Thursday Afternoon Links

by | Jan 19, 2023 | Daily Links | 255 comments

US FEDGOV REACHES DEBT LIMIT: Big fight coming up.

ACTOR AND ARMORER BOTH CHARGED WITH INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER: “Rust” actor and producer Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the film’s Santa Fe County set in 2021, according to the DA.

JUDGE ME NOT ON THE QUALITY OF MY WORK, BUT ON THE PURITY OF MY INTENTIONS: Sculptor of terrible MLK tribute sculpture can’t understand why people don’t like his crappy work.

PROVOROV JERSEY SELLS OUT AFTER WOKE MEDIA CRUCIFIES HIM: Ivan Provorov is a sportsball sportspuck player who refused to wear a (QUILTBAG+) “pride” jersey. The reaction of the woke media was predictable. Then all of his jerseys sold out. IIRC, athletes are consistently winning their battles over performative wokeness. Does anyone know whether NHL athletes personally profit from the sale of their jerseys? I assume the NHL gets a cut, too.

FB, NOW WITH MORE NIPPLE-RELATED EXCEPTIONS: Because trans and non-binary folk feel discriminated against, Facebook loosens rules for nipples, but only for trans and non-binary persons.

PERIOD PANTIES PROBLEMATIC, PFAS PEGGED AS PUTATIVE PERPETRATOR: Via Jezebel, if you dare to click.

THE WAR ON ALCOHOL CONTINUES: Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) suggests a person should consume no more than two drinks a week. First they suggest, then they redefine substance abuse, then they legislate and control. Fuck right off. Granted, this is from Soviet Canuckistan, but the neo-prohibitionists and their allies are resurgent here, too.

TENTH AMENDMENT NEWS: Today I learned there is an organization devoted to Tenth Amendment issues. A bill introduced in the Arizona House would require the governor to stop unconstitutional foreign combat deployments of the state’s National Guard troops.

About The Author

Tonio

Tonio

Tonio is a Glibs shitposter, linkstar (Thursday PM, yo), author, and editor. He is also a GlibZoom personality and prankster. Tonio is a big fan of pic-a-nic baskets. His hobbies include salmon fishing, territorial displays, dumpster diving, and posing for wildlife photographers.

255 Comments

  1. Count Potato

    “Facebook loosens rules for nipples, but only for trans and non-binary persons.”

    So more IG models will identify as non-binary.

    • UnCivilServant

      Sorry, this is a digital environment, you can only show 0, 1, or 10 nipples.

      • SDF-7

        Breasts are hexadecimal, however — up through 0xf cup size.

      • Count Potato

        That’s racist against Martians.

      • UnCivilServant

        Okay, there’s room in the variable for 11, but no more. We can’t afford a third bit.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Who doesn’t some tig old bits?

      • Bobarian LMD

        Who doesn’t like…

  2. UnCivilServant

    While Involuntary Manslaughter is an appropriate charge, I’m wondering where the second charge each comes from. It doesn’t sound like a lesser included charge for the jury to fall back on.

    • SDF-7

      Skimmed the article and I couldn’t tell either. Then again, I’m rather rusty on New Mexico law.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Deadline actually did some journalism.

        https://deadline.com/2023/01/alec-baldwin-rust-shooting-charges-mary-carmack-altwies-halyna-hutchins-1235226760/

        “…the first charge is a fourth-degree felony with sentencing of up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine. The second charge, which is formally an involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act charge, is also a fourth-degree felony punishable by up to 18 months in jail and up to a $5000 fine. However, the second charge additionally carries a firearm enhancement. That gives the offense a punishing mandatory five years behind bars if Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed are found guilty.”

      • Lackadaisical

        That is shocking.

        I mean, that someone actually asked the obvious question, then proceeded to answer it in their journalism.

      • UnCivilServant

        So, the state is saying that they both killed a person they didn’t mean to with a gun, and killed that same person they didn’t mean to without a gun?

      • R C Dean

        I think they are saying that the killing broke two laws, one of which has stiffer penalties if you killed with a gun. For some reason.

      • juris imprudent

        Because guns always make killing worse.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yeah, I would rather be killed by a gun, in most situations, if I have to choose how to die.

        Drowned, strangled and stabbed all seem worse.

      • Count Potato

        Stabbed can be quicker though.

      • Lackadaisical

        In the right circumstances, but I feel like generally not.

      • Count Potato

        Most criminals aren’t very good shots.

      • Sensei

        WSJ waits a bit, but explains as well.

        Mr. Baldwin and Ms. Gutierrez-Reed will each be charged with two different counts of involuntary manslaughter, the district attorney’s office said. The second charge, involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act, includes a firearms enhancement which carries a mandatory five-year prison term. A jury could only convict on one of the two charges.

        https://www.wsj.com/articles/alec-baldwin-shooting-charges-involuntary-manslaughter-rust-movie-11674081157?st=wa7mpjedy9kzlsd&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

      • Tonio

        Thanks, OBE.

  3. SDF-7

    JUDGE ME NOT ON THE QUALITY OF MY WORK, BUT ON THE PURITY OF MY INTENTIONS

    If that ends up working, I’ll have to remember it for my next performance review….

