223 Comments

  1. PieInTheSky

    Trump is done. Finished.

    • Grumbletarian

      The walls are closing in?

      • rhywun

        Democracy is saved.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I have seen in some places people have been calling it “The Democrcay” now. I hate our society.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        The society.

      • The Other Kevin

        No OBE, I think it’s “Our Democracy”. And when I see that, I just substitute “Our Bureaucracy”.

  2. PieInTheSky

    Home Prices Soar to Record High – this means the economy is great and the incumbent should be reelected

    • Drake

      Means that all Chuck Schumer’s new voters have to live somewhere and (despite his best efforts) the law of supply and demand has not been revoked.

    • The Other Kevin

      High home prices, high inflation, high interest rates. What’s not to like!

      These days when I hear young people complaining that they can’t afford to live like their parents did, I do feel for them. This economy is shit.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Boomers rejoice.

      • Beau Knott

        Why would we rejoice? We lived through the 70s and 80s once; we have no desire to repeat that misery. Despite the awesome music lol

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Boomers love talking about how their wealth is tied up in their home.

      • kinnath

        No I don’t

  3. Drake

    The jury got the Trump case with instructions by the judge to convict.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Will be interesting what comes out today on the instructions for sure.

    • juris imprudent

      You expected him to break character at this point?

  4. slumbrew

    Ramaswamy buying part of BuzzFeed seems like a dumber, cut-rate version of Musk buying Twitter.

    8.4% doesn’t give you control. And who cares about BuzzFeed?

    • PieInTheSky

      BuzzFeed is coming back just you wait.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I guess if you gut it, completely change the culture, the concept, and give it a new name, it just might work.

      • rhywun

        Right?!

    • R.J.

      Yes. Why waste your money there? Do they have some cutting edge tech he wishes to repurpose? Is this just for his amusement?

      • R C Dean

        The goodwill, brand, and credibility are worth whatever he paid, I’m sure.

  5. PieInTheSky

    Sen. Schumer: Yes, We Want To Make All Illegals Into Voters – immigrants are the backbone of America, why shouldn’t they vote?

    • juris imprudent

      You always get more of what you reward. Reward rule breaking, with citizenship, and you get lots of rule breaking citizens! Is that a Rand plot-line variation?

  6. Not Adahn

    Guilty verdict before noon or after?

    • PieInTheSky

      after so one side can pop open the champagne and the other the whisky or whatever it is you Americans drink when things do not go your way

      • Gustave Lytton

        It’s 5 o’clock somewhere. Make it a Kentucky 75 or Bourbon & Bubbles.

      • kinnath

        Bourbon & Bubbles

        That sounds horrible.

      • Not Adahn

        Whisky & Soda!

    • Ownbestenemy

      Hung jury is what I am guessing. Then again, we don’t want critical thinkers on juries.

    • cavalier973

      Guilty verdict before noon, expedited appeal to the SC by 14:00, acquittal by the SC by 14:30

      • Tonio

        It’s rare for prosecutors to appeal a “not guilty” verdict as that looks bad. But this may be one of those rare cases.

        The appeal would go to the federal Second Circuit based in NYC. Even if they put it on the rocket docket it would be weeks or months.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Trump taken off the inaugural podium in chains! Biden moves in before anyone can stop him and places his hand on the bible and is back for another term.

    • WTF

      The fix for a guilty verdict is definitely in, since the Biden team is set to make a statement about the verdict.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Ownbestenemy on May 29, 2024 at 6:57 am
        There must be two factions in the Biden campaign and apparently the retarded one is winning. Over the weekend it was “We need to stay out of this and just make a factual statement blah blah blah”. Tuesday morning rolls around and they are like…we should trot out DeNiro and the two J6 cops!

      • The Last American Hero

        They exhumed fire extinguisher guy?

      • Ownbestenemy

        They exhumed fire extinguisher guy? If they could Weekend at Bernie him, they would have.

    • R C Dean

      The tell will be whether they put in an order for lunch or not.

      • Ownbestenemy

        True..10am is supposed to be jury instructions, judge indicated he’d need an hour or so…that rolls right up to noon. I say they want their free lunch first.

      • Swiss Servator

        Ex Parte?! It had best be a simple motion to nolle prosequi.

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

    Vivek has his Buzz on! I like it.

    (just finished Tonio’s er, Glory, and it was glorious!)

  8. juris imprudent

    Housing market makes no sense to me. I have to assume that so little is on the market, possibly still working out the kinks from the lockdowns. I wonder if the mobility numbers are also down?

    • Sean

      There are none for sale right now in my development (per Redfin). Which does seem off.

      • juris imprudent

        Same around me. Normally, there would be at least a dozen or two, even in this rural area. Right now, not even a handful.

    • R.J.

