435 Comments

  1. SDF-7

    Morning Banjos.

    Re: DC, immigration and smuggling… that’s just some kind of yolk right there.

    Re: “Weaponization Committee” — while I’m happy to see the House start to actually try to rein in the Executive branch… too slim a majority, and no Senate support leave me at “And nothing else happened.” I hope I’m pleasantly surprised… but sure not expecting it.

    • juris imprudent

      Your expectations may be slightly too high. I expect it to continue to deteriorate as the committee fluffs about partisanship while ignoring the lack of accountability.

      • SDF-7

        Look, you’re really not helping me resist being fully black pilled, man. 😉

      • juris imprudent

        Just calling a Republican a Republican.

      • Homple

        Partisanship? Heaven forfend!

    • rhywun

      Nothing will happen now, but unburying lots of info that the Dems have been hiding for two years is worthwhile.

      • Drake

        It will just reinforce the fact that we are no longer a republic, a democracy, or any kind of country where the governed have any consent.

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

        This. A process has to start somewhere, and after the right as left a lot of things on the table, such as the media and the academy, for the D’s to have complete control over, it is going to be a long trip back to normalcy.

      • WTF

        it is going to be a long trip back to normalcy

        Never gonna happen, we are way past the point of no return.

      • juris imprudent

        Now that’s a black pill!

      • rhywun

        And a spicy meatball!

      • Banjos

        And here’s my white pill on that, ultimately you do need the consent of the governed. They need to be trusted, they need to be believed. When over half the country does not believe the government, when they don’t believe the media, they ultimately lose power. The worst times in our country is when the people go along with the tyranny like during post 911 when everyone had a warboner and during the COVID lockdowns. The government and the media destroyed all trust in the name of getting Trump and there is no going back.

      • Jerms

        There are young athletes dropping dead every other day. Excess mortality is up 10-20% in highly vaxxed countries. Birthrates in the same places are crashing. The media aside from substack writers is completely ignoring everything and these people responsible for this genocide arent even close to getting in trouble. They wont get as much as a reprimand.
        These vaccines fuck up girls menstrual cycles and destroy mens sperm counts—and there are still commercials on TV pushing this stuff on little kids. Yeah less people are taking them because they see they dont work but we as a country have been completely shit on by our government and nothing is close to being done. Weaponization committee? Please.

      • Urthona

        Skeptical eyebrow raise.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        They need to be trusted, they need to be believed. When over half the country does not believe the government, when they don’t believe the media, they ultimately lose power.

        I’m usually with you Banjos, but not here. The Soviet Union’s tyranny spanned decades without having the trust of their citizens. The Soviet Union, like all empires, did ultimately fall in the end, but it wasn’t quick.

      • Mojeaux

        I’m of two minds. One, I agree with Banjos, but only because Russians are dour, fatalistic bastards who have always bent to tyranny because they’re culturally a tragic people. But on the other hand, we aren’t exactly eager to water the tree of liberty. We’re too comfortable.

      • Banjos

        We are too well armed, too big, and have too many rednecks for the country to go full Soviet. The worst (best) that will happen is a split.

      • juris imprudent

        And have a choice? That wouldn’t be the worst. The worst is we become some reactionary state, as willing to throw away our civil liberties for the right’s version of The Common Good instead of the left’s version.

      • Banjos

        What civil liberties does the modern right wish us to throw away? I know the left at this point does not believe in any form of civil liberties, but I’m not sure what is so scary about the right.

      • Count Potato

        “but I’m not sure what is so scary about the right”

        Look at the Middle East.

      • Banjos

        It’s 2023.

      • Tundra

        Russia lost a shit-ton of able bodied young men immediately preceding the Bolsheviks. Kind of an important factor.

        Comparisons are interesting but ultimately not terribly useful. Killing a lot of our young men, giving up our means of defense and going quietly are three things we are unlikely to pursue.

      • juris imprudent

        but I’m not sure what is so scary about the right.

        A different form of enforced civic virtue. Nudges into religion and when that fails, make it compulsory. Given the ranting about birthrates – I could see new restrictions on birth control (and not just abortion).

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        @Tundra, are Americans unlikely to go quietly and give up their firearms? I don’t think so. I did prior to Covid, but the widespread acceptance of lockdowns has shaken that. Firearms and young men aside, Solzhenitsyn noted that it’s too late once you’ve let Organs into your home and placed in cuffs, that the time to resist is before then. There has to be psychological willingness to engage.

        That takes a disposition to violence that most people, including Americans, have culturally trained out of them. If a gov agency starts going door to door rounding up firearms, how many Americans will start the blood shedding when that knock on the door sounds? I just don’t see that happening on a large scale. Reacting with lethal force, including making the first strike before your hands are in cuffs and face against the wall, just isn’t in your average good citizen, law-abiding gun owner.

      • Tundra

        @SSD

        It cuts both ways. Yes, we saw a compliance during Covid that was disappointing. But exactly how many people would it take to scare the cops shitless? Not too many as we saw during the riots.

        The numbers just work out that way. This country is too damn big, both geographically and population-wise to repeat the horrors of past slaughters. Layer in the internet and it gets even harder.

        I hope we are able to figure out some way to live together. I know a dude from Bosnia and one from Lebanon. No matter how badass we think we are, we don’t want a civil war.

      • Banjos

        There are far too many gun owners and far too few capable and willing government employees for them to logistically be able to go door to door. Throw in some state, local governments, and sheriffs refusing in addition to a few Ruby Ridges and it will completely blow up on them.

        The big reason why so many have lost their trust of the government and the media was the COVID lockdowns and the vaccines. Hell, they started to try to hint at forced masking again and the backlash was quick and immediate and they quickly gave up. They shot their wad.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        I think this is a large part of what Antifa and BLM have been doing in cities across America. It’s psychological training for their groups to become comfortable with committing violence on a large scale.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        I hope you are both right.

      • slumbrew

        Sorry for the thread-jack, but speaking of guns:

        @SSD, did you resolve the issue with the large predator going after your livestock?

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Not resolved but no more attacks.

        A neighbor just across the street saw a bear on his camera a few days after the attack. So I’m thinking that was likely the culprit. And the bear probably didn’t last long after that with all of the hunters around.

        But I did get a night scope for my rifle. A Wraith HD. And I found the perfect place to sit in and watch the field with a solid backstop. So I’ll be ready and prepared for the next one.

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

        Fuck being black pilled. Fuck it in the ear.

        Black pilled means you accept this BS, that you have bent your knee to the beast. That you believe in the death, the fear. That you have given up. Fuck that.

        Of course there is no going back, that is the nature of time. But there is going forward, and when you take the black pill you are, in effect, saying OK to all this, and allowing for no say in that forward motion. That, more than anything, is what the beast wants. Your fear of the future.

        Fuck that.

      • Tundra

        Yes!

        Well said, Zwak!

  2. Scruffyy Nerfherder

    To work, manufactures would first have to embed a wireless RFID (Radio Frequency Identity) chip into a power tool product. The chip is already pre-loaded with the items serial number. It is also embedded in the box’s barcode.

    The product is set to inoperable up until the moment the customer pays for it. An RFID scanner at the register would then read the chip and activate the tool for use.

    Something tells me this won’t help in the beauty products aisle.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’m sorry, but that system is guaranteed to fail and lock out paying customers from their products.

      I know that’s a feature for the retailer, but it’ll just make me boycott them.

    • SDF-7

      I would tend to agree at first blush.

