Saturday Morning What The Hell Am I Doing? Links

by | Feb 20, 2021 | Daily Links | 297 comments

I often wonder about my life choices. Other than whom I married. What the hell am I doing as a chemist? I was supposed to be an electrical engineer. What the hell am I doing in Phoenix? I love cold weather. Why the hell am I spouting off online in an obscure corner of the internet? No one is paying any attention to the things I’m saying. Why the hell am I up so early on a Saturday? It’s the fucking Day of Rest.

Ah well, let’s do the birthday ritual. Today’s include a guy who never had his house in order; a guy who snapped a few decent pix, but apparently no nudes; the first African-American to host a TV game show; a guy whose movies defined the word “sprawling”; Bobby Kennedy’s spirit animal; a guy who exemplified black actors in Hollywood (dark skin, Caucasian features); a guy who could drive in circles with the best of them; another guy who could drive in circles with the best of them; a dimwitted singer with a truly annoying vibrato; a guy known for, “Help me, Mr. Wizard, help me!”; a woman who was the perfect match for Peter Falk; an annoying actor who was actually a pretty decent human; a woman who should not have worn white shoes after Labor Day; my favorite basketball player; an advocate for gun control; and co-host of my favorite sports show.

One thing that I know what the hell I’m here for is the news.

Shockingly, someone in politics has been political.

 

Fewer people than there were at SP’s Glib-themed birthday party, but somehow it’s news.

 

These days, you don’t even need printing presses and paper.

 

Please, please, please, can we stay out of this? Fuck, we won’t. Fuck.

 

Why the fuck do we need to do this?

 

Trump actually accomplished something good. So we must destroy it.

 

Care for some metal? With fun timing changes all through the song? So’s your Old Man.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. Wait, wrong book, I'll find something else.

297 Comments

  1. Flawgic

    “Declaring ‘America is back,’ Biden tries to regain Europe’s trust”

    I think the only thing Europe trusts about the US is our lucre. Other than that, they don’t seem to need us.

    • Old Man With Candy

      They need to depend on our defense spending as well since they’re far too civilized to take care of themselves.

      • CPRM

        Civilized countries provide free health care and don’t go to war. The Americans go to war on their behalf and do all the medical research for them. (Well, they’ll send like 20 guys as show of solidarity)

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      “Declaring ‘America is back,’ Biden tries to regain Europe’s trust”

      I see they dusted off some articles from early 2009 and changed the names.

      • But Enough About [this space intentionally left blank]

        Recycling’s a thing, doncha know?

  2. KromulentKristen

    In a miraculous turn of events, I’m not hungover. But I’m still gonna go back to bed.

    Good morning & good night!

    • Cy Esquire

      So jelly right now.

    • Nephilium

      Rehydration when drinking is important. And remember, when hungover, do not drink booze, as it is mainly liquor. Instead drink beer, as it is mainly beer.

      • Festus

        Neph knows his shit.

      • Sean

        Science!

      • Tres Cool

        The ‘hair of the doge”, “eye opener”, or any next-morning drink to cure your hangover is the absolute worst thing for your body
        But Ive also found its incredibly effective. A couple of beers, or some shots, or even chug some wine (its only grape juice, which is a breakfast beverage) paired with a couple vicodin is a great way to knock that headache into submission.

        Or so I heard once.

      • Animal

        “The key to avoiding a hangover is to just stay drunk.” – supposedly Dean Martin

      • Agent Cooper

        Instead drink beerCoors Light , as it is mainly beer water.

  3. Sean

    Good morning y’all.

    • Tres Cool

      suh’ fam

  4. The Gunslinger

    Morning old man. I’m paying attention to what you had to say in an obscure corner of the internet early on this day of rest. So I guess there’s that.

  5. Ted S.

    a guy who snapped a few decent pix, but apparently no nudes

    Technically, weren’t the animals nude?

  6. The Late P Brooks

    The president nonetheless faces a hard job persuading allies, many of whom have emerged from the Trump years nervous about U.S. reliability, said James Townsend, a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense now at the Center for a New American Security, a centrist Washington think tank.

    What the fuck does that even mean?

    • Cy Esquire

      That some governments may have to face the reality that they haven’t spent jack shit on military in almost 70 years. What military they do have is tiny, not that well trained and most of their equipment is antiquated.

      Which let’s face it, I don’t think any militaries are currently “modern.” The next war will be fought using millions of different kinds of specialized drones. If I had to guess, it’ll be whichever country has the larger production pipeline.

      • Atanarjuat

        Yep. Keeping production of computer chips and all that tech stuff domestic is probably the most important thing for national security in the future.

    • rhywun

      They are cautiously optimistic that the US will roll over and do whatever is in their interest once again. And not only our “allies”.

      • Cy Esquire

        It’s a pretty good gig if you can get it. China sends you cheap goods. The US takes care of your defense. Meanwhile you can run ridiculous social programs and tell the rest of the world how backwards and uncivilized they are.

      • zwak

        Don’t forget the importing of millions of people that haven’t the faintest regard for your culture to do the shit work.

      • Chafed

        There are an increasing number of European women getting the message.

    • Suthenboy

      “What the fuck does that even mean?”

      It means they are wondering if we are going to start giving them their handouts again or if they are going to have to pay their own way. They lost some of their meal ticket under Trump and now they want it back.
      Get out y our wallet, sucker.

      • creech

        Meanwhile they continue to lecture tourists on how violent the U.S. is with its gun culture and individualism. How many times have I had to bite my tongue and refrain from telling them they’d all be speaking either German or Russian except for those American cowboys?

      • Flawgic

        We had a colleague from Germany come over here for work a couple of years ago, and he was visibly relieved to see that everything wasn’t burned down, with gun-toting posses cruising the streets.

  7. Cy Esquire

    Highway to hell, Hells bells, Bat out of hell, Hell is for Children, Give em Hell kid, Run like Hell, Gives You Hell, Hellraiser, Hell on Heels?

    • rhywun

      Noooo! ?

    • ElspethFlashman

      Now’s your chance to scoop up that hot booty ?

      • CPRM

        I’m not a gay fish into hobbits.

    • ElspethFlashman

      Actually, first thing that crossed my mind was “how high will the child support payments be?”

      • CPRM

        I was wondering how high Kanye would be when he made child support payments, close enough.

      • Festus

        Who pays whom?

      • Festus

        *Insert “Sad Kanye” GIF* right here

      • Tulip

        She’s the one who makes the most money. Like it’s not even close.

      • CPRM

        Which is sad. He has done some things people value, she made a sex tape once. Sounds sexist.

      • DEG

        It wasn’t even a good sex tape.

      • CPRM

        I never watched…but sadly I know my dead dad did.

