Good morning one and all to another spectacular day!
Tulsi Gabbard Confirmed as DNI – McConnell Joins Democrats in Voting Against
Hegseth Says Ukraine Regaining Pre-War Borders Is ‘Unrealistic’
FBI Leaker Caught Tipping Off Venezuelan Gang Ahead of ICE Raids
Trump’s FCC Chief Brendan Carr Probes Comcast, NBC over DEI Policies Promoting Discrimination
AG Pam Bondi Announces Lawsuits Against New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and AG Letitia James
Inflation Worsened in January—What This Means for Fed Rate Cuts
Biden immigration crisis was a boon for Catholic Charities, which raked in billions in grant money
Trump Could Claw Back $4.3 Billion in Unspent High-Speed Rail Funds from California
Democrats Spiral Into Civil War Over How To Resist Trump, Lashing Out At Their Own Voters
Why are these pardoned J6 defendants still in prison?
That’s all I got for today. I’ll leave you with a song and move along with my day.
Why are these pardoned J6 defendants still in prison?
Because FYTW.
Better question – why haven’t the prison officials been arrested for kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment?
You took the initials right out of my mouth.
Christ, can’t Franklin the Turtle kick off already?
Not Yertle?
That guy has enough stolen money to bribe the devil to be his doctor. When he does kick off he is going to dissolve into a toxic residue of chemicals that melts the floor.
Oldage Mumbly Looter Turtle is a lame spinoff.
With regards to the legal actions against the New York sludge, in some places I see ‘charges’ which implies criminal, in others I see ‘suit’ which implies civil – what sort of action was actually taken? I want to see them perp-walked out of office, dammit.
Appears to be civil to drop the “sanctuary” status which makes local authorities refuse to work with ICE and hand criminals over to them when detained and actively house and feed them. Hopefully, it will turn criminal if they continue to fight the Feds.
Thank you.
Hey don’t look for facts, there is journalisming being done, not science!
Their money, their company, their problem.
Yes, yes, MUH BROADCAST LICENSES. Auction off the spectrum and get the government out of that business as well.
“staggering”?
One of my coworkers took the fork, she is young, recovering from cancer, has three kids. I hope she is ok.
I am the most logical person to cover that base, which in theory means TDY from here to there.
75K is not staggering.
I agree with you about the number. By corporate standards it would be a small restructuring. Also the 6 months severance + benefits is roughly the corporate norm.
The thing is by government standards the whole thing is “unprecedented”. I think that is why the media both left and right leaning are at a loss how to accurately portray it.
I believe the theory is that most of those numbers are going to retire anyway.
There is a new EO that talks about reducing manpower levels. He definitely has the power to do so. (article II)
My questions are in the execution. How many? What mission changes? What regulation changes?
If opm is supposed to reduce manpower by 70% Who is going to RIF the rest of the workforce?
(i have been through it twice in my drone service)
That’s the corporate norm. Mostly end of career workers age 60+.
“If opm is supposed to reduce manpower by 70% Who is going to RIF the rest of the workforce?”
How many people does it take to fire somebody? Or a bunch of somebodies?
RC its the government. Its never simple.
bump and retreat rules and all that.
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/reductions-in-force/
Well, that was kinda my point, robo.
Also in other news “water is wet”.
The Trump administration’s effort to slash the federal workforce is pushing employees into a challenging job market.
Federal workers skew older than those in the private sector, and their long bureaucratic experience often makes them less competitive applicants for corporate roles, according to career coaches and recruiters.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/federal-workers-jobs-doge-37b761cd?st=H26eFd&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
I will admit to being a little irritated that this is happening right around when I want to start hunting for a new job. But that irritation is counterbalanced by the entertainment of watching Democrats run to die on the hill that we can’t cut any spending, and there’s no waste or fraud in the government.
Oh boo hoo hoo.
Imagine having spent an entire career in a position that left you bereft of a single marketable skill for which anyone in the private sector would pay you, and thinking this makes you a sympathetic figure to the people who were told to get on welfare or learn to code when their careers were ended by selective comparative advantage via
free trademanaged international tariff harmonization.Pat:
Even more recent than that. All of the employees (I was one), who were threatened to be fired if they didn’t get the ‘vid shot. There was no severance offered with that dismissal.
I’m hiring, and the number of applicants has been unreal. Hundreds a day. A lot of fed and fed contractors.
I am kind of in this boat.
I spent 20 years in the Marines and the last 8 of that was managing secure communication equipment and key.
I work for the Navy as a contractor and am fairly well paid because of my skills and experience.
If it goes away, none of those skills or experience would get me a real job.
That being said, I could survive as either a carpenter or mechanic and you would never see me complaining about the unfairness of it.
Yeah, it was mentioned last night as “3 percent”. That number needs to be much higher.
Recalls that the “stayers” are expected to be adding value, returning to the office, etc.
30-yr average career, means this is exactly the people who were retiring anyway…
Let me jump in a bit early and also note what happens when you stop playing games with lots of diplomats talking.
