210 Comments

  1. Pat

    House Republicans vote to keep spending at Biden Levels

    Turns out you can’t actually cut spending only in everybody else’s district.

    • Banjos

      Don’t worry, I’ve been told by a lot of hardcore MAGAs that it’s part of a plan to cut in September. Granted, we were told the same thing last time they needed to pass a CR so they could cut spending when Trump was in power in March. But they are totally serious this time. And anyone who objects hates Trump and is a “RINO”.

      • Nephilium

        Cuts yesterday, cuts tomorrow, but never NEVER cuts today!

      • R.J.

        I’ll cut the budget tomorrow, for a cheeseburger today!

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Lord, give me chastity and continence, but not yet!

    • juris imprudent

      So the surviving half of the Dept of Education will get their salaries doubled?

      • R C Dean

        With a CR to continue funding Dept of Ed at the same level, the way is open for the courts to say Trump has to spend every penny, so that means reinstating them and cutting them a check for back pay.

      • The Last American Hero

        What about spending the money, but on other things? Fund trade school programs around the country or some such. I want the money to not be spent, but if it must be spent, spend it on shit the country could benefit from and that the left hates.

  2. Pat

    Rubio, standing alongside national security advisor Mike Waltz, did not detail exactly what was in this agreement, but according to a readout provided by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, Kyiv has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire contingent on Moscow’s acceptance of the terms.

    They should have convened the meeting in Gaza instead of Saudi Arabia – sounds like the type of ceasefire that’ll go about the same way theirs usually do.

    • WTF

      I don’t know, what’s Russia’s motivation to keep feeding poorly trained and poorly motivated conscripts into the meat grinder? They should probably declare victory at this point and accept a peace deal.

    • Drake

      I’m glad they are negotiating, but no way the Russians will accept this deal. It benefits them in no way.

      • Not Adahn

        If they refuse, T-dawg will start actively helping Ukraine though. He really doesn’t like being told no.

      • Drake

        The Russians are winning despite 3 years of Biden actively helping them.

        If Trump wants to own Biden’s clusterfuck, this is the way.

      • Not Adahn

        Eh, Biden’s “active” help was pretty damn weak ad (dliberately?) ineffective.

        The same pressures that keep EUrians from going after Russia will also keep Russia from going after the US should they choose to get actively involved.

      • R C Dean

        The Russians get a few things out of the deal:

        (1) Peace. No more throwing men and money into a dumpster fire of a stalemate.

        (2) International sanctions lifted. Their economy is not doing well, especially with the choke points on technology.

        (3) De facto “freezing” of the lines where they are, which is probably basically what Putin really wanted anyway.

      • Drake

        The don’t get peace if the underlying issues aren’t addressed. Just a chance for the Ukes rearm.

        Why freeze lines when some of the Kursk bulge still exists but is collapsing rapidly?

      • Grummun

        International sanctions lifted. Their economy is not doing well, especially with the choke points on technology.

        Is the Russian economy doing badly? Someone just within the last few days linked an article that said Russia’s economy generally (I forget which metric they were using) is up a few points over three or four years back, that they’ve made up the decrease in petro sales to the west by supplying China and India, and they are still sneaking product to Europe through third parties, and their manufacturing is up (particularly arms manufacturing). I guess I don’t know how much of that is based on deficit spending, they may be digging themselves into a hole.

  3. UnCivilServant

    House Republicans vote to keep spending at Biden Levels

    Figures.

    Nobody is ever serious about fixing the problem.

    • WTF

      Yeah, what does it matter how much waste DOGE finds if the Republicans are going to keep funding it?

      • juris imprudent

        Foreseeable consequences are not unexpected?

    • Pat

      I was thinking more of Ukraine using backchannels and “rogue” spooks in our IC to launch attacks in the disputed territories, but neither party is particularly noteworthy for their honest dealing.

      • Pat

        That was supposed to go to WTFs post above, not here.

  4. rhywun

    Musk Reveals Where Cyberattack on X Originated From

    LOL I wonder how many American tax dollars funded it.

  5. Ted S.

    Step 1 is the CR freezes spending

    […]

    The bill allocates an additional $8 billion in defense spending

    Nope, no spending increases anywhere, please.

    • juris imprudent

      You see, a glacier is frozen too, but that doesn’t mean it can’t grind down rocks.

      • Swiss Servator

        Is that ice wall closer? I swear that wasn’t this close a while ago.

      • Bobarian LMD

        It’s not moving very fast. If you keep walking and don’t ever fall down or rest, you should be fine.

  6. Pat

    Europe retaliates against Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports

    Smoot-Hawley 2: Electric Boogaloo?

    Of course, one wonders which side is more dependent on the other’s imports? I’d be lying if I said I knew how much aluminum and steel we import from Europe, but considering Europe itself is importing steel products, and has killed off substantially all of its manufacturing base with its retarded environmental regulations and net zero idiocy, I’m inclined to wonder if the American cocktail party circuit needs European wine and cheese as much as Europe needs things like food and manufactured goods.