      • juris imprudent

        Not a solid foundation, that’s for sure.

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s not really happening, it’s just a rouge.

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

        They are just trying to give powder to the people.

      • Tonio

        You lads have laid a solid foundation for your arguments.

      • Not Adahn

        Swiss’s gaze is going to be as thin as a pancake.

      • Shirley Knott

        What a bunch of crepe.

      • juris imprudent

        We will all be lashed under that narrowed gaze.

      • juris imprudent

        It’s subtle but I see some shadow there.

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

        Based.

    • Michael Malaise

      Enjoy the National Power Tool Registry

      • slumbrew

        The potential for state abuse with that system is just through the roof.

      • Tonio

        Nailed it.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        Let’s face it, the entire system is screwed.

      • UnCivilServant

        We already know the drill by now.

      • R.J.

        Any way you cut it, that’s a bad decision.

      • juris imprudent

        People don’t see a common sense measure, twice even?

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

      Gangs can threaten cashiers, co-opt cashiers, and get the products that way. But, it is a step in the right direction.

      Although I hate Lowes.

    • Bob Boberson

      Or grocery stores. There one I frequent that I see people regularly fill their pockets and leave without paying. The employees are powerless to stop it.

      The savages have been inside the gates for a while now.

      • Michael Malaise

        You need people getting shot to stop it, really.

        I don’t advocate violence, but that’s the only true way to stop this type of cartel theft.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      I think the reality is that it will take about three months for the system to be hacked.

      It may deter individual thieves, but it will in no way keep organized gangs from stealing.

  3. Certified Public Asshat

    After Cancellations, Kyle Rittenhouse Finally Has His Say at Rare Public Appearance

    This guy is everywhere, I find it hard to believe we haven’t heard from him and that he is mostly private.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’ve only seen him on [Central Minnesota Lawyer whose name I failed to remember how to spell]’s internet show.

    • Michael Malaise

      I just wish he would’ve disappeared.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Wait what

      • slumbrew

        I don’t think he would have been allowed to.

        ISTR he was hounded out of ASU by the other students.

        If the choice is become a darling of the right or retreat from society, I don’t blame him for choosing the former.

  4. WTF

    Connecticut egg farm fire kills 100,000 chickens, officials say

    I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, nothing nefarious at all.

    • Drake

      It’s Just My Imagination.

      • SDF-7

        Now you’re just having Ridiculous Thoughts that will lead to Disappointment.

        But No Need to Argue, even though the commentariat escaped from Reason, no one made a Liar out of Them.

        Now here comes Swiss with a gaze that will Linger.

    • Michael Malaise

      Salvation Army brought food to a chicken roast?

  5. SDF-7

    “Lowe’s pioneers system to solve organized retail crime” — hmm… I’m all for retailers not having to lock up every single item to stop thieves (though internal shrinkage seems like it would still happen here)… but smart chips in everything that have to be “activated”? Yeah… getting flashes of John Deere, “smart guns” and perpetual service contracts in our future there, Lowes… so no, thanks. Try again later.

    • waffles

      I feel like any organized crime worth their salt will easily be able to procure a hacking tool for these chips.

      • SDF-7

        I wouldn’t be at all surprised, no.

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

      You know what would work better?

      Armed guards who shoot thieves.

      • UnCivilServant

        Thieves are terrible ammunition. Shouldn’t they shoot bullets?

      • Not Adahn

        From a trebuchet, they do make an ungodly mess for your enemy to clean up.

      • Grummun

        You know how long it will take to find someone at Lowes to load and fire the trebuchet?

        *bong* “Help needed at the thief launcher” *bong* “Help needed at the thief launcher”

      • The Last American Hero

        Poor guys at Home Depot, picking up the body parts of Lowes thieves.

      • Michael Malaise

        Two birds. One Trebuchet. Makes sense.

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

        No, you need to throw the corpses back were they came from, as a sign of what is too come.

    • Grummun

      Yes, it a system ripe for abuse by the manufacturers/retailers and that assumes the shitty RFID chips don’t just crap out and leave the owner with a paperweight. I assume the failure mode is “no worky”.

  6. The Late P Brooks

    Well, fuck. My water froze last night. Again. When it gets light I’ll point the heater at it.

    Temp currently ~ -6.

    • Fourscore

      -27 in Podunkville, coldest morning so far

      • pistoffnick

        -18 here in Duloot. We have that big lake to keep things balmy compared to Podunkville.

  7. Certified Public Asshat

    Lowes story: what are Flex tools? My quick googling says it is basically the premium version of Kobalt…so why?

    I’m on Team Home Depot

    • R.J.

      Ryobi for me.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        ^This. You are really set if have a Direct Tools Outlet nearby.

      • slumbrew

        Team Makita. More than I need, really. But I bought the one set and now if I want the batteries to fit…

      • Trigger Hippie

        ^ This

        Milwaukee makes decent power tools as well.

      • Count Potato

        Milwaukee is $$$$

        They also aren’t built like they were. Although, they are lighter now.

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

        Milwaukee here. Started when they were on sale, and kept going.

        But, they are all made in China, and I would bet at the same factory.

      • Sean

        #Hitachi

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Me too, built well enough to not be crap but not so well as to be needlessly expensive.

      • Brawndo

        Im happy with the Ryobi set I have at home, but work has Milwaukee tools that I really like

      • Michael Malaise

        Ryobi here, too.

        I mean, if the battery fits …

    • Count Potato

      Black & Decker sucks ass now.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        B&D is cheap junk, no doubt.

      • R.J.

        B&D changes their battery requirements every couple of years. Just enough that new batteries won’t fit or work with the old systems. Complete asshole move.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        That is sleazy…

    • CatchTheCarp

      I’m Team Lowes because it is right up the street and handy. I have a couple of Kobalt battery powered tools – a hedge trimmer and pole saw. Both have worked well. The bulk of my power tools are DeWalt.

    • Mojeaux

      I’m on Team Craftsman, but I don’t know why. No, I know why. I’m still running 50-year-old drills and saws, and like to pretend it’s all that good.

      • CatchTheCarp

        I have Craftsman circular saw, my first power tool, bought at Sears hardware. I bought because I had always bought Craftsman hand tools which were pretty good. I asked my carpenter buddy if the circular saw was any good – he said it wasn’t bad for a “homeowner” saw.

      • Mojeaux

        My old one, I can barely lift and can’t use with one hand because of my rotator cuff. My husband got me a replacement saw, but even I can see it’s a “homeowner” saw.

      • Mojeaux

        Yes.

        Blade is dull and in an oddball size (maybe not, but I can remember having a hard time finding them), but I can force it through a chunka wood.

      • CatchTheCarp

        At the time I thought it was top notch tool – It was a bit crushed when he me told that.

      • Count Potato

        Does Skil still make skil saws?

  8. The Late P Brooks

    Connecticut egg farm fire kills 100,000 chickens, officials say

    That’s what saved us during the Depression.

  9. Count Potato

    “To work, manufactures would first have to embed a wireless RFID (Radio Frequency Identity) chip into a power tool product. The chip is already pre-loaded with the items serial number. It is also embedded in the box’s barcode.

    The process is essentially “invisible for the customer,” she continued. “They should not even know that there’s anything extra happening.””

    Until it stops working when the extra parts break.

  10. Brawndo

    “To work, manufactures would first have to embed a wireless RFID (Radio Frequency Identity) chip into a power tool product. The chip is already pre-loaded with the items serial number. It is also embedded in the box’s barcode.