Israel and Hamas Agree to Resolve Cease-Fire Dispute
Two foes on track for a hostages-for-prisoners exchange Saturday after dispute risked collapsing agreement
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-and-hamas-agree-to-resolve-cease-fire-dispute-2c3e0714?st=fPqWhT&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Any deal with Hamas is idiotic.
Yup.
Yup squared.
How many times are they going to repeat this farce?
Hegseth Says Ukraine Regaining Pre-War Borders Is ‘Unrealistic’
Ukraine’s V weapons program will win the war.
He also said Ukraine joining NATO is unrealistic.
Which it is.
Unacceptable. The borders established by a UN memorandum 30 years ago to settle the then-ongoing territorial disputes are sacrosanct and inviolable, and if takes feeding another million 60 year old Ukrainian conscripts into the gristmill and building another dozen Martha’s Vineyard beach houses for Raytheon executives to secure a Uke victory, it will be a small price to pay.
Does the Big Guy still get his cut?
Russia *did* sign it.
Comrade, Ukraine borders are sacrosanct because it was ordained so by Supreme Soviet 70 odd years ago!
Calling them “private religious charities” is like calling Catholic hospitals “private religious hospitals.” They’re closer to an NGO, at best ,and with the level of regulation involved in both “resettlement” and medical care, it’s hard to even justify the “N” in NGO.
Thats why Quango is a better term: Quasi Non-governmental Organization
SudoNGO
ElEcTiOnS hAvE cONsEqUeNCeS!
3 mins past cutoff yay!
Bro1 is going in for surgery on his colon cancer today. Stage II-III. He’ll be 51 tomorrow, never had a colonoscopy.
THEN I found out my cousin (Cunty Aunt Susie’s kid) had colon cancer ALSO.
This is a highly hereditary form.
Get your butts scoped, people!
OT- thought of you this AM!
Want to Hear a Celebrity Tell You a Sexy Story?
https://www.wsj.com/business/quinn-audio-erotica-app-caroline-spiegel-founder-snapchat-7881370c?st=JLQwLq&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Some
badnot good news for you Mojeaux.Oh, I’ve known about that forever. I never really liked Joann, but that’s a shame because their fabric selection was far better than Walmart (even before WM’s attempt at Targetification) and Hobby Lobby’s. Hobby Lobby is turning into a home Live Laugh Love decor store, and their fabric department consists of cotton and upholstery fabric. Because crafts, not dressmaking/tailoring. I honestly don’t know where you’d go for high-end fabrics now. I bought my wedding dress fabric (yes, I made my wedding dress) at a VERY chichi fabric store at the most expensive place in town that went out of business years ago. I had bought some very expensive cotton and some ridiculously expensive designer buttons at a different chichi fabric store that went out of business years before THAT. In both cases, it was retirement or death of owner.
Saw one emptied out recently by me. I had just assumed it was part of the wholesale movement of all retail from the northeast suburban area to the southwest suburban area that I’ve seen in the last year or so.
If not what seems like the broader trend of the collapse of retail stores entirely. So much retail dying here.
Mojeaux:
This is the most recent aftermath of the bankruptcy.
I’m not sure if it’s because this is an old suburb, or recent trends, but there’s several boutique fabric stores in the area.
I might be giving too much away about myself, but I work at container plant down in Streetsboro and Joann’s one of our customers. When we heard of the second bankruptcy, we were like……so what do you want us to do with your orders because they were a lot.
Because I tend to be into dying hobbies, it seems a lot of niche shops are going online, either whole or in part. I started seeing this with books, then serious electronics, and more “male” oriented hobbies such as model trains. Sounds about the same for “female” hobbies such as sewing also.
But how does it even work.
I’m not into sewing but even I know that the texture of a fabric matters majorly, and you can’t tell that from the online catalog. (I have been irritated when buying attire which had the wrong texture, cloth by the yard is similar enough a problem)
I would assume that the buyers are looking at thread counts, things like that. I don’t know anything about the hobbie, but I am sure there is an internal language that allows the prospective buyers to get a good sense of what things are. But, that being said, newcomers into the fold might not know how things are correctly described and use, for lack of a better term, street language that works counter to how to accurately describe things.
I know in the book world, there is a language to describe the size, condition, what the publishing state is, and so on. I spent years learning the ins and outs of this, and it drives me up a wall to see something described completely wrong in such a way as to be indistinguishable between a publishers first/first state and fucking book club edition. IE something worth hundreds vs. something worth a trip to the circular file.
*Ponders the ways in which rhywun could empty out a Joann
I have purchased linen and wool fabrics online. If you know the proper descriptors, you can order and get what you expect.
It’s the same as any other hobby. You need to learn the language.
I opted out at about 75. If it ain’t one thing it’s another. If a man lives long enough he’ll have prostate cancer, slow growing.
Heart attack/stroke seems to be the best options. I’ve watched too many friends/classmates suffer years of debilitation.
