful metric anymore.

      • Pat

        In other news, I could just scroll to the bottom of the comments in the thread and see that his holiness already covered this far more succinctly.

      • R C Dean

        He’s firmly in the “all women with tattoos are whores” camp

        “My wife has a tattoo. Is she a whore, Bob?”

      • Certified Public Asshat

        And all 38% are not anymore interesting than before.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Tats have become so widespread that even Korea and Japan don’t ban you from hot springs and public bath houses anymore if you have a tat.

      The last one I visited had a sign that said something like “We understand that worldwide customs have changed and we now allow tattoos, but please try to visit at times when families and small children won’t be present.”

      • Gustave Lytton

        First caving on twenty plastic bags when you buy a single candy bar, now tattoos. Stand firm, asiastics!

    • AlexinCT

      What? You do not now Patt’n MeGroin?

    • PieInTheSky

      better than last Wednesday .

  17. Shpip

    Weird sports stat of the day: in the ACC / SEC Challenge (that’s squeakyshoeball for those of you who don’t keep up) the SEC is leading their hoops-mad counterparts 9-1.

    The one loss is Kentucky.

      • Pope Jimbo

        All I’ve heard this year is that Penny and the Memphis State Tigers beat the fucking UConn fuckwads in the Maui Classic tourney.

      • Shpip

        Yeah, depending on which poll you pay attention to, they have 7-8 teams in the top 25.

        Of the six games remaining in this year’s Challenge, the most interesting are

        (2) Auburn @ (9) Duke
        (10) Alabama @ (20) UNC
        Virginia @ (13) Florida

        The home teams are favored in all three matchups.

    • Nephilium

      I’ll follow up with a fun sports fact from the Monday Night Football game:

      NFL Research: Jameis Winston is the first player in the Super Bowl era with 400-plus passing yards, four passing touchdowns and multiple pick-sixes thrown in a single game. When factoring in the 171 interception return yards gained by Denver against Winston, the 668 combined passing yards plus interception return yards off of his passes is the most by any quarterback in a single game in NFL history.

      • B.P.

        Two pick sixes, and then one that was picked in the endzone right at the end of the game and should’ve been returned the other way for another pick six if the linebacker were a little faster. He got across the 50. My kid was jumping up and down yelling “200 yards in pick sixes!”.

    • Trials and Trippelations
  18. Pat

    Stabbed by an Islamist, now silenced by the state

    Earlier this year, activist and blogger Michael Stürzenberger became the victim of an Islamist attack because of his harsh criticism of Islam. Now, six months later, he has been convicted for incitement to hatred and given a fine by a regional court in Hamburg – also because of his harsh criticism of Islam.
    _
    In May, a former refugee from Afghanistan targeted and attacked Stürzenberger and six others during a rally organised by Stürzenberger’s campaign group, Pax Europa, in Mannheim, south-west Germany. The incident left one policeman dead, Stürzenberger severely injured – he needed several operations on his face and knee – and a nation in shock.
    _
    Stürzenberger’s incitement conviction is not directly related to the incidents in Mannheim. Instead, it relates to statements he made at a rally in Hamburg in 2020. He was originally found guilty of incitement to hatred and given a six-month prison sentence at a Hamburg court in September 2022, but appealed the conviction. Last month the court upheld the original verdict, but reduced his sentence to a fine of €3,600.
    _
    According to reports, his punishment was reduced because he had since become a victim of an assassination attempt. Another mitigating factor was that he had not given any public speeches since the Mannheim attack.

    “Fine, if you pay the jizya you can go free, just don’t go bringing up that time that some people did some things to you again.”

    • PieInTheSky

      I wonder why the “far right” parties are on the rise. I guess we can never tell why people suddenly turn racist. No one can understand the deplorable lower classes.

    • rhywun

      And they wonder why the AfD party is gaining in popularity (that’s the party the Tiefer Staat is trying to ban).

    • AlexinCT

      The European elite that have allowed the invasion, knowing that their own citizens have been disarmed and made sheeple, while the invaders are bloodthirsty barbarians, will always choose to punish and hamstring their own citizens over the invasion force. The elite are comfy and live behind walls protecting them from direct impact of that invasion they instigated – for now – and can keep their first world morals and their virtue signaling going as their people suffer.