    The product is set to inoperable up until the moment the customer pays for it. An RFID scanner at the register would then read the chip and activate the tool for use.”

    I’m so jaded that I read this and think that they’ll just turn off my power tools for not eating the bugs.

    • UnCivilServant

      “You have exceeded your allowance of tool use time.”

      • Not Adahn

        Due to unexpected demand on the power grid, your battery-charging privileges have been temporarily suspended.

      • UnCivilServant

        I once built a Trebuchet. It was only big enough to throw paintballs, and I gave it away as a gift.

      • Brawndo

        Duty cycle is so last century. Allow me to introduce to you the woke duty cycle.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Use them too often for too long and you’re reported to the IRS for running an under the table construction business.

    • Lackadaisical

      Correct.

  11. SDF-7

    ‘Orning ‘ordles — Bleah for the preliminary — but can’t complain too much (ok, I screwed up one guess I should have known wouldn’t work on LR trying to eliminate some letters.. used one letter I already had in yellow in the same spot like an idiot) on the main event:

    Daily Duotrigordle #334
    Guesses: 37/37
    Time: 07:27.30
    https://duotrigordle.com/

    Daily Quordle 371
    3️⃣4️⃣
    2️⃣6️⃣
    quordle.com

    • Tundra

      Daily Quordle 371
      5️⃣4️⃣
      7️⃣6️⃣

    • Jarflax

      Daily Quordle 371
      5️⃣4️⃣
      9️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com

    • Grosspatzer

      Nicely done, SDF.

      Daily Quordle 371
      7️⃣8️⃣
      3️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com

      Meh.

    • Sean

      Daily Quordle 371
      5️⃣4️⃣
      7️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com

      Nice, SDF!

    • kinnath

      Daily Quordle 371
      6️⃣8️⃣
      4️⃣5️⃣

  12. Count Potato

    “The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that over 57 million birds have died from the illness, according to the news release.

    As of December, egg prices have increased 60% in the U.S. compared to December 2021, the Consumer Price Index determined.”

    Yet, the retail price of chicken is still about the same.

    • R C Dean

      60% sounds really low to me. I don’t know what we paid a year ago, so it’s hard to say for sure.

      • Lackadaisical

        It has more than doubled for regular eggs, somehow the free range price hasn’t changed. Maybe that gets averaged out to 60%, but sounds low to me too.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yeah, I guarantee the average price is up well over 100%.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Yes, they are different chickens.

      • Count Potato

        True, but meat chickens wouldn’t get the flu?

      • Certified Public Asshat

        It was hitting layer farms harder than broiler farms. You might see chicken prices start to climb and egg prices stabilize/drop later this year.

    • Rebel Scum

      over 57 million birds have died from the illness

      That’s not what killed them.

  13. R C Dean

    I’ve been banging on about how big sanctuary cities aren’t even close to taking their pro rata share of illegals (as far as anyone knows, since ICE won’t say where most of them actually go). I do admire the way they instinctively turned it into a grift, though, by demanding more money for doing exactly what they said they were willing and eager to do.

  14. Drake

    Gerard Van der Leun is in hospice. He has put up his final post on American Digest.

    • Drake

      Looks like a friend put up those posts – he passed on Friday.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    Price gougers will be shot

    A farmworker charged with killing seven people at two Half Moon Bay mushroom farms reportedly told investigators he was spurred to carry out the shootings after his supervisor demanded he pay $100 to repair a forklift damaged at work.

    ——-

    On Monday, Zhao vented to his supervisor about the bill, but the supervisor insisted he needed to pay. Zhao then allegedly shot the supervisor and the co-worker, the news outlets reported.

    Joe Biden approves.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      I deduct automated traffic tickets from paychecks since they get sent to the registered owner of the vehicle. Some employees don’t take it so well.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Sad. The $100 bill was probably an illegal billing too. Something seems off about the whole thing but I doubt it will go beyond evil guns, must ban harder.

  16. Count Potato

    “The Salvation Army, which was on the scene providing food to firefighters, confirmed with officials that around 100,000 chickens died in the fire.”

    They had plenty of barbecued chicken.

    • UnCivilServant

      No, man. They were feathers-on. You know how fowl that gets?

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m not down with that either UCS.

  17. Count Potato

    “Trump’s 2024 Campaign Makes Liftoff with Stops in New Hampshire and South Carolina”

    He should stop. There is no way he can win in the general election, and if he does win, he’ll be impeached.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I wonder if he’ll appear onstage with Graham again. You’re right, he should quit but he won’t-way too narcissistic for that.

      • Raven Nation

        There’s more than a little bit of William Jennings Bryan in Trump.

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

        The left pretty much ensure that he would run again, what with all the election BS. No one likes to lose in a fixed game. But, on the other side, the more and more the left plays around with this, the more people see what is going on.

  18. Count Potato

    ““The PRO Act solidifies Minnesotans’ human rights into state law and is an insurance policy that our rights won’t be taken away by politicians or judges,” said Dr. Sarah Traxler, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood North Central States.”

    You keep using that word.

    • R C Dean

      What’s funny is, the prolifers could say exactly the same thing about an abortion ban.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Ugh, any reason up until birth.
      Blood for Baal

      • robc

        Baal prefers after birth.

        This is just the setup.

      • juris imprudent

        If Baal can wait 18 years we can use them for cannon fodder!

      • UnCivilServant

        No, man, Small children go to Molech and Baal, slightly older children go to Tlaloc, adults go to Huītzilōpōchtli

    • Pope Jimbo

      The Minnesoda DFL won running on Abortion Today, Abortion Tomorrow, Abortion Forever!

      They told everyone that if they lost, the GOP would ban abortions. They have to do something to appease their voters. The problem is that about the only thing that isn’t already covered by an amendment that is in our state constitution is late term abortions. So that is the only thing you can “protect”.

      Won’t matter next election either. Abortion worked so well, I’m betting they will run on it again.

      • Fourscore

        If a woman is going to abort why would she wait ’til the 3rd trimester? I’ve heard the stories of women giving birth and claiming to not know they were pregnant but give me a break here.

        “Yeah, I’m gonna abort but I think I’ll wait a few months”

      • Pope Jimbo

        What gets me is when someone gets super upset because there isn’t a loop hole for “incest or rape” for late term abortions. Um, why would you need an extra trimester to decide on whether to abort or not in that case?

    • Rebel Scum

      rights won’t be taken away by politicians or judges

      Now do things that are actually in the Constitution.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    Nothing to cut

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tore into his Democratic rivals and Republicans who helped pass the omnibus package, saying President Biden appears to believe there is not a cent of waste in current government spending.

    On “Life, Liberty & Levin,” host Mark Levin asked McCarthy whether the Democrats’ playbook for fending off conservative Republicans’ calls for budget cuts is to add hundreds of billions of dollars in new debt, then accuse the GOP of trying to shut down the government when they advocate for clawing back some of the new spending.

    “That’s exactly the trick,” McCarthy said. “But you’ve got to think about too, who are the senators who wrote it? Two senators who are no longer here.”

    ——-

    “None of these bills went through committee. They increased [U.S. spending] trillions of dollars,” McCarthy said. “They increased the baseline by $135 billion. That means about $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. And when the Democrats have been in power for these four years, they’ve increased our spending — just in discretionary — by 30%; over $400 billion.”

    With President Biden continuing to publicly rebut the idea of substantive spending cuts – including a promise at a Virginia event Thursday to “veto everything they send” — McCarthy said it is clear the president doesn’t believe government waste exists in Washington.

