73 Comments

  1. SDF-7

    No offense to your penguin’s opus there — but this is the song for summer nights.

    Or I’m showing my age again (what’s my age again?)… Happy Friday Riven — and the rest of y’all.

    Enjoy your next week — I’m going to be trying that drive I mentioned with a jaunt up through South Dakota to try to see Rushmore. So doubt I’ll be posting for a bit after today.

    On to the links!

    • Ted S.

      I’m surprised you didn’t pick this for your night music.

      • SDF-7

        Am I a teenage girl here to amuse you? (Now I put Pesci in drag in your heads… mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!)

      • Ted S.

        Yes you are.

    • Fourscore

      400 miles NW and you’ll find the Goodlands. You’ll see lots of lakes and an old guy, out standing in the garden. Stop in, stay awhile

      • SDF-7

        Maybe next pass through if this works out and I get a feel for it. The one important goal (okay besides the car not dying on me or my wife not being okay on her own and having to turn around) is to make it to the vicinity of my parents by Saturday so I can pop up unexpectedly for Father’s Day. So I can burn a day or two tops around Rushmore but then I need to get back on track. Thanks for the offer though… I’d love to meet you sometime.

  2. SDF-7

    Feathers McGraw is back.

    I suppose I should try Wallace & Grommit at some point — I like other Aardman works (Sean The Sheep, Chicken Run)… I’ve just never gotten into that one.

    • Not Adahn

      Sean the Sheep was a spinoff character from W&G

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Aside from the pun in the name, a sheep wearing a sweater made of its own wool just cracks me up.

    • kinnath

      All the Wallace and Grommit shorts and films are very good. The Wrong Trousers is fucking brilliant.

  3. SDF-7

    “Millions of people will be tuning in on Friday to see what’s coming next.”

    Oh, I thought that was going to be people checking to see if Boeing manages re-entry…

    • SDF-7

      Hmm… speaking of Boeing — not a good time to take the window seat.

      • The Gunslinger

        – “The plane abruptly turned around where it was met with fire crew. The plane was then taken out of service.”

        Good call.

    • SDF-7

      Let’s hope that serenade doesn’t transition through this to here…..

  4. SDF-7

    “Even so, it’s an extremely silly and not particularly scary movie.”

    Skimming the article… yeah, it does sound rather like the writers went in Seine.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Je vois ce que tu as fait là… 🧐

  5. juris imprudent

    Speaking of the Second Amdt – bwahahahahahahaha – nope, can’t do it with a straight face.

    After the prosecution rested, Lowell announced that he would be filing an acquittal motion based on the claim that Hunter’s purchase was protected by the Second Amendment. Judge Maryellen Noreika appeared skeptical that the motion would be convincing.

    • SDF-7

      Can’t have any legal precedents that “shall not be infringed” means what it says after all.

      That way lies madness! Anarchy! Cats and dogs…. living in sin! Mass hysteria!

      • The Other Kevin

        Let’s go down that road and see what happens to red flag laws.

      • juris imprudent

        C’mon, you know why I am laughing – you’d have to gut half of the federal register. COMMERCE!!! It isn’t as if this hasn’t been challenged – with even better defendants getting screwed, and all the way up to SCotUS.

        Ain’t gonna happen.

    • Sean

      Abolish the ATF!

      -Hunter Biden

  6. The Late P Brooks

    an acquittal motion based on the claim that Hunter’s purchase was protected by the Second Amendment.

    Legalize freedom.

    • Suthenboy

      There are those that delude themselves into thinking this defense could end up being a 2A win. Just think classified docs regarding Trump and Biden. How many non-disclosures has Biden paid out over the years? I know it is a non-zero number for Gropey Joe.

  7. Suthenboy

    Jaws and….Sharktopus? What is Sharknado, chopped li….oh, yeah I guess it is.

    • R.J.

      Sharktopus Is good. It was a Roger Corman film, I think.

  8. DrOtto

    If Washington DC is Hollywood for ugly people, Hunter Biden is the Charlie Sheen of Washington DC.

    • SDF-7

      Tiger blood!

