343 Comments

  1. AlexinCT

    What happened to this place? It looks all different!

    • UnCivilServant

      They remodelled to improve NSA access.

      • AlexinCT

        The talent there is so low quality now because of DEI they needed to make it easy enough for uneducated dunces with college degrees to be able to read it?

    • SDF-7

      I like the font or whatever makes it look more crisp. And it may just be me — but there seems to be too much white space / comments are too large (maybe it is overriding my zoom settings in Firefox, currently showing 67% which keeps things compact enough to not feel like bloat normally). I’m sure WebDom is aware of such things and by no means should this be taken as bitching… (much obliged for the transition and understand it was needed on the back end), just first impressions.

      Also miss the “Reply” being under the comment instead of upper right. I’ll get used to it like most changes (If I were a rabid “Embrace Change!” person I likely wouldn’t lean conservative, now would I? 😉 )

      • juris imprudent

        Yeah, big difference between change because the designer wanted his/her fingerprints on it and they think it is cool versus this old thing was busted and barely creaking along.

      • mindyourbusiness

        Kudos to WebDom for the improvements on the site. Many thanks.

      • AlexinCT

        You all would totally have a point if Israel didn’t have a very effective/successful history of agents in country sabotaging Iranian hardware of all kinds for decades.

      • SDF-7

        Israel was sabotaging the old site engine?

        The More You Know(tm) indeed…

        😉

  2. UnCivilServant

    Iranian President Raisi Confirmed Dead in Helicopter Crash

    I’m not particularly sad.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      It won’t make much of a difference. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

      • UnCivilServant

        I mean, the Ayatollah is still around, so I don’t expect any change unless the Iranians finally get fed up enough to start stringing them from lampposts.

      • AlexinCT

        Iran doesn’t have both an army and a revolutionary guard for some stupid reason. The first is to give them bodies to sacrifice if there is a conflict the leadership starts. The guards are to protect the mullahs and the government from their own people primarily, and to recruit and train terrorists. The Iranian peoples have a real high hill to climb to get these people…

      • R.J.

        Correct. The Ayatollah will appoint a new president.

    • Not Adahn

      I’m really surprised I haven’t heard news reports blaming (((them.)))

      Maybe Raisi used the same aircraft maintenance company that Wagner Group does?

      • Nephilium

        Well it was blamed on the weather, and you know who controls the weather, right?

      • Not Adahn

        Have you noticed that Space Lazer Corp never answers their phones on Saturday?

      • SDF-7

        a) Interesting… the reply nesting is only about 2 levels down now?

        b) Dangnabbit… really should have at least read the replies to the comment before replying….

        c) What — they can’t use the timers or whatnot {{{folks}}} use for their ovens with the pre-prepped meals? Silly Space Lazer Corps….

    • R C Dean

      The only good mullah is a dead mullah, so I guess the more good mullahs the better.

    • SDF-7

      I didn’t go back and read what y’all said on this over the weekend, so apologies for redundancy — but given my initial thought was “Wonder if Israel pulled that one off and they’re covering up?”, I’m sure it will be an easy sell that {{{THEY}}} did it for propaganda.

      And no — I’m sure it is a moral failing for me as a Christian… but I don’t find myself all that upset, really.

  3. robodruid

    Test Snark.
    Steve Smith update server?

    • The Gunslinger

      I’m fairly certain you’ll know when STEVE SMITH begins “updating your server”.

    • juris imprudent

      STEVE SMITH SMART ENOUGH ‘SQUATCH NOT TO MESS WITH WEBDOM.

      • SDF-7

        STEVE SMITH BUSY BLOCKING ALL THE PORTS IN YOUR FIREWALL….

  4. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Power Plants: It’s your patriotic duty as an American to freeze in the winter/boil in the summer for a reason that’s completely unnecessary. Now break out your wallet to pay for that expensive green energy (if you can get it) and salute that flag.

    • bacon-magic

      Making people physically uncomfortable is a good way to put the kabash on that shit.

  5. AlexinCT

    Iranian President Raisi Confirmed Dead in Helicopter Crash

    Iran does have someone they have been really pissing off recently that might have wanted to send a clear message…

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Or…it was foggy and helicopters are pretty dangerous on a good day. Sometimes accidents just happen.

      • juris imprudent

        Why let a simple and obvious explanation stand in the way of wild imagination?

      • Not Adahn

        That explanation is far less entertaining than the alternatives. So by Goldthwaite’s Razor, it’s not the one worth discussing.

      • AlexinCT

        Since this new site setup put my comment elsewhere a repost:

        You all would totally have a point if Israel didn’t have a very effective/successful history of agents in country sabotaging Iranian hardware of all kinds for decades.

      • DrOtto

        Kobe nods in agreement.

  6. Evan from Evansville

    re the Iranian President: Uh-huh. This is a dastardly addition to the MIC/WWIII ‘strategy’ for battlegrounds. Israel, Hamas/’Palestine,’ Iran, The Levant: Fucking everyone hates each other and has for thousands of years. Outside? No one really cares about the lives of those therein.

    Sounds like a fun place to warbomb for many more decades!

  7. Not Adahn

    “You all brung me to the dance,” Biden told supporters at the tea room, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

    So homey! Such a common touch! A real representative of the people! And he ain’t no-ways tahred! You can tell because he keeps a bottle of hot sauce in his pocket.

    • Fourscore

      Pretty well hits all bases.

      Could have used an “Off Da” and a hot dish menu and resurrected his chances in Flyover Country

      • Pope Jimbo

        If Biden could eat an entire serving of lutefisk without gagging, I might vote for him.

        Of course, he’d probably claim that the cannibals preserved his uncle by first soaking him in lye. Basically they made him unclefisk.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        Wouldn’t that be luteuncle?

    • rhywun

      Was just reading about his commencement speech.

      He told these aspiring leaders that American democracy has failed them. “What is democracy if black men are being killed in the street . . . when a trail of broken promises still leaves black communities behind . . . if you have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot?” he asked.

      He imagined a black man who “loves his country even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure.”

      What a disgraceful, lying sack of shit he is.

      • Nephilium

        And how many of those laws and regulations that have been hurting the black communities were voted on and supported strongly by Biden himself?

      • SDF-7

        Yup… comparing the relative racial equity before and after the Great Society programs geared up to tear society (especially African American society) apart seems pertinent here.

      • juris imprudent

        INTENTIONS!!! WE HAD GOOD INTENTIONS. THAT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR US! /progs

      • SDF-7

        Yeah… LBJ with his “… for 100 years” was the epitome of good will there, proggies…

      • cavalier973

        He should do something about the people that are shooting black men in the streets.

      • WTF

        He should do something about the people that are shooting black men in the streets.

        Well, that’s mostly other black men, sooo……

      • juris imprudent

        Well, that’s mostly other black men

        Only time in my life that I unqualifiedly agreed with Jesse Jackson.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        What is democracy if black men are being killed in the street

        I mean, they voted for you right?

      • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

        And who made those promises to black people that have been broken?

      • The Other Kevin

        America sounds like a terrible place. If only we had a president who could do something to improve things.

        This guy is literally ripping the country he’s been in charge of for three years.