  4. Tundra

    Thanks, Tonio!

    … if you dare to click.

    I…just can’t do it. I’m in too good of a mood.

    • WTF

      Yeah, I saw Jezebel and noped right out.

      • Count Potato

        I read it. Surprisingly, it’s pretty much straight journalism.

      • Gender Traitor

        Yeah, but now I’m trying to figure out what “menstrual inequities” are. 🤷🏼‍♀️

      • Bobarian LMD

        I heard that menstrual shows are now considered racist.

      • Zwak says Your Husband is a Polar Bear, Skinny.

        Oh Bloody Hell!

      • Count Potato

        That kind of language is all over the mainstream media now.

      • Tonio

        It means free pads and ‘pons for everyone, because poor women can’t afford menstrual products. Also, probably, diva cups.

      • Tonio

        Everyone, because they’ve already established that (some) men have periods, too. Also enbies.

      • R.J.

        They should pack a ballot with each free tampon.

      • Grosspatzer

        Um, I’d think they would be packing something else.

      • Gender Traitor

        Wouldn’t that be a shameless plug?

      • Penguin

        And GT takes the thread..

      • juris imprudent

        Most appropriate, even if it was a string more than a thread.

  5. Count Potato

    “Fuck right off.”

    I’ll drink to that!

    • Count Potato

      If drinking was bad for your health, I’d be dead already. My grandfather took a couple of swigs of rum first thing every morning, and started smoking when he was 14. He was 95 when he died.

  6. The Late P Brooks

    PROVOROV JERSEY SELLS OUT

    I can’t remember his name, but there was a Pittsburgh Steelers player whose jersey became extremely popular after he declined to participate in the take-a-knee theatrics.

    • Bobarian LMD

      Former Army Captain Allejandro Villaneuva?

      I watched him play wide receiver for Army Football back in the day.

  7. Rebel Scum

    US FEDGOV REACHES DEBT LIMIT

    Shut it down.

    • Lackadaisical

      Every federal employee is hoping for that as well- paid vacation time!

      • Rebel Scum

        I mean shut it down for real. Non-essential means non-essential so essentially you shouldn’t have a job in the federal government in the first place.

      • R C Dean

        If you want to see a human with that “baffled dog” expression, roll that one out when the topic comes up.

        For extra fun, do it during a budget meeting, during that last phase when everyone is trying to come up with a few savings to pump up the projected margin. “Say, any nonessential employees in any of your departments?” The answer will be “No, of course not”.

      • Bobarian LMD

        The last time they shut it down, they said I was essential.

        Which meant no paid vacation, and no guarantee that I would actually get paid for my time if a budget wasn’t passed.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That was fun time and the first time I saw a change in attitude to the ‘non-essentials’ that received their pay. While I actually like what I do, if it rolls around again, Ill probably take the LWOP and assume I will get back pay and not get charged leave.

      • Ted S.

        Don’t pay them.

        After the covid lockdowns governments inflicted on us, I have absolutely no sympathy for government-sector workers getting locked out and thinking they should get paid.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Me too.

      • PutridMeat

        Especially after seeing them argue during Covid that they must continue to get paid and are essential. And then discuss how to make sure they got their Covid ‘relief’ checks and how to check the status without a shred of shame. While they were getting full pay. While arguing in favor of declaring other people not essential and advocating for them not be allowed to actually work.

    • Grosspatzer

      Oh, stop being so judgmental. A little forgiveness is in order here; forgive the debt and all is well. Just like student loans.

  8. Rebel Scum

    Facebook loosens rules for nipples, but only for trans and non-binary persons.

    This makes no sense.

    • Tonio

      Look at this guy expecting some sort of logical consistency from wokesters.

    • WTF

      It’s Facebook, sense has nothing to do with it.

    • Bobarian LMD

      Zuckerborg likes it’s nipples strange and demented.

    • Grosspatzer

      FB is late to the party. The finest zoom in the universe freed the nipple last night. A sight to behold, it was.

      • Brochettaward

        A Glib unleashed the nipple last night on the zoom?

      • Grosspatzer

        You bet. A First!

  9. Shpip

    Statues like these, he added, “are part of the same performative altruism and purity pageants that are mainstays of the woke left”.

    She ain’t wrong.

    Of course, where would the wokesters be without performative altruism and purity pageants?

  10. The Late P Brooks

    Blunting the pain and depression induced by government servitude is verboten. Feel the pain. Wallow in the misery.

    • Sean

      But smoking weed is totally without downsides. 🙄

  11. Swiss Servator

    “A bill introduced in the Arizona House would require the governor to stop unconstitutional foreign combat deployments of the state’s National Guard troops.”

    The problem with taking all that federal $, is you now belong to them, when they want to call your Guard up.

  12. juris imprudent

    Via Jezebel, if you dare to click

    I can think of other ways I’d prefer to bleed out.

    • Compelled Speechless

      In my personal experience, Jezebel’s journalistic track record is spotty at best.

      • Shpip

        No need to rag on them for that. They’re just trying to pad their click count.

      • Compelled Speechless

        True. Gotta keep the revenue flowing.

      • juris imprudent

        Which is odd given how cyclic it is.

