BUCKEYES WIN, plus the Tuesday Morning Links

by | Jan 21, 2025 | Daily Links | 337 comments

That’s right, THE Ohio State University beat Notre Dame in the National Championship Game. And all shall now bow in respect. They did what they could to make it interesting, but there was never a doubt after that second drive. Elsewhere, the Bears hired a new coach Coco went out because she couldn’t hit the ball straight, and I am doing the links too early to know who is making it to there men’s semifinals in Melbourne. Moving on…

A new day is dawning. And the reeeeeeing has already begun.

But the deep state is still around. Fuck.

Well, not all of them. Adios, fuckos.

Oh, well. Maybe they can apply for asylum in the country they’ve been sitting in for months.

Little Marco has a job. Hope he stays hydrated.

Sacre bleu! Maybe this will keep the frogs from turning gay.

Money talks, but bullshit walks. Well, so long as money can make bail.

Good! I love bipartisanship.

Enjoy the heat, shithead. You know, because evil goes to hell and shit.

This ain’t the music today. But I’m still posting it because it makes me happy. “How firm thy friendship.”

This is the music. And y’all know I’m happy if I’m playing it. Especially this one. So freaking good. Enjoy them both.

And enjoy this lovely Tuesday with your new national champions, dear friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

337 Comments

  1. Sensei

    Ahh the AP article is comedy gold!

    Trump’s inauguration realized a political comeback without precedent in American history. Four years ago, he was voted out of the White House during an economic collapse caused by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Trump denied his defeat and tried to cling to power. He directed his supporters to march on the Capitol while lawmakers were certifying the election results, sparking a riot that interrupted the country’s tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.

    • SDF-7

      I like the first line:

      Donald Trump began erasing Joe Biden ’s legacy immediately after taking office as the nation’s 47th president on Monday

      I strongly suspect just about everyone who voted for him (and possibly even some that didn’t) are thinking “Man… I sure hope so!”

      As mentioned yesterday, the Biden “legacy” of political persecution of your opponents, abuse of power and then pardoning everyone on the way out the door to try to be untouchable needs to be solidly erased from our national practices.

      • juris imprudent

        As one who didn’t vote for him, I am extremely pleased with his start. Now to see if Congress can actually do anything.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I remember that Joe’s EO’s that he signed on his first day were better received.

        For example, he canceled the XL Pipeline and the MSM swooned.

      • SDF-7

        Now to see if Congress can actually do anything.

        Here’s hoping. And here’s hoping he (and his advisers) realize they really need to get Congress on board and get stuff formally through (like withdrawing from Paris, the WHO, the energy/drilling stuff, etc.) before the House is focused on the midterms. Because otherwise, you just risk another flip-flop when the next Biden makes it in — plus you reduce the “Hawaii judge” effect if it is all EOs.

        (I’d also add “Plus, that’s how the system is supposed to work and all” — but that’s just mean looking for my belt onion again, I know…)

      • rhywun

        like withdrawing from Paris

        We were never “in” Paris. The Senate never ratified anything to do with it.

        I don’t doubt there are other fantasies Joe got us into that were just in head, too.

    • ruodberht

      I’m trying to find anything in that that’s true.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        At least they called it a riot and not an insurrection. Baby steps you know?

      • SDF-7

        I think we can grant “he directed his supporters to march on the Capitol”, can’t we? He did say to the rally something like “Go there and make your voices heard” or somesuch — not inciting the riot, just a protest outside.

        And Grover Cleveland has a sad at the “without precedent”….

      • R C Dean

        There’s a nuance between “march to” and “march on”. An army, for example, marches on someplace it intends to conquer. I think Trump meant more “march to” than “march on”.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Trying to castigate someone for off the cuff speech is akin to grammar Nazi’s going after a comment section online.

    • rhywun

      I wonder if it’s even worth proving the truth anymore. Donald could present stone-cold evidence of Joe’s minions with their hands in the cookie jar and the left will never accept it.

      • Rat on a train

        Even if you could convince, it was for a good cause.

      • AlexinCT

        It’s a cult. An evil one that thinks that the end justify the means, because they are the arbiters of good. No act, no matter how evil, despicable, low, or horrific, that gives them advantage will be avoided. Or even cause doubt in them about what they are doing.

        There is no greater definition of evil.

  2. SDF-7

    And all shall now bow in respect.

    You’re saying that to this crowd of anti-authoritarians? Nice troll there, Sloopy…

  3. Pope Jimbo

    Sacre bleu! Maybe this will keep the frogs from turning gay.

    If the migrants get hold of that honey, no goat will be safe.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Roger that!

      • Rat on a train

        Are you Randy?

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        It is a “wink-wink, nudge-nudge” to a blind bat!

      • Jarflax

        Is your goat a goer?

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      If Pepe LePew gets ahold of it, no pussy will be safe.

  4. UnCivilServant

    Hope he stays hydrated.

    I still don’t get why anyone was expected to think it was a big deal. In fact, now I’m looking at people who can talk forever without needing a drink as freaks.

    • sloopyinca

      It wasn’t a big deal. It was just funny.

  5. Pope Jimbo

    Did Trump revoke Blinken’s security clearance too?

    He was the fucker who organized the letter from those security experts. John Kerry is another one who should lose his clearance.

    • LCDR_Fish

      And if Kerry or anyone else tries to go around the admin extra-legally for any environmental conference/treaty BS (like Carter post-presidency) – hang em out to dry.

      • SDF-7

        Carter nothing — didn’t that horse faced weasel try doing exactly that in OMBv1.0? Or am I misremembering?

        Oh yeah — I’m not.

      • LCDR_Fish

        That’s why I specified Kerry – but Carter did it during multiple presidencies too.

      • Pope Jimbo

        SDF:

        Yup, that is why I added Lurch to my list above. His meddling needs to be punished.

    • AlexinCT

      Did Trump revoke Blinken’s security clearance too?

      Why would he need to? Biden doesn’t even fucking know what is going on day to day, let alone anything related to national security. The only risk is that he tells the people wiping his ass something they shouldn’t know…

      • Ted S.

        Reread the comment.

  6. juris imprudent

    And all shall now bow in respect.

    Everyone north of Toledo just laughs. And you should be damn thankful for the playoff expansion, otherwise ya’ll would’ve been playing Alabama in a means-nothing-bowl.

    • UnCivilServant

      It’s a sportsball game.

      By definition it means nothing, like any other game.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Also, being a willing participant in the destruction of the Amateur sports (college level) is a matter of shame.

      Right up there with eating Texas BBQ.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Any BBQ made from a snoutless animal isn’t BBQ…still pretty tasty though.

      • SDF-7

        BBQ chicken can be quite good — though I admit it is more about the sauce than how the bird is cooked.

      • juris imprudent

        I’ve mentioned before the Harold Lloyd movie The Freshman, in which one of the scene-setting cards describes it thus – a college attached to a large football stadium. That line is almost 100 years old now.

      • sloopyinca

        ::sigh::

        Now I know you’re just trolling me.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        I refer to UO (the Schmucks) as a football team with a degree mill attached.

        The One True OSU (Go Beavs) still has a real school attached. And is a member of a real football conference, the PAC2.

      • Grummun

        Texas BBQ

        Zwak, having identified a sore spot, picks at it with relentless glee.

      • juris imprudent

        One True OSU

        I don’t know Grummun, ZWAK seems a little delusional.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Seems? Seems?

      • Not Adahn

        I honestly have no idea how Bill Miller’s stays in business.

        Then again, apparently there are some Rudy’s that don’t offer green chile stew, so I am not the guy to ask about product decisions.

      • Not Adahn

        There is a place on Manor Rd in east Austin that had a side of the menu dedicated to “food we put in the smoker to cook.”

        Smoked burgers are amazeballs.

        https://www.hooverscooking.com/

        And yet, they only made my 3rd favorite burger.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Zwak is not delusional.