    • Nephilium

      I’ll say that there were a clustering of stories pointing out alarm in the beverage industry due to the tariffs, as aluminum cans are a very popular delivery method for beverages. I expect that the more bizarre can sizes (8.75 ounces; 6 ounces; etc.) will likely be disappearing, but they are already outliers.

    • rhywun

      I wonder what happens when China falls apart and takes the world’s heavy industry with it.

      • UnCivilServant

        An opportunity for modernization presents itself.

  7. UnCivilServant

    Kathy Hochul prohibits New York from hiring employees who were part of prison worker strike

    One of the trainers at the concealed carry class was a retired corrections officer who was working the picket line since he could no longer be retaliated against.

    For a slice of perspective A: it is illegal for New York public employees to go on strike. B: The Corrections officer’s Union fought against any attempt at a strike. C: Being stuck on-duty for 24 hours consecutive was not uncomming. D: Inmates suffered no repercussions for attacking guards. E: Inmates could not be held in solitary for more than a day before being required to be returned to general population.

    It was a mess. Still is.

    • UnCivilServant

      *not uncommon (where uncomming came from is a mystery to me)

      • bacon-magic

        RE: Uncomming
        Your browser history you PERVERT!

    • Not Adahn

      The best is when Hochul made the strikers a deal and the union got buttmad because they were the only entity that She was allowed to negotate with.

  8. rhywun

    The employees were striking over forced overtime and strenuous working conditions that they say is the result of a 2022 law change that has made their jobs more difficult, and dangerous.

    ?

    Another part of the state government’s pro-criminal changes over the last few years?

    Hochul said her focus now is on hiring more correction officers and supporting existing staff at the correctional facilities.

    I predict she will not hire anyone and instead close more facilities.

    • Not Adahn

      She talked yesterday about needing to consolidate.

      • rhywun

        To be fair, with so many violent criminals walking around free after all the “reforms”, why keep all the empty space lying around. You know, which somehow still requires tons of overtime.

        FFS she is so full of shit even the idiot voters must be seeing through it…?

      • Not Adahn

        Lol, “the voters.” What are they going to do, vote for a republican?

      • UnCivilServant

        Voters?

        Offices in New York are not selected by the voters. Never have been

      • WTF

        FFS she is so full of shit even the idiot voters must be seeing through it…?

        It’s New York, so, no.

  9. Pat

    Biden’s final tally: 8.3 million new immigrants, most of them here illegally

    But the estimated illegal immigrant population still remains ~11 million, as it has since 2006…

    • UnCivilServant

      I’m going to assume 20-30 million, so we need an average net outmigration of 20-30k+ per day for four years.

      • Pat

        In totally unrelated news, housing is so expensive because you can’t build 30 story apartment buildings in the suburbs, so Cato tells me. Immigrants couldn’t have anything to do with it since they create so much economic dynamism.

      • Rat on a train

        Everyone should live in one building like Whittier AK.

      • WTF

        Ah Yes, New Jersey’s Mount Laurel decision. Which basically says you have a right to live anywhere you want, whether or not you can afford it Which is as idiotic as saying you have a right to drive any car you want, whether or not you can afford it.

      • rhywun

        And charge everyone else more! Other states will pick up the middle class you just drove out.

  10. Pat

    Gavin Newsom Secretly Funded Monument to Himself Inside San Francisco City Hall

    In his defense, who else was going to do it?

    • R.J.

      Haha, yes. Now that everyone knows, his statue will become a target for vandals.

  11. juris imprudent

    >a href=”https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/03/12/president_trumps_tariffs_new_golden_age_american_aluminum_workers_152492.html”>This man needs to be punched in the face. I just assumed he was some union shill and apparently he isn’t.

    Aluminum and steel manufacturing are critical to America’s defense industrial base. Continued dependence on foreign suppliers leaves us vulnerable and jeopardizes our national security interests.

    • Pat

      To be fair, being dependent on “global supply chains” for the shit you plan to use in potential military conflicts with other members of said global supply chain is pretty stupid, strategically speaking. That interdependence is, of course, by design, as it was the brainchild of the globalist movement since the League of Nations, since coUntRieS ThAt tRadE tOGeTheR DoN’t gO To WaR WiTh eACh oTheR.

      • UnCivilServant

        Countries that trade together have been known to routinely try to conquer the other to gain cheaper access to the resource they used to attain by trade.

      • WTF

        Yeah, sometimes you just need a little lebensraum.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Sometimes, a Serb gets into the mix, and all of your treaties go down the drain.

  12. Not Adahn

    NPR ran a story about how craft brewers are going to go out of business since they get all their barley and cans from Canada.

    • UnCivilServant

      I do not beleive claims made by NPR.

    • Pat

      It’s amusing seeing the same people who countered the argument that raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour would result in many businesses closing by stating that any business that won’t pay their workers $20 an hour shouldn’t exist in the first place suddenly so concerned about the effects of increased costs on business.

    • WTF

      Huh, I didn’t know we couldn’t make cans and grow barley in the US.

