264 Comments

  1. slumbrew

    Re: the empty nesters; if they were all downsizing we’d be seeing stories about all the starter homes being snatched up.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Yup. Why do I perceive a sneer with that story, like the author is implying that they’re kulaks for staying in their decadent mini mansions.

      • juris imprudent

        Then the story about the younger home-owners, strapped with unaffordable mortgages. Besides what younger people need a big house when they aren’t having that many kids?

      • UnCivilServant

        “That’s my game room, that’s the lounging room, that’s a full formal dining room, a restaurant grade kitchen…”

      • Drake

        The real estate market has slowed to a crawl because everyone is holding on to what they have. Some fiscal restraint might bring down inflation and let the Fed ease rates. I joke of course.

        Given the state of things, I bet many “empty nesters” also are hedging against the possibility that their kids and maybe grandkids will end up living with them again. I am.

      • R.J.

        Me as well. Possibly even friends. Given Texas property taxes I could use the help with payment, I could drop this onerous corporate job.

      • R.J.

        There is a big push to say real estate is wrong. It started years ago with the tiny house movement, which at first I saw as innocuous. It is not. It was a Trojan Horse to push people out of their houses and view property as decadent and obscene.

      • Tonio

        Even further than that, although the tiny house thing was it’s first real manifestation. The middle class is defined by property ownership. Commies hate the middle class, and draw a distinction between personal property (ie, laptop), and real property.

      • Nephilium

        Personally, I don’t have an issue with the tiny house thing. Some people have that preference, which is good. It’s when they try to force everyone into the same thing where problems arise.

        Both my parents and my sister’s family have houses that include guest rooms. The house the girlfriend and I have could have a guest room, but that would require giving up the computer room/office or the (needs to be used more frequently) exercise room.

      • AlexinCT

        YOU WILL OWN NOTHING AND YOU WILL LOVE IT!

        or else…

      • juris imprudent

        Klaus has how many divisions?

      • AlexinCT

        The entire EU bureaucracy (and hence their weak ass militaries) and the CCP’s military for sure…

      • juris imprudent

        I’m quaking in my boots.

      • R.J.

        I don’t either. I will probably end up in one by a lake somewhere in the next ten years. But the concept is being mis-used by politicians to try to shame people who have large homes. Look for this to shaming to grow in the coming years. The push to strip people of their homes has only just begun.

      • Sean

        The push to strip people of their homes has only just begun.

        I believe that. Fucking commies.

      • juris imprudent

        Politicians – who are shameless – shaming people? I gotcher shame, right down here [grabs crotch].

      • Fourscore

        I stayed in a dry house in Alaska, had a disposable toilet which was function but had a different odor. I hid behind the house for some functions, though Mrs F was reluctant. It was small, very small, but adequate. Not cheap rent but nothing is anymore.

        Seems like it had a sink with a bucket for light hygiene.

      • R C Dean

        In Tucson, a lot of bigger houses have casitas, which are basically detached apartments/tiny houses. I suspect they were originally “maid’s quarters” in the pre-war houses (one of my parent’s houses in Texas had one – what a godsend for Teenage R C). Casitas are basically tiny houses. Tucson has been looking at both removing restrictions on people building casitas, and letting them rent them out full time, to deal with the housing shortage here.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        One of those is on our 5 year plan for here. It’ll be a guesthouse/office/shed with an eye towards housing one or more of our parents in their dotage.

      • robc

        This is one of those rare issues where the left (at least some on the left) and libertarians can agree. Restrictions on ADUs is wrong.

        Of course those leftists don’t like giving up control, so they wont just return property rights, but they are moving in the right direction. I commented on a article earlier this morning related to this: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2024/1/18/every-city-should-do-this-housing-exercise

        Same for things like getting rid of/loosening minimum parking requirements.

      • The Last American Hero

        I’m not sure your maid thought of some teen lurking outside her door as a Godsend.

      • Animal

        We’re thinking of putting up a dry cabin for guests, probably where our old greenhouse is now. Wired but not plumbed; opposite side of the house from the well and too difficult to tie into the septic system. But we can put a wood stove in there and it would be great for summer guests.

        And we’re not giving up our place. No way in hell. Worked too long and too hard to get here.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Do they though? Every tiny house video just seems like pure cope.

      • Ted S.

        The tiny house movement is trailer parks for the goodthinkful.

      • Nephilium

        But trailer parks are so… tacky!

        Locally, there has been on ongoing story about an old trailer park (originally used for temporary housing for Euclid Beach Park) that was rumored to be being bought to be turned into a high rise apartment building.

    • Grummun

      House is paid for, why move unless the maintenance is getting to be more than you can handle. And a bigger house means room for family to visit (or move back in, as may be). When my parents moved to Amarillo, they bought a four bedroom just for space for kids to visit (although this was in the 90’s when property values were much lower).

      • Don escaped Texas

        ^^this^^

        A more complete story would have interviewed people who tried to downsize in the past and what results they got. Downsizing is usually very emotional; I would say that many people make huge mistakes when they make their huge purchases: houses and cars.

        I do not know a single person who truly downsized: moved into an apartment or into the cabin at the lake. What usually happens is the car thing: you start shopping and the toys distract and you end up with something that cost a lot more than you ever intended; I know people who ended up spending much more for much less (I first noticed this in 1984).

        People are not clear about their goals, motives, needs; they are not objective in their assessments. They fuck up a lot. That guy who can’t merge into traffic with any sanity is suddenly going to navigate two real estates transactions and come out on top with money to spare? I don’t think so…..nothing in my personal or professional life tells me that most people will do well with this based on all the other things they’re screwing up all day.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        you start shopping and the toys distract and you end up with something that cost a lot more than you ever intended

        Wife’s grandfather was an (commercial) architect and designed the heck out of their “downsized” house. It’s amazing, but it’s hundreds of sqft bigger than their old one, and with the 20 foot ceilings in some areas, a bitch and a half to maintain. They now have a live in nanny to take care of all that stuff because it’s too much for them.

      • R.J.

        I have a lot of junk I don’t use and can leave behind. No emotional attachment. I guess that comes from having to start over in life so many times. The wife, maybe not so much….

      • juris imprudent

        My wife can’t part with a thing without tears. Sentimental doesn’t even begin to describe it.

      • Grummun

        I have a lot of junk I just can’t bring myself to part with. Even after the PITA that was closing out my mother’s estate, when I swore I wouldn’t leave such a mess for whoever has to clean up after me, I still dither about throwing out shit I haven’t looked at in years.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Dad? Is that you?

        Seriously, my dad has boxes full of my stuff in his basement. Stuff that I haven’t seen or thought about in decades. Let alone the boxes of family stuff from before the divorce (ca 2003). I tell him repeatedly to save the toys the grandkids will play with and toss the rest. I have no interest in my 7th grade report card.

