348 Comments

  1. Brochettaward

    Tricksy linkers think they can prevent my Firsting.

  2. Pope Jimbo

    Picking a NoDak?!

    What level of hell have we descended to?

    • Fourscore

      I fear that the NoDak boys will leave us to take cushy jobs in DC. They are about the only other people in the state.

      • LCDR_Fish

        May as well shift Interior out to NoDak – bring the jobs to the people.

      • AlexinCT

        I like the cut of your jib, LCDR.

    • NoDakMat

      You’re just jealous that we found a way to get rid of our governor and you haven’t been able to do the same.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Tell me more. My wife is a Bergum fan.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      North Dakota doesn’t exist. Like birds.

  3. Ownbestenemy

    Have calls by the media been made that Trumps picks are too white and too male?

    • Banjos

      They are too busy shitting bricks to formulate the words yet.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        White, male bricks, I might ad.

    • Rat on a train

      No trannies in the cabinet?

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      I’m just wondering when we’ll get all of the celebratory “Trump appoints FIRST WOMAN EVER to Chief Of Staff and National Security Advisor.”

      A man can dream just as well as TMITE can hypocrite.

      • Rat on a train

        Gender traitors don’t count.

      • Gender Traitor

        Gender traitors don’t count.

        Hey now! 😒

    • AlexinCT

      I saw some segment where some old guard lefty on PSMSNBCS was freaking the fuck out that all the appointees were honkeys, and there were no diverse people, including women with penises.

      • Nephilium

        /looks at Vivek Ramaswamy, Tulsi Gabbard, and fuck… Elon Musk

        So, these are all white American born men?

      • UnCivilServant

        Hate to break it to you, but DOGE isn’t a cabinet agency, so the blue and gold dark elf and the richest african american are off in a gray area.

      • AlexinCT

        True UCS, but I doubt any republican in congress will say they do not want to cut government after the election with the mandate to do just that…

  4. Pope Jimbo

    Why do I think the 4-year cruise will end any less well than the 3-year cruise?

    hey had signed up for the experience of a lifetime: three years traveling the world from the comfort of a cruise ship, at prices that rivaled regular living expenses.
     
    But now the dream is over for passengers who’d signed up for Life at Sea Cruises’ inaugural three-year voyage. After weeks of silence, the company has acknowledged to passengers that it has no ship, and has canceled the departure, vowing to refund those who’d signed up for cruises costing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    The operative phrase is vowing to return. Why would these rubes expect any better?

    • UnCivilServant

      Well, if the company starts out already having a ship, that’s a vast step towards getting things moving.

      If I were a cruise company looking at long term passengers like that I’d pick a ship which is slated for a refurb in four years so that the damage done is just going to get ripped out when the overhaul begins anyway. These don’t strike me as contientious tenants.

    • R.J.

      Four years of Legionnaires’ Disease will change their perspective on life.

    • Nephilium

      I seem to recall that several of the people who had signed up for that trip had already contracted to sell their homes. There are those who live cruise to cruise in their retirement. It would not be my first choice.

    • Rat on a train

      Did Billy McFarland organize it?

    • SDF-7

      At least it won’t be a 3 hour cruise shared with an academic, a hollywood starlet, a fresh-from-the-farm-girl, a millionaire (and his wife)….

      • Fourscore

        Are we still talking about the last Glib Cruise?

      • EvilSheldon

        Only way to find out is to sign up for the next one!

    • Pat

      The Navy offers a 4 year cruise program, and they even pay you for going!

      • UnCivilServant

        But the accommodations are awful, and they expect me to work!

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        But they feed you.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Dirty little secret…

        It’s actually an 8 year program.

        We can call you back up anytime we want.

    • Urthona

      And then they return and JD Vance is president.

  5. Toxteth O'Grady

    “CA election head takes ‘pride’ in not being ‘rushed’ ”

    Dey on island time, mon.

    • R.J.

      “Look mon! Anudder vote for Donald! Get me de shredda!”

    • SDF-7

      When your party bosses are a supermajority across the board in the state… why the hell should you care? Everyone else can wait on you — you’re important!

      (More seriously — this isn’t a surprise since while ballots must be “postmarked” by Election Day (for some value of postmarked, most likely) – they aren’t due into the county offices (I guess to allow the Glue Pony Express?) until the 12th. So they’ve only had the real ballots to get started for the last couple of days, man…. no point in really buckling down before then!

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      “No man is an island”

      -John Donne counting.

    • Fourscore

      Good for a laugh in the morning, Jimbo. Thanks.

    • ron73440

      That’s funny, reminds me of my 110 pound rottweiler that would complain to us that our cats were sleeping on his bed.

      The 2 cats would be all stretched out, comfy as could be and he would be terrified to disturb them.

    • WTF

      Cats really are assholes. Cute and funny, but assholes nonetheless.

  6. Shpip

    “We take pride in the fact we are not rushed,” said California Secretary of State Shirley Weber at a virtual press conference. “We make sure every person who is eligible to vote gets a chance to vote.”

    Left unsaid: “And if the need arises, we’ll make sure that people who aren’t eligible to vote get a chance to… as long as they vote the right way.”

    • cyto

      Particularly in cases when we need an extra 1,500 votes to make sure that county commissioner gets elected, and another 18,000 votes to keep that house seat…..

      It takes time to go find those votes that need to be counted

      • SDF-7

        Surprisingly they haven’t perceptibly done that in my district (CA-13) It has been pretty hotly contested the last few cycles since they flipped it with the ballot stuffing and got Pelosi her majority at one point, then the Rs flipped it back… now it teeters. I think Modesto is going more blue — the rural parts of Stanislaus and Merced try to balance it.

        But if the House majority was actually close — I wouldn’t put it past them — we’re only talking about 1000 “found” ballots to flip it, after all. Low hanging fruit.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        With UCMerced, and housing prices in the bay out of control, it is no wonder, and I am pretty sure there is a Minority/Majority district down there somewhere too.

    • R C Dean

      Not mentioned: How making sure everyone has a chance to vote slows down counting.

    • rhywun

      “We make sure every person who is eligible to vote gets a chance to vote.”

      I love how the second sentence bears no relation to the first one whatsoever. Perfect apparatchik flapdoodle.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I mean, the chance to vote has been expanded to late summer onward to election day. So sure, get the stragglers to get your numbers where you need them I guess.

  7. cavalier973

    When the taxi that is supposed to take you to the airport is two hours late, the driver takes pride in not being rushed.

    • SDF-7

      Could be worse — the driver could pick you up at the airport then step out with the meter running to chase down his girlfriend and deal with his drinking problem.

      • DrOtto

        One of many countless great gags in that movie.

    • Nephilium

      Reminds me of my last trip, the girlfriend and I had an early flight, so rather than worry about it in the morning, we scheduled a rideshare. Morning comes, getting everything ready, last minute checks… and get a notification on my phone. “We’ve found a closer driver, you’ll be getting picked up in 5 minutes!” This happened to be ~20 minutes before the scheduled pickup.

      That is not helpful.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Dear Comanpy XYZ – When I schedule something in advance, I plan around the scheduled time. Causing that time to change in either direction is not good. I was still in the air when your driver arrived.”

        (Yes, I know 20 minutes would not have put you in flight.)

      • Nephilium

        Other way around, instead we got to sit at the airport for an additional 20 minutes.

    • Brochettaward

      I don’t even know what the supposed logic to that statement is.

