157 Comments

  1. SDF-7

    Ceasefire collapses as Israel unleashes overnight assault after terrorists break hostage deal

    This is everyone’s shocked face.

    Has Hamas ever actually honored a “ceasefire” agreement? (Beyond “give me time to reload”, of course…) Sure doesn’t seem like it.

    Morning Banjos — morning all.

    • Banjos

      Mornin’

    • WTF

      Has Hamas ever actually honored a “ceasefire” agreement?

      No, which is why any cease fire agreement with them is idiotic. It seems harsh, but right from the beginning the “hostages” should have been considered casualties who were already dead and the IDF should have proceeded to level Gaza without hesitation. That’s the only way this bullshit ends.

      • Jarflax

        ^This. You cannot negotiate with an enemy whose goal is your extinction, or with anyone who has no qualms about dishonesty. Clear Gaza and the West Bank, kill every member or supporter of Hamas or Hezbollah, and deport the rest to anyone who will take them.

      • Common Tater

        “and deport the rest to anyone who will take them”

        Seems like neither the Arabs or Persians want them.

      • Jarflax

        No one wants them, but once they are on boats in the Med someone will find a place to stick them.

    • R C Dean

      Funny how the Epstein files just disappeared. They were a big deal before Bondi & Co. got a look at them, and now . . . Crickets.

      • Common Tater

        That whole thing was retard theater.

  2. UnCivilServant

    Trump says Biden’s pardons ‘void’ because he used an autopen

    I believe the argument is that Joe didn’t use the autopen, and din’t know he was pardoning anybody, but some aides simply made the machine sign off on stuff, thus it’s not a valid presidential action.

    • Banjos

      When asked if he agreed to use an autopen for these documents, Biden is quoted as saying “I can beat everyone in this room to a push up competition, Jack.”

      • WTF

        Listen Fat, I have family who was killed by drunk in an autopen!

      • Ownbestenemy

        “Dog faced pony soldier dont know you scare off intruders by letting off a few ink splots of your semi-auto pen, *leans in, whispers* and it works”

      • The Last American Hero

        Look, he would have signed it but Beau died fighting Nazi’s in Iraq and uttering his last words “Dad, remember that time those two men were holding hands? It’s just love, dad.”

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Listen bub. I know Otto Penn. He’s a friend of mine. I’ve never, I repeat, never used him. He was willing participant.

    • Sensei

      Yes. That’s not the best article.

    • Common Tater

      Why would the POTUS need an autopen? How much shit does he need to sign? It’s not like he’s doing payroll.

      • The Other Kevin

        It can be used to sign birthday cards and declarations of today being “Common Tater Day”, things like that. I think Obama first used it to sign a law because he was out of the country or something. As every damn thing in government, it quickly becomes steeped in corruption.

      • R C Dean

        “I think Obama first used it to sign a law because he was out of the country or something.”

        You would think they would have pens and printers on Air Force 1.

    • Suthenboy

      Yes. Biden was president like my fat lazy dog was president.

  3. SDF-7

    US astronauts finally headed back to Earth after 9 months stranded in space

    Here’s hoping they have a safe and uneventful landing and Boeing finally loses that stupid contract. I’m too aware of the perversity of the Universe to not have a small fear in the back of my brain that this will be the Crew Dragon that hits a snag — because it was the “safe” option (and if nothing else, space travel is not fully safe or routine yet).

    • UnCivilServant

      9 months?

      Were they covering up a pregnancy?

      • SDF-7

        Some sort of Star Child? They’d be a citizen of all the nations of the world… except Europe. Attempt no landings there.

      • cavalier973

        They realized to their horror that the first space baby was a sentient tomato

  4. SDF-7

    GOP-led Congress turns to budget reconciliation with tax reform, spending cuts after stopgap passes

    1) Dust off 2018 spending.
    2) Adjust in areas where you must (interest payments, SS/Medicare).
    3) …
    4) Profit!

    I know they won’t… but man, I really, really wish they’d “un-normalize” the post-COVID spending bump that we don’t need.

    • UnCivilServant

      How about – Dust off 1820 spending.

      • cavalier973

        Using nominal, non-inflation-adjusted numbers

      • juris imprudent

        A Navy powered by sail! It’s so Green!

    • R C Dean

      I would propose a small change:

      Use the FY 2020 budget as your starting point, which was the last one before the Plague, and Trump and Congress started issuing debt in 12 figure amounts to cover a totally temporary emergency. Totally temporary, guys.