      • Lackadaisical

        Their finances are really bleeding out now.

      • juris imprudent

        That will pause, eventually.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Don’t trust anything that can bleed that long and not die.

      • Compelled Speechless

        Dam it!

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        Don’t cramp their style.

      • Bobarian LMD

        There’s an effective way to block them, but it could cause toxic shock syndrome.

    • Ownbestenemy

      The article was a bit spotty at times.

      We are never going to attract more mythical female libertarians are we?

      • R.J.

        I did try. She ran away.

    • Count Potato

      There is nothing funny about that article. Period.

  13. The Late P Brooks

    Of course, where would the wokesters be without performative altruism and purity pageants?

    Emphasis on performative as opposed to substantive.

  14. Tundra

    Does anyone know whether NHL athletes personally profit from the sale of their jerseys? I assume the NHL gets a cut, too.

    I don’t believe that this info is public, but it is my understanding that the companies pay the league a licensing fee, which is shared by the teams. Further, I think sales generate royalties which go to the team and player.

  15. Lackadaisical

    ‘She’d just had a copper IUD inserted’

    …and you’re worried about toxicity from your panties? Those things are gonna give you so many issues ladies.

    • Lackadaisical

      ‘No other menstrual products have recently faced lawsuits or allegations like the suit against Thinx, though some users have reported toxic shock syndrome or pelvic organ prolapse from the incorrect use of menstrual cups. But Thinx customers have stressed that the lawsuit and its revelations are especially disappointing, as Thinx’s brand promoted itself as being conscious of menstrual inequities, as well as the difficulties and cost barriers people face to find the menstrual products that work best for them.’

      Yeah, only 100% cotton pads are safe. Maybe.

      ‘Despite new assurances from Thinx and the settlement, Bulka is still concerned by all of the unanswered questions, and the possibility of future, severe health detriments emerging. “If we get long-term data that actually shows exposure to these chemicals through the vagina does cause infertility, $21 definitely wouldn’t seem sufficient,” Bulka said. That Thinx also still has a line of products being marketed and sold to teens is another concern. “Younger people’s bodies are smaller, and undergoing these sort of rapid developmental changes—I would be very worried for that age group, and they should be the focus of some ongoing longitudinal studies to see what health effects might arise.”’

      Now do trans.

      • R C Dean

        “pelvic organ prolapse”

        Not Googling that.

        I, too, am amused at the concern over any impact on young people’s developing bodies. Where is this concern when the medical industry is peddling hormone blockers, wrong-sex hormones, etc.?

      • Lackadaisical

        Or, how about hormone-based birth control (or acne control).

        I’m sure that won’t have any negative consequences when prescribed to 25%+ of the populace undergoing puberty.

      • Bobarian LMD

        “pelvic organ prolapse”

        Isn’t that what they do for “bottom surgery” for FtM trans?

  16. Stinky Wizzleteats

    MLK sculpture: points for originality and avoiding the cookie cutter approach; execution needs a lot of work though.

    • UnCivilServant

      I will gladly forgive well executed realism for being somewhat limited in how you can depict a common subject matter if it means we can avoid nonsense like that.

    • R C Dean

      I dunno. The cookie cutter approach of realism seems to produce better results, overall, that the hideous public art that results from avoiding it. I guess you can say that art is thought-provoking if the reaction to it is “what the fuck is that” and/or “what the fuck were they thinking”. But on the whole, I prefer art that doesn’t get that kind of reaction.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    “Rust” actor and producer Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the film’s Santa Fe County set in 2021, according to the DA.

    This must mean they finally got the plea deal hammered out.

    30 days suspended sentence for discharging a firearm within 100 feet of an occupied building and a $15000 fine in the form of a donation to the Gabby Giffords Gun Grab Society.

  18. Rebel Scum

    MAGAt makes terroristic threats.

    House Republicans have the ATF in our crosshairs.

    The continued existence of the ATF is increasingly unwarranted based on their repeated actions to convert law-abiding citizens into felons.

    My bill today would abolish the ATF once and for all.

    I want to like this guy. Unfortunately this bill is going nowhere.

    • Lackadaisical

      ‘I want to like this guy. Unfortunately this bill is going nowhere.’

      Same. But if we don’t support the people who actually do the stuff we want, who will?

    • Hyperion

      Get rid of an alphabet government agency forever? You’re a funny guy, Matt.

    • juris imprudent

      Here’s a compromise – keep the ATF funded, until all the current ones retire with no new hires – and in the meantime, strike all the gun laws they enforce.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Then they’d just concentrate on Alcohol and Tobacco.

        The Bureau of Alcohol and Tabacco just regulated away allowing handles on large bottles. These so called assault bottles only belong in the hands of the military and police.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      The Overton window generally shifts towards gun control, with each incremental compromise further advancing it. It’d be great to see more of these attempts to push the window back.

      I’ve said it before, but concealed carry has done enormous harm to gun rights in America. It’s preferable tactically, but now there is a huge proportion of the American population that has never even seen a gun in real life and are terrified by the concept of gun ownership. Huge push towards gun control on the window. Things like taking new people to the range are steps in the right direction, but it’s trying to take back ground already ceded.