One reply too early, disregard and add to Pat’s comment
*narrows gays*
I’ll miss JoAnn, but in a manner similar to an alcoholic missing his shuttered neighborhood bar. I knit and crochet more than I sew, so the Hobby Lobby near my office will likely suffice. As for fabric, the last time I needed some I wanted washable upholstery fabric. I gave two JoAnn locations a chance but didn’t find the right stuff until I went to HL.
I think my mom dragged me to JoAnn Fabrics a few times when I was very little – she was real big on sewing. Our front “sun room” was her sewing room.
One of my grandparents died from colorectal cancer in her 70s, and one of my half-cousins on that side died from it when he was 3 years younger than I am today. I don’t think insurance covers the photography session until I reach 40 though; I was told something along those lines when I was visiting a
proctologistcolorectal specialist for an unrelated reason about 6 years ago. Getting old is a cunt.I knew that they had lowered the age to 40, but I don’t know when. I got my first just after my daughter was born (I was 36), but I don’t know why they told me to. I didn’t get another one until 2.5 years ago. I had precancerous polyps, which I just shrugged off because duh, but they put me on the 3-year schedule. I’m duenin October, but this has me spooked so my GI appt is in 2 weeks.
I had one a few years ago, and just polyps also. Put me on a seven year schedule though.
From what I remember the guy telling me at the time, the insurance companies had lowered the age limit for coverage if you have a family history within your immediate family, or certain other known risk factors, but otherwise they’d only cover it under the standard guidelines. I had no insurance at the time anyway though, so it didn’t really matter. I should probably get it done at some point though. I could actually afford to come out of pocket for it now if I had to, although it would hurt.
Ugh.
*ponders pooping in the box again*
I remember 20 odd years ago when they developed that pill-sized camera you swallow and pass. Insurance companies decided it wasn’t a good technology, even after the image resolution finally reached parity with a traditional colonoscopy, on account of if it finds anything, they just have to do a real colonoscopy anyway. Nevermind that most colonoscopies find nothing, that the pill camera is substantially less likely to result in complications like perforation, and that shit loads of people avoid getting colonoscopies because they don’t want to shit their guts out for 2 straight days before getting a drain snake up the ass, but would probably be more likely to get screenings if they were less invasive.
I really hope the cameras are disposable.
UnCiv, it’s fine, they are washable.
No family history of colon cancer == poop in the box.
If you don’t let them put it up you, you might have to have it ripped out of you.
TOK:
Nope. I fell for the eco-friendly reusable condom scam. Not getting tricked again.
Not getting tricked again.
What are words Winston’s Mom has never said? I’ll take Those crazy commie kids for $400 Alex.
Colonoscopy prep isn’t that bad, you big babies.
I’ve done worse to myself just by being a somewhat adventurous eater.
I got a “see you in 10 years”, which was nice.
If you don’t let them put it up you, you might have to have it ripped out of you.
Not trying to start something, Moj, but: medical decisions really need to be made individually, in the context of the family and personal medical history of the person in question. One-size-fits-all medical directives, particularly when dispensed by those with a financial interest in the procedures or practices they advocate, are how we end up with “Everyone must get a flu shot!” or “All kids must get the whole childhood vaccine schedule!” You just said there is a significant history of colon cancer, and a known genetic risk. Absolutely colonoscopies are indicated with that medical history. Personally, I have no family history of colon cancer (or cancer at all, really). Poop in a box is accurate enough for my risk profile.
@Grummun, you do you.
I always skate by my colonoscopies.
They find a few polyps, but they are non-cancerous. My first one, though, one of the non-cancerous “could” have turned cancerous. So I’m on the every three year plan instead of the every 5 year plan.
The procedure is easy. They knock you completely out now, so you don’t even know how many interns came in and violated you. The kicker is the prep. Being a Glib, there is a LOT of shit that needs to be purged.
A Glib’s colonoscopy isn’t like a square’s.
I was hounded to get mine by a buddy who came from a family who had a 100% history of colon cancer.
Getting detected and treated early has kept him on top of the grass for decades now. So, yeah, I’m with Mojeaux on this one. Go get er done!
Yep. I had a tumor removed from my stomach and get regular scopes from the top end.
The prep ain’t so bad for that end, and the propafol drop into delirium is a lot of fun.
I know why Michael Jackson liked it.
When they do both ends you can always tell the same joke about going thru the mouth first.
McConnell is a UniParty old school business as usual politician, something the electorate is soundly rejecting. That guy really needs to retire.
“FBI Leaker Caught Tipping Off Venezuelan Gang Ahead of ICE Raids”
That was a few days ago. I’m still waiting to hear a name and see a mug shot.
Yes, that article says nothing new, despite the breathless “caught red handed.” Let me know when criminal charges are filed. When does Kash come up for confirmation?
Cultural enrichers are at it again in Germany. One wonders what the end goal is when they keep pulling shit like this. Suicide by mob?
But not deported, of course.
They have bigger priorities, rhywun.
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/musk-will-face-consequences-for-meddling-in-german-politics-warns-likely-leader-9d9ed103?st=7Mq5pf&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
That guy is fucking toast. His party is the direct cause of this shit. And I think the voters are catching on.