      • UnCivilServant

        And cut down on the amount of subsidized ethanol corn being grown for engine-destroying fuel?

        MADNESS!

      • Not Adahn

        Their claim was the US grown barley was under contract to “macrobreweries.”

        Which might actually make sense if barley was a lower-return-on-investment crop compared to others. I don’t know, I am not a farmer.

    • Nephilium

      Well… to get really technical, very few breweries are buying barley. They’re buying malted barley, which there’s only a couple of big houses (and a handful of small ones). Cans, there’s two big suppliers for.

      As for inputs being under contract to the big names, that’s been an issue in the past. There was one year where the hop harvest was terrible, it was so bad that the more than the entire hop harvest of some crops was under contract to breweries. There was a lot of anger and cries to break the contracts that MillerCoors and AB-InBev had signed so that the small brewers could get hops. Breweries adjusted, MillerCoors and AB-InBev released some of their hop allotment at cost (as did several of the other national breweries: Boston Beer Company, Sierra Nevada, Stone, etc.), and we got a year when half of you were still complaining about too many IPAs being released. 🙂

      • R.J.

        Only half of us were complaining?

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        More IPA for me.

      • Not Adahn

        Breweries should take a page from Pho shops — have a bowl of ground hops on the table that drinkers can add to their taste.

      • Nephilium

        Not Adahn:

        Doesn’t work that way. The acids in the hops change as they’re boiled. There’s different times in the brew session to add hops for different notes and impact. The standard five are (times are from memory and may not be accurate):

        1) Pre-wort/Mash – Adding the hops either to the mash tun or to the kettle as you’re putting in the wort.
        2) Bittering – 45+ minutes of boil time
        3) Aroma – 5-10 minutes of boil time
        4) Flavor/flame out – 5- minutes of boil time
        5) Dry hopping – Adding the hops after the ferment is done

        There’s also dozens of different hop varietals, each with different acid levels, flavor notes, and preferred usage.

  13. Sensei

    And as usual by WSJ editorial standards Team Red is supposed to simply take it. I’m not at all happy about the decline of any kind of standards in DC, but you need to do something.

    That was mild compared to the hammer blow against Perkins Coie on March 6. That order strips security clearances from the firm’s employees, bars government contractors from retaining the firm, and even bars its lawyers from government buildings.

    The order also accuses Perkins Coie of racial discrimination and calls for a federal investigation of the firm by the Attorney General and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “in consultation with State Attorneys General.” Mr. Trump is targeting the firm with the full enforcement power of the federal government. We can’t recall a similar White House order from any President.

    The discrimination claim was news to me and a nice cherry on top!

    https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-perkins-coie-covington-and-burling-executive-order-4b285e8b?st=B9pFkM&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • Pat

      We can’t recall a similar White House order from any President.

      Lois Lerner and Merrick Garland were presumably unavailable for comment?

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      P-C has been known as the Dem’s Law Hammer for decades, and, well, live by the sword, die by the sword.

      • WTF

        “Elections have consequences.” It’s the political way for winners to tell losers: “Tough luck, you lost. Get over it.”
        – Barack Obama

    • rhywun

      The discrimination claim was news to me and a nice cherry on top

      And probably just as much bullshit as when the other team routinely plays that game.

      • WTF

        I’m sure they practiced DEI, which is in fact discrimination.

      • rhywun

        Ha good point

  14. UnCivilServant

    I knew scammers were evil, but I didn’t expect this turn of events.

    The scam centers, scattered across Southeast Asia but heavily concentrated in the Thailand-Myanmar border region, forced their prisoners to work in rackets such as crypto fraud, illegal online gambling, and online dating swindles. The gangs found it easy to lure eager young job seekers with attractive tech-sector job offers, then lock them up in sweatshops surrounded by barbed-wire fences and guard towers.
     
    Victims who escaped from the scam centers reported they were beaten and tortured if they tried to escape, or failed to generate enough revenue. Crime rings made billions of dollars in profit from their phone and cybercrime networks.

    • Nephilium

      This is what happens when WoW bans gold miners.

    • R.J.

      Sounds like Digital Mordor.

    • rhywun

      Side-linked there:

      Rosie O’Donnell Self-Deported to Ireland After Trump Election: Will Return to U.S. ‘When It’s Safe for All Citizens to Have Equal Rights’

      😂🤣 Good riddance.

      I can only assume this is in reference to tranny bullshit. But the jokes on her as I don’t think Europe is any more likely to practice gruesome experiments on your child anymore than the US is.

      • WTF

        Cue the “Oh no, Anyway” meme.

  15. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Re Trump, the Reps, and the CR:

    What a wasted opportunity and I wonder what excuse they’ll come up with next time to pass yet another one. The Republicans are just as retarded as the Democrats it seems, just on different issues.

    • Ed Wuncler

      Trump isn’t going to primary Massie. He tried that before, and not only it didn’t work but also Massie won in overwhelming fashion. It’s just Trump throwing a tantrum about not getting total loyalty from Massie and that is what is driving him crazy.