      Case in point, we went from having students having rifles openly shown on racks of the back of pickup trucks in school parking lots during hunting season to now students being suspended for chewing their pop-tarts into the shapes of guns.

      • R C Dean

        Not sure I agree. At the state level, gun control has been receding overall, I think. With the exception of the proggy hellholes, of course.

        The feds, of course, are useless and evil, insulated as they are from the general populace.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Gun control has been receding in some states recently, but that’s relative. It’s still a hard push towards gun control over time.

        Take North Carolina. I think many would say NC falls on the more pro-firearm ownership side of any dividing line. The state still requires you to receive permission from the local police chief or sheriff before purchasing a handgun. Contrast that with ordering a firearm out of the Sears catalogue. The “wins” are minor victories compared to the freedom Americans used to have.

        It was just a couple years ago that shelves were wiped clean at pretty much every gun store across the country out of fear about incoming gun control restrictions.

      • R C Dean

        How old is that NC law?

        I believe that, outside of proggie hellholes and the feds, the more recent trend (not going back decades to gun racks in high school parking lots and guns by mail) has been more favorable to gun rights. Those fears of new gun restrictions didn’t come true, and the fact that so many people reacted to the possibility the way they did seems inconsistent with the Overton Window moving against gun ownership.

        C’mon, man. I need something to feel optimistic about.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        I’m not sure on the NC law.

        I completely agree that the recent trend has been favorable. I’m saying though that this is a small picture. It’s a dial back of 5 when the needle has already been pushed 90.

        It goes back to being a piece of the culture wars. Something I’ve been slowly awakening about. It just doesn’t come natural to those of us who just want to be left alone. Gun rights advocates made a major blunder over the past hundred years by not focusing on keeping firearms out in the open and a part of mainstream life.

      • Nephilium

        Ohio just recently went from legal open carry (which I wasn’t aware of) with permit required for concealed carry to Constitutional carry. State wide, with language that prevents cities from putting more restrictive rules in place.

        I believe that counts as a win (and the tears from the big cities that they were being restricted from exercising their freedom to put more restrictions in place was entertaining).

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        That absolutely is a win.

        Virginia enjoyed pre-emption too for many years. The Dems rescinded it when they took back power here. I hope you’re able to keep it in Ohio. The tears were great. Our state 2nd A group racked up win after win going after cities each time they tried.

      • Nephilium

        No city has tried under the new rules, I can see cities trying, but getting smacked down pretty quickly. Interestingly enough, there are still people doing CCW classes, and you can still get a permit if you would like (I would guess for reciprocity).

  19. The Late P Brooks

    That MLK sculpture looks like her dog shit on the drawing board, and when she saw it, she said, “Good enough!”

    • R.J.

      At some point, we all have to get on the zoom and riff on that statue. I just can’t believe it. Did nobody at any point ask this guy for pictures of what he was going to sculpt, or maybe a little version kinda like Stonehenge on Spinal Tap? When this utter crap was being towed through the city and mounted, did no donors speak up? Were all the donors blind?

      • rhywun

        I wonder if we were the donors.

      • Animal

        I donated a better looking sculpture to our septic tank only this morning.

      • R.J.

        Good point. “ All private donors” could mean “One crazy sculptor.”

  20. Bobarian LMD

    Getting pegged by someone from Jezebel is something the old gypsy woman warned me about.

  21. Stinky Wizzleteats

    I always picture the NHL fanbase in my head as basically the guys from the old SNL Bears superfans skit. Not a very woke bunch those guys.

    • Michael Malaise

      My wife is quite the hockey fan. She has a gay best friend (who came out to her first) and is very accepting. Likely, she would tell the Flyers and the NHL to stuff it and just play.

  22. juris imprudent

    Of course the Bee has the debt ceiling nailed.

    Republicans have sparked showdowns over the theft ceiling in the past, often demanding mild spending cuts so that Americans’ stolen wealth will be used more responsibly. Economic experts say this is because they’re evil and want people to die.

    • The Other Kevin

      Also from the Bee: Wife Spends First 30 Minutes Of New Show Googling Where She Knows The Actors From

      Crap. I do that.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        It’s ok, we know you’re just looking for nekkid pictures of the actresses. You’ve still got your man card.

      • Ownbestenemy

        ^^^ This guy gets it

      • Ownbestenemy

        Wait…they interviewed my wife?

      • Nephilium

        The girlfriend does that constantly. I do cheat when watching something on Amazon, using their X-Ray feature to see cast names.

      • R C Dean

        The alternative, apparently is, “Wasn’t she in that show? You know, with that guy?”

      • Bobarian LMD

        “Sure,” I respond, “That dude from the thing.”

      • Nephilium

        Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, or Keith David?

        It’s probably Keith David…

      • Bobarian LMD

        *Snaps fingers* Jan Michael Vincent!

      • KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

        I don’t Google usually – I spend the entirety of the movie tryna think of where I saw that guy. Then I remember nothing of what I just watched.

      • Gender Traitor

        IMDb is my little friend.

      • Michael Malaise

        Prime Video does that for you while you’re watching the show. (X-ray feature)

  23. Rebel Scum

    Good.