    • juris imprudent

      “You only wish you were me”

    • Suthenboy

      I get ‘media cannot be played’ after reloading the page 4x.

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

      Obviously a doctored clip. He didn’t pronounce house in such a way that it rhymes with moose.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Democracy uber alles

    “When we talk about democracy, American democracy, we often talk about the ideals of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness,” Mr. Biden said Friday. “What we don’t talk about is how hard it is. How many ways we’re asked to walk away, how many instincts are to walk away. The most natural instinct is to walk away — to be selfish, to force our will upon others, to seize power, never give it up. American democracy asks the hardest of things — to believe that we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves.

    “So democracy begins with each of us, begins when one person decides there’s something more important than themselves,” the president continued.

    What the fuck does that even mean? What a steaming pile of ass backwards nullities.

    • Nephilium

      /looks at regulations, laws, and mandates

      Fuck you (lyrics NSFW) Mr. Biden.

      • Suthenboy

        The only thing I got out of it is

        OBEY

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      It’s empty rhetoric that means nothing but sounds OK on a superficial level.

    • rhywun

      It means Donald Trump wants to be a dictator.

      • The Other Kevin

        Of course. His writers only know one song.

  10. Derpetologist

    pics of my trip to the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota, FL

    https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2024/06/mote-aquarium-in-sarasota-fl.html

    Learned about this controversial teacher today:

    ***
    John Taylor Gatto (December 15, 1935[3] – October 25, 2018[4]) was an American author and school teacher. After teaching for nearly 30 years he authored several books on modern education, criticizing its ideology, history, and consequences. He is best known for his books Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, and The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling.

    Gatto asserts the following regarding what school does to children in Dumbing Us Down:

    It confuses the students. It presents an incoherent ensemble of information that the child needs to memorize to stay in school. Apart from the tests and trials, this programming is similar to the television; it fills almost all the “free” time of children. One sees and hears something, only to forget it again.
    It teaches them to accept their class affiliation.
    It makes them indifferent.
    It makes them emotionally dependent.
    It makes them intellectually dependent.
    It teaches them a kind of self-confidence that requires constant confirmation by experts (provisional self-esteem).
    It makes it clear to them that they cannot hide, because they are always supervised.[4][20]
    He also draws a contrast between communities and “networks”, with the former being healthy, and schools being examples of the latter. He says networks have become an unhealthy substitute for community in the United States.[21]
    ***

    I agree with Gatto’s take. Still, I want to teach math to those willing to learn it. As for the others, I merely wish to keep the peace.

  11. The Late P Brooks

    Democracy begins when some of us decide we know what’s best for all of us. At the barrel of a gun, if necessary.

  12. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Speaking of Penguins. I really miss ours. If you’re lurking, please come see us!

    • R.J.

      Inflatable T-Rex?

      • westernsloper

        A cup bustier with 6 shot glass holsters.

  13. Stinky Wizzleteats

    “Heavily Armed Federal Agents Show Up at Home of Texas Doctor After He Blew Whistle on Sex-Change Program at Texas Children’s Hospital, Serve Him Federal Indictment”
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/heavily-armed-federal-agents-show-up-home-texas/

    Three federal felony indictments for HIPAA violations. After the covid requirements basically murdered HIPAA and tossed its corpse in a dumpster how do they get off charging for this? Even if it is clear cut he violated the law he did the right thing.

    • rhywun

      The guy is pretty sure there was no violation. We shall see.

      • PutridMeat

        Does it matter? He made them look bad. The DOJ and large swathes of the judicial system are completely corrupted. Even if it ultimately gets thrown out, he’ll be dragged through the mud, his life turned upside down and no one from Garland on down through the enforcers knocking on his door will suffer the least consequence. “Hey, all you other folks out there, see what happens when you expose us? Be a shame if something like that happened to you. Best just keep quiet, eh?” Anarcho-tyranny indeed.

      • Suthenboy

        Violation, no violation. What does that matter? The outcome is already determined. Heavily armed agents at his home? It is another tin-pot thug regime take down of those that do not obey.

    • westernsloper

      We live in a third world country now. Get used to it. Think of that the next the time you look at the flag. It doesn’t matter if you dont want that, or believe in that, it has happened get used to it.

