I got nothing at all for sports, other than to note we have a good football playoff weekend ahead if us and then the CFP Final Monday night. I can’t wait. Now on to the links.
Well, good. The government should have never had something like this in the first place.
I have a feeling he ain’t done yet. And the last ones he issues are gonna be completely insane.
This won’t end quietly. The pettiness of elected officials is rarely exceeded. I hope this guy suers the shit out of everybody involved.
This also won’t end quietly. But it will be hilarious as shit.
Hopefully this won’t either. I’d like to know if she still hasn’t returned the $37k she got paid in error. Because that’s bound to be a crime of sorts.
This is fucking ridiculous. It’s time to make a strict reading of the actual law as written and gut about half the shit that has been done in its name.
This can’t be legal. No way in hell can somebody be forced to continue doing business with someone else once their contract term ends.
Good for these guys. They got out ahead of things unlike the insurance companies in CA.
Oh, looting isn’t a felony, but these guys are doing wrong? It’s like the entire government in that city and state have lost their freaking minds.
Find a lamppost. And no, I don’t give a shit if half of the stuff they found was AI-generated. Find. A. Fucking. Lamppost.
Doing one of their more obscure tracks. Which I do from time to time. I’m not sure where this falls on the scale. I just know I love it. Enjoy.
And enjoy this lovely Friday, weekend, and MLK Day/Inauguration/CFP Championship Monday.
“The White House didn’t immediately release the names of those receiving commutations.”
That’s bizarre. The orders presumably already exist and should be public record. I guess I just always think of these as a very public process.
They need to delay people finding out what they did for as long as possible, because it will end up looking real, real bad once we know?
Yeah, I have a feeling “nonviolent” is gonna turn out to be “mostly nonviolent with a handful of psychopaths mixed in.”
Agreed with you both.
Over and over again this government has shown that it isn’t capable of actual good.
I would posit they lean more towards active evil, just to fuck with chump-Americans.
In this case that would mean releasing mostly violent felons. It would not surprise me one bit.
Sunday night news dump knowing it will get overshadowed by the festivities on Monday?
Early to bed, early to rise,
Makes a man stupid with lynx in his eyes
I suppose if you’re going to jack in with your cyber eyes, keeping your browser memory needs small is a good idea. Lynx for the win!
I don’t even see the code anymore…
Were you reading the linked articles — or were you too busy looking at STEVE SMITH in red?
Mr Ilium, we told you to open a ticket with the helpdesk so we can fix the issue.
Shouldn’t it be ‘jack on’? That way we’re sure to know what follows.
I had a long day yesterday and then took a ‘nap’ around 7pm. Got up at 3:40 for the baby and just been grinding since then. I was ready for these fresh, hot links.
That’s like OMWC birthday links… there are so many possibilities (have to confess… my brain thought CFPB right off, personally….)
whaddup doh’
yo whats goody
Wives?
Blanket pardons for “everyone who investigated or was part of an investigation into OMB for all actions that could possibly be a Federal issue”? I mean — his remaining staffers might as well go for broke… he’ll sign anything to get back to Matlock reruns and his pudding cup.
Reruns? I’m sure he’s binging the new MATLOCK!
I’ve heard some noises from the right about the possibility of retroactively invalidating some or all of his executive orders, etc, on the grounds that he was non compos mentis during his entire term. I don’t know if that’s legally possible, but would be a long and messy process and make the Trump administration look petty and vindictive. I think the thing to do is let these people escape their just desserts, but make them testify about the things they were issued pardons for, then slink off into well-deserved obscurity.
Report: ‘Millions of Dollars’ of Hunter Biden’s Artwork Destroyed in L.A. Fires
It appears he tried to pay rent with “art” but was rejected.
Now he can get them all reimbursed through his insurance/gov disaster aid.
Didn’t a bunch of insurance providers cancel fire insurance? I felt like I read that somewhere.
And yes, I know that no matter what he’ll find a way to get the money back
–“Didn’t a bunch of insurance providers cancel fire insurance? I felt like I read that somewhere.”–
You may have read it, being as the media reports things that aren’t exactly true. While there may have been isolated cases where insurance was cancelled (it’s difficult to cancel a paid up policy mid-term except for fraud), what actually happened was that insurance companies would not renew policies when renewal dates came around.
The very, very cynical part of my brain is now wondering if said art was insured and who did the valuation if so.
Worth millions of dollars according to who? Sounds like he’s dabbling in insurance fraud now. What a guy.
Those would be state charges, no immunity.
“Specifically, it stated that the amounts paid to athletes through NIL deals should be considered part of a school’s athletic financial assistance, just as grants-in-aid and cost-of-attendance funds are.”
Maybe remove the school from the equation? These are all or mostly adults, and if not, the parents could be involved in these deals. That would gut the ability of OCR to mess with the agreements.
“OCR has long recognized that a school has Title IX obligations when funding from private sources, including private donations and funds raised by booster clubs, creates disparities based on sex in a school’s athletic program or a program component,” OCR wrote. “The fact that funds are provided by a private source does not relieve a school of its responsibility to treat all of its student-athletes in a nondiscriminatory manner.”
That’s bonkers.
We’re talking about college players, right? I remember when they were considered “adults” as well.
The generations where 15 year olds were running the family farm and getting married on the frontier look at our current crop of nigh-unto-30s and still figuring out “adulting” and weep for humanity.
(Which is my way of saying — yeah.. I remember when college students in general were adults and so considered. Not pampered kitten room, crayon needing gelatin molds of lumped mental anxieties fostered by their supposed upbrining…)
“Maybe remove the school from the equation?”
The how will they wet their beaks?
If they want to wet their beaks they can pierce their own chests and wet it on their own blood.