      • R.J.

        I just don’t want to be that guy. I have a yearly purge. It will be a big one this year. The advantage of doing that is it reminds you to stop spending so much on junk.

      • Mojeaux

        I have about 6 file tubs’ worth of sentimental things and knickknacks, a big hefty tub of art, and a lot of books that stay on a bookshelf. That’s really the only crap my kids will have to sort through that they won’t know what to do with. Everything else is utilitarian (although whether to include my craft supplies in that or not is the question.)

        It would be painful to downsize, only because I purge regularly and what I keep is really important to me. It’s nice that I can have people over on a moment’s notice because I don’t have clutter in my living room.

        Of course, I don’t have young children, either, and that will account for a ton of clutter.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Of course, I don’t have young children, either, and that will account for a ton of clutter.

        *thousand yard stare*

      • R C Dean

        We’re gradually grinding down the pile of stuff-in-storage and excess whatever. Not having an attic or a basement really helps to keep it from piling up. And we’re not going to rent a storage locker.

        My basic mindset has been “Do I want to move this again?”, even though we have no plans to move. I would just rather have less clutter, and most of it still has some use left in it, so I’d also rather it get used than molder away in my garage/closets.

      • The Last American Hero

        My inlaws successfully downsized from a 4 bed 2 story home to a 2 bed one story home with a lot less living space. But for 2 retirees it’s perfect. More compact and nicely appointed. While the neighborhood is not a senior community, about 2/3 of the neighborhood are seniors that downsized.

      • Fourscore

        As a long time empty nester I built my house both as a challenge and an investment, not for myself but as a way to enjoy the last years comfortably. My kids/grandkids have been able to come visit when they want to. I have been able to enjoy my property and share that enjoyment with friends.

        Some have commented that when SHTF they’ll have a place to go. Now as we aren’t able to do so much outside the house is a refuge. While we aren’t as remote as Richard it’s still a good place for a couple of introverts.

        BTW, other than HH time the cabin is available for Glibs that are in the neighborhood and want a cheap comfortable place to stay.

      • robc

        And as people live longer/healthier lives, they will be making that downsizing move later and later.

    • R C Dean

      It’s also harder to get the math to look good. If you have a mortgage, and many to most Boomers/empty nesters still do, Your monthly payment isn’t going to improve much at all as you exit your sub 3% mortgage and take on a 6+% mortgage, even for a smaller amount for a (somewhat) cheaper smaller house. Take it from someone who has poked at downsizing.

      Artificially low rates lead to totally unforeseeable lock-in. Who could have known?

      • ron73440

        Yep, I’m at 2.5% and I get emails all the time telling me how much my home is worth.

        I looked into it a couple times (just out of curiosity, we have no desire to move) and it looks like my monthly payment would go up, I’d have a smaller and not as nice house, and I would have to start a new 30 year mortgage.

        If I was thinking about moving, all of that would change my mind.

      • Nephilium

        I had the luck recently of the neighbors across the street from me selling their house. It was on the market the same time as the house that I wound up buying, and they were priced comparably (as the houses are nearly the same in floor space, bedrooms/baths, basement, etc.). So I now have a fairly strong data point as to what my house is worth now.

        I contemplated picking up an equity loan/LOC but would pretty much only use that for home improvements, which I’ve just budgeted for and saved (although I am somewhat tempted to take up one of the window companies that’s still offering 0% interest on multi year loans to replace the big living room window).

      • The Other Kevin

        That’s where my mom and dad are. They have more house than they need, but financially it doesn’t make sense to pay more for something smaller.

      • AlexinCT

        Most of us on the older side are right there…

        At some point I will move because I know I do not want to stay in commie land after retire, but I will again buy bigger as investment to keep my wealth safe from the idiocy of government. And this pisses off the people that want to reap the wealth of the productive for personal gain.

      • prolefeed

        And then there’s the property tax increases, if you own a house where the taxable value is significantly less than the assessed value, due to legal limits on how much property taxes can go up annually.

    • Rebel Scum

      all the starter homes being snatched up

      They are being snatched up, but not by downsizers.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Yeah. My goal is to have the mortgage paid off within the next couple years, and then start sinking that into funding a major rebuild. The house is a bit small for 4 kids, but there’s no way to move the homestead. Will at least double, maybe triple, the current living space. But maybe 1/3 of that will be a finished basement with a pool table, wet bar, and arcade. Need to have a space for the kids as they grow into teens. One of my sons will probably always live with us, and then maybe a parent too. Plenty of room as the kids visit with their own families.

      I’ve started to think through now how to tear down and rebuild the house in stages while we’re living in it. It’ll be a hell of a project and will probably bring in an architect to draft the plans. As we plan for things declining a bit, I also want to include things like a very large pantry and even building a room in the basement that can act as walk in safe. I’m running out of room now.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Check out Tag and Bee at Life Done Free. He DIY’d their house in 4(?) different wings/pods. I don’t know the details on how he married the wings together, but I know they were living in it while building other parts of it.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      It just seems like a few things can be true. The boomers have benefited the most from terrible government housing policy. They are still responding appropriately to incentives/policy.

    • juris imprudent

      Does joining the “Squad” mean he is a dickless wonder?

      • R.J.

        Yes. That man has no dick.

    • rhywun

      “When COVID was destroying us, we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat,” said Bowman. “The government can invest the same way in reparations without raising taxes on anyone.”

      “Where did the money come from?” Bowman said. “We spent it into existence.”

      🤣😂

      • Tonio

        You laugh, but people actually believe this.

      • AlexinCT

        Why would you not when you believe any of the idiotic shit peddled by collectivism?

      • Brawndo

        The electricity comes from the wall

      • AlexinCT

        Economic illiteracy!

        It’s what’s for breakfast.

      • Rebel Scum

        we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat

        That’s not what I would call spending trillions on bullshit while the governors shut down their states.

  2. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh’
    yo whats goody

  3. SDF-7

    Feds flagged transactions with keywords ‘MAGA’, ‘Trump’ for financial institutions: House panel

    The part about “buying religious texts” was being spun yesterday on the Townhall group of sites as including The Bible. Given the “Traditional Catholics” thing, it wouldn’t surprise me like it would have several years ago, but without seeing the paperwork — there could be certain religious texts (of Peace!) that would justify it.

    Still, the end run around “no general warrants” is infuriating as always. But not surprising since Snowden. And all the major financial institutions sure seem to be in on it… I know folks always tout credit unions at this point — but moving everything is seriously non-trivial. Yay.

    Oh, and “Morning, all”. Morning, Banjos — hope that snowman isn’t what the girls decided to build (fun — but the liability lawsuits would be a mess!)