  19. Q Continuum

    “This is a difficult state of cognitive dissonance to be in, given that I have a lovely and kind husband and a young son who epitomizes the term mama’s boy”

    With your attitude not for long.

    “So how do I separate my fear of Men (capital M) from my love of men (lowercase m)?”

    Ummmm… wut? How about stop watching MSNBC and/or reading The Atlantic? I get the strong sense that most of your time is also spent with a gaggle of lunatic Winemoms fretting about how Trumpitler is going to personally inseminate you and force you to carry the baby. Maybe stop hanging out with them.

    Or don’t. Who fucking cares about your insanity.

    • Pat

      Does anybody know which company carries Hillary Clinton’s current policy?

    • PieInTheSky

      Insurance is a cutthroat business in the US. This would not have happened with the NHS.

    • Tundra

      It’s wild. And they are already calling it a hit.

      • PieInTheSky

        don;t be silly hits only happen in movies not in real life.

  20. PieInTheSky

    Nate Silver
    @NateSilver538
    So of course I’m a dork and have spent the past 8 hours on this and eliminating summer DST is terrible, would reduce the amount of daylight people get by a lot (~40 minutes/day at the Summer Solstice) given empirical data on sleeping patterns as per the American Time Use Survey.

    https://x.com/NateSilver538/status/1864210215043813707

    I would rather skip the change and loose half an hour of sunlight during Summer Solstice. Then again I am a morning person.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      If MAHA is real, then the only answer is permanent standard time.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I’m with you Pie. I’m a morning person too and it pisses me off that I lose that hour of daylight – especially in the spring time.

    • R C Dean

      Or, people could go to be earlier and get up earlier. I don’t really think we are each biologically locked in to going to bed at a certain time on the clock.

      • PieInTheSky

        I thought there was some evidence that people have different biological rhythms. But I thin most are not getting up early out of habit not biorhythm. I heard more people who were going to bed late / waking up late and started going to bed early / waking early saying they feel better and sleep better, but not that much the other way. But some are definitely night owls as they say.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Do DST enjoyers get up earlier on standard time? No, they do not.

      • Fourscore

        ‘Early to bed, early to rise” is boring

        But it gets you an early tee time or easy access at the boat landing

    • juris imprudent

      Then again I am a morning person.

      Sure, sure you are. Crawling in before the sun comes up.

    • rhywun

      Pfft just return to the standard. There are just as many evening as morning people.

      Or split the difference.

      • Tundra

        Adjust all the time zones to maximize sunlight.

      • Pat

        It’s wild that this debate cropped up *after* the proliferation of electricity and indoor lighting, precisely when it should have been least relevant in human history.

      • Sensei

        Spectacular!

    • AlexinCT

      Hey people fucked by the system are going to start to take action against the elite fucking them over since they have lost any faith in the corrupt and captured legal system. I bet we fnd out this shooter had that sort of beef.

      • rhywun

        Seems like a lot of work for a disgruntled customer unless he’s looney tunes.

        Although fleeing on a bicycle seems like maybe he is just that.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    I watched Fail Safe last night. Very god. What would happen now? We might find out.

  22. PieInTheSky

    Fr. George
    @FrGeorgedeIdaho
    One of the main reasons so many people are converting to Orthodoxy in America is that our Faith is “stable.” We are old fashioned. We don’t chase fads. We aren’t coming up with new stuff. Even our “rock stars” try to make a point of emphasizing their teachings as being in a direct line with the Apostles (not that they don’t sprinkle in some of their very ‘new’ opinions, but that’s natural even among the honest). If the priest (or bishop) dies or retires, there isn’t a crisis over successors and mass exodus. It’s not personality driven. People crave stability they can’t even find in their families. They are tired of chaos, and they want peace. They look at a grizzled old man like me and see consistency.

    https://x.com/FrGeorgedeIdaho/status/1864140194846495098

      • UnCivilServant

        I thought Orthodox was traditional.

      • Tundra

        It is. That was a poor choice of words. Should have been “mainstream.”

      • PieInTheSky

        I assumed traditional in America where Orthodoxy is rare… In that sens traditional would be protestant.

      • Pat

        ‘masculine’ Orthodox Christianity

        Speaking as a professing Christian, albeit such a shitty one that I wouldn’t be at all surprised to receive some bad news on judgement day should it come to pass, there is pretty much nothing stereotypically masculine about Christianity, and the closer you get to first through third century orthodoxy, the less masculine it gets.