      • Brochettaward

        She’s a Russian asset who is going to lead us into war with Russia. Yea, that one is painful.

      • Not Adahn

        Apparently people literally believe Tulsi is a Rooshun agent.

      • cavalier973

        “If you go through with picki mg Gabbard, Congress is going to declare war! On somebody!”

      • R C Dean

        Congress, declare war? Pish.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Still holding out on Trump or one of his picks for DoD to declare they will not expend any monies until Congress declares war on any of our ongoing ‘conflicts’. Make Congress accountable.

      • AlexinCT

        I remind you all that democrats and their world view are directly downstream from hoaxes and other beliefs that fly in the face of economic, natural and human nature laws…

        I can totally see that big booty latina’s followers buy that idiotic shit that Tulsi is a warmonger because “RUSSIA!!”..

      • Pat

        Even if she were a Russian asset, is the thinking here that Putin wants the US involved in the Ukraine conflict, but on the Russian side? Because I’m fairly sure he doesn’t.

    • DrOtto

      From Hilary’s mouth to the ears of the true believers. Once the lie is told, it becomes truth to that group.

      • The Other Kevin

        Yes this is all Hillary. The story I saw was that when Tulsi was in Congress, she was on a committee, and Hillary and Obama wanted to bomb Syria (?). And Tulsi said she didn’t see any reason to do that. From then on Hillary hated her. Then when Ukraine started getting hot, Tulsi was on the news saying we should talk things out and not rush to war with another nuclear power. At that point Hillary called her a “Russian asset” and “Putin apologist.

      • The Last American Hero

        Meanwhile, AOC voted for bills funding wars in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, and 19 other places…

  8. Shpip

    Another area of focus has been the infighting over how the $1 billion Harris raised during her short campaign for president was spent, with the revelations on how she spent substantial amounts seemingly to buy endorsements, not to mention the $15-20 million spent on the election-eve concerts, ushering forth a lot of second-guessing and finger pointing.

    Hey, polishing a turd is expensive.

    • AlexinCT

      Now did she make the spending decisions, or is it – as I suspect – the people running the country for the last 4 years from the Obama admin?

      In either case, it explains why we are where we are..

  9. cyto

    To steal an idiom from Obama….

    Let me be clear…. the reason you want the votes to all be counted at the same time and in a short period is to prevent election fraud. If all the votes are counted within 2 hours (florida) there is no opportunity to find out that you only need 5,000 votes to swing the senate race and rush out and manufacture 5,000 votes

    • cyto

      Didnt email kill the post office, as first class mail subsidized the whole thing to a degree?

      • cyto

        Well, that and all of the package market going to competitors. Except for those extremely costly rural locations, I suppose.

      • R C Dean

        Amazon (and maybe UPS, couldn’t say), subs out some of its deliveries to the Post Office.

      • UnCivilServant

        If I recall correctly, the Amazon contract was abominable for the post office from a financial standpoint. (May have even been ‘we lose money on each package delivered’ territory).

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        UPS does too, and the other way ’round. Logistics is a business where then result, getting things delivered timely, makes strange bedfellows.

      • cavalier973

        If the USPS lost the Amazon account, it would soon be making money again.

      • cavalier973

        The USPS is probably paying out millions in overtime, because they wont or can’t hire enough people to deliver the Amazon parcels.

        The stress increases the amount of sick calls, which puts further pressure on those who show up. So, every day people are having to split routes.

        Management lives in a fantasy, where computer algorithms somehow reflect the reality of time and physics. It’s as if they think that t he parcels sort themselves, load themselves, and deliver themselves. All the carrier has to do is drive by the recipient’s address, and the parcel magically disappears from the vehicle and appears on the porch.

        Whoever negotiated the Amazon deal should be fired.

      • LCDR_Fish

        That Amazon/USPS thing is really frustrating in other ways too.

        If I’m traveling and I have a hold on my mail, USPS will hold it at the post office and drop it off when I get back (or I go pick it up).

        If I order something that goes from Amazon to USPS – it’ll be held. If I order something from amazon and amazon delivers…it’ll just show up and sit on my front porch till I get home.

        But there’s no way to tell at the time of ordering if it’ll be one or the other….

      • trshmnstr

        All the carrier has to do is drive by the recipient’s address, and the parcel magically disappears from the vehicle and appears on the porch.

        I had to go offload a package out of the Fedex truck the other day. The idiots packed 100lbs of barbell plates into a single box, and the other idiots sent a 120lb girl with 3 broken fingers to deliver it.

    • UnCivilServant

      It would depend on the language in her contract, but I assum she’s a SAG, so probably not.

      But they can refuse to ever hire her. I suspect she’s not going to get any more acting gigs going forward having had three flops in a row and a big public spectacle from the last one.

      • cyto

        It is like she watched Brei Larson alienate the fan base and said “hold my chardonnay”

      • The Last American Hero

        If I was Brie, I’d be nervous my gig as Nissan pitchman was in trouble.

      • UnCivilServant

        Has she thought about shilling cheese? She has the nomitive determinism for it.

    • Nephilium

      Not a lawyer, but I would guess it would depend on the contract. I’ve read that publicity is usually a portion of the contract, which can include a non-disparagement as well as requirements for communication.

      But I think Disney would have to prove that Zegler caused it to flop, instead of it already looking like it was going to flop hard.

      • R.J.

        They may not be able to fire her, or the writers or the director due to long-term contracts.

        BUT, Disney could reassign them to work in the canteen until their contracts are up.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Following Trump’s win last week, Zegler shared a series of messages with her 2.3 million Instagram followers.

      “I find myself speechless in the midst of this.

      She was speechless!

      • UnCivilServant

        I find myself speechless

        Then why haven’t you stopped talking?

        Had you done so months ago, you’d be in a much better spot now.

      • Brochettaward

        1. I really, really doubt she has a legit 2.3 million followers.
        2. I mean, they’d have to reshoot the entire film (which was always going to flop, anyway) in order to “fire” her. There’s no way in hell they’re doing that. The shit has been finished for a while now and only delayed because of her past antics.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Like BatChick, they might just shelve the whole thing.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      As a side note, there was a time when studio’s held long term contracts with actors and made sure they didn’t do stuff like this. In return the actors had a guaranteed run of films.

      And this shows why that was a good thing for both.

      • Ted S.

        They also put stars in really crappy movies at times, which is why Bette Davis fled to London and sued Warner Bros.

      • Ted S.

        MGM and Paramount, then two of the top studios, also punished two of their stars by lending them out to very low-status Columbia. Columbia and the stars got the last laugh, though, because the movie was “It Happened One Night”.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        👍🦵

  10. LCDR_Fish

    A reserve chaplain could be a good pick for VA regarding some issues. I knew a Navy Reserve Chaplain who joined after working as a civilian chaplain for the VA hospital in Richmond (Greek Orthodox).

    Just hope that he’s ready to make some serious changes in partnership with DOD.

    I gotta wonder if it would be any more expensive for health care … if vets were paying $50/month for Tricare (like reserve tricare) with say….a $25 copay and $8 prescriptions – for 100% disabled (possibly free if missing limbs/eyes/paralyzed/etc)…. a $50 copay for 75% disabled, etc..

    Something like that. If you could go to any Tricare approved facility – covered by Tricare – ie. most healthcare systems in the US – with actual insurance vice medicaid/medicare/VA medicine.

    You could cut probably 90% of the current VA employees and I bet it would still be magnitudes less expensive than the current system.