    No more proxy voting. Effective immediately, Members of Congress have to show up to work if they want their vote to count.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I would also like to see them required to be present (not in their office) once in session for the day. CSPAN cameras of all angles and no pee breaks allowed until recess.

      • Brochettaward

        You can’t expect congress people to have more discipline than kindergartners.

    • Lackadaisical

      I saw that. Makes sense. IF it is important enough to affect 350 million people, you can bother to show up.

      • Compelled Speechless

        What if their backroom deal negotiations run long? How are they supposed to know what to legislate before they’re done negotiating with corporations and special interest groups in private smoke-filled rooms? It’s not like you can have those talks done transparently and out in the open. It’s like you want democracy to die.

      • Lackadaisical

        ‘It’s like you want democracy to die.’

        You’re not entirely wrong. 😛

    • Count Potato

      With few exceptions, they should do that for regular citizens.

    • creech

      Yet another “assault on our democracy.”

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Former Army Captain Allejandro Villaneuva?

    Yes. That’s the guy.

  25. rhywun

    The sculpture was installed near where King led 22,000 people at a 1965 Freedom Rally – on land that was once part of a black neighborhood, now gone, that had been one of the oldest in the country.

    Maybe I’m reading this wrong, but I’d swear Boston Common was never a “black neighborhood”.

    • Rebel Scum

      I think only the pavement is black.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Look, Roxbury is adjacent so sit down and shut up

      • DEG

        That depends on how you define “adjacent”. You have to go through the South End to get from Roxbury to Boston Common.

  26. DEG

    Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) suggests a person should consume no more than two drinks a week.

    They can fuck off. I think I will head out for Happy Hour tonight.

    Today I learned there is an organization devoted to Tenth Amendment issues.

    I think the Tenth Amendment Center has shown up at FreedomFest.

    There is a similar bill in NH.

    • Lackadaisical

      ‘Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) suggests a person should consume no more than two drinks a week.

      They can fuck off. I think I will head out for Happy Hour tonight.’

      They’re just trying to pump up MAIDS’s stats.

      • creech

        Been to a Habs game – it was more like two drinks per period.

      • slumbrew

        Those are rookie numbers.

  27. Rebel Scum

    A story to sink your teeth into.

    A 12-year-old boy from Massachusetts caught a great white shark while on a fishing charter in Florida.

    Campbell Keenan spent 45 minutes fighting to reel in the fish before it was close enough for him to see what kind it was.

    “We realized it was a shark when it was like 20 feet away, probably, and we had to get it in. We put this, like, buoy on it to make it not go under,” Campbell told ABC News in an interview.

    When it was close enough, the captain said it was a great white shark and everyone on the boat was “ecstatic,” Campbell said.

    I wouldn’t Mako that big of a deal about it.

    • WTF

      It was only a pretty good white shark?

    • The Other Kevin

      They didn’t really need to hammer that into our heads.

    • R C Dean

      He’s probably basking in the praise.

    • Animal

      There’s somefin fishy about this.

    • juris imprudent

      Really nursing the puns out of this one.

    • Spudalicious

      That’s a bunch of bull.

    • creech

      Why was Mark Cuban swimming in the ocean in Florida?

    • Frosty

      They’re gonna need a bigger boat

    • Michael Malaise

      Plenty of amity on that boat that day.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Surprise

    Consumer spending slowed and household finances weakened across all income levels last month. But households earning $100,000 a year or more reported shaving more off their spending than less well-off households did, according to a report released this week by Morning Consult, a decision intelligence company.

    The report also found that real monthly spending among U.S. adults fell by 4.3% from November to December. Even so, 21.3% of U.S. adults said their monthly expenses exceeded their monthly income in December, up from 19.2% in November.

    On average, households earning $100,000 a year or more said they spent about 10% less in real terms in December than they did the previous month. Households earning $50,000 to $99,999 and those earning less than $50,000 a year, meanwhile, reported that they cut their monthly spending bills by no more than 5% on average.

    Perhaps that is why it is referred to as “discretionary” spending.

  29. rhywun

    PROVOROV JERSEY SELLS OUT

    *belly-laugh emoji*

    • creech

      Well, unfortunately, so was someone else’s jersey back in the day (according to internet search):
      “Colin Kaepernick’s decision to protest the United States national anthem during the preseason has reportedly caused a surge in jersey sales, making him the league’s top seller.”

      • rhywun

        Can’t win ’em all.

  30. rhywun

    Meta will rely on “human reviewers” who will be tasked with “quickly assess[ing] both a user’s sex, as this policy applies to ‘female nipples,’ and their gender identity,” the board said.

    We really have gone through the looking glass.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I imagine this is going on in cubicles across Silicon Valley…mildly NSFW language

      • slumbrew

        My first thought was “not hot dog”.

    • R C Dean

      Now I’m confused. I thought the whole point of MTF transing was to present as a biological female. How are they going to quickly assess the gender identity of a trans person who is successful at it?

      • rhywun

        There is an easy solution to this. Ban all nipples. Why the hell does everyone want to go around topless anyway?

        *yells at cloud*

      • Hyperion

        No one needs more than one nipple. Prove me wrong.

      • Count Potato

        If they include non-binary then how a person presents is irrelevant. There are plenty of female feminine people who call themselves non-binary.