      We illegally imported millions of people who need a place to live. All the cheap houses were absorbed entirely, leaving only expensive ones. In bigger cities you can’t even build anymore because of NIMBY, so prices will just keep climbing.

      • Drake

        We are Brazil now. Third World cities spiralling down. European descendants still the majority in some of the hinterlands.

      • juris imprudent

        Sure that would tighten up the bottom end of the market, but the question is – is that what is really the driving force? I doubt housing illegals is really it.

      • The Other Kevin

        With high interest rates, you’d expect prices to drop so those houses sell. So I’m not sure either.

    • Fourscore

      Everything will sell at some price. Just have to establish where that is.

      Were it not for government interference the high prices would see a boom in construction. People have to live somewhere, even if it’s on the street.

      • Drake

        Sure. This is why groups like the Sierra Club were adamantly against unrestricted immigration. I don’t really want my entire country paved over for apartments.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Urbanization in the US only covers about 3% of the total land. It could triple and still not hit double digits. Essentially all of the US population growth since 1940 has been in urbanized areas while rural population has remained flat.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Joni Mitchell can take that big yellow taxi and shove it somewhere.

    • Drake

      Nobody is selling because they can’t afford to give up their 2.5% mortgage. Meanwhile supply is zero because of immigration.

      • R C Dean

        Ding ding. The market for existing houses is locked up at the moment because of the rate swing.

        Construction costs haven’t come down, so new houses still cost as much or more to build and are even more expensive with mortgage rates back to normal.

        Throw in the fact that incomes have stagnated for most people, and income lags prices, and yeah, the housing market is fuckity-fucked.

      • Gustave Lytton

        And no one in a current home wants to take a haircut.

      • juris imprudent

        Right now, no seller has to take a haircut because there are so few options for buyers.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m working for a real estate company right now and the differential in interest rates is 100% the reason that no one is selling. You’d end up paying the same (or more) for a smaller condo or house if you sold now.

        Everyone is hanging on, hoping the interest rates go way back down again. The problem is those 2.5% rates were the extreme outlier. I don’t think they are going back down there again for a loooooong time.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Yup. One of my coworkers (who is nearing retirement age) bought a house with a buydown & is counting on a rate drop to refinance. I just nodded along during the story telling. Didn’t have the heart to say anything.

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

        Combine that with a shit economy overall, and people right now do not want to assume additional financial burdens, not when they might get laid off, not get their annual, etc.

        This is what a slowdown really looks like.

        (although, I am thinking about selling my rental prop out here for 500K, and buying a few in a cheaper market.)

  9. PieInTheSky

    seems quiet today is everyone watching the trial or something?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Working or something.

    • R.J.

      I missed almost a whole day while I sorted through storm damage and a car warranty issue. All done now, but I have a ton of work to catch up on.

      • PieInTheSky

        then explain all the days when it is less quiet

      • Ted S.

        You’re government-sector, so you’re not among those who work.

      • UnCivilServant

        @Pie – those are the days when there is less work.

        @Ted – .|.. ..|.

      • Not Adahn

        Some days I “work” at a desk doing NVA paperworky stuff.

        Other days I increase the world’s supply of knowledge.

  10. Sensei

    Two birds. One stone!

    Democrats intend to formally nominate President Biden as their party’s presidential nominee with the help of a virtual roll call weeks before their Chicago convention in August, a move that would allow the president to appear on the ballot in Ohio and minimize possible protests during the convention.

    https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/democrats-to-nominate-biden-by-virtual-roll-call-before-convention-3c01d343?st=konzxar3dmah1p7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • UnCivilServant

      In that case, just cancel the convention.

    • Pine_Tree

      Their Ohio scheduling failure notwithstanding, this would seem to me to actually maximize the chances of protests at the convention. I thought plenty of Donks weren’t crazy about Brandon and would view this as just too much of a behind-the-scenes move that means the whole convention is even more of a sham than it would otherwise be. Remember the competing FJB chants between different blue groups a few weeks back?

      • Gustave Lytton

        The R Ohio Secretary of State is devious. He was the one who suggested this course of action as a way to resolve Ohio’s fuckup*

        *yes it is the Buckeye retards legislature who own this. Why the fuck did they add 30 more days in 2010? No one seems to know.. conventions have historically ran much closer than 90 days, with the incumbent party holding theirs last. The 2008 Republican convention (the cycle before the retards make their date change) was in September. Did no one pointed that out to the Buckeyed monkey fuckers before they voted.

    • UnCivilServant

      It actually went better than I expected.

    • WTF

      Another Biden accomplishment!

      • Ownbestenemy

        Build Back Better in one article

    • PieInTheSky

      would some of than not be better spend towards the Whisky For Pie Fund?

      • Not Adahn

        Roger Waters headlines?