      • R.J.

        And Massie is right. Fuck you, cut spending!

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      By the way, when some jackass starts going on about how we should be using a scalpel instead of the Musk chainsaw, this is why.

      Too many individuals, be they R or D, are looking out for other things, their own pork mainly, and thus it takes an outside actor.

      • UnCivilServant

        “The alternative to the chainsaw is the woodchipper.”

      • R.J.

        I was fairly sure that Trump’s cuts would only be on programs and departments he hated, and not the government overall. I think I was right.
        I will take anything I can get though. Nobody else has tried to eliminate departments that I am aware of.

      • Pat

        What he needs to do is create a department in charge of eliminating departments.

  16. Not Adahn

    Question for those who think they have an idea of normie thinking, maybe a lurker?

    When people who already know that the other party is out only for themselves finally clue in to the fact that their party is likewise only about the interests of the politicos, how do they respond? Apathy and withdrawal? What would it take to take the next step and decide that power is going to be abused by the people who have it, so maybe there should be less power out there?

    • UnCivilServant

      Denial. But never “there shouldn’t be a law”.

    • EvilSheldon

      I figured that out in 1994, shortly after the Contract With America fiasco.

      Now I just don’t care.

    • Not Adahn

      For context, I was reading an article of undetermined accuracy claiming that D voters are starting to see their elected representatives as the self-interested grifters they are.

      • EvilSheldon

        As opposed to the R voters, whose eyes are wide open as to the puerility of their elected reps? It’s a nice thought, but I doubt it gets us anywhere good regarding the amount of power ceded to the government…

      • Not Adahn

        No, no in opposition to anything.

        This would be a group of people who already distrusted one side learning to distrust the other. What do then?

        I can’t take my reaction to that discovery as typical, since the majority makes clear I don’t think like them.

    • Pat

      When people who already know that the other party is out only for themselves finally clue in to the fact that their party is likewise only about the interests of the politicos, how do they respond?

      You’re basically describing my mom during the Obama years realizing the heffalumps were just window dressing and had no intention whatsoever of making any effort to oppose his agenda. I can’t speak for anyone else, but she responded with furious anger. Seems to be some kind of family trait. The high school kids who read and send canned responses to constituent emails for our elected representatives, when said elected representatives aren’t diddling said high school kids, got to read quite a bit of solid material from her right up until she died.

  17. Sensei

    Tens of thousands of people on both sides of Sudan’s brutal two-year civil war have sought safety in Uganda, and hundreds of those refugees have set up small businesses in a five-story commercial building in downtown Kampala run by Nasr Al Din Sandel.

    Sudanese refugees, divided along ethnic lines, sometimes come to blows in the city’s streets. But inside the crowded Nyumba Kubwa—Swahili for Big House—Sandel ensures his tenants check their civil war at the door.

    Amazing what economic self interest can accomplish.

    The Travel Agent Who Brokered Peace Between Rivals in a Brutal Civil War
    Arab and Black Sudanese have to get along in the Big House, thanks to Nasr Sandel

    https://www.wsj.com/world/africa/the-office-building-doing-what-the-u-n-hasnt-bringing-harmony-to-factions-of-a-civil-war-f9d0fa3d?st=3W4wpS&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • Derpetologist

      Swahili was born in Zanzibar, it got sick in Uganda, and it died in Kenya.

      -joke I heard over there

    • Suthenboy

      Two year, my ass. These fuckers have been eating each other since the dawn of time.

      • Not Adahn

        Since South Sudan split off, the particular mix of mutual genociders has changed.

  18. R C Dean

    “USAID Staff Ordered to Destroy Records, Court Filing Says”

    Everyone involved, or at a very minimum the people who ordered it, should be in jail.

    • WTF

      If they’re willing to break the records retention laws, they must be hiding some pretty serious crimes.

      • Suthenboy

        Where are the Epstein tapes?

    • Ted S.

      With a cloth?

    • The Other Kevin

      I heard some discussion about this yesterday. Sounds like all the documents were “courtesy” copies provided by intel agencies, and destroying them was SOP akin to people abandoning an embassy. If those weren’t originals this doesn’t seem like a problem.

      • WTF

        Sure, if you believe what they’re telling you.

      • The Other Kevin

        I don’t know what to believe, it can go either way.

      • R C Dean

        The burn order also included personnel documents.

        And the order had no “litigation hold”, which means they may well have destroyed evidence needed in lawsuits. Whether you had a document is relevant, even if the document exists elsewhere.

        And why exactly does a humanitarian aid organization need safes full of classified paper, anyway?

  19. Derpetologist

    A factor often overlooked in wargaming discussions:

    ***
    Least patriotic generation in the US

    Gen Z is the least patriotic generation in the US, with only 16% of 18 to 25-year-olds surveyed saying they were proud to live in the US. This is a significant drop compared to baby boomers, with the net share of Gen Z adults who say they are proud to live in the US being 57 percentage points lower. Gen Z is more liberal than other generations, even at similar ages, which seems to play into young people’s pride, or lack of it, in America. Less than half of Gen Z believes “America is stronger because of its global leadership”.
    WFLA News Channel 8
    ***

    What if they had a war and nobody came?