  8. SDF-7

    Trump Trial Coming to a Close as Trump Testimony Seems Unlikely

    I would expect Defense Lawyer 101 is “Never put your client on the stand unless you absolutely have to.”, and it sure seems like the Prosecution didn’t make much of a case (that said – the True Blue Jury will doubtless return their Ham Sandwich Guilty verdict regardless), so no need.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      So will it be guilty or a hung jury? Considering the venue a not guilty is unfortunately out of the question.

      • Not Adahn

        Guilty.

        The only thing interesting will be how extremely question-begging the jury instructions will be.

      • juris imprudent

        I would think Merchan would deliver a directed verdict before even giving to the jury – but only if impeachment and removal from the bar were credible threats in NY.

      • SDF-7

        I’m assuming Guilty. The fix firmly appears to be in with the Judge and I have to assume that held during jury selection — so all of this was just to drag out any dirty laundry they thought would smear him so it could be “breathlessly reported as breaking news”. The sentence is ready, the verdict merely needs to be formalized.

      • R C Dean

        I’m betting guilty. The fix has been in on this one the whole time. It’ll get thrown out on appeal, but nobody cares about that. They’ll have their “CONVICTED FELON” headlines, the GOPers will have something they can hang trying to get him off the ticket on, the Donks will have something they can hang keeping him off the ballot on. Everybody Who Matters is happy, and isn’t that what really counts?

      • Nephilium

        NA:

        Another piece saying how the prosecution may have weakened their own case.

      • Not Adahn

        How I see it, Cohen’s testimony only satisfied half the equation beyond a reasonable doubt.

        Holy fuckballs. Cohen can’t establish his own name beyond a reasonable doubt. If he shows ID, I’ll need to see the chain of custody on it.

      • Cunctator

        —“So will it be guilty or a hung jury?”—

        My money is on a hung jury. Even after all of the anti-Trump bullshit from the last seven years, I still refuse to believe that not even one of the jurors will see through this and vote to acquit. If it is anything, but a hung jury (there will not be an acquittal), I fear that our justice system is lost.

      • WTF

        Spoiler: our justice system is lost.

      • R C Dean

        After watching DC juries gleefully convict J6ers of whatever grossly inflated charges the DOJ throws at them, I think a NYC jury will have no problem convicting Trump, even after that shitshow of a trial.

        Yeah, our legal (not justice) system is hot garbage. It’s not broken, it’s doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

      • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

        I am with ‘Tator on this: Hung Jury. He would be found guilty if there was even a smidgeon of provable damage, but, alas.

  9. rhywun

    America at Higher Blackout Risk as EPA Aims to Shut down More Power Plants

    Good. The sooner Americans realize the truth about “green” fantasies, the faster we can pass back to reality on the other side of the current madness.

    • Fourscore

      Houston is learning that distribution counts as much as production

  10. SDF-7

    Skyrocketing National Debt Spark Concerns About Threat to the Economy, Markets

    Insert the “Welcome to the party pal!” Die Hard meme….

    • Fourscore

      A little late to the party, Pal.

      Things we learned many, many years ago

    • Nephilium

      Huh. I would have guessed more talk about the badthink that Butker’s commencement speech had in it.

      • juris imprudent

        NPR has to occasionally do a bit of programming for the men who listen.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        JI, men don’t listen to NPR.

    • DrOtto

      I can’t believe it wasn’t about pickleball.

      • EvilSheldon

        Pickleball is for spaghetti-armed hipster kids who pound PBRs after the game. They don’t listen to NPR except maybe – *maybe* – for the Tiny Desk concerts.

        Cricket is for people who want to sound European and sophisticated without putting any real effort into it – basically NPR’s core audience.

      • Gender Traitor

        Must not be Pledge (Beg-athon) Week.

      • juris imprudent

        Cricket is for people who want to sound EuropeanEnglish

        Never mind the irony that it is wildly more popular in South Asia. You want to sound European, you talk football (not soccer).

      • Not Adahn

        Cricket > Baseball.

      • EvilSheldon

        English, European, in the present context it’s the same difference.

        You’re not kidding about South Asia though. Back in my college days, the Desi kids on my floor were constantly practicing cricket pitches in the dorm courtyard (when they weren’t doing it in the hallways outside my room…)

      • UnCivilServant

        The only person I know who cares about Cricket is a consultant from India who’s the team captain for some local team mostly made up of other south asians.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Pickleball is for spaghetti-armed hipster kids who pound PBRs after the game.

        Wut. Pickleball is for competitive boomers.

      • Not Adahn

        When I was in Austin, there was an Indian restaurant off of Parmer that brought in the Cricketers.

      • ZWAK came for the two-fisted tentacle-fighting, stayed for the crushing existential nihilism.

        “Cricket > Baseball.”

        As much as I dig south Asian chicks, I have never seen you be so wrong in all my life.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        Dude, cricket is for non resident Indians.

        You are correct about pickle ball, but it is fun and very is beer.

  11. SDF-7

    This Graph on the Economy Could Be the Most Damaging for Biden

    Hmmm… 1) I’m surprised net worth is overall positive (assuming it is average across the country). I expect the big investment income type households are making bank with the Street going nuts and all — but everyone else isn’t seeing as much. 2) I expect what most of Middle and lower America is seeing is fairly ephemeral. 401k increases can be wiped out qiuckly on a stock turn (that all the Pelosi-class folks will mysteriously re-allocate their investments right before, no doubt). And I’d bet most of it is housing equity… and real estate screams Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble right now.

    I’m pretty sure my actual net worth is down due to inflation outpacing things… but then again, I suck at money management really.

    • Fourscore

      I can’t believe how much my insurance tabs are going up this year, if I’m reading my bills properly. As inflation increases the ‘value’ of my house so does it increase the costs of any problem repairs. Another impediment to home ownership/home acquisition.

      • R.J.

        Yep. I hate it. Also energy costs go up so if you house isn’t well insulated you go bankrupt.

      • SDF-7

        Zee? You should own nothink, ja? Be happy und eat ze bugs!

  12. Drake

    Fox News wants me to sign in to their site? That’s funny.

    • AlexinCT

      They have that streaming service that is pay-per-view, don’t they – theirs is still up after a few years unlike CNN’s site which had went belly up in less than a month – and that might be where the story links to…

      • R.J.

        I’m with Drake. Not signing in. The good news is, it’s a sign that FOX is having to compete with hundreds of smaller sites for cash. A battle they will lose, as the talent is not on their side.

      • AlexinCT

        I don’t go to Fox at all unless someone links, and the only time I have been challenged to log in was when sent to the pay-per-view site. I feel compelled to share that by default I never – ever – log into any site other than this one (and some others where I only log in when I absolutely need to), because I have enough spam coming in already. And if I am forced to sign up, I better have the option to say I want ZERO communications from the site or else.

      • Drake

        I assumed that crashed when they pulled Tucker of the air.

    • Suthenboy

      If I gave my email and created a password and screen name for every site that demands one it would be a full time job managing all of that.
      I do a lot of disappearing of screens and pronouncements of ‘fuck off’ these days.
      The internet is nearly useless because of the oceans of grifters out there.

      • juris imprudent

        So much for the old conceit about information wants to be free.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Sign into Fox News and give them info that’ll help them spam me to death? Hell to the no.

    • Spudalicious

      You can hit reader view and bypass that screen.