  11. PieInTheSky

    How the far right is winning over young Europeans
    Rightwing populist parties are making inroads into a demographic fed up with economic insecurity and immigration policy

    https://www.ft.com/content/e77e1863-5a78-4d16-933c-6a665a66f261?shareType=nongift

    Eric Liebegut, an 18-year-old printer’s apprentice, already knows who he’ll vote for in next week’s European election — the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party he says offers a clean break with a gloomy present and a bright vision of the future.

    “All the others have been calling the shots for long enough,” he says. “Now it’s our turn.”

    Liebegut, who sports a hoodie with the words in German “Homeland is Future”, is typical of a new cohort of young Europeans succumbing to the siren song of rightwing populist parties, with their seductive mix of ethno-nationalism, anti-wokery and conservative values.

    His choice might once have seemed bizarre. The AfD was set up in 2013 by a bunch of stuffy middle-class economists outraged by the Eurozone bailouts. But in recent years it has acquired a subversive counterculture vibe that has earned it a legion of new fans, particularly in east Germany.

    In France, a surprising 36 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds back Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), while 31 per cent support Geert Wilders’ Freedom party (PVV) in the Netherlands, which won last year’s elections and has just formed a government promising the “toughest asylum law of all time”.

    Meanwhile, a recent survey found 22 per cent of Germans aged 14-29 backed the AfD, up from 12 per cent in 2023. No other party enjoyed such support in this age group.
    Maximilian Krah, an AfD member of the European parliament who is leading the party’s list for the Euro elections, says the far right has been helped by the “unbelievable unattractiveness of the left in its current form”.

    In the 1960s and ’70s, the era of hippies, Woodstock and the anti-Vietnam war movement, it had strong appeal for teenagers. But “these days, it’s pretty uncool”. “I mean — vegetarian food? Cargo bikes? Give me a break.”

    Like Vox, the AfD also presents itself as a way out for young men frustrated by “woke” ideology, who reject a status quo symbolised by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition of social democrats, Greens and liberals.

    The left is “pushing a “degrowth” agenda which is basically promising young people they’ll be poorer than their parents and grandparents” and “telling them they have to make sacrifices to save the climate”, says Krah. “With us, they won’t have to sacrifice anything.”

  12. rhywun

    Home Prices Soar to Record High

    In my town most building has basically come to a standstill because of the interest rates. There is a long list of projects in various stages of incompletion that are waiting for better times.

    • R.J.

      Yes, and costs of building supplies has skyrocketed too due to inflation.

      • juris imprudent

        And if supplies moving are sluggish you get a glut of inventory – which will ripple backwards into production of those supplies getting slowed or stopped. Just when we might have been recovering from the lockdown disruption.

        Fun times! Biden might catch a break by losing the election.

      • R.J.

        Yes. I sense a complete replay of the 1980s.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, that too.

      • Fourscore

        I’m having some work done on my cabin, contractor informed me yesterday that the cost of materials has skyrocketed and of course will affect the repair price.
        OTOH he’s happy to have a project right now.

    • Homple

      Builders are putting up a lot of apartment buildings in Sodom-on-the-Sound and some of its suburbs. Not many single-family houses anywhere around the area.

      • Swiss Servator

        We have lots of “townhomes” going up by us…a few single family homes, as people are still fleeing Cook County.

    • Brochettaward

      It says a lot about the stupidity of voters who think a mayor should have fuck all to do with Gaza.

      • R.J.

        Look at that sullen, angry picture too. That’s a guy who never laughs. WTF would you vote for him?

    • Not Adahn

      If I lend Gaza my vote, what will Gaza do for me in return?

      • R C Dean

        Kill some Jews? You do want the Jews gone, right?

      • PieInTheSky

        just some?

  13. rhywun

    NYC Hotel Rates Reach Record Highs as City Fills Rooms With Illegals

    I worked a bunch of hotels in my college years and I can’t imagine how pissed I would be if one of mine was turned into one of these shitholes.

    • Sensei

      I don’t think there are more hotel staff there in the traditional sense.

      More like janitorial and some modified housekeeping services.

    • Sensei

      What I’m saying is the hotels either went fully immigrant or regular guests.

      I’m not aware of any in Manhattan serving both.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Regular guest aren’t a steady flow of State monies, of course they will take 100% occupancy at top dollar rates.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m with OBE. I’m guessing that a lot of the hotels that are taking the ImmiGrant money are also cutting back entirely on maintenance, amenities and staff. They are going to pound the govt checks and let the property go to hell. I’m guessing most of the hotels doing this were on the backend of their life cycle and were due for major renovations.

        When the ImmiGrant money dries up, they will do a teardown or complete renovation and get back into being a real hotel with a new property.

      • rhywun

        I would not be at all surprised if one of the conditions the city agreed to was no layoffs.

  14. Shpip

    And now for some good news…

    Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans have spent years aggressively turning the state into a haven for school choice. They have been wildly successful, with tens of thousands more children enrolling in private or charter schools or homeschooling.