        -Beaver Believer who grew up with 29 years of losing seasons

    • Nephilium

      There are probably some people up in Geneva and Ashtabula that are happy tOSU won.

  7. Stinky Wizzleteats

    EOs are all well and good but I hope they follow through with legislation. These things that pretty much amount to executive proclamations are just too easy to undo.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Wait? We live Chevron ruling now right guys? /The Left

      • Ownbestenemy

        *like

        Watching that typo process after I hit the submit button is painful

  8. SDF-7

    Maybe they can apply for asylum in the country they’ve been sitting in for months.

    Yeah — that wasn’t at all staged and an attempt to pull on emotions for the news media or anything. Not like the election was 2 months ago and the incoming folks weren’t very very clear on what was going to happen and when and she would have had plenty of warning…. oh no… it was just “I went to the app today and suddenly I’m locked out of your country! Oh woe is me and my little bambinos!” (I didn’t look — but I’m sure there were doe eyed kids in the picture too.

    After 4 years of effectively open borders (unless you’re trying to follow the law — then screw off, plebian!), I dare say the mood of a good chunk of the country is “Too bad” and yeah… “Stay in Mexico then for asylum if your home country is so bad”. Followed by “Get the damned gangs out first” — which I assume is going to be priority one over the next few weeks once they have the incoming rate locked down.

  9. Ted S.

    The woman sobbed silently and slumped to her knees, while others stared despondent with tears rolling down their cheeks.

    All done for the cameras. Totally phony.

    • Swiss Servator

      …no appointments on a Federal Holiday. That made me really roll my eyes.

  10. SDF-7

    This ain’t the music today

    For some reason, that made me expect this — which was a pretty class act and well handled. (And a metaphor for Government Work [no offense KK])

    • The Other Kevin

      Yes. She’s a real professional. Meanwhile Biden is losing his shit because that hair has to smell SO GOOD.

  11. juris imprudent

    With no disrespect to Not Adahn‘s regular feature…

    In many ways, the entire “macroeconomic sector” is comparable to the astrology that guided people’s decisions centuries ago.

    Maybe it should be a reference to Cabala, since that is numbers based as well.

    How did economists find themselves recommending and perpetuating a practice so friendly to the interests of centralizing governments? This too is a fascinating story.

    • SDF-7

      That’s right up there with “Why are so many scientists researching what the government is pumping grant money into?” The world wonders….

    • Jarflax

      How did economists find themselves recommending and perpetuating a practice so friendly to the interests of centralizing governments? This too is a fascinating story.

      Economic theory suggests that economists should be given prestigious career opportunities and power. This is a surprising turn of events! Next you’ll be saying that Lawyers draft laws that create profitable lawsuits.

      • juris imprudent

        Some economists worked it out – public choice theory!

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        It is the same set of theories that dictate that college professors get unlimited looks at co-eds.

      • The Last American Hero

        And no sanctions for tapping students, even if the student is taking classes from the professor.

  12. Pope Jimbo

    #WayTooLocalNews

    A massive fire erupted in a commercial building near the famous Tsutenkaku Tower, a popular tourist landmark in Osaka in western Japan, according to media reports on Tuesday.
     
    The fire erupted on the first floor of the five-story building at Tsutenkaku Hondori Shopping Street in Naniwa Ward, Osaka City at about 5pm local time, according to public broadcaster NHK Japan.
     
    At least 26 fire trucks and one helicopter were dispatched to the site to contain the flames emerging from the building.

    I was literally standing outside where that fire started just a few hours before it broke out. If you watch this video, at the end there is a row of red toy vending machines. My niece and I were playing with those today.

    • UnCivilServant

      So you’re confessing to planting the timed device that started the fire?

      Arrest that man!

      • Pope Jimbo

        The in-laws have been teasing me about how long it will take for the cops to show up on my doorstep for further questioning.

        Thank doG that I don’t have the big homeless beard anymore. For sure I would be in the clink by now.

    • Ted S.

      Why couldn’t the fire have hit the Nakatomi Tower instead?

      • UnCivilServant

        Because this fire is in Osaka. You’re thinking of the LA fires.

    • Sensei

      Allow me to introduce you to the world of Japanese homonyms. Since the language has only around 300 sounds compared to English’s 20k or so.

      These are all “kaji” – the way fire is pronounced. These are only the most common. Many jokes abound because it’s also the word for “housework”.

      火事: かじ
      (P, n) fire, conflagration

      舵, 梶, 楫, 檝: かじ
      (P, n) rudder, helm

      家事: かじ
      (P, n) housework, domestic chores, family affairs, household matters

      梶, 構, 楮: かじ, カジ
      (n, uk) paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera)

      鍛冶, 鍛治: かじ, たんや, かぬち
      (n) smithing, blacksmith

      加持: かじ
      (n, vi, vs) prayer (to get rid of misfortune, disease, etc.), incantation, faith healing, adhisthana (blessing of a buddha or bodhisattva)

      夏時: かじ, なつどき
      (adv, n) summertime

      • UnCivilServant

        To be fair, a lot of premodern housework revolved around tending the hearth fire or its ashes.

    • Fourscore

      They need to clear the brush and ground litter out. I read that that was a problem in CA as well.

    • Gustave Lytton

      That looks like a live action scroller. Way to live up to stereotypes.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Whoa, I know where that is. We’ve stayed at the Marriott on the other side Tennoji Park several times.

  13. Strange Brew

    As someone who is completely ignorant of Presidential Pardons, especially those preceding conviction of a crime, there has to be some mechanism to hold these assholes accountable, right?!? If not criminally accountable at least subjecting them to testify under oath and spend years being subpoenaed for various hearings? Or are they just going to be untouchable?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Putting them in front of committees and prosecuting for perjury and whatnot takes political will and the Reps in congress are notoriously spineless so I doubt this’ll happen beyond empty threats. As the acceptance of a pardon implies wrongdoing maybe civil suits could partially address the accountability aspect I’d hope but sovreign immunity likely stands in the way of that. We’ll see…

      • Pope Jimbo

        At least it looks like taxpayers aren’t being forced to pay for Fauci’s security detail anymore.

        Dr. Anthony Fauci is no longer getting a taxpayer-funded security detail and SUVs after the U.S. Marshals Service quietly dropped his nearly two-year $15 million deal.
         
        Despite retiring from his $480,000-a-year government job in December 2022, the nation’s top COVID doctor received a security detail for almost two years.
         
        Dr. Fauci, who has an estimated $11 million net worth, was constantly surrounded by U.S. Marshals at the time whether he was at home or going to TV studios to film interviews.

        Anyone want to explain how a govt worker is worth $11M?

      • Ownbestenemy

        @Pope

        Speaking fees used as seed money for investments using insider information. Plus the 1/2 mil salary didn’t help.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Why would such a beloved public servant need a security detail?

      • R C Dean

        When you’re pulling in $480K a year for who knows how long, $11MM is doable without shady side deals.

        Although that little scumsack had shady side deals with Pharma, too.

      • R C Dean

        Zwak, it was probably to prevent him from getting crushed by the mobs of autograph seekers and groupies wherever he goes.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        I have known some star-fuckers in my life, but I don’t think even they would stupe so low.

      • The Other Kevin

        I would say almost all his expenses were charged to you, the taxpayers that whole time. Plus insider trading, but mostly those royalty payments from pharma companies that he refuses to talk about.

    • Drake

      Since they can no longer be prosecuted, make them testify in investigations into all their corruption. Any failure to cooperate results in new obstruction charges and loss of pension.

      Also – Federal pardons don’t apply to state laws.

    • juris imprudent

      A pardon applies to a crime, and from what I can tell Fauci’s only real crime is lying to Congress. The rest is simply imperial arrogance wrapped up in bureaucratic immunity.

      He’s an insufferable human who’s ethics are extremely questionable – which argues that he never hold a position of public trust, but that’s a pretty dead point now.

      • Drake

        He probably broke laws by funding gain-of-function research after Congress banned it. But no big deal, what’s the worst that could happen?