    • Sensei

      On the next “Mike Rowe Dirty Jobs”…

      • Bobarian LMD

        The day Mike quit.

    • Michael Malaise

      I thought gender was just a construct?

  31. The Late P Brooks

    One theory on the spending cutbacks: Higher earners typically have more discretionary income, and likely have decided to exercise more fiscal caution after seven interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve last year. (On Wednesday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told The Wall Street Journal in a live-streamed interview that the Federal Reserve should not “stall” on raising its benchmark rates until they are above 5%.)

    When saving is no longer punished…

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      Wake me when the prevailing interest rates exceed the rate of inflation.

      • R C Dean

        Never happen. Shouldn’t, really. Interest needs to cover (a) inflation plus (b) risk of default and still leave a few basis points of (c) profit.

  32. Rebel Scum

    You have to increase your cost of living to be a good boy/girl/xer for Gaia, pleb citizen.

    “I think that to be a good chief executive today and to lead your company properly, you need to take into account the risks that exist of not acting, the supply chain disruptions that will occur, the loss of market share, America not being a good — being deemed not to be acting responsibly and therefore, maybe even paying an extra price to sell its goods in certain countries. There’s a growing movement now to have adjustments in the — border tax adjustments for places that choose not to clean up their act so that they’re selling goods that are made from a dirty process while other people are having more expensive goods because they’re actually investing money in the effort to be good citizens.”

    • Hyperion

      It’s difficult to fit that much bullshit into one paragraph.

      • Sensei

        Cover it with Heinz’s ketchup. It will be easier to swallow.

  33. Rebel Scum

    Speaking of untenable starting positions for negotiation…

    “That’s a conversation that we should have around budget time when we talk about what’s on the table and what isn’t and there will be a good time to have that talk. I think one thing we can talk about right now, though, because we’ve seen these ideas come from the House Republicans, is simply raising the revenue that is owed to us. So, the first bill that House Republicans said they wanted to pass was gutting spending slated for the IRS that came through the Inflation Reduction Act. Now, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office scored that proposal as adding 115 billion to the deficit. So, the first thing that these supposed fiscal hawks want to do is come in and increase the budget deficit by over $100 billion by letting wealthy tax cheats get away with evading their taxes. Again, this is exactly the opposite of what this president wants to do and it flies in the face of tax fairness. That’s the right place to start, make sure people are paying, especially those in the top 1%, paying what they owe. When it comes to negotiating spending, I’m not going to do that right here with you right now –.

    • creech

      Has CBO ever been right? How about legislation that reduces the paychecks of every CBO employee by $10 for every $1,000 shortfall from their predictions? I’ll bet there would be lots of pencil sharpening going on at CBO desks.

      • Spudalicious

        The CBO is limited by what they’re given to score. They can’t consider outside information. Garbage in, garbage out.

      • Rat on a train

        Congress: CBO, assuming our fantasies are true what would the effects be?

      • Sensei

        Not to defend CBO, but they take the inputs that Congress gives them and do the math.

        CEO – we expect a $100m in sales and a gross profit margin of 50%. Finance, what is our expected gross profit?

        Finance – $50m.

        CEO – We sold $60m this year, why weren’t our gross profits $50m?

  34. R C Dean

    “There’s a growing movement now to have adjustments in the — border tax adjustments for places that choose not to clean up their act so that they’re selling goods that are made from a dirty process”

    It will be a very long time indeed before American and Western European products catch a “tax adjustment” on that basis. Just another proggie proposal to keep the po folk po.

  35. Hyperion

    So, have we learned the fate of Jacinda Lou? Is she going to be the new Emperor of Sheep?

    • Michael Malaise

      Klaus is letting her kick field goals for the Atoms.

      • Hyperion

        Maybe it’s just me, but she has that look like she’s about as bright as Kamala.

      • Shpip

        +1 Oyage!

  36. Creosote Achilles

    Scruffy Nerfherder, from the previous post, is there someplace I can send you a link to pictures of the slab?

    thanks,

      • PutridMeat

        Sounds like you are a concrete guy? When I do my kitchen, I’m planning on doing concrete counter tops. I’ve done several test pieces for various vanities using the ZForm/Concreate countertop solutions stuff with standard big-box store counter-top mix. They’ve turned out pretty well, but I’ve been thinking about using something like their ‘concrete’ mix when I do the big job. Expert opinion – if you are one – appreciated!

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        I rent, sell, service construction equipment, mostly for concrete, and I know the polishing/coatings business very well.

        I’d try to find a local independent concrete supply house that handles specially concrete mixes. They should be able to provide you with advice and tools. Find the guys who sell to the contractors.

        Concrete is a sponge. In other words, don’t use it for a food preparation countertop unless you’re going to put a conformal coating on it like a polyurethane or polyurea. Epoxy works, but it needs to be topcoated to preserve it.

        Additionally, concrete reacts with acids. Another reason for the coating when food is around. It’s why I don’t recommend polished concrete for kitchens or bathrooms.

        Normally I would be at the World of Concrete this week, but I obligated myself to another event in February and can’t do both this year. I like concrete.