    • WTF

      Indoctrination works.

      • rhywun

        There is this.

        The anti-American propaganda esp. from the Dems has increased relentlessly during my lifetime.

    • Homple

      “Patriotism” does not mean “voluntarily getting yourself killed at the whim of a government that hates you.”

      • WTF

        That doesn’t appear to have been the question.

        only 16% of 18 to 25-year-olds surveyed saying they were proud to live in the US

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Only 16% of GenZ have been outside the US is seems.

      • rhywun

        Only 16% of GenZ have been outside the US is seems.

        inorite?

        I wonder if they were asked which other beacons of freedom they would rather live in.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Freedom? I just want the enemy punished”

    • Derpetologist

      Is it really such a bad thing that American young people are even more skeptical of the military and the world’s policeman?

      More so than the generation whose protests led to the all-volunteer force?

      I see a silver lining here.

      Sort of like in Russia and Ukraine where so many military age young men fled that both sides were forced to scrounge up alternative sources of manpower.

      • R C Dean

        The question wasn’t “Are you proud of the government”. It was “are you proud to live in the US” (which is a weird question). I’m not sure you can say a “no” answer means they don’t support the government, which after all, has been going on for years now about how terrible half the country is and how it all needs to be, what’s the phrase”. Oh yeah: Fundamentally transformed.

      • Derpetologist

        I suspect the journos as usual mangled the actual question. Can’t find the original poll. Regardless, other polls have found low patriotism among Gen Z.

        https://www.christiantoday.com/news/milennials-gen-z-less-likely-to-embrace-religion-patriotism-than-older-americans-poll

        ***
        In 2023, 38% of Americans identified patriotism as a “very important” value. This represents a noticeable decline from the 61% who described patriotism as “very important” in 2019 and the 70% who said the same in 1998.

        The percentage of Americans who characterize religion as “very important” has nosedived throughout the same time, decreasing from 62% in 1998 to 48% in 2019 to 39% in 2023. While a majority of Americans surveyed in 1998 (59%) said having children was “very important” to them, just 43% said so in 2019. By 2023, just 30% of respondents cited having children as a “very important” value.
        ***

        Demoralization is a self-correcting problem.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        If they are referencing the original poll, it is all BS.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Aren’t, not are

    • Rat on a train

      I am not proud of living in the US. I am fortunate I live in the US.

      • Suthenboy

        This.

        “America is the worst country, except for all of the others” – Sam Clemens

    • R C Dean

      What if they had a war and nobody came?

      We already know the answer: press gangs.

    • Not Adahn

      I don’t think I’ve felt particularly American since I realized that most Americans have a completely different idea about that America should be than I do.

      • Derpetologist

        On a related “where mah country gone” note:

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCI830ZIJd0

        ***
        This Chinese soldier in the Us military said: “Being a soldier is just a job, no matter who you work for, whoever will pay you.” He also said:
        “If the US and China went to war, I’ll definitely quit the US Army and wouldn’t serve in the US Army again. If other Chinese people need help, I will do my best to help our Chinese… I would never help the US.”
        ***

        In China they say you don’t use good iron to make nails, which means soldiers are expendable and only the desperate volunteer.

      • UnCivilServant

        China does have a shortage of good iron.

        Prior to wire nails like we have now, it was worthwhile to burn down an old house to sift the hand-forged nails from the ashes, as the wood was cheap (and you can’t really pull hand forged nails out the way you can round nails)

      • rhywun

        TL;DW

        Is he an American or…?

      • Derpetologist

        He’s an Army recruiter and a US citizen, most likely from his service.

        There was a Chinese guy in my basic training platoon who was in it for the citizenship. Tough bastard. Almost made it to the end before he broke a rib on the obstacle course and had to get recycled. Everybody liked him.

        I joked that his English was easier to understand than the mush-mouth hoodrat from “Balmer”. The hoodrat took it in stride.

      • rhywun

        He’s an Army recruiter and a US citizen, most likely from his service.

        I didn’t know “in it for the citizenship” was a thing. I hope we deported his ass.

      • Derpetologist

        Not sure how you can deport a US citizen.

        The program is called MAVNI. They were about 20% of my basic training platoon. Most were from South Korea.

        https://apnews.com/article/army-air-force-recruiting-shortfall-immigrants-citizenship-2cd690352210606945010d1800c5bdbe

        ***
        Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest

        Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) was a recruitment program by the United States Department of Defense. It allowed legal non-immigrants with certain critical skills to join the military services of the US. The program was available to certain immigrants interested in joining the US military. MAVNI allowed certain non-citizens who are legally present in the United States to join the US military and apply immediately for US citizenship using Form N-400, “Application for Naturalization,” without first obtaining lawful permanent residence.
        ***

  20. Suthenboy

    Good morning all.