  13. SDF-7

    America at Higher Blackout Risk as EPA Aims to Shut down More Power Plants

    I said it before recently — but the PPP Administrations love of all this California regulatory state is more than enough reason that they should be looking at 20% support tops. It isn’t like it isn’t obvious how this state has been run 6 feet under at this point — and that they’re trying to bring all that national.

    • Suthenboy

      Generally speaking western culture as it exists in the US (flyover country) is resistant to authoritarianism. Thus the authoritarians are openly waging war on western culture. Key to that is destroying any existing prosperity and the possibility of future wealth creation.
      It is simple really.

      I still shake my head when I think of Dr. Von Evil proclaiming that the biggest threat to the enslavement of mankind is individuals having their own ideas. That had to be some kind of performance art, right?

      • juris imprudent

        Not performance art, there are people that believe that to the bone. This goes back to Rousseau (even further really, back to Plato) and on to Marx (and the non-Marx socialists) right on through to the birth of fascism. The good of the many outweigh the needs of the few. It is only evil from our perspective.

      • DrOtto

        Uh, covid proved otherwise.

      • Suthenboy

        Dr. Otto: I meant that in a relative sense.

      • The Last American Hero

        2020-2021 called. The sheeple want their schooling and economy back.

  14. Sean

    The comments don’t get marked as read when reloading the page?

    • Not Adahn

      They do for me.

      • Sean

        They were doing it on the last thread for me, but not now.

        *shrug*

      • Sean

        I disabled Tophat and Monocle Eyepiece. All better now.

  15. Suthenboy

    The Dem’s impeachment of Trump, should he win, is already in the works. After the election it will just need a couple of signatures.
    God, I hate the useless, spineless fucking R’s.

    • AlexinCT

      At this point their options are to assassinate him, or to basically make his coming administration’s presidency unable to function by all out sabotage. From what I am seeing they are currently settled on the later, since they know they are not going to pull of the first and claim it was a some rogue agent or he suicided himself, so they are prepping for the later, with the first option still in play, if he manages to still be effective in any way that scares them…

      • cavalier973

        It’s possible they are scared that if he is assassinated, then his supporters will throw caution to the wind and start retaliating in kind, relentlessly.

      • juris imprudent

        His administration will run much as the last one did, which is largely indistinguishable from the administration that preceded it. Our real problem is Congress and who the idiot voters keep sending there.

      • AlexinCT

        His administration will run much as the last one did, which is largely indistinguishable from the administration that preceded it.

        Gonna call you out on this because it is inaccurate as shit.

        Obama told people to get used to high energy prices, low/slow GDP growth of 1% or 2% max, and more intrusive and abusive government. Trump, despite being massively hamstrung by the corruptocracy’s criminality during his administration, managed to prove those Obama truisms were not just inaccurate, but lies told by the people that created those barriers because they believed it was more important for government to gatekeep winners & losers, than to have cheap energy, high GDP growth, and less government pain on the people’s shoulders.

        That alone makes Trump’s administration completely different than any previous than his other than that of Ronald Reagan. You can keep refusing to see that only if you have an agenda.

      • Homple

        “… or to basically make his coming administration’s presidency unable to function by all out sabotage.”

        They did that last time, with lots of help from the Republicans, and it worked pretty well.

      • EvilSheldon

        “…to basically make his coming administration’s presidency unable to function by all out sabotage.”

        You mean, exactly what they did for his last term?

        But it’ll be different this time. Trump has clearly learned some executive skills in the last four years, as opposed to doubling down on the nickname game and otherwise doing everything the same way as 2016…

      • R C Dean

        “make his coming administration’s presidency unable to function by all out sabotage”

        Just like his first term, then.

      • juris imprudent

        Call me out as much as you want, as far as I see, you have way too much belief in the power of govt; that it is competent to do all of the things you believe it does – which is your agenda. Twenty fucking years on the inside leads me to believe that the bad effects aren’t really intentional, just the result of huge bureaucracies grinding along. They are immune to being right or wrong, they simply are.

      • juris imprudent

        Since we don’t have edit still…

        From W to Obama to Trump – you saw NO difference in the day to day, or in the change from one to another.

      • AlexinCT

        So for those of you commenting that the deep state will sabotage Trump again, is your point that they did that to Trump, but wouldn’t be able to do so to some other person you prefer? The only elected official that wouldn’t be sabotaged by the corruptocracy would be amongst the ones they approved of (because they control them). Anyone else will face the same. and I bet most would be far less effective than trump was despite the sabotage.

      • AlexinCT

        Call me out as much as you want, as far as I see, you have way too much belief in the power of govt; that it is competent to do all of the things you believe it does – which is your agenda.

        Seriously?

        If this is what you believe I believe, really believe, because at this point I believe you are strawmanning me, the problem is you.

        I like Trump precisely because I hope he – to steal a line from Al Pacino’s character in “Sent of a Woman” – will take a flamethrower to the place. Nobody else will.

      • DrOtto

        One thing that seemed to happen effectively under Trump was energy independence. I remember it well. Maybe it wasn’t Trump, but it sure seemed like it. Also, energy production is the one thing that seems to have the biggest trickle down effect on almost everything else that affects day to day personal economies, such as groceries.

      • SDF-7

        I see only 3 scenarios.

        1) The President is someone the Deep State approves of (or can control, see PPP). They’ll happily work together and enlarge their fiefdoms / regulatory state / power.

        2) The President is someone they don’t like (OMB). They’ll ignore his directives and continue attempting to enlarge their fiefdoms whenever someone is not looking at them. From time to time, some regulation will be struck down and they’ll scramble to try to reinstate it. The DOJ will fail to defend policies they disagree with when judge shopping brings them down. Neutral growth most likely, some small contraction if we’re lucky. I disagree with JI in that while the day-to-day “in the trenches” may be the same, at the high levels there’d be a difference in the scramble to try to impose policy / fight policy you don’t see in (1).

        3) I get a starship and we get a Millei type and a Congress to match that guts the whole bloated bullshit thing. The Deep State whines into their pension funded beer. Wholly improbable, but would be about the only thing that might save the country. Sigh.

      • juris imprudent

        will take a flamethrower to the place

        What from his first 4 years makes you think that? He proved utterly incapable of enforcing his will – even when he was RIGHT. You think for one minute he admits that he didn’t know how to run it – even to himself?

      • Fourscore

        Cheer up, things could be worse. So I cheered up and sure enough…

      • AlexinCT

        What from his first 4 years makes you think that?

        Is that the only option? Because me, I am focused on the fact that he learned the deep state was the enemy from the last 8 years, and it is now time for revenge.

        He proved utterly incapable of enforcing his will – even when he was RIGHT.

        So your point is that we should give up then? Because if your argument is that Trump can’t/won’t but someone else will, you are demented.

        You think for one minute he admits that he didn’t know how to run it – even to himself?

        I think he wants payback. And so do I.

      • juris imprudent

        SDF, we’re not that far apart. The day to day, or status quo, is what the bureaucracy wants – it doesn’t even really like wild expansion, just nice and steady. And yes of course (1) is from that perspective, ideal. (2) is simply the realization (in those ranks) that they’ll be around after 4 years and the political appointees won’t be. Without a huge shake-up in Congress – nothing substantial is going to change.

        Repeal the Civil Service Act, then we can talk about how a single administration can radically reform the bureaucracy.