    “If your product is better, you’ll be fine. The problem is, they are a relic of the past — a monopolized system where you have one option,” Chris Moya, a Florida lobbyist representing charter schools and the state’s top voucher administering organization, said of traditional public schools. “And when parents have options, they vote with their feet.”

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      When you’re literally giving your product away (education) and people still pay extra to the tune of thousands of dollars a year for it. You’re doing something wrong.

      • juris imprudent

        government *something* losing money on a whorehouse

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        If I recall correctly, they couldn’t even operate the Mustang Ranch.

    • Not Adahn

      Broward County Public Schools claims to have more than 49,000 classroom seats sitting empty this year, a number that “closely matches” the 49,833 students attending charter schools in the area, officials noted in an enrollment overview.

      Wut? Florida Kid gets their own private classroom? I think I see some overhead that could be cut.

  15. UnCivilServant

    On the topic of reinventing the wheel, I was reading up on some common serial communications protocols because I was going to implement them in the upcoming iterations of my project. I’d thought I might need to use the Raspberry Pi to program a periferal (because it has network access and can directly talk to the periferal) and got annoyed that the code examples use libraries rather than include the implementation directly.

    So I went to read up on the same protocols on the MSP430 series… only to find out it handles them natively on hardware, so you’d be using delivered libraries to trigger the native implementation.

    I would have to go out of my way to reinvent the protocol implementation, and for some reason I’m annoyed that it’s been made too easy.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Uffda. I remember having to learn how to write a native serial protocol using assembler code in college for some microprocessor class. You don’t want to have to re-invent that BS UCS. Trust the libraries. They’ve been around forever and are way better than anything you will write.

      No knock against you, but those libraries were developed by thousands if not millions of devs over decades. As smart as you are, you aren’t as good as the world.

      • UnCivilServant

        What about all the dumb people dragging the world down?

      • Pope Jimbo

        The dumb people don’t get their branches committed into the main branch. (I can’t believe they won’t approve my PR! ELITISTS!!!)

        The devs who contributed to those libraries were the rare smart folkx that are distributed throughout the masses.

        I just remember how hard it was to get the serial port to work under ideal situations. Any small deviation would instantly wreak havoc on the port. It was an eye opening experience in how “real” code was 95% error handling and 5% functional stuff.

      • UnCivilServant

        Getting commits to the main fork is more about your community membership schmoozing than the quality of your work.

      • kinnath

        The last code I wrote was in 1993 for a serial port handler on a DSP running naked without an operating system.

      • UnCivilServant

        You don’t need operating systems.

  16. juris imprudent

    This is a really great read. I cannot recommend too highly.

    Unfortunately, disagreeable, conscientious people are also prone to coming up with political ideologies and policy proposals that suit them but are absolutely shite for everyone else. When I reviewed Rob Henderson’s Troubled for Law & Liberty at Liberty Fund, I made this observation:

    The reality that classical liberalism—the closest to my own political views, I admit—has at least a whiff of the luxury belief around it stings. It’s discomforting to acknowledge that what goes by the name of paternalism has its own intellectual pedigree, while liberalism can be a system developed by the clever, for the clever. “Highly educated and affluent people are more economically conservative and socially liberal,” Henderson says. “This doesn’t make sense. The position is roughly that people shouldn’t have to adhere to norms and if/when they inevitably hurt themselves or others, then there should be no safety net available. It’s a luxury belief.”

    [we’ll see if the double tags work]

    • Unreconstructed

      Definitely interesting, and worth the read. However, it skips over a lot of the macroeconomic arguments for libertarian/classical liberal policies. Also, I’m pretty sure if I took any of the personality tests the author suggested, I’d be high on disagreeable, but mid-range at best on conscientiousness. //Looks around at very messy office, projects that have been half done for a long time, unfinished books, etc.

  17. Pope Jimbo

    The Frenchies might be inept at most everything, but they sure can protest in a fun way. If only our elite colleges could turn out clever protests like this.

    Protesting – in particular, radical acts of rebellion – are embedded in the French’s relationship with the government.

    And next on the list is the £1.2 billion state-backed plan to clean up the Seine in Paris ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games.

    People are now organising a ‘sh*t flashmob’ in the river on the day that president Emmanuel Macron and mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, promised to take a swim in it to prove that their efforts are not in vain.

    The hashtag #JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin, which translates to ‘I sh*t in the Seine on June 23’ began trending on X last week after she announced the date of her dip.

    A website with the same name was also set up, where participants can enter the location where they are planning to defecate.

    • PieInTheSky

      Protesting – in particular, radical acts of rebellion – are embedded in the French’s relationship with the government – if embedded are they really radical?