      • UnCivilServant

        Of the five churches near my house 20% of them are Russian Orthodox. 40% are Catholic. 20% are Protestant, and 20% refused to have their denomination online, so I doubt they’re actually a church.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        there is pretty much nothing stereotypically masculine about Christianity, and the closer you get to first through third century orthodoxy, the less masculine it gets.

        There is having men be the leaders of the church at the very least.

      • Pat

        There is having men be the leaders of the church at the very least.

        True enough, although that’s the norm rather than the exception even in protestant circles. But both Christ and Paul encouraged the fellas, particularly those in a position of leadership, to become “eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven,” to borrow a phrase. When you contextualize male leadership within the pacifism, pseudo-castrated ascetic celibacy, anti-materialism, and non-competition prescribed by Christ as the ideal, it doesn’t come off as aggressively masculine in the way the term is typically understood.

      • rhywun

        frequently attend confession, recite prescribed prayers, and endure extreme fasting

        Nope, OK, nope.

      • PieInTheSky

        most orthodox do not fast extremely, just go vegan for a few weeks before Easter, a few weeks before Christmas, and Wednesday and Friday in the other weeks.

      • PieInTheSky

        theoretically there should be no alcohol for lent but many people do drink.

      • Tundra

        I read it that way too, CPA. But I do agree with Pat, it’s not masculine in the sense we typically use the term.

        Mostly I think it’s simply not crazy-assed LGBTXYZ bullshit run by some shriveled Karen.

      • rhywun

        Mostly I think it’s simply not crazy-assed LGBTXYZ bullshit run by some shriveled Karen.

        This describes every single Christian church around me – a half dozen or so that I have personally observed in my walks – and I have my doubts about how Christian some of them actually are.

      • Tundra

        and I have my doubts about how Christian some of them actually are.

        Narrator: “They aren’t.”

      • The Last American Hero

        “Mass” exodus. I see what they did there.

      • rhywun

        Narrator: “They aren’t.”

        And I don’t mean just the Unitarians.

      • Tundra

        Rhy:

        Definitely not just them.

        But it’s not new. This article is a few years old but I really liked the take:

        https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/09/20/the-sixth-death-of-the-church/

        A great quote from Chesterton:

        They are always telling us that priests and ceremonies are not religion and that religious organization can be a hollow sham; but they hardly realise how true it is. It is so true that three or four times at least in the history of Christendom the whole soul seemed to have gone out of Christianity; and almost every man in his heart expected its end…. When Christianity rose again suddenly and threw them, it was almost as unexpected as Christ rising from the dead.…

        …This is the final fact, and it is the most extraordinary of all. The faith has not only often died but it has often died of old age….it has survived not only war but peace. It has not only died often but degenerated often and decayed often; it has survived its own weakness and even its own surrender… It ended and it began again.

        I think this is partially the reason for the rising popularity of Orthodoxy. A sort of spiritual creative destruction.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    He wanted to keep the community safe

    Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the day after Trump announced his choice to lead the DEA, said Chronister’s efforts to keep his community safe during a pandemic “disqualified” him for the post. Around the same time, the far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association issued a statement saying that it was “shocked and dismayed” by the selection.

    These fucking people.

    • UnCivilServant

      His efforts to enforce illegal laws and put the jackboot to his community do disqualify him for any public office in my opinion.

      • AlexinCT

        Liberals honestly belief government use of force, especially when it is used to fuck over individuals, is a great thing. That is because they have been conditioned by the marxism steeping their cult to believe government is god in that progressive religion, and therefore, the arbiter of justice and solver of problems.

    • Tundra

      They still haven’t grasped that the world just left them in the dust.

    • Pat

      Safety… security… blah blah blah.

    • rhywun

      Tapped out at the lies about Gaetz that for some reason the author led with despite having nothing to do with the actual topic at hand.

      Never change, MSNBC.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        I’m not even sure why bother to mock outlets like MSNBC. Their viewership would crater (even more) if there were no one mocking them.

  24. PieInTheSky

    Absolutely insane, must-watch clip of Daniel Penny’s prosecutor Dafna Yoran. She talks about how she reduced a clear cut felony murder charge to (manslaughter?) because she “felt sorry for the past trauma” that the armed robber had endured. “Restorative justice” insanity.

    https://x.com/captivedreamer7/status/1864171758028231081

    In the end retributive justice can be seen as the purest form of justice. let the punishment fit the crime. I think I first heard that via C S Lewis

    • AlexinCT

      This trial is a travesty. The message here is that they will never tolerate anyone fighting the will of the government elite, even if said will is downright evil and deadly for the majority of people. I would never submit myself to a court in any progressive metropolis. There will be no justice there.