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I know folks always tout credit unions at this point — but moving everything is seriously non-trivial. Yay.

      We’re in the process of doing so. More because there aren’t any branches of our national bank close. We have been wanting to ditch them anyway. It hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be, but that may be because almost everything is routed through our credit cards first.

    • Grummun

      The feds monitoring and documenting every non-cash transaction is why I don’t buy ammo online.

      • Rebel Scum

        But gov’t crypto will be perfectly conducive to a free society.

      • AlexinCT

        I am impressed how you managed to say that as if you were serious.

      • Nephilium

        I just rewatched Mr. Robot.

      • R C Dean

        I am less than clear on why CBDC is supposed to be such a big deal. Something like 98% of the money in circulation now is purely digital – very little of the money supply is actual folding money. The government can now track nearly everything you earn and spend, and for them to “debank” you and put you outside the economy would be trivially easy now, as far as the mechanism to do it.

        What am I missing here?

      • Don escaped Texas

        being a Glib is saying that ship has sailed to yourself day after day

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Well, from the horse’s mouth: https://www.federalreserve.gov/cbdc-faqs.htm#:~:text=While%20Americans%20have%20long%20held,not%20of%20a%20commercial%20bank.

        While Americans have long held money predominantly in digital form—for example in bank accounts, payment apps or through online transactions—a CBDC would differ from existing digital money available to the general public because a CBDC would be a liability of the Federal Reserve, not of a commercial bank.

      • Grummun

        Not sure what you’re getting at here, but I’ll take the most positive interpretation.

        Yes, “gov’t crypto” destroys the only virtue* of crypto, a medium of exchange free from gov’t manipulation.

        *not anonymity

      • Grummun

        Apparently I need to have my sarc meter serviced. Never mind.

      • SDF-7

        That looks cold… and funky.

    • R C Dean

      If you think Our Masters are flagging Korans and not Bibles as a security risk, well, I suggest you look at whether they have flagged conservative/fundamentalist Christians or conservative/fundamentalist Muslims as security risks in other contexts.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        *adds another tally to the count of lists that I’m on*

      • R.J.

        Past few years I bought a bunch of different Bible versions to look at translation differences.
        Plus I am here
        I was already on lists for stuff I did in CA
        They will be tired of putting me on lists soon.
        “That guy again”

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I was already on lists for stuff I did in CA

        I told you not to go kick that baby seal, but no, you had to kick the baby seal.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Doesn’t matter to me what they’re flagging-shouldn’t be flagging any of them.

      • ron73440

        Doesn’t matter to me what they’re flagging-shouldn’t be flagging any of them.

        Don escaped Texas on January 19, 2024 at 8:10 am
        being a Glib is saying that ship has sailed to yourself day after day

      • cyto

        I mean, the head of the DOJ did publicly announce that white conservatives Christians were the number one threat to the nation.

      • Rebel Scum

        That. Also, “Election deniers” (but only of a certain political persuasion…), “white-supremacists” (witch barely exist and I never hear about in the news), the “far-right” (which is anything insignificantly left) and “those against covid measures.”

    • cyto

      I wonder why financial institutions would just buy in like that….

      Oh, no I don’t. “Operation Choke Point” was only phase 2. Remember when GM had $30 billion in secured debt and was going under? Remember how Obama threatened to use the regulatory state to ruin those creditors if they didn’t simply give away that $30 billion? And remember how Obama just gave the company to the UAW, even though they had no legitimate claim to ownership?

      Yeah, I bet the guys over at the Bank Remember.

  4. Rebel Scum

    House Votes to Advance Bill to Temporarily Avert Shutdown – Bill Heads to Biden’s Desk

    Weak. Shut it down.

  5. Rebel Scum

    Impeachment Inquiry Investigators Interview Hunter Biden’s “Sugar Brother”

    *yawn*

  6. Rebel Scum

    Feds flagged transactions with keywords ‘MAGA’, ‘Trump’ for financial institutions: House panel

    But MAGA is fascist.

  7. juris imprudent

    Well, someone in Georgia gives a damn.

    Georgia Judge Orders Hearing on Allegations DA Fani Willis Hired Former Romantic Partner to Lead Trump Prosecution

    • SDF-7

      From that article — looks like the race card is her goto shtick:

      Trump attorney Steven Sadow sent an email on the thread, which includes prosecutors and other defense lawyers, questioning why prosecutors had not responded to a prior request he made.

      “For the life of me, I cannot understand why you refuse to respond to the series of emails below,” he reportedly wrote on January 5.

      Five days later, executive district attorney Daysha Young replied that she and Willis “are both aware, especially as an African American woman some find it difficult to treat us respectfully.”

      “Over the last month the emails of some of you have been disrespectful and condescending lacking both professionalism and decorum,” she said, explaining that she had not responded to some emails because they were disrespectful.

      What a lovely person she must be to interact with.

    • ron73440

      Self-righteousness so thick, you could cut it with a knife:

      blockquote>“Now you know, I cannot be bullied,” she added. “So I do not even think anyone on this team thought someone was silly enough to try that as a tactic. As you are aware, I have now experienced some of the most powerful people in the country call me everything, but a child of God. But, yet here I and my team stand still pursuing justice.”

  8. juris imprudent

    This man doesn’t have the war-boner to be a real conservative!!!

    Personally, I would overlook his TDS because he tends to be pretty damn good on everything else.

    • juris imprudent

      And speaking of idiots with war-boners.

      If he feels so strongly about it, perhaps he should join–or even lead–an Abraham Lincoln-type brigade of volunteers. In the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), writers, professors, journalists, lawyers and others volunteered to fight on the Republican side. They put their lives on the line for a cause they believed in.

      Frum and others in the neoconservative camp (like Max Boot, Robert Kagan, and Bill Kristol) seem to jump from war to war, crusade to crusade, always searching for the next enemy for other Americans or “allies” to fight.

      More chickenshits than chicken-hawks.

      • B.P.

        That would be a fun basic training to watch. Putting the camp in boot camp.

    • SDF-7

      I find I just don’t give a shit.

      My only real thought on his announcement was “Michigan? Where the GOP state party is bankrupt and unable to even pay their bills, much less help work for a candidate? That Michigan?”

      I mean… not the state I’d be trying to run in… but whatever.

      • Fatty Bolger

        He’s in the LP now, so not getting any help is a given.

    • ron73440

      That article is horrendous.

      Amash would be better than 97% of the others in the Senate, but his willingness to fall in line over the impeachment bothers me.

      Maybe this explains the tone of that article:

      ZACH KESSEL is a William F. Buckley Jr. Fellow in Political Journalism and a recent graduate of Northwestern University. @zach_kessel

      • Certified Public Asshat

        He has said more presidents should be impeached. I like that.