      • juris imprudent

        Alex, you ain’t getting payback. I can see voting for Trump for a number of reasons – just not for what you expect (or hope for).

      • AlexinCT

        Alex, you ain’t getting payback. I can see voting for Trump for a number of reasons – just not for what you expect (or hope for).

        Well, I am gonna hold on to that dream, because my other one where D.C. gets nuked and the country finally gets a chance, seems to again be far away and gone.

      • juris imprudent

        Try shitting in the other hand.

      • AlexinCT

        Try shitting in the other hand.

        If it is enough to get the usual suspects in the corruptocracy’s panties in a bunch, I will consider it a win. Especially since your contention is that there is no other option.

      • juris imprudent

        My contention is the option that will be effective requires more than one vote for President and four years. Thinking that you will get anything close to what you want from that is magical thinking, and by god there is a shitload of that in this country.

      • AlexinCT

        My contention is the option that will be effective requires more than one vote for President and four years. Thinking that you will get anything close to what you want from that is magical thinking, and by god there is a shitload of that in this country.

        OK, I ask again why you think I believe Trump will solve that in 4 years. I think Trump is necessary to expose more of the corruptocracy to the point they are no longer able to keep giving us choices they want going forward or rigging elections. We will have to follow up with more people willing to take on the deep state to break it (I am a fan of Vivek next). And odds are none of it will happen because the machine won’t just accept that.

        What I am certain of is that without Trump getting a chance to cause some damage, we are done.

      • juris imprudent

        OK, I ask again why you think I believe Trump will solve that in 4 years.

        “I think he wants payback. And so do I.”

        Without changes in Congress, you aren’t getting anything but petty temper tantrums, and I’ll admit – Trump is a champ at that.

      • The Other Kevin

        “What from his first 4 years makes you think that?”

        Nothing. But if there is a difference this time, it will be due to the people he surrounds himself with. We’ll see if he’s learned anything. Right now I’m somewhat hopeful, because there have been a few times where he’s made an uncharacteristically good move (i.e. abortion). Someone is giving him good advice.

  16. Vida Hobo

    The report outlines 112 measures that Congress and federal agencies could take to save money and improve government services.

    Bold assumption there that either fiscal restraint or providing any real service are goals of any federal agency.

    • AlexinCT

      How about we get rid of government services nobody needs by getting rid of the requirements that make those services needed?

      • Vida Hobo

        Now that’s just crazy talk. Those useless requirements and services make may wealthy and cement power for our rulers. At this point I’d settle for classier rulers.

      • Suthenboy

        This X 1000
        In talking about quality of life economy wise the standards are cherry picked.
        No one ever includes all of the taxes and mandated by law expenses such as insurance, compliance with regs, etc.
        In the end what percentage of one’s income is really discretionary? Single digits at best.

    • AlexinCT

      This is not a victory unless the state is forced to not only repay their legal fees and business losses, but a high penalty to dissuade them from doing this shit again….

      I keep hearing people say “The defendant was vindicated by the legal system/process in the end, so it works.”, but when the system abuses seem to always come from government entities that then cave in after causing massive financial losses to their victims, that feels so pyrrhic to me that it might as well be a loss.

      • cavalier973

        The government will keep charging the same guy with the same crime, because it can. I saw what happened with the cake maker in Colorado.

      • Cunctator

        —“This is not a victory unless the state is forced to not only repay their legal fees and business losses, but a high penalty to dissuade them from doing this shit again….”—

        As is so often said, the process is the punishment.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Except the money won’t come from the pockets of the govt scum that initiated all of this. It will be the tax payers. Who won’t remember this on election day.

      • Fourscore

        Where does the state get its money? I always forget…

      • AlexinCT

        Except the money won’t come from the pockets of the govt scum that initiated all of this. It will be the tax payers. Who won’t remember this on election day.

        I feel really sorry for those that knew better, your holiness (and I am living this myself right now), but the only way people stop voting for luxury beliefs is when it rapes them personally. Things have to get bad. Real bad. Before they get better.

    • WTF

      Unfortunately Murphy will face no consequences for his illegal and unconstitutional actions.

    • DEG

      Good.

      I donated to their GoFundMe. I’ve used that gym and bought one of their t-shirts. That gym is a good place.

  17. Not Adahn

    Question: dafuq is up with the Drumpf courtroom artist? Nepotism or DEI? You could find better artists selling caricatures on streetcorners nearby.

    • UnCivilServant

      Did they pass the civil service exam for court reporting?

      I think not.

    • SDF-7

      Being New York, my bet would be nepotism. (I keep remembering some article from a couple of years back where an election mismanagement investigation found that like 90% of the people in a county were all relatives of some politico….)

      • SDF-7

        Dangnabbit that was unclear — 90% of the people in a county *working on the election* (i.e. board, poll staff, etc.). Not that the entire county was inbred (insert your favorite state jokes here as you wish…. I like Mississippi and Alabama and probably would like West Virginia, so I’m not going to!)

      • Suthenboy

        SDF-7:
        Today the worst places for that are Maine, up-state NY, and Ohio.

        I made a joke about it once and my grandfather said “Back then if you wanted a wife you had to choose someone within half-a day’s horse ride. It was that way everywhere but the cities.”

        Makes sense.

    • R C Dean

      I thought hiring a cartoonist for a clown show was actually on point.

      • Suthenboy

        If they are going to put on a circus they could at least get decent clowns. Geez. That is across the board, from the Judge, Prosecutor on down to the artist.

  18. EvilSheldon

    Hey, I like what you’ve done with the place!

    • Not Adahn

      I know Pie likes real estate.

    • Pope Jimbo

      He should hang a neon sign on the outside that says “Today’s Number is …”

      • Not Adahn

        The mildew is a nice touch.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    We need more demand for electricity, so the grid will grow. That’s how science works.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    But incomes are rising faster than prices. Ask anybody.

  21. cavalier973

    It’s as likely that the CIA took out President Iran-guy. They’re the ones who did it before.

    • AlexinCT

      Reality is that while this could be an accident – Iran’s military gear/civilian has suffered from shoddy upkeep, so it could happen – or that it was one of the countries Iran has pissed off (Israel, US, Saudi Arabia, and so forth) getting payback, it could just as easily be the Ayatollah ridding himself of this guy too.

    • Fatty Bolger

      To what end, though? He’ll just be replaced with another hard-liner that the regime approves.

      • R.J.

        That’s why I think it really was an accident.

      • cavalier973

        Political instability is always a good thing.

      • The Other Kevin

        I think it was an accident, or maybe something internal. If Israel or anyone else did it, that would guarantee a bigger regional war. Why would anyone do that?

      • cavalier973

        So that there can be a larger regional war.

    • Fourscore

      I identify as the second cat.

    • slumbrew

      That first one is damn impressive

  22. PieInTheSky

    something changed. I am fearful of change.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    Journalism

    The lawsuit challenged a rule finalized last month that Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration said would affect more than 23,000 unlicensed dealers and tens of thousands of gun sales annually by closing the “gun show loophole.”
    Under the rule, those selling weapons at gun shows, other venues and over the internet are subject to the same requirements as gun stores to check the backgrounds of potential buyers.