He can either reach out to AfD again and face more attacks from Antifa or pretend he can go it alone and be unable to form a government.
Popcorn ahead either way.
I’m confused. Who is the scarecrow/cadaver in the pictures that accompany that article? It can’t be Merz because that doesn’t look “formidable”.
“formidable” == Would scare a school child.
A working version of the slender man.
What is a trans-atlanticist?
A Death Cab for Cutie fan?
The decision to import uncounted numbers of savages wholesale into nominally civilized societies is hands-down the stupidest, evilest fucking phenomena in history. It defies belief.
Musk: How many megalomaniacs have threatened Musk now only to have him reply: “Whatever” ?
C’mon, are you saying it didn’t work out great for the Romans?
Calling yourself a woman does not make you ‘biologically female’
NHS tackling the real problems. Not, you know, understaffed hospitals where people die waiting for routine diagnostics on a daily basis.
Something inmates something asylum
NHS has the exact problems that all late stage bureaucracies have: too many chiefs, not enough Indian’s (feather). That is one of the worst top heavy groups in the world, and it is killing them (literally and figuratively.)
He said that ‘I am biological and my identity is female’, so he must therefore be ‘biologically female’. ,/em>
Suck on deez nuts Descartes.
I delusion; therefore I become. Descartes updated for the modern world.
Worth posting again: https://gaiusbaltar.substack.com/p/a-civilization-beyond-reality
Women dont have peckers. I checked. They just dont have them.
We have allowed the cultural rot of Frankfurt school brainwashing to run amok. What the hell?
“Once they are demoralized you cannot fix them. No matter how much information you give them they cannot draw a sensible conclusion.” – Bezmenov
Ok, I give up. I cant focus here. I have to go tend to a thousand whines. I will be back later.
Women dont have peckers.
Suthen:
I can’t believe you are such a mysoginist! Women can raise chickens as well as any man. I won’t stand you slandering them like that.
It is a form of mass hysteria, started by a tiny cohort of mentally ill activists.
Everyone else looks around them nervously, not daring to raise a hand and say, “No.”
In other words it’s BLM all over again. I am pretty sure they took that template as a direct inspiration to decide that 2020 was the perfect time to ramp up the crazy.
I LOL’d.
“Elon Musk’s glorious rampage through official Washington is like something from a dream. Many conservatives and some Republicans have fantasized for decades about laying off bureaucrats and shrinking the government. Nobody’s ever pulled it off.”
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/democrats-ought-to-love-doge-big-government-cleanup-efficiency-policy-5a87dd80?st=a3d94n&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Meanwhile, some libertarians are pouting that Trusk has accomplished more of their ostensible agenda in a month than they did in 10 years.
“When I was chief technology officer of the V.A., a highlight of my career was persuading our inspectors general (I.G.) to allow cloud computing. At the time, most of our websites had business hours, and/or ran on servers that sat in mop closets under a fire sprinkler without backups. I wish I was exaggerating.”
And from our discussion above the employees that operate in this manner aren’t exactly going to get scooped up in the private sector.
“I care deeply about trans people, immigrants, and others who are targets of so much hate right now. I do not support the harmful actions being taken against them.”
Come on, man.
It was like that was randomly inserted in the article.
It encapsulates Reason of the past decade plus and why I no longer regularly read anything it publishes.
Tapped out on that line.
JFC they are so tiresome.
I will occasionally look at the comments to one of the articles, and watch the trench warfare between the Sarcasmic sock puppets and all the others calling Reason writers a bunch of shitlibs.
trans people, immigrants, and others
We need a new flag.
TIO+
Every new day feels like Christmas.
Musk’s march to the USAID.
Total devastation. The first example of modern
totalbureaucratic war.Cute that you think that.
J6’ers…..I dont really have enough info to make a solid call at this point.
The gun guy…did he have his right to keep guns curtailed or not? Did the FBI have a warrant or not? How long has he been in jail…counsel? …specifically what are the charges?
We are four years out from the Reichstag fire…does he have a conviction? For what?
The story is very muddled with politics so I am not sure what is happening. Would he be in jail if not for the staged insurrection?
I have questions.
Sounds like the feebs rang him up on gun charges after prying open a gun safe in his garage while executing their J6 warrant. He had a local misdemeanor domestic abuse charge for choking his ex girlfriend and was therefore barred from owning firearms. He and his current girlfriend contend the guns were owned by her and she had exclusive to the safe in which they were kept. Seems his J6 conviction got tossed, but not the gun charge they tacked on, so he’s still in jail for that.
The words that trouble me is ‘misdemeanor’ and ‘charge’.
Why is laying your hands on someone with intent to harm a misdemeanor? That should be a felony. Charges were reduced because reasons? Also charged does not mean convicted. One should not be deprived of their rights unless due process has run its course. In some cases a temporary suspension might be appropriate if that person is especially dangerous but in this case it seems clear from the incomplete view I have that they are pumping up the case to grind the guy into the dirt for political reasons.
The investigation into the J6 FBI investigators is very appropriate and any attempt to stymie it should be slapped down hard.