  18. Not Adahn

    It occurs to me that divining meaning through celestial or cartomantic signs is not too dissimilar from troubleshooting via some of these error messages.

    • UnCivilServant

      What? You want error messages to be useful? My, aren’t we entitled.

      • Not Adahn

        Since I wind up fixing the problem, they must be useful somehow. I could not begin to tell you how though. Undoubtedly there is a mystical intuitive connection at work.

    • Homple

      “Probable user error.”

      • Ownbestenemy

        Sometimes the simplest answer is between the chair and the keyboard.

    • Unreconstructed

      I didn’t realize you were using Microsoft products. /Long-term victim of MS error messages

      • UnCivilServant

        Process has Errored Successfully.

        [OK]

      • Ownbestenemy

        Error [OK]
        Error [OK]
        Error [OK]
        Error [OK]

        /tosses computer in the burn pit.

      • Unreconstructed

        Not far off – my (current) personal favorite is when Scheduled Tasks complete, even if the called process returns an error code, the task is completed successfully.

      • UnCivilServant

        Your paper cartridge is out of letter sized paper. Load more.

  19. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Iceland is ejaculating again

    • Common Tater

      Good? They only have 400K people.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That is a bukkake for the books!

  20. Sensei

    “If you’re a good neighbor and a bad farmer, people will help you. If you’re a bad neighbor and a good farmer, you don’t need people’s help,” Michael Grenier, 62, said. “If you’re a bad neighbor and a bad farmer, this is what you get.”

    A Connecticut Town Confronts the ‘Aporkalypse’
    A battle over roaming pigs is roiling neighbors in an area long proud of its rural character. Even the feds have stuck their snouts in.

    https://www.wsj.com/us-news/a-connecticut-town-confronts-the-aporkalypse-c4dfc0fc?st=bpy95sz3zagmcfw&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • R C Dean

      I had to laugh at this caption:

      “Michael Grenier wants the animals to get off his lawn.”

      • UnCivilServant

        “Michael Grenier wants the animals to get off his lawn.”

        So, they’ve been Misunderstood?

      • Grummun

        @Sensei

        “Best wishes in your future lawsuits”

        … because a dumbass like you is going to get sued again.

      • R C Dean

        “You also divulged patient names and information to me asking
        me to complete charting on them after* you terminated me “effective immediately”, which (as you should know, as you have been a healthcare worker for longer than l’ve been alive)
        is a blatant HIPAA violation.”

        Probably not. HIPAA has a definition of the “workforce” that you are allowed to disclose patient information to that is broader than “current employee”. I think I could make a good argument, at a minimum, that she remained part of their workforce for purposes of completing charts. This is a pretty routine practice, often tied to qualifying for a severance payout, but common nonetheless.

        Another thing is, you can’t “complete” a chart on a patient unless you have been treating the patient and already know their name and have had access to their info. It’s unlikely they disclosed much of anything to her for that purpose, and if they did, it was allowed as in connection with treating the patient.

        My take after reading those emails – they are better off without her.

        Finally, an OCD pet peeve: HIPAA has two As, not two Ps.

      • Sensei

        I always mistype that!

        But yes, you are best off without her. Just get rid of her less idiotically.

      • R C Dean

        One other thought: if she had refused to complete the charts, she might have put her nursing license at risk for patient abandonment, depending on the state, of course.

    • Fourscore

      Seems like an easy solution. Trespassers are trespassers.

      • Sean

        Free bacon!

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

        Well, someone thinks they have the cure.

    • Grummun

      I can’t read the article, because WSJ paywall, but feral pigs are a serious problem. In Ohio, they are vermin, so open season, no limit. The only restriction is, during deer season, you have to use a gun that is legal for deer.

      • Sensei

        I have a sub and “….reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink” should allow access. Did you actually click?

      • Grummun

        I did, and, my mistake, it was WSJ fighting with the javascript blocker, not a paywall. Apologies.

  21. Sensei

    Harvard University announced Tuesday that it will stay silent on public matters that do not directly concern its “core function” — months after the Ivy League school’s statements on the Israel-Hamas war caused a firestorm of controversy.

    What an amazing policy. Only an institution as intellectual and forward thinking as Harvard could have come up with it.

    https://nypost.com/2024/05/28/us-news/harvard-university-will-no-longer-weigh-in-on-outside-public-matters/

    • PieInTheSky

      well if the left is united on a point they can have a position, if not they can’t

  22. Ownbestenemy

    Trump closes his eyes as Merchan delivers jury instructions
    Katherine Doyle

    Trump, wearing a navy suit and yellow tie, glanced at Joshua Steinglass as the prosecutor noted a small correction to the verdict sheet, before whispering to his defense attorneys.

    As Merchan delivered his instructions, Trump resumed his usual pose, with his eyes closed and head tilted softly back.