      • PutridMeat

        Cool, thanks. I used 3 coats of this stuff. Sounds like for a kitchen counter top I should go with a more traditional epoxy. Or spring for granite. I like concrete because I can do it myself; I ain’t cutting granite in my garage and carrying it around! And polished/finished, it looks good.

      • Tundra

        Granite is just so pretty and durable. I know it’s boring and bourgeoisie, but I still dig it.

      • Shpip

        When it comes to countertops, granite is the schist!

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        That’s a good product for the application. Impermeable to vapor transmission is a requirement in the kitchen. Otherwise your countertop will grow bacteria.

      • Mojeaux

        It’s why I don’t recommend polished concrete for kitchens or bathrooms.

        I coulda used that info for one of my books. Harrumph. I didn’t specify that the counters were sealed appropriately, but hopefully the reader won’t think about it.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        Don’t worry. I have arguments with contractors, architects and building owners about it all the time. Nobody listens until the installation fails a year later and then they come back and want a cheap fix.

        That’s when I get to make more money than I would have had they taken my advice the first time.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        Concrete’s a funny business. You get everything from the illiterate who’s been pouring driveways and sidewalks his entire life to post-grads running large corporations who love the technical end of the business and specialize in high difficulty pours with stringent parameters.

        It’s never boring, except when it’s cold and raining and there’s no work.

      • R.J.

        I would totally read an article on specialized concrete applications.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        I’ll put something together after I finish my books for 2022.

      • Brochettaward

        If you play your cards right, maybe I’ll First on that one for you.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        As long as you clean up

      • Creosote Achilles

        thank you. Message sent.

  37. Brochettaward

    As I said yesterday – you won’t see the NFL or NBA engage in the gay pride virtue signaling, and the media will never ask why they aren’t doing it because they know why. It aint that the NFL doesn’t want to be on the “right side of history.”

    • Compelled Speechless

      I saw NYT posted almost the same story. I call bullshit. They know exactly who did it. The pool of possible suspects is tiny. If they can go to the ends of the earth to hunt down everyone who was even in eyeshot of the capital on 1/6, they can spends some investigative resources on figuring out who the biggest leaker in the history of the Supreme Court is. The answer is of course, that it was leaked on purpose and presumably with the help of very powerful people in Congress and the corporate media. Zero heads will roll.

      • R.J.

        Dear Sugar Free:
        Please make an episode where Hunter finds the Supreme Court brief in the Corvette’s glove box while hunting for old crack rocks.

      • R.J.

        With racing stripes!

      • Gustave Lytton

        Chicago Black Sox option. I like it.

      • R C Dean

        I said on day one that the Court should tell all the clerks that they would fire them all if the guilty party didn’t come forward, on account of they would be fired if they didn’t, so why not?

        And then, if nobody confessed, fire them all.

    • Penguin

      NFL.

      NBA.

    • Compelled Speechless

      Slap fighting is to contact sports as Whiteclaw is to drinking.

  38. one true athena

    for the Boston statue, I saw a photo of the tabletop version/sample the artist made. It looked ok – wouldn’t be my favorite thing, but I’ve seen a lot worse. But blowing it up 20x makes it look inhuman and grotesque. Both cuz it lacks surface detail so it’s weirdly slick looking, and it’s so big, there’s only one angle that looks human. So altogether it looks sort of creepy dick alien thing with human hands.

    • Brochettaward

      That is similar to how I have heard the appendages of Firster’s described; only, a Firster’s penis is hauntingly beautiful.

      • Raven Nation

        Dude, seriously?

      • R.J.

        I already said I am not touching your pee pee.

      • Brochettaward

        RJ.

        I like you.

        You may end up being one of my mid-tier slaves in the First Realm when I need a change of pace from Firsthalla.

      • Tundra

        Amazing.

  39. Aloysious

    Nipples?!? Large, rubbery nipples?

    You have my complete attention.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      Okay Stimpy

    • R.J.

      Pretty sure it was OMWC’s nipples.

      • PutridMeat
      • Spudalicious

        In other words, it met Glibs standards.

    • juris imprudent

      Day after the anniversary of Glenn Frey’s death.

    • Rebel Scum

      Byrds aren’t real.

    • rhywun

      I actually thought he died a couple decades ago. 🤷🏻‍♂️

  40. Q Continuum

    “U.S. hits its debt limit and now risks defaulting on its bills”

    Blah, blah, blah. It’s all so tedious.

    With our newly sworn-in House of election-denying, Deploranazi, domestic terrorist Rethuglikkkanz we might only increase spending by 500 billion instead of 525 billion.

    • Hyperion

      Billions is so yesterday. We need trillions to run this country! The only reason we need to talk billions is the number of new IRS agents we really need and the number of deplorables to stuff on them boxcars.

  41. Q Continuum

    “women’s breasts have been sexualized[…]breasts are not sex objects”

    Wrong.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-015-0516-2

    “Women’s breast morphology is thought to have evolved via sexual selection as a signal of maturity, health, and fecundity”

    Then again, this is coming from the extra-chromosome wing of the party that insists men can get pregnant…

    • rhywun

      The New Soviet Man Woman is just around the corner, comrade.

  42. The Late P Brooks

    Granite is just so pretty and durable. I know it’s boring and bourgeoisie, but I still dig it.