Daily Ray of Sunshine
Don’t get adopted by a dog!
Thanks Jimbo
OMG cute overload
EV mandates are bad, mmkay?
Yes, buy electric armored vehicles to protect your staff around the world. I’m sure this plan will work well, after all dangerous countries are know for reliable power grids…
The documents detail the procurement forecast for the State Department during the 2025 fiscal year.
That would mean they were written, and funding for such appropriated, during the Brandon administration, right?
This could actually be a conflict of interest, but I think we’d need more info to be sure.
THICC Thursday channeling their inner Daisy Duke.
https://archive.is/CO4ag
15 and 24 tho…
Different strokes for different folks.
Give me some 3 and 4 ( though not sure those are real.. I would have to thoroughly investigate the issue)
Oddly, in spite of having a fairly strong general type, the woman I’ve been seeing off and on for the last year or so has a Pixar mom dump truck ass, and I’m more attracted to her than any other woman I’ve been with, so I guess there’s no accounting for taste – even your own.
I’ve got to say I liked the first comment.
I’m waiting in traffic
I’ll be right over
I crashed
I’m about to get out of my car and meet the victim, wish me luck
https://www.reddit.com/r/IdiotsInCars/comments/1ikavbv/dont_text_and_drive_oc/
Reeling
European governments are reeling after the Trump administration signaled that it is planning face-to-face talks with Russia on ending the Ukraine war without involving them, insisted that Kyiv should not join NATO, and said that it’s up to Europe to protect itself and Ukraine from whatever Russia might do next.
“There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine. And Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks,” U.K. Defence Secretary John Healey told reporters at NATO headquarters, as the organization’s 32 defense ministers met for talks on Ukraine.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said: “For me, it’s clear … that Europe must be involved in the negotiations — and I think that’s very easy to understand,” particularly if Europe is ”supposed to play a central or the main role in the peace order.”
But they have been doing do well up to now.
A lot of people are really itching for another World War.
It’s astonishing.
Like a well-tailored Hugo Boss suit, continental wars in Europe are never out of fashion.
Elites love war. It’s lucrative and is a way to get rid of undesirable citizens.
Why would we involve the Ukes at this point? They haven’t had anything to do with what is going on so far, why start now?
Where the hell have these people been the last few years? How many of them attempted to prevent the war in the first place?
CNN: “US relations with Europe will never be the same after Trump’s call with Putin”
Ahh, good?
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/13/politics/us-european-relations-trump-putin-analysis/index.html
I never expected to see the left cheering on American Empire but here we are.
tHe 80s wAntS iTs foReIgN pOLicY bAcK
That sucks about Catholic Charities. They used to get high marks for having low overhead and administrative costs. I’ve read Zero Hedge and I like Ron Paul, and even I’m surprised at this level of corruption.
It’s coming, It’s coming!
The current dodge now is that the poor MSHSL hand’s are tied by the Minnesoda Constitution. I’m a long way from home, but I haven’t heard anything from King Walz about defiantly Resisting. I think he knows they are going to kiss the ring soon.
Yeah, you could get me to kiss a lot of stuff for $1.2B
Maybe King Walz will come out soon in favor of abolishing the Dept of Ed?
Does it matter if the feds or state funds Ed. Taxpayers are on the hook either way
No, no, no Fourscore. Fed Money is Free Money.
It is well known that any money from the Feds came from tax paying suckers in some other state. Perish the thought that it comes from our own pockets.
Good news is your cookware is now safe!
https://www.wsj.com/business/forever-chemicals-fight-heats-up-in-kitchens-71555653?st=ZcDyov&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
A fight over nonstick pans has moved to the front burner in Minnesota.
The state last month became the first to ban the sale of cookware containing the so-called “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
Bigger than you think. Most of those “forever chemicals” were made by 3M which pays a shit ton of taxes in Minnesoda.
3M has extorted the local legislature for decades by threatening to move their HQ to Texas or somewhere else.
So stuff like this confuses me. I’m not sure if there is some 3D chess going on, or if they are just dumb and trying to run off tax cattle.
*swoon*
What a utopia!
Meh, nonstick sucks and turns the frogs gay.
Ceremonial. Most manufacturers have stopped using PFAS except for some nameless chinese stuff. And theres no way the state is going to be able to do anything about them – they won’t spend the time to test samples and they can’t punish the foreign manufacturers.
More popcorn.
Is the left really going to die on the “gender identity” hill?
They seem to be dying on the all spending is good spending hill.
At least that one is understandable. You can’t properly grift without spending lots of other people’s money.
This… it’s madness. Putting girls at risk to satisfy boys with mental issues. The Dems ought to stop letting the crazies run the store but noooope.
I’m with you rhy, I don’t get it. The left’s coalition depends on Black people, who hate this stuff, women, who are increasingly put at risk of real physical harm by it, lesbians who are being told they should sleep with ‘women’ with dicks, and gay men, who are now lumped with this delusional bunch who are castrating, drugging, and mutilating kids who are likely gay. It’s insanity, but then they also promote the idea that Israel is colonizing poor innocent Palestine, despite their party being supported by most Jews.