  9. Rebel Scum

    are part of a loose alliance preparing legal action to block Trump from taking certain executive actions if he takes office, according to NBC News.

    Such as undoing the damage from the Brandon admin? Sorry, but anything done by executive order can be undone by executive order.

    The organizations fear that Trump may use the armed forces to act undemocratically if elected

    I don’t even know what this means. He would be commander in chief, civilian controller of the military.

    To address this, they seek to limit his potential influence over the executive branch.

    Seems legit. Not like he’d be the chief executive in charge of the executive branch.

    “We are preparing for litigation and preparing to use every tool in the toolbox that our democracy provides to provide the American people an ability to fight back,” Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, told NBC News.

    Fuck democracy and fuck you.

    • SDF-7

      Such as undoing the damage from the Brandon admin? Sorry, but anything done by executive order can be undone by executive order.

      One might think — but I remember more than one court decision in the 2016-2020 timeframe that said otherwise. And that’s what I expect to happen if the fortification doesn’t happen (well, after the obligatory riots and burning down of cities settles down in DC at least..).

      And what isn’t blocked by the courts will be ignored by the agencies. Again.

      And I don’t think OMB has learned a thing about actually handling it.

      • cyto

        Exactly what I was going to say. The courts are hopelessly corrupt, and the progressive alliance knows who to go to in order to get nationwide injunctions blocking federal actions. After a couple of years of delay, the Roberts court then can declare it moot, or too late to change, or too close to an election…

        Remember when we pretended to be a “Nation of Laws, not of men”? Yeah, that was a fun fantasy.

      • The Other Kevin

        Ideally Trump would take Vivek as his VP. Vivek has a plan to cut federal agencies including getting rid of the FBI and reallocating the field agents, so Trump would unleash him and let him do that. Then Vivek would do such a good job he’d be the next president.

        Sound like a dream, but not necessarily impossible.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        And I don’t think OMB has learned a thing about actually handling it.

        A smart exec would use the system against itself.

        Pink slip a bunch of civil servants, and let them hang in limbo for a while until the courts reinstate them.
        Then transfer them to random offices around the country and let them hang in limbo for a while until the courts block that.
        Then give them extended paid leave and let the courts figure that one out.
        Then give them 6 month parental leave and 6 month gender identity change leave and 6 month bereavement leave and 6 month wellness leave and every X history month and pride month off and let the courts try to formulate a position that doesn’t make them bigots while saying that the bureaucrats actually have to work to get paid.

        Just pull every HR trick in the book out to make them want to do nothing, and then do what you will in their absence.

      • juris imprudent

        A smart exec

        Well, that eliminates Trump.

    • ron73440

      Such as undoing the damage from the Brandon admin? Sorry, but anything done by executive order can be undone by executive order.

      That’s not how it works anymore.

      Obama’s EO’s are set in stone, but Trump’s were written in the sand by the ocean with an incoming tide.

      I’m sure Biden’s will be treated as holy proclamations also.

  10. Drake

    SecDef Lloyd Austin is still missing. Supposedly Biden visited him in the hospital and released a picture of him with a masked man in a room. The rumor going around is that Austin went to the Ukraine and got blown up in that big Russian missile strike a couple weeks ago and is either dead or wounded.

    • Rebel Scum

      There should be documentation of his supposed recent hospital stay.

      • Drake

        You’ll see it right after the full Epstein flight logs and Seth Rich evidence.

      • AlexinCT

        It’s to protect our THEIR democracy…

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        They keep it in the file next to Hoffa’s body next door to Kubrick’s moon landing set.

      • rhywun

        Was he holding up a newspaper with the day’s date shown?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Seems like if the story they were putting forward was true they’d have shitcanned him already but who knows?

      • R C Dean

        Fire a black man? The Biden administration? Yeah, that’ll happen.

    • Pine_Tree

      And his AWOL-ness is really ticking me off because it might disrupt my out-there prognostication about him replacing Harris in the VP slot.

      Thinking my only choice for outrageous prognostication is gonna be to double-down – they’ll put him in the VP slot (to step into POTUS when Brandon hits room temperature) in spite of all this disappearance crap, just to show us all that they can.

      • Drake

        They seem comfortable running dead men and doppelgangers – so you still have a shot there Nostradamus.

      • juris imprudent

        Going with a Weekend at Larry’s White House?

  11. Rebel Scum

    Migrants without proper identification may apparently opt out of being photographed by TSA upon entry at Miami International Airport.

    Well we would want to document the undocumented illegal alien invaders now would we?

    • The Other Kevin

      Throughout all of history citizens enjoyed privileges not given to outsiders. We are living in bizarro world.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        And empires exacted tribute from other nations. In our case the money goes in the opposite direction.

  12. Not Adahn

    NH Glibs: I will be in Epping/Exeter 7/17-7/22

    I will be busy with gunplay most of that time but may be able to work in a meeting particularly on the first or last day.

  13. Rebel Scum

    DOJ Report on Uvalde School Shooting Says Police Response a “Significant Failure”

    You don’t say.

    • AlexinCT

      You spelled “Abject failure” wrong.

      • Rebel Scum

        It even seemed kinda deliberate (criminal, even). Like all the cops just waited and prevented the parents from doing anything about it themselves.

      • Don escaped Texas

        prevented the parents

        I posted my outrage at the time and caught unending flak for publishing outright lies

        One of the huge failings of my Boomer childhood culture was this obsession with heros and who gets to be branded what. I’m not going to decry the fireman snatching baby twins out of a third-story inferno, but all the deference turned off a lot of brains: it was all good guys and blackhats and KAPOW!. Instead of saying as Milei just did that the businessman is a hero, we were taught that cops and teachers were demi-gods; no one in my childhood was was pointing out that they put their pants on one leg at a time, same as you.

        Couple that with the A+ mentality: no one can fail or not be excellent in all things. In my childhood, divorce was evil and staying with a terrible person was holy. In that kind of unthinking society, it’s easy for cops and teachers to entrench themselves as clergy.

      • cyto

        Heroes are criminals. It is known. Witness the prosecution of folks who dare to stop violent assaults.

      • Nephilium

        Ah. The subcultures I was a part of were anti-cop, anti-authority, and DIY for a long time. Now a lot of them have decided that authority is really cool when they’re the ones wielding it.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Ah, the punk rock scene then? At least Rotten’s still around.

      • Nephilium

        Lots of cross over with the punk scene.

      • AlexinCT

        Stinky why is your avatar the picture of one of Satan’s greatest lieutenants, if not one of the numerous antichrists running around in this century?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I thought that was that from the unreleased Star Trek episode where Telly Savalas played Spock’s dad. My bad.