    My parents had granite in their last house. I hated it.

    Hated hated hated.

    It’s so fucking noisy when you put anything down on it. I always had to lay a dish towel on the counter because I couldn’t stand the clanking from dishes and silverware. It’s really unforgiving, too. My mom said she had never broken so many glasses in her life as in that kitchen. Tip one over, and it’s done.

    • R C Dean

      Yeah, but the bubble wrap countertops are so hard to clean.

  43. Gustave Lytton

    Oh goody. I thought the anti drinking commercials airing here were from some advocacy group. Nope. It’s the state health department. Fuckers.

    • rhywun

      I miss good old-fashioned commerce.

      Every fucking commercial these days is either some government PSA, some Medicare outfit, or from Shriners. And the rest are all woked up with green or social justice crap.

      • R.J.

        Mmmm… Old fashioned. I just whipped up some simple syrup to speed the making of old fashioneds. I just worked from 6:60 AM util 6:30 PM, with a short break to do dishes. This day rocks.

  44. Gustave Lytton

    ji- apologies for not responding sooner. Still seeing two separate issues without a smoking gun link. Maybe there is one, but it’s not there yet. Innuendo, smears, and just so stories do not add up to proof, anymore than the Russia hoax or elections.

  45. Brochettaward

    These Firsts are making me thirsty.

    For more Firsts.

    • R.J.

      I only have old-fashioneds and vodka martinis. Prepping for movie night. The “n” key is broken on my laptop. Should be interesting.

  46. Gustave Lytton

    My prediction: Baldwin walks and the armor is found guilty (but should probably be the lesser included charge of criminal negligence).

    • cyto

      This confuses me. Confession, did not read the new articles.

      But wasn’t the armorer not present at the time?

      If so, how do you get to any charges at all? Using a weapon on set without the armorer has to be the issue, not what ammo they did or did not have on set or have used in the weapon, right?

      Or did I miss something really important by pulling an internet and skipping the article?

      • R.J.

        I think damn near everything up to this point is hearsay of some type. The trial will solidify a lot of these facts.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Yeah, hearsay. My recollection of the news stories is there was commingling of ammo and general poor practices. That’s why I think criminal negligence is perhaps more appropriate.

        It’s possible for involuntary manslaughter to be charged against the non-causing party (such as an accomplice) so being present isn’t necessarily required.

      • cyto

        Based on the hypothetical that the armorer had used ammo and put some in the wrong box, people went behind her back while she was gone, took the gun to practice blocking the shot without her knowledge and killed someone, I would personally probably 100% acquit.

        “But someone might do something they are not allowed to do” makes the bar pretty high in my mind, unless there is some other big piece missing. Like, we were shooting with live ammo and I handed the gun to Baldwin still loaded and said go ahead and work on blocking your shot while we are at lunch…

  47. cyto

    How far does the propaganda state go?

    Antifa had declared an “autonomous zone” in a park south of Atlanta. Members organized on Twitter and threatened violence. The Georgia state patrol went in to clear the park. A dude with “they” pronouns shot a cop and was killed by police.

    Seven were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism.

    https://thepostmillennial.com/andy-ngo-reports-four-charged-with-domestic-terrorism-following-deadly-shooting-at-atlanta-autonomous-zone

    This isn’t in mainstream news at this point.

    With all of the tens of millions our federal government spends across multiple federal agencies to monitor supposed terrorism by Americans on social media, they were all operating on identifiable accounts on social media platforms where they still call for retaliatory murders of police today.

    No FBI were apparently present, even though this is a multistate organization and none of the terrorists involved are from in-state.

    • rhywun

      How does “they/it” even work.

      • Rebel Scum

        Grammar is white-supremacy, you bigot.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      I think you answered your own question.

    • Sean

      I would have accepted 8 dead Antifa also.

    • Michael Malaise

      “This isn’t in mainstream news at this point.”

      Shocker. If it were Oath Keepers, it would be 24/7 War on America/Democracy.

      • cyto

        That takes some doing.

        Remember, we are spending $35 million each year with the FBI to monitor Facebook and Twitter for domestic terrorists.

        Andy Ngo details tweets about their violent intent.

        They didn’t even get a “limit their reach” strike from Facebook, from what we can tell.

        Yet the press knows not to rush to the front page with a story of a political protester shooting the police.

        After reading Taibbi and friends about how this works, explain to me again how we do not live in a Soviet style totalitarian state?

        Police were shot. Protester shot. They declared an “autonomous zone” and publicly said they would defend it and called in people from across the country… clearly a national terror organization.

        No rush to air on CNN with a standup?

        Wanna bet that an Atlanta city cop shooting an armed robber gets more CNN attention?? (CNN is in Atlanta, so I pick on them specifically)

        Wanna bet what CNN would do if a pro Trump rally refused to leave the public park in downtown Atlanta and police arrested one guy for loitering?

      • cyto

        I had no idea that Antifa had declared an autonomous zone in Atlanta. None.

        Think there is any chance of that if either the administration was the GOP or if the group was Proud boys or similar?

        Also… let us all observe the press with Merrick Garland next time he speaks. Will anyone ask how the FBI failed to even request a tweet get taken down?