      • rhywun

        I heard there have been racist protests outside the courthouse every day.

        OTOH the composition of the jury and the questions they have raised are surprisingly even handed from what I have read – I think he will be acquitted.

    • WTF

      She looks exactly as you’d imagine.

    • rhywun

      The pendulum is going to swing back on this pro-crime shit just like it did in the late 90s here.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Was the insurance guy rubbed out because his company denied a claim? That would be interesting.

    • AlexinCT

      I am willing to bet money that was the likely cause.

    • slumbrew

      That’s what I would bet.

    • DrOtto

      I’m going with someone was cheating. It’s a reliable motive for a reason.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Let’s not forget the fact that Trump’s election victory was less than a month ago, and he’s already suffered two embarrassing personnel failures — with more potentially on the way.

    Those concerned about the president-elect’s competence during the transition period have plenty of evidence to point to.

    That’s it. Trump is incompetent. It has nothing to do with the DC establishment digging in their heels and doing anything they can to undermine his administration from day one. The deep state steno pool will parrot any slander, no matter how far fetched or puerile.

    • AlexinCT

      The establishment has no other weapon but smears and lies. It’s the Kavanaugh shit taken to a new level. We should resist this shit vehemently and with insults and mockery of the assholes in the machine peddling these lies.

      • The Other Kevin

        Seriously, yes. The DEA guy bowed out because of backlash from Trump supporters, which is a good thing. But he needs to dig in now because it’s just going to get worse once the hearings start.

      • juris imprudent

        Gaetz was as shot down by Republicans as by Democrats.

        I don’t mind Massie shooting down the DEA pick, at all.

      • AlexinCT

        Hegseth is an existential threat to the military industrial complex. They are going all out to wreck his nomination, because he will be the end of the gravy train, and more importantly, he will force these people to actually deliver the shit they promise for a military ready to fight (and thus, avoid future fights).

    • The Other Kevin

      Yep, Trump is incompetent. Just watch the news, and you’ll see that not ONE SINGLE Trump pick is good. Every one of them is literally the WORST. Russian assets, drunks, Nazis, unqualified, all of them.

      • Nephilium

        A recent substack I read talked about why the nominees were unqualified in some ways, they were VERY qualified to dismantle the departments (as Trump has said he wanted).

      • juris imprudent

        Neph – that makes all of them worse than Nikki!

      • rhywun

        VERY qualified to dismantle the departments

        Yup, “qualified” doesn’t have to mean what Deep State says. They’re quaking in their boots and it’s glorious to watch.

  27. Ownbestenemy

    I see Trump has floated the Happy Gilmore experience in regards to the WH Pressers.

    Funny how they are up in arms about this but not being shuttered for the past 4 years. Maybe reflect on that and then you will realize why Trump and his team are thinking of bringing in new media

    • AlexinCT

      I would completely and utterly shun the legacy media. They are nothing but a pack of propagandists and scumbags serving the very evil entity that the people elected trump to take on. Tell them all to go fuck themselves and make their usual bunk stories up without the cover of pretending to be legit.

    • The Other Kevin

      I really like this idea. Can you imagine people like Matt Taibbi or Walter Kirn asking questions? Those pressers would become worth watching. We might actually learn something.

      • Tundra

        Actual follow-up questions would be wild.

    • AlexinCT

      They are now gonna spank them with man meat lashes?

  28. The Late P Brooks

    They still haven’t grasped that the world just left them in the dust.

    The plague dead enders will go to their graves believing the people who went to Sturgis in 2020 died by the tens of thousands and were buried in secret mass graves somewhere in the Black hills by Kristi Noem. That’s the only rational explanation.

    • The Last American Hero

      Actually, the articles at the time were that is was a super spreader event that cost 47 billion in medical expenses and killed 100,000 people. How did they do that math? Well they figured out where the attendees came from using cell data and then attributed every “covid death” (with/because of potato/potahto) and hospitalization to Sturgis.