      • The Last American Hero

        One of the huge benefits of my Gen X childhood culture was this obsession with heros and who gets to be branded what. I also will not going to decry the fireman snatching baby twins out of a third-story inferno, but all good guys were guys that had to step in when the system failed (Magnum PI, Duke Boys, A-Team, most other shows, not to mention the Rebel Frickin Alliance) and the government was either overwhelmed by blackhats or actively in league with them. We had characters played by Michael J Fox saying that the businessman is a hero, we were taught that cops and teachers were either incompetent or evil; everyone in my childhood was was pointing out that they put their pants on one leg at a time, same as you. We also had Red Dawn and Rocky 4 reminding us how bad the Ruskies were.

        Then 9-11 happened and we raised 2 generations to bend the knee to an all knowing, all seeing, benevolent god called government. I’ll take the A-Team and Magnum PI (original flavor), and even Murder She Wrote over CSI and NCIS.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Then 9-11 happened and we raised 2 generations to bend the knee to an all knowing, all seeing, benevolent god called government.

        It was well in force before that. The examples that come to mind are seatbelt laws and 1987’s South Dakota v. Dole.

      • mindyourbusiness

        Maybe the local bakeries were out of donuts?

        The first duty of the police in this kind of situation is the same as it is for any soldier: Move to ‘the sound of the musketry’. And it took the DOJ two years and 500-odd pages to come up with the conclusion that the cops failed to do so.

      • juris imprudent

        As opposed to doing anything to actually hold someone accountable. Much justice there.

      • R C Dean

        Oh, but they did move to the sound of the musketry. And then turned around and pointed their guns at the citizenry. Some of them were essentially defending the shooter from people willing to bring his killing to an end. Hell, they even stopped one of their own from taking the shooter on.

      • mindyourbusiness

        In the name, I suppose, of protecting people from themselves.

        Cretins.

  14. pistoffnick

    Lysander Spooner was born today in 1808.

    • ron73440

      When I started reading him, I didn’t want to believe that the government was an illegitimate gang appointed by unknown people, but here we are.

      • cyto

        I remember the crazy folks who used to say that back when I was a kid in the 70s and 70s. Government is just legitimized mafia. Crazy.

        Then I grew up and got a little experience. Suddenly, reality became clear.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I’d prefer the Italian mob over the feds at least any day.

      • cyto

        Until recently, the various versions of criminal overlords limited themselves to taking about 10%. Any more than that risked armed rebellion.

      • rhywun

        What scares me are the people who grow up and completely miss the obvious.

      • cyto

        Or worse, stick their fingers in their ears and start screaming “la la la la la la” at the first hint that they might be confronted by the obvious.

        These days it takes hard work to remain an oblivious prole.

    • pistoffnick

      I believe Tonio’s dog is named after him.

  15. Rebel Scum

    “Squad” Rep. Bowman Wants $14 Trillion in Reparations

    Nah. Fuck you.

    • Spartacus

      We can just mint a bunch of million dollar coins and give one to each of our black brothers and sisters.

      • The Last American Hero

        Because if you give a mouse a cookie…

      • UnCivilServant

        It had better be laced with warfarin

  16. Rebel Scum

    Empty Nesters Holding On To Large Homes Rather Than Downsizing

    Kulaks.

    • R C Dean

      The one thing that I think will be genuinely different in the US than in other countries that have slid down the slope into totalitarianism, is that no country on earth has ever had nearly as many armed (to heavily armed) civilians as the US.

      Whether that will serve to limit the more severe kinds of overreach (which, believe it or not, we have not even begun to see), or whether it will result in internal/civil conflict of unprecedented savagery, who knows?

      • cyto

        The trailer says it is by the writer of Ex Machina, which was fantastic.

        But..

        The trailer also seems to portray journalists as heroic truth-tellers who are targeted for execution by Washington DC, which seems silly on the face of it.

        Here in reality, only whackadoodle fake journalists on the internet strive to tell the truth, while “reporters” dutifully repeat the stories they were told to cover.

      • Nephilium

        I assume you’re referring to the movie and not the comic? The problem is the only thing after Ex Machina that Garland has done that I enjoyed has been Devs. I enjoyed his take on Dredd, and 28 Days Later is a classic (28 Months Later on the other hand… and the fact they’re doing 28 Years Later…).

      • cyto

        Well, the premise of this one seems to be that Trump is a dictator and the good people of California will have to journalism the evil deplarables out of office using fighter jets.

        At least, that is what I guessed from the trailer.

        Which would be obvious to anyone who watched “The Boys”. Nazis… duh.

      • The Last American Hero

        28 Days Later lost me at the attempted rape of the women.

        It’s been a fucking month and you already found 2 chicks. Gosh. Give things a year or two and you might have run out of space in the barracks for all the women.

      • Nephilium

        Yeah. Those weren’t the good guys, and it is what spurred the glorious rampage of revenge.

      • Rebel Scum

        The premise of the movie does not match reality in any way that I can tell. As is the “Western Forces” (oooh, spooky, militant secessionists) would have the manpower to advance on DC, or would even want to if they did…

        *Note the Florida Alliance and Western Forces appear to be aligned. The naming convention for these factions is just silly.
        **I loathe the use of the term “Loyalists States.”

      • The Other Kevin

        Indiana as a “Loyalist State” does not match reality. The Republic of Indiana would have a flag with a firecracker and an AR-15 on it.

      • Swiss Servator

        …and a car with Illinois plates at a gas station, filling up on non-IL taxed gas.

      • The Other Kevin

        ^^^ This guy gets it.

      • The Last American Hero

        Why do that when all they have to do is block the food from coming into the cities?

  17. trshmnstr the terrible

    I caught something interesting in Tucker’s recent interview with Vivek. He was talking foreign policy and how the donors really influence the messaging on Ukraine towards interventionism. Then he said something along the lines of “just like they won’t let you hear the truth about 9/11, they won’t let you hear a coherent policy on Ukraine”.

    I didn’t realize he was a 9/11 truther. Did he talk about it elsewhere?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I don’t he’s a fire won’t melt steel truther, just more of a it sure was weird that they flew those Saudis put of the country almost immediately and Bldg 7 seemed kinda strange truther.

      • The Last American Hero

        ^This. It was the government running cover for the Saudi’s that got him stirred up.

    • cyto

      This theme of false flags and complicity has me intreagued.

      Kosin has a video where he goes to a pro Palestinian rally in London and several people opined that Oct 7 was actually done by the Israeli government or never happened.

      Tucker interviewed Alex Jones and had a clip of him predicting 9/11, saying he had read some intelligence and defense newsletters and white papers saying that such people were in place and that the government needed a large terror attack to justify things they wanted to do. He wasn’t claiming any special powers of deduction or clairvoyance, he simply said he read what these people wrote and took them at their word. He even quoted the WTC towers as a possible target.