    Obviously some VA stuff still necessary for GI Bill and other programs, but given the current veteran population (since we have very few people left from WWII/Korea) – it seems like a worthwhile alternative – much the same way that SS is not sustainable.

    • LCDR_Fish

      I think this would have the added benefit of getting better, more efficient treatment in a timely manner – which would also cost less in the long run – compared to the abysmal record VA currently has.

      Also – once the initial disability calculation is complete – Tricare takes over all care – someone can enroll in whatever local system works best for them – ie. UVA – etc and then they can do all their normal stuff there with no other issues.

      • cyto

        I was thinking the same thing…. my lab in grad school was in a VA hospital building. It was not a great place. And vets complained about having to travel a long way to get treatment.

        Just dumping the entire VA system and paying for good Healthcare plans, even in an HMO, seems a better option. Vets should be able to get top flight care without delay in a reasonably convenient location.

        Bonus if it would save a ton of money.

      • Fourscore

        Makes too much sense. The local VA center is 30 miles away, it is busy with vets. I use Tricare instead, have the same doctor every time for routine visits and is hospital adjacent and has emergency staffing.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Tricare4Life?

        What’s the current monthly rate/copay? Several hundred $$$?

      • Fourscore

        Tricare4Life picks up all the tabs, I use a local pharmacy and pay a little for every prescription.

        Ex: I get a 90 day supply of something or another, my cost 80 cents, pharmacy pays $1.40 to mail it out.

        My two brothers were also retired Army, one used the Navy Hospital at Great Lakes, the other used VA. I could never understand why.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Thanks. I think I was getting mixed up between Tricare4Life for folks who were retired at a certain age vs Tricare4Life – if I separated tomorrow and wanted to use it vs something else.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Not sure. He’s an AF Reserve Chaplain who has deployed to Iraq – don’t know enough about his perspectives on VA care (unlike Hegseth who has done a lot of work for Vets – see his Shawn Ryan show interview I linked a couple times yesterday).

        I’ll need to dig and see if there’s any interviews.

  11. rhywun

    Alaska remains headed to ranked-choice Nov. 20 decision,

    Why isn’t this calculated immediately…?

    • Not Adahn

      AK ballots are moose antlers that don’t scan well?

    • Nephilium

      I could see waiting until you have all the ballots in your possession before you release any numbers with ranked choice voting.

      • cyto

        This should be standard for all elections.

        Everything should be closely held and then tabulated all at once.

        The reason Atlanta is always late with their counts is so that they can see where they need votes. I dont understand republican areas releasing vote totals before the big Democrat areas do. Huge mistake.

      • rhywun

        I must be missing something. Why wouldn’t they already have all the ballots? Unless Alaska is another state which fraudulently allows ballots to roll in for weeks after Election Day.

      • R C Dean

        “I could see waiting until you have all the ballots in your possession”

        Well, that would/should be close of business on Election Day, right?

      • The Last American Hero

        The ballots are returned via highly trained bald eagles that have to fly over mountain passes.

  12. Drake

    When I lived in California, they counted all the votes on election night and Republicans often won (Republican Governor and LA Mayor). All that has been fixed good and hard.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Checking the LA County site…at least no one voted in my name. 14 years and running…they have not purged my voter registration regardless of registering in three different states I have since lived in.

      Yep, most…secure…election…system…ever.

    • cyto

      Pretty much an inverse Florida. We had all manner of trouble counting votes within 48 hours in Broward, and state offices were often Democrat.

      Now the votes are counted as soon as the polls close and it is solid republican.

      Eliminating early voting (or maybe within a week) and limiting vote by mail to old school absentee ballots would completely secure our elections in florida, where we scan your ID when you vote in person.

      • Drake

        Yep – Same happened when they cleaned up the election system in Ohio. Makes me wonder what other states would swing way to the right with clean elections. Arizona obviously, most of the upper Midwest, NC. New Jersey and Virginia would be in play.

    • Nephilium

      Did you submit it to DOGE?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Huh…’ass-to-mouth’, ‘tushy’, and ‘ass-licking’.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, we know where HM had his VPN set to.

      • Not Adahn

        Tushy.com makes high-quality porn.

      • PutridMeat

        Arizona and Iowa exchange knowing glances.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Iowa is just more refined

      • PutridMeat

        Iowa is just more refined

      • Ownbestenemy

        Much of my sexual education is derived from SP.

    • Grumbletarian

      Why am I not surprised by WA?

  13. Rat on a train

    Could San Francisco’s cable cars be suspended due to budget shortfall?

    Pre-pandemic, the National Transit Database says San Francisco’s cable car system had $70 million in operating expenses, collected $24 million in revenues, and incurred a $46 million loss.

    “We are not planning for any massive service cuts. What we’re trying to describe is at stake in order to close a $300 million structural deficit. We need to make catastrophic cuts to the system,” said Jeffrey Tumlin, head of San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency.

    If you can’t convince your representative to subsidize San Fran’s cable cars, at least buy some merchandize from The Muni Store.

    • R.J.

      The cable cars were pretty cool and fun until they filled up with psychotic drug abusers.

      • rhywun

        San Francisco was pretty cool and fun until it filled up with psychotic drug abusers.

        Tourism must be way down if they can’t run the cable cars anymore.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, when your city has become better known for it’s feces filled streets, homelessness, and crime, it stops being a tourist magnet.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Before the psychotic drug users?

        What, 1964?

      • rhywun

        What, 1964?

        *snort*

        Well, I lived there in the late 90’s and it was pretty easy to avoid them then.

      • Raven Nation

        “Tourism must be way down if they can’t run the cable cars anymore.”

        Yeah, I remember reading somewhere a few years back that the SF cable cars were one of the very few “light rail” type transportation that was actually profitable.

      • R.J.

        Rhywun: I think I was gone by 1989. I was there too for a while.

  14. Shpip

    Go Long on Anti-Anxiety Med Manufacturers

    In a deeply satisfying headline, CNN is reporting a widespread “Feeling of Dread” among the millions-strong Deep State — er, federal bureaucracy — afraid that Donald Trump will fire them.

    In case you’re curious why they used your tax dollars to influence the election.

    From your keyboard to God’s (well, Trump’s) ears, dude.

    • The Other Kevin

      I think I’m going to have to call someone for an erection that lasts more than 4 years.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        👏

  15. rhywun

    Meanwhile, Rachel O’Leary Carmona of the Women’s March announced plans for a massive rally ahead of Trump’s inauguration, aiming to replicate the 2017 movement that drew hundreds of thousands.

    Because the last one was so effective at sticking it to Donald. 🙄

    • Brochettaward

      They’re going to make the pussy hat great again.

      • Ownbestenemy

        If a small group of college kids don’t show up with dicks sewn onto the pussy hat…I will be sad.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        This years will have a blue stripe!

      • Not Adahn

        Patriot Front will be reported to show up. There will be pics of them with their masks still on. There will be reports of their awful, heinous violence against peaceful protesters. This will all be dutifully put on the front pages of all right-thinking media.

      • Nephilium

        ZWAK:

        The Blue Waffle hat?

        (If you don’t know what this is, I highly recommend you stay happy in your ignorance and don’t search the term. If you do search it, make sure that all images are blocked. It’ll be NSFW.)

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Neph, will they use the blue waffles as ear flaps, attached to the Cunt Cap*?

        *my name for the pussy hat, as it rings off the tongue a little better.