      • juris imprudent

        Didn’t Reagan say something about nothing so permanent as a temporary govt program?

  5. cavalier973

    From the “CDC Whistleblower” link:

    The mainstream media and scientists have long looked for alternative explanations for autism to marginalize the vaccine narrative, and they recently found one: folic-acid deficiency based on a brain-receptor problem in children who develop autism.

    CBS Evening News in mid-February featured doctors pursuing the hypothesis including pediatric neurologist Richard Frye, who is studying the off-label use of leucovorin.

    Of course they are going to go with a hypothesis that allows them to sell more pharmaceuticals.

    • cavalier973

      Or, not:

      The problem is the drug is so cheap that there’s no profit incentive to invest in the larger clinical trials needed for Food and Drug Administration approval to treat autism, Frye said.

    • cavalier973

      Weldon suspects the pharmaceutical industry “put serious pressure on Collins and Cassidy” because it couldn’t tank Kennedy’s nomination. “Many people feel big Pharma actually feared me more than they feared Bobby because of my credibility and my knowledge of science,” he said.

      Maybe Kennedy could hire Weldon as an adviser.

    • R C Dean

      “alternative explanations for autism to marginalize the vaccine narrative”

      Maybe instead of trying to marginalize a narrative, they should look for the actual cause(s) of autism. Just a thought.

      • Grummun

        A shitload of money has been spent trying to find a “cause” for autism. As far as I know, attempts to identify a causal gene have not produced reproducible results.

        Which is what you should expect when you are studying something that looks the same from the outside, but is actually caused by completely different mechanisms. An Iron Rule, if you will, of genetic analysis is that you have to rigorously define your phenotype and discard any samples that don’t 100% match your definition from the study.

        So conflating autism as a genetic condition with something-that-looks-like-autism caused by brain inflammation as an adverse affect of childhood vaccines dooms any study from the start. And everyone pretends that vaccines can’t possibly be involved, so here we are.

      • rhywun

        I haven’t seen a clear definition of WTF “autism” even is.

        People I have seen who claim to have it, or whom I know to have it, have such wildly variable symptoms it’s ridiculous.

  6. Necron 99

    Trump Says He’s Ending Secret Service Protection For Hunter Biden

    I hope Finnegan gets to keep her SS protection, she earned it the old fashioned way.

  7. Shpip

    The budget reconciliation bill is expected to include tax policy changes that could cost as little as $5 trillion and as much as $11 trillion over 10 years. Those changes include expanding the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction,

    Funny, I hadn’t heard that one brought up when the usual suspects decry “tax cuts for the rich.”

    It’s almost as if people who live in areas with sky high state and local taxes don’t like high taxes. Revealed preferences and all.

    • Rat on a train

      Tax the richer than me!

    • Sensei

      I need you people in Red States to subsidize my Deep Blue State’s spending!

    • R C Dean

      Well, that sucks. Shouldn’t be a deduction for taxes, period. I’m about to the point where there shouldn’t be any deductions for individual tax returns, period, other than a standard deduction. For business taxes, go with GAAP EBITDA as the taxed amount.

      And, of course, lower rates. I would also replace the AMT floor on taxes with the converse, an alternative Alternative Maximum Tax cap on taxes.

      Of course, none of this will ever happen, as every single politician in Washington (definitely including Trump) is addicted to using the tax code to pander.

      • The Last American Hero

        Dump the standard deduction as well. If you erase the expenses and credit from the tax code, you are now just dealing with the still complicated definition of revenue, but you’ve chopped a big chunk of the complexity out of the equation. Lower the rates so that the poors don’t whine, and if welfare is needed then provide welfare separately from the tax code.

        Taxes are about raising revenue for the government, shouldn’t be about welfare or social engineering, and everyone should have skin in the game.

  8. juris imprudent

    Please, not Wakefield. And damn near everything in epidemiology is suspect.

    • cavalier973

      Saw that headline, and thought of the student who did a science project warning about the dangers of “dihydrogen monoxide”

    • Grummun

      You can have my craft chocolate when you prize it from my grubby theobromine-smeared paws.

  9. Ownbestenemy

    News reminded me on St Patricks day that the original illegal deportations where the Irish. They were just like the gangbangers. Have compassion people

    • R C Dean

      I dunno if using the Irish is the way to drum up sympathy, myself.