      Easy to see how conspiracy theory kooks could get swept up in such an environment.

      I find this whole “they let it happen” conspiracy theory variant fascinating… because it doesn’t deny any of the presented facts, ot simply reframes them in a world where nefarious powers allow things to happen.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        If anything, I lean in the “they let it happen” direction. The main two datapoints that push me in a more conspiratorial direction are the involvement of the Bush family and the CIA’s long history in Afghanistan.

      • ron73440

        I find this whole “they let it happen” conspiracy theory variant fascinating… because it doesn’t deny any of the presented facts, ot simply reframes them in a world where nefarious powers allow things to happen.

        Like Pearl Harbor?

        I’m not sure they knew it was going to happen, but I’m not sure they didn’t know either.

      • Nephilium

        The Pearl Harbor comparison is where my mind goes too.

      • Drake

        And the RMS Lusitania. They didn’t KNOW the Germans would sink it, they just loaded it up with with a bunch ammo and American passengers and let it happen.

      • Rebel Scum

        ^

      • SDF-7

        I don’t think they knew Pearl was going to happen — they expected it to be The Philippines where they set their tripwires.

      • juris imprudent

        FDR ordered the Pacific fleet out of home port for a two week exercise – over the objections of the Navy brass – in May 1940. The fleet never returned. It may have been the most costly bit of dick waving this country ever engaged in.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Didn’t he fire the fleet commander who told him exactly why a bluff like that would not work on the Japanese?

      • juris imprudent

        That I don’t know, though it would be a dick move which means it is plausible.

      • rhywun

        a world where nefarious powers allow things to happen

        Yup, wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

        And I wouldn’t put anything past the FBI anymore.

      • cyto

        My question to any GOP candidate would be, what are you going to do about the FBI creating terror plots to then arrest the plotters they created? What are you going to do to stop the government and the media/internet companies from conspiring to control information?

        Vivek was the only one I thought had a chance of actually making it happen. (If you are firing everyone, you can get around civil servant protections)

      • Not Adahn

        Back in the day, there was bitter fighting between the LIHOP and MIHOP factions on prisonplanet.com

      • pistoffnick

        LIHOP and MIHOP

        over pancakes?

    • Pine_Tree

      I think Vivek’s quite smart enough to drop those quickies on purpose. Kindof a dog-whistle where he signals something without saying it.

      When pressed, his follow-on will not be the silly truther stuff – it’ll be about the FBI knowing about them ahead of time, or not connecting the obvious dots because of stoopid or (his most likely attack) fear of being called a racist. That truth – that the gov’t let it happen.

      • The Other Kevin

        This is what I’ve heard him say. There was a lot known ahead of time and the government is hiding that from us.

      • juris imprudent

        There is also the blatant covering for the fucking Saudi dogs.

    • Drake

      How many times have the American populace been sold on wars from some big event?
      – USS Maine explosion in Havana
      – Lusitania
      – Pearl Harbor
      – Gulf of Tonkin
      – 9/11

      Without them, could any of the ensuing wars have been sold as being in our national interests?

  18. Rebel Scum

    UK thought police.

    Civil servants in the UK, people working for the government, have been issued guidance that tells them they should show support to transgender identifying colleagues by “thinking of the person as being the gender that they want you to think of them as.”

    • R C Dean

      If everybody’s crazy, nobody’s crazy?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      It’s not enough to go along with the program, you gotta BELIEVE brother (and if you don’t you’re fucking fired).

      • juris imprudent

        That’s the totalitarian mindset.

  19. Sean

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 01/19:
    26/26 words (+3 bonus words)
    📖 In the top 9% by bonus words

    I played https://squaredle.com 01/19:
    66/66 words (+18 bonus words)
    ⏱️ In the top 42% by speed
    🔥 Solve streak: 117

    Meh.

    • SDF-7

      I had an okay morning with it.

      I played https://squaredle.com/xp 01/19:
      *26/26 words (+1 bonus word)
      🎯 Perfect accuracy

      I played https://squaredle.com 01/19:
      *66/66 words (+11 bonus words)
      🎯 In the top 4% by accuracy
      🔥 Solve streak: 193

  20. Rebel Scum

    Obviously, there are no potential negative consequences to this.

    The cost to overdraw a bank account could drop to as little as $3 under a proposal announced by the White House, the latest effort by the Biden administration to combat fees it says pose an unnecessary burden on American consumers, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck.

    The proposed change by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would potentially eliminate billions of dollars in fee revenue for the nation’s biggest banks, which were gearing up for a battle even before Wednesday’s announcement. Exactly how much revenue depends on which version of the new regulation is adopted. …

    “For too long, some banks have charged exorbitant overdraft fees — sometimes $30 or more — that often hit the most vulnerable Americans the hardest, all while banks pad their bottom lines,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “Banks call it a service — I call it exploitation.”

    You call it taxation. I call it theft. And the bank overdraft fee is not a service. It’s a penalty.

    • cyto

      You want more “unbanked” folks? This is a good way to get there.

      Maybe that is the goal

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I never thought I’d have to get a credit check to get overdraft enabled on my account, but here we are.

    • pistoffnick

      Hey Joe, what you doing with that ice cream cone in your hand?

      You know how you could best help consumers? REDUCE SPENDING AND CUT TAXES.

      You’re welcome,
      pistoffnick

      • cyto

        We ran up a trillion in debt in the last quarter. Had never done it in a whole year until recently…. and that took national emergencies. Now it is a 4 times a year thing.

        We.
        Are.
        Doomed.

    • Nephilium

      I remember the last time the feds pushed for changes in overdraft protection, and made it opt in.

      Is there plan to force more people into credit card debt?

      • R.J.

        It would help collapse the banks and move us towards Currency 2, Electric Boogaloo.

    • cyto

      Yeah, crocs definitely don’t cuddle. Not a social animal.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      It’s just a furscalebaby. *insert estrogen noises here*

      🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
      (can I express my hatred for treating pets like infants strongly enough using only emoji?)

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        “Hey Bob, remember that time you didn’t feed your croc and he went into a death spiral and tore off your arm? Good times.”
        -That guy’s best bud in ten or twenty years

      • Tres Cool

        Jugsy is annoyingly all in on “Mommy” and “Daddy” when she talks to the dogs.

        My last vet (whom I really like but is a bit far away now) would always refer to my doge as “the animal” when referring to them.
        Keeps it in perspective for me.

      • slumbrew

        I catch myself saying “go get mom” sometimes; However, while she’s adorable, I know the dog is just a dog and not a child. I would never compare the two.

      • Ownbestenemy

        It made my family a lot of money to include that type of talk…just sayin.

    • Rebel Scum

      This is extremely stupid.