    Heard Mike Johnson speaking about avoiding the shutdown last night. Apparently if the government shuts down federal employees will not be paid, border patrol will shut down and the borders will be open again, all vital functions will cease etc etc.
    I dont think any of that is true. So, republicans drop the ball to ensure business as usual.
    My hatred for these people has doubled. I didnt think that was possible.

    • WTF

      You can always count on the Republicans to be worthless shitweasels when it really counts.

      • Suthenboy

        Yep. They are never going to break their perfect record.

      • Sensei

        Living in NJ for decades gives you the playbook for exactly what happens and will happen with “moderate” Republicans.

      • The Other Kevin

        Any of the EO’s are great but 4 years from now they could all be reversed in a day. Congress is the last piece of the deep state that needs to be gutted but I’m not sure that will happen.

      • rhywun

        I’m not sure that will happen

        Nope, not as long as the federal government continues to launder trillions of tax dollars every year.

    • Rat on a train

      If they go by SOP, non-essential workers will be furloughed but get back pay when work resumes. It’s a free vacation. I’ve heard disappointment from federales in the past when shutdowns were averted.

  21. Suthenboy

    As far as I can tell the Ukraine/Russia war is a pure money laundering operation. The Russians are the only ones not getting paid to keep it going? Is that right? They should be glad to end the war.
    If we stop funding the war it will end. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

    • Rat on a train

      The latest maps show the Kursk pocket collapsing while the Russkies continue to advance near Donetsk.

    • The Other Kevin

      I don’t know when I turned into a dirty hippie, but it makes me sick to think about all the people who died over basically nothing. This never should have happened. IMO it was half about money, and half the proxy war against Russia that the intel agencies have been longing for.

      • Rat on a train

        A conspiracy of Russian linguists worried about losing their jobs? *flashes DLI hand sign*

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        I don’t know when I turned into a dirty hippie…

        *Lights patchouli incense for TOK*

      • Suthenboy

        You can say that about any war. They all boil down to a few powerful, wealthy people struggling for more power and wealth.

      • Derpetologist

        When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.

        -African proverb, various languages

  22. Sensei

    Why not both?

    Is makeup political? A debate is playing out on social media over beauty and what it might say about someone’s personal values. On one side, people are taking aim at so-called “Republican makeup,” lampooning heavy foundation and overfilled eyebrows as an expression of conservative values. In response, conservatives are accusing liberals of clumsily applied, clownish makeup that doesn’t align with traditional gender norms, mocking bright hair dye, piercings and neon lipstick.

    https://www.wsj.com/style/what-is-republican-makeup-tiktok-trend-33371e2f?st=ELcS7N&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

  23. R C Dean

    The CR is pure Lucy-and-the-football. Every time it’s the same: “Now isn’t the perfect moment to really go after spending. But we’re going to really do something in a few months.”

    Then, a few months later: “Now isn’t the perfect moment, etc.”.

    • The Other Kevin

      I’m disappointed by it, but I should know better.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      The midterms are coming up, can’t risk those. They’re full of shit and it’s clear as crystal.

      • Urthona

        I hear this a lot.

        Yet.. the tiny handful of guys like Massie, Rand Paul, etc. get elected in a landslide EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Same is true of Ron Paul when he served.

        They are immune to primaries and could easily serve for life. They are — IN FACT — the MOST re-electable.

        ..

        Is it possible the reset are just really stupid and/or corrupt?

      • Urthona

        *rest

    • Pat

      And this is why all the beltway fucks and think tank libertarians shitting the bed about Trump using executive authority to attempt to cut spending without congress are so transparently disingenuous. After claiming for 30+ years that they want spending cut, knowing that congress never will, it’s a cOnStiTuTioNaL cRiSIs for the executive to make even a PR effort.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Yep.

  24. Sensei

    This was a neat article how the sausage gets made in NYS.

    What New York State Aide’s Help Was Worth to China: More Than $15 Million
    Unsealed allegations detail Linda Sun’s ‘pay-to-play scheme,’ with lobster earnings funneled through wine shop and family members

    https://www.wsj.com/us-news/what-new-york-state-aides-help-was-worth-to-china-more-than-15-million-af316508?st=Q7Fg82&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    One hitch: The FBI determined $200,000 in cash had appeared in the wine shop’s accounts even before its grand opening. Another: Store sales were predominantly cashless.

    • R.J.

      OMWC hardest hit.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    I suspected trouble as soon as they started talking about the need for a single continuing resolution instead of breaking out multiple more trackable spending bills. Who is “they”? I’m not even sure at this point; Johnson? Trump?

    “I’ll get clean, but not right now. I’m hurting. Gimme another hit.”

    • Pat

      Lord, give me chastity and continence, but not yet!

    • The Other Kevin

      Massie claims the Senate has a deal worked out with the Dems and the Dem opposition in the House is just for show.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Jessica Poling, a sociology professor at Sarah Lawrence College, said makeup was one of the tools people used to communicate messages to others about their gender, consciously or unconsciously. How you do your makeup can send the same subliminal messages about race, social class or sexuality, creating a sense of identity and community.