      • Festus

        Whaaaaaat?

    • Tres Cool

      “She said the family was “powerless” to force West into treatment because he was not a minor. She also asked for compassion and empathy from the media and public and thanked those who expressed concern for West’s well-being.”

      Ya dumb bitch, Van Halen only made an entire album about it- 5150

      • Tres Cool

        *Best of Both Worlds and Summer nights are the only 2 decent songs on that album

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Van Hagar sucks!!!

      • Festus

        ^yep!

      • blackjack

        While not a good Van Halen song, this is a good song.

      • CPRM

        He was Black man supporting Trump, clearly he was clinically insane.

  8. The Late P Brooks

    The president asserted that democratic nations, by working together on the three urgent global challenges — the COVID-19 pandemic, economic instability and the climate crisis, would help avert another threat: the rise of autocratic governments.

    Don’t let the wrong autocrats get control. They have different priorities.

  9. Flawgic

    “On several previous occasions, the Israeli Air Force has used civilian aircrafts for cover while attacking the Syrian territories, employing civilian passengers as human shields with sheer disregard for their feelings or lives.”

    Well that’s just unprecedented! No one in the International Trio of Peace has ever used that tactic

    • l0b0t

      How, exactly, does that work? No IDF fighters or interceptors, just slow moving bombers flying a couple thousand feet above El Al commercial traffic, dropping their payload while hiding behind the civilian jet-liners? Have the people making such claims ever actually seen a modern airstrike?

      • Festus

        No. It’s a fucking lie.

    • Suthenboy

      Bullshit.

  10. Atanarjuat

    Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO’s Article V, the mutual-defense promise among treaty members that has been a pillar of the post-World War II democratic order, but that former President Trump had only grudgingly accepted.

    Sure, having your sons drafted to become cannon fodder to protect the current borders of some place called “Montenegro” seems pointless at first glance.

    • Suthenboy

      Yeah, this is bullshit too. Trump did no such thing. He told the Eurotrash to start paying their agreed upon share or they could fuck off. They have been skating on their bills for decades. The lies just keep coming.

    • juris imprudent

      NATO is an utterly useless organization now. It served it’s purpose and when the Iron Curtain fell, it ceased to have a reason to be.

      • Suthenboy

        I think you misunderstand the purpose of it. It is about graft. Because of that it will never die. The Russians, who cant even float one aircraft carrier, will be villainized to the end of time.

      • juris imprudent

        That wasn’t it’s original purpose, graft is it’s post Cold War reason to be. I think we should all stress that.

  11. Festus

    According to that vision of hell pictured above I have an eternity of trying to out-run STEVE SMITH and his henchman Heroic Mulatto stabbing me with spears. I’ll take the LDS Heaven, thanks very much.

    • Cy Esquire

      Aside from the harem thing, don’t you get your own planet or something?

      • Festus

        There are layers.

  12. Suthenboy

    Everyone wonders about their life choices. You are making a living and taking care of your family. THAT is your job.

    This corner isn’t that obscure and people here are listening to you. That makes a difference. You change people here and it has an effect on everyone they know; their families, friends, co-workers etc. You dont just affect the people here but everyone they know. What influence you have here has a ripple effect. Count the registered members and multiply by at least 20.

    Early? What the hell are you talking about? The sun is almost up.

    Links:

    This admin is driven by a radical leftist agenda. We’re fucked if they get 1/10th of what they want, and I do mean fucked. They are going breakneck speed towards totalitarianism and possibly civil war.

    I have nothing on the Pfizer story.

    The cootie bug theater is a perfect example of government creating a problem and then promising to fix it. My guess is the govt. and cronies, as usual, will soak up most of the stimulus money and the stated recipients will get a pittance.

    The ME wars are not about the ME, they are about govt and govt contractors looting the American people so, yeah, the corruptocrats have been dying to get up to their eyeballs in Syria. I expect more ME wars. It wont be just Syria.

    Regain europe’s trust? Who, and to what end?

    Of course they are going to end the tax cuts, destroy the ME treaties, revamp the ME wars and undo all of the other horrible things Trump did because Orange Man Bad. Congratulations to every booger eating moron that voted Biden.

    Good morning all.

    • The Gunslinger

      One of the stories in Michigan this week is how the weather was delaying vaccine deliveries to Michigan even though one of the vaccines is produced in Michigan.

      Also, heir Whitmer had some campaign fundraising material printed and sent over from Wisconsin.

    • rhywun

      because Orange Man Bad

      And Orange Man Bad is just the excuse they give in public which allows the Dems to undo the last 4 years and proceed with Business As Usual™ as if Donald never happened.

      • juris imprudent

        Which will probably not play out too well for them in ’22.

      • blackjack

        They have a massive vote generating machine. They don’t need to worry about hearts and minds anymore. That should be obvious by how they are conducting themselves.

    • Festus

      Everything would have turned out great except for the fact that the Orange Man wore a comically long tie. No long tie, no insurrection. Trust me on this.

    • Festus

      I like you Suthen. Maybe one day after all of this insanity is over we will have many beers together.

      • Suthenboy

        I like you too Festus. I would enjoy that. very much.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      What influence you have here has a ripple effect. Count the registered members and multiply by at least 20.

      *eyes open in mortal terror*

  13. Jerms

    No one is paying any attention to the things I’m saying.

    Im listening old man. Im always listening, just not always replying.

    • Cy Esquire

      The Old man knows he’s loved. He’s just a little dramatic sometimes.

    • TARDis

      Is it safe to reply?

      /peeks through balusters

  14. SDF-7

    I was saying “Booo-urns”… I mean, I actually read your comments, OMWC..

    I’ve got nothing but “sigh” on the foreign policy stuff. Well, I’ve got some observations on their actions — but it is nothing everyone here hasn’t said/read/whatnot before and I don’t feel like flogging that dead horse this morning. Try to have a good weekend and keep this crap out of y’all’s minds… I’m going to do the same.

  15. limey

    Watch how many analysts point out that America’s political strife and division is exactly what it’s enemies want, but fail or refuse completely to identify the real cause of that division.

    • CPRM

      Twas the Rushins what did it.

  16. Festus

    I’ve heard of Dream Theatre but never listened to them before. When did the guitarist and bassist get those finger implants from “200 Motels”?

    • Old Man With Candy

      One of my favorite co-workers is a former drummer for a semi-successful heavy metal band. He played this for me while explaining the timing shifts.

      My head hurt afterwards.

      • CPRM

        Like when I was in a ‘band’ with my musician friends in college. I wrote some lyrics and sang them for them, they loved it, but said it wasn’t ‘in time’ so they couldn’t write music for it. If I can sing it, you can play it! I don’t know nothin bout music.