  21. Rebel Scum

    There is nothing that the feds won’t ruin.

    In December, the Federal Highway Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, issued new guidance on traffic-safety messages: Signs should avoid language that uses pop-culture references or humor.

    Federal officials said funny signs can distract drivers. …

    The Federal Highway Administration lays out its position in the newest edition of a 1,100-plus page Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Flipping to page 519 finds guidance stating humorous signs “might be misunderstood or understood only by a limited segment of road users.” They could also require more time to understand, the manual said.

    And?

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Make it so goddamn boring that everyone will ignore it. That’ll work.

    • rhywun

      In other words, racist.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Those signs are abused for stupid messages. They are a distraction that causes people to slow down and read the sign causing traffic. Just give useful information. I don’t need to know that there was a kidnapping in LA when I’m in the Bay Area. I also don’t need to know that 405 in LA will be shut down next month.

  22. PieInTheSky

    The unsung hero of economic freedom

    https://capx.co/the-unsung-hero-of-economic-freedom/

    The world is falling behind on economic freedom. Even before the Covid lockdowns, citizens in most developed countries were subject to growing regulatory burdens, taller trade barriers, and higher taxes. Governments through the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 – not least in the UK – accelerated the process, and are now reluctant to reverse it despite its substantial costs. We cannot claim ignorance, because the long-run consequences of such policies are well documented by two and a half decades of international research. Had it not been for James Gwartney, we might not have had such a precise empirical understanding of the importance of economic freedom, though.

    Jim, who passed away on the 7 January at his home in Tallahassee, was born in rural Kansas in 1940 and worked on the family farm before getting an undergraduate degree in economics at Ottawa University. He later earned his PhD at the University of Washington, focusing on discrimination in US labour markets, which resulted in his first publication in the prestigious American Economic Review. After taking up a position at Florida State University in 1969, Jim would throughout the 1970s contribute important insights by providing accurate numbers documenting how substantial a problem discrimination against black Americans was in the US labour market at the time.

    In the 1980s, Jim’s work mainly turned to economic policy and development, much of it with the Cato Institute’s James Dorn. His interests led him to take part in a series of conferences in the late 1980s and early 1990s, organised by the Fraser Institute’s Michael Walker on the possibility of measuring economic freedom.

  23. Fatty Bolger

    Former NASA administrator hates Artemis, wants to party like it’s 2008

    Essentially, Griffin told the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, NASA could not afford to faff around with a complex, partly commercial plan to put humans back on the Moon, with an eye toward long-term settlement. Instead, he said, the agency must get back to the basics and get to the Moon as fast as possible. China, which has a competing lunar program, must not be allowed to beat NASA and its allies back to the Moon. The space agency, he said, needed to “restart” the Moon program and chuck out all of the commercial space nonsense.

    I guess somebody is thinking of the lobbyists and public teat-suckers after all.

    • R.J.

      It isn’t the 1960s. NASA only has union workers now, not motivated scientists. We cannot repeat that success.

      • The Last American Hero

        There was a podcast a while back on Econtalk or maybe the Federalist where someone looked at NASA and was talking about the complexities of going to Mars, but also about how not just funding but the intensity and passion of NASA and the country was different in the 60’s. Essentially, the best and brightest wanted to go work at NASA or Bell or one of the major labs and help man get into space. Now they want to be investment bankers and tech tycoons.

      • kinnath

        Inventors don’t get rich working for corporations.

      • Fatty Bolger

        I think there’ s a lot of those types of people working at SpaceX and similar companies.

    • juris imprudent

      Cold War high ground!!! Commies in space above us!@!!!!

    • The Last American Hero

      So, it could be used by insurgents against the sophisticated weapons of a world power?

  24. PieInTheSky

    The Urbanist Case for a New Community in Solano County

    https://californiaforever.com/news/the-urbanist-case-for-a-new-community-in-solano-county/

    We drafted the initiative after an extensive community engagement process with the people of Solano County. The initiative proposes a change to the general plan and zoning to allow the creation of a new community in southeastern Solano County, together with a list of 10 significant voter guarantees and community benefits. Located on approximately 18,600 acres, the community is designed to eventually accommodate up to 400,000 residents many decades from now.

  25. Mojeaux

    @Trashy, it’s good to see you posting more.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Thanks! It’s good to stop in. I try to at least hop on the links to see what’s up in the glibosphere. Hopefully I can be present a bit more often going forward.

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        @trashie And how are you and yours?
        Well I hope

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        All doing well. The girls were just showing off the results of art class to me. They do watercolor painting of prompt images that trshmomma provided. Today was pictures of them holding their kittens. The 6yo did a really good job, but I’m constantly impressed by the 3yo’s ability to actually draw relevant shapes and approximate the picture.

        We’re dogsitting our friends’ giant schnauzer puppy, which has been an adventure. At some points I have felt abusive in the amount of force I have to use to redirect him (I’m used to small dogs where a tap or a light shove is enough), but he doesn’t seem to mind. He just wants to play, all six foot four 150lbs of him.

      • slumbrew

        I think your friends are messing with you – that’s a dire wolf, not a schnauzer.

      • B.P.

        You dropped some good stuff on the tail end of yesterday’s PM Links thread.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Thanks! I almost pulled it into the evening article since I dead threaded it, but it seemed too heavy for the conversation at the time.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Reading through the comments about houses up top, I was reminded of that scene in Doctor Zhivago where he comes home to find about a hundred squatters living in the country house (something like that, it’s been a while).

    There are people living in the street while you rattle around in this giant luxurious macmansion, you hoarder!

  27. trshmnstr the terrible

    I just want to pause and bask in the glory that is the law firm named Anand and Anand.

    • juris imprudent

      Pity the poor phone receptionist.

      • rhywun

        Roseanne Roseannadanna?

  28. Rebel Scum

    I’d rather push for all out peace.

    Civilians must prepare for all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years, a top Nato military official has warned.

    While armed forces are primed for the outbreak of war, private citizens need to be ready for a conflict that would require wholesale change in their lives, Adml Rob Bauer said on Thursday.

    Large numbers of civilians will need to be mobilised in case of the outbreak of war and governments should put in place systems to manage the process, Adml Bauer told reporters after a meeting of Nato defence chiefs in Brussels.

    “We have to realise it’s not a given that we are in peace. And that’s why we [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia.

    “But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.”

    The role of the people is to be incinerated in a nuclear hellfire, I suppose.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Ah, a Dutch admiral. Hey USA, imma hold your coat while you two fight. If you have any control over this stuff Geert make sure this guy is included with your housecleaning.

    • Ownbestenemy

      that would require wholesale change in their lives

      Translation: Our other means of forcing the populace to bend to our will are not going as planned.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Send camo tarps

    With nowhere else to turn, Palestinians are now living in tents or makeshift shelters made of wood beams and sheets of nylon. And the swelling demand for shelters and the lack of supply has sent prices for materials skyrocketing.