    In the political sphere, Poling said, that might mean thinking that if someone does their makeup differently from you, they must think differently from you. So when a person picks on someone’s appearance or their makeup, Poling said, that action creates “in-groups” and “out-groups,” an essential part of building a social hierarchy

    By all means, put that ring through your nose. Tell me everything I need to know about you without a word exchanged.

    • Suthenboy

      I dont have any tattoos. I dont have any jewelry. I dont wear makeup. My dress is middle class super generic. What does that say about me?

      • bacon-magic

        You are looking for a simple man to keep you happy. *starts humming Simple Man ♫♪♪

  27. UnCivilServant

    I’ve been working to fix my broken chairs at home. One problem I’ve run into is that the piston is wedged into the star and hammering didn’t dislodge it. I’ve been thinking about putting a steel plate over the base of the piston so I can attach C-Clamps between the plate and the star and just keep tightening the clamps to use slower pressure to try to dislodge the pistons. (The base of the piston doesn’t give any place to apply the clamp, so the plate is to make it wider)

    What are the odds that this is going to do anything good? I’ve not acquired all of the pieces needed to try it, but the stars and legs can be salvaged (the pistons are shot, as are the tilt mechanisms)

    • R.J.

      Wd-40 sprayed liberally in the wedged area might do it. Let it sit for a day, then hammer it on all sides and give it a pull.
      And I think you have a heat gun now, right? Try heating the plastic around the piston that isn’t letting go.

      • UnCivilServant

        The WD-40 did nothing.

        There is no plastic, it’s all metal.

      • Ted S.

        This is God’s way of telling you you need a stand-up desk.

      • Pat

        The WD-40 did nothing.

        PB Blaster works better as a penetrating oil. Heat, lube and mechanical force are the secret ingredients for un-sticking anything.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m hesitant to apply heat to a pneumatic piston.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Wait, piston? Stars?

      Chairs don’t have those things, so you need to be clearer on what you are describing.

      • UnCivilServant

        Have you looked under an office chair? There is a single pnuematic piston between a star-shaped assemblage of legs that hold the wheels and the tilt mechanism that holds the seat.

    • slumbrew

      The kit I got a few years back had a fairly clever way to remove the piston:

      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FGLVD6M

      You clamp those two black rings on the piston, right above where it goes into the base; you clamp the top one on tight, leave the bottom loose.

      Then there are screws that go into the top clamp and you slowly tighten them down, which pushes off the bottom ring, slowly leveraging the piston out of the base.

      Not sure how you’d do that if you don’t have something like those two rings.

      • UnCivilServant

        Wrong end of the piston, slumbrew. I do have a set, but it’s the other end where I’m trying to get a separation with this plan. The c-clamps would be operating on a similar principle to pull the legs off the piston by pushing on the end of the piston and the top of the legs.

      • UnCivilServant

        Yes, the hole for the piston goes all the way through (so that the base of said piston actually protrudes some quarter inch past the bottom).

        But why would I rent?

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        Because it will be hard to find a non-Chinese made one.

        Owatana Tool Company, Snap-On, etc. will be very expensive.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    “They’ve called us blue-haired liberals for years, right?” said Lambert, a former Republican who has light brown-blonde hair, in an interview. “They’ll make fun of our tattoos and our piercings, and we’ve never really clapped back.”

    Lambert said she viewed her critiques as less about the person’s actual appearance and more about their skills applying makeup. But if the videos are taken as insults, she said, she has no qualms about that.

    “I lose zero sleep at night knowing that I’m hurting the feelings of people who are committing atrocities against my fellow Americans, my friends and my neighbors,” Lambert said.

    Serious people, thinking serious thoughts.

    • R.J.

      In the 1980s, 2000AD / Judge Dredd came up with a new trend for citizens called “The Uglies.”
      Once again, that comic was way ahead of reality.

      https://judgedredd.fandom.com/wiki/Uglies

    • rhywun

      “They’ll make fun of our tattoos and our piercings, and we’ve never really clapped back.”

      Yeah, nobody has accused Republicans of being squares for the last six or seven decades or anything. 🙄

      PS. Enjoy “clapping back” with your new, unfunny friends.

    • Nephilium

      If you’re proud of your tattoos and piercings, how is someone making fun of them an issue? Did you not want to stand out and be easy to identify?

      • UnCivilServant

        They are brittle and anything but praise for their bodily mutilations is seen as unbearable assaults on their psyche. They lack true pride as they lack accomplishments worth being proud of.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      I wouldn’t want either of those.

      • R.J.

        The American lunch looks totally random. No theme at all, just random food.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Today’s theme is – Marginal Constituencies!”

      • Urthona

        AMERICANS NEED MORE PREDICTABLE LUNCHES

    • Not Adahn

      What’s up with the bag-o-carbs? I would guess that they’re supposed to pour the rice into that bowl of liquid but the intent of the vacuum-sealed bag-o-udon eludes me.