    • cyto

      Remember, the theme and action plan being promoted was “the resistance”. Political leaders were openly pushing for the bureaucrats to resist Trump, sabotage him at every turn, and throw him out. For all their bleating about peaceful transfer of power, Clinton advisers came out of her hotel the morning after the election, before she had conceded and said “don’t worry, we are going to impeach him”.

      This, of course, was in reference to the spy campaign against Trump that the Obama administration had undertaken. That administration would go on to brag in the NYT that they had distributed “classified information” around the government to be leaked after Trump got into office, for the purpose of getting a special counsel named, leading to impeachment.

      This is what they are hoping to rekindle.

      • Ownbestenemy

        South Park has predicted much of the past 24 years.

      • rhywun

        South Park has predicted much of the past 24 years.

        Love all the reprises.

    • Rat on a train

      Will the screamer return for an encore performance?

  16. Muzzled Woodchipper

    The Democrat added that if the agency is abolished then there should be a new means for countering misinformation.

    If those means aren’t shuttering TMITE and muzzling virtually all government actors from speaking, I don’t want to hear it. Whatever “misinformation” exists on social media is mirrored, and then some, by official government communications and in literally every newscast in the country.

    • Nephilium

      I find discussion in good faith is usually a useful method for stopping “misinformation”, but that would require more people to understand what a good faith argument is.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        Shutup, racist (and probably misogynist)!

        Good faith is the normalization of the white supremacist value system, in the same vein as having a nuclear family, being on time, and working hard.

      • Rat on a train

        The Paradox of Intolerance informs us we must fight misinformation with more misinformation.

    • Grummun

      “If we close the censorship agency, we need to make sure to stand up a new censorship agency.”

      • juris imprudent

        “Your terms are acceptable”

    • Ed Wuncler

      Sort of offhand, but Bennie Thompson is one of the prime reasons we need to expand the House. My family in Mississippi lives in his district and it’s probably one of the poorest regions in the US. His District represents over 700k people which has not served them well at all and the idea that one person can represent that many people go against common sense and proportional representation

      • rhywun

        Totally agree with that. It’s up to 766,000 now – ridiculous. Last time this came up someone pointed out that it’s much lower in most countries that practice some form of representative government.

    • The Other Kevin

      Do these people really want the Republicans to pass censorship laws, and have Trump pick who is in charge? Maybe he can pick Alex Jones.

  17. Muzzled Woodchipper

    This is not a normal schedule for me. Normally my wife, who is an early bird, gets up with the kids. My oldest son drives them to school (about a 1h 15m round trip). But wifey and oldest son are out of town, so those jobs fall on me today. I generally work what amounts to second shift, so I’m generally not up at this time, but right now I’m wide awake. I’d love to go patch my synthesizer, but if I do that there will be no nap, and I work until about 11 tonight.

    Shit.

  18. Certified Public Asshat

    Keep seeing Trump supporters post photos of Admiral Rachel Levine in response to concerns about Trump’s cabinet nominees. Why? What’s the concern with this woman? https://t.co/Zg7Xax0UVU— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) November 15, 2024

    • UnCivilServant

      Well, matty, to start, that’s a man. and he looks very unhealthy both physically and mentally. I’m not sure he should be employed, let alone running a federal agency. Send Mr Levine home to get better medical care.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Well, it isn’t a woman. We can start there.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Genuinely confused: Rachel Levin has a distinguished public health career, was named as one of USA Today's women of the year, and is a four-star officer in the nation's eight uniformed services.What possible concern do people have versus Trump’s unqualified, dangerous nominees?— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) November 15, 2024

      I don’t want public health advice from a fat man confused about gender.

      • Brochettaward

        The pendulum always swings back in American politics, and probably will in 2 years for some reason. Either through Democratic fuckery or just the whims of voters when Trump disappoints. But god damn if the left isn’t completely clueless as to why they lost this election. They suck on every fucking issue. They are in opposition to the majority of the public on every issue.

        Trannie pride is a losing issue. Acceptance and tolerance is where it will end for most people, unless you’re talking about with children. And they can’t stop talking about the children and the notion of “gender affirming care.” People don’t want trannies in female spaces.

      • Rat on a train

        and is a four-star officer in the nation’s eight uniformed services
        So once he is appointed then that is a qualifier, right? It reminds me of people saying Obama’s qualifications for president was running a successful campaign.

      • B.P.

        “…was named as one of USA Today’s women of the year…”

        Also named Babylon Bee’s Woman of the Year, which led to a Twitter ban, which led to Musk buying Twitter. Because we’re living in a simulation.

    • Brochettaward

      You know, forget that it’s a man badly masquerading as a woman. That’s just easy, low hanging fruit. Like his balls. Does anyone remember the creepy ass shit they said about mutilating children and about covid? Brochettaward The Great remembers. That’s the real problem with “Admiral” Levine.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        After completing her training in pediatrics and psychiatry at New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital, Levine moved from Manhattan to central Pennsylvania in 1993 where she joined the faculty of the Penn State College of Medicine and the staff at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.[14] During her tenure, she created Penn State Hershey Medical Center’s Division of Adolescent Medicine and the Penn State Hershey Eating Disorders Program. She was in charge of the latter when she was nominated for the position of Pennsylvania physician general in 2015.

        From wikipedia. There has to be something dark in that past.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        Sending kids from the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Penn State to the football program?

      • Brochettaward

        He was Sandusky’s gimp.

      • Mojeaux

        HERSHEY and “eating disorder” together in the same sentence.

        I … got nuthin

    • Tonio

      Levine is also big on “transitioning” little kids. That adds to the outrage, understandably.

      Also, I hope the DOGE will take a good hard look at the USPHS (where Levine’s Admiralty comes from) and decide that we don’t need a uniformed public health service. Would require legislation to undo, but converting all those positions to regular federal civilian service would be a worthy goal in itself.

      IIRC they put those government doctors in uniforms because their initial job was tending to the health of sailors and it was felt the seamen would respond better to men in uniform.

      • B.P.

        “…we don’t need a uniformed public health service.”

        We’re not a real country if we don’t have people parading around dressed like officers in the Freedonian Navy.

      • UnCivilServant

        Federal – If you’re not an organization whose members are going to get shot at when at war, you don’t need uniforms.

        Local – Police uniforms should not look like those of the military, nor should their gear.

  19. Ownbestenemy

    Oh look, spurious allegations are once again pounced on by the media. I guess we are back to #BELIEVEALLWOMEN

    Trump’s Defense Secretary Pick Pete Hegseth Said to Face Previous Sexual Misconduct Allegation

    At worst it appears, he stepped outside of his marriage and ended up with someone else. Life fucking happens.

  20. tarran

    Many people have wondered why Popeye and Bluto fought so determinedly for the love of Olive Oyl, when she doesn’t seem like much of a catch. Those people have never been to sea. Sailors only are in a particular port for at most a few days every few weeks or months. Even worse, when they are out to sea there is no female companionship.

    The first factor greatly reduces the pool of women who are willing to date them. The second factor significantly increases their level of desperation.

    • PieInTheSky

      Popeye himself was quite a catch.

      • AlexinCT

        Bluto is that you?

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      I suspect she was modeled on Mabel Normand.

  21. PieInTheSky

    A Norwegian fisherman made a surprising catch on Monday in the form of a US submarine.

    Harald Engen was delivering a catch of halibut to the village of Malangen, on Norway’s west coast, when he got an unusual message, Norwegian broadcaster NRK News reported.

    He was told that the propellers of a submarine had become tangled in his nets and had dragged them two nautical miles — about 2.3 miles — out to sea, NRK reported.