If I’m reading the article correctly, this wouldn’t apply to NIL deals from a shoe company, for example. It would apply to deals with groups that are sort of affiliated with the school. I can see the logic, but it’s still BS. The star QB is probably getting more money than the 53rd guy on the roster, who is probably getting less than the star female soccer player. I don’t see how there can be a magic formula to determine what is discriminatory and what isn’t.
Maybe. Being out of the state (sure hope to change that this year) for some time, I haven’t paid attention to the sausage being made… but it sounds like he pissed off the Kemp wing of the GOP that’s ascendant at the moment in Georgia (which is not MAGA happy from what I can tell over here… but hasn’t pissed them royally off either… Kemp is competent enough within the state that he seems Trump proof but doesn’t push it much). And the Dems of course don’t like him… so that’s a lot of the state power structure that would rather he crawl off and die… and is perfectly willing to help him along when folks aren’t looking. And the main press in Georgia is Atlanta… and knows very well not to bite the hand that feeds it (personal perception over the years… they’ll go after county corruption from time to time, but the state government gets pretty positive coverage).
So — yeah… I think there’s a very good chance it will end quietly from the rest of the state’s perspective. Because he won’t get reported on.
Does the state not have a law on the books that makes it illegal to prevent an elected official from going to a session? I thought all the states had something similar to Article I, Sec 6, Clause 1 written into their own constitutions.
Don’t know (sorry that 8th grade me didn’t have the GA Constitution locked into memory and current me doesn’t feel like looking it up 😉 ) offhand.
I expect you’re right and there’s a law against it. I also expect the House leader to either slap himself on the wrist of that “no reasonable prosecutor” will kick in. The politician in question is “icky” after all….
The speaker is relying on his duty to protect decorum. It is weak and flimsy especially since the representative was given a letter that he must apologize on the floor (which he was barred from) by the 16th of January and they kept him from even entering. It was all theater for them for a man that called out another of their own. Not nasty either, just said he was a shitty lawyer and shitty politician who lined their own pockets.
She thought she got to keep it because it came from the community chest.
I thought Dems wanted to remove the community chest?
I was thinking about taking a chance with a joke here, but couldn’t come up with a good one.
Legion goes transgender?
I was thinking about taking a chance with a joke here, but couldn’t come up with a good one.
I think you’re smart enough to come up with a short line if you wanted to.
Maybe something about a double mastectomy?
No that isn’t legal and the state will lose in court. More insurers will exit CA when it’s resolved.
The AT&T story is related. No insurance carrier will expose themselves to New York’s retarded regulations. They have to create a separate legal entity that only does business in NY to shield themselves from the crazy bureaucrats. Those companies that remain, will probably have to do something similar in CA.
AT&T’s reaction is the only appropriate response to these types of rules.
“You want something stupid? No thank you, we’re out.”
“Why isn’t there more competition? It’s a market failure we need government to fix.”
“We’ll just start out own broadband department… with blackjack and hookers!”
Or NY could go the CA route, and just require AT&T to provide the service at a money-losing rate.
Isn’t that what they tried?
What they tried was more “IF you are going to offer this service”, etc.
And if they’re not offering a service, under what legal theory could they be required to?
UCS:
Why do you think the left keeps trying to get internet to be considered a utility?
Now you’re getting it, UnCiv.
No, RC, I’m not getting what you’re saying. We’re clearly talking past each other.
NY can just pass a law fining AT&T elventy billion dollars for abandoning their corporate duty. I’m sure they have an entire slate of judges willing to enforce it.
And if they’re not offering a service, under what legal theory could they be required to?
I have a vague memory that Massachusetts used to require that companies that offered homeowner’s insurance in Massachusetts also offer car insurance. Hardly anyone at the time wanted to insure cars in Massachusetts due to MA car insurance regulations. But, lots of insurance companies offered homeowner’s insurance. They had a choice: Offer car insurance in MA subject to MA car insurance regulations or stop offering homeowner’s insurance in MA.
My memory could be faulty here. I took a quick look through the MA insurance regulations and didn’t see anything that looked like this. It might have been repealed. Maybe someone that works in the insurance biz might be able to correct me here.
Watch for the “insurance companies are a public accommodation/Public utility” argument to justify state interference and control over pricing and contracts and service.
Not that it makes sense, but some lefty judge will buy it.
The law requires ISPs with over 20,000 customers in New York to offer $15 broadband plans with download speeds of at least 25Mbps, or $20-per-month service with 200Mbps speeds. The plans only have to be offered to households that meet income eligibility requirements, such as qualifying for the National School Lunch Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Medicaid.
New York: Y’all have to lose money offering services to the poors.
AT&T: Who do you think we are? Government? We have shareholders to look after! See ya!
Society’s problem today are the large amount of people that feel profits made by anyone but themselves are evil and must be stopped/punished. But don’t dare tell them their pay/profits should be affected by their idiotic beliefs.
What’s next, the deli guy has to sell his sandwiches at half price to the poors?
They already have something sorta like that. One of the lunch places downtown where I used to eat had a whole case labelled “EBT” sandwiches. EBT as in Electronic Benefits Transfer, ie some form of welfare. These were totally basic sandwiches, like bologna on Wonder Bread. The government may not have required the deli to offer those, but certainly incentivized them into existence.
EBT is the benefits card that replaced food stamps some years ago.
lol I’ve never seen a separate case of “EBT food” like that. That’s creative. But at least in my state, you can’t buy prepared foods with benefits anyway.
I remember, back in college, when I worked at a 7/11 in the ghetto, seeing food stamps be basically used as straight up currency in the community. Like at a 2:1 or 4:1 ratio depending on what was being traded.
Back in the ’60s , in Podunkville, my mother could trade some kind of food stanps for pipe tobacco, household cleaners, etc. Don’t know what the exchange rate was.
In France at the time military gas coupons used by ESSO gas stations were traded on par for merchandise
This wouldn’t be such a big issue if New York weren’t so spectacularly efficient at creating poor people.