      • juris imprudent

        As I recall Congress didn’t ban it, but Obama froze funding. So he violated a policy decision. I think the really more damning point is that this funded a Chinese lab – again, still not technically illegal.

      • Drake

        Just batshit insanely dangerous and evil.

    • R C Dean

      It would probably take a Constitutional amendment, but I think any pre-emptive pardon should extend only to the crimes confessed to by the recipient as part of the pardon itself. Similar to the way immunity is given in exchange for testimony – the recipient would “proffer” a confession, and if the President thought “yeah, I can pardon that”, then the pardon gets issued for what’s confessed to. And nothing else.

    • Ozymandias

      It is not clear that pre-emptive pardons – before someone is charged – are legitimate. Yes, it happened previously with Nixon, but that was never challenged legally. Everyone in the Swamp was just happy that Nixon stepped down (and didn’t pardon himself or others).

      While the pardon power is typically called “absolute”, nothing in the law is “absolute.” The Flynn district court opinion has a short and pretty good review of some of the historic cases involving the President’s pardon power.

      (“This power of the President is not subject to legislative control. Congress can neither limit the effect of his pardon, nor exclude from its exercise any class of offenders.”). The “executive can reprieve or pardon all offenses after their commission, either before trial, during trial or after trial, by individuals, or by classes, conditionally or absolutely, and this without modification or regulation by Congress.” Ex parte Grossman, 267 U.S. 87, 120, 45 S.Ct. 332, 69 L.Ed. 527 (1925) (emphasis added).

      The pardon power, however, is not without limitations. For example, a presidential pardon generally must be accepted to be effective. See Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79, 94, 35 S.Ct. 267, 59 L.Ed. 476 (1915); but see Biddle v. Perovich, 274 U.S. 480, 486-87, 47 S.Ct. 664, 71 L.Ed. 1161 (1927) (finding, where defendant sought his release upon the grounds that he had not accepted the commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment, that “the public welfare, not his consent, determines what shall be done”). “Once accepted, a full and absolute pardon ‘releases the wrongdoer from punishment and restores the offender’s civil rights without qualification.’ ” United States v. Arpaio, No. 16-cr-1012, 2017 WL 4839072, at *1 (D. Ariz. Oct. 19, 2017) (quoting Absolute Pardon, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)).

      On the other hand, a pardon does not necessarily render “innocent” a defendant of any alleged violation of the law. Indeed, the Supreme Court has recognized that the acceptance of a pardon implies a “confession” of guilt. See Burdick, 236 U.S. at 94, 35 S.Ct. 267 (“[A pardon] carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it.”); see also United States v. Schaffer, 240 F.3d 35, 38 (D.C. Cir. 2001) (“[A]cceptance of a pardon may imply a confession of guilt.”) (citing In re North, 62 F.3d 1434, 1437 (D.C. Cir. 1994)). As Chief Justice Marshall wrote, “[a] pardon is an act of grace, proceeding from the power intrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed, from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed.” United States v. Wilson, 32 U.S. 150, 150, 7 Pet. 150, 8 L.Ed. 640 (1833) (emphasis added). In other words, “a pardon does not blot out guilt or expunge a judgment of conviction.” In re North, 62 F.3d at 1437. Furthermore, a pardon cannot “erase a judgment of conviction, or its underlying legal and factual findings.” Arpaio, 2017 WL 4839072, at *1 (citing United States v. Crowell, 374 F.3d 790, 794 (9th Cir. 2004)); but see Schaffer, 240 F.3d at 38 (vacating “all opinions, judgments, and verdicts of this court and the District Court” where “[f]inality was never reached on the legal question of [the defendant’s] guilt” (emphasis added)).

      United States v. Flynn, 507 F. Supp. 3d 116, 135–36 (D.D.C. 2020).

      This certainly suggests that there must at least be a charge pending against someone for them to accept a pardon.

      NOTE: The issue of this “all crimes he may have committed” language was before the Court in Flynn because all President’s now use it, but the Court didn’t need to decide it because Flynn had an actual plea of guilty to lying to the FBI.

      (Here, the scope of the pardon is extraordinarily broad – it applies not only to the false statements offense to which Mr. Flynn twice pled guilty in this case, but also purports to apply to “any and all possible offenses” that he might be charged with in the future in relation to this case and Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation. However, the Court need only consider the pardon insofar as it applies to the offense to which Mr. Flynn twice pled guilty in this case. Mr. Flynn has accepted President Trump’s “full and unconditional pardon.”)

      • R C Dean

        I think the courts have been very careful not to rule of whether pardons can or do apply to offenses not charged. Even the Flynn court sidestepped that “all other crimes” language. So they basically have a field that is free of binding precedent, and even obiter dicta, to consider the question. The closest is the language on pardoning offenses after their commission but before trial, which I think opens the door to pre-emptive pardons, but leaves some wiggle room to say that “any and all” unspecified offenses aren’t covered as an offense can only be pardoned if it is known at the time, or somesuch.

        They have said Congress can’t limit it, but that doesn’t tie the courts’ hands. I hope they find their way to ruling blanket preemptive pardons are invalid.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Ozy! Was thinking of you when Trump announced reinstatement with back pay during the inaugural.

    • Wood Chipped Wednesday

      If I were Trump I would force investigations even if they can not be convicted of anything, ruin the Biden name. The preemptive pardons tell everyone (who doesn’t suck on Biden’s C&Bs) that their family has been doing illegal shit for years.

    • Pope Jimbo

      You said “a fifth”, heh, heh.

      Too bad they didn’t break out Wisconsin by itself.

      • Rat on a train

        Wisconsin isn’t even top three per capita.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Good beer, good cheese, and good sausages lead to a happy albeit short and fat life. With their weather that need an insulating layer anyway.

      • Rat on a train

        Outside those cities must be dry to bring them down on the state per capita list.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        I love how a small, Oregon college town (that I happen to own a house in) makes that list. Not NYC, LA, SF, DC, nope. Corvallis.

      • Ted S.

        Rat: The numbers I could find suggest out-of-state purchasers are pushing up a couple of places like NH.

      • Rat on a train

        and all the other states with higher per capita than Wisconsin?

      • Fourscore

        I see a lot of college towns in the top 20. Understandable

    • Ted S.

      Somebody hasn’t heard of the Pareto principle.

    • trshmnstr

      “alcoholics exist, more at 11!”

  14. Drake

    While pardoning all the J6 political prisoners, Trump rightly pointed out that they can never get fair trials since the J6 Committee destroyed evidence relevant to their cases.

    • Drake

      Discovery used to be important and people should be in jail for denying them their rights.

      • AlexinCT

        The highest crime of the last 16 years is the amount of cases where these crooks in government destroyed evidence then claimed it happened through incompetence, and got away with it. Incompetence needs to become a reason to remove assholes from positions of authority.

      • juris imprudent

        They don’t even have to destroy evidence – just classify it!

      • AlexinCT

        Like wiping a server with a cloth?

  15. juris imprudent

    I didn’t think the Weimar metaphor could be overworked to this extent.

    America’s Weimar syndrome may be obvious with the reelection of the institution-destroyer Donald Trump as president. But the entire world is one big Weimar now, connected enough for one part to mortally influence the other parts, yet not connected enough to be politically coherent. Like the various parts of the Weimar Republic, we find ourselves globally in an exceedingly fragile phase of technological and political transition.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Do you know who else took advantage of Weimarian fragility?

    • trshmnstr

      Did you naht zee it coming?

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Did he destroy these institutions or merely point out that these particular emperors had no clothes?

    • rhywun

      institution-destroyer Donald Trump

      Stop, I can only get so hard.

  16. Ownbestenemy

    I am convinced that the pens used to sign EOs and other bills are Skilcraft. It is the only explanation on why they need so many.

    • The Other Kevin

      At one point he was signing EO’s at a rally and throwing the pens into the crowd.