      • Festus

        Shoulda struck out on your own like Peter Gabriel and made bank. It was the weird hats and theatricality, wasn’t it?

      • CPRM

        I do like sledge hammers. So either Peter Gabriel, Gallagher or a video game dwarf. Seems I went with option 3.

      • Festus

        Good answer, CP. I like you!

      • l0b0t

        You disregarded the very best Sledge Hammer! of them all.

      • CPRM

        I really hope that line cross at less than 4 mins was a joke, it’s hard to tell.

      • Sean

        ??

      • Festus

        Gah! Reminds me of the time when I was in a strange town when I was 18 or so and we met up with some dudes that would sell us a quarter. We went back to their place and smoked a little. Maybe two joints. It was super strong and we ended up watching “Hart to Hart”. It was the one wherein they donned Charley Chaplin outfits. After that we watched a show about demon possession. My first bad trip on the devil’s lettuce. So squirmy and uncomfortable. I just wanted to run and run and run.

    • EvilSheldon

      It’s Dream Theater, not Dream Theatre. This is, seriously, a running joke dating back to their first album in 1989…

      • Festus

        “sandy” EvilSheldon has been for some days.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      I got in to DT in the 90s when I was in college, but have fallen out.

      They’re all fantastic technical magicians on their instruments, but it seems they’re goal is simply to play the most technically thing at every turn, rather than doing the song justice.

      It’s musical masturbation.

    • Suthenboy

      Ugh. The core is always moving, always has been. Think of a round magnet suspended in the center of a snow globe floating in space. The magnet is going to roll and spin. It is never stationary. My grandfather’s surveyors compass had more than one declination marked on it the greatest being 7 degrees. These days it has simply started rolling around faster. We have no idea if the core is going to roll around faster or slow down or start moving in a different direction. At the current rate it will take (without doing the math) a couple of hundred years to cross the equator. The poles dont ‘flip’.

      Most of the people talking about climate change and pole flipping are talking out of their asses.

      • juris imprudent

        C’mon, in geologic time 200 years is a flip. And in human time, since none of us live that long, it is forever.

      • Suthenboy

        You are correct. In geological time it is the blink of an eye, but that is not how they talk about it. They use fear mongering language as if we are all gonna wake up one day to a catastrophic extinction event and that is just not going to happen.

        If you are curious as to what 99.999% of the cause of climate change is, look up in the sky. See that giant glowing ball? That is the hero and the culprit.

  17. Sean

    OMWC needs to start a podcast to better get his message out there.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    We need war. War on an industrial scale. A massive global conflict which will enable (and ennoble) us to join together as one to battle evil, so a gaggle of World Leaders can strut and preen on the grand stage of History.

    That’s basically what I got out of that article.

    • Sean

      Why do we need war when we have covid laying waste to the masses?

      I mean it’s killing everyone everywhere, right?

      Would soldiers have to wear a face mask in combat? Double mask?

      • EvilSheldon

        Full NBC protocols. You can’t be too careful!

      • DEG

        Would soldiers have to wear a face mask in combat? Double mask?

        Nah. They’re icky deplorables. Save the masks for important people.

    • Suthenboy

      The trouble is in defining ‘evil’. It looks like under the left we would be aligned with totalitarians, reversing our role in WWII. Biden is about to get us in bed with whom I consider to be the evilest regimes on the planet.

      *Not often remembered but in the ally nations prior to WWII there were many apologists sympathetic to the Nazis, fascists and. the Soviets. Hitler even made Time magazine’s man of the year. Of course after it came to light what the socialists had done those sympathizers denied having done so.
      That is exactly what we are looking at now with Puddin’ Cup apologizing for the CCP, who are just as evil as the Nazis were. These are dark times with darker to come.

      Buckle up and keep your powder dry.

      • Tejicano

        I find it interesting how much history the average citizen doesn’t understand. They have built up the word “Nazi” to mean everything possibly evil but neglect to see so many things which the Nazis made or caused.

        I would bet you would have to ask more than ten-thousand people before you found one who knows that the Olympic 5-ring symbol was designed by the hosts of the 1936 Olympics. Yup – it’s a Nazi symbol.

      • l0b0t

        Ditto the Olympic Torch, pure Albert Speer showmanship and spectacle.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        They definitely knew how to put on a show.

      • rhywun

        You know who els— oh, rats.

  19. l0b0t

    Last night’s Zoomie had mention of Jon-Eric Hexum. I LOVED Voyagers and Cover Up. I found this gem of an interview; Hexum and Steve Landseberg on The Merv Griffin Show in what would turn out to be Hexum’s final TV appearance (he shot himself in the temple while horseplaying with a prop gun). At about the 7 minute mark, Hexum tells of the citizens arrest he performed upon a drunken driver the previous night. That was some thoroughly poor decision making and would likely have gotten him these days. Sigh…

    https://youtu.be/08q9GRCmBuY

    • CPRM

      I loved Voyagers! (it aired before I was alive, but I’m here with all you old crazies because I’m into things from before my time).

      Last night, listening to a local radio station the DJ played ‘My Own Worst Enemy’ and said it was from L.I.T., not Lit, but L.I.T., I knew she must only be in her 20s by that.

    • rhywun

      I loved Cover-Up too but probably for a different reason than you.

      • CPRM

        Your private parts suffered rigor mortis?

      • l0b0t

        Dude! Jon-Eric Hexum was likely the hottest man in Hollywood 1982 – 1984.

      • Cy Esquire

        “He died by an accidental self-inflicted blank cartridge gunshot to the head on the set of Cover Up.”

        That… takes a lot of stupidity.

  20. Atanarjuat

    major components of the massive aid plan focus on stimulating the country’s economy, which has struggled over the past year under job layoffs and shuttered businesses

    This reminds me of that genius comment someone (Nate?) made about the Obama “stimulus” bill which came out shortly after the Roman Polanski story: “The economy was not unresponsive to the stimulus.”

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      My favorite part is how they always skip over the actual cause of layoffs and shuttered business. Like they can fucking hand wave away the central planning experiment.

    • Fourscore

      Texas says “No Thank You”

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Would soldiers have to wear a face mask in combat? Double mask?

    Self-contained air supply and biohazard suits. Brought to you by General Electric.

    • Festus

      Self-contained? Fuck that! Every soldier will be connected to the source.

    • Atanarjuat

      Go against the establishment (even slightly, his AG, SoS, SecDef, etc were complete swamp creatures), get ruined for life. That’s the message.

    • CPRM

      “Trump has been impeached from operating the ice rink,” a de Blasio spokesman had said Jan. 31 in announcing the concession terminations for Wollman Rink, along with Lasker Rink, the Central Park Carousel and Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx.