Lesser Evil – brand?
Popcorn brand distances itself from DOGE employee ‘Big Balls’ after backlash
https://www.theverge.com/news/611388/lesserevil-popcorn-edward-coristine-doge-big-balls
They thought they had a lock on those other identity groups to such an extent that they could expand their coalition with risk. And to be fair, it wasn’t a terrible assumption, because it worked for about 20 years.
Literal commie thinking.
Another car attack in Germany? Yet somehow we managed to pull off the super bowl without any terrorist attacks. Huh.
*This is not an endorsement our our “security” measures, it’s an observation of our lingering cultural reluctance to murder strangers in bunches.
I think one of my takeaways from the attempt to shoot Trump in PA is that no one really ever tries to shoot a pol (I’m as upset as any of you).
For decades the Secret Service has coasted on this fact. They claim their tiger repelling rock is awesome and we all ate it up.
I bet if you put them to the test like the TSA you’d find a similar failure rate. I’m not going to enact your labor, but the TSA misses about 80% of the test bombs they try to sneak through? I bet about 80% of the places Trump/Harris gave speeches at had some easily accessible place that a farm kid with a rifle could have plugged the pol.
McConnel seems to be some sort of Bizzarro-world Fetterman.
Both are daim bramaged, but it makes Mitch dumber and Fetterman smater.
I think I’d pay the fee on Pay Per View to watch some sort of Jeopardy clash between the two.
Seems to be contagious, emanating from the White House . Did the new guy have the WH scrubbed before he moved in?
For decades the Secret Service has coasted on this fact. They claim their tiger repelling rock is awesome and we all ate it up.
I agree. It’s all theater.
You only say that because you are some bitter clinger who is upset that the main hiway in town was shut down for 4 hours because the VP’s wife was here for a fundraiser. Your rube ass was chapped that you got stuck in traffic for hours.
Hollywood never fails to disappoint with its narcissism.
Todd Haynes Says How Trump’s Presidency Will Affect Movie Business Is a ‘Real Question Hanging Over All American Filmmakers’: ‘We’re in a Particular Crisis Right Now’
https://variety.com/2025/film/festivals/todd-haynes-how-trump-how-affect-movie-business-real-question-1236305985/
Lemme guess – the answer isn’t “make great films” or “do some self reflection on the gulf between critic reviews and audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes” or “figure out how to make affordable movies in the U.S. in case it gets pricey to film and edit in Vancouver.”
It’s most definitely NOT hanging over all American filmmakers. Just the commie ones in Hollywood.
Pretty sure those wounds are self-inflicted.
/looks over at the video game industry
We barely made it out the last crisis alive!
On the nose
In the vocabulary of America’s new regime, meritocracy is meant to replace diversity in hiring. But what the administration means by “meritocracy” is distant from its original meaning. The original meaning of “meritocracy” is a system based on competence and excellence. Based on its actions, we can see that the sole metric of this regime’s judgements of merit is loyalty to the regime. The attack on DEI is thus Orwellian double-speak. But, if anything, the true danger of the attack on DEI has been overlooked and underestimated.
In the Republican “Southern Strategy”, enacted most clearly and powerfully under Reagan, federal programs that wealthy individuals supported eliminating in order to make way for tax cuts were described as “welfare.” By describing such programs as “welfare”, Republicans intended to communicate that these programs were there to take money away from “hard working” white Americans and directed to benefit Black Americans, who, according to longstanding US anti-Black racist ideology, were associating with criminality, laziness, and corruption (there are of course far more white Americans on programs aimed to help the poor than there are Black Americans on such programs). Scientists have repeatedly found, at least as recently as 2018, that this strategy was successful. Research has shown that almost half of white Americans regard Black Americans as lazier than whites, and almost as large a percentage regard Black Americans as less intelligent. By describing certain government programs as “welfare”, politicians can easily decrease their popularity among this group of Americans.
He’s got us dead to rights. Throw down your guns and come out with your hands high.
Just don’t ever look up stats on these things… :O
The amazing thing is the Guardian set think they are not the racists.
Big balls
It should be instructive to watch individuals attach a bureaucracy and what the results are.
Musk and his idiot savants are fast, nimble and effective. The administrative state is organized around the principle of never doing anything until 100% consensus has been achieved. Since 100% consensus will never be achieved, nothing will be done.
Everyone keeps asking why no one had ever noticed this shit or done anything about it until Musk showed up. I’m open to the case that it was because everyone was in on the grift. I also think it was because you had two lumbering bureaucracies fighting each other. No one was acting with any urgency.
Smart people acting independently are going to trounce committees every time. (Dumb people acting independently are going to cause a lot of damage).
The Republican Southern Strategy was a devastatingly effective weapon against America’s social safety net. By arguing that social programs were “welfare”, and benefitted supposedly undeserving Black Americans, Republican politicians could argue that funding to these programs should be slashed, and the savings handed over to the wealthy in new tax cuts. The new version of the Southern Strategy is directed not just against the social safety net, but against the entire federal government, and all the programs it supports, from health research to foreign aid to basic science. Right now, America’s legacy of racism is being now directed as a weapon against America itself.