    Its like election erotica or something.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Merchan told jurors that they must decide whether a witness “told the truth, or is accurate, or instead testified falsely or was mistaken.”

      He added that if they found a witness to give intentionally false testimony, jurors may disregard it.

      Huh. Maybe he isn’t putting a thumb on the scales…because that should basically remove all testimony from Stormy and Cohen in the minds of the 12.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Merchan is now reciting the elements of the felony falsification charge, clarifying that the business records at issue can pertain to a private business and that the records can be electronic or data. Intent to defraud means that a person’s conscious objective is to do so, but does not require advanced planning.

        Notably, Merchan tells them in determining intent, they can ask: What did the person do or say? Was the result the natural or probable outcome?

        The intent to defraud need not be an intent to defraud any particular person or entity and can extend beyond economic concerns.

        Several jurors moved to take notes when judge says, “general intent to defraud suffices.”

        Huh. Still no underlying crime of what actually upticks this to a felony to be had. Cause the elements can’t just be “We made it up and decided it fits our penal code”.

    • Not Adahn

      the prosecutor noted a small correction to the verdict sheet,

      They removed the “not guilty” checkbox, I assume.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Guilty” “Extra Guilty” “Super-Duper Guilty”

    • Ownbestenemy

      “You need not be unanimous as to what those unlawful means were…. you may consider: violations of FECA, falsification of other business records, violation of tax laws,” he said.

      There is the kicker. You can consider FECA but at the same time, the judge didn’t allow the former FEC guy to even explain what the law was cause reasons.

      • Common Tater

        So the the jury doesn’t have to agree that the defendant committed a particular crime.

        You would think at this point even people who hate Trump would see that is complete horseshit.

      • Ownbestenemy

        That is exactly what it is. Choose your own adventure and no matter the path, it leads to one verdict. What the judge decides it is.

      • Rat on a train

        You can agree he violated a federal law without a conviction in federal court.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Now comes the wait. Lets see if verdict by noon is returned or they enjoy their last free lunch.

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

        Well, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

        And they are gonna get the bill, good and hard.

    • Pope Jimbo

      I bet those bastards will spring some crazy misinformation like the economy isn’t doing well! Or that gas prices are high.

      We need to have the adults be on guard against crazy talk like that.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        “Biden is a Satan!”

    • PieInTheSky

      What a god-damn joke our media is – but is it hahah funny?

  23. Sean

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 05/29:
    *20/20 words (+1 bonus word)
    ⏱️ In the top 14% by speed

    I played https://squaredle.com 05/29:
    *36/36 words (+14 bonus words)
    📖 In the top 4% by bonus words
    🔥 Solve streak: 340

  24. Common Tater

    “An embattled woke district attorney in California has been mocked for planning a “ridiculous” press conference to announce her “Chinese name” — months after she was accused of being disrespectful towards the Asian community.

    Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price had been set to host the naming event in Oakland on Tuesday to mark Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, before her office canceled the appearance at the last minute without giving a reason, ABC7 reported.

    News of the press conference — and its abrupt cancelation — sparked immediate backlash as critics accused the black DA, who is facing a recall election in November, of cultural appropriation….

    Local politicians have been adopting Chinese names in the area for several years, in part, to become closer to the local community.

    Vice President Kamala Harris was among the first to do it when she was running to be San Francisco’s DA back in 2003.”

    https://nypost.com/2024/05/29/us-news/california-da-pamela-price-mocked-over-plans-to-announce-chinese-name/

    WTF?

    • Ownbestenemy

      We aren’t a serious country.

    • WTF

      Vice President Kamala Harris was among the first to do it when she was running to be San Francisco’s DA back in 2003.”

      Let me guess, “Su Kon Dik”?

    • Sensei

      I’ve seen it done in NYC, but without the announcements and virtue signaling.

      You have people campaigning in large Chinese immigrant areas with ads in Chinese. They adopted a Chinese reading (or spelling) for their name.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Kristi Noem should announce her new Lakota name to win more votes from the Pine Ridge rez. I’m sure that that would be OK too.

      • Pope Jimbo

        On reflection, Noem wouldn’t have to change her name to win the Sioux voting bloc. All she’d have to do is eat that dog that she shot and the tribes would love her.

      • Common Tater

        You’re just into chicks who eat dogs.

  25. PieInTheSky

    Lager is seen as ‘the safe option’ for British drinkers because the beer sector “fails to communicate its huge range of aromas, colours and flavours in consumer friendly language”, according to report findings.

    https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/05/lager-is-safe-option-for-british-drinkers/

    “She explained that in the recent Gender Pint Gap: Revisited report, women’s collective Dea Latis asked all respondents in the survey to name their favourite style of beer and “28% of women responded “Don’t Know” to this question, compared to only 9% of men,” which she said led the group to question: “Could there be a big education piece which the beer industry is failing to meet?””

    What are you all doing to get more women to drink sour beers?