    The 377-foot, nuclear-powered USS Virginia had been on its way from the port of Tromsø, the outlet reported, adding that a Norwegian Coast Guard vessel escorting it had to help cut it loose from the nets.

    “I know about other vessels that have sailed over fishing nets, but no one out here have ever heard about a submarine doing so,” Engen said, per the Barents Observer.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/norway-fisherman-caught-uss-virginia-nuclear-powered-submarine-nets-tangled-2024-11

      • juris imprudent

        Are you kidding, he’s going to sue for the damage done to his equipment and lost catch.

      • Shpip

        He’ll sue for actual pain and suffering, too — now that he’s hard of herring.

      • AlexinCT

        The thing to note here is that I bet that crew was 100% compliant and trained on pronouns, DEI, and CRT, all at the expense of sailing and fighting that boat…

      • juris imprudent

        Eel ‘ave none of that now, so clam up.

    • The Last American Hero

      I once caught a submarine that was this big.

      • Fourscore

        Sandy? Sandy? Is that you?

  22. Pat

    With 1.7M uncounted ballots, CA election head takes ‘pride’ in not being ‘rushed’

    They could probably spend a whole month celebrating how proud they are.

  23. PieInTheSky

    Tania Marshall 🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿Psychotherapist Author
    @TaniaAMarshall
    💭
    My therapist colleagues are removing pronouns from their bios. What’s going on?
    💭

    https://x.com/TaniaAMarshall/status/1857244588337168486

    people all about fashionable nonsense drop the nonsense when it is less fashionable. First AOC now this…

    • Ownbestenemy

      Unfounded and unhinged fear that the government will round up all pronoun users.

      • PieInTheSky

        no one can honestly believe that.

      • Nephilium

        PieInTheSky:

        These same people think the only reason Harris lost was racism and misogyny. They can believe all sorts of untrue things.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        More likely that they realize just how stupid the rest of the public thinks these are.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        They can’t honestly believe that Trump is going to track women’s periods either, but here we are.

        There is no such thing as peak stupid.

      • Brochettaward

        The blue haired harpies in their HR department will fight to their dying shriek.

      • Tonio

        Either way it’s a win.

      • The Last American Hero

        Because the Trumpstapo will have no idea who AOC is.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Few people at my Big Corp job have pronouns in their bios, but probably 50% of the KPMG employees I have to deal with do. So far none of them have removed the pronouns.

      • UnCivilServant

        Around here the tech people don’t do that.

        Somehow among end users, it’s the most clueless who do.

      • R.J.

        Total opposite here. Pronouns in every tech email signature. I think it was forced.

      • UnCivilServant

        It was explicitly stated to be Optional when the email signature standards were updated this year.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Apolitical to a fault

    President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and former National Guard soldier, for Secretary of Defense, is being met with disbelief and outrage among members of Congress and former military officers.

    ——-

    Many people with experience in defense and foreign policy fear that, if confirmed, Hegseth would politicize the officer corps.

    ,/em>

    There is currently no politicization in the Defense Department. None.

    • Grumbletarian

      There is scant indication that any changes in the ranks have fundamentally disrupted the military

      ORLY? How have recruitment numbers been over the last four year or so?

  25. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Anyone been to/from Chattanooga? Was thinking of a little day trip over Thanksgiving weekend. Any little touristy things to do? What about Lookout Mountain, the TN Aquarium, or the Coker Museum? Any other suggestions?

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Chattanooga?

      Choo-Choo!

    • PieInTheSky

      Chattanooga is MAGA country as a woman you should avoid it.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        She could shave her head and wear a blue bracelet so she can find allies who will hide her from the marauding bands of Christian nationalists.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        Ruby Falls?

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        Sounds right.

        I haven’t been there other than to pass through in at least 3 decades. But I vividly remember beautiful caves, and a See Rock City birdhouse we had hanging until hurricane Andrew blew that thing a long ways.

      • The Other Kevin

        I have seen Ruby Falls as a kid. It was cool.

    • Pine_Tree

      Of what you listed, I know the Aquarium and Lookout Mountain can be fun. On Lookout Mountain itself there’s the old incline railway and Rock City (old-timey tourist attraction with caves, overlook, etc.).

      Chickamauga Battlefield and the associated historical sites in the area are just a short drive South if you’re into that sort of thing.

      • Pine_Tree

        Yeah Ruby Falls is what I was trying to remember and couldn’t. Another old-time thing, but watch out for long lines near a holiday.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        I see Ruby Falls has an early-morning guided tour, before it opens to the general public. That looks really cool, but I’d need to do an overnight to get there by 7:30am. That will go on the list for future visits

    • EvilSheldon

      The TN Aquarium is pretty good.

      • UnCivilServant

        At first I was like “Cheese? Oooh” Then I saw their cheeses and went “Whycome they’re all moldy varietals?” then I read about the cheeses and noted that only one is moldy, two merely look moldy*, and I hadn’t noticed the oozy french-style cheese because of the mold next to it.

        *the ash line on the coppinger doesn’t look appealing at all, and I hope that rind on the cumberland is dark wax and not a crust of cheese mold.

        Now I’m sad.

      • juris imprudent

        UCS – connoisseur of the finest of American cheese.

      • AlexinCT

        As long as he doesn’t recommend Fromunda cheese…

      • UnCivilServant

        I am going to put my biases out there – I don’t like mold in my cheese, or bugs, even intentional mold like bleu. If the cheese looks like it is a mold-dependant variety, that’s unappetizing.

        New York may not make much anymore, but our dairy industry isn’t dead, and we do make a lot of cheese (our cheddar is even notable outside the state).

        but on ocassion, I have been known to stoop to eating individual wrapped single slices of… not really plastic.

  26. LCDR_Fish

    Ok…maybe I’m just getting spun up too much just theorizing about stuff like this. I don’t really want to attempt an article on this just because I don’t have the numbers theory for anything like this. Just wanted to throw some stuff out – back of the napkin style – to see if anyone wants to poke holes in the basics.

    Total number of vets in US.

    2024 Dept of VA budget – $325 billion

    High estimate – say 20 million total. (how many “eligible”?) 16.2-18 million

    2021 – 4.3 million disabled veterans
    <1,000,000 100% disabled veterans

    100% disabled veterans – Tricare ($50/month) $25 copay, $10 prescriptions ($100 annual deductible)

    For 100% disabled veterans (total #?) missing limbs/eyesight/paralyzed/etc – free tricare (minimum administrative fee?), $0 copay, $0 prescriptions

    75% disabled veterans – Tricare ($100/month), $25 copay, $10 prescriptions ($200 annual deductible)

    50% disabled veterans – Tricare ($125/month), $25 copay, $10 prescriptions ($250 annual deductible)

    25% disabled veteran – Tricare ($150/month), $25 copay, $10 prescriptions ($300 annual deductible)

    Eligible veteran (non-retired) – Tricare ($250/month), $50 copay, $15 prescriptions ($500 annual deductible)

    Retired veteran – Tricare ($200/month), $25 copay, $10 prescriptions ($500 annual deductible)

    Obviously not everyone would necessarily take advantage of these rates if they have other family plans at work that might have better rates – since this is VA specifically, I think initially it makes better to focus on coverage for just the veterans – potentially with significant increases to add spouse/kids (non-active duty tricare rates).