DING DING DING We have a winner!
While I don’t disagree — I fear that’s about as likely as an originalist view of the Constitution making a comeback and gutting the 90+ percent that’s been done in the name of the Commerce Clause that shouldn’t be there.
Unfortunately we got the despotism that orders the trains to run on time, but is incapable of understanding that someone has to lay track.
Hmmm… I don’t know… if it gets to the Roberts Court? If we can be forced to buy insurance… surely they can be forced to sell it?
(But yeah — forced participation in a contractual relationship by the State is tyranny… welcome to California! I’m sure it will only take 2 years for a lawsuit on the subject to process given the 1 year timeframe Governor Hair Gel is imposing… That barn door is going to be really secure after we let all the cows out!)
Nah those powers were ‘proven’ during 2020-2021 when governors exercised the ceded powers of the Legislature under ’emergencies’ (I mean, this is a localized issue, so should just be Los Angeles) and courts ate it up and said ‘you made that bed’.
Nah those powers were ‘proven’ during 2020-2021 when governors exercised the ceded powers of the Legislature under ’emergencies’ (I mean, this is a localized issue, so should just be Los Angeles) and courts ate it up and said ‘you made that bed’.
Some state legislatures modified the governor’s emergency powers after the Lil Rona Panic to either remove emergency powers or subject them to legislative oversight.
California was not one of them.
OTOH, if the courts go against California in this it could hasten their exit. One year ago I would have bet on a Texit, but now a Calexit seems more likely.
I mentioned about the NY State of the State in the ded thread. Here is the whole thing…mind you, when I asked about the first 40 minutes, it wasn’t about the ‘state’ of anything. It is 40 minutes of marching bands, dancers, choirs, color guard….apparently, NY is flush with cash and no other problems. They ran it like an award show with their MC annoucements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83uxEy_tv1w
This though..this is the best part.
So glad I didn’t have a mouthful of coffee.
I noticed that there was one very specific demographic that was not showcased in that debacle…
Good for them.
That is amazing.
I made it through about a half a minute, it didn’t seem real.
I’m speechless.
I so dislike the performative hand-waving that is mandatory at these government events.
That… is… AMAZING!
The fuck did I just watch?
The truest display of the State of the State of New York?
This is the Democrats rubbing their insanity in your face and telling you to clap and smile along with it.
What gets me is how bad those dancers are.
I know Vivek caught shit for saying that modern US culture celebrates mediocrity but it’s true in places. Like NY.
I never experienced a bad performance (outside of elementary school groups, and the like) until I moved here. I shared that album of a failed Austin prog-metal band with a lifelong NYer friend and they were amazed that the band was so good. They couldn’t comprehend that amateur-but-trying-not-to-be performers could be actually competent.
What gets me is how bad those dancers are.
#metoo
I started watching from the beginning.
I guess that marching band at the beginning skipped tuning.
Find a lamppost.
If a living (or subsequently dead) child is used for sexual gratification, I’m with you 100%. Once you enter the realm of fictional people – drawn, painted, AI-crafted, or written – you’ve left the black and white contours. Is Lolita porn – just the movie, or also the book?
No victim, no crime.
Sorry, but I’m going off the libertarian reservation on this one. If somebody is creating graphic video of children engaged in sex for their own or someone else’s sexual gratification, even if it’s AI-generated, they can either get the rope or go in the woodchipper.
Generally, I don’t believe someone should be convicted unless there’s an actual victim. In this case, I’ll make an exception.
Concur with Sloopy.
Society should not tolerate this shit at all. Normalizing this sort of degeneracy will result in victims as well as more of a push to normalize the behavior.
If there’s a risk of it creating future victims, then it’s worthy of being punished by death in this situation alone.
These people are irredeemable. And this dude also had plenty of actual CP on his devices, so the AI shit was part of a pattern.
Maybe society will get lucky and he’ll kill himself in shame and save the state the money of a trial and incarceration. Or we’ll get even luckier and somebody will string him up by his entrails in the exercise yard.
Except many will argue the exact opposite – that fake child porn will save real children from being used instead.
I have no idea.
I have no idea.
I’m willing to err on the side of caution here and chuck them all in the woodchipper. Especially since this guy also had real CP as well.
If there’s a risk of it creating future victims, then it’s worthy of being punished by death in this situation alone.
Isn’t that the same argument for gun control? If there’s a risk more guns and fewer gun laws could could result in future victims, we need to prosecute before there are any actual victims. It seems we’re basing this exception solely on the “ick” factor. Yes, these people are disgusting perverts and sub-human pieces of mentally-deranged shit, but they still shouldn’t be punished until they actually harm someone.
Concur with WTF.
There’s no need to ‘normalize’ the behavior. Shun them, ostracize them, call them out publicly and shame them. But the state should not be involved in punishing, let alone killing, someone with no victim. You don’t need that to exclude these people from polite society and put them away (or down) for any actual attempts to realize their thoughts in the real world.
The road to hell is paved with people willing to make ‘one exception’ for this particularly heinous thought.
So sloopy, anyone with a copy of Lolita (film and/or book) should be hauled off in a tumbril? What about someone who makes jokes about this? [cough]OMWC[cough]
I think there is a difference between a real child and a fictional one.
also had real CP as well
Did he? I didn’t get that clearly. If he did, then that is the issue, not the fictional stuff.
I still remember this.
https://www.cbr.com/canadian-court-drops-criminal-charges-in-manga-customs-case/
Isn’t that the same argument for gun control?
No. A gun is a tool that can be used for good or bad. There’s no analogue for CP.
It seems we’re basing this exception solely on the “ick” factor.
I’m ok with that. In fact, I’ll lean into it. Kill them.