    • Common Tater

      Maybe men drink more beer.

      • PieInTheSky

        I dunno those english wimmins have their fair share of pints

  26. Common Tater

    More in race is stupid,

    “Native American groups allege Met Museum curator is heritage-faking ‘Pretendian’: It’s ‘genocide again’

    Native American campaigners are raising questions about the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s first-ever curator of Native American art — claiming she does not belong to a federally recognized tribe in the US, The Post has learned.

    Patricia Marroquin Norby was hired with great fanfare in 2020, after what the museum said was “a long and competitive search,” as its “inaugural Associate Curator of Native American Art” in its American Wing.

    For years, Marroquin Norby, 53, described herself — including in legal filings — as “Apache,” “Eastern Apache” and “Nde” as well as “Purepacha/Tarascan,” an indigenous group from the northwestern part of Michoacan, Mexico….

    “The Met really needs to educate themselves about American Indian sovereignty,” Costantino said. “They are so obsessed with DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] that they are not doing their due diligence, and when they don’t do the work, they are doing a disservice to the Native community, to people who have suffered erasure. They are just erasing them again.””

    https://nypost.com/2024/05/28/us-news/native-american-groups-allege-met-museum-curator-is-pretendian/

    • WTF

      If being a minority is such a disadvantage, why do white people keep pretending to be minorities?
      Sure is a mystery.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Maybe all she had to do was put her tribal affiliation in her email sig? Some real Indians in SoDak are being erased via email.

      Human Resources staff at the University of South Dakota told two administrators that they could be fired for language in their email signatures.

      John Little and Megan Red Shirt-Shaw, who both work in student services roles, said in a statement last week that they were forced to remove their gender pronouns and tribal affiliation from their university email signatures.

      The cause of the sudden threat to their livelihoods? A guidance the Board of Regents passed in December that restricts all employees in the state’s public higher education system in what they can include in their official communications. It outright bans inclusion of any information outside of the sender’s name, email/physical addresses, telephone number(s), and links to the institution’s website.

      “The part of me that wants to protest makes me think that everyone should put their ancestry and heritage and pronouns in their emails,” Crazy Bull says. “It shouldn’t just be Native people who feel like this targets them. Our allies should say: “I think I’ll put that I’m German, and I’d like to be known by they/them.”

    • PieInTheSky

      he is french at heart?

      • R.J.

        It has been a very scatological morning post.
        To add to it, I watched Sasquatch Sunrise last night. I look forward to it going free streaming so I can inflict it on this group.

        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F94DY4G7CwQ

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        I was thinking German, but the Germans would probably keep the shit for themselves.

  27. PieInTheSky

    While we wait for the Supreme Court to issue rulings in the twin abortion rights cases, we have our eyes on a few non-abortion Court cases.

    Some relate to basic civil and human rights:

    The right not to be slaughtered with a gun that acts like a machine gun by using bump stocks, even though it’s not technically a machine gun (Garland v. Cargill);
    The right to live without fear that your domestic abuser can access legal firearms and then murder you with them (U.S. v. Rahimi);
    And the right to have a place to sleep, even if it’s in public (City of Grants Pass v. Johnson).

    Others relate to the preservation of democracy itself:

    The right to use social media platforms without being bombarded by misinformation about vaccines, COVID-19, or election interference (Murthy v. Missouri);
    Forcing hate speech and misinformation into our social media spaces (Moody v. Netchoice);
    Or whether the expertise of federal agencies like FDA, EPA, or HHS will give way to the conservative ideological policies that put people’s right to health care, safe drugs, and clean air at risk (Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo).

    https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2024/05/29/dont-sleep-on-these-8-supreme-court-cases/

    • UnCivilServant

      Sounds like someone doesn’t understand what rights are.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Rights are infinite if you survive birth.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Four more years

    Asked by a reporter why the president’s reelection campaign decided to hold an event at Trump’s trial, his communications director had a simple answer: “Because you all are here,” Michael Tyler said.

    “You’ve been incessantly covering this, day in and day out,” Tyler continued, later saying the Biden team would seek to remind voters of “the stakes of this election.”

    ——-

    The Biden campaign decided over the weekend to authorize a “guerrilla-style” campaign event near the courthouse in an effort to break through the non-stop cable news coverage of the Trump trial, according to two people familiar with plans and granted anonymity to describe them.

    By any means .

  29. Derpetologist

    My interview with the FL Department of Children and Families was quick. Turns out there is video of me being punched and who instigated the altercation. It seems the end result will be 3 fewer juvenile delinquents disrupting learning in that school.

    So yay me, I guess.

    • PieInTheSky

      juvenile delinquents – it is not their fault its society

      but yay you

    • R.J.

      Good!

      Were you wearing one of those nice blazers when you were punched? I care about your professional image for future personal branding opportunities.