    Satellite imagery provided to NPR by the company Planet shows the rapid expansion of the tent camps since mid-December.

    ——-

    Before the war, tents in Gaza were mainly used for recreation, such as family gatherings at the beach. A high-quality tent might have cost 200 shekels, or about $50.

    This month, a small tent cost Abu Salah 700 shekels, or about $185, he said. That’s cheap, he added: People occupying nearby shelters paid double, or more.

    “Opportunists are making use of this war. They hope this war continues so they can keep making money,” Abu Salah said.

    War profiteers!

    Won’t you give generously to the Red Cross?

    • The Other Kevin

      Whatever they do, they shouldn’t go to Bass Pro to buy those tents or they might end up on a list.

    • rhywun

      Opportunists are making use of this war

      But enough about Hamas and their billionaire leaders in Qatar.

    • creech

      Paradise compared to the living conditions of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Reap the fruits of letting your government invade other countries, kill, and commit criminal acts. That goes for Americans, too, who are horrified when inflation hits or hordes cross the border or government dick gets poked into some foreign hornet’s nest.

    • Fourscore

      I gave all my money to those folks providing ready made Israeli bomb shelters.

  30. LCDR_Fish

    Quick question – saw some comments about these books on Twitter- anyone read the “299 days” series? Sounds like it’s a bit more prepper focused – but havent seen it mentioned most of the places I hang out online.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Before the war, nearly six in 10 Palestinians were poor, and 80% were already dependent on aid, according to the World Bank. Unemployment stood at 45%. The average daily income was only $13 in 2022, the State Department reported.

    A socialist paradise.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Believe all men. Why would you need an affidavit? Was there some court procedure or legal matter about all this?

      • Drake

        The divorce case for one of the guys, for whatever that’s worth.

  32. Mojeaux

    Since my ebook formatting is all caught up for the moment, I only do an evening shift on my medical transcription, I don’t really want to stitch, doing housework is out of the question, and I don’t have all my 1099s yet, I’ve been struggling to find something to do (my therapist says I’m struggling to find a purpose). Anyway, I woke up today realizing that I can now do those admin things for my business that I’ve been putting off for 15 years. Like…

    …build a client database. No, I don’t have one. My database right now consists of a file tree and the file explorer search bar. I’ve never been much interested in the granular details because I had work to do, dammit! I’m not even curious now, but it would be nice to have. Further, I need to really dig into Excel (and Access/SQL some time later), so I’ll take this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

    My medical transcriptioning uses an Excel spreadsheet for keeping track of production, and it is a marvel. A wonder. Dare I say, a wonder of wonders. It’s got not just formulas, but macros! That’s what I want to learn. I’m starting with free tutorials on YouTube. I may move up to paid courses in a while.

    If anybody has any Excel bits of wisdom, please feel free.

    • Gender Traitor

      Excel is awesomely awesome! 🥰 I’m afraid I haven’t ever learned macros or pivot tables, but I HAVE successfully set up nested IF function formulas on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, it’s been infrequently enough that I kinda have to relearn the process each time. 🙄

      • Mojeaux

        I’m starting at the beginning (already learned a couple of handy tricks, though), and some of it overlaps Word and I know Word like the back of my hand. Sorta. Sometimes it makes a liar of me.

      • pistoffnick

        Pivot tables and Vlookup are very useful

  33. B.P.

    “Here Are The Donors Funding The Shadow Campaign To Stop Trump’s Second Term Before It Even Begins”

    A bunch of organizations with “democracy” in the title (Democracy Forward, Democracy Fund, etc.) are coordinating to thwart the agenda of a duly elected president. Meanwhile, an entire apparatus pumps out a constant stream of “end of democracy” while simultaneously trying to ensure through lawfare that you’ll never have the opportunity to vote for a guy. They’ll get back to that whole sacred democracy thing once the dread demon has passed. Promise.

    • creech

      Most of these organizations are ginned up to raise money and provide cushy salaries and consulting fees for party operatives.
      I saw it all the time in the 1960s-70s conservative movement. Probably goes for libertarian orgs too. How much of money donated to Libertarian Party actually goes for grass roots organizational and advocacy stuff?

    • The Other Kevin

      I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. They called milquetoast choirboy Mitt Romney “literally Hitler”. There is no such thing as de-escalation with these people.

    • Mojeaux

      Politician gonna politick.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Trump would never.

    • creech

      Sexy escapades seem fitting for a successor to Kamala.

    • rhywun

      I see what you did there.

    • B.P.

      The most unbelievable part of that story is that a couple of actual flesh-and-blood voters wanted a picture with Nikki.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    The Devil in the dock

    Trump’s confrontational stance is strategic: What better way to show contempt than to be held in it? But his frustration with the proceedings appears genuine. In the sealed bubble of Judge Kaplan’s courtroom — where cameras, computers, and phones are banned — Trump has finally encountered an environment he cannot control. He can’t even argue his innocence. A jury in a civil trial last year, which Trump chose not to attend, found in Carroll’s favor when it came to her claim of sexual assault. This second trial is about tallying up damages for defamatory attacks Trump lobbed at Carroll from the White House. Judge Kaplan, citing the earlier verdict, has ruled that the truth has been “conclusively established” that Trump “sexually abused — indeed, raped” Carroll, and then smeared her by questioning her credibility. Trump can protest all he wants in the outside world, but inside court, in the eyes of the law, he is guilty.

    The process is so much more streamlined when operating under an assumption of guilt. Why waste time listening to his side of the story? The facts are clear. Off with his head.

    • Rebel Scum

      inside court, in the eyes of the law, he is guilty.

      In the eyes of a biased judge, you mean.

    • ron73440

      Are there any of these people that aren’t pieces of shit?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Uh-huh.

    • kinnath

      More black on black violence.

    • slumbrew

      How dare the wife complain about her cheating husband. Doesn’t she know Our Democracy™ is at stake?!

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Jubilee!

    The Biden administration announced Friday it would forgive $4.9 billion in student debt for 73,600 borrowers.

    The relief is a result of the U.S. Department of Education’s fixes to its income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

    The Biden-Harris Administration has worked relentlessly to fix our country’s broken student loan system and address the needless hurdles and administrative inaccuracies that, in the past, kept borrowers from getting the student debt forgiveness they deserved,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.

    With friends like you, who needs enemies?

    • slumbrew

      How do you do, fellow chumps?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        I’m sure we qualify for a refund, just explain that we did the responsible thing and lived within our means until we payed them off per the agreement to get them in the first place and they’ll drop a check in the mail.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I feel like such a chump for paying them back. Won’t make that mistake again…