    Kacsmaryk in his ruling agreed with the plaintiffs that the rule’s provisions contradicted the text of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a 2022 law that broadened the category of gun sellers required to obtain licenses.
    He faulted the rule for not allowing people who buy or sell firearms for personal protection from being considered eligible for a statutory exemption to the licensing requirement for people who buy or sell guns for a “personal collection.”

    Kacsmaryk said that resulted in “the absurdity that the statute’s safe harbor provision provides no safe harbor at all for the majority of gun owners.”

    Could somebody explain this gibberish?

    • PieInTheSky

      no one needs gun shows.

    • Not Adahn

      1. Law would require non-FFLs to run a NICS on people who buy from them.

      2. Law forbids non-FFLs from accessing NICS.

      3. Profit!

      • PieInTheSky

        Northern Ireland Civil Service?

    • Suthenboy

      Every action preventing people from arming themselves save those depriving people of that right via due process (dangerous felony conviction or involuntary commitment) are not laws but crimes committed by the state. Period.
      Liscensing? Kiss my ass.

      A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.[

      “Who, you ask, are the militia? They are the body of the people, every person capable of bearing arms.” – George Mason, co-author of the second amendment.
      The authors of the constitution expounded endlessly on the meaning of the text they wrote. We dont have to ask some wanna-be dictators today what it means, we can simply ask the authors.

      • Cunctator

        —“Every action preventing people from arming themselves save those depriving people of that right via due process (dangerous felony conviction or involuntary commitment) are not laws but crimes committed by the state. Period.”—

        I agree completely. Part of the problem is the word “regulated’. Progs now assume that regulated means controlled. In the original sense at the time of the passing of the Bill of Rights, in reference to the army, “regulated” meant trained and equipped, as there was no provision for a standing army. When I was in Army, regular army meant those who had enlisted for a full term, and these soldiers were accounted for separately from Nation Guard and Reserves. Since there was no appropriation for a standing army, citizens were expected to own their own weapons and to drill at some local facility in order to be prepared. The existence of a standing army does not mean that citizens should not be trained and prepared.

        BONUS COMPLAINT—The 1st amendment right to freedom of the press does not mean freedom for reporters at the expense of private citizens. Freedom of the press referred to the actual machine. At that time, as most of us know, newspapers were considered partisan organs and a lot of discourse was conducted via “Broadsides”. There were not many (if any) unbiased newspapers in the colonies. The 1st Amendment meant that government could not literally go in and shut down or smash the printing press.

    • Gustave Lytton

      unlicensed dealers

      Stolen base there. They’re not dealers. If they were, they would need to obtain a FFL. These are private party sellers.

    • Grummun

      This video does a pretty good job of explaining the ATF rule.

    • cavalier973

      At publishing time, an urgent call had come in from the Girl Congress building to have one of the male congressmen come open a jar.

    • Gender Traitor

      😆

      My favorite part of that tirade was AOC calling MTG “baby girl!” She just Sandy from the ‘hood, y’all.

      • WTF

        Idiocracy came a lot sooner than anticipated.

      • juris imprudent

        Fruit fly versus human generations.

    • Drake

      It’s gone beyond 2-tiered justice. Our legal system is collapsing into tribalism. Welcome to the multicultural dystopian future. If you are sued or accused of a crime, you better hope the judge and jury are your race, religion, and / or political group.

      • The Other Kevin

        At this point the outcome of every trial depends on who appointed the judge. That’s really, really broken.

  24. SDF-7

    For a Monday… I suck.

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 05/20:
    *24/24 words (+3 bonus words)
    🎯 In the top 26% by accuracy

    I played https://squaredle.com 05/20:
    *27/27 words (+3 bonus words)
    🎯 In the top 12% by accuracy
    🔥 Solve streak: 374

    • rhywun

      I played https://squaredle.com 05/20:
      *27/27 words (+6 bonus words)
      📖 In the top 14% by bonus words
      🔥 Solve streak: 1

      I played https://squaredle.com/xp 05/20:
      *24/24 words (+4 bonus words)
      📖 In the top 27% by bonus words

    • Sean

      I played https://squaredle.com/xp 05/20:
      *24/24 words (+8 bonus words)
      📖 In the top 2% by bonus words

      I played https://squaredle.com 05/20:
      *27/27 words (+8 bonus words)
      📖 In the top 4% by bonus words
      🔥 Solve streak: 326

      Still working on Arbor day puzzle. >.>

  25. PieInTheSky

    Well the timberwolves won I did not expect it after going down 3-2.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I didn’t expect it after being down by 15 at half and then starting the second half by letting Denver go on a 5-0 run.

      Absolutely stunned. As a Minnesoda fan, I have no idea how to cope with them coming through in the clutch.

      • PieInTheSky

        have you considered imbibing alcohol?

      • juris imprudent

        Console yourself that it isn’t the finals yet?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Pie, I was half watching the first half and getting more and more fatalistic. The Woofs had cut it to six in the second and I figured their run was just about done and I’d have to watch them come up short so I went on a walk.

        Came back to be pleasantly surprised by the win. The Altar Boy showed up around then and we watched the second half together (I had recorded it).

        When Rudy made that turn around jumper it was clear that doG was on our side.

      • Cunctator

        —“A Second Daily Ray of Sunshine”—

        I too find that just one hit in the morning mellows my day.

    • SDF-7

      Fuck this guy yes — but 1st Amendment seems clear to me on this, you can’t retaliate against the asshole for his religion and how he preaches it.

    • rhywun

      Fuck everyone in that story.

  26. PieInTheSky

    Jacobin
    @jacobin
    Infamous for its starvation wages, Walmart just posted staggering first-quarter profits. The surge is a result of its strategic shift toward catering to affluent shoppers while its full-time workers continue to rely on Medicaid and food stamps.

    https://x.com/jacobin/status/1792423758256361895

    • PieInTheSky

      Jacobin
      @jacobin
      Some leftists imagine a postcapitalist society will free everyone from the need to work. But the only realistic and fair way to manage production under socialism is to democratically distribute and share in the burdens of labor.

      https://x.com/jacobin/status/1791982100859515234

      • Fatty Bolger

        And why not? It works great every time.

      • EvilSheldon

        I can only imagine what form Jacobin’s share of the labor will take…

      • Not Adahn

        We get to vote who’s on blowjob duty is what I’m reading.

    • Not Adahn

      its strategic shift toward catering to affluent shoppers

      Sure. As long as you’re making shit up, why not?

    • juris imprudent

      catering to affluent shoppers

      I must visit this wonderful world Jacobin lives in, it sounds so different from our world.

      • R.J.

        They are amusing. I go read it occasionally just to see where the world of the Left is going to go next.

      • juris imprudent

        The Nation can sometimes write something I agree with; not Jacobin.

    • Drake

      Walmart caters to affluent shoppers? The same Walmart where I just bought some motor oil for my lawn equipment?

      • PieInTheSky

        lawn equipment? luxury

      • AlexinCT

        The same Walmart where I just bought some motor oil for my lawn equipment?”

        Is “lawn equipment” code for a woodchipper? And what’s the function of the oil in that scenario?

      • UnCivilServant

        Is “lawn equipment” code for a woodchipper? And what’s the function of the oil in that scenario?

        You want the engine running at its best when it drives the grinding wheels.

      • Not Adahn

        Having a McDonalds built into the store is a sure sign of bouginess.