      • Derpetologist

        I was wearing the checkerboard shirt you sent me at the time. It is now battle-hardened.

      • R.J.

        Excellent! Project Derpy continues. Soon you will influence the world, or at least a sizeable portion of the South. Stay on brand!

    • Sean

      I wonder if my insurance will cover that.

  30. Derpetologist

    2 interesting clips I found yesterday:

    Mohamed Morsi (also spelled Morsy), the fairly elected president of Egypt who was quickly overthrown, gave an interesting interview. I surprised that he speaks English. He was eager to build a stronger relationship with the US. So much for that.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4qLLvKQO10

    And here’s the repugnant George Stephanopoulos beclowning himself in an interview with former Iranian president Ahmadinejad. For some reason, George was convinced Bin Laden was hiding in Tehran. Evidently George knows nothing of Al Qaida or Sunni-Shia animosity.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHEpgv2lGOc

  31. Common Tater

    “Mayo Clinic Refuses To Give Popular YouTuber’s Mother A Lung Transplant Because She Hasn’t Been Vaccinated Against COVID-19

    On the Mayo Clinic’s website, the healthcare provider claimed that “because end-stage organ disease and immunosuppression weakens the body’s immune system,” transplant patients, both pre and post-op, are allegedly more at risk to catch COVID-19. They recommend following guidance from the CDC for those who need to take extra precautions; however, the linked page has since been removed from the CDC’s website.”

    https://www.thepublica.com/mayo-clinic-refuses-to-give-minnesota-mother-a-lung-transplant-because-she-hasnt-been-vaccinated-against-covid-19/

    Does the current vaccine even do anything?

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Many close to Biden have expressed private frustration that the media is obsessed with Trump, making it difficult at times to garner attention for the incumbent. But the people familiar with the decision disputed that the stunt was born out of desperation, even as Biden has narrowly but consistently trailed Trump in the polls.

    Joe is a lot like Marley’s ghost.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Like I said before upthread, you have two camps in his campaign/WH team and the stupider, younger camp is controlling it. They think this is an own and will get the yoots on their side.

      • Sean

        They just need more influencers!

    • R.J.

      That is a massive improvement.

      • R.J.

        I was discussing the Telsa truck. Argh.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Turning a cartoon truck further into a cartoon. That said I actually like it.

    It’s a distinct improvement, in photographs. Whether it works in “the flesh” is an open question.

    • R C Dean

      My question exactly. As far as the finish/wrap goes, is it a thirty-foot truck, a five foot truck, or what?

  34. Not Adahn

    Not unexpected result, but looooove the headline:

    Gun-Obsessed YouTuber Narrowly Defeated in Texas GOP Runoff

  35. The Late P Brooks

    While the trial is expected to continue at least through Wednesday and Thursday, Biden and his campaign still do not intend to directly address the trial until a verdict is reached.

    The president’s first remarks about the trial are expected to be about the need to respect the outcome and will not be overtly political. And they will likely be given in an informal White House setting — like answering a question from a reporter on the South Lawn — rather than in some sort of official address, according to the two people familiar with the plans.

    I sure hope everybody hits their marks and remembers their lines in this spontaneous off the cuff exchange.

  36. Derpetologist

    I contacted the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion today. Won’t be surprised if they turn me down. I checked the boxes for Civil Affairs, Special Forces, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, and Psychological Operations. There’s a waiver for everything. We’ll see what happens.

    • Derpetologist

      Just got a call back from them. He said to re-enlist again, but I’d need a waiver for that. On the plus side, I wouldn’t have to do basic training again, but I would need to do airborne school and get back in shape. I guess I should go meet the recruiter again if I’m serious. Looks like Civil Affairs and PsyOps are my best bet. I’m a bit too old for EOD and Rambo stuff.

  37. The Late P Brooks

    Hate comes to the suburbs


    A neighbor of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito called police in 2021 following an exchange with the jurist’s wife, claiming that someone needed to “make her stop,” according to a report Tuesday in the New York Times.

    “Somebody in a position of authority needs to talk to her and make her stop,” the neighbor told police in Fairfax County, Virginia, according to a recording of the call reviewed by the Times.

    The call was placed by the husband of a neighbor who exchanged words with Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann Alito, after the neighbor put up yard signs critical of Republicans. Justice Alito told the Times in a statement earlier this month that the flag was hoisted in response to a “neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

    In this house we don’t believe in consequences.

    • Sean

      Comment *

      In this house we don’t believe in consequences.

      I think there’s an awful lot of those. 🙁

  38. The Late P Brooks

    Days later, the Times published images of a second flag – the Appeal to Heaven flag – hoisted at Alito’s home in New Jersey. That flag, which has a history dating to the Revolutionary War, has also become a symbol for Trump’s supporters.

    It’s too bad the British lost.