  17. Sensei

    Much of what it can sell, Peebles said, will likely be at fire-sale prices. That could drag down the worth of other D.C. office buildings, which have already plunged in value in recent years.

    “Buildings will sell for 30 cents on the dollar,” Peebles said. “It’s a paradigm shift. There will be a dramatic reset on property values.”

    Won’t somebody think of the DC landlords?

    The U.S. Government Has a Landlord, and Trump Isn’t a Fan
    The Trump administration is considering selling two-thirds of the federal government’s office stock

    https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/commercial/the-u-s-government-has-a-landlord-and-trump-isnt-a-fan-872c469e?st=y3sUWJ&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

  18. Certified Public Asshat

    Rolling Stone: Right-Wing Extremists Are Abuzz Over Musk’s Straight-Arm Salute

    Alternative explanations for the gesture are plausible. Musk is socially awkward, and he may have been stiffly trying to throw love to the crowd for helping put Trump back in office. “My heart goes out to you,” he said after he did the gesture a second time.

    However, Musk has allied himself with far-right movements in Europe, including the extremist German party AfD. After purchasing Twitter, which he renamed X, he welcomed long-banned white nationalists back to the platform in the name of free speech. And his X account is sometimes hard to distinguish from far-right extremists. In late 2023 he went on a so-called “apology tour” to Israel after responding to a post about an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X with the words “the actual truth.” He often posts Pepe frogs, and other images and memes associated with the alt-right, including recently temporarily adopting the handle “Kekius Maximus.”

    • Ted S.

      The projection is strong here.

      • juris imprudent

        What else can you expect from people who worship power.

    • AlexinCT

      Another totally made up hate crime, because they have no real ones, so they can keep the idiotic narrative that they are the better people because marxists like them are seeing and fighting fascism everywhere, that will go down in flames.

      The cultists, steeped deep in the stupid, will just drink their kool-aid, but more and more people are just tuning these idiots out.

    • Jarflax

      Excited autistic guy makes awkward gesture may be the stupidest story the left has ever latched onto.

      • Suthenboy

        That really is saying a lot.

        I am confused. Why are socialists upset about someone giving a socialist salute?

      • AlexinCT

        Cause they are marxist, and marxist hate fascists for saying marxism doesn’t work and coming up with a different horrible socialist system?

      • juris imprudent

        Why are socialists upset about someone giving a socialist salute?

        Nationalist is all wrong, the Internationale is alright.

  19. sloopyinca

    This is a hell of a tennis match.

    • sloopyinca

      Nole! Nole! Nole!

      The King just moved into the semis.

      • Ted S.

        Gauff lost, too. 🙂

      • PieInTheSky

        RACIST

      • Ted S.

        Meh, I was happy to see Tommy Paul lose too.

      • rhywun

        I like Paul but he is good at snatching defeat etc. etc.

        Djoker is the Tom Brady of tennis now. Seen it a million times before, yawn.

    • PieInTheSky

      I thought you Americans worked hard in the morning not spend it watching tennis.

      • sloopyinca

        You thought wrong today.

      • rhywun

        Was busy & also not interested in this match.

        The next one tonight looks good, another American up-and-comer.

  20. Ownbestenemy

    Who won on Dancing with the Stars Enemies?

    Tall Marine was probably the luckiest and the only people that looked comfortable in that whole situation were JDs wife and the seaman.

    • Rat on a train

      Space Force insignia is lame.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Will Usha bring her dress to the same cleaner as Monica did? Those guys know how to get seamen off of a dress.

      * The tall dude was an Army puke. The Marine was the SSgt dancing with JD (hoorah Teufelhunds!).

      • Ownbestenemy

        Meh. Army, Marines…whatever. Still the luckiest one out there, though Usha is not one to shy eyes from either.

      • Fourscore

        JD’s style could use a little more action. Lacks imagination and creativity

    • Jarflax

      I notice he lead Melania away from the group. I don’t blame him, getting some alone time with her is a worthwhile goal.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Crimeny!

    • juris imprudent

      Perfect, 100 years ago, Ukraine was nothing but a province inside the USSR.

      • PieInTheSky

        100 years ago, Ukraine was nothing but a province inside the USSR – why is that relevant?

      • juris imprudent

        History matters? If you’re going to project 100 years into the future, it might make sense to reflect on 100 years past?

      • UnCivilServant

        So 100 years ago, we had 0 Ukraines. Today, we have 1 Ukraines. That’s an infinity% increase. In 100 years, we’ll have infinite Ukraines?

      • PieInTheSky

        In the past there were various empires that conquered various bits, Those bits are now independent countries. I still do not see what this reflection achieves at this point.

      • R C Dean

        Well, a hundred years ago, Germany and France were not far from their third war over who got Alsace and Lorraine. And, of course, India, for one, was an imperial possession of England.

      • juris imprudent

        The point is, our world is always in flux, and Ukraine has no existence that hasn’t been granted by the surrounding political powers. It isn’t some inviolate set of national boundaries, not back then, and not now. Hell a fair chunk of the current Ukraine was for a much longer time part of Poland.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      “Ours is not to reason why…

      But to do, and to die.”

      Charge of the Light Brigade – Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

      • Drake

        The British have had a crazy hatred of Russia for almost 2 centuries.

        They committed to patrolling the Sea of Azov – look at a map.

        This is obviously their strategy to get Trump to commit to the war instead of negotiating or just walking away.

      • SDF-7

        That’s funny, Drake — because it made my first thought “That’s an excellent reason to cite for leaving NATO. You can’t commit the rest of the alliance to your arbitrary crap like this.”

        Europe and the Brits want to defend them? Great — go for it. Just leave us out of it.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Indeed, that is the BS that got WWI rolling.

      • juris imprudent

        We leave, NATO collapses. I’m fine with that. It is a useless bureaucracy devoted only to its own existence.

  21. PieInTheSky

    I looked at some stats at the footballs and noticed some dude had 3 touchdown. This being a championship game, I assume that is a story the fella will tell all his life, Al Bundy style.

    I wonder if the Ohio QB will be known in history as a mainly Ohio State player or not, because I understand he transferred, was not there for all his college career.

    I do not watch footballs except very rare highlights, but I have to say it it somehow impressive on the long passes because the QB needs to throw to where the running player will be after X seconds, not to where he is at throw time.

    • Jarflax

      College athletics in the US are not amateur sports. They are minor league professional sports with teams that happen to belong to Universities for odd historic reasons.

  22. PieInTheSky

    In local news, Moldova (the region of Romania not the country ) set a new regional record for blood alcohol content when a fella clocked in at 965 mg/dl

    • Wood Chipped Wednesday

      I wanna see a video of this dude just trying to function

    • Gustave Lytton

      Are blood alcohol feeders a subset of vampires in that area?

  23. rhywun

    Welp, off to the dentist. About 1/2 mile walk in six feet of snow degrees. No snow thank goodness.

    • Sensei

      Shorter than my walk from Penn to the office. You may be colder than here, but I bet we have more homeless!

    • Drake

      Teeth chattering part of the treatment?

      • rhywun

        After last week, I don’t have any left to chatter.

        You may be colder than here, but I bet we have more homeless

        I bet you do too. We have a designated site for “campers” out behind the Lowes where the strip plazas are.

  24. PieInTheSky

    Poor Ross Ulbricht did not get a pardon.

    • Ted S.

      Yet?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Hopefully yet, his prime urgency was sure to be given to his unambiguous supporters and he still has the pardon pen.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I would never accuse you of being a pedant, but does day 1 mean end of day on January 20th or 24 hours from being sworn in?

      • Rat on a train

        With Musk’s tech influence the counting begins with zero.

    • The Other Kevin

      It is rumored that would happen last night, so maybe today.

    • Wood Chipped Wednesday

      I had heard sometime this morning. So, 1.25 hours left Trump

    • SDF-7

      Given that they start off with “Finding out someone is an illegal alien and holding them for ICE even if the theft charges were dropped is BAD, m’kay?“, I can’t say I’m really all that interested in TOS’s Open Borders screed on the subject.