      • kinnath

        Wait a minute.

  10. cavalier973

    Trump is trying to void Biden’s pardons because Biden basically pardoned the entire world for all time, and there are some things Trump wants investigated.

    • Ownbestenemy

      And a valid question on not the power vested to the President, but the application to include preemptive pardons, nonspecific and sweeping timeframes for unspecified crimes, etc.

      • juris imprudent

        Naturally Trump chose the weaker line of action against those pardons.

      • R C Dean

        Not so sure, JI. “Autopen” is just the headline. I suspect they are really going after “there’s actually no proof Biden actually intended to pardon [X].” Consider that Trump has all of the records of the Biden administration. What memoranda were done on each of the pardons, and did Biden actually see them? How much time did Biden have on his schedule to consider them? Who did he meet with? Considering that he was barely working at all in the run-up to and after the election, its entirely possible that you can make a strong case that he did not, in fact, give any kind of informed consent or form a specific intention to the pardons.

        And the political benefits to Trump of having this argument in public are considerable.

        This line of attack also doesn’t preclude going after whether a “preemptive” and/or non-specific pardon is actually a pardon at all.

      • juris imprudent

        Ford’s pardon of Nixon was controversial because it was non-specific and pre-emptive. Exactly what Biden did (and there is no doubt that was his intent with Hunter, regardless of the signature mechanism).

      • R C Dean

        I want to say that Nixon’s pardon was the first pre-emptive/nonspecific one. There’s no harm now in saying that one was invalid as well. I do recall reading that nobody ever challenged it, so it was never confirmed as valid.

        I’m sure Biden specifically intended some of his pardons (Hunter’s, of course), but a lot of them? I seriously doubt it. The signature mechanism is in part a red herring (although an autopen signature, in and of itself, should not carry any presumption that the President knew of and specifically intended to enact whatever was autopenned). The real issue is, what was Biden’s intent? Strip away the document which supposedly evidences that intent (the document isn’t essential anyway, as it is mere evidence of intent), and what is there? Were there meetings? Any record that he reviewed and approved the autopenned pardons? The Trump administration has all those records, and I bet they have gone through them and can say “There’s no reason to believe he intended to pardon [X] in many cases”.

  11. juris imprudent

    And once again proving that Democrats do not have a monopoly on stupid.

    West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) on Monday said he will take legal action against the NCAA over West Virginia University’s (WVU) snub from the March Madness tournament.

    • WTF

      Good to know all of West Virginia’s serious issues have been solved.

    • Rat on a train

      Fullerton was also snubbed.

  12. rhywun

    Lake Says Agency ‘Not Salvageable’

    I like how down below it’s a weapon for truth or some horseshit.

    Which is it?

    • juris imprudent

      Relic of the Cold War? Official outlet of American propaganda?

    • Not Adahn

      Are we actually pretending it’s not a propaganda machine?

      • juris imprudent

        Apparently so; amazing, isn’t it?

    • Fourscore

      Being on the losing team isn’t all bad. I’m sure the financial compensation will somehow make up for the loss of prestige.

  13. Shpip

    “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

    Once they were few.

    Now they are no more.

    • Sensei

      Mr Hemingway, who was originally from Dublin, joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a teenager before World War Two.

      There’s a story there as well.

    • Shpip

      To follow up, from Wiki:

      The Battle of Britain was considered officially by the RAF[21] to have been fought between 10 July and 31 October 1940.

      RAF pilots claimed to have shot down about 2,600 German aircraft, but figures compiled later suggest that Luftwaffe losses were more likely nearer 2,300.

      Of 2,332 Allied pilots who flew fighters in the Battle, 38.90 per cent could claim some success in terms of enemy aircraft shot down.

      The number of pilots claiming more than one victory amounted to no more than 15 per cent of the total RAF pilots involved.

      To be proclaimed an “ace” a pilot had to have at least five confirmed victories. During the Battle of Britain just 188 RAF pilots achieved that distinction – eight per cent of the total involved. A further 237 of those RAF pilots claiming successes during the Battle became “aces” later in the war.

      Showing the Pareto Principle even in a country’s existential war.

      A further note: the top two aces of the Battle of Britain, Eric Lock and Archie McKellar, were both killed in combat shortly after the battle’s end. Lock was twenty-two, while McKellar lived to the ripe old age of twenty-eight.