    • slumbrew

      How about non-Catholic fans of Mr Powers?

      • slumbrew

        Ball-busting aside, I love Powers. He doesn’t really have his fastball anymore (e.g., “Declare”) but I still enjoy his Weird LA stuff.

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

        Check it out, I am not a Catholic, but I do enjoy all the ins and outs he puts in his fiction with history, Catholicism, poetry, etc.

  14. The Other Kevin

    I watched the Dr. Phil interview with Trump so you wouldn’t have to. My notes:
    1. It’s 1:11:00 long.
    2. Nothing there you haven’t seen before, but other people who don’t follow things as closely might learn something.
    3. Trump still has his annoying habits like speaking in fragments and not exactly answering questions, but still so much more coherent than Biden. Trump also seemed really personable.
    4. Dr. Phil seems pretty reasonable and sane. Did not deviate from this for the entire interview.
    5. It was pretty funny how Trump threw out personal insults about Biden and Schiff, and Dr. Phil just sat there with extreme restraint because you knew he wanted to say something.
    6. Trump said “insane asylum” like 20 times and EVERY TIME they showed “* Mental health facility” on the screen.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      #5) Say what you will about Trump, he has plenty of faults, but he is funny as hell. From the petty ruthlessness of his personal attacks to his many verbal quirks the man’s always good for a laugh.

  15. The Late P Brooks

    Trump said “insane asylum” like 20 times and EVERY TIME they showed “* Mental health facility” on the screen.

    Que? Oh, you mean nuthouse.

    Is he planning to build them?

    • The Other Kevin

      No, he was talking about other countries emptying their prisons and nuthouses and sending everyone here.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    Speaking of nuthouses

    The father of a Minnesota transgender high school student who says she was beaten in school said Thursday he wants the students who beat or harassed his daughter to face criminal charges.

    Mark Walztoni tells CNN his 17-year-old daughter Cobalt Sovereign, a junior at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, was in the school bathroom last Thursday when a student started calling her transphobic slurs. While she was leaving the bathroom, Walztoni says his daughter said that she was surrounded by that student and two others, who began following Sovereign down the hall, and when she turned around to ask them to stop, she was punched in the mouth.

    During the attack, according to Walztoni, Sovereign’s jaw was broken in two places. She had a compound fracture and lost teeth, leading to reconstructive surgery. Walztoni says the students responsible should face criminal charges.

    ——-

    He also says he was notified about the incident from a social worker at the school and was told by school officials to notify the police, adding that he was displeased the incident “wasn’t treated as an emergency.”

    The Minnetonka Police Department said in a statement to CNN that it is investigating an attack that day at Hopkins High School as “a possible hate crime,” but said “details remain limited as the case was reported to police after school had ended for the day.” Hopkins High School said it is investigating “an act of violence” that “involved a student who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

    Inexplicable. Unprovoked.

    It sucks that the kid got his teeth knocked out. It also sucks that he was encouraged to engage in intentionally self destructive and provocative behavior. What do these people expect?

    • Sean

      “Cobalt Sovereign”

      Seriously?

      • rhywun

        “I identify as a metallic coin.”

      • pan fried wylie

        Penny Copperpot Hardest Hit

  17. The Late P Brooks

    Obligatory boilerplate:

    The attack comes amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ legislation and as advocates say LGBTQ students have faced an uptick in threats and violence. It also comes nearly four months after the death of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary 10th grader in Oklahoma who told police about being beaten to the point of blacking out during a confrontation in the school bathroom.

    Murdered at school for being queer. Happens on a daily basis.

    • The Other Kevin

      On the Rise (TM) even.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    “Cobalt Sovereign”

    Seriously?

    Sounds like a Derby horse, right? Now I want to name a horse “Word Salad” and enter it in the Derby.

    • pan fried wylie

      I’m no gambler, but Word Salad just feels like a sure thing.

  19. cavalier973

    So, one of the jurors apparently leaked the verdict the day before.

    Possible grounds for a mistrial, and someone on Truth Social thinks it is to tie Trump up with a second trial.