    “[N]ow you’ve got a president sitting at the White House trying to tell me that he can’t negotiate, that there’s no place and no waste in government spending, and that I should just raise the debt limit, after it’s $31 trillion — 120% of GDP… We haven’t been at this position before to-debt since World War II.

    If we cut one cent of spending civilization will collapse.

    • juris imprudent

      We will cut spending! From somewhere other than Defense. /Repubs

      • R C Dean

        And entitlements.

        And the agencies.

        But other than that, you bet, we are cutting spending to the bone.

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

        Trump was absolutely right about entitlements; they are the third rail of politics. Fuck with them and you are consigned to the dust bin of history. You either need to figure out how to make more money, or forget about it.

      • UnCivilServant

        Burn them all to the ground and you make history.

      • Michael Malaise

        Really hard to do without the votes.

      • UnCivilServant

        I donno, the votes weren’t there for any of the stuff they’ve done lately.

      • juris imprudent

        What older American is going to trust the politicians to not fuck up what they are getting with SocSec? OK, maybe a few as senile as Biden, but them old people [snicker, the ranks of which I join shortly] take that shit seriously!

        We’ll do another phase in for retirement age, push it up to 70 or so. We should means-test SS, but the biggest opponents of that are progressives, who want to conserve the universal nature of SS.

      • kinnath

        Means-test SSI after I’ve spent fifty years paying into the system, and I just might go nuts.

      • juris imprudent

        Perfect! Never mind that you know that every dime you put in was immediately paid out to a beneficiary.

      • Fourscore

        SSI is sort of means tested now. If you have other income and have to file with the IRS some of the SSI is subject to tax. I pay tax on a portion of my SSI.

        Not disagreeing, I’d much rather have not paid any SSI and had that money to invest. I know all the arguments but they don’t hold libertarian water.

      • juris imprudent

        Yeah, well, all of our libertarian water isn’t a spit into the ocean.

      • kinnath

        I’ve been getting the reports from SSI that show your lifetime income and SSI payments.

        They say this is how much you will get if you retire at 66 1/2. Oh, by the way, the system is underfunded. If congress doesn’t do something, you’ll only get 2/3rds of that money.

        They’ve raised the retirement age already. I expect them to do it again.

        They’ve lower benefits by fucking with CPCI for a couple of decades now.

        Means testing is always just on the horizon.

        We’ve known the system is fucked going back to the 70s. Politicians have talked about if forever. But it hasn’t been fixed, because anyone that pisses off the old people will lose their seat ASAP.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’ve always assumed that I won’t see a dime of what I’ve paid in.

      • juris imprudent

        UCS, I always thought that too, and here I am on the cusp of it. It endures because people want to believe the myths – that they paid in, and therefore are just collecting back. The truth is it was always pay-in so current beneficiaries can get paid, and you too will be paid-out because of what current workers are putting in.

      • robc

        “We’ve known the system is fucked going back to the 70s.”

        You are off by 40 years.

        Fuck FDR and all, but at least he wanted a actuarially sound system. Congress then scrapped his idea and made things unsound. He was pissed.

        This is why government plans are such bullshit. Even with the brightest mind and the best designed idea, you aint gonna be in power forever. And some not so bright and/or power-hungry scumbag will screw it all up. And FDR was still President, it wasn’t like he was out of power. But he couldn’t stop congress from screwing up his plan.

      • juris imprudent

        And some not so bright and/or power-hungry scumbag will screw it all up.

        LBJ says you called?

      • robc

        He can leave a message, he was neither first nor last to call.

      • robc

        Okay, my response makes no sense. But you get the idea.

      • robc

        “We’ll do another phase in for retirement age, push it up to 70 or so.”

        I don’t know why the phase in they did to get it from age 65 to age 67 stopped. They were adding 2 months for every birth year. But they only did it for a bit. If it continued on, it would slowly phase out SS.

        Which, umm, is probably why they didnt do it.

        Born in 1960 is the first cohort at the age 67 retirement. If they had continued it, 1966 would be age 68, 1972 age 69, 1978 age 70, 1984 age 71, 1990 age 72, 1996 age 73, 2002 age 74, 2008 age 75, 2014 age 76, 2020 age 77.

        So kids born this year, 2023, would be 77 years and 6 months for SS retirement age.

        Calling it “retirement” age is pretty stupid for two reasons. People who save for themselves would retire early on their own money. The law now allows you to work past your retirement age and collect both paycheck and full SS, if you so choose.

      • kinnath

        The law now allows you to work past your retirement age and collect both paycheck and full SS, if you so choose.

        That is the plan.

      • robc

        My Dad retired, then unretired, when that changed.

  20. Count Potato

    “A video sequence from a panel event at the WEF! The cat is out of the bag
    Unbelievable that the CEO of Pfizer says it is his dream to reduce the
    population by 50 percent by 2023 reduction”

    https://twitter.com/UdoSchweiz/status/1615557326039126016

    Is that the CEO of Pfizer? Is that video real?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Gotta be out of context somehow…either that or he’s going to accidentally fall out of a window as the uberrich somehow tend to do.

      • WTF

        I’m just wondering what context could make that okay.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Maybe he was talking about reducing the unvaccinated population by 50% or something like that. Still not great but the editing makes me suspicious.

      • WTF

        That would actually make sense.

      • SDF-7

        There’s a response from the twits that the actual transcript reads something like “reduce the population without access to affordable medicine by 50%” or somesuch (I’m paraphrasing). Whether that was by selectively leaving out a starting clause like “You, know – when it comes to people who can not afford our medicines, in 2019 I sat down with my team in California…” or just splicing out something in the middle or whether they’re full of crap entirely, no idea.

        Have to say — it seems a little more plausible than him just straight up going “We set in motion a plan to murder 4 billion people by next year and it is going well, Ja?” and having everyone applaud… The sheer clean up issues alone if they literally bumped off half the population makes it seem unlikely that they’d want to do that that way.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Our side needs to avoid stretching the truth because the truth is more than bad enough.

      • juris imprudent

        Someone that lies like that isn’t on my side.

    • Rebel Scum

      Bill Gates said something similar in a Ted Talk awhile back in relation to some climate change bs. That got applause as well. These cuntes say they want you dead. You should believe them.

  21. Rat on a train

    Evil Sheldon, the 49ers fans are everywhere. I saw a car with Virginia plates “GOSF9RS” this morning. Don’t San Fran Fredericksburg.

    • Count Potato

      At least the Bengals lost so I don’t have to look at those uniforms.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        An improvement over their terrible uniforms from 3 years ago. My main gripe is the orange jersey is better and believe it or not, tigers are mostly orange.

      • Count Potato

        I’ve never seen a green eagle or a blue maple leaf.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        The Bengals are cosplaying as tigers.

      • Nephilium

        Orange and black is perfectly fine, it’s not as good as orange and brown though.

        The white and black uniforms the Bengals wore at least once this year were gods awful.

      • slumbrew

        Hrm… I was thinking pros but I think I have to give it to you.

      • Rat on a train

        Not ugliest, but in the WTF category
        1976 White Sox

      • Michael Malaise

        Those were cool but the guys didn’t like sliding in shorts.

      • juris imprudent

        Man those uniforms must’ve psyched the hell out of the opposing team.

      • CatchTheCarp

        Lots of teams in the NHL sporting hideous alternative uni’s this season.