    • R C Dean

      Good Lord. There is a profile in toxic masculinity right there. Bailed out 4 times, escaped from behind enemy lines, when they recovered one of his planes, the fire button was still mashed down..

    • Not Adahn

      Speaking of, I’m watching SS-GB on bezostube. It’s pretty good.

  14. hayeksplosives

    Do Sasha and Malia Obama still have SS protection? Kind of made sense when they were in college. Not so much now.

    I think it’d be reasonable for Barron to get protection until he finishes college too, especially after assassination attempts on The Donald and the prevalence of TDS at campuses.

    • The Last American Hero

      In an alternate universe where Trump doesn’t turn his head, there is a good chance that Barron is training in marital arts in the far east and preparing to run around NY in a mask and cape in a few years.

      • Gender Traitor

        Barron is training in marital arts in the far east

        Bangkok? 😳

    • Gustave Lytton

      *cue Nixon* “sock it to me?”

  15. Suthenboy

    People are playing games. They are playing games in Ukraine and in the ME.
    Get to the heart of the problem and stop playing whack-a-mole. Iran is the problem in the ME and Ukraine is the problem in EU.

    • juris imprudent

      Iran is not the sole problem in the ME. You have just as much problem originating from Saudi – with the Wahhabi faction. You have Kurds screwed out of an ethnic homeland in the dissolution of the Ottoman regime. Look at the mess in Syria (which would only have been worse with more U.S. meddling).

  16. Ed Wuncler

    I have to find the article from the Free Press but one of Israel’s main issues is the political pressure to save hostages which has been in part why they have difficulties getting rid of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. I could never ever imagine my family getting kidnapped by those assholes but I do think that eventually if the Israelis want to win, they have to have a willingness to accept hostages as casualties.

    The best way of course to have less hostages is allowing the citizens to carry so if another October 7th does happen they have the means to defend themselves if the military and police aren’t available.

    • Fourscore

      There’s a reason I get along with my neighbors. It’s mutually beneficial.

      Yesterday, unannounced, I delivered a little meal package to two neighbors. It was appreciated because it was unexpected. Both of them will return favors for things I can’t do.

      • Ted S.

        To think we could solve all the Middle East’s problems with a bunch of bees.

    • WTF

      ‘Ted Cruz and Elon Musk discover the bombshell fact that MMT is true,’ wrote leftist author and Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson.

      ‘They’re actually kinda correct. The federal government issues money out of thin air. It’s not like a household that needs to have a dollar before spending it. The gov is the *issuer* of the dollar—so it creates it. We can either use it to pay for healthcare or fund wars overseas,’ wrote ‘The Debt Collective.’

      Robinson actually thinks this is a good thing

      • Fourscore

        MMT has another colloquial name called “inflation”

      • juris imprudent

        Well thank goodness that intellectual giant – Nathan J. Robinson – has told us this!

      • rhywun

        Is there any human currently alive more consistently and stupidly wrong than that man?

        JFC.

      • R C Dean

        “Dollars are good, right? I mean, everybody likes dollars, and everybody wants more dollars. So when the government prints up another batch of fresh new dollars, how can that not be a good thing?”

      • WTF

        The sad part is if he thinks the government doesn’t need to collect revenue to spend money, then why shouldn’t the government just stop collecting taxes?

      • Shpip

        Is there any human currently alive more consistently and stupidly wrong than that man?

        Robert Reich crawls up onto a step stool, hops up and down, waving his tiny arms manically.

      • juris imprudent

        then why shouldn’t the government just stop collecting taxes?

        Because taxes are how you punish your domestic enemies of course.

  17. Shpip

    I’m not sure if this was covered recently or not — if so, I’ll take the drugs / arse L.

    Apparently, the FBI is investigating several climate grifters NGOs. From yesterday’s “Coffee and Covid:”

    The New Republic ran a story last Wednesday headlined, “Trump’s FBI Moves to Criminally Charge Major Climate Groups.”

    We only found out because “Climate United Fund” sued Citibank for freezing its climate grant funds. The NGO wanted the court to issue a TRO ordering Citi to immediately release its funds. But Citibank filed a fulsome response, arguing that it is obligated by many agreements to act as a fiduciary for the United States, and was only following lawful orders from the Department of Justice.

    The filing revealed that the FBI alleges that Climate United and other similar groups are involved in “possible criminal violations,” including “conspiracy to defraud the United States.” Obviously, the Department of Justice doesn’t advertise, or even usually comment on, ongoing investigations.