      What a bunch of petty bitches. When he was ‘Literally Hitler in the White House’, they said nothing…

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      The ice rink story is cool, NPI. It must have been maddening to watch the continued lack of progress from his office window. So what if the product had his name emblazoned in giant letters?

    • rhywun

      He should dig up Wollman Rink and salt the earth, since he built it in the first place after years of the city being too incompetent restore the fucking thing.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        (Uh, meaning the 80s rink back story, not the current one. Even I remember that one.)

    • Suthenboy

      How is any of this Trump ‘freeze out’ stuff legal? It seems to me Trump could court shop, sue and get more in settlements than any ice rink would bring in.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    If Lee was able to speak to Biden one-on-one his message would be a simple one: “Leave us alone.”

    Institutionalize him, for the good of Society. The man is plainly a threat to himself and others.

    Leave us alone. What kind of deranged un-American nonsense is that?

  23. Festus

    I’m not alone here, OMWC. I look forward to your weekend posts like coffee in the morning. I love getting drawn into a Wiki spiral when I’ve got the time.

  24. Sean

    Weekend to do list: Buy steaks, gin, & fresh roasted cashews. Also, to get my taxes done. I have an appointment with the accountant tomorrow.

    Seems pretty achievable.

  25. zwak

    So, aside from doing EE as a hobby and enjoying that (I mean, why else have a hobby?) what don’t you like about chem?

    The college my old man taught at had a great engineering dept. and both seemed to attract happy nerds. I, however, was only happy with my beak buried in books of the lit type. I was not a good match for that university.

    • Festus

      I see you’ve met me already. Such a disappointment to my parents.

    • Old Man With Candy

      I like chemistry (I like electronics more). I don’t like working in the chemical industry.

      • CPRM

        I don’t like working in the [REDACTED] industry either, cry me a river and pour that $1000 bottle of wine down my gullet.

      • Old Man With Candy

        I’ll happily share. Noting, of course, that when I bought the wine, it was like $15.

    • Suthenboy

      I think Lurch said 20 years or some such ‘just around the next bend’ nonsense. It is such a transparent con.

      • Cy Esquire

        Heads they win. Tails they win. In the end, we all lose. But for just a little while, they can feel virtuous.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      You might think that people would stop listening after their first couple of failed predictions.

      It’s the liberal equivalent of the Revelations cults.

      • Gender Traitor

        #IWantToBelieve

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Scanning the headlines, it looks like the DNC’s steno pool must think Ted Cruz is a threat to their glorious thousand year administration. They’re all over that “Cruz basks while Texas freezes” morality tale.

    • CPRM

      He should come back to deal with the crisis! Because he has the power to…um…stop the weather?

      • Festus

        Load the Beaner up with beans.

    • rhywun

      Meanwhile Joe puts a lid on it most mornings at nine while there’s a climate crisis out there. I can’t even.

  27. Semi-Spartan Dad

    Question for gun glibs. I don’t have anything in 308 and have been considering grabbing up an AR-10 from PSA. They’ve consistently had a few in stock. Anyone have thoughts on PSA or suggestions for a different in-stock option?
    https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-gen3-pa10-18-mid-length-308-win-1-10-stainless-steel-15-lightweight-m-lok-str-ssa-e-rifle.html

    Prices seem up by a few hundred from a year ago, but I’m not at all confident we’re seeing the typical panic curve that will return to normal at some point and this could be my last chance before additional gun control is enacted. I’m willing to pay a reasonable premium for that risk.

    • PutridMeat

      I’ve ordered ammo from them in the past (recent, last 9 months or so), no complaints, simple transaction and they delivered in a timely fashion, reasonable price.

      I’m in the market for a good hunting rifle in 30-06 (something like a Bergara B14 maybe). I had an M1 so I had a bunch of 30-06 ammo and figure in the current ammo environment it might pay to have consistency – if I still had the M1 that is – rather than diversify across calibers. Not sure which is the best approach though. What does that have to do with your question? Well, as I’ve been looking, I’m trying to focus on a local purchase, avoiding online (easy since I can’t really find what I’m looking for online…. or local…), and paying cash. Want to minimize an easily traceable ‘paper’ trail. That certainly limits options to some degree and I have a traceable record with the CC companies for ammo purchases, so it’s probably not a very fruitful trade off of potentially increased anonymity vs. convenience.

      • Fourscore

        One of our lurkers Glibs just bought a Benelli 30-06. Nice gun, about 1.8K as I remember. No ammo available on the shelf at that time.

    • Cy Esquire

      Much like real estate, I think it really is different than 2008-2011. We’re going to see some pretty serious inflation and I don’t think those prices are coming back down.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      I was looking at that one last night (really, I was shopping around for a 9mm carbine or pistol brace, but I like AR10s), it’s a reasonable price. Most guns in 308 semi-auto are hard to find below 1500 these days.

    • EvilSheldon

      AR-10s are weird. There are two competing sets of dimensional standards for large-frame ARs – the Armalite AR-10, and the DPMS LR-308, as well as a bunch of smaller manufacturers that don’t really adhere to any dimensional standard (we call those ‘Melon Ballers’). Meaning, that if you buy a replacement handguard, barrel, bolt carrier group, or even spare magazines, they may or may not fit in your gun. It’s a bit of a mess

      You’re short-circuiting the worst of the mess by buying a complete rifle out of the gate. That’s smart.

      PSA isn’t generally considered to be a top-tier brand, but for the price, the one you picked out seems fairly well spec’d. For $1250 plus shipping, it might be worth trying out. It also has the benefit of being, you know, available…

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        Thanks. Do you know if pmags will fit this one?

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        nvm, looks like it will take pmags.

    • kinnath

      I went with an M1A with a walnut stock.

      On the shelf about 10 months ago, it was 1400 with mail-in rebate for a sight mount and a couple of extra magazine direct from Springfield.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        I got mine (with competition sights, fwiw) for 1450 plus fees about 6 months ago. No extras.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      Thanks everyone for the helpful feedback. I’ve bought mags from PSA before but not one of their rifles. Seems like no red flags so I think I’m gonna pull the trigger…

      …as soon as I convince the wife. I think she’ll be onboard though. 2020 was a real number.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        And trigger pulled. I should’ve given her more credit. Definitely a keeper.

    • Animal

      You should look into something like this.

    • dontreadonme

      Late reply but I got one a few years ago (for a lot let, wow!). Anyway, it is a nice rifle. Very accurate with good ammo. I had some extractor issues, which it seems like they have corrected in the new version with upgraded springs. Also, I would recommend an upgraded BCG. I got a lot of wear on mine, but I was pushing it pretty hard too.