      And I don’t see anything skimming the rest of it that doesn’t fit that bucket in my mind…

      • juris imprudent

        Remi needs to rework Monty Python’s Every Sperm is Sacred for Reason as Every Immigrant is Precious.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Prior to murdering Riley, Ibarra had been arrested for shoplifting. So the thrust of the bill begins there: It requires any undocumented immigrant to be held in federal detention without bail—they would not be granted a hearing by default—and be subject to deportation if they are arrested for a theft-related crime.

        Lol, you weren’t kidding.

      • Suthenboy

        They are not immigrants.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Every illegal should be subject to deportation.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, this is one of their biggest hobby horses and it runs in direct contrast to reality. In an imaginary world where every nation plays fair, sure – move around all you want.

        That world does not exist and almost certainly never will.

      • B.P.

        Listen. Illegal immigrants can’t be expected to refrain from stealing stuff. That’s inhumane or something.

      • rhywun

        They were just trying to feed their children with those cases of laundry detergent.

  25. Pine_Tree

    To show up and be cumudgeonly before I gotta work: The “Gulf of America” thing is stoopid. Hopefully it’s just something he threw out to deliberately have a position to back away from one Mexico does something he wants. The renaming/erasure thing is evil-evil-evil in myriad ways, so backing up all that shit that the proggies did is awesome, but this is dumb.

    • Ownbestenemy

      The news would rather talk about those stupid renaming EOs than anything else it appears. Mission accomplished?

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Also too, this gives Mexico cover to rename the Gulf of California.

      And we cannot allow that!

      • Jarflax

        We can if we give California to them…

      • SDF-7

        Heh… now I’m expecting Gulf of La Raza….

      • juris imprudent

        What Gulf of California, it is the Sea of Cortez.

    • Jarflax

      People are often stupid. At least this particular stupidity doesn’t break anything important.

      • Sensei

        Think of the stimulus for all the printed map makers.

        I’m sure that multiple government and military organizations would be updating maps!

      • Sean

        He’s growing our brand! It what you do. 😉

    • Rat on a train

      The renaming EO would be stupid even if not issued on the first day.

  26. PieInTheSky

    The timing of the initial dispersal of hominins into Eurasia is unclear. Current evidence indicates hominins were present at Dmanisi, Georgia by 1.8 million years ago (Ma), but other ephemeral traces of hominins across Eurasia predate Dmanisi. However, no hominin remains have been definitively described from Europe until ~1.4 Ma. Here we present evidence of hominin activity at the site of Grăunceanu, Romania in the form of multiple cut-marked bones. Biostratigraphic and high-resolution U-Pb age estimates suggest Grăunceanu is > 1.95 Ma, making this site one of the best-dated early hominin localities in Europe. Environmental reconstructions based on isotopic analyzes of horse dentition suggest Grăunceanu would have been relatively temperate and seasonal, demonstrating a wide habitat tolerance in even the earliest hominins in Eurasia. Our results, presented along with multiple other lines of evidence, point to a widespread, though perhaps intermittent, presence of hominins across Eurasia by at least 2.0 Ma.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56154-9

  27. Sensei

    • The Agricultural Marketing Service, using the power vested in it by the Watermelon Research and Promotion Act of 1985, approved a request “to increase the assessment rate from six cents per hundredweight to nine cents.” This extra cash will be deployed by the National Watermelon Promotion Board to “strengthen the position of watermelons in the marketplace,” so watch your back, Big Cantaloupe. Separately, the feds are holding a referendum of natural grass sod producers to see if they favor a similar setup.

    https://www.wsj.com/opinion/doges-challenge-is-gargantuan-bureaucrats-list-watermelons-whales-wampum-9b849754?st=wJrHnu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • PieInTheSky

      Watermelons are second best melon after Q-link melons. It is known. In Romania it is called red melon to differentiate it from all other melons which are yellow melons. I do not like yellow melons.

      • AlexinCT

        Watermelons are second best melon after Q-link melons. It is known.

        Facts in evidence, your honor!!

      • Jarflax

        Oh God, please no more watermelons. I am so tired of listening to explanations of why the world will end unless we give upoil.

      • Fourscore

        Watermelons come in yellow too. I like ’em though the flavor is very similar to the reds and orange colored I can’t tell the color in a taste test with my eyes closed.

      • Aloysious

        Mr. Score knows his melons.

        Yep, those varieties are the bomb.

        I will not rant, at this time, about how good Florida citrus is.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Do they serve fried chicken at the Watermelon Research and Promotion conferences?

      ‘Cause that would be awesome.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Shorter than my walk from Penn to the office. You may be colder than here, but I bet we have more homeless!

    One of the things I remember about Manhattan in winter is no matter what direction you are walking, the wind is always in your face.

    • Sensei

      The coldest part is the the Battery – the southern most part. The wind comes off either the Hudson or East Rivers.

      It’s similar to Chicago, but with warmer temperatures so it’s not that crazy cold, but it’s still awful.

    • Nephilium

      Tall buildings help to funnel wind. Making the turn north downtown on foot after the lake has frozen generally includes tipping your head down to avoid the brunt of the wind.

  29. tripacer

    Are Space Force enlisted people Spacemen? Spaceman First Class?

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Are they referred to, like Devil Dogs or Squids, as Spiffs?

      • SDF-7

        Only if they’re Calvinists, Zwak.

      • Rat on a train
      • Nephilium

        Rat on a train:

        Excuse me… it’s Indians.

      • Rat on a train

        Space Force Indians does sound better.

      • SDF-7

        At least they didn’t go with Redshirts.

    • Fourscore

      “America’s newest military service is also the Nation’s smallest – about 4,200 enlisted and 4,300 officer Guardians”

      Each officer has his/her own handler/valet/groomsperson. I’m guessing promotions come fast and from quota allocations from the other services.

      • LCDR_Fish

        One of the Navy guys I was working with at Dahlgren got a lateral transfer to Space Force – he may have transferred by now.

        If it’s like the Air Force…they’re probably leaning towards officers for moving satellites (like drones) over enlisted folks. Only a few bases so far – so LNOs (liasons between services in a lot of facilities) will also be officers. Will probably expand at the ground level in time…not sure they even have a Basic training system in place yet or if they’ve been piggybacking off the AF.

      • juris imprudent

        Laughs imagining Cyber Force basic training.

      • LCDR_Fish

        CYBERCOM is a global combatant command (like STRATCOM, TRANSCOM and SOFCOM) – not a military service. But yeah…space guardians…

      • juris imprudent

        Repeal of Goldwater-Nichols should be a Republican priority. Then again, I’d like to see the National Security Act of ’47 overhauled.

  30. The Other Kevin

    Yesterday was a good day (despite the Indiana team losing). My favorite part was at about 8pm, Trump was in the Oval Office signing EO’s and doing a press conference. A guy was just handing him folders.
    “What’s this one?”
    “This pardons the January 6 prisoners sir.”
    “Oh those people were treated badly.”
    “What’s this one?”
    “This opens up drilling in Alaska.”

    Meanwhile, the press is throwing questions at him and he’s just casually answering them. He knew what he was talking about. It was such a shocking change from Biden. No teleprompter, no notecards, no staff calling a lid, no gatekeepers.

    • Sean

      I am excited for 2025.

      • The Other Kevin

        I am too. I expect to see energy prices come down, which will make other prices come down, and the economy start to improve. That and a few other things will hopefully be good for my business.

      • SDF-7

        I’m a cynic — I expect prices to be an inflationary ratchet (i.e. they won’t go back down). I expect them to stop rising so much… well, I do expect gas to go down for most of the country. Gavin will surely Trump-proof the pump and match any reductions with “carbon emissions” taxes or something.

      • Sensei

        The tariffs if broadly executed will be inflationary.