So sloopy, anyone with a copy of Lolita (film and/or book) should be hauled off in a tumbril? What about someone who makes jokes about this? [cough]OMWC[cough]
I made very clear that it applies to graphic video representations, not the printed or spoken word.
No. A gun is a tool that can be used for good or bad. There’s no analogue for CP.
The issue is not the particular object, the issue is basing punishment on potential futurecrime.
CP that is real? Woodchipper.
AI generated garbage, drawings, animation, etc.? Nope.
Id lean with community justice, not State action.
Child Porn is not something with an “ick factor”. Sex with children is a sign of a level of moral degeneracy that should make any functioning society of non-evil adults automatically not just recoil, but exact harsh punishment on the perps. Why not just fucking sacrifice the kids to Moloch and be done with it?
And this argument has no comparison to that about guns. As mentioned, guns are a tool. The problems, when they happen, are the people wielding the gun and their motivation (and imagine all the molested kids with a need to get vengeance). Sex with children is not a tool. It is the worst form of abuse that can be done to a child.
Id lean with community justice, not State action.
I’ll send you an invite to the lynch mob. Welcome to the party.
While we’re being autistically libertarian, let me throw this out:
Whose rights are violated by the mere possession of CP? While the child’s rights were violated in making it, and possibly filming/photographing it (on account of they can’t give legal consent to being filmed/photographed, but that opens its own can of worms), how are their rights violated by mere possession? And if you think they are, how do you (not) generalize that rule to adults who may have been filmed/photographed without their legal consent?
Child Porn is not something with an “ick factor”. Sex with children is a sign of a level of moral degeneracy that should make any functioning society of non-evil adults automatically not just recoil, but exact harsh punishment on the perps. Why not just fucking sacrifice the kids to Moloch and be done with it?
And this argument has no comparison to that about guns. As mentioned, guns are a tool. The problems, when they happen, are the people wielding the gun and their motivation (and imagine all the molested kids with a need to get vengeance). Sex with children is not a tool. It is the worst form of abuse that can be done to a child.
Alex – No one is defending actual child porn, we are all in agreement because there is actual harm to actual victims. The argument is about punishing AI-generated videos, images, animation, drawings, etc. where there is no victim.
Sex with children is a sign of a level of moral degeneracy
So, about ancient Greece…
Whose rights are violated by the mere possession of CP?
This goes to the issue of sovereignty – and the moral guardianship of society. Crime that is a tort is clear, anything about fixing (or just avoiding that mess and killing) broken people, not so much.
“So, about ancient Greece…”
Muslims today treat their women like cattle. How about we start doing the same then since other civilizations were OK with it?
Not ever going to give the state an excuse for pre-crime.
If you feel strongly enough that a guy needs killin’ go do it, and make that defense if the prosecutor thinks you went over the line.* But don’t outsource the violence.
*that’s not actually a joke btw. I would welcome that option since I trust random vicitms’ parents/friends over prosecutors and cops.
JI: What about Ancient Greece?
My mother once chided me about the arrogance of white men who think they cant take their rifles and impose their morality on others. My response was “I dont give a fuck and I dont have to. I have the rifle.”
What my mother had in spades was ignorance. She had no idea what those other cultures were. It was an abstraction to her, not something real that was happening to real human beings. She scoffed at the Charles Napier example. The words ‘burn innocent women alive’ were words that had no meaning to her. It’s a cultural abstraction. When videos of ISIS began to show up with them torturing and murdering people in the most horrific ways they could imagine my mother changed her tune. It became real to her when she saw caged homosexuals burned alive or crushed with bulldozers. She could see their faces, hear their screams. She never could bring herself to cheer Trump but she was easily able to side with those white men with rifles then. Also, it never came up that Obama/Clinton were allowing that to go on and even helped to bring it about.
Sexual abuse of children should be punished by death. Creation of actual child porn should be punished by death. Drawings of imaginary children should not be criminalized no matter how vile anyone finds them. Criminalizing the creation, viewing, or possession of fiction based on its content is core first amendment territory and it is door that should never be opened. The idea that viewing cartoon porn will somehow make people harm actual children is precisely the same idea as the idea that playing video games leads to violent crime, playing DnD leads to devil worship, Joe Camel makes kids smoke etc. It is fetishism.
sloopyinca/Suthenboy:
And how many people had the Traci Lords porns from when she was underage? They should all be killed?
Muslims today…
They aren’t the source of most of Western ethos, particularly the civic, as ancient Greece is. If you are going to go Judeo-Christian (Biblical), I’ll remind you that your own attitude, and more importantly – behavior, towards women will be found lacking there. I’m not judging you because I’m no better than you – we’re both going to hell if that source is correct.
My mother once chided me about the arrogance of white men who think they cant take their rifles and impose their morality on others.
Suthen you hit the nail on the head. This is a giant, society-wide, cherrypicking process – enforced by those who can and will kill. What barbarians do on the other side of the world is irrelevant unless they try to do it here.
Looks like this punch-face had both.
A daily ray.
I am not going to comment on this. I will let sloopy continue to look like the hardass instead of the moderate, reasonable guy I would make him look like.
Ok, I lied. I am going to comment.
The sexual violation of children is behavior that gets passed down generation after generation. The molested often become molesters themselves when they become adults.
The solution to the problem is obvious but not very many people want to say it. It can and should be eliminated from our culture. That could get very ugly and also make the MeToo thing look like an evenhanded reasonable application of moral and legal principles.
This is what might be described as a moral dilemma.
*goddammit. typing that out I missed a letter and wrote ‘oral dilemma’. I am glad I caught that before submitting.
So, 2 14 year olds and a telephone doing pictures should be put to death? 15 year olds? 16? 17?
Oh well, that’s kids doing kid stuff. Wait a minute. Some of these youngsters are having babies, some schools provide Mommy care.
A slippery slope, indeed…
Time to go Yahweh on America?