  28. Atanarjuat

    By the way Scott Horton’s YouTube channel has a very good video series on the history of the US’ Middle Eastern regime change policies and wars.

  29. Yusef, Chaser of the Devils Tail

    Nice Art Rock there OMWC, I’ll stick with Joe, less pretentious,

  30. Cy Esquire

    “Fact Checking”

    These pretentious asshole have no shame.

    https://www.npr.org/2021/02/20/969639380/fact-check-biden-s-comments-on-loan-forgiveness-and-elite-colleges

    “Bishop’s research focuses on the burden of debt on Black borrowers, who are often the ones hardest hit by student debt. They face labor market discrimination, higher rates of unemployment, lower family wealth and other forms of systemic racism.”

    “These highly selective colleges have long struggled to enroll students who aren’t from the top tier of wealth in this country. A new report shows that, even today, low-income students who qualify for federal Pell grants make up less than 16% of enrollment at many of these schools.”

    “Struggled?” Really?

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      By SR I think they mean statically poor outcomes over decades, ergo someone else’s fault.

    • ruodberht

      IQ and SES correlate, so, what, we need to admit more dummies?

    • rhywun

      They face labor market discrimination, higher rates of unemployment, lower family wealth and other forms of systemic racism.

      That’s an impressive number of lies and/or distortions packed into one sentence.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      https://www.npr.org/2021/02/17/968638759/sum-of-us-examines-the-hidden-cost-of-racism-for-everyone

      “The heart of McGhee’s case is that racism is harmful to everyone, and thus we all have an interest in fighting it. Drawing on a wealth of economic data, she argues that when laws and practices have discriminated against African Americans, whites have also been harmed. When people unite across racial and ethnic lines, she argues, there’s a solidarity dividend that helps everyone.”

      Am not bothering to read or listen how.

      • CPRM

        she argues that when laws and practices have discriminated against African Americans

        So, like 50 years ago in less than half the country?

  31. The Late P Brooks

    America’s greatest President, or the world’s greatest leader?

    It’s not supposed to look this easy.
    A little more than one month since President Joe Biden entered office, his cornerstone legislative priority — a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package — is on the path to passage by the deadline his administration set, largely mirroring the key elements he originally proposed.
    While Biden’s hope for GOP support on Capitol Hill has all but disappeared in the last several weeks, his enthusiasm for the proposal — and his view that despite its high price tag it will only serve to bolster Democrats as they remain unified — has hardly waned.
    Asked what he learned from his efforts to sell the proposal at a CNN town hall in Wisconsin earlier this week, Biden didn’t hesitate.

    “I learned based on the polling data that they want everything that’s in the plan,” Biden said. “Not a joke. Everything that’s in the plan.”

    ——-

    The effort to sell the proposal started early in the process with Biden’s transition team regularly consulting with top Democratic lawmakers as they constructed their plan. Key elements, like the emergency expansion of the Child Tax Credit — a potentially transformative plank of the plan — came directly from legislation drafted by Democrats that held wide-ranging support in their congressional ranks. There was a recognition, multiple people directly involved said, that the cascading crises meant now was the moment to go big.
    By the time Biden took office, his legislative affairs team — made up of several former Capitol Hill hands who brought with them significant bipartisan credibility from their past staff work — was already deeply engaged in the process.
    That has carried on through the opening weeks of the administration. Since February 5, the team has met with House and Senate leadership multiple times a week, directly with 33 House members and held talks with more than 100 key congressional staffers.
    Biden’s aides were also ever present as the dozen House committees moved through the process of considering each piece of the legislation, there for technical guidance, and on some of the thorniest issues like the qualification threshold for stimulus payments, even more than that, sources say.

    The man’s a GENIUS.

    I wonder if the folks at places like the Center for American Progress look at all the fawning coverage of Philosopher-Statesman Biden and get just a wee bit resentful.

    • Sean

      I wonder how many tvs Hillary throws a wine bottle at each week.

      • Tejicano

        That’s a fun thought! I think I will ponder that from time to time.

      • Festus

        I wonder how many tvs she throws at Bill.

      • Tres Cool

        Oh, give it time. Once Joe is put to pasture and we have President Harris, she gets to pick her VP.
        My money is on Hillary.

      • CPRM

        Don’t ruin the plot for SF!

    • rhywun

      *gurgle… slurp…*

  32. The Late P Brooks

    But Democrats argue it’s easy to defend themselves on legislation that gives people direct checks, access to paid leave, an extension of unemployment insurance and doesn’t create new or controversial programs. Much of the bill is bolstering or a continuation of programs that many Republicans already voted for.
    Several Democratic sources pointed out that there has been no significant opposition effort mounted to the plan — no big outside spending to attack the plan, no unified push by GOP campaign or advocacy groups to puncture the growing bubble of momentum.

    Free money? What madman would lie on the tracks in front of that locomotive?

    Where’s Davy Crockett when you need him?

    • CPRM

      Free money? What madman would lie on the tracks in front of that locomotive?

      Sadly, this is the reality on both sides of the aisle. Dems believe they deserve it by birthright, Reps believe ‘they done worked hard, about time the guvment done give them some money’

      • Festus

        Sorta true. If they’re passing it out gratis, I don’t mind getting my snout wet. I might feel a little dirty but free munny is free.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    I wonder how many tvs Hillary throws a wine bottle at each week.

    The Secret Service keeps a pallet of them at the ready.

    • CPRM

      Why would anyone want a ‘smart watch’? It’s not a cool walkie-talkie watch like Dick Tracy had, it doesn’t play Bye Bye Bye

      • Cy Esquire

        I’m obligated to point out that the GPS tracking and updating is a big deal for me personally, not really even in the Average Joe’s top 5.

      • l0b0t

        Oh, Master Shake… you scamp you.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I have an Apple Watch specifically so I can record conversations.

        Some people ask if I’m concerned about the possibility of being tracked.

        Of course they say that with their smartphone in their pocket.

      • Tundra

        I have a Garmin VivoActive. I use it to track exercise, sleep and other health metrics. It isn’t set up to take calls or texts.

        I dig it.

  34. Cy Esquire

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/asian-american-lawmakers-call-for-a-hearing-on-anti-asian-racism/ar-BB1dRlXr?ocid=Peregrine

    “This policy push — which has also garnered support from Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as lawmakers in the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses — comes amid a recent wave of violence specifically targeting elderly Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In the past month, an 84-year-old man died in San Francisco after being pushed to the ground; a 91-year-old man was forcefully shoved onto the sidewalk in Oakland; and a 52-year-old woman in New York City was injured after getting pushed as well.”

    Race has nothing to do with it. Those places have become flaming shitholes. Just as Rick Moranis!