    As a reservist, I’ve been paying about $50/month with something like a $250 annual deductible (IIRC) – so my first treatment or so in the year was a little pricier, but closer to the copay for the rest of the year. Plus, Tricare pays doctors more than medicare/medicaid but they still negotiate rates – especially for testing, etc.

    I know there are a lot of folks with expensive treatment requirements, but I think spreading out the costs with low charges per person – particularly given the current average veteran age – would even that out a lot – while making it more sustainable – and as noted before, you could empty out the mass of the Department. I can’t see that this would result in a lower quality of care, veteran suicides, etc.

    Please poke as many holes in this as you want.

    • Brochettaward

      As someone who deals with a fuck ton of ‘migrants’ who are getting Medicaid and free shit every month, I see no need to charge vets anything at the current moment. If Pedro can get 200 dollars a month to spend on his 8 kids (and uses it to ship shit back to his home country, really) through Medicaid, then why the fuck am I going to charge the people who went off and fought in this nation’s shitty wars?

      • LCDR_Fish

        I want a sustainable system – the same way they modified the retirement system from 50/50 to Blended Retirement 401(k).

        Obviously the other stuff shouldn’t be paid for either, but we can cut in this department and the other departments should cut as well.

        Plus – I want them to receive quality care, not an excuse for the disgusting excuse for “free” care that fails on every level with unqualified personnel.

      • The Last American Hero

        There really needs to be a “served in a forward area” and “wounded in combat” sort of distinction in the program. Some guy who spent 10 years counting ammo boxes at a guard base stateside or pushing paper at an airbase in Colorado shouldn’t be getting the same deal a guy who was in the shit.

      • LCDR_Fish

        I concur that there should be a simple checkbox for combat veteran [disabled] vs non-combat veteran [disabled]. I could see lowering the rates a little for the combat related ones (much smaller # compared to the general population), but I would leave my initial rates for the non-combat ones – considering (as I already pointed out), it’s still better IMO than the current situation.

    • Fourscore

      It’s like SS. Any mention of reform brings out the special interests groups.

      “OMG, they’re cutting the VA services”

      I think there is a need for a better system but it’s going to be an uphill climb. OTOH renaming military installations was relatively easy but some of us will never acquiesce.

  27. ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

    “We need a primetime debate between Harris and Biden on whose fault it was that Trump won. Proceeds to charity. Commercials would sell at Super Bowl rates.” — National Review’s Charles Cooke

    • PieInTheSky

      that guy is not a REAL AMERICAN!

      • juris imprudent

        Yes he is, because he chose to come here and adapt, not make it into the shithole he left.

  28. PieInTheSky

    The Royalists
    @TheRoyalistsUK
    We are delighted to announce that, starting in January 2025, The Royalists will distribute free photo portraits of His Majesty the King to British addresses.

    Pre-registration for free portraiture will open from Sunday, 1 December.

    https://x.com/TheRoyalistsUK/status/1857071389997465708

    • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

      Pin the tail on the donkey? Dart board?

      Otherwise, why in the hell would you want a picture of his ugly mug?

  29. The Late P Brooks

    Hegseth and other conservatives have long complained the military cares more about diversity and equity than meritocracy and preparing for war, though there is scant evidence to back up those claims.

    Okay, Shirley.

    • ron73440

      There is no cannibalism in the British Navy!

      And stop calling me Shirley.

    • Pat

      there is scant evidence to back up those claims.

      That unbroken chain of humiliating military defeats since 1945 notwithstanding, of course.

      • juris imprudent

        The last few years of recruiting is chopped liver?

    • rhywun

      there is scant evidence to back up those claims

      The huge downturn in recruits doesn’t count I guess.

      • The Other Kevin

        Those are just stupid rednecks, we don’t want them anyway.

    • Drake

      The 91 Gulf War was the first big deployment of our co-ed military. There were still no women in combat units, but much effort went into sweeping the complete shit show in command and support units under the rug. Officers relieved for fraternization, prostitution arrests, women service members (some married and deployed without the spouse) sent home pregnant. It was a fucking circus.

      • PieInTheSky

        do married women in the military not know about condoms?

      • Rat on a train

        Some women in the Army used pregnancy to get out of hardship assignments or the Army completely.

      • Drake

        Pie – Hard to describe what the combination of overseas deployment, youth and extreme physical fitness, and immediate physical danger all do to a libido. Like your body and subconscious decide “now or never” and go off the reservation.

    • Grummun

      You know, if Bezos was serious about trying to restore credibility in journalism, he would tell his editors to ban anything that looks like “claimed falsely” or “without evidence.”

      • slumbrew

        Alternatively, be sure to include those universally.

        “AOC claimed, without evidence, …”

  30. The Other Kevin

    “Cruise Company Offering TDS Sufferers “4-Year Trip” to Avoid Trump’s Second Term”

    Joke’s on them, the first week they sail off the edge of the Earth!

  31. The Late P Brooks

    According to Hegseth’s account, the tattoo in question was identified by his superiors as “white nationalist.” In fact, the symbol — a large cross with four smaller ones in the corners — is a Christian one known as the Jerusalem Cross. It is one of at least two tattoos that Hegseth sports whose origins date back to the Crusades, when Christians defeated Muslims to take the Holy Land.

    Hegseth has said that the tattoo is simply a symbol of Christianity. Nonetheless, some far-right extremists have co-opted Crusade symbols. And according to some scholars, they are more precisely correlated with Islamophobia.

    “They are far-right Christian symbols that signal a very, very deep antipathy towards Islam,” said Matthew Taylor, senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore. “[Hegseth] literally wrote a book called ‘The American Crusade,’ drawing parallels between the Crusades and the present moment in the United States and Europe and pushing back on Muslim immigration to those areas.”

    They should make him burn it off with a blowtorch as part of his initiation.

    • rhywun

      Islamophobia

      Well, that settles it. Mind reading FTW!

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      This shit is so fucking tiring. Even a tattoo some dude just thought looked cool can’t be left to be. It must be analyzed to death, with only the most unflattering interpretations allowed.

      This is why we voted for Trump, asshole.

      • Ed Wuncler

        If these assholes spent as much energy writing about the corruption and spending at the Pentagon instead of writing about this kind of crap our country would be in much better shape.

    • PutridMeat

      They should make him burn it off with a blowtorch as part of his initiation.

      That never ends well, especially in light of the coming zombie apocalypse.

      • LCDR_Fish

        That’ll narrow down the pool of good candidates significantly.

      • juris imprudent

        Well then I volunteer to inspect Tulsi’s body to make sure she is 100% tat free.

    • trshmnstr

      They are far-right Christian symbols that signal a very, very deep antipathy towards Islam

      Islam is a heretical reaction to Christianity that tends towards violence and oppression of Christians. Why should I have any warm feelings towards it?

      • UnCivilServant

        The flames engulfing your cities make the righteous anger burn bright?

  32. The Late P Brooks

    But perhaps the most glaring challenge for Hegseth will be running the Pentagon, a sprawling bureaucracy that encompasses 2.3 million troops and civilian workers, with an annual operating budget of some $900 billion.

    “We’re talking about someone who is primarily known as a media figure who would be running really one of the largest institutions in the United States, who doesn’t appear to have any sort of managerial experience of that sort, and would be one of the most prominent figures in U.S. politics,” said Nicole Hemmer, a political historian at Vanderbilt University, who has long studied the interplay between media and the conservative movement.

    I’m sure Lloyd Austin is up to his neck in the day to day micromanagement of The Pentagon, Inc.