      • rhywun

        The other day I saw another reiteration of excess mortality in the U.S. versus Sweden and wondered for about the thousandth time why I have seen not a single examination of excess mortality from any second- or third-world country.

        I remember being told we had to give them free vaccines or the corpses would be stacked so high you couldn’t see other them. And then… nothing.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    From Ownbestenemy’s link:

    Traditionally, the first row of the James Brady Briefing Room has been occupied by the four major networks of NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox; The Associated Press; CNN; and Reuters.

    Other larger outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, CBS News Radio, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Bloomberg have seats in the second row, while some news organizations do not have formal seats in the room. The Hill has a seat in the fourth row.

    During President Biden’s administration and Trump’s first term, seat assignments were reviewed and determined by a committee of four members of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) board.

    It’s like ranks of nobility are being stripped away. No wonder they’re distraught.

    • The Other Kevin

      I always liked that hockey fans will put away any rivalries for things like this. Same thing when they honor a player who’s retiring or hit a milestone.

      In other hockey news, I will be in Denver for a few game Jan 10-12. Hope to see you there.

      • Tundra

        I’ll be there. Do you know where you are playing?

      • The Other Kevin

        I think it’s the mini tournament we did last year, but I don’t see any schedule yet.

      • Tundra

        I hope it’s in Superior again. That rink was awesome!

  30. PieInTheSky

    The Canadian healthcare system requires people to do a lot of waiting.

    These units are not wait times in days, they’re wait times in weeks.

    For comparison, Americans seeking a gynecologist had average waits of about four weeks to get from a GP to a specialist in the same year.

    https://x.com/cremieuxrecueil/status/1864198417070620792

    Is it at least equal waiting? Or can the rich somehow unfairly wait less? Would the wait times be lower if the rich paid their fair share? So many questions

    • WTF

      The rich Canadians don’t wait because they go to the US to get their treatment.

    • UnCivilServant

      There are private medical centers in Canada, so anyone willing to pay doesn’t have to wait in line.

  31. rhywun

    JFC neighbor in heat woke me up at 3am last night and now she’s at it again during the day. Landlord is going to get an earful if this shit continues.

    • The Last American Hero

      Does she have tattoos?

    • Suthenboy

      One day in the not so distant future you are going to ask yourself “I passed one up? What the fuck was I thinking?”

      Rub the sleep out of. your eyes and get busy.

      • Ted S.

        I don’t think this lady is Rhywun’s type.

  32. Not Adahn

    Today’s morbid, probably excessively contrarian thought:

    Fully-automatic weapons would reduce school shooting fatalities.

    1. The most common factor limiting the duration of a school shooting other than being confronted by an armed individual is the weight of the ammunition carried.
    2. Full auto results in more shots fired per target, therefore fewer targets.
    3. Immediate lethality for each victim shot would probably increase.
    4. Total lethality probably wouldn’t increase since the time delay to get victims treatment leads to victims slowly dying.

    • EvilSheldon

      I don’t think ‘1.’ is correct. After ‘being confronted by an armed individual on-site’, I would posit that the next most common factor would be ‘the assailant’s ability to lock down the shooting site, in order to impede access by armed security/law enforcement.’

      • Not Adahn

        I’ll have to search for my cite on that one.

      • EvilSheldon

        I’d be interested to read it.

    • R C Dean

      The weight of the ammo?

      • Not Adahn

        Yes. I read somewhere that spree shooters carry a similar amount of ammo by weight, so handgun users carry more total rounds than Scary Black Rifles users, but the same weight.

      • UnCivilServant

        You don’t want that encumbrance penatly to accurasy and ballistic skill. Have to balance out the inventory.

    • Tundra

      Fucking local governments are just as retarded as the Feds.

      Also, I think the mural is great. I would break my diet and scarf donuts there in solidarity.

    • Suthenboy

      Who is the fucktard that cited the shop? That person needs a different job.

      • Not Adahn

        Doing right ain’t got no end.

      • Plinker762

        Those kids should be forced to burn their art in the parking lot. That will teach them to make sure the proper permits are approved before subcontracting on a project.

    • Plinker762

      LOL at Conway and North Conway. They fought so hard against a highway bypass that we no stopped going there because the traffic through the town was bad. (yeah, yeah; not LA or Boston bad but for rural northern NH it was). We found a bypass of using the next valley over.

      • Not Adahn

        NH courts are dreadfully underfunded. They need to impose a sales tax.