      • Jarflax

        This is a losing battle, but I think it is important so I will keep fighting it. What is ‘inflating’ in the concept of inflation is the amount of money in existence, price increases are a symptom of inflation, but can have other causes, for example tariffs or other taxes. Prices increasing is not the most important or evil result of inflation. The automatic and hidden transfer of wealth from every person owning wealth to those creating the new money that occurs when the money supply is increased is far worse.

      • The Other Kevin

        @Jarflax, you’re right, the amount of money in the systems isn’t going to decrease, so that’s a one-way ratchet. But I do think energy prices affect the price of everything else, and I expect at least some decrease in prices due to that. And “at least some” would still make a big difference.

      • Fourscore

        The overspending will continue, the growth in dollars will continue, scarcity will continue, inflation will continue.

        Will the circle be unbroken?

      • Jarflax

        I was replying to Sensei specifically, and was being somewhat pedantic about price increases from other causes not being inflation. Only somewhat because again, prices going up is only a symptom of inflation. I understand that price increases are what create the obvious pain short term, but the wealth transfer over the long term hurts people more, and is the cause for the often lamented increase in income/wealth inequality and reduces economic mobility. The reality is that prices as % of total wealth required to buy something don’t increase from inflation, instead your individual share of that overall wealth decreases if your share was mostly held in money, or in agreements to exchange your labor for money. The working people, especially young people starting out, have few hard assets. They trade their work for money and live on that money, ideally saving some and converting those savings into assets. If prices rise due to non-inflation causes like tariffs, those people are harmed, but can to some extent mitigate the harm by avoiding the items whose prices rise, because their wealth is not stolen from them, it’s just that somethings are more expensive. Inflation decreases their wealth directly by making the money they receive for their work less valuable across the board, with that decrease in value directly transferred to those who issued the new money. In this country the Federal Reserve Banks.

      • juris imprudent

        The tariffs if broadly executed

        Should be outside the scope of national security and thus not a presidential perogative.

      • R C Dean

        Well, dang. Jarflax beat me to my ackchually.

    • juris imprudent

      The Dems do have the audacity to at some point start up the 25th Amendment talk.

      • Rat on a train

        They should also go for impeachment. Third time’s the charm.

    • Drake

      J6 prisoners in other prisons have already been released. The DC jail is stonewalling.

      https://x.com/FreeStateWill/status/1881709780844290273

      A couple dozen Marshalls or a battalion of Marines might help them prioritize their release.

      • SDF-7

        The last 4 years has made it certainly look (if not in actuality) like the DC courts, jails, etc. are all about the Power of the FedGov, screw the laws and screw the rest of the country. Which is why the immediate lawsuit(s?) filed against OMBv2.0 the second he was sworn in were, of course, filed there — and why I expect them to get all the careful consideration of the Hawaii judge.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Murderous traitors, one and all

    President Donald Trump has pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, including people convicted of assaulting police officers, using his clemency powers on his first day back in office to undo the massive prosecution of the unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.

    Trump’s action, just hours after his return to the White House on Monday, paves the way for the release from prison of people found guilty of violent attacks on police, as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of failed plots to keep the Republican in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.

    Joe should have had them all shot.

    • The Other Kevin

      Last night the people on NBC looked very concerned about this.

    • R C Dean

      “Trump’s action, just hours after his return to the White House on Monday, paves the way for the release from prison of people found guilty of violent attacks on police”

      Totally different than Biden releasing Peltier, who killed two FBI agents.

      • juris imprudent

        If they didn’t have double standards they wouldn’t have any standards at all.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who lost consciousness and suffered a heart attack after a rioter shocked him with a stun gun, appeared taken aback to learn from an Associated Press reporter that those who assaulted police officers are among the pardon recipients.

    “This is what the American people voted for,” he said. “How do you react to something like that?”

    Fanone said he has spent the past four years worried about his safety and the well-being of his family. Pardoning his assailants only compounds his fears, he said.

    “I think they’re cowards,” he said. “Their strength was in their numbers and the mob mentality. And as individuals, they are who they are.”

    Quite a speech from a guy who thought he was invincible as long as he could hide behind a badge.

  33. PieInTheSky

    Nadia Whittome MP
    @NadiaWhittomeMP
    Labour MP for Nottingham East • Nottingham born and bred • she/her 🌹🏹🏳️‍🌈

    As Donald Trump is inaugurated today, we should remember what his presidency was like last time: a disaster for women, people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community and the planet.

    Solidarity with all those who will be fighting for justice and equality under his second term.\

    https://x.com/NadiaWhittomeMP/status/1881368723497623841

    Trump lost the support of Nottingham Labor… whatever will he do

    • juris imprudent

      IDIOTS OF THE WORLD – UNITE!!! We have only our brains to lose!

    • Jarflax

      Appoint a new sheriff!

  34. kinnath

    Four years ago, I was trying to figure out how much food I could grow on a one-acre lot and how long I had to become self-sufficient.

    Biden was promising to stack the Supreme Court and create a socialist country wrapped in paper mache.

    This is the first time in four years that I haven’t been terrified of the future.

    We’ll have to wait and see what 2028 has to bring.

    • Rat on a train

      It’s only a temporary reprieve.

    • The Other Kevin

      Ah, the ass covering, right on schedule. Whenever I read these, I ask, “A strong economy for who?” Not for most of us outside of DC and Silicon Valley.

      • R C Dean

        “All my friends made bank! Who said the economy sucks?”

      • Rat on a train

        You were too stupid to get in on the grift?

    • Sean

      🙄

  35. PieInTheSky

    The Communists
    @CPGBML
    Joti Brar and Alexander McKay present a new party pamphlet about Trotskyism.

    https://x.com/CPGBML/status/1873323201171710136

    Today’s Trotskyites claim to be the ‘true inheritors’ of VI Lenin, faithful upholders of revolutionary Leninist ideology and of the Bolshevik organising tradition which brought us the world’s first socialist state in 1917. But in reality their organisations and leaders play the role of agent provocateur in the working-class movement, just as Trotsky did throughout his lifetime.

    By consistently denigrating and opposing the forces that actually fight imperialism, whether at home or abroad, Trotskyism works to mislead potential revolutionaries and prevent them from making any meaningful contribution to the struggle for socialism. Despite their constant calls for strikes and uprisings ‘now’, no Trotskyist group has ever led a successful movement against capitalism in over a century of revolutionary posturing.

    Communism would totally work if it weren’t for those damn Trotskyism

    • juris imprudent

      In fairness, the neo-conservative movement was started by ex-Trotskyites. You can’t blame Stalinists for that!

      • UnCivilServant

        Sure you can. Had Stalin not driven them out, they wouldn’t have founded it!

      • juris imprudent

        I’ve read where the greater part of the Bolsheviks were terrified of the Napoleonic figure and when they looked at Trotsky that is what they saw – a man who could emerge amidst the Jacobins and destroy them.

      • Sensei

        Can you or can’t you pick ’em?

    • Drake

      Literally the definition of a traitor.

      • R.J.

        “Daddy’s home!”

        That will be awkward.

      • Ownbestenemy

        If ever a time to have all his shit on the front yard and locks changed, now is the time. You made your bed kid. I know you think you were doing something that you thought was right, but consequences have actions…

      • Jarflax

        but consequences have actions…

        Arrrrgh you reversed entropy! Put it back, put it back!

      • Suthenboy

        He didnt think he was doing right. He was signaling that he is a right thinker and would get accolades and pussy.
        I hope he ends up living under a bridge.

        Set up for this little morality play: plague kills majority of humans. Daughter is immune to the plague. Doc thinks he can use her to give everyone a cure but it will mean she dies. Her dad faces the question: save daughters life or save all of humanity.
        What would you do?
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEs9QAgYkkc

        I am with dad on this one. Where is that shitweasle kid?

    • juris imprudent

      “It was my little daughter,” said Parsons with a sort of doleful pride.