    • EvilSheldon

      2020s overall violent crime rates are up something like 30% over 2019. Be ready.

    • Trigger Hippie

      So, three Asian people out of a nation of around 350 million people were assaulted within the last month. What was the context? Did the assaulters specify that the reason they assaulted was because they hated Asians? And even if they did, this somehow qualifies as a spike in ethinc hate crimes?

      Concern Trolls are concerned about statistical noise, got it.

    • rhywun

      specifically targeting elderly Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

      Yeah, calling bullshit on that.

      The motivations of these attacks are not immediately clear, but they’ve taken place as anti-Asian harassment has surged in the last year argle bargle derpity doo

      LOL. Yeah, OK. Never change, msn.com.

      Meanwhile, I wonder when these types are going to pay attention to the actual anti-Asian racism practiced routinely by selective colleges and high schools. I won’t hold my breath.

      “We cannot completely blame the former president for this, but you cannot deny his words and actions gave people permission to be bigoted,”

      …lied some Dem hack. These people are fucking ill.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        San Francisco…. Oakland…. New York City….

        Veritable bastions of Trumpalos.

      • juris imprudent

        gave people permission to be bigoted

        Oh, like Harvard and Yale admissions staff?

    • Master JaimeRoberto (royal we/us)

      That was on the local news this morning. Despite the fact that in every video I’ve seen the perpetrator has been black, Pelosi was blaming white supremacy.

      • juris imprudent

        Those were oreo-cookie black perps.

    • Hyperion

      “Race has nothing to do with it. Those places have become flaming shitholes. Just as Rick Moranis!”

      We just have to pay certain people to not be racist against certain other people. Unless they are white, of course, nothing can be done about that level of systemic racism.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    They’re a team; you can’t lick one ass and not the other

    Unlike her predecessor Melania Trump, Biden has packed a calendar-full of events, appearances (most virtual) and interviews, aggressively pursuing policy passion projects, and maintaining her schedule as a teacher at a northern Virginia community college.

    ——-

    Like so many teachers, Biden has a way, say those who know her, of leading people to complete one assignment only to come out the other end having accomplished several other objectives. The surprise hearts were completed in two days, one official said, and relied on ushers to stealthily relay messages about what was needed and maintenance workers to build and paint the hearts.

    ——-

    “I think Biden is elegant, but she’s less of a clotheshorse and more of a workhorse,” said Brower of the differences between Biden and Trump. “This first lady is not all about appearances and photo-ops.”
    Fans of Trump didn’t want her to be “relatable,” however, while fans of Biden like her for being just that. The MAGA base’s devotion was rooted in the aspirational unattainability Trump possessed, displayed with expensive designer ensembles and emotional stoicism. Praise often came via descriptors such as “graceful,” “poised” and “elegant,” not in the “she’s just like us!” manner of familiarity that resonated with supporters of Michelle Obama and now Jill Biden. Melania Trump, for example, never turned up at a local bakery with her hair in a scrunchie to buy cupcakes, as Biden did last week in Washington, DC.

    Four years of this? I already want to puke.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        ????

      • Festus

        It’s black hearts and pills all the way down, Toxteth.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      But have we seen her naked?

      (NB: Don’t show her naked.)

    • TARDis

      Not to worry, it won’t last 4 years. It’s going to get UGGGGHLY when Joe shuffles off though.

      • Festus

        I don’t need Sugarfree to write that script.

    • Trigger Hippie

      I still don’t understand why anybody should give a fuck about a politician’s spouse…

      • R C Dean

        Other than as a possible cutout for money laundering and influence peddling, of course.

    • juris imprudent

      Then stop paying attention to CNN (& NPR); it’s not like you’ll miss anything important.

      • R C Dean

        Almost word for word what I told Pater Dean. I threw in all the news channels, though.

    • Ted S.

      If Melania had shown up in a scrunchie to buy cupcakes, the left would have called her a phony.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        They’re nothing if not consistent.

        It all went to shit when the universities started promoting activism over education and professionalism.

        “Come to DipShit U and change the world!”

    • Hyperion

      What did you expect?

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      How is her teaching at a CC a Really Good Thing?

      That is a literal entry level position in academia. If you’re in your late 70s and teaching at CC, it means you weren’t very good at your job at all.

  36. The Late P Brooks

    I’m sorry. It’s not nice to make sweeping derogatory generalizations about members of the press, just because 98% of them make the rest look bad.

    • Festus

      It’s like up here wherein 3-4% of the population holds everyone else hostage. No Beuno. Develop a mine? Nope, Grampa trapped there. Run a pipeline? Nope, Grandma found a medicine tree. It’s fucking ridiculous and getting worse.

  37. DEG

    “I have carefully reviewed Neera Tanden’s public statements and tweets that were personally directed towards my colleagues on both sides of the aisle from Senator Sanders to Senator McConnell and others. I believe her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget,” Manchin said in a statement. “For this reason, I cannot support her nomination.”

    Going back through someone else’s public statements and tweets? Only The Right People are allowed to do that.

    The group was made up of individuals who met each other at lockdown and “stop the steal” rallies throughout the year. The protest group has shrunk after the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Grand Rapids resident Steven Lee said.

    Insurrection. Repeat a lie often enough….

    President Joe Biden’s push for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill took a step forward on Friday as a U.S. House of Representatives committee unveiled the legislation Democrats hope to pass by late next week.

    Only $1.9 trillion? Why does he hate America? It should be eleventy-billion-trillion! We’ll all be rich! And we’ll still have checks in the checkbook!

    Syria has demanded an end to Israeli airstrikes that it says endanger military and civilian life, and the influential international trio of Russia, Iran and Turkey agree.

    Oh boy.

    “I know the last few years have tested our transatlantic relationship,” Biden said. “But the United States is determined — determined — to reengage with Europe, to consult with you, to earn back our position of leadership.”

    Fuck.

    As the Biden administration takes steps toward a renewed detente with Tehran, some of Washington’s Arab allies in the Middle East — who opposed the landmark multinational 2015 nuclear deal with Iran — look with mounting unease at the U.S. return to Obama-era policies following the about-face of the Trump years.

    Fuck.

    • Festus

      Manchin might be the finger in the dike but that’s about it. I’ll accept any push-back.

      • DEG

        Yep. I wouldn’t be surprised if he switched parties as I think the Powers-That-Be for the Democrats are not happy with him.

    • rhywun

      earn back our position of leadership

      What a whiny little bitch.

      The crooks running Europe must be laughing their asses off today.

  38. DEG

    Rock Island Auction company released a teaser video for their upcoming May auction. One of the lots will be Alexander Hamilton’s pistols.