That the government seems to have become destructive of the ends of supporting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and should be abolished leaps to mind.
Maybe it turns out a constitution really is a suicide pact.
Only when the people going into government are immoral. But then again, you then have to blame the voters…
Maybe. But I feel that there are several wrong turns we took along the way, without which we would maybe not be in the current mess.
OTOH every other western “democracy” took those same turns so maybe it was inevitable.
OTOH every other western “democracy” took those same turns so maybe it was inevitable.
It is inevitable, and the founders knew it, that’s what the second amendment is supposed to address.
A woman who had lived her whole life in the same Tijuana neighborhood was desperate for medical help after a dog attack left her with wounds to her legs.
And how, exactly, is this the American taxpayers’ problem? (Harumphs, goes back to
cocktailcoffee)It’s the same question we ask about why Ukraine and Israel are our problem, they shouldn’t be.
What cruel person would subject her to the overpriced, poor quality American health system? Send her to Canada, where high quality care is free.
Oh f’ing yay….Tell me again about those super dangerous nuke plants, Greenie Weenies? I’m expecting a lot more of these on several levels (EVs, power walls, industrial levels) over the next decade….
Link fail?
You couldn’t handle the content.
Sigh… gorram stupid inability to double check myself…. Let’s try that again….
Due to the fire, Santa Cruz County Public Health officials are advising residents to stay indoors, keep windows and doors closed, limit outdoor exposure and turn off ventilation systems.
…
“No active fire suppression is taking place, the batteries must burn themselves out,” officials wrote. “No water can be used. This is standard action for battery fires.”
As a Florida resident, I’m having a very difficult time not saying anything about the wildfires.
Have to remember that dumb people on the Internet don’t represent everybody there.
As opposed to the fires that sometimes occur at oil refineries or spills that occur when BP has a “mishap”.
Is that even part of Title IX or did they invent that provision too?
Because that would make, say, scholarships targeted at girls illegal, yes?
They just made it up, same as they made up that it protects men cosplaying as women under the guise of “gender identity” instead of protecting women, although a judge already slapped that retardation down a couple days ago.
Basically, the total amount offered to girls has to be proportional to how much of the student body they are. Since football takes up so much money, it’s done a number on other traditionally male-only sports like wrestling.
Yeah, my alma mater got rid of men’s soccer, baseball, swimming, and women’s (!) rowing in order to feed football, and basketball (presumably men’s and women’s).
Get rid of college sports. Replace it with privately owned and run semi-pro leagues. College sports are not the biggest factor but a big one ruining education.
Let’s also start looking at getting rid of govt run education.
So much this but it will never, ever happen.
You might as well ban apple pie and bald eagles.
But, but, but some kids wouldn’t get (be forced) to go to school.
“It’s astounding what has happened,” the president said. “Only one piece of good news: my son lives out here and his wife. They got a notification yesterday that their home was probably burned to the ground. Today, it appears that it’s still standing, they’re not sure.”
My new favorite Joe Biden quote.
JFC…
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/home-insurance-federalization-john-kennedy-california-florida-ron-desantis-eedc07f7?st=Birgp5&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
“Why won’t even a Republican controlled government cut wasteful spending? Because a reasonable person’s definition of “wasteful spending” is now some political constituency’s “gravy train.”” -Thomas Massie
Protect the middle class!!! It sounds so much better than “hey, all you smaller hogs, get up here to the trough”.
This is all just the same old story of people voting to pad their wallets with money stolen from chumps like you and me.
Nobody is going to put a stop to it lest someone decides to target their hobby horse.
Kill the national flood insurance program. Leave no trace of it. Just kill it.
The party of austerity. I can stop laughing but I still have to snicker aloud
FIFA doing as only FIFA can.
Speaking of soccer, sloopy ignores that ManUtd played like crap for 80 minutes yesterday trying to drop points (at home) to… [checks notes] the bottom of the table side, only to be saved by a young star with a hat trick in the last 10 minutes.
I can’t say anything, Spurs needed extra time to beat Tamworth in the FA cup.
To be fair, Marta seems pretty thikk.
It still baffles me, though, why anyone would give a shit about girls trying to play at soccer.
I remember Carlos Valdarama waddling around the center of the pitch, but when the ball was at his feet – holy hell he could produce some wizardry.
excellent musical choices this morning!
Seconded. What a fantastic band.
I love it when music holds up like that.
https://x.com/DudespostingWs/status/1880005026883727379
El oh el
Well done.
I lost it when he tried to open the door.
I lost it when I saw the video was open captioned in the middle in the two or three words at a time in a font not conducive to captioning.
“China China”
I have no need for a sign, but I would love to throw the kid some business!
Since I’m a Gen Z’er on TikTok This is something that excites me. Even if you all don’t like TikTok for whatever reason, I still think it should be legal mainly because I believe it violates free speech in the way that even though all of these consumers can go somewhere else, they’re now going to “RedNote” which is owned by the Chinese government (I believe). Which is not worse? Also, this law will start a long awful streak of government overreach and authoritarianism. If they ban one app or website, they won’t stop.
Jesus Christ I can’t type, I was going to say
” I still think it should be legal mainly because I believe it violates free speech in the way that even though all of these consumers can go somewhere else,”
continued … that is not the point, it’s a way for people to speak out and the government could take that away.
TikTok ban odds are jumping around on betting markets in the last hour, but mostly bullish.
https://polymarket.com/event/tiktok-banned-in-the-us-before-may-2025?tid=1737126414323
TikTok ban odds are jumping around on betting markets in the last hour, but mostly bullish.
https://polymarket.com/event/tiktok-banned-in-the-us-before-may-2025?tid=1737126414323
Sad to tell you – Trump was the first one who thought of doing a ban in his first term. It may still happen. I am in agreement with you, the government has no right to ban it. It is clear government overreach which should be knocked out by the Supreme Court.