  36. PieInTheSky

    Von der Leyen on Trump: EU will be ‘pragmatic’ but protect its interests

    https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/01/21/von-der-leyen-on-trump-eu-will-be-pragmatic-but-protect-its-interests

    The European Union will have a “pragmatic” attitude towards the new administration of Donald Trump but “always” stand ready to defend its strategic interests against any unjustified measure, Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday in a speech that set the tone for how Brussels intends to engage with Washington in the next four years.

    During his campaign, Trump threatened to impose across-the-board tariffs on foreign goods and heavily revise aid for Ukraine, setting alarm bells ringing across the bloc. The Republican president has however tamped down both threats since coming into office.

    “A lot is at stake for both sides,” the president of the European Commission said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    “Our first priority will be to engage early, discuss common interests, and be ready to negotiate. We will be pragmatic, but we will always stand by our principles. To protect our interests and uphold our values – that is the European way,” she added, referring to the trade tools the Commission has at its disposal to counteract tariffs and quotas.

    Von der Leyen, who advocates strong transatlantic ties, described the US as of one the EU’s “closest partners” with deeply interlinked economic ties, from investment and employment to chemical production and digital services, something that, in her view, should help foster cooperation rather than confrontation.

    “No other economies in the world are as integrated as we are,” she said.

    Asked by the host if the EU could afford to support Ukraine in case of an American withdrawal, von der Leyen said the bloc would continue doing so “without any question”.

    • R.J.

      “No other economies in the world are as integrated as we are,” she said.

      BY INTEGRATED MEAN…

      Centrally controlled.

    • SDF-7

      I’d be very surprised if the US/Canada integration wasn’t stronger, frankly. Or is she just writing them off as the 51st state?

      And y’all know my opinion on European ties and what they can go do with themselves (especially when they attempt to threaten US citizens and companies for free speech in this country, re-do elections until they get people they want, etc.) Sorry not sorry, Pie…. the EU can and should stand on its own in my opinion. The Fulda Gap isn’t a thing anymore.

    • rhywun

      Asked by the host if the EU could afford to support Ukraine in case of an American withdrawal, von der Leyen said the bloc would continue doing so “without any question”.

      Someone here or somewhere posted a chart showing the EU’s growth has been flat over the last 25 years; their economy was about equal to the US and now it is barely over half.

      TL;DR you don’t have any money left to launder through Ukraine, ma’am.

  37. The Late P Brooks

    Don’t piss off the puppetmaster

    Musk, the tech tycoon and Donald Trump confidant, made it known that he wanted Ramaswamy out of DOGE in recent days, according to three people familiar with Musk’s preferences who, like others for this article, were granted anonymity to discuss them. An ill-received holiday rant on X by Ramaswamy about H-1B visas apparently hastened his demise.

    Just 69 days after Trump announced the team, Ramaswamy is now leaving DOGE and planning to announce a run for Ohio governor next week. Musk’s ability to ice out Ramaswamy, who for a variety of reasons had irked some Republicans in Trump’s circle, is the latest sign of his influence in the incoming administration. And it presages an encore of all of the infighting that marked Trump’s first term.

    Ramaswamy “just burned through the bridges and he finally burned Elon,” said a Republican strategist close to Trump advisers. “Everyone wants him out of Mar-a-Lago, out of D.C.”

    Palace intrigue is Washington’s favorite sport.

    • Nephilium

      Vivek has announced he’s running for governor of Ohio (on the Republican ticket), while Amy Acton has announced she’s running for governor on the Democrat ticket. So you’ll have MAGA adjacent against lockdown queen.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m so sorry.

        Are there any good choices running against them?

    • juris imprudent

      Palace intrigue is Washington’s favorite sport.

      From a website named Politico – should we drink?

    • SDF-7

      DC isn’t Hollywood for ugly people — it is Junior High Class President elections in perpetuity. Including the promising of free pizza in the lunch room if you vote for me.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Didn’t Musk defend Vivek after the infamous 12/26 tweet?

      • The Other Kevin

        I think so. And I also saw all the high-profile X accounts say that this is why we have free speech, and it’s healthy to have disagreements.

    • PieInTheSky

      I mean long popcorn futures?

    • rhywun

      And it presages an encore of all of the infighting that marked Trump’s first term.

      LOL try to contain yourselves.

      Meanwhile, your side does not tolerate any dissent from The One Truth. How has that worked out for you lately?

  38. The Late P Brooks

    As Donald Trump is inaugurated today, we should remember what his presidency was like last time: a disaster for women, people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community and the planet.

    The mythologizing of Trump by the left is staggering. He has attained godlike stature in their minds.

    • The Other Kevin

      This reminds me of AOC dying twice on Jan. 6.

      • SDF-7

        They were only little deaths, TOK.

      • Fourscore

        Ah, La petite mort

    • juris imprudent

      His ability to mold the masses is everything their power-mad little minds could hope for.

    • Drake

      Back to the camps for those people.

    • Suthenboy

      A disaster. I remember that. I tried to go to the store several times between 2020 and 2024 but the roads were impassable with all the dead bodies and what not. Plus the planet was so hot we all had to hide underground. That double helped because the bloodthirsty hordes of rape cannibal MAGAs were roaming the country.
      It was bad.

    • rhywun

      As a non-woman person of not-color, I do recall being a kind of King for four years before Biden knocked me down 😟

  39. PieInTheSky

    Notably, between 1400-1700 at least 20% of all scientists came from the Clergy; since post-Protestant Reformation clergymen consisted of somewhat less than 1% of the population, they were over 20 times overrepresented as scientists compared to the average men.

    https://x.com/lefineder/status/1881463258424709566

    • UnCivilServant

      Between 1400 and 1700, to be a scientist you needed independant funds and free time. Most people couldn’t aford to devote time to such pursuits.

    • Suthenboy

      Literacy might have something to do with that.

  40. Sensei

    He was on their radar!

    On Monday the government announced a public inquiry after it emerged that the perpetrator had been referred three times to a counterterrorism program called Prevent, when he was 13 and 14, because of his interest in extreme violence. Because he was deemed not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology, he was not considered suitable for intervention.

    Paywall:

    Southport Killings Are a New Kind of Terrorism, U.K. Prime Minister Says

    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/world/europe/uk-terrorism-law-southport-attack-starmer.html

  41. Suthenboy

    I keep hearing the deportation debate about who, how etc. mostly centering on ‘criminals’.
    This bit of intellectual dishonesty is ignoring the fact that by being here at all they are all criminals.
    Stop arguing with the left on their terms. Just stop it.

    Gulf of America – I dont care. Trump made one very important point. After all of the blahblahblah he tossed in “…and it is dangerous as hell.”
    He is right. Parts of the gulf, the Caribbean, and the southern west coast waters are swarming with pirates and smugglers. That shit needs to come to an end, the name of the places are irrelevant. If renaming the gulf as Gulf of America will rally people to the cause, fine. Name it Nutsack of Florida, I dont care.

    • juris imprudent

      Nutsack of Florida

      Key West says “excuuuuuuse me”!

    • R C Dean

      Now I can get my ackchually in!

      Technically, I believe merely crossing the border illegally is a civil offense.

      I, too, am concerned that the rhetoric now focuses on deporting criminals, rather than everybody who is here either (outright) illegally or under the expanded/automatic “refugee” program that was the technicality used to open the border. If you don’t have a currently valid residency visa, you need to get gone.

  42. SDF-7

    Oh nice!… Here’s hoping he can start pointing out several dead wood flag rank officers. I expect he knows several at this point, especially anyone not held accountable for Afghanistan.

    • Sensei

      I’m impressed somebody remembered.

    • juris imprudent

      Every officer that upheld the bullshit narrative in Afghanistan should be sacked.

    • Fourscore

      I thought that guy was booted at 17 years service. That was one of big complaints, at 18 he’d have been locked in?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Well done.

    • slumbrew

      I LOL’d at the Maddow line

      • slumbrew

        In reality, she’s probably flicking her bean over this – she can go back to her faux outrage porn and get her ratings out of the gutter.