    • LCDR_Fish

      Like the rest of this admin – head of the pentagon can be out cold in a hospital bed for a week and nobody notices.

      • Rat on a train

        The Deep State prefers a figurehead.

    • Ed Wuncler

      Because the experts in place now are doing such a great job? It’s an agency that burns though money like a degenerate gambler in Las Vegas, beholden to the weapons manufacturers, and gotten us into wars that we had no business being in.

      • juris imprudent

        gotten us into wars that we had no business being in

        Hey now, they had help from the IC and State! Oh and the media.

  33. PieInTheSky

    Dirk Fuckner 🚯
    @timerube
    over *320 people* at tonight’s nyc dsa 101

    le Sour Patch Lyds
    @sourpatchlyds
    Almost 20% of these comments are whining about no one masking 😂 A bunch of the others are about racial diversity. We have nothing to fear from these particular communists.

    https://x.com/sourpatchlyds/status/1857246271037161941

  34. UnCivilServant

    I had to pick up more salt for lunches at work so I bought a cardboard shaker of sea salt. I was looking at the humorous nutrition information on the shaker (I was eating lunch and the break room is a boring place) and noticed that it was a product of Israel.

    My first thought went “Is this Mediterranian Sea Salt or Dead Sea Salt?” (having forgotten about the Red Sea for a moment)

    My second thought went “The Dead Sea is more saline so it’d be easier to extract from there.”

    The third thought was “But don’t they run desalinization plants to get drinking water? Wouldn’t those produce a concentrated brine that would also be easy to extract from?”

    Now I’ve got myself worked up with curiousity about Morton’s Israeli production operation.

    • The Other Kevin

      So now we have to worry about ((salt)).

      • AlexinCT

        Only when you run out of it?

      • UnCivilServant

        Looking at that page, it doesn’t mention any specific geographic source.

        Though if we start with “assume the statements are generally factual” it would preclude using desalinization byproduct as a source, as they say their process is to pump seawater into evaporation ponds and collect the residue.

      • Nephilium

        What’s wrong with Lake Erie salt?

        The mines, located underneath Lake Erie, harvest about 12,000 tons of salt every day.

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s not Syracuse Salt.

        I know, I know, the saltworks have been shut down for ages, but Syracuse was a salt town and one of our notable local dishes still was salt potatos (tiny potatos boiled in brine to get them nice and coated with salt, then dunked in melted butter)

      • R.J.

        It mentions examples. Just surprised it didn’t mention Israel. My sea salt shaker also says “Made in Israel.”

        “ For example, located alongside the largest saline lake in North America – The Great Salt Lake, Morton Salt’s Grantsville, Utah facility harvests sea salt from the billions of tons of salt already dissolved in the waters of The Great Salt Lake. The natural replenishment of salt from local rainwater and snow melt makes it an ideal climate for natural solar evaporation. In addition, our affiliated Inagua, Bahamas facility in the West Indies has been harvesting salt from the surrounding ocean water since 1954.”

      • UnCivilServant

        My instinct is the company is going “people be crazy – don’t draw attention to the Israel plant.”

      • rhywun

        It’s not Syracuse Salt.

        I was surprised to learn that they’re still mining salt under nearby Cayuga Lake. It is the only reason for the existence of the last remaining railroad through my town.

    • Rat on a train

      It’s stolen from Gaza.

    • Aloysious

      Please double check the expiration date on your box of salt. You don’t want to risk using old salt.

      • UnCivilServant

        says I should use it by 24/04/5006. I figure that’s written in european style, so I have until April 24 5006.

      • Aloysious

        That’s a relief.

        Rotation of stock is very important. First in First out. For example, I’ve got four different kinds of salt on my shelf. It’s important to stay organized, which is not exactly something that comes naturally for me..

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Not qualified

    Donald Trump has tapped North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to lead the Interior Department, and Newsweek has looked at his record on abortion and trans issues.

    ——-

    As Secretary of the Interior, Burgum would oversee the management of federal lands, the use of natural resources, Native American affairs and environmental protection.

    While Burgum has a reputation for being a business-minded conservative, as he was a successful software executive in the early 2000s, he has also signed some of the country’s strictest abortion laws into effect for his state.

    On top of this, he was once called out by the Human Rights Campaign, the U.S.’s largest LGBTQI+ civil rights organization, for signing into law some policies it considered discriminatory. Here is everything you need to know.

    How can he be our nation’s Groundskeeper Willie if he’s an anti-quiltbag bigot and abortion denier?

    • The Other Kevin

      This is exactly why they lost the election. Hardcore Dems think that everyone should have the same views and priorities as they do. And anyone who disagrees is stupid, racist, sexist, etc.

      Guess what? 90% of people don’t give a shit about that.

      • AlexinCT

        When you are in a cult, everyone not in it is a heretic..

      • juris imprudent

        I’m beyond not giving a shit, I now want to slam it back down their throats until they gag on it.

      • The Other Kevin

        It seems like a bad strategy to verbally abuse people who used to vote for you, but no longer do. I’ve seen a total of TWO Dems this past week talking about the need to get more voters.

      • AlexinCT

        I’m beyond not giving a shit, I now want to slam it back down their throats until they gag on it.,/em>”

        Now JI, you know you are better than that…

        Oh, who the hell are we kidding? I am right there with ya man.

        I will bring the popcorn and the bourbon.

    • R.J.

      I cannot wait until Elon finds the money source for legacy media and pulls the plug.

    • PutridMeat

      And why in the hell is any of that remotely relevant to heading Interior?

      Total mystery why people are getting sick of your shit. Stop cramming your unhinged insanity into every fucking thing under the sun.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Maybe they really are making the frogs gay.

    • The Last American Hero

      It’s the Department of the Interior. Where do you think the fetuses are? The exterior?

  36. Ed Wuncler

    Ed’s Dream Pick’s for Cabinet:

    Sec of State – Rand Paul
    AG – Scott Bullock
    Treasury – Raghuram Rajan
    Defense – Ron DeSantis

    • Grumbletarian

      Please keep Rand Paul in the Senate long enough to make it to Majority Leader.

      • The Other Kevin

        He is in the perfect position now. He has subpoena power, he can work with RFK to investigate all the COVID stuff, and he’ll have a cooperative AG.

      • Ed Wuncler

        That would be amazing if he became the Majority Leader of the Senate.

      • AlexinCT

        Stop talking dirty to me! You are turning me on…

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Rajan was my finance professor. I only got a B, so he’s off my list.

  37. Sensei

    So the NYS DEC flat out lied.

    P’Nut’s rabies report form did indicate that he “bit wildlife operator” on the thumb — but the timeline indicates that the animals’ deaths were planned before the bite.

    The DEC did not respond to requests for comment.

    P’Nut the Squirrel was ‘marked for death’ and decapitation from the start — as rabies test results reveal tragic twist

    I’m sure that this will be thoroughly investigated with serious consequence including possibly termination for the public servants involved.

    • R.J.

      If some asshat beat down my door, dragged me out in a cage and started manhandling me, I would bite too.

      • R.J.

        Also, that is not the only rabies option. You can confine the animal for two weeks to look for symptoms.

      • UnCivilServant

        “We can’t do that – we know it’s not rabid, and we won’t get an excuse to kill it to punish the unlicensed owner!”

    • Sean

      So the NYS DEC flat out lied.

      I’m shocked.

      (not really)

    • Ed Wuncler

      And I forgot that Kentucky’s Governor is a Democrat so he’ll just appoint one of his people to the Senate until Paul’s term is up.