Oh.
“How dare people spend their hard earned money on what they want rather than what we want.”
It’s amusing to me that the left invented the “Southern Strategy” bogeyman to describe Nixon’s supposed thieving of their racist cracker base in the south, which they actually lost by going all-in on racial pandering and the Great Society, and now have to redefine the term as an explanation for the loss of their blue collar base, and increasingly, their minority coalition as well.
“Look up “solo-dating” on TikTok and you’ll find hundreds of videos from New York creators who won’t stop
winingwhining-and-dining themselves.”https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/some-nyc-influencers-are-finding-the-secret-to-love-dating-yourself
I thought that meme had already lived and died with Flowers by Miley Cyrus 2 years ago, but as I understand it, the perimenopausal Millennial cat ladies are having ab it of a rough go of it ever since brat summer ended, so…
Advertising their unattractiveness and unsuitability. Nice.
I had no real opinion of Hegseth before right now, other than I knew he would most likely be better than the previous establishment prick. Now I have a very strong opinion in favor of the guy. This is refreshing to hear.
“ “We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, but we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering.
“A durable peace for Ukraine must include robust guarantees to ensure that the war does not begin again. …That said, the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. Security guarantees must be backed by capable European and non-European troops. If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission and should not be covered under Article 5. …To be clear: As part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine.”
The big selling point to me was that he seemed to be a soldier’s soldier, and he’s proving that’s true. Add what you just said, and he looks even better.
This whole exercise seemed to be an attempt to further expand NATO and Russia wasn’t having any more of it.
Was it worth all the dead bodies, Victoria Nuland?
It wasn’t anyone she knew or cared about.
Why is it the people who put together DVD/BluRays for Anime are fastidious about keeping the video tracks in episode order, while those who make them for western series are like “whatever, we’ll fix the order in the menus”
Anime runs into weird issues with broadcast order being shuffled when there are production delays. There is also the whole source material order or air date order or intended broadcast order.
https://animeimpulse.com/blog/2019/2/19/the-recommended-order-to-watch-the-monogatari-series
Someday I’d like to write an article on this particular series. I don’t understand it’s global popularity, but its huge. I really like it, but I’d be hard pressed to recommend it to anybody but hardcore anime people. It’s got so many Japanese cultural jokes, unique Japanese monsters and language jokes that I don’t know how you translate it.
I was just backing up my video library to disk and every western show I had to double check which track was which episode, but the anime ones were never out of order.
For TV shows this particular utility is really nice
https://www.tweaking4all.com/home-theatre/rename-my-tv-series-v2/
It will automatically pull series and episodes names in multiple formats. In my case Kodi.
If it could look into the files MakeMKV dropped on my drive as tell me what t00, t01, t02, etc really were rather than me pulling them up in VLC and finding sufficient information to identify the episode, that would be really helpful.
Kash Patel is now out of committee and up for Senate vote. I think his vote will go like Tulsi’s.
The RFK vote is this morning, too.
Interesting photo and that the gear was down.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-pilots-rescued-military-fighter-jet-crashes-san-diego-bay-rcna191994
$850B a year spent on the DOD and this is our second military aircraft crash in as many weeks. Maybe when they pass their first audit by 2037 we can start looking at operational effectiveness…
RFK is now set, looks like all repubs but McConnell will vote for him. Proof is in the pudding.
It looks like Trump’s positive poll numbers are keeping the party in line.
That’s weird, I have seen exactly 0 leftists freaking out about the government funding religious charities. I’d expect them to be jumping up and down screaming about muh separation of church and state.
Come to think of it, when that lady bishop decided to lecture Trump and when the Pope criticized our immigration policies, I didn’t see any leftists screaming that the churches needed to be taxed for getting involved in politics (like they did when some Catholic official criticized Pelosi’s and Biden’s stance on abortion).
Weird.
The left is cool with Christianity as long as it sticks to the “act like a complete and total pussy and give away all of your money” aspects of Christ’s teachings, and not the “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey my commands” part.
Experts baffled
The health care industry’s muted response to Kennedy is also a reflection of how much President Donald Trump has sacrificed traditional GOP constituencies to raise a populist, working-class revolt on the interests that once held sway in the capital — and how much Republicans in Congress have gone along.
Kennedy has suggested that hospitals, doctors and drugmakers work together to keep Americans sick, argued that industry influence needs to be ripped away from federal policymaking, insinuated that health institutions intentionally bury inconvenient evidence and proposed lopping off entire parts of the health regulatory structure.
And yet, the country’s most prominent professional society for doctors, the American Medical Association, has not taken a stance on Kennedy’s nomination.
Likewise, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the brand-name drug lobby once seen as all-powerful in Washington, has only said it wants to work with Trump and his team.
Like the Ray Wylie song says, “some because they see the light, and others ‘cuz they feel the heat.”