    Bigly if true. Shut the money down and send the grifters to the hoosegow.

    Next up (hopefully) — the NGOs who facilitated the invasion at the southern border.

    • juris imprudent

      I’m a little less concerned with the NGOs that got the money than I am with the GOVT ACTORS that fed it to them. That is who needs to be exposed and held accountable.

      • Jarflax

        Those are less separate groups than they are separate sets of accounts.

      • rhywun

        Conveniently, there is an entire political party dedicated to feeding the “climate” hysteria. Might start looking there.

        But yeah, this could dial the apeshit response meter up to 11.

      • R C Dean

        Given the revolving door, I suspect the distinction between “NGO bigshot” and “government functionary” is a fine one, indeed.

      • juris imprudent

        Given the revolving door

        Double the reason to identify them, and if while in govt they funneled money to the entity they moved to post-govt service, then crucifixion might be just.

    • WTF

      They all want cake.

    • rhywun

      “In other news, water was found to be wet.”

  18. Common Tater

    “The 36-year-old commentator and new mother first disclosed her battle with breast cancer shortly after giving birth, explaining that she will undergo a double mastectomy in February.”

    February next year or shit editing?

    ““Once I recover from childbirth, my mole removal scars heal, I get a double mastectomy, get rid of my cancer, have breast reconstruction surgery & am physically capable of getting back in the gym, it’s OVER FOR U B—-Z,” she wrote on her Instagram.”

    Bitchez?

    https://nypost.com/2025/03/17/media/fox-news-kat-timpf-shares-update-after-breast-cancer-diagnosis/

  19. Sensei

    WSJ does a nice takedown of the NYT’s COVID coverage. Sadly nobody at the NYT will pay attention.

    How Often Has the New York Times Been ‘Misled’?

    https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-often-has-the-new-york-times-been-misled-53fde20a?st=sTRKyw&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    Here in 2025 it’s nice that Ms. Tufekci and the Times are acknowledging that they were duped about Covid origin possibilities. But readers have to wonder how upset Timesfolk were to be used in this manner given the outrageous justification Ms. Tufekci offers for those who misled her and her colleagues:

    _

    It’s not hard to imagine how the attempt to squelch legitimate debate might have started. Some of the loudest proponents of the lab leak theory weren’t just earnestly making inquiries; they were acting in terrible faith, using the debate over pandemic origins to attack legitimate, beneficial science, to inflame public opinion, to get attention. For scientists and public health officials, circling the wagons and vilifying anyone who dared to dissent might have seemed like a reasonable defense strategy.

    • rhywun

      “Misled”. My eyes rolled up so far at that I could see the folds of my brain.

    • PutridMeat

      proponents of the lab leak theory weren’t just earnestly making inquiries; they were acting in terrible faith, using the debate over pandemic origins to attack legitimate, beneficial science, to inflame public opinion, to get attention.

      Really? I saw very little of that, but if WSJ needs the ‘a pox on both their houses’ formulation to be able to mount a critique, have at it I guess.

      • WTF

        They were acting in terrible faith for exposing the truth.
        Sure.

    • R C Dean

      Must have been an aftermarket mod. My understanding is they don’t come from the factory with those.

      Or maybe the BMW emblem was fake. Who knows?

    • Shpip

      A few years back, I was driving a Track Day at VIR. During the drivers’ meeting, one of the fellows in my run group was a paraplegic who used hand controls for his M2.

      He told us that should we be in a position to overtake him, that instead of using a “point by” (as he needed both hands to drive and work the accelerator / brakes), he’s just use his indicator to show us which side to pass him.

      It was then that I realized that turn signals on BMWs are for track use only.

      • Sensei

        Nice!

      • Ted S.

        I don’t get the pun.

  20. Evan from Evansville

    I love how the dictatorial Trump is dismantling his Executive branch, which is authoritarian. Cuz duh. The cognitive dissonance is astounding, yet fun to watch as their brains melt.

    From MSNBC: “As Democratic voters watch in dismay while Donald Trump and Elon Musk dismantle the federal government and explore new frontiers of authoritarianism…”

    Dismantling the govt is authoritarian. Cuz duh.

    Wise move: Taking lunch later, from 930-1030. More work w fewer customer traffic and only 3.5hrs to finish the shift.

    I also have exciting news about my hips for later. My body is bizarre. My skeletal family has grown! Adorbsables!!