    • R.J.

      You mean ex-pat Californians are everywhere.

      • Rat on a train

        I am one. I left when at least Orange County was still sane.

  22. Certified Public Asshat

    MrBeast ‘curing blindness’ video splits opinion as some claim he just wants YouTube growth

    The video titled, “1,000 Blind People See For The First Time” has over 40 million views at the time of writing, just hours after going live. Given its viral traction, we’ve already seen major discourse around it on Twitter.

    While the overwhelming reaction has been positive, some individuals have found the video to give off a rather uncanny feeling, going as so far to call the video “demonic”.

    Some Twitter users have even accused MrBeast of only producing and creating the video as a means to further his YouTube empire and profit from it. Stating that “He just makes people dance on camera for basic human needs so he can make millions. It’s weird.”

    Imagine being mad that 1,000 people can now see.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’m going to need more evidence that these people were, in fact, blind from birth and were treated in a manner that corrected that.

      And of course he’s only creating this content to further his business. It is the whole reason he creates sensationalist content.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        This was 1,000 cataract surgeries, so I guess not total blindness if that is your nitpick.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      So his primary motivator is YouTube clout and maybe $$$ although it does appear he does some tangible good? I’m fine with that.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        It seems he legitimately dumps all of his youtube earnings back into his channel/charity work. Even so, if he slices a nice portion for himself then definitely good for him.

      • Fatty Bolger

        The complainers are mad because he doesn’t flog their pet social issues along with all the charity he does. Probably because nobody really wants to hear that shit.

    • PieInTheSky

      I have hear of this MrBeast but have no idea what it is about

      • Fatty Bolger

        He’s the most popular YouTuber in existence, and he got that way by giving stuff away. The more he gave away, the more popular his videos got, which meant more sponsors giving him more money and stuff to give away, which made the videos even more popular.

        I think it’s kind of amusing because he’s basically figured out how to turn a very old idea (contests and giveaways from the 50’s) into a huge success with kids today.

    • The Last American Hero

      I think Revelations talks about the Beast using false prophets and false miracles to lead the faithful astray.

    • Fourscore

      Joe was playing “I’ve Got a Secret”

    • kinnath

      This is why I don’t to shit like this in public. Too many cameras in the world.

      • Fourscore

        Or in private. If you’re old, don’t fall down!

  23. Rebel Scum

    This cunte can go fuck himself.

    Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the prospect of peace talks with Vladimir Putin while dismissing his Russian counterpart Thursday as a “nobody.”

    Zelensky used an interview with Britain’s Sky News to declare Putin “doesn’t want negotiations because he doesn’t want peace.”

    The Ukrainian leader said he was “convinced” Ukraine was “just the first step” for Putin, who has his eye on “other countries” as he seeks Eastern European domination.

    • PieInTheSky

      Ukraine may be better off if they give up limited territory that is full of ethnic Russians. Like Moldova with Transnistria, just get rid of that shit. That being said I am unsure Putin would negotiate a peace that the Ukrainians would like.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Won’t know until tried but I suspect at this point they also want a land bridge to Transnistria and possession of Odessa as well.

    • SDF-7

      Grifter doesn’t want his grift to end… because fuck the rest of the world, why not?

  24. PieInTheSky

    At the Davos event titled “Are you ready for brain transparency?” The WEF speaker explained how brain-wave data collected by your ear pods will be used by your boss to make you “more productive” and help government authorities “fight crime” (link embedded)

    https://twitter.com/loffredojeremy/status/1619786795943710721

    • SDF-7

      I’ve seen this episode. They can fuck right off.

      (Plus I despise ear pods… really don’t get how people find them comfortable).

      • R.J.

        Agreed. My ear canal is not conducive to pods. They always fall out with a hook.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Sure, they want easily controllable human robots, at least up to the point that they murder us all.

    • slumbrew

      Even in that edited clip, that office clip is clearly being presented as a bad thing. I’d have to watch the source video but they seem to be saying we need to get ahead of this since the technology already exists

      • PieInTheSky

        As far as I saw lets see good use cases so people are not scared of the tech…

  25. Rebel Scum

    Republicans on the newly created Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government met for the first time Friday to begin mapping out their investigative pursuits.

    MAGA terrorists strike again.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Fickle

    TW: Dean Obedaillah

    DeSantis has, in fact, “changed his tune” on Covid-19.

    In March 2020, in response to the rapidly spreading pandemic, the Florida governor issued an executive order closing bars and nightclubs, and urged people to follow US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines limiting gatherings on beaches to no more than 10 people.

    But his recent remarks and pronouncements have veered sharply away from sensible, government-imposed Covid-19 protections in what appears to be a desperate bid to appeal to the GOP’s Covid-denying base voters ahead of an anticipated presidential run.

    DeSantis has come out against lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccines and other measures meant to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The supposition by many political observers is that the about-face has largely been motivated by an impending White House bid.

    I thought it was okay to change based on accumulated data. Any conceivable effectiveness of that superstitious nonsense is hugely outweighed by the damage inflicted.

    • SDF-7

      What, you think revisiting your hypothesis based on experimental outcomes has anything to do with SCIENCE! or something, you luddite kulak and wrecker?

    • R C Dean

      I won’t beat anybody up too bad for towing the CDC lion through, say, May 2020. At that point, though, it was abundantly clear that the lockdown ‘n’ vax approach was a failure, though, especially in light of what was apparent at the time re: the severity of the pandemic.

    • PieInTheSky

      meant to combat but having no effect

    • rhywun

      “recent”

      Like… two years ago or more?

      • Lackadaisical

        Correct.

        September 2020 all restrictions were lifted and local governments were banned from implementing their own restrictions.

    • Ownbestenemy

      “GOP’s Covid-denying”

      Excellent framing of a propagandist. Wonder if they would write the same but remove Desantis and insert Tim Robbins,

    • Rebel Scum

      sensible, government-imposed Covid-19 protections

      What? Nothing about it was “sensible”.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Zelensky used an interview with Britain’s Sky News to declare Putin “doesn’t want negotiations because he doesn’t want peace.”

    The Ukrainian leader said he was “convinced” Ukraine was “just the first step” for Putin, who has his eye on “other countries” as he seeks Eastern European domination.

    DOMINOES!

    • Raven Nation

      It looks like Mahomes is hit as he throws. Does that change the ruling?

      • R C Dean

        It does look like the hit changed the throw, unlike with Burrows. Not sure if that changes the ruling (although it should, since that means missing a receiver by a mile/throwing short isn’t “intentional”).

        It really looks like Burrows threw directly into the ground on purpose. In my mind, at least, a clearer case of intentional grounding.

        *grabs popcorn, refreshes page*

      • Grumbletarian

        They call intentional grounding when the receiver turns in a different direction than the QB expected and the ball winds up nowhere near anyone. So ‘intent’ is not a defining factor.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      I’m not seeing how these are identical plays.

      • Grumbletarian

        Obviously they’re different. One QB is Mahomes, and the other is not.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        This is silly, the NFL is incentivized to keep Mahomes healthy (he’s currently not btw) but not Burrow?

      • Grumbletarian

        Neither penalty had anything to do with the health of the QB. Keep trying though.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I won’t keep trying because I don’t really care. They do not seem to be identical plays, and one is more intentional grounding-y than the other, IMO.

      • Jarflax

        Dude, I am a Bengals fan and the officiating absolutely favored the Chiefs on many plays, but not this one. Mahomes got hit as he threw and underthrew an open receiver he was trying to pass to on that play. That is not, and has never been intentional grounding. Burrow spiked the ball behind the line to avoid a sack.