      • Sensei

        I believe the noodles are precooked and the idea is for them not to get soggy. If you get takeout ramen in metro NYC the noodles are always separate so as to not get waterlogged.

    • UnCivilServant

      There is waay too much food on those Japanese plates. Are they trying to cause an obesity problem?

    • Suthenboy

      I always prefer when someone else chooses what I eat.
      If I invite people out to eat I take on the responsibility of ordering for them because I know that is what people really like, – to be told what to eat.

      • Sensei

        But how are we supposed to subsidize the American farmer if we don’t tell people what to eat?

    • Ted S.

      I remember the scene from “Eat Drink Man Woman” where the main character makes gourmet meals for the neighbor’s daughter’s school lunch, and all the kids (roughly kindergarten age) stare in wonder at the delicacies.

    • rhywun

      I like the few rebels who AREN’T flashing finger signs.

      • Sensei

        Remember the nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

        Students with special dietary requirements generally must get permission to do so. If the reason is medical, as in the child has an allergy, parents will need to get a doctor to sign off on it and bring that paperwork to the school. Once all approved, they can then bring their own bento. The allergy test though must be conducted annually (via blood test), as it is quite common for children to grow out of some allergies. Therefore, students who started out taking bento may join their classmates in having school lunch in later years if it is no longer deemed medically necessary.

        It is 100% a conformist culture. That has many advantages, but really makes it unappealing to me to ever want work there and deal with certain aspects of living there. I could handle retirement there, but it’s far from a paradise.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Mirror, mirror, on the wall…

    This is what the Democratic Party has become. It’s no longer the party of the working class, the middle class or even mainstream liberals. It’s the party of coastal elites, radical activists and professional outrage machines. And it’s so consumed with hatred for Trump and his supporters that it’s lost touch with most Americans.

    Instead of coming up with fresh ideas to show why they’re a reasonable, more rational alternative to Trump, what they’re doing is showing anyone paying attention why he won.

    Democrats think Trump is the enemy. But the truth is, they are their own worst enemy.

    Bernard Goldberg, rabid right wing MAGA robot.

    • rhywun

      It’s like a “syndrome” of sorts.

    • Sensei

      And the “M” was media – let’s not for AOL Time Warner!

      Those were the days where I was on Wall Street.

      • Sensei

        not FORGET

      • slumbrew

        My first co-op job was at Bankers Trust, when everyone on the LIRR was reading Liar’s Poker and laughing out loud (“what part are you at?”).

        All sorts of names in that article bringing up memories.

      • Sensei

        One of my Wall St coworkers worked the bond trading desk at Salomon during the time of that book.

        He worked our equity desk.

    • Nephilium

      The answer is the telecom and AI bubble will be the same.

      [Source: Company I work for is pushing heavily into “AI” solutions.]

      • UnCivilServant

        To be fair to the technology as I understand it, there is space for making use of what a large language model can actually do in that space. (I have not checked in recently on what progress has been made with some of the existing issues)

  30. The Late P Brooks

    A disservice to the reader

    In her column, which the Post did not publish but The Atlantic did, Marcus wrote that “an owner who meddles with news coverage, especially to further personal interests, is behaving unethically.”

    “Shaping opinion coverage is different, and less problematic,” she continued in the spiked column. “But narrowing the range of acceptable opinions is an unwise course, one that disserves and underestimates our readers.”

    Assuming your readership is composed primarily of socialist fans of tyrannies both great and small might be underestimating them. But the Washington Post is basically an in house newsletter for the deep state, so you’re probably not far wrong.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Intolerable

    The chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board says that “there’s a serious safety issue” in the airspace surrounding Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

    The NTSB’s Jennifer Homendy called on the Federal Aviation Administration to implement several “urgent safety recommendations” during a Tuesday news conference. Her comments followed the release of a preliminary investigation report into the Jan. 29 midair collision between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, which was attempting to land at DCA airport.

    Both aircraft plunged into the icy Potomac River, killing all 67 people aboard.

    Homendy described the flight patterns around DCA as “an intolerable risk” as helicopters and commercial planes operate in close proximity to each other in the busy airspace over the U.S. capital. She says an NTSB analysis found that in a 13-year period from 2011 to 2024, there was at least one “close call” each month between a commercial plane operating at DCA and a helicopter.

    Ban civilian air traffic.

    • Dr Mossy Lawn

      This article had a better diagram of how small the margin was on that helicopter route:

      https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/january-29-midair-collision-sparked-deep-investigation-into-safety/

      That combined with a ban on high risk military training near Class B airports might be warranted. The Helo flight was a training flight and I believe included NVG. We have read many articles here about the risks of training, and that they must be borne by the military pilots, but they do not need to be mixed with the civilian air travel.

      All the NTSB showed was there was a long history of near misses in that airspace, and nobody did anything until there was a death. Which is the usual FAA way. They also recommend just suspending route 4 when that runway is active.

  32. pistoffnick (370HSSV)

    I woke up thinking it was Thursday. I was sad when I realized it was only Wednesday. But then I was happy again, because Wednesday is Sugar Free day!