Luckily, Trump never cares too much about changing his mind.
True. I think the Supreme Court is going to announce a decision on it this morning, in a few hours.
I would add that the government would have a right to say the app cannot be on any government device, and maybe even go as far to say that anyone entering a secure area cannot have the app on any device. I get that. But there cannot be a blanket ban for civilians.
Yeah… I’m not gonna KMS if it does (like some I know). What would SCOTUS use to knock it down? I haven’t paid attention to the SCOTUS case currently
It will all depend if “The Protecting American From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACAA)” actually applies and if Congress’ law is too broad/narrow I would wager.
TikTok is also owned by the chinese government, so they’re not really going to a different antagonistic provider.
the fact that the CCP owner of the Tik-Tok tool has said they would rather not keep it in America if they had to divest and/or share/show their code, should tell everyone this thing is not benevolent, but a weapon of PsyOp war.
AlexinCT:
That people are willingly subjecting themselves to. That to me is the key. What happens when some of the kids start sideloading the APK for TikTok?
Yeah, the NSA hates competition when it comes to spying on Americans.
This isn’t about spying on people so much as it is about the ability to use trending to modify American perceptions. All this woke shit is heavily promoted by the CCP in the US for a reason. It serves the CCP’s purpose of demoralizing and destroying their American adversary from within. They are causing so much damage and doing so without firing a single shot. It’s one thing when you have your government fucking you over, and a completely different thing when it is being done by a hostile evil foreign entity.
Look at what the CCP did after October 7th through Tik-Tok, in one weekend. They managed to influence a YUGE number of young idiots into thinking that Israel was at fault (they must have worn a skirt that was too short) for that horrific act of terrorism, and that Israel responding by pummeling those monsters into the ground, was genocide.
How do you think the CCP will use this tool when they come after us directly?
Huh?
You think the Feds give a flying fuck about that? You don’t think they’ll use it as an excuse to censor more and more shit?
This is a dumb plan.
I have some hope, as I’m seeing some more pushes for open protocols instead of closed systems. I’ve never seen the allure of social media, the closest I tried was Google+, and we all know how that went.
Of course, I also know that I’m an extreme outlier when it comes to normal behavior.
extreme outlier when it comes to normal behavior
So say we all.
No. I’m perfectly normal.
It’s everyone else who’s odd.
I don’t understand why a friendly country can’t build a data hoovering time suck intended to endumben its user base.
“I still think it should be legal mainly because I believe it violates free speech in the way that even though all of these consumers can go somewhere else, they’re now going to “RedNote” which is owned by the Chinese government (I believe)”
The Court was leaning (as far as you can tell in oral arguments) toward foreign governments, and companies they control, don’t have free speech rights under the Constitution, so TikTok’s doesn’t have a claim that its 1A rights would be violated. RedNote, BTW, appears to fall under the same prohibition as TikTok.
Now, do individuals have 1A rights that require that they use a particular platform? Seems a stronger argument to me. I don’t recall how oral arguments went on that issue.
Thank you for fixing what I wrote lol, I went off the road.
If they can’t prohibit me from going to a foreign government website, can the prevent me from going to a foreign site and downloading a government-downed app?
Looks to me like Biden punting responsibility in the spirit of salvaging what he can of his legacy.
Awesome. New rules that will entrench current market participants and make it difficult for new entrants. They will have just about zero effect on security however.
Companies that do business directly with the federal government will have strict new cybersecurity requirements. Software suppliers will have to provide the government with evidence that their products were built using secure development practices, and that they aren’t vulnerable to known threats, such as bugs for which patches exist.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-issues-11th-hour-cyber-executive-order-f8568d2d?st=P14bVx&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
FTQ
The companies should just respond, “You First”.
Yep…between the DoD, SSA, FAA, OPM and DOI…they have all ‘lost’ or had breaches of my personal information. Private companies? Verizon is the only one who reached out to me about such an event.
BWAHAHAHAhahahahahahaha
I hate it when subordinates have zero initiative.
You were given a clear and simple task – schedule the next project meeting. I should not have to keep prodding you on that. It’s not like it takes any special knowledge you don’t have.
Call me juvenile, but I laughed way too hard at this.
News at 11: Husband was found dead
And I laughed just as hard
Me too, thanks, Shpip, I needed that this orning.
I don’t get it.
“Trycocksagain”
Trycocksagain…..
I got that far, but I’m not sure why it should be uproarious.
It’s not even groan-worthy.
More execution than content. Her chasing him down the hallway (even though probably fake) cracked me up
Its a spousal thing for me. We know we shouldn’t do it or say it and we weigh the consequences and do it anyway. Thats what made me laugh.
Nice
Yup. Loud laughter here as well.
I laffed.
Oh, looting isn’t a felony, but these guys are doing wrong?
Good on her. Nice that at least a few people understand that you are completely on your own.
Further, I don’t think looting should be a felony. Just a trip through the woodchipper.
Well Breaking news: SCOTUS has UPHELD the ban to band TikTok
JFC I still can’t type
Ban, not BAND
I believe this should have opinions in it.
Ah, I should have waited.
Stories are being published
Anyone knows what the “tiers of scrutiny” are?
Wood Chipped Wednesday:
Of course not, they’re inscrutable.
Yes. Good God. Once I …..oh, wait. You said TIERS.
Nevermind.
The tiers are:
1. rational basis (this is the ordinary level of judicial scrutiny which generally applies when no fundamental rights or protections are involved it asks if the government had a rational basis for the law and if so, that is it)
2. Intermediate scrutiny (this is used in some situations where the law impacts a protected class or speech rights, there is a list including some types of speech cases, male/female different treatment, but it is basically a level the court created, and uses, in situations where strict scrutiny would prevent them from doing something they want to do) (that is my cynical view, others may see a logic to the uses of this level that I have never seen) Basically it is the government’s reason for the law must be compelling, and the law must be substantially related to the Government’s interest.