      • Ownbestenemy

        He can’t. Mitch may be a shit bag, but he urged the KY Legislature to adjust the law.

        Under the amended law, the governor now may only choose from three names recommended by the executive committee of the outgoing senator’s state party, and must make that selection within 21 days of receiving the list from the party.

      • Ed Wuncler

        Thanks for the correction. In Ohio, DeWine will choose Vance’s replacement once he gets sworn in.

      • juris imprudent

        I’m guessing they had to pass that over his veto.

      • Ownbestenemy

        KY Guv has basically been a lame duck*

        *Except during COVID from what I hear and like nearly all the other states, the legislature had given him endless powers under ’emergencies’.

      • Nephilium

        Ed Wuncler:

        It’ll be interesting to see who DeWine picks. I saw some chatter about Vivek, but that’s over now that he’s gone to DOGE.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      I remember that grim diagnostic detail from Cujo.

      /bad old days

  38. Grummun

    I thought someone said there was a forum post on a potential 2026 Iceland Glib Cruise, but I don’t see it. Anyone have the link the the proposed cruise itinerary?

    • EvilSheldon

      I’m doing this cruise, but I can’t afford to solo this time ’round. Anyone up to be roomies? I have testimonials from Glibcruise I that I’m much less annoying in person…

    • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

      Senior Rates
      Passengers 55 and older by their departure date can qualify for special rates – you must confirm your age with a government-issued ID (we recommend a passport or driver’s license) at the pier before boarding the ship.

      Woohoo!: I will qualify for a senior discount

      Damnit!: I will qualify for a senior discount

    • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

      I just started a forum topic.

  39. The Other Kevin

    I see Milei is in Florida to meet Trump this morning. I am disappointed that neither I nor KK were invited.

    • R.J.

      He is giving a speech tonight from Mar A Lago.

      • AlexinCT

        It’s hawt bitchez and booze all day at the Mar-a-Lago fest, brah!

  40. The Late P Brooks

    Another pick, not of The Body

    Intelligence analysts are most concerned that Gabbard, in the role of director of national intelligence, might be motivated to censor intelligence conclusions critical of Russia and shut down funding for potentially fruitful investigations. Some intelligence officials are privately considering whether to resign if Gabbard is their new boss.

    ——-

    Gabbard’s background is strikingly different from the current director of national intelligence, Avril Haynes, who has a decades-long career working with intelligence agencies. Haynes was previously the deputy director of the CIA in the Obama Administration and was a senior member of Obama’s national security council.

    Gabbard has little to no intelligence experience. In her eight years in Congress, she never served on the House intelligence Committee, having instead been assigned to armed services, foreign affairs and homeland security committees.

    But what does she think about transsexualism?

    • AlexinCT

      Every time I hear one of these deep state mouth pieces talk about an appointee’s “lack of appropriate experience”, I immediately note that what they mean – just like the people that talk about “muh democracy” and mean the unelected, unaccountable, criminal cabal enriching itself at the expense of the American people – is that the candidate is not captured and beholden to the corrupt machine.

      They are pricked PRECISLY because they are not captured and blackmailable, and thus worth the pick.

      • Suthenboy

        See Epstein and Diddy – manufacturers of blackmailable material. I am fairly certain those guys are/were operatives for the ‘deep state’.

    • juris imprudent

      But what does she think about transsexualism?

      How dare you leave out abortion and climate change!

    • rhywun

      Russia ate my homework.

      • R.J.

        Bravo.

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        Russia turned me into a newt!

        (I got better)

  41. The Late P Brooks

    Over the last decade, Gabbard has stood out for her foreign policy views. She has long-been skeptical of American intelligence analysis and has taken public policy positions that echo Russian propaganda.

    She doesn’t tow the official lion. We cannot have some crazy think-for-herself boatrocker disrupting our carefully constructed narratives. That would be suicide.

    • Ed Wuncler

      “She has long-been skeptical of American intelligence analysis…”

      The same intelligence analysis that missed 9/11 or led us into Iraq? These people can all fuck off.

      • juris imprudent

        Honestly, is there one thing the IC has gotten right since WWII (which was technically before the IC even really existed)?

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Should be American “intelligence” “analysis”.

        Post hoc justifications for what they wanted to find in the first place qualifies as neither.

    • rhywun

      But she doesn’t think for herself; Putin does her thinking for her.

  42. Suthenboy

    With so much talk about what the left is saying and what they believe – Since there is no lie they wont tell, no line they wont cross who the hell knows what they actually believe?
    My personal belief is that they have no belief. For them reality is subjective. After all, George Layoff is one of their heroes.
    This is worth a read: https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Flesh-Embodied-Challenge-Western/dp/0465056741
    A perfect example of a smart guy making excellent observations and valid reasoning yet drawing an absurd conclusion.

    Of course all of our perceptions are subjective and metaphorical but we can gauge how close we are to reality by simply putting our conclusions to the test: Does it work? Math is an imperfect metaphor yet by using it we can build bridges that stand and airplanes that fly. Our philosophical ideologies are based on subjective observations and logic but which ones, when put into practice, allow us to thrive?
    This is dead simple stuff.
    Another personal belief: People are stupid.

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Speaking of our vital “intelligence” community- Do I recall correctly that the CIA was caught completely flat footed and dumfounded when people tore down the Berlin Wall and the East German guards just watched them do it?

  44. JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

    If you still have more than 1 million votes to count more than a week after the election, maybe you need to rethink how you run elections. Or I guess the new buzzword is reimagine.

    • The Other Kevin

      In the American tradition. Just like Christmas, Election Day is no longer just one day, it’s an entire season that gets longer every year.

      • Ownbestenemy

        About the only thing I ever heard from Hannity that wasn’t retarded was “If there are ballots that can be cast, it is election day” referring to our current post 2020 setup. I am waiting for a Clinton moment of “depends on the definition of ‘day’ is”.

  45. Ownbestenemy

    Dems should probably find their sane part of the base because it appears they are just now going to pander to the very minor yet very vocal crazy part of their party.

  46. The Late P Brooks

    Back to the back of the bus

    Those who support the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are rightly concerned about the impact of Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

    It’s clear from his first-term record, his running mate’s agenda, and his early personnel decisions that the incoming Trump administration will almost certainly escalate the growing backlash against DEI in the workplace. So, how can leaders continue to build just and inclusive organizations even in this extremely challenging environment?

    ——-

    To be clear, it would be a blatant violation of the First Amendment to ban the “promotion” of DEI. Similarly, any order restricting organizations from training their own employees on DEI topics would be challenged in the courts. Given that a similar state law was struck down earlier this year, a court challenge would have a strong chance of success. But such an executive order could nonetheless have a significant chilling effect.

    If the NLRB can prohibit companies from holding mandatory “anti-union indoctrination programs” why can’t the government put an end to mandatory DEI indoctrination?

    Being from Harvard, these people are incapable of differentiating between voluntary and compulsory.

    • Ownbestenemy

      In the private firms sure, its a violation of the First Amendment. All the executive branch agencies not so much as Trump can dictate policy. Oh wait, I forgot, they will fight that.

  47. Mojeaux

    I hate to complain, but … ever since the WordPress update (yes, I know we needed it), the site’s behavior had become maddening.

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        UCS wouldn’t be happy if he was happy.

      • Mojeaux

        Some people are not happy unless they are not happy.

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s not as bad as the people who’re not happy until you’re not happy.

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