    • Suthenboy

      More than half of the black population of SA was firmly against ending apartheid because they knew the country would become unlivable from shit just like that.
      My understanding is that everyone who can leave has already done so.
      A buddy of mine had a grocery there. He said after apartheid nearly overnight he sold it and left the country. Guys would walk in with an AK on their shoulder, take whatever they wanted and walk out. They wouldn’t speak or pay any attention to him.
      Oh well. Congratulations do-gooders.

      • UnCivilServant

        Given how quickly they went from a moderately shitty segregated state that still functioned to a morass of corruption, rape, murder, wholsale theft and lawlessness, I’d swear the ANC was hell-bent on proving Botha right.

      • Ed Wuncler

        That’s the tragedy of both South Africa and Zimbabwe. The pre-Apartheid governments were racist assholes but their reasoning for their policies were based on the belief that if they allowed a majority ruled government, it would all turn to shit. And sadly, they were right in sense that if you allow a majority who don’t have an appreciation for free enterprise and individuality and values tribe above all else, you get a shitshow like you have now in those countries.

        Ian Smith was an asshole but he did have a point that if Rhodesia were to become more integrated the worst people to allow to come to power was the ZANU-PF (Mugabe’s party) because they were a bunch of commie assholes who would immediately plunder the country. And he was right. I also read somewhere that a lot of Zimbabwe’s were hankering for the days when Ian Smith was in power which is wild but understandable considering that the country was less chaotic and wasn’t on the brink of starvation and famine.

      • Suthenboy

        You are correct Ed. Time and time again the common denominator is collectivism and it makes perfect sense. We evolved in a world where small populations (essentially extended family) had to work together to survive. That model worked well in that world for us but we are not in that world anymore. Collectivism turns to shit when you have large groups where the majority live by preying on their fellow man.
        Culture matters. A lot. Will we ever be able to shake the dust of the cave off of ourselves? Not likely.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Injustice

    Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska said last week that Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada would “spell disaster for the U.S. auto industry and Detroit Three manufacturers.” Wolfe Research has estimated a 25% tariff would add about $3,000 to the average cost of vehicles sold in the U.S.

    General Motors and Ford (F-1.58%) Motor Co. produce eight and three models, respectively, in Mexico and have facilities in Canada. Stellantis produces several Ram models in Saltillo, Mexico, and builds some Chrysler and Dodge cars in Canada. Toyota Motor (TM-0.36%) makes the Tacoma in Mexico, plus the RAV4 and some Lexus models in Canada, while Hyundai Motor Co (HYMTF-1.82%) builds some Hyundai and Kia models in Mexico.

    ——-

    About $211 billion worth of motor vehicles and parts entered the U.S. last year from Canada and Mexico, according to the Census Bureau. That’s about 52% of the overall $403 billion worth of vehicles and parts that imported in 2023.

    And just like that, we’re all deeply concerned about the cost of new vehicles and the impact this has on American consumers.

    Of course, those Mexican and Canadian plants were a completely organic development of the auto industry, completely independent of any prior government tinkering.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      Funny how the cost of vehicles rising never comes up when they’re busy adding thousands of dollars to the bottom line because of *insert new regulation here*.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Terror in Tinytown

    Nearly 500 journalists are on strike at the Guardian and its sister paper, the Sunday-only Observer, to protest the planned sale of the Observer to a small digital startup.

    “We believe it’s a total betrayal of the Guardian’s values and promises that it’s made,” says Carole Cadwalladr, an investigative reporter and feature writer for the Observer. “The sale of the Observer to a loss-making startup is potentially the death of this historic brand.”

    ——-

    The Observer is a storied liberal title whose first issue came out on this date in 1791. It is believed to be the world’s oldest Sunday paper. Its famous journalists include George Orwell. And it was central to the launch of the human rights group Amnesty International.

    The buyer is Tortoise Media, a well-regarded but small news outlet founded in 2019 and led by James Harding, the former director of BBC News and editor of The Times of London. Its tagline is “slow down, wise up.” It promises to delve into what’s driving the news rather than simply post the latest headlines.

    It has not yet turned a profit but has deep-pocketed backers, including the investment arm of the Thomson family that controls Reuters and owns the Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada.

    For being the very antithesis of “conservatism” these people certainly get freaked out by the merest hint of change. It’s not as if they’re being sold to Rupert Murdoch.

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