3. Strict scrutiny (Government is doing something the Constitution says it cannot do) Strict scrutiny requires that the law be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest, and must be the least restrictive way to serve that interest.
Thanks JarFlax!
Re: Jarflax’ nice summary of rational, intermediate, and strict.
It strikes me reading those that the all make the same mistake. “no fundamental rights involved”, “reason for the law is compelling”, “serve a compelling government interest, and must be the least restrictive way to serve that interest”.
Nowhere any acknowledgment, even if cursory, that this has nothing do with Constitutional law. There should be one level of scrutiny: Does the Constitution explicitly grant the government this power? Yes? – OK, don’t like it, change the constitution. No? – Law is null and void.
Yeah, yeah, I know, ship has sailed, etc. etc. But at least give it lip service so we can pretend we live in a free country at least!
Ruling here
PDF Link to case
Unsigned opinion with Sotomayor and Gorsuch writing separate concurrences.
Lol, everyone linking the PDF…
I think that not of us refreshed the page to see others lol
JFC! I cannot spell. I think that NONE of us
national security concerns
What fucking clause of the Constitution is that?
I would suspect its kicking it back to Congress because of the law they created. The petitioners will probably now go to that particular piece of legislation on its Constitutionality…or should really. Is it too broad? Defined well? Etc.
Juris, I imagine they’re using the necessary and proper clause, but stretching it a shit load
“foreign adversary”
Can’t we all just get along? Then we could have a tic-tac…
Fourscore, maybe they’re just hungry, they need a snickers
“Second, I am pleased that the Court declines to consider
the classified evidence the government has submitted to us
but shielded from petitioners and their counsel.” Says Gorsuch
Good.
A court case should be out in the open.
Secret evidence an anathema, and likely violates several consitutional clauses anyway.
I dislike how Gorush mentions how TikTok mines data as a reason why they were compelled to uphold the ban. As if our companies here don’t mine data and share it overseas
Servant, Gorsuch mentioned that a line or two down as well. I’m also glad the court did that because there needs to be more transparency in Gov rather than less and less like normal.
The Chinese dont care. They can simply get all of the info they want by spying on our government who is also collecting the same info. Cheaper and eliminates redundancy.
The info collection is only one prong of the application’s use as a weapon, and the less significant one.
It is specifically designed for psychological damage to the users, which is why they would sooner see it destroyed than have the algorithm come into the light.
I don’t follow any of this. “California-based”? “Divestiture”?
It just stinks of fascism to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Double down.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/17/stonewall-democrats-trans-issues-00198870
Shh! Let them drag the Democrats further under that bus.
🙄🙄
Trump is the first president to support gay marriage before entering office.
WHAT?!?!?!?!?! But big media and all my dumbass libtard ‘friends’ said that he was gonna take away their ability to be gay
I’m listening to the Kristi Noem’s hearing. So far she’s doing really well too. Lots of talk about getting rid of the immigration app and getting rid of censorship. The Reps are asking good questions. Can’t wait for the Dems to ask YES OR NO! questions about Trump ordering her to shoot someone in the legs.
“We don’t want to shoot them in the legs until after we’ve deposited them on foreign soil. It’s easier to move someone who can walk themselves.”
I think Noem is a two to the chest one to the head kind of gal.
“If Trump asked you, would you shoot a dog in the leg?”
The fact that the big criticism of Noem is that she had the fortitude to put her own dog down when it was time makes me like her more not less.
Bullshit. It wasn’t time at all. She shot a dog who she didn’t properly train.
It has zero bearing on the job, but I think she’s a shithead for doing it.
I grew up on a farm, sometimes animals need put down.
We had a cat named Checkers that would always run through the barn when we were milking and terrorize the cows as they were in the milking parlor.
One day Checkers didn’t show up.
A couple days later my younger brother found Checker’s body in the manure pit.
My step dad said he must have fallen in and gotten stuck.
My younger brother relied, “If he fell, someone must have shot him on the way down.”
That’s funny, Ron. I remember those days on the farm.
Ron – I’m sympathetic to the argument that it requires courage to do what’s right. But you’re right, that doesn’t seem to apply here.
When I was very young, we had a great german shepard, Loup. I vaguely remember him and there are pictures of him wrapped around me protecting me as I was sleeping when I was 1 or 2. Apparently the most loyal gentle dog with the family. But not very tolerant of outsiders who may be a threat to same.
The neighbor kids would often cut through our yard and one day, not sure if they fucked with him or tried to fuck with one of us kids (as kids will sometimes do), but Loup decided he wasn’t having any of that and chased them off, in the process biting one. Of course the mother got the city involved and Loup was going to be taken away to that farm up north. So my dad took him out into the country and let him run free as he loved to do and… shot him. One moment running free and the next gone, no suffering, no confusion, not surrounded by strangers. THAT took courage and fortitude on my fathers part and I always admired him for that once I was older and got the full story of why my buddy disappeared.
Can’t they just repurpose the app for ICE to locate them?
[millions of phones suddenly found in landfills]
I tend to consume more Libertarian news when republicans are in power, so I checked in on Reason. The comment section was weak, a shadow of what it used to be. Then I recalled the brain drain when defectors started their own site, but couldn’t remember the name of the website (judging by my profile pic, it’s been about eight years). Glibertarians was my waking thought. Glad I found you clever assholes again, even though you probably don’t remember this lurker.
/end bootlicking session
Refurbishing the Democratic Party’s credentials on LGBTQ+ issues, advocates say, will start with influencing the party’s core infrastructure. Stonewall Democrats members are meeting with candidates running to be the party’s next chair and are discussing organizing and messaging strategies around potential policy fights across levels of government. They have also established a political action committee with hopes of recruiting and supporting LGBTQ+ candidates in the 2026 midterms.