      • Jarflax

        Item 2. Physical Contact. Intentional grounding should not be called if:

        the passer initiates his passing motion toward an eligible receiver and then is significantly affected by physical contact from a defensive player that causes the pass to land in an area that is not in the direction and vicinity of an eligible receiver;

      • Grumbletarian

        An eligible receiver was just as far from the point where the ball landed on both plays. You see QBs intentionally throw at a receiver’s feet all the time, even behind the line of scrimmage, with no penalty called.

      • Jarflax

        I quoted the rule above. You can keep ignoring the hit Mahomes took, but it is still the rule. There was plenty to complain about in the officiating, but harping on a call they actually got right is silly. Burrow could have been called for grounding twice. They let the first one slide.

      • Grummun

        Seemed to me that Burrows spiked the ball a number (3?) of times to avoid a sack. No wonder, given the porous nature of the O line.

    • Michael Malaise

      The bigger issues on the Burrow grounding call were the

      1. Illegal hands to the face on the pass rush by Chris Jones
      2. The roughing the passer that would have offset the grounding call when Jones (or Frank Clark?) pulled Burrow down and PUT THE FULL WEIGHT OF HIS BODY* on him.

      *- just using the NFL’s stupid arguments against them.

      • Mojeaux

        Likely Clark. The first time Jones sacked Burrow, he practically threw a mattress under him before laying him down gently upon it.

      • Lackadaisical

        Ridiculous that I know exactly what you mean. What a dumb rule, if you’re not tough enough to be a QB, don’t play the game.

      • juris imprudent

        Ownership protecting their most valuable assets.

    • R.J.

      What a wild life she had. I am sad.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Well I’ll be, Gomez is still alive.

      • Tres Cool

        John Astin or Raul Julia ?

      • UnCivilServant

        Raul died of Cancer, so not him.

    • CatchTheCarp

      Born in the Marshall Islands – that is unusual.

      • Count Potato

        It was her parent’s plan.

    • R.J.

      The researchers can go first.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Bill Maher had a decent segment this weekend on climate shame

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      The rich will get anesthesia, average Joe gets two shots of Victory Gin and a bullet to bite down on.

    • juris imprudent

      Here, bite down on this.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’d rather have more carbon and less pain.

      In fact, the world needs more plat food, so the high carbon option is a win-win for things that matter.

      Fuck off Climate Sadists.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        No surgery at all would be even more green.

      • UnCivilServant

        The greenist thing would be killing off the watermelons and mulching them so that we can grow actual watermelons.

      • rhywun

        Chevron has a commercial in heavy rotation about how they’re working on “lower carbon fuels to save the planet”.

        I’m no scientician but doesn’t that just mean “worse performing”?

      • Not Adahn

        There’s a lot of energy stored in azides.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      “Doctors say”

      You know who else was a doctor?

      • juris imprudent

        Who?

      • Sean

        Would you like a jelly baby?

      • UnCivilServant

        “See, the evil one eats babies!”

      • SDF-7

        Xoannon, save us from the tribe of the Tesh, the ancient betrayers who kept us from the place of Landing.

        Love that episode. Actually most of the Leela ones (ok, the virus / “Contact has been made!” was corny as hell) to be honest.

      • dbleagle

        No?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Strange

      • juris imprudent

        Manhattan

      • pistoffnick

        Love

      • creech

        Alan Alda? Jill Biden? Murray Rothbard?

      • Shirley Knott

        Banzai?

      • Not Adahn

        Kevorkian?

  28. Pope Jimbo

    Nothing left to cut! 5 National Parks on Lake Superior will be fully decarbonized in the next 4 years!

    The five national parks along the Lake Superior shoreline will completely decarbonize buildings and vehicles within four years, a challenging goal meant to match the urgent need for climate action.

    The Lake Superior national parks are expected to be the first nationwide to comprehensively decarbonize, which means to eliminate carbon-dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.

    A recent engineering study estimates $15 million will be needed to improve efficiencies and replace fossil fuel use with solar energy, batteries, heat pumps, and other technologies. Internal-combustion engine vehicles will be switched to electric vehicles, as well as all-terrain vehicles.

    Most of the funding will come through National Park Service budgeting, including new dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act, Great American Outdoors Act, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation. Private donations through the five-park foundation will help cover any funding shortfalls.

    • Fourscore

      If we were really serious we could just close the gates and save 15M starting tomorrow. Who needs National Parks and tourists anyway?

  29. The Late P Brooks

    I won’t beat anybody up too bad for towing the CDC lion through, say, May 2020. At that point, though, it was abundantly clear that the lockdown ‘n’ vax approach was a failure, though, especially in light of what was apparent at the time re: the severity of the pandemic.

    Yes. Exercise caution as data is collected. But it was rapidly apparent that there was no meaningful difference in outcomes in strict states versus lax states.

    • R C Dean

      I think I need to delete the vax from that, as it didn’t show until fall/winter of 2020.

    • The Last American Hero

      I’ll back the guy who realized reasonably early on that the CDC was fucking up and changed his ways over the idiots that continued and still continue to double down on this shit.

    • PieInTheSky

      Exercise caution as data is collected – masks were known before not to really work. Before china did it, the WHO for tens of years recommended against strict lockdowns as far as I am aware. The 180 in a matter of days was strange. Combine with every attack possible on everything that may have helped. Vit D, zinc and others.

      • Raven Nation

        This is the infuriating thing about a lot of the covid stuff in the US. The CDC had a playbook on pandemics. From what I’ve read in a bunch of places, they basically broomed that early on: everything their playbook said not to do they did and everything the playbook said to do, they did not do. One example was lockdowns: this was explicitly rejected in the earlier manual. So, the question, arises: why did they change things. If they realized the playbook was wrong, they should explain that publicly. If not, then what: panic; they knew something about the virus not made public; opportunism?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Covid was the first thing that actually stuck to Trump. All the other “scandals” failed to touch him. Without the Rona, Trump would have crushed Biden.

        Trump fucked up the Rona response and it sank him. He should have stuck to his guns and fired Fauci, opened schools and ended lockdowns. Anyone who didn’t agree should have been fired.

      • PieInTheSky

        I think it is a bit beyond trump as Europeans mostly did the same. It was mindless panic that was used as an opportunity for more control. No crisis wasted.

      • R.J.

        Yes. It would have sank Trump no matter how he responded.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        They (the agencies) had been working on a new playbook with Johns Hopkins, one that vastly increased their power and authority and pushed their pet projects, like vaccines.

        It will probably surprise nobody that the Bloomberg School of Public Health was heavily involved.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Re lockdowns: they saw it working in China, so assumed it would work here too

        Lots of expediency decisions were made. Such as masking, which was the CDC recommendation for over a decade until January 2020 and it got memory holed when there was a shortage of any types.

  30. PieInTheSky

    There is this thing people do. It is an auto-bury-the-lede. I see it everywhere, a caricaturization emerges in place of operative mapping.

    The mass mind thinks in cartoons, the semiosphere is Toontown. Whosoever investigates reality must contend with Roger Rabbit.

    *All* the major “thought leaders” are also clowns. Try to name one that isn’t. This is a universal rule. We are not in “clown world” but a sealed and homeostatic Clown Cosmos.