      • Fatty Bolger

        That’s hilarious, and mixing up cause and effect. They aren’t catering to affluent shoppers, affluent shoppers are shopping there more often because they’re feeling the financial pinch just like everybody else.

      • kinnath

        affluent shoppers are shopping there more often because they’re feeling the financial pinch just like everybody else

        I shop there on a semi-regular basis.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Sam’s Club is part of Walmart.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Go home, Congress, you’re drunk

    Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, says it’s “worth investigating” whether lawmakers were drinking during Thursday’s explosive hearing, after rumors circulated that noncommittee members were intoxicated.

    “I didn’t see the drinking by the gentlelady from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury raised it, she said there are members drinking in the room, and that’s something that is worth investigating if there was in fact drinking taking place,” Raksin said on Fox News.

    According to Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) there were “some members in the room who are drinking inside the hearing room.” Stansbury said the lawmakers who were drinking were not on the committee, Axios reported.

    On Thursday night, the Oversight Committee hearing became chaotic as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) fought after Greene accused Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) of wearing “fake eyelashes.”

    As long as they aren’t throwing ten billion dollars at some imaginary crisis, they can drink themselves into a coma.

    • Not Adahn

      she said there are members drinking in the room, and that’s something that is worth investigating if there was in fact drinking taking place,” Raksin said on Fox News.

      Buttsex is still cool, right? As is filming it and uploading the video?

      • Sean

        Of course!

  28. Fatty Bolger

    There’s no way a video for which a transcript has been released is covered under executive privilege, since releasing the transcript already removed any confidentiality about what was discussed.

    • The Other Kevin

      Zero percent chance that transcript matches the interview. Look at all the official transcripts where they replace Biden’s “marfubugl” with what he “meant” to say.

    • AlexinCT

      How do we know those are not trannies?

    • Not Adahn

      Where are they buying their booze?

      • Common Tater

        Indiana

      • UnCivilServant

        bootleggers and rum runners.

      • EvilSheldon

        Traditionally, the bars at big western-owned luxury hotels. That’s where the mullahs get their swerve on…

  29. PieInTheSky

    Voting preference by where voters get news

    Newspapers: Biden +49
    National networks: Biden +20
    News websites: Biden +10
    Social media: Trump +4
    Cable news: Trump +8
    YouTube/Google: Trump +16
    Don’t follow news: Trump +26

    Basically the less you know, the more you support Trump.

    https://x.com/RichardHanania/status/1792384015246467234

    • AlexinCT

      The less propaganda you have been fed, the less likely you are to be pro the deep state.

      • juris imprudent

        I’d like to see how those numbers compare with the Congressional vote in their own district.

    • Urthona

      I’m not a huge social media fan, but it’s fairly obvious that people who are on social media are the most informed by FAR.

  30. Common Tater

    “One American is dead and another was left begging for his life after a botched coup was stopped in its tracks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

    Chilling footage caught the moment two of the plotters were seized trying to flee the country across the Congo River before groveling for mercy to Congolese soldiers as they lay bleeding in the street.

    Marcel Malanga, 21, accompanied his former refugee father Christian to the central African country from their home in Utah to lead the coup against the autocratic government of President Felix Tshisekedi.

    But the father was shot dead and the son was arrested alongside two American co-conspirators during the bungled putsch as the US government scrambled to distance itself from involvement.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13437171/congo-malanga-drc-coup-cia-utah-tiktok.html

    • UnCivilServant

      Are you sure they’re Utahns?

      • Pope Jimbo

        Are you sure they’re Utahns?

        Are you asking because you thought real Utahns would have brought Mormen along?

    • PieInTheSky

      America always trying to overthrow leaders in other countries

      • R.J.

        Yes. It is so tiresome.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Those dudes should have known better.

      Some places are so tough you just don’t fuck with them. The Greek phalanx, the Parthian feigned retreat and well… The Congo line of fire.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    But the only realistic and fair way to manage production under socialism is to democratically distribute and share in the burdens of labor.

    “This ditch is full of dead people. Why did you bring me here?”

    • PieInTheSky

      here is a teaspoon dig more ditch

    • AlexinCT

      I recall that when some whiney bitchass dude wailed and rended his clothes complaining that evil capitalism required he work or starve recently, he was properly instructed that under marxism he was going to be sent to a camp if he didn’t work, and in either case would be lucky to stay alive for long because there would be no food.

      • Sean

        “Excuse me, Mr. Slaver, but I’m going to need some avocado toast and some meditation time.”

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m sorry, but I’m going to be taking a personal day. The stress in this camp is just too much.

      • Nephilium

        Sean:

        Have you ever watched Norsemen? I think many of these people would wind up like Rufus (from the show, not beloved local commentermuppet) under Communism.

      • Sean

        I’ve never watched it, but maybe I’ll check it out. I don’t know if we still have Netflix though.

    • AlexinCT

      Warning!!!

    • Not Adahn

      That is pretty cool.

    • kinnath

      Beautiful video.

    • SDF-7

      I was going to make a War of the Worlds reference joke — but with the blue glow, had to think of this instead….

    • PieInTheSky

      every place is a different place than other places

      • Not Adahn

        I thought happy places were all alike?

  32. Common Tater

    The website may have changed, but things are still great in California

    “California town outraged as traffic lights are replaced with stop signs to deter homeless people from stealing copper

    The city of Oakland recently removed traffic lights from one busy intersection and replaced them with stop signs after the electrical boxes that controlled the traffic lights were repeatedly tampered with and copper from them was stolen.

    Local residents and those who own businesses in the area say the issue with the traffic lights stems from the nearby homeless encampment, which has grown over the years.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13437063/Oakland-California-homeless-stop-sign-traffic-light.html

  33. PieInTheSky

    People with weird diet preferences higher in mental illness, in particular the low-meat people (‘vegetarian-like’). Results of prior studies confirmed in the huge sample sized UKbiobank.

    One could of course speculate it is causal, but I think it’s just self-selection.

    https://x.com/KirkegaardEmil/status/1791946435446837658

    • R.J.

      I don’t think it is causal. It may be that people with mental illness choose odd diets, not the other way around.

  34. The Late P Brooks

    I guess we can expect six months’ worth of breathless “[Republican X] refuses to blindly and unhesitatingly promise to accept the results of the election!”

    That should be fun.

    • juris imprudent

      You think they’d be a little careful with that given the slight chance of capturing the House and Trump actually winning.

      • R.J.

        And it is slight. Are we going to have a Glib party for election night?

    • AlexinCT

      How many takes did it take to get it right?

      • PieInTheSky

        depends on autism level… but one would assume a lot

  35. The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

    “Biden Fundraising Event in Deep-Blue Atlanta Draws Dozens”

    In the referenced article they cite Trump being ahead of Biden in 5/6 swing states… But I’m none of them does he exceed 50%. That isn’t a great sign for Trump either. I don’t believe only 39% of Georgia voters will go for Biden.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Trump should work hard to win over the plumber unions in GA. That way when the pipes burst in the vote counting centers, he can count on them to get things fixed pronto.

      • PieInTheSky

        that sounds like denier talk to me

    • creech

      What the f*** is wrong with Wisconsinites?

      • Pope Jimbo

        How much time you got?

        Packers, brandy Old Fashioned’s, U of W Madison. The list goes on and on.