They should call themselves the “half-per-cent-er Democrats” in honor of the breadth and depth of their presence in the population.
I don’t think numbers matter to actual rights so I avoid the blather over how few or many there are. Better to fight claimed “rights” that aren’t actually rights.
Anyway, I am going to go out on a limb and guess that this outfit has been taken over by the letter T same as every other but this time they aren’t seeing the writing on the wall that people are getting tired of their shit.
Excellent. Do it.
Joe Rogan watching Newsome gleefully talk about land deals while houses and still smoldering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EynS_k-LlxM
Did the French Laundry burn?
Newsome’s career as a slick-shit political ghoul is over.
From the AP link on the CBP One app: “Supporters say CBP One has helped bring order to the border and reduced illegal crossings.”
Arrests for theft are down since theft was legalized.
the Court declines to consider the classified evidence the government has submitted to us
but shielded from petitioners and their counsel.” Says Gorsuch
Which should have been followed by, “Get out of here, and don’t come back.”
Uh..”the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process”
Not that matters anymore I guess.
Doc Jill isn’t a great Constitutional Scholar, but she sure understands how to make a mess. They are desperately trying to strangle what’s left of the Republic on the way out the door.
Never mind the ratification deadline passed, States have since rescinded their ratifications…I get he is using his bully pulpit, but the language quoted was:
“It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people. In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex,”
That isn’t arguing that we should readdress it, that is signaling to NARA to just ratify it and then let the next Congress, President and Courts untangle that mess.
But Trump intends to be a dictator…
Biden wants to make sure Trump is the second one.
Spyware!
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the Supreme Court’s opinion said. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
I guess I just lack imagination, but I am completely in the dark as to how raw tiktok data can be made sense of, much less weaponized.
If it is a Chinese application, it will scrape every piece of information off your device as a given.
Since most of these idiots use it on their phones and live their lives on that device, it collects pretty much everything about them and their actions.
Yep. It will know everywhere you go, every photo you take, and also listen in to conversations. The spying is not limited to just in-app actions. Just like the Facebook or Amazon apps, which seem to always know what you just talked about and the tailor product suggestions.
I don’t think numbers matter to actual rights so I avoid the blather over how few or many there are. Better to fight claimed “rights” that aren’t actually rights.
True. I was thinking more of how a tiny fringe wants their pet hobbyhorse to take precedence over the priorities of the broader base and drive policy.
There is one broad inalienable right and that applies only to individuals: Property rights. Every person’s mind, body and conscience are exclusively their own property. Dont get lost in the weeds of trying to parse the myriad of ways trespass can occur. Every one of the bill of rights enumerated are covered with that and all of the ones not enumerated.
I know it’s a tweet, but…what the fucking fuck? No, Joe. This isn’t how shit works, you stupid fuck.
https://x.com/potus/status/1880271367569895830?s=46&t=A06oloe1Jyy9EG2F8MX6aw
Yep, its a signal to NARA to just do it, as I stated above and let the next administration and Congress unfuck that mess.
Officials immediately jumped in and tried to backtrack and cover for him for that statement too “He was just saying he believes it to be true”, in not so many words.
It’s OK. I just tweeted a repeal. We’re good.
Jeez, just trip and fall down the stairs already. Is he going to try to shoot off nukes on the 19th as his final act?
One more thing on TikTok
unanimous decision to uphold the ban. However, only Gorsuch and Sotomayor wrote opinions. I wonder if more will come with time.
Not officially, no, the decision was unsigned and those two probably drew the short straw (or had more to say more likely) in their concurrences.
The 29th amendment will be guns. Bet on it.
Did somebody repeal the 14th Amendment while I wasn’t paying attention?
The Chinese government also weighed a contingency plan that would have Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations as part of several options intended to keep the app from its effective ban in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported on Monday. The plan was one of several that the Chinese government was considering as part of larger discussions involving working with the upcoming Trump White House, the report said.
In the chance that ByteDance decides to sell TikTok to a U.S. company or group of investors, potential buyers may have to pay between $40 billion and $50 billion, according to an estimate by CFRA Research Senior Vice President Angelo Zino.
They should sell it to Musk for a dollar.
Mom’s already talking about getting strong enough to a) get out of bed herself or, b) more ambitiously, go to assisted living.
Apparently, the problem is, she saw no point in getting better to go home to Aunts Selfish Cunt. None of the four of us cued into that until today, but it makes perfect sense.
She has perked up a bit being here and seems to feels more at ease.
BUT her heart is still very weak and she’s not on insulin, so this could go either way.
And also, she does not want them to come visit.
Sounds like some good news, Moj. Good for your Mom
Free at last, free at last
The 1970s-era amendment passed by Congress would guarantee men and women equal rights under the law, but it took until 2020 for enough state legislatures to ratify it, missing a deadline set by Congress by a long shot. ERA proponents have argued that the deadline was not binding because it was in the preamble to the amendment, rather than the text of the amendment itself.
On Friday, Biden said he believed the ERA had cleared the hurdle to be added to the Constitution as its 28th Amendment when Virginia ratified it five years ago. He did not explain why he waited until the waning days of his presidency to take action.
He has released them from their shackles.
This is truly the man who should be leading the nation for the next four years.
I’m sure this is a dumb question, but what rights do women not have?
The right to be conscripted.
Equal ones obviously. It’s right there in the name! All the civil rights acts/amendments do the same thing, create protected classes with a legal basis to sue people for discriminating against the member of the class in a situation where ordinarily those people would be within their discretion to freely choose who to do business with. This ship has sailed, but the right of free association really needs to make a comeback.
Walter and Matt interpret Biden’s farewell.
I cannot wait for Dank Biden to redo his farewell speech.
I’d rather hear Dark Cracky give the speech.