    • The Other Kevin

      He’s consolidating power, purging the government of loyal patriotic citizens who dare stand in the way of his evil plans.

      Also, he intends to hold on to that power and never let go, while he allows Elon Musk to be president.

    • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

      I also have exciting news about my hips for later. My body is bizarre. My skeletal family has grown!

      YOU GREW A TALE!?!?

      • Ted S.

        Canterbury or old wives’?

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        Tail

      • Not Adahn

        The Old Wives of Canterbury.

    • Suthenboy

      All projection all of the time. Keep that in mind and what they say and do makes sense.

    • rhywun

      The propaganda coming from “Comedy” Central is getting so bad I can’t watch the channel anymore. Every other commercial is stark-raving lunacy from the clown car of hosts at the Daily Show.

    • rhywun

      And yes, the left going apeshit over the exposal of waste and fraud is telling. The foot soldiers probably have no idea of the import but the people giving them their orders sure do.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    I’m still astounded the BMW used a turn signal.

    And I’m amazed the guy with the dash cam just rammed into him. At some point, you start asking yourself, “What the fuck is that idiot going to do?” and lift. Oh, right; cruise control.

    • Sensei

      “right; cruise control”

      In the rain. I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t lift either.

      • R C Dean

        I do like cruise control, and especially the adaptive cruise control which automatically maintains a following distance, but I never use it where there’s much traffic because it still requires so much manual intervention its just not helpful.

      • PutridMeat

        I do like cruise control, and especially the adaptive cruise control

        I used to think you were cool.

      • UnCivilServant

        Adaptive cruise control is one of the most obnoxious ‘features’ I’ve ever had to figure out how to disable. It actually made things more dangerous by fucking around with my speed on me.

      • R C Dean

        Meat, I do some all day drives on pretty empty roads. It’s great for that. The adaptive version is surprisingly helpful in crowded traffic that’s moving, as well, as long as you are passing through and not changing lanes. I always shorten up the following distance. I use it sometimes to get through the Phoenix freeways when the conditions are right.

      • Mojeaux

        I have to use cruise control until April 30th, when my suspended imposition of sentence is up (speeding in a school zone). However, I have allowed myself to speed if my going the speed limit is impeding flow of traffic.

        I HAVE gotten used to wearing a seatbelt, so that will probably continue.

      • PutridMeat

        day drives on pretty empty roads. It’s great for that

        Agreed, I’ll use standard cruise control out on the open road.

        But adaptive…. I find it terrible especially in busy conditions, but also if used in the open road. For the later, approaching a truck, notice it a quarter mile away, evaluate oncoming traffic behind you, when it is optimal to get into the passing lane (2-lane highway) to get around truck. Hmmm, I’m suddenly going 10 mph below the speed limit and the entire operation is screwed up. No you piece of shit, I don’t need to start slowing down a half mile behind a truck.

        For busy conditions – it complete disrupts your ability to move in and out of traffic as needed. In busy conditions, I need to be focused on driving and other traffic and be able to respond immediately based on my previous actions and anticipated actions. No cruise control at all and definitely no cruise control that adjusts my speed without my knowledge or input.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Speaking of non-idiots in cars, this is excellent.

    • kinnath

      He’s in a spicy mood today

  23. The Other Kevin

    What do you guys think of this whole Houthi thing? On its face, it looks there are assholes in the ME that are firing on ships. But keeping an open mind, I’m reading Thomas Massie and Justin Amash saying we’ve been bombing Yemen since before Obama, and it’s just an excuse to ramp things up and start the next forever war, this time with Iran, just as Ukraine winds down.

    On a related subject, I saw some unsubstantiated reports of “3 aircraft carriers heading toward Iran”. I asked Grok, and it said some people on X reported that, but there are currently no carriers in the area, and there has been no official confirmation this is happening. I thought that was interesting. I do have a prediction, I know of a certain carrier group that will head out on a planned deployment “soon”, and people will report it’s heading to Iran.

      • The Other Kevin

        I wasn’t familiar with that. Wow. I have seen a lot of discussion about weather carriers are obsolete, due to this exact scenario. Other countries aren’t building their own, they’re focusing on low cost ways to neutralize US carriers.

      • kinnath

        Brilliant video.

        I love this guy.