    Criminal factions and intelligence agencies have worked together for decades, using blackmail and the trafficking of minors as a tool to achieve their goals. Those goals, unsurprisingly, include the “mainstreaming of MKULTRA”, and the use of celebrities for psyops and honeypots.
    The end result: you can place actual leaked classified documents in the public sphere, and if you place a cartoon in front of it, 99.99% of the population will be unable to read or discern the contents of the documents. They will be magnetized to the cartoon.

    Indeed, the entire Gender Zoo is basically a paint by numbers process of self-cartoonification.

    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1619667542905360384.html

    these politics threads are getting weird

  31. juris imprudent

    McFaul‘s name features prominently in Taibbi’s latest on the Twitter Files and Hamilton 68. The guy is a first class piece of sleaze.

    • The Other Kevin

      Don’t read the latest Twitter files if you like your blood pressure on the low side.

  32. Tonio

    Regarding the RFID chip activated power tools: Call me paranoid but this could be a trial balloon to see if a certain class of people will accept the technology in one context so that they can mandate the technology in another context. There is significant overlap between power tool owners and firearms owners.

    • Ownbestenemy

      And automobiles and appliances that are falling out of favor and dildos.

    • R C Dean

      Going off the maxim that “You aren’t paranoid if they really are out to get you”, I will decline your kind invitation to call you paranoid.

      • UnCivilServant

        Just because they’re out to get you doesn’t mean you’re not paranoid.

      • R C Dean

        Paranoia is the unjustified, unwarranted or delusional belief that somebody is out to get you. If they actually are, then your belief that they are out to get you isn’t paranoia.

        /ackchually OFF

      • UnCivilServant

        If that somebody is different from those actually out to get you, you can be both paranoid AND have someone out to get you.

      • Jarflax

        How about if they are actually out to get you, but all the evidence you base your fear that they are out to get you on is delusional, and you have not found any of the real evidence? Paranoid, but coincidentally correct.

      • Not Adahn

        Or, what if you think [[[they]]] are out to get you, bit it turns out that actually (((they))) are the ones out to get you?

      • Fourscore

        Before 1975 it was the government that was out to get young men.

    • juris imprudent

      Power tools already have that key dependency – power. Firearms don’t – you have to add a lot of complexity to the mechanical mechanism to make it power dependent.

      Your fridge or electric stove on the other hand.

      • Michael Malaise

        It’s the chip. Trackability.

      • Michael Malaise

        I guess the word should be traceability?

      • juris imprudent

        Faster and Furiouser

    • Mojeaux

      This is an extension/branching of the Kuerig cups.

    • R C Dean

      Still off, a little. Although if I didn’t know going in (so to speak), there’s a few that I might not catch.

      • PieInTheSky

        uncanny valley may persist a while… Which is good for onlyfans girls while they still have jobs

      • Jarflax

        They are less off than most of the surgically altered instathots.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I see the AI is Q approved. Just look at these ejugs.

      • Hyperion

        Nice avatar

    • The Other Kevin

      That’s actually pretty good. Not far off from “real” photos with all the airbrushing and photoshopping these days.

    • Count Potato

      Looks like it fucked up a hand.

      Anyway, people were already jerking off to hentai and Projekt Melody.

      So I don’t think fake porn, or fake entertainers, is the big problem. As this technology advances, video and photographic evidence will become meaningless.

      • Not Adahn

        OTOH, it will make it cheaper, easier, and faster to do cinematic/TV adaptations of books.

        When a virtual actor gets the Oscar, who do they give the trophy to?

      • Count Potato

        “OTOH, it will make it cheaper, easier, and faster to do cinematic/TV adaptations of books.”

        Sure, but not being able to know what’s real is a huge problem.

      • Michael Malaise

        Just go back to your pod, CP, and put your headset back on. Protein chips will be delivered to you at 3:15 pm. Klaus Be With You.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Regarding the RFID chip activated power tools: Call me paranoid but this could be a trial balloon to see if a certain class of people will accept the technology in one context so that they can mandate the technology in another context. There is significant overlap between power tool owners and firearms owners.

    The 2×4 was coming right at me!

  34. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh’

    Jugsy brought home an 8-week old German Shepherd puppy yesterday. I think the puppy is fine, but Jugsy is stressed.
    If you dont hear from me, tell my story.

    • PieInTheSky

      is drinking cheap beer really a story?

    • UnCivilServant

      Shouldn’t we just check to see if you’re stuck somewhere first?

    • Not Adahn

      GSD pups are particularly adorable.

    • Tundra

      Congratulations! How’s current pup handling it?

  35. The Late P Brooks

    You know, back in the old days, there would be a lot of very unhappy bettors, and even more unhappier bookies, thinking they had been intentionally hoodwinked by the KC injury report.

    • B.P.

      It would’ve helped the Bengals if they actually tried to put pressure on the dinged up QB who is standing around throwing lasers all over the field.

      • juris imprudent

        KC’s O-line was a little more effective than Cincy’s.

  36. Tundra

    Good morning, Banjos!

    Lowe’s pioneers system to solve organized retail crime

    How about just lopping off their hands?

    • R.J.

      Sometimes Islamic justice has the right idea.

      • UnCivilServant

        Mo was soft on Thieves.

        Hammurabi put them to Death.

    • Banjos

      Tempting, but imagine how big the disability rolls would swell up to.

      • UnCivilServant

        Not that high – they won’t be able to fill out the paperwork.

      • Tundra

        Lol.

        Nicely done!

      • Banjos

        glol

  37. Rebel Scum

    DC wants federal government to solve migrant crisis as it buckles under influx

    You could start by enforcing existing immigration law.

    • R C Dean

      The only migrant crisis in their minds is not enough federal money to launder through their NGO buddies.

    • Hyperion

      Enforcing laws is racist.

    • Ownbestenemy

      So tiresome.

      • Hyperion

        Best comment:

        Merchant of Def
        @delaware_dynamo

        Wait. Mahomes is black?

    • Michael Malaise

      I thought it was because 2 white bros could play each other, Civil War style.

    • Rebel Scum

      Maholmes ain’t black. Not that it matters.

  38. Mojeaux

    I’m not going to crow about last night. It wasn’t clean, but I’m not going to say it was rigged, either.

    • UnCivilServant

      Will you be raven about it?

      • Mojeaux

        Nor will I roar.

    • Hyperion

      “I’m not going to say it was rigged, either.”

      We all know that the woke NFL had to get in their fave white boy who identifies as a black guy. Mission accomplished!

      • Certified Public Asshat

        He might identify as black because of his black father.

      • Mojeaux

        Hyperion’s being salty.

      • Hyperion

        Hyperion only enjoys football any longer because of the jokes, at least there is that.

      • Hyperion

        Why not the other way around?

      • Certified Public Asshat

        TBH, I am not sure how he really identifies, but a boy might see more in common with his father than mother.

        In any event, you called him a white boy.

      • Hyperion

        “you called him a white boy.”

        And? He looks white to me. And I’m not the only one who has noticed that.

      • Hyperion

        Remember Rachel Dolezal? She looks more black than Mahomes. I seriously never thought he was anything other than white. It must be my systemic racism, because what else could it be?

      • creech

        Like Obama? Or is it a calculated identification that gets valuable publicity? At least Tiger Woods used to refer to himself as a Cablinasian but the media always calls him a Black man instead of an Asian with American Indian and Black heritage mixed in.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        I am comfortable saying Obama was black yes. I don’t know where the you-are-white line is, somewhere in between having one black parent and Elizabeth Warren.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        *is black?