    Their preview mailer has no extra information about the pistols beyond that they are “well documented”.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Woof, even the catalog is out of my price range.

      Seriously though, some beautiful firearms there. The flag caught my eye, too. If I had millions of dollars, I’d make a few purchases.

      • DEG

        They have some impressive stuff. I’ve bid on their auctions but never won.

        I have better success with Amoskeag.

        The few times I’ve looked at Morphy Auctions their items for auction look even higher end than Rock Island.

  39. Fourscore

    “I often wonder about my life choices”

    Thanks, OMWC. I have those self inflicted masochistic memories as well. It gets worse when you get old. Ooops, mature or grown up or something.

    • Festus

      I’m right there with you, Dad. Many thoughts make me wake up at night in a cold sweat. I tried to be good, honest injun.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    2020s overall violent crime rates are up something like 30% over 2019.

    If only we had some inkling of what could have caused such a change in behavior.

    It’s a gosh darn mystery.

    • R C Dean

      No mystery at all. It was white supremacy egged on by Trump what done it.

      • Hyperion

        But now the summer of love shall begin.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Five bucks says they were all teachers’ union shills. The NEA makes a point of trying to get their people on school boards.

    • CPRM

      Idiots, thinking schools are for kids to be learning. It’s about a pay check for union members, and if they can come up with any excuse to collect that paycheck without doing anything, more power to them! this is the entrepreneurship America needs!

      • creech

        A column by Catherine Rampell says that while virtual learning has been disastrous for children and parents, it has also been disastrous for teachers! How so? Did they all gain twenty pounds sitting at home being fully paid? My heart bleeds for our herioic teachers.

      • Ted S.

        It showed that government school teachers are wearing the emperor’s new clothes.

      • Hyperion

        It is all about kid’s learning. Learning to be good little commies.

  41. The Late P Brooks

    Let the backstabbing commence

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is calling for a full investigation of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) handling of COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes.

    The New York Democrat in an emailed press release on Friday joined other officials in calling for an investigation into how Cuomo’s administration handled coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes.

    “I support our state’s return to co-equal governance and stand with our local officials calling for a full investigation of the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes during COVID-19,” the statement said.

    ——-

    The Albany Times-Union reported on Wednesday that the FBI and U.S. attorney in Brooklyn are investigating the Cuomo administration’s handling of COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes.

    State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are also pushing a measure to strip the governor of emergency powers that have allowed him to control every part of the state’s coronavirus response.

    The best we can hope for is the collapse of the grand lefty coalition in a feeding frenzy of internecine warfare.

    Let “NEVER ENOUGH” be their battle cry.

    • Festus

      Feeding frenzy. Delicious!

    • CPRM

      If I could build a sex robot Candidate to Implode the Democratic Party, AOC would be it.

    • rhywun

      co-equal governance

      I wonder WTF that even means. I suppose she means Cuomo sharing his dictatorial powers with other Democrats.

  42. Trigger Hippie

    Rachel Weisz looked really good in those shitty Mummy movies.

    That’s all.

    • Festus

      That’s not all, that’s everything!

    • Gustave Lytton

      Just like Chain Reaction.

      • CPRM

        Where Cold Fusion was achieved in Wisconsin? Not unless it’s a kind of beer.

  43. The Late P Brooks

    Another jack-in-the-Box clown pops out

    Scientist Michael Mann argued that the United States must go “well beyond those Paris commitments” as President Joe Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement Friday.

    “We have to ratchet up the commitments now if we are to stay on course to averting a catastrophic three degree Fahrenheit warming,” said Mann, the author of “The New Climate War,” during a Friday evening interview on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.” “We have to increase our commitments and the other countries of the world have to do that.”

    The move to reenter the Paris Climate Agreement was a departure from the Trump administration’s climate policy. In 2017 former President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the agreement. He formally notified the United Nations in 2019, and the U.S. left the Paris Agreement the following year after a waiting period. Mann explained that during that time, the United States “lost four years of opportunity here to address the greatest challenge that we face.”

    Sure, dummy. We’re all gonna die, if we don’t let you lead us to safety and salvation.

    That guy must be mightily pissed, after spending a year watching the slobbery adulation given to that senile quack Foochy.

    “That should be me, on Meet the Press! I should be the one telling America scary stories about doomsday and the wages of sin!”

    • CPRM

      By my model, covid will be 50 blillionty times more deadly, because climate change! Give me all the monies!

    • Trigger Hippie

      “We have to ratchet up…”

      No, just no.

  44. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Baltimore considering paying killers to not kill:

    https://youtu.be/ztoPvMep8_8

    Let everybody carry pistols, that’d actually have a positive effect.

    • Hyperion

      This is the extent of their brilliance. When murders go up again next year, they’ll say it’s because they didn’t pay them enough.

  45. The Late P Brooks

    Baltimore considering paying killers to not kill:

    They should consider making murder illegal.

    It’s crazy, I know, but desperate times, and all…

    • CPRM

      …something something…something bold strategy..

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      I wish I could get paid for all of the horrible stuff I don’t do. Should be worth a couple thou a month at least.

      • l0b0t

        I haven’t killed anyone in donkey’s years. Can I get some back pay?

      • rhywun

        Right after your student loan payments are refunded to you.

      • R C Dean

        I think you have to kill somebody first to be eligible.

      • Gender Traitor

        Can’t I just identify as a murderer?

      • Tres Cool

        Just an accompanying 40 acres

    • Hyperion

      You and your thread breaking, Brooks!

  46. The Late P Brooks

    “There is some evidence that climate change might be leading to an increase in the incidents of these sorts of events, but there is no question that if we look collectively at all of the extreme weather events we’ve seen in recent years, unprecedented heat waves and droughts and wildfires and super storms, we can see the fingerprint of human influence on our climate in these devastating events,” Mann said.

    Rubin said that Biden’s next task is to pass legislation to create meaningful change in reducing America’s carbon footprint, so what happened in Texas, doesn’t happen more frequently.

    Another EXPERT who doesn’t actually have the faintest understanding of how the system works.

    The President doesn’t pass legislation. He writes it, with his magic pen. And presto! it’s the law of the land.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      The lesson is always we need legislation to cut carbon emissions isn’t it? What a load of shit.

      • Gustave Lytton

        And never starts with them putting a plastic bag over their own head and twisting the ends.

    • rhywun

      I think I saw that guy’s picture in the dictionary under “hack”.

  47. Tundra

    Good morning!

    Nice to see War, Inc. is back in the driver’s seat.

    Please, please, please, can we stay out of this?

    Lol. If you haven’t been listening to Tom Woods’ show this week, you should. He’s had Scott Horton on all week talking about the reasons we’re never gonna stop the fuckery around the world.