  36. PieInTheSky

    The breathtaking Crown Bar in Belfast. Magnificent ceramic bar counter by Craven Dunnill along one side, a row of 8 ornate wooden booths with stained glass and mirrors along the other side. 8 bay bar back with whisky barrels and original spirit cocks. 5 real ales & 1 real cider.

    https://x.com/dermotk54/status/1792230010276692333

    a tad too ornate for my taste

    • EvilSheldon

      I think I could get used to it, maybe after my second malt…

  37. The Late P Brooks

    Sweeping the nation


    If you’ve been to a party lately and haven’t seen someone drinking a BORG, you’re likely not partying with college students.

    And if you have no idea what that sentence even means, you’re probably not a member of Generation Z.

    The acronym BORG stands for “blackout rage gallon,” according to the National Capital Poison Center in Washington, DC. The term refers to a concoction often prepared in a gallon-size plastic jug that typically contains vodka or other distilled alcohol, water, a flavor enhancer and an electrolyte powder or drink. BORGs are often drunk at outside day parties, otherwise known as darties.

    There’s so much alcohol in a BORG that “drinking one can lead to potentially life-threatening consumption and alcohol poisoning,” said Dr. Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine at Stanford University in California.

    The large-batch drink is the new version of jungle juice, according to Sabrina Grimaldi, the creator and editor-in-chief of online lifestyle magazine The Zillennial Zine. The publication targets the micro-generation between millennials and Gen Z.

    “Instead of making a party-sized mixed drink in a huge 5-gallon drink dispenser, a giant storage tub, or even the grossest trend, which was making jungle juice in a sink or bathtub, everyone has their own personal drink,” Grimaldi wrote CNN in an email. As the drink’s name suggests, “it’s intended to get you extremely drunk.”

    Is that what they drink in the Congressional Cloakroom?

    • PieInTheSky

      gallon-size plastic jug – won’t anyone think of the microplastics?

    • PieInTheSky

      The Zillennial Zine. The publication targets the micro-generation between millennials and Gen Z. – this shows a society in decay

    • Not Adahn

      I see. Maybe CNN should also tell us about “dabbing” and hip new slang such as “en fleek.”

    • Nephilium

      That was a thing that hit my feeds a year or two back. Congratulations kids, you invented Jungle Juice/Party Punch/whatever you called the stuff in a cardboard box with a white garbage bag liner that was standard at most college aged parties.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Was gonna say…nothing new under the sun.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’ve heard from my kids that the attraction is that it is your gallon jug so no one can roofie you.

        Got blank stares when I asked what the difference between being roofied and being blackout drunk after a gallon of jungle juice. I guess the young ladies either have very lightly mixed jungle juice or just don’t finish it.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yeah, I’m guessing part of the appeal is that you could just be drinking plain koolaid, and nobody would know to tease you about not drinking.

      • Drake

        Do they even use grain alcohol?

      • Nephilium

        Fatty Bolger:

        You could always do the same with tonic/seltzer on ice. I mean I’m not expecting them to whip up Diplomat cocktails (at least not yet).

    • creech

      My God! And did you know there’s pool right here in River City? And those freaking Beatles haircuts? Not to mention Elvis the Pelvis’ gyrations? Daisy Dukes and see-through blouses? [Well, heh heh, the latter is o.k. with me.]

    • AlexinCT

      I thought the college kids, especially the ladies worried about their shape, were all about butt shots to avoid calories?

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      My Mom taught me how make jj, we put in the water dispenser

    • Common Tater

      micro-generation?

      • Nephilium

        I think they mean one of the ones that’ll be ignored like Gen X.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    What Lembke calls the BORG’s “social contagion factor” makes it even more dangerous.

    “Kids see other kids doing it and want to try it themselves,” she said. “That’s another real danger here — to take a dangerous deviant behavior and normalize it by spreading it on social media.”

    *clutches chest, falls to floor*

    • Gustave Lytton

      Now do teenage spree killers. I’ll wait.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Or “gender-affirming” surgeries.

  39. PieInTheSky

    Absolute perfection.

    The US won’t let you have it though, because they want you to purchase the 85k truck with a dealer markup of 15k because reasons! Only to have a recall 6 months later….

    While this thing survives 2 proxy wars with a DShK mounted in the back.

    https://x.com/EversForgeworks/status/1791822645702353040

    • Gustave Lytton

      Yeah, that’s it. Not the chicken tax or FMVSS.

      I bought a new 3/4t well under $85k. Smaller pickups are even less. The additional dealer markups have disappeared as inventory increased and demand decreases (how the fuck does that work?).

      • Gustave Lytton

        And emissions rules that keep diesels overly complex and overpriced.

      • R.J.

        Regulations in general! Our cars are nanny-stated to death. Otherwise they would cost half and much. I could give a rat’s ass about any of those safety/emissions/chicken tax mandates.

    • Grummun

      Get back to me when Toyota builds a truck I can sit in without my head hitting the roof liner.

    • R.J.

      That is somebody’s custom job. Those wheels are newly installed and they are going to rub and split in back from the bad fender clearance.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    It’s actually best not to drink alcohol at all, as a number of recent studies have found that no amount of drinking is healthy. The World Heart Federation published a policy brief in 2022 saying there is “no level of alcohol consumption that is safe for health.”

    Believe them. They’re experts.

    • AlexinCT

      By this logic we should also stop eating, drinking water, breathing, or fucking, since eventually any of those could/would kill us….

      What a boring life these prudes want for us…

      • Pope Jimbo

        It perplexed my wife as to how they could lockdown the bars, but not the liquor stores.

        I told her that the sheep might go along with a lot of stupidity, but being locked up with no booze would never have survived.

    • R.J.

      If the world went cold turkey, there wouldn’t be an elite left after two weeks.

    • Fourscore

      I learned that continued used of strong drink was going to be harmful to my health. My wife promised to kill me if I kept on keeping on. She’s a woman of her word.

    • EvilSheldon

      The proggies truly seem to desire a long, boring life. I’d feel sorry for them if they weren’t such malevolent assholes.

  41. Not Adahn

    A variation on the question of “what would be different this time if OMB gets elected?”

    Screw the official government, it’s gonna suck, I don’t care. My question is, how is the media/unofficial government going to be different?

    Last time we lived in an all-twitter-all-the-time world. Each media outlet would be reporting on other media outlets reporting on tweets. “Respectable” media outlets had Twitter bureaus. It gave us: cowboy Border Patrols whipping Haitians, Entitled Catholic wypipo smirk-assaulting peaceful Native American Elders (who were also USMC Scout Snipers!). Rittenhouse. Cofevefe. St. Louis Lawyers waving guns around. A few seconds of video gave us a week’s worth of round-the-clock coverage.

    But now Twitter is no longer a legitimate news source since that Emerald-miner who threw Mandela in prison is in charge of it. How are the hate-stories going to be generated and determined to be “the” news?

    • Urthona

      I joined Twitter (X) after Elon because of sports. I follow hockey mostly, but all the sports to a lesser extent. My friend claimed that it was the best news source on the planet.

      He was totally right. I now know everything instantly from 72 different angles.

      Turns out same is true of all other news.

      If I watch a cable news feed or read a news site I’ll see maybe 10% of the news hours delayed.

      ..