      • kinnath

        wrong place

      • juris imprudent

        I mean doing so AFTER the exercise is so stupid that it is entirely believable that our govt would do it.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Hopefully wrong, next to nuclear combat toe to toe with the Russkies that’s the last thing we need. If Trump buys off on that he’s retarded.

    • rhywun

      I am wondering what the Houthis are up to – just how much shipping are they disrupting? What is the impact on supply chains and such?

      Because if that’s a big issue I can believe both that it has to stop and that it’s gonna another forever war. Regardless, Iran is asshoe.

      • R C Dean

        This is one of those broken windows things for me. No piracy, period. Not even a little bit. No shooting at commercial vessels (maybe unless, I suppose, you are in a declared war with the country they are going to or coming from).

  24. The Late P Brooks

    I don’t recall the WSJ as being a beacon of freedom and rational skepticism, back in the plague days.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    circling the wagons and vilifying anyone who dared to dissent might have seemed like a reasonable defense strategy.

    Especially when you’re guilty.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    NPR is on the case

    President Donald Trump said Monday he was ending “immediately” the Secret Service protection details assigned to Democrat Joe Biden’s adult children, which the former president had extended to July shortly before leaving office in January.

    The Republican president on social media objected to what he said were 18 agents assigned to Hunter Biden’s protective detail while in South Africa this week. He said Ashley Biden has 13 agents assigned to her detail and that she too “will be taken off the list.”

    There was no immediate reaction from the former president’s office.

    They couldn’t rouse Joe from naptime.

    Also- why don’t the refer to him as “convicted felon” Hunter Biden? Vacationing in South Africa? Maybe he’s looking for a job.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Wasn’t Hunter pleading poverty not too long ago. What’s he doing in South Africa?

      • UnCivilServant

        Trying to get in one some of the ANC graft?

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Suicide by cop

    “Deputies attempted a traffic stop but the suspect, Ryan Turner, failed to yield and a pursuit ensued,” according to a statement from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. “During the pursuit, Deputy Hector Cuevas, Jr. was involved in a traffic collision with another vehicle.”

    During the police pursuit, Cuevas crashed near the intersection of El Evado and Seneca roads, where his patrol car struck a bystander’s vehicle before slamming into a light pole, causing his car to be severed in half.

    “Cuevas succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene,” police said. “The female driver of the other vehicle was transported to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.”

    Such heroic.

    • juris imprudent

      Interesting, no images of the suspect. Hmmm.

  28. Drake

    This week the Garnpung Giant skull discovered in Australia was taken to an undisclosed location and buried to make aboriginals happy. Research on it would probably prove they weren’t the first humans in Australia.
    https://x.com/MungoManic/status/1901856144202596475

    • WTF

      So, the aboriginals might be living on stolen land….

      • juris imprudent

        Can’t be, their origin story says they are The People of that land.

      • UnCivilServant

        I don’t care.

        They can’t prove that they are related to those remains, the remains need to be studied. If they truely believe what they claim, then the investigation will show it as an ancestor.

        But they appear to be afraid of the truth.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Taken at face value that’s just fucking nuts.

      • Raven Nation

        A couple of days ago, there was a news story about government policy toward indigenous Australians known as Closing the Gap. A recent study found that almost all the markers for aboriginals compared with others have gotten worse since the policy was implemented – except for land rights.

      • R C Dean

        I don’t care if they are “related” to those remains. I suppose I might be open to a direct descendant asking for the remains, but even that claim ages out at some point.

        Oh, and talk about “anti-science”. Holy shit.

      • rhywun

        It’s probably their third rail of politics. I doubt you can have any more honest discussion of such things down there as you can up here about race stuff.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Spoils of war

    With U.S. support for Ukraine in doubt, Kyiv’s European allies are weighing whether to seize $300 billion in frozen Russian assets and use the money to compensate Ukraine, support its military and help rebuild shattered homes and towns.

    For now, the assets are still on ice, with opponents of seizure warning that the move could violate international law and destabilize financial markets.

    Let’s re-learn the lessons of Versailles.

    • Ted S.

      Paywalled. Thankfully.

    • WTF

      I hope they keep living in denial and drawing the wrong conclusions.

  30. Mojeaux

    Cunty Aunt Susie is taking the realtor over to Mom’s SNF today so they can engage her. I told Mom to remind Susie that the sooner the sign goes up, the sooner the legal stuff goes bye bye.

    Mom is getting discharged on Thursday at 11a. We are going straight from there to the hairdresser. 😂