    • Fatty Bolger

      I don’t think it’s rigged. I do think they get the benefit of the doubt more than other teams. They’re the new Patriots.

      • Pope Jimbo

        All teams with a star QB get calls. Burrows and Lawrence will get those calls too once they’ve been around a few more years.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Sure, that’s a big part of it, but also the coach and all the success they have had recently. There’s just that glow around them that the Patriots used to have when it was Tom and Bill in their heyday.

      • Hyperion

        Kermie is an oppressed minority. They’re just trying to make things right.

      • Mojeaux

        They’re the new Patriots.

        Nature abhors a vacuum.

      • Fourscore

        Yeah a vacuum sucks…

      • juris imprudent

        Unless you’ve got enough gravity.

    • PieInTheSky

      I have zero opinion on US football refereeing but one reason I don’t follow almost any sport is because I am tired of constant scandals with the referees.

      • Hyperion

        Don’t worry, it won’t be long before star US football players fall down on the field and grab their ankles every time someone comes near them.

      • Pope Jimbo

        My favorite are the QB’s who try to duck out of the way of a rusher, then wail about how they got hit on the head.

        Just get rid of that stupid rule that says any touching of the helmet is a roughing call. Sure, you can’t head slap a qb, but incidental contact isn’t a crime either.

      • Hyperion

        Yeah, I’m not sure what happened that the Eagles were able to knock 2 SF QBs out of the game when you can no longer touch a QB. I swear the NFL will have it flag football within the next few years.

      • slumbrew

        The NFL flag football game is next week, in Vegas.

    • Jarflax

      Take the W. We had our opportunities and we blew them. The officiating was terrible though.

      • Mojeaux

        I’m the one usually railing about our sloppiness. My husband’s tired of hearing it only because I forced him to admit it. They were not sloppy last week (22nd), so I was cautiously confident this week. They were sloppy yesterday, but I also understand Mahomes was hurt, Kelce was on the edge of hurt, we had 3 receivers down with injuries, and were playing with half rookies.

      • juris imprudent

        About like the Bengals O-line.

      • Jarflax

        Which is what cost us the game, and why I am not ranting about the officiating. If the line had been even a bit healthier that game goes the other way, and it isn’t close.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I think we can all admit that no matter how you feel about the Chiefs/Bengals game, FUCK THE EAGLES!

      • creech

        You think wrong.

      • juris imprudent

        Yep. I would’ve pulled for the Bengals just because they’ve never won a SB, but now… Eagles for the win.

      • slumbrew

        Meteor game

      • Count Potato

        The only good thing about the Eagles is they aren’t the Cowboys.

      • juris imprudent

        There’s just not much good about the NFC East, is there?

  39. Rebel Scum

    The United States Customs and Border Protection agency is asking Americans to stop trying to smuggle in raw eggs from Mexico.

    Then the US government needs to stop destroying egg production in the US.

    • Hyperion

      It’s only OK to smuggle new voters in.

    • Rat on a train

      Ha. Rename road because reasons but new signs state “Formerly Black Boy Lane”.

  40. Hyperion

    “Weaponization Committee Republicans Lay Groundwork for Investigations”

    AND.NOTHING.ELSE.HAPPENED.

    • slumbrew

      I wouldn’t particularly want to be bitten by an otter

      • PieInTheSky

        better than having your nipple bit of by a beaver

      • Hyperion

        pics or it didn’t happen

      • PieInTheSky

        I am not a redneck

      • kinnath

        Can’t get a sunburn if you can’t go out in the sun.

      • creech

        I remember skinny dipping in creeks and all of us worried that a snapping turtle may take a shine to a dangling appendage.

    • Jarflax

      That looks like the otter was playing. Otters love to play tag.

      • slumbrew

        I was unclear on that – I assume they are noisy if they’re being territorial but there’s no sound

      • Mojeaux

        I’m a dumbass. I would’ve tried to pet it. *squee* OOH AN OTTER! C’MERE YOU CUTE LITTLE ASSHOLE!

      • Gender Traitor

        Awww! I’m sure he’s just laughing at his fellow otters’ wacky hijinks! 🦦

        But I’m not sticking my fingers in his mouth.

      • Jarflax

        I am usually good about understanding that wild animals are wild, but otters are a weakness of mine. They are the happiest little creatures in Earth. My grumbly heart melts for otters.

      • Tundra

        Agreed. Otter Braun is usually the first site I visit every morning.

      • Shirley Knott

        Me too

      • Nephilium

        Last year I saw some river otters playing in a stream while I was out on a ride. I didn’t realize we had river otters up here. Turns out they’ve just recently started coming back.

        I hope to see more this year.

  41. Hyperion

    “GDP report reveals ominous Great Depression warning sign not seen since 1932”

    Inflation ain’t real, it’s a rethuglican conspiracy theory!

    • kinnath

      Crippling deflation or hyper inflation. Place your bets!

      • UnCivilServant

        I hope we get deflation. I’m sick of the numbers only going one way.

      • kinnath

        Deflation helps people who have saved money (there aren’t many of those anymore).

        Inflation helps people who borrowed money (pretty much everyone but you at this point).

        My situation is based on the assumption of high inflation for the next decade or so (based off my lived experiences in the 70s and 80s). I don’t expect to see prices collapsing as they did when my grandparents lived through the Great Depression.

      • UnCivilServant

        For once, I want my choices to be validated.

      • kinnath

        The key factor: Deflation hurts FedGov; Inflation helps FedGov.

        The Federal Reserve won’t let deflation happen.

      • slumbrew

        The grasshoppers get rewarded, we ants get punished.

      • kinnath
      • creech

        “Deflation helps people who have saved money ”
        Wouldn’t that depend on the nature of the saved assets? If one’s savings are invested in stocks, and corporations take in less revenue (while their employees resist wage decreases) then stock prices will fall (see Great Depression) and savers will be hurt too.

      • Michael Malaise

        My assumption is that even if inflation eases, a lot of the new prices will stick around.

        I bought a can of spray paint recently for $10.49. I was actually flabbergasted.

      • kinnath

        Prices going down would be deflation. It ain’t gonna happen.

        We are all experiencing a permanent loss of purchasing power.

      • The Other Kevin

        Correct. The best they can do is tout “inflation slowing”, which means prices don’t increase as fast. They make it sound like prices are going down but that’s never going to happen.

      • Lackadaisical

        I love the headline writers at finance websites who don’t understand the difference.

  42. Mojeaux

    Okie dokie, Glib Denizens. Time for me to get to work (studying). This course is getting interesting again.

    • slumbrew

      Praise Rufus!

      • juris imprudent

        He’s not my supervisor!

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Fuck a duck. It’s cold outside. It took about 10 seconds for the ice to start forming in my mustache.

    Heater is blasting into the crawl space. now we cross our fingers and wait.

    • Michael Malaise

      Careful with the finger, they might get frozen together.

    • Lackadaisical

      Gonna be 80 this afternoon. I’ll be thinking of you on my stroll at the park.

  44. juris imprudent

    In too local, but otherwise very cheerful, news.

    Harrisburg councilman pulls out gun and interrupts attempted burglary

    • EvilSheldon

      Good that he interdicted the burglary, but he took some major unnecessary risks.

  45. Tundra

    Not to brag, but I’m famous now.

    • kinnath

      famous or infamous?

    • Lackadaisical

      Link?

    • Sean

      Made the local police blotter?

      • Tundra

        No, not this time.

        Besides, I was framed!