  43. PieInTheSky

    Germany’s left-wing Scholz says to Elon Musk that Germany’s and Europe’s “freedom of speech” is not for “extreme right positions.”

    https://x.com/disclosetv/status/1881695982129394006

    Interesting for a continent with Stalinists Maoists and Pol Pot fans out in the open

    • UnCivilServant

      Shorter Scholz – “We do not have free speech”

      • Suthenboy

        This. The talking out of both sides of their mouths is not fooling anyone.

  44. The Late P Brooks

    These people make me tired, that’s for certain

    Stiell said that there is “crisis fatigue” in the world now. “The poly crisis environment that we’ve been in for the last few years, climate has been pushed down the crisis priority list,” he said. However, he said that regardless of political changes, “the science behind climate hasn’t changed. The impacts actually have changed in that they’re simply getting worse and worse.”

    In a session at Davos that looked at Europe’s transition to clean energy, Alexander De Croo, Belgium’s prime minister responded to Trump’s decision saying, “I mean, the world is full of uncertainty after yesterday even more, and maybe tomorrow there might be even more uncertainty. Let’s please, as Europeans within the European Union, not add to the uncertainty by creating ambiguity on our goals.”

    The wolf is coming, honest. Give me more money.

    • rhywun

      creating ambiguity on our goals

      I think your goals are becoming clearer by the day to your unfortunate victims.

      Keep stamping that boot harder and see what happens.

    • Suthenboy

      “… “the science behind climate hasn’t changed.”
      At least that part is true.

  45. Gustave Lytton

    “I’m the morning I’ll be sober, but the Fuckeyes will still just be a college team in OH.”

    -Winston Churchill, probably

    • rhywun

      The downward spike on the right needs to be vertical.

      • R.J.

        Also it needs to be a peak. It never flatlined at a plateau.

    • R.J.

      Yeah, it’s amazing. It went under Dallas-Fort Worth and hit North Houston, lower Louisiana, etc… there is no understanding of snow or ice there. Looks like it’s just a day or two, then it all melts so that is good.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      It’ll basically all be melted by Friday.

  46. The Late P Brooks

    Outrage Brigade, fire at will

    Europe’s left-wingers on Tuesday raced to condemn Elon Musk after the world’s richest man performed a stiff-armed salute at an event to celebrate new United States President Donald Trump.

    “My heart goes out to you,” Musk said on stage at Washington’s Capital One Arena, as he thanked Trump’s supporters. He then put his hand to his chest and extended a rigid right arm with his palm down, resembling the salute made infamous by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Europe’s fascists in the first half of the 20th century.

    Musk then repeated the gesture a second time facing the crowd on the opposite side.

    The salute immediately generated a viral and divided response, with online critics attacking Musk for the gesture and supporters minimizing its significance.

    Occupy Mars Poland!

  47. Sean

    I wanna go wash the road salt off my suv, but I’m nervous it will turn into an ice cube.

    >.>

    • Jarflax

      I wouldn’t have pegged you for a Nissan owner.

      • Ted S.

        I wouldn’t peg Sean, either.

  48. LCDR_Fish

    Nice piece by Rand Paul on Biden blocking the US Steel sale. Sure hope Trump lets it go through (and steps on the longshoremen unions).

    https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/01/bidens-parting-protectionist-folly/

    The value of U.S. Steel plummeted 34 percent over the past year and 20 percent since Biden and Trump made it clear they would block the deal.

    So, the U.S. government has basically stolen 20 percent of the private property of an American company.

    In fact, the government prohibition of this merger may lead to a situation where no other buyer steps forward.

    The blocked acquisition might do more than steal 20 percent of the company and could destroy all remaining value in U.S. Steel. That’s what happened to Spirit Airlines when the proposed merger with JetBlue was blocked. The consequence of government overreach was bankruptcy and the loss of 13,000 jobs.

    The result of protectionism was a false sense that the company was exempt from competition and U.S. Steel’s subsequent decline. In 2023, U.S. Steel’s annual revenue was $18 billion. It took Apple about two and a half weeks to bring in the same amount of revenue in the same year. When U.S. Steel was formed, the company produced two-thirds of domestic steel and was one of the largest companies in the world. Today, it makes just 12 percent of American steel and employs fewer people than Krispy Kreme. According to one of President Trump’s Defense secretaries, James Mattis, the military’s need for steel is about 3 percent of total domestic production.

    It’s not just union bosses Biden rewarded at the expense of workers. Luddites masquerading as environmentalists are celebrating the president’s order to block the sale precisely because the deal would have continued domestic steel production. This despite the fact that both U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel pledged to decarbonize by 2050 and are working to adopt technologically advanced processes to reach carbon neutrality. Killing the deal serves the green agenda to hasten the end of blast furnaces in the United States.

    We cannot be sure who is celebrating Biden’s destruction of the sale more: union bosses, Green New Dealers, or the Chinese Communist Party.

    But Biden did more than just demolish the deal to appease the progressive Left. He also diminishes the notion of property rights. In her influential book, The Discovery of Freedom, Rose Wilder Lane demonstrates that for thousands of years, human life was constant struggle, suffering, and poverty. Only when individuals are free from economic and social domination by the state can they channel their productive energies to innovate. Freedom is what makes innovation possible. And innovation is what keeps businesses alive.

    For those of us who still believe in private property, the government has no business regulating or forbidding private sales or mergers. As for some national security override of property rights, if such an exemption exists, it should be reserved for declared enemies in declared wars.

    • rhywun

      Luddites masquerading as environmentalists are celebrating the president’s order to block the sale precisely because the deal would have continued domestic steel production

      Good point. I would expand that list to include everyone celebrating this. Biden sure doesn’t give a shit whether domestic steel disappears. All of the left would probably be happy to see the rest of those jobs go to China, too.

      I am more baffled by Trump’s opposition – ignorant sop to union hacks?

      • creech

        Baptists and bootleggers.

      • juris imprudent

        Trump doesn’t recognize a failing business when he sees one. Or he just assumes more stupid money will come in after the bankruptcy.

  49. Gustave Lytton

    The aging hippies can finally take those “Free Peltier” bumper stickers off.

    • juris imprudent

      You would figure the weather had already done most of the work.

  50. Gustave Lytton

    No pardon for Ross so far. I guess a Snowden pardon is a bridge way too far.

  51. Sensei

    This one was legislated. I hope he is successful in blocking it.

    The revised clean vehicle tax credit, which provides up to $7,500 in credit toward the purchase of a new EV, or up to $4,000 for the purchase of a used EV, also looks to be in trouble.

    California’s air pollution waiver and the EV mandate are banned by Trump

    https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/01/fuel-efficiency-evs-and-charger-funding-all-cut-by-trumps-orders/

    I haven’t checked the comments, but I bet they are a hoot!

    • Tundra

      If by hoot you mean economically illiterate and retarded, then yes.

      I’m entirely convinced that history will look back at tomorrow as the day the American car industry got killed.

      Oh, tell me more, Oracle of Soy.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Nobody is buying EVs! They’re stacking up on dealer lots, and even those we sell are a loss per unit”

        “Mandate them!”

        *Mandate blocked*

        “Oh noes, the car industry is going to die!”

  52. Sean

    Damn. I haven’t seen a offer this good in a bit.

    Wells Fargo wants to give me a credit card at 0% for 21 months.

    • UnCivilServant

      How many other accounts will be opened in your name without your knowledge or permission to meet KPIs and performance incentive goals?

      • Sean

        They’ve held my mortgage for 13 years with no foul play thus far. That’s how they have my email information.

  53. Tundra

    If by hoot you mean economically illiterate and retarded, then yes.

    I’m entirely convinced that history will look back at tomorrow as the day the American car industry got killed.

    Oh, tell me more, Oracle of Soy.

    • UnCivilServant

      You can say that again.

      • Tundra

        I just may. I’m kind of feeling squirrely today.