    Not good.

    That song however, while not my usual fare, is quite good. Not sure they needed the orchestra, but whatevs.

    I hope you all have a groovy day! The sun is out and we are headed for the 20s!

    • CPRM

      My shower drain finally unfroze!

      • Tundra

        *angels sing*

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        My wife is looking at houses in Montana.

        I just reply with “Are you going to get under the house with a blow dryer to thaw out the pipes?”

      • Tundra

        Homes in Montana are insulated. You’ll be fine.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        At least until I go all Shining during the interminable winters and start swinging an axe

      • Tres Cool

        Did you try, I dunno….hot water ?

  48. Festus

    What the fuck do you do when the Wife goes vegan but still insists on buying the same amounts of icky, meaty type food? I’m a lean man and don’t eat very much. Throwing away that money seems very wasteful. A couple of sandwiches a day would suit me fine, even if I had to make them myself. Our fridge barely closes.

    • l0b0t

      Go shopping with her a few times and gently nudge her in the desired direction?

      • Festus

        I don’t shop. I’m thinking about becoming a Satanist. Both of those philosophies make about the same sense, to me.

    • Gender Traitor

      It was on sale!

      • Festus

        Look Honey! I bought you two gallons of milk! Okaaaay….

      • Festus

        Heh. Just got off a call with vegan daughter and her little spawn. I told the wee one that she can have as much bacon as she wishes at Grandpa’s house.

      • Tres Cool

        back-bacon, I hope

        *goes to watch old Bob & Doug

      • Gustave Lytton

        You’re a terrible grandpa, Festus. I love you.

    • Hyperion

      You see, there’s this thing that happens. When your wife keeps buying all of that food, but not eating it, and you’re not eating it either, the food storage spaces fill up and there’s no more room, so the buying of food must slow. Then she’ll just buy more shoes and purses. /what wiminz do

  49. The Late P Brooks

    Then stop paying attention to CNN (& NPR); it’s not like you’ll miss anything important.

    I have learned; the hard way. Ignoring something will not make it go away.

    Ignoring the mob who want to make the world a better place (for them, not you) just allows them to pretend they can do anything they desire. And then, when you say, “Enough!” out comes the rope, which was the desired path all along.

    • juris imprudent

      Well that mob will do what they do whether you are well informed beforehand or not.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        True, and there’s a balance here. You need a plan for protecting yourself from the mob and you need enough information to enact your plan based on what the mob is doing. Any exposure beyond that is just masochism.

  50. The Late P Brooks

    OFF THE LEASH!

    As coronavirus cases plummet nationwide and vaccinations total 1.7 million Americans a day and rising, health experts are increasingly striking a new tone in their pandemic assessments: optimism.

    “I could be wrong, but I don’t think we’re going to see a big fourth surge,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “I think we’ve seen the worst of it.”

    Many epidemiologists and other scientists, while still cautious, say they feel increasingly hopeful that the rest of 2021 will not replay the nightmare of last year.

    The arrival of spring will likely aid the ongoing precipitous drop in coronavirus cases, as warmer weather allows people to spend more time outdoors and creates a less hospitable environment for the virus, experts say.
    Advertisement

    But the biggest factor, paradoxically, is something the nation spent the last year trying to prevent.

    While 12% of Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, far more people — approximately 35% of the nation’s population — have already been infected with the coronavirus, Offit estimated. Studies have found that people who survive COVID-19 have immunity for several months, though it likely lasts even longer.

    UC San Francisco epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford said one of the reasons why cases are dropping so fast in California “is because of naturally acquired immunity, mostly in Southern California.” He estimated that 50% of Los Angeles County residents have been infected with the virus at some point.

    Get Foochy and Osterholm on the Sunday Circuit, stat!

    We must counter this dangerous misinformation and reckless disregard for the SCIENCE-tistic consensus immediately. How long ’til this story gets disappeared?

    • Hyperion

      Well, at the moment, they are torn. They just balance optimism, because bad orange man is gone and of course he was the source of the problem, and doom, because we have to keep this going because we have not yet identified a new hobgoblin to replace this one which has worked so well.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      I dunno, I suspect reduced (if in fact it is) and/or more accurate testing.

      • Hyperion

        Needz moar contact tracing. If we could just get a chip on everyone so we know where everyone is at all times…

  51. The Late P Brooks

    Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cautioned against viewing the downward case trends as a reason to let up on masking and other safety precautions.

    In an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Assn., Walensky said she hoped for the best, but also warned of a worst-case scenario — that people will stop wearing masks and physically distancing too early and that many will prematurely declare they’ve had enough of the pandemic and won’t get vaccinated.

    “How this goes is going to depend on 330 million individuals,” Walensky said. “Because while I really am hopeful for what could happen in March and April, I really do know this could go bad — so fast. And we saw it in November. We saw it in December. We saw what can happen.”

    The fearmongers are fighting back. Put the damn mask on, or DIE!

    Don’t get your hopes up.

    • EvilSheldon

      “Prematurely declare?” I declared that I had had enough of the pandemic theatre, six months ago.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        I admire your patience.

  52. Hyperion

    “Please, please, please, can we stay out of this? Fuck, we won’t. Fuck.”

    Yep, good thing we got rid of bad orange man so that we can go back to war mongering around the globe as usual.

  53. Hyperion

    “Why the fuck do we need to do this?”

    Because the Eurotards are our brothers in communism democracy.

  54. The Late P Brooks

    My wife is looking at houses in Montana.

    Despite my intense motivation to dupe somebody into buying my place, I’d advise a hard no on Gallatin or Park county. Missoula, too.

    I have to say things are looking up, now that Bullock has been tossed overboard.

    • Hyperion

      Montana is way too expensive in my opinion. It was way too expensive 20 years ago.

  55. Hyperion

    “https://news.yahoo.com/europe-celebrates-u-return-diplomacy-211825878.html”

    Whatever the price for getting rid of bad orange man, we must pay it.

  56. Don escaped Qanon

    my favorite basketball player

    On some occasion Barkley was being interviewed and his possible run for office in Alabama arose. He confirmed his Republican alignment whereupon one can here in the background someone protest “Republicans don’t care about anyone but rich folk” to which Chuck replies “Grandmommy, we IS rich people!”

    • Hyperion

      Has he apologized for saying that yet? Because, they all do.

    • Don escaped Qanon

      hear

      *** lights candle in TedS shrine “

  57. Trigger Hippie

    I like Barkley. He’s quite open about his dipshitery and makes no apologies for it. The world could use a few million more people like Charles Barkley.

  58. Festus

    Maybe Zoom tonight. We’ll see. One of my sites needs mending. If all goes well then you get the gargoyle. No promises.