      Twitter (X) is the best source of news humanity has ever had. Nothing else is even close. I don’t see how anything else can even survive really.

      • R.J.

        Ack. Still getting used to the placement of the replay button.

        What is even more interesting is that the major news outlets turned their back on the tool they could have continued to use and stay relevant. Network news signed it’s own death warrant out of spite. The only thing I can imagine is that the government is propping up networks news clandestinely. At one point a bill was sponsored to “save network news” a year ago or so, thankfully that died. So no doubt it is being done under the table.

      • Urthona

        There are things too that I think we wouldn’t know the proper story on without it.

        Like how much of the Rittenhouse story would we have seen?

        Also, when a news site reports a slanted angle instantly there are 100 people correcting it.

        I was cynical of it, but it’s actually great.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Yep. It’s that “all angles” part that is the best. You still get nonsense from both sides, but it’s quickly rebutted. Cut or doctored videos are quickly refuted with the full or original video. Community notes call out obvious falsehoods.

    • PutridMeat

      “what would be different this time if OMB gets elected?”

      My take – judicial appointments that exert influence far beyond the 4 year term. More chance – even though still small – of seeing agency over-reach curtailed a little bit. Maybe fewer judges, whose job it is to judge law in the context of the constitution, who think that the problem with the first amendment is that it… gets in the way of government policy.

      Maybe some executive orders that are not seemingly designed to destroy the country and morale. Though those are much more prone to blocking (see “judges”) and rescinding as soon as the next guy is in (unless they further the revolution, then they have the force of law in perpetuity)

      That said, to paraphrase, people will have a tyranny when that’s the only government they are capable of. So, and I suspect this is a pale reflection of JI’s position – it matter little who’s in office if the people are not capable, informed, or courageous enough to defend individual liberty (you get what you vote for, good and hard). But I would like a little relief, even if in the short term.

      Damn X doesn’t like my private browsing, so I guess I won’t be seeing X content anymore…

  42. Urthona

    Nice changes.

    But still no edit button?

    • R.J.

      Patience, green pickle. As soon as it is stable no doubt there will be improvements. I’d like a dark mode, myself.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      I want everyone to see my misteaks.

  43. The Other Kevin

    This weekend I got my garden planted, and made all the sausage for my party this weekend. I settled on:
    Loaded Baked Potato
    Hawaiian
    Cheddar Brats
    Roasted Poblano/Peach
    Texas Hot Links (smoked)
    Chorizo (for personal use, not for the party)
    I had less help, but it wasn’t at all stressful because be made a lot less than usual.

    • PieInTheSky

      sausage party?

      • The Other Kevin

        Yes, our 11th Annual Sausage Fest (we missed one due to the Covid business). It’s mostly anyone who has ever played roller derby with Mrs. TOK, and their families. I also invite my hockey teammates, though very few of those show up because they think Indiana is on the other side of the country. We usually have about 75 people in my yard eating great food and getting drunk. Those derby girls can get wild.

      • R.J.

        Mmmmm….. Derby girls.
        You may not be on the other side of the country but you are 800+ miles away.

      • PutridMeat

        Those derby girls can get wild.

        So “Derby Girl Harvest” at TOKs house? 4th week of September to facilitate getting all the Glib Harvests in on one trip.

  44. Not Adahn

    Pranksters at work warm my heart.

    I just noticed that on the employee photography wall that there is a picture of a plate of cannoli (with pistachios!) and the submitter’s name is “Frank F. Coppola.”

    • R.J.

      Guards! Seize them!

    • rhywun

      “Israel is not a member of the court, so even if the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution. But Khan’s announcement deepens Israel’s isolation derp derp derp”

      Well, that is the point.

  45. The Late P Brooks

    Disappointing order

    The fact that all Rwandans are required by law to participate gets at some of the tension in this nation, post-genocide. Read one way, Umuganda is a remarkable act of unity and shared responsibility, which countries like the U.S. couldn’t fathom outside of war or national disaster.

    But flip that coin, and you get a picture of strongman authoritarianism, cultish devotion to the ruling party, and a series of draconian punishments for those who dare step out of line.

    “Rwanda has made some really striking and remarkable progress in terms of economic gains, in terms of access to health, in terms of education promotion,” says Lewis Mudge, the Central Africa director for Human Rights Watch.

    “Unfortunately, those changes have not been matched in terms of affording people basic rights: civil and political rights, rights to express themselves freely, whether that be in the press, or at the ballot box. Rights to challenge the government.”

    Mudge describes democracy in Rwanda as a “performance,” and that political opposition is virtually nonexistent. His view is that Rwandans want to vote “in an election in which it’s not just ticking the box for Paul Kagame because they have to.”

    So what you’re saying is the trains run on time.

    And that’s what the vast majority of people truly care about, not the sort of “freedom” on display in places like Haiti.

    • Pope Jimbo

      As they say in Rwanda: “Democracy isn’t free, it costs and arm and a leg”

  46. Not Adahn

    For Evil Sheldon:

    Lots of open slots at Area 8 still. I don’t know if they’d let you, but there are two open slots on the super squad.

    • Not Adahn

      Correction: The (former) super squad (305) has had all of the grandmasters separated out into their own, locked squad (408)

      But if you wanted to shoot with some Ms and YML, you can.

      I had no idea A2D was an Open GM.

  47. Common Tater

    Is it just me, or is the comment depth two levels less than it was before?

  48. Mojeaux

    We’re all Brooks now!

  49. Common Tater

    “Pedophile advocacy group Prostasia, which seeks to destigmatize pedophiles, has spoken out against age-verification laws that require pornography websites to verify that users looking to access the site are over the age of 18.

    “Age verification laws do not protect children the way they are intended, they restrict free speech and prevent people from educating children about healthy and unhealthy behaviors. Protecting children happens at the policy level,” the organization wrote.

    The post came in response to the Free Speech Coalition announcing that it has filed a challenge in federal court over Montana’s age verification law.

    Texas has passed a similar law as well as Virginia, with pornography giant Pornhub disabling access to the website in both those states in protest of the law.”

    https://thepostmillennial.com/pedophile-advocacy-group-opposes-age-verification-laws-for-pornography

    Couldn’t the kids just get their porn from the school library?

    • Common Tater

      “A 2022 post titled “3 simple steps that can reduce CSA,” or child sexual abuse, states that “Comprehensive sex ed that includes pleasure, consent, chronophilias, fetishes, etc.” can reduce child sexual abuse.

      One of the fetishes highlighted is “chronophilia,” one that “many don’t even know about until it becomes part of their lives.” Chronophilia is the sexual attraction to people of a specific age range.”

      chronophilia??

      • Not Adahn

        Sexual attraction to watches/clocks/hourglasses.

      • Common Tater

        Always knew Judge Ito was a pervert.

  50. The Late P Brooks

    Regulations in general! Our cars are nanny-stated to death. Otherwise they would cost half and much. I could give a rat’s ass about any of those safety/emissions/chicken tax mandates.

    You mean to tell me it’s not “slave labor” that makes those Chinese cars so cheap?

  51. The Late P Brooks

    I’m not going to link it, but there is a new mob outragegasm over some woman who declined to give up her intentionally reserved aisle seat on what was apparently a transatlantic flight so a family could sit together.

    The heartless cruel bitch.