Maybe the medical industrial complex has gotten the message about health care as a subscription service. The last they want to do is to cure anybody when they can get them on a long term payment schedule.
Cruising to confirmation? The health care and pharma mouthpieces were definitely not sitting back during those hearings.
Cruising to confirmation? The health care and pharma mouthpieces were definitely not sitting back during those hearings.
I think the media and their pet experts are completely stunned that Big Medicine couldn’t just snap their fingers and make Kennedy disappear.
I have to admit, the crunchy anti-Pharma naturopathic health nut descendants of the hippies becoming “alt-right,” and the mainstream left becoming Big Pharma acolytes in the space of one presidential administration wasn’t on my pre-Trump political bingo card.
One of the most shocking things about COVID was that in a span of a week or two, all the Dems switched from decades of “Big pharma is making obscene profits and killing poor people” to “Just take the damn shot.”
It was worse than that.
They went from, “I’m not taking a Trump vaccine” to “If you don’t take this vaccine you shouldn’t have a job or show your face in public”.
And they did it so fast, I’m surprised they didn’t get injured from whiplash.
Welcome to MAHA country. As I said about Tulsi, I hope Kennedy follows suit and hits the ground running like the other cabinet members have done. I’ve been really happy with everyone else so far.
The Navy warned the public not to touch or collect any debris that may wash ashore and if any debris is found, it should be reported to local authorities or Naval Base Coronado.
Ultra top secret alien technology.
@ Bobarian LMD will have to let us know if $5k a head for 300 recruits is a good ROI. Seems high to me.
Military backs out of recruiting at science and engineering conference as part of DEI purge
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2025-02-10/military-conference-recruiting-pentagon-dei-16790155.html
Well, I don’t believe it’s anywhere near 300 recruits. This isn’t the kind of event to get soldiers. Different audience.
It’s something like 300 combined ROTC applications and federal job requests. Probably 10s of people actually convert into some form of actual federal service.
Having said that, because you might find some ‘high Value targets’ in a forum like this, it’s hard to place a specific value to measure here.
This could also be a good example of ‘malicious compliance’ like shutting down the National Parks during the budget freeze.
NPR brings the Gotcha
The Trump administration is expected to purchase $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles, according to a new State Department document detailing procurement for fiscal year 2025.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is a top White House official who has been leading the Department of Government Efficiency, a unit focused on shrinking the federal workforce and ferreting out corruption.
The document does not specify what Tesla vehicles will be purchased by U.S. officials, but Musk’s Cybertruck, with its militaristic design and stainless steel exterior, could be an option.
After reports circulated Wednesday night of the State Department’s intent to purchase Tesla vehicles, the document was edited, at 9:12 p.m., and now says the federal contract is for $400 million worth of “armored electric vehicles,” but the word “Tesla” was removed.
This kickback scheme was unquestionably hatched over dinner at Maar a Lago some time in the past week or so.
There is a story from an hour ago – I only read the headline – that Musk said it’s not true.
Good gravy. Now I have a flat tire and am waiting for a tow to Firestone. My bingo card is full. I need to catch a break here.
Musk, who spent more than a quarter-billion dollars to help elect Trump, has used an X account devoted to DOGE to highlight what he views as excessive or unnecessary federal contracts.
As Musk’s deputies have gained access to nearly two dozen federal agencies, ethics experts have raised concern about the billionaire running into conflicts of interest, since Musk runs six companies, some of which are under investigation by government authorities. Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, also have multibillion-dollar contracts with the federal government.
Prima facie proof. Guilty guilty guilty.
“There is a story from an hour ago – I only read the headline – that Musk said it’s not true.”
After reports circulated Wednesday night of the State Department’s intent to purchase Tesla vehicles, the document was edited, at 9:12 p.m., and now says the federal contract is for $400 million worth of “armored electric vehicles,” but the word “Tesla” was removed.
Memoryholed, just as Orwell predicted.
And per Business Insider it was a budget over 5 years and no contract was yet awarded. Biden administration had a response from one manufacturer with an interest. I assume that was Tesla and they said OK – what exactly do you want?
More on DoD: “But Hegseth was still jarring. He formalized Trump’s demand for alliance members to spend 5% of GDP on defense and said the US would prioritize its growing clash with China and the security of its borders over Europe’s. “The United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency,” said the new Pentagon chief, who was wearing a stars-and-stripes pocket square.”
This just keeps getting better. Sensible, clear, rational. Therefore, feared. I know I’m not the only one, but this is the first time I’ve *ever* been excited for a presidency. The rugs keep getting pulled, and it’s rugs all the way down. Clinton was ‘great,’ but only cuz a) fall of the Soviets, b) rise of Internet and econ boom, c) Team Red’s House takeover in ’94 prevented Clinton from really *doing* anything. Trump Is *DOING* so much. Subtraction > Addition. Less is far more. It won’t be a perfect four years, but damn. Hit the ground running and *damn.* Planned with conviction. I strongly approve. All those confused deserve to be. It’s good for ’em. I would love most to *realize* that they’d been played by Biden+, but that would require them to analyze their religion’s validity. Whoops.